I'm not sure if Cerberus exists, but if it does not then you will be moved where they all were moved. The game has gotten a lot easier than when you played at 75 cap. I like it a lot more now, but many people think it is too easy and stupid. I would rather get shit rather than wait a year or two for stuff. The gear you get are awesome and you can get easier now. The game has changed so much since Abyssea was implemented. You will have to read up on everything on wiki.ffxiclopedia.org. It WILL take awhile to get used to everything and understand it so if you do play, do not get frustrated and quit. Just take the time to understand everything and get 99 and you should like it. I want to try FFXIV A Realm Reborn once it releases. It suppose to be much better than the original game. They are re releasing the game in 2013.

Cerberus does exist still. Other servers have probably been merged with it since the ToAU era. I play on Fenrir server, and Unicorn server got merged with us and became part of Fenrir, thus no longer existing. Same thing happened with Cerberus, some other server merged with it and came a part of Cerberus.

About your characters, they still should be there. It is possible that some of their data may be corrupted(like maybe a few items are gone, or your conquest points are reset), but usually that doesn't happen. I have come back from a year break a couple times and my characters were fine. You'll have to make a square enix account, all of the account management system has been removed from the Play Online viewer and been moved to their website. Most likely when you start to reactivate your account on the Play Online viewer, it'll tell you to do that anyways, it's really not that hard.

Making new friends might be a challenge, maybe some of your other old friends will still be there and willing to help. If you can find a decent LS with some cool people quick, it won't be that bad.

Honestly, the game has changed for the better since you've been gone. Once you get to level 99, you'll be able to accomplish so much more. There is so much more to do on the game these days. Even if you don't make friends right away, you can EXP to 99 in abyssea fairly quick, and from there you can start doing things. Depending on your jobs, there are some challenging things that can be solod, and that can actually be entertaining.

I have gotten back into the game a few months ago, and it is definitely worth it in my opinion. The only way you can really find out yourself is to reactivate your account and give it a try though.

Lol I was just thinking about playing again. Is it even worth it? I use to have so much fun back in the day for it.
I heard its changed a lot but I was wondering as to is it even fun anymore? Those fun Dynamis runs were cool back there but took years, I guess it's pretty fast now o.o

theres a free trial, i played around with it a couple months ago and it had alot of people surprisingly.

Whats it cost to reactivate + per month again?
How fast does it usually take to get to 99? Last time I played was when 75 was cap

I think it's $12.99 base per month, and then +$1 for every character(content ID) you create.

Well lets say that you do reactivate the same account, and you have jobs that are already level 75. You can probably get 99 in a week if you party enough. There is a Limit Break quest every 5 levels, so level 80, 85, 90, and 95. Most of these are pretty simple, but to get past level 95 that one is pretty tough. Anyone can help on that fight, so people already level 99 can help you out if they are kind enough. The most common strategy is just to get a bunch of monks and hundred fist the boss to death. Or a bunch of monks, and a smn that has alexander for perfect defense. That'll be the hardest part, is just doing that last Limit Break. Pretty much everyone parties on worms in abyssea - la theine, so if you just go there and put your flag up, you'll probably get an invite.

Also, the exp you get in abyssea is way more than you get in older zones(though they have included grounds of valor and fields of valor to balance it a little). But exp grows while in abyssea because you build "lights", gold lights and ebon lights increase exp gained, they drop from chests when you kill mobs. Exp basically caps at a little over 600 per kill. And the fact they you are usually there with an 18 person alliance, you get exp extremely fast compared to the older days. Even the fastest Bhaflau Thickets colibri merit parties are easily blown away by abyssea exp.

Oh wow. I remember those Bhaflau Thickets doing those chains haha.

Thanks for explaining all this, it tempts me to get back into the game though I remember before when I did play, I sat in town for most of the times because of my time zone and that it conflicts with real life stuff. Meaning that I'm never on when the good stuff goes down and when I get on, only the japanese are on and none really wants to play at that late at night lol.

Yeah I got almost every character at 75. So I mean it might be fun to relive my ffxi days though the changes might be too much for me haha. 600+ exp a kill? damn that would be nice.. Though I'm sure the exp to level is kinda high lol so it'd still take awhile.
I use to do summoner burns in tunnel near Bastok. Would blast all the monsters and get 40k exp in one swoop.

Well it's definitely easier to find parties now. You basically just go in abyssea - la theine, put your flag up and walk over to the worm camp. If there is a party there you'll usually get an invite in within 20 minutes.

And 600 a kill is definitely a lot. I've taken a job from level 75 to 99 in a GOOD party(not a lazy one that is slow exp), in maybe like 5 hours or so.

If you wanna get back into it, you should give it a try. You've really got not much to lose. The game is more accessible. There are tons of things to do, if you stand in port jeuno and watch the shouts you'll usually find yourself doing something in little time.

Exactly how does one access abyssea? Is that some new zone they made? I havent played since WoTG so I'm not really familar with that place.
Just wondering if I gotta buy some expansion pack thingy, though I heard a new expansion is coming eventually.