Although I've been playing since early '05 it never ceases to amaze me how ludicrous some of XI's game mechanics are: of the many, the most direly bad IMO is Reputation. It is so totally typical of SE's "tell 'em nothing, make 'em use a fansite" philosophy which permeates the entire game.
This fact hit me again over the weekend when, for the umpteenth time in nearly 8 years I did the NIN scrolls in Norg. Think about how this works and then tell me with a straight face this is how enjoyable MMOs should be .. and don't for one second say "use the web" because that just proves my point for me ...
To do the six Norg quests for these scrolls you need to get rep. level 4. Of course, the game doesn't tell you this, nor remotely hint at it, at all. This goes for the entire rep. system, there's zero in-game indication what that little fanfare when you turn in a rep-bearing quest means.
Indeed, apart from the totally obscure rep-NPCs' responses should you get round to talking to them you would be forgiven for being totally ignorant the rep. system exists.
However, even should you realise this .. again, IN-GAME ONLY counts, fansites are a cop-out .. the fact that quests are rep-based is the next totally hidden feature.
Taking my Norg quests in particular, let's say to find the quest giver in Port Bastok and do the initial quest. The NPC does indeed tell you that it's repeatable and you may, for 350 gil, do so.
However, that's it, period. The fact that you're gaining Norg rep. isn't made known, even obliquely.
When you eventually get to Norg and speak to the NPCs that give these quests there is nothing at all that remotely hints that these guys have any quests to give you, far less any idea that the rep. you need for them largely needs to be done by 20+ repeats of a quest half the world away: yes, there are other quests, like the Yagudo necklaces which are equally hidden as to their outcome.
Thus, in order to get these quests you need to perform repeated actions to raise a stat you know nothing about for a number of times you have no idea about and even if you finally manage to stumble upon these quest NPCs when your rep. is somehow level 4 you'll have no idea why.
Can anyone, from SE or outside, seriously tell me, with a straight face this is how it should be and that, in the absence of the 'official guide', 'DAT mining' and other third-party efforts like the Wiki, the quest system in this game is at all playable?
The sources of all the Teleport scrolls, Warp 2 (Warp is likely to be stumbled upon since it only needs rep. 2 to get), the most required NIN Ichi scrolls, etc. are a huge mystery that only the Wiki reveals.
Is this how an RPG should be?
Seriously?
No, I don't want it 'dumbing down' to the level WOW has become, or indeed how FFXIV seems to be headed, but there's a happy medium between "silver platter" mode and the absolute requirement to ALT-TAB to a Wiki to know what's going on.
Oh yes, one final thought, what sort of asinine rep. system is it that allows me to become a HERO of much of the original gameworld by feeding 25 stacks of moss to a sheep in an obscure little fishing village in the middle of nowhere?