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[Celeras]

newspeak: sweeping the nation

syn·o·nym (sĭn'ə-nĭm') pronunciation
n.

1. A word having the same or nearly the same meaning as another word or other words in a language.


something can be difficult while still remaining simple, like threading a needle.

Fixed.

something can be an easy copout while still remaining simple, like bringing WoW solo mechanics to ffxi under LD's argument.

[LD]

PT play is not inherently superior, and suggesting that strengthened Solo is supposed to somehow fix the balance of PT play itself is not only irrelevant, but stupid.

Playing this game has taught me that it does very little to bring the best out of its players, especially when engaged in an Exp PT.
Please cite an example where there isn't at least one member whose job allows him to do comparatively less (or more) than the majority.
There are large groups of people who are literally ushered through the entire game and leave, accumulating seemingly everything, except experience.

I am not suggesting Solo be exactly like WoW.
I am suggesting that SE's developers be more motivated in the design and execution of this game.

[Delekii]

Go level BST to 75 and say that solo play means easy. Making it possible to enjoy the game by yourself more does not make it "easier" in terms of an actual skill-related difficulty. It does make it less painful on a waste hours of time doing nothing front.

People are confusing easy with less time consuming. Its the same mistake people make when comparing success of linkshells. Having more time to spend doesnt make one more skillful, it means you have more time to put in.

[JoOeetheplatypuS]

Go level BST to 75 and say that solo play means easy. Making it possible to enjoy the game by yourself more does not make it "easier" in terms of an actual skill-related difficulty. It does make it less painful on a waste hours of time doing nothing front.

People are confusing easy with less time consuming. Its the same mistake people make when comparing success of linkshells. Having more time to spend doesnt make one more skillful, it means you have more time to put in.

My point was he was using WoW as a model yet at the same time saying FFXI is too easy.

[Zalius]

fuck ffxi, there needs to be a xialin showdown mmo cause id fuck a bitch up

[LD]

My point was he was using WoW as a model yet at the same time saying FFXI is too easy.

I was not using WoW as a model.
This suggests that I referenced (researched) it or said I wanted this to be exactly like it, and I have done neither.
I made a very thinly-veiled, tongue-in-cheek remark about how actually balancing the game to be more flexible and practical for Solo very much resembles WoW as means to accentuate my point and illustrate the bias you people tend to have against anything beginning to resemble WoW.

Why does nearly everybody on the internet have such a flimsy grasp on irony?

Improving Solo play significantly will not automatically make this game WoW, but you have to accept the fact that the game has apparently struck a better balance in this regard.

[Quicklet]

I was not using WoW as a model.
This suggests that I referenced (researched) it or said I wanted this to be exactly like it, and I have done neither.
I made a very thinly-veiled, tongue-in-cheek remark about how actually balancing the game to be more flexible and practical for Solo very much resembles WoW, and as means to accentuate my point and illustrate the bias you people tend to have against anything beginning to resemble WoW.

Why does nearly everybody on the internet have such a flimsy grasp on irony?

Improving Solo play significantly will not automatically make this game WoW, but you have to accept the fact that the game has apparently struck a better balance in this regard.

Solo play doesn't necessarily have to mean xping, but the options for solo play beyond that are pretty limited unless SE gets creative with their resources.

The way the game is set up, the best SE could do for solo progression play without trivializing non-solo content would be to create a task system, maybe even have separate paths for each job/nation, and have those tasks geared for (or even restricted to) solo activities. Earn points and maybe exp through tasks, trade in points for spells/items/key items/etc.

[BRP]

There are a ton of things you can do alone, though the rewards are not the best, and are rarely accepted in the needy-wanty, merit-all-the-time community of FFXI.

[Quicklet]

There are a ton of things you can do alone, though the rewards are not the best, and are rarely accepted in the needy-wanty, merit-all-the-time community of FFXI.

That's why I said solo progression play and not just plain solo play. There are plenty of things you can do solo right now: Fellowship NPC, quest, solo w/ certain jobs to varying degrees of success, farm, craft, camp soloable NMs, explore, etc. Usually though, most of these are just side-projects that don't have any real use in the "main" game, and a lot rely on others to do them at a reasonable pace, and as you said, the rewards for many of these just aren't so great.

Also, by progression I don't necessarily mean endgame. I just mean that what you're doing actually results in something that actually matters, not just gives you a cute cutscene and gives you 1000 gil. It doesn't have to be big, just, you know, more interesting than it has been.

[LD]

While I'm of the personal opinion that a complete overhaul is ideal, ideas and suggestions are always welcome.

My idea is to scale down the strength of all mobs beyond the Crag Zones to make them easier to solo while increasing the level of the current exp mobs and lengthen the EXP range to get an exp yield equal to (maybe greater than) the amount you'd previously get.
PT exp bonuses would keep PT play preferable, but Solo would be a solid downtime option.
NMs could be kept at their current difficulty, since level is a generally a nebulous factor with them anyway (iirc, Roc and that group are all roughly 55~.)

I admit it's a tad drastic and difficult to balance, but I believe it's the closest one could get without creating some gimmick that you'd have to go through the trouble of initiating and finalizing.

[BRP]

I just mean that what you're doing actually results in something that actually matters, not just gives you a cute cutscene and gives you 1000 gil.

This makes me laugh really. Since when did videogame armor ever matter? What's the difference as long as you are doing something, not like pixels mean a thing. Then again, I've never understood people that like, so it might be in vain to ask a question like that.

[Quicklet]

I just mean that what you're doing actually results in something that actually matters, not just gives you a cute cutscene and gives you 1000 gil.

This makes me laugh really. Since when did videogame armor ever matter? What's the difference as long as you are doing something, not like pixels mean a thing. Then again, I've never understood people that like, so it might be in vain to ask a question like that.

I didn't mean it had to be a piece of equipment at all. By "mattering", I meant that doing the quest/activity/whatever would enhance your overall experience playing the game as opposed to giving you a cute but irrelevant cutscene as well as an insignificant reward. Basically, just give activities more coherence to the game overall, and tie things in more. It doesn't have to be some sort of stat booster / minmax thing, just more fun/enjoyable. Learning about backstory of Vana'diel history can be very rewarding. Being able to apply that somehow, or having something more connected to enjoy after viewing all the fragmented parts of a story, would be even better. To be honest, the quality of quests has gotten a lot better and it's pretty easy to see the difference between original/Zilart quests and CoP/ToAU quests, but I meant that making these "side" things tie in more with the overall game would make them more rewarding.

And to answer your question, for most people who play an MMO, armor matters for a lot of reasons, either by making them stronger, giving them status, or just looking good on their character. Maybe not everybody places that much importance on it, and probably even less in FFXI than in a more progression-oriented MMO, but it plays a factor at least somewhat. It's a tangible representation of their time invested into the game, which doesn't necessarily have to exclude personal enjoyment of what they do either.