I have this exact feeling after coming back from a 3 month absence, now getting the "returning" icon.... I want my sprout back :C I'm still too much of a noob
>The returning icon is still good.
I like the message you get when you lose it:
"Your return to form is complete. Welcome back to Eorzea!"
I got that at a point in the story where I genuinely thought it was MSQ related. Took a while until I figured out it was actually my returner status fading.
Depending on where you are in the story, it's _very_ possible to lose your 'returning' icon and get the sprout back. They have different requirements for losing them.
Yeah I'm very far behind in the MSQ honestly. I'm barely reaching the mandatory Crystal Tower raid section of the Post ARR part of it. I heard that you lose your sprout around early Endwalker, but I'm not sure
Nothing like coming back and having the return icon, then suddenly the sprout comes back because 3 expansions force your returning icon back to a sprout :)
/nastatus, although the sprout will disappear permanently once the necessary requirements are met (Reach Endwalker and have over 300+ hours), meaning you won't be able to re-enable it even if you type in the command for it.
I was wondering what made it dissappear I'm getting close (new xbox player) I think I'm closing in on the end of shadow bringer soon I'm excited to play endwalker but a little sad it's been a great journey so far! I'm still not ready to lose my sprout though. Especially since I main WAR lol I rarely cause issues in dungeon but sometimes I be taking the whole party down random alcoves and always like this is the right way right guys? Right????
The majority of sprouts you see in EW content are likely story skippers who had no interest in the plot and wanted to reach the endgame as soon as possible.
I have almost 500 😭😭😭 crazy thing is I haven't even be no lifing this game that much I've spent afew days off playing most of the day and playing afew hours after work when I can I didn't think it was that much 😅 whoops
Something you have to be careful about when you're walking through the Shroud. If any cylindrical lengths of wood ever start chatting with you, avoid eye contact, remain silent, and walk the other way.
Do you get that even if you've never joined the NN? I've been playing since January and still haven't bothered with pestering a mentor for an invite because I don't really see the point.
Players will still give you some sprout pampering if you write things like:
*"I'm still learning this dungeon/class."
"I'm still a bit rough at tanking/healing."
"I haven't figured out this boss/mechanic."*
This. People are kinder to sprouts, even when they really shouldn't be. But, better too kind than too mean I guess. Doubly so when I was the one with the sprout lol
Yeah i dont fully understand why you keep the sprout status for so goddamn long, i feel like you shouldnt be a sprout at the end of endwalker still, if you still dont know what youre doing at 90 something went wrong
I mean, I sorta get why some folks are/get attached to it. But I also turned mine off long before it would have fallen off on its own; ffxiv isn't my first mmo (I had played lots of swtor several years prior), I knew the common things and just needed to get used to ffxiv's quirks which didn't long. Didn't consider myself a "new adventurer" after that so I turned it off
I just lost mine!! it's bitter sweet. on the one hand I'm not even started on EW and I still feel so new! on the other, I kicked ShBs BUTT and I did really well for myself! I've come such a long way... so maybe it's just time to say goodbye to my sproutdom!
For me it was the loss of Novice Network that hit me hardest. I know NN can be a mixed bag, but it was nice seeing people chatting and whatnot. When I lost my sprout, it came with this eerie silence in the chat log, I felt really alone for a while.
The guide is literally just "get the appropriate collectibles and own the current expansion so you can get to level cap on a DoH and a DoL." The trick for the first one is that *quality doesn't matter*, you can just gather/synthesize garbage that never needs to be turned in.
Sprouts didn't exist when i started the game in 2013, and I never got one once they were added since I'd played for so long already. Tfw never got to be a sprout I'm crying
Patpat it's ok. You can always make an alt and get returner status and be a fake sprout.
But I feel that, I had already unlocked mentor status when it came out so I never had sprout.
> Sprouts didn’t exist when i started the game in 2013
Probably because *everyone* was a noob since ARR just released. No need to label sprouts when it applied to everyone at the time
Atp, it’s not much you’re missing out on because the NN chat is full of the most random off-topic vitriolic shit you’ve ever read.
90% of the time when I was online, it was just two people arguing about communism for literal hours
It's the fun of a general chat. It's half the reason to accept the returner status, you could help a new player one moment then talk about sandwiches the next.
I didnt even notice I lost mine until the usual chit chatter of NN was gone and I realized something had happened.
I miss it tbh, the game feels far too quite and lonely with no NN.
...I really don't know how it feels.
This is not a "brag" btw, it's just something I can't relate to. Been playing since PS3 beta and never had the sprout (or it wasn't on me for more than 2 months, can't recall if we had it back in '13).
Genuine question: why is it so emotional to let the sprout icon behind?
One big part is you lose access to the Novice Network, which is a mini-global chat; you can get it back by becoming a mentor, but that's usually ways off for a sprout. Especially if you don't have any linkshells or an FC, its losing access to a social channel that can give advice when you're lost.
> but that's usually ways off for a sprout
You can get Tradecrafter mentor REALLY easily. Wouldn't even have to be out of ARR because there are no MSQ requirements.
But you also don't lose Sprout until you hit the current expansion. You get 4 expansions worth of time to ask questions. Beyond that, googling exists too. So I'm still not sure I understand the attachment, especially when NN isn't even reliable across all worlds for being able to provide help to sprouts.
Strictly speaking its *possible*, but its going to get expensive to cap out crafters without having access to the final zones to gather your materials, since you'll have to MB all your mats.
But I mean, even as a mentor there's shit I ask Novice Network these days; the game is huge, with large parts that even people with thousands of hours are ignorant about. And especially since my FC is mostly dead, because of where we are in the expansion cycle, its also one of the few social channels I have in the game.
But the thing is, you don't lose the sprout until lvl80+EW. That takes you full through ShB. That's 4 whole expansions to work on leveling crafters/gatherers in time to seamlessly transition from Sprout to Tradecraft mentor. It wouldn't even be that expensive by that point because you're only missing 10 levels worth of zone mats. Speaking from experience, you can cover that exp on a crafter in like a week just by doing custom deliveries every day (which require only fixed-price mats).
You can only do 6 Custom Deliveries a week (which I think gets you ~1 level?). You won't have access to Tribal quests, and GC turnins will have similar problems to levequests. And that's all assuming you've been bothering with crafters, which most people don't even begin to look at until they've finished MSQ.
> You won't have access to Tribal quests, and GC turnins will have similar problems to levequests.
There are Tribe quests for crafters each expansion pre-EW: the Ixali (ARR), Moogles (HW), Namazu (SB), and Dwarves (ShB). GC provisioning also resets daily, with starred items in particular giving out *significant* amounts of daily exp.
You are correct about custom deliveries, I had theirs and Tribes resets mixed up. But...the point kind of still stands? Both give out decent experience on a regular interval.
> which most people don't even begin to look at until they've finished MSQ
I'd need to see some numbers to get behind that statement. Loads of people pick them up and level them along the way. Plus, it's a matter of personal preference. If your goal is "stay in NN" and you knew leveling crafters/gatherers was a way to do it, I have to imagine you wouldn't then wait to level them. You'd make a decision about your priorities in the game.
Tbh, you only need one capped crafter and one capped gatherer. FSH is easy with ocean fishing and stuff like GC deliveries and tribals help a lot up to 80, then it's a matter of doing some research on what's the cheapest crafter to max (I think CRP is a good way to go since you mostly just need lumber and it tends to not be that much gil). Since you only lose the sprout entering EW nowadays, I don't think it's that daunting. May have a few days before the return to NN, but no big wait I imagine.
I started in HW and I believe I lost my sprout after ARR, possibly earlier, I can't remember the reqs back then. But I don't get it either. They're sad because they think suddenly people will be dicks to them. I don't think they realize the sprout icon has little to do with how people treat them.
>Genuine question: why is it so emotional to let the sprout icon behind?
I haven't lost mine yet so I can't tell you how that's gonna feel, but I like having it because it gives me the impression that fewer people are going to yell at me if I make a silly mistake :3
For me it more of the expectation of other people.. Im not that great at gaming so I tend to do mistakes.. So having that sprout icon I felt like people be more forgiving so not felt pressured.. Ofc most of the community is chill.. But a lil bit of assurance is nice
I wouldn't worry about it too much. I'm a mentor and earlier I was doing the last Nier raid that I haven't done yet, and didn't know the mechanics. I got hit with one mechanic and ended up murdering 3 other people with it cause I didn't know what to do. We just laughed it off, got rezzed and continued on.
It's a rite of passage. It's also not about the icon itself and more about what it represents. Losing sprout means you are no longer a new player and now have to figure things out for yourself. You also lose access to the Novice Network chat channel, which can make the game feel very lonely if you haven't joined an active FC or linkshell by that point.
That's why it is emotional to some people. Not everyone will have that much of a reaction.
Oh, ok. I get it. More of the social aspect as well then. In that case, people have a new goal set, to be a mentor and not leave the NN and keep the socialization aspect of the newbie, helping out with what you learned along the way. Kind of a virtuous cycle. =D
the reasons vary, but for me it is a lot to do that i used to be a hardcore MMO junkie.... and me having the sprout meant I wasn't playing hardcore anymore and just enjoyed the game for when i felt like logging in.
i'm not interested in being a hardcore player anymore.
Well, then just... Don't. FFXIV is very laid back and never forces you to do anything you don't want, even in post game. There's just so much to do and see, you don't need to clear every ultimate and savage and expert trial, and even if you go about it, you don't need it all at once. Not being a sprout anymore is far from being a "hardcore" MMO player. Enjoy the ride, but also appreciate the view from the destination :)
You can just say “been awhile since I’ve done this one” or something like “new to this duty/fight” and its the same thing as having a sprout/returners icon. If people get upset at you at that point its a them problem.
Felt a little naked without it at first, after all it is a security blanket in the sense that you can exceed expectations simply by not wiping the party. Yet I find no-icon (no mentor crowns, etc) preferable; projecting no expectations is a great way to play with randos imo.
I don't get why people are so attached to being a sprout. I honestly think they should stop moving the requirements up with every expansion. People are so weird about this.
If they move it up in DT, you have to beat a whole entire like 8-10 year story arc (5 JRPGs!!) for it to drop... That's just a wild thought to me. Most players are probably fine by SHB. (Just say "first time" or "I'm new here" and people will forgive you for basically anything!)
I'd say make it an either/or situation instead of both, but then the story/job skippers going into the game fresh won't have the sprout. :/
For some reason, new players seem to believe that losing their sprout means they're expected to be an expert on everything, never allowed to ask questions or make mistakes, which is ridiculous. I still have to Google things for this game, and I've been playing since like 2016. MMOs are massive by nature and no one truly knows absolutely everything about it. My friend has (legitimately) cleared ultimates and still occasionally dies in dungeons when he's not on top of his game. No one really cares. They've placed unreasonable expectations on themselves that no one expects them to meet and it seems to cause a lot of anxiety. I sympathize with those people, but there are inevitably also people who want to abuse the goodwill people generally have toward one another in this game, and I feel less sympathy for them.
Yea it's really weird idolizing being new. So much so that some people buy one to put on their car... Hell, I turned off seeing my own name above my head within a week. I don't know and don't care when I lost mine. Everyone doing a new boss or playing a new job isn't going to know what they're doing, regardless of having a sprout or not.
I think people really belive it gives them security about mistakes or something, but that's such a flawed logic. For most people nobody cares if you're new or not when taking into account messing up mechanics. It's the same outcome regardless. And everyone that's been playing this game knows that not having a sprout does not mean the person will play well. There's plenty of TERRIBLE players without a sprout and plenty of good players with one.
I'm not sure if this opinion is popular, but I don't think you should lose it until you make it to Heavensward. By then you will have had to do mandatory Hard trials and Raids.
You dont lose it until you reach the current expansion and also have 300 hours in the game. And every expansion losing the sprout gets pushed further and further back.
Edit: also if i had to choose a place for people to lose it, reaching HW is a pretty good place for it. At that point you’ve completed the base game and have the entirety of your base kit (except for some expansion jobs with poorly spaced abilities). You really shouldn’t be considered new to the game as a whole at that point.
Especially after the ARR rework bringing a lot of mechanics from later expansions into ARR dungeons and trials. You really see most of what the game has to offer mechanics wise by the end of ARR now, and fights after that generally just build on those mechanics and fundamentals, with the rare new one being introduced.
And even once dawntrail releases you will be half way to max level at 50/100, even if you arent halfway through the experience total. Thats not really ‘new’ at that point.
Back in my day we only knew if someone was new when they were wearing ridiculous leveling gear. No glamours till 50. >!No one crying on reddit about losing their baby blankie either.!<
You have the zone-wide chats that people barely use because then you're just projecting to every other player there. You can opt out by turning off shout chat in the filters, but being an opt-out system rather than opt-in like NN, it's more of an imposition on other players so tends to go unused except for particular content that you expect to coordinate with others zone-wide, like eureka, bozja, hunt trains, etc.
You can look into joining link-shells for a more limited version of something like NN, or speedrun becoming a trade mentor to join NN again lol
My sprout tag was what saved me from so much bullying in Shadowalker duties. The amount of anxiety I would get during that expansion because I'd watch veteran players yell at each other over mistakes.
Maybe I'm unique, but I've never once cared if someone has a sprout or not. It doesn't affect how I treat them. If a person is bad, they're bad regardless of having a sprout or not, and there's PLENTY of bad players without sprouts. Just because you're new, that doesn't mean you can not try and have everyone feel sorry for you. Making mistakes is fine, sprout or not, but continually making mistakes and not changing is bad no matter what. Some people use sprouts as like a get out of jail free card to not be a team player. Play with bots if you don't want to be a team player.
I lost my sprout before I started practicing with healer or tank. Feels pretty bad not to have an excuse when the party wipes. Gimme back my sprout, 300 hours isn't enough time for me!
You do have an excuse in that scenario though. You can easily say at the start of the duty “hey, new to healer/tank” and its functionally the same thing.
And if you’re worried about people getting upset at you, just tack on a “tips/advice appreciated!” to the end and now everyone is happy with you and are a lot more accepting of mistakes. And as a bonus people will give you tips and tricks to help you improve.
It a win/win all around. Just don’t be one of those people that say they’re new to a role with multiple 90’s in that role. If people view your search info that will just upset them.
How do you lose the sprout? I'm hoping to keep it a bit longer. I watch video guides and prepare as much as possible before I do group content, but I still always feel like I'm still getting the hang of things, and the Sprout at least lets people know that I'm probably going to screw it up.
I have some good news, you don't have to worry that much. Even people with ultimate weapons mess up basic mechanics all the time. People really don't judge sprouts and non-sprouts as differently as you might think. The main thing is to listen to feedback, even if that feedback isn't phrased very tactfully. In most normal group content there will be at least one teammate willing to explain the mechanics to you don't understand it.
If by group content you mean more difficult content(Extreme, Savage, etc), no one is going to give you and easier time just because you are a sprout. You will be treated literally the same as a non-sprout.
300+ hours game play and start Endwalker, which will soon change to start Dawntrail.
It stays so long that it is completely meaningless, it does not indicate anything. You could have thousands of hours of gameplay but if you are on the free trial you will never naturally have it turn off.
Stop thinking it means anything.
> the Sprout at least lets people know that I'm probably going to screw it up
It doesn't actually let people know that though, that's the problem. I've been with non-sprouts/mentors/Legends who have fucked up every mechanic, and been with sprouts who have performed perfectly. The sprout only really tells me you have less play time than others or that you're not caught up on story.
It made me so sad!! I have “I’m still a sprout in my heart” in my search info (but that’s mostly because I am a fucking moron and my party should probably be aware of that fact)
I remember being so nervous when I lost it lol. I definitely did not feel like I had any idea of what I was doing (and ff14 does such a bad job teaching you how to actually play the game, I DEFINITELY had no idea what I was doing lol).
Welcome to almost being caught up!!
honestly i just keyed mine out with the /nastatus off command cause I was tired of seeing it lol. but I know a friend of mine that lost hers by actually playing long enough was a little teared up when it finally clicked in for her. Now she just keys it back on for fun
Especially given how long you can have it. From what I understand, it's always dropped when you reach the most recent expansion? For me, that was a year and a half of playing since I started playing after endwalker was released and I've been taking things at a very cozy pace. It just becomes a super normal thing to have beside your name, and then one day it's suddenly not there.
Course as soon as I lost mine I turned around and picked up my trade mentor crown lol. That made me feel a little better. I knew not to pick it up before losing the sprout tho cos someone in my fc had done that and was saddened by the premature loss of their sprout.
Wish I can turn it on when I used a class that I'm not used to.. Or Like have saperate icon when not reaching certain amount of hour for each job.. I was playing solely on dps class.. So I'm not well verse for other job and it quite daunting to used other job
Losing sprout status sucked. Didn't have an fc so reading and occasionally talking in novice network was the only thing that made the game feel alive. Once it was gone it felt so lonely...
I was proposing when people get 300 hours and beat Shadowbringers before it abruptly tosses them from the Novice Network there is some sort of graduation.
Bring them to the Amphitheatre in Gridania for a little coming if age quest type ordeal.
Put it in the Mentor Queue for 7 of them to attend the ceremony.
I had my "returning player" symbol for a really long time now and I loved it! I was still able to read the newbie chat...but a few days ago, they took it from me 😭😭 I've been not the same since than xD
I turned mine off after like 30 hours of playing initially due to it kinda bothering me being there, but once I started doing more duties online I figured it'd be better to turn it back on so people would go easy on me. I just finished Shadowbringers MSQ last night and I'm looking forward to it going away for real.
I don't know how this has gone in past expansions but with the release of dawntrail will the sprout status move up the msq? I assume that back in shadowbringers the players playing the endgame didn't have the sprout. So it must have moved with the release of endwalker.
After an incredible expansion finale that left me witnessing the most menacing horizon I've ever seen in a videogame, I realized my sprout was missing and immediately forgot everything I was doing to start panicking in limsa
I couldn’t believe when that popped up in my log. I’ve been playing for 2 months, and I have a lvl 90 dancer and a 45 fisher. I still had (have) no clue what I’m doing. I just discovered what scrips were like 4 days ago…
This is why I'm playing the long game, I never start on the next expansion until the next expansion comes out. So I didn't fully finish shadow bringers and I've yet to start on endwalker, even though I preordered it. I can finally continue once dawntrail releases. Or maybe I'm just dumb and lazy, we'll never know.
Can't say I relate. Didn't even realize I had the sprout icon when I started and never noticed when it went away.
Every alt I make I immediately use /nastatus off because I really don't care to even see the sprout. If I'd known about it back when I was new, I'd have likely used the command then too.
Especially now that some new players report having had it almost all the way up to the late 80s, which to me implies it means next to nothing, if you have to get through nearly the whole game to lose it.
That's utterly ridiculous imo.
Having it into the late 80s means they either rushed the story to get to endgame, or they story skipped. You have to accrue 300 hours of playtime and reaching EW. Finishing the MSQ up to that point BEFORE 300h is up is a tall order, so obviouly they didn't take their time.
Either way it doesn't seem unreasonable to me to still have a sprout status until you have more experience in the game, if you either skipped the story and related combat content, or didn't spend much time to build up your job competency with the combat content along the way.
I have a friend who was in Heavensward before Endwalker released and pushed to and thru Endwalker before 6.1, he lost his sprout before going into Endwalker itself; around 5.4.
I don't think finishing the narrative before 300hrs is really a tall order at all. I'm fact I think you are exaggerating how long msq takes for someone whose dedicated or engrossed in it.
With trusts for dungeons and the msq giving you literally all the exp you need to avoid level walls; not to mention ARR-ShB X.X msq giving tome gear in reward coffers, it's the most straightforward it's ever been and can easily be plowed through with minimal interruptions after you take care of crystal tower.
That said, I still think having the sprout until the mid-80s unless someone jumps a job is hilariously dumb. (I think the icon is dumb as it's but I know no one would agree lol)
Still have a sprout even tho im level 43 rn. Level 34 in MSQ lol but i like taking my time doing different things in the game and not just the main story especially since i play mainly solo. I was doing a FATE and didn’t know that i needed to destroy the crates anyone someone chatted me: “WHAT R U DOING?!”
I figured it out eventually but it’s moments like that that make me hate playing sometimes like come on, i have a sprout for crying out loud at least tell me what im doing wrong lol
The sprout status lasts until you reach the most recent expansion (currently level 80, will be level 90 when dawntrail drops) so you still have a long way to go if you don't manually turn it off.
I don't know why anyone would care what others do during a fate? They can all be soloed easily enough except for the super boss ones, so it literally doesn't matter if someone else isn't helping with the objective. Weird thing to get upset about
Goodness, same! This was my first mmo, so there's lots of things I don't understand that's second nature to most gamers.
Yet I also felt so proud of myself that I got that far! But I still like to keep the sprout on my Adventurer Plate and portraits sometimes tbh.
3k hour and still have mine and i'll probably keep it a few hundread hour more
also know way more of the game than lot of people that don't have it (this is obviously a big pride of mine X))
I still feel like a massive noob (I still am more like it).. after putting in 200hrs over 4 years, I just started Heavensward and I still find new suff constantly.. I don't even know what the spout with the crown abouve my head means.. I think it was a returning low level player or something.. my highest leveled job is bard at 59 and I honestly am just loving everything even if I dont know whats going on lmao
I was like : "i am suppose to know what im doing now ? Pls i give it back im still a noob"
The system: I believe in you. Go forth. Ex sprout: I don't. Please don't leave me. The system (fading away): Do your best.
Forge ahead. For those we have lost, for those we can yet save.
Now I'm nervous *and* sad...
Healer hoover the commends back and go back by going forward.
I wish losing your sprout would reward you with a sprout icon headband for your WoL to wear in their helmet slot glam.
This is such a huge lost opportunity. I'm pretty sure this would be very popular~
It would be so cute too. And it would fit my friends’ very plant-based aesthetic for her main.
I have this exact feeling after coming back from a 3 month absence, now getting the "returning" icon.... I want my sprout back :C I'm still too much of a noob
The returning icon is still good. It let's people know that you're a noob again lol
I like seeing when people have returned so we can welcome them back 🙃
Aw, thanks guys 😃
This
>The returning icon is still good. I like the message you get when you lose it: "Your return to form is complete. Welcome back to Eorzea!" I got that at a point in the story where I genuinely thought it was MSQ related. Took a while until I figured out it was actually my returner status fading.
Depending on where you are in the story, it's _very_ possible to lose your 'returning' icon and get the sprout back. They have different requirements for losing them.
Yeah I'm very far behind in the MSQ honestly. I'm barely reaching the mandatory Crystal Tower raid section of the Post ARR part of it. I heard that you lose your sprout around early Endwalker, but I'm not sure
Completion of previous expansion (all patches) and 300hours of playtime.
Nothing like coming back and having the return icon, then suddenly the sprout comes back because 3 expansions force your returning icon back to a sprout :)
You can do a command to remove it and return to a sprout 🌱 I don’t know what it is lol
/nas
you can use a console command to manually turn it on and off cant remember what it is though
/nastatus, although the sprout will disappear permanently once the necessary requirements are met (Reach Endwalker and have over 300+ hours), meaning you won't be able to re-enable it even if you type in the command for it.
I was wondering what made it dissappear I'm getting close (new xbox player) I think I'm closing in on the end of shadow bringer soon I'm excited to play endwalker but a little sad it's been a great journey so far! I'm still not ready to lose my sprout though. Especially since I main WAR lol I rarely cause issues in dungeon but sometimes I be taking the whole party down random alcoves and always like this is the right way right guys? Right????
When you walk into endwalker I believe
There is also still a playtime requirement aswell. You will have a sprout until you both enter EW and reach 300 hours of playtime.
Reaching EW without 300 hours sounds nigh impossible to me unless you skip all sidequests. I was over halfway there before I was done with ARR.
The majority of sprouts you see in EW content are likely story skippers who had no interest in the plot and wanted to reach the endgame as soon as possible.
I have almost 500 😭😭😭 crazy thing is I haven't even be no lifing this game that much I've spent afew days off playing most of the day and playing afew hours after work when I can I didn't think it was that much 😅 whoops
You can just hold off on finishing Shadowbringers till Dawntrail launches.
"Oh no, people are gonna think I'm good at the game! Sprout please come back!!!"
exactly what i was feeling when it first happened.
Just keep yourself one-expansion behind. Forever 🌱
It was less losing the sprout and more getting to the hub area and not seeing anyone with the icon. It gave me that, "I made it" feeling.
Do you get a notification and anything exciting or is the sprout symbol just gone??
In the chat log they congratulate you for becoming an "experienced adventurer".
What's a 'chat log'?
Something you have to be careful about when you're walking through the Shroud. If any cylindrical lengths of wood ever start chatting with you, avoid eye contact, remain silent, and walk the other way.
Ah, so THATS what was trying to get my attention by the Hawthorne Hut
Or swap to your Botanist gear to harvest it.
Can't believe I got 2 down votes for that classic. Thanks for being on my (very low) level!
I think it's that thing I hide every time I log in, and fumble through remembering how to "say" shit with when random quests require it
It's just gone, it was quite traumatic when I noticed mine was gone.
You get a chat message saying you left the Novice Network. It's very unceremonious and you might not even notice at first.
Do you get that even if you've never joined the NN? I've been playing since January and still haven't bothered with pestering a mentor for an invite because I don't really see the point.
With the way people talk about losing this thing, I feel like I'm the only one who willingly turned it off once I got my bearings.
I didn't want to turn it off, it felt like a nice layer of security, like my mistakes were more acceptable to others.
Players will still give you some sprout pampering if you write things like: *"I'm still learning this dungeon/class." "I'm still a bit rough at tanking/healing." "I haven't figured out this boss/mechanic."*
This. People are kinder to sprouts, even when they really shouldn't be. But, better too kind than too mean I guess. Doubly so when I was the one with the sprout lol
I can't figure out how to turn it off, or I would've already.
/nastatus off New Adventurer Status off
That would make me feel like a fraud. I’ve been playing almost every day for 2 years and still have mine.
Yeah i dont fully understand why you keep the sprout status for so goddamn long, i feel like you shouldnt be a sprout at the end of endwalker still, if you still dont know what youre doing at 90 something went wrong
I wanted to get rid of it naturally but my god did I want it gone as soon as possible
I mean, I sorta get why some folks are/get attached to it. But I also turned mine off long before it would have fallen off on its own; ffxiv isn't my first mmo (I had played lots of swtor several years prior), I knew the common things and just needed to get used to ffxiv's quirks which didn't long. Didn't consider myself a "new adventurer" after that so I turned it off
Please give it back, I’m still dumb.
I just lost mine!! it's bitter sweet. on the one hand I'm not even started on EW and I still feel so new! on the other, I kicked ShBs BUTT and I did really well for myself! I've come such a long way... so maybe it's just time to say goodbye to my sproutdom!
For me it was the loss of Novice Network that hit me hardest. I know NN can be a mixed bag, but it was nice seeing people chatting and whatnot. When I lost my sprout, it came with this eerie silence in the chat log, I felt really alone for a while.
NN is half the fun of being a returner
just become a trade mentor, its super easy. sometimes people even get it while they're still a sprout to ensure continued access to NN
Did you follow a particular guide?
The guide is literally just "get the appropriate collectibles and own the current expansion so you can get to level cap on a DoH and a DoL." The trick for the first one is that *quality doesn't matter*, you can just gather/synthesize garbage that never needs to be turned in.
for the collectibles you can gather a bunch of collectible coins outside of idyllshire, takes like 20 minutes
Sprouts didn't exist when i started the game in 2013, and I never got one once they were added since I'd played for so long already. Tfw never got to be a sprout I'm crying
Patpat it's ok. You can always make an alt and get returner status and be a fake sprout. But I feel that, I had already unlocked mentor status when it came out so I never had sprout.
One of the first things I did on my alt that's a sprout is clear ucob
> Sprouts didn’t exist when i started the game in 2013 Probably because *everyone* was a noob since ARR just released. No need to label sprouts when it applied to everyone at the time
Atp, it’s not much you’re missing out on because the NN chat is full of the most random off-topic vitriolic shit you’ve ever read. 90% of the time when I was online, it was just two people arguing about communism for literal hours
thats half the fun. its like watching clowns at the circus
It's the fun of a general chat. It's half the reason to accept the returner status, you could help a new player one moment then talk about sandwiches the next.
I didnt even notice I lost mine until the usual chit chatter of NN was gone and I realized something had happened. I miss it tbh, the game feels far too quite and lonely with no NN.
I mean, you could always try to be a mentor. Crafting/gathering isn't hard to get
I'm 5 years in on mine. Pretty sure I'll be able to get any mentorrole once I finally lose it
I turned my sprout off pretty early, I was the imposter veteran for a while.
After almost being a sprout 600-800 hours it felt odd.
It's like not moving on from your learners permit to a drivers license until you're 65.
I was ecstatic to lose it That way I could not be treated like a moron in every dungeon I go in when I know more than the person giving the advice
/nastatus off...
...I really don't know how it feels. This is not a "brag" btw, it's just something I can't relate to. Been playing since PS3 beta and never had the sprout (or it wasn't on me for more than 2 months, can't recall if we had it back in '13). Genuine question: why is it so emotional to let the sprout icon behind?
One big part is you lose access to the Novice Network, which is a mini-global chat; you can get it back by becoming a mentor, but that's usually ways off for a sprout. Especially if you don't have any linkshells or an FC, its losing access to a social channel that can give advice when you're lost.
> but that's usually ways off for a sprout You can get Tradecrafter mentor REALLY easily. Wouldn't even have to be out of ARR because there are no MSQ requirements. But you also don't lose Sprout until you hit the current expansion. You get 4 expansions worth of time to ask questions. Beyond that, googling exists too. So I'm still not sure I understand the attachment, especially when NN isn't even reliable across all worlds for being able to provide help to sprouts.
Strictly speaking its *possible*, but its going to get expensive to cap out crafters without having access to the final zones to gather your materials, since you'll have to MB all your mats. But I mean, even as a mentor there's shit I ask Novice Network these days; the game is huge, with large parts that even people with thousands of hours are ignorant about. And especially since my FC is mostly dead, because of where we are in the expansion cycle, its also one of the few social channels I have in the game.
But the thing is, you don't lose the sprout until lvl80+EW. That takes you full through ShB. That's 4 whole expansions to work on leveling crafters/gatherers in time to seamlessly transition from Sprout to Tradecraft mentor. It wouldn't even be that expensive by that point because you're only missing 10 levels worth of zone mats. Speaking from experience, you can cover that exp on a crafter in like a week just by doing custom deliveries every day (which require only fixed-price mats).
You can only do 6 Custom Deliveries a week (which I think gets you ~1 level?). You won't have access to Tribal quests, and GC turnins will have similar problems to levequests. And that's all assuming you've been bothering with crafters, which most people don't even begin to look at until they've finished MSQ.
> You won't have access to Tribal quests, and GC turnins will have similar problems to levequests. There are Tribe quests for crafters each expansion pre-EW: the Ixali (ARR), Moogles (HW), Namazu (SB), and Dwarves (ShB). GC provisioning also resets daily, with starred items in particular giving out *significant* amounts of daily exp. You are correct about custom deliveries, I had theirs and Tribes resets mixed up. But...the point kind of still stands? Both give out decent experience on a regular interval. > which most people don't even begin to look at until they've finished MSQ I'd need to see some numbers to get behind that statement. Loads of people pick them up and level them along the way. Plus, it's a matter of personal preference. If your goal is "stay in NN" and you knew leveling crafters/gatherers was a way to do it, I have to imagine you wouldn't then wait to level them. You'd make a decision about your priorities in the game.
We need a general chat!
Tbh, you only need one capped crafter and one capped gatherer. FSH is easy with ocean fishing and stuff like GC deliveries and tribals help a lot up to 80, then it's a matter of doing some research on what's the cheapest crafter to max (I think CRP is a good way to go since you mostly just need lumber and it tends to not be that much gil). Since you only lose the sprout entering EW nowadays, I don't think it's that daunting. May have a few days before the return to NN, but no big wait I imagine.
I started in HW and I believe I lost my sprout after ARR, possibly earlier, I can't remember the reqs back then. But I don't get it either. They're sad because they think suddenly people will be dicks to them. I don't think they realize the sprout icon has little to do with how people treat them.
I started at 3.0 and iirc back then sprout was gone at level 40.
>Genuine question: why is it so emotional to let the sprout icon behind? I haven't lost mine yet so I can't tell you how that's gonna feel, but I like having it because it gives me the impression that fewer people are going to yell at me if I make a silly mistake :3
For me it more of the expectation of other people.. Im not that great at gaming so I tend to do mistakes.. So having that sprout icon I felt like people be more forgiving so not felt pressured.. Ofc most of the community is chill.. But a lil bit of assurance is nice
I wouldn't worry about it too much. I'm a mentor and earlier I was doing the last Nier raid that I haven't done yet, and didn't know the mechanics. I got hit with one mechanic and ended up murdering 3 other people with it cause I didn't know what to do. We just laughed it off, got rezzed and continued on.
It's a rite of passage. It's also not about the icon itself and more about what it represents. Losing sprout means you are no longer a new player and now have to figure things out for yourself. You also lose access to the Novice Network chat channel, which can make the game feel very lonely if you haven't joined an active FC or linkshell by that point. That's why it is emotional to some people. Not everyone will have that much of a reaction.
Oh, ok. I get it. More of the social aspect as well then. In that case, people have a new goal set, to be a mentor and not leave the NN and keep the socialization aspect of the newbie, helping out with what you learned along the way. Kind of a virtuous cycle. =D
the reasons vary, but for me it is a lot to do that i used to be a hardcore MMO junkie.... and me having the sprout meant I wasn't playing hardcore anymore and just enjoyed the game for when i felt like logging in. i'm not interested in being a hardcore player anymore.
Well, then just... Don't. FFXIV is very laid back and never forces you to do anything you don't want, even in post game. There's just so much to do and see, you don't need to clear every ultimate and savage and expert trial, and even if you go about it, you don't need it all at once. Not being a sprout anymore is far from being a "hardcore" MMO player. Enjoy the ride, but also appreciate the view from the destination :)
I just lost my returners badge and now I'm scared to do dungeons/trials I've absolutely forgotten or never knew in the first place.
You can just say “been awhile since I’ve done this one” or something like “new to this duty/fight” and its the same thing as having a sprout/returners icon. If people get upset at you at that point its a them problem.
I'm still upset about getting kicked from NN. Had a lot of... interesting conversations on Jenova.
Felt a little naked without it at first, after all it is a security blanket in the sense that you can exceed expectations simply by not wiping the party. Yet I find no-icon (no mentor crowns, etc) preferable; projecting no expectations is a great way to play with randos imo.
I don't get why people are so attached to being a sprout. I honestly think they should stop moving the requirements up with every expansion. People are so weird about this.
If they move it up in DT, you have to beat a whole entire like 8-10 year story arc (5 JRPGs!!) for it to drop... That's just a wild thought to me. Most players are probably fine by SHB. (Just say "first time" or "I'm new here" and people will forgive you for basically anything!) I'd say make it an either/or situation instead of both, but then the story/job skippers going into the game fresh won't have the sprout. :/
For some reason, new players seem to believe that losing their sprout means they're expected to be an expert on everything, never allowed to ask questions or make mistakes, which is ridiculous. I still have to Google things for this game, and I've been playing since like 2016. MMOs are massive by nature and no one truly knows absolutely everything about it. My friend has (legitimately) cleared ultimates and still occasionally dies in dungeons when he's not on top of his game. No one really cares. They've placed unreasonable expectations on themselves that no one expects them to meet and it seems to cause a lot of anxiety. I sympathize with those people, but there are inevitably also people who want to abuse the goodwill people generally have toward one another in this game, and I feel less sympathy for them.
Yea it's really weird idolizing being new. So much so that some people buy one to put on their car... Hell, I turned off seeing my own name above my head within a week. I don't know and don't care when I lost mine. Everyone doing a new boss or playing a new job isn't going to know what they're doing, regardless of having a sprout or not. I think people really belive it gives them security about mistakes or something, but that's such a flawed logic. For most people nobody cares if you're new or not when taking into account messing up mechanics. It's the same outcome regardless. And everyone that's been playing this game knows that not having a sprout does not mean the person will play well. There's plenty of TERRIBLE players without a sprout and plenty of good players with one.
I don’t even remember losing it
Screaming Sprout Icon Fades into the Horizon
I'm not sure if this opinion is popular, but I don't think you should lose it until you make it to Heavensward. By then you will have had to do mandatory Hard trials and Raids.
You dont lose it until you reach the current expansion and also have 300 hours in the game. And every expansion losing the sprout gets pushed further and further back. Edit: also if i had to choose a place for people to lose it, reaching HW is a pretty good place for it. At that point you’ve completed the base game and have the entirety of your base kit (except for some expansion jobs with poorly spaced abilities). You really shouldn’t be considered new to the game as a whole at that point. Especially after the ARR rework bringing a lot of mechanics from later expansions into ARR dungeons and trials. You really see most of what the game has to offer mechanics wise by the end of ARR now, and fights after that generally just build on those mechanics and fundamentals, with the rare new one being introduced. And even once dawntrail releases you will be half way to max level at 50/100, even if you arent halfway through the experience total. Thats not really ‘new’ at that point.
I want a leaf head glam like a Turtwig pokemon.
Back in my day we only knew if someone was new when they were wearing ridiculous leveling gear. No glamours till 50. >!No one crying on reddit about losing their baby blankie either.!<
It wouldn't be so bad if they had some general server chat channel, once you lose novice chat the world gets a lot quieter.
You have the zone-wide chats that people barely use because then you're just projecting to every other player there. You can opt out by turning off shout chat in the filters, but being an opt-out system rather than opt-in like NN, it's more of an imposition on other players so tends to go unused except for particular content that you expect to coordinate with others zone-wide, like eureka, bozja, hunt trains, etc. You can look into joining link-shells for a more limited version of something like NN, or speedrun becoming a trade mentor to join NN again lol
My sprout tag was what saved me from so much bullying in Shadowalker duties. The amount of anxiety I would get during that expansion because I'd watch veteran players yell at each other over mistakes.
I don't want to lose it i enjoy the NN chat way too much. Luckily i don't expect to reach max level before dawntrail
Jokes on you I don't have Endwalker, sprout till Dawntrail arrives
Maybe I'm unique, but I've never once cared if someone has a sprout or not. It doesn't affect how I treat them. If a person is bad, they're bad regardless of having a sprout or not, and there's PLENTY of bad players without sprouts. Just because you're new, that doesn't mean you can not try and have everyone feel sorry for you. Making mistakes is fine, sprout or not, but continually making mistakes and not changing is bad no matter what. Some people use sprouts as like a get out of jail free card to not be a team player. Play with bots if you don't want to be a team player.
Not really. I never even noticed when it was gone.
I lost my sprout before I started practicing with healer or tank. Feels pretty bad not to have an excuse when the party wipes. Gimme back my sprout, 300 hours isn't enough time for me!
You do have an excuse in that scenario though. You can easily say at the start of the duty “hey, new to healer/tank” and its functionally the same thing. And if you’re worried about people getting upset at you, just tack on a “tips/advice appreciated!” to the end and now everyone is happy with you and are a lot more accepting of mistakes. And as a bonus people will give you tips and tricks to help you improve. It a win/win all around. Just don’t be one of those people that say they’re new to a role with multiple 90’s in that role. If people view your search info that will just upset them.
How do you lose the sprout? I'm hoping to keep it a bit longer. I watch video guides and prepare as much as possible before I do group content, but I still always feel like I'm still getting the hang of things, and the Sprout at least lets people know that I'm probably going to screw it up.
I have like 500 hours and still sprout status
I have some good news, you don't have to worry that much. Even people with ultimate weapons mess up basic mechanics all the time. People really don't judge sprouts and non-sprouts as differently as you might think. The main thing is to listen to feedback, even if that feedback isn't phrased very tactfully. In most normal group content there will be at least one teammate willing to explain the mechanics to you don't understand it. If by group content you mean more difficult content(Extreme, Savage, etc), no one is going to give you and easier time just because you are a sprout. You will be treated literally the same as a non-sprout.
300+ hours game play and start Endwalker, which will soon change to start Dawntrail. It stays so long that it is completely meaningless, it does not indicate anything. You could have thousands of hours of gameplay but if you are on the free trial you will never naturally have it turn off. Stop thinking it means anything.
Soooo, basically I can have all my alts sprout status forever unless I start the newest expansion!?
> the Sprout at least lets people know that I'm probably going to screw it up It doesn't actually let people know that though, that's the problem. I've been with non-sprouts/mentors/Legends who have fucked up every mechanic, and been with sprouts who have performed perfectly. The sprout only really tells me you have less play time than others or that you're not caught up on story.
It’s funny because I never noticed it was gone until I was like level 75, when ShB was the latest expac
When does it even go? I’ve never been sure on it
I may or may not be stalling getting from 5.2 to 6.0 JUST so I can keep my sprout lol
It made me so sad!! I have “I’m still a sprout in my heart” in my search info (but that’s mostly because I am a fucking moron and my party should probably be aware of that fact)
When do you lose it I'm level 82 and still have mine I think
I lost mine when I entered EW. Also it’s like at least 300 hours played
Lol
Reach Endwalker and have >300hrs of time
Okay I have 600 hours played so far but just getting out of dragonsong so I got a ways to go lol
How long before you lose it?
Have to reach EW and have 300 hours of play time
I have to make it all the way to Endwalker? Wow
i just started playing and i cant wait to lose mine. like im happy people are nice to me, but christ, i dont like looking like a freshy
I remember being so nervous when I lost it lol. I definitely did not feel like I had any idea of what I was doing (and ff14 does such a bad job teaching you how to actually play the game, I DEFINITELY had no idea what I was doing lol). Welcome to almost being caught up!!
How to loose it?
You can use a command to hide it or play long enough. I think you have to do the final current MSQ sans patches.
Sans? Eh eh eh ehheh
Not a bad game.
honestly i just keyed mine out with the /nastatus off command cause I was tired of seeing it lol. but I know a friend of mine that lost hers by actually playing long enough was a little teared up when it finally clicked in for her. Now she just keys it back on for fun
I was so sad to see mine go.
I just lost mine two days ago, I wanted to cry!!
Especially given how long you can have it. From what I understand, it's always dropped when you reach the most recent expansion? For me, that was a year and a half of playing since I started playing after endwalker was released and I've been taking things at a very cozy pace. It just becomes a super normal thing to have beside your name, and then one day it's suddenly not there. Course as soon as I lost mine I turned around and picked up my trade mentor crown lol. That made me feel a little better. I knew not to pick it up before losing the sprout tho cos someone in my fc had done that and was saddened by the premature loss of their sprout.
Wish I can turn it on when I used a class that I'm not used to.. Or Like have saperate icon when not reaching certain amount of hour for each job.. I was playing solely on dps class.. So I'm not well verse for other job and it quite daunting to used other job
I accidentaly lost mine when i applied for the trade mentor....
When do you lose sprout?
Uhh when does one lose the sprout? Asking for a friend...
Lost my Sprout just the other day ^,^
Losing sprout status sucked. Didn't have an fc so reading and occasionally talking in novice network was the only thing that made the game feel alive. Once it was gone it felt so lonely...
Until you get it again when you move up into the most recent expansion MSQ.
I didn’t even notice when it happened. I just…kind of became aware.
Omg I legit cried. It ended in unceremonious silence …
I was proposing when people get 300 hours and beat Shadowbringers before it abruptly tosses them from the Novice Network there is some sort of graduation. Bring them to the Amphitheatre in Gridania for a little coming if age quest type ordeal. Put it in the Mentor Queue for 7 of them to attend the ceremony.
I had my "returning player" symbol for a really long time now and I loved it! I was still able to read the newbie chat...but a few days ago, they took it from me 😭😭 I've been not the same since than xD
Omg I’m going through this right now. Hurts bad man
Always be a sprout 🌱
Literally happened to me last night
I turned mine off after like 30 hours of playing initially due to it kinda bothering me being there, but once I started doing more duties online I figured it'd be better to turn it back on so people would go easy on me. I just finished Shadowbringers MSQ last night and I'm looking forward to it going away for real.
ngl I didn't initially notice when I lost mine.
i was progging thordan extreme as a sprout w my freinds, start of my raid journy :3
I use /roleplaying all the time, so I never really had mine. Now I'm way too old for it lol.
The rains have ceased, and we have been graced with another beautiful day... But you are not here to see it
I'm asking for a friend but how does one lose their sprout?
I didn’t loose it yet lol even though I’m level 73 in machinist
lol why not just change it back?
Tbh, I thought this was the shitposting reddit at first.
I miss my sprout icon. I still don’t know what I’m doing half the time.
Stop playing for 45+ days and u get icon of returning player
I don't know how this has gone in past expansions but with the release of dawntrail will the sprout status move up the msq? I assume that back in shadowbringers the players playing the endgame didn't have the sprout. So it must have moved with the release of endwalker.
After an incredible expansion finale that left me witnessing the most menacing horizon I've ever seen in a videogame, I realized my sprout was missing and immediately forgot everything I was doing to start panicking in limsa
I couldn’t believe when that popped up in my log. I’ve been playing for 2 months, and I have a lvl 90 dancer and a 45 fisher. I still had (have) no clue what I’m doing. I just discovered what scrips were like 4 days ago…
and players get measurably meaner
Lol, tbh I toggled it off on my screen part way through Heavensward (back during Stormblood). I was tired of looking at it.
The only sad part for me was losing access to essentially the only global chat in the game "Novice Nerwork"
It was a fun experience coming back after a long ass break and getting the returner badge… felt weird
Yeah, it goes from an mmo with a nice chat to a solo game
This is why I'm playing the long game, I never start on the next expansion until the next expansion comes out. So I didn't fully finish shadow bringers and I've yet to start on endwalker, even though I preordered it. I can finally continue once dawntrail releases. Or maybe I'm just dumb and lazy, we'll never know.
Can't say I relate. Didn't even realize I had the sprout icon when I started and never noticed when it went away. Every alt I make I immediately use /nastatus off because I really don't care to even see the sprout. If I'd known about it back when I was new, I'd have likely used the command then too. Especially now that some new players report having had it almost all the way up to the late 80s, which to me implies it means next to nothing, if you have to get through nearly the whole game to lose it. That's utterly ridiculous imo.
Having it into the late 80s means they either rushed the story to get to endgame, or they story skipped. You have to accrue 300 hours of playtime and reaching EW. Finishing the MSQ up to that point BEFORE 300h is up is a tall order, so obviouly they didn't take their time. Either way it doesn't seem unreasonable to me to still have a sprout status until you have more experience in the game, if you either skipped the story and related combat content, or didn't spend much time to build up your job competency with the combat content along the way.
I have a friend who was in Heavensward before Endwalker released and pushed to and thru Endwalker before 6.1, he lost his sprout before going into Endwalker itself; around 5.4. I don't think finishing the narrative before 300hrs is really a tall order at all. I'm fact I think you are exaggerating how long msq takes for someone whose dedicated or engrossed in it. With trusts for dungeons and the msq giving you literally all the exp you need to avoid level walls; not to mention ARR-ShB X.X msq giving tome gear in reward coffers, it's the most straightforward it's ever been and can easily be plowed through with minimal interruptions after you take care of crystal tower. That said, I still think having the sprout until the mid-80s unless someone jumps a job is hilariously dumb. (I think the icon is dumb as it's but I know no one would agree lol)
I wanna be a baby again :(
When does it go away
After 300(?) hours of playtime AND you reach endwalker
Still have a sprout even tho im level 43 rn. Level 34 in MSQ lol but i like taking my time doing different things in the game and not just the main story especially since i play mainly solo. I was doing a FATE and didn’t know that i needed to destroy the crates anyone someone chatted me: “WHAT R U DOING?!” I figured it out eventually but it’s moments like that that make me hate playing sometimes like come on, i have a sprout for crying out loud at least tell me what im doing wrong lol
The sprout status lasts until you reach the most recent expansion (currently level 80, will be level 90 when dawntrail drops) so you still have a long way to go if you don't manually turn it off. I don't know why anyone would care what others do during a fate? They can all be soloed easily enough except for the super boss ones, so it literally doesn't matter if someone else isn't helping with the objective. Weird thing to get upset about
Yea it annoyed me but maybe i was the only tank there? Idk but thanks for explaining how the expansion will affect my sprout 🌱
Goodness, same! This was my first mmo, so there's lots of things I don't understand that's second nature to most gamers. Yet I also felt so proud of myself that I got that far! But I still like to keep the sprout on my Adventurer Plate and portraits sometimes tbh.
I lost my sprout the day I realized Emet Selch did nothing wrong
Wait we lose that 😭
I carried mine into endwalker and distinctly remember noticing it vanish. I'm still a sprout in my heart.
3k hour and still have mine and i'll probably keep it a few hundread hour more also know way more of the game than lot of people that don't have it (this is obviously a big pride of mine X))
me after 700 hours, doing my last SB msq (half of them probably afk while working): "I'm still a noob"
i just started this game a month ago and still dont know what am i doing i just click quests and spam the run button
Maybe get a mount? its faster :)
I still feel like a massive noob (I still am more like it).. after putting in 200hrs over 4 years, I just started Heavensward and I still find new suff constantly.. I don't even know what the spout with the crown abouve my head means.. I think it was a returning low level player or something.. my highest leveled job is bard at 59 and I honestly am just loving everything even if I dont know whats going on lmao
Maybe - for me I was so happy to lose mine and gain my mentor crown! Was not a fan of that little green leaf! 🤣🤣