Hi all, a friend convinced me to give FFXIV a try, and I’ve just made myself a Conjurer character. I’m barely 5-10 minutes in and damn this game’s pretty. Also pleasantly surprised by how solid the controller support is so far.

Curious if there are any pitfalls I should avoid, or if any of you seasoned players have advice for someone who’s just starting out.

• Currently on the free trial. Does the subscription ever go on sale? I don’t doubt its value, but ~$150 USD / year is steep for any game (imo).
• Are the classes/races decently balanced? I’ve played other MMOs where the game’s just not viable with certain classes.
• I saw a menu option for macros, and I’d assume that’s keyboard-only? Are there any other players using just a controller, or does that become a hinderance at some point?