Please Consider Boosting Side-Quest EXP

[Shougun]

Please consider significantly bosting the side quest exp rewards, perhaps particularly when you get a job to 90 or through some sort of armory exp bonus mechanic.

I saved the quests for a second job because I thought it would be a fun way to level, so once I hit level 90 on Paladin, before finishing the MSQ I note, I decided to level SMN to catch up to the MSQ that I have left that still gives exp (88).

Ran back to areas with huge amounts of quests excited to fly in levels and get some story. I suppose some item rewards are nice in a few quests but largely it was not a useful option. I didn't need the quest exp when going through the first time (again noting just by occasionally doing some FATEs I had hit level 90 before even finishing the MSQ), and apparently you don't really need them through the second time either. Since 1 quest gives you about 1/2 or less of a single FATE but can easily take longer to do.

Now there is item rewards sometimes, and the lore can be fun, but technically FATEs also have item rewards... Quickly became do the quests to clear them off the map and maybe learn something fun, but not because it was a rewarding method of leveling as a better choice would have been to do FATEs (Bozja, dungeons, basically anything else- even though quests are a one time deal, which to me means they should be stronger then).

So I sincerely think boosting the side quests would be a good thing. And if there is a worry about launching a first time player way too quickly to cap, which is valid, then perhaps consider bonus exp when you hit cap or better yet when you are benefiting from the armory exp bonus. Particularly I think some sort of armory bonus would be a really smooth solution. As for the amount I don't really like to think too long on numbers since balance is a fine art, but at least it should be comparable to a FATE... though I would want to say more than that.

Another suggestion then is perhaps open some of these quests later via some means that keeps them from inundating new players in the area causing them to get more exp then they need or feel annoyed that they did the quest when it was worth less (before their armory bonus kicked in).

Thank you for reading

Not a serious issue, but was / is a bit of a minor annoyance (doing the quests to clear the map and maybe learn something, when at least I feel my brain is trained to do the quests because it's a valid source of exp).

[LeonKeyh]

I agree. Side quests really aren't a great way to level and I feel like they should be since they're limited. I think that side quests should be able to get you a second job to cap.

I saved all of the Shadowbringers sidequests for Reaper/Sage and managed to get 74 on one. EW sidequests were a bit better, they helped get about 8 jobs to 81 from 80. I don't feel like the alternate rewards (gil, equipment, food, etc) make up for the lower amount of xp.

[solitonmedic]

I second this. The EXP boost will also incentivize more players to actually complete sidequests. I mostly skip them because there was just so many of them and I would rather just rely on MSQ experience to improve my jobs.

Some sidequests do have good and sometimes hilarious plots that would be a shame to just miss them. Boosted EXP would just sweeten the deal a bit, and I'm all in for it.

[LederHozen]

I'm all for increasing the EXP from sidequests starting from SH. I did some basic math when looking how much EXP it each quest rewards with how much total exp the level you're on is needed, and it looks like each synced sidequest gives ≈2%, which can definitely feel like a drag. Especially since as solitonmedic said, there are lots of sidequests that have hilarious moments, and some help flesh out the world.

[Sauteed]

There are so many sidequests everywhere tho, if they increase them too much no one would do any other content. How much experience should a side quest give? 7 or 8% of a level per quest? If you see how stacked some areas are with them, that's a lot of xp.
I haven't really done a lot in this game in terms of side quests tho, I really don't like the go here kill 2 or 3 (or however many) kinds of quests in games, I feel like it's kind of low bar in terms of compelling gameplay ideas.. some of the go hear and wait quests really grind on patience. I liked some of the ones I've done tho. I wish they offered something a little more than a splash of gil and next to nothing xp tho.

[Shougun]

There are so many sidequests everywhere tho, if they increase them too much no one would do any other content. How much experience should a side quest give? 7 or 8% of a level per quest? If you see how stacked some areas are with them, that's a lot of xp.
I haven't really done a lot in this game in terms of side quests tho, I really don't like the go here kill 2 or 3 (or however many) kinds of quests in games, I feel like it's kind of low bar in terms of compelling gameplay ideas.. some of the go hear and wait quests really grind on patience. I liked some of the ones I've done tho. I wish they offered something a little more than a splash of gil and next to nothing xp tho.

I get the concern but they are also one time though, so I don't think it is a significant long term concern (ultimately it'll be okay, may cause some ripples in the fabric but I don't think so large it's unacceptable (obviously just my imo lol)).

Also my suggestion related to armory exp bonus as one possible solution, which would mean players would be split along a line to some doing other content (helping soften the impact even further, as well as reduce potential mass acceleration on first time players).

As for a number I think at least double, though I'd think triple would be better. Such that they are better than doing a FATE, one with the exp buff even. Currently they're so small that doing a FATE feels like doing three quests and often in less time, and imo that feels bad.

I think getting a level, at least, would be the minimum goal from doing all the quests in a zone, though that is the minimum I mentally picture. I personally saw it, before trying it and making this post, that I could take 1 job all the way through to 90 from 80 on just side quests alone (if I completed all the side quests on one job I'd get 10 levels, perhaps also assuming it's the armory bonus solution so it doesn't mess with the first time through content). The ideal situation for me is that it can take a single job to cap (on side quests alone, if you saved them for that). That is massively far from the true capability of quests lol.

Edit: a future idea might be as you rank up the shared fate level you could also have very high reward quests unlock (further separating the rate that players branch off from other group content, as well as reducing the immediate screen bloat and potential decision paralysis from loads of quests since they'd be parsed out a little bit more this way).

[LeonKeyh]

There are so many sidequests everywhere tho, if they increase them too much no one would do any other content. How much experience should a side quest give? 7 or 8% of a level per quest? If you see how stacked some areas are with them, that's a lot of xp.
I haven't really done a lot in this game in terms of side quests tho, I really don't like the go here kill 2 or 3 (or however many) kinds of quests in games, I feel like it's kind of low bar in terms of compelling gameplay ideas.. some of the go hear and wait quests really grind on patience. I liked some of the ones I've done tho. I wish they offered something a little more than a splash of gil and next to nothing xp tho.

They are 1 time only, it's not going to result in nobody doing anything else. If anything, Bozja is the thing that is causing people to not do any other content, and the side quests would at least be current expansion content.

Right now, Side quests are enough to get 1 job from 80 to 86 in Endwalker. We're not asking for side quests to be able to level all 18 of the other jobs, we're asking for at _least_ allowing side quests to be used to level 1 additional job from 80 to 90. That means, 17 other jobs still need other content to be leveled.


Edit: Honestly, I did all of the side quests just to clear my maps knowing that they were a really inefficient means of leveling. I ended up skipping all of the text because it was so slow, but if they side quests were enough to get another class to 90, I would have been much more likely to sit there and enjoy them rather than just rushing through them to get it over with.

[StriderShinryu]

Yeah, I have to agree with this. It's only a one time thing and yet even if you do all of them they don't give you enough XP for a single job. That's definitely rather poor. As it is, it really does feel like you're almost punished for doing side quests when just spamming FATEs in the same zone is more rewarding given that they not only give you more XP but they also give you Gems as well.

[DawnAskham]

Side quests feel very unrewarding, especially when compared to the other options that are unlimited (Bozja, dungeon spam, Fates). I just pretend they don't exist.

[Besame]

Waste of time and lack of gil recoup. Just do away with them if you are gonna be so cheap lol.