I was hoping that the developers could address a problem that my linkshell and I have been having with game content. Because the rate of experience point gain is so fast, it is super difficult to progress through the game while maintaining some degree of challenge. Specifically, I am referring to content that pertains to pre-level 75 adventures.
For example, my linkshell and I (13 of us total) attempted to do the *Appointment to Jeuno* mission (San D’oria Mission 3-3). We started level-sync’d at 25 on the bottom of Delkfutt’s Tower. We fought our way to the top, floor by floor, to obtain the Delkfutt Key from Porphyrion. By the time we reached the top, we were sync’d at level 31. Instead of the mobs becoming tougher as we ascended the tower, they actually became weaker . We were looking forward to the Porphyrion fight, but he ended up being defeated with just the first two-step renkei we performed (Liquefaction > Fusion). From what we've been told, in previous years, you would fight the same number of mobs and still reach the top of the tower with Porphyrion being at least Very Tough in rating.
This was frustrating for all of us for two reasons:
1) We cannot go back to level 25 on these jobs unless we have someone to sync to and
2) The rate of exp gain was not something we could regulate without outside help (having a higher level job in party just to prevent us from getting experience points).
We have come up with two suggestions that could contribute to solving this. In both cases, we are asking for the option to choose how we can play the game. We do not wish to infringe on other players’ enjoyment of the game.
1) Perhaps you could have a mode to switch to so that experience points are converted into some other currency. For example, maybe after switching to this mode (much like Merit Points options), all of the exp you receive can be converted directly into Conquest Points. That way, the experience points are not lost, but you are able to stay at a given level long enough to enjoy the challenges of missions of all types (Nation, Rotzi, and CoP).
2) Perhaps you could allow us to set our own level cap in a zone or region. This way, much like the way Chains of Promathia areas used to be level capped, we could still gain experience points and level, but, unlike level sync, we would remain at a set level until we left the zone. Again, the problem with level sync is that even if you find a player to sync to, that player still gains exp very rapidly and eventually making all mobs less challenging for the party.
Keep in mind that we do understand that there is plenty of high level content that is challenging, and that nowadays, it is fairly easy to level to 99 very quickly. However, we are eager to enjoy the content at lower levels (as well as becoming more proficient at our jobs) before progressing to the content at higher levels.
Our linkshell was put together in the hopes of focusing on teamwork development and that is how we have been approaching the game. We understand that not everyone plays FFXI for these reasons and this is why we are asking that you simply provide all players another option to how one can play the game.