Regarding Returners, Story Skip, Jump Potions, and the Novice Network

[HyperiusUltima]

As much as I agree this model is definitely a way to bring in money for SE, it's not without its failings in regards to gameplay.

To start off from a more recent experience, I ran Doma Castle with a Tank that didn't even understand what all his moves were...AT BLOODY LV 74. Generally when I think about levels, I want to think of it as the experiences that have taught the person how to play; however, it's obvious that with the existence of Jump Potions and Story Skips that this is heavily overlooked along with the Novice Network's rather notorious reputation with the community as a meme nowadays.

Returners who come back and Jump Potion to Lv 70 will not understand their full kit without even considering how the hell they're supposed to play. They won't know what Aggro is, or even how to play at a basic level until they're taught if they were gone for a whole year or longer. The tank I ran with in Doma Castle didn't know Overpower existed until I spoke up when I was getting bonked on the head for keeping him alive.

What this game needs is to make the Hall of the Novice a requirement in order to access Dungeons, along with Hall of the Intermediate which now should be needed considering how some classes are hard to play as is at the level range of 60-70. By making them requirements at certain level capstones, you teach the player the importance of pulls as well as how to play the game; though some people will just look over the tooltips and just say "I'll learn it myself".

This is perfectly fine...provided you aren't screwing over your party members.

Another thing I wanted to bring up was the Novice Network. When this was introduced, everyone rushed to attain it merely because it was A CROWN. It is nice that they bothered to create the Novice Network for both Returners and New Players, but if the kind of things I'm hearing about it are heavily negative in the regard that it's just some trollfest, then it sounds like the Novice Network needs an overhaul of how it is actually represented.

Back in FFXI, people had the letter M next to their name to show they were in fact a Mentor of sorts willing to help people out. The community in XI was very helpful from some of the stories I've heard about it, but why can't we have the same in FFXIV? Instead of making it a Crown that is just there to say "I've gotten X and Y and Z to Lv 80!" an idea of my own would be to change it to a flower or a tree to show the growth. For instance, you could make Returners have the Flower, and Mentors have the tree. This would make the Novice Network's icons follow a better theme than just the difference between a Sprout, a Returner(Sprout with Crown), and a person who's just got levels to be a Mentor with a Crown.

As for Story Skips, I find them fine actually. It allows the player to "catch up", but not in a leveling way. They still have to gain those levels and learn how their job plays. At the least, you'll be up to date on Story to experience an entirely new storyline! Though, there also comes the stipulation that if there were vital pieces as to the why and how this person is relevant(Ardbert and co., 3.4 Soul Surrender) that were skipped because of the Story Skip, it's going to be rather difficult to connect the dots. If you didn't understand who or what that person was and the weight of importance a character plays then it's like reading a storybook that started off on a tangent and didn't bother to write the backstory.

Of course, this is only if you care about the story. If anything else, there's improvements to be made.

[Ceallach]

Having played FINAL FANTASY XI, I can tell you that the conditions for becoming a Mentor in that game were similarly easy, but there was no Novice Network, Hall of the Novice, or Smith to find. The game largely dumped you into Vana'diel and let you figure things out for yourself, including leveling down due to dying too much. FINAL FANTASY XIV, like many games these days, prefers to hold your hand so you don't sue the game company for making the game too difficult for two-year-old children.

This meant that, while the conditions for becoming a Mentor are easy in both games, being a Mentor in FINAL FANTASY XI meant you were okay with randoms sending you tells asking what that M linkshell was, or about literally any aspect of the game, including parts of the game you personally were unfamiliar with, but those who did send tells to Mentors were more likely to get helpful advice. This was because you could turn the Mentor status off and run around like any other player. There was no indication of someone being new or returning to the game.

[Lunavi]

To be fair, this was ALWAYS a problem, even before jump potions, as some people would just level up their non-main classes by button mashing their way through FATEs. Some people will always pick the path of least resistance no matter what consequences it has in the end.

[ForteNightshade]

While I do agree a Hall of the Intermediate may help weed out some players like this, you will always find lazy partners who just couldn't be bothered. A jump potion doesn't inherently mean someone is bad. I've come across plenty who I only knew jumped based on their gear. I even had one explain Nidhogg mechanics because they looked up a guide. Still floored by that to this day. What it boils down to is people who care will put in the extra effort and those who don't, will not.

[Dynia]

once I meet tank with lvl 35 items on lvl 65+ dungeon he was more glassy than dps

[Legion88]

I don't see any problems with the level jumps, i only see problems with the players.

As if patch notes/job guides wouldn't exist and after a bigger break or after the launch of an expansion it wouldn't be worth the time to take a look into them and skimm over them in search for changes for your class/job.
This is mostly a problem with returners but after an expansion launch it should be als a player habit to take a look into them.
In the few days of ShB I saw tanks refusing tank stance, because "It reduces my damage", players wondering why skills don't work like they are used to or that some skills don't work at all anymore.

Checking tooltips and patch notes/job guides would solve 99% of problems with new players and returners.
Even figuring out a basic selfsustaining rotation is easily possible just by looking at tooltips, no greater math needed, just basic math, a little bit of common sense and a few minutes of time every other level someone gets a skill or trait.

[RosaLunaCelestia]

I want be able to skip cutescene when im on story roulet.... with all people buying the jump potion why continue to no give able to skip?

[SpiritMuse]

Instead of making it a Crown that is just there to say "I've gotten X and Y and Z to Lv 80!" an idea of my own would be to change it to a flower or a tree to show the growth. For instance, you could make Returners have the Flower, and Mentors have the tree. This would make the Novice Network's icons follow a better theme than just the difference between a Sprout, a Returner(Sprout with Crown), and a person who's just got levels to be a Mentor with a Crown.

I agree that a crown might not be the best option. It attracts too many people who don't necessarily want to be a mentor but just want the shiny crown next to their name. Someone once posited the idea of giving mentors a watering can instead, which I thought was brilliant. (By the way, returners already have a flower, don't they?)

[HyperiusUltima]

I agree that a crown might not be the best option. It attracts too many people who don't necessarily want to be a mentor but just want the shiny crown next to their name. Someone once posited the idea of giving mentors a watering can instead, which I thought was brilliant. (By the way, returners already have a flower, don't they?)

Returners have a Sprout below that shows a Crown on top, not a flower head.

[HyoMinPark]

To be fair, this was ALWAYS a problem, even before jump potions, as some people would just level up their non-main classes by button mashing their way through FATEs. Some people will always pick the path of least resistance no matter what consequences it has in the end.

This, basically. It’s a problem even with people that DIDN’T jump a job or skip the story. People not reading tooltips has always been an issue from dungeons to even Savage raids (yes, I have met players in Savage parties that don’t understand how their skills properly work).

Returners have a Sprout below that shows a Crown on top, not a flower head.

While true, it looks kind of like a flower, which is why people call it a flower.