Possible level/story jumps....really?

[RiceisNice]

They would need to make the post 60 content easy enough to accommodate brand new players so enjoy running Satasha level easy dungeons early in the expansion if they implemented this.

To be honest, they need to stop making non-raid content easy as is and at the very least, hold people accountable for performing basic functions in a party. The fact that people consider Nidhogg normal to be difficult is astonishing to me. They'd always fall upon "I'm new to this fight"...but you're not to new to the game and it's honestly not a good explaination for dying to telegraphed horrid roars (before the cauterize goes out no less)

[bass9020]

People who actually agree and can justify people just buying levels are just as bad as the people who do it.

[Zadocfish]

Agreed, people already mindlessly FATE spam their way to level cap with no idea how their jobs/roles function. The horrible players who would use this would still get to level cap and be horrible regardless.

Eh, FATES aren't really the best way to get up to cap anymore... after 50, maybe, but dungeons are actually a lot better at giving experience now.

[SDaemon]

Eh, FATES aren't really the best way to get up to cap anymore... after 50, maybe, but dungeons are actually a lot better at giving experience now.

I never said it was the fastest or best way of way of leveling but people still do it. Especially with people farming HW FATEs for crystals. People hop on jobs they're leveling and just spam not learning anything about the job or its nuances.

[Fancy_Corndog]

There are two valid responses to this approach:
1. Progression should be meaningful and no content should be missed or left behind.
2. It is good for new players to be able to enjoy the latest content, and it is good for new players to be able to access relevant content with friends if they were invited to the game by someone else.

Personally, I think that both of these feelings are very important to address. On the one hand, I feel like retaining the importance of existing content and the significance of progression probably outweighs ease of access for new players for the game's longevity. On the other hand, I understand that such a model is unsustainable with the current nature of the game. What happens in a couple of years when we're playing 5.0 or 6.0? Should a new player be expected to play for a year or more to catch up to the latest content? Obviously that is unrealistic. Enter, a solution to both problems:
Branching, optional (but very relevant) content.


Currently, I believe the expectation is that updates and expansions build on top of the main story arc, wherein we (each of us, the Hero of the World) progress through a world-changing story while linearly increasing our power either directly through class level or -slightly- indirectly through item level. Each of us is on the same path, and in order to get there, your friend who you invited to play the game must progress through everything that you have progressed through. The only difference is optional side quests, which are almost entirely inconsequential in terms of character progression, and alternate jobs.
Is this the best model?


What if, after the release of 4.0 and the supposed Ala Mhigo story arc instead of continuing past that the next series of updates (and perhaps even the next expansion) neither implicated the main character as Hero of the World-Changing Event nor made his/her actions necessary for the next addition to the "Hero of the World" story arc? Could we not have a -main- story arc, which every character must experience in order to proceed and which accompanies things like level cap and substantial item level increases, alongside any number of branching story paths that are largely inconsequential to the -main- or "canon" story arc but are nevertheless intriguing and worthwhile?

In terms of story and lore, I think the answer is an obvious yes. Of course we can place a marker at any point of the main scenario and implicate the main character in some important, interesting, and world-building series of missions that can aim to entirely avoid what may happen in the main scenario. Please be aware that I am not advocating a large dump of side quests as we know them in FFXIV when I explicitly mention the main scenario as a separate entity. What I am suggesting is something of the exact same quality - it could introduce new areas, jobs, dungeons, and materials - but that is not required by the next step of the "main scenario" by lore or by character progression.

The problem of character progression is what makes this a more interesting and difficult endeavor. If there were to be a branching, optional full expansion of the game - how could it be made interesting if my main job, say DRG, does not gain levels or a substantial increase in iLvl? I think there are solutions to this, but for some their introduction would be a notable departure from the current model. One of the easier and cleanest steps towards making the content progression-relevant would be to introduce BiS (or close to it) gear at the end of the story arc.
A branching story arc could act as a stepping stone towards end game content for players who have an interest in being well-geared, but would prefer story content to grinding or to farming difficult content. Maybe the best weapon for your job is obtained by grinding out a relic, the best legs, hands, and jewelry are obtained by farming some difficult content, and the best body is acquired at the end of an optional arc of the story. Maybe your more classical job-looking gear comes from story arcs and a piece or two happens to be BiS. In addition to using lateral gear upgrades to make branching progression worthwhile, optional traits (character upgrades of some sort) may be introduced.

This would be the greatest departure from the current system, but I think it could work. First, obviously you would gain some sort of token to exchange for rewards instead of EXP. That alone is definitely not worthwhile enough, though. Perhaps progression through a story arc grants your DRG a slightly better critical hit chance on jumps, or maybe it even grants your character a choice between slightly higher critical hit chance or slightly higher parry rate. This would reflect the Merit system of FFXI, but it wouldn't need to be as permanent a decision. Maybe each time you defeat the final boss of the Gelmorra expansion you get to choose your application of the bonus. Maybe that same expansion has a more optional primal fight that allows you to choose another bonus trait or stat upon clearing.

These are just my ideas, and I know that the immediate problem would be balancing the progression from optional content so that it would not lock out players who choose not to purchase the "branch" expansion before the next expansion to the "main scenario" or "main trunk" of progression. Honestly, I don't think that would be very difficult though. The goal would be that new players could join the game, progress through 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 while veteran players are delving into the branched arc of 5.0...and then everyone meets up at 6.0. The point is to retain a fundamental, required story arc that is never left behind or missed by any player while continuing to provide full-fledged content that is as interesting and relevant to players who are caught up.

In conclusion, I feel that the only options are to do the above, or to introduce a leveling potion that will likely make a lot of existing content irrelevant and may weaken the relevance of all future content by its implication. These are my thoughts on the matter, provided since feedback was requested.

Thanks for reading.

[Kewitt]

What is that USD. I put in 8800 Yuan and yen ...


Chinese Yuan 8800 = $1337 USD
yen 8800 = $84 USD

[Shurrikhan]

The community has pretty well proven that the leveling experience in this game offers little guarantee of learning even the main components of one's job; the game offers too little challenge or support (not difficulty reduction, actual support—as in effective learning tools) to provide a useful skill or experience baseline for a level-capped character. As such, I can't see eye to eye with a lot of the major fears I've seen mentioned so far. Now, It seems more than a bit inappropriate to me, in that you can choose to forgo hours of grinding for money, rather similar to if one were to buy a rare market-board collectable off the cash shop, which has closer connections to RMT than I would like. But, I doubt it's going to significantly adjust the percentage of players unfamiliar with their job at level cap. For as many will flounder through their first several encounters after a glimpse at their skills, as many or more will likely be encouraged to seek more thorough third-party help to make up for the levels skipped and will likely arrive at a place of decent play superior to that given by the less-than-optomizing experience of leveling.

[RiceisNice]

Now, It seems more than a bit inappropriate to me, in that you can choose to forgo hours of grinding for money, rather similar to if one were to buy a rare market-board collectable off the cash shop, which has closer connections to RMT than I would like.

The level cap itself is rather generous in regards to exp:time, and if anything it's more on forgoing the time spent on playing courier for 1-50 than an actual grind. But I digress, I still feel its a bit too soon to introduce a boost going into only a second expansion, and would be more in favor of trimming out the fat in the ARR quests.

[TankHunter678]

What is that USD. I put in 8800 Yuan and yen ...


Chinese Yuan 8800 = $1337 USD
yen 8800 = $84 USD

Coupon is not traded 1:1 for yuan, or yen for that matter.

Its 100 Coupon per yuan. Just like its 100 Crysta per USD.

This translates into an 8800 coupon price into a $13.39 USD, if you were to convert Yuan into USD.

[ADVSS]

I dont know I'm too invested in the lore already to want story to go by the wayside, however i do agree that even job/class quests do a pitiful job of teaching one to play, for me dungeon experience was probably the best teacher to some degree, but thats only because as i grind dungeons i try to find faster and more efficient ways to clear them for more exp, whether its if im tanking, dpsing, or healing. Not everyone is like this though and very few dungeons actually force you to play optimally, and usually if it is a small dps/tank check.Im not sure what the branching story line means, it sounds like choose your own animus book to do and you get a stat boost for clearing all of it. Eliminating the warrior of light from story, and having control of thancred as a ninja doing x instance or whatever would be weird)but ok for soloplay, still dont like it) and side quests being goods exp? Not really a fan of those either, but whatever it took to get un level-locked to finish story(dungeons) if they made a conclusive end to 3.0 even if they gotta get up to 3.7 just for story patches, then fine im cool with that. Then, like i suggested have a new story focused on years after the events of ARR, and have the quests start at 15[60](if level cap is increased) And just have the new story be the focus, pushing lower levels higher up with exp and if level cap is increased having the 60s level about 1:7 ratio. Everyone following story should hit cap at a similar pace, and you can play with your friends. Or make story insignificant, so story gets as much attention to hildibrand, and since new players wanna know what the game is like for vets, you get to fate and dungeon for alt classes because theres no more story, and you get to grind tomes and raid the rest of time. So enthralling, so engaging,

Now I can understand story being a huge disuasion, but I feel like the veterans should still have something for their dedication and time invested in the game, that cant be written off with a potion or in game item. So Id think that sure skip story, no dont skip levels, and just have the new story take place of 2.x-3.x. Also keep all the dungeons and trialsfor 2x-3x locked behind that optional storyline as well.


Alternatively, i would like the new story to do this, and allow party and syncing in all instances, for several reasons:levelling a new job in 3.0 was about the first few days before i got to take it through the new story, in this case it gives you a chance to try out a new job and level it alongside your newbie friends-
Role learning: Lets face it, being a tank in the 2.x instances was terrible, even as a healer: the main goal is almost always to dps adds. Dunno how many times duty failed as a result of me tanking the mobs to have the npc keep trying to pathetically tank the big guy. In a party with friends a new healer or tank could learn their role alot better if instances catered to their role more than it currently does.The only downside to this approach with new story is "i wanna raids NAO" and if thats the mentality this catch up juice is supposed to cater to...hate to say it but i dont want them in my game