[Opinion] I REALLY wish there was a new 1-15 Starter-area for Heavensward...

[Terin]

Not that it really matters all that much, but as someone who plays as much more immersion as I do "gameplay", I'm super bummed that Heavensward isn't looking to have a new starter area.

That's not to say that it NEEDS one or anything, simply that I feel like it could make the overall experience "flow" a little better. Assuming the new Jobs were accessible at level 1, have characters of those Jobs start off in a small Doman refugee-camp, somewhere on the outskirts of Mor Dhona, perhaps on the other side of the lake, playing home to lower-level monsters.

Of course, the timeline would be a little funky -- you'd have to meet Thancred and join the Scions while they're still in Horizon, thus begging the question "How are the Au Ra here?", but let's be honest, there are going to be plot-holes either way. Throwing another wrench into things, I might suggest introducing the Crystal Braves as a proper Grand Company, with the caveat that when you sign up for PvP, they enlist you alongside whichever nation is the least represented. As for Story Missions, once you hit level 15, they just send you back to Thanalan (since it's most convenient for tackling the Main Story quickly).

The main thing I like about this suggestion is, obviously, it gives you a little more immersion for starting a new Au Ra character. Yet also, it gives more incentive to have these new Jobs start at lvl 1, since you'd actually have a new location to carry them to level 15 (at which point, you can start spamming Guildhests anyways).

But hey, it is what it is.

[Katsaria]

I'm kind of glad there isn't to be honest. I want the new content to focus on level 50 and above.

[Saziel]

I'm kind of glad there isn't to be honest. I want the new content to focus on level 50 and above.

What would be wrong with having both?

[Sakurabodom]

What would be wrong with having both?

I agree i feel as though an expansion should try and create content for both lowlevel players and high level players instead of just increaing over head

expand the lowerlevel base to provide a more vaired experience when a player first is joining the game, but im not designing my own mmo so, also im sure alot of voices of high end blue garter level players want more and more end game content and thats great too, I just remeber how expansive ffxi was that mmo wasnt just long in terms of end game content and the different teirs you could play on but also expansive in the different stuff you could do at all levels.

[Skeith-Adeline]

Nah. It's fine without 1-15 areas.

[Set-Abominae]

What would be wrong with having both?

Whats wrong is the development time they would spend on another useless starter area takes away from more endgame they could be adding. Since they already said new jobs wont start at lvl 1 you don't need another 100 fetch it quests to lvl up.

[ZephyrAM]

Well we're still not sure how they'll add in the new Au Ra characters as far as lore and continuity goes. Will new level 1 Au Ra just start in the three cities, like any other race? All races travel to their starting city of choice, rather then just being there, so that would work fine, and is probably likely. We'll see though.

As for the new Jobs, it was stated in an interview that they won't be starting at level 1, so it's not an issue there. There's 'plenty' of content to get players from 1-15 the first time, massively more then enough in fact, and just as much content as any other level range, if you consider the leveling speed. Sure, they don't have the ability to run dungeons, but it takes significantly less of anything to burn through those levels, so it balances pretty well.

[Reinfeld]

Whats wrong is the development time they would spend on another useless starter area takes away from more endgame they could be adding. Since they already said new jobs wont start at lvl 1 you don't need another 100 fetch it quests to lvl up.

This is false. People are misinterpreting what was said. He said you can't start a *new* level 1 character as DRK/AST/GNR, but when you unlock them they will still start at level 1.

If players choose to switch to one of the new jobs, they'll need to raise it from level one.

From http://www.polygon.com/2015/3/7/8166...reveal-yoshida

I don't know why so many people want to think this. Wow only started doing it when the game was what, 11 year old? There's no way they would cut the small 1-30 grind from such a new-ish MMO.

[Spellbinder]

This is false. People are misinterpreting what was said. He said you can't start a *new* level 1 character as DRK/AST/GNR, but when you unlock them they will still start at level 1.


From http://www.polygon.com/2015/3/7/8166...reveal-yoshida

I don't know why so many people want to think this. Wow only started doing it when the game was what, 11 year old? There's no way they would cut the small 1-30 grind from such a new-ish MMO.

Other sources would disagree.

http://massivelyop.net/2015/03/07/pa...naoki-yoshida/

While Yoshida would not reveal the main stats of the new jobs, he did say that you will not be able to start playing one at level 1. As with other jobs, you have to reach level 30 first and do job quests to unlock them. As these extra jobs do not have base classes, the team is still making decisions about what level players will start at with them, although we likely will not be starting fresh from level 1.

http://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/wiki/pax_2015_interview

RPGamer: For the new jobs in the game, do they start at level 1? And if so are the new zones and quests for those classes or do they have to return to old zones to level up?

Yoshida: (Editor’s note: This question will read a bit difficult because it was lost in translation at first but thanks to Matt Hilton it was corrected. I've included both answers because I think they both provide worthwhile information.) Heavensward is an expansion so if you create a brand new character that character will start at level one. So the areas within Heavensward will be level fifty one and beyond. So if you have a character that is at level one they will have to revisit the Realm Reborn areas. There may be questions because there is a system in WoW where you can either start off with a higher level character or purchase a higher level character. Those apply to games that have been around for a while, eight to ten years, and those initial levels are just way too far back in history that it would take forever to get to the current level. But A Realm Reborn has only been around for about one and a half years, almost reaching that two year mark so we feel there’s still enough time to go through and take your time to revisit the areas in a Realm Reborn and there’s still many new players that are coming on board to the world of XIV so we feel that there’s not too far of a gap between a very new player and the more experienced players. So we encourage players to explore the areas in A Realm Reborn and we don’t feel that it is time to offer an official powered up version. In terms of jobs we don’t start at level one.

Reddit: Specifics? Numbers?

Yoshida: We’re still in the final tweaking stages on where we’re going to have them start but definitely not at level one. If we mention it I’m sure so many people are going to try and get ready and get a head start. We’re going to keep it a secret as long as we can. It definitely won’t start at level one so you won’t have to scramble to get through things such as guildleves.

[Altena]

No thanks.

Trotting around Mor Dhona / Coerthas which have lv35+ mobs (depending on area), then you go to a brand new area that is accessed through these very areas - and they switch back to level 1 rats? If it's "immersion" or "flow" that you're after, you're doing the exact opposite to what you aim to achieve.

In addition, we need a lot more "dangerous" post-lv50 areas in he game that offer some degree of challenge to roam around. Currently you can run from any major city, all the way to the back corner of our accessible regions and not even get a scratch.

We desperately need (and a lot of people have been craving) areas in which are actually dangerous or have a risk of dying in open world.

There is "easy" content, and there is "braindead". Currently open world content is "braindead".

I hope that this void gets filled with heavensward.

Leave the starter areas to the entry level / starter zones.