EXP Parties as an option please!

[Enkidoh]

When you remove all the tedious grinding, ultimately an old-style EXP party is just a social event, nothing more (which is the real arguement being made here - the OP basically just wants a chat room with fighting in it).

FFXI EXP parties were so monotonous due to FFXI's slow, drawn out battle system, hence socializing was a way to break the monotony and actually make it fun - it's like any real-life situation where a group of people are thrown together in a dull or boring setting and start to have conversations to make things more interesting. Nothing wrong with that of course, except it just wouldn't work here, as FFXIV's battle system is just too fast paced to spend time yacking about random stuff.

This is why you usually don't see people talking much in a dungeon - they're more worried with the task at hand to waste time chewing the fat (especially as dungeons are timed and you simply don't have time to waste talking).

Really, if you want to chat with random people, go sit in the Adventurer's Guild around a table and strike up a conversation around a bottle of gyshal ale, battles just aren't the right place for that.

[BlaiseArath]

i don't see why all of you people are getting so blatantly butdevestated and the idea of someone wanting Exp parties back. Its just as easy to demonize it like you guys are as it is to romanticize it. Ignoring the fact that the OP is clearing saying they do not want exp parties to be the only way for Exp, and just another viable alternative, I don't see how anyone could be harmed by this concept.

FFXI exping was tediously slow yes, but it was the social aspect that made it bareable, and essentially all he wants back is the social aspect. Unfortunately, I can't say exp parties will bring that back, the combat pace will still be the same so there will be no room to talk. As much as I'd like a socializing aspect outside of FC/LS, you'll not find them in Exp parties/dungeons/whatever. Combat is to fast-paced for talking to your fellow players. They've essentially made an anti-social game. Playing in a dungeon I might as well be with NPCs for all the feedback I ever get.

[Avenger]

FFXIV has level sync for FATEs, guildhests, and dungeons, but I'd like to see regular party level sync, so that you could do leves, maps, random open world fights, etc., with friends of any level and everyone would still get a bit of challenge and possibly XP as well.

[kyuven]

FFXIV has level sync for FATEs, guildhests, and dungeons, but I'd like to see regular party level sync, so that you could do leves, maps, random open world fights, etc., with friends of any level and everyone would still get a bit of challenge and possibly XP as well.

Most maps worth doing are for level 50 anyway, no sync needed (til the expansion, when they'll have new maps to do)
Leves maybe, but if they level scaled people who are doing books would be rather upset. They're tedious enough without being forced to level sync.
Random open world fights? OK, again, which ones? If it weren't for kill X quests, certain loot drops, Spiritbonding, and Animus Books. There would be no reason to kill world spawn mobs at all. And every single one of them is soloable.
Level syncing exists in the places it does because those are the things designed for group content. anything without level syncing of some kind is designed to be soloable.

[Cynthis]

I support this message. Some of the most fun I had in 1.0 was in wolf killing parties in Natalan or even parties for mutual power levelling that turned out to be hour long chats where I made most of the friends I had in the game. If it hadn't been for the fact that I changed FC I wouldn't really have made any new friends in ARR because of the lack of these kind of activities. The closest we have got to things like these have been light farming parties which is the main reason I found that to be the least painful zodiac weapon phase.

[Radacci]

you're asking for XP parties, FATEs are exp parties....
you miss the social bit, so why are you asking for exp parties that you can already do?
you can also have social LS/FC parties....so there's nothing missing...
If your fate party doesn't talk, then make a PF asking for social grinders. the only thing preventing you from having social exp parties, is you, not SE.

[LTEvil]

So i'm kinda on the wall about this one. I loved FFXI don't get me wrong, taught me a lot about PTing and dealing with people. But i'm not sure chain groups is worth bringing back. However, open world sense of danger i'm all for. Instead of me taking time to notice an enemy, I auto run from point a to point B with little care to the well designed mobs in the zone. Why? Because they don't drop anything worth a damn and isn't dangerous to me in any shape or form. For most people they are probably thinking well "it's just backdropping to make the game feel full" well that's cool i'm fine with that but do all the zones need to be so meaningless once you finish the quests/leveling in that area? Do we really have to resort to crappy reinventions of fates to bring back open world life? (looking at you hunts).

My point is pretty much we need to come up with a better use of the open world that isn't a zerg mess. The sightseeing log was a cute concept, but does not suit a large crowd. Fates are an exp tool that people suffer through only when they arent in a df group to level. Hunts, lol hunts..zerg much? I have yet to come up with a good idea but FFXI had a few zones you wouldn't stroll through like a park walk. Maybe we should...reinvent a few?