A plea for HELP!!

Lickitung · April 2009

I'm an old FFXI player who stopped playing close to 4 years ago. I'm an experienced and very capable WHM/SMN. I played back in the better days of FFXI... and from what I'm experiencing so far on the trial I took, just to check on how things are before I pay to play again, from what I see, those really ~were~ the better days of FFXI.

Hardly anyone speaks to anyone anymore, hardly anyone wants to help out or team up for quests that make it a REQUIREMENT that you team. I'm not seeing much of anything as far as gear for low level players. And please DO NOT come at me with "Well, there's Valor Fields." I'm stating I'm not wanting to solo. I've been soloing this past week, trying multiple servers.

I'm not gonna pay to have my character reinstated, not going to pay a monthly fee and not going to buy the new expansions for a game that I'll have to solo the first 20 levels of every new job before I get to team. It's partly why I left WoW, City of Heroes/Villains, Age of Conan and a few F2P's... it's part of why most MMO's suck nowadays.

I want to return to FFXI, I really do, but I'd like someone other than a NPC to interact with.

Are there any friendly Linkshells out there? Someone NOT obsessed with cold sterile play but people wanting to enjoy the game? Or am I missing something here? Is there a server that has a good population, around or above 2000+ from what forums state?

Kilrane · April 2009

I ran into the same issue as you. I got a level 12 monk who's been completely ignored in every way, shape, and form. I'm just now going to try to re-roll on another server but I have a feeling it's going to be more of the same. I want to re-sub on my old account but it's not looking very promising. I just have a few more days left on my trial too.

dragonxrider · April 2009

Come join the Garuda server, Im in a pretty social Linkshell. There are times when the LS is really quiet but all someone has to do is start up a conversation and the /l's start booming in to the chat box. Also if you are interested Garuda has a very healthy end-game population. I'll tell you this though that parties are hard to get into at the lower levels, but once you're in a party then they can last for a pretty darn long time. I was in a party for 4 hours and got 3 levels from 35 - 38. FYI the server is also helpful, so thats a plus. PM Alistine in the Garuda server and I'll get you guys into the LS im in. Happy Gaming!

Lickitung · April 2009

Thanks for the invite, but a few concerns...

Garuda was my home server for my former character and so was also the first server I triedon this trial. I was ~floored~ at the fact that the common AH price for a robe +1 was nearly 11k (it only gives +4 Def at lvl 1! that's it! HQ or not, it only cost roughly 2.5k at ~most~ to make!), and couldn't get a team for the gustaberg tour quest to save my life. Only response I got was someone laughed at me. The only people I found around were bots selling eggs for the event. When I did a /sea all for people my level, I found none in the entire server. Granted this was at lvl 5, but was only cause the quest required a full team of below lvl 5's.

Short story long, I'm not wanting to have to solo my first 20 levels, which is what popular opinion in the forums tries guiding me to do. If I wanted to solo a rpg, I'd play one on my ps2 or something and pay only what I paid to get it out of the store.

If your LS has people able to help a lower lvls, I'll reroll on Garuda to test it out before commiting. If all AH prices are disgusting... we'll see. Again, thanks for stepping forward! I've missed FFXI.

dragonxrider · April 2009

Im most definitely sure there will be people in the LS that will help you with the lower levels. All you have to do though is level up to 10, since that is the general solo levels but you probably know that . I will personally level with you if you need a DD in your pt in the lower levels. Sorry to hear about the rude experience you had with that player laughing at you though. I can't say too much about the people hanging out in the lower level areas since I moved over to Garuda from Bahamut recently due to overpopulation in Bahamut. But from what I have experienced in the areas past Valkrum Dunes, I haven't seen too many jerks.

dragonseeds · April 2009

Hey man, sorry to hear your experience isnt going so well. I just started playing FFXI about 2 months ago. I play on the Asura server and I can almost ALWAYS find a party. For the most part, your gonna have to solo up to about lvl 12, but after you get to Valkurm dunes its smooth sailing. Even at low levels (1-10) I never had a hard time finding someone to duo with

As far as AH goes... gil sellers floored the economy and caused the value of gil to plummet... plus its already pretty easy to make gil as it is. I agree though 11k for a Robe +1... wtf?

Good luck!

Lickitung · April 2009

Yeah, only place so far that has a fair economy from what I've seen has been Kajuta. To give an example, the robe +1 common AH price there is 2 - 3k. I ran to Jeuno and checked the AH there, got a Cobra Unit tunic (+8MP, 1 DEF, All jobs lvl 1 rare) for 4k and price on Astral Ring was 120k on average (there were 5 in stock. 125k was the price I saw 4 years ago).

But you say that Bahamut is overpopulated and you've had no problems getting teams in Valkurm at lvl 12 on your present server? I've got no problems getting to 10 -12 solo, that was the way it was back when I played. Lvl 20.. that's ridiculous.

dragonxrider · April 2009

When the members in the LS needed some members for pt'ing in valkrum dunes there were always volunteers if no one is busy. So far though, we have just made parties with members in the LS because it takes a while to get into a pt because of the low population in the early level areas. One thing I've learned though in the server is that you have to make your own parties if you don't want to wait long. It seems the players in Garuda hate being the pt leader. If you have no problems being pt leader in Garuda then you are well on your way for smooth leveling, but if you aren't then it's going to take a while to level up. I would suggest looking at other servers though before making a pernament move. I kinda made that mistake moving to Garuda to be honest. The LS wanted to move because of the overpopulation in Bahamut so they decided on Garuda. I was kinda having mixed feelings about that decision but I liked my LS to much to stay back in Bahamut. So the LS is the only thing thats keeping me in Garuda, that and the huge end-game population in the server.

WSIMike · April 2009

Originally posted by Lickitung

I'm an old FFXI player who stopped playing close to 4 years ago. I'm an experienced and very capable WHM/SMN. I played back in the better days of FFXI... and from what I'm experiencing so far on the trial I took, just to check on how things are before I pay to play again, from what I see, those really ~were~ the better days of FFXI.

Ahh.. I think you're jumping the gun a bit there.
Things have changed in the game, especially with it being friendlier to smaller groups, etc. But it's still very much the same game. I think you're experiencing what any new player does in an established MMO... you come to the game and are sorta on your own for the first little while. In the beginning, when the game first came out, people were talking a lot because no one knew what they were doing and everyone was asking questions or sharing what they learned. Now that people have learned the game and/or have a plethora of online resources to turn to, they don't really need to depend on each other so much anymore at the lower levels. Though people do still come here asking for help, server advice, etc.
However... FFXI is still FFXI. You do still have to group up and you do still have to help and be helped by others to complete much of the content - that definitely hasn't changed.

Hardly anyone speaks to anyone anymore, hardly anyone wants to help out or team up for quests that make it a REQUIREMENT that you team. I'm not seeing much of anything as far as gear for low level players. And please DO NOT come at me with "Well, there's Valor Fields." I'm stating I'm not wanting to solo. I've been soloing this past week, trying multiple servers.

I'm not gonna pay to have my character reinstated, not going to pay a monthly fee and not going to buy the new expansions for a game that I'll have to solo the first 20 levels of every new job before I get to team. It's partly why I left WoW, City of Heroes/Villains, Age of Conan and a few F2P's... it's part of why most MMO's suck nowadays.

Well Fields of Valor is a good option to help get some extra money and xp while hunting mobs. However, the first 10-13 levels in the game always were designed to be soloable. The mobs are geared towards solo battles, etc. They're intended for you to learn the basics of the game, learn your chosen job and basically learn the ropes. Not 'til about 10-13 would you really start grouping up, and that's always been the case. Grouping in those starter levels is often slower than soloing them.

There are people who go clear to 20 now using Fields of Valor and that's the result, I think, of people tiring of "The Dunes", which I think was always wildly exaggerrated anyway. 10-20 is a rough period no matter where you level up because it's where new players are first learning to play their jobs in parties and a lot of mistakes can be made. It was that way when the game first came out, and it's no different now. People, in my opinion, have simply become less tolerant, more impatient and more whiney about it... as well as some forgetting they were that new player at one time as well. But anyway, people will now say to avoid the Dunes and at least duo up to 20 on Fields of Valor to by-pass them. It's not mandatory, but it has become more common.

That said...

Do not be put off or start to think that FFXI has become like WoW or CoH or any of those. It's not even *close* to those games. Even if you were to solo to 75 on a job (which, at least for the first job, is impossible due to the Genkai quests starting at 50), leveling in FFXI is just a *small* part of the game overall. For all the other content... Missions for FFXI, Zilart, CoP, Aht Urghan and WoTG, you *will* need groups. For Assault, Salvage, Dynamis, BCNMs, ENMs, ZNMs, KSNMs, Einjheriar (however the hell you spell that), Sea, Sky, Limbus... and on and on... you *will* need groups. In Besieged and Campaign Battle, even if you're not in a group, you will still be among *many* other players who will be healing or buffing you, etc. And, even leveling up there will be times when even if it's not a full party... you will likely be at least duoing with another person.

So... Don't despair. Yes, the game has become a bit friendlier to smaller groups and/or soloing, but I think that's a concession SE had to make if they were to keep people playing and/or keep new people coming in. But it's a good balance, I think. The ability to level in smaller groups, but still being required to be in a full party (or an alliance of 3 parties) to complete all the key content in the game seems pretty fair to me.
I want to return to FFXI, I really do, but I'd like someone other than a NPC to interact with.
Are there any friendly Linkshells out there? Someone NOT obsessed with cold sterile play but people wanting to enjoy the game? Or am I missing something here? Is there a server that has a good population, around or above 2000+ from what forums state?

My server, Pandemonium, has upwards of 2000 on at times - mostly the overlap between Western and Eastern play times. However, there's no shortage of people to group with. I've recently joined a new LS that I'm running Chains of Promathia with and we've been having a ball doing Campaign Battle, etc. Many times they'll ask in LS for people to form a party to go level somewhere, etc. So.. those kinds of linkshells do exist. Just need to find one that suits your style.

There's a misconception, I think, that having 2000 players will make the server better than having, say, 1500. You only need a good linkshell of maybe 30 people, and some good people on your friends list to fully enjoy the game. After a point, it becomes a case of diminishing returns. Sure there's more people on the server, but there's also more competition for rare spawns, more competition on the Auction House, etc. etc.

I would recommend posting on limitbreakradio.com's forums and let them know you're a returning player, let them know what you're looking for in a LS and see how that helps. You can also try the forums on ffxiclopedia.org.

Just be patient and hang in there... Not everything's going to fall into place as soon as you start playing again (though it might, ya never know). The FFXI you remember *is* still there.... It's just changed a little bit over the past 4 years.

And of course.. Welcome back to Vana'diel!

jemsmck · April 2009

Originally posted by WSIMike

Originally posted by Lickitung

I'm an old FFXI player who stopped playing close to 4 years ago. I'm an experienced and very capable WHM/SMN. I played back in the better days of FFXI... and from what I'm experiencing so far on the trial I took, just to check on how things are before I pay to play again, from what I see, those really ~were~ the better days of FFXI.

Ahh.. I think you're jumping the gun a bit there.
Things have changed in the game, especially with it being friendlier to smaller groups, etc. But it's still very much the same game. I think you're experiencing what any new player does in an established MMO... you come to the game and are sorta on your own for the first little while. In the beginning, when the game first came out, people were talking a lot because no one knew what they were doing and everyone was asking questions or sharing what they learned. Now that people have learned the game and/or have a plethora of online resources to turn to, they don't really need to depend on each other so much anymore at the lower levels. Though people do still come here asking for help, server advice, etc.
However... FFXI is still FFXI. You do still have to group up and you do still have to help and be helped by others to complete much of the content - that definitely hasn't changed.

Hardly anyone speaks to anyone anymore, hardly anyone wants to help out or team up for quests that make it a REQUIREMENT that you team. I'm not seeing much of anything as far as gear for low level players. And please DO NOT come at me with "Well, there's Valor Fields." I'm stating I'm not wanting to solo. I've been soloing this past week, trying multiple servers.

I'm not gonna pay to have my character reinstated, not going to pay a monthly fee and not going to buy the new expansions for a game that I'll have to solo the first 20 levels of every new job before I get to team. It's partly why I left WoW, City of Heroes/Villains, Age of Conan and a few F2P's... it's part of why most MMO's suck nowadays.

Well Fields of Valor is a good option to help get some extra money and xp while hunting mobs. However, the first 10-13 levels in the game always were designed to be soloable. The mobs are geared towards solo battles, etc. They're intended for you to learn the basics of the game, learn your chosen job and basically learn the ropes. Not 'til about 10-13 would you really start grouping up, and that's always been the case. Grouping in those starter levels is often slower than soloing them.

There are people who go clear to 20 now using Fields of Valor and that's the result, I think, of people tiring of "The Dunes", which I think was always wildly exaggerrated anyway. 10-20 is a rough period no matter where you level up because it's where new players are first learning to play their jobs in parties and a lot of mistakes can be made. It was that way when the game first came out, and it's no different now. People, in my opinion, have simply become less tolerant, more impatient and more whiney about it... as well as some forgetting they were that new player at one time as well. But anyway, people will now say to avoid the Dunes and at least duo up to 20 on Fields of Valor to by-pass them. It's not mandatory, but it has become more common.

That said...

Do not be put off or start to think that FFXI has become like WoW or CoH or any of those. It's not even *close* to those games. Even if you were to solo to 75 on a job (which, at least for the first job, is impossible due to the Genkai quests starting at 50), leveling in FFXI is just a *small* part of the game overall. For all the other content... Missions for FFXI, Zilart, CoP, Aht Urghan and WoTG, you *will* need groups. For Assault, Salvage, Dynamis, BCNMs, ENMs, ZNMs, KSNMs, Einjheriar (however the hell you spell that), Sea, Sky, Limbus... and on and on... you *will* need groups. In Besieged and Campaign Battle, even if you're not in a group, you will still be among *many* other players who will be healing or buffing you, etc. And, even leveling up there will be times when even if it's not a full party... you will likely be at least duoing with another person.

So... Don't despair. Yes, the game has become a bit friendlier to smaller groups and/or soloing, but I think that's a concession SE had to make if they were to keep people playing and/or keep new people coming in. But it's a good balance, I think. The ability to level in smaller groups, but still being required to be in a full party (or an alliance of 3 parties) to complete all the key content in the game seems pretty fair to me.
I want to return to FFXI, I really do, but I'd like someone other than a NPC to interact with.
Are there any friendly Linkshells out there? Someone NOT obsessed with cold sterile play but people wanting to enjoy the game? Or am I missing something here? Is there a server that has a good population, around or above 2000+ from what forums state?

My server, Pandemonium, has upwards of 2000 on at times - mostly the overlap between Western and Eastern play times. However, there's no shortage of people to group with. I've recently joined a new LS that I'm running Chains of Promathia with and we've been having a ball doing Campaign Battle, etc. Many times they'll ask in LS for people to form a party to go level somewhere, etc. So.. those kinds of linkshells do exist. Just need to find one that suits your style.

There's a misconception, I think, that having 2000 players will make the server better than having, say, 1500. You only need a good linkshell of maybe 30 people, and some good people on your friends list to fully enjoy the game. After a point, it becomes a case of diminishing returns. Sure there's more people on the server, but there's also more competition for rare spawns, more competition on the Auction House, etc. etc.

I would recommend posting on limitbreakradio.com's forums and let them know you're a returning player, let them know what you're looking for in a LS and see how that helps. You can also try the forums on ffxiclopedia.org.

Just be patient and hang in there... Not everything's going to fall into place as soon as you start playing again (though it might, ya never know). The FFXI you remember *is* still there.... It's just changed a little bit over the past 4 years.

And of course.. Welcome back to Vana'diel!

**Applaud**

Lickitung · April 2009

Thanks for the replies from everyone so far, I'll take the advice given. Thanks Dragonxrider, for the honest take on Garuda. but yeah, even if they can bring back my WHM/SMN, I'm far from end game. I just started becoming useful for nuking bosses in the promathia quests.

WSIMike - alot of what you said, I know full and well. And the comparison of FFXI to those other games wasn't a content comparison, I was comparing the community. The content of FFXI is what is luring me back, I've always been a FF fan and almost did a girlish squeal when I learned they were doing a MMO. I bought a new pc for the game and sat and watched the mass updates while installing when it first released here in the US. But yeah, there's no question that FFXI is better content wise.

My problem is that I've actively reached out to other players in this. Not just to get help on gustaberg tour. I ran from Bastok to Jeuno and from Windhurst to Jeuno to check out the higher level player population and see if I could get a welcome (notice that I obtained a great price on a nice tunic for the newbie mage on Kajuta because of the trip). Trouble is that I was ignored for the most part. And Jeuno was full of people, almost exactly as I remember it. I wasn't spamming for a team or selling, just seeking conversation.

Best bit of socialization I've had was one player was kind enough to welcome me and a friend to FFXI with a very generous gift of 15k gil. It was her first time in, I managed to get her to try it. She has already been intimidated by the concept of soloing a long distance before being able to team and has more or less quit. I'm trying to get to a team lvl so I can show her that the game can be enjoyable.. but I myself am becoming discouraged here.

I thank you for the welcome and if Pandemonium has the friendly population you say, then I'll give it a shot, but my trial time is almost up. If need be, I may attempt to have them resurrect my old character and pay a month... but if I can't get something better here... What was your LS group and are you taking new players?

Satimasu · April 2009

You still never contacted me on Kujata...

Lickitung · April 2009

Sorry. I responded to your post in the other thread because you never gave your character name in that post and I can't read the font in the pic on your signature. I hoped you would read that response and contact me. What is your character name?

Satimasu · April 2009

No problem. User name is character name. I'll be on later tonight.

d00fbysancho · April 2009

I could disagree in a way yes its hard to find partys...i play on asura but all i had to do was set the party up myself....and getting a ls helps i was always abe to find partys during mid day and nights i lliveon eastern time....

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