Am I playing the game wrong?

[Ronduwil]

I am a new player (highest char @ 36) and I feel like I'm not getting what I should from the game.

I'm not sure what you feel you should be getting, so I'm not sure how to help you with that.

I gain so much experience that I level way ahead of the MSQ which results in being synced, which in many cases removes the functionality of the spells I've earned.

I agree that the syncing removing functionality is super annoying, but it is what it is. As for leveling way ahead of the MSQ, consider focusing exclusively on the MSQ with your main job and then switching to an alternate job for any FATEs and/or side quests that you want to do. I did that for the latest expansion, and I was able to keep my MSQ and XP gain synced for the most part, even hitting a small wall at one point where I actually had to side quest a couple of hours with my main job to progress.

It also deters exploring the world and doing other quests as I detest having spells available then having them turned off. That is such bad form. How can I prevent this?

Level an alternate job alongside your main job.

The game is too easy, near zero risk of death. I believe I've completed 4 or 5 different dungeons at this point and they've been super easy. Open world game play is even easier thus far. Is there a hard mode so a decent challenge can be achieved?

Difficulty progression is a thing in this game, alongside leveling progression. I guarantee many wipes in your future, but I doubt you'll see any below level 47. As far as open world challenges go, you won't find any while questing. There are some special FATE bosses and elite marks that provide good challenges, however. You're just too low level to have encountered those.

I have transitioned from rogue to ninja and lancer to dragoon thus far. In both cases the game play didn't change. I thought the new jobs would be more transformative, did I miss a quest (or quest chain) that would have made it be more game changing?

Once you unlock the mudras for ninja, you'll find the gameplay very different. Sadly, one weakness of this game is that most jobs don't really feel complete until level 70 or so. The paladin rotation, for example, felt super wonky to me until level 80, at which point it finally made sense. I guarantee that playing your job at level cap will feel worlds apart from playing it at low level.

[HisShadowX]

I am a new player (highest char @ 36) and I feel like I'm not getting what I should from the game.

1. I gain so much experience that I level way ahead of the MSQ which results in being synced, which in many cases removes the functionality of the spells I've earned. It also deters exploring the world and doing other quests as I detest having spells available then having them turned off. That is such bad form. How can I prevent this?
2. The game is too easy, near zero risk of death. I believe I've completed 4 or 5 different dungeons at this point and they've been super easy. Open world game play is even easier thus far. Is there a hard mode so a decent challenge can be achieved?
3. I have transitioned from rogue to ninja and lancer to dragoon thus far. In both cases the game play didn't change. I thought the new jobs would be more transformative, did I miss a quest (or quest chain) that would have made it be more game changing?

Thanks

So sadly with the old JOB system it is going to require you to do job quests for job abilities from levels 30-60. So all ARR and Heavenward content will require you to do job quests. I can tell you this jobs can feel very different from expansion to expansion. Ninja is a great example of a job that feels so different as you level. Sadly again abilities are locked for ARR and Heavenward but after that all other job abilities will auto unlock and change how to play that job.

Black Mage I hate playing but once you get past 60 the job changes so much it makes it interesting.

[Doc_Seraph]

Simply put kupo, you are not playing the game wrong. If you are enjoying yourself you are doing well. <3 kupo

[Faafetai]

I have a ps4 account I have been playing on and for some reason I am behind on xp I was also for some reason robbed on tombstones when going through castrum and prae getting only 100. I did undersize brayflox because I didn't wish to be a detriment when first learning how to use the ps4 controller but not getting xp from brayflox should have put me levels behind msq. I had to do a bunch of side quests in coerthas in order to do the quest leading up to stone vigil. I also do not have the earring or the feather and this was right before endwalker around the ff15 event so it might be better now, but my gosh it really made me sad. This also happened to a few friends who also were running through ARR for the sweet ride. They needed to run leveling roulette a few times to catch up, so hopefully what you have said OP is true because that was depressing. I was just going through the story, no fates or side quests just msq and job quests, I did not have enough to do the quest right before stone vigil the one that unlocks it. I didn't have the earring or feather for friend referral just the brand new ring which ends its effects at level 30 . It was also really bad for two friends in particular who kept getting trials for their leveling roulette.

[AnotherPerson]

I am a new player (highest char @ 36) and I feel like I'm not getting what I should from the game.

1. I gain so much experience that I level way ahead of the MSQ which results in being synced, which in many cases removes the functionality of the spells I've earned. It also deters exploring the world and doing other quests as I detest having spells available then having them turned off. That is such bad form. How can I prevent this?
2. The game is too easy, near zero risk of death. I believe I've completed 4 or 5 different dungeons at this point and they've been super easy. Open world game play is even easier thus far. Is there a hard mode so a decent challenge can be achieved?
3. I have transitioned from rogue to ninja and lancer to dragoon thus far. In both cases the game play didn't change. I thought the new jobs would be more transformative, did I miss a quest (or quest chain) that would have made it be more game changing?

Thanks

Yeah, you generally level up beyond the MSQ if you're on a previous expansion. This is intended by design to make sure players will not be hard-blocked by not meeting level requirements due to being generous with EXP. Rested EXP, Bonus Level to 70 if you're on preferred world (or 80 now that Endwalker is out), roulettes, and other sources all help contribute to giving lots of EXP. In return, all this extra exp allows you to level up a second job very quickly.

At ARR, you shouldn't feel any real difficulty in the dungeon and questing experience until you reach level 50 and onwards. From level 50 onwards, you can start unlocking the extreme trials and more content that starts posing a challenge. You can even say it's so easy because you're a Warrior of Light & blessed by Hyadelyn from a lore standpoint...
Simply put, MSQ is designed to story content that's doable for many players. The challenging content is unlocked as you progress the MSQ through certain side quests (blue quests) - suffixed "Extreme" or "Savage" usually.

Dragoon and Ninja are very slow starting classes. Before level 30, all classes more or less play the same. As far as DPS jobs go, the difference starts appearing around levels 30 to 50, and starts varying greatly from 60+.

[Gamedad]

I'm not sure what you feel you should be getting, so I'm not sure how to help you with that.

A challenge and an adventure. (ya, was too vague lol) I'm about the journey, side trips you take along the way and less about the destination when gaming. Because this game is old, it seems the destination is where the challenge is. Because of how the jobs develop, they too are nearer to the destination. The 80/20 rule kicks in for me...is the 20% near the end worth putting up with the 80% less desirable content you have to go through to get there? It's a good thing both the music and artistry are really good!

I am in no way trying to flame the game, I'm just trying to reset expectations if possible. This game has some really good qualities. One of those is the community. There were plenty of thoughtful comments that were constructive and helpful. I very much appreciate the input.

[MiaShino]

A challenge and an adventure. (ya, was too vague lol) I'm about the journey, side trips you take along the way and less about the destination when gaming.

This lala over here would strongly strongly suggest sticking through ARR until you finally unlock Heavensward. It is almost meme here "In Heavensward it gets better!" but it kinda really does. Will take between one through three days if you charge through ARR and post ARR. The story improves vastly from, "What the heck am I even doing and why?" to journey across lands near and far to bridge the divide betwixt dragon and man.

Class progression feels much of the better as you begin to unlock all the stuffs that define how your job plays. You finally begin unlocking content that cannot always be unga bunga'ed to victory. Once further progression occurs into post Heavensward you are treated to Alex (Eight man twelve part raid series, much of the fun!) annnd the Void series (more 24 man raids that are vast improvement over Crystal Tower). Heck even the CT series may be most fun for you if only for something different. World Of Darkness still gives groups trouble some of the time! This unlocks at 50.

Because this game is old, it seems the destination is where the challenge is. Because of how the jobs develop, they too are nearer to the destination. The 80/20 rule kicks in for me...is the 20% near the end worth putting up with the 80% less desirable content you have to go through to get there? It's a good thing both the music and artistry are really good!

ARR and post ARR are.. rough. There is no sugar coating this I say with much sadness. Taking from friends, many of them finally began enjoying themselves once leaving ARR into post ARR.

Be certain you do Blue+ quests once those unlock. There are mountains of side content I feel you will likely enjoy. Many dungeons, entire raids, silly quest lines like Hildibrand which do unlock trials. Plenty all not requiring you to be at end game to enjoy.

I am in no way trying to flame the game, I'm just trying to reset expectations if possible. This game has some really good qualities. One of those is the community. There were plenty of thoughtful comments that were constructive and helpful. I very much appreciate the input.

Much understanding here! If there are friends and family you can play through with that may improve the ARR - Post ARR grind too. Know this helped my friends and family continue playing when they may have quit. If you can persevere once you unlock "Keeper of the Lake" that is when real fun begins! Best of the luck out there fellow adventurer! If you ever require assistance feel free to boop one of us as it seems you are on my datacenter.

[Ronduwil]

I have a ps4 account I have been playing on and for some reason I am behind on xp I was also for some reason robbed on tombstones when going through castrum and prae getting only 100.

I don't think you were robbed on tomestones going through castrum and prae. The 100 tomestones that you got were for running it for the first time. The additional tomestones aren't granted when you queue directly for one or the other. You have to queue for a random MSQ via the duty roulette to get those. You also get a massive XP bonus for the first random roulette of each type that you run each day. At low level, you can also run levequests to catch up if you fall behind. Also, be sure to log out in a rest area (like a city or an inn). Look for the moon icon next to your XP bar to determine whether you're currently in a rest area. Logging out in a rest area grants you a massive XP buff whose duration depends on how long you were in the rest area.

[Tahbitha]

For whatever it's worth, I'm a new player too. Level 54 Dragoon, just finishing up ARR.

I started out doing every sidequest I could find but I noticed by around Level 15 or so I was starting to outlevel the MSQ so I dialed back to just doing the MSQ and job quests. It took a bit but eventually the level of the MSQ "caught up" to me. I'm currently running Level 50 quests at Level 54, so still just a tad ahead but not so much it hurts the experience.

I'm starting to mess around with other jobs, and I plan to do sidequests then.

[Faafetai]

I don't think you were robbed on tomestones going through castrum and prae. The 100 tomestones that you got were for running it for the first time. The additional tomestones aren't granted when you queue directly for one or the other. You have to queue for a random MSQ via the duty roulette to get those. You also get a massive XP bonus for the first random roulette of each type that you run each day. At low level, you can also run levequests to catch up if you fall behind. Also, be sure to log out in a rest area (like a city or an inn). Look for the moon icon next to your XP bar to determine whether you're currently in a rest area. Logging out in a rest area grants you a massive XP buff whose duration depends on how long you were in the rest area.

It was I think 100 for castrum just queueing up and 200 for prae at the time so it should have been 300 like the other people who I ran it with. They ended their first time with 300 tombstones total and when I looked at my currency I only had 100 tomestones. I usually don't pay attention to that sort of thing so I would have just gone through not even noticing if someone didn't say oh wow if we run msq roulette I could afford a weapon. I looked at mine, and realized something was weird. It wasn't that big of deal, so I just ran msq roulette and again the next day to have enough for the weapon. Also aye, I ended up just running leveling roulette twice, but I didn't realize I would be behind half a level just going through msq. I think now they give you 200 tomestones for each one looking at my duty finder. So thats cool they boosted that I know some of the other roulettes got a tomestone boost too not a huge one but a nice little boost compared to how it was pre endwalker.

Oh and the challenge log fates that bumped me where I needed to be, but I think at the time square probably assumed you would stop to try out Fates and stuffs so the xp wouldn't be a problem. For my main account I was doing a bunch of side quests when first starting playing, so I was overleveled to 55 on bard by that point and ended up realizing I missed playing tank.