Forum Settings
       
Reply To Thread

Returning Player - Where to Party?Follow

#1 Oct 03 2012 at 3:59 PM Rating: Decent
I haven't played maybe since I was like 14. I'd like to get back into the game and hear about these fields of valor allowing you to solo. I'd like to level with a party but I'm not sure where and when. Right now I have a 21 BLM and 9 WHM on Bahamut. I have other questions floating in my head, but thats the only one that sticks out at the moment. Any suggestions?
#2 Oct 03 2012 at 5:27 PM Rating: Excellent
****
9,526 posts
after level 15 or so (absurdly easy to get solo) - go to gusgen mines, there is almost always a party running there. Then get a page (ask them which one) and set it to repeat.
#3 Oct 03 2012 at 10:24 PM Rating: Decent
Alright, do people still go to Qufim Island? And Bastok seems pretty empty, where are most people hanging out now?
#4REDACTED, Posted: Oct 03 2012 at 11:02 PM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) Disappointing, huh.
#5 Oct 03 2012 at 11:52 PM Rating: Decent
Meevinman wrote:
Disappointing, huh.

Didn't know the game had turned out so bad for low levels.


It isnt bad for low levels. you get far mor exp then ever witch let's you fly through the 10 first levels. With pages, it's going even quicker. At 10, you can already go to Gusgen mine, where you dont party anymore, but killing mobs in an alliance. But you have to activated a page bc Exp from mobs is around 10-15, but with a page activated, you get after killing for example 4 skelletons and 2 other mobs around 1000 Exp. When you set your page to repeat, every time you complete the task, you get a little bit more Exp.

Last night i started with 960 and my last page that i had done gave me around 1200 Exp.
#6 Oct 03 2012 at 11:59 PM Rating: Excellent
****
5,684 posts
FFXI has had a top heavy for a while now, so instead of trying to create a more level-diverse population, SE has focused on speeding up the process of reaching lv99. Clearly the game has changed and is very different than it was 3-4 years ago, but it has been a good change for the most part.

There really are no 6-man parties, instead, majority of players solo or level up quickly in large groups. If you are adamant about experiencing the old days of FFXI, you can try the linkshell group mentioned here: http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/forum.html?forum=10&mid=13460146143345118

Obviously hearing this when thinking back on a game once enjoyed is always disappointing, but the best advice for new and returning players is to find an active linkshell. There are several, just read almost any new/returning player threads, then start up on that server. Returning? Chances are there is a similar linkshell on your server or you can always change servers if you'd like. What people tend to forget is that it wasn't the 6-man parties or difficult bcnm fights that made the game exciting, it was the players that you meet. Joining an active linkshell advances this step infinitely and you'll find a game with a much more casual* experience that can be just as enjoyable.


*I like to think the game just went through a big transition the last few years that has almost completely focused on a more casual style of play. Now that lv99 has become firmly established, I expect more relevant - casual, story, and hardcore - content will be slowly introduced along with a new expansion. No one knows what will come of FFXI, but SE still has tremendous plans for the future.
#7 Oct 04 2012 at 3:44 AM Rating: Excellent
Yeah guys, i was wrong in my previous statement.

Got into a party this afternoon, Gusgen Mines.

Got from level 20 to 28 within 4-5 hours, very happy with what has been done.

Lol, indeed, i spoke way too soon.

Edited, Oct 4th 2012 5:45am by Meevinman
#8 Oct 04 2012 at 5:17 AM Rating: Default
The new XI is a lot different from the old one. The old one was more grindy and more irritating yes, but it brought people together as a whole and it taught people how to play their jobs the right way. Now everyone I see is gear-gimp or just gimpy in general and everyone bandwagons BST/DNC now so there is no real strategy to the game anymore unless your doing VW/VWNM's. CoP and even Dynamis can be solo'd now where it used to take a full alliance to run Dynamis. The new XI also promotes a lot of leeching (which can be done pre-Abyssea) starting off in Gusgen Mines. Here's how the new way goes Level Burn ----> Skill Up ---> Gear Up ----> Endgame. That's all your really doing now. Which is nice that it's faster but it does take some of the fun out of the game, since I met a lot of cool people through leveling up in the Dunes, Quifim Island, Garlaige Citadel, Yuhtunga Jungle (Yaay mandies!) and many of my other favorite leveling spots.

Now it's just ---> Gusgen Mines to 30 ----> Abyssea (If you want to leech) or Crawlers Nest to 60-65 ----> Bostaunieux Oubliette to 75 ----> Abyssea to 99.

Players can also now "pay" for leveling. Now I understand this method if you don't have a lot of free time (due to work, children, etc) and you want to catch up quickly but if you're someone who's not doing much and is just too lazy, that is just sad. What I do approve is though, the old way is still kept but only in different areas, like the areas I posted above. There are no more Quifim parties (sadly) no more parties in Garlaige Citadel (thank god) and no more parties in Valkurm Dunes (R.I.P. Valkurm) it just boils down to who you know and how bad you need to get to 99. I've seen someone get to 99 in a day from leeching.

Also people don't like to really help outside of their shells due to how much XI has changed. I also do believe that everyone I've met on XI has told me they "skipped" over AF1 and AF2 and just aim for Endgame AF3 when AF3 requires more help than 1 and 2 combined. You need 8 Seals for each piece of gear, albeit the body being 10.

So that brings you to a grand total of 42 Seals. Which are only done in Abyssea, and if your someone who's coming back and your not skilled then you can kiss those seals goodbye. If you skill burn that leaves you in even more of a mess, due to the fact that you have to get gear to conpensate for how gimpy you end up and how underskilled you are going in Abyssea. Now mind you the skill up process varies due to what weapon you use but it's still just as bad when your struggling to get seals and can't find a Linkshell that will run them with you.

In hindsight I don't like the new XI, but then again that could be my old 2005 Veteran speaking for itself. I'm more or less waiting on the XIV release on PS3 which will either make or break my decision to leave XI for good, despite then expansion.
#9 Oct 04 2012 at 9:48 AM Rating: Excellent
**
777 posts
LadyNakami wrote:
Players can also now "pay" for leveling. Now I understand this method if you don't have a lot of free time (due to work, children, etc) and you want to catch up quickly but if you're someone who's not doing much and is just too lazy, that is just sad. What I do approve is though, the old way is still kept but only in different areas, like the areas I posted above. There are no more Quifim parties (sadly) no more parties in Garlaige Citadel (thank god) and no more parties in Valkurm Dunes (R.I.P. Valkurm) it just boils down to who you know and how bad you need to get to 99. I've seen someone get to 99 in a day from leeching.

There are standard abyssea XP party shouts fairly often in Jeuno, its not all pay-to-get-99 like you make it sound.

Quote:
Also people don't like to really help outside of their shells due to how much XI has changed. I also do believe that everyone I've met on XI has told me they "skipped" over AF1 and AF2 and just aim for Endgame AF3 when AF3 requires more help than 1 and 2 combined. You need 8 Seals for each piece of gear, albeit the body being 10.

So that brings you to a grand total of 42 Seals. Which are only done in Abyssea, and if your someone who's coming back and your not skilled then you can kiss those seals goodbye. If you skill burn that leaves you in even more of a mess, due to the fact that you have to get gear to conpensate for how gimpy you end up and how underskilled you are going in Abyssea. Now mind you the skill up process varies due to what weapon you use but it's still just as bad when your struggling to get seals and can't find a Linkshell that will run them with you.

AF1 and AF2 are more or less useless stat-wise (there are exceptions), there are still reasons to do the AF1 at least, if you're into storylines. They're hit-or-miss. As far as seals go, there's a fair few jobs that can solo some seal NMs. I've done them on DNC and BST, I know THF can, NIN can, I'm sure there's others. You're not locked into having to find a linkshell to get seals, if you don't want to. Will it be slower? Probably, but its not impossible.
#10 Oct 04 2012 at 1:04 PM Rating: Good
****
9,526 posts
I do have compassion for new players because the number of people shouting up atma runs has dropped significantly, but that is why it is useful to have a linkshell. I'd say atma is a way bigger barrier than seals - if you have the atma it isn't too hard to shout up a couple folks to help you get seals.

And yeah, can't blame people for skipping AF1/2 when a lot of it doesn't even have situational use. Most people go back and get whatever peices are useful for JA macros, and yeah, can't blame them for making getting to cap more of a priority than getting AF that they will never really wear.

As for the making friends etc, I've found page burns way more condusive to getting to know folks than old school parties were, overall. Mostly because if you're say, doing 70-90 in the oubilette over a few days, every time you log in you'll be partying with some of the same people. And because the whole thing is a lot more relaxed, there is room for some idle banter.

A story and some advice: An aside, when I was leveling pup down in the sewers there was this prima donna thf who was raging because people weren't standing correctly for them to TA or whatever, and whining that no one was healing them (despite the fact that we didn't have any dedicated healers, so really people were generally on their own, although I was /whm and tried to help keep people up)... so as a result I stopped healing him altogether, then he ran too far back in one of the halls, aggroed a ghost and we all let him die.

The morals of the story are:

-try to be as self-sufficient as possible in page burn parties. When you're heading out, you should generally sub for versatility/self-sufficiency not full damage, especially if the zone you're going to doesn't have a large alliance. Even if there is a whm/rdm/sch in the alliance now, they could leave at any time

-Don't whine and complain and expect people to take care of you, because people will think you're an idiot.

And a final note:

If you have haste, please use it, especially on anyone who is dealing a lot of damage (say like you are in the Oubilette, where people don't sync down, DO keep that 99 who is burning through mobs for you hasted.)




Edited, Oct 4th 2012 12:07pm by Olorinus
Reply To Thread

Colors Smileys Quote OriginalQuote Checked Help

 

Recent Visitors: 352 All times are in CST
Anonymous Guests (352)