Raise the minimum allowable job level in Abyssea from 30 to 70+

[Tsukino_Kaji]

lol i dont xp anymore i have 7 lvl 90 jobs and yes they were 75 long before the server merges and abyssea. i dont plan on lvling anymore jobs.

I don't get it then. So why do you care?(Serious question.)

[Dauntless]

/facepalm

Problem with that is this: Pre-Abyssea level sync was still here and there were TONS of parties in old school spots that weren't just burn or bird parties. Why?

Simple really.

There are only so many parties that these spots can hold.

Pre-Abyssea there was no problem with everyone abusing smn burns and bird parties because more than 2 parties per camp and you wouldn't make it past chain 3, so the camp sucked. This stopped people from abusing and people actually made parties around their level. Once parties see there are multiple parties in a camp they realize that they should go to a camp that's open. Thus, exp spots that are now dead will be popping and popular.

Stop saying that level sync is the problem because it's not.

[Greatguardian]

yesterday i remember someone saying theres no reason to up the lvl cap and challenged someone to list one well i will

reason 1: raising the cap will breathe new life into the old areas of vanadiel that have been tossed aside because of abyssea.

reason 2: lvling in these areas will force people to periodically upgrade there characters armor from lvls 1-70 thus a reason for armors ranging from lvls 1-70 to exsist in the AH.

reason 3: lvling in the xp areas will also promote more synthing materials to appear in the AH due to the fact that alot of mats drop off of mobs people used to xp on.

reason 4: the combined effect of more synthing materials and the new need for the old gear that was origionally needed for lvling characters in the past will revive the games once thriving economy.

reason 5: lvling this way will allow characters to skillup while lvling. this will in the end save a bit of time anyways because once you hit 70 and go to abyssea to finish the lvl 70-90 you can accually hit something and not have to waste as much time skilling up.

reason 6: this will allow new players to get partys alot easyer. all to often i hear new players shouting for partys in jeuno only to be told "lol go solo your lvls" this is just sad and we wonder why people quit the game so much. people play mmorpgs to be part of a community not to go solo everything.

its very sad that most of the ff community has now come down with fast food syndrome meaning (i want it fast, i want it easy, and i wanted it yesterday >.>) this is just pathetic. you guys can bite the bullet on this one with the new xp bands and increased xp in the old areas it would take about 1 week to hit 70 in the old areas. rather than 3 days in abyssea you can sacrifice 2 days of xping to fix the game economy and help out new players. and with those reasons said i return the challenge give me 6 reasons why the cap should be lowered to 1 or stay the same and be sure to list reasons that will improve game dynamics such as sything, economy, use of old areas and so on. if you can find a way to fix all this and keep your leechfest then more power to you but i doubt that will ever happen.

While I definitely appreciate a response to this thread that is significantly more coherent than Zeitzone's, I'm afraid I'll have to refute a couple of your points:

Counter 1: Even before the release of Abyssea, players were partying in 4 zones total, leaving 95% of them empty. People would solo to 18~ish (or use the Dunes if they were masochists), go to Qufim, then East Ronfaure [S], then Wajaom and Bhaflau to 75. Even before the release of WotG (which was years ago now), players generally only used 4-5 zones for exp'ing. Players have long since identified the most easily accessible and efficient camps in the game. While alternative options do exist (and had to for reasons I will elaborate on in Counter 6), they were as underused as Overworld exp areas are now. Removing Abyssea's EXP options while keeping WotG and ToAU in play will not increase the diversity in leveling locations at all. If anything, you'll be leveling in fewer zones since Abyssea utilizes between 4-7 zones on its own depending on your server (Scars + Heroes + La Theine).

Counter 2: The thing is, low level armor has practically no impact on playing jobs and hasn't in ages. Even if Abyssea were nerfed, people would still only exp in 4 general level ranges; 20~ > 30~ > 55~ > 75. If anything, people would be unable to find armor for their level because there is no profit in crafting it. The majority of the old armor on the Auction House wasn't newly forged, it was armor that people used and then resold. Now, most of this armor is out of the system, either because it's been tossed due to an inability to sell, or it's on a deactivated mule somewhere. As a Smith, I could run around making Solid Mail pieces, but why would I? I take a loss with every synth, even if I HQ, and it's generally a waste of my time.

Counter 3: Abyssea also drops a significantly wider variety of crafting materials than any exp camp in the game. Colibri Feathers and Colibri Beaks aren't used for something important now, are they? Once a player hits level 34~, those are the only crafting mats they'll be getting aside from Wind Crystals. In Abyssea, you can pick up buffalo and dragon meat, essential ingredients in popular foods, as well as high level synthesis mats like Divine Logs and Siren's Hairs. Abyssea promotes crafting on a very large scale.

Counter 4: The game's economy has shifted, but it's hard to say that it is not thriving. In the past, the majority of the best gear in the game required millions of gil to purchase on the AH, or merc for R/EX gear if you weren't in an HNM shell. Whoever could buy enough gil could get a relic and +1 gears. I'm not saying getting Gil was difficult, but there were definitely a choice few who cheated that system. Now, getting the best gear in the game requires going out and actually fighting things. You can't buy a Tantra Cyclas +2 off the AH. You have to go out and kill Gamayun and Alfard a dozen times each if you want one. Granted, you can still pay people to do these things for you, but as a general statement, the amount of Gil in your bank account no longer limits your ability to gear yourself properly.

Items like Grim Cuirass, Alcide's Harness, Hermes' Sandals, Juogis, and Spells of all classes also still sell well on the AH. Consumables like Shihei, and food, are never short on demand. Crafting took a hit with the reduced (read: little to none) demand for mid-level armor like Haubergeons, but at the same time the materials for those armors and higher level pieces became extremely cheap and easy to find because of Abyssea. Demand fell, but so did costs. Fishermen can still pull in millions a week as well, so it's hard to say crafting is entirely dead; or if it is, that Abyssea could fix it.

Counter 5: This is a false comparison. It only takes maybe a day to skill up multiple weapons to cap (which you can do afk on Zvhal Fortalices), and about that much time to skill magics to cap on Hpemde. Unless it actually takes 2-3 days to level 30-90 with all weapons capped (and noting that no WAR in his right mind would use a Scythe in an EXP party, I would kick them so fast) the normal way, leveling in Abyssea and then skilling up afterwards is still significantly faster.

Counter 6: This is the only real argument of any validity I've been hearing. Unfortunately, it relies on one very important premise. If low level players are unable to find parties because no one is exp'ing at low level ranges, then it cannot also be true that there are a large number of players who want to exp at these low level ranges. Now, that's fine, if players who are against Abyssea are a minority then yes this is a problem. Low level players do not have the Cruor or the game experience to create their own Abyssea parties and/or leech in them. It is difficult for a lone new player to get very far on their own. With a social linkshell, however, even new players should be able to find people willing to level sync with them.

Addendum to 6: Also, if Abyssea were removed as a leveling area, one of the biggest faults with FFXI exp would come back into play. That is to say, camp crowding. The best exp camps in the game can only afford 1-2 good parties at a time, maybe 3 if some of the parties are less than stellar. Bhaflau Birds (MMJ and NI RPs) were notorious for this, and often times merit parties would be cancelled entirely despite a solid setup due to a lack of space during prime times. For what good it did to break up leveling into multiple ranges, *fewer* people were able to level at any given time then than do now. Abyssea allowing 18 people in a single party, and having camps whose mob respawns adjust themselves to the rate at which they are being killed constitute the biggest step forward in FFXI EXP history.

[Dauntless]

While I definitely appreciate a response to this thread that is significantly more coherent than Zeitzone's, I'm afraid I'll have to refute a couple of your points:

Counter 1: Even before the release of Abyssea, players were partying in 4 zones total, leaving 95% of them empty. People would solo to 18~ish (or use the Dunes if they were masochists), go to Qufim, then East Ronfaure [S], then Wajaom and Bhaflau to 75. Even before the release of WotG (which was years ago now), players generally only used 4-5 zones for exp'ing. Players have long since identified the most easily accessible and efficient camps in the game. While alternative options do exist (and had to for reasons I will elaborate on in Counter 6), they were as underused as Overworld exp areas are now. Removing Abyssea's EXP options while keeping WotG and ToAU in play will not increase the diversity in leveling locations at all. If anything, you'll be leveling in fewer zones since Abyssea utilizes between 4-7 zones on its own depending on your server (Scars + Heroes + La Theine).

Please read my above post as to why this is a misconception.

Pre-level sync my only 75 was DRK. After sync I leveled DRG and WAR to 75 and never did I have to abuse Colibri or Qufim camps. We exp'd like we did pre-level sync, the only difference was the 2-3 level gaps that many parties experienced that reduced exp was now gone and everyone who was 60-65 could get equal exp in Aydeewa parties instead of having the typical 61-64 level gaps.

[Alhanelem]

[QUOTE=Valaris;39847]

Despite what nostalgia makes you think, the vast majority of areas in this game have been virtually empty since ToAU was released.

lol at you is all i can say roflmfao when this game dies people like you will be the ones to blaime.

I would counter with replacing his name with yours. What he says is true. Merit/EXP places in old areas died when ToAU came out; and a lack of great things to EXP on meant that didn't change at WotG's release.

Honestly, the best part of the recent developments is people are less fussy about jobs. You know how hard it was to level up WHM, SMN, PUP, and some of the less popular DD jobs just because of people only wanting to party with BRDs, SAMs, and RDMs? If you wanted to play those jobs, you were lucky if you could party at all, because people would demand only the "best". Since abyssea, that hardly happens at all anymore.

[Greatguardian]

Please read my above post as to why this is a misconception.

Pre-level sync my only 75 was DRK. After sync I leveled DRG and WAR to 75 and never did I have to abuse Colibri or Qufim camps. We exp'd like we did pre-level sync, the only difference was the 2-3 level gaps that many parties experienced that reduced exp was now gone and everyone who was 60-65 could get equal exp in Aydeewa parties instead of having the typical 61-64 level gaps.

Just because it happened does not mean that it is the norm. The average player only used Colibri burns the majority of the time. Even then, you're adding, what, 4 zones to the mix if we're being generous (Jungle, Kuftal, Aydeewa, QSC)? That still leaves 85-90% of the zones in the game untouched. Some of them weren't used for exp even when us Dinosaurs were leveling.

[Ramsos]

Just because it happened does not mean that it is the norm. The average player only used Colibri burns the majority of the time. Even then, you're adding, what, 4 zones to the mix if we're being generous (Jungle, Kuftal, Aydeewa, QSC)? That still leaves 85-90% of the zones in the game untouched. Some of them weren't used for exp even when us Dinosaurs were leveling.

You're telling me that people didnt exp in dangruf wadi or pso'xja?! Blasphemy! SE NEEDS TO BREATHE NEW LIFE INTO THESE ZONES AND FORCE PEOPLE TO EXP THERE.

[Zeitzone]

It depends on your definition of the "whole game".

If all you do is exp, then yes the game is doomed since its very easy to exp nowadays.

If you do endgame events, it remains to be seen what SE has to offer for the future. Abyssea is awesome but it wont last forever, people already have multiple jobs with emp weaps and 5/5 af3+2s. SE has already started working on older events like dynamis.

Take zietzone for example. He sounds like the type of player who is in some BS social shell that does nothing but level because they dont have many older/skilled players. It sounds like its full of noobs who get corrupted by morons like zeitzone who view old exp through rose-tinted glasses and cry all day about abyssea making his previous leveling "accomplishments" null since anyone can get a job 30-90 in one sitting. He can claim all he wants that hes not the minority with his views, but he wont post his gear so we can only imagine the abomination that he calls a "skilled" player.

From zeitzone's perspective, the game is doomed since his archaic way of self aggrandizement is pointless now. He cant just run around claiming hes awesome because he has x# of 75 jobs that are geared awful as sin.

Lol i bet i did more Endgame as you ever will in the time FFXI has left till its gone.
My gears are pimped out on max dmg but i dont need to pose that, i know my gear is good.
And i prefer a nice slow experience point party becouse it is a fair way to get up, not like leechig.
You guys just dont know the true way of gameing, thats very sad, you allways want to put in the cheat codes by Gothic or Morrowind, and ask friends for Endboss savegames becouse you are too lazy to get the weapons and spells the correct way or get trough the game on own power.

[Ramsos]

Yes, run away because you are "done feeding the trolls" and not because multiple people prove you wrong. At least I admit to trolling, how about you?

[Zeitzone]

Yes, run away because you are "done feeding the trolls" and not because multiple people prove you wrong. At least I admit to trolling, how about you?

Yeah all you can do is flame at other, hes not runing, hes just bored of the stupidness of a leecher who cryes with all his power to prevent FFXI from working correctly. Guess who that leecher is, you.