lv99 bitch/speculation/etc thread

[Lucavi]

I welcome a level cap increase, and honestly felt it inevitable even with the merit system in place.

I assume that's why they abruptly put the brakes on merits some 2 and a half years ago. The lack of progress on individual characters outside of gear is what led to myself and others I know quitting, so bringing back the progression is bringing back some heavy nostalgia.

*Edit: Cymmina, SE may make mistakes (and they make many), but don't put them on the same league as Mythic. Not every game that raises the level cap fails to balance pre-existing skills and talents in anticipation. Blizzard has been talking about how they're tweaking and modifying entire talent trees in anticipation of their next expansion, and that's only a 5 level increase.

CoH, CoV, and all those other Mythic failures have a distinct habit of leaving their playerbase out to pasture after a set period of years, as the company just moves onto the next one-and-done MMO creation. SE is not the same type of company. If anything, they'll invest heavily into their brand, although that investment will not trickle down to the player as much as many of us want.

TLDR: SE won't raise the cap without balancing what's already available now (IE. convert), and with the addition of new spells, things like carrying refresh over to other jobs won't be as broken as you may think. SE loves nerfing skills on subs anyway -- utsu is the only one they let slip away for years, and it remains as one of their biggest black marks on the game.

[Siatdiat]

For people who started playing after everyone was 75 on atleast one job, who didnt experience the early days of FFXI where everyone was still working on leveling up and subs werent quite nailed down as what was best, this should be a great thing. The most fun times I had in FFXI were leveling up in parties working toward the goal of max level and doing endgame. I understand alot of people put what they like to call "work" into getting alot of the best shit, but if it was work then go ahead and quit please. The I remember when thread is all about the early days off FFXI, this is pretty much going to recreate that feeling. There is so many thoughts I have and I'm sure everyone else has, but I'm kind of disappointed in the lack of creativity alot of people have here with their speculations.

I'm pretty sure new HNM will have better gear than exists now, and that they will work like DI and sandworm. Also, all the new endgame similar to limbus and dynamis and shit will be instanced and have some secondary rewards to save up for decent gear while going for the drops that come from it. Certain items will still be worth getting and having though, for instance assassins armlets will still probably be only TH hand for thf, and duelist chapeau will probably be only refresh head for rdm. All I can guess is alot of stuff that exists at 75 cap will have drop rates increased so people get alot of that gear pretty easy now and have newer shit to look forward to. Its a toss up though, it can go completely bad or competely awesome, or a mixture to some degree. Really just have to wait and see.

P.S. I think its funny to base jobs on endgame right when they are raising level cap so everyone will be trying to party up for xp... lol.

[crux]

So? What's the difference between being level 75 and fighting level 85 mobs vs being level 99 and fighting level 109 mobs? It's the same shit. It's just a lot more obvious when you're doing MMM because the only thing changing is the level of the group. Same mobs, same scenery.

FFXI is not WoW and doesn't need to be...

My point wasn't to compare directly to WoW, but rather the strategy of WoW, which is the opposite approach of what FFXI has done for the last six years. Final Fantasy XIV clearly has to choose one approach or the other or a combination therein. There's no other direction in which to go. Thus, an experiment is wholly appropriate, especially in the game that was largely an experiment in the first place.

It isn't just about higher level mobs, but the concept of replacing older mobs and replacing older gear. Games like WoW do exactly that and FFXI has historically avoided doing just that. So that's where the question lies: Which approach will FFXI take with a 25 new levels?

[Tankjr]

Furthermore, the redistribution of monsters in existing areas is also under consideration.

I read as:

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...ickets-pic.jpg

[Vodou]

After this large of a stretch of time, the foregone conclusion that such a big change to the system is anything less than an experiment is beyond my understanding.

Chariot of the Gods arguments are fail.

If you don't understand what prerequisites are, then make up stuff and think that its true. If you are raising levels to enable people in endgame to have new content, you must either:

1) replace existing gear (make it obsolete) or enable people to mod existing gear: Ergo, augment, evolith, trial of magians

2) force people to level in the same areas of provide alternates: ergo, level synching

3) change HNM levels or break the game: ergo, cap areas but make it possible to use the same gear level 75-99, thus allowing higher level gear in capped areas.

If you don't understand that the solutions in 1/2/3 are prerequisites, then we have nothing left to discuss.

[Darkvision]

Perhaps they'll make Convert a 2:1 HP:MP ratio when subbing RDM or something similar.

dont think that will happen, murglies sword already makes this happen

[skedel neuker]

I had 7 75's when I quit, the prospect of coming back and re-doing sub jobs and main jobs to a new cap doesn't make me want to come back at all.
They should have added new zones/content/hmns, instanced dynamis/limbus and kept the cap at 75. Would have brought a lot more people back I'm guessing.
All the new gear and such they will have to add will be like side grading every single macro you use now, new haste+10 belt, superberk or whatever. I'm not convinced square is going to add an entire set of equip for every job to make "the old gear" obsolete.
Seems like a simple way to keep making a bunch of money off their existing subscriptions more than anything else.

[Lucavi]

^ Isn't that the goal of any company in continuing to maintain an old MMO? You can't exactly fault a business for trying to maintain a profit margin. Its not like they're doing anything underhanded.

[Brutala]

SE should make the old content drop crap gear and make the new content drop old gear. That way I wouldn't have to listen to constant bitching from all these butthurt epeen faggots.

[Spira]

dont think that will happen, murglies sword already makes this happen

I'm pretty sure he meant the opposite of murgleis.. the Convert will be less efficient. 2HP -> 1MP.
you convert 1000HP, and only get back 500mp. that would be balancing, tbh. MP to HP wouldnt change.

[lolwut]

It isn't just about higher level mobs, but the concept of replacing older mobs and replacing older gear. Games like WoW do exactly that and FFXI has historically avoided doing just that. So that's where the question lies: Which approach will FFXI take with a 25 new levels?

My hope is the focus is more on the new choose your own adventure augment system for gear and weapons. If it's as multifaceted as they claim (applying to relics/mythics even) it would leave the current best gear as the next gen best gear, since everyone can get the same upgrades (with the requisite work that may require lvl 99 content to unlock the higher tiers) and the base will be the deciding factor.

Wishful thinking probably, but I can dream.

[crux]

If you don't understand what prerequisites are, then make up stuff and think that its true.

So your argument is that because A, B, and C are prerequisites for X, then clearly A, B, and C were conceptualized purely for X? Is that honestly your argument? You can't see that X may have come about because A, B, and C made it plausible, especially when A, B, and C needed to exist regardless of X?

[Vodou]

This is clearly an experiment. Level cap increases is something World of Warcraft has been doing with consistency since early 2007, meanwhile reaching subscriber populations in the tens of millions.

Wow, even Blizzard with their faked character lists (from non Blizzard servers, not to mention mules) of about 12 million, seems to have missed this amount. Tens of millions eh?

[Recaldy]

All I know is SE better illegalize SMN burns. Don't let all the suspiscous linkshells get away with more crap.

[Vodou]

So your argument is that because A, B, and C are prerequisites for X, then clearly A, B, and C were conceptualized purely for X? Is that honestly your argument? You can't see that X may have come about because A, B, and C made it plausible, especially when A, B, and C needed to exist regardless of X?

Yes its clear, this is way over your head. At least you know your alphabet.

[arus2001]

I assume that's why they abruptly put the brakes on merits some 2 and a half years ago. The lack of progress on individual characters outside of gear is what led to myself and others I know quitting, so bringing back the progression is bringing back some heavy nostalgia.

Eh, not so much my take on it, but it's possible.

A lot of the anti-cap increase rhetoric was hedged on the presence of merits and how, when fully invested, would make you like a level 78 or something. However, even if SE just kept upping caps, either on individual skills or categories, you'll hit a point where someone might be a level 85 equivalent, but they wouldn't be able to take any other job past 75-hood because a lot of people have a raging hard-on for only the best or GTFO. Additionally, the merit system hasn't always been fair about spell/ability distribution, as BLMs just take Burst/Freeze II since it panders to their Lightning/Ice merits and call it a day. Other similarities creep up elsewhere, and the merit system basically got cookie-cuttered.

Direct levels aren't so limiting, but obviously SE could have Tier V nukes go from level 81 and up per level or two increments. I'm honestly wishing current merit spells/abilities finally get changed to level progressed, with the current options just getting converted to enhancements so RDMs with full Slow II would get an additional 10% over those without, or some further tomfoolery with the MND involvement. Just stuff like that.

More widely looking at the game, expansions coming out were kind of humdrum when you already had max level. Zones would either be full of too weak mobs with no challenge, or too often dispersed with True Sight things to make transit or even EXPing intolerable. It was rare there was a middle-ground, and I don't think anyone would argue that a lot of zones are ghost towns for one reason or another. A cap increase isn't going to change that, either, except for maybe spreading people out more when paired with level sync and whatever new areas come with Abyssea.

I think I just had a beef with merits in general because they didn't really accomplish what they were meant to in diversifying people. Rather, it felt more like they were penalizing those who were able to outfit multiple jobs competitively. I don't want to be a "Career DRG" or "Career WHM" in the grand scheme. I just wanted to be whatever I was in the mood for, and to a lesser extent, what others might've needed me as. With a dozen 75s, there was little motivation to merit because, statistically, people were developing a preference for those "career" folks even if I may have had more skill and situational awareness to compete. But even then sometimes that wasn't enough thanks to game mechanics.

As far as 76+ goes, I'm hoping they take a different approach to getting those levels. Either harder mobs need to give more than 300 per kill unchained or the levels themselves come from reasonable quests. I don't really care. I'll probably just lazily Campaign most of it if it's straight up EXP, as I can come and go as I please, but I'm not interested in the next wave of Colibri, either.

[SephYuyX]

Please only allow one job above 75.

[crux]

Yes its clear, this is way over your head. At least you know your alphabet.

Good to know I can't expect anything resembling a coherent argument from you. Just character attacks that amount to very little. Have fun.

[absolutezero]

500k exp till lvl 99 Fuck!

well really idk :3

but overall im doubtful but want to see what SE has to say overall and how they plan to set this up it can be really good or a train wreck (like most SE's updates)

want to see how they plan to mix merits in with extra levels and not seem like a waste of out time to keep playing this game.

[wipers]

This version update finally gave me a reason to quit the game.