One thing I've noticed as a newer player...

People have way waaaaay too many opinions as to how you should play this game. One of the funnest parts of FFXI for me is all of the choices and customizations and different aspects of the game. So far I've seen a lot of players scoff at specific ways to play the game just because it's not "what they would do" or not "with the endgame meta"

Let people play the game the way they want to play it, let them have fun and keep your condescending opinions to yourself. That's all I'm going to say.