Fighting Desperately...

[Xoo]

You're parading your own experience as "the" experience. I don't remember having any trouble getting to 50 through a mix of parties (when they were still sparse on Mysidia) and solo grinding through leves. I even got a few PL parties to level my subs up. I think that's plenty of choice from my end and the majority of that choice came from my current linkshell or my RL friends.

If you had several linkshells and 150 people on your friends list and couldn't find a bloody party, I'd look a little closer to home for the core problem to the particular situation you found yourself in...

You do know the entire design philosophy of MMOs is to keep people playing for as long as possible, right? You know, for example, Skinner Box techniques? Why on Earth would any sane MMO developer make an instantly gratifying experience when the entire point is to design content that can be completed slower than it can be developed?

WoW's flaws or positives aside, it changed the market trend into something that has widespread appeal. The age of most MMO gamers is increasing as time goes on and these people just don't have the time to dedicate to a hardcore MMO anymore. I've done all the crap in XI; I have an Aegis. I levelled three of my jobs pre-Aht Urhgan the "old school" way in Bibiki Bay. I've lived in the Aery for days.

And you know what, you can go piss right off if you want to feed me any of that garbage again. I'm perfectly happy in an environment where I can spend an hour or two in game and feel like I've accomplished something. That's the future of the genre, and if you don't like it, the door is right there and there's a bus to XI or EQ waiting right outside.

I really don't understand the connection between "end-game" and "the thrill of victory" and I'd actually like you to elaborate here. There's no competition in this game (and XI did the worst job of creating competition in the form of HNM, but that's another story) and there is mid-game content for those who wish to persue it. Once again, who are you to say what content a player may or may not enjoy/partake in? If I don't want to do Toto-rak or Chocobo escorts, that's not even your problem.

Yet you're heavily implying that anyone who takes the journey a certain way deserves a certain kind of belittlement compared to someone who doesn't.

I am not. I am speaking for those who have shared the same frustrating experience I have. Are you not guilty of exactly the same? - professing your experience as an all-encompassing gospel?

What are you getting at, exactly? Stop being cryptic.

And do you realize how much the promotion, proficiency and abuse of Powerleveling totally negates this design philosophy? As well, the sheer magnitude of EXP that stoods to be gained in the Strongholds at Lv40-50?

Widespread appeal = more money, period. The fact that people that once played XI have grown is a moot point. Generations follow one another.

Nobody fed it to you. You fed yourself.

If the only thing people care about is killing NM's, running Dungeons and uber loot, then let's just start the game at Lv50. Screw the rest.