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I played this game for like, one month, when I was 13. I had no clue what I was doing. I figured I would be smarter now and started a free trial today, but I still have no clue what I am doing. Is there a "main story" to complete, or is it just go out and have fun hitting stuff? So far I've been having fun hitting stuff.
From what I remember, yes, there is one, but the main quest is largely associated with the town you start in and in the vanilla version of the game, will eventually lead you to the final battle with the Shadowlord who was the game's original antagonist. So technically there is three story arcs, I never got far enough to know if you end up doing all three town quests or not though.
You can do all three town quests, but they all lead into the main overarching story. There's a main story for the original game, and a main story for each of the expansions - they're very good, and the game is more accessible these days (apparently).
The main storyline (to begin with!) are the stories of the nations, Windhurst / San D'Oria / Bastok. These used to be the primary focus until later levels. Then the importance of completing the expansion storylines such as Rise of the Zilart, Chains of Promethia etc. etc. take over due to the importance of unlocking specific content.
Final Fantasy XI was a completionists worst nightmare (or absoloute dream!), there was so many different types of questing content (relative to Job unlocks, area unlocks and even to raise the level cap!). I'll never forget the days and days it took finding the different weather to complete the Carbuncle's Ruby quest. :jess:
I think these days when returning to the game - it is important to grind a few levels, then explore the game at you leisure and see where you end up. The storylines in this game are fantastic, its hard to pick a favourite!
I'd save a Crystalline Prophecy, Shantoto's Ascention & Moogle Kupo D'Etat until last though as they didn't have quite the same level as depth.