Powerleveling Revisited

[Teia]

I understand that you're taking a neutral stance, but if it's considered inflexible to want to work for my level up... Well, if it were true, I will have lost faith in the MMO player community.

In the end, that comes down to the type of game you want to play. There are games where reaching the level cap is a Herculean feat, and a single level in the upper parts of the curve take days or even weeks. On the other side of it, there are games where reaching the level cap is more or less trivial. If FF14 decides to go the latter route, then that's fine, and I can even understand why someone who liked the slower pace would feel angry or betrayed or some other kind of negativity at Yoshi's new direction, but I have to wonder if we wouldn't be seeing exactly this same kind of thread, just in the opposite direction, if Yoshi went the other way. Ultimately the game's in a kind of transitional period where we don't know what the final product will be, so I think putting as much heavy emphasis on a single aspect of the game as some people seem to be doing is erring on the inflexible side considering there are a lot of adjustments that still need to be made—there's no sense complaining until we know what the final product will be.

tl;dr I'm one of those "you can't please everyone and shouldn't try" people.

[Issac]

In the end, that comes down to the type of game you want to play. There are games where reaching the level cap is a Herculean feat, and a single level in the upper parts of the curve take days or even weeks. On the other side of it, there are games where reaching the level cap is more or less trivial. If FF14 decides to go the latter route, then that's fine, and I can even understand why someone who liked the slower pace would feel angry or betrayed or some other kind of negativity at Yoshi's new direction, but I have to wonder if we wouldn't be seeing exactly this same kind of thread, just in the opposite direction, if Yoshi went the other way. Ultimately the game's in a kind of transitional period where we don't know what the final product will be, so I think putting as much heavy emphasis on a single aspect of the game as some people seem to be doing is erring on the inflexible side considering there are a lot of adjustments that still need to be made—there's no sense complaining until we know what the final product will be.

tl;dr I'm one of those "you can't please everyone and shouldn't try" people.

This point would be valid if the devs weren't listening to player feedback. Unlike FFXI, XIV is partially malleable by the player community.

If this trend continues, and if the general majority wants it to stay, then I might just have to leave. Each day it gets worse, unfortunately.

I remember when I started the first powerlevel thread, and all these herps on the forums were treating me like I pissed and moaned about everything I don't like, ever. To tell the truth, my post count was 25 before 1.19. All my other posts before then were in defense of the game. I love everything about it, even since launch.

EXP has evolved rather sporadically.
Random gains -> Static gains -> Focus on leves -> Ridiculous PLVL -> Slightly less ridiculous PLVL

I didn't mind the random gains, but it was bitched out of the game before anyone put forth any effort into mastering it. I won't argue that it was frustrating and tedious, but whatever.

The static gains were alright, but I will agree that it felt like a generic mindless grind. But to be honest, that's only because there weren't enough goals to achieve. The only motivations to get that level up was some new gear (Just barely, considering that optimal level BS) and hitting cap. The only real motive that stood out was reaching cap, thus all the bitching about it.

Things got a bit faster once the focus turned to leve-linking. Soon there were a handful of leves that players would do over and over. That got old quick, and people started complaining about that being repetitive.

Considering that content takes time to make, I understand why SE imp'd a quick fix like powerlevling. However, the means in which they implemented it and how effective it is... I am vehemently against it. It enables lazy habits. The kind of player it breeds isn't only about skill and ability to play their class. It also breeds unwarranted elitism. The only thing worse than hardcore elitism is casual elitism. Granted, they're both bad, but the latter annoys me more than the prior.

Again, my opinions might be offensive. And I am sorry if they are. I'm not hardcore nor casual, I'm in the middle. I play the game to progress and enjoy the journey in-between. I don't want to take turns being the level 50 to kill everything for the mostly-afk group playing dark souls or somesuch between turns. Not saying that's how everyone does it, just an example.

After all is said and done I have one sincere hope. Sometime next year after they have implemented more progression content, such as goals to strive for, that they will remove this extreme form of enabling powerleveling. I really, really hope all this is a short-term bandaid.

[AmyRae]

Considering that content takes time to make, I understand why SE imp'd a quick fix like powerlevling. However, the means in which they implemented it and how effective it is... I am vehemently against it. It enables lazy habits. The kind of player it breeds isn't only about skill and ability to play their class. It also breeds unwarranted elitism. The only thing worse than hardcore elitism is casual elitism. Granted, they're both bad, but the latter annoys me more than the prior.

How MMOs traditionally keep you involved for long periods of time performing otherwise dull, repetitive, and tedious tasks is by programming the player.

That grind you were so fond of is the classic way you were programmed to be addicted. It honestly had nothing to do with skill, or even "content", but a stimulation of the reward centers of your brain.

Going from level 1 to level 2 is quick and easy. You don't have many skills to use and mobs practically impale themselves when you attack them. Then level 2 hits and you learn a new ability. Using this new ability makes the job of killing easier, but the mobs you started off attacking at level 1 are less rewarding. Also, the road to level 3 is much longer, requiring more XP. So you go off to fight harder foes to improve the rewards and reach level 3 faster.

Once you do you get that satisfying Level Up, you get more slot points, more points in your attributes so you can kill even faster. But your current foes are now less rewarding, and the journey to level 4 is even longer. But! At level 4 you can learn a new ability and get even stronger, and so you press on with harder foes. As you level, you collect drops which you can trade for money, which in turn, you can exchange for gear, which makes you stronger, and allows you to earn rewards faster.

And it's by this process of making the combat experience increasingly more complicated and rewards gradually more infrequent that you're being conditioned. It's also reinforced by how the game tracks your achievements. Your character has a page on the Lodestone that gives you these trophies every time you reach a new Aetheryte crystal, reach a leveling milestone, complete a challenging quest, or kill an exponential amount of mobs. You can also use your character data to create a fancy signature image so you can give your friends an idea of how much you've accomplished in the game. Lots of classes sitting at 50 makes you feel respected, important, like a real player.

Powerleveling does circumvent this conditioning somewhat since it creates a shortcut around the process. So while you feel this may create players who are less skillful (somewhat incorrect given that there is some skill involved in setting up an efficient powerleveling operation), what you're actually dealing with are players who are less addicted because they haven't gone through the same process to endgame that you did (and therefore don't love the game as much as you do). Because they can easily obtain signatures filled with high level classes, your similar achievement seems less important. The reinforcement of your achievement is thus shattered, and your addiction to the game is not as strong.

However, the greatest force of addiction is not really in scheduled rewards, such as the leveling system, in the first place.

The greatest addiction occurs when the rewards are random.

The Ifrit fight is actually an example of the most addictive part of FFXIV. You know that if you fight Ifrit long enough, you'll eventually get that highly valuable item you're hoping for. But you don't know if it will take 1 attempt or 100. Not only that, but you also know that not fighting him guarantees you won't get the item (can't be obtained through trade or alternative methods). The same goes for creating materia. After a lengthy process of filling the Spiritbond gauge for materia creation, you actually don't know if you'll get the highly desired form you're hoping for (this time). And let's not get started on the process of doubling them up when inserting them into gear...

It's the perfect conditions to keep you playing over and over, flailing at the chance to stimulate the reward center of your brain, knowing that if you do nothing you won't succeed, but that next time, maybe next time, you'll get that which you truly (were conditioned to) desire.

[Quanta]

:words:

Nice summary of a Skinner Box. :3

[AmyRae]

Nice summary of a Skinner Box. :3

[Issac]

Amy, I don't appreciate you making assumptions about my psychology. It's rude.

Actually, it makes me think of how I used to act towards my parent (Singular, Mom) when I was a teenager.

I simply enjoy progression. Reread the OP, it's as simple as that. Aside from all that you said, did it ever occur to you that these kinds of games were made in the first place because people thought it would be a great idea to have a vast, open online adventure with RPG elements? It was like a nerd's dream.

And for the love of god, please don't assume I don't know what you're trying to say.

[AmyRae]

Amy, I don't appreciate you making assumptions about my psychology. It's rude.

Actually, it makes me think of how I used to act towards my parent (Singular, Mom) when I was a teenager.

I simply enjoy progression. Reread the OP, it's as simple as that. Aside from all that you said, did it ever occur to you that these kinds of games were made in the first place because people thought it would be a great idea to have a vast, open online adventure with RPG elements? It was like a nerd's dream.

And for the love of god, please don't assume I don't know what you're trying to say.

(It's not about you)