Rate of Leveling and the New Player Experience

[Camate]

Greetings, everyone.

There have been various concerns posted in regards to new players joining the game, which focus around their leveling experience and also the progression of the game leading up to level 99. In response to the feedback, Producer Akihiko Matsui has made the following comment.

Matsui here.

New players coming into the game that are leveling are starting from a clean state not knowing about systems such as Fields of Valor, Trust, and Records of Eminence, and it’s also likely rare that they will get involved with Abyssea while they are leveling. Naturally, they will view various aspects of the game in a different light than those of you who have been playing the game for a long time.

There is no right and wrong and we are developing the game looking at it from both perspectives.

We’ve been receiving requests to make it easier to reach level 99, but we don’t have any plans to simply reduce the amount of experience points that are required to level up.

At level 20 you are able to ride a chocobo. At level 30 you are able to acquire the advanced jobs. And then at level 60 you can obtain a full set of artifact armor. At each pivotal point you are also able to progress through missions. This type of game experience is connected to the affection towards your character and Vana’diel, and this is why I feel it’s not right to increase the pace of leveling more than it is currently.

To support new players, we’re placing a heavy emphasis on creating systems so they can play comfortably and have a new experience while they are leveling their characters.

Trust is a perfect example of this. With the implementation of the Trust system, I feel it’s become much easier to play even in conditions where it is difficult to form parties with other players at lower levels, and missions can also be undertaken solo. (We’ll be addressing Zilart missions that do not support Trust in the future.)

Moving forward we will continue to add beneficial features for new players, which will revolve around the Trust system. With that said though, I feel that the progression from level 75 to 99 is lacking in variation in comparison to the time it takes, and we will be looking into making adjustments that will make this more motivating.

Linkshells and friends are also a very important part of the community, and we will continue to work on this. Right now we are in the midst of planning the previously announced features for Linkshells.

To make a really useful system we expect it will take a bit of time, but once we are at the stage where I can discuss this in more detail, I’ll be sure to make a post on the forums.

[Xantavia]

I'm glad to see that they are looking into more options for the 75+ leveling. As a mostly solo player, there is a decent variety of areas to level in the beginning, but in the end, I have always fallen back to abyssea when it comes to the 70's. I haven't found a place that is relatively safe where my skill-ups won't suffer due to only beating on incredibly easy mobs. About ready to do G5 on a new character and have been slightly dreading the upcoming slog of xp/merits for further advancement from a lack of camps that I know about.

[Draylo]

The biggest "feature" you need for a linkshell is content that more than 6 people can do... As of now there is practically nothing for an LS to do besides very difficult Divine Might or Delve. Both of which can get old after a while, we need more 12+ member content so that it justifies even having a true "linkshell" instead of a small low man group of 3 people and mules.

[Zarchery]

The biggest "feature" you need for a linkshell is content that more than 6 people can do... As of now there is practically nothing for an LS to do besides very difficult Divine Might or Delve. Both of which can get old after a while, we need more 12+ member content so that it justifies even having a true "linkshell" instead of a small low man group of 3 people and mules.

Dunno what you use your linkshells for, but I've always used them for 1) casual conversation and 2) pulling small groups of people for content. If you need 6 people to do content, it's a lot easier to pull 6 people from a pool of 20 or so that you already sort of know than to /yell randomly for 6 strangers.

[Kraggy]

Greetings, everyone.

There have been various concerns posted in regards to new players joining the game, which focus around their leveling experience and also the progression of the game leading up to level 99. In response to the feedback, Producer Akihiko Matsui has made the following comment.

His comments about linkshells don't I think refelct reality. In a game that's so mature LSes are largely full of 99s, doing 99 content, they're usually not interested in newbies concerns till said newbies are 99 as well.

Being in an LS at 20 is a very lonely experience, believe me on another account I have one such who I started in the hope of perhaps having a better experience than my two 95s have had.

[Draylo]

Obviously you are in a social linkshell then. What I consider it would be an end game group, like most MMO have. This game has become too low man centric lately without giving anything to people that actually enjoy larger scale events, something this game was founded on.

[Castanica]

I came back recently, here are what I saw as the biggest failings of current FFXI (so far).
FoV is something you have to know exists, as much as it pains me to say it the book should have a big ! on it (maybe a feature linked to teh newbie icon being activated) or some way to make people know what it is and that it's important. the wording inside that book should also be made more easy to understand and less hiding behind menus.
The new questing system is great but it's hidden, why? I was leveling for ages without even knowing it existed, not until I watched a YT video did I know about it. Why add something that good and hide it in a sub menu? There should be no limit on the quests you can get and they should be given automatically.

The regen and refresh features from the book should be given automatically and they should be far more potent than they are, the point is for leveling to be fun and not boring. HAving to rest half my HP back up after each fight on an EP-DC mob really should not be something we have to do, also imo DNC should be a standard job these days and not something that you have to unlock, /dnc makes the game so much more fun for dps classes.

If you are going to "wowize" FFXI then at least do it right, the quest rewards should be gear you can wear and not garbage things like useless rings and mantles.

Also I really wish this game had a social world chat channel so it doesn't feel so DEAD while leveling, also possibly a community linkshell (open to all) for people that don't have one and indeed won't be getting one since the chances of seeing another human being during leveling is near to nil. I've been leveling for about a week and I can count on 2 hands the number of people I've seen outside of Jeuno.

I don't know if this has already been added but if not then all atmas should be given to everyone that reaches 75 outright, that way they can actually enjoy Abyssea instead of being almost totally unable to get atmas anymore.

I wanna have fun with FFXI. I loved Abyssea on my main character but the thought of going through all the rigmarole of getting atmas (which is really hard for a new 75 with one job, bad gear and no contacts) etc before I can go mess around in...what is honestly a deserted zone sucks all the ideas of having fun in there out of it.

Old FFXI is dead, the new team is adding elements from WoW and they are kinda cool but they aren't being added right imo, don't be shy about it. Add that stuff in and put it in so everyone knows it is there. A new player coming in or an old one coming back is not going to want to do all the boring stuff or be forced to watch videos/guides to do basic things. People want to play this amazing game and have fun, not drudge.

I'm someone that played hardcore for about 7 years before I quit a few years back, I did everything there was to do in this game during that time. I'm back and I'm on the cusp of having fun with the game again, but the thought of all the long-drawn out things I have to do and the hiding of new additions is killing that in me.

[BlueNarciss]

XP gain is not an issue right now. The biggest issue for new players that I've found (as a new player myself) is gated content. Leveling is gated (I'm so glad I can't take part in the double xp event because they want me to unlock more levels via Limit Break quests), classes are gated (I don't want to get off work and spend all my free time doing an irrelevant quest that adds nothing to the games story just so I can see if I like it or not), even the Trust system is severely gated (it took me hours to run to different cities just to get 3 base trusts..) Make things more ACCESSIBLE, this is the biggest issue with this game. You add all of these great systems like the trust initiative and so forth, but it all takes an absurd amount of time just to get started. I want to get out and explore the world the way I want to, not be forced to run from area to area to collect some item for 3 lines of text that have nothing to do with anything. I don't mind quests, I enjoy them, but making them required for core mechanics in the game is just ridiculous. Why not change them to item rewards or something, seeing as getting armor while leveling as a new player is nigh impossible due to high auction house costs or hoping that a chest you spend 2 minutes unlocking gives you something better than an ether or potion.

If you want to make the game more new players accessible you guys really need to do more than just look at XP gains, I mean honestly..

[AppropriateName5786]

There was a very similar thread that reached 40+ pages a few months ago calling for things to be made more accessible and modern. Basically, Castanica and Bluenarciss have great ideas to make the game better and more welcoming to new players (regardless of how few there are) and old players alike. Unfortunately, there are lots of confused people on these forums who will accuse you of wanting everything handed to you and tell you that you are going to hell for dumbing down their precious game. There's also the bitter ones who will type entire essays amounting to nothing more than "we had to put up with this X or Y years ago so you have to as well!"

As an old player myself, I've been wanting to level another character for ages (since race changes aren't available), but just the thought of the mountains of gated/mundane content I'd have to redo in order to get caught up to my main is vomit-inducing. We're talking everything from the Chocobo quest, subjob quest, limit breaks, Aby Atma obtainment, VW warps, CoP, RoZ, WotG, ToAU, fame building, advanced job unlocking, Dynamis boss wins, coffer hunting for AF, etc, to getting all the WKR wins again.

Even without the need to farm for gil like an actual new player, or the need to meet new people and establish myself on my server, or the need to learn how all the arcane systems like FoV and RoE work in the game, I would never level another character because of the way old content has been handled, or not handled as it were. Changes to old content definitely need to be made, and accessibility is the key word.

[Olor]

Changes to old content definitely need to be made, and accessibility is the key word.

Yeah. I've gotten far enough in COP now to reforge my artifact and relic gear - but I stand by my original call to remove gates like this. I have no problem needing to finish COP to get the COP trusts and the COP rewards but it really put me behind (and discouraged me from playing) to find that I could not upgrade my gear because I hadn't finished an unrelated quest line. These kind of things need to be eliminated. There are enough rewards for doing the content without locking unrelated content behind it. (Current rewards for COP = being able to do hardmode fights, several trusts including 2 of the best ones, and the rings).

These are the things that make being a new player suck, not exp gain (although 75-99 is very crummy, especially when you're melee and no one really wants you till 80+ in abyssea). New players want to be able to play with others - and all they can do is pretty much solo for months... that sucks.

I personally think things like AF quests are fine and important, I just don't like having to ALSO do all of COP to upgrade the AF I quested for.

I remember reading about some changes to atma a while ago, can anyone tell me if you still unlock the atmas as you used to or has it been changed now? If you still have to unlock them all I guess I won't be getting into aby at 75.

They had abyssea campaigns where they gave you Atmas, I don't think that it was permanent.

I personally don't think they should just give all the atmas out, but I would like them to make the atma drop 50% without red light. Cause I'd be happy to go out pop monsters and slaughter them to help newbies get their atma, but I don't have any jobs that can proc red reliably. A player shouldn't have to level a very specific job (essentially NIN or WAR only) to get access to Atma. Just making atma a 50% drop without proc would help a lot, since then anyone could help a new player get atma, not just someone who already leveled a red proc job.

And then, once a new player had a couple atma, they could get other atma themselves if they needed to... but right now if you're not NIN or WAR your ability to get atma is pretty much nil.