New Letter from the Producer, XII

[Delsus]

Glad they are finally turning leves back to the quick casual content they were designed to be. Now let's hope that by doing that they have something more interesting for parties to exp on.

They were actually designed to be party content, which is why there was the link bonus which had been in since alpha.

Tanaka wanted them to be the main form of grinding (the time limit was designed to slow down hardcore players) which was a bad idea knowing how monotonous they are. Now YoshiP wants them to be an addition to the main way of grinding which I suspect will be grind parties

[Wolfie]

They were actually designed to be party content, which is why there was the link bonus which had been in since alpha.

Tanaka wanted them to be the main form of grinding (the time limit was designed to slow down hardcore players) which was a bad idea knowing how monotonous they are. Now YoshiP wants them to be an addition to the main way of grinding which I suspect will be grind parties

Considering he said that he's trying to move the game away from a grind-centric style... I'm thinking that raids, behests, and other large scale PVE is going to be the primary form of group leveling.

[Rowyne]

Tanaka wanted them to be the main form of grinding (the time limit was designed to slow down hardcore players) which was a bad idea knowing how monotonous they are. Now YoshiP wants them to be an addition to the main way of grinding which I suspect will be grind parties

Actually, Yoshi-P said this:

We still have some ways to go, but FINAL FANTASY XIV will gradually shift from being a grind-centric game to one that offers enjoyment for all playing styles and circumstances with its ever-expanding variety of content.

Which means to me that they want to start focusing on other leveling options, such as SP gained in dungeons and quest-based leveling, not just straight up grind parties. IMO, it's a huge step in the right direction.

Edit: DOH, Wolfie beat me to it.

[giftforce]

Actually, Yoshi-P said this:



Which means to me that they want to start focusing on other leveling options, such as SP gained in dungeons and quest-based leveling, not just straight up grind parties. IMO, it's a huge step in the right direction.

Edit: DOH, Wolfie beat me to it.

It might be hard to produce enough content for a game where players can level multiple classes.

[Richard]

It might be hard to produce enough content for a game where players can level multiple classes.

in the end it will most likely be monotonous (XI had tons of ways to level even though 1/2 of it was on Robber Crabs) but the fact that there will be so many different options to leveling will break up the monotony. As opposed to doing Dunes and Ranine x8 each reset.

[Physic]

They were actually designed to be party content, which is why there was the link bonus which had been in since alpha.

Tanaka wanted them to be the main form of grinding (the time limit was designed to slow down hardcore players) which was a bad idea knowing how monotonous they are. Now YoshiP wants them to be an addition to the main way of grinding which I suspect will be grind parties

there was no link bonus in alpha, and no link bonus until nov SP patch change. It was designed to be something that people could do fast, the main benefit was being able to set monster level, and get money/gear/sp at the same time, and the only way to get marks.
As people started to get better leves became just about the money, or small parties, there was a couple good leves SP wise, but overall parties blew them out the water. especially in groups with 6 or more.