Every now and then I check other Eorzeans' profiles on The Lodestone and recently (well, since last year actually... It's been a while since I wanted to post this.) I've been noticing this trend to have all the battle classes at level 50.
I know personally many
good adventurers with every Disciple of War and Magic at 50, so this is
not a post to judge your play style nor time spent in Eorzea!
This is a Topic about a concern I've been having since I noticed this trend and after personally experiencing this super fast way of leveling up.
In
another Topic, I talked about possible predictions on the “Legatus Battle” content of patch 1.23, thinking that they might raise the level cap by then.
And if you think about it, with the current system, how much time will it take you to go from level 50 to 55? A couple of days?
My point is simply that. Is it really
enjoyable to reach the max level so fast?
Let me illustrate my last own personal Adventure, relating to what I believe will become
an issue in the long run.
Yesterday I needed to obtain some materials for crafting, so I went on an Adventure in three different areas of Eorzea.
Before starting, I had Pugilist at level 47 with 17.271 EXP (looking at the data and time on my screenshots); I went to the Twelveswood and fought level 40-42 Wild Hogs for around 20 minutes, getting a few Boar Hides.
Then, I moved to the west in Coerthas and battled level 40-42 Brutal Sheeps for 45 minutes, getting 25 Karakul Fleeces.
Later that evening, I went to Camp Iron Lake and, after some relaxing gathering, I slayed for 40 minutes the level 40-42 Young Raptors near Oakwood, obtaining 25 Raptor Skins.
And my total EXP was... what it is now, 62.913 EXP. That's
over 45.000 EXP in less than 2 hours... and without me actually wanting them.

In my opinion,
10.000 EXP would have been enough for this time spent of farming materials against monsters 5-7 levels below mine.
This is the reason why I had already stopped doing Regional Levequests and Behests with my Pugilist; if I'd do them, I'd be level 50 before wanting it, and I want to be a level 50 Disciple of the Hand first and do my final Pugilist levels as a Monk. That is my Choice of Adventure.
One of the last times I did a Behest in Camp Bald Knoll I got over 8.000 as EXP Bonus (neglected Behest), so of course I stopped doing them as a Pugilist. Look, it's over 8.000!
At the same time, I'm leveling up Conjurer and Thaumaturge, currently at 23, and I can say that it's not that fast to level them up. It's not slow, either. I think it's just
fair. It'll be easier, however, after level 30 (also thanks to Company Leves) and even more after 40.
Don't misunderstand my post into something it isn't, though.
The “problem” doesn't really concern me, as I've the control to decide what leveling up and what not, so I can just stop leveling Pugilist like I did now and focus on something else until patch 1.21.
But thinking about new adventurers... Will this system really make them
enjoy the Adventure of leveling up? A system where you can go from level 45 to 50, the final and theoretically hardest levels to achieve (the end EXP needed for Disciples of the Hand & Land is just fair, for instance), in a single day?
In my opinion, leveling up should be an
Adventure. Visit different places, trying out different monsters, no matter if they yield less EXP, but at least you vary and you create memories worth to be remembered.

This is what I always did. I moved from areas to areas and battled different fiends, experienced different challenges. I may not have a single battle class at level 50 yet, but I surely enjoyed my leveling up! [Until they increased the EXP gain so much, that is.]
Yesterday – that same day I was farming materials – while I was in Treespeak, just before starting to fight hogs, I wanted to pay a visit to the glowing tree and there I stumbled across a group of defeated adventurers: I raised one and then they invited me to join them in battling the Notorious Monster Haughtpox Bloatbelly. I was the only level 47, but I could do my part and we defeated him right after his minions.
Probably something most of you already did many moons ago, but it was my first High-level Notorious Monster and, even if I wasn't at max level or with ultimate equipments, I Greatly enjoyed it nonetheless.
Just like when leveling up, before the huge increase in EXP that forced me to stop, with my pace and taking my time.
The last EXP party I had dates at the 1st of January: I accepted because it had passed some time since my last one, but when I reached Camp Broken Water I noticed the surprise of a Thaumaturge 4 (or was it 5?) levels above mine and in fact during the 5-stars levequest I couldn't do much with monsters being defeated incredibily quickly with AoE spells. When I said to the adventurer that invited me that “Maybe you're a bit too high for me...”, he answered: “The end reward is the same for everyone, though.”. This is when I smiled, replying: “You mean the EXP? I don't care about that, I'm interested in
the challenge.

”, and I kindly left the party. What fun would have I had in that?
This is just an example of the type of adventurer that, unfortunately, craves only for reaching the max level as soon as possible, getting el suuuuper equip and that's it. If you're one of them, please don't be offended by this. I just don't understand how much “fun” there can be in participating in a party like the one I just mentioned and leveling up like this.
That said, I hope that when
2.0 is released this system will change, to allow new adventurers to enjoy their travel from level 1 to max,
earning it rather than the couple of days it'd take now to go from 50 to 55: Yes, you'll be able to do almost immediately the new super endgame content, but after that...?
In the past, we remember there was a limit to the max Experience Points gained from a monster: even if it was 10 levels above yours, there was a set amount of EXP you could obtain. Now with EXP Chains you can easily get 1.000+ EXP from a single monster.
I'm not saying to return to that (clearly not a rewarding system), but
a better balance is surely needed. Unless we really want everyone with a Paragon's Crown

, supposedly one of hardest Achievements to get.
Like I said, the pace of leveling up until level 30 is fine, the adjustments should be made after that.
I think I read another thread in the past of another adventurer expressing his concerns on how quickly we can level up the battle classes now, but he wasn't understood. “
WHAT? Are you asking to give us LESS EXP? How dare you! Did you smoke some of the Twelveswood funguars or what??”, that's what one might think if my point is misunderstood, too, but not if we look at
the Eorzea on the long run like I'm doing. Luckily anyway, I've my Flame-proof Subligar equipped.
If other adventurers feel like answering and telling me if they
sincerely enjoyed their journey in reaching level 50 in a few days (or in one), maybe with just the same monsters in Camp Broken Water or with raptors in La Noscea/Coerthas, and if that's fine for them, or would prefer a little slower pace in the leveling up process (that is,
a bit less EXP gained) until
more variety in the camps/monsters choices is introduced (most likely with 2.0), then please do so.
But I'd also like to ask the
community reps, as I don't remember ever reading a response of the plans on this, if the dev team is aware of the situation and can recognize this fast way of leveling up as an issue to be adjusted, like I illustrated thinking about future adventurers, or not.
That's all.