It’s the combination of first and last names. So Unless you pick Bob Bob then the odds are good you’ll get the name.
Yeah, and names are per server, not global. So a name may be available on one server and not on a different one, which might cause problems if you transfer the character from one server to another. Not a big problem though, really.
I’m just about to ding 50 after starting less than a month ago, and I stopped doing any quests other than my job ones and the MSQ after a day or two at the start. I’m still about ten levels above the MSQ quests. You really do not need to do any other quests.
Fortunately, when you do want to level another job, you have all those sidequests to go back and do for XP and gear!
I’m having a really good time. The dungeons have become progressively more complex and cool too. This is the most single playerish MMO I’ve ever played outside of stuff like like the space sim ones (Jumpgate… Vendetta Online…).
I got my Archer to level 10, then had her try Carpentry. She’s level 6 at that now. I like that crafting uses the ability bar! EverQuest 2 had a vaguely similar system, but I find this more fun.
Also, I like the equipment vault and the gear sets. So nice that various gear sets don’t clog regular inventory.
Oh, on the topic of side quests. After you hit 50, you should run the blue-exclamation-type quest “The Rise and Fall of Gentlemen”. If it’s to your liking, there’s a lengthy chain. Great for an audience of kids.
Hildebrand! Yes, it’s fun. :)
OK, I’ll put that “Rise and Fall” quest on my to-do list. My Archer is level 17. I also have Carpenter, Leatherworker and Botany jobs all over level 15. I’m in Gridania, and those seemed like the most useful of the available tradeskills for my Archer. I’m still having lots of fun. I do have a couple questions.
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Often when I finish a quest, I have to choose an item. The quest UI color-codes the choices to indicate which are an upgrade, which is nice, but it doesn’t include a specific comparison of existing-vs-new gear. It may tell me the change to a couple basic stats, like damage, but not changes to attributes like dexterity or strength. Is there a way to see this? Maybe I just need to look carefully at the quest rewards before I turn in the quest? I’m used to WoW, where I can tell while turning in the quest which item is the best upgrade.
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Do you all do lots of tradeskill jobs? In some ways I find item-creation more fun than combat. On a free trial, though, I can’t use the market boards to sell my creations to other players, leaving me just to do the er guildleve quests. Also, I bet it’s easier to find crafting ingredients with the marketboard. Not that I’m tempted to upgrade my account yet…
If you want to level a tradeskill, wait until you are around level 80. I forget what level the Ishgardian Restoration stuff kick off, but it’s a good, easy, way to level tradeskills. It’s basically a separate instance to level gathering. Those goods can be converted to the materials to level the tradeskill jobs.
Wow, I’m glad I asked. That sounds a lot easier than hunting for crafting materials, as I am now. I had to go to the Lavender Beds to find a Growth Something Beta, an ingredient for something in Carpentry.
That said, I do like the crafting minigame. Even gathering I find enjoyable. I may continue to dabble as I level my Archer.
At the point you’re at increasing item level is most important. For combat jobs at the end game there are some very small edge cases where this doesn’t hold, but otherwise it will serve you well all the way to 90. As an Archer/Bard your main stat is Dex. You can right click an item and do a comparison with what you’re currently wearing - may not be able to do this in the rewards window. However the stats an item gives are all based off its item level (with some modifiers for high quality).
I’m probably more of a crafter main than anything else. Ishgardian Restoration unlocks partway through the post-3.0 cycle of quests and is ridiculously fast to level. I don’t recall if the trial lets you go that far or if it stops you at the end of 3.0. That said, plenty of us capped all the classes without it :)
If you end up enjoying craft/gather you’ll likely want to level all of them. On its face CRP may seem like a natural fit for ARC but as you discovered you also needed a growth formula - made by alchemists - and as you get to higher levels will have more interdependencies (ex: your armor will be made from some combination of WVR and LTW, while accessories may come from GSM, and they all require some sub-components from ALC, plus maybe some metallic bits from BSM and ARM, etc.)
As is the case in most MMOs, your gear really doesn’t matter until you get a lot higher in level than you are now. Don’t sweat those upgrades you get from quest completion. Just do the Main Story Questline (MSQ) and your job-specific quests and you’ll have fine gear all the time. Dungeons will eventually add a little to that.
Either way, you can have really old shit on and you’ll still be ok ten or twenty levels down the road. That changes later of course, but not for a long time. Eventually you’ll get a set that’s Job Specific too.
I spent some Gil every now and then when something got really out of line with my level, but for the most part I only did it for the hell of looking cooler in some other item. Dyeing stuff is a thing with that too.
Finally, you’ll eventually learn about Glamours, which sort of make all that stuff moot. You can pick your look and then the underlying gear is totally different.
Thanks for your replies. @LockerK, that’s very helpful info about item level. And @DaveLong , yeah, I’ve noticed the gear doesn’t matter that much at these low levels. Especially defensive gear. I’ve come close to dying (er, being defeated? knocked out?) only once. I do like to make sure I"ve got the best bow I can make.
As for crafting, I can’t unlock more professions until I visit the other city-states, which I haven’t done yet. I gather there’s a Waking the Spirit quest to unlock the materia system, and that will require me to go to Ul’Dahn. I assume I’ll get bread-crumbed to other city-states sooner or later?
Yeah, there’s a level 15-ish MSQ that unlocks the other cities. You run between them doing some sort of diplomacy.
FETCH QUEST MONTAGE!!!
Sounds good, thanks!
@KevinC lol, I’m looking forward to all those exciting fetch-quest cut-scenes!
I’m curious – are you playing FF14 actively? You and I often have similar tastes in games.
I’m not playing currently but I do plan to get back to it at some point. I last played it in the previous expansion (Shadowbringers) so I haven’t seen any of Endwalker yet. Queues were reportedly really bad leading up to and including launch so I backburnered it for a while. :)
Queues are normal now, and I just finished 5.3. Really excited to go right into Endwalker as I finish 5.55!
I have had minimal queues as well – 30 people, typically, and about a 20-second wait. Doesn’t seem to matter when I log in, it’s always like that. That’s actually pretty impressive: it means they’ve got just about the right amount of people playing all the time.
Indeed, one thing I like is that the world is busy with players. I guess that’s true in WoW too, but I feel more energy here.
I ran into these folks last night. Very cool. They played Guns ‘n’ Roses and The Weeknd…
Why would someone stream a concert and then talk over the entire thing?
Very cool what the players were able to put together.