Why isn't some form of Level Sync in this game?

[Travesty]

Level sync was simultaneously one of the best and worst introductions to FFXI. It allowed people of any level to play and party together, but also allowed people to never move from the same leveling spot, and led to Astral Burn. But even with the downsides, I think most people agree it made the game infinitely more playable for a whole lot of people, and was one of the more revolutionary concepts SE introduced to the MMO world.

One of Yoshida's biggest stated goals is to allow higher level players to assist their lower level friends. Level sync is/was the epitome of that. It was expressly designed for that purpose.

So my question is, why is it not present in this game? It seems to fit perfectly with Yoshida goals, and with minor tweaking from its form in FFXI, the downsides can be nearly eliminated.

[Gramul]

Because the game is still being worked on.

Next question please.

[Travesty]

Because the game is still being worked on.

Next question please.

Huh.

There are a lot of things the game doesn't have yet that have been announced as "in the future plans." A level sync type feature is not among them. Same question as to why.

[Jinko]

It's not like it would work now seeing as the new team have added strict gear requirments (and looks like they may make it a standard practice) and wearing armor above your level has a massive penalty.

[Travesty]

It's not like it would work now seeing as the new team have added strict gear requirments (and looks like they may make it a standard practice) and wearing armor above your level has a massive penalty.

Uh, in XI gear had strict requirements and you couldn't wear gear above your level period, and the system works like a charm. I don't understand your reasoning.

[Jinko]

Uh, in XI gear had strict requirements and you couldn't wear gear above your level period, and the system works like a charm. I don't understand your reasoning.

My reasoning !! is that this game had a scaling system prior to patch 1.19 which allowed your gear to scale down (which they have now removed), now you get heavily penalised for wearing gear not at or below your current level.

If there was a level sync you would get that same penalty because your gear would no longer match your level, for them to rectify this problem they would have to completely change the changes they just made which is pointless task.

[Preypacer]

It's not like it would work now seeing as the new team have added strict gear requirments (and looks like they may make it a standard practice) and wearing armor above your level has a massive penalty.

They could just have the gear sync down as well, reducing its effective stats. They do this in XI and in other games with a similar system as well.

When the topic of level sync comes up, almost without exception, the reason given is "I want to be able to play with my friends and/or family members who may have started later and are too far below my level". That is almost always the reason given and seems to be in line with what Yoshi-P wants to support as well.

However, the idea of it being (ab)used as yet another way to PL could lead to issues similar to the current PL'ing mess, which, based on a translation in another thread, certainly seems to not be what Yoshi-P had in mind. He still has that 2-3 month to 50 time frame in mind.

That being said, since the purpose is to be able to help lower level friends and family members get through content and catch up, then I think xp should be reduced down to, say, 25% for the player sync'ing down, once they're more than 10 levels or so below their own actual level.

Why this reduction? Well for the following reasons:
1. Allows the friend/family member to catch up that much more quickly. If the higher level player is gaining xp at a normal rate, then that gap is essentially never going to close until they hit level cap.
2. Mitigates the fall-out of FFXI's implementation, where high level xp'ing parties became extremely difficult to find or assemble 'cause everyone was sync'ing in Qufim Island or some other lower level area.
3. Prevents sync'ing from becoming an "all-purpose" xp'ing option in all situations. Rather, it becomes very specific to certain situations... ie. helping lower players out.

Even if it's not that specific setup.. as long as it's implemented in a way where it doesn't all but kill off high level xp parties as it did in XI (Abyssea notwithstanding... that's a different trainwreck altogether).. I think it would be great.

Now... some might scoff at this idea. However, assuming the numerous claims that it's "purely to be able to play with lower level friends and family" are genuine, and not just feigned altruism, I have a feeling many who'd be against it are those who want to power level themselves, and have very little, if any, interest in "helping anyone else".

That might seem cynical. However, the cynicism is warranted I think.

In FFXI, every hour of every day that I was logged into that game (and certainly even when I wasn't) there were people level sync'd down in Qufim Island and elsewhere, xp'ing. People I knew or knew of constantly xp'd in level sync parties and would never join higher level ones anymore. I have a very difficult time believing every single one of them was doing it "to help a friend or family member" or, were doing it as an act of altriuism, "to help some poor lowbie out".

In fact, to punctuate and underscore the issue XI's implementation brought... a number of them were sync'ing simply because that's the only way they could get xp at all. High level zones were all but dead. It became so "ingrained" in people's minds that "xp'ing = level sync" that you couldn't get them off that mindset.

[Betelgeuzah]

I think it would work rather nicely in this game, if you get more exp the higher level mobs you fight?

That essentially would encourage people to fight the highest level mobs they can.

[Teakwood]

I think it'd still work even if you didn't recieve stats from armour that's synced down (this is... basically how it works in XI, although I'm simplifying severely.)

Definitely agree that it'd be nice if this feature would be announced, I think it'd help make the game more fun and put it in line with its design goals.

I'd also like to see optional, perhaps reward-enhancing party-wide level caps on quests and instanced dungeons.

[Chrees]

While this isn't nearly as widespread as I'm sure you'd like to see it, they are planning on adding a level sync to instanced dungeons, such as Toto-Rak. With this in mind, I'm sure a level sync feature similar to what was in FFXI is planned for sometime in the distant future.

I can tell you that it is planned, in the not-too-distant future, to implement a level-cap for Toto-Rak. First of all the prerequisites for all dungeons will be eased a bit, so that it's easier to get into them. You'll then be able to storm Toto-Rak with 2-4 players and head to Dzemael with 4-8 players. These easings will already be in patch 1.19.

Hi Sasunaich!

Thanks for the awesome info. But now I have a question on the matter.
Are you talking about a level-cap like we are familliar with from FFXI? Meaning that like before Rank 50s can get in, but they'll then be scaled donw?
I'm just asking so that there aren't any misunderstandings.
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Exactly, higher levels can eneter and they'll be scaled down.

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...l=1#post329877