Powerleveling Revisited

[Issac]

In the end, that comes down to the type of game you want to play. There are games where reaching the level cap is a Herculean feat, and a single level in the upper parts of the curve take days or even weeks. On the other side of it, there are games where reaching the level cap is more or less trivial. If FF14 decides to go the latter route, then that's fine, and I can even understand why someone who liked the slower pace would feel angry or betrayed or some other kind of negativity at Yoshi's new direction, but I have to wonder if we wouldn't be seeing exactly this same kind of thread, just in the opposite direction, if Yoshi went the other way. Ultimately the game's in a kind of transitional period where we don't know what the final product will be, so I think putting as much heavy emphasis on a single aspect of the game as some people seem to be doing is erring on the inflexible side considering there are a lot of adjustments that still need to be made—there's no sense complaining until we know what the final product will be.

tl;dr I'm one of those "you can't please everyone and shouldn't try" people.

This point would be valid if the devs weren't listening to player feedback. Unlike FFXI, XIV is partially malleable by the player community.

If this trend continues, and if the general majority wants it to stay, then I might just have to leave. Each day it gets worse, unfortunately.

I remember when I started the first powerlevel thread, and all these herps on the forums were treating me like I pissed and moaned about everything I don't like, ever. To tell the truth, my post count was 25 before 1.19. All my other posts before then were in defense of the game. I love everything about it, even since launch.

EXP has evolved rather sporadically.
Random gains -> Static gains -> Focus on leves -> Ridiculous PLVL -> Slightly less ridiculous PLVL

I didn't mind the random gains, but it was bitched out of the game before anyone put forth any effort into mastering it. I won't argue that it was frustrating and tedious, but whatever.

The static gains were alright, but I will agree that it felt like a generic mindless grind. But to be honest, that's only because there weren't enough goals to achieve. The only motivations to get that level up was some new gear (Just barely, considering that optimal level BS) and hitting cap. The only real motive that stood out was reaching cap, thus all the bitching about it.

Things got a bit faster once the focus turned to leve-linking. Soon there were a handful of leves that players would do over and over. That got old quick, and people started complaining about that being repetitive.

Considering that content takes time to make, I understand why SE imp'd a quick fix like powerlevling. However, the means in which they implemented it and how effective it is... I am vehemently against it. It enables lazy habits. The kind of player it breeds isn't only about skill and ability to play their class. It also breeds unwarranted elitism. The only thing worse than hardcore elitism is casual elitism. Granted, they're both bad, but the latter annoys me more than the prior.

Again, my opinions might be offensive. And I am sorry if they are. I'm not hardcore nor casual, I'm in the middle. I play the game to progress and enjoy the journey in-between. I don't want to take turns being the level 50 to kill everything for the mostly-afk group playing dark souls or somesuch between turns. Not saying that's how everyone does it, just an example.

After all is said and done I have one sincere hope. Sometime next year after they have implemented more progression content, such as goals to strive for, that they will remove this extreme form of enabling powerleveling. I really, really hope all this is a short-term bandaid.