What ever happened to Keelut?

Hi everyone. Guess what? My computer died! I've been borrowing a friends laptop, but unfortunately it won't run FFXI, so it looks like I'll be taking some time off until I can get a new computer.

In the mean time I think I'll continue to make posts, if only to keep you updated on when I'll be returning.

Hope you all are still having fun. See you soon!

K

Level 25 costume party

I've finally reached level 25 WHm, and I'm celebrating with a costume party! Appearance is pretty important to me. i value having a collection of fun costumes as much as reaching a new level or having good equipment. I have Sargon to thank for the swimsuits. The three tunics were all purchased for good deals after watching the jeuno auction house for some time. The kimono is of course a prize from the recent festical, and the tunic is my standard adventuring outfit.

WHM 25!!!

Details and fashion show soon!

Almost...

I'm soooooooo close to WHM level 25, I can almost taste it! I was only a few hundred xp away when I had to quit out of the game and head to work yesterday, and I don't think I'm going to be able to go back until at least Wednesday. Which sucks.

Run, key, paperwork, revenge, swimsuit!

Now that I'm back to White Mage I'm getting a lot more done. Yesterday I managed to get from the beginning of lvl 22 to half way through 24, only dying once in the process! I also picked up a new mace which, while not as hard hitting as the hammer I've been looking at, gives a nice bonus to both Accuracy and Resist vs Light and Dark. I still haven't really had a chance to make use of the staff I picked up a few levels ago. Oh well.

Speaking of dying, I've given myself a new mission. I'm going to kill every goblin I see. This is an act of revenge. Now I don't mean I'm going to charge up to every Tough or Incredily Tough Goblin I come accross and fight them till they kill me, but I'm not going to pass by a goblin anymore just because I'm on my way somewhere (unless I'm riding a chocobo) or it's not on my FoV list. Goblins of the world! If I see you and I can kill you, then I will kill you!

Sargon took me on another tour of the world, this time to collect the keys from Giddeus, Ghelsba and Palborough that I'll need for the Kazham Airship Pass Quest. Sargon offered to do this with me a few evenings ago while I was on slowly grinding while filling out financial aid paperwork. I've never mentioned this before, but most of the time while I'm playing I'm actually also doing some kind of distracting, menial, work related task. This is part of how I justify playing the game to myself (and how I'm able to tolerate the parts of my day job that I really hate). Anyway, I was pretty distracted, killing about 1 goblin every 10 minutes, when Sargon proposed the key quest. His idea was simple. I'd auto-follow him around the world and wait at the entrance of each of the three areas as he fought the higher level beastmen and got the keys I needed. All I'd have to do is occasionally check to see if I was in the right place. Honestly, this sounded like cheating to me, but it was a nice offer, and I really did have some work to get done. You can see the screens from the trip below. Travel, travel, travel! Now I'm eager to return to Palborough though. It looked pretty cool.


We also stopped by Bastok to pick up the other festival swim suit I needed. Thanks Sargon! I'll have to do a fasion show post soon.

Bit busy tonight, but I plan on posting tomorrow. Stay tuned!

50 capes

Do you need 50 capes? Too bad, because I sold them all. I mean, where would I keep them?

Clothcrafting is becoming a nightmare. I spent hours and hours, tons of crystals and materials saved up over weeks, and all my gil to get Clothcrafting from... get ready for it... 2 to 6!


UUUUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHGHGHHGHHHHH####$%^&^%$#@#$%^&*(!!!!!!!!!

Festival!

Busy day! I was in and out of the game today and got quite a bit done. I started out with the festival dancers. It took me awhile to figure out the procedure and learn how to use macros, but I eventually synced up 15 dances with Mumur, which was enough to complete the event. Here's me in my cowboy stripper outfit cheering on Murmur!
I call it the cowboy stripper outfit because that's what it looks like. I wore it most of the day because it's cute and I was enjoying the festival, but I swear I had more guys chat with me, ask me to party, offer me free stuff and give me advice today the ever before. Four seperate guys came up to me to explain how the Murmur vs Uka dance off worked!

Anyway, completing the dance off won me this nice looking kimono. I'm building a pretty huge selection of non-combat clothes. Which is fun. But it also takes up a ton of room!
After spending some time in town I slipped into my armor and headed out to the Canyon to kill Bees and Saprolings. I made two levels pretty quick, finally bringing me up to Red Mage 15! Everyone say goodbye to the Red mage. If things go as planned we'll never see her again!

I logged in yesterday to find the Sunbreeze festival in full swing. I had heard about it of course, but I hadn't realized how different Windurst would look! Everywhere I went there were elaborate decorations, dancing and neat costumes. This is pretty cool!

I've been hanging around Windurst lately as I level up Red Mage (which is taking forever, by the way), and I accidentally set my home point for my Windurst Mog House. Sargon was nice enough to escort me all the way to Jeuno, then treat me to a new festival swimsuit. I think it looks pretty good! Thanks Sargon!

I'm going to spend some time today back in Windurst (after reseting my home point in Jeuno) trying to figure out the dancers. Wich me luck!

Can't get no statisfaction

I can't seem to stay on for more then a half hour at a time. I was on last night and this morning for just a few minutes before being interrupted, and that was the first time all week! I plan to be on this evening for a few hours and explore the festival. See you there?

Death by Goblin

Hit level 13 Red Mage last night before being ambushed by a pair of Goblin Butchers. Two Decent Challenges while I'm at 1/3 HP and still finishing off a Sapproling? Not a chance!

So this was my 6th death in total, and my 5th by Goblin ambush. Luckily Sargon was in the area.

LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAG

I jumped on early this morning with the intent of rushing through 5 levels of RDM, but I had so much lag I barely made it through 2! I gave up after hitting level 12. I'm generally pretty lag free, so I'm not sure what the issue was.

I have a new profile pic, featuring my cute new hat (a gift from Sargon). I'll probably end up replacing the banner pretty soon as well. It looks pretty crummy.

Back to Red Mage

I hit WHM 22 this morning, so now it's time to go back and level RDM for awhile. This is my least favorite thing to do, but my hope is that I can get up to 15 pretty quickly. MY GOAL IS TO TAKE WHM TO 30, subbing RDM all the way, then get SMN at 30 and lvl that up as far as I can.

Here's my new armor for RDM. Wearing this seems really innapropraite, since I still consider myself a White Mage. I feel lime I'm doing cosplay.

Death, fashion and the legal drinking age!

First things first: I just hit 21. hooray, I'm old enough to drink! I was pretty close last week before I went on hiatus, and it only took a little bit of solo grinding, then a bit of partying with Sargon, to get me to 21, and then 1/5 of the may to 22.

Death: Of course, I died in the process. I've only died 5 times since I've started playing, and 4 of them have been in the exact same spot, right outside the outpost at Buburimu Penninsula. The first three times were all in a row, and all to the same two Goblins, who would come out of nowhere to beat me into the ground as soon as I started fighting or resting. This time it was a zombie. I was too busy chatting with Sargon to realize I was getting my behind kicked!

Fashion: Later, when a goblin started hanging around our camp area Sargon said "Goblins sure like you" (I revived me after my bout of goblin related deaths, so he knows the whole story). I replied "I think it's my hot pants". To which he replied "Maybe you should get some slacks".

Which is maybe a good idea. Except... the slacks are really ugly. So far I haven't found a single leg item that I like enough to replace the Hume Shorts that I started with. I know I'm handicapping myself by not keeping my leg armor current. But dammit, looks matter too! As soon as I find a descent looking skirt, shorts, leggings or whatever I'll totally change. In the mean time I'm staying away from anything that makes my butt look fat!

I have mangaed to put together a nice "around town" outfit. This is what I wear when I'm crafting, messing around at the auction house, or just exploring one of the cities.

:(

I haven't been able to play recently, but I was up early and decided I wanted to log in for an hour before work. But it looks like there was an update, and it will take at least an hour to download!

:(

AFK

I haven't been able to spend a lot of time playing recently. I'm back to work full time after my vacation, so my nights of staying up till 5am talking to every npc in Windurst are over (for now).

I guess the honeymoon is over? I've hit level 20 and my progress has slowed a little. Monsters are getting tougher, while finding a party isn't getting any easier. Combine that with my new work schedule and I think my progress is going to slow waaaaaaaay down.

Oh well.

I'm not quiting. I'll just have to play smarter.

To Jeuno!

Everyone kept asking me f I wanted an escort to Jeuno. I figured it would be super dangerous. But I made it there without once attracting any kind of monster attention. So hurray for me! You want to see the pictures, right?

Here I am at the giant bone thing that divides Meriphautaud Mountains.


And in front of the gates that connects Sauromugue Champaign to Jeuno.

And at the gate at port Jeuno.

And at one of the auction houses of upper Jeuno.

And chatting with Sargon.

Ding!

Finally, level 20! I spent a few hours killing Sylvesteres and Mighty Rarabs near the outpost in Buburimu Peninsula. This went pretty well until I was killed twice in a row by the same Goblin Butcher! Both times he came out of nowhere while I was fighting something else and KO'd me before I knew what happened. Sargon was in the area the second time and brought me back around, then was kind enough to level sync with me to help me get revenge! I actually hit and passed 20 without even noticing!

Here's my new outfit, a Sand'o Tunic and Vagabond Hose. I'm a little disapointed in the Tunic, since it looks just like the Tunic I was wearing from level 8 to 12. I stuck with the Doublet from 12 until now, but I would really, really love to get a new outfit. The way my character looks is really important to me, and I'm tired of wearing the same old clothes!

Now that I've reached 20 I have all kinds of plans. First off is a trip to Jeuno to get my Chocobo liscense and explore. Then I'm heading back to Windurst to finish up some missions that were giving me some trouble. That should keep me busy for a few more levels!

Grind

Slow Ride

I was pretty excited to use my newly acquired Chocobo Tickets, and pretty disappointed to find out how short the ride was. Was able to get about two thirds of the way from Windurst to Tahrongi Canyon before my Chocobo disapeared. If I had known thatw as going to happen I would have just taken the outpost warp route I've been using recnetly. What a waste of time!

Still, riding was pretty cool. It didn't seem as fast as I thought it would, but I'd guess I was moving about twice as fast as normal? Plus, it looks cool!

Red Mage

I went ahead and leveled Red Mage up to 10. This will let me use it as my subjob until 20, and I guess after that I'll have to go back and do it some more. Leveling my subjob has so far been my LEAST favorite part of the game. Getting to wear some new armor and use a sword and some new spells was fun for about an hour. After that the process became a dull grind. I don't mind grinding for experience so much as a White Mage. I'm working to improve my main job, increase my level and explore the world. I get to see new places and fight new things. With the subjob I get none of this. I get to see the same places I explored 8 levels ago. I get to fight the same monsters I fought 8 levels ago. I don't get to improve the job I care about. Instead, I'm forced to improve a job I don't care about just to be effective.

I think that's the problem. I don't really want to play Red Mage. It just doesn't appeal to me. Same with Black Mage, and it seems like those are the only viable subjob options (that I have right now) for White Mage. I would totally be into leveling several other jobs, like Summoner, Dancer, Dark Knight and Corsair. Unfortunately, none of those options are available yet. I would actually like to take a stab at Thief, but I've been told that's a bad combination with White Mage.

I guess I'll just have to deal with it. I can get Red Mage up to 15, then hopefully switch over to Summoner right at 30. And then level Summoner a bunch... which is dull. Is there any method to leveling subjobs that keeps them from being a boring grind? Am I missing something obvious?

Around the world

I've seen so much! Sargon took me on a world tour last night, helping me gather the items for my subjob, guiding me through Valkrum Dunes and leading me. to each of the Crags so I could get my teleport crystal. This by itself would have been enough, but he also took the time to answer a whole lot of questions along the way.

I've selected Red Mage as my sub, and I currently have it at level 8. I plan to get it up to as soon as possible. I've read that Black Mage is actually a better option, but I really have no interest in leveling that job right now. My eventual goal is to unlock Summoner.

I also completed the quest that allows me to exit my house in any part of Windurst. What a huge time saver!

I'm a noob

Sargon asked if I had ever talked to the starter npc in Windurst. I thought he was talking about the Cardian I met early on, but he was actually referring to the Taru named Selele who hangs out at Widurst Woods gate. I thought I had spoke to her and that she didn't have anything interesting to say. Boy was I wrong!

I've been complaining that the game lacks instructionc, guides, tutorials and directions. Turns out that this npc could have told me everything I wanted to know! She walks you through the first 10 levels, suggestng when to go fight your first monsters, which monsters are too tough, when to check out the auction house, how to participate in Conquest, how to use crystals for synthesis and even when to head out to Tahrongi Canyon for the first time. I had figured most of this out on my own over timne, but seeing it all laid out for me really made me realize how difficult I had been making things for myself.

She also gave me a few thousand Gil and some useful items. I was totally broke after spending all my gil trying to level up clothcrafting, so this was hugely helpful!

Awesome: Here's a big thank you for Sargon. He knows why! I really, really appreciate it.

Crafting: I spent most of my time tonight turning yagudo necklaces into grass cloth. Fun! I was also able to answer several of my questions about clothcrafting, mostly by discovering that the weavers guild occupies two buildings, and that the one I missed is where all the information is!

Smack! I've switched over to club and shield, at least for now. I'm enjoying both the faster damage and better defense. Actually, that's a lie. I can't tell if the defense is helping at all!

FFXIV

I got really excited when SE made the announcement about FFXIV at E3 a few weeks ago. I watched the trailer several times, spent the evening talking about it with my brother and most of that night digging around the internet for more info. This led me to the ZAM FFXIV forum, which at that moment was nothing more then links to the official FFXIV site and a whole lot of speculation. Reading the threads there got me even more excited about the game, and for awhile I was pretty convinced I wouldn't be able to wait a year until it's release. I was even considering sending a bunch of emails to SE begging to get in on the NA playtest.

The talk on the forum very quickly moved into the realm of asking how much the new game would be like FFXI, which quickly led to asking what parts of FFXI needed to be fixed, what could be learned from other games and what worked well and should be carried over. This is the point where it occured to me that playing FFXI could scratch my itch and hold me over until FFXIV. And that's pretty much how and why I started playing.

I've been keeping up with the FFXIV forum and I've noticed a few things that I find pretty... disturbing/amazing/insane. Granted, any forum is going to be populatedby people opinionated enough to post their opinions (myself included), but still...

- It seems like a huge amount of the forum population has a thriving, all consuming hatred for World of Warcraft. Not a passive indifference, or the dislike of someone who tried the game but decided it wasn't for them, but the kind of seething hatred usually reserved for the people who killed your family. This means that any conversation comparing FFXI to WoW, mentioning the merits of WoW or even making a casual reference to WoW quickly degenerates into nastiness and name calling.

This is too bad because it seems very, very likely that SE will make use of many of the ideas that have worked in WoW. This would include stuff like accessable solo and small group content, easy travel, seamless zones, easy party formation, quicker leveling, alternative ways to gain experience (like exploring and quests), more in game instructions and directions and... well, that's just the tip of the iceberg. This doesn't mean that FFXIV will be a clone of WoW ( despite what many, many people over at ZAM have been shouting). Rather, SE has the chance to learn from the success and mistakes of the current generation of MMO's. Like they did when they created FFXI.

- FFXI is not a flawless game. I'm new to it of course, but I have a little bit of previouss exprience with it, and I did some research before I started. I know that travel, waiting for parties and grinding for experience are all hidious time sinks. I know that soloing is very difficult (although apparently easier now then it used to be). There are other problems as well, but it seems to mee like these are the big ones. Time sinks are not fun. This is a universal rule of game design. I won't fault FFXI for being the way it is. It's an old game, part of a previous genration where time sinks were acceptable. I'm positive that SE recognizes these problems and will be addressing them in the new game. But...

It seems like there's a sizable number of people on the FFXIV forum that don't want these problems fixed. Conversations surrounding these issues have included such stunning responses as (and I'll be paraphrasing here since I did not have the forsight to bookmark specific threads):

1. Soloing shouldn't be an option, because this is an MMO and if you want to solo you should play FFXII.

2. Faster travel will ruin the game. I enjoy running everywhere. It makes the world seem larger. Better travel options would ruin that.

3. We can't get rid of the grind. If people want to play an easy mmo they should try WoW. Without the grind people would reach the level cap in a few months. Only noobs want an easy game. Hardcore players appreciate the grind.

4. Grinding should be the only way to gain experience. Nobody want to do quests where you just have to kill 10 of the same monsters. It's too easy and it gets boring fast.

5. Quests and in game instructions that help players find their way through the game make the game too easy. Noob's who can't just figure this stuff out on their own should go back to WoW.

It's kind of insane, isn't it? Clearly the game has problems, but so many of these players have been dealing with the problems for so long that they no longer see them as problems. Or they've developed a kind of badge of honor for having dealt with it so long. And if they had to deal with it, so does everyone else!

-There's some kind of crazy consensus that somehow SE is only interested in courting hardcore gamers, and has no interest in the enormous casual market that WoW and other games have managed to capture. The arguement is that because FFXI is clearly aimed at hardcore players, FFXIV will be as well. Except I'm pretty sure that's a false assumption. FFXI may have become a home for hardcore players, and it certainly comes from a generation where MMO's were much more about overcoming time sinks, but I doubt that SE ever inteded to drive away casual players in favore of hardcore ones.

While I can't imagine FFXIV will be accessable in the same ways as WoW is now, I find it hard to believe that SE won't be trying hard to entice new players with easier content, more intuitive controls, easier partying and leveling, much more social content, more charatcer customization options, more solo and small group content, more alternative play options, less draconian billing and registration options, faster and easier travel and easier access to end game content. The crazy thing is that none of these things are to be feared. All of them will lead to a better game experience!

Alright, I'll end by saying that there are lots of smart people over at the FFXIV as well, many of them making interesting and valid arguement. It's worth a read.

-Keelut

Clothcrafting

Clothcrafting: So I discovered the weavers guild in Windurst and started clothcrafting. I though this would be fun and a good use of my time because A) I can make a lot of stuff that I'll probably use, B) I had a small stash of cloth dropped from monsters I've killed, and C) someone told me that crafting can make me some good gil!

Well, I guess the good gil comes later? I burned though my small stash pretty quickly, and spent most of my money buying crafting supplies from the weavers guild and the AH, but I was only able to get my crafting skill up to 1! I guess it takes time. I was able to craft some Headgear, a Doublet, Gloves and a few other items. So it's not like it was a wasted effort. I guess I'm going to be in it for the long haul though.

I do have a few questions about clothcrafting though:

- Where are the in game instructions for crafting or synthesis? I can't seem to find any at all. I saw a few people crafting stuff around town and asked one of them about it, and she told me a little and recommended that I do a google search. Up until that point I hadn't even been aware that there was any kind of crafting in the game! It took me forever to figure out how to do it. I thought I was looking for some kind of crafting option in the menu, but instead I needed to "use" crystals out of my inventory.

-Where can I find recipes in game? I've actually found a nice list here, so I guess I don't really need in game recipes. But it seems like they must exsist? How else do people discover them? Is it just trial and error?

- Why are some (most? All?) shops closed during certain parts of the day? Is there a mechanical purpose for this, or is it just to enhance immersion in the game? If it's the later... I appreciate the thought, but that's really, really annoying! And it doesn't help immersion that much when the shopkeeper is still standing right there!

Return to Giddeus: I decided to hang out in Giddeus for awhile since I really needed to gather some yagudo necklaces to turn into Grass Cloth. I was also getting tired of Tahrongi Canyon, and I wanted to explore Giddeus a little more. I ended up dying right off the bat when I took a wrong turn in a tunnel and ran into two Decent Challenge Yagudo, and again when I was jumped by a Yagudo while resting. But it was pretty worthwhile. I made it about half way to level 17 in a pretty short time, and gathered some interesting items, as well as about a half dozen of the necklaces I was looking for. The area is pretty neat as well. I think I'll be returning there soon!

Stuck!

Level 16! I decided to stay in Tahrongi Canyon until I hit level 16 or I completely ran out of inventory room. Both ended up happening at about the same time. This was a pretty major undertaking for me. It took about 3 hours of smacking goblins, bees, rabids and saprolings with my staff to make the xp I needed to reach level 16 *(about 3500 xp). It seems like leveling is getting harder as I go. What I mean is that it looks like my offensive and defensive capabilities are not keeping up with those of the monsters that I'm fighting. I need to do more damage!

Right now my damage is coming from just two sources, Dia and my staff. Both are pretty lame. I very, very much wish I had Banish. I'm also considering switching over to club and shield. I like staff a lot, mostly because it looks cool and I really feel that a White Mage should have a staff. I guess it's time to give up on looks and go for utility. Function over form, right?

Stuck! So after hitting 16 I ran back home to buy new spells and shop the auction house. Except I forgot that I'm super poor! While browsing the shops at Port Windurst I fell through the dock and ended up stuck on a boat and unable to leave! I tried to escape for about a half hour before calling on a GM for help!

Canyon blues

Exploring Tahrongi Canyon has been a lot of fun. I'm at level 15 now, and I've made it through 4/5 of the Training Regiments for the area. What I'm having some trouble with is the big giraffe creatures that hang out in the area. They all read Decent Challenge or Even Match for me. I was playing it safe and sticking to Easy Prey like Saprolings and Rarabs, but I finally got impatiant and cornered one of these things (They're huge by the way). This was a huge mistake, since I ended up getting killed even faster then when that Goblin ambushed me outside Selbina. I guess I've learned my lesson: Stick with Easy Prey.

I haven't been playing too much the last few days. Part of the reason is that I've been busy with a work related project, but mostly it's because I'm not sure what to do next. I had decided to hang around Tahrongi Canyon until level 15, with the idea that I'd have some better insight into where to go next. No such luck! Valkrum Dunes is the only answer anyone has given me, but from what I saw on my short trip there the enemies are so tough that I wouldn't last five seconds! I've been wanting to explore a little more, but I haven't really had the chance. Anyway, for now the canyon seems okay. Although I did hear about some mines that sounded cool.

I found out a little more about Chocobos. It looks like I have to wait till level 20 to get a liscenes, and ths will involve taking a trip to a city called Jueno. I'm actually pretty excited about this, even though I have no idea how to get there. I was a little cofused because someone told me that I could rent a chocobo for short trips starting at lvl 15. This doesn't seem to be the case, unless it somehow involves Chocobo Tickets, and item I've seen on the auction house but have never had a chance to buy.

Also, thanks so much to Sargon, who tracked me down in Tahrongo Canyon to say hi and share some food. I really appreciate the gifts and advice! And the company. It's always nice to meet people!

Next post: I'm heading back to the canyon tonight. Maybe I can find a party to help me kill those damn giraffes. I'll tell you all about it next time!

Fields of Valor and Chococbo

So I keep running into these floating books. I guess there's one at the entrance to each area, and they offer you training regiments. These tend to be a list of monsters that you should go out and kill, and the reward is a bit of experience and some points that you can spend on odds and ends stuff. That's pretty cool. I've been working my way through the training regiments in Tahrongi Canyon, and I'm really appreciating the bonus experience. I'm also appreciating that I can use the points I earn to teleport back to Windurst instead of taking the very long run! Right now I've worked out a system. I adventure in Tahrongi until I need to go back to Windurst (usually because my inventory is full). I catch a teleport back, sell off my stuff, check the shops and auction house for cool stuff, then catch a teleport to the outpost at Buburimu Penninsula and take the short run back to Tahrongi Canyon. I've only done this a few times, but I feel like it's saved me a lot of time and frustration. I'm curious whether I should be saving my points for something better/more useful?

Also, I'm pretty confused about the aElite Training Regime. I don't understand how to do that at all!

Also, I keep seeing people riding Chocobos. I've found out I can rent a chocobo starting at level 15 (which is next level). I'm really, really looking forward to this! Is there anything special I have to do. I asked someone about it and they said there's a quest? But someone else said you have to raise a chocobo? And I keep seeing chocobo tickets at the auction house. I haven't had a chance to explore the chocobo building in Windurst yet, so I'msure I'll be able to answer some of these questions on my own.

Magic and making friends

Magic: Spells have been a little bit of a puzzle to me. I had assumed that as a White Mage I might learn new spells automatically as I leveled up. It didn't take me too long to figure out that spells were actually purchased, but it wasn't until after lvl 10 that I discovered that I could get spells at the Auction House. This is important because until then I hadn't realized how many spells I was missing!

I had been buying my spells at the little magic shop at Port Windurst, but I know now that this shop doesn't offer a complete selection. Now that I see which spells I have access to, I'm a little unsure about what I should be using and what I should buy. I was happy to have Protect early on, and immediatly upgraded to Protectra when I had the chance, assuming it was an enhanced version of Protect. Instead, the spell offers the Protect bonus to other party members as well. Which is great, but now I'm wondering why I ever bothered with Protect at all, since Protectra is clearly better and has the same mana cost and cast time!

Right now my spell casting ritual is pretty simple. I always make sure I have Protectra up,a nd if I'm facing a tough enemy I throw up an Aquaviel as well. I start fights off with a Paralyze, followed by a quick Dia. After that I rely on swings from my Staff for damage, replacing the Dia half waythrough the fight if I need to and casting Cure on myself as much as I have to. That's carried me pretty well so far.

Now I'm wondering if I need to invest in some other spells. I keep seeing stuff like Barstone and Barsleep, which I understand protects against specific kinds of attacks. Are these spells worthwhile? They are very, very expensive, so I'm really hesitant to invest in them. Right now on my must have list is Banish (which never seems to be on the Auction House). I feel like I do very little damage, so having a damaging spell will really help. I hope!

Making Friends: I've been having trouble talking to other players. Part of it is that I play late at night and there just aren't many people around. Part of it is that I'm shy. But also part of it is that a lot of people just don't seem to want to talk to me. I guess I understand that. There are a lot of really high level players on Shiva, and I'm sure they don't want to waste their time with a new player who doesn't know anything. I've been trying to restrict myself to players who are close to my own level (once I figured out how to check), but it took me awhile to realize that just because a character is in the level 1-15 range doesn't mean that they are a new character. I guess there's something called sub jobs, and a lot of characters have multiple jobs? It's kind of confusing!

Anyway, I've had two bits of luck! First, over on this thread on ZAM (which I'm sure you know is a FFXI community site) I was told I could join a Linkshell called Ichiban. I haven't found any of the Ichiban members in game yet, but hopefully I will soon.

My other bit of luck was that I made some friends. While walking through Tahrongi Canyon a Warrior named Artillery and a White Mage named Sythi asked me to join a party. They were really nice, and showed me how to add their names to my Friends List. So now I have two friends! This was my first party experience, and it was a lot of fun. I ended up just healing, since I didn't want to accidentally let anyone die. It seemed to work out okay, and I'm looking forward to doing it again!

Next post: Who knows? Let's see what happens tonight!

My first days in Windurst

Hi. Here's a recount of my first few days in the game getting from lvl 1 to 13.

Race and starting city: I was pretty set on playing either a Galka or Taru Taru, but I forgot how cute the Hume starting outfits are! After playing around with the character options for a few minutes I was pretty set on a Hume female with mid length brown hair. I think for the most part the Humes are the least interesting of the races. The others are just so much cooler. But.... I really like my characters smile, and the way she looks kind of shy.

Anyway...

I decided to start out in Windurst simply because I'd already seen San d'Oria, and Bastok just didn't sound appealing. Unfortunately, Windurst is huge and fairly confusing! It's taken me several days to even begin to get used to the city.

Why I choose White Mage: Actually, I choose Red Mage! I knew I wanted to play a healer of some kind, but I was afraid that I'd end up soloing too much to make White Mage viable, so I started out as a Red Mage. But before I ever left Windurst I changed my mind. I really, really want to work with other people as much as possible, and I think if I had started out playing it safe with the idea that I could still solo easily, I'd be giving myself an out. Giving myself permission to not party! So I found my Mog House and switched my job to White Mage!

Getting started: I was a little surprised by how little instructions or directions I was given at the beginning of the game! There was a nice little cutscene that directed me to one of the Cardian guards, who gave me some money and told me that I could leave the city to fight monsters by going through the gate. But that was pretty much it.

I put off my trip to the gate and instead did some exploring, looking for the auction house and my Mog House. I'm embarrased to say that I got lost pretty quickly! After talking to a few townsfolk and familiarizing myself with at least part of the city (Windurst Woods and Port Windurst, which I now think of as my neighborhood), I set of for the nearest gate.

At the gate I met a War Warlock who told me all about Conquest and gathering crystals (which I later discovered could be sold for a good price at the auction house!). I agreed to have a Sigil cast on my, and stepped out into the wilderness for the first time!

Exploring, fighting and leveling: As soon as I stepped out into East Saruabaruta I ran into a floating book, which offered my some kind of training options. I'm still not really sure what that's all about, but I accepted and set out to kill some Bumblebee's and Tiny Mandragora's. I learned some lessons really quickly. First, it's a good idea to check the toughness of a monster before you attack, and a monster marked Decent Challenge or Even Match is not actually either! I got eaten twice before I decided to stick to Easy Prey.

It also took me awhile to figure out why I didn't seem to know any spells. I had assumed that I'd start out with one or two spells. Turns out that the spells come as scrolls that have to be learned.

I fought through the first few levels fairly easily, and came back the next day ready to try some tougher enemies. I discovered that one of the characters at the gate I was using could give me Missions. I completed my first two missions that evening, leveling up to lvl 9 in the process! These missions were a lot of fun, and really let me explore both the city and the surrounding areas as well as the history of the game. I went back for the third mission the next day (which was a little tougher), but was then surprised to find out that I couldn't get any more missions until lvl 20!

What I'm doing now: At this point I'm not really sure what to do next. I finished my last mission at level 11. I've explored East and West Sarutabaruta pretty thoroughly, and I've just started poking around in Tahrongi Canyon. It seems like my options are:

-Explore Tahrongi canyon, leveling up while fighting Goblins, Rarabs and little plant monsters.

-Hunt around Windurst for more Quests.

-Go to Valkrum Dunes.

The last option is the one I'm the least sure about. Every guide I've read says that Valkrum Dunes is the place to level from 10-20. It took me awhile to figure out how to get there, but I took the very long trip out there and was surprised to find that every monster seems to be either Very Tough or Incredibly Tough. I explored for about 15 minutes before dying to a Goblin. My assumption is that I'm supposed to team up with some people and tackle these monsters as a group, but I'm wondering if I should level up a little more before I do this? Are there other places to level from 10-20 besides Valkrum Dunes? Like maybe places that aren't all the way on the other side of the world?

I'm also wondering if maybe I'm missing some stuff. It seems like the plot of the game is mostly explained through missions and quests? Are there other missions and quests that I can be doing at this level? I feel like I kind of stumbled on the missions I've done by accident, and I'm wondering if there are more out there I can do.

What I like:

-Windurst and Sarutabaruta are very pretty. I especially like the quiet desolation of Saruabaruta, with it's ruined magical towers.

-Windurst is big and fun to explore. There's all kinds of people to talk to and plenty of things to see.

-Missions are a lot of fun. I really, really enjoyed meeting the different characters in Windurst, then going off to explore the magic towers and Giddeus. The is was my favorite part of the game so far. Unfortunately I did all that by level 11, and I was really disapointed to find out that I couldn't get another mission until level 20!


What I don't like:

-I really, really wish there was one large map of Windurst, so I could see how the city connects. It took me forever to find a few of the buildings for the missions!

-The controls are awful! I can't understand why the game seems to start with the gamepad as the default controller setup, but offers no instructions for switching to a keyboard setup. It took me close to a half an hour to figure out how to switch it! The keyboard controls took some getting used to, but I'm fairly comfortable with them now.

-I wish there was a little more direction. Or rather, I wish I knew what I was supposed to do next. I don't want a linear track like the classic FF games, I'm just not sure where I'm supposed to go or who I'm supposed to talk to.

Next post: I think I'll talk about trying to find a party, meeting people and selecting spells and equipment.

Wish me well as I start my journey!

Hi. I've recently started playing Final Fantasy XI. I'm enjoying the experience so far, and I've decided to start this journal to keep track of my adventures, talk about my experiences and discuss some of the things I like and don't like about the game. Also, as a new player I have a lot of questions, and if you're reading this I hope you'll consider answering them! First, let's get some of the questions you may have out of the way.

Who am I in game? My name is Keelut. I'm a Hume White Mage (currently lvl 13) on the Shiva server! Here I am:



Why am I starting FFXI? I've always been a big fan of the Final Fantasy series, so I've wanted to get into FFXI for quite awhile now. I'm currently working at home so I have a lot of free time! I looked at a lot of MMOs, but I choose FFXI for a few reasons. First, I have some familiarity with the game (which I'll talk about in a moment). Second, I'm totally in love with the games visual style and character designs. Third, it will run on my computer (where sevral more recent games won't!).
What is my MMO experience? Well... this isn't actually the first time I've played FFXI. I had an account very briefly after the game launched way back when. I only played for a month before school got the better of me, and I only made it to about lvl 10 as a Mithra Warrior. So this really is a fresh start for me!

I've played a few other games here and there, mostly for just a few weeks at a time. I had some nice experiences with FlyFF, World of Warcraft and Raganarok Online, and some poor experiences with Everquest, City of Heroes and World of Warcraft :)

My playstyle: In the past I've been a little bit of a solo player, mostly becasue I'm a little shy, but also because I usually play late at night and havetrouble finding anyone to play with! I want to be more forward and friendly as I explore Vana'diel, and I'm hoping I can make some friends!

Why I'm starting this journal: I have a few reasons. First, I hope that keeping a journal will help me engage with the game as more then just a somewhat passive player. Secondly, I'm discovering that this game is pretty complex and confusing! I'm not sure where to go next or what to do, and while there are plenty of nice guides online, most of them are pretty information sparse and seem to assume that you know te game already. So any help or advice that any one could give me would be appreciated! Third (thirdly?), I'd like to meet some people who play the game and make some friends!

Next post: I'll be talking about my first few days in the game!