Why not an alt instead of moving jobs?

[Iscah]

Other then if you use the same gear for a different job (which I’d rarely do, if I want a different job I want it DIFFERENT)

On this particular point, you might be confusing gear and glamour. Yes, most of us would want our different jobs to look different, but that’s about using glamours - otherwise you’d have to deliberately equip weaker gear to some classes just to make them “different”! (Which you still *might* do at max level for jobs you don’t care about so much, or two jobs at similar levels sharing gear, but generally there’d be no point to it while you’re leveling up.)

[Niwashi]

Other then if you use the same gear for a different job (which I’d rarely do, if I want a different job I want it DIFFERENT) and the msq being lengthy (but still the best non Duty exp it seems) no one has really said why alts aren’t better.

A question in the form "why is X better?" assumes as a premise that X is indeed better, which isn't necessarily the case here. A more fitting question would have been more like "why do some people prefer X?" In that form, the fact that some answers don't apply to you doesn't negate them from being answers.

Some people like to do everything on a single character, leveling up all jobs that they're interested in on that one. Others like to have multiple characters and spread things out a bit. There is no single "right" answer that applies to everyone. There are pros and cons to each, and it's up to you to decide which is more important to you. (In fact, things like the MSQ some people place in the "pro" category while other people place the same thing in the "con" category. If you want to replay it, alt characters are the way to do so. If you don't want to have to replay it, sticking with a single character means you don't need to.)

A few of the advantages to sticking with a single character:

• Your advancement through the main scenario, your GC rank and your squadron, your chocobo's level, and so on (everything that you need to advance but is not directly about leveling a class) only needs to be done once.
• Gear can be shared between similar jobs. And for gear that doesn't suit your current job, getting it as a dungeon drop can still be useful if you're also advancing the job that it is for.
• The armoury bonus adds a lot of extra XP for leveling all but one of your combat jobs.
• If you want to craft gear but only want to advance the crafting classes once, you don't need to deal with the hassle of trying to pass items back and forth between alts (which is possible but awkward in this game).

A few of the advantages to having multiple alt characters:

• You can re-play the main scenario, getting to see it again, and keeping your leveling more story-driven. (It's not the fastest way to level additional jobs, but it's certainly a more interesting way to do so, at least for players who like the story in the first place.)
• Rewards that have daily or weekly limits can be earned separately for each character, letting you advance and gear up multiple jobs more quickly than if you have to divide a single character's allotment of rewards among multiple jobs.
• You get a chance to play with multiple races, genders, and appearances without fantasia's immersion jarring change to who your character is.

You'll have to decide for yourself which matters more to you. (And lots of people go with a hybrid answer, combining some jobs but not all of them, like one character for all the DoW jobs and another for all the DoM jobs, or some other split.)

[Squintina]

Being convenient isn’t really an answer to me because logging in and out isn’t that hard. I have to be missing something I’m sure.

You can't just take away the answer just because you don't like it.

Being convenient IS the answer (and it's not just about logging in and out)

1 - Not having to do the MSQ
It takes like 40 hours - actual play hours, not including life hours (you know, sleep, work, school, and enjoying other forms of entertainment)
And that's just for ARR part 1 + part 2. I don't know how much it is for the full thing, but probably about 60 game hours.
Whereas a person who really wants to can level a side job 1-60 about 13 game hours.

2 - Not having to redo UI layout and hotbars

3 - Not having to convert macros to shared macros because they were done as personal macros
What, not everyone thought in advance that they'd have to

4 - Not having to lose out on your friends list, LS , etc..

5 - Not having to log in and out
Sure it's not that hard right now during offtimes.
But when a new patch is released, logging in and out = having to wait in a log in queue.

It's also nice when you're chatting with a curious new person to be able to show them things from a variety of jobs without having to make them wait for log in/out all the time.

6 - Reuse gear and use existing gil/tomes farmed on higher level to buy gear for non-reusable gear

Other then if you use the same gear for a different job (which I’d rarely do, if I want a different job I want it DIFFERENT)

*OP asks why other people do something
*OP negates answer given because s/he wouldn't personally do that

Plus on a main it's a lot easier to buy gear, including non tradable gear like tomestone gear, for an alt

7 - Trading between alt sucks
If a person wanted to use their main to help their alt, they have to either:
* log in, put in FC chest, log out. (what if someone takes their stuff because they took too long? What if there's no room in the FC chest and they're not supposed to take stuff out?)
* Use an in-between person to trade

8 - And most importantly, it's faster
There is the armory bonus to level faster. There are other options than just "hunts, fates and duty pugs". Combined with #6 and a chocobo who's already leveled and actually using in some of the leveling methods, it's just faster even if using the slower leveling methods like fates and leves.

POTD is the #1 way to level 1-60, but there are a multitude of leveling options:
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...31#post4650931


9 - Entry sub (for those who use it) is ONE (not 2) character per server (with a max of 8 characters total across all servers).
https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/product/
Scroll down to Service Fees

10 - For people who use cash shop and they want to be able to use the items they bought, some items have to be bought PER CHARACTER instead of account-wide.

I think I’m just old school and the game is more new

Old school mmos relied on people grinding for the sake of leveling (via mob farming and dungeons), not story quests, to level.

[savageink]

considering you are level 44 in a single class and have yet to experience the MSQ slog to Heavensward, I say just wait and see. You won't want to repeat it either(....and I have lots of alts so I've done it both ways.)

[Stoutale]

Old school mmos relied on people grinding for the sake of leveling (via mob farming and dungeons), not story quests, to level.

Great write up, solid information but understand everything in this game is a grind. Find this, kill that, it’s a MMO it’s what they do. Also you are full of knowledge, but you are one pompous arse! I was simply asking for more reasons because “using the same gear” simply doesn’t matter in a lot of cases. You are the type person that will gladly give very good information all the while belittling someone because of how you perceive they mean something on a forum. Your information would be just as helpful without your quips taken at people.

[Squintina]

Great write up, solid information but understand everything in this game is a grind. Find this, kill that, it’s a MMO it’s what they do. Also you are full of knowledge, but you are one pompous arse! I was simply asking for more reasons because “using the same gear” simply doesn’t matter in a lot of cases. You are the type person that will gladly give very good information all the while belittling someone because of how you perceive they mean something on a forum. Your information would be just as helpful without your quips taken at people.

You're right, I could and should have been nicer about it.
I'm usually much nicer, maybe it's because work has been hectic this week (not that that's an excuse to take it out online).

I apologize.

[Stoutale]

You're right, I could and should have been nicer about it.
I'm usually much nicer, maybe it's because work has been hectic this week (not that that's an excuse to take it out online).

I apologize.

I expected flames, this was cool and thank you. Again your knowledge is clearly there and I learned a lot of why people do what they do because of it. Thank you.

[Canadane]

Levelling is super easy, you don't need the MSQ to do it.
It's never been easier, in fact. Exp rains down on you.

[Mhaeric]

Levelling is super easy, you don't need the MSQ to do it.
It's never been easier, in fact. Exp rains down on you.

I went from 30 DRK to 50 DRK in a little over a week just doing the solosquad dungeons, for example. A single run of the highest one available to you up to level 50 will net slightly more than one full level's worth of xp. This is only something you can do on a character who has already completed a bunch of content on another job. Just one of many ways that exp is far faster with am experienced character than with an alt.

[Mhaeric]

Someone is being a "pompous arse" and it isn't Squintina. I would suggesting reading your post with an eye to hoe you come across as doing the very thing you say they are.