Thinking of returning to FFXI, but i Have some questionsFollow

While it's always going to vary per server, my take on the economy is that isn't too hot. The big contributor to this is the fact that most gear is straight dropped from mobs while crafted stuff is typically inferior. The bewitched/voodoo stuff might be an exception, but it falls into that trap of hoping you HQ or expect to lose money.

Leveling crafts is arguably easier now that you can be 10 levels over a recipe and still get skill ups. This can help get over some of the more awkward phases, but you're still looking at gil investments. What crafts are useful will probably fetch you some different answers, but the safer bets probably involve something with a frequently desired consumable. Just don't expect lottery ticket profits for each sale.

Alchemy's still pretty crappy on the potion front. I don't think they changed much about what stacked before and didn't there, if only because they don't want people buying a bunch of HP potions and cheesing content.

AH is still capped at 7 sales, but they did recently extend sale time from 3 to 7 days. Think they lowered listing fees some, too.

Cooking is still good. The biggest thing is, most of the sought after gear is R/EX now, with some crafted sets but largely R/EX stuff, so the economy is mostly in upgrade materials/Ultimate Material currencies like Dynamis Money.

So it does heavily depend on the server but economy is just "ok" now that you don't need to buy absolutely EVERYTHING possible like basck in the day. The Moogle NPC that sells items based on your Rhapsodies of Vanadiel progress is actually a tad more expensive than getting it from the AH depending on crafters available, but it's a more steady supply of certain items like Vile Elixirs.

New players should focus on getting to 99(117-119) and working on missions. You won't really need a lot of gil for most day to day things. Once you get 99 and have unlocked the ability to farm currencies you can make some money doing that (dynamis, salvage... to a lesser extent voidwatch, skirmish etc)

The economy is not very bustling, but then again you don't really need it to be for most things. As a new player you're going to get a lot of your gear etc from NPCs using points, not gil. You can also turn certain points into gil with a bit of effort (sparks of eminence can be used to buy equipment which can be sold to make gil). I wouldn't spend a lot of time doing that but when you just start out, it can be a way to get the pocket money you need for basics.

Once you're high enough level your bread and butter in terms of gil is going to be selling different currencies/items used to upgrade gear.



They made getting into crafting a lot easier with some equipment and with crafting kits. The crafting kits only go to 50, I think, but they will save you a lot of time, though they are still quite pricey. Honestly, though there is certainly money to be made in crafting ... by some people, it costs a lot to make it worthwhile. And it is a pretty long road. You better enjoy doing it.

Edited, Jun 6th 2016 1:44pm by Olorinus