Make fates LAST 15 minutes.

In the case of mob fates, make them just keep spawning mobs for 15 minutes. In the case of boss fates, make them heal themselves for 20% health each time they fall below 10% until the fate is within 3 minutes of finishing (so boss fates would last 12~-15 minutes, depending.

Odin, Behemoth, and other fates of that level would be exempt as this might make them unkillable lol.

And then, when you look at the map and it says maximum time remaining, it gives you an idea if it's worth running across the map to the silly thing.

Problem with that, would be that no one would then run to the fate until near the end, otherwise you are just hitting your face against an unbeatable wall

It makes a lot more sense than getting to a fate, casting four nukes, and getting 15 thousand experience though lol.

Reward caps could be increased as well, so that the little party that whittled away on Svara got more than the fate train that came in <4 minutes.

If this ever gets implemented, I expect to see less and less people doing FATEs, until they eventually die out and nobody does FATEs anymore.

You'll also have to consider that your problems are only with the areas which are popular for FATE farming. There are various FATEs of the same level in other areas as well (ie. Level 38 FATE's near Haukke Manor in Central Shroud), but nobody ever does those - instead everyone of that level is parking in Coerthas. Then would those FATE's which would have maybe 3 or 4 people doing them would not be completable?

It's like walking a fine line here. If nothing is done, people will continue to jump aboard the FATE train, and similarly, if they are nerfed in any way that makes them not worth it to farm anymore, then nobody will farm them anymore, and they might end up becoming not completable.

If you really want to stop FATE zerging, just cap the number a person can do in a time period. 1 per hour, or 4 per day, or make them use up leve allowances when joining.

If on the other hand you want to encourage FATE zerging, leave as is...

Believe it or not, with the exception of the DD FATE, all of the others are relatively the same in all areas. Some may have more relevant level FATEs than others, obviously, but it doesn't change the fact that they're there and not very populated. The difference is just how populated the zones are. That, btw, is just the result of FATE guides and such. People find out one area is "good", they flock to it and others follow suit.

But the question is, why should they be forced to last 15min? There are many FATEs that I've done, at practically all level ranges, where I'm the only person there. Maybe 1-2 others. 15min of that is... well... pointless. Forcing the FATE timer is far more detrimental to the game than people managing to finish them fast.

they just need to make the fate mobs harder then what they are, I mean if its a NM they need to give them some sort of regen to make it last that tad bit longer if its mob spawn then they need to raise their lvl, currently the lvl difference between the lvl Synch option and the mob lvl for that fate is too high, I mean you are getting up to 7/8 lvls difference if you are lvling synching, because the mobs are 2 lvls below what the recommended lvl for fate is and lvl synch goes up to +5 lvls on recommended lvl, by making the mobs high lvl you increase the diffculty/challenge also the mobs last longer like the OP and many other people want.

I belive making people work a tad bit more for the fate xp will make them consider the fate they are going in for. also trying to get the achievment seems to get you quite a bit of xp as well.

oh forgot to add Op right now we have fate that people actually farm for up to 100kxp from one fate its in North Tathalan the one that involves cultists. its a multipart fate also gets you a acheivement.

Oh sure, there have been a ton of good suggestions since Beta and SE leaves fates they way they are.

Easiest, fastest AND most profitable (seals considered) way to level by a large margin.

I'm still lower level (max lvl 32) so i havent been to a lot of areas, but areas like quarrymill are unplayable due to the lag i recieve from so many people going around doing the fates, and then in between them they park infront of the aetheryte so it's hard to be in the town to turn leves in cuz the latency causes the levemete to take 5 minutes to appear (and sometimes causes a couple minutes for the leve monsters to appear, so i'd be getting attacked, spamming cure on myself cuz i cant target them, and i bet people think i look like a tard standing there spamming cure but wtf).. however, if i went to a place like forgotten springs or perhaps little ala mhigo, there are fates there every 2 minutes or so and sometimes i am the only one doing them.

Honestly I wish the game had more options for leveling. I am a quester. I like to quest so I wish there were more quests. They do follow the story quests, yes, but i like being able to go to a hub and pick up like 30 quests, turn those in for 15 more, ect ect, instead of following a story quest, picking up like 4 additional ones, and going from there. I have to supplement my levels with leves and the occasional fate if I run into one. It gets a little boring.
I wish the game didnt focus so much on endgame, i know thats what everybody wants but I like MMO's for the vast worlds and virtually endless things to do. I know the game is still young and I am still not at the level cap, but I enjoy the ride to endgame more than endgame itself (but I cant deny I enjoy dungeon runs with friends). I can't be the only one with the same opinion.

Fates already can last 15 minutes. I ran into a FATE in I think Lower La Noscea, and .. I was the only there. I summoned my chocobo and we went at it for the full 20 minutes. That was different to be sure. It seems the fate groups hit specific ones over and over. And if you avoid those, a lot of them are more reasonable.