ARR class progression

[Nakiamiie]

There is no fun in an exp party if you get your level up in 1 hour or less.

I disagree greatly.
If it takes more than an hour for a single level in an exp party, there is a problem.
Again, it's a game not a job for me. My fun isn't grinding forever to earn 1 level.
It also means that it would be damn near impossible to get your level without an exp party if it requires several hours with an exp party. Thus, an hour for a level with an exp party is long enough.

[Xatsh]

SE wants to remove mob grinding because it is not fun... SE forgot that most people hate solo quest grinding as well. One is only good for those with alot of time, one is only good for short periods of time.

It is foolish to penalize people for leveling outside quest/dungeons/fate. Just make it an option (worthwhile xp/hr)... then everyone is happy. That is the main issue with mainstream, anything that is not the casual option is being removed.

The way it worked in 1.0 was fine. All they had to do was make it were if a high level hits a mob it kills the xp gain and lower the xp gained by about 30-40% and it would of been perfect in the original version.

[Angelas]

When its all said and done I have a feeling the people who are so keen on the questing for exp might welcome back a grind system. Although grinding can be tedious reducing the exp to force people to quest seems a bit forced to me. For example how much running around will you do for exp? How much exp? How quickly can you gain exp per hour by questing? This will all play a huge factor in how successful the system is.

I also believe this is to reduce gil-farmers leveling quickly as you will actually have to go through quests to get exp, not as much fun for the players but a system to reduce botting etc... so I see what they are doing. I am not so happy with the change but I will reserve my final critiques for after playing in the Beta.

[mbncd]

I just hope that crafting and gathering gets the same range of levelling options as combative classes. In general, the very vast majority of quests are for combative classes or errand running that can also be done by combative classes. I'd love to see a lot more quests for gathering and crafting, and some group levelling options for crafting and gathering. If Yoshi&co doesn't think pure combat grinding is not good enough for the 8 (or 9 after Arcanist comes out) combative classes, why would pure crafting/gathering grinding be good enough for the 8 crafting classes and 3 gathering classes? Quest grinding should be an option for all disciplines, not just a couple. Crafting/gathering/combat grinding should be an option too of course but only an option, not a compulsory part of levelling any one class any more than it is for the combative classes.

And this is coming from someone who already has all crafting and gathering classes to 50 and still needs to do some combative levelling so I'm not asking for this for myself, but rather for the crafters and gatherers that come after and deserve to be treated fairly. We don't just need enough quests to level 8 or 9 classes, we need enough to level 19 or 20 classes.

Crafters and gatherers need story lined quests and memorable characters and something to change up their levelling with more often than 1 guild based quest every 5-10 levels, aside from their errand running quests which they probably already did on combative classes.

I'd love it if crafters and gatherers even got some FATE group crafting/gathering events too. Say you're training BSM/ARM in Limsa's guild (it's the one guild for both classes if anyone is unfamiliar with it) and a furnace blows up. All of the BSM/ARM training players there can rush to repair the damage, helping the guild, getting crafting experience, working in a team for a common goal, maybe getting some sort of crafting related rewards or some sort of respect within the guild for services rendered that could help unlock other things in the store or other quests.

There's no reason for a crafter to spend their entire time levelling a craft by sitting in one spot making hundreds of the same item all day and night, then changing the item once you get too little experience from it. Gathering is slightly more active and social but not by much. I did it all as a means to an end but it lacked in so many ways that it was not enjoyable in and of itself to me. The vast majority, I think, only levelled crafting and gathering as a means to an end, to get some item or to be able to make something for someone they care about or to make money. It seems as though it was designed to test people's ability to stick though monotony or read a book while "playing". Combat and combat related content on the other hand is typically designed to be fun in it's own right, whether you're at 50 already or getting there.

I'm not saying have the crafters and gatherers able to take down Darnus hard mode, just to give them similar ranges of content and things to immerse themselves in that aren't quite so monotonous, and to give them things that only they can do on a regular basis, just like the combative classes get.


TL;DR: A lot of people focus on the mob grind vs quest grind issue of levelling combative classes. I'm trying to present this from the drastically underdeveloped angle of crafting/gathering the same item vs quest grind (of quests actually involving crafting/gathering more often then once every 5-10 levels). Let's see a range of options for all disciplines, rather than the current model of just half.

[Cynthis]

I second the opinion that crafting/gathering should have more varied ways of leveling.

[Allesasi]

Leves worked great for leveling DOL and DOH in 1.0 to a certain extent not to mention the materials rewards were awsome. I don't have any fighting classes to level but it would totally kill things in 2.0 if we cannot SB for materia anymore if party grinding is nerfed. I'm pretty sure I'm not gonna be the only one pissed off if it will take us forever to SB stuff because of these changes.

[HamHam]

I hope is not quest, after quest, after quest, after quest, because that $h!t is boring. It's one of the reasons I don't like WoW.

[Themis]

I used to love grouping up in XI for a party, even if it was sitting in the same camp for a couple of hours. Even the waiting for an invite was worth it, assuming you got into a group that worked well (like a well-oiled machine as it was described earlier). When the party had a great group dynamic that ensured constant killing without too many issues (any hiccups ended up being quite exciting sometimes), it was a fun few hours. The only issue I had, outside of the high probability that you ended up in a terrible party, was that the exp requirements got stupidly high, that even in a strong party it still took a couple of hours per level. With only mob grinding as the way to level up, this got dull and I only ever spent 2-3 hours at the most. I maybe got a level.

With ARR, from what I've seen, I'm expecting that, sure, leveling up is still leveling up and it's going to be a grind. But I anticipate that, and I can deal with that. With the variety of potential exp gaining events and choices, you aren't going to get bored as easily. Get bored of doing some solo quests, get a small group of friends/randoms and do some leves. Bored of those? Do some dungeon runs for a while. You could easily set aside 3 hours on a Saturday/Sunday (assuming you have that time free) and do 1 hour in dungeons, 1 hour on leves/quests, and then finish off with something else like exploring and looking for FATEs.

The only thing I ask is that you don't need to spend hours to get single levels. The exp rewards should be proportional to how much you need and the content you are doing to get said exp. For quests, this should be based on the difficulty of the quest. Gathering some items in a town should give far less than having to go to a remote dungeon to kill a high level NM/boss.

[Millerna]

"Grinding is a term used in video gaming to describe the process of engaging in repetitive tasks during video games."

So, doing quest after quest for several hours is just as much 'grinding' than killing a lot of mobs in a group. The difference is that in a (good) group you actual get to be social and meet other people

[Warlock]

"Grinding is a term used in video gaming to describe the process of engaging in repetitive tasks during video games."

So, doing quest after quest for several hours is just as much 'grinding' than killing a lot of mobs in a group. The difference is that in a (good) group you actual get to be social and meet other people

Are you sure about that? because the best parties i had back in FFXI before Abyssea ....like example a very good secret room Crawler's Nest party were some of the most quiet times in my gaming...you only did what you had to do non-stop ..no time for talking...even worse if you were the puller