Newbie Question

I have been playing FFXI for like 18 months, with many lvl 75 characters.

I FINALLY have a job and not alot of time, is the path to level 20 a grind or a breeze?

Can anyone estimate about how long it would take me to get lvl 20 say playing 3-4 hours per day?

It's a breeze and shouldn't take you longer then a week or two tops. Although I would suggest taking your time so you don't skip over any content, as that's a major part of the game. Being topped out at the level cap really doesn't offer much reward so it's not really the ultimate goal is would be in other MMOs.

Thanks for the info I'll check it out.

Also, How do people go about forming partys? Do you wait around town a long time or is there some sort of feature that will set up a party for people with similar or the same objectives?

party recruiting is done manually, sorry.

OK i can deal with that?

What jobs seem to be the most highly recruited?

Also, are there a lot of low level players running around that I could party with

The game has a lot of balance so I haven't personally seen any profound profession preferences in regards to grouping. I believe that others might not see it this way but generally speaking it appears as if the majority of players are willing to take what they can get and work with what they have at the time. I honestly don't believe that you will have any problems finding a group regardless of what professions you choose. Therefore, play as whom you see fit for your personal enjoyment.

Having said that, it seems that Warrior/Monks or some variation of either tends to be the most solo able. So if you do end up having any problems finding a group you won't ultimately be stuck not progressing at your pace. Also, there are always Henchmen that you can add to round out the numbers in your favor a bit if you don't want to solo.

All in all there seems to be plenty of low-level players running around looking to group. However, you will probably find that the first 3-5 levels will be spent soloing just to get a hang of everything. Once you go through the Academy you will find plenty of players in your current level range to group with for questing and such.