Stop leeching, start partying

[Earwig]

With the recent increase in Fell Cleave parties and pay-to-leech groups, I've been having a harder and harder time finding people who want to put effort into leveling their jobs. Over the past month, it's been next to impossible to start a party anywhere other than worms in La Theine or dolls in Altepa, and not to mention the 45-minute breaks that people like to take in the book burn parties.

Because of this, I'd like to propose a possible solution, which involves a change in the way exp is obtained. Instead of simply being in the same party as the person who finishes the mob, in order to gain exp, a person should have to do something to get on the mob's "hate list" in order to gain exp, in addition to being in the same party as the person who landed the finishing blow.

It's not that I have an issue with people handing over money for free exp. My issue is that so many people have gotten into a habit of doing this that it's exceedingly difficult for players who want to put effort into leveling a job to do so.

Discuss?

[saevel]

Not this topic again...

You want to hurt everyone just so you can feel better?

You can get fantastic XP with 3~4 people inside Abyssea or GoV. Heck you can solo XP inside abyssea or GoV for better XP then we ever got at 75 era.

No what your angry about isn't you getting XP, or you finding people, it's about other people doing things without you. You want to pull everyone else down to you level and make them play the way you want them to play.

tldr;
Stop whining and go solo / low man for more XP then you ever got at 75.

[SpankWustler]

No. Stop it.

Not this topic again...

At least the topic is in a a different forum than usual this time. Innovation!

I want to know what exactly can a group of 18 level 30s do in abyssea.

Nothing, because that is the most ridiculously extreme example possible.

Low-level folks can hold key items for two level 99 folks who are killing things, however, and be extremely helpful by doing so. Many quests in Abyssea can be done at any level. Anyone with a brain and some way to restore HP can be useful at a very low level, given the strange creatures that usually inhabit any kind of pick-up party.

[katz]

I agree completely with the op. Its not about xp. I was saying the other day. the thing you miss most about parties isnt the slow grinding exp, its the community. The laughs, the fun, meeting new people, having the shared experience. Talking!. Its hard to communicate to leechers. The worst thing SE ever did was to allow level 30s into Abyssea. I want to know what exactly can a group of 18 level 30s do in abyssea. I know its like shutting the gate after the horse has bolted, but they should have never let anyone under 75 into Abyssea.

[Alikhat]

Possible solution: Shout out for a new linkshell that likes to do things the old way. It's a minority, but there are people out there who do like the idea of doing things old school, even if just for nostalgic reasons.

I enjoyed the whole standard 6-man party days, and I was never prejudiced towards any jobs joining in as long as they were played at a reasonable level of skill and contributed. But there are players, probably the majority, who favour efficiency. There are many views on what is entertaining too; some enjoyed the in-game social aspect of partying, others enjoyed getting their jobs to the cap so that they could take part in the end game events. There's never going to be a solution that works for everyone and so the best thing you can do is try to find others who share your opinions and figure something out between you.

Those who do go AFK during these parties/alliances are often removed, at least in the groups I've always been in. If you see someone who looks AFK, even if it's the original party/alliance leader, you can make it known and most of time the offending players will be kicked, or the active group will remake the alliance effectively removing the AFK leaders/players.

It's only those who are making gil from Fell Cleaves that don't really care that much, though I'm pretty sure they'd be happy to kick someone after taking their 1 million gil before their exp time is over because they were AFK so they can get a new person to replace them. But joining those are optional; you aren't forced to use that service. Seeing as using this service and then going AFK for this period of time is against the ToS*, a player can't really argue that they lost out on their gil; they'd get banned for reporting it as it is an admission of breaking a contract.

The reality: there are alternatives. If levelling via a GoV/Abyssea group was the only way to get exp then I'd see an issue but because there are other ways still available, even if the majority don't want to do it, there's nothing that says we need to prevent these people from enjoying this game in their own way.

As long as my experience isn't disrupted or hindered, and there are no alternatives in the game, then I fail to see a valid, objective reason for imposing restrictions to others' game-play.

tl;dr

Find other people who want to play your way.

People going AFK can be, and often are, removed from the party/alliance.

There are alternative methods to levelling a job; not everyone wants to play the same way, and they shouldn't be forced to or penalised for it.


*It's under section 2.2: "You may not play the Game for the purpose of [...] advancement in game play on behalf of a third-party" if anyone wants to dispute that because that is exactly what getting EXP for being absent from the game is: an "advancement in game play", the "third-party" is the person doing the Fell Cleave.

[Aldersyde]

It's only those who are making gil from Fell Cleaves that don't really care that much, though I'm pretty sure they'd be happy to kick someone after taking their 1 million gil before their exp time is over because they were AFK so they can get a new person to replace them. But joining those are optional; you aren't forced to use that service. Seeing as using this service and then going AFK for this period of time is against the ToS*, a player can't really argue that they lost out on their gil; they'd get banned for reporting it as it is an admission of breaking a contract.

*It's under section 2.2: "You may not play the Game for the purpose of [...] advancement in game play on behalf of a third-party" if anyone wants to dispute that because that is exactly what getting EXP for being absent from the game is: an "advancement in game play", the "third-party" is the person doing the Fell Cleave.

The thing is, the definition of "third party advancement" is pretty vague. Unless SE are idiots, they know mercing of R/E items for gil has taken place for a very long time, which I would personally consider "third party advancement"; I can't think of instance where a banning has come out of it though. From incidents I can vaguely recall, GMs will enforce contracts for goods if one party tries to scam the other if there's proof in the chatlogs that such a deal was made, by making the offender return gil or drop the item. You can also see other services in game that I would consider "third party advancement" like high-levels getting low-level characters through genkais or in the real olden days, high-levels killing coffer mobs for lower-levels so they can get keys for AF armor. If SE really has a problem with "xp for gil" transactions, they should come out and tell us, because there's obviously instances of "third party advancement" they're okay with.

I was under the impression that the real issue was with the AFK play aspect; I'm not sure "xp for gil" is inherently a contract which GMS wouldn't try to mediate if one player complained of unfair treatment as in the case of being kicked out of party slot when one paid for a certain amount of time. Unless someone is an idiot and flat out said they paid for a party to leech xp and then went afk, I don't think a gm would instaban them. Unless a gm had been sending them tells, there's no way after the fact to really ascertain if someone was afk.

[Alikhat]

I was under the impression that the real issue was with the AFK play aspect; I'm not sure "xp for gil" is inherently a contract which GMS wouldn't try to mediate if one player complained of unfair treatment as in the case of being kicked out of party slot when one paid for a certain amount of time.

If you were at least "playing" the game - not afk - and you reported it straight away you'd probably be all right considering the thing that GMs have overseen on previous occasions. If it was an hour or two after the fact before you reported it, I doubt it work in your favour any more because it would imply you had no knowledge of this until that time which in turn implies you weren't present and I'm pretty sure they can find that kind of information out from the logs.

But, yes, the issue I was bringing out was the "pay to leech with the intention of going afk" - likening it to statutory interpretation I used the mischief rule for the reason that the statement is ambigious. Technically you could put a lot of things that have happened in-game, legitimately, but understanding why it might have been written in the first place is my favourite place to start.

I remember reading a post on the ZAM forums about someone who came back to their game to find they had been banned following a FC party. Using something from this thread: Attacking Monsters with an Avatar While Being AFK, particularly this section:

Please be advised that a GM may request assistance from you if they determine that your actions may be causing a disruption in the game balance. If you received instructions from a GM, we ask that you follow them immediately. If you do not follow the instructions, as stated previously, the GM will take action against your account.

I'd understand "request assistance" to be on the lines of directly communicating with the player via tells, thus it's quite possible for a GM to, randomly or otherwise, initiate an attempt to communicate, and failing to do so said player may find themselves under investigation.

If on the other hand you are there then it's no different to offering gil for a service akin to having mercenaries kill NMs for you. Since SE and GMs have supported this previously that only serves to your advantage.

I think the biggest problem comes from the apparent lack of interest by SE and GMs in stating their position on such topics very often. They seem to wait until there's an outcry before stepping in to say something. At the very least seeing GMs actively working in-game on these things would help clear things up a little. But as it is, it is a vague statement and isn't helped with the actions like those you've described - mercing being contractually enforced by GMs.

[katz]

I have a solution to learning how to TA on THF. Find a Fell Cleave parties or pay-to-leech groups. Take the mob next to the first leech, learn TA, if the mob wins the first leech take the second one on. Well its how you learnt how to do it in exp parties......The leaders of the group will love you, less work for them. Clears the party out for new leechers.

[Daniel_Hatcher]

This topic has been done countless times before.

Leveling doesn't make you good at your job.
Leveling doesn't make you learn a job.
Leveling doesn't guarantee capped skills.
Leveling slowly was NOT fun.
Fell Cleaving makes you more social as you can pay, leave it there, and talk to real friends, family etc...
Bad players will be bad regardless.
Good players will be good regardless.
People pay to level because it's easy and because it's cheap when you look at how much money you can make back through Cruor.

[cidbahamut]

Because of this, I'd like to propose a possible solution