Try getting everything to Lv 99.

[NefarioCall]

I've seen a lot of people displeased about how easy it is to grind battle classes to 50.
I can understand that, and we'll leave out the fact that crafting is not exactly the same speed. I do wish to point out however (yes, in its own topic ^_^), that yoshi has made very clear for some time now that he believes in a gradual increase of the level cap.

Should this game succeed in the long term, the max level will one day be Level 99 in all battle classes, gathering classes, and crafting classes.

FFXI spent a very long time at the 75 cap, and though this changed recently, it was for a very long time the effective 99. In that game, it was very easy to get ANYTHING to level 37, and really, for the most part, level 50 as well.

I think this is good for an MMO, for any casual player to be able to get a variety of abilities to at least a mid range level easily. Level 50 is end game now, and it is a good thing that most content for ourselves playing 1.2 is geared towards that level range.
...but it's a long way from 50-99. also, if it took forever just to get to 50, then the PS3 players would have a damn difficult time getting anything up to speed with the rest of us who are playing now and don't reroll.

Just sayin.

[WinnipegJet]

Uh... what's your point?

Edit: ohhh, I see now, the forum QQ of the moment is about how it's too easy to level in this game and how a "bonus exp" feature makes it intolerably easy.

[Kairyu]

well considering a lot of people have all jobs lvl 99 in ffxi now i dont see it being that hard if this game remains on the same pace its on. They ruined 11 and they are going to ruin this game also.

So what about ps3 players? We had to catch up to jp players when ffxi released over here..

[MeowyWowie]

You're forgetting that they revamped the leveling curve at least once, possibly more I don't remember, as the level cap got higher and higher. So even in it's early days, getting lv50 or 60 (when those were the lv caps) took much longer than just a few days.

[Yelta_Sumasu]

I'm going to repeat what I posted in the rested exp thread. The journey to 50 is pretty fast even for 2 sisters duoing guildleves for a couple of hours twice a week.

I am really hoping that in 2.0 level 50 is the new level 1 and that the experience curve starting at 50 is much steeper. I also hope there will be lots of content available all levels.

[GabbaGabba]

maybe we should take out exp chains and add surplus back in the game since people are saying its too easy to max out to lv50.

imo, the first 50 lvls or so should be not take forever to get to since most of the real content starts at 50, even when they do decide to increase the cap.

[Nero]

Should this game succeed in the long term, the max level will one day be Level 99 in all battle classes, gathering classes, and crafting classes.

I get what you are saying, but at a sidenote, this is not true. Yoshi allready stated that you only will be able to master 1 Craftingclass.

[Roaran]

1-50 is supposed to be a basic experience that allows you to gradually learn skills, your class, and your job as you progress. The idea is you will be able have all the knowledge necessary to perform the tasks involved in whatever is at the end of the road. When you get to cap, there is supposed to be another form of progression, typically called 'end-game'.

FFXI had a lot of endgame content, but did not raise the level cap for a very long period of time. However, there are two issues with this. As time goes on, more and more players will gradually move up to the higher tier of content. As you move into this upper eschelon, there is very little reason to do past content. So, the population becomes focussed into progressing higher and higher, leaving a smaller population of players available to attempt the entry level content. The type of content and the rewards that are offered are also adjusted for this very reason. There needs to be people available to do the entry level content. So, it almost becomes necessary to make all the rewards from old and new content, relatively equal in value. Rather then building up as you attempt new encounters, it's merely a shuffling from side to side obtaining side-grade rewards.

Raising the level cap is one way to bring all the players back to start again from entry level content to more difficult content. However, a problem with this is typically the content, compared with the old level cap's, is relatively equal in difficulty save perhaps the very last encounter reserved for those who race to the finish. But there is no real advancing of the gameplay and no advancing in difficulty when this gimmick is imposed.

However, there is a very simple solution for much of these issues and FFXIV is more capable than most MMOs to overcome them. Gear is predominately acquired from other players through currency transactions, while other MMOs are rewards to actual tasks. So, it would not be surprising to introduce higher quality crafted equipment for the newer players to purchase, thus allowing them to bypass older content and catch up with the rest of the community. In this way, you can have an actual advancing in difficulty and gameplay with each encounter, and still reward drastically better gear each patch. As long as there is crafted equipment available sufficient enough to attempt whatever the entry level content is at that time, there is absolutely no need to raise level caps. Even skills, as we have seen with jobs, can be introduced by more interesting methods such as quests.

[Sephrick]

You're forgetting that they revamped the leveling curve at least once, possibly more I don't remember, as the level cap got higher and higher. So even in it's early days, getting lv50 or 60 (when those were the lv caps) took much longer than just a few days.

It still only took the first round of players a month to get their first jobs to 50.

http://jpbutton.bluegartr.com/?p=157

Back then, that was okay. MMOs were designed for a specific type of gamer that doesn't exist any more. Gone is the generation that would have enjoyed a long slow grind for the sake of grinding.

SE conceptualized XIV as a game for everyone else. It's the only reason to make another MMO these days -- if you're going to design it to capture a broader audience.

There's nothing wrong with a lighter leveling curve as long as the developer follows through on a richer endgame experience.

For most people, leveling just isn't fun. Even for most old school FF fans, leveling was always something incidental that happened along the way.

[Hanemakikaze]

I'm glad it doesn't take a year(or however long it usually takes a grind fest mmo) to reach max level, now when many of my friends join the game once it's outta this development stage won't take ages just to be able to play with them all. In my opinion this wanting a long grind(giggity) is archaic. Many recent mmos are moving away from it, and it doesn't make them a wow clone for doing so, but getting with the times. In short, long live the short grind.