History repeats itself

[Jynx]

This is the definition of rosy-eyed.

Yeah because remembering the first place most people in that MMO experienced parties and found their first contacts within the game is using Rose tinted glasses.

[Gokulo]

No, but saying that people thing about it positively is. Anyone that had to go through dunes more times to level sub-jobs or w/e dreaded going back there. The experience was fun the first 2-3 times, but after that... ugh D:

[Jynx]

No, but saying that people thing about it positively is. Anyone that had to go through dunes more times to level sub-jobs or w/e dreaded going back there. The experience was fun the first 2-3 times, but after that... ugh D:

I treally depends on the context you look at it. It was a necessary evil in my opinion, much like alot of things that people hate and want streamlined. People don't often realise that just because something was not their favorite part of the game that it played a significant role in how their entire gameplay experience evolved.

Take a look at leveling in general in XI it was slow, extremly slow to that point. It gave people a large window to interact with others, and learn their jobs (yes people did learn how their job worked in parties), and expand their character before actually reaching the "endgame".

Once you finished leveling your first job you had a whole new world open up to you in terms of activities. As for games with quick (Pointless) leveling curves, the whole point of it is to get you to the endgame it's far too fast to learn anything, you will avoid people you don't know like the plague, and your character ends up with a very linear view of their job and the game.

You are now at the endgame, the only point of the game.

Some things like traversing the world taking time, not knowing if monsters are agressive or not, quests not being highlighted for you and guided by the nose to completion, having a longer leveling curve.

Can all exponentially change how the game evolves, FFXI went several years before raising the level cap from 75 because they had alot of breathing room as to how they added features and allowed them to take a long time to finish. MMO's that follow the "Standard" WoW path tend to have content that dates itself quickly causing power-creep to be a massiv issue.

Obviously this is all just IMHO, but I always found some of the more annoying things in XI that people complain about to be some of the best features the game offered to make sure we weren't standing around in town with nothing to do.

[strallaalaa]

if you dreaded dunes after going back there a few times i'd have to say when it finally stoped being used totally i missed it and was sad it was not being used anymore. every class i got a huge smile when i ran out of sandoria to kill bunnies and that music started playing. i enjoyed dunes pretty much every time, and i did dred it in that things get a little crazy there sometimes. but mostly the issue is if time goes by it less people to join up there, or at start of game only problem was too many people there fighting for spots and mobs but it was awesome. or worse people just with no gear on and not knowing what to do, and that is what they are probably dreading, not wanting to repeat things and reteach things to people and well to bad. i get it but it happens even in dungeons as we speak, it happens in anything in a game not just a zone to level in.

[Warlock]

Sunny valkurn dunes had current's FF14 super eye-sore brightness everyone kept getting murdered by gobs , lizards gave shit for exp and crabs took an hour to kill ....only 2 ways you could have enjoyed it.
1) you are extremely masochist
2) You were PLed from start to finish

[strallaalaa]

Sunny valkurn dunes had current's FF14 super eye-sore brightness everyone kept getting murdered by gobs , lizards gave shit for exp and crabs took an hour to kill ....only 2 ways you could have enjoyed it.
1) you are extremely masochist
2) You were PLed from start to finish

or we thought of it as a game and didn't think nothing of any of that. if you didn't like it you must of played a crappier mmo that had faster exp or you just don't enjoy party play with people to begin with. dying from gobs was fun, killing lizards i never thought about the exp being low, it was normal to me. when the ghosts and skellies pop in zone it was funny, yeah after while it's like oh no. but all in all its a big lol and fun addition to a game. i didn't have any other mmo to compare it to for one and now that i do, i still would take the slow route over good exp.

all in all though it took 1-3days to get out dunes either way, then onto other zones that were all basically the same as dunes in that there was always mobs to kill you, and exp was always slow and steady. you must of just hated the mmo. and people didn't need pl'ers or expect them for years in the mmo. even though they did and it made it easier it also made it more boring. some people even leave if a pl'er shows up that how much they enjoyed the experience. lol i would take it but still funner without.

[Gokulo]

or we thought of it as a game and didn't think nothing of any of that.

Thinking of something only "as a game" doesn't suddenly make it bearable if there's something wrong with it O.o And I mean in general, e.g. crappy games will be crappy games no matter how you look at it.

Once again, the experience was interesting the first couple of times, but after that... If you enjoyed it going there with the 10th job when it was full of incompetent players, while you only wanted to get your subjob done asap, then yeah, I'd agree with Warlock that you must be a masochist or something.

[Jynx]

I don't agree with you. Here let me insult you instead.

Sorry I couldn't hear a word you said over your wanton hate.

[Keith_Dragoon]

I leveled almost 20 jobs through the dunes and I enjoyed everyone of them. It's not about the exp the deaths or the loot. I enjoyed the community, I play/played the game for damn near 10 years and I've met so many life-long friends and most of these encounters were in exp parties.

The dunes was nowhere near my Fav area but on the fly I can think of 10 stories that involves the map that has engraved itself on my soul.

[Matsume]

Hitory never repeats itself but it often rhymes

Mark Twain