Maybe i'm a masochist

[animatedex]

I have to be honest. As a returning player, who spent the most play time in 03-05, this game is not as challenging as it once was. Let me preface this post by saying I am enjoying the time I've spent back in Vana'diel very much.

One thing I'm beginning to notice is that many players have multiple jobs a 90, yet seem to not know what they're doing. I understand that leveling to 90 only requires that you know how to move your character, but I would hope that by level 90, there would be a general understanding as to playing ones class.

This new zerg to 90 seems to have taken the sense of community and camaraderie that it took to accomplish something great, out of the game. Maybe I'm not being reasonable, since I've only been back a week now. I'm willing to embrace the game for whatever it's turned into, because it's still quite fun. But I have to ask.

Am I the only one who misses the level of difficulty the game used to have?

[RAIST]

Yeah.. don't think SE really thought about the effect of the low level 30 requirement for abyssea entry (then there is the whole book burning thing too... /meh). But.. it is what it is. We all had to adjust our playstyles, a lot have just soloed crap with book pages for bonus xp.

There are some players who still go for the traditional party set up to 60+ (although, many are doing it via level-synch, so there is still an issue with skillups and whatnot). Getting harder to find "normal" groups though.

[Kraggy]

Am I the only one who misses the level of difficulty the game used to have?

What do you consider that was difficult about the leveling process?

It was time-consuming certainly, and many jobs at various times sat in Jeuno for hours/days/weeks LFG .. loldrg, lokdrk and the other victims of player-base fads of 'job of the month' over the years .. but getting XP was never hard.

Thing is, players aren't prepared to do that any more, those who want to play 'unfashionable' jobs are no longer prepared to be dictated to by the elitists who refuse to take them because they're not mix/maxed and 'efficient.

What challenges are missing?

The content that existed in 03-05 is still there, and apart from the removal of the level caps for 2-3 and 5-1 as far as I can see everything is just as it was, and can be played just the same now as then. Later content such as CoP is of course 'easier' only insofar as the level cap was removed, but nothing has changed since the nerfing of mobs density that happened back in '08, something you never saw anyway.

Yes, those who liked the group-centric level-grind will be unhappy, for the rest of us leveling is way better than it was. Content can still be 'hard' if you want it, simply level-sync to the old cap if you want to play it the way it was designed to be (within the limitations of the sync system, which aren't huge).

[SpankWustler]

One thing I'm beginning to notice is that many players have multiple jobs a 90, yet seem to not know what they're doing. I understand that leveling to 90 only requires that you know how to move your character, but I would hope that by level 90, there would be a general understanding as to playing ones class.

Many, many, many players being grossly incompetent has always been a key element of FFXI. If anything, seeing someone who doesn't know how to engage a monster or equip a pair of trousers should fill you with nostalgia.

[RAIST]

...
many jobs at various times sat in Jeuno for hours/days/weeks LFG
...

I never did understand this mentality...in my last 5 or 6 years in FFXI, only time I sat around in Jueno or Whitegate was when we were trying to form a party for a specific event and were shouting/waiting for players to show up. Otherwise, I was shopping/crafting, or put flag and /seacom up and went and soloed crap. Why sit on your butt doing nothing when you could be getting xp (esp. now that you get double XP per kill, plus maybe FoV bonus) or doing something else constructive?

Just baffling why people would actively CHOOSE to sit around...and then complain about sitting around doing nothing all day.

[Morwy]

It's not the difficulty, i have to agree with Kraggy about the Time consuming part. I miss the camaraderie like you said. I miss the teamwork, getting to know eachother the way we play and to achieve something together was something i really liked in Assault, Dynamis and such. Now i am under the impression that it's all about the best setup, or getting all triggers job for abyssea stuff.

I am glad i found a LS where i can play for fun and getting accustomed to new content without having to level BLM and actually enjoying being a PLD (well, more like a Battle WHM able to take hit when NIN or THF goes down... but still)

Anyway, the times they are a- changin... ^^