Do people really favor an FFXI grindfest format?

[Xatsh]

Why limit the options?
Why not let everyone decide for themselves and put all of them in the game?


Being able to play/grind Solo: Yes Please

Being able to play/grind in Party: Yes Please

Unique Game Events for both to have fun with: Yes Please

Problem solved.

You run into the problem of balancing it and making both exist side-by-side.

Soloing is much much easier to do, time wise and organizational wise. So there needs to be enough incentive to group over solo for enough to want to group to make it worthwhile. If solo is = to or near equal to grouping it is not worth grouping.

Example of this is WoW pre-Dungeon finder. It was near impossible to do any group content without a guild/friends because everyone was solo only until endgame. Even then in a guild you needed one that ran dungeons outside endgame.

If you do give grouping so much of a buff that it is desirable to group over solo, then the soloers complain they are being forced into grouping because it is so much better. AkA their playstyle is being penalized.


Then you run into even more problems with things other mmos tried.

If they add a cross server dungeon finder it destroys the in-game community. So they have to be careful with that route.

If they add quest based leveling for soloing what do you do on your 9-12th job you level in the future, there would not be enough quest. So they cannot do the typical MMO quest level system because it is all jobs 1 character. Which is also one of the biggest draws to this game. Quest based leveling forces you into 1 job class due to the restriction of the leveling quest.

I think this problem is something most mmo devs try to solve honestly.. but It is much easier sounding then it really is to do.


I think they need to have options for both as well so I am not disagreeing with you, but I have a feeling the above is the underlying problem.

[Shikyo]

umm you guys CHOOSE to do leve by yourselves. Because they are not "efficient" for sp in a party set up. Did you guys ever thing that sometimes your want for efficiency is making the game not fun? You guys think leveling is to fast in 1-20, and to slow in 40-50. Most curves are set up like that ffxi was. You guys can have fun if you tried? Yet your looking to SE to make it fun. Which isn't gonna happen. All they are doing is improving the game, not making it more fun. You guys make your own fun in mmo.

I'm made my own enjoyment in ffxiv and I'm having fun. I barely do leves and perfer doing them with others. But I'm waiting for people to make up from their self created nightmares.
Jackdaniels wrote : " The hardest part about FFXIV is organizing a group of people to have the same 8 leves at the same time every cycle."

This is another player made issue. You do not need people to have the same leve, point was to do comination of different leve to keep them going beyond the 8 leve mark.

yet another SE player rep you seem to blame the player alot for the failures of this game like nothing is wrong 3k post of what most would see as legal defense for SE wow.. why 3000 post if the game is so fun why camp the forums unless you are being paid to do so? should you not be playing?

[kukurumei]

It's not about liking to grind. It's about reusing and enjoying old content.

No developer(and many new gen MMO have this problem) can keep up with content if if players slash and burn through them.

Grinding allows players to be content with content long enough for new content to come.

Surplus making you log out is easily why we criticized it. I wasn't planning to pay a monthly fee so I can play half an hour a day and log out even if I can max out 8hrs of xp.

[Physic]

You run into the problem of balancing it and making both exist side-by-side.

Soloing is much much easier to do, time wise and organizational wise. So there needs to be enough incentive to group over solo for enough to want to group to make it worthwhile. If solo is = to or near equal to grouping it is not worth grouping.

Example of this is WoW pre-Dungeon finder. It was near impossible to do any group content without a guild/friends because everyone was solo only until endgame. Even then in a guild you needed one that ran dungeons outside endgame.

If you do give grouping so much of a buff that it is desirable to group over solo, then the soloers complain they are being forced into grouping because it is so much better. AkA their playstyle is being penalized.


Then you run into even more problems with things other mmos tried.

If they add a cross server dungeon finder it destroys the in-game community. So they have to be careful with that route.

If they add quest based leveling for soloing what do you do on your 9-12th job you level in the future, there would not be enough quest. So they cannot do the typical MMO quest level system because it is all jobs 1 character. Which is also one of the biggest draws to this game. Quest based leveling forces you into 1 job class due to the restriction of the leveling quest.

I think this problem is something most mmo devs try to solve honestly.. but It is much easier sounding then it really is to do.


I think they need to have options for both as well so I am not disagreeing with you, but I have a feeling the above is the underlying problem.

quest leveling should be an option, not the only way to level, most games have repeatable quests, on timers. Like i said it should be less exp than leves, but should be a viable option for those who hate having to do something with no other purpose than leveling. This is also why i would make some quests class related, much like the ones we have, only not as few and far between, and with more actual monsters, minibosses etc.

as for balancing solo exp versus party, i think party should be more exp, but not as drastic as ffxi for most of its life.

Leves actually work kind of well for soloing/group scaling, the problem is though, no more exp for higher difficulty, also they should probably add a few more mobs for groups, IMO though leves shouldnt be the main way of exping, it already gives multiple rewards, money, items, guild money, and faction points, which unlock higher tier gear/battles. It doesnt need to be the main method of leveling. One of the reasons not all leves give the same or comparable sp, is because they werent supposed to be the only means of leveling, they had some that were good SP, but comparably long, which is bad when you just want items. In all honesty the sp spread before, was closer to right, you could still get good leve SP, but not as much as in a big group. It also didnt cause the majority of people to go around failing leves on purpose, and lead to people staying in one zone for every level, grouping with the exact same people all the time, killing the same monsters. they essentially turned something that didnt feel very grindy, and became more and more optional as you leveled, in to a requirement, and made it feel like just as much of a grind, if not moreso

[Shikyo]

While i agree that the system in FF XIV is flawed, the one in FF XI was even worse.
Sorry but imho FFXI is one of the worst MMOs i have ever seen ( a pity because it also had the nicest community i seen).
FFXIV is flawed to bits but i still enjoy it more than XI, changing the game system to ressemble the XI abomination would be terrible for me.

I bet you loved wow am i correct?
like how most kobe fans hate lebron and vice versa seems most that didnt like XI loved wow and vice versa I hated wow...

[weeble]

yes get ride of leves and go back to grinding. no one grinds after leves. leves are done then nothing left to do. leves are the same quests over and over, in other mmos there quest to quest exp'ing equals to never doing same quest outside of maybe daily's if u did them. if u create a second toon u don't even do half of them only the good ones to max. why would u want to repeat same quests every 1.5days only.

regular grind = 24hr killing mobs, the more killing the better, no time syncs that involve literally sitting around, or running around from set of mobs or restarting leves. i will love to see them get ride of leves all together. yes please this ain't a wow clone and there is only like 7-8 of the same leves that we repeat over and over. ><

[Roaran]

Why limit the options?
Why not let everyone decide for themselves and put all of them in the game?


Being able to play/grind Solo: Yes Please

Being able to play/grind in Party: Yes Please

Unique Game Events for both to have fun with: Yes Please

Problem solved.

While I will refrain from analyzing this at all...

Usually the simplest answer is just that.

My only problem is, once someone finds out the MOST EFFECIENT WAY..... likely it will become the most accepted and most useful way.

Partying cannot be = to soloing, as it requires effort to put a party together, and you should be rewarded for doing so.

But I have no problem with soloing being a useful way to level, but the problem is, if you can solo to cap; you will not have learned how to party and that then defeats the purpose of leveling which is learning whatever class you're playing as.

[kAhn360]

It's very odd, just an observation not really decrying/commenting personally, but I've noticed a lot of people saying something along the lines of "Plz remove leves and get the party xp system back to ff11" and it hasn't just been just 1 or 2 people saying this but a vast majority and I don't understand how this is favorable. I don't know, I see the flaws in the leve system such as monotonous, repetitive cycles of doing dunesfolk/levinshower/cracked up etc, but was spending months and grinding for days and days of your life in ff11 really superior to any other alternative? Anyways, I just wanted to pose the topic and see what you guys thought .

All this game is and has been is a grindfest. Atleast in FFXI it was fun an engaging, an you actually felt a sense of acomplishment from that grinding you did. I played FFXI for 4 years enjoyed it very much. I can't play this for more than half hour to an hour tops. Leve system from the get go was a horrible idea IMO. When game has nothing to offer but grinding why would you ever limit that, an limit the main sources to grind with? Horrible. Games free to play, only reason it stays installed on my PC.

[Rinsui]

All this game is and has been is a grindfest.

...that nicely sums it up.

I used to play Lineage 2 for a few months, a typical Korean hardcore-grinder.
It felt much less grindy than doing the same leves every second day.

[Seif]

...that nicely sums it up.

I used to play Lineage 2 for a few months, a typical Korean hardcore-grinder.
It felt much less grindy than doing the same leves every second day.

That is so true.