Questions before buying

(Well i would have used search to find my answer but i didnt know how to word it, so sorry.)
Me and my friend are thinking about buying this game, so i just need some info about this game before i buy it. Is there soloing in this game, like can me and my friend train without a full party and still get good exp? Is this game anything like FFXI? cause we both played that and hated it cause of the party system in that game and hours of time you have to play just to level. Do i have to have the expansion packs to play this game? Are the price of weapons and armor inflated? Is there a crafting lvl, if so does it cost more for the items to craft then the end product? When i pick my primary and secondary jobs for one charater, can i ever change it or does it stay?
I know this is a lot to ask for but ive have a lot of bad RPG/MMO(I think thats their called) For all that help Thanks,

it is possible to level to 20 in about 10 hours playing normal. Focusing on leveling up, 5 hours will get you there, but its not really recommended. stop and enjoy the game. getting to lvl 20 isnt the end of the game. basically, its just the beginning, with the focus being on skills, not level. anyon can be lvl 20 and have the best-statted equipment, so all that matters is player skill. it is possible to go anytwere without a party. the game has "henchmen" which are NPC allies thet you can have travel with you.
Expansions are completely standalone. you dont have to buy chapter 1 to play 2, or vice versa. also, people without the expansions are not at any disadvantage, they just have a few less skils to choose from.
primary profession stays the same, but secondary can be switched at anytime afeter the first few missions.
the prices of items are only really inflated on looks: for example, a "crafted" katana will cost much less then a "celestial sword" with the exact same stats. you only really pay for looks.
the best armor/weapons are available in the first main city you come to, but the cooler looking things are further along.

I am by no means an expert but will try to answer your questions.

I never played the Final Fantasy games but I will tell you about this one.

First you do not need to own both Factions and Prophecies to play the game. You can own either or both of them and still play.

Further, you can never change your primary profession but will bale to change your secondary profession once you get deeper into the game.

There is crafting. When kill a monster it may drop armor or some other item. You buy salvage kits which you apply to the item. It will turn the armor into a crafting material like iron ingots. You can then take the crafting materials to an NPC who will these materials into armor or a weapon.

As for playing alone, when you are in a town, you can see every player that is in town. There you can form groups, choose NPC henchmen to be in your group, or go out on your own. Once you leave town, only the members of your group are present. There are no other player characters besides your group.

If there are 6 people in your group, all gold is divided evenly. All drops are assigned to a specific member of your group and cannot be picked up by anyone else for two minutes. After that, the drop is fair game.

Hope this helped.

i can find a few threads for you... but yeah...


1) No monthly fee. when anet starts to charge, any one want to buy my account?

2) Soloi've only having fun soloing as a warrior ... can't seem to do ranger or the other classes... just me..... but ya you can solo... just searh and your almost find a build for that area or item you want. **edit** make a 55hp sometime..... it's pretty fun but ya it get OLD fast but cool to see how fast things die!! -) proably why SOJ is not in factions.

3) Team play The only (other) reason i got this game was my brother in Florida so we can play on the weekends.

4) Oh and most importantly it's not a fliping grind game. well besides farming for gold, after level 20 it comes down to skills and how you order/use them. level means nothing. like CS:S (counter stike source) u need skills to play. it takes time and it doesn't happen over night w/ godly GOLD weapons. **maybe not the best example of this** but my one friend can pown me in HLM but in CS:S i can pown his butt -) There both FPS and both requre skill to play but it comes down to who can do aim the gun better or use the walls/flashbangs/gravity gun/etc better. After watching some PvP (hitting B in town) i started to realize how fun it was to battle other people and test out builds (random arenas) . I think that was the goal of "Guild" Wars.

just my 2 cents

with single player do you have to connect to the net and play

just to load the login screen you need internet connection.... it sucks... i usual leave the logon screen up and don't sign in, just for the music -)

oh sorry wasn't sure what you ment by single player? there is no Off-line mode -(

WELCOME!

Ex FFXI player here played for over a year....

I can tell you I know all the probems of that game IN AND OUT...

I can also tell you you'll have none of them here.


things you might like!
-only buy the chapters that appeal to you. Every chapter can stand alone you don;t need all of them, just the ones you like....of course you can't access the content of other chapters unless you buy that chapter.

-no waiting for groups you just take hentchmen (controled by computer)

-no fighting for mobs or drops as every battle area ONLY CONTAINS YOUR PARTY...

-Almost everything is readily available from vendors at a reasonable price..otherwise it's pretty easy to obtain.

-the game is about aquring a library of SKILLS to use; not levels...Getting to level 20 (max level) only takes hours, though it may take a month or two to get all the skills you WANT.

- you don't need to get EVERY skill, you only ever use 8 at a time. Get those you like.

- You can competely rebuild your characters' stats at any time you are not in a battle area. Tis means that your ranger will probably be very differnt from other rangers etc.

-there is no grind here at all

-battles move at VERY fast paces with MANY monsters


things you might not:

-there is no player housing

-there is no auction house , so you end up shouting spam on a trade channel no one looks at or just selling at discount to the vendors (the best choice)

-alot of young annoying rude ppl play this game

-it's not as hardcore and draws less talented more casual players, that at times don't fit well in to the "MMO" way of thinking

-the Role playing part of the game is rather short, there is not near as much to explore or do.

-you'll find you can't walk places you feel you should be able to

-on those occasion you WANT a group, there is no search system for finding ppl just have to shout for them.

-there are no minigames like fishing or what not.

-there is no crafting by players, you just gather matrials for NPC crafters to make you items for gold.

-battles move MUCH faster here, in the time it takes to cast one spell in FFxi; battles are won or lost in GW. Some FFxi players have a hard time keeping up....this game has a certain First person shooter element to it....in that the battle take place in more real time feel to them and move blazingly fast.

My guild was designed for ex FFxi and Lin2 players, they tend to adapt very well here. Though some comment on the lack of depth...that will change once further chapters are released.