answer needed pls.

[Yeargdribble]

Re: answer needed pls.

Ok...
Dispite Yearg's disclaimer, I will have to say this.
Soloing in this game has gotten progressively easier since the NA release.
You CAN solo feasibly to level 30, provided you know the right camps, and don't try to tackle anything above decent challenge ,or at occasion, even match. Signet now allows for Evasion and Defense bonuses, as well as other interesting things that assist your exp gaining over-all.
...
However, while more difficult and slower, the days of saying "You can't solo for exp." in this game are resoundingly over. It's much slower than partying, but it can be done.

I agree things have gotten easier and it's more viable now than ever. However, I still think soloing is unrealistic even if it is possible. Sure it's possible to mow your lawn with a pair of toenail clippers also, but you wouldn't wanna do it. Even if you have the best gear and you're fighting EP-DC mobs only, and they are mobs that don't have nasty moves... you are still going to be plagued with an unreal amount of downtime as well as have major problems with money.

This isn't an attempt to single you out here, Malacite, but I see this kind of reasoning tossed around a lot, and it's always kind of bothered me.

Even if you never join an EXP party in an MMO, you are still not playing solo. You interact with other people in so many different ways in an MMORPG, and partying is just one of them. People who don't want to level up with other people aren't "playing an MMO solo", they are just getting exp by themselves.

Gotta agree with Murph. When I was a love-goggles fanboy of FFXI, I used to throw this logic around myself. I think a lot of the people who say this are in denial. In another MMO I can still interact with people in many ways that make it a more meaningful experience than an offline game. I can do that without having to rely on other players exclusively even to wipe my own ass in the game.


Not saying FFXI can't be fun and rewarding, but if you have even the slightest reservations about reliance on other people, it's probably just best for you to move on and save your money honestly.

[Wise Donkey]

Re: answer needed pls.

I agree things have gotten easier and it's more viable now than ever. However, I still think soloing is unrealistic even if it is possible. Sure it's possible to mow your lawn with a pair of toenail clippers also, but you wouldn't wanna do it.

Great analogy!

[Feba]

Re: answer needed pls.

The upside of leveling by yourself is that you're effectively farming while you do it. The downside is that farming in this game hardly ever gives you worthwhile EXP and takes long as hell.

[Hyrist]

Re: answer needed pls.

However, I still think soloing is unrealistic even if it is possible. Sure it's possible to mow your lawn with a pair of toenail clippers also, but you wouldn't wanna do it.

Not so great of an anology.

While speaking from the perspective of one of the best soloing jobs of the game (RDM) I know several players who have made their way from 1-75 leisurly from 1-75 killing ep-em BEFORE the update. Granted, some small parties were included in that, but there room for the solo-level grind.

As a RDM I can net a pretty deicent exp/hr ratio taking on high DC mobs in chain with each other. If I felt like playing a little more risky I could possibly fight up to EM, but then I run into problems of how long it takes for me to kill a monster.

A damage dealing class that's subbing WHM or doing some means of hefty damage migation could pretty much keep up with what I am doing as a RDM. Sure, they would have to rest, but with the evasion/def bonuses (and it is pretty DARN noticeable, even with my crap evasion) They can kill monsters quickier than I could ever hope to, and thus, keep pace with my slow-and-steady approach.

This isn't the difference between a lawn mower and a toe clipper. It's more the difference between a non-motorized lawn mower and a riding lawn mower.

The problem is with the rider, you have to pay for gas.

One of the best benefits to soloing is that your solo run becomes your farming run. With your exp being slower, your need for spending on newer items also slows down, while your gil income becomes as steady as your exp, and sometimes at MUCH faster proportional rate, depending on what you're soloing.

So there's a trade off to the different playstyle. While you still have to party for events and what not, exp isn't as aggravatingly slow, or nearly as non-enjoyable as it was before. It is in no way comparable to burns by any measure, but it has started to catch up to 'normal' exp parties.

The big problem about soloing for exp in this game now is that there is no guide for it. People learn party styles by communication, and soloists generally keep to themselves. Monsters that can be soloed at what level by what jobs arn't really explored by anything but BSTs and perhaps red mages.

If someone were to create a comprehensive guide as to camps for soloists through the levels, with a bit of regard to each job in turn, then things might get a lot easier for the soloists in the game.

[Icemage]

Re: answer needed pls.

Just because something "can" be done doesn't mean that it's the most efficient or enjoyable way to do it. Of course "enjoyable" is subjective, but mindlessly killing the same critters over and over for a fraction of the XP you'd get in a party isn't the sort of thing most people enjoy. If it were, everyone would be out there soloing instead of partying.


Icemage

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: answer needed pls.

However, while more difficult and slower, the days of saying "You can't solo for exp." in this game are resoundingly over. It's much slower than partying, but it can be done.

Unless you're chaining at least #3 solo, I don't really consider it soloing for worthwhile EXP, I call it farming. There are a good number of jobs that can do that, but I think you're only punishing yourself if you can't.

People swear up and down that BRD can solo and I don't argue with them much about it, I just kill all the mobs around them in the time it took them to kill one.

[Hyrist]

Re: answer needed pls.

Of course the difficulty of all of this is the 'standard' that everyone beleives that must be achieved for the game to be enjoyable or 'efficient' enough.

Truly for most issues it is an self-imposed restriction that can cause players to quit unnecessarily or intimidate them from joining.

Efficiency for a video game is just as subjective as enjoyment is.

For example, you beleive that killing endless numbers of the same monster for cheep exp is innefficent. While for me it is very time efficent, not in terms of leveling quickily, but in terms of conviences.

Farming locations and exp locations are exactily the same now, and even the same monsters faught bring exp. Gil flow easially keeps up with leveling expenses and traveling cost are down simply because I am going to the same location for both exp and farming.

With the separate method, Sure, you can go and rush your experience, but eventually you'll have to stop to make gil, and that right there changes your pace. Depending on your method and your luck it can either be a short amount of time, or a great build up of time.

So while in the common definition of 'efficent' really seems that way as far as use of time. I think the consept in itself is more a placebo, focusing completely on a single task and lengthening others in the process.

All I've done is condense my tasks and complete them simultaneously

Sure I may kill a monster slower than someone who's 'farming' But the farmer isn't gaining any exp. And the best part is I'm not dealing with 5 other players putting unnecessary demands on my performance. Which is worth it for those who would rather 'solo'.

So standards of efficiency is just as subjective. If you feel you must go around and get 6-16k exp/hr, and then spend the next two weeks farming for that item you need to get for your next level, then I can see where you are coming from. Organizing your tasks into neat little piles to go through them on an "as needed basis" can be efficient.

But so can multitasking.