[Kaziel0]

Personally, I think this should mostly only apply to mobs that are levels 75 and up. The primary purpose of this is to vary XP targets at max level. Having set targets while leveling, IMO, is a good thing, because the players who are either not at their best or just learning the ropes of their new job or the game in general. Having monsters that are overly challenging or are unknown in what they do sounds like a easy recipe for some serious wiping. At earliest I'd say have it come into effect at maybe... 50? At that point, all the jobs have a decent selection of spells and/or abilities, so they can recover from a bad situation.

[Ryoii/Nonomii]

I'd hate to see the lower levels left out. More experienced players could Level Sync with less experienced players and go explore places where they never XPed. This would also make the standard camps less crowded, which benefits everyone.

I'm sure you might get more people soloing and duoing the EP-DC which currently provide a bonus, but I don't see a huge downside to more variety in XP options.

I do think party formers should be more upfront in their invites:
Hello! Lv37 Level Sync SC+MB Party, Misareaux Coast Gigas (XP Bonus: 1.3x), Team Up? (PLD, BLM, WHM)
Hello! Lv75 Trio Party, Ifrit's Cauldron Wyverns (XP Bonus: 1.6x), Team Up? (PLD & RDM)

Have you ever XPed on Shadows or Skeletons in The Eldieme Necropolis or Fei'Yin? What about Golems? This could be really fun.

Also I'm in agreement that a NPC would not be a very good way of doing this if you are going to make every mob have a different bonus. Instead a feature similar to the player search would probably be required. You'd need to be able to set a range for the mob level and sort by family or zone at the very least.

Ex:
/sea all spider 75-78
yields the bonuses for Bark Tarantulas in The Boyahda Tree
/sea all spider 75-81
adds in Bark Tarantulas in Dragon's Aery and Spinners in Mamook

Another option would be to split the bonuses into multiple groups: mob family, zone, and region. This would unfortunately hurt many potential targets which would give good bonuses under a mob based system, but it would encourage players to spread around the world.

[Kaziel0]

I think having different zones have their own XP bonuses would create too many variables and make it too much work to figure out where the best places to go are. If you just divided up enemies based on their specific version, I think that'd be enough, as long as XP doesn't drop below 1x. Because pretty much all the mobs in the first six zones (E/W Ronfaure, E/W Sarutabaruta & N/S Gustaburg) will never not be getting killed a lot, so they would always be low value.

For example, the "Crawlers" in East and West Sarutabaruta would count against eachother, but the surplus of killing of them would not count against the other crawlers, like the Canyon Crawlers, or later iterations of crawler mobs.

Though, I think this system would require a pretty flexible searching system. I'd think you'd want to be able to search by mob level, mob name, zone, or family. Ugh.

EDIT: Get out of my head Ryoii!

[Ryoii/Nonomii]

Using mob names seems to work well, but there are examples where standard camps or low level kills hurt the bonus from alternative camps.

Worker Crawler
Lv40-44 - Crawlers' Nest
Lv43-46 - Yhoator Jungle
Lv56-62 - Rolanberry Fields [s]

Bog Bunny
Lv13-16 - Pashhow Marshlands
Lv62-64 - Pashhow Marshlands [s]

However, I don't yet see an example where it harms the more challenging mobs, so I like it!

[Ziero]

And the biggest issue with this idea comes to light. The harder you look at it, the more potential flaws you find and the more complex the ideas behind it get.

Instead of completely overhauling the entire EXP reward system to try and get people to spread out and try "new" things (which for the most part aren't new at all) with an increasingly complex and inflated system of varying Exp distribution, it would be best to just increase the max Exp per kill cap and create additional bonuses to SC+MBs. The simplest solutions are usually the best, and a simple exp cap increase would be a big push towards getting people to target "stronger" mobs. And fighting stronger mobs would bring back the need for SC+MB, which combined with some sort of increased utility, would go a long way in bringing the old school exp style back into the picture. At all levels and against all potential targets.

Originally Posted by Takelli

Well, if people would actualy get the gil they needed to buy decent gear as they level up, they wouldn't need to farm now would they? It would also prevent RMTing to some extent as they cant sit there all day and kill the same thing over and over. Besides, the monsters are on a 15 minute respawn in a lot of the exp zones already. If people time the kills correctly, they can still Chain on them, and get god exp off of them.

And as for the low level zones... It wont really effect them as there are TONS of monster types to choose from in lower level areas. It would actually force people to "explore" the lands as well. Thats what adventureres do, they explore new places. I don't really see much of that happeneing in FFXI.

I never said it was a bad thing, I am just saying it might split the player base into three groups. A Tp burn party invites some one who likes to SC, and they find out its a pure TP burn, they leave. Some one invites a TP burning player, and they find out its a SC+Mb party, and teh player leaves and so on.

As for the rabbit thing... Its just an example. Why do people have to look way to deep into stuff I say? -.-;

People would still need to farm for craft supplies, mission and quest drops, and additional gil, even if they could "get the gil they needed" through regular Exp pts. Killing mobs for drops is something that will never go away in any combat based MMO. Of course this is ignoring the FoV cash rewards. Also, it would have absolutely zero affect on RMT because none of them can level high enough nowdays to farm anything effectively. It's why they're sticking to gardening in mass to make their money. The days of farm bots and RMT claimed NMs is long gone, so it's only players who would be hurt by that change. And no one exps on 15 minute repop mobs unless there's a ton of other mobs around in the same area. But for the most part, a 15 minute repop mob is a rarity, usually confined to specific types in dungeons and capped areas.

There's not much left of FFXI to actually explore, it's an old game with many old players and much of them have seen it all before. The "explore new lands" bit isn't very valid when it's all been seen and done. When WotG came out, people were all over it looking for new places to Exp, but nothing compared to the ToAU areas. And now with the Northlands on the horizon, these same people will be the first in line to explore the new lands and find out if any of the areas there provide a place to rival ToAU exp camps. When these explorers find any good camps, they relay this information to the playerbase and the players effectively follow suit. So even if the entire Exp distribution system was changed, a few key players would go out and find the best methods depending on each mob and the rest of the playerbase would just follow along blindly. In the end, it would just lead to the same situation that happens now, only with a few more squishy mobs to kill.

Players are already split between TP burns, SC+MBs and Manaburns. But at this time, it's a forced split because one method clearly and dominantly outshines the others in terms of effectiveness. Adding options to increase the two forms of Exp that are lacking would only serve to enhance all of the game and it's players by letting those who don't enjoy TP burns to focus on their preferred party style while getting comparatively good Exp. And if so many people ditch TP burns to do other things, then so be it. But at least everyone should be given the option.

And the rabbit thing was partly a joke, and partly a way to show how your original comments didn't really hold water. The only thing that should really determine how strong something is are their level and their abilities. A T rabbit should always be stronger then a DC Beastman. Just because a rabbit is tiny and cute, it doesn't mean it's helpless, and that's what makes them dangerous.

[Ryoii/Nonomii]

Originally Posted by Ziero

So even if the entire Exp distribution system was changed, a few key players would go out and find the best methods depending on each mob and the rest of the playerbase would just follow along blindly. In the end, it would just lead to the same situation that happens now, only with a few more squishy mobs to kill.

The bounty system won't make mobs squishy. It will promote the targeting of mobs with tougher abilities. The goal here is to make combat more varied and interesting even if the best method for each mob is rather well understood. Fixing SC+MB to compare with TP and MP burns is only one part. Another is fighting a larger variety of mobs.

[Kaziel0]

To expand on what Ryoii is saying, by implementing a bounty system where under-targeted mobs are prime picking for XP parties, they aren't just creating a sytem where people can just go out and say "Well, these are the best XP per hour mobs" because it's constantly changing. Theoretically, eventually with careful testing over a long time, people might be able to find the ideal multiplier for each mob or mob type, and people will hold off on killing them until they are over that point, but even that won't work flawlessly, since smart people won't go to over camped mobs, even if they can get good XP there, instead they will go to lower XP mobs, even if they don't meet ideal XP multiplier, it'll still be better than other options.

It may not be simple, but it creates a system that's dynamic. I can't speak for anyone else, but I like seeing new stuff, but I'm not about to find a new thing to fight just to fight something different. If the rewards of said encounters are crap or are too dangerous (not keen on dying...), it's not worth it.

An additional benefit to it would be the drops from normally undercamped mobs would start flooding the market. This would have the side effect of making materials used to make gear made much less expensive, making decent high level gear more accessible (with the obvious exception of gear from NMs, BCNMs and the like) and high level crafting not so cripplingly expensive.

[Takelli]

Originally Posted by Ziero

There's not much left of FFXI to actually explore, it's an old game with many old players and much of them have seen it all before. The "explore new lands" bit isn't very valid when it's all been seen and done. When WotG came out, people were all over it looking for new places to Exp, but nothing compared to the ToAU areas. And now with the Northlands on the horizon, these same people will be the first in line to explore the new lands and find out if any of the areas there provide a place to rival ToAU exp camps. When these explorers find any good camps, they relay this information to the playerbase and the players effectively follow suit. So even if the entire Exp distribution system was changed, a few key players would go out and find the best methods depending on each mob and the rest of the playerbase would just follow along blindly. In the end, it would just lead to the same situation that happens now, only with a few more squishy mobs to kill.

And that is why no one does explore is because the verteren players tell teh player base, and teh new players that X area is bad for Exp, go to Y area instead. They should let the new players explore, who know, maybe they will find out something that the verteren players over looked.

[Kailea]

Originally Posted by Takelli

And that is why no one does explore is because the verteren players tell teh player base, and teh new players that X area is bad for Exp, go to Y area instead. They should let the new players explore, who know, maybe they will find out something that the verteren players over looked.

I have fun killing tomberries ;p

[Raydeus]

/

There are camps that have been proven time and again to be effective, but that doesn't make them the only camps out there, and everyone knows that.

Problem is not many players are willing to take the time to try new xp camps, so they go for the already tested grounds due to convenience/lazzyness/lack of time.

But yeah, the "Explore strange new camps; to seek out new life and civilizations to kill for xp; to boldly go where no other adventurer has gone before" bit has been kinda sort of VERY exagerated because it sounds more epic that way.

[DakAttack]

If anything, bounties should be put on Beastmen.

[Kaziel0]

I don't think anyone is saying that there shouldn't be bounties on beastmen (if that's what you meant). Personally I think the bounties would apply to everything, thus making all enemies good potential farming targets eventually. :D

[DakAttack]

Originally Posted by Kaziel0

I don't think anyone is saying that there shouldn't be bounties on beastmen (if that's what you meant). Personally I think the bounties would apply to everything, thus making all enemies good potential farming targets eventually. :D

Yea, but being told by a guard to kill more bunny rabbits and tree saplings would be a little strange.

[Kaziel0]

With how tough some of those rabbits are, and how fast bunnies breed, they need a good culling!

[Takelli]

Originally Posted by Kailea

I have fun killing tomberries ;p

Sure will do!

{Death}, {Yes, please}

I don't know why Se thought it was a good idea to put that powerful of a move into the game. Just like the death move that can get casted on you during the CoP missions, and nothing can remove it...

A Paladin friend got killed like 15 times because of it XD

---------- Post added at 07:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:05 PM ----------

Originally Posted by DakAttack

Yea, but being told by a guard to kill more bunny rabbits and tree saplings would be a little strange.

You know... Rabbits do multiply fairly fast.