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Surplus System, How is it affecting your leveling?
MisterSr
Member UncommonPosts: 928
(This is from more than one source, not just the Komoto interview, SE has a tendency to be vague, I'll look for my sources to link them)
"Our lack of explanation regarding all of this was a mistake, and we heartily apologize.
This all is still currently under development, and we have plans to make the limit more palatable in answer to all the tester feedback we received concerning this. In particular we would like to address the speed with which experience begins to drop off and are already looking into it.
Also, since experience points fatigue carries over despite changing weapons, we plan to make it not so harsh."
Vague...
This is before the vague explanation of what people thought of the system:
"Go check your tester site, SE finally explained how this surplus experience works.
Basically, you will get 100% of exp . skill points within 8 hours. Then the next 7 hours, they will be decreasing slowly till 0% .
The cooldown for this system is a week. After a week, it will get reset.
since your exp is not class based. The reduction of exp % will still not stop decreasing."
This is only the first half, not the entire picture. Your at least getting your exp back at the end of the week, soft cap.
Definition of Surplus
Surplus: An excess amount of incoming said item (money, date, ect.) that can be allocated at the discretion of the sole holder.
And it is called a surplus system
Basically...the surplus system isn't going to be as dreadful as everyone says it will be. Here is what it is, from everything I read (Yes i did read http://www.ffxivcore.com/ as well). The surplus system is not a "penalty system"--stop being ignorant people. The use of the Surplus System doesn't really mean that you will level for 8 hours, then after some more time you reach 0. That sounds awful right? Yeah it actually does, that is how it stands right now in the beta, there's no getting around it. But from what I read this is not the entire system, we are actually missing out on the surplus that is supposed to be divvied out at the end of the week.
"Do we get all our exp that we didn't get during the week after our 15 hours were up?" Supposedly--you do, and you actually may get more back is what some sites are speculating. From what I read, you may possibly get back up to 200% more (2X what you would have initially earned). So really all Square Enix is doing is holding you back from reaching level 75 in one week, so that you are forced to actually enjoy the experience of leveling up. So instead of taking a week, it may take a month or 2. But with a multiplied surplus one could actually reach that level cap even faster, but still be forced to enjoy areas and level other classes. So now does the surplus system sound that bad? No, not really, it actually sounds kinda neat.
This is how I see it, Square Enix wants us to enjoy their product, not plow through it like we do WoW, Aion, WAR, and every other western and asian grinder out there. That's not the point of this game, what SE is trying to do is create a more vivid world, one that actually feels somewhat real, and they want you to enjoy this. Yeah sure, the "no life" crowd is going to be upset, they don't care about the leveling part they care about "being the best!" There's plenty of time for that--trust me, it's not the end of the world. The system allows you to still keep a paced leveling pattern in the long scheme of things, but it also promotes the use of other classes, possibly even the crafting and gathering classes. SE is forcing us to make in-game money, good lord say it isn't so! Yeah, I'm sorry that I think this is part of their intent, for you to enjoy the new crafting system. It's not that bad, it takes a little getting used to and a little strategy, but at least it's not watching a bar load for a chance to make something good, or not make something at all. Personally, I am looking at this system positively; so they are holding back my experience till the end of the week--I'm possibly getting more in return, and that I like.
That's my thoughts on it, but I want this thread to be about clarifying what kind of beast we are dealing with here, not about screaming, "SE bad, I want my experience NOW!" We can be civil. Here, I'll post a poll just for those people. 
My links that I can find so far!
(How to be efficient with leveling without surplus given at the end of the week)
http://www.ffxivcore.com/topic/12001-how-to-maximize-xp-gain-with-surplus-system/
Comments
What you say is not what Komoto says. Do you know things he doesn't?
Yeah, I don't actually. :P I've read from multiple sources, SE has a tendency of being extremely vague. So I try to look elsewhere.
So links please, since this http://www.ffxivcore.com/topic/11964-surplus-and-you-komoto-speaks/ says pretty much the exact opposite of what you say.
And if they want us to enjoy their product, they would let us play how we want, not how they want.
Yeah I agree, I'll look for the links buddy. I've been reading all day cause I was really concerned. It's mostly based on scepticism
Look, this system might not really be a bad thing, but you need to face the facts and stop spreading what seems to be intentional misreading. Nowhere in the post does he say anything about bonus or 200%.
Directly quoted:
"Furthermore, it is being designed to not give those with more time on their hands to play an unfair advantage."
"To achieve this balance, the amount of possible skill/experience points earned after a certain period of time has a threshold."
"Within the first eight hours of play, you can earn 100% experience. The seven hour period following will see your possible experience gradually approach zero."
"Surplus experience is currently not being used. However, we have received many comments suggesting some sort of reward be put into effect regarding it"
No mention of baseline xp, no mention of 200%, and he says surplus xp is not being used. How much more clear can it get?
So basically they employ a somewhat "soft level cap" for each week, to prevent those players who plow through these games within a month by pulling all nighters and such. After the weekly reset, this "surplus exp" you've stocked up on, would be applied to your total, and then your 8-15 hours repeats.
I can understand why they would do that at release, but then it's a matter of is that going to still be the case later in the game when people have reached cap level for the game, and new players are trying to catch up?
I can't seem to get a clear understanding of what the "surplus" part is in all of this.
The OP is talking about the " surplus exp " that is gained after a players physical and/or class threshold is reached. However, I don't understand where the OP is getting numbers, since Komoto clearly stated that they don't have anything implemented for it's use at this time.
" Surplus experience is currently not being used. However, we have received many comments suggesting some sort of reward be put into effect regarding it, and we think that’s a pretty interesting idea. We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, though, and we’re currently investigating the possibilities. "
@Wolfenpride ;
The OP's statements are unconfirmed at this point and the only thing that is known is the fatigue system isn't 100% at this point. However, the developers have stated that the fatigue system is in place to balance the game and that would lead me to believe that players will never be able to use the surplus experience to gain levels.
TBH, I can't see surplus experience being used for anything except to purchase basic equipment, or at endgame for increased bonus to stats.
That was exactly my point.
If there reasoning is to make people enjoy leveling more,they are going about it the wrong way.
they could have totally removed the "Leveling" idea behind levels.OR they could have just made the leveling curve even,so EVERY level is a long grind as many like to call it[not me].
The best way ,what i would like to see,is a REASON to make players want to stay at a level instead of speed leveling numbers.An easy example is to [hate to say it] but COPY the AA systems we all know,so stop xp gain and instead improve on building your player.This of course means Square has to make more content and have ideas behind player building.
I wouldn't mind seeing a sort of end game scenario from level 1,example allow players to take their xp and instead spend it on stats or timers ect ect,the way FFXI does it at level75.This gives players the choice of speed leveling but leaves them out on bonus stats,that cannot be gained back at higher levels.Example as in FFXI players could speed level to 75 and have abysmal stats of say a level 50 but then they all just do skillup parties. i say too bad,you speed level your player remains gimp.your choice,no one MAKES you speed level.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
In an effort to consolidate multiple threads on the same topic into one thread, this one is being locked.
Please continue this discussion here :
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/288726/Surplus-Experience-Official-Explanation-Updated.html