Content idea, for all level ranges.

[Xikeroth]

Hello,

I often invite new FFXIV players to my linkshell and the biggest complaint by all of them is there is little or nothing at all for them to do, the limitation of leve allowances leaves them to constantly kill enemies for xp. Which is also very slow and tedious. Most of them don't want to bother crafting or gathering until later on if at all.(regardless of how addicting gathering can be at times)

The biggest factor that determines if people stick with an MMO or not, is how quickly can they get into the game and start doing stuff.

I agree with them that there needs to be more content for people to do at all level ranges of the game otherwise people may not feel like this game is for them since almost every other MMO I have seen has content for all level ranges in the game.

I was speaking with friends about some content we liked in MMOs and I was reminded of some content I have seen in LOTRO(Lord of the Rings Online) called Skirmishes.

Its battle-related content that was unlocked at a fairly low level(level 20 I believe).

It basically was an instanced battle against bandits, orcs or whatever else and it involved either defending an area or attacking one and retaking it from the enemy(shire, bree and other areas like that in the LOTR areas).

These were all instanced so it didn't interfere with everyone else. They also dropped rewards and granted XP. They could also be done as much as you liked. They could be done solo or in a group, the higher your level got the more you needed help from other players since the enemies got stronger.

As you leveled up you were able to unlock more and more and all of these rewarded you with points you could buy gear with in the end, they also dropped gear you could use or sell.

The best part about these is they scaled with your level, enemies got stronger sometimes enemy types changed becoming a stronger one and all the drops increased as well in terms of the level requirements, stats and so on. They scaled to the highest level player if I remember correctly so they would always be a bit of a challenge for a level capped player

The only thing is with FFXIV's current setup they would have to remove the ability to change classes inside so that people couldn't abuse the system to farm rewards.

This I feel is a good alternative to the very boring and bland system we have of leve quests and xp parties. It will give lower level players something to look forward to sooner. It would also give more stuff for the rest of us to do as well and lead to a road of content for everyone to do.

Maybe even add some sort of NPC factions related to them or something of the sort.

So long as we have more stuff we can do for even the lower level players it'll be better. Them having stuff to do is just as important if not more important then level capped players to have, since its them that will help the game population grow, not the people with everyone at level 50.

One very important aspect of MMOs is having content people could do with a large group, yes. However at the same time its very important to keep content you could do with just a few people, the ultimate goal is to keep as many people as busy as possible to keep them subscribed and help the game to grow. To do this we need more content you could do successfully with just 4-5 people.

[indira]

biggest issue i find there no one to do anything with, once people are finshed with something they wont do it again. then your stuck for a short time or a longtime on a quest or fight you cant solo.

they need alot of filler content thats repeatable you can do solo or with a party.(since SE is using WoW for there motivation) WoW has a ton of it from pvp battlegrounds to quest. if im stuck waiting for people all day its not fun right.

[Viritess]

Just as an observer it seems SE is in a tough position right now. As one of the few companies remaking their game while still having active players they are currently top heavy as far as level count. So for many current users adding in loads of lower level content isn't content to them at all.

But if you just add endgame when the 2.0 new blood will be unimpressed.

The other issue is to say people who have done it won't go help on say, Toto-rak (for a current example) for some, perhaps many is true. Theres a fair portion who helped me, and i've helped. The issue is when you want to do a low level dungeon, and the only people you can find are lvl 50s blowing through the dungeon with you in tow...Thats hardly fun either.

My first tot-rak was with a very nice person who was willing to help me finish the quest. And of course I appritated the help. But the dungeon wasn't what i'd call fun. It was basiclly run behind him, watch things die, finish quest.

When i ran with someone to help after i was only lvl 31. It was very very fun. the fights were actual fights. we worked together.

TL;DR. The current player base is so advanced in level that they are likely to demand more endgame content and instead request others meet them there quickly. New players will need something to do to keep interest while they attempt to get there. And SE is crunched for time with 2.0 itself, never mind large amounts of content for both So my possible solutions:

level "pegged" dungeons: This may be the easiest as far as time goes for the Devs, depending on the code, because it would spare the time of making new Locations and only require them to make a setting and spawn level appropriate monsters and different goals/bosses.

For example AV lvl 50 dungeon, as is. AV lvl 30 version: less to no HP poison gas. Instead it inflicts Heavy debuff. Enemies are instead maybe Puks and Moles. Coincounter is instead big Balloon, Miser is a Large Flytrap.
The added benefit of this system is new players will become more familiar with the dungeon map so when attempting endgame dungeons, the fight mechanics are the main focus of practice.
The negative would be the repetative maps. Personally i find this the lesser evil aslong as the fights and mobs are a different as possible.

I'll pause here before i make a GREAT wall of text, and add more thoughts should the thread continue constructively. Thanks ^^

Oh did forget one thing: Old content can be attractive if 1: Vanity slot or similar system is implimented, providing some reason to go back to content for a personal look or 2: A small reqard, be it seals, tokens to "something" or anything semi desireable but not provided in spades to atleast lure out the helpfullness hiding in all (most) people.

[Xikeroth]

It was one of the bigger problems with FFXI as well is the lack of content for people to do as they leveled up, they need content at every level range to keep people interested, not just the highest level cap. That's what makes the Final Fantasy MMOs so weak in terms of population.

In today's market people need something to do that they can get into and they can do without needing help from a full party or something they can get rewarded from while leveling up.

The two drawbacks to levequests is when you first start out you have a very limited amount of them, and if you often do them its repetitive so they need more wide range content.

If you think back to FFXI it was the same way and Tanaka basically ignored them completely and we all know how well that turned out massive population drop over time so they overcompensated by making leveling way too fast with abyssea and this game.

In actual fact it has little to do with the speed of leveling and more to do with the fact they have nothing to do. People want to be occupied and it doesn't have to be endgame at all some people even in other MMOs like lotro and WoW are quite happy they can login and just do something and not even be at the endgame content just have something they can do alone or with a couple friends.

That is SE's biggest weakness so far in this game. Toto-Rak is a joke compared to what others have, if not many people run it at 30 its because its nothing compared to other content, if there was no time limit it might be ran more by just a group of level 30s.

I suggested what I did because it was good, fun content you could do with multiple people or solo at lower levels, you could get rewards from it and it scaled with your level so even the first tier of the skirmishes were available at level 50 since the events scaled with your level. Something similar would help greatly and I think it would be a great addition to FFXIV, because clearly what they have right now isn't keeping people interested enough to stick around.

This sort of stuff wouldn't be hard to make they could use camps or small towns to do it and its something that could span across all level ranges and keep everyone busy or at very least give everyone something to do between their own personal events with linkshells or between primal spams. The major thing is we need a range of content not just the stuff we have now we need a lot more different types of things to do.

Content verity helps MMOs to grow and it helps people to stick with the game. If they want to keep subscribers and get more of them they need to make a lot more content from level 10-50 rather then just level 50 they need to fill in that rather large gap and levequests and toto-rak aren't exactly going to cut it if at all.

Throw in a few instanced dungeons with clear bosses no time limit and these skirmish things and you can almost bet that the game will grow just because the people starting out can see "oh hey I have stuff to do with others my level". This could also very easily be tied into a side storyline somewhere along the game giving people more story lines to explore.

If you take into consideration level scaling in terms of enemies and drops(maybe even let some rare materia drop at a low percent) and give them rewards in the form of special currency they can exchange for items be it weapons or gear that they can trade in it will only increase the viability for it and become a very successful event overall.

This could help solve the complaint of nothing to do if they do it right. and keep it for solo/lowman content to level up and expand to larger scale things at the level cap and make other things for larger groups.

Its just about making more content.

[Nabiri]

It would definitely be good to have some low level (well, I'm thinking 15-30) events for exp. Something that could be done often, and solo. I loved doing things in groups in XI, but in XIV most things REQUIRE a certain number of people, and that's terribly frustrating when you just want to do something exciting and challenging on your own or when no one wants to join you. :\

I dislike the over-instanced way this game is now (I know it has to be because there's only so much that can be displayed at once), and I'd really love some things like this to be open in 2.0. So you could start off alone if you like, but if someone wanders by and decides to join in, you can make a friend on the fly, (Loved that about XI).

(Would also like to see some kind of level sync or capped things, so higher level people could play with lower level friends).

It would be great to have something like this now, but it's too close to 2.0. I doubt they have time or even want to spend the effort on something like this for 1.x. Who knows though, there might be something like this already in the works or even completed for 2.0. :3
Actually.. they should at least have something planned for the lower level players by 2.0 as they're expecting to get new players, PC and PS3.

The issue is when you want to do a low level dungeon, and the only people you can find are lvl 50s blowing through the dungeon with you in tow...Thats hardly fun either.

This was a major issue for me as well. My first Toto-Rak experience was horrible. I was the appropriate level for the dungeon and we found members of the same level to do the run with us. Well, we died twice and they got fed up and switched to level 50 classes and blasted through everything. It was pretty lame. I didn't feel any sense of accomplishment (as I wasn't able to do anything) and I didn't get the adventure I was looking for. It gave a very poor first impression on these dungeons and just left me sighing at the end of the night.
If these types of battles could be capped int he future I feel that more people could enjoy them.

[SuzakuCMX]

Toto-rak is available at 25.
Ifrit is available at 30.
There are a few NMs you can do at ~34 and trade in their drops for seals.
You can do Caravan Escorts starting at 25 or 30.
Behests are a great way to level up. I usually get 5000-7500 EXP from a solo Behest at level 25-26.
There are a lot of public dungeons you can do from 25 onward.
There are a lot of sidequests that give okay amounts of EXP (1800+) that are little more than go here talk to X, Y, and Z, and come back for reward.
There is the main quest that gives a ridiculous amount of Gil.
There are also the class quests starting at 20.