To: Mr Akihiko Matsui

[scaevola]

If it isn't rigid, I don't want it. If it isn't strict and unforgiving, you can keep it.

You kind of missed the point, here. You could remove the word "rigid" from my post and it would still be the same. If it absolutely must be a level grind and the level grind absolutely must be rigid, then you really should give Aion a shot, but on your way out the door I'd like to hear you explain why you thought such a weird and parochial opinion wouldn't be in the deep minority.

And, PUG's for what, exactly?

Uh, pretty much everything other than Legion and Neo-Nyzul.

Would you believe that Voidwatch is designed from the ground up specifically to be pug-friendly (if not, strictly speaking, easy)?

[Trisscar]

If it isn't rigid, I don't want it. If it isn't strict and unforgiving, you can keep it.

Go play Aion, then. I hear it's right up your ally (I personally wouldn't know because I've never played it).

And, PUG's for what, exactly?

For starters, leveling parties. There are some lucky people in here who have had static leveling parties but I am not one of them so all of my leveling parties have been PuGs.

[scaevola]

Also, as I have mentioned over and over again, the leveling game was ALWAYS forgiving once you got out there and starting hitting things, but getting there involved navigating a metagame pushed by borderline psychopaths.

[FrankReynolds]

I guess your agreement we should start the game at cap says all I need to know.

I'm going to reiterate some things that I've already said to you several times since you keep acting like they haven't been said / known from the get go.

For the thousandth time, the old leveling system is still there. Your not able to use it because people don't want to do it with you. this does not mean that there is a problem with the game. This simply means that you will have to try harder to find people to do it.

The developers saw that many people didn't want to do that any more, so they made new methods for leveling. They were considerate of the people who did not like the faster methods and left the old methods available. In this way, people who find leveling to be an enjoyable experience are free to do so.

As far as starting at level cap goes, there are all sorts of reasons for keeping leveling in the game. The least of which is the fact that people like you still enjoy it. There are a bunch of quests / missions involved with level cap increases etc. that would have to be remade / removed. Why bother when most people are content with how it is?

Yesterday while I was changing jobs for a VW run, I saw some guy shouting for a 65 party on colibri. Guess what.... he found people. I actually see people in small groups exping from time to time, so your right that people shouldn't say "No one wants to do that. I think it would be more accurate to say "No one wants to have to do that".

I think it was pretty nice of the devs to leave in the old leveling elements for people like you who are nostalgic about them. They could have just went "from now on all mobs give 1,000 experience points and all level caps are 5,000 exp. now Go find the zone with the best clustering of level 3 mobs that link and have 1 guy thundaga all the things!".

I still don't understand the desire to force people to play with you by removing what they like from the game though. I wish my friends liked FFXI, but I don't petition XBOX to remove all other games so that they have to play with me. In both scenarios, I imagine most people would choose to just not play with me regardless.

[Luvbunny]

I'll put this as plainly as I can. 99% of the people I could otherwise get to join me on this venture are in Gusgen or CN; Anyone that's not has their flag up en route or waiting to join them. 99% of the people you say I could simply "get to go with me" are not interested. Any clearer?

Oh dear, I really do pity you, seems like you are such a socially inept creature with zero friend in this game if you can't even get 1-2 person to join your adventure of doing old school style party. Here is a tip or two, learn how to use search function, got it? In most of the FoV area there are always a few loners who more than willing to duo trio with you since it means faster xp for them and faster kill to repeat the pages. Usually that works fine on lvl 10-50s. If you do indeed have a LS and actually able to form some sort of bonds, here is another tip - you see that black belt BCNM??? Yeah that one, that consume tons of your precious KS.... Why not try to appeal to other people by suggesting farming kindred crest party and take turn at lotting. Those lvl 60s-80s mob drop em, and the more people you have in your party the more chances it drops every 5 mnts. Between beastmen seals and KS, that should be appealing enough for 1-2 ppl at the minimum. You can also appeal to those on your LS who aby burn their warriors, since they need weapon skill ups, MANY kind of weapons. Lvl synch makes that much faster.

You see, start changing your way of thinking dear. NOBODY CARES what you want, but they sure DO CARES of what they want. Now use that analogy and try to appeal what other people want - that aligned with what you want. If you still have no clue how to interpret this, use brain cells. Many stuffs in the game people want, you just have to appeal to them instead of what you want, just make sure it is similar to what you want to create win win situation.

[Eyeballed]

Oh dear, I really do pity you, seems like you are such a socially inept creature with zero friend in this game if you can't even get 1-2 person to join your adventure of doing old school style party. Here is a tip or two, learn how to use search function, got it? In most of the FoV area there are always a few loners who more than willing to duo trio with you since it means faster xp for them and faster kill to repeat the pages. Usually that works fine on lvl 10-50s. If you do indeed have a LS and actually able to form some sort of bonds, here is another tip - you see that black belt BCNM??? Yeah that one, that consume tons of your precious KS.... Why not try to appeal to other people by suggesting farming kindred crest party and take turn at lotting. Those lvl 60s-80s mob drop em, and the more people you have in your party the more chances it drops every 5 mnts. Between beastmen seals and KS, that should be appealing enough for 1-2 ppl at the minimum. You can also appeal to those on your LS who aby burn their warriors, since they need weapon skill ups, MANY kind of weapons. Lvl synch makes that much faster.

You see, start changing your way of thinking dear. NOBODY CARES what you want, but they sure DO CARES of what they want. Now use that analogy and try to appeal what other people want - that aligned with what you want. If you still have no clue how to interpret this, use brain cells. Many stuffs in the game people want, you just have to appeal to them instead of what you want, just make sure it is similar to what you want to create win win situation.

Thanks for your suggestions. I'll try to employ them once I gain a few brain cells. Meantime I'll block you and talk to you at that time. Bye.

[Luvbunny]

In case Eyeball still has some reading comprehension, here is a bullet point list:

- Old school camp and old school style way of xp are never gone, its in the game, and it is better than before with FoV and GoV plus double xp and xp rings.
- Travelling style is amazingly more convenient now with Abyssea warp, Outpost warp, and VW warp. All those VW warp conveniently drop you to major dungeons and lvlng area of old school style party.
- Bazillion people love to level their mules or a bunch of their afk friends. Find them on Boyahda, join them, reap the nice xp per page bonus while you skill up and help pull or whatnot.
- There are tons of loner such as yourself who wander around in FoV areas, ask them to team up, make duo-trio party, use your xp rings, they will be glad to speed up the shitty grind.
- Try to make friends... end of story. Appeal to your friend sense, ask if they craft - duo trio mobs that drops items your friend needs to craft, so you can enjoy relaxed way to gain xp while they get materials to craft on site.
- Make skill ups party shout instead of old school party, no one gives a rat ass on that, but they do pay attention on how painful skilling up is - safety in numbers while you get faster xp rate on GoV books repeat.
- Appeal to their sense of need, suggest kindred crest or beastmen seal party.
- Find a buddy to do scroll farm party in deserted areas such as Sea Serpent Grotto.
- Grab a bunch of people who needs Alexander battle, hit Halvung or Mount Zhalyom for those trolls, the ore they drop is 30k each.
- Make a puk party, those puk eggs sell for pretty penny. Make ruzror party if you feel adventurous, their meat sells nicely as well.
- Look at those magian trials stuffs, be creative with your shout. TONS of people do these trials, they would rather grab 5 other people and kill stuffs fast. Level synch sometimes offer them faster easier way to do this. This is where you come.
- Get your way of thinking changed. What is xp party anyway? nothing but stupid grind, why not make it as "farming" party, it is a grind anyway, you have to farm anyhow. Never ask what other people can help you, cuz they don't care about you - always propose win win situation.

[Eyeballed]

I'm going to reiterate some things that I've already said to you several times since you keep acting like they haven't been said / known from the get go.

For the thousandth time, the old leveling system is still there. Your not able to use it because people don't want to do it with you. this does not mean that there is a problem with the game. This simply means that you will have to try harder to find people to do it.

The developers saw that many people didn't want to do that any more, so they made new methods for leveling. They were considerate of the people who did not like the faster methods and left the old methods available. In this way, people who find leveling to be an enjoyable experience are free to do so.

As far as starting at level cap goes, there are all sorts of reasons for keeping leveling in the game. The least of which is the fact that people like you still enjoy it. There are a bunch of quests / missions involved with level cap increases etc. that would have to be remade / removed. Why bother when most people are content with how it is?

Yesterday while I was changing jobs for a VW run, I saw some guy shouting for a 65 party on colibri. Guess what.... he found people. I actually see people in small groups exping from time to time, so your right that people shouldn't say "No one wants to do that. I think it would be more accurate to say "No one wants to have to do that".

I think it was pretty nice of the devs to leave in the old leveling elements for people like you who are nostalgic about them. They could have just went "from now on all mobs give 1,000 experience points and all level caps are 5,000 exp. now Go find the zone with the best clustering of level 3 mobs that link and have 1 guy thundaga all the things!".

I still don't understand the desire to force people to play with you by removing what they like from the game though. I wish my friends liked FFXI, but I don't petition XBOX to remove all other games so that they have to play with me. In both scenarios, I imagine most people would choose to just not play with me regardless.

Thank you for putting a little more into this post than usual. My biggest complaint has much more to do with the fact that all of this speed-grinding and its popularity might very well destroy the very thing I like about this type of game - which just happens to be my favorite genre. My biggest problem with that is, is I don't understand people who only want to play part of the game and the rest of us have had to sacrifice for it. Not that we've had to sacrifice everything, but our ability to enjoy ourselves as we once did has been crippled.

Of course the option is still there. Of course I can try as hard as I possibly can and shouting/yelling for as long as it takes to go out as a six-man party or whatever. Point is, I can no longer log in, do a /sea all XX-XX inv and know that every person with their flag up is looking for what I'm looking for. I now have to assume that people don't want that, and I should just go back to soloing and forget about it.

[FrankReynolds]

Thank you for putting a little more into this post than usual. My biggest complaint has much more to do with the fact that all of this speed-grinding and its popularity might very well destroy the very thing I like about this type of game - which just happens to be my favorite genre. My biggest problem with that is, is I don't understand people who only want to play part of the game and the rest of us have had to sacrifice for it. Not that we've had to sacrifice everything, but our ability to enjoy ourselves as we once did has been crippled.

Of course the option is still there. Of course I can try as hard as I possibly can and shouting/yelling for as long as it takes to go out as a six-man party or whatever. Point is, I can no longer log in, do a /sea all XX-XX inv and know that every person with their flag up is looking for what I'm looking for. I now have to assume that people don't want that, and I should just go back to soloing and forget about it.

What you need to understand, is that a lot of those people you were finding when you did /sea, were just as unhappy as you are now.

[Luvbunny]

Thanks for your suggestions. I'll try to employ them once I gain a few brain cells. Meantime I'll block you and talk to you at that time. Bye.

Yeah please do that - grow them fast, since you obviously do not get it, and keep on trolling even if other posters tried to be as nice as possible and explain it to you like you were a 4 years old. Game changed, people changed, if you don't like it, hit the cancel and delete button, easy as a pie.