Thinking outside the box.

A

Alerith

Guest
Ok, this is my first new topic since..... sunday I think? So dont go "OMFGHESATITAGAIN!"

Currently in the game, there is a "Normal" party set-up that usually consists of a WHM as a healer (or SMN in alot of cases), a few DD, a RDM or BLM and two tank types.

Do you agree with this cookiecutter way of playing? Do you have your own unique way to play? Do you find people a pain in the ass when they argue you arent "playing right"? Are you tired of me asking questions? lol.

Im just tired of following the "normal" way to play and want to change things up a bit. Add some challange, and go beyond the: Heal, Tank, Heal, Tank, Aero, Tank, Berserk, Tank, Die, Raise, Heal, Tank, Fire....
 
Alerith said:
Ok, this is my first new topic since..... sunday I think? So dont go "OMFGHESATITAGAIN!"

Currently in the game, there is a "Normal" party set-up that usually consists of a WHM as a healer (or SMN in alot of cases), a few DD, a RDM or BLM and two tank types.

Do you agree with this cookiecutter way of playing? Do you have your own unique way to play? Do you find people a pain in the ass when they argue you arent "playing right"? Are you tired of me asking questions? lol.

Im just tired of following the "normal" way to play and want to change things up a bit. Add some challange, and go beyond the: Heal, Tank, Heal, Tank, Aero, Tank, Berserk, Tank, Die, Raise, Heal, Tank, Fire....
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Yes.

Two tanks? Unless you're lower level and they're both nin's without Utsusemi: Ni or it's 2 war/nin's sharing hate, I haven't been in a good party with 2 tanks.

As for cookie-cutter parties, there are things you have to have. You need someone who can heal, because without them you'll all die; you need damage dealers so that you can actually kill the mob; generally you need a tank so that the other 15 jobs that aren't designed to tank don't die. Generally you're going to want a refresher in order to get decent chains, or if you have a ton of room/mats to make drinks you can do without. For some mobs dispel/finale is practically required. As long as the job can fit the role of healer, tank(NOT WHM), DD, or support, the specific job that goes into that slot doesn't really matter. There's plenty of variability in party setups, but if you're going for something more specialized then obviously you limit your choices.

The reason why it's the "cookie-cutter" way of playing is because it's been proven to be the most effective. You can't always build a melee cannon or a manaburn, but you can get a few DD, a tank, a healer and a support and make decent/good exp. Generally the people who try to rebel against it suck at their job and blame everyone else for their failings. This is a social game, you have to interact with people; but some people don't seem to understand that. Hell, if it was possible, I'm sure a bunch of people would be entering cheat codes if they could.
 
Well Im not saying you should do this or you should do that. Im just asking what other ways you have played besides the cookie-cutter version. So allow me to rephrase my initail post:

What other ways have you played the game that is different from the cookiecutter way?
 
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Alerith said:
Well Im not saying you should do this or you should do that. Im just asking what other ways you have played besides the cookie-cutter version. So allow me to rephrase my initail post:

What other ways have you played the game that is different from the cookiecutter way?
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Cannon
 
I agree w/ Bajaratt for a change.. ya need certain jobs to xp well - a healer and a tank are two of em. Someone to take the blows and someone to make sure he doesn't die.. there's your cookie cutter right there basically anything else can be decided by the leader - u want a healer a tank and 4 monks go for it (healer could be a sumoner that casts arial armor on the monks before every battle so they don't get ripped apart when the voke wears off). The healer doesn't necessarily need to be a whm, could be a rdm, summoner, bard what have you as long as there's someone on standby that can prevent deaths from happening. Thing is though, thinking outside the box has to reflect a)what are available jobs seeking at the time of party formation b)what mob you are fighting - what they are weak against c)if it's not exactly the "cookie cutter" kind of job that say... doesn't have support roles (as an example) everyone has to know their job or xp won't flow as nicely as a regular cookie cutter party w/ healer tank dd support melee and mb type of party

-Shady
 
Halifirien said:
Two Beastmasters. Screw the normal party! :P
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BST cannon anyone?
 
When it comes to my WHM, I could be considered "cookie-cutter", considering I'm using SMN and BLM as my available sub-jobs.
However, when it's my DRG in question.. I've been using SAM as my sub-job the entire time I've been playing, and I've gotten the DRG up to 40 so far, no trouble. Yes, invites are slow during NA peak times, but later at night whenever the JP come out to play, I tend to get invites more often due to open-minded players being on. Yes, that was a direct statement saying that NA (in general) are more closed-minded and wanting "cookie-cutter" set-ups.
So far, though.. I've had no trouble with my DRG/SAM, just I have to seek when times are prime for it, which I have no problem with. :biggrin:
 
I had this paty in quifm: RDM, BLM, BLM, BLM, NIN, WAR and it went extremely well. We ended up partying for the whole day and went from 24-32. It was a little difficult against gobs, but in the end, it worked very well.

What most people dont get (mostly just the noobs) is that Skillchains and magic bursts can be very good against certain mobs. The warrior was using a great axe and I was using my katanas. We were able to figure out {Reverberation} with {Blade: Rin} and {Sturmwind} then the BLM (all 3 of em) added in {Water} to complete the burst. It takes giants down like you would not believe.
 
I remember once in Valkrum I was in a party of 6 warrior/monks. Someone would tank until they were about to die, someone provokes off of him, he runs back and starts resting, the other 5 keep whacking away, rinse and repeat. We weren't able to take on IT's but it was better than the 2 hours I had sat around waiting for an invite.
 
Halifirien said:
Two Beastmasters. Screw the normal party! :P
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Im going to go ahead and make a stereotype here

People who are Bsts tend to be more patient and eays going, they don't bitch about drops or what job they need, its peaceful and easy.

I remember when i was a 15 bst i duoed with a nin and we got about 2k per hour, it was much better for the nin since he didn't get a pt all day.

I pulled with a pet to soften teh mob the nin would tank i would heal him making about 70-120 per kill
 
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Yesterday, due to two members d/c, we had a party that consisted of PLD, BLM, WHM, DRG and we kicked ass for an hour and a half. We were getting 150+ exp per and chaining 2-3 usually. Not bad for four people.
 
Alerith said:
I had this paty in quifm: RDM, BLM, BLM, BLM, NIN, WAR and it went extremely well. We ended up partying for the whole day and went from 24-32. It was a little difficult against gobs, but in the end, it worked very well.

What most people dont get (mostly just the noobs) is that Skillchains and magic bursts can be very good against certain mobs. The warrior was using a great axe and I was using my katanas. We were able to figure out {Reverberation} with {Blade: Rin} and {Sturmwind} then the BLM (all 3 of em) added in {Water} to complete the burst. It takes giants down like you would not believe.
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lolgiants
my lvl 1 taru mnk could pwn a giant.
 
Alerith said:
I had this paty in quifm: RDM, BLM, BLM, BLM, NIN, WAR and it went extremely well. We ended up partying for the whole day and went from 24-32. It was a little difficult against gobs, but in the end, it worked very well.

What most people dont get (mostly just the noobs) is that Skillchains and magic bursts can be very good against certain mobs. The warrior was using a great axe and I was using my katanas. We were able to figure out {Reverberation} with {Blade: Rin} and {Sturmwind} then the BLM (all 3 of em) added in {Water} to complete the burst. It takes giants down like you would not believe.
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That's almost a manaburn party. Later on, you can dump the war and get another blm or even a bard and you'll do well.

Elixer, one reason why NA's are so "close-minded" is because we hate wasting our time. I'm much less tolerant of crappy parties than on my first job, because I know that I could be out doing something better. I've left parties that flat-out sucked instead of crawling through 2k/hour that weren't even worth the cost of my food.

Ever since the TP nerf though, /sam has lost a lot of it's luster. They also might want you to sub war for first provoke for a thief, not just because of discrimination against your subjob choice.
 
Giving up Berserk, Attack Bonus, and Double Attack from WAR sub for an unnoticable TP increase from sub-30 SAM sub is not worth it.
 
Halifirien said:
Two Beastmasters. Screw the normal party! :P
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Damn straight. Two Beastmasters getting consistent chain 5s on VT-IT mobs (post-Leave levels) with no downtime (post-Gaudy Harness)? Priceless.
 
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I would say the most fun I've had in a party was 2 WHM 2 SMN a THF and a NIN. That party got us through qufim in about 3.5 hours. Of course the SMNs also had every avatar that was out then. That might of helped.
 
Too many people take this game too seriously. I deleted my old character on Hades (after sending my new character all my gil :P ) and started over.

Level grinding may be fun for some, but there is so much more to the game than that. You can explore, do quests, missions, help friends with the same, relax, synth, and all kinds of things.

One thing I liked doing was taking my RDM into Valkrum Dunes (Not as a PL) and help people in need. Like control aggro, help parties who get lizard or gob links, and all together just help people. Ill never stick with one given party, but stay within /shout distance in case they need help.

Kinda like a GM thats actually helpful. -.-
 
For me.. if I remember correctly it was lvl 52-53 party fighting crabs in king ranpierres tomb right when you hit the ? we had rdm brd drk mnk mnk nin chained up to 6 or 7.. no downtime at all, far and away awesomest time.

Shady
 
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