Repetitive grind parties should NOT be the main source of leveling

[odette]

i see many people are comformist with 0 creativity, grind in mmorpg is boring, 0 creativity
quest with grind, have story but no leve, quest for learn about the story of this place where you got the quest
dungeons is ok
difficult quest, where you need more people for killing very hard mob
this is not FFXI, if you wanna ffxi just back to ffxi, this is ffxiv need be diferent

[Scape]

I have a feeling that people will complain no matter how many different ways they give us to get exp.

I mean really, Repetitive grind parties should NOT be the main source of leveling? But repetitive leves should? At least we have more ways then one to level up... which, are basically the same thing just in different forms.

[Godryc]

Leves shouldn't be a main source either as far as I'm concerned but as things stand atm its that or grind parties so people are bound to choose one or the other if they continue to play.

[TheVedis]

I have a feeling that people will complain no matter how many different ways they give us to get exp.

I mean really, Repetitive grind parties should NOT be the main source of leveling? But repetitive leves should? At least we have more ways then one to level up... which, are basically the same thing just in different forms.

when behest was main source, people whined they wanted more leve sp
when leves were the main source, people complained they wanted more girnd sp
now that grind sp is up there, people complain behest and leves arent good enough

if its not one thing itl be another

[RemnantWolf]

Well, I have a some ideas, but none of them seem to be within the scope of FFXIV's potential.

Here's a defense scenario.

Invasions within the main cities. Mobs don't "spawn" but literally storm the entrances of the cities. They destroy buildings, kill npcs, set things on fire, the whole 9 yards.

We protect the city, obviously. There would be a limit as to how far outside the city gates we can stand and be able to participate in events like this. We try our best to halt their advance into the city, usually unsuccessful, but still work to force the invaders to retreat with their tails between their legs.

Throughout the event, anyone and everyone can be a target. You would form parties to help ensure your survival. Mobs can drop rare loot, and that rare loot can drop in multiple persons' parties at once (though very rarely, of course.) All mobs reward experience as we defeat them in relation to the amount of actions, damage, enmity you generate per mob (good use of the new enmity algorithms here.) The better we fare at the end of the invasion, the more bonus exp we get for completing it.

After all is said and done, we change to our crafting classes and begin to rebuild the broken walls and burned homes, and heal the injured NPCs. We can also change to our gathering classes and, just outside the city, gather materials to help rebuild our city that is now in shambles. Again, throughout this, we will also have a chance of receiving rare items, the chance of which depends on how well we did with defending the city.

So there you go. One way to progress, that doesn't feel like a grind, and includes EVERY CLASS IN THE GAME.

But ask yourself this. Do any of you really think that this could be possible in FFXIV? I don't know.. but I have my doubts.

I have to agree that this would be a great addition to FFXIV, but I also know it would be quite difficult to implement. BUT not impossible. Especially with the "World Reconstruction" they are working on.

Basically to make the entire city destructible would probably be impossible. but it would be quite possible to make a lot of new buildings (and turn some old ones) into what I am going to call "key structures".

Key structures are buildings set to be blown up, smashed, torn apart, or otherwise dismantled by our enemies. This is done by making multiple models of the buildings in different states of disrepair and animations (or just let parts come off and let the physics engine take over) to be played once a building goes from one state to another. Each key structure is then given an HP so that they can be destroyed. They then set the building to show different models at a certain amount of HP.

This could also promote other forms of grinding. Mob killing parties have a new purpose as killing mobs can reduce the intensity of their raids of cities. Getting together with other crafters can help strengthen city defenses, making NCP guards stronger and more affective in battle. And gathers can bring in money before the battle to help with repairs after the raid is over.

[Godryc]

Maybe as a way to encourage exploring the game world part of the zone redesigns could include a kind of zone-wide puzzle/ treasure hunt. Follow some clues, do some exploring, see cool new places and pick up some trinket. When you've completed all the hunts in a given zone the trinkets combine into something that you either turn into an NPC for a cosmetic item or something along those lines. Maybe in some cases the combined item is your reward (ancient chocobo armor anyone?).

SE could have a lot of fun with something like that, there are plenty of ways to make it interesting, obviously its not a core issue right now but it would encourage people to get out and see things when really there's no reason to right now other than to say you've done it. People like novelty items. Over time real content could be added out into the far areas of the zones. When players are out doing their hunts a little extra exploration would have them running into some real content.

[Zygot]

I prefer grinding mobs over grinding leves. I just wish SE would set up actual camps where a party could grind old school: Everyone sit at camp, puller pulls mob, people kill mob.

Actually they do exist.. I've seen several of them around, they just arn't known yet, since ppl havn't figured them out yet. I've seen several good ones around treespeak. Give it some time, people will find them, and pts will start to get these all figured out.

And as for this post.. I understand the authors greef to an extent. Some jobs are just fun to grind though, however for a pt to be something good, I feel that we will have to wait for chains for the real fun to start. It was always fun in XI to work hard to keep a chian going, it was 1/2 the fun.

[ReapKarmah]

You cannot compare a massively multiplayer game experience with that of a single player offline game experience. Is that not blatantly obvious?

You can beat any Final Fantasy, start to finish in 20 hours or less. If it only takes 1 day to get to the top level in an MMO, then whats the point of even having levels?

Even so, this is Final Fantasy in the end. There is no real reason to have to conform to every other MMO out there and make it so boring when it has such huge potential to be far more than it is. Having to grind to level up in any MMO is pathetic and time wasting. I'd rather go back to work!

I'm sure I'm being completely reasonable expecting the same top-line experience from XIV that we've had with previous Final Fantasy titles in the past.

[MeowyWowie]

I have to agree that this would be a great addition to FFXIV, but I also know it would be quite difficult to implement. BUT not impossible. Especially with the "World Reconstruction" they are working on.

Basically to make the entire city destructible would probably be impossible. but it would be quite possible to make a lot of new buildings (and turn some old ones) into what I am going to call "key structures".

Key structures are buildings set to be blown up, smashed, torn apart, or otherwise dismantled by our enemies. This is done by making multiple models of the buildings in different states of disrepair and animations (or just let parts come off and let the physics engine take over) to be played once a building goes from one state to another. Each key structure is then given an HP so that they can be destroyed. They then set the building to show different models at a certain amount of HP.

This could also promote other forms of grinding. Mob killing parties have a new purpose as killing mobs can reduce the intensity of their raids of cities. Getting together with other crafters can help strengthen city defenses, making NCP guards stronger and more affective in battle. And gathers can bring in money before the battle to help with repairs after the raid is over.

I agree that it's definitely possible to make content like this in FFXIV. My doubt stems from SE's unlikely decision to do so.

I think most of us, even Yoshi-P and the Dev team, would agree with your explanation of how it would work behind the scenes. The problem is that it would take hundreds of development hours to complete something like this, something SE might not view as worthwhile, at least for the time being. It's definitely possible though, perhaps probable in the game's future. But for now, I wouldn't hold my breath.

I have other ideas as well, but they're pointless to post since most of them are on about the same level as far as development time goes. Ideas too soon for their time, maybe I'll share in a year or two when SE has time to take suggestions like these seriously.

No offense to SE or the Dev team of course. I'm positive they're capable of designing content like this. But right now, fixing the game is at the top of their list, and rightly so.

[Kittkatt]

At least you can get a grind party I usually sit in Ul'dah all day everyday, shouting and putting recruitment up and never get parties or dungeon runs so I just stay the same level lol