Hello there! I figured I'd come by to introduce myself while waiting for the game to install....which as I write this, just finished haha. I'm Tyo, and for a very, very long time, I've wanted to try and sink my teeth into FFXI, one of the few FF games I've yet to play. I figured, if I wanna play the game, why not see how the game originally looks vs. what it's become now. I have never been big into MMOs, mostly because I've always grown up playing games mostly by myself, or local co-op (or at the arcades, remember those? lol), and have never really gotten used to them.

I hope that I can find a groove in this game, and maybe something to help keep my mind off things. Gods only know, I need it with everything going on now.

Character Name: Kuunshosho, a White Mage!
Played FFXI? No
How you found us? Honestly, I can't remember. I think, at some point, I wanted to see if I could find a private server for FFXI and Nasomi came up at some point. I think it was just pure chance searching on DuckDuckGo.
Other MMO's? I've played World of Warcraft back when Burning Crusade was just released and played about a year into that before RL stuff came up and couldn't play anymore. I've played other MMOs at some point, but most never really stuck to me besides FFXIV, which is currently the only MMO I've played to completion of the story at the time that I stopped playing (sometime last year). I love FFXIV's story and have heard from many that FFXI's is even better, so here I am.
Anything else? Contrary to how I could be seen interacting with people, I'm very shy and have a hard time asking for help when I really need it. Because I've always been a loner in just about everything I play, I have very bad social anxiety, too, so if I politely decline something, don't take it personal. Though while playing FFXI (if I can sink my teeth into the game like I could in FFXIV), I want to fix that. I'm tired of being lonely.

Figured I'd use that little template, as it is quite nice. I do hope that I can stick around, and maybe possibly make some very fond memories. Because gods only know, I need them...lol

Hope to see you in Vana'diel! ^_^/

Welcome!

Lots of us old timers play it to relive the glory days of the mid-2000s, so it's great to see people who are completely new to FFXI come and play it. There's a pretty steep learning curve, so I'll paste in some recent advice I provided to another new player:


Couple quick tips for keyboard commands that can help immensely when creating macros (vital for playing the game) and communicating with people:

/s = say. This will speak publicly to people within a certain radius around you
/t = tell. This will send a message to someone privately. Try /t lolbst hi there. If I'm on, I'll get a message that says 'hi there.'
CTRL + R = Respond to a /tell from someone
/cm = chatmode. If you get a linkshell in slot 1, type /cm l (that's a lowercase 'L') to set your chat to default to linkshell1. Needs to be done each time you log in. If you want it set to ls2, do /cm l2
/c = check. You MUST check every mob you engage. If you don't, you will die because of it, guaranteed. You can check players and see their gear too, but it's considered rude by some people to be randomly examined. They're just being prissy, but it's a thing.

When checking mobs:
'too weak to be worthwhile' = you won't get xp or crystals, but will still get drops
'easy prey' = you'll get a small amount of xp. If you can kill them quickly it can actually be a good strategy when low lvl
'decent challenge' = higher lvl but still below your lvl
'even match' = this mob is the same lvl as you. You will likely either struggle to beat it or it will kill you. When you're new, stick to EP and DC as much as possible
'tough' = you may luck out and scrape by a confrontation if it's a worm or something, but it'll be tight
'very tough' = you will die
'incredibly tough' = you will die before you can even unlock and start trying to run away

/ja = Job Ability. A macro using this is something like /ja Berserk <me>. That will use the WAR ability Berserk. Different JAs and other commands require different targets.
/ra = Ranged Attack. Type /ra <t> to use a ranged attack against the currently selected target. Type /ra <stnpc>. The <stnpc> part is for <select target npc> and gives you a cursor that lets you select a non-pc target.
/ma = Magic. Use /ma "Cure II" <stpc> to cast cure 2 on a nearby player character. If the /ja, /ws, /ma or whatever is more than one word, put it in double quotes and capitalize appropriately.
/ws = Weapon Skill. When you build 1000+ TP you can do a Weapon Skill. Since gear swaps are essential for maximizing damage, this is what an early WS macro might look like:

/equipset 1
/ws "Fast Blade" <stnpc> <wait 1>
/equipset 2

Equipset is an option that lets you preprogram gear sets for certain things. When auto-attacking and building TP, max out your Accuracy to hit as often as possible. When WSing, use /equipset to switch to gear with stats that benefit your weapon skill (typically STR for most DDs).

Play around with that stuff and test it all out. Have fun with it while lvling a bunch of jobs to ~15 or so around starting areas. Windurst has my favourite starting area to level up in because there are some great drops and it's prettier. I'm Bastokan, so I often end up running around that dry, dusty butthole of a landscape instead... There are some really good Notorious Monsters around Sand'oria that benefit low lvl jobs, described later below.

I strongly recommend leveling AT LEAST jobs like WAR, MNK, WHM, BLM, RDM, THF to the 12-15 range on your own. Start with WAR so that you can build up a variety of skills in things like sword, dagger, club, shield, evasion, parrying. That will help you a little bit as you lvl other jobs that are less adept at melee. Because you're going to be doing a lot of meleeing with mage classes in the early solo lvls and every little bit helps. You won't get a party invite until you're 12+, and once you do you'll need to make the perilous trek up to Valkurm. If you do, see if you can get escorted by someone who can Raise you if you get KOed.

Buy weapons, spells, and cheap leather and cloth armour from vendors in town instead of the auction house. You'll save money that you desperately need when starting out. Some beastman mobs will drop spells that you can learn, but they're generally dirt cheap anyway.

GET SIGNET FROM GATE GUARDS BEFORE LEAVING TOWN. This will ensure you get crystals from mobs and build up your Conquest Points, which you'll need to get warp scrolls and reraise scrolls. You'll want to constantly have those on hand pretty much forever.

ALWAYS CHECK MOBS. If you don't, you'll engage a Tough mob when you're a half health and it'll push your shit in.


If you want to see if someone's online, type /sea all <insert name here>. Look for me over the weekend by typing /sea all lolbst

If you find me and send a message, I'll head to you and lend a hand with things. Much of the fun in this game is helping others and working together. Then, when you've gotten to a stable and secure point, you can pay it forward to other newbies.

When you hit lvl 18 you can get your subjob, which is huge. At 30 you can unlock advanced jobs, which is another big step forward. You can hit rank 3 in your nation pretty easily by the time you're 30. Keep an eye open for people shouting for missions you're on, and ask linkshell mates if they'll help you with yours. Chains of Promathia (first major expansion) missions start around lvl 30 with the promyvion areas. If you can find a group doing that when you're able to access them, jump on it because they're a pain and groups don't do them often.

Once you hit 50, you need to complete a quest to progress to 51. At 55 that happens again, and so on every 5 levels until you max at 75. That stuff and lvling keep you plenty busy before you really even need to think about storyline.

try to /shout in town for a newbie linkpearl. That'll connect you with people who can answer more specific questions. Lots of LSs are happy to take on new players and show them the ropes, so if you don't get any bites after a couple shouts, try again in an hour or two after killing some bees.

That reminds me. When trying to make money, there are a few things that are especially lucrative at lower levels. One of them is beehive chips which drop relatively infrequently off bees all over the world. Farm those while getting xp and it'll be a big boon. Fire crystals are quite pricey right now, so farming goblins is a great way to accumulate those. A stack of 12 sells for over 2k gil last I checked.

A lot of other things like land crab meat, dhalmel hides, and other drops which don't sell quickly on the Auction House (that link is SUPER handy, so bookmark it) are fine to sell to NPCs for quick cash. And if you're ambitious, look up some crafting guides on the FFXI Wiki to use the crystals and drops you find to level up crafting. You may be really glad you did that later on.

When selling on the AH, it's usually more efficient to sell stacks of things. A stack is either 12 or 99 of something. There are cases where singles are more lucrative, so check the AH site to compare and make the most informed decision. When selling, don't undercut dramatically to make a quick sale. The economy here is pretty stable and the prices for things are generally in the range of what's appropriate for them, so you're only hurting yourself and others if you lowball excessively. Listing things for (at most) a couple hundred gil under the average price for things is usually enough for typical items.

Searching for players:

/sea = search current area
/sea all = search all areas
/sea inv = search current area for people seeking a party
/sea all inv = search all areas for people seeking a party
/sea inv 12-22 = search current area for people seeking a party in level range 12-22
/sea all inv 12-22 = search all areas for people seeking a party in level range 12-22

If you need to leave a party, it can be very helpful to find a replacement for yourself before you go. Using these commands will help.

Level sync is typically 10 levels and will let your party all become the same level. So you can have someone who's 22 sync down to 12 to party with you in the dunes. It's fine to keep soloing with your party flag up and gaining levels on your own time, until you eventually get an invite.

You will have better luck getting invited to a party if you're already in the zone, too. Try to run to Valkurm while seeking, and then rest and explore Selbina while you wait. It's a good place to skill up fishing and make a small amount of money, too.

Couple other things:

-Get all teleport crags you can. The Holla crag is closest to Sand'oria, Dem closest to Bastok, and Mea closest to Windurst, so touch the crystals whenever you're near them
-The gate guards that give signet will also offer supply quests. If your nation controls Zulkheim (where Valkurm Dunes is), offer to take supplies there. Once you've done that, you can teleport there from lvl 10, which is a HUUUUGE benefit. Always watch out for where you can deliver supplies until you have all outpost warps available to you. It can take a long time to get some since the nation control resets every week. You can only carry supplies for one place at a time though, so prioritize well.
-Sometimes you can set your homepoint closer to where you're going. If you die, you won't have to redo the whole run. The downside is that it can bite you in the butt when trying to return


Heh, just a little light reading. Enjoy!

_________________
LSs: DysKai | FunWithJugs | Ragnarok
formerly Krinkle of Kujata
some handy tips for total newbies: Click Here

*writes down a whole bunch of notes, making a txt document for those commands*

Thanks! I was pretty prepared for a steep learning curve, esp since I've heard from old players that the game was not easy to just jump into without a little preparation, so I do greatly appreciate you putting up a lot of information that wasn't in the "Getting Started" pages explaining things. I'm very glad that you posted a lot of those keyboard commands, too, because I guarantee ya: I wouldn't have known about most of the FFXI unique ones at all. Thank the gods that many of the commands are used in FFXIV, though.

I'll def attempt to give ya a ping if I'm having more trouble than I thought I was gonna have in learning the system. Half the fun for me is trying to figure things out and slowly get the feel of things. >:D

Thanks again for all the light reading~ >:D This really will greatly help me in figuring things out, especially macros (something I've never really could set up in any game). Huzzah!

Welcome! The dunes needs more WHM.. and BRD.. and everything else actually.

-Marangely