Abyssea should have cap entry or rules

[Anapingofness]

I can kinda agree with this, but make it an option. When you create a character or unlock a job, you have the choice to either have it start at 1 or 99. However, if you start at 99, it is indicated on your player someway (star by the name or whatever). That way people have a better idea who they want to invite. The guy who started at 1 and worked his way up, or the guy who started at 99. (for whatever his reason was). That way, we can separate the 'smart' and the 'dumb' players, though nobody will agree which is which.

I can see where Avina is coming from, oddly enough. However, I see no point in marking people for choosing the level 99 option since Avina makes a good point.

What would be the purpose of marking players who choose lvl1 over lvl 99 starting character? Marking those people would just create unnecessary drama in the game and divide the already divided community even more. There is nothing "smart" about the person who (in this scenario) would have picked the level 1 character. Likewise, there is nothing "dumb" about a player who picked the level 99 character. You're right, people won't agree on which is the more practical choice but that's none of my concern at the moment.

Leeching exp and afking for hours while doing so is equivalent to doing nothing. Even those who are not afking in exp alliances aren't learning much since they're restricted by level or by the monotony.

Don't get me wrong, exp parties did serve a role but they did not make or break a player. Each player is responsible for themselves, you cannot blame an outside force such as exp party, lack of exp party, or abyssea/gov alliances for that matter. That being said, it really doesn't matter how a person reached level 99 if they're not willing to do some research on how to play their job correctly.

Mind you, I'm not saying go give people level 99 characters.

[Scuro]

If you don't like Abyssea Burns, don't use them, there are still many ways of solo, duo, trio, static'n to get exp, just people prefer to do the most fast and efficient way possible, so if it isn't your way, DON'T DO IT, nobody says you have to do Abyssea.

[Koren]

I had written a post which would have bridged this rift between players, creating a new age of enlightenment and understanding wherein the gods of SE would come down weeping tears of joy as they embraced their playerbase and we all worked together to build a utopia in which the hardcores and casuals would join hands as brothers for a millennium. But the internet done et it, so back to our usual antics.

Go ahead and let players choose if they want all their jobs at 1 and no merits or 99 with full merits, uncapped at creation. It's reasonable. Some people just do not enjoy the leveling experience and we really should focus on enhancing a player's enjoyment. However, the players who choose to start at level 1 and no merits should have their moogle dispense all possible gear that is sold/dropped/quested/crafted for free. While some players do not like having to level to play in endgame, I do not enjoy grinding for gear to play in endgame. It's only fair. Why should my enjoyment be lessened doing something I do not find fun? Oh, I enjoy fighting things, I can even enjoy fighting things multiple times, but to keep plugging on with no guarantee the next one will reward me, or worse, it goes to someone else, isn't fun. So this should be a reasonable balance for all players. We can choose if we want to grind for gear or grind for experience.

[Camiie]

It's like I've said before. Neither SE nor the community is responsible for producing players who meet the standards of anyone else. If you want someone to meet a specific standard then that's on you to vet them or put forth some effort to help get them where you want them to be. If you end up partied with someone who's not up to snuff then kick them if you're a leader or leave the group if you're not. No changes are needed to Abyssea or any of our leveling systems.

[Avina]

However, the players who choose to start at level 1 and no merits should have their moogle dispense all possible gear that is sold/dropped/quested/crafted for free.

If you could get all possible gear pieces handed to you... what WOULD you play the game for?

[Koren]

If you could get all possible gear pieces handed to you... what WOULD you play the game for?

Killing things, quests and missions, storyline, leveling jobs, killing big things, achievements such as titles, challenges for events such as speed or solo kills, crafting, collecting things, exploration, spell hunting, social contact, did I mention I like killing things? More or less what I play for now. I'm fairly simple.

I, like many players now, have gotten older and no longer have as much time to devote to the game and so I try to pick what I would like to do with my limited time while playing. Most of it consists of doing things for friends to reach their goals, killing things in a variety of places by myself, and recently joining VW shouts regardless if the drops are particularly useful to me. Certainly if I get a rare drop so much the better, but I hardly go with the intention of getting anything but NPCables or the occasional item worth bazaaring. I don't get much of an adrenaline rush from gear dropping.

However, my previous post was more of a satire because I was getting tired of people complaining "I think leveling is boring so get rid of it" so I poked fun saying I would like to have a part of the game removed that I also did not enjoy. Certain circumstances have made me somewhat jaded at the gear acquisition process, so I play with the mindset of "I want to do this event" rather than "I want this item from the event."