I partially agree w/ some complaints about bards. For the most part, a bard will madrigle/minuet the melee, ballad the mages/pld, then stand around doing nothing until they wear off. There's so much more a brd could bring to xp than that. Of course not all brds are that way, AND it's not all brd's fault, bc mages gripe so much about getting the ballad that sometimes bards are afraid to do anything else in case they miss ballad the split-second it wears off. Nevertheless, whatever the reasons may be, I still say that bards can absolutely branch out a little bit, and do more with their jobs. Otherwise they're in trouble of being eclipsed by new support jobs.
I don't see anything wrong with the guide's view on Warrior being a tank. All it says is that warrior is the primary tank that you'll see until 30, which is true. And actually, most of the time I would rather have a Warrior tanking than a Ninja until Ninja gets Utsusemi:Ni. In any case the guide actually says that Pld and Nin are tanks and War is DD, just that most of the time, until the 30's, Warriors end up tanking whether they're actually better at it or not.

Altogether it's an excellent newb guide, it really is. Even has a link to a nice breakdown of xp spots @ http://campsitarus.blogspot.com/
which I think would be awesome to have for newb and pro alike. Too often xp spots are overcrowded, but ppl go anyway just bc they don't know what alternatives are available.
The guide was written by someone who's played the game since it's beginning. His "journal" in GMR magazine is part of what convinced me to get the game in the first place.
I especially appreciate this quote
"Stay tuned for the next guide in the series: 1UP's Final Fantasy XI Intermediate Traveler's Guide, which will cover the most precarious, make-or-break levels in the game, levels 30 through 60. This is where your true worth shines through, and when the less committed fold."
As Year has mentioned to Tsu, 1-30 does not qualify as even playing the game, not in my mind in the least. It's like playing FFVII up until the first boss then quitting and starting over.
30-60 really is the make-or-break time. It almost broke me as Thief. FFXI is so worth the time/energy spent if you can make it past all the boring crap at lower levels, but if you can't, I say it's just a waste of money. There was a lvl 15 warrior in one of my first linkshells when I was about lvl 45. He would make a char and quit it, then start all over. He also wasn't dedicated to xping or making any money, but would log on and complain that he couldn't do anything b/c he wasn't high enough lvl or didn't have steady gil income. He said that he just didn't have the time to really commit to the game, that he didn't have enough time to xp, and he could play however he damn well chose. I constantly told him to quit, that he'd never make it anywhere like that, and he was just wasting his and everyone else's time. Well finally my advice sunk in and now he's a 75Samurai in my HNMLS, and while he's not the best player, he enjoys every minute of the game and appreciates my bustin his chops as a lowby. He, like everyone else who's made it to the upper levels, realizes the commitment it takes to play the game, to really experience it. Honestly I'd love for EVERYONE to love FFXI as much as I do, but if you can't commit to it, I say don't play at all.