is it just me or it just got harder to level up low level classes?

[Zetsumei_Tsunarashi]

...we are currently looking in to lowering the experience points needed to level up, increasing EXP gained, increasing Guildleve EXP...

lowering the experience points needed to level up:
No. The experience curve is already easy enough as it is. The problem is not the amount of experience points needed is too high but rather, the methods for obtaining experience points at low level while soloing is too slow.

increasing EXP gained:
While you're thinking in the right direction, the problem lies in the new stat system. Low level players are not likely to have the best possible gear for their level, and in fact with the learning curve being the way it is, it is more likely that new players will be wearing something horrible for their level. So you must take into consideration that a solo player at low levels is probably not going to be very tough compared to a mob of the same level. If the effort required to kill a mob is so high that it causes frustration to the player, an increased experience reward is not likely to be enough motivation to continue down a difficult road. The better solution would be to make battles fast and easy for low level solo players against mobs that are equal or lower level than them.

increasing Guildleve EXP:
Again, this idea suffers from the same ideology of the above. The problem once again is not that exp rewards are too low, but that the level of difficulty to obtain the rewards is too high. Rather than give out more exp, just make it easier for solo players to complete guildleves at their level. With the new leve allowance system, guildleves would be a very reliable source of experience points for solo players. However, they are currently very time consuming and the mobs are very difficult to solo if you are equal in level with them. Perhaps lowering the HP of guildleves mobs, or giving the player some kind of buffs during guildleve so that the player is strong enough to defeat the monsters easily would be a good solution.

In general I see this flaw with the dev's current thinking: "Giving players more exp will make it easier to level up". This is not necessarily the case, because in order to get experience points you still have to kill a monster. If the player can't kill the monster, then it doesn't matter how much experience points you give them because they will still feel like they are having a hard time leveling up. If you want to give out more experience points, just let the player kill the monster easier, then he will get more experience points in the end just like you wanted, but he will also feel like he is having fun doing it!

[Raidou]

lowering the experience points needed to level up:
No. The experience curve is already easy enough as it is. The problem is not the amount of experience points needed is too high but rather, the methods for obtaining experience points at low level while soloing is too slow.

increasing EXP gained:
While you're thinking in the right direction, the problem lies in the new stat system. Low level players are not likely to have the best possible gear for their level, and in fact with the learning curve being the way it is, it is more likely that new players will be wearing something horrible for their level. So you must take into consideration that a solo player at low levels is probably not going to be very tough compared to a mob of the same level. If the effort required to kill a mob is so high that it causes frustration to the player, an increased experience reward is not likely to be enough motivation to continue down a difficult road. The better solution would be to make battles fast and easy for low level solo players against mobs that are equal or lower level than them.

increasing Guildleve EXP:
Again, this idea suffers from the same ideology of the above. The problem once again is not that exp rewards are too low, but that the level of difficulty to obtain the rewards is too high. Rather than give out more exp, just make it easier for solo players to complete guildleves at their level. With the new leve allowance system, guildleves would be a very reliable source of experience points for solo players. However, they are currently very time consuming and the mobs are very difficult to solo if you are equal in level with them. Perhaps lowering the HP of guildleves mobs, or giving the player some kind of buffs during guildleve so that the player is strong enough to defeat the monsters easily would be a good solution.

In general I see this flaw with the dev's current thinking: "Giving players more exp will make it easier to level up". This is not necessarily the case, because in order to get experience points you still have to kill a monster. If the player can't kill the monster, then it doesn't matter how much experience points you give them because they will still feel like they are having a hard time leveling up. If you want to give out more experience points, just let the player kill the monster easier, then he will get more experience points in the end just like you wanted, but he will also feel like he is having fun doing it!

Great post! I couldn't agree more.

[Kiara]

lowering the experience points needed to level up:
No. The experience curve is already easy enough as it is. The problem is not the amount of experience points needed is too high but rather, the methods for obtaining experience points at low level while soloing is too slow.

increasing EXP gained:
While you're thinking in the right direction, the problem lies in the new stat system. Low level players are not likely to have the best possible gear for their level, and in fact with the learning curve being the way it is, it is more likely that new players will be wearing something horrible for their level. So you must take into consideration that a solo player at low levels is probably not going to be very tough compared to a mob of the same level. If the effort required to kill a mob is so high that it causes frustration to the player, an increased experience reward is not likely to be enough motivation to continue down a difficult road. The better solution would be to make battles fast and easy for low level solo players against mobs that are equal or lower level than them.

increasing Guildleve EXP:
Again, this idea suffers from the same ideology of the above. The problem once again is not that exp rewards are too low, but that the level of difficulty to obtain the rewards is too high. Rather than give out more exp, just make it easier for solo players to complete guildleves at their level. With the new leve allowance system, guildleves would be a very reliable source of experience points for solo players. However, they are currently very time consuming and the mobs are very difficult to solo if you are equal in level with them. Perhaps lowering the HP of guildleves mobs, or giving the player some kind of buffs during guildleve so that the player is strong enough to defeat the monsters easily would be a good solution.

In general I see this flaw with the dev's current thinking: "Giving players more exp will make it easier to level up". This is not necessarily the case, because in order to get experience points you still have to kill a monster. If the player can't kill the monster, then it doesn't matter how much experience points you give them because they will still feel like they are having a hard time leveling up. If you want to give out more experience points, just let the player kill the monster easier, then he will get more experience points in the end just like you wanted, but he will also feel like he is having fun doing it!

Hi Rukkirii,

Zetsumei's response (above) sums it up best. Great reply!

I, also, would say "NO" to lowering the EXP Requirement per Level for Low Level Classes. That's not the problem at all (it's very generous and easy from a numerical point-of-view). It's that the mobs are hard to take down with Low Level Classes with average-to-poor gear (makes sense, they're just getting started).

And also improving the Low Level Guildleves (make them slightly easier for solo players or parties).

We don't need a repeat of FF XI (current) with people jumping from Level 1 - 75 in the matter of one or two days.

[Tezz_Xivectro]

Good evening everybody.

Thank you for all of your feedback. Many issues have been brought up, but I would like to discuss the issue of the difficulty of leveling up from a low level while soloing.

It is certainly easier to level up with a party and we understand the frustrations of players who have difficulty finding a party and players who enjoy soloing.

In patch 1.19a we adjusted the strength of lower level monsters, and we would like to add to this by making adjustments to how players with lower levels level up. We haven't decided the specifics of this adjustments, but we are currently looking in to lowering the experience points needed to level up, increasing EXP gained, increasing Guildleve EXP, or addressing other elements while keeping an eye on various balance issues. We will let you know when we make a decision.

We appreciate your continued feedback submission.

It might not be as simple as just going in 1 direction. For example quests reward pathetically small amounts of EXP (300, 500, 800?!) for the time & effort needed to go out and then RETURN all the way to town to complete.

R1~, R10~, R20~ & Behest Guildleve locations tend to reward too little for the solo player. Crafting leves could also use an exp bump and let us benefit from Guardians Aspect. Look into making Hasty Hand reward full EXP & not half (it's risky enough as is).

It would be nice for Chocobo Caravan to not feel so useless. Perhaps give some EXP & bump Seal rewards based on the # of participants & progress.

Self-Combos. If successfully completed, could reward bonus EXP for that target(s).

EXP Chains to crafters. They have a set amount of time to get to 100% progress before it ends (take animations into account). The chain timer stops once they reach 100% progress, not when they hit "Finish".

However, psychologically, straight out lowering the EXP could trick people into feeling better about themselves knowing they don't need as much to level.

Finally, since stat changes, newbies are having it much harder & dying too much. It's creating an atmosphere of frustration for them. Look into making materia stats (VIT, STR etc) have a more profound effect along with other various aspects.

[Alhanelem]

Good evening everybody.

Thank you for all of your feedback. Many issues have been brought up, but I would like to discuss the issue of the difficulty of leveling up from a low level while soloing.

It is certainly easier to level up with a party and we understand the frustrations of players who have difficulty finding a party and players who enjoy soloing.

In patch 1.19a we adjusted the strength of lower level monsters, and we would like to add to this by making adjustments to how players with lower levels level up. We haven't decided the specifics of this adjustments, but we are currently looking in to lowering the experience points needed to level up, increasing EXP gained, increasing Guildleve EXP, or addressing other elements while keeping an eye on various balance issues. We will let you know when we make a decision.

We appreciate your continued feedback submission.

I think adjusting the EXP ramp for EXP awarded from kills based on level is better than changing the current TNLs, but that being said, I think it's more of a battle performance issue where physical-oriented classes seem to be doing less damage than DoMs are capable of.

[kensredemption]

Good evening everybody.

Thank you for all of your feedback. Many issues have been brought up, but I would like to discuss the issue of the difficulty of leveling up from a low level while soloing.

It is certainly easier to level up with a party and we understand the frustrations of players who have difficulty finding a party and players who enjoy soloing.

In patch 1.19a we adjusted the strength of lower level monsters, and we would like to add to this by making adjustments to how players with lower levels level up. We haven't decided the specifics of this adjustments, but we are currently looking in to lowering the experience points needed to level up, increasing EXP gained, increasing Guildleve EXP, or addressing other elements while keeping an eye on various balance issues. We will let you know when we make a decision.

We appreciate your continued feedback submission.

As long as this is tuned to solo playing, then that's fine with me. You should probably leave party leveling the way it is now since people still make a killing on EXP, and nerfing that would only cause an uproar. Either that or just implement a new development system altogether - perhaps force the player to do quests to learn how to effectively use their class both solo and in a party and earn more techniques - rather than the traditional chore of a leveling system.

[Mahayana]

Good evening everybody.

Thank you for all of your feedback. Many issues have been brought up, but I would like to discuss the issue of the difficulty of leveling up from a low level while soloing.

It is certainly easier to level up with a party and we understand the frustrations of players who have difficulty finding a party and players who enjoy soloing.

In patch 1.19a we adjusted the strength of lower level monsters, and we would like to add to this by making adjustments to how players with lower levels level up. We haven't decided the specifics of this adjustments, but we are currently looking in to lowering the experience points needed to level up, increasing EXP gained, increasing Guildleve EXP, or addressing other elements while keeping an eye on various balance issues. We will let you know when we make a decision.

We appreciate your continued feedback submission.

Make the easy game even easier?

/facepalm

[Betelgeuzah]

It is certainly easier to level up with a party and we understand the frustrations of players who have difficulty finding a party and players who enjoy soloing.

Since your stance on this isn't firm enough, good luck with the balancing! (It won't happen)

My suggestion? Point these people to the camps you prepared in 1.19. If that's not enough, I'm not sure what exactly is.

[Frein]

To be honest, I think this problem will automatically be solved when the player search feature hits. Parties are ridiculously fast for leveling and currently the problem is simply the fact that you can't find a party at such a low level.

[Zenaku]

To be honest, I think this problem will automatically be solved when the player search feature hits. Parties are ridiculously fast for leveling and currently the problem is simply the fact that you can't find a party at such a low level.

That due to everyone getting powerlevel and other stuff but i do see a lot of partying around 20-30+ but i agree once the search feature it would fix the issue.