when i get this game, should i play a white mage

[Lilani]

im thinking about getting this game soon, and when/if i do, should i play a white mage? would it get me alot of invites? does white mages cost alot? is it a easy first job to play into 75?? is it easily/effectively playable into a summoner?

I won't tell you what jobs you should and shouldn't play. You might find white mage to be the greatest job ever, or you might find it to be extremely boring. Never rely on other people's opinions, just give it a try and see what you think.

White mage doesn't cost a lot, the most gil you will ever spend is on the teleport spells, unless you quest them.

No, it's not easy to get a job to 75. It takes a very long time, depending on how fast you level and how often you play. There are certain things you have to do to get past certain levels, but I wouldn't worry about that until you start the game and actually get there.

No, summoner is not an easy job to get. Before you even get summoner, you have to get another job to at least level 30. Then you have to do the quest which unlocks the job, but even then the fun isn't over. With summoner, you aren't given all the "avatars," or things that you summon. You have to defeat them in special battles, and right now there are 9 of them. They all are based on certain elements:

Light - Carbuncle (this is your starter avatar, when you get the job you can summon Carby)
Water - Leviathan
Earth - Titan
Lightning - Ramuh
Ice - Shiva
Wind - Garuda
Fire - Ifrit
Darkness - Fenrir
Darkness - Diabolos (not Diablos, Diabolos. This one was added a while back, it wasn't one of the origonal eight).

You shouldn't go past level 20 or 25 without the first seven, but you don't really have to get Fenrir until around level 50, but it's best to have it anyways. Diabolos is a bit of a bonus, I know a lot of summoners who have just gone on without it. But again, it would be better to have it.

There are two different ways you can battle the first seven, but I won't get into that. Go to the summoner forums and check that out for yourself. I wouldn't suggest thinking about summoner as a main job until you actually understand how it works in this game. Most of the time you aren't beating the crap out of things with your avatars, you are healing and using the avatars to put special enchantments on your party. Sometimes you will get to cause damage, but in normal exp parties you will be a supporter.

I'm not trying to convince you to not buy the game and try the job, I'm just saying you need to figure some things out before you jump the gun. And, jobs aren't the only part of this game. The main part of FFXI is the story, which you will be introduced to when you start the game. As you complete missions, you will reveal the story, and then you'll figure out that jobs aren't the point.

[Taskmage]

I think Murphie's humor got missed because it's even drier than mine. I don't pick up on it myself most of the time, so Friday must have been a good day for me.

Good advice from Asir an Lilani. About it being easy to level to 75, I'd have to say it's easier than most. I only know about post-40 leveling by watching the whms I party with, but personally I always want a whm in my party if there's one available. I know a lot of people don't share the attitude since other jobs can achieve adequate healing ability by subbing whm, but as a rdm I see how much better they are at main healing than we are. As for difficulty of play it's definately easier than the other jobs I've played so far. It's just that it's wrong to call getting any job to 75 "easy." It's a feat no matter what you pick, but with whm it probably won't be as hard.

[Murphie]

Gonna look like a real idiot if I'm wrong but.....

Taskmage didn't actually create anything new, its Taskmages dry sense of humour coming to the front once again. Sarcasm isn't easy to spot on web-pages, especially if you dont know the poster.

Everything the OP and yourself asked for already exists on this forum in some form or another, a search will reveal everything needed. If I am right, all Taskmage did was create a new relpy saying he had created all this information because he knows all the information is already there and was cracking a funny.

Of course, its not funny if you have to explain it... Have I just contradicted myself I wonder.

You're really sweet. Thanks for taking the time, even though I knew what was going on all along. But yeah, check out the post below this one and Taskmage's above mine.

Maybe I should use more smilies. But that would detract from the effect. :/

[Kirsteena]

I think Murphie's humor got missed because it's even drier than mine. I don't pick up on it myself most of the time, so Friday must have been a good day for me.

Try being in a ls with him Actually no, I think some members have even drier humour...

[Murphie]

But only like...3 of them at most. You're one of like, two people that ever understand what I'm talking about.

/wrists

[Olorin401]

im thinking about getting this game soon, and when/if i do, should i play a white mage? would it get me alot of invites? does white mages cost alot? is it a easy first job to play into 75?? is it easily/effectively playable into a summoner?

As a player whose second job in the game (and first job to 75) was White Mage, I can easily say it's an excellent choice for newcomers. It doesn't cost too much to level (unless you're a power user and you ABSOLUTELY MUST HAVE playa-playa gear), and it an excellent lead in to any of the other mage-class jobs (RDM, BLU, BLM, SMN, and BRD) since it gives you the fundamentals.

And yes, you will get a lot of invites. When I was still levelling, there was a slowdown from about 40-55 because of RDM's Convert/Refresh combo, but RDM doesn't have the status cure and party-wide bar spells that give WHM an edge.

[DakAttack]

If you're wondering if Whm is the right job for you, I'd have to say no. Healing isn't one of the things people usually consider when they begin an MMO, it's something they enjoy doing and are interesting in doing more. It gets really repetitive, and can sometimes be so much of a hassle if your party isn't properly equipped. But if you're in a great party that really clicks it can be an extremely enjoyable job, you really feel like you're the grease on the wheels or something.

Unless you're playing WoW, where their main healer is also their strongest DD.

[Demo]

why ask if you should do something based on what everyone else tells you. If we told you to jump off a bridge would you??? Mkae up your own mind on what to do, you will thank yourself for it.