Hello and welcome! I'm glad you're enjoying the world of FFXIV - your sentiments mirror a lot of my own, especially when I first hopped aboard.
Since I'm on Balmung and playing on a PC, I can really only take an attempt at the last couple of questions there. For a world map, I'd probably just google FFXIV World Map and try to piece things together. (Sorry I'm not very helpful with that one!)
This site has many Linkshells/FCs in the Directory. So, feel free to browse what's over there and see if there are any that pique your interest. ^^
As for your character deviating from the intro of the game, I think a lot of people do that. My character was raised by a division of the Deh tribe, but worked in Limsa for five years after the Calamity as a courier. She has a bright personality and a very detailed backstory, but she doesn't have the Echo or most things that the main story of the game dictates. As long as it doesn't break the lore, I think you can give your character whatever background or present-day circumstance that you want them to have.
Since I'm on Balmung and playing on a PC, I can really only take an attempt at the last couple of questions there. For a world map, I'd probably just google FFXIV World Map and try to piece things together. (Sorry I'm not very helpful with that one!)
This site has many Linkshells/FCs in the Directory. So, feel free to browse what's over there and see if there are any that pique your interest. ^^
As for your character deviating from the intro of the game, I think a lot of people do that. My character was raised by a division of the Deh tribe, but worked in Limsa for five years after the Calamity as a courier. She has a bright personality and a very detailed backstory, but she doesn't have the Echo or most things that the main story of the game dictates. As long as it doesn't break the lore, I think you can give your character whatever background or present-day circumstance that you want them to have.
