Levelling in ARR

[Warlock]

~snip~

I find grinding same group of mobs over and over again at the same spot half AFK is boring as hell

[ZakarnRosewood]

I think the real problem lies with the players. No matter how many different ways they put in for leveling, how many varied areas to grind, or how much extensive content, eventually the players will find " the best way" of leveling or playing and then if anyone thinks outside that box they become a "n00b" or aren't playing it right. The players will gimp their gaming experience themselves for the sake of the path of least resistance.

Take FFXI, everyone leveled in the Valkrum Dunes... why? I know the Pashaow Marshlands was the exact same level range, had a different variety of monsters, yet no one leveled as a party there and you could not convince people to go there. Ok, there was the subjob quest in Dunes but it was one quest. Same thing happens in WoW. When I really got into it they had just released Wrath of the Litch King and no matter what I tried no one was willing or interested in running me through the "end game" story for the original game or burning crusade. Bad luck on my part? Maybe.

I play League of Legends and there are some chrs that can be played in a variety of ways but if the playstyle or build that works for you isn't the "accepted" norm, its no end of people calling you down. Or you could play your chr really well and then people complain your champ is OP and needs a nerf. I guess its a fault I have that I look at things in many different ways instead of black or white. Its one of the reasons I was really happy with the way the class system was in 1.0

Sad thing is SE could add in all the things everyone wants but the players will put their own restrictions on themselves then complain that "we have to do it a certain way". I think what SE has planned, that they have let us in on so far, sounds great. They have a lot of different ways to play ARR and lots of content, the only problem will be what the players choose to do with it.

EDIT:
And then as i typed this Xtash proved my point...

[Zumi]

It has been mentioned before but the dungeon system is the way to level in a party. Its just not stationary you move around kill mobs as you run through the dungeon? How is this not better then a sit in 1 spot and grind party?

[Chardrizard]

It has been mentioned before but the dungeon system is the way to level in a party. Its just not stationary you move around kill mobs as you run through the dungeon? How is this not better then a sit in 1 spot and grind party?

It's the wonder of archaic FFXI community.

[strallaalaa]

IF XP partys is not as efficient as questing then it is NOT an option at all. The if you like that style you can still do it does not fly. Would be like having quest only reward 50-100xp per completion all the way to cap. IF there is enough quest you can still do them to cap.... but who would it is not effective.

Forced solo leveling / dungeon grinding is what is killing this mmo genre. FATE (GW2) style content is ok for a break but it is also not something that can be focused on. It simply gets mind numbingly boring.

SE needs to 1 of 2 things.

1) Make group grinding worthwhile. This is the easiest fix and causes no harm to any solo quest or other content. They have absolutely no reason to screw over the XI fans when it literally has no side effects of keeping this style of leveling. This honestly does not even involve more coding. Honestly this is a big middle finger to anyone who is not a casual or anyone who wants to level from 1 to cap in a party.

2) Make all quest sharable. Meaning same rewards but with a group you obviously can do them quicker so more xp/hr. Example if one player picks up an item from mob needed for the quest all players in the party get it. (just have to prevent pwrlvling with this). Leve sharing alone is not acceptable because there is a limit to them. If all quest can be done in a party then this will also work. (No mmo to date does this effectivly, solo is always more efficient)

Grouping in dungeons/instances as the only group based content is simply not acceptable in a mmo. Fate (Gw2 style content) is not grouping it is 2+ people soloing together.

WoW is a great game, but this forced Solo style mmo needs to die and never be resurrected in the genre again. It is the 1 aspect of WoW that is killing all mmos.

Yoshida thinks he is making the right move removing this. As players and, for most, future testers we need to voice our opinions to convince him to give us a choice to solo or play in partys in the open world. This IS A GAME BREAKING ELEMENT TO MANY PLAYERS, especially to XI ones... the dedicated ones who played another SE game for 5+ yrs who will just write this off as another fail wow clone solo mmo. This is not new content that needs to be added, this is a simple forumula so the time to address this in terms of development is really small, but the effect is really major. There is a reason the community cheered in version 1 when party xp was added to the game outside quest a huge part of the SE fan base wants the option to do it.

couldn't of said it better my self. /cheers

[SidRheingold]

Okay let's reflect on what content has been made official to gain EXP ( SO FAR ):
(Note that it's all subject to change, tho has been stated through various sources)


- Quests (solo/ fakeduo/faketrio possible with NPC & Chocobo)

- Leves (Leve-Link should be possible as they said "the system won't change much")

- Storyline (solo/Party)

- Grand Company Content (details tba)

- Instanced Dungeons & Battlefields like Tam-Tara & Skirmish (4-man)

- Raid Content (8-man / up to 24-man ally)

- Revamped Behests (details tba)

- Grind Party (said to be "less effective" in one of the Live Letters (iirc), tho groups of mobs will always exist and therefore can be used as camps)

- F.A.T.E. like Hamlet Defense, Chocobo Caravan, NM Battles, "Content where settlements come under attack" (Party/Ally)

- Power Lev... um nvm.

- did I miss something?

With all that in mind, no need to recall that there is a Content Finder Feature!


Also nice to know about additional effects for EXP gaining ( SO FAR ):

- "Chain" -Bonus
- Food
- "Rested" -Status (from INN and around Aetherytes)
- "EXP+" -Effect from additional Housing areas (was being talked about for crafters)


Why say

"I only want this or that" and
"this is better than that" and
"if this is less effective it is useless" ?

I like the variety of ways. In the end, the success of almost EVERY EXP content is more dependent on Party Skills than on the balancing of the game.

You are free to disagree, of course.

[RoninDarkchild]

I dont see how the current system prevents grinding for those who still want it. They simply said tehre will be other more efficient means. They didnt say they were taking it away. Grinding WAS the most efficient way, now its not. That does not equal Taken away.

[ZakarnRosewood]

I dont see how the current system prevents grinding for those who still want it. They simply said tehre will be other more efficient means. They didnt say they were taking it away. Grinding WAS the most efficient way, now its not. That does not equal Taken away.

You are correct, people are just making a mountain out of a mole hill.

[KittenStomper]

It's the wonder of archaic FFXI community.

Just because you may not prefer it doesn't mean others don't. I like to be lazy and have mobs pulled to me.

[Zezlar]

I find grinding same group of mobs over and over again at the same spot half AFK is boring as hell

That's the problem here. We have all different kinds of people who find different methods "better." I personally find tedious solo questing where i'm treated like a moron, to be both insulting and annoying.

Square needs to make sure that all the leveling methods they have planned can match one another. Some people may want to just focus grind out in an area for a few hours, others quest solo, maybe toss in a FATE or two. They mainly just need to come out and say party grinding will be as good as questing. Either way eventually someone is going to find the optimal leveling method and then most people will do it anyways.