New character, New server, Old player

I've been playing non-stop since 1.0's first beta, and before that was nearly 10 years of xi. My legacy character has 2 50's and everything else in the 30's, and I play at a relaxed pace. With 2.0's launch, I rerolled so I could get the full experience.

A few friends decided they were going to play with 2.0 launch who didn't play in 1.0. They insisted on a legacy server, though. I thought ok, I guess I can see that, so I joined up.

I have a few jobs in the teens, but I see a LOT of 50's running around, mech mounts, and no more than a couple people leveling, most people plowing through so they can be 50 as well and do stuff with their friends. It's disheartening, I was hoping there would be a sizable community that would be leveling and exploring, not grinding through.

For that reason, I'm going to reroll, again, on one of the new servers, and hopefully it won't be "hey half the population is 50, lets all get to 50 and grind end game".

Feels like there was just to much beta for xiv. I've been in the launch of a dozen mmo's in the past, and every time it's usually "ooh pretty/new/exciting/mysterious, lets go exploring and do some leveling and get together with our friends!" But this is more of a "saw it in beta, do task a, b, c and git-r-done to kill ifrit".

So, hopefully I can find the wonder I'm looking for. Maybe i"m looking for nostalgia that I'll never feel again, I'm not sure. But I'm not giving up yet.

How others choose to play the game should not affect how you choose to play the game. If someone else's idea of enjoying the game is endgame content then let them grind it out.

The problem is that the game was dumbed down for more casual players, and the casual player just wants to be rewarded as fast as possible with as little effort as possible. Harvesting has ceased to being any "real" classes, they completely took fishing out of being a class itself. You now just get free items by clicking on a tree, or mining spot. Thus there is no relaxing or exploring, it's just a grind fest now like every other game out there.Harvesting was my favorite part, I'd come home after work and unwind playing the fishing mini game, now I'm forced to go grind my war classes just to get rid of the tediousness of harvesting.

I'm really disappointed with fishing. I loved xi's fishing, 1.0 wasn't even that bad, but now i just cast and click? That sucks. And I can't see my pole in first person anymore, either, which again, takes away from the experience. Why even have first person, if you can't see anything when using it?

How others play does have an effect on me, as an MMO is a community based game. I'd like to find other players that play like I do, but I'm just not finding them, thus rerolling on a new server. I'm not saying what other are doing is wrong or bad, it's just not how I'd like to play, so I'm going to look for people who enjoy my play style.

I know what you mean - I miss the days of actually having to party with others to progress (ala the dunes, qufim, boyhda tree, etc.). I always think it would be awesome to make 'xp parties' where a light party just goes out and kills mobs +3-4 levels higher or more than them for xp. I, too, am rerolling on Famfrit. I know many would consider it nostalgia and say the 'old days' of having a server reputation and getting to know your LS-mates as you progress/make memories of fighting together are gone, but I wish they weren't ^^

Edit: I actually am thinking of joining or making a LS that is primarily focused on fun, TEAM BASED xp. Like, as in xp parties with friends. Slow going, maybe, but maybe able to build the kind of LS family feel that used to be there.

I feel for you, OP.

I've been around since v1 betas as well, never got that character of mine even to 30, because levelling up just became way too tedious to me, so I kinda dropped out (still playing him too though, had no heart to delete him). Come ARR OB, I worked my butt off to get at least one class to lv20 - managed two in the end. Thought it would be a great head start. Well, it wasn't, apparently. Not even one week into the game when I saw dozens of people with Magitek choco armors, complaining about having nothing to do. And it's even more frustrating because I know I have been at it from dawn til dusk every day whenever my time allowed (which has been much more often the case than not), whereas pretty much none of those in my FC at least have. And all this on a non-legacy server too.

So, yeah, I know how others play shouldn't affect how I play, but indeed, when everyone around me is talking about things I've no idea of (again, with knowing I spent at least as much time in-game as they have, if not more), well... it does become pretty frustrating. You're not alone, OP.

I can understand not everyone wants to grind, but I know plenty of people still do, myself being one of them. In 1.0 there were even xp parties, and quite a few. I didn't solo past 12-15, and never powerleveled once, and had 2 jobs at 50 with numerous others on the way. I don't care about achievements, and I'm ok with not dinging a new level 3 times in an hour. I want to play this game for a long time. I don't want to finish all content in 6 month or less, but at this rate, that's what they're looking at.

Maybe SE could just make a server that would fill the void that a lot of us are looking for. Don't even have to let it access the duty finder thing. They'd easily get my money for a lot longer than they are with the current plan.