Message from actual new player

[Blarp]

Considering there are more players now than sense the game began, I don't think that's too much of an issue.

Believe it or not, some people liked the group play aspect in XI. This is their way of bringing that aspect back without changing it all the way.
You can still solo, you just have to be careful about it.

Where do you get server populations from? Gut instinct? Do the chocobos on the server select screen actually mean something?

Why is it this game has to turn into FFXI? Are people really that desperate to recapture that long lost feeling? Do they think making FFXIV into FFXI will actually bring that fun back? The truth is, no matter how much closer SE gets this game to XI, that feeling will never be back. Why don't we try something new for once instead of copying what made FFXI "fun" back in 2003.

Have you tried to solo as a new character since the patch? The only time I bother to log on is to do leves on my Lancer because soloing outside of that is utterly pointless. I can't kill a mob my level anymore because I can't find/afford gear for my level. So, I kill level 10-12 Dodos at rank 14 and get anywhere between 91XP and 120 XP per kill. Arguably, solo XP is now much much more difficult than getting XP in a PT, so since all of you bittervets seem to like "hardcore" shouldn't the solo guy get better rewards?

[Biggs]

Where do you get server populations from? Gut instinct? Do the chocobos on the server select screen actually mean something?

Why is it this game has to turn into FFXI? Are people really that desperate to recapture that long lost feeling? Do they think making FFXIV into FFXI will actually bring that fun back? The truth is, no matter how much closer SE gets this game to XI, that feeling will never be back. Why don't we try something new for once instead of copying what made FFXI "fun" back in 2003.

Have you tried to solo as a new character since the patch? The only time I bother to log on is to do leves on my Lancer because soloing outside of that is utterly pointless. I can't kill a mob my level anymore because I can't find/afford gear for my level. So, I kill level 10-12 Dodos at rank 14 and get anywhere between 91XP and 120 XP per kill. Arguably, solo XP is now much much more difficult than getting XP in a PT, so since all of you bittervets seem to like "hardcore" shouldn't the solo guy get better rewards?

Hello! I am on your server and recently (like 3 weeks ago) rerolled from Kashuan (the lowest population server) to Selbina. First, I would like to say that the chocobos really DO mean something as there are a shitload more people on this 3 chocobo server than there are on Kashauns 1 chocobo server. However, I have often wondered if the chocobo count also tallys all the people that have accounts but are not active. (I am pretty sure it does).

Second, having just started right before the patch, the first thing I did since I knew the patch was coming was level 4 or 5 crafting jobs to level 10. Doing so only actually took a few hours since the 1-10 stretch for crafting goes quick. Not only have I been able to fully equip myself at low levels for my combat jobs, but I also have a nice small group of skills I can use on whichever crafting job I finally decide to make my main. I realize that many people will not like crafting before fighting but I can assure you, doing so not only saves you a great deal of cash on repairs early on (I fix all my own stuff), but it was relatively quick and painless to do so. Not to mention the material rewards for turing in local leves helped give me some decent starter cashand materials to make stuff with. Hope that helps, but I understand that the route I have taken isn't for everyone.

[Gramul]

Where do you get server populations from? Gut instinct? Do the chocobos on the server select screen actually mean something?

The fact that everywhere is suddenly crowded?
At least on my server.

[Blarp]

The fact that everywhere is suddenly crowded?
At least on my server.

It's crowded, so server populations must be high. Do you see the fallacy in that?

[Gramul]

It's crowded, so server populations must be high. Do you see the fallacy in that?

My main point is that the game is much more active than it was before. Perhaps my use of the phrase "server population" was not the best choice. Oh wait, I never said that.

What I said was:

[...]there are more players now than sense the game began[...]

[Betelgeuzah]

You : YOU SUXXOR, WAI LEVEL 47 TALKIN ABOUT LOW LEVEL XPZ?!?! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING STFU.

Ignoring all the facts I laid out to the table to support that statement, of course.

It took me 15 minutes to get from level 1 to 5, in which time I also earned 60k worth of mats to sell

leves that send you across half the world to kill 2 mobs just to earn 100xp and 200gil at the end of the task is not as effective ---- killing the dozens of easy-to-kill targets crowded in one place that earn you enough EXP to level up with ease up to level ten, not to mention drop a lot of good mats to be used for acquiring currency at the same time

This is me, doing what you can't, easily, efficiently, and productively. While at the same time contradicting, and proving wrong, your statement

It's rather difficult for new players to level early on

Which, considering my experiences (not affected by bias, misconceptions or plentiful resources, for reasons which I also laid down beforehand) is a false statement.

Lastly,

My level, skill, personal bias, and previous game experience are not relevant when a new player who has NONE OF THESE is the one who started the thread drawing attention to the issue in the first place.

They are, indeed, relevant considering you are incorrect, in both playing the game and analyzing the actual shortcomings of the lower level experience.

Instead, one could draw attention to the real problems of low level experience, for example, lack of tutorial explaining how the Marketplace and Retainers function, the now-useless level 1 leves drawing attention away from the actual mechanics of leveling post-1.19 and the currently short supply of low level equipment, even though it is both easy and cheap to make due to the changes. Although most of these issues are a part of learning the game mechanics and not part of the actual game mechanics (which are fine, as demonstrated above).

You know what's productive and relevant? Analyzing the game correctly without letting previous bias determine how the game is played and drawing conclusions from that, false experience.