Moderating Rate of Exp Gain

[ISLANDWAHINE1107]

I like Tristian’s viewpoint, and I appreciate the idea that some players value repeating the same battle in order to learn from it. There’s a great deal of honor in that idea. Often players complete Promyvion or another battle to move on as quickly as possible. I've played with my fair share of players that are not focused on HOW they win, just that they win. To repeat a battle for the ideal of perfecting battle is noteworthy, imho.
On a side note, I actually caught a glimpse of Tristian’s team playing and watched a video of them. He mentioned they had a few videos up and I googled 'Phoenix Valorians' just to check them out. From the looks of it, teamwork is definitely their mission. It was refreshing to see that in newer ffxi players. It would be nice to see their work supported through options for exp gain or optional level caps.

[Ozzwin]

I like the ideas Tristan posted. It would be nice to be able to party with anyone and not worry about what level everyone is or having to move locations when mobs got too easy. It also lets you practice on a particular mob type, like an element, without having to worry about how long you can use the same mobs. I would really like the idea of choosing some other reward than XP or being able to trade it in for stuff like Darkstahr said. I like being able to trade my conquest points for equipment and items. And I think it needs reiterated that this should be an option. Players have a huge diversity in playing styles. Some like becoming power houses. Some like collecting all the items. Some just like level grinding (I can be guilty of this). There should be options to allow control for all playing styles.

[Blah]

going to bump this to see if we can get a yah or nah. They could I think easily do away with level sync if they found a way to get this to work, and then maybe optionize other stuff too.

[oliveira]

Just to tell a tale of my own on this subject.

The first time I did the mission the OP talks about we organized a huge shout with players ranging from level 20 to 35. From shouting to finish the whole process took more than 12 hours.

It took us about nine hours to climb the tower and finish the mission. It was one of the most memorable moments on my FFXI career.

Other event that did close to it was Ifrit's cauldron Zilart mission. We were TWO ALIANCES and we wiped to Tyrannic Tunnok (giant scorpion HNM). Great times (2004/2005) which won't come back ever.

I feel your pain.

[Thralleon]

I really like the idea of optional level caps, and was thinking more about how this would work. For areas that do not involve going to a special location (just regular zones), the level cap option could be added to the options available in the field manuals/grounds tomes in each zone. Adventurers already know where they are, and it would be an easy place for players to find the option and access it.

For areas like the Promyvion zones or special fights that involve zoning into an area with a key item or with a quest/mission flagged, the option could be added to the regular dialog that’s part of zoning in. For example, in Promyvion, waaaaaaaay back in the days, you used to have to clear your memories of the last Promy before you could start the next one. There was a Large Apparatus in the Hall of Transference that allowed you to do this, iirc. That process has since been removed, but the level cap option could be added using the large apparatus in each crag since they are still there.

Again, the level caps could also just be added as an option in the dialog box upon entering the zone. Overall, the level cap option could be incorporated in another pre-existing “structure” that people are familiar with. That way, they could find it easily to use for this purpose.

In a last example, the San d’Orian Mission 1-3 (Save the Children), when you click the door to enter, you get a dialog box anyway. The last option on the dialog box could be the optional level cap. Just some ideas I wanted to throw out there. I hope this gets added!

[Byrth]

I'd support people having the option to level sync themselves to an arbitrary level instead of a party member's level, but I think that implementing a system specifically for missions is a waste of time. Think of how many times people did Assaults on anything other than the "Uncapped" setting.

[Powder]

I had seen Tristian’s group, too. I watched them complete Bastok Eco-Warrior with only 6 members and no higher level help. I’m probably showing my FFXI age by bringing that up (people rarely do Eco Warrior nowadays), but it was impressive to watch them and I see now how they were able to do it (thanks for the video find posted by ISLANDWAHINE1107).


Seeing that video took me back to when I first started playing in 2005. I had a really close group of 8 friends. My best memories were the ones where we spent ample time planning for a challenge, encountered that same challenge…and all hell broke loose during said challenge. Everyone being warned about Draw-in, but still panicking when it actually happened; then the PLD forgetting to unlock and turn away from Mortal Ray; and then everyone else just standing there, mid-battle, and watching him while he sipped holy waters like Dasani…DUDE, you gotta chug it!



We scraped through CoP together, and it wasn’t always pretty, but it was earned…together. That one CoP experience was enough to keep us friends for 4 full years after that before people started leaving the game.



The reason I’m taking time to post my support for the OP, is that even now (9 years later) I remember more details about the challenging fights than I do about the rewards we obtained from conquering them. I would hate to find out that Tristian’s group is being robbed of those experiences. I do not think it’s fair that they should have to wait until level 99 to get the same degree of challenges that older players such as myself experienced at level 30 back in the days.



If optional level caps can help experience challenges together (in any zone/area), then I say why the hell not. If it’s optional, I don’t see why anyone who doesn’t want to play that way should care. But for those that do want to play that way, it is my personal belief that they will maximize a magnificent aspect of this game: the shared experience.

[mdjohns23]

I’m a n00b. But, I’m totally cool with it because I am lucky enough to be part of Project VALOR. The way Brenin has it setup, we can play the game casually and are never online just sitting around waiting for things to happen. I can work it into my schedule and whenever I’m scheduled for a session, I look forward to it because I’ll be with a cool group of friends, and Bren has a way of making typical game activities both challenging and teambuilding. *whispers*—he had us drink poison during an exp session!

I was with him and my teammates on that mission in the tower and I can’t explain the letdown once we reached the top. What’s worse, everyone outside the LS would tell us that we had to wait until level 99 for team challenges. We’re still just level 30 and lower v.v. Does that mean that everything before level 99 is just meant to be rocketed through by any means necessary? I don't believe so.


What I don’t understand is how the developers do such a great job of giving you so many options to play the game (you can choco, hp teleport, or run to a destination), but when it comes to the actual storyline and missions, we’re at the mercy of the rate we gain experience points. For those that wish to take advantage of it, I think optional level caps can make us better all-around players.

[Youby]

Watched the video and it also had me deep in nostalgia. I remember starting out and winning some of those tough fights with the same group (sometimes different group) of friends. I remember feeling like we could take down anything if everyone did their jobs right. Unfortunately for Tristian and the like, the reality is that style of play isn’t nearly as popular as it used to be. We have a different type of player nowadays. It’s not a bad thing, really. Just different.

I think the video that was posted exhibits it perfectly. If you notice at the end of the fight, the record for that fight was 1 min and 17 seconds. I’m taking a wild guess here and assuming that was not done with 2 players that were at level 19 and lower >_>. On the other hand, there was Semita’s group which defeated the dragon at level 19 and lower, but it took 7 mins and 17 seconds (the actual fight looked like it lasted a little over 2.5 mins). Maybe the record holders were short on time and needed that mission completed to get to another step in the game. Regardless, I would wager that Semita’s group probably got more out of that fight because of the effort and teamwork it took to win. I could be wrong, but that would be my bet after watching the video.

Given that they are only asking for an OPTIONAL level cap, I would totally support the OP’s suggestions and am glad to know that there are players like this group still out there Cheers.

[Blah]

All right if you don't want to go thru the trouble of making optional caps how about maybe just doing like the AA fights and making it VE, E, N, D & VD? At least that should be doable since it's already in the game.