Have the expansions altered the newbie experience?

[Malacite]

Re: Have the expansions altered the newbie experience?

Don't you mean "guide"?

Spelling and Grammar are your friend.

[wrongfeifong]

Re: Have the expansions altered the newbie experience?

One thing about the old guilds is....

They screwed up the invites for any TOAU jobs. I swear, i have not gotten a BCNM/KSNM/Any missions invites because they will say "Our strategy guild does not have corsair in the description, so we will go with a BRD or a rdm just for refresh". Now i don't blame them if they need AOE sleep, but its ridicious to assume that i can't perform better then brd or RDM as a cors when fighting 1-2 enemies....

[Malacite]

Re: Have the expansions altered the newbie experience?

Aht Urhgan has messed up the economies of the starting cities and reduced the populations quite a bit, but if anything it's easier to EXP now than it's ever been before.

[Greyfist]

Re: Have the expansions altered the newbie experience?

Thanks to all who replied, and special thanks to Murphie; I'd never heard anyone mention the existence of the exp rings before, and they've made an awesome difference in my experience rates! Never would've even thought to look for them.

[Lunaryn]

Re: Have the expansions altered the newbie experience?

The only expansion that's had any impact at all that I can see on low-level XP is Rise of the Zilart. And the impact of that is fairly well integrated into resources on where good camps are and such.

1) Korroloka Tunnel -- Viable xp camp for 15-20. If you're sick of the dunes, try to drag your party out here and fight worms. However, a lot of people will be reluctant to move.

2) Yuhtunga Jungle and Yhoator Jungle -- These have totally supplanted core camps such as Batallia Downs for xp from 25-30.

CoP doesn't come into play for XP until the late-30s (and a lot of people won't have Tavnazia access yet the first time they get a job this high anyway), and ToAU doesn't until the mid-50s.

[LilithAngel]

Re: Have the expansions altered the newbie experience?

Nope, the starting cities are known as the starting cities for the simple reason that that's where everyone starts. Ever since the core game of FFXI on up to ToAU, the starting regions of Gustaburg, Ronfaure, and Sarutabaruta always have been where you get on your feet and go. Perhaps the WotG expansion might shake things up, but I highly doubt it.

Every other zone/region out there that's not a city will eat a lvl 1 alive. Period. Even the far sides of the starter zones will kill you before you're ready. The only real change the expansions introduced is perhaps some extra gear available in the lower levels, but that'd be just about it.

[Murphie]

Re: Have the expansions altered the newbie experience?

The expansions don't really have much of an effect on the newbie (sub level 10) experience. Heck, they don't even have that much of an effect on the average sub-20 experience. There are a few alternate areas, but most people still party in the same zones they have been since the game launched.

For your first 10 levels at least, you are good to go in the starting zone just outside your home town.

Don't forget to get signet, and an EXP ring using your conquest points when you save up enough of them.

[Greyfist]

I've noticed that many of the guides for newbies are a few years old now, have any of the expansions provided better ways to start off a character than sticking close to one's home town? I'd hate to struggle tooth and nail outside my starting town, only to hear a few months later, 'Oh man, you did what? Didn't you know that the Oasis of Infinite Experience and Gil was just two zones away? Man, I leveled to 20 in half a day there...'

I have all three expansions, so if there's any area in an expansion that a newbie should migrate to ASAP, please be kind enough to let me know!