New Player: Critical Observations

[Darkillumina]

Hello! First off a few caveats: I will not mention things that will be implemented/fixed with 2.0. I realize this game is getting revamped and it is redundant to moan about things that will be fixed. Secondly this may be a bit long and for that my apologies. Third, I make comparisons to FFXI. This should not come as a surprise as that game was the predecessor to this installment.

Background: Launch FFXI player until about 2007, a few other MMO's sprinkled in, 30 minute beta tester for FXIV.

So I joined this game about 2 weeks ago after hearing about the plethora of changes that have occurred since Beta. I must say I am enjoying the game but I would like to bring light to some things being done well and some things that need improvement down the road.

Leveling

While I enjoy the fact that the game isn't punishing like launch FFXI was, I feel that DOW/DOM leveling is way to fast. For instance, recent low level dungeons such as Shposhrae have been implemented but you level so fast that it is pointless to even bother with many of them. This in turn creates problems for the dev team as they have to constantly pump out end-game content to placate the player-base.

When a MMO becomes so top heavy that low level content is essentially worthless retention issues start to occur if the devs cannot keep up with end game content. With the arrival of 2.0 I believe that leveling should be scaled back for the new players in order to better facilitate the use of low level dungeons/quests. When a game simply becomes about end-game gear I would argue, -though opinions may differ- that the game itself begins to stagnate. I personally hate a gear grind more than a level grind.

Let us compare the leveling system with launch FFXI until about 2007. Let me get this out of the way first; launch FFXI was too punishing and should not be totally replicated, however the pacing and content available on the trek to 75 was valuable and worth doing. If FFXIV really wants to differentiate itself from the plethora of WOW clones they should not be focused on blasting the new users to 50 as quickly as possible. Instead they should create a system akin to FFXI's that actively promotes low level content and creates roadblocks on the path to 50 that requires teamwork to surpass.

Let me state that I am not advocating for this game to be FFXI in HD, rather I am pointing out that FFXI made the journey to 75 -as 'grindy' as it was- varied and interesting. It wasn't an easy journey to 75 but there were limit break quests, AF quests, BCNMs and various other activities that made the game enjoyable. I never once felt in 2004 and 2005 that I needed to be at 75 to enjoy the game to the fullest.

For perspective, I have GLD at 20, MRD at 23, Armorer at 20, Mining at 21, Blacksmithing at 17, carpentry and botany at 15 in less than 2 weeks of casual play. I think there is something fundamentally wrong here that needs to be addressed.

Battle System

While I realize this is getting revamped in 2.0 there are some criticisms I would like to make.

The first problem is that I really feel no sense of urgency or danger in battle. In FFXI, fighting 'Incredibly Tough' monsters was extremely dangerous. A link at the wrong time could wipe your group, a blown skill-chain could extend the battle to deadly lengths. Here, whenever I am grouped with 7 other adventurers it feels like we are a tank rolling over straw huts. In FFXI preparation was everything and character death was a very real possibility no matter what level you were; in FFXIV you just wander around wherever you go like a maelstrom of death and destruction.

The second problem I have is with the revamped skill system. Quite frankly it feels like I am playing WoW, DCUO or any other MMO based off the Warcraft model. I assign a ability, press 1, 2, 3 ect and watch my character utilize a various skill. When I am grouped up it feels even worse. It seems as if everyone is spamming attacks with impunity Again, I think this game can learn something from early FFXI going forward.

Skill-chains (SC) for instance in FFXI were a great way to promote teamwork and cooperation between party members. If you failed to do this, you failed to level efficiently. If you spammed your skills you got yourself killed. To succeed a firm knowledge of the battle system was required. The addition of SC to FFXIV would go a long way toward actively involving the player in the battle.

I would also try and reduce the party maximum to 6 or 5. With a party of 8 it feels like a giant cluster**** and is made even worse by the fact that everyone is just spamming skills to kill them as quickly as possible. Slow it down, it won't kill us. For end-game, alliances of 12 or 10 could be made available to topple a particularly tough challenge.

I also like how FFXI enforced partying on us. To progress we had to party unless we were BST. I do understand that this is not palatable in this day and age and thus promote a compromise.

Grouping should be the best choice if you want to level in this game going forward with 2.0. Most mobs past 15 in various zones should require a group to kill much like they did in FFXI.

"But we should have the ability to play how we want/solo."

I agree whole-heartily and that is where Leves should come in. Leves should be done only solo or in a pair and when spawned put you in an instance or spawn instanced monsters on the map that can be killed solo to complete the leve. The rewards and exp should not be comparable to grouping but it should be enough to keep you busy and progressing toward the next level while looking for a group. This solution prevents the game from turning into the waiting game that FFXI was at times for certain jobs.

If they decide to implement SC, they should also implement weapon skill levels. FFXI erred in the fact that you only leveled on certain monsters due to the danger most presented. If certain types are weak to certain chains it means that a party can change its leveling location and enemy type based on the job/class of the SC'ing members of the party. This prevents certain classes being ostracized such as DRK and DRG were around 2005 until they hit 66.

Crafting

I have no real issues with crafting in this game. In every MMO I've played, crafting has been a chore and FFXIV has tried to change that up. I would like to suggest that since pressing enter so many times is monotonous there should be a system in place that crafts a low level item automatically without needing the mini-game to be set-up. Even hasty-handing gets monotonous after awhile.

Apparently a revamp of the crafting system is en-route so that is all I have to say about this subject.

Loot + Gathering

The economy appears to be in shambles at the moment with little value placed on gil. Part of me enjoys the fact that I don't need to have millions of millions of gil to obtain certain items but economically it is terrible for the game. Even if an AH is implemented it will not solve the supply problem.

As it currently stands materials are a piece of cake to gather. There is an abundance of everything which creates little demand, since everyone can gather whatever they want in relatively little time.

In FFXI, I personally was a miner. I mined where most people wouldn't and thus felt like I was a contributing member of the economy. I wasn't a high level crafter, but myself and a few others went to great lengths to gather the materials needed that crafters would buy to make certain objects. Many of these crafters alternatively, did not venture into Ifrit's Cauldron or the Gustav Mines to whittle away a day mining ore and raw materials.

From the low levels farming crystals, to the crazed miners braving Ifrit's Cauldron, everyone contributed to the economy. While the current system dissuades RMT to an extent it effectively kills any semblance of economy.

Conclusion

This post may come off as negative to some people but the points listed above are really just suggestions put forward to the dev team that could help in creating a vastly different user experience from the plethora of WOW clones on the market today.

As a new player, the good currently outweighs the bad and I see myself sticking around for 2.0. I like the direction the game is going and applaud the grueling hours put in by the dev team in order to fix this game and redeem the reputation that was lost at launch.

If you got through this thanks for reading. While you may not agree with my points, at the very least it will create dialogue that will lead to even better ideas down the road.

I will edit this for grammatical errors tomorrow. If it is sloppy as of the current writing please forgive me for it is quite late!

[Yves]

Trust me bud - the gathering gets bad later on. The mats needed to grind on start being only obtainable individually (no more 2-3 ores per crack.) This is actually a problem because, as some people have stated, the mats sell for more than the finished items, atm.

Either way, very nice observations.

[Vaen]

About the leveling being so fast that everyone skips the low-level content like Shposhae; this is a really good point. I think Shposhae is a rather pretty and fun dungeon and it's a shame that I find it empty every time I go there.



Maybe instead of making leveling slower, they could limit leveling by making players do a quest in order to advance past level 20, 30, 40, etc, like they have for higher levels in FFXI. The level 20 Advancement quest could involve killing all the NMs in Shposhae for DoW/DoM... I think it's REALLY hard, but not impossible with self heals and potions, to solo the Shposhae NMs at level 20. So this would give most people an opportunity to group up and go to Shposhae and have a good time hunting NMs, and still give soloers an option if they try really hard. For DoL/DoH, they could add "special" gathering points/facilities within Shposhae where players can obtain a quest item to advance past level 20.




If these quests could involve some cutscenes and story, then all the better. It'll limit level progression without making things grindy or boring. Basically they need to make low-level content as interesting and involved as "endgame" stuff in this way.

They should also probably make these quests available starting when you're at least 5 levels below the "limit" of 20, 30, 40, etc, so there's a larger pool of other players who also can do the same quest with you.

Anyway, just wanted to write down this suggestion right away. Time to continue reading your original post!

[Darkillumina]

I agree. When I hit 15 I entered Shposhea because I heard there was decent gear to be had. Before I had even obtained 2 pieces of gear I had hit 20 and found the location pretty much outdated. There was another guy with the same mentality as myself so we teamed up and managed to take out the Lone Coeurl at 19. It was incredibly challenging to get down to him and kill him without dying but it was quite fun.

[Avraym]

I think your post was a good read and i agree with all of the issues raised.

Crafting interface = Slow and monotonous.

Economy is screwed atm. Matts need to be rarer or there needs to be more gil sinks implemented.

Made some good points in the battle part. Particularly, leveling curve being too fast.

The fact that its going to be made even faster with rested inn's and the fact that jobs dont even have to be leveled, makes me more than concerned.

[HiirNoivl]

One of our members who returned ground her class for hours to get it to 40 before she had to go back to school, only to go from 40-50 in a single day thanks to a wolf camp.

It's pretty ridiculous. Entire LS's go on vacation to play other things until the next "big patch". That's 2-3 months of no content for us. Moogle fight is pretty fun and difficult though (you have to have a good group and good communication to win). So if they keep up with content like that, then I believe that will ease up on the top heaviness of the game. (I really hope Garuda is not like Ifrit where you just spam spells and take naps between Weaponskill timers. Let's keep up the moogle standard!)

Also, they mentioned that job gear will be particularly difficult to get. So with new gear and jobs to keep r50s busy, I don't think we're going to feel the effects of the boredom the same.

Here's hoping!

[HokSeven]

I think it's power leveling that kills the game as well. People don't even bother to buy gear for a job from 1-35 since someone will be PL them. And then just head to a natalan party and you are done in a day or two...

[Answa]

Great post. About this one point:

Skill-chains (SC) for instance in FFXI were a great way to promote teamwork and cooperation between party members. If you failed to do this, you failed to level efficiently. If you spammed your skills you got yourself killed. To succeed a firm knowledge of the battle system was required. The addition of SC to FFXIV would go a long way toward actively involving the player in the battle.

Battle Regimens are being revamped in the future (Rukkirii made a thread about this some time ago), so we'll be able to both solo combos and BRs. I'm really looking forward to it. :3

I agree that leveling up can be extremely quick. But I, in my individual capacity, mostly solo to about 35 on most classes and find that fun and time-consuming. So it's a choice.

[Soukyuu]

Finally an OP that doesn't make a fool out of themselves.

I agree with most of what you have said, leveling is too fast for various reasons, especially this one:

I think it's power leveling that kills the game as well. People don't even bother to buy gear for a job from 1-35 since someone will be PL them. And then just head to a natalan party and you are done in a day or two...

Exactly, so why bother with low-level dungeons? I don't want to turn this thread into another PL debate, but it is an issue that is being played down by too many people. Even if SE adjusts the leveling curve, it still won't stop people getting PLed past low level content.

As for battle not being dangerous, it's only true if you are leveling on mobs too close to your level. If you level on mobs that are more than 5 levels above you, wiping is a high possibility once someone messes up (linking too much or healer healing the wrong target, or healing at the wrong time pulling hate to themselves)

Economy being in shambles is mostly because the majority of the playerbase already burned through all of the content, having all classes leveled to cap. That's why supply heavily outweighs demand. It should get better if we ever get a decent influx of new players, but that probably won't happen until 2.0

[HokSeven]

Finally an OP that doesn't make a fool out of themselves.

I agree with most of what you have said, leveling is too fast for various reasons, especially this one:
Exactly, so why bother with low-level dungeons? I don't want to turn this thread into another PL debate, but it is an issue that is being played down by too many people. Even if SE adjusts the leveling curve, it still won't stop people getting PLed past low level content.

As for battle not being dangerous, it's only true if you are leveling on mobs too close to your level. If you level on mobs that are more than 5 levels above you, wiping is a high possibility once someone messes up (linking too much or healer healing the wrong target, or healing at the wrong time pulling hate to themselves)

Economy being in shambles is mostly because the majority of the playerbase already burned through all of the content, having all classes leveled to cap. That's why supply heavily outweighs demand. It should get better if we ever get a decent influx of new players, but that probably won't happen until 2.0

You're absolutely right, and I'm not debating PL, but I'm saying it must go once 2.0 is introduced or keep it and forever forget about low level content. Just like to-to-rak, there is absolutely no reason for that dungeon. I suggest since SE got the assets, scrap it and put level 60+ mobs in it and make it a lvl50 dungeon.

That is of course like I said they fix that in 2.0 (which they seem to say they'll fix everything in it).

For the battle, you were right. Go level on higher mobs and then complain about the battle not being hard. What to complain about is besides the healer, there is no job definition for the rest (a tank maybe, but people even tanked Ifrit with a PGL or MRD). Every battle is a zerg-fest. Very few times you'll need to sleep and kite mobs (moogle battle). where in FFXI even bird parties needed the bard to keep sleeping and managing mobs. Perhaps the jobs will add some flavor to the battle?