There are some real opinions on the issue it seems. I have felt that the idea of gear damage has favored the gil sellers to some degree. Yes it has given the crafters more to do and I enjoy that aspect. What about giving a choice of exp or gear damage?

The amount of exp earned today is ludicrous. It has precipitated its way to all new heights. I do not want to go back to FFXI as it is no longer the game that it was; although there seemed to be a rite of passage to make it out of the Dunes. This idea that you do not need to party until people blindly feel their way through a low level dungeon or wait for endgame to start to party is just a joke. Yes the old way was a grind to lvl. The grind gave birth to party unity and eventually into friendships. This is what I feel is lost today in the hyper instant gratification games have become. The daily shout for a party was a bit of suckyness and I would still take that over the running battles and mish mash party setups of today. The camp and pull was much better than the run run run.

Again there was bad in the old games. To say that they are better now I feel is short sited. There was some good and some I feel has been lost. Yes exp sucked some days and others it made you realize that you were just playing your character poorly.