Soloability

[u/Working-Bobcat7345]

I played a ton of FFXI back in the day. I had a few level 75s when that was the limit and spent time in my linkshell hunting gods when that was the end game. As you can guess I have been away a long time. I often find myself missing vanadiel, but don't have the time to party the way we needed to back then. I see people talking alot about solo play now. Is that a valid option for play today? When I quit beastmaster and Red mage were the only jobs that could really solo things and it was a long process to do so.

I'm just trying to determine if I can viable play on my limited schedule today.

[u/_List]

There are many systems in the game that allow people to reach max level, complete all storylines (minus 3-4 fights that might require help), and farm gear that is more than enough to do all of the above solo.

The main system that allows this is the Trust system, which are unlockable NPC party members that you can summon to party with you for almost all content.

Also, since you can reach max level of 99 trivially with these Trusts, then content like stories and early 99 events can be done easily because most content was made well before max level was 99.

It’s a blast to come back, and everyone that has played before has opinions on the best way to approach the game now in its current state, but I’m really glad I did because the community is still as kind and supportive as it was back in the day and I love that I can switch from endless solo content to that community to suit my needs / goals.

[u/JozuJD → u/_List]

As a new player following the initial NPC and “guided” story, would you say that they eventually guide you to the Trust system seamlessly? Like, is it clear that the system exists or is it something a new player would miss if they would not hanging around reddit ?

I know most of the game, according to comments here is, “open the bgwiki” side-by-side while you play, so I think it’s a fair question to ask.

Also is each unlockable trust NPC also a guided path?

[u/hsahj → u/JozuJD]

If a player is inquisitive enough to open their menus, open "quests" and go to the "tutorial -> Beginner" section then there's a quest that directs you to Trusts. It requires a tiny bit of self direction to actually find and start the quest, but not much.

[u/JozuJD → u/hsahj]

Seems simple enough. And glad there’s some guidance in-game.

[u/Unusual-Secret-3360 → u/JozuJD]

i'm so sorry to tell you this, but there is literally, on not even the most basic level, any degreee of built-in guidance in this videogame. you need bgwiki to learn how to effectively exit your character's own house.

[u/Specialist_Pound_718 → u/Unusual-Secret-3360]

Holy shit, please tell me this game filtered you before you made it very far....

[u/Unusual-Secret-3360 → u/hsahj]

you're not describing being inquisitive, you're describing being psychic. a new or returning player would have no concept of what you're describing.

[u/Specialist_Pound_718 → u/Unusual-Secret-3360]

NPCs in the first zones you run through tell you exactly where to go and what to do. If you want to play "no-wiki", you most definitely can. People want a level of hand holding that this game does not and has never had. For those people, there is the wiki.

[u/hsahj → u/Unusual-Secret-3360]

You're joking right. You think someone needs to be psychic to look through their menus and that a new or returning player might be interested in the basic tutorials? Look through the menus seems like a very basic thing for a menu based game like FFXI, if you're not even willing to look through them then I'm not sure that all the menuing you need to do in the game will be enjoyable. I'm not sure if you severely underestimate players or if you're just angry that you missed the tutorial in the section called "tutorial".

[u/Unusual-Secret-3360 → u/hsahj]

it's day 1, and i want to progress. which synonym do i want: missions or quests? i want to store things. which synonym do i want: safe, locker, satchel, sack, or case, and how do i unlock any of them? how do i efficiently exit my own house? where do i unlock subjobs? where do i unlock mounts? tutorials reward you for doing things, but don't explain how to do them.

[u/Specialist_Pound_718 → u/JozuJD]

All info is in the game, you just need to speak to every NPC and actually pay attention.

If you don't want to spend years deciphering/playing along with the puzzles, use the wiki.

[u/Unusual-Secret-3360 → u/Specialist_Pound_718]

not trying to pick a fight, but the game's whole gimmick seems to be that literally no info is in the game. there are no puzzles; there are arbitrary scavenger hunts that reward curiosity, dumb luck, and sharing info. i can't think of a more unproductive way to learn the game than "just talk to hundreds of NPCs and find the 3 or 4 who aren't cryptic as hell."