Professional Teleporter's Guide ~ By Totema1

Category:Guides
==Intro==
I'm writing this guide to help explain the process of using any of the various Teleport spells for a profit. I hope to make this service as clear and simple as possible for all readers by answering basic questions, providing simple guidelines, and more as time allows. Feel free to add your own thoughts in any area besides this Intro and the Credits, but please put a summary of your edit with your signature in the last area.
==FAQ==
What is a Professional Teleporter?
* A "Professional Teleporter" is my own P.C. term for what is by far more commonly called a "telewhore" or "teletaxi". These are characters that offer the use of a Teleport spell (or a similar spell, see below) as a way to earn money in FFXI.
Is this really as profitable as everyone says?
* If it weren't, then nobody would be doing it! Telewhoring is one of the fastest and most time-efficient ways to earn gil in FFXI, but does have special requirements to be truly effective.
So what do I have to do to be a teletaxi?
* There are a few prerequisites that you must fulfill in order to be able to offer your services:
** Level 36 or higher White Mage
** Level 17 or higher Black Mage
** The following spells: Teleport-Holla, Teleport-Dem, Teleport-Mea, Warp
** Lots of time (if you intend on making large day-by-day profits), a sharp mind and a good attitude
Compare telewhoring to farming for profit.
* Not exactly a question, but ok...
** On the up side, it's usually a lot faster to get right into telewhoring. If you're really dedicated to it, you'll often find yourself ready to go immediately after logging in. It's also somewhat easier to make a lot of money sooner, as you can begin as early as Level 36. Telewhoring (usually) is not a mind-numbing as farming, and if you do happen to be caught in a slow spell, you simply need to keep alert for requests instead of constantly hunting and killing mobs. Finally, you'll make actual money a lot faster than farming, and the rate for teleports is pretty stable all the time, instead of fluctuating rapidly due to the nasty RMT. 
** However, if you're particularly high-levelled (especially with Thief and have the almighty Treasure Hunter trait) you could potentially make more money faster through farming. (And, high level drops are relatively untouched by the RMT because they simply can't get at them) Also, telewhoring is entirely dependant on a steady flow of customers. Some times of the year, particularly in autumn, lack a lot of players because they're simply too busy to play. When that's the case, you might be lucky to have any customers at all during the course of the day. When it's during a busier season, like during the holidays or the summer, you will probably have an easier time making consistent money.
What exactly are the Teleport spells, and how can I get them?
* There are actually six Teleport spells, but you probably only need the above-mentioned three to make a lot of money. In any case, the spells are Teleport-Holla, Teleport-Dem, Teleport-Mea, Teleport-Yhoat, Teleport-Altep, and Teleport-Vahzl. All six of these spells teleport all "qualified" party members to a specific area: for the first three, it is to their corresponding Crags in La Theine Plateau, Konschtat Highlands, and Tahrongi Canyon, while the other three are to isolated telepoints in Yhoator Jungle, Eastern Altepa Desert, and Xarcabard. (In order to "qualify" for teleportation, you need to have obtained a key item from the corresponding telepoint.) All of these can be obtained through quests, but the first three usually are not terribly expensive and you may want to just buy them on the Auction House instead. (Mea is sometimes an exception; on my server it usually costs around the same as the other two, but recently it has costed about 90k on the AH whereas the other two are just around 15k!) 
OK, I have everything I need. What do I do exactly?
* The actual process you should do will be discussed later in detail, but the general idea is to make your way to a heavily-populated area as a WHM/BLM, set your homepoint there, watch out for anyone that /shouts for a teleport, invite them to a party, make your transaction, cast your teleport spell, and when your customer is safely in the desired area Warp back to your homepoint.
What about Recalls and Retrace?
* These are different spells from the Teleports, having to do with areas in the past (with the Wings of the Goddess expansion). There are three Recalls (Recall-Jugner, Recall-Pashh, and Recall-Meriph), but only one Retrace. A veteran teletaxi can often also offer Recall service, since they are White Magic, but Retrace is a high-level Black Magic spell, so most teletaxis won't have this spell readily available. That's not to say you personally can't offer it, so long as you have the qualified Black Mage level and the spell ready. Players generally offer much more money for the usage of these spells, so it may be worth getting them.
==The Cycle==
Assuming you're totally ready to begin your services, I'm offering a step-by-step guide on this actual process. 
# Get in position.
#* This means to start your "stakeout". Pick an urban area (Outside zones almost never have shouts for Teleports) that has heavy foot traffic. The most common choice is Jeuno, specifically Lower Jeuno because of its large Auction House, connection to Tenshodo, and variety of quest-related NPCs. This is probably where you will make most of your fortune! Another common choice is either in Al Zahbi or Aht Urhgan Whitegate, though you should be prepared to use the latter three Teleports due to the heavy presence of endgame characters there. Finally, any one of the three starter nations might be a good choice, but this usually depends on your server. For example, in mine (Bahamut), I usually see a fair amount of people shouting for Teles in Bastok, somewhat less so in San d'Oria, and almost never in Windurst.
#** I have no personal experience in the matter, but I would imagine the past cities (Southern San d'Oria (S), Bastok Markets (S), and Windurst Waters (S)) could either be really good for teletaxis or really bad. Of course you would not get much demand for Recalls and Retrace there. Do your own research in finding out if these areas are lucrative. (And maybe edit in your own findings!)
#** Something special to note for telewhores who have access to the Aht Urhgan areas and a complete set of Teleport spells: Pay close attention to whether or not Shihu-Danhu is captured. If he is, you may want to spend extra time in the Imperial City. When the so-called "free warp Taru" is out of commission, people will lose their fastest and cheapest route from there to the general area around Jeuno, and Teleports will be in much higher demand. However, a lot of people will still use the sorcerer's older brother, Kaduru-Haiduru for the same purpose, and he cannot be captured. Therefore, in this event, it may be smarter to station yourself in Al Zahbi rather than in Aht Urhgan Whitegate, simply because of the position of the two brothers.
#*** It's worthwhile to have the Recalls and Retrace available if you're hanging around Aht Urhgan. These spells usually have a much higher demand here than in any other major city. I've known BLMs who've made more than 50k in about half an hour in Whitegate thanks to Retrace alone.
#*** If your usual stakeout is in Al Zahbi, it's important to zone if a Besieged round is about to begin! In fact, if players are beginning to mass in anticipation for the upcoming round, they are very unlikely to want a teleport anyway. Go to Whitegate and see if you can make any money there while the round is underway!
#*** With the addition of Abyssea, more and more players have a need to get directly from Whitegate to any of the crag zones. If there isn't a White Mage in their alliance (which is incredibly silly), or if they are going by themselves to meet their companions at the destination, they will shout for a teleport. And usually offer more than anywhere else. Thus Whitegate is now the new hot zone for a professional taxi service.
#* Once you have arrived in your target area, set your homepoint there. It's usually smart to set it directly outside of your Mog House, so you can dash inside after each round to restore your MP.
#* After setting your homepoint, simply loiter around. I find it best to stay in a low-lag area (which might be hard in Jeuno or Al Zahbi) to have the best possible chance of reading a shout first.
# Be ready, and respond to a shout as soon as possible!
#* Remember, you're probably not the only one in the zone that can teleport a potential customer! I always have "/sea " (with the space) queued up in my chat box before anyone even shouts for me. Then, I quickly and deftly type the first two or three letters of my latest client's name, hit Enter, and attempt to invite them. If the Invite box in the Search function is lit, and there's no error message after you hit it, then it usually means you've snagged a customer! 
#* Some people think it's a good idea to respond to a shout through a /tell before inviting them. BURY THAT THOUGHT RIGHT NOW. A teleport client knows that if they receive an invite after shouting for a teleport, 99 times out of 100 it's a person that will give them that service. There is absolutely no reason to let them know beforehand that you can offer them a teleport. It's just a waste of time that will very often lose you a potential customer.
#* Also, it's probably not a good idea to type out the client's entire name when searching for them, or to use the "/pcmd add" command for this step. First of all, I know a lot of players that have huge and unwieldy character names that will take several moments to type out entirely and exactly. That lost time could also lose you that client. Additionally, using the other command, while saving you a few clicks of the mouse or button, also requires you to type out the character's full name, which brings us to the first problem. Then again, this method may be faster if there are a great deal of people in the zone you're in, because the server may take a while to search through the zone for any given person. So, given the circumstance, this could be acceptable, even though I generally prefer not to use it.
# Meet and greet your client.
#* The Teleport spells only work on other party members when they are within range. So casting one on yourself will not teleport the party member that is on the other side of the map. Make sure you are fairly close to your client before you move on to the next step. ("Fairly close" meaning within the inner ring of your radar)
#* Make sure you at least say <Hello!>. This ties into etiquette, which I will discuss in a later part of the guide. Do this either immediately when your customer is added to your party, or when they are in your line of sight. Which might be both at the same time, depending on their position.
# Complete your transaction.
#* At the time of writing this, the average fare for any of the first three Teleports is 1,000 gil. However, not all of your clients will have this much money on hand, as unfortunate as that is. That's okay! Politely accept whatever they can offer, even if it's nothing, and move ahead with the process. It's more important to be a good teletaxi and making sure you're liked by your customers.
#* Please, please don't be a dick and stubbornly demand money for your teleport. Yes, I know that's why you're doing this in the first place, but people will appreciate you a lot more if you swallow your pride and teleport them anyway, which might end up paying off for you in the end. And really, what will you miss if you simply refuse them and look for other clients? At worst, maybe 1,000 or 2,000 gil, and most likely nothing at all.
#* Many customers may prefer to pay you after you cast the spell as opposed to before. This is fine, you end up with your money in either case. Don't be finicky, and go with it.
# Cast your spell.
#* MAKE SURE that you use the right spell, ROFL!! All joking aside, casting the wrong Teleport spell can happen, even if it sounds slightly ridiculous. You might be trying to make some gil at 4 AM, or while under the influence of foreign substances (and if you are, you probably shouldn't be playing FFXI in the first place). The chances of casting the wrong spell are much greater if you use a macro for it. I will discuss macros in a later section.
#* All of the teleport spells have an almost monumentally-long casting time. Well... 20 seconds seems like a long time compared to most other spells. If you can, use this time to make some conversation with your client! You may end up being able to give them some valuable advice, for which you will definitely be appreciated.
# Once you both are in the desired zone, see your client off.
#* Basically, say goodbye, good luck, etc. This may be the time when you receive your payment.
#* After your customer has left and disbanded from the party, cast Warp to return to your stakeout and look for a new one! This puts you back at the third point of the first step.
==The Four Necessities==
There are four qualities that make a good Teletaxi. These are:
====Speed====
Speed is absolutely essential. If you cannot contact your client before anyone else does, you won't have any chance of making money. The best way to be before the competition is to be as ready as possible for a customer. I already mentioned this as part of the cycle. It's also important to get to your client quickly and waste as little time as possible. Giving free teleports to those with no money or waiting for your client to gear up is not wasting your time. Chatting with your linkshell buddies, looking for new gear on the AH, or getting new quests through an NPC, however, are wastes of time, because they force your client to wait for you instead of the other way around. 
====Accuracy====
This only means casting the right Teleport spell, which I've already discussed. But this is still important, because making your client wait to zone into the wrong area and wait for you to cast the right spell is classified as a waste of time.
====Friendliness====
There's a reason this game is called "Final Fantasy XI" instead of "World of Warcraft". We appreciate friendliness and wit, because we are actual people and this helps to brighten our day. Always greet your customer, thank them for their hard-earned cash, and wish them well when they depart. Also, be ready to give advice if, on the odd occasion, you are asked for it. Don't be afraid to chat with your customer, ask them what they may plan on doing at their destination (this is when you might be able to give some of that advice!) or even joke around a little if you feel brave enough to. After all, you're a player too, not an NPC. Show it! 
====Flexibility====
This might be the hardest for some teletaxis to master. Basically, it means to be patient and understanding. You might have to lower your rate for a financially-challenged customer, teleport two or more people at once to one or even multiple destinations, or even drop off one customer at a telepoint while picking up another while you're there. Remember the old salesman's mantra, "The customer is always right." It will always profit you more to be flexible than to be a hardass that only offers teleports to people one at a time for only a fixed rate.
If you follow these four tenets and remain dedicated to offering your service, you may even begin to develop a certain reputation. It always brightens me up when people directly ask me for a teleport through a /tell rather than shouting for one.
==Macros==
I personally don't use macros for this, but some players might. In this case, I have some useful macro templates and suggestions.
*
:/echo Casting <Teleport-Whatever> 
:/target <stpc>
:/ma "Teleport-Whatever" <me>
:It's not a good idea to simply have the last line of this macro as your macro. You may somehow have a brain-fart and forget which macro corresponds to which spell! (Which happens to me all the time...) In this instance, I have the first two lines to sort of confirm the Teleport I'm casting before I cast it as a fail-safe. Oh, and make sure you have the actual Teleport's name in place of the "whatever". Teleport-Whatever is not an actual spell...
*
:/ma "Warp" <me>
:Just a quick way of using Warp. You might not even need this in the first place.
It's also nice to have your greeting and good-bye statement in your macro, though this may make it seem "manufactured". It's up to you.
I told you, there's not much point in having macros just for telewhoring. No, there's no command that lets you invite or search for the last person who shouted. That would make things too easy, wouldn't it?
==Other Tips==
* You may be wondering when the best time to offer your services is. Really, any time is! Think of it this way: If it's a fairly slow day, such as a weekday in the middle of Autumn, you may not see many people shouting for a teleport. But this means that you will face relatively little competition, too, since most players don't like sticking around for a long time to wait for a client. In contrast, on a fast day, such as during a major holiday, you may see many people shouting for teleports. This will encourage anyone that can use the Teleport spells to stick around and make some fast cash. Hence, you are likely to face quite a bit of competition. But there will always be the potential customers that slip in between your competitions' rounds, which you can mop up for yourself! Honestly, I see a minimal difference in profit between days that are slow but have little competition, and days that are busy but have a lot. The days you want to avoid are ones with slow requests but already with 1 or 2 dedicated telewhores ready to answer them. Throwing yourself in there might not make you a whole lot of money, and will probably just piss off the guys that are already handling the calls.
* Feel free to advertise your service through a shout! Use something along the lines of:
:/sh <Teleport-Holla><Teleport-Dem><Teleport-Mea>
:/wait 1
:/sh <Do you need it?></tell> *Your name* *Your rate*
:: Keep in mind that constantly spamming an advertisement shout gets really annoying to other players and/or other teletaxis. If someone wants a teleport, they do not wait to hear an advertisement, they just shout. Its up to you if you would like to advertise, but I highly advise against it. --Kingofgeeks
* If you feel like advertising, it's probably a good idea to lower your rate so you can entice any potential customers to choose you over the other guy! However, you may only want to advertise on a slow day. People don't need extraneous shouts clogging their chat boxes, especially when four other people are shouting for a teleport at the same time!
* If you're just starting out in the Teletaxi business, don't get discouraged. It may take a little practice to perfect the structure of your rounds. And don't get too mad if or when the more-experienced teletaxis are outpacing you. If you feel helpless, just log out, cool your head, and get back into it after a while.
* Always be courteous to whoever you teleport. Remember, they are your customer. Say <Hello!> when they join, <Thank You> when you receive payment, and <Take Care> when you leave them. Being a courteous Professional Teleporter can, and will, get you return business!
* If someone offers a lot of money for a teleport, say 5k for a Teleport-Mea, offer to do their next teleport for free! They may just send you a tell in the future to ask for a teleport instead of shouting for one. Guaranteed business!
* As an added bonus, it's polite to buff your customer with the highest level protect spell you can cast. This helps ensure they reach their destination safely, and if they happen to be soloing it saves them from spending tabs on field support.
* If you should happen to find yourself casting the wrong spell, don't run around like a chicken with it's head cut off, there is still a chance that the spell will go off! The best way to cancel a spell is simply to take a knee.
* If you are going to two different destinations (ie: one person to Holla and one to Dem), on arrival at the first destination, think about why that person is going there! Holla and Mea can cause problems if the person is going to the starter city via Choco in that they run to the Choco (and out of range), you start your cast, they then ride past again on the choco and back into range just as you finish your cast. Yes, I've actually taken someone off a choco before now, fortunately they just laughd it off!
* I'll add more miscellaneous tips later if they pop into my head.
==Credits and Special Thanks==
My main inspiration for this guide is Adversary of Allakazham. In fact, I sort of "reinterpreted" (read: lifted) part of his guide when writing this. But his guide is somewhat dated, being four years old, and the unique thing about FFXIclopedia is that any member can throw in their thoughts if they feel it's necessary. In any case, thanks Adversary!
That ends that. I hope you've enjoyed reading my guide, and I hope it has helped your understanding of the Teletaxi service!