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FFXI Expands Its Free Trial in September!
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Posted: 27th August 2026 02:41
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  Posts: 413 Joined: 25/1/2014 Awards:  
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R51, feel free to make all or part of this into a news post.
 Announced earlier in May of this year, the expanded free trial for Final Fantasy XI is finally rolling out in September. The current version of the free trial has a level cap of 50 and allows just a 14 days of playtime. The new, expanded trial bumps the level cap up to 75, with no restriction on playtime, allowing players to really immerse themselves in the base game and explore all it has to offer. At character creation, players can choose one of the following jobs: Warrior, Monk, White Mage, Black Mage, Red Mage, Thief Additional jobs will be available at level 30 by doing a side quest: Paladin, Beastmaster, Dark Knight, Bard, Ranger, Summoner* * Summoners will not be able to get all the summons available in game during the free trial, and their Artifact Gear is not available in the free trial as well. There are other restrictions as well, as detailed in that second link above. For those familiar with the FFXIV Free Trial, the restrictions are much the same: limits on communication, gil caps, etc. So what DO you get? - The three Starter Nation mission lines, up through Rank 5, with a self-contained story that concludes by setting up the Rise of the ZIlart expansion (RotZ is not part of the Free Trial) - Access to the 12 jobs listed above - Access to at least 12 regions, with each region having 4-8 zones - Access to plenty of side-quests to keep you busy - Access to HELM: Harvesting, Excavation, Logging and Mining - Access to Crafting with 8 crafts to explore. - Access to Fishing, though you'll be limited to how many fish you can catch per day. - Access to base Artifact Gear (https://www.bg-wiki.com/ffxi/Category:Artifact_Armor) for your jobs (excluding Summoner) - Probably access to the original zones for Dynamis (https://www.bg-wiki.com/ffxi/Category:Dynamis#Original_Areas), the games' first "end game" activity. This would allow access to SOME Relic Armor, and would likely allow creation of the first one or two steps of Relic Weapons - Seasonal Events and cross-overs I know for many of my friends, FFXI is the only Final Fantasy game in the main series that they haven't played. Therefore, I'm excited about this free trial possibly attracting more players and giving them a chance to experience its story. One thing of note for those familiar with its sister MMO: unlike FFXIV which has a World Travel System, FFXI does not. You can transfer your character to another world for a fee, but you cannot visit other worlds. So choose your world wisely! I'm on the Valefor, and would be happy to guide any new players around the game. I'm usually playing on one of four characters these days: * Siofra (streaming story on her sometimes) * Altheav (my former main; I dabble on her occassionally) * Amalberga (going through story again for documentation purposes * Valara (she's doing Windurst missions, again for documentation purposes) -------------------- Visit my new website! Streaming Schedule: Monday evenings: Final Fantasy Resonance Thursday afternoon or evening: Final Fantasy Resonance Saturday afternoon or evening: Final Fantasy XI: Seekers of Adoulin |
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Post #217832
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Posted: 30th September 2026 19:19
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Posts: 413 Joined: 25/1/2014 Awards:
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Expanded Free Trial is now live, and there will be a News Post on the site later today with more info about it and some goodies from a login campaign, but I wanted to take some time to write a guide for those just stepping foot in Vana'diel for the first time!
BEFORE YOU START You'll need to decide on a few things before you start! 1. Race - There are five different races to play! You'll need to choose one of them. Note that playable Mithra are only female, and technically Galka are genderless but use he/him pronouns. The different races have different strengths and weaknesses, and once upon a time, that really mattered in game. For instance, Tarutaru have a bigger MP pool than the other races, while Galka have a small MP pool. Even so, a Galka White Mage can still hold their own these days because of later updates to the game that even old the race differentials. So choose a race not by their stats, but because you'll enjoy looking at them! 2. Starting Job - You'll need to choose which job you want to play as. There are six starting jobs:
3. Starting Nation - There are three nations to choose from:
4. Server - You'll need to choose a server to play on! The list of servers can be found here: https://www.playonline.com/ff11us/service/ Please note that as of May 2026, THREE servers have been closed to new players: Asura, Bahamut and Odin: https://automaton-media.com/en/news/final-f...overpopulation/ I would go whereever your friends are, but if there's anybody reading this that wants help in-game, choose Valefor! My server! I will be glad to help out when I can. Also, to Final Fantasy XIV players: THERE IS NO WORLD VISIT SYSTEM. You may transfer to another server for real-life money, but you cannot visit other worlds. So be careful when you choose a server, because that is what you'll be playing on. Additionally, there is no Party Matching system across worlds - you only play with the people on your server, which is WORLDWIDE (so North American folks can also be playing with German folks and Japanese folks). As you progress, you'll get to know many people by name on your server. INSTALLING THE GAME Made your decisions? Ready to start? Well, first you'll need to fight the first boss battle: installing the game! I recommend following the guide here: https://www.bg-wiki.com/ffxi/Install_Guide That guide is for Windows users, but you can also find guides for Mac and Linux on the wiki. Installation is... not very straightforward, hence recommending the guide. Please note that you can download the game client FOR FREE direct from the official site, here: https://www.playonline.com/ff11us/download/...nstall_win.html In my next post, I'll go over the first steps you should take when entering the game. -------------------- Visit my new website! Streaming Schedule: Monday evenings: Final Fantasy Resonance Thursday afternoon or evening: Final Fantasy Resonance Saturday afternoon or evening: Final Fantasy XI: Seekers of Adoulin |
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Post #217851
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Posted: 30th September 2026 20:33
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Posts: 413 Joined: 25/1/2014 Awards:
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FIRST STEPS
So you've created your character. What now? 1. Opening Cutscenes First, you'll be treated to an opening cutscene in which the camera will zoom over your chosen starting nation, telling you a bit about it. This cutscene is the same for all players starting in your nation. Next, you'll be tossed into one of the zones in your starting nation. Which zone you enter is random. From making several characters over the years, I've discovered that THIS cutscene differs depending on what zone you start in. The gist is the same, though: you are new in town and ask questions about what to do/where to go. 2. First Quest As part of the second opening cutscene, you'll be given your first quest: trading an Adventurer Coupon to a nearby NPC. The game will tell you which NPC during the cutscene, but note that unlike FFXIV, there won't be any indicator over the NPC's name - it's up to you to explore and figure out who to trade it to. 3. Tutorial NPC and Home Points Your next step is to find the Tutorial NPC in your nation. Note that they may be in another zone than the one you started in, but will be near one of your nation's gate guards. As you make your way to them, you'll pass blue Crystals. These are Home Points, and are similar to the Aetherytes in FFXIV but not quite the same. Click on them to "register" it, which will allow you to travel to it from another home point. You also have the option of setting one as your default home point. I recommend doing so with the crystal nearest the Tutorial NPC. Once you find the Tutorial NPC, talk to them to begin a series of quests. 4. Signet and Conquest The very first tutorial quest has you get Signet from a gate guard. Getting Signet allows you to Conquest, which will net you crystals upon defeating monsters. Signet also comes with some buffs, so it's recommended to DON'T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT SIGNET. For more information on the benefits of Signet, read this: https://www.bg-wiki.com/ffxi/Signet 5. Leveling, Fields of Valor, and Weaponskills The third quest from the Tutorial NPC has you leaving town to gain some skill levels. In FFXI, not only do you need to raise your job level, but also its various skills. For example, a White Mage (the job I play) needs to raise the following skills: * Club (for melee damage) * Staff (for melee damage) * Healing (for cure potency and accuracy) * Enhancing (for buffs) * Enfeebling (for landing debuffs and making them last longer) * Shield * Evasion The Tutorial NPC wants you to raise your weapon's skill level to 5, at which you'll receive your first [url="https://www.bg-wiki.com/ffxi/Category:Weapon_Skills">Weapon Skill[/url]. This is a name for a stronger attack you can do with your weapon, and needs to be triggered from the gameplay menu. It is very recommended that you make a Macro for your weaponskill. For instance, the first weaponskill for Club is Shining Strike, so I would write: Code /ws "Shining Strike" <t> The <t> indicates that you should use it on the engaged target. There are other target variables, but this one is good enough to start with. Weaponskills are VERY important in FFXI, because they set off Skillchains and Magic Bursts. For example, let's say our WHM uses the Shining Strike weaponskill. If the Monk uses Combo within a few seconds of the WHM's WS, this creates an Impaction skillchain. Impaction is Thunder element, so then the Black Mage or Red Mage can Magic Burst by casting Thunder within a few seconds of the Impaction going off, which you'll see by the graphical effect on the monster. Okay, so you need to level your weapon class, right? Might as well get some job levels too. One better way to do so is with Fields of Valor. Upon exiting your nation into a field area, you should see a floating book by the exterior gate. Click on it, and it should say it is a field guide. Choose to read page 1, and accept. This book will give you a training regimine to follow. For example, the Tutorial NPC for Bastok is in Bastok Markets, near the zone line to South Gustaberg. Page 1 in the Fields of Valor guide for South Gustaberg has you kill 6 members of the bee family. The benefit of doing so? An experience point bonus, and tabs - which is the name of the currency you get from Fields of Valor. Tabs can be used for buffs at the book (I like getting Reraise if I am unsure of the enemies in the area) or for Repatriation, which will teleport you back to your home nation. They also have additional use, but that comes in my next post. -------------------- Visit my new website! Streaming Schedule: Monday evenings: Final Fantasy Resonance Thursday afternoon or evening: Final Fantasy Resonance Saturday afternoon or evening: Final Fantasy XI: Seekers of Adoulin |
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Post #217852
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Posted: 1st October 2026 01:23
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Posts: 413 Joined: 25/1/2014 Awards:
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Okay, so you know how to level and the basics of gameplay--what now?
RECORDS OF EMINENCE You should have the first three tutorial NPC quests done. The fourth one introduces the Records of Eminence system. Undertaking these quests will boost you even more EXP -- along with Sparks, the system's currency. You can use Sparks to purchase rewards including gear and skill-increasing tomes. MAKING GIL AND GEARING UP But what about Gil? You'll need some, if only to pay teleportation fees. Let me tell you about an often-used trick: buying Acheron Shields with Sparks and selling them to an NPC at a shop for sweet, sweet, Gil. The amount you gets varies on your reputation, but it's about 25,000 per shield. I recommend MOST players get their leveling gear via Sparks, side quests, and Conquest Points. Wait, what are Conquest Points? You get those as you battle monsters while you have the Signet buff on (remember, DON'T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT SIGNET!!! You can then spend your points on a variety of items from your nation's Conquest Overseers. Here's the lists of items:
Side Quests can be found by talking to the NPCs in town, and the wiki has lists of side quests on each zone's page. Unlike FFXIV, NPCs that give quests are NOT marked in any way--you just need to explore and find them. Here's some good Level 1 Reputation quests in each of the three starter nations that will give you some gear: Windurst
Bastok
San d'Oria
REPUTATION (FAME) So, I've mentioned Reputation a few times - it's also called Fame. The more you help people out, the more famous you get, which does several things: (1) it allows you access to quests that give better rewards (2) you'll make more money when selling items to NPCs. The wiki page on Fame lists some good repeatable quests you can do in order to max out your fame, and it's a good idea to do so ASAP. TRUSTS Your Tutorial NPC will teach you how to use Trusts. This is a system of magic (usable on any job!) that allows you to summon alter egos of NPCs to fight at your side. This makes leveling even faster and safer! Gone are the days of seeking a party for hours - now you just take out your Trusts and level solo, or maybe with another player and a few Trusts. As part of Records of Eminence Basic quests, you'll get a handful of Trusts to start off with:
Free Trial Players can use THREE Trusts at once. As a full party is six slots (either 6 players, or a combo or players and Trusts), this means a Free Trial player playing solo won't have a full party, however many things in game can be done at less than a full party, so it shouldn't limit you too much. There are several ways to get more Trusts:
There is one such special event happening right now! Just for logging in, you'll get a a Red Mog Pell and Ochre Mog Pell. You should ABSOLUTELY use the Ochre Mog Pell for Shantotto II - she is a ridiculously powerful Black Mage. For the Red Mog Pell, I'd also use it for a Cipher, as Free Trial players won't have access to the content that many of the other rewards are used for. The full list of items from Red Mog Pells is here: https://www.bg-wiki.com/ffxi/Mog_Pell_(Red) - I'd probably get one of the following:
Next up, we'll talk about getting around Vana'diel and managing your inventory. -------------------- Visit my new website! Streaming Schedule: Monday evenings: Final Fantasy Resonance Thursday afternoon or evening: Final Fantasy Resonance Saturday afternoon or evening: Final Fantasy XI: Seekers of Adoulin |
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Post #217854
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Posted: 1st October 2026 23:33
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Posts: 413 Joined: 25/1/2014 Awards:
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Before we get into traveling around Vana'diel: have you been keeping up with your Tutorial NPC quests? You should! They will give you a bonus that comes in handy for getting around!
SURVIVAL GUIDES AND WARP RINGS Waaaay back in the day, players had to either run everywhere, ride a chocobo, or take a ship, whether by air or sea. It was not unusual to invite someone to a party and they wait 10-15 minutes until they arrived. Happily, the developers have added easier ways of getting around, and your primary way of doing so will be via a Survival Guide! Survival Guides are floating books, similar to Fields of Valor but the Survival Guides will be gently bobbing up and down. There's many such Guides around Vana'diel, and once you click on one once, you "register" it, and then can teleport to it from any other guide for a small fee. That fee can be paid via Gil or Tabs - you may recall you get Tabs from Fields/Grounds of Valor. As you level, you should get plenty of Tabs so that it will be rare to need to pay Gil to use a Survival Guide. You will also get a Warp Ring as part of the Tutorial NPC Quests! This extremely useful ring will teleport you back to your Home Point from anywhere in the game. Between these two, it's much faster to travel around now! EQUIPMENT ENCHANTMENTS The Warp Ring is an example of gear with an enchantment. All such gear has two kinds of cooldowns: (1) a cooldown between equipping it and when you can use the enchantment; (2) a cooldown before you can use the enchantment again. In the Warp Ring's case, you: 1. Equip the ring. 2. Wait 8 seconds. 3. Use the ring by clicking on it in your inventory, NOT the equipped gear window. When it's ready to use, its name will turn blue. The spell takes 8 seconds to cast, and then you are warped! The ring has a 10 minute cooldown between uses, so once using it, you need to wait 10 minutes before using it again. I for one thing this is very generous - it's rare that I find myself needing to use the ring back-to-back, EXP BONUS RINGS As part of the Tutorial Quests, you'll get a chance to purchase an Experience Boosting ring from a Conquest Overseer. The game suggests you buy the Chariot Band. I DO NOT. It's just not as good as the Empress and Emperor Bands. Get the EMPRESS band if you can play in shorter sessions. Get the EMPEROR band if you can play in longer sessions. INVENTORY MANAGEMENT If you've been keeping up with your Tutorial Quests, you should notice your inventory becoming uncomfortably full. That's because new players start with a lousy 30 inventory slots! The game though has many ways to expand your inventory, which are detailed in this guide: https://www.bg-wiki.com/ffxi/Inventory_101 One of the very first things you should do is shove your gear into the Mog Wardrobe. All players get access to two Mog Wardrobes, and each can hold 80 items. It is ONLY used to store equippable items, whether you're currently wearing them or not. It will free up much of your space! You should also have some crystals by now. Crystals are very common drops, and are used for crafting. I recommend holding on to them even if you DON'T think you will be taking up crafting. If you ever decide to become a paid player, then crystals will come in handy for making gil, as you can sell them on the Auction House for a decent price. But oh, that precious 30 inventory space... what to do? Thankfully there's an answer for that: Ephemeral Moogles will hold onto your crystals for you! I recommend visiting the Moogle every time you return from the field. ALL players also have access to a Mog Case, which is an extra 80 inventory slots. You can access it by visiting your Mog House and talking to your Moogle. But you can also access it OUTSIDE the Mog House! You may think it's under Inventory, but nope - instead, open the Main Menu and go to View House - it'll be under there. Expanding Your Inventory You may be thinking: "Just 30 inventory spaces? That's not much!" Well, I have GOOD NEWS! You can expand your inventory! The first way is through the Mog Satchel. The Satchel is automatically added to your characters if you use a Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) method. It's highly recommended that you do, for the safety of your account. [url=https://support.eu.square-enix.com/faqarticle.php?kid=82835&id=612&la=2]Here are instructions for setting up 2FA[/b]. The Mog Satchel will give you an additional 80 inventory slots. Very useful! The second way is through the Mog Sack. To get one, you'll need to acquire 9,980 gil first, then talk to an Artisan Moogle. There's one in each of the Starter Nations, as well as in Jeuno. Just pay the moogle, and you'll be granted with a Sack. Both the Mog Satchel and Mog Sack can be accessed any time via the View House button in the Main Menu. You may be thinking, Okay, this is all great, but what about the MAIN inventory? Am I forever stuck at 30 slots? The answer is NO! Once you make your way to Jeuno, you can do the Gobbiebag Quests to expand your inventory by 5 slots at a time, up to a maximum of 80 slots. There is an issue for Free Trial players, though: as they cannot use the Auction House, Bazaar, or Trade items with another player, they'll need to farm the items themselves. Most of the items are crafted items, which means taking up crafting. The first four Gobbiebag quests, which will increase the limit to 50 slots, should be doable. After that, the crafting items come from the expansions, which cannot be accessed by Free Trial players. Other Means of Storing Gear You can store lesser-used gear in other places, too! Various armor sets can be stored with Armor Storage NPCs. There is a small fee for storing the items, and the "claim slip" is a Key Item so doesn't take up inventory space. Even more items can be stored with a Porter Moogle, but these Moogles give you claim slips that DO take up an inventory slot. Still, they can be useful because, for example, EVERY piece of Artifact Equipment can be stored on one slip. This post has been edited by AltheaValara on 5th October 2026 20:36 -------------------- Visit my new website! Streaming Schedule: Monday evenings: Final Fantasy Resonance Thursday afternoon or evening: Final Fantasy Resonance Saturday afternoon or evening: Final Fantasy XI: Seekers of Adoulin |
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Post #217857
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Posted: 5th October 2026 14:44
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Since I'm on a roll telling people about broken links, your Warp Ring link near the top of your post is missing an "l" in the closing "url" tag.
But I do want to say I appreciate you sharing all this info, even though I am probably not going to play this anytime soon haha. FF11 and FF14 being MMOs has always felt a little weird, like, say, what if one wanted to own a copy of every mainline FF game, but it isn't really possible with these two entries. But, given their decisions to make them MMOs, I'm glad that they're both well-regarded and still going strong and also being made accessible to more players. -------------------- Check the "What games are you playing at the moment?" thread for updates on what I've been playing. You can find me on the Fediverse! I use Mastodon, where I am @glennmagusharvey@sakurajima.moe ( https://sakurajima.moe/@glennmagusharvey ) |
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Post #217859
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Posted: 5th October 2026 20:35
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Posts: 413 Joined: 25/1/2014 Awards:
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I do own physical copies of both FFXI (Xbox 360) and FFXIV (PlayStation 4) but yeah, you can't play the games without having a server. But this is partially why I am working on a documentation project of both games, along with ye olde Brave Exvius: https://altheavalara.neocities.org
Because it BOTHERS me that someday the games might shut down and we won't be able to play them again, even if FFXI is 24 years old and still going strong and Brave Exvius is finding new life as Final Fantasy Resonance. These stories are good and deserving of reaching many people/being remembered. And thanks for the heads-up on the link error! There was bound to be at least one. I will fix! -------------------- Visit my new website! Streaming Schedule: Monday evenings: Final Fantasy Resonance Thursday afternoon or evening: Final Fantasy Resonance Saturday afternoon or evening: Final Fantasy XI: Seekers of Adoulin |
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Post #217860
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