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

[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.

[Lienn]

I don't think so. Because it's like Rukkirii said...they actually are looking foward to balance the stuff while playing solo or in very small PT...and w/o PL. Just because PL is allowed doesn't mean everyone has a PL.

[Mrfox0707]

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.

All of the above sound like a great idea. I would support any or all of these changes to the game.

[Altanas]

Perhaps if there was some kind of "Finesse" bonus system implemented along with solo-combo's (which are due to be implemented soon?) - say, if you manage to pull off the combo you get a bit of bonus xp on top.

Also, given the mobs spawn in 3's for guildleves 90% of the time, can the solo-combo have good debuff effects too please thank you.

[Nayt]

Thanks for the note rukkirii!

I do think lower levels need a bit of adjustment compared to higher levels, since I too feel it's much easier to gain exp at mid to high levels than low levels, which seems really awkward.

[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!

[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.

[Engel]

I'm just gonna go ahead and copy paste what i wrote on another thread
"Lower level xp is fine it doesn't need any change, what does need change is the level 1-20 guildleves and side quests EXP! 200xp for a completed side quest sucks really bad. Increasing the reward could easily speed up the lower levels without completely skipping them."

[Gidonoidon_Sur]

I will admit I skip quests because (usually) the exp stinks. They need a huge boost to be worth the anima/time.

[Davorok]

1. Increase EXP from Side Quests and Leves.

2. Bring back Emperor Bands and Empress Bands: Bonus EXP Rings with 5-10 charges. Obtainable from Guild Quests or purchased with Guild Marks and rechargeable at Guilds for either marks or gil.

3. Give us a real NPC Companion to fight with ( Battle Chocobo Companion works too)

4. Create a lvl 10-20 and a 20-30 dungeon instance that can hold multiple players (max 8-10?) but each participant gets his/her own spawned mobs like a GuildLeve. Pretty much a repeatable Guildleve within a repeatable Dungeon except EXP Bonus is based on how many mobs you can kill in the time limit (30 mins?) but also have adjustable difficulty. Most players would be able to solo the dungeon @ 1 Star but hopefully there are others around to help with heals/buffs if you bite off more than you can chew but no Plvls allowed...Lvl capped Dungeon.
(This would also hopefully help introduce shy newbies to co-op gameplay and lead to parties, LinkShells and Friends.)