An idea...

[Sanjo Renomitsu]

So, I'm leveling thief (/cry) to 37 for a sub, because yes, I have not done it yet because I hate the class. Anyway, I'm noticing the lack of other low level players and I was thinking to myself as more and more higher level content is released less and less people will feel the need to go lowbie again. Hell, eventually most people (a lot already do) will have jobs leveled up above 20.

This makes it difficult, at times even impossible, for new players to level and makes the already bad problem of lfg worse. I think S-E should will have to eventually address this problem.

I thought of what I think is a good way to combat the problem and wanted your opinion. First, add a quest or the like for a spell or ability for all classes that will be usable at 75 only. This spell lets them target any player below 75 and caps them to that level, and while you can not get merit points while capped like this you -can- get xp. (Helps for peeps that need get buffer and stuff.) You won't level up or anything, but as the person who you used the spell on levels up your level will raise to match.

Now, call the system retraining or something like that, I don't care. I'm not going to come up with an extreme story, S-E can say the moogles or someone came up with a spell that allows people to forget past experiences and learn again then retrieve their lost experiences. Since people act differently in different situations, you learn things you hadn't the first time it happened to you and thus become stronger over all. There, whatever.


Add a merit-like system with different rewards at different level ranges. So if I want this new spell called flash burst on my blm, I have to cap myself at 10-20 and xp for points. For a auto refresh while a weather is active, I have to cap myself 30-40.

I think this will help a lot. Higher level players can cap themselves at lowbie levels for xp, helping a ls mate, or the hell of it. And for those who need more incentive, the merit-like system will have a lot of people at different level ranges, making leveling up easier.


Finally, some optional things I had in mind. First is some kind of gear recalc, that allows 75 players to keep their current gear but have it dumbed down to be appropriate for their level, or a special set of phantom gear that is given to them automatically during caping in equip slots. That way you don't have to waste money on gear if you don't want to, and if you do want something better you can just equip something over the phantom gear.

This one I'm in large favor of. A bonus to the amount of points you get in the merit-like system, big enough that people care, for everyone in your party that isn't using the level cap ability. This way, there is more incentive to invite players that are actually of that level range.

What do you guys think? It would help lfg a lot, no?

 

[LadyKiKi]

For the first half of your idea, granted the system is somewhat there ... but only available for people who give Gold Passes...

 

[Excim]

I like this idea. It sucks when you and your friends want to pt together, but you don't have any jobs that are the same level. It would bridge the gap between lowbies and highbies too, you'd get to meet new people.

I also think it would revive some of the old XP zones as well, such as Buburimu, and maybe even open up a few new camps in other areas.


I can hear the haters now though... "God it would be such a pain in the ass to have to go back to the dunes!"

Personally, I think it would be fun as hell!

 

[Anglis]

Yeah it's getting harder to find parties from 12-25. THF is a job thats pretty tedious to solo till then too. Mine is level 17 and im about to level it to sub for my BLU. I know ill be seeking for hours.

 

[Falsey]

All the lowbie jobs are leveling dancer. 8 DNC Seeking my level range for ranger (38).

 

[Whimsey]

I know exactly what you mean. I was really hoping that WotG would help with that, new jobs, so people would be leveling again, but the last two parties I've had have been dncx3, schx2, and me. I think some kind of system to allow people to play at a lower level would be great. There's already a way to do that, with the Sprout Beret/Guide Beret thing, but that's so specific. It would be great if there was something more universal.

 

[Rorschach]

For the first half of your idea, granted the system is somewhat there ... but only available for people who give Gold Passes...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but i believe that the person who's being capped doesnt have the ability to get XP while in the other persons party(I know, sounds dumb, but I never tested it out). That and its limited to being in the same party with the person who has the other hat.

Another ls mate and I were talking about this a week or 2 ago. He came up with a system where you had full sets of gear that would level up with you, similar to the rajas ring. It didnt have to be the best gear in the world, just workable so you could be productive in a lobie XP party. He also came up with the idea of being able to cap yourself to whatever level you wanted so you would be able to lfp at whatever range you wanted. I really think it could work. The only problem is that SE would never implement it since it actually sounds like a good idea.

 

[Sanjo Renomitsu]

The only problem is that SE would never implement it since it actually sounds like a good idea.

Quoted for truth. >< Maybe they will get smart eventually, who knows?

 

[LadyKiKi]

I might be wrong too, I have not ever used that hat before.

But just saying how the idea instantly made me think of the hat. =)

 

[Myrrh]

I used that Hat with a friend of mine in the dunes. I think I was on Whm at the time. They kept asking why the fuck a lvl 75 was in the pt. I used the hat and they laughed. I don't remember if i got exp or not but I don't think I did. I think for the first fight I gimped the exp of the pt too <_<

 

[Skaw]

Just like Faf gimped your exp, Mr. No Reraise.

 

[Sanjo Renomitsu]

Just like Faf gimped your exp, Mr. No Reraise.

The hats have too many limitations for my taste and not readily aviable. I think it should also be limited to level 75's, since that way it won't be exploited as alternate xp camps or whatever.

But it's a good start, as you said the system is in.. just needs some modification.

 

[Legomyeggo]

Needs better solo content, imo. Not that I don't mind waiting 2-3hours on a party that's either hit or miss (and is most likely the latter) because that's always fun, but being able to level up without relying on 5 dopes for 75 levels would be super.

 

[Blackmagik]

Needs better solo content, imo. Not that I don't mind waiting 2-3hours on a party that's either hit or miss (and is most likely the latter) because that's always fun, but being able to level up without relying on 5 dopes for 75 levels would be super.

and thats why people like to play WOW, you can solo when ever you like, and yet still need grps for some content

 

[Sanjo Renomitsu]

and thats why people like to play WOW, you can solo when ever you like, and yet still need grps for some content

And that's also why 98.6746% of wow's population is the type of people I would love to kill, you know the assholes, idiots, mentally challenged, and dicks that I would never consort with irl let alone a game.

Wow's a good game, people just ruin it.

Back on topic, solo content wouldn't be a bad addition either. Maybe a expansion that adds xp pretty damn close as good to a pt solo, but not as good. Or something. Something so that soloing is good but pting can be better.

 

[Xalioniaf]

Make static parties.

 

[Tymon]

And that's also why 98.6746% of wow's population is the type of people I would love to kill, you know the assholes, idiots, mentally challenged, and dicks that I would never consort with irl let alone a game.

Wow's a good game, people just ruin it.

Back on topic, solo content wouldn't be a bad addition either. Maybe a expansion that adds xp pretty damn close as good to a pt solo, but not as good. Or something. Something so that soloing is good but pting can be better.

Yeah, I agree completely with this

I would probably still say I lean a little more towards WoW in the fun factor and definitely think it was a better experience but the general persona of the people (non friends of course.. you know who you are) towards me--and everyone else drove me away faster than anything else. People just seemed to live to piss me off, and when you're not wanting to log on because you know you're just going to get heated.. thats when it stops.

 

[Rorschach]

But that really doenst solve the base problem, just a symptom. Static parties are great, dont get me wrong, but you shouldnt have to constantly find 5 other people who have the same schedule as you JUST so you can level a job. They need to treat the cause which is that there arent enough people in the mid range levels xping regularly enough to have a constant pool of party members. Personally thats why I liked the concept of level capped areas. I mean you get a specific lvl of gear and go to X cap zone and you never get higher so as to be out of range of the rest of your pt members. The only problem with that is that most of the level capped areas are SHIT for XP(unless you like killing fomor in the Sacarium.

Hell, if SE would allow you to set your own level cap, you would always be able to make a party. It just comes down to how much gear you have for the levels you would want to cap at. But thats easily remediable by making gear that levels with you. Which they wont make since its a good enough idea to actually work. The only problem is making the gear good enough where it can pass off in an XP party but not SO good that it completely blows out the other gear for those levels thereby destroying crafting as we know it. Unless you made it a charged item. And a crafter could re-charge the item with some other mats.

But w/e i'm no dev. I could never come up with something innovative like reskinned areas that are 4 years old with slight modifications in the attempt to pass it off as "new". *Benny Hill stare*


....oh and orange tigers, cant forget the orange tigers. Thanks SE.

 

[ichibankitsu]

Not sure how many of you have played it, but the other MMORPG I play (City of Heroes) I chose for exactly this reason. Sure, being able to solo without spending hours and hours (and even more hours) trying to get a single level is nice, but what I really like is the "Sidekick/Exemplar" system they have.

It's pretty much the same thing, and while the sidekick system may not be good for FFXI (Artificially boosting your level to the level of a party member, with bonuses to stats and such to make up (just not well) for the fact that you don't have any of the abilities or equipment available to you aside from what you can wear at your natural level).

The "exemplar" system would work pretty well I think, with probably a few modifications. Like other people suggested, it would artificially lower your level to the level of someone in your group, like that Guide Beret does or whatever, so even if your friends are a much lower level than you, you'd always be able to play with them no matter what level they were. Benefits from gear is lowered to be a bit more balanced, but usually the higher level characters still end up at least slightly stronger than normal characters of that level.

Of course, in City of Heroes, the benefits of the whole system for the higher level character either wouldn't apply to FFXI, or would create problems, so like others suggested here, maybe new abilities or features or anything would need to be added to make it worth it for players to level. Since it would be pretty broken for a high level character to get normal exp in the dunes, obviously exp wouldn't be awarded. In CoH, "experience" is awarded to make up for "experience debt" which is experience lost from dying, but that sort of thing doesn't exist in FFXI. When a character has no exp debt, their experience is instead converted to currency. Even if it was a small 1exp = 1gil tradeoff, introducing another way to create gil in the game would really screw over the economy I'm sure.

But I would really love to see a more friendly party system in the game, so that you don't have to rely completely on luck that you'll be able to find five other people in your level range online at the same time that all want to party with you.

More solo content would be nice as well. Even if it was done in a way where partying was still a lot better at gaining experience, it would be nice if there was just more to do to advance your character when players aren't able to find a party.

 

[Relapse]

Another option

Was thinking of this and first I want to say that everyone has had some great ideas and thanks to the OP for bringing this up.

One thing I thought is awesome would be (like Rorschach said) having "charged" or "enchanted" items. That way you have to pick and choose when to use them, especially because it's going to cost you gil. Another bonus to this is it would help crafting which I think would be awesome since some deam it 'dead'.

Another thing I was thinking was what if you had an item like an empress band where you could use it once (or even twice) a day where it would cap your lvl so you could party w/friends. Since your on a charge you don't get to abuse it. Possibly make it like 5k exp a day? Just a thought. :biggrin: