Dear SE: I wish lvling wasn't so fast :(

[Sephirah]

I wouldn't say I'm a casual player, but I'm certainly not hard-core. One of the things I loved about XI when it originally launched was how long it took to level.

By the time you reached lvl 40, you could party with complete strangers and you knew it was gonna be a good group, because everyone still playing at that point had either learned how to play correctly, or quit.

I'm enjoying end-game so far, and I loved the story, honestly I think this is the best FF since XI, and as far as the console versions go, IX. But I wish the journey hadn't been so quick.

For the people not reading my posts:

I'M NOT COMPLAINING ABOUT A LACK OF CONTENT (there is tons to do)
I DIDN'T FATE GRIND

Remember, ignore the idea that 'the game begins at level 50', because you'll miss out on so much otherwise. To me it's the journey that's important and not the destination, as we will all get there eventually regardless, so rushing ahead to that point will only burn you out.

I agree with this sentiment entirely. But while playing through the story casually, and NOT fate grinding, you can reach max level in under a month.

[Enkidoh]

Simple, don't run around cramming FATEs or rush through quests and the storyline and you won't level so fast. I started in 1.0 and I'm still not 50 yet, simply because I've taken my time - I do other things like just chat with friends or ride around on my chocobo other than FATEs or quest grinding. It's up to you how fast you level - don't blame SE simply because they made it easier to level.

Remember, ignore the idea that 'the game begins at level 50', because you'll miss out on so much otherwise. To me it's the journey that's important and not the destination, as we will all get there eventually regardless, so rushing ahead to that point will only burn you out.

[HunkyJimpjorps]

I played with plenty of terrible people at 40, 50, 60, 70 and 75. XP parties in FFXI didn't reward good players, they rewarded stubborn ones.

[Ruisu]

I played with plenty of terrible people at 40, 50, 60, 70 and 75. XP parties in FFXI didn't reward good players, they rewarded stubborn ones.

But Final Fantasy XI was SO MUCH MORE CHALLENGING AND HAD SUCH A BETTER COMMUNITY. Please stop being so delusional wow kiddies and go back to your game pls.

Levelling is actually harder in ARR than it was in 1.0, or rather, I should say it wasn't so ass backwards. The first 30 or so levels were incredibly tedious, and the last 20 levels were a joke.

Also, FFXI didn't take that long to level in. I mean, it was grindy, sure. Though a lot of that time you spent "levelling" included finding parties which, if you played a less favorable job, you weren't getting any of those anytime soon. Also it had a lot of gated progression. Do this dumb level 55 level cap quest to keep levelling, now level 60, 60, 70, etc. It sucked. That's why levelling felt as though it took so long.

[Sartaj]

But Final Fantasy XI was SO MUCH MORE CHALLENGING AND HAD SUCH A BETTER COMMUNITY. Please stop being so delusional wow kiddies and go back to your game pls.

Levelling is actually harder in ARR than it was in 1.0, or rather, I should say it wasn't so ass backwards. The first 30 or so levels were incredibly tedious, and the last 20 levels were a joke.

Also, FFXI didn't take that long to level in. I mean, it was grindy, sure. Though a lot of that time you spent "levelling" included finding parties which, if you played a less favorable job, you weren't getting any of those anytime soon. Also it had a lot of gated progression. Do this dumb level 55 level cap quest to keep levelling, now level 60, 60, 70, etc. It sucked. That's why levelling felt as though it took so long.

Nice rose-coloured goggles you have there. Fanboy it up well.

[Osha_Sohma]

As an aside, I'm not sure that severely curtailing leveling speed for non-legacy people would have been a great idea at all, unless you're a legacy person who liked being among the very few level 50s on a server, and having basically no one to play with except people you saw incessantly in beta. Not to mention the slight problem that happens when your friend joins and is looking at a 6 month or more grind in order to do what they joined the game to do in the first place - play with their friend who loves the game so much.

[Saidosha]

I played with plenty of terrible people at 40, 50, 60, 70 and 75. XP parties in FFXI didn't reward good players, they rewarded stubborn ones.

Dittoing. Nevermind the fact XI parties had a tendency to target the weakest mobs of a given level range to maximize EXP and minimize risk of death. Crabs? Easy. Scorpions? Not many liked Death Scissors one-shotting tanks.

[NoctisCaelus]

I wonder if people know that you can choose to not Fate grind and just do dungeons.

[Steeled]

I wonder if people know that you can choose to not Fate grind and just do dungeons.

Well, for dps, it's really not an option due to great queue length. For healers, the leveling queue is frustratingly long. See, I'd love to do dungeons more, but you can't queue for a dungeon while doing other things, unless you're fating with 2 other people only, and everyone wants to dungeon.

You can't even queue and play with your choco.

I played with plenty of terrible people at 40, 50, 60, 70 and 75. XP parties in FFXI didn't reward good players, they rewarded stubborn ones.

No, stubborn people still pulled through, but good players did much better. Chain 300 at colibri wasn't a reward for stubbornness. Good imp parties were awesome (leveling, not merits) and imps were great too because they actually had a chance to kill you. You know, something so little in XIV's grind has.

Puller screws up and pulls a link that you can't zone, no amount of stubbornness survives that pull, however skill can, and did.

Getting called {Impossible to Gauge} because my party-mates couldn't speak my language was pretty cool.

[Nanga]

I wouldn't say I'm a casual player, but I'm certainly not hard-core. One of the things I loved about XI when it originally launched was how long it took to level.

By the time you reached lvl 40, you could party with complete strangers and you knew it was gonna be a good group, because everyone still playing at that point had either learned how to play correctly, or quit.

I'm enjoying end-game so far, and I loved the story, honestly I think this is the best FF since XI, and as far as the console versions go, IX. But I wish the journey hadn't been so quick.

I see you only have one DoW/DoM at level 50. Have you put much effort in going for a second level 50 DoW/DoM class? You may find your opinion to be quite different afterwards.