Interim Report – Sorry to keep you all waiting!

[Prrsha]

Again, completely wrong. The fun is in the journey, it's your misconception that leveling to 99 is the journey (this is to you as well, Eyeballed). Doing missions, winning battlefields, progressing through events and building your character by improving on skill and gear, that is the journey, not watching an arbitrary number climb from 1 to 99. Your entire perception of what the game consists of is askew. FFXI lacks content in the road to 99, that is completely true. But that only affects a very minor part of the game.

It is a part many people are completely finished with, by the way. Whatever they add to EXP now, will not affect me in the slightest, because I am done leveling. Does that mean I won't get to enjoy that content anymore? Or can't I enjoy the game at all anymore and now that I am fully leveled I should just quit?

My comments just aren't focused on levels. The above examples: Doing missions, winning battlefields, progressing through events and building your character by improving on skill and gear... I am addressing that as well. I just don't think a player should have to be level 99 to do it, or have fun.

Edit: As for the road to 99 being a minor part of the game, SE has tossed 75% of their enjoyable story content out of the window for new players by focusing so much on the rate of climb to 99. The vets have their levels and endgame content galore but SE axed their beginning content when they removed level caps for zones and lifted the level cap past 75. It threw off the balance and challenge of many of the expansions, storyline areas and storyline quests.

Have you replayed CoP, Zillart as level 99? It just seems like a dev's afterthought now. It doesn't do justice to any of the creators.

I agree with the UI update, but it would not change much about how the game is played or enjoyed.

Eh? A MAJOR problem with forming a six man party dynamic is the dreaded LFP flag. This has been a #1 complaint for years and years...

Why waste a month to get to 99, when you can do the same crap at 20?

Ummm... that's exactly what SE wants. Players who can play casual if they wish (and take part in group events and have fun) and other players who want more from FFXI and wish to take it up a knotch and keep increasing their powers for a change of pace.