Before you power level noobs

[BruceyBruceyBangBang]

It's very simple. Good players will be good players no matter how they are leveled up. One of our new-ish healers joined and was PLed by his brother. Pushed him right into events and played just fine. If you have a natural affinity with games then you're going to be fine.

I also know a player who leveled all classes with me before XP was changed and before PL was introduced and is just not that great and doesn't follow direction and doesn't anticipate incoming threats. For instance, some mages cure before a target is about to be hurt and other mages cure only when the party member is hurt. This is something that one can adapt to, but if you are just naturally good at playing MMOs you're going to be the one who anticipates the DMG and cures.

This isn't taught through grinding. This is just how a good player reacts to situations. If you've got it, you've got it. If you don't, powerleveling or grinding legitimately is not going to teach you that. Some players are just simply bad no matter how hard they try.

[drchook]

Hey there Xakery (and everyone else in this thread). I just thought I would bring to this thread the perspective of someone brand new to the game (I only ever played briefly in beta, decided not to buy at that time).

I have not been power-leveled, or asked anyone to be power-leveled. To me, power-leveling is something you do for your third or fourth+ class (done by someone close to you, not paid for), when you know the ins and outs of the game and are simply looking to achieve a goal quickly.

But what I really wanted to focus on was this statement "I just think it would be more fitting if the veteran's give advice to the newer generation of players." I could not agree MORE. However, if that advice is out there, it is very difficult or sometimes even impossible to find. I think I will make another thread about this soon, but since your statement was the 'spark' I wanted to reply here first.

As a new player, trying to find something out about this game is not only extremely difficulty, but very confusing. Google searching something simple like "ff14 jobs" returns links to paid guides, youtube videos from the first beta, obscure forum posts, press releases, and many other things which are not really what I was looking for at all. It took me 20 minutes just to figure out what the class level requirements were for the job system, and then more digging after to that to find out their roles / uses.

Now I am not one to be squeamish about doing a little research, but these sort of confusing results show up for every little thing you want to learn about. And more often than not, the information you find is outdated / no longer relevant. I still am not 100% sure about what grand companies are, and what I need to do to be prepared to join when the time comes.

I guess my point is, you said "I just think it would be more fitting if the veteran's give advice to the newer generation of players" but in your whole post, you never gave me any advice. Where should I level? What should I hold on to / sell? How do the grand companies work? What is expected of players in parties? What are the level ranges for the various instances / boss fights? Outside the game, where can I find accurate, up to date information about the game? What's the best way to find a linkshell? And so on.

With 2.0 coming, everyone is hoping that a surge of new blood will give the game a fresh start and see it really take off. But it is my humble opinion that while square needs to hold up its end by making the game better, the community has a lot of work to do as well when it comes to ushering new players into the fold. I can tell you now, I have a LOT more patience than the average player is going to have when it comes to searching for the right answers, and it is my opinion that many new players will simply quit if they can't figure out how the game works a bit more easily.

Anyways, I don't mean to call you out, and I don't want to come off as angry or ranting because I'm really not angry. This has been a dieing game, but it's gotten a lot better. It's more sad than anything I guess that the games growing greatness is completely obscured on the internet by its past failures.

Thanks all!

~Chook

[HiirNoivl]

I am very happy to read so many good guides from knowlegeable people on this forum. All the information is there if people just look for it. PLing/Grinding matters not, so long as people do their homework.

[Arcell]

PL doesn't make bad players. Lack of motivation to learn one's role correctly creates bad players. Doesn't matter how they were leveled, they're going to be bad if they lack that motivation.

Similarly, it doesn't matter how someone is leveled because if they have the motivation to learn their role properly then they will. They will learn how to play their role properly and will be an asset to any party because of it.

I've seen people who leveled "legit" and are awful. I've seen people who were PL'd and are great. Granted, PL doesn't help the issue but it certainly does not create it.

I tell everyone I play with regularly: I don't care how you got your levels as long as you know how to play your class/job. Do that and we will have no problems.

[AlaulaTheGreat]

I think the worst part about leveling without PL is that the game just doesn't teach us anything.
I've gone 1-30 in the old system, 30-50 in the new and improved combat UI, and feel I barely can handle what my job is capable of.

[DeadRiser]

Power leveling ruins content. I loved doing Toto rak as a conjured at first then weeks later did it again as a Gladiator. It's fun to go through mid level content a a different class and see a different point of view.

Power leveling is what kills mid level content and I hope to hell that SE implement a lot more mid level content than they do now. Not leves, talking about dungeons and party content like toto and shopshae. Playing an MMO is not about the endgame content. It should be about the progression to get to that content. I'm sad to see this being taken away. And no, I'm not talking about the XI grind, I'm talking about a solid progression that's not too fast or too slow. I don't know we just need to slow it down to a slower speed with leveling in my opinion.


I do agree with the mass though that power leveling has nothing to do with skill even though I tell people that suck in this game to quit power leveling lol. I remember way back in the day when I couldn't wait to get to level 20 to get my stronger cure on conjurer and level 24? I think it was to get higher teir nukes. Maybe even to equip that cool gear that we got a level or two back and we've been waiting forever to equip it. Am I the only person that plays an MMO for that type of gameplay? For progression? It seems that way sadly...

[Arcell]

I've had this discussion with a lot of people lately and it always comes down to, we DO need more mid-game content. If there were fun things to do, some people wouldn't PL. I had the last 4 classes I didn't really care that much about PL'd but if there were some more interesting things to do while leveling I would have done that instead. The worst of it is 30-45, there's nothing but grinding or leves in that range, it's ridiculous.

However until 2.0 I still feel like I can let it slide for now since they're rebuilding the entire game. Mid-game content will come in time, though once 2.0 hits that excuse is out the window.

[Peptaru]

I firmly believe people would still PL, then just go blow through content without any effort. People (in general terms) always take the easiest or fastest path. Unless mid-level crap is capped, people will just roll through it at 50. Yes, some people will do it on 30s when its available, and ya... you can help on ur 50!.... I still support level caps to keep mid-game content amusing if/when they add some.

[DeadRiser]

I think once we get that content cap for mid level content it will make people have to actually try. I love how we can go back to toto rak now and can do something with the old gear for seals. But not having that cap just makes it a rush through, and a super easy way to get seals. People don't even have to try anymore.

And they also need to balance old content with the new adjustments. Darkhold is basically a joke now.

[Geesus]

In all seriousness, those tend to be the kinds of players who don't get PLed so much as they leech off their betters in exp parties.

I'm sorry but, doesn't PL'ing do exactly this?! LOL I sure as heck know when I'm PL'd I'm leeching XP and not doing a damn thing; other than being polite to at least cure the person PL'ing us if needed. So I'm not sure of the validity of your train of thought. If people who suck in PTs of any type suck not because they were or were not Pl'd but merely because they most likely spihon'd XP which is the meaning pretty much of Power Leveled, then please explain how PL has nothing to do with a person's ability or inability to play their role?

Personally as are all the leaders of our LS, we don't PL anyone until they have at least 1 50 job. And we do it for various reasons. Learn the nuances of XIV, the battle UI, communication during PTs or Dungeon runs. Learn how other players in your LS play or people in general. And earn your place in this game. Most people are "out of content" even without PLing. Now, take all the n00bs who come in and PL them to 50 every job? Yeah cause that will help build a solid community of people enjoying the game and now waiting for 2.0 launch. lol