This game has been ruined...

[Lithera]

I don't think anyone reaaly wants the old way back for xp. Here is how it was back then.

Drg lfping to Drk lfp: so, how long has it been for you?
Drk: one week, you?
Drg: >.<;;

Dunes parties: yay we have a healer now that's on the ship from Mhaura.. God damn it anyone else see a whm or got a friend who can pl us?

Xp party can I have it? - any lv 17-19

Qufim party: hey get on the ice it's night!
New person to area: what?! Oh shit where did those banshee come from?
Party: damn it and that was our replacement whm. Oh, nice that guy fishing isn't a bot! Whoo we're saved!

Jungle party to party camping ontop of em: oh hey could you um move your mandy over so it doesn't zzzzzzz.
Tank of party: hey can I get a cure?! Oh gfd their mandy slept the zzzzz

Then there were the times you finally found a 6th just to wait forever for them to get to kazham to find out they don't have a pass for the airship. Only to get told by someone else they gotta go just as the 6th is almost there. Thus more time looking for someone to replace the dude who's leaving and heaven forbid anyone in any party agrona gob that they couldn't take on. Because that ment any party that is in its way to the zone line or back to where it's spawn was ment everyone else had to zone too.
Also heaven forbid your a Smn who wants to use an avatar in a jungle party. You got shouts to please stop using said avatar because it was lagging other parties. Same kind of stuff happened in crawlers with the gobs but in crawlers it was hitting a lizzard instead or agroing a water ele in the basement.

Oh and who wants to be mpked by bsts just because you're trying to party in the basement of the citadel? I know I don't.
I liked it when the fov books came out and lv sync came about. No more having to look for 5 people who were 1-2 lvs within yours. 3 levels if the lowest person was close to leveling. Fighting over camping spots because someone in your party can't access this or that zone or you don't know the few places the Japanese go to xp at when the hot places are crowded.

[Omegablue]

I don't think anyone reaaly wants the old way back for xp. Here is how it was back then.

Drg lfping to Drk lfp: so, how long has it been for you?
Drk: one week, you?
Drg: >.<;;

Dunes parties: yay we have a healer now that's on the ship from Mhaura.. God damn it anyone else see a whm or got a friend who can pl us?

Xp party can I have it? - any lv 17-19

Qufim party: hey get on the ice it's night!
New person to area: what?! Oh shit where did those banshee come from?
Party: damn it and that was our replacement whm. Oh, nice that guy fishing isn't a bot! Whoo we're saved!

Jungle party to party camping ontop of em: oh hey could you um move your mandy over so it doesn't zzzzzzz.
Tank of party: hey can I get a cure?! Oh gfd their mandy slept the zzzzz

Then there were the times you finally found a 6th just to wait forever for them to get to kazham to find out they don't have a pass for the airship. Only to get told by someone else they gotta go just as the 6th is almost there. Thus more time looking for someone to replace the dude who's leaving and heaven forbid anyone in any party agrona gob that they couldn't take on. Because that ment any party that is in its way to the zone line or back to where it's spawn was ment everyone else had to zone too.
Also heaven forbid your a Smn who wants to use an avatar in a jungle party. You got shouts to please stop using said avatar because it was lagging other parties. Same kind of stuff happened in crawlers with the gobs but in crawlers it was hitting a lizzard instead or agroing a water ele in the basement.

Oh and who wants to be mpked by bsts just because you're trying to party in the basement of the citadel? I know I don't.
I liked it when the fov books came out and lv sync came about. No more having to look for 5 people who were 1-2 lvs within yours. 3 levels if the lowest person was close to leveling. Fighting over camping spots because someone in your party can't access this or that zone or you don't know the few places the Japanese go to xp at when the hot places are crowded.

I've joked and joshed with people a hell of a lot more since FoV, Level sync, GoV, Abyssea alliances have come about. It's leisurely and fun nowadays.

I leveled RDM, WHM, DRK, SAM, NIN, WAR, PLD, BLM all under the old way in the bad days.

It sucked for all those reasons you listed. The game and all the rest is about the journey. Not the end. The thing with FFXI was people made exping the journey because it was tedious. The journey was hanging with friends and completing the content, the fellowship you had. We've been made to trade in the grind for exp and gear to just a gear grind. I'll take that over forever to get a job to sub level and forever again to get it to endgame. And let's not forget the amount of dumbasses that still made it to endgame back then. Starcade for instance. The only thing that has changed is we chopped off half the grind. That's a win.