Level Progression/Questing

[urban]

just my thought what ive been reading it seem ppl will defend quest like''i'll use the term most say Cookie-Cutter" to the death and some will also defend grinding to the death.. but its all boils down to what you like and/or perfer. i myself perfer grinding it give me a chance to know my job and new skill acquired from lving up and using it in a group pt. it suck when you doing primal and someone have to keep telling you how to play your job role lol. Side-quest are fun i play Aion and running back and forth turning in quest for EXP was faster than grinding plus the bonus when you completing it. Plus i say i perfer grinding in a group pt because i get a kick from other pt member telling "Bro when you make a PT count me in" or "Damn you are the Sh..t bro" or "That how you freaking tank bro your awsome!" i can go on forever but thats how other players Remember me by how well i play with them..so when i shout or they shout it dont take long for an invite because i polish my character. It let me know ive achieve my expectations.

[HiirNoivl]

I just hate questing with the same kill X mechanic over and over. Get some gameplay variety in there.

Agreed.

All leveling methods have limitations. Questing can become repetitive for a while... so if you get bored with that you can go grind with your friends in a open dungeon or do a F.A.T.E if available.

I just happen to dislike grinding camps because they are LIMITED IN NUMBER. Which causes stupid competition and rivalry (some competition is good and some competition is stupid. There's nothing sadder than a bunch of lv. 10s fighting over one measly camp).

[Forgo]

I liked the fact FFXVI let you jump from parties to solo with leves freely, it supported a wide range of player styles without making them stick to one thing or another. but me myself loved the leves and soloing quest but didn't mind a party here or there.

[Judge_Xero]

You know.. I've been biting my tongue for a long time when it comes to this topic of discussion, but I've finally had enough.

What is it with people railing against the core mechanics of this genre. More specifically the "cookie cutter.. kill X amount of enemies" type of quests. It's like.. it's like there is no pleasing certain people.

Basicly this in a nutshell. But from what we've seen so far in ARR (videos etc), it looks like there will be a huge variety of options to apeal to everyone.

Start: Fairly easy quests mixed with lore up to ?? level. (little reason to party, lots of tutorials, good grasp on core mechanics for new players)

Middle: More, very interesting quests mixed with exciting leveling dungeons (from Yoshi Letter), more reason to form parties, some new mechanics.

End: Party, Solo content

[PSxpert2011]

At first I thought you were saying how the quests were "cookie cutter", but I see you're actually responding to the people that are saying it. That said...

I don't think these people realize that the Quests that were shown were essentially Sidequests. And Sidequests in RPGs are pretty simple and haven't changed much. Mob control, fetch items, or bring materials.

...

All I have to say is Final Fantasy VI! Quest were actually Q-U-E-S-T. Also in FFxi, some QUEST were long, like the "Map- for-Crawlers Nest-side Quest".

... You set out on an adventure to accomplish something while taking on challenges along the way. Not really detouring from your missions or over all main adventure(you can accomplish quest when you have the chance, at any time).



People never use their favorite Final Fantasy as reference to this idea. I'm for one,will, as FF1 is the core example but FF6 beefed it up! OMG, the opera had to be the sweetest if not the longest side-quest of the game. It was the most memorable adventure within an adventure and I would be surprised anyone forgetting about it. Though you had to progress through the scene to meet the newest of the adventurers of the group so essentially is was part of the scenario.

Still, there were parts of a story that needed to be done to progress.



Does anyone remember as side quest in Final Fantasy 7 that was memorable, which had nothing to do with the main story but it was fun? How about that tower climb where you fought multiple enemies? Been to a town like Wu Tai lately? Again, I'm stating progression here and not quest grinding.



Please, if I wanted to grind, I'll find an excuse to farm mats and kill the same beast, monster or-what-have-you over and over again....

I know we all want content and it seems like the creative juices @ Square Enix is running dry.

After all, their latest and best work are of FFXIII and XIII-2(also upcoming "Lightning Returns) series. New generation of RPG ladies and gentlemen.

[Maxthunder]

you forget the others 2 (3?) exp ways
2) dungeons. they give awesome exp judging my alpha mates and need party
3)FATE. Still party
4) exp grind ? Always judging my alpha mates mobs give decent exp, but the other 3 methods are emphasized. Don't mean you can't do it if you like

The issue is Yoshi cant find a balance and thats something that needs needs to do. You can have it 1 way you need to have it multiple ways so that every type of level or exp gain is balanced to suite all player types.

[Maxthunder]

Primarily: adverb

1. ONLY METHOD EVER

The best way to get EXP in 1.0 was party mob spam, but leves were still a close second, and they were solo. This doesn't mean the only method of level progression is quests, it's just the most efficient.

All methods of getting exp should be balance and shouldnt be more efficient than the other. This gives the players freedom to play how they wish to play.

[Zumi]

#3 is not really an option if it is not efficient, which is potentially the problem. Having the option to do something but it being completely pointless is not really an option at all. Just like in WoW you can level up only killing mobs never questing or running a dungeon... but it would be stupid.

Sounds like you haven't played WoW currently. Actually grinding mobs in WoW is the fastest way to level in WoW. Just that nobody does it because it takes a group and a vast amount of knowledge about monster spawns around the world. All the world first level 80, 85, 90, or even server firsts are obtained by grinding mobs.

For example in the newest expansion MoP someone went from 85-90 in 5 hours, many server first level 90s were done on grinding mobs, questing takes like 1-2 weeks on average for your normal person. Only extreme hardcore people grinded mobs cause its really mind numbing and takes some coordination to have a group together. People will go to spots where higher level mobs spawn 89-90.

In cataclysm the guy who got the world first 80-85 did it by grinding mobs that respawned fast in Twilight Highlands.

The main factor is most casual players in WoW will not grind mobs because its easier just to quest solo or dungeon queue then find a group of people your level to grind mobs even though its the fastest way to level. People would rather spend 2 weeks getting from 85-90 rather then 1, 10 hour exp mob grind session, which really only the super hardcore do.

[Zumi]

Not even SE cared for the dialog when they showed off the video. Quest grinding is the exact same. It's there for grinding and making you level up. If every MMO "fed you lore with quest chaining" why is it that most people don't give a shit for the dialog it displays..? I know someone will say: "It was to save time"...yet plenty of other companies had no problem letting dialog in quests flow naturally like you're reading it.

When you're on a rail you're not going to be exploring, you're going to be led to the exact point of the quest and back.

Most text in WoW does not have to be read because your just leveling and you want to do it fast. But WoW has certain important quests that are fully voiced so you have to hear whats going on. Like the Chen Stormstout and Lili chain. This quest chain was actually really good because of the voice actors. These voiced quests give you a good feel for the lore and areas you are visiting, since you can't skip voice acting really.

[Rassa]

Hmm...

1) If there's good battle mechanics, I don't mind kill quests. I loved the battle system at the end of 1.0 -- it was like speed chess... with violence! So assuming they get the battle system right, repetitive fighting won't be a problem since each fight will have the chance to be challenging and interesting.

2) Even the worst quests will be like leves you don't have to run to town for. That's an improvement.

3) I always liked doing leves in groups rather then exp parties. It was less efficient, but had more variety. You could use different abilities, non-optimum party composition, and generally screw around and push your limits. One of my best parties involved 4 conjurers, 2 archers, and a lancer. Sometimes fun is more important than rushing to the end.

4) I love the idea of getting exp for achievements -- I do them anyway, they're fun, so why not offer a reward. If giving exp directly doesn't seem good, maybe SE could give extra RESTED exp for achievements, to speed up everything else you do.