Quest based leveling: Future problem?

[Searious]

I'm hoping for a job quest line. Like we have now except more quests and more exp. Each job can deal with completely different storylines and there would be enough exp for each job.

[Ferth]

It's a valid concern, maybe the intensity is off, though. Not everyone is going to enjoy the same things. Frankly, I DID enjoy grinding mobs FFXI style. Not all the time, true, but most of the time. And most of the quest driven MMOs I have played haven't managed to hold my attention for longer than a few months. So when I see Yoshi talking about how killing mobs is not going to be the most ideal way to exp and that there will be a bigger focus on completing quests it does make me worry a bit.

The truth is having to repeat anything for effective gain ALWAYS has a deteriorative effect on the enjoyment of an activity. Whether it's killing the same mobs over and over, doing the same quests over and over, running the same instance over and over. The more you do it, the less you invest mentally to the task.

For quite awhile I absolutely hated guildleves. Could not stand them, to the point that I'd rather not play the game if the only way to gain progress was through leves. Even now I could really care less if they all suddenly disappeared. And sometimes I like to go out and grind a specific mob for a material I might need. All the better if I can also make appreciable gains on one of my lower classes at the same time.

The biggest problem with the information we get, is that it is filtered through various sources. The interviewer interprets the information from yoshida (hopefully as accurately as possible) then it needs to be translated from Japanese into English I'm sure we lose a lot of nuance and context by the time the information is represented in a form we can understand.

It doesn't make the fear completely unjustified though. and Frankly, the laissez faire attitude many people have is not going to make anything better. Because by the time it is in a form that you can experience and judge for yourself it is far beyond the point of no return for certain things.

If you have faith in the current dev team that's great. But personally when I read something that gives me doubt or causes me to worry, I'd rather speak up about it and at the very least get some clarification on the matter, than sit on my laurels and hope that it won't be as bad as it potentially could be.

Also, I had to laugh at whoever said repeating quests promoted exploration more than mob grinding. It might promote movement more than mob grinding, but it doesn't promote going off on your own and seeing what is in every nook and cranny of a map. Weak argument is weak.

I know I cringe when I see another Rokien tabloid style sensationalist thread... but that has more to do with how he portrays himself and his ideas... because often times his fears are my own, he just shares them in a way that makes you kinda want to punch him.

[Maxthunder]

thats better than open world grinding on same mobs for few levels.

At least dungeons is challenging, offers drops, and various mobs.

Im sorry I disagree, dungeons are boring its all instanced no thankyou. Why should I have to run the same damn dungeons for exp, I would prefer exp camps like there have always been. At least with the exp camps I can explore, instanced dungeons are just plain boring. So all in all the open world will become useless for a linear path to level cap, where everything is on easy mode and no competition. If you need your hand held from level 1- cap than a MMO isnt for you cause thats exactly what is going to happen. So now Final Fantasy becomes just another standard lobby game OH WOW those are so much fun (NOT), as well as boring.

[Mishakai]

I guess I'm failing to see the difference.

Currently, you repeat leves until you run out of your leve allowance, then you grind specific mobs in specific areas.. You essentially repeat this process for each class. OK, so you have three sets of leves to choose from, one from each of the city states.

How does that differ from repeating a quest chain that actually has a persisting story as far as repetition goes? Heck, at least with a quest chain you only do each quest once per class, I can't even begin to recall how many time's I've done "The Wight's Stuff"..

At least with a story tied into the quest chain you have something to help with your immersion rather than these random mob kills originating from aetherites.

[Maxthunder]

Exactly. In the current game, you can level all your jobs to 50 without participating in any story or doing any quests. I don't think they want this to be the same in ARR. They want people to see and understand the world they're playing in.

That is not their choice to make that is up to the player to make that choice. I pay to play and I want to play my way not the way some DEV thinks I should. Now if a player dosent want to do the story that is their choice and the DEV's have no right to tell them you have to do the story. Each player has the right to play the way they wish to play as long as it is not a violation of the user agreement.

[Maxthunder]

I am terrified of "quest-based leveling." To me, its the scariest and most worrisome phrase of all 2.0. I cannot stand quest-grinding. I much, much, rather monster grind in a party. In fact, I am worried in general of the idea of quests being primary means of exp over killing monsters.

Be crushed if 2.0 comes out with nice new servers, etc, and is just a FF version of every other WoW clone out there. Please god no.

I completely agree with you. Thankyou, I myself can not stand to level on quests, I dont want to level in an instanced dungeon either, I prefer open world grinding at a place I choose and when.

[TimonLoon]

Rokien definitely strikes me as one of those idiots that think that allowing gay marriage would turn the future generation gay.

The debate in this game has always seemed political to me and it's pretty amusing.

On one side we have the bat-shit crazy people who don't want anything to change and want to backpedal on things that have made us better. While on the other side we have the people that say "we know we're not the best anymore but we will strive to become better".

[Zyph]

They said they were adding lots and lots of quests, and since the speed of leveling will stay fast, I'd assume there will be enough quests for all DoW/M classes at least.

That's really silly. Skyrim doesn't even have that many quests.

[Masamune1004]

That's really silly. Skyrim doesn't even have that many quests.

What does an offline game have to do with an MMO?

[Gidonoidon_Sur]

I am at work so cannot write the 14-page manifesto of why I believe quest-driven leveling (aka, quest-grinding) is the root of all evil. But at its core, quest-grinding almost implies solo play. Now, before you go and say "But you can quest together!" How many people do guildleves together? How many people quested in WoW together? Rarely does it happen. To contrast, for monster-grinding, you pretty much have to party with others to gain exp at a reasonable rate. This is because to kill monsters that yield exp you need to fight things way higher than you (i.e., impossible to kill consistently by yourself).

There is the key. One incentivizes solo play while the other incentivizes party play. I prefer to play with others.

I think having quests is good, but I think they should serve a small role to advance the story or lore, not be a means of progression because you then spend most of your time running around, talking to npcs, and killing things solo. Why not just play a solo RPG?