Possible level/story jumps....really?

[Judah_Brandt]

Since everyone keeps citing the whole "get to endgame to play with friends" as a completely logical reason for this stupid idea, could someone please point out the current feature that is preventing them from running content with the new player, their friend? I wasn't aware that so many player's level sync option was broken. Y'all need to file a support ticket. Seriously, there is so much to do in the game that is more exciting than a two dungeon roulette. If that's the amazing endgame experience you're rushing your buddy to while ignoring the 52 other dungeons and trials in the game relevant to THEM I'd have to check your motivations.

[NolLacnala]

Jump to level cap, murder everyone in Mhach with stacked meteors (b^^)b

[Lorielle]

The thing is, if you're going to critique everything they make, it would be nice if you would suggest what they could make instead. Because while I understand the complaint, I can not point a finger at an MMO that does anything better or different.

I hate to be that guy, but I will GLADLY point my finger back at FFXI. People these days will disagree how things took too long, but the thing is, it's still kept your attention much longer than anything this game can ever offer. Even people I know that played this game went back to private servers of XI just because of how downhill this game is going. And believe me, I've made a few suggestions of my own. But I am only one voice. A minority that is drowned out by the casuals that want the most useless crap when the game is suffering on content.

[SaitoHikari]

I would be fully against any way to artificially level jump, if only because having such a feature would make it very obvious that something is inherently wrong with the leveling system as is (and that the devs would choose to implement a 'convenience' option instead of improving it directly).

A main story skip/summary is probably something that's needed however. Some ARR quests, particularly the Lv. 50 series, could have some of the fetch-questy parts gutted out. Especially if you're like 5+ levels above the recommended level to do the quests in the first place (3+ at 50).

[AreciaRhi]

Thats what would make this even more scary since people out there already can't play correctly. I really don't want to be helping people who bought a leveled character and know absolutely nothing.

I just met a level 60 WAR today.... He told me he just bought his account. And I mean level 60 everything! Do I report him? This is crazy.
I suppose you're right;_; Needless to say we had to ./votekick.

[bass9020]

I just met a level 60 WAR today.... He told me he just bought his account. And I mean level 60 everything! Do I report him? This is crazy.
I suppose you're right;_; Needless to say we had to ./votekick.

Its a shame people resort to things like this and I honestly feel sorry for them.

[WeekendSoja]

I think people are reading way too much into this. I also think people forget that this games 2.0 lock out is not the only lockout it has...there's ilvl lockouts, and I just looked at the 3.3 patch notes...these people you are already condemning, before they can even access the quest to unlock hullbreaker hard they need to finish the MSQ "Heavensward"...

A lot of the dungeons associated with level 60 requires you to beat the MSQ "Heavensward"...moving on, no where in that post do I see him directly saying he would alleviate quest requirements...he only said "allow players to experience aspects of 3.0" for all intents and purposes...I think he just means flying in Falcons nest lol

Lol I'll leave this here...still don't see where they said they are removing all lockouts...everyone assuming 100%

[Aled]

I don't often post here (usually I just check in to read/lurk) but I felt compelled to respond to this thread to get my two cents out there. As many people have pointed out before me, I am all for making the experience for new players more streamlined (whether it be cutting out extraneous quests in the main scenario or something similar), because who doesn't want to play with their friends? But I think the idea of a "jump potion" or whatever it would be called would do more harm than good. When you level a class/job, you learn how the class/job works and how it synthesizes (or clashes, even) with other classes/jobs. Unfortunately, I have been in a dungeon run (Lost City Hard Mode) where the tank admitted to purchasing his account - he did not understand tanking basics, and it made for an awful run that ended in a vote abandon before reaching the second boss. We tried to give him advice, but nothing would stick. It was as if he fed himself to the sharks. He did a disservice to himself by not learning to play the game, and quite frankly, he wasted the rest of the party's time. This is what I imagine would happen significantly more often with a "jump potion"-type item.

I understand the desire to be caught up with friends and/or the rest of the player base, but will this level of instant gratification in the form of a "jump potion" keep the new player(s) hooked or will they be looking for the next thing to bring them that instant gratification? I know I am just reiterating what others have said at this point, but I just wanted to chime in. There has to be a better way.

[Enkidoh]

A main story skip/summary is probably something that's needed however. Some ARR quests, particularly the Lv. 50 series, could have some of the fetch-questy parts gutted out. Especially if you're like 5+ levels above the recommended level to do the quests in the first place (3+ at 50).

The more I think about it, the more I wonder exactly how this could even be implemented, given the linearity of the storyline and how that very story explains pretty much everything that occurs in the game. Even those much maligned fetch quests all have a lore reason related to you the player - for instance someone earlier mentioned giving food to soldiers (which I assume was a particular quest leading up to the end of the original 2.0 story) as an example of such 'monotonous and boring fetch quests'. If the player actually reads the dialogue and thinks about it, this makes perfect sense.

The Grand Companies were about to make an extremely risky assault on the Garleans, and victory was not entirely guaranteed. The average Grand Company soldiers who were going to be doing the bulk of the heavy fighting were demoralized and even considering abandoning their posts. So for the one the Garleans called the eikon slayer to actually sit down with them and break bread with them, showed that their own lives were equally important and that they were cared for and respected. It was a morale boosting exercise, and something I actually found rather poignant. That was just one example of a so-called 'fetch quest' actually playing a much deeper role in the story than most players realized.

Accordingly, how would a hypothetical story skip handle everything that the 2.0/3.0 story involves? How would it handle the player being awoken to the Echo and actually learning about what it is (given the fact that the Echo is directly involved in gameplay - it's why we can take down Primals for one without being corrupted by them)? How would a player even be able to join a Grand Company, given that they wouldn't even look at you until you 'proved your worth' (namely, defeated Ifrit?). Then there is being able to use mounts (the license is Grand Company issued) etc etc. Even being able to use your Job effectively post level 50 would require story completion no matter how you look at it, given that after level 50 you no longer gain abilities by default on your base class but have to learn Job abilities only every two levels which are all quested, and those very post level 50 Job quests all move to Heavensward areas, which.. surprise surprise... require story completion to access.

No, this is just opening up a very large and ugly can of worms that I don't think SE are that willing to deal with. But... I guess we will see either way. I hope Yoshi thinks about this and considers every possibility such a change would make to this game, both for good, and for ill.

[LalafellDown]

at least 2.55 requirement kept the bots away