For those of you complaining about EXP chains while soloing...

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Originally Posted by Jynx

until strongholds around 45 I'm pretty sure my THM got more SP than most parties while soloing and duoing....just saying.

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yeah ok...you must be kidding

...just saying

/rage

btw what is wrong with having a strong solo presence in an mmo? Sure its MM for a reason but that doesnt mean it cant. What if some days I want to do things with friends but other days I just want to do things for an hr or 2?

What if I want to try test my skills and solo a dungeon, but oh no game doesnt let me.

Apart from Primals and Darkhold everything is already pretty soloable, it would be hard to solo level up, you could do it though in a fair amount of time.

But also remember that it shouldnt be forced to party by time your 40, 40 isnt almost near the end or the "last few levels". Level 40 is only 50% of the levelling curve lol.

There should always be viable solo options. Being able to solo beats standing around waiting for a PT invite (like XI...)

Or hell add level sync damit!!

I'm not saying i love the fact that you have to PT for exp but i went from 39-43 in roughly 5 hours of game play spent across 2 days. Sure i did it as a thm but if you have over 50 leves to burn i'd say it's kind of your fault you're standing around waiting for a PT.
50*3k=150k exp which it takes roughly 8 minutes (longest it takes on my lancer to do a leve) if you don't turn up the difficulty you get 3.5kish exp (without guardian's aspect which ramps it up to 5k-5.9k) from a leve completion. 8 leves are easily doable per hour if you're fast enough even less. Preferably you should have anima to burn to > return > teleport do 4 leves > teleport to second leve area > do 4 and then go grab more.

Sure the leve system is pretty damn terrible but it beats sitting around for 4 hours waiting for a group.

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Originally Posted by SnickleWhiskers

I'm not saying i love the fact that you have to PT for exp but i went from 39-43 in roughly 5 hours of game play spent across 2 days. Sure i did it as a thm but if you have over 50 leves to burn i'd say it's kind of your fault you're standing around waiting for a PT.
50*3k=150k exp which it takes roughly 8 minutes (longest it takes on my lancer to do a leve) if you don't turn up the difficulty you get 3.5kish exp (without guardian's aspect which ramps it up to 5k-5.9k) from a leve completion. 8 leves are easily doable per hour if you're fast enough even less. Preferably you should have anima to burn to > return > teleport do 4 leves > teleport to second leve area > do 4 and then go grab more.

Sure the leve system is pretty damn terrible but it beats sitting around for 4 hours waiting for a group.

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Thats over an hour by 4 minutes! Unacceptable!! Plus you have running around and not all will take 8 minutes, also its easier to survive 39-43, try doing that at level 20 lol.

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Originally Posted by Jynx

What solo chain 6 on mobs 5 level higher than me is Bull?
*edit*
Sorry those were duo I can usually chain 3 mobs 2-3 levels higher than I am with little effort as long as they are weak to thunder.

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That being faster than most parties is bull, silly rabbit.

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Originally Posted by viion

its easier to survive 39-43.

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Survivability is a whole 'nother issue i don't want to get into.

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Originally Posted by SnickleWhiskers

Survivability is a whole 'nother issue i don't want to get into.

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yes you do *pokes you with a stick*

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Originally Posted by Charismatic

That being faster than most parties is bull, silly rabbit.

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Took me and my brother a few days to level THM to 50 well 49 I guess we slowed down at 45. We didn't go full force either each day we played for a few hours I think our longest session was 5 hours.

I'm not sure how fast parties are these days (Sans a Powerleveler) But I could usually (If mob placement was kind to us) easilly get chain 5-6 duo close to 6-900 sp a fight.

*edit*
I should also point out if people need a real quick infusion of alot of SP do a rank 40-50 faction lev, I got 16k SP from that damn thing with aspect on.

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Originally Posted by XStruckX

yeah ok...you must be kidding

...just saying

/rage

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I'm getting 50k+ a hour soloing and being lazy (watching tv while soloing) very easy to get chain 5-9s on mobs same lvl too 5 lvls above you on thm. right now im killing oborons lvl 35-39 w/ ease.

THM is the new blackmage MANABURN OVER HERE!

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Originally Posted by Jynx

THM is the new blackmage MANABURN OVER HERE!

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thats what i was thinking lol who needs whirlwind. Only proble is thm will not be good as solo once casting is canceled by moving

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Originally Posted by Hikozaemon

thats what i was thinking lol who needs whirlwind. Only proble is thm will not be good as solo once casting is canceled by moving

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Actually I tend to solo much more efficently when I don't move, better MP regeneration.

This all comes down to how people feel about soloing in an MMORPG. It seems that some people just have a problem with solo players altogether. I don't see why soloing and partying can't be equal in experience gain. You already get a buff for being in a party, and I feel that's advantage enough. I'm sorry to say it, but if you have a vendetta against solo players in an MMORPG, you're just ignorant. Parties will always kill faster than a solo player, that paired with the party buff is enough.

(edit) It's amazing. People are acting as if soloing will ever be as efficient as partying. It never will be. As I've stated, parties will always kill at a faster rate than a solo player. No one is asking for solo/party exp to be equal. People are merely asking that the gap be bridged.

The "make soloing easier" suggestions were made back when 1.19 was released because it did make it tougher for some classes to solo (I think mostly Gladiator?). Self-combos and the new abilities in general seem to have bridged the solo vs party gap quite a bit, though.

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Originally Posted by Stimpack

This all comes down to how people feel about soloing in an MMORPG. It seems that some people just have a problem with solo players altogether. I don't see why soloing and partying can't be equal in experience gain. You already get a buff for being in a party, and I feel that's advantage enough. I'm sorry to say it, but if you have a vendetta against solo players in an MMORPG, you're just ignorant. Parties will always kill faster than a solo player, that paired with the party buff is enough.

(edit) It's amazing. People are acting as if soloing will ever be as efficient as partying. It never will be. As I've stated, parties will always kill at a faster rate than a solo player. No one is asking for solo/party exp to be equal. People are merely asking that the gap be bridged.

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/look of disapproval

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Originally Posted by Stimpack

This all comes down to how people feel about soloing in an MMORPG. It seems that some people just have a problem with solo players altogether.

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I think I can explain this. The anti-soloing stance stems from the combination of the following two ideas:

1) Playing an MMO alone makes little sense as you're discarding the one feature that makes an MMO unique and, arguably, is the only strength of the genre. It's like buying a car to fulfill the role of a push cart: Sure, you can load it with things and push it, but an actual push cart would do what you want much better because that's what it's actually designed for.

2) People consistently take the path of least resistance even if it hurts them in the long run. If soloing is portrayed as a sufficiently efficient method to progress in the game, people will be reluctant to go through the effort of cooperating with others. The more people flee the pool of players available for grouping, the more difficult it becomes for the remaining players to form groups. Therefore strong incentives to solo are a direct threat to those who play MMOs with the intention of interacting with other players as much as possible.

The first point makes the argument that the soloist don't really want an MMO ("These are not the droids games you are looking for."), while the second point explains why a shift towards solo-friendliness must not be allowed to happen.

And there you go. :)

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Originally Posted by Frein

while the second point explains why a shift towards solo-friendliness must not be allowed to happen

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Except it doesn't. Therein lies the problem with your post. Solo-friendly need not mean party-unfriendly or that partying would not be preferable.

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Originally Posted by Charismatic

Except it doesn't. Therein lies the problem with your post. Solo-friendly need not mean party-unfriendly or that partying would not be preferable.

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What part of the pool of players available for partying shrinking did you not understand?

Hell as long as solo is even half as viable as parties I bet many people would still solo instead of party. Sometimes you just want to play at your own pace, watch TV, eat, go AFK whenever the hell you want to.

Solo can and always will exist in the game viable or not.

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Originally Posted by BlaiseLallaise

Ah yes, the days when you were forced to play a certain way or be left behind. Those were the days.

Seriously, who wants a game where everyone actually has the option to play the way they enjoy?

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Amen, my friend. I have no problem with the people asking for balanced solo/party play, but the people who seem aggressively anti-solo entirely... geez, what do you have against people enjoying the game? Are you so incredibly closed minded that you can't possibly fathom the idea of gameplay that facilities the choices of the solo and party players?

As a theoretical, do you oppose things like, say, Chocobo Racing, Triple Triad or Blitzball in FFVII, VIII and X? After all, those are RPGs, not racing sims, card or sports games. Yet SE choose to put them in, and people enjoyed them - do you fault people for doing so?

You're stuck in an odd, archaic mindset of, "It's 'Massively Multiplayer Online', therefore it MUST force players to play together." But that's a very limiting view of a genre wide-ranging with possibilities. "Party play" is not the extent of it's definition. You are interacting with players everyday, by shopping, by typing /cheer at someone, chatting with a linkshell, hanging with a friend crafting.

Perhaps more important than "party play" in regards to the idea of an MMORPG is the idea of choice, and freedom, in a living, breathing world. The genre is ripe for innovation, of helping people connect in *new* ways, of living in a virtual world in accordance with their own will as much as that of the developer and the community, and will never advance if we have people foaming at the mouth every time somebody dares mention something that goes against the idea of "party play and party play only!"

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Originally Posted by Bowen

/look of disapproval

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lol! Sorry, I meant that exp gain should be equal, but no one is asking that solo players get a leg-up in order to catch up with parties. As I've said, parties will always gain more experience. They kill faster, and can tackle tougher opponents. Parties get a buff as well as the ability to chain more efficiently.

The fact that you're in a party with multiple people is an advantage in and of itself. Anything else just seems to add insult to injury. Excuse my wording earlier.

I suppose my suggestion would be to raise chain timers while soloing, but not raise exp while soloing so that it equals the exp gain of a party.

Equal in one aspect, not equal in all.

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Originally Posted by ShinChuck

Amen, my friend. I have no problem with the people asking for balanced solo/party play, but the people who seem aggressively anti-solo entirely... geez, what do you have against people enjoying the game? Are you so incredibly closed minded that you can't possibly fathom the idea of gameplay that facilities the choices of the solo and party players?

As a theoretical, do you oppose things like, say, Chocobo Racing, Triple Triad or Blitzball in FFVII, VIII and X? After all, those are RPGs, not racing sims, card or sports games. Yet SE choose to put them in, and people enjoyed them - do you fault people for doing so?

You're stuck in an odd, archaic mindset of, "It's 'Massively Multiplayer Online', therefore it MUST force players to play together." But that's a very limiting view of a genre wide-ranging with possibilities. "Party play" is not the extent of it's definition. You are interacting with players everyday, by shopping, by typing /cheer at someone, chatting with a linkshell, hanging with a friend crafting.

Perhaps more important than "party play" in regards to the idea of an MMORPG is the idea of choice, and freedom, in a living, breathing world. The genre is ripe for innovation, of helping people connect in *new* ways, of living in a virtual world in accordance with their own will as much as that of the developer and the community, and will never advance if we have people foaming at the mouth every time somebody dares mention something that goes against the idea of "party play and party play only!"

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This is all that needs to be said. Many of you would do well to read it over, and possibly re-think your mentality of solo vs. party play.

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Originally Posted by viion

yes you do *pokes you with a stick*

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Ok you're right i do, the main thing wrong is that none of the classes were built for solo play.

Soloing doesn't need to be fixed, I think it's fine. I still want to group up to gain exp chains and bonuses which I think shouldn't be accessible when soloing. This is an MMORPG MMO action game/ strategy game (w/e you want to callit). If there's anything better than playing online in real time w/o a lobby of servers like other multiplayer games out there, let me know. You log on every day to look for party and play with others. Soloe'rs shouldn't even be given room to complain or state their opinions about how bad it is for them.

I think when two or more come together and fight mobs, it's the best way to gain exp. Develop exp chains and earn bonuses! DO it in a team and what SE should be promoting beside individualism. If you don't like this, go bad to "WoW", I wouldn't miss ya!

I like the idea of a longer timer for solo.

I don't think we need to change the leves we have now, but to add more that have a bit more excitement. I mean at times I really enjoy the leves we have now, but it would be great to have different ones to cater to people who don't want to grind mobs/synths.

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Originally Posted by Estellios

The "make soloing easier" suggestions were made back when 1.19 was released because it did make it tougher for some classes to solo (I think mostly Gladiator?). Self-combos and the new abilities in general seem to have bridged the solo vs party gap quite a bit, though.

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Yeah, that's why I stopped complaining about solo difficulty a month after 1.19 came out, because a friend of mine convinced me and helped me realize that the stat changes were probably one half of the battle mechanics overhaul. Yes we got "nerfed" a bit in 1.19 (minus MRD), but we both realized there had to be something coming along the woodworks to compensate for us feeling so gimped.

Now with 1.20, I actually feel like I can stand on my own no matter what class I play because of the combo and battle system changes. I still think the combo system needs to be tweaked more, but solo play is definitely more tolerable now. I'm trudging along from 35 - 40 on PGL through regular leves as we speak.

Leves still have a bit of a level discrepancy though. Because mobs only get stronger by 3 levels per star, there's this period where you're too high/strong to do the previous star leve, but a bit too gimped to do the next star version. Case in point: my PGL was level 37. Some of the 4* leves (with level 39 mobs) were kicking my butt. I took way too long to kill things between fights to get EXP chain bonuses. But if I do the 3*s, I don't get the EXP chain + Guardian's Aspect and mobs don't link, so I'm actually down on exp for that part. Once I hit level 38 - suddenly I was stronger and I could kill the 4* mobs with ease and get 3-4 EXP chains. At level 39, when I'm the same level as the mobs as the OP is in his screenshot, it'll be easy again. When I hit rank 41, I'll run into this problem again as I will be 1 level too high to do 1* rank 40 leves, but 2 levels too short for the 2* rank 43 leves to be time efficient.

Despite my gripes in my previous paragraph, I'm fine with the way the system is now. I'd prefer they made the link chain timer a little slower for solo players, but I think the anti-solo players that were talking earlier in the thread would have an aneurism if I suggested yet another thing that would make solo play easier.