Possibly Returning To FFXI, Looking For Info.

Yo. It's been a long time, Fenrir. Very long. I quit this game roughly 2 years ago (Jul 2010), for what I thought was for good. Turns out nostalgia gets the best of you and you miss some of the aspects of the game.. The organized events, sound track of the game, the constant grind, the rivalries, fun side events, and most importantly, friends and loved ones. What I am here asking for today is simply advice. If anyone can point me in the right direction, that'd be very appreciated.

1. I am reaching out to anyone who may have known me from many moons ago. If it helps any, I was the leader of an end game LS known as "Speshul", and before that a well known Ballista addict. I realize that listing every person in this thread would take a freaking long time, so if you know anyone on my friend list (FFXI AH), or if you knew me in game let's talk :D!

2. Where would you folks suggest picking up? When I last left this game the level cap was increased to 90. Abyssea had begun to feel less like a challenge and more like sneaking into a strangers' bedroom naked and beating him up while he was asleep. Endgame lost the intensity it once had and I am curious as to how it is now.

3. As far as casual play goes, what sort of new activities or pre-existing upgraded activities are there to do to pass time?

4. Are the crafting markets profitable, pending time and effort? (Not looking for trade skill secrets, just curious if it's worthwhile)


Anyways, I'll leave it off with this for now. Any helpful tips, contributions, or comments are welcome. Thanks folks!

Honestly not much has changed. VWNM can be considered a luck based grind until you get what you want. Legion also seemed pretty crappy and it didn't take off well. I'm not sure if you are craving more story line or what. It's pretty casual at the moment.

Many people, including myself end up taking on and off breaks. I'd try it out for a month and see if you like it or not. A lot of activities and runs are either low-man or shout based currently. Not many people seem to be around from the old days as well. But if you change your mind you are welcome to a Link shell.

Pretty unsure regarding Ballista, I've been gone a few months and previously it seemed like people did it a lot.

I remember you Urb~

I can't comment much on the end game situation, however, regarding ballista, I'd visit here for all information regarding!

Cheers, hope you find a good home~

Thanks for the comments thus far guys. I am not so sure I am looking to get into anything serious just yet as far as end game goes, simply fishing for information. Appreciate the offer though, I'll keep it in mind.

Only Real End Game atm is Arch Dynamis Lord and Provendence and they do provide a bit of a challenge and require skilled players and of course the rewards are very good in fact in terms of gilz for things at least in the case of ADL. Legion will be good when more people start getting there relic's empy's and Mythic's to 99 but it takes alot of skilled players to get clears in there. Players just simply haven't had enough time yet since the last major update to catch up yet. Empys cost about 180 mil to get to 95 then another bunch of gilz to get to 99. I run an ADL linkshell on Fenrir and all my members in a matter of 2 months have either made a new relic or 2 or have 99 Empys now but were the exception to the rule.... too many casual players around nowadays.

as far as crafting, it is what it always was, there is money to be made but it will cost u a ton of gil to get to that point and there eventually will be competition which will drive down the prices and cost you in the long run.

You should start off doing abyssea Dominion OPs partys and get all your jobs to 99 that you attend on playing and go from there. Good luck

I never went full retard in Speshul!!!!!!1 WB Blood Brother!one1!

Don't come back, stay out while you can, you have a better life. Lol how it feels sometimes but anyways the truth is that its just like how it was, still got competition for items like Tiamat/abyssea time NMs and so on, theres grinding for gear still like in Voidwatch, Gil is alot easier to obtain too with new dynamis and other random things. Still events to do such as New nyzul and the new einherjar thats comeing out and can do the old ones for fun/gear if you still need. Alot of changes, alot of new gear and this game is easier then ever. You will either love it or hate it the choice is yours.

If you miss the grind, VW and New Nyzul will surely fill that void.

Bad news is, you spend a lot of time grinding for that gear and when you finally get it, it's outdated in like two months or less.

Then again, if you miss that grinding...

None of the T3 Jeuno gear has been "outdated" and even several city pieces remain relevant (the only one that "became" outdated was Faz. Radiant Mail but that never technically had a use anyways). People really need to know what they're talking about before they post thinhs.

game is ***.

Fine then, replace "outdated" with "less applicable."

Toci's Harness > ws only now
Ace's Mail > low acc ws situations now, Seigan tp piece
Athos's Gloves > only on days where the bonus applies to ws
Athos's Tights > lol
Athos's Boots > Evasion only

etc etc

Also, for the jobs that can use, I wouldn't be shocked if new Einherjar gear makes Ogier's Helm or Mekira Meikogai less useful as DT gear.

The new Nyzul turned into unless you have an emp, relic, or are a SCH, no one wants to invite you because they have no clue what other jobs are capable of. At least for Bahamut as I can't speak for other servers. Some people without those jobs get lucky with a "pity" slot to let you get gear you need but very few people will allow or request anyone outside those jobs. I really need to save screen shots when we successfully farm it with THF WAR SAM BLU BLU WHM (and only the thf had a relic), though successfully farm and getting drops you need are two different things.

People just need to understand their job, it's abilities to solo groups of mobs, and really understand how Nyzle Isle system works. Learning how to clear floors during NN is not the place to do so.

see: http://www.ffxiah.com/forum/topic/30125/neo-nyzul-isle-static-6pm-est-weekends/ (sorry to point out this thread but that's pretty much how every shout looks)

This... I want to see. If you cleared 100 with THF WAR SAM BLU BLU WHM you better have frapped it or nobody's believing you :x...

Ha, you certainly shut me up.

Play TERA.

Personally I like it when my gear is outdated or made situational by new items because it usually gives me motivation to go participate in content to obtain those new pieces so I have something to do besides sit in port AFK and occasionally sing Nicki Minaj songs in /shout

Fixed.

Edit: All these returning player threads should be compiled in a sticky with a link to each lol

OMGISH HIAZ URBAN 8O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Been like Forevaz~~ But ima like... on a break cuz of End of teh Thinking year and i need to think like Mega tough now~~ so maybe After teh like.... soon i think O.o

Thanks everyone for the continued input. My conclusion thus far has been:

-The game entered easy mode with the expansion of Abyssea combined with the plethora of methods to obtain gil.
-Most of my friends are not playing :(
-Recycled content is pretty much what I have to look forward to in terms of end game, with a few exceptions.
-*** da police.
-Everyone has 17 Empyrean or Relic weapons.

With that being said, I think I'll continue to give it a shot, at least for a week or two longer. At the very least I have contacted a few of my long lost brethren who still play and look forward to hanging out with them for a bit. Worst case scenario is I wind up paying 12 bucks to have a really fancy instant messenger. =P

Also, Mtmoogle, you were always full retard. <3

P.S. Learn gooder, Unaisis.