The dreaded 2 words: POWER LEVEL!

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Xelos

Artifact Armor
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Ok everyone before I begin, I didn't know where to put this (either flame or general) but since this is a controversial issue, I decided to slap this on here.

I have been lvling my warrior sub (for ninja sub) in the dunes recently and have noticed that EVERY party I have joined since I started (about 5 in all), 4/6 OF THEM HAD A PL! (Now if you all look at my posts in the "Ninja's cant tank under 37" thread, I did say I was a good tank in the dunes, yes this is true for the 2 pts that didn't have a PL, for the rest I was just a DD) Are there too many n00bs out there now? Are the dunes too much for people that, even though we all went through the dunes without a PL before, our jobs and equipment don't cut it and we cannot survive without PL? Are we getting lazy now?

Of course, I have no problem with PL, but there is the controversy that with a PL people (especially new people to the game) don't learn how to play, they just have the mentality that someone will always be there to hold their hand.


ELABORATE!
 
Ugh some confusing things here.....there were 6 pts in all because some statements contradict themselves. Sorry for the confusion. Also it should say NEARLY every party I have joined, etc.

^^
 
typically those peoiple that have pl are mostly not noob. now this isnt true for all cases, however, if i am starting a new job or whatever, i will ask a LS friend or a friend that i have known a while to PL me. its one of those things that is hard to explain, but i have been in many pt with the same people many seperate occasions and you tend to become friends with people that you party with alot. therefore, my job at lvl 70 means that i have met whm that are capable of helping out with PL for a nominal fee or a favor in return. now, there is noobs that do /shouts in jeuno and pay for a PL from someone they dont know. but typically, you dont have any problems getting a PL from an LS mate. usually noobs dont get respected enough if they are fairly green in the game to get a PL from someone in the LS unless they have been on the LS for a decent amount of time
 
I know what your saying Xelos. Recently, I've been lvling blm, ranger and other low level jobs through the Dunes straight to Garlaige Citadel. I think in total, about 30 parties that I joined had a pl. Did it help, HELL F-NO. Jeez, I've seen the worst pt formation in my history of playing this game. WHM/WAR in Quifim, then I saw him in Kazham ~ WTF is that, I didn't bother to say anything because I wasn't the leader nor was the PL a friend of mine. I even had a PL used ~spikes and argued with me that it didn't affect the PT's Experience (when the mob hits the pl with the spikes). All in all, PPL are just getting lazy ~ no matter how you put it. Even though your an experience player and you get a friend to pl you, you know your doing it cuz your LAZY. Hell, I'll admit it, I've been there and done that! One thing is for sure though, because I have gone through the hard times where there was no pl available to me, I know my my shit. As for the NOOBS, GET YOUR FUCKING ACT TOGETHER! and to all PL doing it for them, FUCK YOU for letting a WHM/WAR get to Quifim/Kazham.



Skc
 
yeah.. I have seen a rapid growth of people being power leveled in the dunes. When I went through recently with both ninja and Thief, almost every party I was in had someone to PL them.

What's really funny though is when I was doing ninja, one PL party i was in was like "Hey dont worry too much on blink tanking the whm (PL'er) can take a few hits. You dont have to work as hard."

I kinda laughed, and continued tanking as if there were no PL'er, what they didnt realize was that since I was doing my job well regardless of the PL, the PL just being there was speeding up exp faster since he didnt have to heal me that much. Infact.. I practically made him useless. Poor guy.

I don't really dislike power levelers, but the thing is if people go through the dunes completely with powerleverls, as soon as they get to a higher level their going to be slammed with a world of hurt, and then quit the game because "It's too hard". This is were I dont like them, when they PL people that are new to the game. Those new players need to learn their role in a party as well as learn party dynamics, not just sit back and only half ass their way through.

Though, the instance I dont mind PL'ing is when its being done on a group of already experienced players. In this case the party isnt really relying on the PL'er, they're just glad to have him/her around incase some kind of bad mistake happens. That's okay, its cool then.
 
when i level low level jobs and someone in the pick up party says "i have a PL coming"... i just reply with a "no thanks" because i'm really not interested in a PL. it's gay and weak like galka whm's... lmao j/k^^
 
ultraseven said:
it's gay and weak like galka whm's... lmao j/k^^
Click to expand...

lol...

Typically pts that i have had with a "powerlvler" fall under one of four catigories;

-the pt leader got too few mages, so someone has a friend come out to provide some extra cure love. personally i am always thankful for these back ups.

- someone has 2 computers and 2 accounts, and brings out their second character to help thier primary character level. Generally these people also do well. I attribute the sucess of this model to the fact that the player can see who in the pt is in need of what.

- the pt is made up mostly, if not entirely, by lsmates/friends who want to get x job lvled with as little effort and difficulty as possible, and so bring a friend with their main job along to provide extra cures and take care of adds. these are usually the most efficent of the power leveled pts.

- a friend comes, takes all the aggro from the pt and makes the entire thing more of a pita then it is worth.

ok.. now that that is established... are powerlevelers needed? no, not unless the pt was made by a monkey, in which case it should probably be disbanded anyway. are powerlevelers convient? sometimes, but not all the time... Basically it depends on how they play their 'job' for the pt. if they allow the pt to function and only throw an occational cure here and there then yeah, if they take over as main healer then no.

why do it? hm, i suppose the argument Skc presneted abuot lazyness could be considered valid, but frankly for many i think it is more a matter of efficency. some jobs you level because you have to, not because you want to. If a job falls under that catigory, why not do what you can to make sure the process is as smooth as possible? The useful function of a powerleveler, i believe, is what Ecks discribed, and generally i feel much as his end quote explains.

Ecks said:
In this case the party isnt really relying on the PL'er, they're just glad to have him/her around incase some kind of bad mistake happens. That's okay, its cool then.
Click to expand...

as long as the party plays as though it didn't have a power leveler, with the except that the healers might not heal during a fight to gain full mp or something b/c of the healer we have outside of party, i do not see a problem with it. People sitll do their jobs, so they still learn them... and everyone gets through the more aggrivating aspects of earlier leveling without as many homepoints :p I personally have not had many powerleveled parties, but when i happen across one, or have a friend come help out while killing banshee or whatever, i am glad for the opertunity.
 
Nasya said:
Typically pts that i have had with a "powerlvler" fall under one of four catigories;

-the pt leader got too few mages, so someone has a friend come out to provide some extra cure love. personally i am always thankful for these back ups.

- someone has 2 computers and 2 accounts, and brings out their second character to help thier primary character level. Generally these people also do well. I attribute the sucess of this model to the fact that the player can see who in the pt is in need of what.

- the pt is made up mostly, if not entirely, by lsmates/friends who want to get x job lvled with as little effort and difficulty as possible, and so bring a friend with their main job along to provide extra cures and take care of adds. these are usually the most efficent of the power leveled pts.

- a friend comes, takes all the aggro from the pt and makes the entire thing more of a pita then it is worth.
Click to expand...

To summarize and point out the one thing missing:

Type 1: The incomplete party's PL. 3nd most common.

Type 2: The buffbot PL. 5th most common.

Type 3: The LS powerparty PL. 4th most common.

Type 4: The noob-maker PL. Most common.

And unfortunately, the gap between Type 4 and 1,2, & 3 is so wide that they might as well be lumped into larger categories: The effective PL and the noob PL. >_<
 
the last two pt's i had in the dunes had a PL. this is bc at the time there were no whm's available, so we used PL as a whm, because i only have cure I on my blm and that is not enought if you are taking on IT's. i think that it is ok to have a PL if there is cause. if not, then don't.
 
I power level for my friend and my friend does the same to avoid the horrific 10~30 levels, perhaps more. 35ish starts better but still I see way too many people just not understanding about party concepts. Why we pl appart from level fast is to avoid frustration.

How many threads are there with horrendous experience in the dunes, qufim, kazam, garliage, Crawler's nest etc. Some people has very few time to spend and last thing they want is to spend those free time with frustration. PLing sounds gay, inmature, noobish but some people has their own reasons. We will stop Pling and join the parties if the low level parties turns like it was before... remember those days in the dunes where everyone knew what they were doing. At the launch of the NA release, I saw very good players (amoung with some freaks) and I saw alot of cooperations. I think it was from the PS2 release when things turned bad... Honestly it was very uncommon to see more than 60 people in the dunes... now? 160+ wtf... training gobs left and right... I myself leveled shiia as a white mage amoung NA people during my youth... and guess what I died alot but at the same time I had alot of enjoyment aswell. Now? Its nothing but frustration unless the party has a few selection of friends.
 
i dont mind powerlevelers because it gives me a sense of security that there is a raise always there and also less of a chance of dieing. if i know someone is going to powerlevel i usually get a part of 6 DD. this way chains are fast. its not like im not learning how to play properly. fights just go quick and continuously.
 
Graaah I hate it when a party I'm in has a PL...it makes the party stupid and over-confident in their lack of ability. They take on stuff that we normally wouldn't take which either A) Ends up getting us all killed with 1 shot KOs, or B) Takes 20 freakin minutes to kill. It makes people set up bad parties where anything goes making the XP creep in much slower.

If you're going to get a Power Level, get 2 friends together with the 3rd being the PL and go solo in non-xp areas. Don't subjigate people who don't know you or the PL in common XP'n areas to this form of partying please! :?
 
Been having the same problem in THe jungles with my war....

7 Blind invites...
4 Invites to groups with a PL.
1 group invite from a buncha newbs.
30 minutes of waiting.

I got so many god damned Blind invites I made a /decline macro.
The PL groups the conversation went as follows:
Playerx: "Hey wanna pt?"
Phraust: "What do yas gots so far in your pt?"
Playerx: "DD, DD, DD, DD, DD and a lvl 65 WHM that is PL'ing us"
Phraust: "No thanks I don't want to be a farm raised n00b... I apreciate the offer but I am going to wait for a real party..."
Playerx: "What do you mean You don't want to be a farm raised n00b?"
Phraust: "I mean I want to learn how to be a Warrior, so I can better understand the job and apreciate the role when I party with one."

I will tell you I had loads of fun playing with newbs. They are easy to educate. Except bards... The low level Bards piss me off... They don't know shit usually....
 
There is a fine line between 6 friends (or less) and one friend on his main, and a bunch of idiots ont heir first job.

The problem comes in when the first group takes in one or two new players. Then you have 4 experienced players and 2 newbs being PL'd at an alarming exp rate which is good for the experienced players but not for the newbs. A PL party works differently by far than a normal one. You no longer wait on your pt members MP, if people die its no big deal, etc. This teaches bad habits to the new guys.

I learned all about setting my homepoint in specific places in the dunes. I learned how to control my own aggro. I learned how to deal with links and adds with just my own party. I learned to memorize good camps that those links and adds wouldnt happen at all. I learned to FEAR DEATH. I learned about how you dont fight flies until your whm has curaga. I learned you dont fight Bogys period. I learned to eat food and suddenly im doing real damage to crabs i was hitting for 1.

In essence i learned to PLAY. All that base knowlege comes from shitty parties. The worse your party is the more you learn what NOT to do. Having a PL hurts this learning process greatly.

I think we see more of it because a large majority of the NA playerbase has a job over 35, and at least one friend PL capable over 40. Coming through the dunes a 2nd (or fifth) time they want out asap so they have a PL come down. That and PL capable jobs loan themselves out for money to total strangers.

I also want to mention that Korrolokka tunnel is a MUCH better spot to party at that level and a lot of the LS mates that team up go there rather than the dunes so the PL pts in the dunes are more likely to be pickup parties/ noob plers.
 
Yup that day after I pted with you Phraust, did that same thing and left when they said "Don't worry if we dont have a mage at all we got a PLer".
I asked why not try to wait a bit longer and put a real exp pt together and I got kicked while the text in my typing box was "/pcmd lea".

I thank you for getting me out of that pt faster than I could myself.
 
Funny Parties though the ones we were in huh?

You could tell by Sunday that I had pretty much given up and was busy Soloing in a group... I don't know if it was you or Criminalz that was in my last group but we had a lot of fun pissing off that bard... I'm pretty sure it was him.

I am 400 away form 31 if you wanted to finish leveling out of range of the Jungle to get it over with. Gimme a tell later.
 
Phraust said:
Phraust: "No thanks I don't want to be a farm raised n00b...
Click to expand...

LMAO .... XD priceless!!!!

/em walks off laughing repeating "farm raised n00b"

Do you mind if I add that to my vernacular?
 
I have no problem PLing a freind to two at a time. But PLing whole PTs is another thing all together. I've helped 4 or 5 of my friends get THF to 15 for TH. I did it the old fashioned way but whatever. LS PTs with a PLer are ok, so long as you don't invite extra people to join in (that is no subjobbed MNK =P).

I think PLing is ok, if
a) You the person fairly well (friend or LS)
b) They only need a job to a certain level (THF to 15)
c) They already have a job past 30 (This one is key to me, cause in 30 levels you should know the basics)
d) It's a friends new char, and they want some help getting it to dunes faster.

PLing not ok:
a) it's from a stanger for money
b) they don't have a sub job (and you don't know them)
c) If they are whiney
d) if they are a tottal jackass/noob.
 
Phraust said:
I don't know if it was you or Criminalz that was in my last group but we had a lot of fun pissing off that bard... I'm pretty sure it was him.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure it was Criminalz, we did have a BRD in the party right outside of Kazham, but mym memory on that one's a little cloudy, was really tired Friday. On a side note, I did pt with Criminalz in Yhoator with my WHM this weekend.

Result of all of this WHM30(promy time) and NIN28 and a really really flat wallet. (Plenty of shihei left, its the shuriken and other tools that suck XD)
 
I might need a WHM for Promy... I think mine will be working at the time of the event. Send me a tell in game and we will prep for it. TODAY! No iffs, ands, or Buts...
 
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