Why should I be excited for Grind Parties?

[DirtyHard]

Why is anyone excited about chain xp and grinding incentives? Wowee! Bonus xp for killing 1 enemy type in X seconds or less is soooooooo much better than doing actual quests. Gosh, Let's all sit in one area killing the same thing over and over again. I realize all games have grinding, and yea sometimes it's not bad to camp out and grind out a level. But having to do it from start to finish is not ok.

How about instead of feigning excitement for this let's get some quests that are worth completing. Not a quest that sends you to some obscure location to kill 3 mobs, then return for as much xp as 1 mob gave you. Hell, I'd rather sit in one spot and kill the same thing over and over again than do that, at least then i'm getting some real xp out of the same time investment.

For those of you about to tell me "This has been talked about, use the search feature." Don't really care if this has been discussed a million times before. You know how things get fixed? You keep bringing it up and talking about it.
For those of you about to say "troll attempt 2/10" congrats on lurking in forums and offering nothing but a stale joke that's been beaten into the ground.
Also, for the diehards: please stop telling people "stfu, it's a free game. If you don't want to play don't, it's free. GWAAAAHHHHhhh!" Well I've got news for you... might be shocking... you bought the game. I bought this game at launch. I've paid money for it, so stop yelling at people that are upset about wasting their money.

[Murugan]

I'm excited because I'm not so easily fooled that the "content" you are so eagerly seeking (and can find easily in other MMO's btw) is a better method of leveling.

Grinding has been a part of RPG's since the very beginning. I am very much looking forward to a rewarding grinding experience that actually allows me to benefit from good teamplay. It is also possible that not everyone else is as enamored with the virtue of laziness as you are.

[NoctisUmbra]

Don't mistake an opinion different from yours for feigning excitement.

You may not like grind parties, but there are many people who do - especially in an MMORPG.

[0451]

I enjoy soloing and questing but partying is where the heart of the game is. Any bonus is a plus.

[DirtyHard]

I'm excited because I'm not so easily fooled that the "content" you are so eagerly seeking (and can find easily in other MMO's btw) is a better method of leveling.

Grinding has been a part of RPG's since the very beginning. I am very much looking forward to a rewarding grinding experience that actually allows me to benefit from good teamplay. It is also possible that not everyone else is as enamored with the virtue of laziness as you are.

Oh right, I didn't acknowledge that other games had grinding, ya got me!
'Splain to me how good team play comes into effect when you're killing the same mob with the same skill set for hours? OH right, the tank provokes and hits the target, the healer heals them, the dps does their thing, and the puller runs off to grab another. Daaaaaaaaang.

[Murugan]

Oh right, I didn't acknowledge that other games had grinding, ya got me!
'Splain to me how good team play comes into effect when you're killing the same mob with the same skill set for hours? OH right, the tank provokes and hits the target, the healer heals them, the dps does their thing, and the puller runs off to grab another. Daaaaaaaaang.

Wow you just explained combat in an MMO. Here's a sticker!

Other games have very poor grinding systems, and instead fill their leveling with fake "content" which is much easier/pointless than group grinding.

Oh and how does "good team play come into effect", how about because the better the tank holds aggro, the more damage the DD can do, the less healing the healers have to do, the higher the XP chain the party can go, the more linked mobs they can tackle at once,[SIZE="5"] the faster they earn XP and progress together[/SIZE]. All as a result of their ability.

Let's compare that to your average "modern MMO" in which your progress is determined by how fast can I run between quest givers and stay awake while I am handed XP for little to no effort, or how effectively can I leach from this Rift/"public quest"/dynamic event that is virtually impossible to fail or really even impact at all through skill full play without having to actually coordinate my efforts with anyone else. Yeah no thanks, I'll take grinding over that crap any day when leveling in an MMO.

[Tibian]

Gosh, Let's all sit in one area killing the same thing over and over again.

I am still fascinated why it seems the FF community somehow finds this type of play so engaging -- when the FF series as a whole is about progression and story. You don't literally progress while undergoing monotonous grinding.

How about instead of feigning excitement for this let's get some quests that are worth completing. Not a quest that sends you to some obscure location to kill 3 mobs, then return for as much xp as 1 mob gave you.

Agreed. With guildleves being demoted to a non-centric part of the game (which is good), I can't understand why they are putting in so much support for grind camps. I would rather them spend more time developing those quest hubs which they said would have so much content that you'd never want to leave them. (I am trying to find this quote, but it has availed me :S)

I know they are adding more quests and sub-quests to the game in future patches, but I do think it needs to be developed better. We need more engaging quests rather than killing 5 squirrels in 1 minute -- when it takes 40 minutes to walk to the spot. The quests need a significantly higher bonus SP, and they need to have real meaning within the world. Also, daily quests are not that popular -.- I think guildleves is a prime example of how people hate daily quests.

Caravan system + beast camps should help with content --- and admittedly they still need to develop core systems before the content can get REALLY good... but it seems such a shame that the game is reversing to such an unengaging, boring, monotonous, and archaic gameplay system.

I am glad the exp chains are being developed.... but there needs to be more to do other than grind my life away.

Let's compare that to your average "modern MMO" in which your progress is determined by how fast can I run between quest givers and stay awake while I am handed XP for little to no effort, or how effectively can I leach from this Rift/"public quest"/dynamic event that is virtually impossible to fail or really even impact at all through skill full play without having to actually coordinate my efforts with anyone else. Yeah no thanks, I'll take grinding over that crap any day when leveling in an MMO.

I'll be the first one to admit that World of Warcraft, Rift, even Everquest II all have a very obtuse form of questing. World of Warcraft however used to have a very good questing system that developed the lore in each zone, and made the inevitable grind bearable and interesting. Unfortunately it has succumbed to the latest fad of "lets just add more daily quests and lets go kill 4 bears." We need to encourage SE to implement quests that matter, rather than just mindlessly running from NPC to NPC for the next quest: because that in essence is almost worse than flat out grinding.

Furthermore, there are some quests in WoW that are ridiculously fun due to mechanics being refined or used in new ways rather than just flat out killing mobs. What comes to mind right away most recently is the jumping from drakes while flying in WotLK, the giant Katamari Damacy ball from Cataclysm, the putting out the fire on the inns for the Halloween event, the flying jousting quest from Cataclysm... these are all relatively interesting mechanics that were utilized to make the game slightly more engaging.

That's what XIV really needs from quests.

[NoctisUmbra]

Oh right, I didn't acknowledge that other games had grinding, ya got me!
'Splain to me how good team play comes into effect when you're killing the same mob with the same skill set for hours? OH right, the tank provokes and hits the target, the healer heals them, the dps does their thing, and the puller runs off to grab another. Daaaaaaaaang.

If the best you have to offer is a nasty tone and an endless stream of sarcasm, then this thread isn't going to go anywhere I'm afraid.

I like grind parties. I also love well thought out quests. Any MMORPG should ideally have both.

Take a wild guess as to what is quicker to implement: mechanics that enhance grind parties, or well thought out quests?

[Wolfie]

Grind parties don't promote good team play, because people always analyze leveling until they turn it into a science. Nobody, ever, takes the "challenging" route in leveling; it's always the fastest and easiest route.

Group grinding in FFXI taught me nothing about what it means to be a good BLM or WHM at end game, because we just plowed through mobs that weren't dangerous and died fast. It taught me nothing about Gravity/Bind/Sleep kiting, about carrying medications and poison potions with me, about MP conservation vs spam nuking/healing, etc. Everything that made me a good end-game BLM and WHM, I learned either from soloing (as a BLM, once people finally figured out that TP burn is the way to go) or from actually doing end-game (as a WHM).

Granted, soloing doesn't teach you much either, but at least you don't have to put up with not being the current flavor-of-the-month class, putting together groups, finding replacements, not finding a good grind camp, etc.

[Murugan]

I am still fascinated why it seems the FF community somehow finds this type of play so engaging -- when the FF series as a whole is about progression and story. You don't literally progress while undergoing monotonous grinding.

If you never grinded in a FF game you must be among about 2% of the total people who have played FF games.