MSQ should NOT give EXP!

[FudoMyoo]

Since you mentioned FF11 (bleh) ... the forced party levelling (in the early game) is really screwed up. Unless you are a NIN, BRD or Redmage. (or in a static party).

[Evira]

I disagree with quest not giving exp. if anything I think quest should give more exp to encourage people to do them. It's also a onetime thing so once a quest is don't it's not like its repeatable outside of the society quest.

[Momma_Dee]

Heavily disagree with this one. You want us to go back to the old days of MMOs where you have to kill hundreds, if not thousands of monsters, to gain 1%? No, I don't want to go back there again. This is a surefire way to burn people out.

[Garruss]

Not getting exp from MSQ is one of the dumbest idea's I've ever seen on this forum

[MsQi]

Gaining exp. for things other than combat has been a part of RPGs since the beginning.

That said, the MSQ could use more interaction and action, beside "inspect nondescript location" and "go do dungeon". Sometimes I just want to shoot a guy who's talking too much, like Zenos or Krile.

[TGZero]

I never liked the fact that you can level just by talking to NPCs.. I get zero satisfaction on gaining levels when doing the MSQ.. unlike in FF 11, leveling felt honorable. We felt pround getting each level.

EXP should be earned by combat and combat only.

Lol get a load of this fella! The "Warrior King" wants leveling to feel "honorable"!

Get outta here with that bs, boy!

1. Old fashioned grinding is a sure fire to lose players.

2. I don't think I can take anyone who calls his character "Lord" seriously.

Let's just call you "Raz". The Raz-ma-taz who ain't got no jazz!

[Voross]

Nothing I hate more than "You need to be level XX to continue the MSQ" messages. It was terrible in ARR, going back to it is a horrible idea. So bad in fact that I'm sure this post is just bait. Only thing I can agree on is that the xp gain shouldn't scale with [Road to 90] buffs, etc.

[Absurdity]

There is a big difference between mindless mob grinding for EXP and having to actually do more than run from MSQ to MSQ until max level.
I remember having to engage with other parts of the MMO before I return to walking from NPC A to NPC B to watch a cutscene rather fondly.

Big fate trains in Central Coerthas whenever Svara's Fall was up.
Actually seeing people outside in the world. Be that for fates, leve quests or even side quests (when was the last time you did any of those?).

When the game at least tried to make "the journey" about more than funneling you from single-player story segment to single-player story segment.

[VeyaAkemi]

There are already adventure games that have no levelling, like Breath of the Wild

I would argue that BotW/TotK do have a form of leveling in Shrines/heart and stamina upgrades, it is less impactful than direct stats, but they massively influence your ability to play the game, even your ability to do damage, more Stamina means more damage and all.

[Absurdity]

Levelling is really just what the first pen & paper RPGs came up with to simulate a character growing, learning new skills in life and becoming more proficient at them.
So you could absolutely replace increasing your level to an arbitrary number to gain more skills and make numbers go up with something else.

You can see attempts at it in games like Guild Wars 2, ESO or even Skyrim.
Reward abilities through quests (which XIV already does in a very limited capacity but those still come with a level requirement), through exploration, through challenges, through sheer repetition of whatever you want to get better at, etc.
Although you will probably never quite get rid of having to fill up a bar, whether that's called experience or something else, and it's very unlikely to see a fundamental change like that in XIV.