Unfair DOL levequests... Dear Square Enix.

It is 5 AM in the morning where I live right now, logged on in the game hoping for some fun until I realized that it is another day to get plagued by a MAJOR issue in this game. First, let me make this clear, dear Enix… This is an independently written letter. It’s only me and no one else. However, it is my hope that by posting this letter publicly in this forum, that I get other players to read it and support me in getting this heard by your headquarters.

The issue is about certain levequests aimed for mining and botany. I haven’t done fishing yet so I don’t know if this applies to fishing as well. For now, let’s just focus on mining and botany… First, something that needs to be said… Final Fantasy games are 50% luck. Perhaps that number is an exaggeration, but there is profound truth to it. I am fully aware and painfully resentful of the fact that in Final Fantasy games, LUCK is a lady who gets the spotlight more often than not. Like in Final Fantasy 8 where even if you do everything right, there’s a chance that Squall Leonhart wouldn’t perform the Lionheart when it counts the most. I love Final Fantasy games so I have learned to accept this. But in FF14, it went too far…

In certain levequests for either mining or botany, there are a group of them that gives you 8 chances to gather 32 units of items. You don’t get a chance to get 32 units in EACH attempt, no. But for 8 times, cumulative, to succeed in the levequest, you must gather 32 units to complete. Otherwise, it’s a failure. Permit me to use strong words against this. It… is… BULL. Random-Number-Generator (RNG) is a part of this game, but this particular group of levequests should be addressed. I cannot tell you how many times I failed in these quests, having 50% chance of success, and somehow fail 5 times before I succeed once. In fact, it just happened right before I turned on my laptop to type this message out. Hear me out, Square Enix: With RNG active, it is entirely possible to fail 100 times before one succeeds once. Are you really willing to let that happen to your paying players?

Here are my suggestions…

A.) Completely remove these levequests. Perhaps let them stay but change their format, or completely take them away. I don’t care…

B.) DRAMATICALLY increase the rewards for completing them. I mean AT LEAST DOUBLE them.

C.) Create a system where if we fail X number of times, the next few attempts become 100% success to mitigate the terrible beginnings.

I don’t care which of these you do. All I ask is for you to consider my pain and do something about it!

Check your equipment is up to date, and look at using skills that increase your gathering rate.

I don’t think I’ve ever failed one of those levequests.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Iscah

Check your equipment is up to date, and look at using skills that increase your gathering rate.

I don’t think I’ve ever failed one of those levequests.

---

Nor have I. With half-decent gear and a low-cost skill, this kind of gathering leve is easy. It's just BORING when you need a minimum 32 items, you're only halfway done with the nodes, and it's not like doing extra will actually make you more money. Unrewarding monotony is the issue here, not rng.

You have 20 minutes to complete the levequest and 400 native CP.
The skill to increase the gathering rate by 50% costs 250 CP. If that doesnt buff the gathering rate to 100%, aka if your native gathering chance is below 50% you desperatly need new gear. NQ-gear is sold for cheap in all the main cities.
You have enough time to let your CP charge up to use this skill on enough nodes to get the required 32 items, assuming that you're doing those levequests on level and that your equip is up to date. If you run into trouble with your CP: you can buy CP-potions from your GC aswell.

Since the objective doesnt change you can also just try to avoid those levequests, by completing the others that are offered to you.
I always considered them the most annoying because I had far more items than I needed after 5 nodes and still had to run over to the last three... the only adjustment those leves need in my opinion is an added bonus if you gather more items than required.

I'm also not sure if you've noticed this, but a huge chunk of leve-exp actually comes from gathering the items itself. So by not making clever use of your skills and maximizing your gatherin success, you're losing out twice.

If anything levequests are just excruciatingly boring. If you're struggling either update your gear, ensuring it is the most up to date, or change the difficulty modifier when you do the levequests to be either a +1/-1. Setting it to max when you've just entered that level range is only going to drastically reduce the probability of gathering an item. Aim to do the eval leves.

I levelled my MIN and BTN to 70 on leavequests. I did a lot of the ones you described. Don't be afraid to use your 50% gather rate boost if needed. Then a cordial to refresh your cp. You'll only have enough time to use one due to the cooldowns though so maybe using the 15% boost is enough if you have upto date gear.

The 15% boost should be good enough to get you “enough luck” to hit the 32 quota, as long as you keep track of how many attempts you have left, and use the 50% boost if you get to a point where you can’t afford any more misses.

Yeah this is a you not using all the tools available to you(and possibly having bad gear) issue, not a game issue. I failed 0 levequests while taking MIN and BOT to 70. How? I kept my gear somewhat up to date, and i used my skills to get a boost when i needed it. I waited out GP regen, and i drank cordials if needed.

And i know you didnt ask, but fishing is different. Fishing is always different.

If your default chance is 50% or less, you are apparently need better equipments.

I did these leves starting from 2.0... They're always been that way... Never had a problem because I always minded my gear. If you have a 50% chance to gather these you're either way undergeared. Also, learn to use your skills, you should have some that give you % chance to gather up and you need to be mindful of your GP and choose when to start a gather attempt around your available skills.

If your gear is remotely up to par, those are easy as heck. Also try throwing some cheap materia in the open slots, and eating food.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Super_Bee_Brian

I haven’t done fishing yet so I don’t know if this applies to fishing as well.

---

It doesn't. Fishing leves are more similar to crafting leves, as both follow a "deliver item X to NPC Y" pattern. They don't even require that you fish or craft the requested item yourself. You just need to acquire and deliver it. (Though personally, I kind of always thought it would miss the point if I didn't fish or craft it myself. Why bother leveling fishing or crafting if I didn't want to actually do the fishing / crafting.)


But to your main point, I agree with the other replies. Make more use of your Sharp Vision (MIN) or Field Mastery (BTN) skills, particularly the tier II or III versions, to boost your success rate, and make sure you've got gear that provides good boosts to your Gathering stat and your GP. (If you don't like waiting for your GP to regenerate, bring a cordial along to regenerate it quickly.)

I actually never use the plus 50% chance skill. I just do the Bountiful Yield ability and pray for the best luck. Lol. Makes it possibly quicker than Sharp Vision 3.

So... you're aware of the skill that would put RNG in your favour (or completely null and void it if you get 100%) but refuse to use it for a chance at bountiful, yet complain that the RNG is too OP.... okay then. :rolleyes:

Are you setting the difficulty higher than your actuall level by any chance? I've done every single gathering leve in the game and never seen the success chance below 60%.

This doesn't sound like an issue with the levequests. If you're only getting a 50% success rate at the start it really sounds like you need to upgrade your equipment. Also socket any spare + gathering materia you have. Anything gathering and crafting in this game is very materia dependent to push the success rates in your favor.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Suki-

So... you're aware of the skill that would put RNG in your favour (or completely null and void it if you get 100%) but refuse to use it for a chance at bountiful, yet complain that the RNG is too OP.... okay then. :rolleyes:

---

This too, its always better to have the slower 100% gathering chance then a 50% hope and pray chance. Again materia, +GP materia socketed in accessories to be able to use Sharp Vision and Bountiful Harvest together on one node.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Super_Bee_Brian

I actually never use the plus 50% chance skill. I just do the Bountiful Yield ability and pray for the best luck. Lol. Makes it possibly quicker than Sharp Vision 3.

---

Yeah, youre doing it wrong. You have to clear all the nodes to finish the leve, whether you get your 32nd item on your 32nd swing, on the very last swing, or never. So "going quicker" is missing less and cycling through the nodes quickly. Boost your gear a bit, primarily use the 15% gathering increase skill to improve your odds(saving 50% for if you get to the last node or two and are still short), and stop trying to reinvent the wheel.

I've never failed any of those leve quests, if you keep your equipment up to date then you should have no trouble, pop abilities as needed.

Mining and Botany leves are the easiest in the game, because you just have to farm the item. It's all the others that are a pain since you have to craft an item or fish out a fish.

I leveled both mining and botany to 70 using leves... Never had an issue with them when appropriately geared which you can buy white from vendors, which I absolutely recommend.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Super_Bee_Brian

I actually never use the plus 50% chance skill. I just do the Bountiful Yield ability and pray for the best luck. Lol. Makes it possibly quicker than Sharp Vision 3.

---

So, the reason why it's so hard is because you're making it hard yourself. Don't complain then if you're refusing to use that which makes it easy.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Super_Bee_Brian

I actually never use the plus 50% chance skill. I just do the Bountiful Yield ability and pray for the best luck. Lol. Makes it possibly quicker than Sharp Vision 3.

---

Sir, ....

If the usage of simple Abilities are already too hard, what are you saying when you're trying to gather Collectibles or even try to do Aetherial Reduction?
That's going to be the living hell for you...?