Ok so I am trying Final Fantasy XI. My friend creates her character, and ends up on the Valefor server. I tried and tried (for an hour) to get the same server, and failed. So she tries another server, this time Gilgamesh. I say to myself "Ok, that should work, after all I ended up on that server 3 times while looking for Valefor."

So I try, and try, and try. Two hours later, I have been on 22 servers (including the forementioned Valefor twice) and haven't come across Gilgamesh once.

So far I have seen:

Alexander 2 times
Ifrit 3 times
Caitsith 3 times
Carbuncle 2 times
Shiva 1 time
Valefor 2 times
Fairy 3 times
Bahamut 1 time
Titan 2 times
Bismarck 2 times
Sylph 2 times
Ragnarok 1 time
Siren 1 time
Asura 2 times
Diabolos 1 time
Quetzalcoatl 3 times
Pandamonium 1 time
Garuda 1 time
Leviathan 1 time
Unicorn 2 times
Kujata 2 times
Phoenix 1 time

Are certain servers harder to get? How do you get a world pass? Any help is appreciated. I'd like to play the game, not spend all my time finding a server.

Once one character starts, they can buy world passes. I think they're like 1500 for 3 of them. I don't play myself, but have a bunch of friends who do. That's probably the easiest way.

I guess it'd be cool if she could buy one, but who knows how long it'd take to earn enough.

World pass prices depend on how crowded the server is. The more crowded they are, they more expensive they are. Although it is really annoying not to be able to choose your server, I understand that theyneed to balance the population between servers in some fashion.

The best way would probably be for her to make some friends, join a linkshell, and get some help from them in making some money early on. Once you get the hang of the game, making enough money for a world pass isn't that tough... you'll be a little behind her when you finally get to start, but it's also easy enough to catch up.

You can't just pick your server like in other games? That's nuts.

When I started I tried the "create a character and hope" method but never got the server my co-worker was on. Check the forums at ffxi.ign.com there you will usually find a world pass for different servers. The world pass is good for up to 5 people, but the code is only valid for 3 days I think, whichever comes first.

Edaire
Bismarck Server
RDM 27/BLM 13
Deathcake Linkshell

I agree, totally lame move on Square's part....

I finally got on Gilgamesh, after another hour of trying.

Anyone have any tips for a n00b?

Which race/job are you going to start out with? Which city? Depending on that, I can give you some quick tips to make gil.

It helps a lot to check out any of the dozens of dedicated message boards. IGN has one, and this one is pretty good too:
http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/db/guides.html

Don't bother to start crafting until later on, since it's a money drain (even for the profitable ones, you'll have to have some seed money). The only exception to this is perhaps fishing, which will still take some money to get bait and a decent fishing pole.

The best way to make money early on is through the use of "signet". Before you leave the city and start killing monsters, make sure to talk to the guard inside the gate and have him cast signet on you. After that, any monster that you kill that is of any challenge to you may drop crystals, which you can sell at the Auction House. I know it may seem like a basic thing, but I know a lot of people who don't find out about signet until later on. Find monsters that drop more valuable crystals like fire and wind and kill them instead of the ones that drop earth and water.

Your main source of income will always be through farming. What this means is killing hundreds and hundreds of monsters that are lower level than you (so you can kill lots of them) and taking the stuff they drop and selling them. It's pretty easy to find out what's more valuable by trying to sell your stuff at the Auction House and seeing what sells for more. Beehive chips, for instance, are dropped even by low level bees, but because they're used in crafting go for a decent amount of money.

You'll go solo until around level 7 or so... after level 10, you'll head off to the hellhole known as Kazham and group with 5 other people, trying desperately to gain levels and not die. This game forces you to play in parties... there's no way you can make it past level 15 or so soloing. After that, it's pretty much a series of going to different places at different levels and partying and leveling. And when you decide to start a new job, you start all the way back at the beginning. Some days you'll get great groups and the exp. will be flowing in, others you'll get a crappy group and you'll get very little. In general when you're leveling, you won't make much money since the loot is split.

Just a last thing about jobs: people usually have some pretty rigid ideas of what a job should and shouldn't do. Keep this in mind when you're picking a job, to see what you like. For instance, a white mage will almost always get a party immediately... however, you will never get to fight, and will hang in the back healing people. You need to have your spells updated, though armor is not a must (since ideally you won't get hit at all). If you pick a warrior, you'll need the best armor you can afford, and will be called upon primarily to "tank", so you just take a beating and hope that the white mage keeps you alive. It's a little tougher to get a party, since there are a lot of warriors. If you're a low level thief, good luck, since at low levels you're not very good at anything (you don't get good special moves until later on) and you'll only be put in a party as a fill-in. But you get to steal, items will drop easier, and later on you become invaluable.

Haven't played in a couple of weeks, and I think I'm finally weaning myself off of this game, but if you make some friends on your server, you'll have a blast. I wish someone on here was on Ramuh, though...

I am a hume warrior I believe.....starting country is going to be windurst.

I'd agree with almost everything that fujishig said stressing the signet thing. It helps your country retain control of regions which is tallied weekly (Sunday's) and there will be in game pluses if your country is ranked first out of the three. It seems to depend on the server but Bastok is always last on Bismarck it seems. Another thing I would suggest although not a necessity if you start your character in a country that is home to that race you will get a country ring to start with and are nice to have.

The only exception is to above ...You'll go solo until around level 7 or so... after level 10, you'll head off to the hellhole known as Kazham... Kazham is level 23/24+ but you can try any of the FFXI forums and you should find a leveling guide which will tell you where you should be at any given level.

I plan on grouping with my friend, a hume red mage. Will we be able to handle going together early or will we need more people?

Your fine soloing up till I would say 10 once you hit 10 though you will need to group otherwise xp is so low that it takes forever to level. The two of you could start together and just roam farther away from Windurst than a solo person would do at a low level.

The key is to "CHECK" everyting it is your friend just because those Savanah Rarab look alike doesn't mean they are. Solo you should look for Easy Prey, Decent Challenge, be wary of Even Match, and look for add-ons like Easy Prey with high defense is going to be tougher than just Easy Prey. Two of you if your both the same level should be able to take Even Matches I would think. Also the goal behind groups is to get xp by kill things that "CHECK" as Tough, or Incredibly Tough you want no more than a 2 level gap in the party members or your xp won't be very good. (ie. everyone 12-14, 18-20, etc..)

Oops...

You're right. I meant to say that:
You'll go solo until around level 7 or so... after level 10, you'll head off to the hellhole known as the Valkurm Dunes.

After that, you'll head off to the hellhole known as Qufim.

At level 20 you'll head off to the hellhole known as Kazham. This is only after you spend hours and hours looking for three keys.

The vast majority of people level up at these places at those levels. Unfortunately, if you're not careful there are monsters in all of those places that can wipe out platoons of people at those levels. So it's pretty common to see dozens of dead bodies littering the outskirts of these places begging for raises.

If you're a hume and start in Bastok, you'll get a decent ring that'll boost your stats.

And edison has a good point... make a macro early on that says "/check <t>" which will check the relative toughness of your target.

Dang, I wish I'd started in Bastok now. Can I change where I start without deleting my character? I'd have no problem with deleting him, it just took forever to get on the same server as my friend

If you're still on your first month (which is free)...
you can create a second character (usually one dollar more), which will be created on the same server. Then delete your first character before your trial is up.

If you want to keep the same name, you'll have to do this two times (create a second character, delete the first, and then create a third with the same name as the first)

dang all these people playing FFXI and noone has looked me up yet If you're on fairy look me up... i might be able to help you with some stuff if your character isn't higher than mine heh

actually i suggest you stay in qufim till 25 as the mobs where the keys are tend to be tough even at 25 and very tough at 20 unless you have help.

You have to kind of watch this after level 25 or so as easy prey's can sometimes kill you by then. I've fought easy prey skinks that got me down to 50 hp before they died... it sucked

I walked outside and fought some bees, then was killed by what appeared to be a kangaroo.

How do you heal without spells?

lol kangaroo... that would be a rarab hit the * key on your numberpad and you will sit down and slowly regenerate your hp.. watch out though that there aren't any creatures that are aggressive or they may attack you while you heal.. None right outside of windy though.. that's where i'm from

Was this the kangaroo is question? If so then yeah it's a rarab at least outside San d'Oria they are called rabbits and hares. Focus on Bumblebees outside Windurst because they drop honey pots, and wind crystals (if you have signet on) which sell well at the AH.

Or click the left analog stick (the L3 button) to go into healing mode...

k, thanks for the info....any easy quests for n00bs?

yeah I think that was it....lol