EXP x2 feels just right for 2014, but even more's needed (looking at you, lvl. 50-75)

[Mefuki]

Mission parties (nations/other storylines): Nobody is partying up for these anymore, because since anybody (even "casuals") can hit 99 in one day thanks to abyssea, and can be decked out in iLvl117 gear by the time they get there thanks to eminence, why bother doing them on-level (where you would need a team) when you could just wait the 1 day and just blast through it at iLvl117 (solo). The few instances where this wouldn't apply (nation mission 2-3/5-1 and ye olde CoP) already no longer apply due to the fact that the level caps were removed, because "casual" players were unwilling to put forth the effort in finding parties for them. So, now, they don't need to.

It's not that people are unwilling to put effort into playing, it's that they actually want to play. Let me give an example: Can't say what others did but due to time restrains and connections (or lack-there-of), I had to PUG all of my Voidwatch. I, regretfully, made some sacrifices in RL to get those silly quests done. Why? Because it took 2+ hours before we could even get to the fighting (read: playing). Why is logging in and immediately getting to play and working toward goals considered a bad thing? Why should it take so much time to start playing?

I have similar experience with Delve. This time I was able to find an LS that I could possibly be a part of because the event run times were reasonable enough but then the LS events started to run late, well past midnight on a work night. The events would took ages to get started and took just as long to finish. I soon realized that this just wasn't worth the trouble to do. And because at the time Delve was pretty much all there was to do, I quit.

Basically, I'm trying to say that the current focus on low man parties and accessibility of content is a great thing for the game, in my mind.

[stealth_gamer]

Basically, I'm trying to say that the current focus on low man parties and accessibility of content is a great thing for the game, in my mind.

In some ways it is, and in some ways it's not.

XP (though, I disagree with the OP and think that with double exp campaigns, eminence, FoV/GoV, and the already doubled XP rates, honestly, its more than enough as-is lol), and stuff like the level 10-50 gear through records of eminence, it's fine. Nobody is crafting/selling this gear anyways and if it'd help new people, hey I'm all for it :3

My main problem is with the i117 stuff from records of eminence (removing need to do things like farm skirmishes) and giving away stuff like the rem's tales/REMi119 upgrade items through eminence (removing the need to do SKCNMS/other stuff that drops those items). It gets to a point where, if SE is just going to give us everything, why do anything ourselves? And in my opinion we're already way past that point.

[Renaissance2K]

Bayld and Sparks gear is excellent for soloing the new battlefields on Very Easy or completely destroying pre-Adoulin content, especially stuff where Trust NPCs can be summoned. It's not nearly as useful in Delve or the Hard and Very Hard battlefields, which do indeed drop gear that is better in nearly every case.

That's also not even considering the fact that you can't buy any accessories worth a darn using Bayld or Sparks.

Instead of blaming Square-Enix for giving casual players access to casual gear that's really only useful in casual content, why not blame them for making it so easy for a player to cap out on the really good gear from brand new content and not leaving any incentive to repeat it? Everybody loves how you're able to redeem Plasm for Delve gear once you defeat the boss, but it's now virtually impossible to get a clear without paying a mercenary shell because there's no incentive to go back and do it again.

[Rwolf]

Instead of blaming Square-Enix for giving casual players access to casual gear that's really only useful in casual content, why not blame them for making it so easy for a player to cap out on the really good gear from brand new content and not leaving any incentive to repeat it? Everybody loves how you're able to redeem Plasm for Delve gear once you defeat the boss, but it's now virtually impossible to get a clear without paying a mercenary shell because there's no incentive to go back and do it again.

Quoted for truth.

Comparing EXP alleviations to frail content is like comparing apples and oranges. They are completely different things with completely different issues going on. Concerning frail content, I agree there is an issue with the events of Adoulin. In ways, it's Abyssea 2.0 in how it upheaved the game and left a lot of players cancelling their subscriptions in the wake. The ideas are great but they just came in too often, too fast, and too easy. Outdating almost all of what was before it. This is pretty much due to the fact that Seekers of Adoulin was filler for the first 6 months of release.

The whole point of the expansion was just to try and retain subscribers with new shinies during the period of FFXIV: AAR going from beta to live. Square-Enix has stated in interviews they weren't expecting AAR to do well out the gate. It's blatently evident SoA started as a cushion just in case it failed that they retained some subscribers in FFXI. As soon FFXIV: AAR boomed on entry, we started getting meatier updates and more frequently. But by then, like Abyssea, damage had already been done. So Records of Eminence was added as an equalizer and yet with the reward scaling, ended up doing more damage to content.

Concerning EXP changes, the problem isn't alleviating the journey to level 99. The problem is how once you're at level 99, there is so much quick and overlapping content we have. Which is why I was against item level from the start and thought this should have been added as an extended merit system. But this is all in the past, mistakes have been made. Veterans have had so much advantage over newer players in terms of EXP alleviation. Multiple EXP rings, on-going EXP and other bonus campaigns, Abyssea when it was in it's prime, FoV/GoV when it was in it's prime. The damage is done already. All that can be done is to make it easier for new players who didn't have the privilege of having more players to work with and all those campaigns, to get some of it to catch up.

Revisiting and reviving item level content from 100-119 is a separate thread altogether.

[Mjogosx]

Well. I a new player to the game. I dint even know if was possible to level till 50 in one/two days. I get LV50 after 25 days!! And dint know about Abyssea thing. Only now i'm getting more information about the game. And for Party i agree, it difficult to play with anyone low level. I almost played alone till now. So for newbies an '2014 Guide' will be useful.

[Mefuki]

My main problem is with the i117 stuff from records of eminence

The way I see it, it was necessary to add easily obtainable, high ilevel gear to the game to game to close the gap between players. I'm not trying to say that ilevel was a good idea, mind you. Everyone knows that ilevel was/is a bad idea for this game (or at least the way it was introduced) but the situation had to be rectified. My understanding of ilevels is that they basically give your character extra levels roughly equal to the level shown. So we had some people who missed the Delve rush and are essentially missing a dozen or so "levels" on their characters. The highest level entry level gear available before RoE was level 106 via Bayld, I believe. That's a 13 level difference between the entry level player and the player that got through Delve.

It's a gap that had to close because we were getting into a situation where people that wanted to do Delve couldn't because their level wasn't sufficient. Like when we were back at 75 cap and someone level 60 wanted to party or do missions or endgame, do you remember the usual response? Usually it went something like, "Level some more and you can do some of that stuff with us"(At least this was my experience). So that's kind of what's happening here. Going forward, I think a lot of people would agree that it's high time this power creep stop and SE stays at 119 for a while.

Hmm, and thinking about it now, I wonder if ilevel wouldn't have been such a disaster if they did it WAY slower and more carefully. Like if Skirmish I was i100, Delve i101, etc with careful considerations made to the "stat vomit" and extra stuff on the gear. That way we could've had a scenario more like, "Hmm, well this i100 body has more DEX but the i101 body has an extra level." etc, etc. I've been noticing it's going back to that style of game. That's good because for a while there it was just, "Well, the gap between any of this new ilevel gear and my old gear is so large there no point but to just stack the highest ilevel I have."

giving away stuff like the rem's tales/REMi119 upgrade items through eminence (removing the need to do SKCNMS/other stuff that drops those items). It gets to a point where, if SE is just going to give us everything, why do anything ourselves? And in my opinion we're already way past that point.

I don't think there's anything wrong with taking 10x as long to farm up the REM's tales and the Gil (read: points) to afford the crafting item needed as someone who has connections and is able to fight the difficult battles, where not only are you rewarded with lots of Tales but the aforementioned crafting items, multiple parcel/boxes of REM upgrade items and a chance at a AA weapon plus a title just for the bragging rights. So, I'm not sure "giving away" is quite the right word.

[Xantavia]

My main problem is with the i117 stuff from records of eminence (removing need to do things like farm skirmishes) and giving away stuff like the rem's tales/REMi119 upgrade items through eminence (removing the need to do SKCNMS/other stuff that drops those items). It gets to a point where, if SE is just going to give us everything, why do anything ourselves? And in my opinion we're already way past that point.

Think of the RoE ilvl117 gear as the perle/aurore/teal sets to get players up to a base minimum. If the best gear you had was Empy+2, do you think it would be possible to get an invite to an event now? I missed the initial rush when SoA was released and it wasn't long until player gear requirements left out those who started late.

I felt like I had wasted my money and it was pointless for me to even spend time in Adoulin. But with the latest update, getting some base-line gear was a wonderful thing. Mentally it made a huge difference between asking myself everyday if I should just quit or learn to be content with always being behind. For the first time I felt free to explore aldouin without worrying that getting aggro with maybe a single link would spell death. I'm not fond of how I look wearing this stuff, but that is a small price to pay for actually looking forward to playing again.

[Camiie]

In some ways it is, and in some ways it's not.

XP (though, I disagree with the OP and think that with double exp campaigns, eminence, FoV/GoV, and the already doubled XP rates, honestly, its more than enough as-is lol), and stuff like the level 10-50 gear through records of eminence, it's fine. Nobody is crafting/selling this gear anyways and if it'd help new people, hey I'm all for it :3

My main problem is with the i117 stuff from records of eminence (removing need to do things like farm skirmishes) and giving away stuff like the rem's tales/REMi119 upgrade items through eminence (removing the need to do SKCNMS/other stuff that drops those items). It gets to a point where, if SE is just going to give us everything, why do anything ourselves? And in my opinion we're already way past that point.

People are going out and doing what's required of them to earn the gear and pages. To say it's being given away is typical elitist hyperbole. If you want to go down that path then you next need to ask sarcastically, "Why don't they just mail everyone completed R/M/Es and 119 AF sets?"

If you actually look at the stats of the 117 gear, you'll find that it's actually inferior in most ways to much of the preceding ilevel gear. It seems to be rather nice defensively, but offensively it's generally lacking. Your guess is as good as mine as to why they made it 117 and yorcia skirmish gear 113. I've already complained about the confusing nature of the ilevel and I won't repeat that here. Still they have to provide some form of progression for those who can't or don't want to participate in large group events. I get that some find the notion offensive that there is a path to power that they can't put a gate in front of to keep the plebeians out, but SE has to appeal to more than just those types.

[Damane]

In some ways it is, and in some ways it's not.

XP (though, I disagree with the OP and think that with double exp campaigns, eminence, FoV/GoV, and the already doubled XP rates, honestly, its more than enough as-is lol), and stuff like the level 10-50 gear through records of eminence, it's fine. Nobody is crafting/selling this gear anyways and if it'd help new people, hey I'm all for it :3

My main problem is with the i117 stuff from records of eminence (removing need to do things like farm skirmishes) and giving away stuff like the rem's tales/REMi119 upgrade items through eminence (removing the need to do SKCNMS/other stuff that drops those items). It gets to a point where, if SE is just going to give us everything, why do anything ourselves? And in my opinion we're already way past that point.

i really dont see the problem in RoE rewards, its not like they are tossing it at you, you are accumulating sparks for them, which takes some time and most people play more then 1 job, so its not like they will be instantly finished with it. all people do a combination of both SCNMs/AAs/and RoE rewards to get their ilvl artifact, besides the fact that all battlefields have unique drops that arent up on RoE to get (AA weapons/Accessioers etc etc). Where is the problem of letting all people go on to upgrade artifact armor to ilvl 119?

[Camiie]

i really dont see the problem in RoE rewards, its not like they are tossing it at you, you are accumulating sparks for them, which takes some time and most people play more then 1 job, so its not like they will be instantly finished with it. all people do a combination of both SCNMs/AAs/and RoE rewards to get their ilvl artifact, besides the fact that all battlefields have unique drops that arent up on RoE to get (AA weapons/Accessioers etc etc). Where is the problem of letting all people go on to upgrade artifact armor to ilvl 119?

Add to that the currently exorbitant gil costs of the upgrade materials, and no one is getting a free pass on their AF upgrades. This is where vets have a huge advantage over casual players. They'll come by either the gil or the materials far easier than a casual will. This is the true roadblock for upgrading AF.