Quote Originally Posted by RitsukoSonoda View Post
Valkurm is the first place where you start seeing what I mentioned in regards to job role in a party influences your experiences of the game's leveling process. Its not really that different than here with DF. Tank and healer tend to get into parties almost immediately but if your were a job that offered nothing but damage output you had to compete with 80% of the player population on the server your level to get a party. One of the issues I saw with NA players when the game launched in NA about the time rise of zilart was released is that a majority of the NA players I saw would just sit with a LFG flag up doing nothing waiting for a group instead of gaining exp at a slower pace while waiting for a party invite in a location with enemies they can kill solo. They would then frequently complain about making no progress at all in game for days or weeks.
Good thing about that is that Valkurm itself was a nice filter for players you knew would give a damn and those who wouldn't and just leave, right there and then. FFXI being that way was an insurance of a healthy community who would work hard for everything. In short, where some people look at it as if it was something bad, I always saw it the other way around. And man, did it pay off, especially when compared to theme park MMO's such as FFXIV.