Rate of Leveling and the New Player Experience

[Multiabuse]

I had to start over from scratch recently, and honestly, it isn't that big of a deal. I finished all the "gates": CoP, all the limit breaks, advanced jobs I had any interest in doing, and it was the most fun I've had in awhile, even though not all of it was pure fun. The only "hard" part was trying to steal a THF testimony so I could fight Maat, and that took all of 45 minutes. I also have the perspective of someone who did these things when they were current and really frustrating, so I'm sure that factored in. I spent a lot of time looking it all up, too.

I see people asking for the removal of everything they don't like in game to "speed things up" or make it easier, but if SE took out all the drudgery (which doesn't take that long) there would literally be people whining about having nothing to do. SE wants you to enjoy their game, but player lust for new content far outweighs their resources to actually make it. And asking them to give you a mainline into that content without having to do any prerequisites at all just means you will be back on the forums asking for something to do. And from what I read daily, it will be mostly bitching and complaining with the occasional really intelligent and well-written post. Why on earth wouldn't you -want- to do CoP or WotG? Aside from the rewarded rajas ring/moonshade earrings (which are still utterly amazing), those expansions are filled with background and story and provide a lot to do in game....and you only have to do it once. It doesn't give much credence to your arguments that they need to remove gates when you haven't passed them yet.

I'm frankly stunned people are complaining about getting around these days. Several posts back someone indicated that the work to simply obtain the starting Trusts was absurd. Having to actually travel ONCE to a home point before being able to use it forever is too much to ask? I don't buy that. If you are a brand new player, you can always expect transportation to be rough until you have actually hoofed it to a new zone, in any game.

They can't make content relevant to 18 people AND 3 and have it be anything complex or interesting. True to form, new delve works better by brute forcing through the "gimmicks" and not actually abiding them. Some of us enjoy the idea of downing content that actually takes all of our combined strengths to defeat. Knowing that it would be much less of a struggle to take 3 takes that away. You get the same drops, you get the same rewards, but you don't have to share. You have trusts, you have sparks gear, you have 1 person entry requirements into almost everything, and for the latest Delve, you don't have to bring a stunner, but you still scream bloody murder anytime someone asks for large group content. Can you not celebrate your victories without attacking people who, amazingly, like to play with others? People like Mr. "Incosequential Minority" and his BPD ilk make me loathe this game more than anything SE could possibly add. So my suggestion to make this game better is to start by removing him from it.

[Stompa]

SE wouldn't be nerfing anything by making XP easier or making Aby easier for new players, for example by creating an Atma Shop where you can buy all atmas for cruor, the better the atma / stronger the NM that drops it - the more cruor you pay. <That way.> new players with no support can grind cruor boxes and save up for Apoc Atma etc.
I spent most of 2010-2012 proccing atmas etc. on my war, like every day. I saved up all atmas for Savior Atma, but still had a few quests to finish before I lost interest. Proc atmas can be hard for new players today for the simple reason that Aby is largely empty and back when I was proc atmas I wasn't soloing it usually - there was usually a party who wanted the +2s and would cure me etc., but now +2s are from login campaign so new players can't jump into those parties to get atma. So I think some sort of buy atmas for cruor option should be added.
Reason it wouldn't be gimping it to change it now, is that in all honesty new players have got a much harder ride in Aby than everyone else had in the 2011-2012 because of FC. For almost two years, people were getting level 99 while AFK in Fell Cleave parties. Literally going lvl 30-99 while asleep or while going to work etc. People farmed Maat's Caps in like a month while being AFK the whole time. And back then people sold their cruor chocobo blinkers, which paid for the FC, so it was a free ride to 99. So the previous Aby generation had a much easier time getting XP than the newcomers do - and for that reason some kind of easing of the system would only seem fair.

[BlueNarciss]

I had to start over from scratch recently, and honestly, it isn't that big of a deal. I finished all the "gates": CoP, all the limit breaks, advanced jobs I had any interest in doing, and it was the most fun I've had in awhile, even though not all of it was pure fun. The only "hard" part was trying to steal a THF testimony so I could fight Maat, and that took all of 45 minutes. I also have the perspective of someone who did these things when they were current and really frustrating, so I'm sure that factored in. I spent a lot of time looking it all up, too.

I see people asking for the removal of everything they don't like in game to "speed things up" or make it easier, but if SE took out all the drudgery (which doesn't take that long) there would literally be people whining about having nothing to do. SE wants you to enjoy their game, but player lust for new content far outweighs their resources to actually make it. And asking them to give you a mainline into that content without having to do any prerequisites at all just means you will be back on the forums asking for something to do. And from what I read daily, it will be mostly bitching and complaining with the occasional really intelligent and well-written post. Why on earth wouldn't you -want- to do CoP or WotG? Aside from the rewarded rajas ring/moonshade earrings (which are still utterly amazing), those expansions are filled with background and story and provide a lot to do in game....and you only have to do it once. It doesn't give much credence to your arguments that they need to remove gates when you haven't passed them yet.

I'm frankly stunned people are complaining about getting around these days. Several posts back someone indicated that the work to simply obtain the starting Trusts was absurd. Having to actually travel ONCE to a home point before being able to use it forever is too much to ask? I don't buy that. If you are a brand new player, you can always expect transportation to be rough until you have actually hoofed it to a new zone, in any game.

They can't make content relevant to 18 people AND 3 and have it be anything complex or interesting. True to form, new delve works better by brute forcing through the "gimmicks" and not actually abiding them. Some of us enjoy the idea of downing content that actually takes all of our combined strengths to defeat. Knowing that it would be much less of a struggle to take 3 takes that away. You get the same drops, you get the same rewards, but you don't have to share. You have trusts, you have sparks gear, you have 1 person entry requirements into almost everything, and for the latest Delve, you don't have to bring a stunner, but you still scream bloody murder anytime someone asks for large group content. Can you not celebrate your victories without attacking people who, amazingly, like to play with others? People like Mr. "Incosequential Minority" and his BPD ilk make me loathe this game more than anything SE could possibly add. So my suggestion to make this game better is to start by removing him from it.

You sound like yet another old player saying things are getting too easy. Good for you, if you don't value your time. A lot of players that don't have 10 hours a day to do stupid crap in a game like unlock 5 year old progression content that is completely irrelevant now. If I want to go back and experience that content, that's how I want to do it. What is the point of a game based around playing and enjoying the game with multiple people if I don't theoretically get that opportunity until late game? I think you're just another mindless drone coming on here to tell everyone they have made things easy enough when we just ask for accessibility instead of making levels easier to obtain. Get out of here with that nonsense.

[Draylo]

Funny, I think the same thing of you and your lazy friends. Why don't you all join a server together so you can be miserable together and complain about how things aren't instant access so the game could be boring for you?

[Castanica]

I find it funny the people that care the most about the new player experience not being boring enough are the ones that won't even be doing it.

Many of these guys that want things kept horrible are the kind of players that enter abyssea from level 30 and just stand there while someone else levels them.

The game is near dead, the few players that come back these guys are hell bent on making them leave because the drudgery is not fun.

[Draylo]

Yet you have people clamoring for the days of old and saying this game was ruined by Abyssea because of how easy they made everything and how accessible everything is. Look at facebook comments for FFXI, youtube comments and so many places where all these complete morons spout that nonsense 24/7 about how the game is ruined because its so easy. How EASY it is to level to 99, yet you are asking for the complete opposite of what 70% of the clowns who "quit" are clamoring for. You don't know the population and what they want. You people have no idea how to run an MMO so keep spouting your nonsense as if its fact, especially you "AppropriateName5786". Alliance content is something that this game was founded on, my personal opinion that was being posted was that we need more events that incorporate MORE people, not low man groups. Low man groups are exclusive by nature, you have 3 people and mules in most cases. Alliance content, even something like WKR or VW, incorporates more jobs and more real people to play them. As I've said multiple times, there are only two alliance events left in the entire game that warrant more than 3~6 people. A lot of people are getting bored with the 6 man hard modes, if they even had interest in the first place. I'm not asking for exclusive drops at all, and I don't want the days of old back. Asking to remove lore from the game is stupid though.

[Draylo]

If they quit, why should SE listen to them anymore? Do brownie points from ex-players contribute to SE stock value now? And for every person saying Abyssea killed the game, there is another who understands that without Abyssea, FFXI most likely wouldn't still be here. Leveling to 99 is easy, but that is not even one of the roadblocks people have been discussing. Get with the program?

Actually, if you read some threads, people are asking for nerfs to the exp gain rate. That's why SE themselves released a statement saying they won't do that. It is one of the roadblocks, unless you mean this thread specifically. I was mainly referencing what the people say in those comments.

[Arbalest]

Actually, if you read some threads, people are asking for nerfs to the exp gain rate. That's why SE themselves released a statement saying they won't do that. It is one of the roadblocks, unless you mean this thread specifically. I was mainly referencing what the people say in those comments.

My LS does Delve with more than 6 people. Does that count as your long-awaited "alliance content"?

[Camiie]

Nerf XP gain? Screw that. I wish "Double XP" would become the normal rate.

[Draylo]

Sorry mistype, they are asking SE to nerf the total xp needed to reach 99.

My LS does Delve with more than 6 people. Does that count as your long-awaited "alliance content"?

Uh, no it doesn't ? Did you even ready any of the posts?