Returning To The Game After Two Years... Help!

Well, I have reinstalled Final Fantasy after years of inactivity, and I'm bringing some new friends to the game with me. I would have been back last night, but any attempt at entering a PoL password was thwarted, so I need to wait for Monday to roll around so I can call Customer Support (I'm sure it's just as agonizing as it was before). Before I left I would have to guess that I was a 54THF that subbed NIN or RNG, depending on the situation, with many other jobs at levels below THF. I recall doing Tele-Taxis in Lower Jeuno as WHM/BLM, but I don't remember the level exactly.

Anyways, my question to you guys is, 'What's new?'. Are there any super exciting changes to the game? Have the leveling areas changed? Are the party dynamics at the mid level range any different than they were? How's the economy?

Can't wait to come back!

Everything is different.

I'm going to save you alot of time here, do a forum search for 'returning to the game' and you will have more than enough threads asking the exact same thing with lots of answers!

you never hit 75? game is legit nothing all like leveling to 50. honestly, and im being serious and not trying to be a ***, if you didn't find enough enjoyment in the game to push you through to at least 1 75, i don't know why you're coming back now. you can get to 75 much faster, but you have so much work ahead of you that I don't see the point.

What a loving embrace from the community...

do you have any friends that still play the game at least?

I not trying to dissuade you, but seriously, EVERYTHING is different.

Welcome back.

None that I know in person. I led the charge in my location and everyone dropped off before I did. I know I can get a friend back into the game who has a couple of 50s, and as I said, I have two others that would like to pick up the game. I suppose we could just static until we are useful for endgame content. I'm largely a casual player, and I find myself missing the game. I always have had the desire to get a job to 75, and now seeing that they have significantly upped the level cap is both enticing and deterring at the same time. I don't know if my original linkshell is still intact, so I guess I'm kind of going in blind.

You can burn yourself up to level 99 in less than a day now.

Welcome to XI, the exit is right where you just came in, escape while you still have your $12.95.

Well you still have to do the level cap stuff but leveling up will be the least of your concerns.

Just from doing a little skimming about various forums, there seems to be a ridiculous amount of end game content. If I've been reading right, burn parties use the GoV books, which are like the FoV books that I am familiar with from my last stint in XI. Just get a group together and run pages until you have wrung every last drop of EXP out of the zone?

Yes, GoV books are one way to do it. Solo to level 10. Then, I recommend:

1) Page 1 in Gusgen Mines until level ~30.
2) Page 1 in Crawlers Nest. The lowest you can sync for this page is 35, but best if syncee is 40+. You can exp off these until level 56. If there's a big alliance there, people usually don't care if you're below level 35 when you join.
3) Bostaunieux_Oubliette. You can do page 2 there in your mid/late 50s, but it's rare to see page 2 parties these days. Usually, people do page 4. You can do this page all the way to level 99.

Some folks stay synced in the Nest past mid-50s, but I prefer going to Bostaunieux if there's a party happening there so I can continue to get skill-ups.

Alternatively, you can also leech exp in a GoV burn by having another player kill high-level monsters. Zeruhn Mines is popular for this, as well as Bostaunieux_Oubliette page 4. There may be other places this is done as well, but I'm unaware if so, as this is not an option I personally choose.

Finally, once you hit level 30 you can enter Abyssea. Many people choose to leech exp in Abyssea from 30-99; this is usually what they're talking about when they say you can hit 99 in a day. Often, you either pay gil to join a leech party, or perform the role of {key} {person} - someone who opens all the chests that drops, which grant bonuses such as exp, cruor (Abyssea's gil), temps, items, or key items. Whether or not you choose this route, I recommend obtaining Abyssea access ASAP (i.e., unlock it right away if you have a level 30+ job). Doing so will allow you to start building up traverser stones, which are required to spend time in Abyssea.