[rayano]

hi everyone
i got FFXI but dont know what city to choose
im an elvan warrior and think about choosing bastok,but if i start in sandoria i get the elvan ring or whatever,so is it worth it to choose sandoria just for the ring
anyway please tell me what city you chose
thx

[Caspian]

Ring is nice, but you'll replace it at lvl 14, so don't let that determine which country you start in. Start in whichever country appeals to you more. Only thing that makes much of a difference is that getting to the dunes (where most low levels first start partying) can be a pain coming from Windurst. Don't let that stop you though, its not terrible and you can always try for parties in other places closer to home.
Conquest standings can be nice, especially for outpost warps and conquest point items, and Bastok is usually not so great at Conquest, atleast on my server. But I'm from Bastok and I'm doing fine.
Like I said, the ring is rather trivial, so don't let that make up your mind, and all the other things I mentioned can be overcome. Just go with whichever county you think you'd like more and you'll probably be happy with your decision.

[Nerotu]

Don't do Windurst!
I don't know why, but that place just creeps me out
I liked Bastok very much. It was very easy to find places and it was nice and small to get around.
But I'm currently in San d'Oria which is really good. Alot of missions and quests to get going. I'm only a lvl 7 Black Mage, so I don't know what the higher levels hold.
Which server are you on? I'm on Phoenix server, so hook me up if you're on there. My ingame name is Neruto

[greydaze]

If you like bagpipes, choose Sandy. For me, I want to tear off my ears whenever I have the music on in-game in Sandoria.

If you like big-city-looking areas, choose Bastok. It looks dingy and cold to me.

If you like large, open areas with lots of trees, choose Windy. Personally, I love Windhurst, although some people find its layout confusing.

[Murphie]

Choose which ever one you like. You'll spend most of your life in Jeuno and Aht Urghan Whitegate anyway.

[Caspian]

I've heard windy's missions are pretty cool. The whole Fenrir thing is supposed to be really enjoyable.
Bastok gets to learn about anticans later on, as well as a little more story on the boss of Rank 5. Not sure what Sandy's later missions are.
Heard windy's are the most enjoyable though.

[Heartily]

I started in Sandy and if I was to start today I would do the same. If you want to join a guild that interests you, that could determine your choice. Windy and Sandy have multiple guilds. I 'm cook 100 so I ended up spending alot of time in Windy but on my server Sandy is usually in first so I get more cooking ingredients there. You will probably end up with a mule in another city in the future to support whatever craft you have so starting city is not such a major choice, but I personally prefer Sandy ( bag pipes included.) The ring has little input to choice because you'll replace it quickly.

[Jarre]

Bastok is best to start in my opinion.

The mines are great to start levelling 1-5 and tehn outside isn't too bad. The materials you can farm off mobs are good and there is a mining area you can do to get profit at any level without any agro (only in one room where a slime spawns) lots of easy beginign missions you can do. plus bonus is that its the easiest nation to get to dunes from without having to worry about snad bats or high level gobbies in teh duens to get to the 10-14 leveling area.

[Lecan]

I wouldn't discount the ring. +1 STR is very nice for all jobs up to level 10. 2 Def and +1 MND are also very useful at lowering physical and magic damage, respectively.

As others have said, it's pretty much the story that should make up your mind though. And conquest ratings. Do you have a world pass? If so, go to that server's boards and see what nation regularly leads conquest, and which 2 are lower. I would probably choose one of the other 2, since you get more conquest points in uncontrolled regions. Also, Conquest rewards for WAR are probably best in Sandy, but you might consider Bastok for a few pieces.

Summary:

Windy: story centers around summoning magic and a weapon that destroyed the city
Bastok: story centers around Galka and a monster that almost took over the world
Sandy: story centers around the royal family and a weapon that altered the face of the planet

CP: probably want Sandy for the rewards, could be changed based on server choice

[Mog]

Are you thinking about crafting? If so, depending on what you craft, you get certain bonuses in each of the specific starting cities.

[Raydeus]

About the starting Ring, you can buy it later on with Conquest Points so it's not like you wont get it anyway.

Edit > By the way, Bastok rocks.

[Malevolent]

Well look at it this way. are you planning on lvling NIN? to get the ICHI quests you need to do norg quests in Windy or Bastok...Yag necklaces drop like candy more compared to Zinc ores in bastok...so if you plan to lvl nin you need the ichi spells and the main one Utsusemi and since you can easily get a MH full of necklaces in like 15-30 mins i'd go with Windy...i made a mistake going with bastok...i wish i went with windy becasue fishing guild and weavers guild is in windy...

[Humar]

Yeah i like Windy. Scenery is great and has a fishing guild and i like the story, only downside is(like previosly mentioned) its painfully difficult to get to the Dunes at low levels....and it seems like the most spread out city so youd have to walk more to get to places within the town.
Also they mentioned the Yagudo Necklaces that drop so frequntly can be sold for about 1000 gil on my server and youll find them pretty much ever Yagudo you kill so its easy to make money.
Personaly i think the good outway the bad.
(WOOT GO WINDY!)(were also normaly first in my world Bastok is normaly in 2nd but for the past 2 weeks or so we've been tied)

[Icemage]

Originally Posted by Humar

Yeah i like Windy. Scenery is great and has a fishing guild and i like the story, only downside is(like previosly mentioned) its painfully difficult to get to the Dunes at low levels....

That's arguable actually. It's actually easier to get to Selbina since you can pretty much give everything a wide berth in Buburimu Peninsula when walking, but the cave with Sand Bats that links from the path from Bastok to Selbina in Valkurm is impassable without a friendly helping hand from a higher level player, or Silent Oil. The only drawback is the ship ride, but realistically, if you're high enough level to need to go to the dunes, you really don't need to specifically return to Windurst for a while as long as you buy your supplies before you leave (spells, armor, weaponry, etc.).

and it seems like the most spread out city so youd have to walk more to get to places within the town.

It's true that Windurst is the largest town, but the only real bone of contention I've ever had with it is inconvenient placement of mog house entrances. Bear in mind that there are teleport NPCs that will warp you "diagonally" across town for free:

- In Port Windurt, on top of the Orastery near the Fishing Guild, Machu-Kuchu (E-7) will warp you to the top of the Auction House in Windurst Walls.

- In Windurst Walls, on top of the Auction House, Komulili (J-11) will warp you to the top of the Orastery in Port Windurst.

- In Windurst Woods, across from the Chocobo Stables, Pattsu-Yabittsu (K-12) will warp you to the bottom of the staircase next to the Optistery in Windurst Waters.

- In Windurst Waters, at the bottom of the staircase next to the Optistery, Tonona (G-5) will warp you near the Chocobo Stables in Windurst Woods.


Icemage

[Caspian]

Originally Posted by Icemage

That's arguable actually. It's actually easier to get to Selbina since you can pretty much give everything a wide berth in Buburimu Peninsula when walking, but the cave with Sand Bats that links from the path from Bastok to Selbina in Valkurm is impassable without a friendly helping hand from a higher level player, or Silent Oil. The only drawback is the ship ride, but realistically, if you're high enough level to need to go to the dunes, you really don't need to specifically return to Windurst for a while as long as you buy your supplies before you leave (spells, armor, weaponry, etc.).

True, but the area on the other side of the tunnel is the common (won't aruge the necessity of lvl'ing there since its known that we all hate it) xp spot for new arrivals. One way or the other you're going to have to pass through there at a low level.
In that regard, starting in Bastok is better since you won't have to pass through there until lvl 13 or so.

And those tele-tarus are nice. Used a couple of them quite a bit while doing the bastore sardine quest.