What if you could take it all back...

[Armando]

Re: What if you could take it all back...

The party system has always been a bad idea in FFXI. For starters it wasn't flexible when it came to party layout or even party size. The first couple of times it was a good thing - you learn how to apply your job's abilities in a group setting and against tougher enemies. After that it's just a mindless repetition. Anything you can learn while partying could be learned through other scenarios. Imagine for a moment that mobs gave no EXP and instead you leveled by participating in Assault-like missions tailored to teach party mechanics. Same end result, although arguably better execution. But it's just not gonna happen because it's much more cost-effective to trick you into mindlessly participating in some artificial ritual that has no bearing to the rest of the game. More importantly, partying in no way prepares you for what should be the real events of the game. No one that just got to 75 knew shit about fighting HNMs. Imagine it's not FFXI any more, imagine you're playing FFVII. Would you think it's good game design if the second disc played by totally different rules from the first?

Secondly, the speed of leveling is irrelevant. You're gonna get an artificial high out of anything that requires a significant time investment and "effort" even if it's meaningless. That's how people get sucked up in Farmville. That's how the devs trick us into thinking keeping your weapons skilled up serves a purpose other than to waste your time. If you feel hollow getting to 95 in a week, congratulations! You just realized leveling wasn't that interesting to begin with.

Leveling isn't the point of FFXI. Anyone evaluating Abyssea needs to be judging other things: does the new FFXI prepare newbies appropriately for relevant events? Did Abyssea add an engaging story? Did it add interesting battlefields and bosses? Did it balance the jobs better? Those are legitimate concerns.

[Mezlo]

Re: What if you could take it all back...

Drusslinn your an idiot. Don't think you can make any assumptions about me and my personal life based upon my opinion of a video game.
I too am married, and play sparsely, I just enjoy the long road to a valued goal instead of the instant gratification that is abbysea.

[Yygdrasil]

Re: What if you could take it all back...

Be specific.

Missions

Khazam Keys

Airship Pass

Unlocking your subjob

Getting your AF1 gear

Trying to camp NMs for those epic items (at the time) that we all needed to have (Leaping Boots/Empress Hairpin/PCC)

Skilling up

Learning to play the job you chose properly <------------!!!!!!!!!!

[cidbahamut]

Re: What if you could take it all back...

there where things to do

Be specific.

[Kailea]

Re: What if you could take it all back...

there where things to do, new places to explore, BCNMs to fight, now all it is is, get to level 30 (and most do it in a rush and poorly) then "warp" to level 90+

[cidbahamut]

Re: What if you could take it all back...

"all the content is at the end of the grind" BS needs to stop.

This has always been the case. Or at least it was the case when I joined, you know, back when the level cap was 75.

Please, enlighten me as to what content there is for players who aren't at the level cap.

[Kailea]

Re: What if you could take it all back...

you my friend oviously have no life i have a wife and kids only play a few hours a day id like to get something achieved in less then a year i remember it took me 2 months waiting on a list to get my yakko pants .... yea thanks but no thanks . If you are goin to make a time sink game which is what this game is have some respect for the players rl , thats all ty

---------- Post added at 06:13 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:07 AM ----------


tbh i think you just had a bad taste from watching the noobs , if you were in a good aby ls , you would see how fun it rly is intead of fighting over lil thing with the bottom feeder noobs who lvl all there jobs to cap and have no experience with em . i have a great ls i run and we have a blast no noobs no greedalox's and for the most part no idiots we work hard and most of my cor players have or obtaining empy's atm , and those take dedication and hard work the kind you was talking about yes the xping is fast but the gearing still takes time and dedication point blank and playing with friends is what mmo's is all about . its about ppl you want to work uber hard at a game and be lonly like old ffxi play a solo game hehe as for me and my spellblades we will concour vanadail =p

I knew the "you have no life" would pop up sooner or later..... I agree with Mezlo, I quit FFXI when Abyssia came out, because I disliked what it did to the game. Its not that I dont have a life, it is the fact that I like to earn and work for what I get in an MMORPG, this "level cap in 2-7 days" and "all the content is at the end of the grind" BS needs to stop. I loved FFXI, loved it for 7 years..... and then this happened, I tried to keep playing, but I could not..... so I left. I do not understand where all these people come from that think an MMORPG needs to be tailored to their time schedule, when in reality, they might not need to be playing it in the first place.

[drusslinn]

Re: What if you could take it all back...

Why yes... Yes i do...

you my friend oviously have no life i have a wife and kids only play a few hours a day id like to get something achieved in less then a year i remember it took me 2 months waiting on a list to get my yakko pants .... yea thanks but no thanks . If you are goin to make a time sink game which is what this game is have some respect for the players rl , thats all ty

---------- Post added at 06:13 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:07 AM ----------

Nope. But getting to the old level cap in 2 days is a little much... It's called instant gratification, and that is DEFINITELY not what ffxi is about. You have to work long and hard for an ultimate goal. And when you get it, it's so sweet...

Don't get me wrong, should they have instituted a more aggressive leveling arena to help out new players, yes. But abbysea is a grossly exaggerated answer to that question...

tbh i think you just had a bad taste from watching the noobs , if you were in a good aby ls , you would see how fun it rly is intead of fighting over lil thing with the bottom feeder noobs who lvl all there jobs to cap and have no experience with em . i have a great ls i run and we have a blast no noobs no greedalox's and for the most part no idiots we work hard and most of my cor players have or obtaining empy's atm , and those take dedication and hard work the kind you was talking about yes the xping is fast but the gearing still takes time and dedication point blank and playing with friends is what mmo's is all about . its about ppl you want to work uber hard at a game and be lonly like old ffxi play a solo game hehe as for me and my spellblades we will concour vanadail =p

[Squiggs]

Re: What if you could take it all back...

There is very little chance a brand new player could level to cap in a weekend. Returning players with resources or someone who has jobs at cap but wants to level a new job could do it, but not a brand new player. I have new players come through the shell all the time. It still takes most of them a month or more to level to cap. This is fast (imo) but not so fast that they are completely lost when they get there.

[cidbahamut]

Re: What if you could take it all back...

Ok, so it's not the concept you object to, but the degree to which it was implemented. I can respect that.

[Mezlo]

Re: What if you could take it all back...

Nope. But getting to the old level cap in 2 days is a little much... It's called instant gratification, and that is DEFINITELY not what ffxi is about. You have to work long and hard for an ultimate goal. And when you get it, it's so sweet...

Don't get me wrong, should they have instituted a more aggressive leveling arena to help out new players, yes. But abbysea is a grossly exaggerated answer to that question...

[cidbahamut]

Re: What if you could take it all back...

So is the goal is to discourage all new players from participating in the game? Because that's pretty much what's going to happen in a game this old, cruel and top-heavy.

[Mezlo]

Re: What if you could take it all back...

but if you think it was at all healthy to require a year to get to the level cap at this stage of the game then you have got another thing coming.

Why yes... Yes i do...

[cidbahamut]

Re: What if you could take it all back...

AThink of how lost you felt when you first ventured out of your main city into the wild, to kill some mobs for xp. Think of your long run to the dunes, having to avoid goblin aggro or you'd get crushed and have to run all the way back. Remember back to the long run to jeuno, and how you had to avoid aggro along the way. The garlaige citidal parties, and the oh shit! I fell down the crack and the bat's crushed me! The crawlers next and the bad pull that linked 6 crawlers, party wipes and needs to run back fro jeuno. Bibiki Bay parties where the XP was just omfgslow... And we had to stay there FOR-EVE-R.... Fighting the weapon in the Gardens otw to sky for xp...

Yes, now imagine how utterly discouraging it is for a newer player to try to go through all of that when there aren't even exp parties to be had because everyone has been sitting at capped levels and merits for years already. Speedy leveling might not be a perfect solution, but it helps get everyone on even footing so newer players can actually interact with the rest of the community, which is crucial if you want to retain the precious few new players who wander into the game. We can bicker over the merits of the method of execution, but if you think it was at all healthy to require a year to get to the level cap at this stage of the game then you have got another thing coming.

[Mezlo]

Re: What if you could take it all back...

Abyssea killed the game for the long term ffxi players. When it first came out, it would take a year to get to 75. Now, with abbysea, it can be done in a weekend. It takes all the blood, sweat, and tears (figuratively speaking of course) that all the long time gamers put into the game, and spits on it and throws it to the curb. Abyssea's a joke. It gave ebreyone playing ffxi something they wanted (in the short run,) a way to level fast! After leveling a few jobs fast, I sat back thinking about it, and really lost all motivation. It wasn't a challenge anymore. There wasnt skill involved anymore. The fact is, alot of peeps would afk while in abyssea and just leech. That is ant-ffxi. Think of how lost you felt when you first ventured out of your main city into the wild, to kill some mobs for xp. Think of your long run to the dunes, having to avoid goblin aggro or you'd get crushed and have to run all the way back. Remember back to the long run to jeuno, and how you had to avoid aggro along the way. The garlaige citidal parties, and the oh shit! I fell down the crack and the bat's crushed me! The crawlers next and the bad pull that linked 6 crawlers, party wipes and needs to run back fro jeuno. Bibiki Bay parties where the XP was just omfgslow... And we had to stay there FOR-EVE-R.... Fighting the weapon in the Gardens otw to sky for xp...

Now... all of these levels that we worked so hard for... can be achieved in 1 weekend??? GTFO!

Oh, and good luck taking it away, lol... that is what they'll do when they want to kick the ffxi crown to ffxiv, after they finish making it the ffxi HD 1080p version, which is what it should've been in the beginning, instead of trying so hard not to, and creating a shitty game, lol... I currently have 4 - level 50 jobs in ffxiv, and slowly ubt surely, they've been making the appropriate changes, making ffxiv more fun, and really turning it in to ffxi hd game it should've been....

/end rant