Starting Back (again)

So I've been out of commission for a while and have recently been feeling the tug pulling me back towards this game. Now back in the day I had some ok gear and was working on reforged af/relic/emp armor. But I feel conflicted as to weather or not it's worth it to come back since I only have a few days a week I'm able to play for a few hours at a time. I guess what I'm asking is, is worth coming back and trying to play again even though I am behind on gear and have limited time?

Thanks for the advice in advance

That's honestly up to you.

Do you still have friends on game, or people who can help you catch up? A lot of content is soloable, using trust, but some people (like myself) dislike soloing, so if that's a thing to you...

Endgame these days is mainly reisenjima t3+ and the higher end Unity mobs. A lot of the Reisenjima gear trumps pretty much everything but HQ abjuration gear, so gaining that can be s goal.

Other than that, it's probably much the same as when you left.

why the hell not? as seekerstar said you can catch up...just that populations are sparse NA daytime usually 400-500 ppl on. I solo here often.though i have a char on ffx1v i prefer here in 11 more,welcome back

Oh god another one of these posts, pay the $14.99 try it. Don't like it quit again. Subject closed. Done move on.

Must be that time of the month for you.

Yeah
Every month around this time dumb people discover the internet.

There should be a returning player thread that's stickied so returning players can read and ask questions there.

The game is cheap enough for people to return and try. There's something for everyonE.

Thanks for the advice guys, and to those who keep saying "GAAWD ANOTHER ONE OF THEEEESE THREADS!" all I have to say is, you may be cool with throwing money away but I personally am not. Also the last two times I've started back I get on and end up not playing at all because I have no idea what to do. And that was more what this thread is for.

I would deter people from pointing towards the game's hardest content as the only aspects of endgame, as there's a considerable amount of things to do, particularly if you're taking it all in at once. For those of us who have been playing as the content has been released, we may have had our fill, but to a returning player, there's an overwhelming amount of useful and interesting stuff.

Key things to do when returning:

1) Check out the quest log, and Records of Eminence. It's a Tutorial/Achievement style rewards system that can help you ease into 99+ content.
2) Look into Trusts, which Records of Eminence will help guide you a bit on. These are storyline NPCs that can be used as party members when you're at less than 6 people.
3) Talk to people. This thread is a good start, but don't be afraid to send tells, make shouts, etc. Most of all, don't get discouraged if you don't get responses right away. Keep at it; people are out there looking to make contact, even if it doesn't seem like it.
4) Check any Home Points or Survival Guides you come across, since those act as teleporters worldwide.

Quality post from a quality player. Thanks for this. I do hate seeing negativity and bickering.

I was more pointing out that those things could be an ultimate goal, but I see your point. I certainly wasn't trying to direct a returnee to attempt such content.

Though I'd definitely help people with the "entry level" stuff like Zi'tah NMs. I have done so many times! (For free, too, before someone claims otherwise)

I've also been known to point people towards the roe guys, and answer panicked /sh in city zones. Call me a sap, but there it is.

I appreciate the advice! I think I will end up playing again, I have a foot in the door on trusts and stuff already, but all you peoples advice has convinced me that I can try again with at least a bit of fun. I have been playing this game off and on (mostly on) since 2003~04 so it's nice to have a place to start from without feeling like I'm so far out that there isn't a point. And if anyone happens to be on Shiva and wants to play together send me a PM and we can talk!

What Elazar prob means is these threads keep popping up and returning people should just ask there returning questions on one of these previous returning threads.

Now if someone can write a returning player guide and have it stickied there wouldn't be so many of these these same threads with the same answers over and over.

I'm not being negative or anything. I'm just explaining lol

if you have to decide whether it's worth 14.9912.95 for something that'll likely occupy at least 10 hours of time whether you like it or not, you probably shouldn't be throwing away 10 hours of time

Well if that was his intention he really didn't deliver it in a way that made him look good. Regardless I got the information I was looking for and for that I'm grateful, to be honest I looked for a "Returning players" or something like that thread before I made mine, so maybe the admins should consider making a sticky thread for the returning players such as myself.

*EDIT* and for those who keep replying about "if you have to consider whether or not to spend blah blah" I didn't come here for financial or time management advice, I came here for a bit of information on what's going on in the game these days and what I can do if I come back to get myself back to current with gear and whatnot.

TL:DR I am super jewish and don't like to waste any amount of money.

When it comes to gearing, there are two approaches:

A) Get some people (generally friends) to kill stuff for you, netting high level gear. As a result, you may end up skipping some of the challenging (fun) aspects the game has to offer.
B) Gradually gear yourself incrementally and take on content. I would generally put the sequence of 99+ gear options, based on relevance and difficulty:

Starting Point (just returned): Records of Eminence (sparks gear), lower end Unity NMs, Reforged Artifact/Relic/Empyrean armor (at least 109), Macrocosmic Orb BCs, easier difficulty Merit BCs, Wildskeeper Reives, regular Skirmish (not necessarily recommended, very time consuming and kinda boring) and probably Yorcia Alluvion Skirmish
Next Step (your gear nearing ilevel 119): 119-128ish level Unity NMs, Reforged AF/Relic/Empy armor 119, higher difficulties Merit BCs (Normal/Difficult), Delve, Alluvion Skirmish, Escha Zi'Tah/Sky Tier 1/2, Incursion (pre-level 130), maybe Vagary
Mid-point (full 119, good practice with mechanics and strategies): level 130 and up content like Sinister Reign, Vagary, Escha T3 and some HELM NMs, Reisenjima T1, Unity 135 NMs
High-end (great gear, more experience with complex enemies) Reisenjima T2/3, Escha Gods/AAs,
The Hardest Crap in the Game: level 145+ content like Super Kirin, Warder of Courage (super Absolute Virtue), HELM NMs in Reisenjima, fighting me in Ballista

I might be missing some things, but I think between this list and checking the wikis and guides here, you should probably be able to get a rough idea of what's out there for you as you grow.

Hard to avoid Skirmish if you're not jumping straight into Escha. Skirmish gear is still one of the best, and in some cases only, options for DT gear in visible slots for most jobs prior to DT-4% augmented Reisen gear.

Very true, I just would say Yorcia regular Skirmish is incredibly boring and off-putting.

This makes me wish you were on Bahamut.

The reason I regularly help people is because I'm hoping a new challenger will appear.

Don't tempt me.

Note that I only go on Blue Mage.

<3

Bring it, blue boy

Fix'd.

Stop making me want to go to Sylph!!

This is exactly the kind of information I need! Thank you

My apologies. Sylph rules! I seriously wish they could give people like, day passes to other servers, even if it denied any transactions or sales beyond NPCs. Would be cool to just team up for things here and there without being stuck or spending real money.

No prob, there's no girls on the internet anyway...I'm used to it.

That would be pretty awesome if we could.

Back on topic.

There are helpful people on EVERY server. Someone will assist you for only the compensation of feeling good for helping others. Like myself (and Jeanpaul there) they recall that they too had help to get as advanced as they are.

Find a friendly linkshell. If you were on my server, I'd pearl you to Shadowz, but you're not. I'm sure that a returnee-friendly LS exists there. Ask around, and ignore the inevitable douchewaffles you may find.

Soloing can be fun if you like it, but answering shouts can be hazardous if you find the wrong group. Sparks gear is sufficient for Delve I, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Came back... caught up on missions... noticed zero people online... quit again..

Playing blade and soul... always nice to play a mmo that people play... instead of p2p mmo that no one does... might come back if there is a sever merge.... key word is might... still very fun but I play mmos to play with people... not with my self (tee hee)

You guys have been such a great help, I think I am definitely going to need to look for a helpful new LS. I would transfer servers just to play with some of you guys but I DB as well so unless I do both I'm stuck in Shiva.