Quote Originally Posted by Raikki View Post
Really, you preferred leve-failing and AFK follow leveling just because they were less "mainstream"? This just leveled the playing field and took away the smug "I'm so clever for using this trick" attitude that the people using the old methods had.



Because it's a Band-Aid® on the problem. They had an already-live game with a horrendous level up process, but an existing playerbase that had mostly already endured it and were waiting impatiently for endgame content and balance fixes. With most of their resources on 2.0, they gave us some novocaine to numb the leveling pain while they worked on endgame content. It's a pragmatic compromise. If they give us endgame and make leveling easy, their work can be appreciated by the entire playerbase. If they put those resources into level-up content instead, it only helps new players while the loyal players who already leveled up are left in the cold.
But don't you see? That's the entire point.

Powerleveling in its current form in this game completely removes the player from what kind of experience a MMO should provide. It's an insult to implement such a brash and hasty compensation. A f#%!ing insult.

At release, it was slow and painful. But it wasn't painful because it was slow. It was painful because there were no meaningful incentives to keep going. The main story missions were simply pitiful. Here, have a 30-second cutscene that gives you little more than an inkling of what you're involved in. From the first to the last it was all the same.

The sense of adventure is far removed. The "climaxes" are mere whispers, devoid of excitement. So, how do they fix this? Release a few r50 "endgame" (If you can even call it "endgame") instances and essentially give everyone a mainstream route to get there from level 1 in 1-3 days?

People tend to bring up the point of not wanting to work when they come home from work. In reality, it's all a matter of perspective. I consider it fun and relaxing to experience the game through different roles, slowly bringing myself to mastery while in the company of friends. I don't enjoy waiting for the next bit of "endgame content" to bash my head against with the same attitude every single friggin time.

So what have they done to address those who enjoy the "adventurous journey" style of gameplay, like in XI? They added Shposhae (Which, by the way, will become another meaningless instance soon enough,) and a r25 instance that has only one good thing going for it: Immersive music. Oh, and moogles.

What about stuff like mid-rank open dungeons that you have to complete a minor questline to access? That would be a golden opportunity to learn a bit more lore surrounding the game and to give more depth to the quite empty main story missions. And hey, if powerleveling to this extent were to stick around, said open dungeon would be a sanctuary for people who want to grind their own way and experience the game. As anyone would know, those who are hyper-focused on getting to cap ASAP to do endgame wouldn't bother with doing a mid-rank storyline to gain access to a mid-rank open dungeon that would have no "epic lootz" to benefit their PLVL'd 50.

At the very least there should be a few places like that, one in each region, if they plan on keeping this broken system around. People are constantly complaining about being overcamped by powerleveling twats. Sure, it wouldn't stop all of them but even a little bit of help makes it worth it.

Alas, one would argue: What is the point of that? The "main goal" is to get to cap and grind that endgame as quickly as possible, after all. Stuff like that would just waste the dev's time and detract them from the important stuff: New endgame lootz that we will strive to get every couple months.

I'm sorry, what were MMOs again?

And I ask, what is a MMO to you?