Game over for me at level 30 because I'm forced by illness to play solo...

[Solfleur]

As a person with atypical MS (it affects my nervous system and causes pain and some days I can't see right and other stuff I won't get into here) I cannot commit to linkshell activities or even consistent play with a few friends because I never know when I'll feel well enough to play, so I must play solo. I help people out when I can...which I very much enjoy doing. I give away old gear and things I harvest that I don't need (and some that I do need) on a regular basis because I'd rather do that than "vend" it for a couple gil anyway and I have empathy for people who are struggling. I like my fellow players but I cannot form close bonds due to my illness and long periods when I cannot play. Now I have found the game is impossible to play past rank 30 for my CON (I'm overall level 38) unless I stand, probably in Ul'dah, the only "real" city, and beg strangers for help. As a Miq'ote that is unlikely to work because no one is going to know I'm female, or they'll avoid me because I am, and my healing is gimped because I've played the game entirely solo so far, and played it WELL that way...but not well enough to kill an entire carrier wing of rabid elementals by myself when they're all coming at me at the same time. (Whoever thought of THAT for rank 30 is straight out SADISTIC or hates magic users). So the game is over for me 12 levels from the technical "end". I cannot progress because I will not be able to go into areas to "farm" the mats I need to even settle for playing as a crafter, which I enjoy doing a lot. I'm incredibly sad right now because this game really helped me escape 24/7 intense pain of MS. Now I have nothing that comes close to this world I could escape to for relief, because I won't beg strangers to help me and I don't think they would anyway. Seriously, I've seen ppl a lot better geared up than I, with "real" LS's shouting for hours for help and no one answers...it's a M A J O R design flaw in the game. Either make it soloable or not but be consistent from beginning to end! Don't suddenly make people require assistance when they're over 3/4 of the way through the damned game--even more if you count crafting! It's like a sick joke or some kind of racism! ("We'll get those Westerners and their individualist ways...and we'll take their money too!) (and yes I know the game is free while in what amounts to long extended beta--but the game itself cost money and we're all unpaid testers here). They could have AT LEAST put up a disclaimer that at some point the game becomes impossible to play solo. But nope, EVERYTHING I have read has said it can be played to the end SOLO...and that means rank breaks too! This game isn't nearly as friendly as FFXI was because parties are not required from the beginning, so by the time you get to where I am, if you haven't formed relationships you're sunk. I have ZERO chance now, even though I'm a kind and caring person (just hurting and very upset right now) ...but due to my disability I just can't be dependable enough for party and linkshell play. Who would put up with me? And the whole begging complete strangers thing is just not in my DNA...I just don't get the whole beehive eastern culture thing, which is in many ways very useful but for me is just too odd and degrading for words. And I'm not young enough to have that sense of entitlement that people younger than me have which would allow me to assume that of course no one has anything better to do than drop what they're doing and help some crippled lady past her 30-break. So....... best wishes to all of you "normal" people who can carry on with the game and continue playing. Count your blessings.

[Atoli]

And I'm not young enough to have that sense of entitlement [...] which would allow me to assume that of course no one has anything better to do than drop what they're doing and help some crippled lady past her 30-break.

Ever thought of levling another class?
You said it's only impossible as a magic user, so how about trying it again after you level'd up some melee class?
Just a suggestion.
And really, if you enjoyed the game you shouldn't stop playing without even trying to get help just because you think nobody would help you anyway.
You could get surprised at how nice and friendly other people can be

[Xatsh]

The game is designed to be soloable to the end, which it is... it just really sucks. It was also designed to be played in groups. The fact no one groups sorta still confuses me... solo is horrible truly horrible yet everyone refuses to group... makes no sense.

I think you need to try to find a linkshell that is not full of douchebags. Any linkshell that will kick you from the ls because of a disability is sorta a fail linkshell. Might get some real hardcore ls deny you because of playtime, but those linkshell's are fairly rare. Just shout for a LS, if you get a response tell them the issue and if they are ok with it join... Getting an active one that actually does things as a group might be a slight issue, but unlike the forum community the in-game community is top notch compared to most mmos. Do a few shouts and you probally will get a few linkshell's send you a tell.

Might be hard with the disability, but hey if you do like the game it is worth a shot isn't it.

[Azurymber]

i understand how you must feel. Here are some suggestions to help you :

Craft + camp out at nanawa behest if your 25-36 and broken water 36 or 38+. Behest happens every 30min, and you can almost always either solo half of it or all of it depending on your level. But usually there are people around who will team up with you. It only takes 5-10minutes, so its not a serious committment, and people are usually ok if you afk during it if your in pain or having problems. Then just craft while you wait :]

You can solo on behests to 50. You get about 1-2 levels a day from 25-36 if you play approx 10hours. After that maybe like 1 or half a level a day but its not bad for 5-10min bursts.

My next suggestion is to max out your vitality or have it as one of your main strengths and then just solo much weaker mobs that give 30 sp per kill. You can prob solo these non stop, and you can farm them as you level up.

Honestly when the game first came out you could solo to 50 (and i know some ppl who did and reached 50 first) but group play has always given better sp. You should try to join a ls that does leves. Because often people will let you come on leves just to get your links. And you can just put one on follow and afk whenever you need to. Personally id be fine having an extra person along to max links and letting them leech. It may be a tiny bit slower but its better sp for everyone

[BeePee]

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[Ilean]

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/moarchars

[Capita]

I'm not R30 yet, but it seems everyone complains about it. I play almost entirely solo as well due to having a full time job and school (work 8-4, college 5-10) during the weekdays so I only have the weekends to play. That leaves me with one set of Guildleves and spamming Behests. Behests are really great right now because they're on 30 minute cooldowns and give decent EXP, and it seems to beat grinding. I got from R24 to R28 in less than a day doing this (about 5-8 behests per level). I know it would obviously slow down as SP per rank increases, but gaining 200-400 SP per mob in a Behest doesn't seem so bad.

That said, for the sake of both you and me who are forced to be solo players, I have to ask everyone else...

Do Behests become largely useless past R30? If not, when do they become largely useless compared to statics? And are they still better than solo grinding?

[edit] Seems my initial questions were answered above.

[Azurymber]

solo grinding 20+ fails. not worth the time
behests (solo or in a group) 20+ are great sp.
Group linked leves are BEST sp.

prob 90% of the game fails their leves and levels up in leve semi-statics doing the same leves over and over and over again failing each time to ensure they dont lose them.

[Azurymber]

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immature. Other people have no trouble reading it. This isn't 4chan. If you don't want to read something you really don't need to post telling us all that you didn't want to spend the time to read.

[Capita]

solo grinding 20+ fails. not worth the time
behests (solo or in a group) 20+ are great sp.
Group linked leves are BEST sp.

prob 90% of the game fails their leves and levels up in leve semi-statics doing the same leves over and over and over again failing each time to ensure they dont lose them.

Ah yeah I did the leve failing with my LS before I took a 6 month break. Don't have that option at the moment, so it's good to know Behests are still a great way to gain SP. Thank you.