Encouragement For New Players And Gil-buying

I was thinking today, while I was doing my casual farming, about my newbie days on my first character. I first started playing at the near pinnacle of the 2006 inflation crisis. My first job thru the dunes (and to 75 for that matter) was WHM.

When I got to lvl 30 (or is it 29) I started being scolded in parties for not having Erase, which at the time was 500+k in gil, which to me was an incredible sum of money. Along with that, I was being pushed by my parties to upgrade my gear.

Now, as a first character, lvl30 WHM, my farming potential was essentially zilch. I thought I was doing good if I had 50k to my name.

So at that time, with gil prices near $10/mil, I did buy gil to upgrade my character to what apparently I was supposed to be on par with. To be frank, I bought 3-4 mil of gil over the next 20 levels or so (which, in that time, 1mil couldn't buy you hardly anything worthwhile).

Now, before the flamefest starts, I was not the only one, nor the last one, to buy gil.

It was not long after that some of the ppl I met that took me into their social shell and helped me progress throughout the game explained to me how buying gil was unethical, and hurts the overall economy. I took this to heart, and resorted to being very poor thru my first 75. I tele-taxied, farmed what I could on WHM, and did BCNM's with those same friends to survive. I worked my *** off for my first noble's tunic (waited for a shining cloth in my first sky shell to have it crafted), and slowly but surely eventually built up my gear to be non-laughable. I learned from my mistake in my early FFXI career.

Now to the point of this post, I want to encourage new people to this game, that gil is obtainable without resorting to those smashyourfaceinkeyboard /tells for cheap gil. Today, much further from my broke years, I make well over enough gil to suit my needs, all through completely legit methods. Even if it seems like you will never have gil, keep trying out different farming spots until you find something that suits your tastes. The only way we will ever overcome RMT is to make them un-needed.

Best quote for the day.

First of all, be careful what you put into writing. Second, I found it quite easy to make money during the 50-100k silk thread days, but I can also understand your woes. And lastly, your resolve statement seems highly unlikely, if not impossible. RMT exist because there will almost always be the demand, no matter which game, RMT are everywhere. I've yet to see a MMO without some kind of rmt actions.

it was a different character. Cycl is a clean as a button, everything legit. And yes, my resolve is uh, lacking. But post was meant for encouragement for new people finding it hard to keep up with veteran players.

I had to do it, in the 2004-2006 era I don't know one *** who didn't. :D Especially christmas special when it was 3 dollars for 1 mil. Don't worry mate you weren't the only one!

I didn't because I had a brain, well weren't around in 2004/2005 so never knew these $3/mil. When I started prices were as low as $14/mil (early 06). What I did is making a mule, get lv2 fame in bastok, warp quest, send the scroll back to my main, delete mule, repeat.

200 to 300K per hour. More than enough for a low level player. Was even able to buy my Airship pass for 500K <3 Made coupe millions that way, no need for RMT :] Then toau got released, could make millions by doing nothing but getting IS while exping my char. 200K per gold coin anyone ?

Not everyone did it, not like everyone need to play game in [Easy mode] or use [Cheats] in order to complete them.

hey guys...dont smoke...smoking is bad *puts out cig*

Another good quote

An even better code I saw posted in my office kitchen's fridge:

Happiness is found valuing what you have, and not by worrying what you do not have. Such a simple concept, but difficult for human being to grasp.

If people can practice what the quote said, gil buying (and tons of RL and FFXI problems) will simply go poof overnight:P

Knowing you and the company you kept, it's no surprise. I do like how you played the "I hate RMT" card though.

In 2004-2006 it wasn't really difficult to farm <_< I did silk and Tree Cuttings, which were up to 250-500k at one point. I made a killing farming those.

I still can't make 200 to 300k an hour and I've been playing for 2 years now lol.

But yeah, gil-buying is wrong but people still do it, same thing as porn and cigarettes, we feel dirty after its done, but it feels so good during the process.

/praise

I started as a WHM and I never bought gil when I started in 06. My roommate did, however. I think around 3 million when he first started. I borrowed 200k from him to fund my cooking so I had a way to make money. Once I leveled it to the point I could pay him back I did, but I never bought any =P

i too started as a whm! even worse a taru whm!! so farming was hard...really hard. i met another taru, a wartaru. we started out the same. when i hit lvl 10, i had to struggle to get income. i would npc everything that drop. and i had no idea what beastseals were so i drop them. it took me a while to find the auction house. those were the days where i was excited to see my earth crystal (not plural) sold for 1-2k lol. meanwhile my taru friend was making 100-120k off silk threads. i tried to farm them, but the drop rate and kill rate was extremely bad. after a couple of days, friend suddenly had an "abundance" of gil. he told me to go buy it...and i was like wth?? im not paying extra money to play this game!! but he did give me 100k for free off the bat to help me along the way. i kind of felt bad of accepting it, but it did help me. other ppl bought me some scrolls too. Warp II scroll was the coolest thing i saw lol. when i manage to get to tele-scroll lvls for my WHM, i spend several nights taxi-ing ppl all around. and i made 100-150k per a night. 3-4 years later, i still play WHM. it's my main job and i love it. ahh those were the good old days!

these days i just craft whatever raw materials on the ah/guild house and sell them.

I've never bought gil in my life--I even have trouble finding a way to pay for this game with RL money--but I have had the windfall of someone quitting and dropping 300k on me before leaving while I was still a little Warrior with no subjob. It's not a lot, but being the cheap Asian that I am, I made the most of it, and it really, really helped.

I've sort of learned from that experience: I don't give each noob I see 300k, but I make sure I help them out as much as possible, and let them know some common farming spots that can help them out. And if they're in a party and have a bit of gimped gear, if I've got time, I at least make sure they know what to wear, and if it's within my budget, I help them out at the AH. Some little WHMs just need 10k to get started for spells.

I honestly think just BEING NICE TO NEW PLAYERS will help them *not* to continue the cycle of buying gil the first thing. The OP was definitely not the first case, and I really don't blame anyone who's bought gil on account that they didn't have the resources (helpful linkshell, RL friend who plays, knowledge of FFXIclopedia/FFXIAH, etc.). But it's true--gil-buying is pretty rampant mostly because of how easy it is to make 1M gil within the hour.

Then there are the people who don't buy gil buy because they lack the time to really farm. Farming takes time, and although it does not by any means justify it, imo it's a tiny bit more understandable that a father/mother with a job who can play maybe three hours a week or something do it. ***happens, y'know?

There are just the lazy *** who sit in whitegate all day and order gil because farming takes time. Or the little addicted critters who just neeeeeeeeeed to spend $75 USD on a Hagun. FFXI is just that serious, y'know?

Look at it like this, potential gil-buyers. It's a game, and a bunch of pixels. You're not getting that money back, and when you eventually do quit, it'll be an absolute waste. At higher levels you can make money easier; just tough it out til then. Don't be a person with such a sad life you convert real cash to pixel cash just because you can.

Excellent Point Triumph! KUDOS

I agree, resorting to buying gil is lazy B.S. I have never bought gil and i do just fine.
Granted, I have had to farm for hours upon hours to get the things i need. It has made me a better player and alot more understanding of others gear. I dont bash anyone if they have potential "gimp" gear because i dont know there circumstances and its just a game anyway.
Hell, i managed to Level NIN to 71 so far having never bought a single Gil. I purchases Utsusemi: Ni from AH for 430k for God sake.
For anyone who feels they have to buy gil under any circumstances is uncalled for.
BUT.... having a caster as a main, well, im not sure of the difficulties but i do know some WHM who farm and make great gil. You just need to research good spots.
They are out there so Stand up and get out of Whitegate and make it happen :)

Speak for yourself! I take peaceful naps after porn.

LOL

My hardest time was the mid-levels where all the good gear (remember SH 2.5m anyone?, Cross-counters 5m?) was extremely overpriced. Once i hit 75 the inflation crisis was over because SE banned many RMT's. Back in the days i used to farm mistletoes and synth them into remedies, which i sold for a killing profit. Great Job SE for nerfing this camp. Me having been a dedicated farmer, i must say that i am disappointed that so many good camps where nerfed.

About RMT's: It is us (playerbase) that is 100% to blame for them. People just drive prices up, and idiots go for them. Also think about it, many people can only play rarely, maybe 2 events a week and work&family rest of free time. Would you rather sit 200+ hours farming gil, or spare 100$ (8h working time) and 1 mouse click and get the same gil? I wouldn't, but than again, no salvage body, no black thatlum, 2x toreadors rings, chucu's mantle, and +1 abjurations.

Who feels dirty when looking at porn? How can you compare that to buying gil?

How does porn ruin the economy?

Why buy it when there's plenty of free stuff? >.>

Heh, yep..

First, you could only have made so much gil from what is arguably a questionable method, in and of itself.. Because the gil was inflated at the time. The gil may be proportional, but it would certainly have taken you a lot longer to [Easy mode] your airship pass.. Seriously, though, how hard is it to get rank 4?

Second, windower. How can you stand on any moral high ground and continue to use windower and its plugins? Unlimited equipment macros, and information that legitimate players need to actually do something to see? You may justify it in many of the same ways everyone else does.. "If SE would fix this or that, I wouldn't need to.." And if SE had fixed RMT, no one would have needed to buy gil. Windower just about automates the game, in a lot of aspects.. And in some cases, 'just about' is an understatement (FFACE, anyone?)

Back to the topic.. I didn't buy gil, even though I played during the height of this time.. When I logged off for a year and a half, I was sitting on around 30m (When gil was worthless) and I got lucky when I came back, and gil had value again.. How did I make the gil? Well, before the summer event that warped people to Ifrit's Cauldron, I mined there on my level 40RDM/NIN.. I died often enough to delevel it, more than a few times, but the gil was good.. Adaman and Orichalcum ore were quite valuable, and at the time, their drop rates were pretty staggering..

Players are, and always will be, the cause of RMT.. If the companies selling currency had no buyers, they'd never have a business, to begin with. However, it isn't even 100% the fault of the players who buy gil who are at fault.. FFXI is not alone in this, but FFXI players are so discriminating that it can be staggering.. I like to do the best I can.. I like to show up to an event with spare consumables, extra armor that I probably won't need, top of the line in everything that I can manage. I was willing to put in the time to do so (a 6-year stockpile of beastman's seals sustains me, now, though), however, I know not everyone can.. I've seen more than a few people with worse gear than I who know better about the game than I do.. And I've seen people with far better gear than I who know considerably less..

It's sad.. Many players will say gear doesn't make the player, but I see more people made fun of for their gear on FFXI than for their skill. And at that point.. When access to a lot of end-game shells has an application that's more intensive than a job application, and many of those applications have something to the tune of "What notable pieces of gear do you have?" Well, it just isn't a surprise why someone would rely on RMT..

Hea guys.. I'm going to take an unpopular position here but before I do I'll have you know that in my early years on this game I was fervently anti-RMT. I spent a far too much of my time locating and MPK'ing RMT .. I was even in a Anti-RMT shell, because we all know they were *** up the game, right? ... well .. no, they actually weren't.

I had to learn a little about economics before I understood this. RMT is where one player pays another to raise in game money for them. Inflation is an explanation in the money supply. RMT does not equal Inflation. There is no difference at all in raising the money yourself or paying someone else to do it. If your going to add the same amount of money to the money supply either way, it doesn't matter if it's you or someone else.

The actual *true* reason for inflation was poor game design. Too much gil was created and added to the money supply by selling items to NPC's and through quests, either by players or by RMT. Too little gil was taken out. (Perhaps SE actually thought we would buy equipment from NPC's.. I don't know..)

So why did the problem go away when SE banned RMT? Doesn't the fact that the problem went away, prove it was RMT?
No, because when SE did that they also pulled several billion gil out of the money supply. Destroying gil will cure inflation.

The only thing bad your doing when you buy RMT is your cheating, your not destroying the economy. RMT is an easy target to blame, but I can see past that to the real reason now. You could say they work harder than regular players to raise money but .. I don't know .. I spend a lot of my time getting gil too. We look at people who pay $75 for a hagun as bad and those who farm to raise the money as good, maybe because people frown on laziness and cheating, but an RMT farmed to raise the money just like the "good player" would have done and gave it to the guy to buy the hagun with. Is there any difference between a RMT and a player who is bat *** crazy about farming gil? No. Grouping people like this and pointing fingers is unhealthy because it distracts us from the real problem with the game mechanics.

There was an article in Wired a while back too that actually went to China and interviewed the people who do RMT. They are just dudes working jobs.. most of them are even fans of the games and have personal accounts.

Now if I could just get back the 8 million I paid for my ochies.. :p

Seeing how I own it, yeah definitely. Would maybe die once and/or be less efficient (like longer fight), would still get the drops in the end. Sorry if you're a subpar player and fails at soloing. Now if you have a problem with plugins what the *** are you doing on this website ?



GL getting rank 4 at early levels. Completely impossible. It's not about being easy or hard, since need to rely on others people. Can be the sitthiest player in the world, get couple of decent players, and get rank 4 done.



QQ windower is cheating QQ. Just like Integral, what are you doing on ffxiah then ?

I'd like to know how RMT and gilbuying is related to using Windower.