what's the difference between quest- and fate-grinding?

[Shuon]

i sometimes dont't understand why people prefer questing to fate-ing. they are both grinds; neither teaches you how to play your class; after a while, all quests would have been the same and we would stop reading them.

we all know that the only way for us to learn to play our classes is via combat and group play, and in fact, dungeons do give decent exp. however, not all classes have the luxury of instant queues. therefore, we are merely looking at a viable way to solo exp, and i don't understand why quests are preferred to fates - at least in fates you get to engage in combat if you don't spend your time in an over-infested area like dragonstone.

[Amyas]

Quests are fun, you get some good dialogue that expands on lore and money rewards. Fate herds are... just awful. I'll use them, sure. Doesn't change how awful the 'herd' is. EDIT: to clarify. Whats 'fun' is in camping in an area with a hundred other people, rushing to a blue dot on your map, spamming 1,2 and getting 15k xp?

[mbncd]

I greatly prefer quests over FATE's.

As a gatherer/crafter predominantly, I like solo play, I like doing things at my own pace, etc. I've never been a fan of combat and really only do it as a means to an end, then preferably never return.

The stuff I like the most about the FF series and JRPG's in general is the storyline and character driven stuff (plus the pretty graphics but that's a side point).

I read all the dialogue, I get to know the characters, I look forward to hearing the lore or practical advice in class quests. I do every quest I come across as I explore while ignoring most FATE's.

FATE's can be interesting sometimes, but they never change, the storylines are brief to non existent, the characters have almost nothing that makes them memorable, all FATE's require you to be on a combat class (seriously, did Yoshi forget there are two other VERY universally helpful Disciplines in this game..?) and half the time I can't even get a hit in when I do go to participate in it.

Anyhow, that's just how I personally feel about them. As we can see, everyone has their own point of view. There's little to no point in arguing your own view just because you can't understand another's. We all have things we like and don't like, things we aim for and things we don't prioritise at all, our own styles, our own pace, etc, and none of that applies to anyone else in the least because we all put our own little spin or reason to it. Best we can do is think to ourselves "oh, that person likes/dislikes this, let's refer to that preference in the future when we do stuff together" and hope to get along, or not, whatever floats your boat.

[Shuon]

you mean if they supply more quests than we could use - then yes. but if we are to run the same quests over and over again as some ppl are suggesting, it's no fun either. u just click and click...

[Vinge]

You can quest at your own pace, but for Fates you have to dash around the map frantically trying to get to each fate before the zerg blitzes them. Which just isn't an enjoyable experience for me.

[Silverharp]

Quests are fun, you get some good dialogue that expands on lore and money rewards. Fate herds are... just awful. I'll use them, sure. Doesn't change how awful the 'herd' is. EDIT: to clarify. Whats 'fun' is in camping in an area with a hundred other people, rushing to a blue dot on your map, spamming 1,2 and getting 15k xp?

This totally isn't biased at all...

[Gazelleee]

The problem with fate grinding is not really the act of fate grinding, but the sheer amount of people there.

If there were only 5-10 people per fate in an area, it would actually be pretty fun and you would need to put a decent amount of focus into using your class to complete the fate. With the 50+ people at each fate, it has nothing to do with playing a game, it is, imo, HILARIOUSLY SIMILAR to ffxi where you fight to claim mobs while wearing full crafting gear for spirit bond or something.

Questing adds lore and different scenery, etc.

Quest grinding would be similar to fate grinding if you completed the quests in a group of 20 and you did the same 5 quests over and over for hours on end before moving to a new 5 quests.

Personally, I really enjoy fate grinding at off hours when there are a lot less people around, the fates can be pretty fun.

I think a perfect balance would be if fates, quests, and dungeons gave the same exp per hour.

[Steeled]

Quests happen when you want them, largely can't be overcrowded unless it's (go get four wolf hides from those three wolves, and that goes away after a few days) and quests, usually, can't all be won by spamming the same button over and over again.

[Lisotte]

Quests are fun, you get some good dialogue that expands on lore and money rewards. Fate herds are... just awful. I'll use them, sure. Doesn't change how awful the 'herd' is. EDIT: to clarify. Whats 'fun' is in camping in an area with a hundred other people, rushing to a blue dot on your map, spamming 1,2 and getting 15k xp?

lol. Good dialogue? I just can't get myself to care about any of the dialogue; you can only go so far with "I need 10 chicken eggs!" Also you have to do practically the same thing over and over again.
Don't get me wrong, they're better than fates, more relaxed and all, but fun? Not really. If SE wants to make leveling fun they need to make dungeons reward much more exp.

[Badger]

Quests typically require you to kill several monsters, sometimes alone, sometimes with varying skill sets. This requires you to develop a rotation that you will hone over time and change as new abilities are learned. This teaches you a lot about your class, even if it's just on the offensive side.

FATEs on the other hand just require you to spam instant abilities in the hopes that you deal enough damage to get gold contribution. They're a sham and horrible in their current form. They need to be made more difficult and scale based on player density to justify their current rewards.