iLevels: Why I'm hoping they aren't raised in 2.4

[MasamuneBranford]

Would anyone be upset if the new update merely raised the I-level of armor from 110 to 115? That seems more reasonable. 90 to 110 simply invalidated older content WAY too quickly.

Then implement a bunch of achievements that when you complete them reward you attribute points (the points you get when you level up). Min maxers would feed off of this even though the increases would be minimal to allow the majority of players to catch-up.

[Rex]

I agree that they need to slow it down. I only started a month ago and have only just hit 50 on a character. However. I'm about i50, and getting to i100 looks like a huge challenge. The concern with the constant raise on gear is just that - people who have just started are miles off the curve. There should be some focus on horizontal gearing, and balancing the secondary stats a little better so that current players can catch up but experienced players still have something to aim for.

getting to i100 really isn't a challenge at all, just maybe a little time consuming if you're fresh 50. If you grind out some Myth / Soldiery, you could be i90 very quick depending on how long / often you play.

[Rex]

This is the exact problem with ilvls and why they should never, ever, ever be used in an MMO. For reference, XI's gear could last you almost a decade but at the same time provide you with 100 options to change it if you wanted to.

Except, after that decade, it all became questionable with the introduction of iLevels in XI recently. :/

[Welsper59]

The ilvl increases of late is not much of a concern, in all honesty. They have only been raising them by 20 per 6 months. Not that big of a deal, IMO. The "problem" is just from how it started. We went from i45-55 from when we leveled > i70 with Phil tomes > i90-95 with Myth tomes/Coil. All in one launch patch. That's around 50 ilvl of introduced gear in a single patch, or over one YEARs worth of patch updates currently. It started off a little too high, but in reality, it's still far from problematic. Namely when you consider the fact that they're ok with how it is so far, as the older gear is still relatively unique by design and can be used as glamour if desired.

[Altena]

Eh? The reason many people play this game is for progression.

Progression doesn't exist if you cannot "progress" your character as new patches come out. If iLvl did not increase, then that would practically negate all of the new content that they release as releasing new content with the same iLvl as the previous patch means a side grade at best, for those that have been keeping up to date with the patches. Look at Ramuh and ST right now as a perfect example - aside from secondary jobs, this content is immediately rendered pointless to those that had been doing SCoB when it was released.

In addition to this, it really does not take long to play catch up during the odd-numbered patches (2.1/2.3). You practically skip over half of the gear progression that many of us did in the early days (with Darklight etc) and can farm CT1 endlessly, get Myth gear endlessly, and in the meanwhile get i100 soldiery gear. Hell - they even give you the item to upgrade it to end game raid level gear fast enough (without actually raiding)...

On top of this, if you keep the iLvl at the same level, you run into the opposite problem to what you are describing. I hate to use FFXI as an example, however for this it is relevant. The gear cap for FFXI was lvl 75 for a large number of years. Once the level cap was raised again, all that gear that people "worked extremely hard and grinded for years" to get, was rendered useless or circumstantial at best. This is also coming from a game where one pair of pants that say a Warrior could equip, would be used for a completely different purpose as another pair of pants. In this game, the gear system does not work like that - and is rather linear. Generally if you are increasing your iLvl in that slot then it is an upgrade (keyword - generally). If you were to cap the iLvl for even another 3 months - all those that are at end game raid level can really do is "get lots of gear that looks different" and it halts all of their progression.

Sure, once again this game does have a multi-class system; there is very little point (aside from vanity) for any of these people to do content if it is not upgrading their main class.

While you may be struggling to "catch up" (and honestly with a patch like 2.3 that practically feeds i100-i110 gear to you, I can't understand how you can be), you have to think of the many other players that would be sitting around waiting for new content with not a whole lot to do.

So I guess what I am saying is, just because you are a little behind the 8-ball, doesn't mean that you should halt other people's progression.

[Altena]

The ilvl increases of late is not much of a concern, in all honesty. They have only been raising them by 20 per 6 months. Not that big of a deal, IMO. The "problem" is just from how it started. We went from i45-55 from when we leveled > i70 with Phil tomes > i90-95 with Myth tomes/Coil. All in one launch patch. That's around 50 ilvl of introduced gear in a single patch, or over one YEARs worth of patch updates currently. It started off a little too high, but in reality, it's still far from problematic. Namely when you consider the fact that they're ok with how it is so far, as the older gear is still relatively unique by design and can be used as glamour if desired.

You have to remember that game launch wasn't a fresh launch - it was a "re-launch".
Many people from 1.0 were already at i70 the moment the game was released.

The jump to i90 was pretty much required, as 1.0 players had to have something to work toward.

[Kydi]

getting to i100 really isn't a challenge at all, just maybe a little time consuming if you're fresh 50. If you grind out some Myth / Soldiery, you could be i90 very quick depending on how long / often you play.

Seriously? I've missed something major then. I usually manage about 90 minutes a night and I'm i52. I figured the first thing to do was get my relic weapon, or is that wrong?

In any case, there are arguments on both side. Planning my gear progression, it is simple (great for those inexperienced in MMOs) - go for the highest number I can. However, part of me wishes I were faced with the sort of questions I post earlier about secondary stats. How high do I want Parry? Will swapping determination for critical help etc. I think there's room there for a switch, rather than only asking "is this ilvl higher than the other?".

[L-D-Omlette]

Seriously? I've missed something major then. I usually manage about 90 minutes a night and I'm i52. I figured the first thing to do was get my relic weapon, or is that wrong?

In any case, there are arguments on both side. Planning my gear progression, it is simple (great for those inexperienced in MMOs) - go for the highest number I can. However, part of me wishes I were faced with the sort of questions I post earlier about secondary stats. How high do I want Parry? Will swapping determination for critical help etc. I think there's room there for a switch, rather than only asking "is this ilvl higher than the other?".

Is this iLvL higher than the other is only the start. For BiS you will be taking into account secondary stats (meet accuracy caps, maximize highest weighted secondary stat, etc) though it is still very limited.

As for your progression, getting your relic is a good first step. Weapon gives you the best gains when it comes to your primary stat. One thing to keep in mind when people say "get to i90 very quick" it is in part because when the game launched it took several weeks to get that, now it can be done in a week or less if you are efficient. W/ 90 min a day you should be able to get that in a week or so.

[Lev_Decimo]

@OP

Your experience may have been like this because, If im right February was in the middle of a more "casual" patch. You probably hit 50 when the SCoB came out thus raising ilvls and you were just a fresh 50. I had left this game shortly after 2.2 released and came back in 2.3 which was luck because that gave me 3+ months to gear. However if I had comeback in 2.4 instead I would be looking at a situation much like yourself. I would be far behind and everyone else would be progressing to 110+ and id be sitting at i90. Id have 30+ ilvls to catch up and it would probably turn me off. I honestly think that if a new player is going join the game i think it should be done right before an odd numbered patch so that they could get 50 on said patches release. instead of joining on the release of an even numbered when they will ahve to contend finding lower ilvl parties in a patch the is concerned with raising max ilvl.

I hope that came out right

[Kazama]

Seriously? I've missed something major then. I usually manage about 90 minutes a night and I'm i52. I figured the first thing to do was get my relic weapon, or is that wrong?

In any case, there are arguments on both side. Planning my gear progression, it is simple (great for those inexperienced in MMOs) - go for the highest number I can. However, part of me wishes I were faced with the sort of questions I post earlier about secondary stats. How high do I want Parry? Will swapping determination for critical help etc. I think there's room there for a switch, rather than only asking "is this ilvl higher than the other?".

4-8 hours if you do hunts (Less if you get logs). An A-Rank =20 seals and 80 Myth. Kill 20 for full credit and that is your entire i90 set and enough Myth for both Relic and Zenith and will cap your Sol or buy an i100 piece.