Quote Originally Posted by Darshu View Post
Battle is a main concern in a RPG game. I don't think 1% of you here denies it, or dislikes it even. We play RGPs because we enjoy fighting monsters as something other than real people. Every RPG in the past lvled you through battle, and if you didn't enjoy it, then it's hard to believe you're here playing XIV. Some may like battle more than others, who also enjoy a good story, mini games, humor, cutscenes. But you have to enjoy battle to some degree. You also have to enjoy a challenge. Until now, games were meant to challenge us, some more, some less. But challenge already means getting you our of your comfort zone. Questing like that doesn't. It doesn't require you to play your role well in a battle, and it doesn't require you to interact with other players in a battle (note how I said _require_). Requiring it is important to make something engaging. If battles are important, questing is the main mode of lv progression, and questing isn't engaging, the game is pretty much screwed.

Battles in XI were the best a MMO has ever had. You can all disagree or argue with me, but no other game I know ever challenged you in such a way. You had to know your job to really succeed, you had to know everyone else's jobs, be aware of a lot of stuff. It was tense, engaging and rewarding when done right. It was also time consuming. I've reached high lv characters in most other games I played, and I never knew their role to the extent I knew mine in XI (because I didn't need to). Nor have I ever encountered difficulty when lvling in any of those games to the point I had to stop everything else and really focus. Arguing that XI's battle is not harder than others is silly. I don't think it can be denied.

But what does that difficulty accomplish? It bonds you to the players you're partying with. As someone else has mentioned here, XI parties were incredibly social. The game's social aspect was deep because of it. There was much frustration in the dunes, qufim, citadel. It was also memorable when you succeeded. I'm sure those who've played through that have very vivid, fond memories of great parties, more than they have of any other game. Now, how many memories can you really get out of lvling from 1 to 50 through a questing system such as this? Remember, this is not something you can just ignore, it's the main way of lv progression.

Did you not enjoy fighting in past games? Is fighting not a main aspect of a MMORPG? Then how can you prefer quest grinding, where you put little effort into your job and battles are usually fast and easy, over party based monster grinding, where you will put all of your skills to use, feel useful, have your new equipment put to the test, tighten bonds with party mates? This isn't supposed to be quest grinding over RO style of monster grinding, even though I personally would prefer that even over quest grinding, mainly because it was very challenging if you wanted a good exp rate. I think my main point and concern is quest grinding is rarely ever challenging. And if this is the main way through which we will evolve, then it can't be dismissed with arguments such as "Not every content has to be challenging". SURE! Make sidequests relaxing, interesting, about exploration, with minigames, or easy battles with a nice story (just the way it was in 1.0). Because those we CAN avoid and won't be doing them much if we don't want to. Make levequests easy and fast to get through, just the way it was in 1.0. But not the main tool of lvling up.
First time post on this forum, but I have to say, this is a great post that should be acknowledged. It basically sums up my feelings on how you build a strong social community in an MMO. I was also a long time FFXI player and reflecting back on those early parties, whether they were good or bad, I found you always came out with at least one new relationship. By the time you capped out your first job, you struggled to go anywhere where you couldn't find someone you had either partied or completed a common quest (Limit break quests for example) with. Those experiences built such a terrific social aspect to the game that FFXIV 1.0 could not compare to. I'm guilty in part of wanting a revival of an FFXI style of game, but I recognize that this game needs to be something unique in itself and solo ability has become more desirable for many MMO players.

My main fear is that FF will lose that rich social community if the game becomes too "soloable". Questing for xp should be an option, but I agree that it should not be the main and most effective way of levelling. Partying for experience should always play a big role in the game from early stages, otherwise you will create a community of self serving individuals which in my opinion is all WoW ever was, and not what this game should be about. I've heard the argument over and over that the game needs to be easier to play for those who don't have very much time, but to what extent? I would be so sorely disappointed if the game were to cater to those people and if the difficulty and team work was removed for the sheer sake of convenience. The game needs to be challenging and it needs to develop a strong community if they want it to last as long as XI did.

There was so much more to be had from problem solving with other players and learning your role on a team. Gamers are not stupid (especially not Final Fantasy players!) and I hope SE can get away from that trend in the MMO world of treating us like we are. At times I get the sense that SE is trying to run away from their own creation and emulate WoW instead of improving on the foundation they had laid out with XI. FFXI may have had it's shortcomings but the good definitely outweighs the bad.