Mindless Levelling up...

[Kontaminator]

I really want to like this game, and to be fair it's had me sucked in all week. Spending hours on it every night.

However either I am doing something wrong or this game is way too difficult to achieve anything. As a black mage I have found only mindless levelling up anyway to be able to fulfill the quests/missions I've been set.

I suppose I'm also asking any tips? I thought the missions were meant to make the levelling up more rewarding. I found to complete missions I had to level up from 3 to 9 just to be able to get where I needed to be due to orcs/goblins hacking me up!

I just think 15 hours gameplay where 95% of it is levelling up is pretty pants in my book. I know it's online and it can't be too easy but it's ridiculous! It takes 20 times longer to acheive than in any single player FF game!

Cheers,

Kontaminator

[Icemage]

Re: Mindless Levelling up...

Welcome to FFXIOnline, and welcome to Vana'diel.

Regarding the level grind - well, this isn't a FF single player game. Final Fantasy single player games traditionally have fast levelling to escalate your power level quickly so you can take on tougher enemies. If you did that in a multiplayer game, things would spiral quickly out of control (or you'd get bored really quickly as you'd have done and seen everything).

Hang in there, though - even though levelling doesn't ever really get all that much easier or faster, it does become more entertaining beyond level 11 or so, when you have the opportunity to join experience point parties. Also note that black mage is one of the more annoying jobs to get past level 10 as you have a lot of downtime from resting (for MP), and it won't be that way once you start joining up with other players.

Best of luck to you!


Icemage

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Mindless Levelling up...

You can't take a single player RPG experience, apply it to a social dynamic and hope for the same kind of pace you'd enjoy with the single player RPG. Its just not possible. MMORPGs, if akin to any kind of single player RPG, are more like western RPGs and not the story-driven japanese ones. Lots of stat building, grinding and so one to be done before you get back to the story.

So basically, if you came for a Final Fantasy story like the other ones, its still here, but it'll take you a while longer than usual to see most of it. But trust me, its a Final Fantasy story (definately much moreso than VII, VIII and X). If you play RPGs for story and only story, however, you've picked the wrong game.

A good analogy for the Rank missions/level would probably be this: For every ten levels you probably could complete a new rank level and ranks 7-10 are generally level 60+ stuff.

So in closing, eat your vegetables and you'll get dessert soon enough.

[Ryouken]

Re: Mindless Levelling up...

You can't take a single player RPG experience, apply it to a social dynamic and hope for the same kind of pace you'd enjoy with the single player RPG. Its just not possible. MMORPGs, if akin to any kind of single player RPG, are more like western RPGs and not the story-driven japanese ones. Lots of stat building, grinding and so one to be done before you get back to the story.

So basically, if you came for a Final Fantasy story like the other ones, its still here, but it'll take you a while longer than usual to see most of it. But trust me, its a Final Fantasy story (definately much moreso than VII, VIII and X). If you play RPGs for story and only story, however, you've picked the wrong game.

A good analogy for the Rank missions/level would probably be this: For every ten levels you probably could complete a new rank level and ranks 7-10 are generally level 60+ stuff.

So in closing, eat your vegetables and you'll get dessert soon enough.

I completely agree, this game is still FF, but it demands much more time and effort in order to appreciate the true value of the game...

I too have sometimes questioned whether or not all this lvl grinding is worth it

But then I remember that once I hit lvl30 on my WAR, I'll be able to get my SMN job and finally be able to control the avatars (Ifrit, Fenrir, and Diabolos! )

So just stick with it, and trust me, very soon you'll get your reward!

[Neomage]

Re: Mindless Levelling up...

Yes, it does take a long time to do the level grind, but trust me, it's worth it. You can't give up on the game untill level 30 and the quests/missions revolving around that - Once you get to 30, everything continues in the pattern of 1-30, except more challenging, more rewarding, and more time consumeing. And it';s ture, the real meat of the game is 50+ at the least, usually 60-70+, which will take you a long, looooonnnggg time... but it IS worth it.

[Lonerwolf]

Re: Mindless Levelling up...

Most of the insane missions/quests are made that way to force people into grouping to get things done. If there was a quest to go to the bathroom you would need a whole alliance just to hold the tp. ^^

[Mhurron]

Re: Mindless Levelling up...

But then I remember that once I hit lvl30 on my WAR, I'll be able to get my SMN job and finally be able to control the avatars (Ifrit, Fenrir, and Diabolos! )

You might want to research the SMN job a little more.

[Ryouken]

Re: Mindless Levelling up...

You might want to research the SMN job a little more.

I think you misunderstood what I meant

I know that to get the SMN job you have to do the Carbuncle's Ruby quest (I heard its a real pain to get all the weather conditions )

And I also know that you have to lvl grind until at least 20 before you can actually start getting avatars (not including Fenrir or Diabolos, since you have to be 70+ in order to stand a chance)

What I meant was that being able to get those avatars was worth lvl grinding...

[Mhurron]

Re: Mindless Levelling up...

I think you misunderstood what I meant

I know that to get the SMN job you have to do the Carbuncle's Ruby quest (I heard its a real pain to get all the weather conditions )

And I also know that you have to lvl grind until at least 20 before you can actually start getting avatars (not including Fenrir or Diabolos, since you have to be 70+ in order to stand a chance)

What I meant was that being able to get those avatars was worth lvl grinding...

Well as long as you know that. You also need to have progressed past CoP 3-5 to do the Diabolos Prime battle. Oh, and you'll probably be playing WHM-lite for most of your SMN career.

To the OP, just realize that you haven't even begun to see what you can do in FFXI but a lot of the game is leveling. Give it a good chance, if you still get a little past 30 and still see the game as mindless grind then maybe this game just isn't for you. It's hard to play the game if you can't find any enjoyment in large, required parts of it.

Oh, and Summerfest is coming up. I loved that last year. Things were a little different and that was cool after only a month or so of playing.

[Geto]

Re: Mindless Levelling up...

2 things.

1) You can't compare this game to other FFs. Sure it has the folklore and the appeal, but this is a MMORPG. It doesn't end. Its slow like life slow. There no finite time, play, whatever.

2) It is far from "mindless."

[Feba]

Re: Mindless Levelling up...

Myself, I kinda like leveling.

If the PT is quiet and good, no arguments or stupidity, I can kill all day. I almost sort of enjoy the monotany.

[Lucky and Elizabeth]

Re: Mindless Levelling up...

Actually i got drawn into the story here. And lved so i could advance the story.

If you play RPGs for story and only story, however, you've picked the wrong game.

[Tatha-Kitten]

Re: Mindless Levelling up...

i started wanting story story and only story. :p then i found i couldn't. and leveled up.

i'm rank 5, where the story is only JUST getting crazy, and i've been rank 5 for.... 4 months on this character.

Once you have a decent level character, you can do the story much easier. It's like great heroes of folklore didn't just spring up out of nowhere with these amazing powers that inspired stories about them. They trained at a near constant, honing theor abilities to make them stronger.

:p you're on the honing segment, train hard, and you will find your glory. young grass hopper... /bow.

[Ellipses]

Re: Mindless Levelling up...

Black Mage is a bit of a difficult job to solo early on. You're almost at the point where you'll start to party. Leveling in a party is a lot less "mindless," especially once you get your subjob.

The quests and missions really are rather sparse early on. It seems like leveling is all there is right now, but once you level up a bit and travel to Jeuno, etc., it starts to pick up. This game has a lot of its content separated into distinct activities. If you're leveling, you're leveling. If you're crafting, you're crafting. If you're doing a mission, you're doing a mission, etc. There are very few instances of one activity overlapping another.

Sometimes that makes things seem like a grind. You level and level and level, and it feels like that's all you're doing. But then, that's why it's nice having them separate. If you get tired of leveling, you can go questing or crafting or fishing or what-have-you. Some of that stuff (crafting, fishing, etc.) you could start right now, but most of it gets easier later on.

[S.SubZero]

Re: Mindless Levelling up...

Level grinding is part of making a powerful character. Heck, even at L75, they added the merit system so there's reason to grind MORE.

Really tho, the game is all about grinding. You level your job, you grind. You level a craft, you grind. Just doing quests gets fame, a value that you "grind" to unlock access to other quests. Every single thing you do in this game (or alot of games) is for the sake of increasing some value. Grind!