POLL: http://www.strawpoll.me/10509703
The poll allows multiple answers so the Devs are clear what we want ( I also posted this link on reddit)
Pick all that apply:
Yes, til level 60!
Yes, til level 50!
No, just shortened MSQ requirements!
No, just make all 3.0 and 4.0 jobs available w/o story being completed as long as player is at lv 30.
No, leave things as is!
FYI this straw poll is posted on ps4 reddit, mmorpg reddit, and ff14 reddit pages)
If it smells like money, I can tell you what SE will already do despite that poll or any feedback.
I picked the 3rd option. I just can't imagine this game where players did not have 50+ lvls to learn their class. Just do a leveling roulette to see why it would be a bad idea to grant insta 60's for them to only show up in your expert roulette lacking any sense of being an "expert"
I think a level jumping potion would be a bad idea honestly. I mean...they introduced the novice hall because of all the complaints they were getting about people not playing their jobs well ^^;; Wouldn't releasing these potions just circumvent that and lead to the same problem all over again..?
Although the easiest option for the programmers is probably going to be a potion to just auto level a character, but option 3 would be the best. That will give players the chance to get a feel for the job they like the most and will allow them to hit the MSQ. Although you can catch up with events on a webpage, some things I think would be best experienced to understand events going on.
It should definitely be limited..We already have people fate leveling and then maxing their jobs out and having no clue how to play them. If they can just level by spending money then they don't even have to fate. Have you ever been in a duty with a 60 Paladin that didn't know what Shield Oath was for? Because I have.
To be honest I'm not sure how this would even work. Putting aside the merits of skipping levels and story quests there is an awful lot of side content that unlocks core game features. Usually these side quests are introduced via the MSQ but if a player can skip all those story quests they would be losing all those breadcrumb trails to unlockable content. You would then have players at level 50 or 60 unable to do any roulettes and unable to use many core features of the game because they simply don't know they exist.
You might suggest the level skip also unlock all these features, but then you're talking about a LOT more than just a level skip option. You would also end up with capped players completely overwhelmed by new content and systems that will take them forever to get their head around. Unlike other MMOs, FFXIV has a LOT of things to learn beyond just your basic abilities and we all learned them gradually by unlocking them over time.
I just don't see how this can possibly work. There is simply too much to consider outside of leveling and story... It only works in WoW because it is ultimately a very shallow game.
Honestly the solution in my opinion is simply to cut out all the filler quests in the story between 2.0 and 2.55 and increase the remaining quests' xp rewards to compensate. This would massively increase both leveling speed and story progression, whilst also still providing the breadcrumb trails necessary for introducing core game features.
Because of the limited way this poll is formed I picked 1,3,4. At the absolute minimum I think they should allow you to pick up new classes (as long as you have the expansion) at any time, without having to get to max level and the end of the previous stories. I also think it's very important that they go back and trim away all the excess fat that surrounds the MSQ. It's bloated and only serves to scare people away that are otherwise enjoying the game. I know personally I just went through the whole grind at the start of this year and it felt like hitting a brick wall when I reached the 2.x story, I lost nearly all motivation to play.
As for the potion itself, I'm a bit neutral. If they don't do the above then they at least need to have a potion like this, though for myself I'd prefer other solutions. However, I have no opposition if other people like it. It's no skin off my back if others want to skip the leveling and story. Considering that the cap will likely be raised to 70 when the new expansion hits it makes the most sense that it would bring you up to 60.
Imo, both a level and story skip option are a terrible idea. Seeing as theres really only 2 dungeons to do per update (since everything else is a one and done), if someone skips the whole leveling and story process, not only will we have more 60s who are terrible at their jobs, but it'll most likely make people quit even faster, since theres a real lack of content at 60. I'm hoping PotD changes that, but I haven't seen anything since 2.0 thats made me think otherwise, especially the flop that Diadem was.
To the people who complain they have to do all of the story to catch up. If they can't even enjoy the fun part of the game, they're definitely not going to enjoy sitting in one zone queuing up for only expert and maybe an easy 24 man raid daily, since SE limited the ways for progression.
And let's be honest, if a new player picks up XIV and plays for more than an hour a day, they can hit 50 and most/if not all of the story through 2.55 before their free month is up. So theres really no reason to skip levels/story, it's not difficult and doesn't really take that long to do. People are just lazy and complain about anything that remotely resembles effort.
I would just re-do the MSQ so fluff quests get siphoned out as side story quests (like the ones that sometimes get unlocked during the story that are optional) and the MSQ ends up as only the important quests that move the story forward, then up the experience so you don't get level locked (kind of like what SWTOR did recently) and it's a smooth progression where you can level all the way up just doing the MSQ that is the meat of the story and no silly fedex quests. That way you don't cut content out of the game and it's still there to do if you want to do it.
No. Simply just cut down the story of 2.0 -2.55 Its literally that simple.
If anything they could put xp bonus potions there to boost XP bonus from all sources by 200%.