Message from actual new player

[Blarp]

Considering there are more players now than sense the game began, I don't think that's too much of an issue.

Believe it or not, some people liked the group play aspect in XI. This is their way of bringing that aspect back without changing it all the way.
You can still solo, you just have to be careful about it.

Where do you get server populations from? Gut instinct? Do the chocobos on the server select screen actually mean something?

Why is it this game has to turn into FFXI? Are people really that desperate to recapture that long lost feeling? Do they think making FFXIV into FFXI will actually bring that fun back? The truth is, no matter how much closer SE gets this game to XI, that feeling will never be back. Why don't we try something new for once instead of copying what made FFXI "fun" back in 2003.

Have you tried to solo as a new character since the patch? The only time I bother to log on is to do leves on my Lancer because soloing outside of that is utterly pointless. I can't kill a mob my level anymore because I can't find/afford gear for my level. So, I kill level 10-12 Dodos at rank 14 and get anywhere between 91XP and 120 XP per kill. Arguably, solo XP is now much much more difficult than getting XP in a PT, so since all of you bittervets seem to like "hardcore" shouldn't the solo guy get better rewards?

[FestAkos]

Honestly, all they really need to do is allow chains on mobs lower level than you.

[Biggs]

Actually as i saw the polls, a vast majority of people on the forums wanted the leveling to stay the same difficulty and anyone advocating harder leveling or party play was a FFXI fanboy. Now that the leveling is a bit more difficult people are starting to panic.

This is at least how i see these threads playing out

See, now I found it to be the opposite, but a lot of that can be the fact that we all have a tendancy to read posts from the same people we agree or disagree with. From my view point it seems like the biggest two complaints were: The current game state does not feel dangerous enough. People were looking for a sense of danger in an otherwise empty, and fairly easy to navigate gameworld. The other major complaint was the lack of party play. I think they solved both those problems wonderfully, but I can understand why some people are upset. Once again though, this all goes back to what I have been saying about SE not redisigning this game for the current population, but rather doing it for ficticious people that havent actually given them any money yet.

Edit: I should comment that there is now a NEED to party, which is great, but no actual good tools for FORMING parties yet, which is far from great.

[Vanguard319]

This is certainly something the devs need to look into, first it was too easy, but SE took the words of the hardcore to heart too much. Not only is the learning curve excessively high now, but the gaffe with colored equipment has made it difficult to find gear that one can even use. Endgame quests should be hard, not leveling to a point where you can start doing endgame quests.

[Bled]

This is certainly something the devs need to look into, first it was too easy, but SE took the words of the hardcore to heart too much. Not only is the learning curve excessively high now, but the gaffe with colored equipment has made it difficult to find gear that one can even use. Endgame quests should be hard, not leveling to a point where you can start doing endgame quests.

It is all about finding the balance of a healthy paced leveling curve, personally id say we are closer to balanced now then we were last patch.

[Biggs]

Where do you get server populations from? Gut instinct? Do the chocobos on the server select screen actually mean something?

Why is it this game has to turn into FFXI? Are people really that desperate to recapture that long lost feeling? Do they think making FFXIV into FFXI will actually bring that fun back? The truth is, no matter how much closer SE gets this game to XI, that feeling will never be back. Why don't we try something new for once instead of copying what made FFXI "fun" back in 2003.

Have you tried to solo as a new character since the patch? The only time I bother to log on is to do leves on my Lancer because soloing outside of that is utterly pointless. I can't kill a mob my level anymore because I can't find/afford gear for my level. So, I kill level 10-12 Dodos at rank 14 and get anywhere between 91XP and 120 XP per kill. Arguably, solo XP is now much much more difficult than getting XP in a PT, so since all of you bittervets seem to like "hardcore" shouldn't the solo guy get better rewards?

Hello! I am on your server and recently (like 3 weeks ago) rerolled from Kashuan (the lowest population server) to Selbina. First, I would like to say that the chocobos really DO mean something as there are a shitload more people on this 3 chocobo server than there are on Kashauns 1 chocobo server. However, I have often wondered if the chocobo count also tallys all the people that have accounts but are not active. (I am pretty sure it does).

Second, having just started right before the patch, the first thing I did since I knew the patch was coming was level 4 or 5 crafting jobs to level 10. Doing so only actually took a few hours since the 1-10 stretch for crafting goes quick. Not only have I been able to fully equip myself at low levels for my combat jobs, but I also have a nice small group of skills I can use on whichever crafting job I finally decide to make my main. I realize that many people will not like crafting before fighting but I can assure you, doing so not only saves you a great deal of cash on repairs early on (I fix all my own stuff), but it was relatively quick and painless to do so. Not to mention the material rewards for turing in local leves helped give me some decent starter cashand materials to make stuff with. Hope that helps, but I understand that the route I have taken isn't for everyone.

[Vanguard319]

See, now I found it to be the opposite, but a lot of that can be the fact that we all have a tendancy to read posts from the same people we agree or disagree with. From my view point it seems like the biggest two complaints were: The current game state does not feel dangerous enough. People were looking for a sense of danger in an otherwise empty, and fairly easy to navigate gameworld. The other major complaint was the lack of party play. I think they solved both those problems wonderfully, but I can understand why some people are upset. Once again though, this all goes back to what I have been saying about SE not redisigning this game for the current population, but rather doing it for ficticious people that havent actually given them any money yet.

Edit: I should comment that there is now a NEED to party, which is great, but no actual good tools for FORMING parties yet, which is far from great.

unfortunately, they essentially said "f**k you" to both new and casual players alike, without new players, the game doesn't grow, and casual players may decide to quit, meaning the game dies over time.

As a predominantly solo player, I have found it it almost impossible to stay alive against mobs even slightly higher in level, especially now that they almost always attack in large groups. Bear in mind that I have somewhat decent, despite dated equipment, and I often did leves solo before the patch. Part of the problem is that they not only made equipment matter too much, but that gear now HAS to have the best materia gil can buy as well. How do they expect a new player to afford that kind of enhanced gear early off?

The simple answer is you can't. there has to be at least a shallow enough learning curve that new players will not feel alienated and ignored.

[Decconi]

This, i mean, even i am trying my best to craft lower level gear for the people that decided to try out this patch.

Thank you for this Nuru. I created a new character on a new server since Mysidia just sucks. I knew an old friend and his brother who started out on Linblum a couple weeks ago. I have to say that this game is sooo damn hard to play now when starting over. Absolutely zero low level gear on the market and now the gear nerfs really hit me hard and I feel the pain of the OP. Man this patch ruined it for me. Now i am in a rush to level up my crafting so i can actually level my Discipline of Magic classes.

[Vanguard319]

It is all about finding the balance of a healthy paced leveling curve, personally id say we are closer to balanced now then we were last patch.

Did you even bother to read the OP? Have you actually logged in and played? the beastmen strongholds are fine, since they were meant for party play, but the relative difficulty of leves is beyond what most people can do solo, and THOSE were intended as solo content.

[Biggs]

unfortunately, they essentially said "f**k you" to both new and casual players alike, without new players, the game doesn't grow, and casual players may decide to quit, meaning the game dies over time.

As a predominantly solo player, I have found it it almost impossible to stay alive against mobs even slightly higher in level, especially now that they almost always attack in large groups. Bear in mind that I have somewhat decent, despite dated equipment, and I often did leves solo before the patch. Part of the problem is that they not only made equipment matter too much, but that gear now HAS to have the best materia gil can buy as well. How do they expect a new player to afford that kind of enhanced gear early off?

The simple answer is you can't. there has to be at least a shallow enough learning curve that new players will not feel alienated and ignored.

I see your point. I do think a lot of the rage right now though is because people are shellshocked that what worked before when soloing totally doesnt work anymore. Given time I think we would find new ways to solo. I get what your saying about gear and materia though as I also share this fear for low level peeps. Its all uneccassary though as I think we will find a lot of these issues rebalanced in the coming weeks. I know its a released game and all (which I will NEVER understand why they didnt pull it to rework it) but people tend to quickly forget that this game is in REdevelopement and that, 2 months from now a whole slew of other things will change and the rage cycle can begin all over again just as we are getting used to the last set of changes.

Oh, and I genuinly dont think SE is trying to gather new players atm. So people that are worried its chasing off potential new players right now are the ONLY ones worrying about it. I can assure you that, at this juncture in time, SE is not.