It is news to me that the game was even in trouble! I doubt seriously that it is in any need of being in need of being saved.
I'm sure it's not surprising.. but many people take a very ego-centric point-of-view on things...
'The game is dying' is basically their way of saying, "I'm losing interest in it". There are MMOs out there right now that have been "dying" for 4+ years now according to some of the forum dwellers.
Another example is in how many people will insist the game is somehow "broken" because it don't appeal to them... as though it's more believable to them that an entire team of professionals somehow goofed up than it is that perhaps the game isn't for them.
I always love the comments like, "leveling is too slow in this game... they need to fix it". As though the leveling is "broken", because they don't think it's fast enough.
Or.... when they want to really make it sound urgent...
"Leveling is way too slow in this game... If they don't fix it, this game is going to fail".
"If you just step away for a sec you will clearly see all the pot holes in the road, and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
LOTRO is not in need of saving. Turbine tends to cater to the majority of the playerbase. The majority of that base is not at the level cap. As more player get there you will see more attention given to it
That's the most significant statement I've seen posted concerning this game.
The Old Timers Guild Laid back, not so serious, no drama. All about the fun!
www.oldtimersguild.com An opinion should be the result of thought, not a substitute for it. - Jef Mallett
Thats the problem with new games. Too simple to reach end game. Shows a lack of actual content and challenges.
Hitting end game for me means , close account, start a new game. Give me a game that has lots of content and challenges and things to do that keep me entertained and not grind bored. One that is designed so that the end game is going to be 6 months a year away for even the most harcore player.
HMMMM a game were lvl cap is 6 months away for a hardcore player. Would be a game in developement for 10+ years cost 5 times more than even wow did. You can't put enough content in a game to keep a hardcore player busy for 6 months. Thew will burn thru it to quick. In my opinion turbine is dong it right by paying attention to the casual players or the non hardcore players if you like that term better. They will be the one playing for the long hall. You said it yourself hitting lvl cap meens closing your acount and moving on. This is the way most hardcore players play the games in my exp. You can't make a game and cater to only the hardcore. If they did what your asking then lvl cap would be anywere from a year and a half to 2 years away for casual gamers.
Before players got the game figured out and started learning how to power-level to 75 in Final Fantasy XI, it could take the better part of a year to get there. And that game didn't take 10 years to develop. It's about the level of difficulty of the content, and how generous they are with XP. There's no such thing as rested xp in FFXI, nor discovery xp... Because, though it's a popular misconception, SE did not design FFXI to be all about leveling. Many players treat it as such (and will complain it's just a grindfest), but if you look at the design, look at the decisions they made and look at where they put the most emphasis, it's very obvious the game was not designed with power-levelers in mind.
How long it takes to reach level cap only seems vital to those who see it as the only worthwhile goal. I have said this for as long as I can remember, and it still holds true.. Too many players come to MMOs with a console game mentality. They're used to "winning" a console game within a couple weeks, then moving on to the next - or going back and mastering it to the point of being able to post speed-run videos of it. There's a definite widespread preoccupation with "faster is better" at work here.
MMOs are not set up like that. There is no way to "Win" the whole game, because, by their very nature, they're unending - the rate at which the game expands is limited only by the time it takes to create and implement new content (which takes alot of time).
Think about it... MMOs offter a variety of different activities... crafting, questing, exploring.. in LOTRO, you have a completely social-based music system... They are designed to be virtual worlds to exist in - not triathlons to race through. Yet, that's how so many people treat them - like a race to the finish line; I don't even think many players are doing it consciously because, well, that's just how they're accustom to playing a game. I think it's been proven, time and again, in several MMOs now, that getting to end-game within 2 weeks or so is not rewarding in the long-run.
The only way these people will be satisfied is to understand that MMOs require a different approach, and turn off the whole console "win the game" mindset. There is no defined finish line to cross. The trick is to take your time and experience all you can in the game. I would bet money that if that became a more common mindset, if people forced themselves to slow down and not focus so much on leveling, you wouldn't see *nearly* so many "There's not enough content!" posts by people who got to level cap 2 weeks after the game came out.
But, I know that won't happen.. We live in a culture (at least in some areas) with collective ADD; the so-called Fast-Food Mentality.
A game that would keep hardcore players/power lvlers from hitting cap for 6 months would take alot of content that would take alot of time to develope. That is why i said 10 years. Probably a stretch on my part but i was going for the point that if you only worry about pleasing the hardcore/power lvlers you won't. And i played FF11 from launch for about 6 months before i moved on due to the fact i lost intrest in it. It is sad that people who fill they have to beat a game also feel they have to post when a game is beaten in their view.
In FF11 before the power lvlers came along as you say. Wich i question cause i remember there being maxed characters with in a month on the server i played on. A year to reach max lvl for a normal gamer makes sense and no it wouldn't take 10 years to ad the content to keep them happy. Yet for a hardcore/power lvler that amount of content is a mere month or two at best.
I wasn't aware that the game really needed saving to begin with. Its had one of the better releases that I have seen in along time now. Its got a good healthy playerbase and from what I understand a great base game to build from. Most of what you ask , the answers should be obvious or more towards your own personal gaming preferences. . And to be totally honest , my first impressions of posts with titles like yours aren't anything but fire hazards 95% of the time.
You gotta realize that what you like to see in a game isn't the standard for what everyone likes in a game. You bring up some odd questions that you should be able to answer for yourself. Because they are more along the lines of what style of gameplay do you like rather than what the topic suggests. I can't help but ask " Why are you even playing a game you don't appear to like?" or have already made your mind up on thats its gonna do badly.
As for them addressing the stuff you bring up such as armors and quests. Of course they are working on them and gonna improve upon and add to stuff like that. It would be pointless if they weren't. Why not take a break if your that disgruntle over it and come back after a month or so. Or even after the next big update.
Just because you want something that isn't in game yet or might not ever be. Won't make them develop it any faster or or add the stuff you think that should have been included. Why not speak with the power you do have by clicking the cancel button. You know if more people who actually were as disgruntle as you are would do just that . Companys might actually get a better idea of whats good or a bad development practices. They tend to notice changes in the thickness of their wallet faster than they will notice or even read a post like this on a third party forums. Exspeacially with a lame title such as your had. Hell the only reason I noticed it is I was going down the Spy as it happens list.
And if / when you do cancel your account, give them some feed back most companys have alittle form you can fill out as to why you left. If you don't then all the company notices is that people are leaving, but with no clue as to why. Man if more people actually followed practices similar to this, and not all the dam hype (Vanguard is a great example as what I am saying not to do), ( SWG is a great example of what I am talking about.)
Closer,
Nothing against Vanguard I'm not a viral poster against or for it. I realize alot of people like it, But I'm more or less reffering to following the stupid hype train like a stoned out hippie. And paying for something your clearly disgruntle and upset with .
You guys know the OP was a troll right? I don't have the game, can't pay the fee no job, but I played the Beta for like a week and in my opinion the game was amazing. The only thing I didn't like about it was that there was no normal archer attack, you just had to keep pressing an archer skill to attack with it.
But everyone is right when they say this game was not created with hardcore players in mind. This game was created for the casual player and LOTR fan in mind. It is very obvious by the beautiful zones created.
So it is better to just ignore the trolls and enjoy the game, the best weapon against a loser troll or whiner is to ignore them. When you ignore them they realize you have more important stuff to do than argue with a 12 year old mamas boy over the internet.
I'm thankful that the expansion is FREE! It sucks spending $44 on an expansion and being disapointed. And all their expansions will be free. so think about that?
This isn't an expansion its a content addon , a small one at that think about it 60 new quests ? I have 104 completed quests just in North Down alone .. New armor sets? well if there is a new set for each class you can bet that will take up 20 quests so that leaves us with 40 , New raids there goes another 20 quest , so 20 left 10 group & maybe 10 solo quests .. thats why its free there just adding content that should have been in there from the start , now where's the shared bank or Kinship bank ? Macros ? More character slots , better lff , UI mods , I could go on & on
I have to agree with Dbell. You talk about many people who are at endgame and find it lacking, when many can equal 15 people or 500 people depending on your definition of many. Whatever your definition of many is, multiply it by 1000 or 10000 and you have the number of people who AREN'T where you and the "many" like you are. That is who Turbine is aiming to please, because at the end of the day, you and your "many" will just burn through content, get bored and leave while the rest will be enjoying the ride.
Seriously, hasn't the game been out for less than two months? Go get some freaking sunshine already, and worry about high-level content later.
MMO games played or tested: EQ, DAoC, Archlord, Auto Assault, CoH, CoV, EQ2, EVE, Guild Wars, Hellgate: London, Linneage II, LOTRO, MxO, Planetside, SWG, Sword of the New World, Tabula Rasa, Vanguard, WWIIOL, WOW, Age of Conan
Lotro looks like a good game. I would be playing right now if I could buy an account key online. I know i could get an account key by going to the store and buying the game but i am lazy . In Wow I just downloaded it paid for it and bam I was playing. You can tell from sales that lotro is doing well but hopefully they make it easier to download in the future.
Will the expansion save LOTRO? NO! NEVER! It is doomed! Doomed, I tell you! It is destined for the fires in the ninth circle of Hell, there to burn with the reprobates and traitors for all eternity! Mwahahahahaha!
Ummm...sorry for the melodrama. Just wishful thinking, I guess. Please, by all means continue the discussion. I feel much better now.
Thats the problem with new games. Too simple to reach end game. Shows a lack of actual content and challenges.
Hitting end game for me means , close account, start a new game. Give me a game that has lots of content and challenges and things to do that keep me entertained and not grind bored. One that is designed so that the end game is going to be 6 months a year away for even the most harcore player.
HMMMM a game were lvl cap is 6 months away for a hardcore player. Would be a game in developement for 10+ years cost 5 times more than even wow did. You can't put enough content in a game to keep a hardcore player busy for 6 months. Thew will burn thru it to quick. In my opinion turbine is dong it right by paying attention to the casual players or the non hardcore players if you like that term better. They will be the one playing for the long hall. You said it yourself hitting lvl cap meens closing your acount and moving on. This is the way most hardcore players play the games in my exp. You can't make a game and cater to only the hardcore. If they did what your asking then lvl cap would be anywere from a year and a half to 2 years away for casual gamers.
Before players got the game figured out and started learning how to power-level to 75 in Final Fantasy XI, it could take the better part of a year to get there. And that game didn't take 10 years to develop. It's about the level of difficulty of the content, and how generous they are with XP. There's no such thing as rested xp in FFXI, nor discovery xp... Because, though it's a popular misconception, SE did not design FFXI to be all about leveling. Many players treat it as such (and will complain it's just a grindfest), but if you look at the design, look at the decisions they made and look at where they put the most emphasis, it's very obvious the game was not designed with power-levelers in mind.
How long it takes to reach level cap only seems vital to those who see it as the only worthwhile goal. I have said this for as long as I can remember, and it still holds true.. Too many players come to MMOs with a console game mentality. They're used to "winning" a console game within a couple weeks, then moving on to the next - or going back and mastering it to the point of being able to post speed-run videos of it. There's a definite widespread preoccupation with "faster is better" at work here.
MMOs are not set up like that. There is no way to "Win" the whole game, because, by their very nature, they're unending - the rate at which the game expands is limited only by the time it takes to create and implement new content (which takes alot of time).
Think about it... MMOs offter a variety of different activities... crafting, questing, exploring.. in LOTRO, you have a completely social-based music system... They are designed to be virtual worlds to exist in - not triathlons to race through. Yet, that's how so many people treat them - like a race to the finish line; I don't even think many players are doing it consciously because, well, that's just how they're accustom to playing a game. I think it's been proven, time and again, in several MMOs now, that getting to end-game within 2 weeks or so is not rewarding in the long-run.
The only way these people will be satisfied is to understand that MMOs require a different approach, and turn off the whole console "win the game" mindset. There is no defined finish line to cross. The trick is to take your time and experience all you can in the game. I would bet money that if that became a more common mindset, if people forced themselves to slow down and not focus so much on leveling, you wouldn't see *nearly* so many "There's not enough content!" posts by people who got to level cap 2 weeks after the game came out.
But, I know that won't happen.. We live in a culture (at least in some areas) with collective ADD; the so-called Fast-Food Mentality.
A game that would keep hardcore players/power lvlers from hitting cap for 6 months would take alot of content that would take alot of time to develope. That is why i said 10 years. Probably a stretch on my part but i was going for the point that if you only worry about pleasing the hardcore/power lvlers you won't. And i played FF11 from launch for about 6 months before i moved on due to the fact i lost intrest in it. It is sad that people who fill they have to beat a game also feel they have to post when a game is beaten in their view.
In FF11 before the power lvlers came along as you say. Wich i question cause i remember there being maxed characters with in a month on the server i played on. A year to reach max lvl for a normal gamer makes sense and no it wouldn't take 10 years to ad the content to keep them happy. Yet for a hardcore/power lvler that amount of content is a mere month or two at best.
Well, if you started at launch then you'd remember that the game had already been out in Japan for a year at that point. So, yeah, there would/could have been 75s around already - but I highly, highly doubt there were many, if any, NA players at 75 after only a month from the game's NA launch; unless they'd started playing on the JP version of the game. Everyone was still feeling the game out. And, even now in FFXI, with everything there is to do and with how difficult some of it is to even access, 2 months wouldn't be long enough.
It took a few months for people to learn the existence of a HNM named "Absolute Virtue" in an area called Sea (well the players call it that). It took even longer to figure out how to beat him legitimately (people had figured out ways that were deemed exploits, and corrected, by SE) - easily more than 2 months... and that's only 1 creature in the entire game.
There's a newer activity in the game called Salvage. Last time I checked, no one had really figured that out - certainly not "mastered it" - and it was released at least a couple months back now.
As far as leveling to 75 on a single job - if someone has friends who will help them power-level consistently, sure they can reach it in a very short time. However, the nature of much of the content, the way it's set up and the sheer amount of it in FFXI makes it extremely difficult to accomplish in less than a year. I tell new players that, assuming they actually try to experience most of what the game offers and don't just ignore it, there's at least 2 years of content there to go through... and I've yet to be disagreed with on that, even by those with several 75s.
If we're not talking about leveling on its own, FFXI is definitely still an exception to the "rule" that's been emerging in more recent games, that you can "finish" them in a few weeks to a month.
"If you just step away for a sec you will clearly see all the pot holes in the road, and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
The game needs saving? That odd, good sales, good player base numbers, not to mention an enjoyable game. I fail to see where the problem lies....and oh yeah, it's only been out for a month. Yet another meaningless post meant to stir up the fanboy/flamer debate.
Just thought id point this out but think everdim was planned for launch because the area is labelled in the instruction manual. Must of been delayed. The thing im looking forward to the most is the drum kit and the champion armor sets. Does anyone know if they are adding music recording to the patch so you can auto play songs. Anyone know when in june the patch is?
They are adding recording and playback of music. They're also adding ABC notation so you can download and load up music off the web.
Thats the problem with new games. Too simple to reach end game. Shows a lack of actual content and challenges.
Hitting end game for me means , close account, start a new game. Give me a game that has lots of content and challenges and things to do that keep me entertained and not grind bored. One that is designed so that the end game is going to be 6 months a year away for even the most harcore player.
No, it shows that people who are more hardcore players are playing games that are made for casual players. Then game companies have to start figuring out what to do with the hardcore players.
My guess is that the update after the June update will have more for high lvl players. But my clan has been pretty active given that most of us have jobs or families or (in my case) active social lives and the highest lvl player is the retired father of our clan leader and he is lvl 31.
The game doesn't need saving as there are so many players who are not even near the lvl cap. Since Turbine most likely knows how many players are at "what lvl" they can gauge their content accordingly.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
Thats the problem with new games. Too simple to reach end game. Shows a lack of actual content and challenges.
Hitting end game for me means , close account, start a new game. Give me a game that has lots of content and challenges and things to do that keep me entertained and not grind bored. One that is designed so that the end game is going to be 6 months a year away for even the most harcore player.
HMMMM a game were lvl cap is 6 months away for a hardcore player. Would be a game in developement for 10+ years cost 5 times more than even wow did. You can't put enough content in a game to keep a hardcore player busy for 6 months. Thew will burn thru it to quick. In my opinion turbine is dong it right by paying attention to the casual players or the non hardcore players if you like that term better. They will be the one playing for the long hall. You said it yourself hitting lvl cap meens closing your acount and moving on. This is the way most hardcore players play the games in my exp. You can't make a game and cater to only the hardcore. If they did what your asking then lvl cap would be anywere from a year and a half to 2 years away for casual gamers.
Before players got the game figured out and started learning how to power-level to 75 in Final Fantasy XI, it could take the better part of a year to get there. And that game didn't take 10 years to develop. It's about the level of difficulty of the content, and how generous they are with XP. There's no such thing as rested xp in FFXI, nor discovery xp... Because, though it's a popular misconception, SE did not design FFXI to be all about leveling. Many players treat it as such (and will complain it's just a grindfest), but if you look at the design, look at the decisions they made and look at where they put the most emphasis, it's very obvious the game was not designed with power-levelers in mind.
How long it takes to reach level cap only seems vital to those who see it as the only worthwhile goal. I have said this for as long as I can remember, and it still holds true.. Too many players come to MMOs with a console game mentality. They're used to "winning" a console game within a couple weeks, then moving on to the next - or going back and mastering it to the point of being able to post speed-run videos of it. There's a definite widespread preoccupation with "faster is better" at work here.
MMOs are not set up like that. There is no way to "Win" the whole game, because, by their very nature, they're unending - the rate at which the game expands is limited only by the time it takes to create and implement new content (which takes alot of time).
Think about it... MMOs offter a variety of different activities... crafting, questing, exploring.. in LOTRO, you have a completely social-based music system... They are designed to be virtual worlds to exist in - not triathlons to race through. Yet, that's how so many people treat them - like a race to the finish line; I don't even think many players are doing it consciously because, well, that's just how they're accustom to playing a game. I think it's been proven, time and again, in several MMOs now, that getting to end-game within 2 weeks or so is not rewarding in the long-run.
The only way these people will be satisfied is to understand that MMOs require a different approach, and turn off the whole console "win the game" mindset. There is no defined finish line to cross. The trick is to take your time and experience all you can in the game. I would bet money that if that became a more common mindset, if people forced themselves to slow down and not focus so much on leveling, you wouldn't see *nearly* so many "There's not enough content!" posts by people who got to level cap 2 weeks after the game came out.
But, I know that won't happen.. We live in a culture (at least in some areas) with collective ADD; the so-called Fast-Food Mentality.
A game that would keep hardcore players/power lvlers from hitting cap for 6 months would take alot of content that would take alot of time to develope. That is why i said 10 years. Probably a stretch on my part but i was going for the point that if you only worry about pleasing the hardcore/power lvlers you won't. And i played FF11 from launch for about 6 months before i moved on due to the fact i lost intrest in it. It is sad that people who fill they have to beat a game also feel they have to post when a game is beaten in their view.
In FF11 before the power lvlers came along as you say. Wich i question cause i remember there being maxed characters with in a month on the server i played on. A year to reach max lvl for a normal gamer makes sense and no it wouldn't take 10 years to ad the content to keep them happy. Yet for a hardcore/power lvler that amount of content is a mere month or two at best.
Well, if you started at launch then you'd remember that the game had already been out in Japan for a year at that point. So, yeah, there would/could have been 75s around already - but I highly, highly doubt there were many, if any, NA players at 75 after only a month from the game's NA launch; unless they'd started playing on the JP version of the game. Everyone was still feeling the game out. And, even now in FFXI, with everything there is to do and with how difficult some of it is to even access, 2 months wouldn't be long enough.
It took a few months for people to learn the existence of a HNM named "Absolute Virtue" in an area called Sea (well the players call it that). It took even longer to figure out how to beat him legitimately (people had figured out ways that were deemed exploits, and corrected, by SE) - easily more than 2 months... and that's only 1 creature in the entire game.
There's a newer activity in the game called Salvage. Last time I checked, no one had really figured that out - certainly not "mastered it" - and it was released at least a couple months back now.
As far as leveling to 75 on a single job - if someone has friends who will help them power-level consistently, sure they can reach it in a very short time. However, the nature of much of the content, the way it's set up and the sheer amount of it in FFXI makes it extremely difficult to accomplish in less than a year. I tell new players that, assuming they actually try to experience most of what the game offers and don't just ignore it, there's at least 2 years of content there to go through... and I've yet to be disagreed with on that, even by those with several 75s.
If we're not talking about leveling on its own, FFXI is definitely still an exception to the "rule" that's been emerging in more recent games, that you can "finish" them in a few weeks to a month.
The people I am speaking of are the people who beta tested the game for the NA version. They learned the ins and outs of the game and how to lvl during beta. So they had more than 2 months to figure out how to power lvl. Also You thro any game in front of a power lvler and they will burn thru the content very fast. The game has been out for along time and they have added alot of content to it. I will admit it was a big game but at launch of a person wanted to they could burn thru the content at a fast clip. The only thing that would slow down lvling is gaining xp from mobs and death xp loss. I am not saying that everyone did this what i am saying is it was possible and that there were power lvlers who did do this when the game first launched. Just like every other game.
My whole point in my first post was that to make a game that centered around keeping power lvlers or hardcore gamers content for 6 months from hitting cap it would take along time to develope said game. When these type of gamers are a smaller faction of the gaming community today. I liked ff11 but i found i wasn't in for the long lvl grind as i am a casual player. I would imagine now that after the game being out for 4 years that there is or better be 2 years worth of content for the gamer. That is a long time for a game to be out and it should be alot bigger than it was at release. I do disagree that there was a years worth of content at release. But that is my opinion. I also would disagree that there is 2 years worth of content for a power lvler even with the game being out for 4 years.
I have to agree with Dbell. You talk about many people who are at endgame and find it lacking, when many can equal 15 people or 500 people depending on your definition of many. Whatever your definition of many is, multiply it by 1000 or 10000 and you have the number of people who AREN'T where you and the "many" like you are. That is who Turbine is aiming to please, because at the end of the day, you and your "many" will just burn through content, get bored and leave while the rest will be enjoying the ride. Its simple, make a game for 1000 who will play for 3-4 months or 100000 who will play for a year or more. Seriously, I didn't even KNOW there were final class quests because i'm nowhere near that stage from taking it easy and leveling up 4 characters at a pace that allows their crafting to support each other. (Damned if i'll be an AH scrub)
I have to agree with you. The ones that seem to complain and get board are the gold farmers, and the ones who grind there way so fast through the game they have nothing left to do.
You want to enjoy the game here is a tip: Slow down, and take your time.Nobody is impressed with the fact that you were the first to end game. Its not an accomplishment really if you miss the enjoyment along the way.
The game is how old?
Lets give them and actual chance to improve it ,before you tear it apart for its flaws. This happens with every MMO that has come out to some degree or another.
Will the expansion save LOTRO? NO! NEVER! It is doomed! Doomed, I tell you! It is destined for the fires in the ninth circle of Hell, there to burn with the reprobates and traitors for all eternity! Mwahahahahaha! Ummm...sorry for the melodrama. Just wishful thinking, I guess. Please, by all means continue the discussion. I feel much better now.
Thats the problem with new games. Too simple to reach end game. Shows a lack of actual content and challenges.
Hitting end game for me means , close account, start a new game. Give me a game that has lots of content and challenges and things to do that keep me entertained and not grind bored. One that is designed so that the end game is going to be 6 months a year away for even the most harcore player.
HMMMM a game were lvl cap is 6 months away for a hardcore player. Would be a game in developement for 10+ years cost 5 times more than even wow did. You can't put enough content in a game to keep a hardcore player busy for 6 months. Thew will burn thru it to quick. In my opinion turbine is dong it right by paying attention to the casual players or the non hardcore players if you like that term better. They will be the one playing for the long hall. You said it yourself hitting lvl cap meens closing your acount and moving on. This is the way most hardcore players play the games in my exp. You can't make a game and cater to only the hardcore. If they did what your asking then lvl cap would be anywere from a year and a half to 2 years away for casual gamers.
Before players got the game figured out and started learning how to power-level to 75 in Final Fantasy XI, it could take the better part of a year to get there. And that game didn't take 10 years to develop. It's about the level of difficulty of the content, and how generous they are with XP. There's no such thing as rested xp in FFXI, nor discovery xp... Because, though it's a popular misconception, SE did not design FFXI to be all about leveling. Many players treat it as such (and will complain it's just a grindfest), but if you look at the design, look at the decisions they made and look at where they put the most emphasis, it's very obvious the game was not designed with power-levelers in mind.
How long it takes to reach level cap only seems vital to those who see it as the only worthwhile goal. I have said this for as long as I can remember, and it still holds true.. Too many players come to MMOs with a console game mentality. They're used to "winning" a console game within a couple weeks, then moving on to the next - or going back and mastering it to the point of being able to post speed-run videos of it. There's a definite widespread preoccupation with "faster is better" at work here.
MMOs are not set up like that. There is no way to "Win" the whole game, because, by their very nature, they're unending - the rate at which the game expands is limited only by the time it takes to create and implement new content (which takes alot of time).
Think about it... MMOs offter a variety of different activities... crafting, questing, exploring.. in LOTRO, you have a completely social-based music system... They are designed to be virtual worlds to exist in - not triathlons to race through. Yet, that's how so many people treat them - like a race to the finish line; I don't even think many players are doing it consciously because, well, that's just how they're accustom to playing a game. I think it's been proven, time and again, in several MMOs now, that getting to end-game within 2 weeks or so is not rewarding in the long-run.
The only way these people will be satisfied is to understand that MMOs require a different approach, and turn off the whole console "win the game" mindset. There is no defined finish line to cross. The trick is to take your time and experience all you can in the game. I would bet money that if that became a more common mindset, if people forced themselves to slow down and not focus so much on leveling, you wouldn't see *nearly* so many "There's not enough content!" posts by people who got to level cap 2 weeks after the game came out.
But, I know that won't happen.. We live in a culture (at least in some areas) with collective ADD; the so-called Fast-Food Mentality.
A game that would keep hardcore players/power lvlers from hitting cap for 6 months would take alot of content that would take alot of time to develope. That is why i said 10 years. Probably a stretch on my part but i was going for the point that if you only worry about pleasing the hardcore/power lvlers you won't. And i played FF11 from launch for about 6 months before i moved on due to the fact i lost intrest in it. It is sad that people who fill they have to beat a game also feel they have to post when a game is beaten in their view.
In FF11 before the power lvlers came along as you say. Wich i question cause i remember there being maxed characters with in a month on the server i played on. A year to reach max lvl for a normal gamer makes sense and no it wouldn't take 10 years to ad the content to keep them happy. Yet for a hardcore/power lvler that amount of content is a mere month or two at best.
Well, if you started at launch then you'd remember that the game had already been out in Japan for a year at that point. So, yeah, there would/could have been 75s around already - but I highly, highly doubt there were many, if any, NA players at 75 after only a month from the game's NA launch; unless they'd started playing on the JP version of the game. Everyone was still feeling the game out. And, even now in FFXI, with everything there is to do and with how difficult some of it is to even access, 2 months wouldn't be long enough.
It took a few months for people to learn the existence of a HNM named "Absolute Virtue" in an area called Sea (well the players call it that). It took even longer to figure out how to beat him legitimately (people had figured out ways that were deemed exploits, and corrected, by SE) - easily more than 2 months... and that's only 1 creature in the entire game.
There's a newer activity in the game called Salvage. Last time I checked, no one had really figured that out - certainly not "mastered it" - and it was released at least a couple months back now.
As far as leveling to 75 on a single job - if someone has friends who will help them power-level consistently, sure they can reach it in a very short time. However, the nature of much of the content, the way it's set up and the sheer amount of it in FFXI makes it extremely difficult to accomplish in less than a year. I tell new players that, assuming they actually try to experience most of what the game offers and don't just ignore it, there's at least 2 years of content there to go through... and I've yet to be disagreed with on that, even by those with several 75s.
If we're not talking about leveling on its own, FFXI is definitely still an exception to the "rule" that's been emerging in more recent games, that you can "finish" them in a few weeks to a month.
The people I am speaking of are the people who beta tested the game for the NA version. They learned the ins and outs of the game and how to lvl during beta. So they had more than 2 months to figure out how to power lvl. Also You thro any game in front of a power lvler and they will burn thru the content very fast. The game has been out for along time and they have added alot of content to it. I will admit it was a big game but at launch of a person wanted to they could burn thru the content at a fast clip. The only thing that would slow down lvling is gaining xp from mobs and death xp loss. I am not saying that everyone did this what i am saying is it was possible and that there were power lvlers who did do this when the game first launched. Just like every other game.
My whole point in my first post was that to make a game that centered around keeping power lvlers or hardcore gamers content for 6 months from hitting cap it would take along time to develope said game. When these type of gamers are a smaller faction of the gaming community today. I liked ff11 but i found i wasn't in for the long lvl grind as i am a casual player. I would imagine now that after the game being out for 4 years that there is or better be 2 years worth of content for the gamer. That is a long time for a game to be out and it should be alot bigger than it was at release. I do disagree that there was a years worth of content at release. But that is my opinion. I also would disagree that there is 2 years worth of content for a power lvler even with the game being out for 4 years.
Ahhh... I mis-spoke on the 2 years of content thing.. For a power-leveler, no - because chances are they'd be skipping everything they didn't *have* to do anyway. I meant 2 years worth of content for people who actually take the time to experience it.
And, I don't think PL'ing to end-game is so cut-and-dry in FFXI.. There are so many aspects of "end-game" in FFXI that you really sorta have to choose one. There's Sky.. there's Sea/Limbus, now you have Assault and Salvage... there's so much to do in the game. I know getting Sea Access, to begin with, is crazy. Friend of mine just finished the Chains of Promathia storyline and said he feels like he just completed a single player RPG... So, when it comes to leveling - sure, a power-gamer could level quickly. But to get through all the game content, well.. not so easy... Remember that much of the content in FFXI requires help from a party - even from an alliance - to get through.
"If you just step away for a sec you will clearly see all the pot holes in the road, and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
I've had LOTRO for two weeks and got two main charectors to around level 18, I dont consider either to be main or alts. I play around 4 hours a day. I dont specifically choose the optimal XP gain and I tend to explore go out my way extra. For me there must be an awful lot of content left so I dont think any expansion back right now will make any difference, maybe in what ? Four months time ? Oh yeah and I dont PvP at all... unless you count logging in BF2142 !
Right now I am summer vacation from uni and could play 12 hours a day for months but quite frankly I dont want to an have other things to do. Programming project, other games, going out, TV (odd device downstairs)... walking... shopping... etc etc
TBH if people are moaning they've soaked up allthe content ANd are top level then I really do advise they seek medical help. If they've powerlevelled / grinded like hell and find the optimal path to top level ignoring all else.... then they probably have not seen all the content and they have only themselves to blame for being so bored now.
There a whole world outside yer window and it has no latency or FPS problems.. Gaming junkies FTL
I've had LOTRO for two weeks and got two main charectors to around level 18, I dont consider either to be main or alts. I play around 4 hours a day. I dont specifically choose the optimal XP gain and I tend to explore go out my way extra.
That is quite surprising. Do you spend a lot of time in the inns roleplaying?
I have one character at level 32, and two at level 20. I play a few hours a week and would not consider myself 'hardcore' (though admittedly I have been playing since release). I reckon I am fairly average since I am finding the areas I quest very crowded and the first expansion is aimed at my level.
I also spend about fours hours a day on weedays some times 8 or more on a Saturday or Sunday playing hard so to speak. I have one character at 32 and another at 18. I have been betaing the game since October so I know where all the good exp spots are also so I would think I am a very quick leveler. I am average if not a bit above average compared to most of our guild which has about 100 players.
My current main character is level 24. I spent a lot of time earning as many of the titles and virtues as possible in Bree-lands, The Shire and Erud Luin as I played. I didn't finish all the deeds and I tried to complete the kill deeds mostly as I played the zone, rather than trying to complete each of them in one big grind session (though, of course, I made a point to kill every monster I came across of an appropriate type while playing). I'm just finishing up the solo quests in Lone-lands and expect to be level 25 when I head to the North Downs.
My total /played time for the character is 73 hours. If I had been focusing purely on power leveling, I have no doubt I could have been well into my late 30s in the same amount of play time. However, I have greatly enjoyed my play time on this character and do not regret the decision not to focus on leveling as the end all and be all of my game experience.
There is plenty here to enjoy if you take the time to enjoy it. Completeing Deeds and collecting titles and virtues provides a sense of achievment on top of just enjoying the game. It's nice to have an alternative advancement track than just leveling up as fast as humanly possible.
I've had LOTRO for two weeks and got two main charectors to around level 18, I dont consider either to be main or alts. I play around 4 hours a day. I dont specifically choose the optimal XP gain and I tend to explore go out my way extra.
That is quite surprising. Do you spend a lot of time in the inns roleplaying?
Not really no roleplaying as such. I guess I have all day to play and only log on about 4 to 6 pm ish. WhenI play I play very inefficently often exploring parts of the map where I see so few players. The brandywoods are a real quiet area. I guess I do lots of resouce collection with my explorer.
I have two charectors as it nice to swap between roles (Loremaster and hunter), I generally play with my friend and as far as I'm aware not been in a full sized group ever yet . (Not that I mind groups though sometimes I'd prefer a good guild at the moment.). We sometimes do the fellowship quests when we are slightly higher level so for example we both did boneman (successfully) when we were two or three levels higher than him.
My friend whi plays the same amount of time has three main charectors. It kind of fun to swap combinations between them though.
Comments
'The game is dying' is basically their way of saying, "I'm losing interest in it". There are MMOs out there right now that have been "dying" for 4+ years now according to some of the forum dwellers.
Another example is in how many people will insist the game is somehow "broken" because it don't appeal to them... as though it's more believable to them that an entire team of professionals somehow goofed up than it is that perhaps the game isn't for them.
I always love the comments like, "leveling is too slow in this game... they need to fix it". As though the leveling is "broken", because they don't think it's fast enough.
Or.... when they want to really make it sound urgent...
"Leveling is way too slow in this game... If they don't fix it, this game is going to fail".
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
The Old Timers Guild
Laid back, not so serious, no drama.
All about the fun!
www.oldtimersguild.com
An opinion should be the result of thought, not a substitute for it. - Jef Mallett
Before players got the game figured out and started learning how to power-level to 75 in Final Fantasy XI, it could take the better part of a year to get there. And that game didn't take 10 years to develop. It's about the level of difficulty of the content, and how generous they are with XP. There's no such thing as rested xp in FFXI, nor discovery xp... Because, though it's a popular misconception, SE did not design FFXI to be all about leveling. Many players treat it as such (and will complain it's just a grindfest), but if you look at the design, look at the decisions they made and look at where they put the most emphasis, it's very obvious the game was not designed with power-levelers in mind.
How long it takes to reach level cap only seems vital to those who see it as the only worthwhile goal. I have said this for as long as I can remember, and it still holds true.. Too many players come to MMOs with a console game mentality. They're used to "winning" a console game within a couple weeks, then moving on to the next - or going back and mastering it to the point of being able to post speed-run videos of it. There's a definite widespread preoccupation with "faster is better" at work here.
MMOs are not set up like that. There is no way to "Win" the whole game, because, by their very nature, they're unending - the rate at which the game expands is limited only by the time it takes to create and implement new content (which takes alot of time).
Think about it... MMOs offter a variety of different activities... crafting, questing, exploring.. in LOTRO, you have a completely social-based music system... They are designed to be virtual worlds to exist in - not triathlons to race through. Yet, that's how so many people treat them - like a race to the finish line; I don't even think many players are doing it consciously because, well, that's just how they're accustom to playing a game. I think it's been proven, time and again, in several MMOs now, that getting to end-game within 2 weeks or so is not rewarding in the long-run.
The only way these people will be satisfied is to understand that MMOs require a different approach, and turn off the whole console "win the game" mindset. There is no defined finish line to cross. The trick is to take your time and experience all you can in the game. I would bet money that if that became a more common mindset, if people forced themselves to slow down and not focus so much on leveling, you wouldn't see *nearly* so many "There's not enough content!" posts by people who got to level cap 2 weeks after the game came out.
But, I know that won't happen.. We live in a culture (at least in some areas) with collective ADD; the so-called Fast-Food Mentality.
A game that would keep hardcore players/power lvlers from hitting cap for 6 months would take alot of content that would take alot of time to develope. That is why i said 10 years. Probably a stretch on my part but i was going for the point that if you only worry about pleasing the hardcore/power lvlers you won't. And i played FF11 from launch for about 6 months before i moved on due to the fact i lost intrest in it. It is sad that people who fill they have to beat a game also feel they have to post when a game is beaten in their view.
In FF11 before the power lvlers came along as you say. Wich i question cause i remember there being maxed characters with in a month on the server i played on. A year to reach max lvl for a normal gamer makes sense and no it wouldn't take 10 years to ad the content to keep them happy. Yet for a hardcore/power lvler that amount of content is a mere month or two at best.
To the OP,
I wasn't aware that the game really needed saving to begin with. Its had one of the better releases that I have seen in along time now. Its got a good healthy playerbase and from what I understand a great base game to build from. Most of what you ask , the answers should be obvious or more towards your own personal gaming preferences. . And to be totally honest , my first impressions of posts with titles like yours aren't anything but fire hazards 95% of the time.
You gotta realize that what you like to see in a game isn't the standard for what everyone likes in a game. You bring up some odd questions that you should be able to answer for yourself. Because they are more along the lines of what style of gameplay do you like rather than what the topic suggests. I can't help but ask " Why are you even playing a game you don't appear to like?" or have already made your mind up on thats its gonna do badly.
As for them addressing the stuff you bring up such as armors and quests. Of course they are working on them and gonna improve upon and add to stuff like that. It would be pointless if they weren't. Why not take a break if your that disgruntle over it and come back after a month or so. Or even after the next big update.
Just because you want something that isn't in game yet or might not ever be. Won't make them develop it any faster or or add the stuff you think that should have been included. Why not speak with the power you do have by clicking the cancel button. You know if more people who actually were as disgruntle as you are would do just that . Companys might actually get a better idea of whats good or a bad development practices. They tend to notice changes in the thickness of their wallet faster than they will notice or even read a post like this on a third party forums. Exspeacially with a lame title such as your had. Hell the only reason I noticed it is I was going down the Spy as it happens list.
And if / when you do cancel your account, give them some feed back most companys have alittle form you can fill out as to why you left. If you don't then all the company notices is that people are leaving, but with no clue as to why. Man if more people actually followed practices similar to this, and not all the dam hype (Vanguard is a great example as what I am saying not to do), ( SWG is a great example of what I am talking about.)
Closer,
Nothing against Vanguard I'm not a viral poster against or for it. I realize alot of people like it, But I'm more or less reffering to following the stupid hype train like a stoned out hippie. And paying for something your clearly disgruntle and upset with .
But everyone is right when they say this game was not created with hardcore players in mind. This game was created for the casual player and LOTR fan in mind. It is very obvious by the beautiful zones created.
So it is better to just ignore the trolls and enjoy the game, the best weapon against a loser troll or whiner is to ignore them. When you ignore them they realize you have more important stuff to do than argue with a 12 year old mamas boy over the internet.
keep playing have fun.
eqnext.wikia.com
MMO games played or tested: EQ, DAoC, Archlord, Auto Assault, CoH, CoV, EQ2, EVE, Guild Wars, Hellgate: London, Linneage II, LOTRO, MxO, Planetside, SWG, Sword of the New World, Tabula Rasa, Vanguard, WWIIOL, WOW, Age of Conan
Will the expansion save LOTRO? NO! NEVER! It is doomed! Doomed, I tell you! It is destined for the fires in the ninth circle of Hell, there to burn with the reprobates and traitors for all eternity! Mwahahahahaha!
Ummm...sorry for the melodrama. Just wishful thinking, I guess. Please, by all means continue the discussion. I feel much better now.
Morthoron the Moriquendi
Before players got the game figured out and started learning how to power-level to 75 in Final Fantasy XI, it could take the better part of a year to get there. And that game didn't take 10 years to develop. It's about the level of difficulty of the content, and how generous they are with XP. There's no such thing as rested xp in FFXI, nor discovery xp... Because, though it's a popular misconception, SE did not design FFXI to be all about leveling. Many players treat it as such (and will complain it's just a grindfest), but if you look at the design, look at the decisions they made and look at where they put the most emphasis, it's very obvious the game was not designed with power-levelers in mind.
How long it takes to reach level cap only seems vital to those who see it as the only worthwhile goal. I have said this for as long as I can remember, and it still holds true.. Too many players come to MMOs with a console game mentality. They're used to "winning" a console game within a couple weeks, then moving on to the next - or going back and mastering it to the point of being able to post speed-run videos of it. There's a definite widespread preoccupation with "faster is better" at work here.
MMOs are not set up like that. There is no way to "Win" the whole game, because, by their very nature, they're unending - the rate at which the game expands is limited only by the time it takes to create and implement new content (which takes alot of time).
Think about it... MMOs offter a variety of different activities... crafting, questing, exploring.. in LOTRO, you have a completely social-based music system... They are designed to be virtual worlds to exist in - not triathlons to race through. Yet, that's how so many people treat them - like a race to the finish line; I don't even think many players are doing it consciously because, well, that's just how they're accustom to playing a game. I think it's been proven, time and again, in several MMOs now, that getting to end-game within 2 weeks or so is not rewarding in the long-run.
The only way these people will be satisfied is to understand that MMOs require a different approach, and turn off the whole console "win the game" mindset. There is no defined finish line to cross. The trick is to take your time and experience all you can in the game. I would bet money that if that became a more common mindset, if people forced themselves to slow down and not focus so much on leveling, you wouldn't see *nearly* so many "There's not enough content!" posts by people who got to level cap 2 weeks after the game came out.
But, I know that won't happen.. We live in a culture (at least in some areas) with collective ADD; the so-called Fast-Food Mentality.
A game that would keep hardcore players/power lvlers from hitting cap for 6 months would take alot of content that would take alot of time to develope. That is why i said 10 years. Probably a stretch on my part but i was going for the point that if you only worry about pleasing the hardcore/power lvlers you won't. And i played FF11 from launch for about 6 months before i moved on due to the fact i lost intrest in it. It is sad that people who fill they have to beat a game also feel they have to post when a game is beaten in their view.
In FF11 before the power lvlers came along as you say. Wich i question cause i remember there being maxed characters with in a month on the server i played on. A year to reach max lvl for a normal gamer makes sense and no it wouldn't take 10 years to ad the content to keep them happy. Yet for a hardcore/power lvler that amount of content is a mere month or two at best.
Well, if you started at launch then you'd remember that the game had already been out in Japan for a year at that point. So, yeah, there would/could have been 75s around already - but I highly, highly doubt there were many, if any, NA players at 75 after only a month from the game's NA launch; unless they'd started playing on the JP version of the game. Everyone was still feeling the game out. And, even now in FFXI, with everything there is to do and with how difficult some of it is to even access, 2 months wouldn't be long enough.
It took a few months for people to learn the existence of a HNM named "Absolute Virtue" in an area called Sea (well the players call it that). It took even longer to figure out how to beat him legitimately (people had figured out ways that were deemed exploits, and corrected, by SE) - easily more than 2 months... and that's only 1 creature in the entire game.
There's a newer activity in the game called Salvage. Last time I checked, no one had really figured that out - certainly not "mastered it" - and it was released at least a couple months back now.
As far as leveling to 75 on a single job - if someone has friends who will help them power-level consistently, sure they can reach it in a very short time. However, the nature of much of the content, the way it's set up and the sheer amount of it in FFXI makes it extremely difficult to accomplish in less than a year. I tell new players that, assuming they actually try to experience most of what the game offers and don't just ignore it, there's at least 2 years of content there to go through... and I've yet to be disagreed with on that, even by those with several 75s.
If we're not talking about leveling on its own, FFXI is definitely still an exception to the "rule" that's been emerging in more recent games, that you can "finish" them in a few weeks to a month.
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
No, it shows that people who are more hardcore players are playing games that are made for casual players. Then game companies have to start figuring out what to do with the hardcore players.
My guess is that the update after the June update will have more for high lvl players. But my clan has been pretty active given that most of us have jobs or families or (in my case) active social lives and the highest lvl player is the retired father of our clan leader and he is lvl 31.
The game doesn't need saving as there are so many players who are not even near the lvl cap. Since Turbine most likely knows how many players are at "what lvl" they can gauge their content accordingly.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
How is he such a fanboi? Oh by stating facts....
Before players got the game figured out and started learning how to power-level to 75 in Final Fantasy XI, it could take the better part of a year to get there. And that game didn't take 10 years to develop. It's about the level of difficulty of the content, and how generous they are with XP. There's no such thing as rested xp in FFXI, nor discovery xp... Because, though it's a popular misconception, SE did not design FFXI to be all about leveling. Many players treat it as such (and will complain it's just a grindfest), but if you look at the design, look at the decisions they made and look at where they put the most emphasis, it's very obvious the game was not designed with power-levelers in mind.
How long it takes to reach level cap only seems vital to those who see it as the only worthwhile goal. I have said this for as long as I can remember, and it still holds true.. Too many players come to MMOs with a console game mentality. They're used to "winning" a console game within a couple weeks, then moving on to the next - or going back and mastering it to the point of being able to post speed-run videos of it. There's a definite widespread preoccupation with "faster is better" at work here.
MMOs are not set up like that. There is no way to "Win" the whole game, because, by their very nature, they're unending - the rate at which the game expands is limited only by the time it takes to create and implement new content (which takes alot of time).
Think about it... MMOs offter a variety of different activities... crafting, questing, exploring.. in LOTRO, you have a completely social-based music system... They are designed to be virtual worlds to exist in - not triathlons to race through. Yet, that's how so many people treat them - like a race to the finish line; I don't even think many players are doing it consciously because, well, that's just how they're accustom to playing a game. I think it's been proven, time and again, in several MMOs now, that getting to end-game within 2 weeks or so is not rewarding in the long-run.
The only way these people will be satisfied is to understand that MMOs require a different approach, and turn off the whole console "win the game" mindset. There is no defined finish line to cross. The trick is to take your time and experience all you can in the game. I would bet money that if that became a more common mindset, if people forced themselves to slow down and not focus so much on leveling, you wouldn't see *nearly* so many "There's not enough content!" posts by people who got to level cap 2 weeks after the game came out.
But, I know that won't happen.. We live in a culture (at least in some areas) with collective ADD; the so-called Fast-Food Mentality.
A game that would keep hardcore players/power lvlers from hitting cap for 6 months would take alot of content that would take alot of time to develope. That is why i said 10 years. Probably a stretch on my part but i was going for the point that if you only worry about pleasing the hardcore/power lvlers you won't. And i played FF11 from launch for about 6 months before i moved on due to the fact i lost intrest in it. It is sad that people who fill they have to beat a game also feel they have to post when a game is beaten in their view.
In FF11 before the power lvlers came along as you say. Wich i question cause i remember there being maxed characters with in a month on the server i played on. A year to reach max lvl for a normal gamer makes sense and no it wouldn't take 10 years to ad the content to keep them happy. Yet for a hardcore/power lvler that amount of content is a mere month or two at best.
Well, if you started at launch then you'd remember that the game had already been out in Japan for a year at that point. So, yeah, there would/could have been 75s around already - but I highly, highly doubt there were many, if any, NA players at 75 after only a month from the game's NA launch; unless they'd started playing on the JP version of the game. Everyone was still feeling the game out. And, even now in FFXI, with everything there is to do and with how difficult some of it is to even access, 2 months wouldn't be long enough.
It took a few months for people to learn the existence of a HNM named "Absolute Virtue" in an area called Sea (well the players call it that). It took even longer to figure out how to beat him legitimately (people had figured out ways that were deemed exploits, and corrected, by SE) - easily more than 2 months... and that's only 1 creature in the entire game.
There's a newer activity in the game called Salvage. Last time I checked, no one had really figured that out - certainly not "mastered it" - and it was released at least a couple months back now.
As far as leveling to 75 on a single job - if someone has friends who will help them power-level consistently, sure they can reach it in a very short time. However, the nature of much of the content, the way it's set up and the sheer amount of it in FFXI makes it extremely difficult to accomplish in less than a year. I tell new players that, assuming they actually try to experience most of what the game offers and don't just ignore it, there's at least 2 years of content there to go through... and I've yet to be disagreed with on that, even by those with several 75s.
If we're not talking about leveling on its own, FFXI is definitely still an exception to the "rule" that's been emerging in more recent games, that you can "finish" them in a few weeks to a month.
The people I am speaking of are the people who beta tested the game for the NA version. They learned the ins and outs of the game and how to lvl during beta. So they had more than 2 months to figure out how to power lvl. Also You thro any game in front of a power lvler and they will burn thru the content very fast. The game has been out for along time and they have added alot of content to it. I will admit it was a big game but at launch of a person wanted to they could burn thru the content at a fast clip. The only thing that would slow down lvling is gaining xp from mobs and death xp loss. I am not saying that everyone did this what i am saying is it was possible and that there were power lvlers who did do this when the game first launched. Just like every other game.
My whole point in my first post was that to make a game that centered around keeping power lvlers or hardcore gamers content for 6 months from hitting cap it would take along time to develope said game. When these type of gamers are a smaller faction of the gaming community today. I liked ff11 but i found i wasn't in for the long lvl grind as i am a casual player. I would imagine now that after the game being out for 4 years that there is or better be 2 years worth of content for the gamer. That is a long time for a game to be out and it should be alot bigger than it was at release. I do disagree that there was a years worth of content at release. But that is my opinion. I also would disagree that there is 2 years worth of content for a power lvler even with the game being out for 4 years.
You want to enjoy the game here is a tip: Slow down, and take your time.Nobody is impressed with the fact that you were the first to end game. Its not an accomplishment really if you miss the enjoyment along the way.
The game is how old?
Lets give them and actual chance to improve it ,before you tear it apart for its flaws. This happens with every MMO that has come out to some degree or another.
Raven
Before players got the game figured out and started learning how to power-level to 75 in Final Fantasy XI, it could take the better part of a year to get there. And that game didn't take 10 years to develop. It's about the level of difficulty of the content, and how generous they are with XP. There's no such thing as rested xp in FFXI, nor discovery xp... Because, though it's a popular misconception, SE did not design FFXI to be all about leveling. Many players treat it as such (and will complain it's just a grindfest), but if you look at the design, look at the decisions they made and look at where they put the most emphasis, it's very obvious the game was not designed with power-levelers in mind.
How long it takes to reach level cap only seems vital to those who see it as the only worthwhile goal. I have said this for as long as I can remember, and it still holds true.. Too many players come to MMOs with a console game mentality. They're used to "winning" a console game within a couple weeks, then moving on to the next - or going back and mastering it to the point of being able to post speed-run videos of it. There's a definite widespread preoccupation with "faster is better" at work here.
MMOs are not set up like that. There is no way to "Win" the whole game, because, by their very nature, they're unending - the rate at which the game expands is limited only by the time it takes to create and implement new content (which takes alot of time).
Think about it... MMOs offter a variety of different activities... crafting, questing, exploring.. in LOTRO, you have a completely social-based music system... They are designed to be virtual worlds to exist in - not triathlons to race through. Yet, that's how so many people treat them - like a race to the finish line; I don't even think many players are doing it consciously because, well, that's just how they're accustom to playing a game. I think it's been proven, time and again, in several MMOs now, that getting to end-game within 2 weeks or so is not rewarding in the long-run.
The only way these people will be satisfied is to understand that MMOs require a different approach, and turn off the whole console "win the game" mindset. There is no defined finish line to cross. The trick is to take your time and experience all you can in the game. I would bet money that if that became a more common mindset, if people forced themselves to slow down and not focus so much on leveling, you wouldn't see *nearly* so many "There's not enough content!" posts by people who got to level cap 2 weeks after the game came out.
But, I know that won't happen.. We live in a culture (at least in some areas) with collective ADD; the so-called Fast-Food Mentality.
A game that would keep hardcore players/power lvlers from hitting cap for 6 months would take alot of content that would take alot of time to develope. That is why i said 10 years. Probably a stretch on my part but i was going for the point that if you only worry about pleasing the hardcore/power lvlers you won't. And i played FF11 from launch for about 6 months before i moved on due to the fact i lost intrest in it. It is sad that people who fill they have to beat a game also feel they have to post when a game is beaten in their view.
In FF11 before the power lvlers came along as you say. Wich i question cause i remember there being maxed characters with in a month on the server i played on. A year to reach max lvl for a normal gamer makes sense and no it wouldn't take 10 years to ad the content to keep them happy. Yet for a hardcore/power lvler that amount of content is a mere month or two at best.
Well, if you started at launch then you'd remember that the game had already been out in Japan for a year at that point. So, yeah, there would/could have been 75s around already - but I highly, highly doubt there were many, if any, NA players at 75 after only a month from the game's NA launch; unless they'd started playing on the JP version of the game. Everyone was still feeling the game out. And, even now in FFXI, with everything there is to do and with how difficult some of it is to even access, 2 months wouldn't be long enough.
It took a few months for people to learn the existence of a HNM named "Absolute Virtue" in an area called Sea (well the players call it that). It took even longer to figure out how to beat him legitimately (people had figured out ways that were deemed exploits, and corrected, by SE) - easily more than 2 months... and that's only 1 creature in the entire game.
There's a newer activity in the game called Salvage. Last time I checked, no one had really figured that out - certainly not "mastered it" - and it was released at least a couple months back now.
As far as leveling to 75 on a single job - if someone has friends who will help them power-level consistently, sure they can reach it in a very short time. However, the nature of much of the content, the way it's set up and the sheer amount of it in FFXI makes it extremely difficult to accomplish in less than a year. I tell new players that, assuming they actually try to experience most of what the game offers and don't just ignore it, there's at least 2 years of content there to go through... and I've yet to be disagreed with on that, even by those with several 75s.
If we're not talking about leveling on its own, FFXI is definitely still an exception to the "rule" that's been emerging in more recent games, that you can "finish" them in a few weeks to a month.
The people I am speaking of are the people who beta tested the game for the NA version. They learned the ins and outs of the game and how to lvl during beta. So they had more than 2 months to figure out how to power lvl. Also You thro any game in front of a power lvler and they will burn thru the content very fast. The game has been out for along time and they have added alot of content to it. I will admit it was a big game but at launch of a person wanted to they could burn thru the content at a fast clip. The only thing that would slow down lvling is gaining xp from mobs and death xp loss. I am not saying that everyone did this what i am saying is it was possible and that there were power lvlers who did do this when the game first launched. Just like every other game.
My whole point in my first post was that to make a game that centered around keeping power lvlers or hardcore gamers content for 6 months from hitting cap it would take along time to develope said game. When these type of gamers are a smaller faction of the gaming community today. I liked ff11 but i found i wasn't in for the long lvl grind as i am a casual player. I would imagine now that after the game being out for 4 years that there is or better be 2 years worth of content for the gamer. That is a long time for a game to be out and it should be alot bigger than it was at release. I do disagree that there was a years worth of content at release. But that is my opinion. I also would disagree that there is 2 years worth of content for a power lvler even with the game being out for 4 years.
Ahhh... I mis-spoke on the 2 years of content thing.. For a power-leveler, no - because chances are they'd be skipping everything they didn't *have* to do anyway. I meant 2 years worth of content for people who actually take the time to experience it.
And, I don't think PL'ing to end-game is so cut-and-dry in FFXI.. There are so many aspects of "end-game" in FFXI that you really sorta have to choose one. There's Sky.. there's Sea/Limbus, now you have Assault and Salvage... there's so much to do in the game. I know getting Sea Access, to begin with, is crazy. Friend of mine just finished the Chains of Promathia storyline and said he feels like he just completed a single player RPG... So, when it comes to leveling - sure, a power-gamer could level quickly. But to get through all the game content, well.. not so easy... Remember that much of the content in FFXI requires help from a party - even from an alliance - to get through.
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
Right now I am summer vacation from uni and could play 12 hours a day for months but quite frankly I dont want to an have other things to do. Programming project, other games, going out, TV (odd device downstairs)... walking... shopping... etc etc
TBH if people are moaning they've soaked up allthe content ANd are top level then I really do advise they seek medical help. If they've powerlevelled / grinded like hell and find the optimal path to top level ignoring all else.... then they probably have not seen all the content and they have only themselves to blame for being so bored now.
There a whole world outside yer window and it has no latency or FPS problems.. Gaming junkies FTL
I have one character at level 32, and two at level 20. I play a few hours a week and would not consider myself 'hardcore' (though admittedly I have been playing since release). I reckon I am fairly average since I am finding the areas I quest very crowded and the first expansion is aimed at my level.
I miss DAoC
My total /played time for the character is 73 hours. If I had been focusing purely on power leveling, I have no doubt I could have been well into my late 30s in the same amount of play time. However, I have greatly enjoyed my play time on this character and do not regret the decision not to focus on leveling as the end all and be all of my game experience.
There is plenty here to enjoy if you take the time to enjoy it. Completeing Deeds and collecting titles and virtues provides a sense of achievment on top of just enjoying the game. It's nice to have an alternative advancement track than just leveling up as fast as humanly possible.
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Not really no roleplaying as such. I guess I have all day to play and only log on about 4 to 6 pm ish. WhenI play I play very inefficently often exploring parts of the map where I see so few players. The brandywoods are a real quiet area. I guess I do lots of resouce collection with my explorer.
I have two charectors as it nice to swap between roles (Loremaster and hunter), I generally play with my friend and as far as I'm aware not been in a full sized group ever yet . (Not that I mind groups though sometimes I'd prefer a good guild at the moment.). We sometimes do the fellowship quests when we are slightly higher level so for example we both did boneman (successfully) when we were two or three levels higher than him.
My friend whi plays the same amount of time has three main charectors. It kind of fun to swap combinations between them though.