Powerleveling Revisited

[Mirh]

Yes I agree that you don't "skip" a story if that's what you're after.(...) The game will succeed when more people are playing the game, not just the devoted few.

I've exhausted a lot of energy over the last few days on posts so I'm kind of in a mellow enough state to not do my normal, so you'll have to forgive me for a lack of worthy response:

You make several good points here, although I weigh this to be really to some level a glass half full / glass half empty situation. I did forget that a lot of people in WoW left due to how easy the game was, myself included once I progressed enough to see. The issue here is that WoW still boasted an incredibly large player base that was genuinely happy - the core of WoW, being quite happy just having casual fun. Blizzard did not have to worry about losing the hardcore fanbase because it would always have millions of players and intense income. They did this because they are (*blush*) an incredibly good company. (Although of course it brings in a few more $$million.)

SE does have to do whatever it can to keep their ridiculously pricy project of an MMO from sinking due to how catastrophic it all has been to them as a company - it's true. I think it'll all come down to what Yoshida is really about. If the development team really has that "Japanese passion" for FFXIV they did for FFXI, they'll want to bring incredible amounts of life into the world, and even if Yoshida is just wanting to make the game attractive for item hunter types, he won't be able to directly stop that.

Make no mistake though. I'm aware how insignificant anyone who wants a slower/more fulfilling MMO really is these days. If it were the other way around, I doubt you guys wanting a quick experience would lay down and take it.

If we don't really clamor for "something" about this SE won't have any incentive period. If you ever listen to Yoshida or read the interviews he seems surprised every time someone mentions something that isn't directly what he thinks will work because it works in WoW. More or less. And I'm under the impression S-E reads these forums. maybe a 12 page+ thread means something, even if it's full of "NO!" lol

Also, anything tough in WOW was strictly at endgame once Blizzard tweaked things. I'm sorry, that's really not fun. Pllllllease try to remember the leveling experience, while not fun to you, used to be fun for people, and the hours/days/months it takes people used to be considered part of a game, rather than an ancient method that wastes your time.