Low-level content

[Jericho]

Can anyone tell me the point of low level content? Shposhea? Tot-rak? Quests/missions with a low rank requirement? Low level leves? What's the point?

I'm not going to pretend I'm in charge and say "It's way too easy to get to 50". I'm not a dev or one of the cocky 500+ posters that think they know best. I will say that it is very easy to get to 50. With some good parties, you can get there in a week or 2. Once party search shows up, it'll be cake.

So, why, if its that east to get to 50, would the dev team waste resources to implement low level dungeons and quests? 50's blow through that content just to say they got it done. Thats it. Nobody ever says "Yes! I finally hit 25! Let's go to Tot-rak!". The content for levels 1-49 is basically EXPing anyway, and most people only do the other stuff if they can't find a party (which, again, will be fixed soon).

I am a nostalgic, so no need to point that out... But... In the golden days, there were quests and missions that required you need to be a certain level to do, and/or capped you at that level so you weren't gimped trying to get a party for it as soon as you hit that level. Which, by the way, took a lot longer to get to. So, once you'd partied for 5+hours and got yourself from 55-60, you could keep trying to level up, as well as watch for CoP Airship fights that you were now ready for.

I don't see how that wasn't a perfect system. There was some content for low levels, mainly quests and missions, with lots of milestones on the way up that let you interact with high levels without feeling like a loser, but the whole goal would be to get your favorite class up to 75 to get to the REAL content. I spent a good year or so getting my first job to 75 and I thought that was a respectable amount of time, and I had plenty to do when partying wasn't available.

And when it takes that long, you don't just go outside and level another job to 75 when you can't get into some content... You find a way to get included and get your job to work for the situation. Why should I try to get my Arc to work for the Ifrit fight when I can zoom up Lnc within a week or 2 when I really feel it necessary to get the fight done?

I'm not even touching on making the game solo friendly... IMO, my non-humble opinion, there is no room in an MMO for anti-socialists. There should be a couple things to do..farming, crafting, etc... But thats it. You shouldn't be able to get through the whole game solo.

I just don't get it.

tl,dr
Either bring in the FFXI difficulty of leveling, or stop wasting resources on low level content. No reason to give low levels something to do if they're not going to be at that level very long.

Support.

[RemVye]

Can anyone tell me the point of low level content? Shposhea? Tot-rak? Quests/missions with a low rank requirement? Low level leves? What's the point?

I'm not going to pretend I'm in charge and say "It's way too easy to get to 50". I'm not a dev or one of the cocky 500+ posters that think they know best. I will say that it is very easy to get to 50. With some good parties, you can get there in a week or 2. Once party search shows up, it'll be cake.

So, why, if its that east to get to 50, would the dev team waste resources to implement low level dungeons and quests? 50's blow through that content just to say they got it done. Thats it. Nobody ever says "Yes! I finally hit 25! Let's go to Tot-rak!". The content for levels 1-49 is basically EXPing anyway, and most people only do the other stuff if they can't find a party (which, again, will be fixed soon).

I am a nostalgic, so no need to point that out... But... In the golden days, there were quests and missions that required you need to be a certain level to do, and/or capped you at that level so you weren't gimped trying to get a party for it as soon as you hit that level. Which, by the way, took a lot longer to get to. So, once you'd partied for 5+hours and got yourself from 55-60, you could keep trying to level up, as well as watch for CoP Airship fights that you were now ready for.

I don't see how that wasn't a perfect system. There was some content for low levels, mainly quests and missions, with lots of milestones on the way up that let you interact with high levels without feeling like a loser, but the whole goal would be to get your favorite class up to 75 to get to the REAL content. I spent a good year or so getting my first job to 75 and I thought that was a respectable amount of time, and I had plenty to do when partying wasn't available.

And when it takes that long, you don't just go outside and level another job to 75 when you can't get into some content... You find a way to get included and get your job to work for the situation. Why should I try to get my Arc to work for the Ifrit fight when I can zoom up Lnc within a week or 2 when I really feel it necessary to get the fight done?

I'm not even touching on making the game solo friendly... IMO, my non-humble opinion, there is no room in an MMO for anti-socialists. There should be a couple things to do..farming, crafting, etc... But thats it. You shouldn't be able to get through the whole game solo.

I just don't get it.

tl,dr
Either bring in the FFXI difficulty of leveling, or stop wasting resources on low level content. No reason to give low levels something to do if they're not going to be at that level very long.

Support.

I started reading, then it got too long. But I am a 500+ poster who knows everything and is never wrong.

Salt N' Peppa want you to push push push it real good.

[Llewelyn]

I've been playing since launch, but realistically, about a month after launch, and then again since 1.18 (so 2-3 months total).

My highest combat job is 38, followed by a string of jobs at 20, and some crafting.

I spend a lot of my time doing quests, exploring, goofing off with the LS, etc. The problem with Shposhea is that the gear drops (mostly) suck. While they might be slightly above average, they're easily replaceable by other gear.

Toto-rak gear, on the other hand, is quite good for its level.

And actually, people do say "Yes! I finally hit 25! Let's go to Toto-rak!" The problem is, nobody hears it, and so when they finally get to do Toto-rak, it's typically because a level 50 had mercy on them and rushed them through it. The lack of party search means it's a LOT of effort to get a real party together for something like this.

There is a fair amount of content 1-49 in the form of quests. There should be more content. I'm sure the dev team is working on it. (The fact that class quests stop at 36 seems odd to me)

And I'd disagree about FFXI's "real" content being at level 75. The endgame stuff never interested me; just the missions. While a lot of that you had to be 75 for, you didn't for all of it.

In any case, the dev team said a few months ago that the goal was for it to take several months to hit level cap. The fact levelling is so easy in 1.19a just shows that they overcompensated, and I'd expect an XP nerf in 1.18 as a result.

And finally, I would agree in general the game needs more content. But that's like saying water is wet. We know the game needs more content at all levels... and the devs are working on it. Threads saying "Make more content!" seem a bit pointless to me, because... well... we know they're making more content.

[Wolfie]

Nobody ever says "Yes! I finally hit 25! Let's go to Tot-rak!". The content for levels 1-49 is basically EXPing anyway

There's your problem and solution. Nobody wants to go to Shposhae or Toto-rak because they're out of the way and they don't give good exp or leveling item rewards. So they need to make Shposhae and Toto-rak both accessible and rewarding enough that people would want to do them over regular grindan.

I am a nostalgic, so no need to point that out... But... In the golden days, there were quests and missions that required you need to be a certain level to do, and/or capped you at that level so you weren't gimped trying to get a party for it as soon as you hit that level. Which, by the way, took a lot longer to get to. So, once you'd partied for 5+hours and got yourself from 55-60, you could keep trying to level up, as well as watch for CoP Airship fights that you were now ready for.

People did those because they were requirements to get into end-game, not because they LIKED doing them. And every single high level player that had to be ranked down to finish those complained like there's no tomorrow, because it honestly was a bulls*** system. You're confusing something that was imposed on the players for content that players wanted to do.

I don't see how that wasn't a perfect system. There was some content for low levels, mainly quests and missions, with lots of milestones on the way up that let you interact with high levels without feeling like a loser, but the whole goal would be to get your favorite class up to 75 to get to the REAL content. I spent a good year or so getting my first job to 75 and I thought that was a respectable amount of time, and I had plenty to do when partying wasn't available.

Perfect system = having content available throughout your whole leveling experience. Perfect system != having content that's imposed on you throughout your leveling experience, or forcing you to RANK DOWN if you're higher level.

And when it takes that long, you don't just go outside and level another job to 75 when you can't get into some content... You find a way to get included and get your job to work for the situation.

lmfao, go tell that to all the BSTs and DRGs that were consistently skipped over for basically anything because their class sucked.

Why should I try to get my Arc to work for the Ifrit fight when I can zoom up Lnc within a week or 2 when I really feel it necessary to get the fight done?

You're saying that as if LSes in FFXI didn't PL people with lowbie jobs to 75 in a few weeks. When we lost one of our BRDs, we PLed one from 17 to 75 in two and a half weeks.

I'm not even touching on making the game solo friendly... IMO, my non-humble opinion, there is no room in an MMO for anti-socialists.

Big difference between anti-social behavior and not wanting to be forced in social situations 100% of the time.

There should be a couple things to do..farming, crafting, etc... But thats it. You shouldn't be able to get through the whole game solo.

I just don't get it.

tl,dr
Either bring in the FFXI difficulty of leveling, or stop wasting resources on low level content. No reason to give low levels something to do if they're not going to be at that level very long.

Support.

TLDR: go away fake hardcore FFXI purist. Your type has no room in MMOs anymore.

[Blarp]

Either bring in the FFXI difficulty of leveling, or stop wasting resources on low level content. No reason to give low levels something to do if they're not going to be at that level very long.

They've added a single tiny non-instanced "raid" for lowbies and two instances and it upset you enough to write six paragraphs worth of whining? There's different players and, as you might guess, they enjoy doing different things. So, yes, let's stop developing low-mid level content because random forum guy thinks it's pointless.

[MattyWS]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's a great thing to have some random stuff to do when you get bored of leveling.

FFXI clamming for example. :P

[TheVedis]

alot of people may level quickly to 50
but there will be a ton of casuals come ps3 launch especialy who will take their sweet time doing everything, and may be in range of several of these lower content areas being added for quite a long time

they will end up getting plenty of use

[Platinumstorm]

Low level content is incredibly important to retaining players. One of the reasons so many people quit is because they had nothing to do at low levels. While many people on this forum seem content to grind as "content" and as a character experience, the vast majority of MMO players are not content with that and want to have more engaging adventures and things that make the game an actual Final Fantasy experience.

So to answer your question low level content isn't really all that important right now, but once 2.0 hits it will become incredibly important - if not the most important content aspect of 2.0.

[Baxter]

Can anyone tell me the point of low level content? Shposhea? Tot-rak? Quests/missions with a low rank requirement? Low level leves? What's the point?

I'm not going to pretend I'm in charge and say "It's way too easy to get to 50". I'm not a dev or one of the cocky 500+ posters that think they know best. I will say that it is very easy to get to 50. With some good parties, you can get there in a week or 2. Once party search shows up, it'll be cake.

So, why, if its that east to get to 50, would the dev team waste resources to implement low level dungeons and quests? 50's blow through that content just to say they got it done. Thats it. Nobody ever says "Yes! I finally hit 25! Let's go to Tot-rak!". The content for levels 1-49 is basically EXPing anyway, and most people only do the other stuff if they can't find a party (which, again, will be fixed soon).

I am a nostalgic, so no need to point that out... But... In the golden days, there were quests and missions that required you need to be a certain level to do, and/or capped you at that level so you weren't gimped trying to get a party for it as soon as you hit that level. Which, by the way, took a lot longer to get to. So, once you'd partied for 5+hours and got yourself from 55-60, you could keep trying to level up, as well as watch for CoP Airship fights that you were now ready for.

I don't see how that wasn't a perfect system. There was some content for low levels, mainly quests and missions, with lots of milestones on the way up that let you interact with high levels without feeling like a loser, but the whole goal would be to get your favorite class up to 75 to get to the REAL content. I spent a good year or so getting my first job to 75 and I thought that was a respectable amount of time, and I had plenty to do when partying wasn't available.

And when it takes that long, you don't just go outside and level another job to 75 when you can't get into some content... You find a way to get included and get your job to work for the situation. Why should I try to get my Arc to work for the Ifrit fight when I can zoom up Lnc within a week or 2 when I really feel it necessary to get the fight done?

I'm not even touching on making the game solo friendly... IMO, my non-humble opinion, there is no room in an MMO for anti-socialists. There should be a couple things to do..farming, crafting, etc... But thats it. You shouldn't be able to get through the whole game solo.

I just don't get it.

tl,dr
Either bring in the FFXI difficulty of leveling, or stop wasting resources on low level content. No reason to give low levels something to do if they're not going to be at that level very long.

Support.

I recently came back, and although I was a bit high for Shposhea I ran around in there, killed a few things, and I could see how it is very rewarding for newer players with no gil, no gear, and it teaches them the early part of teamwork. It can provide all of that for them. You are a lv 50 ARC this dungeon was not made for you. Not everyone has a lv 50, and the announcements have brought more people back to play. Leveling isn't very slow, but it's not super fast either. Not everyone has all day to play grinding in a party.

[Misteyes]

Just because leveling 1-50 doesn't take as long as some players feel it should doesn't mean it should have to be boring.

If I can level my THM in Toto-Rak from 25-33, that's eight levels of having more fun than I would be having in a grind party.

Personally, I hope to see more low level dungeons so that, in the future, I can spend more time in dungeons and less time running back and forth fighting the same mobs over and over again, when the time comes that I have to level GLA to 32 for sentinel or whatever.