Power-leveling is absolutely BROKEN

[Soukyuu]

Faction #1: Being allowed to gain XP while being AFK is inherently wrong and has no place in an MMORPG. Anyone who does it is a Cheater.

Faction #3: Powerleveling negatively affects all the players in the community by completely throwing off the balance of available camps and diminishing the pool of potential party members. Anyone who doesn't see that is Selfish.

Faction #5: Level Syncing should be implemented because it is the best way to accomplish the inherent goals of powerleveling, without the negative connotations of actually powerleveling. Anyone who doesn't want that is Narrow-minded.

I think I'll stick with those 3, if 5 is implemented, 1 and 3 won't be an issue anymore.

[Soukyuu]

Your point was that gaining xp while AFK is a bug.

False. Gaining absurd amounts of exp while afk is a bug. They fixed the level gap the first time, now they have to just transfer the claim from party to the player who claimed the mobs if this player is ousted. This will make PL more of an effort since you will have to still be there and claim mobs/survive while the PLer does his/her work.

Do that and I'll shut up :P

edit: oops, double-posted =/

[Krausus]

The amount of players on the server effects everyone.

It affects all playeres in direct ways, such as finding a party, and also in indirect ways, such as populating the Wards with items you want, or people to buy the items you want to sell. Eventually, the amount of players paying subscriptions will drastically affect the longevity of the game and the resources available for updates and expansions.

So if you think other people's gripes don't effect you, you are simply wrong. This particular issue causes people to not play FFXIV. That fact is not at all debatable.

Rampant PL'ng (regular PL and AFK PL) is already affecting the overall population of the game. We can debate the degree to which this is true, but not the fact that it is true.

This argument that "PL does not affect me" has no realistic basis.

neither does your whole post, do you have a graph that we are not privy to that shows how many people left from PLing being in place? I can only speak from my own experiences which what I have seen is actually more people playing because they can get to endgame quicker and enjoy it with their friends. Certainly in my LS where I encourage folks to get those cross class skills asap so they can enjoy endgame content without burdening the rest of the party.

The only fact is that nothing any of us are saying is indeed fact unless SE provides you with the facts. Everything any of us are saying is opinion and based on our experiences and there is no way to tell how much experience with PLing or the effects of it each of us have.

[Sephrick]

So if you think other people's gripes don't effect you, you are simply wrong. This particular issue causes people to not play FFXIV. That fact is not at all debatable.

Really? Because my linkshell is adding new and steadily active members all the time. Things on my server are quite active every night.

You have no quantifiable way to prove that statement. The fact that we all still log on every night is proof to the contrary.

If PLing really is as game breaking as is claimed in this thread then people need to show SE come Jan. 6 and refuse to pay. Otherwise it's just empty talk.

I just get such a kick out of people with maxed out characters who log in regularly stating that if people are able to max out their character they're more likely to quit. Actions, as they say, speak louder than words.

Some may leave because of it, but the servers are far from ghost towns.

[Belial]

Really? Because my linkshell is adding new and steadily active members all the time. Things on my server are quite active every night.

Although I totally agree and liked your post, in all fairness Rab is a really good server to be on as we have a long-standing playerbase that remains active.

[Sephrick]

Although I totally agree and liked your post, in all fairness Rab is a really good server to be on as we have a long-standing playerbase that remains active.

I suppose that was a little short-sighted on my part.

[Belial]

I suppose that was a little short-sighted on my part.

We all have our moments, for sure. We just lucked out on our server choice is all. Either way, servers being currently active or inactive are not the result of one tiny issue.

[Sorel]

So we really have no proof that any of our generalizations are true, no matter what faction we belong to in this argument. So once we get away from these generalizations we keep making and start dealing with specific instances, testimonials if you will, we can start establishing some basis of facts that we can use to establish valid arguments.

For example:

Community Member Post "A": Last night I was in a Light Party and a PL-party was next to us in camp, and I went from level 30-35 in 2 hours. The PL-party did not affect our light party's ability to kill mobs or recruit and keep members during that time.

Community Member Post "X": Yesterday, I tried to form a light party, but no one would agree to join unless there was a PL. After an hour of trying, I finally had to give up and solo instead.

Those are examples of facts. The reasons why they happened the way they happened can and should be debated, but the fact that they happened would be indisputable. Ideally, that's how this discussion would proceed. I might be naive, though.

[Krausus]

So we really have no proof that any of our generalizations are true, no matter what faction we belong to in this argument. So once we get away from these generalizations we keep making and start dealing with specific instances, testimonials if you will, we can start establishing some basis of facts that we can use to establish valid arguments.

For example:

Community Member Post "A": Last night I was in a Light Party and a PL-party was next to us in camp, and I went from level 30-35 in 2 hours. The PL-party did not affect our light party's ability to kill mobs or recruit and keep members during that time.

Community Member Post "X": Yesterday, I tried to form a light party, but no one would agree to join unless there was a PL. After an hour of trying, I finally had to give up and solo instead.

Those are examples of facts. The reasons why they happened the way they happened can and should be debated, but the fact that they happened would be indisputable. Ideally, that's how this discussion would proceed. I might be naive, though.

If only things could stay on such a path unfortunately....well I'm sure you know.

[Belial]

So we really have no proof that any of our generalizations are true, no matter what faction we belong to in this argument. So once we get away from these generalizations we keep making and start dealing with specific instances, testimonials if you will, we can start establishing some basis of facts that we can use to establish valid arguments.

For example:

Community Member Post "A": Last night I was in a Light Party and a PL-party was next to us in camp, and I went from level 30-35 in 2 hours. The PL-party did not affect our light party's ability to kill mobs or recruit and keep members during that time.

Community Member Post "X": Yesterday, I tried to form a light party, but no one would agree to join unless there was a PL. After an hour of trying, I finally had to give up and solo instead.

Those are examples of facts. The reasons why they happened the way they happened can and should be debated, but the fact that they happened would be indisputable. Ideally, that's how this discussion would proceed. I might be naive, though.

I'm a victim of naivete as well. But really, have you seen heated topics on this forum? You're simply going to be white-washed with more of "No, this is the way it is, it doesn't matter what you say. You obviously haven't read {insert opinionated reference}. You don't understand." etc. etc.