Question for the Devs; will Heavensward include a new STARTER City-State?

[jomoru]

The main question I have on the subject of starting areas is: where are the new jobs supposed to level up? Where will the first two Hunting Log pages be at? Which starting area will the level 1 Dark Knight quest ask us to kill ladybugs and rats? So then, if not in a new zone near Ishgard, where will the new classes level up?

the New jobs may start at level 30, thus being Jobs vs classes.

[Ecks007]

the New jobs may start at level 30, thus being Jobs vs classes.

I highly doubt that. Classes are there for beginners, and as such you can choose one during Character creation when you start the game, with each City State now having 3 classes each. With this old system, those classes have the ability to be upgraded to Jobs at or after level 30. That is 2.0.

3.0 We no longer have classes, but just Jobs. You won't be able to pick these jobs during character creation. You have to take a character into the new 3.0 zones and find the right npc to unlock them and start the Job story quests/leveling up process. I HIGHLY, STRONGLY doubt that they are going to just hand us an instant level 30 Job after unlocking the new Job(s). Now true, you might think "Why would they make us start at level one when we're in this new 3.0 area that I took my lvl 50 (2.0 Job) here.", well that's because you have that level 50 that you are able to switch to and safely return to the lower level areas from 2.0 and level up.

Though they might have a few areas in 3.0 around Ishgard that might be intended for leveling up your new 3.0 Jobs, we'll see. Personally I hope most (if not all) of the 3.0 content is geared for the level 51-60 range. After all, we have all of these already existing lower level areas to level up in. We don't really need more low level areas, and gaming wise it's always a good idea to make old zones still relevant/necessary to the players. Which it would be, for leveling up from 1 to 50.

After all, the new main scenario would be intended for players to begin at level 50 and progress up to the new level cap of 60. But that said, it doesn't mean that we wouldn't be revisiting areas of 2.0 again for certain things in the storyline. Again, we'll see.

Another reason for starting at level 1 is gaining abilities and learning what they do and how to apply them be playing with them and seeing how they work. This works best gradually, as players level up and gain new abilities. I would personally, not be interested in starting at level 30 and having a ton of abilities already that I now have to familiarize myself with all at once. As an example, it wouldn't be much different than some rich kid buying a max level character because they want to be cool without the "hassle" of leveling one up. Only for them to piss off every party they join because they don't understand how their abilities work or what their job even does, basically wasting everyone's time they group up with. Now, over some length of time (assuming the noob doesn't get fustrated and quit) eventually this kind of person might learn exactly what it is they should be doing and better be able to play the job they got. There's no telling how long that might take, and in the meantime they are going to build up a bad reputation as "That effing noob that doesn't know how to ____ right". Let's just say, this isn't a good thing.

I feel players should learn how to play the job they are wanting to be, by experiencing and testing things out as they level up. It really is the best way, and I know I'll happily level my Dark Knight up from level 1 once I get my hands on 3.0.

Just because 2.0 jobs started at level 30 (or techincally, whenever you get and equip the soulstone after level 30), does not mean they work that way in 3.0 specially considering there are no classes for these Jobs. No base class =/= instant level 30, it just means no base class. I'm all for the new system of new Job starting at level 1 and only being accessable via ownership of the expansions and the required in-game legwork needed to reach the NPC required to start and unlock the Job.

Functionality-wise, these npcs would work a bit like the class guilds and by that I mean I am sure there will be some kind of initial cutscene/story that introduces the npc and gives us a reason for becoming X New Job. Don't know if Soulstones will still be a thing, but it's possible considering we do have an armory space for them. However, it could be that the weapon will simply be what ties the new Jobs to the armory system, similar to how the weapon + soulstone currently does.

Either way, we're all going to be a 2.0 job when we reach these npcs, just like when you start out as one class because it's what you chose in character creation. You are already something else, and once you get the new thing unlocked you merely switch your weapon and become it. With the 2.0 system, we also have soul stones to equip that change the classes to jobs, but with no base class there really isn't a reason to have Soulstones in 3.0. As far as this is concerned, I feel it's definitely the right direction to take things.

The 2.0 systems will still be in place and remain that way for the old classes+jobs, likely for the foreseeable future. While I can see weapon types being the deciding and identifying factor that allows us to switch between 3.0+ Jobs.

That said, they could/can still created new classes in order to allow new character creation options for new players (though I think 9 is plenty enough already) in the future. Though, in my opinion this is far less likely to occur. That said, it could be possible since the systems already exist.

[Niwashi]

Just because 2.0 jobs started at level 30 (or techincally, whenever you get and equip the soulstone after level 30), does not mean they work that way in 3.0 specially considering there are no classes for these Jobs. No base class =/= instant level 30, it just means no base class.

Yes. It sounds as though the new jobs are going to be equivalent to the whole class+job combination of the current ones. For instance, there isn't all that much to distinguish gladiators from paladins or conjurers from white mages. It's essentially that they're called by one name at the beginning, then have a mid-game transition quest that lets them use a different name thereafter. With the new jobs, they still have the full range of levels to go through. They'd still be gaining "class" skills every few levels as well as a few that come from their quests. The only difference is that there isn't that transition step that changes their name part way through the game. (Plus they'll presumably have the job-style limitations on cross-class skills all the way through.)

So DKN corresponds to GLD/PLD rather than just to PLD.

Or, at least that's how I understand it. We won't really know for sure until the expansion comes out (or until SE gives some really detailed info on how all this is going to work, which may or may not happen).