This game is inexcusably bad for new or returning players

[PartyBarn]

I do have to ask, is going through msq, repeating quests you already did, again and again for xp less repetitive braindead content then doing fates or dungeons?
Hint msq is riddled with dungeons too dear.
Every system is tied in and explained in quests too. So just do all the varied quests there are on the map and you will encounter all these alternative systems. And it vgets better these quests are specially marked too so you can easily find them.

I replied a second ago touching on this but no I didn't do a lot of that content. I started and joined friends that were already on current content in early shadowbringers and boosted/skipped to catch up with them. I'd love to actually replay what I skipped and get some good XP for it. I don't see any harm in allowing that. Even if it was less efficient I'd feel fine about it as I get to live through (or yeah, relive) the ostensibly and oft-lauded "best part" of the game (that the game/shop and your friends encourage you to skip if you try to join late).

[Vahlnir]

Your options for leveling a Viper/Picto apparently are

They added 2 new dps jobs. Of course they, along with literally every other dps job, are going to have to wait longer in queues. Same thing happened with SAM and RDM when Stormblood launched.

[Lusarae]

Came back to the game after taking most of endwalker off (because, you know, after 6.0 it was awful) and holy crap I can't believe how bad it is to level one of the new jobs.

It's taken them a decade to utterly perfect the art of driving away new and returning players who would otherwise be excited to hop in and try the new jobs. Your options for leveling a Viper/Picto apparently are:

- Fail every single critical engagement in bozja because everyone is new or forgot how to do them
- Get silver or bronze in most fates in bozja because the zerg moves impossibly fast
- Do endless fates in EW zones or side quests (if you have any left) that don't move your xp bar at all
- Wait 45m to 1h in queue for DPS
- Find an FC you can use and abuse to mooch green or blue queues
- Quit the game (this is me btw)

I've spent about 10 hours of gametime struggling to level my viper to 84 and I just can't do it anymore and I don't know how anyone puts up with this literal abuse from the devs at this point. I actually kept my sub going to keep my FC and player house and I guess I should thank the devs for giving me the nudge I needed to take their fangs off and get mad enough to give up my houses after years of paying to not even play the game to keep them.

FFXIV players love to talk about how awful WoW and other MMOs are but holy shit the returning and onboarding experience in WoW looks like pure joy in comparison to this. Absolute dogwater.

I hope a Square employee reads this and feels literal shame, because this experience is shameful when there are so many other great games out there doing this so much better.

That sucks. The queue issue was solved by just having a friend queue as a healer with me.

[EXOMAGE]

Completely disagree with like everything you said. It’s so easy to level. You don’t want to do Bozja do dungeons with NPC’s as a DPS then. Problem I see with every mmo nobody wants to level anymore they think they should just be at end game instantly sorry that’s not how it works. Also my queue times as a DPS haven’t been bad at all.

[Vahlnir]

Completely disagree with like everything you said. It’s so easy to level. You don’t want to do Bozja do dungeons with NPC’s as a DPS then. Problem I see with every mmo nobody wants to level anymore they think they should just be at end game instantly sorry that’s not how it works. Also my queue times as a DPS haven’t been bad at all.

The downside to NPC dungeons is that they take longer to run, but it's faster than waiting for a queue at the moment. Trial, Alliance and Normal Raid roulette wait times aren't bad for dps though.

[Striker44]

Completely disagree with like everything you said. It’s so easy to level. You don’t want to do Bozja do dungeons with NPC’s as a DPS then. Problem I see with every mmo nobody wants to level anymore they think they should just be at end game instantly sorry that’s not how it works. Also my queue times as a DPS haven’t been bad at all.

I call this the "WoW effect"...MMO's used to be about the journey (even WoW itself), and many still are. But ever since WoW went all-in on the e-sports thing and M+, they turned the "journey" into just an excuse to get you to max level. We're seeing that bleed into people's minds in other games now, too, where there's no desire to appreciate the journey and the only intention is getting to max level. No surprise it doesn't mesh well with a game like FFXIV that is in fact still very much about the journey and intends for you to take your time getting to end-game.

[AddictedToWitches]

Came back to the game after taking most of endwalker off (because, you know, after 6.0 it was awful) and holy crap I can't believe how bad it is to level one of the new jobs.

It's taken them a decade to utterly perfect the art of driving away new and returning players who would otherwise be excited to hop in and try the new jobs. Your options for leveling a Viper/Picto apparently are:

- Fail every single critical engagement in bozja because everyone is new or forgot how to do them
- Get silver or bronze in most fates in bozja because the zerg moves impossibly fast
- Do endless fates in EW zones or side quests (if you have any left) that don't move your xp bar at all
- Wait 45m to 1h in queue for DPS
- Find an FC you can use and abuse to mooch green or blue queues
- Quit the game (this is me btw)

I've spent about 10 hours of gametime struggling to level my viper to 84 and I just can't do it anymore and I don't know how anyone puts up with this literal abuse from the devs at this point. I actually kept my sub going to keep my FC and player house and I guess I should thank the devs for giving me the nudge I needed to take their fangs off and get mad enough to give up my houses after years of paying to not even play the game to keep them.

FFXIV players love to talk about how awful WoW and other MMOs are but holy shit the returning and onboarding experience in WoW looks like pure joy in comparison to this. Absolute dogwater.

I hope a Square employee reads this and feels literal shame, because this experience is shameful when there are so many other great games out there doing this so much better.

skill issue
roulettes and dungeons got my viper from 80-90 so fast.
Word of advice, while waiting in queue have you tried doing other things?
Oh wait, you're one of those who thinks after 6.0 the story went to shit
bait thread, move along everyone, here's your honorary reply