@dev team ->> Thanks for bringing back party grinding, -really-

[captainpicard]

Start having fun

[Zelas]

Start having fun

I wish this post of yours was a long as the previous one.

[captainpicard]

I wish this post of yours was a long as the previous one.

I can only put so much wisdom on the page at once man.

[Dreadnought]

I don't see why anyone would prefer that over a good old fashioned camp and pull party in a non instanced dungeon where there is some real risk and excitement associated with playing with other, real people.

here are some actual reasons:
monotony in several ways
no change of scenery compared to running to different areas of the same map
standing around during pulls is safe and boring
having to maneuver around undesirable mobs adds to the difficulty
attracts a wider range of gamers to add to the games lifesource
potentially allows you break of the monotony of the same mob if there are the same SP yielding yet different species of mob scattered throughout
all i cant think of right now.
most people who prefer old fashioned party camping seem to say all of the above are just excessive and unnecessary, but then again so is dying your crafts and so many other things we do in game.
we need options to level, if people want to party grind, great, but that shouldnt effect my option to level through dungeon and quest grinding which is what i and millions of other gamers enjoy and prefer over standing in one spot for hours.

[Saiph]

i agree on some parts with OP.
I would rather grind in a party then grind through exp quest. Juat played yesterday AION with some friends and the only thing you do is accept 1000 quest in a city run out of city do what is needed for quest and run back to get your gold and exp rewards. At least it is all i have done from lvl 1-20.
Thats why i like FFxiv quest more. they are about the story and lore and not about click through text as fast as possible and do the quest for exp.

On the other hand its nice to have several options so some bigger quest could be added with good exp rewards (i mean quest out of storyline and companies).

[Rhomagus]

MMO gaming should be about the journey, not the destination. The current mentality in MMO world seems to be the game starts when you hit level cap and raid. I can't think of a more dreadful outcome.

To be honest, WoW devs agree with you. I've never played WoW nor do I have an urge to, but I remember "it's about the journey" in an interview with a WoW dev when he was questioned about the new content that quickly invalidates the old content. Everyone's journey is different. The only reason people feel they need to be at cap is because that's where all the strongest gear is, and I don't think it should be anywhere else.

Personally, I'm doing an NM tour to try to get all the NM drops. I've been having fun duoing this with a linkshell member, Chatting on vent while we get drops appropriate to our level. No need to rush to 50. The only rush people feel are from pressure from the community, because trust me, every MMO dev wants to give you reasons to keep playing. They don't ever want you to finish, and the majority of the player base wants this as well. That's one of the reasons they've agreed to pay a monthly fee to play in a persistent world. They want a familiar place to hang out while getting new content on a regular to semi-regular basis. If there's no new content, the experience falls into a lull, and the grind begins to feel to grindy.

[Galoot]

@OP I'm with you on the party situation. Once it becomes more productive with better camps and plenty of mobs with good respawn times it'll be streamlined.

And can I say that I'm tired of this whole troll notion that everyone throws at each other because people disagree or make an argument. By the looks of the forums...everyone is a troll considering how much the term gets thrown around. Stop with the troll remarks, they're not needed, we understand you roam the forums looking to call someone it...it's done with...and played out. Let me save the person who wants to throw it out there...I live in a cave or isolated mountain and I eat people.

[Kopuno]

I agree with a good bit of what the OP said, And I think the game has indeed gotten much better, but I feel too much damage is done. Which puts me on the edge if I really want to continue playing. Too many multi 50's players out there who abused broken mechanics to get cap in 1-3 weeks of playtime. Same thing in ffxi, Astral Burns made anyone who worked for a there 75's a joke. Although I quit ffxi because of that, and feel saddened that I may never see FFXIV turn into something nice as the damage has been done.

As for grind camp vs roaming vs quest hubs;

I love a good "camping", running around killing shit gets tiresome and just annoying. Quest hubs are nice, for the random moments although I could careless about exp from quest as I don't feel they should have exp tied with them. Quest are for lore, not some how making you stronger because you read a line "Thanks for milking my Rabbit" *You gain 2385 SP*. Reaaaallly now? I talked to this guy and I feel stronger, then again that's usually what happens when you get a hand job behind the barn.

[Coldfire]

Grinding? What's that? No grinding on Lindblum. Only a few R45 dungeon parties that take R50 cons and arcs xD
Seriously! With the broken leves we had a time we just got on and found a party almost right away. Now you basically gotta wait in town all day hoping that a eft-party forms -_-
/hyperbole off
Hopefully SE will help us a bit by pimping those leve rewards enough.

[Speeral]

I wouldn't be so hard on the op, they just prefer camping over the other options. Should those options be removed? No keep them. Should they be fleshed out? Yes.

Personally i like the hybrid camp/roaming sp parties. Now if there in the mix say some super hard mobs that once killed gave 3-5k sp on something of a 15 minute timer that would enhance the experience and bring some risk to the structure and lechanics of a party grind.