This is by far the worst user (newb) friendly MMO I've ever been in!

Took me over 2 hours to understand how the registration works (still can't get my beret), after finding out that it needs another 9 hours patch because the game downloads file by file, instead of packs, therefore max download speek is capped to 100kb/s when I have 40 times that limit.

Oh, and over 30 mins to find out how to open the menu and change the resolution, with Google.

Also, registered in Fenrir World, because according tho this server list, it's the most active:

http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/forum.html?cat=67

So I start a new char, head over to Windy and what do I get? A ghost town.

Tried talking to the only 4 people I saw, 3 didnt reply and the 4th was Japanese.

Remembering years ago (played till lvl 15 or so) there was a mentor system, so I find it again, send 6 invitations and... zero replies.

Is this game dead and/or hostile or it's just this world?

If so, how do I change it?

Really want to get into this game, but for that I need some help at the beginning (friendly mentors or LS)

Please, help me out :(

Welcome to Vana'diel!  Its an extremely rough game to get started with and peple are not as talkative as they are in other MMOs.  Thankfully though the level 1-30 range has been made a lot easier and you won't need much help.  Walk outside Windurst and there will be a floating book near the zones.   From them you can start doing Fields of Valor quests, one at a time but they're unlimited and are like kill x number of select mobs and you get a small XP boost for completion and some gil.

Once you get to lvl 18, you'll more than likely need some help getting sub-job items, but by then you may run into someone willing to help and speak with you.  Its just the newbie areas are kinda dead, like most MMOs are, you need to start leveling and move on further into the game.  Gotta understand that this game is 11 years old now and most players have already been there ' done that a hundred times over with new players and whatnot.

Persevere and you'll find some friends, but get started leveling and learning how to play first.  You'll figure it out eventually, but in the mean time here are some FFXI Guides from my old LS website you may want to look at.  Much of it will be helpful ~ From Registry editing thart make the game look more crisp{PC Only}, to setting up your in-game and exterior settings, and even basic Gil earning tips.

Lemme know if you need any more help, I'll be glad to assist further.  I don't play atm, but my main char is on Fenrir, and I've been considering a return until FFXIV:ARR launches...

Thanks Khrymson, 

You don't quest in this game like other MMOs.  There are no hubs with ! & ? over NPC heads.  This is more a sandbox style of leveling and the best means to level for beginners are from the FoV books I already told you about.  

There are thousands of quests to do, but they're hidden and require you to manually search for them by talking to NPCs and even then its rather vague when you're given one, and most of them are not easy.

Oh and not to forget mentioning, you also need certain ranks of Fame to aquire quests.  There are a few minor ones when starting out but to get the best quests and better rewards you have raise your fame in each city by doing quests, repeatable rep item turn-ins and major storylines, all which take a great deal of time and/or gil.  

And you don't get any XP rewarded for about 90% of them!

Best to stick with the FoV for now and worry about the "optional" quests for later... 

Ok, so it's not a grindfest as it first seemed.

About the jobs, tho... I wanted something like:

Some friendly tips:

- Until you reach a higher level toon DON'T farm lizards constantly in windurst, a boss can spawn every x hours that has a chance to drop a pretty good boots but it would be suicide at the start.

- When you reach the port town and want to travel on the ship stay at the bottom DON'T go at the top, a boss can appear (A kraken), monsters jump out of the water to fight which are hard at the start or a pirate ship might come close and get onboard to kill everyone.

You will be safe if you stay inside.

- If you go on Ifrit's island I suggest you get some help from someone to guide before you buy the map as it's a maze if you don't know where to pass from AND most important don't go there without a chocobo for the map.

This is all I can remember been a long long long time since I played this game.

Goodluck on the game it's a very good game with lot's of surprises which are fun and frustrating at the same time.

You'll have to look at the Job list, there are 20 of them currently and see which ones you like most.{22 once SoA launches}  You only have access to the basic 6 atm, and must be lvl 30 to access the others, which must be quested to unlock many of which will require help from high level players.

Get several of those basic jobs to lvl 30 first then worry about advanced jobs, it doesn't take very long anymore with the faster lvl experience from 1-30 and there are no death penalties during that time either.   Earn some gil, but new gear, spells, etc and learn how to play first, trust me its a ton more deeper and intricate than your average MMO, and most of it is learned through self experience and mistakes...

^Disregard what Bloodaxes just said, most of what he's trying to recall does exist, but none of it will effect you where you are nor will it for quite some time...

Originally posted by bloodaxes
Well apart of the ifrit island tip both first 2 can happen, the lizard boss would be unlikely as you need to farm a lot of lizards to make it spawn but the ship tips are really valuable when it's the next town after windurst if you progress from there.

He's in Windurst and the Surutabaruta zones, tehre are no lizards there.  You're thinking about the Bastok area and even then its doubtful he'd encounter that NM.  Possible, but doubtful right away...

And him making it all the way to the dock in the next few day, is also possible but not necessary.  The Kraken and Pirates attacking on the ship are quite rare even should he get on a ferry.

Oh, damn you are right! Been so long since I played this game that I mixed the starting zones names lol.

My bad.

--

Is that so? Then I must have been unlucky as first time I got on the ship sea monsters jumped on the ship and died, 2nd time the kraken came, 3rd time nothing and last I remember pirates boarded the ship.

Originally posted by Jaldren

Ok, so it's not a grindfest as it first seemed.

 

About the jobs, tho... I wanted something like:

Melee, nimble, with self heals, useful for a party if needed (love buffing). 

Comparing other games: 

AION - Chanter 
WoW - Enh/Resto Shammy 
TSW - Fist + Blood 

You get the idea...

 

 That job sounds like a red mage, you get that one at the start. Its kinda a jack of all trades, it specializes in debuffing, slow, poison, and it also good with swords... i think and it can heal aswell

 

Start as a red mage it's pretty much a battle mage/priest or if you are familiar with final fantasy games it's a swordsman proficient in black and white magic.

Then you can change to something else if you don't like it.

Originally posted by Jaldren

Ok, so it's not a grindfest as it first seemed.

 

 

Oh frick no, FFXI is the mother of all grind-fests, but they make it fun so its not at readily apparent...lol  {at least I quite enjoyed it, the zones are awesome and the storylines are epic!}

Thank you all for your quick and efficent replies.

Will do some research on my first steps, get a mentor and try to survive (for a month, at least).

Originally posted by Jaldren

Ok, so it's not a grindfest as it first seemed.

 

About the jobs, tho... I wanted something like:

Melee, nimble, with self heals, useful for a party if needed (love buffing). 

Comparing other games: 

AION - Chanter 
WoW - Enh/Resto Shammy 
TSW - Fist + Blood 

You get the idea...

 

 

 

A grindfest is exactly what FFXI is. You're going to grind skeletons in a tunnel for hours with one job, and then you get the overwhelming joy of doing it again on at least one other job. In between the mind-numbing skeleton grind, you can do lesser versions of the skeletons solo.

After you kill the skeletons on a few jobs, you'll get to go kill crawlers in another cave on each job. After that you go into a basement to mindlessly kill some more stuff for hours with each job, and then you go to a place called Abyssea and kill a bunch more shit for hours. You do this until you hit level cap for every job you want to play, and then the game begins. Nobody does the old content anymore so unless you get into a helpful LS or have buddies to help you, good luck getting things besides leveling done.

It's worth playing just to see the sights IMO, but you should certainly brace yourself for a huge grind if you stick it out.