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Exp parties & community?Follow

#1 Oct 30 2013 at 9:55 AM Rating: Decent
I purchased ARR last night and haven't had a chance to play yet (due to incredibly slow download speed) so please be gentle with the flaming!

After browsing thru the forums here and the Lodestone I have few questions... Hoping to ease future disappointment and better understand what I can look forward too. I keep reading about this DF system and was wondering if anything like "oldskool" exp parties exist? Does grouping with friends or other random people (in my same server only) and going to random places in the world to "grind" on mobs exist? Or are we stuck with this DF system, which from what I've read is horribly implemented? Or is the DF system specifically for dungeon raids and there's still viable options for exp parties?

Next question; reading thru the forums here and Lodestone it seems that this community has become rude since the days of FFXI. I've come across disrespectful rude comments on every forum I've been browsing... Is this same "atmosphere" portrayed in game?

Again, please forgive me if these questions are repeats or irrelevant. Just trying to get a feel for ARR community and play style.

Edited, Oct 30th 2013 11:57am by dradenmathias
#2 Oct 30 2013 at 10:00 AM Rating: Good
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237 posts
The closest thing you'll find to old school exp parties are F.A.T.E parties...which is nothing like old school exp parties. You'll be grouped with 7 strangers running around a zone not talking to anyone or killing things with any tactics...zerg rush to 50 where you will promptly be berated for not having full DL and Relic +1.


All joking aside...find a nice FC (Linkshell) and group with them and have fun. Join Ultros, most of ZAM is there
#3 Oct 30 2013 at 10:12 AM Rating: Excellent
Quote:
Or is the DF system specifically for dungeon raids and there's still viable options for exp parties?


Duty Finder's structural and functional problems have been largely fixed. (No more error 90000 as soon as a raid starts.)

Duty Finder is only for dungeons and boss fights - anything that is instanced that requires a group. (There are lots of other instanced solo duties that don't require using Duty Finder.) It removes the tedium of shouting for hours to find other people with the same objective as you, and simply queues you up with other people who are flagged for the stated objective.

The limitation is that everyone wants to play as DPS and far fewer people are on healer jobs or tank jobs. So if you are signing into Duty Finder as a DPS, you're going to be waiting a while. (Tanks have a virtually non-existent wait. Healers usually have to wait for a tank, too.) You can bypass Duty Finder and build a party of friends outside to dramatically reduce the wait time, too. (Then, you're only waiting on the server to find you an open slot.)

All that said, the instanced dungeons are good old fashioned dungeon crawls, with treasure chests and bosses and all the goodies associated with a classic dungeon. You earn a lot of exp per mob in dungeons, too. They're fun as long as you're not paired with jerks. That is the real tragedy of DF: You're paired with random people who may or may not be civil human beings.

There's nothing stopping you from forming a party and just going and slaying monsters in the open world, though. If you find other people with the same desire, it'd be fun. It may not, however, be as efficient exp-wise as a comparable dungeon raid or FATE party.
#4 Oct 30 2013 at 10:15 AM Rating: Excellent
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197 posts
I don't think there is any real reason to grind on mobs for exp. Your first play through if you follow the story quests, along with some side quests/fates/dungeons, should get you to 50, or at least it did for me.

You can grind Fates as stated above, which are the equivalent of events if you played GW2 or Rifts if you played Rift, but I found this to be a horrible boring way to level, but to each his own.

I don't really see how the DF system is horribly implemented. You Que for a dungeon, wait, Que pops, you run said dungeon. You are better off though finding a free company to run dungeons with as it can speed things up as far as Que times.

There are rude people, their are nice people, I'm not pointing fingers at you personally, but I am really beginning to wonder if some people were raised in a bubble where no one ever acted like an *******. There are always ***** in the world, whether its in game or IRL, how it affects you is up to you on how your going to deal with it. I just ignore the asshats and move on personally. Although besides when I'm in the duty finder, I really only talk to people in my FC.

I love this game, its the most fun I've had in an MMO since early WoW days, and I see myself playing for a long time.
#5 Oct 30 2013 at 10:23 AM Rating: Good
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5,745 posts
Grinding away on open world mobs is fairly unrewarding in FFXIV. You would probably be better off doing repeats of story line dungeons that are appropriate to your level. That way, you get exp for not just the mobs you kill inside the dungeon, but you'll also get exp when you clear the dungeon (with a significant bonus of anyone in the group is clearing it for the first time) and loot (which even if you can't use, you can turn in for Grand Company points or sell on the Market Board).
#6 Oct 30 2013 at 10:26 AM Rating: Good
Thanks for the replies... Eases my mind on the DF! I guess I shouldn't state that it's "horribly implemented" but that's what I've gathered from posts that I've read. I will say this though. The community here (Zam) seems mature compared to the posts I've read over @ Lodestone. Obviously there's always going to be ********* in the world and I understand this... Was scared because it seemed even most understandable questions and threads seem to be filled with flaming and trolling.... Hoping I find a decent group once I start playing!

Honestly even though I will miss the oldskool exp parties and I long for the experience and "feel" of FFXI; your replies have got me more excited to start playing! I played FFXIV V1 (not sure what people call it now) and was so disappointed I swore I wouldn't try ARR but alas, here I am! Can't wait to get out of work!

Thanks again for easing my mind.
#7 Oct 30 2013 at 7:59 PM Rating: Good
41 posts
not surw if this helps but:

1. in xiv the bulk of the interaction no longer happens during exp parties but in organised, instanced fights like dungeons and boss fights.

2. many of such fights can be accessed via duty finder and in essence they are similar to exp parties back in old school ffxi (at least the pre-75 era) where you meet strangers, team up and try to get things done.

3. like in ffxi, you could form the team with your friends also. in the event you cant, just use the duty finder.

4. earning exp is a very different process compared to ffxi. it's much easier now - earned via quests; random world events called FATE, and dungeons. running dungeons repeatedly is the closest thing you can find to exp parties in ffxi, and imo they are almost the same thing - you interact, you learn your roles, and you do proper fights. nonetheless, it is not the fastest way to earn exp - the fastest being FATE - but you do get to interact and get some decent loot from dungeons. whether or not the trade off is worth it is for yourself to decide, but just know that you have options.

finally, the game is designed in such a way that earning levels is not the bulk of the game experience (certainly not as much as in ffxi). it does still take you time if you wanna level everything to 50, but it is much more forgiving than ffxi, and it is much easier to jump into actions as compared to ffxi.
#8 Oct 30 2013 at 8:36 PM Rating: Default
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482 posts
Catwho wrote:
Duty Finder's structural and functional problems have been largely fixed. (No more error 90000 as soon as a raid starts.)


Hardly, it happened to me 5 times yesterday :(
____________________________
Kuyo - Hume Male - Pandemonium server (Retired)
75 Monk, 75 Samurai
#9 Oct 31 2013 at 12:02 AM Rating: Good
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576 posts
shuonz wrote:
snip .


Good info. Congrats on scholar. Smiley: thumbsup


Edit: My thanks to whoever rated me down. I forgot the first rule of Karma Club: Do not talk about Karma Club...


Edited, Oct 31st 2013 1:45pm by Pickins
#10 Oct 31 2013 at 12:03 AM Rating: Decent
and yesterday there was a network wide outage problems for SE - read the loadstone front page - the DF was fixed, the network went out thats all
#11 Oct 31 2013 at 12:38 AM Rating: Decent
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322 posts
As said pre 50 the game is fun, after 50 however it can be full of trolls, and ****** Even level 50 DF dungeons are getting bad, atleast for me. If you dont have atlest relic as soon as you hit 50 people will run you down no matter how good you are. Its making me seroiously consider droping the game because I cant get anything done because I dont have my relic, and people drop parties, or scream because I dont have it, but refuse to help get it. Maybe its just me tho. If you have a few friends to play with that will make things more enjoyable, and easier later in the game.
#12 Oct 31 2013 at 6:05 AM Rating: Excellent
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129 posts
Best advice is to just enjoy the game "as intended" on your first DoM or DoW character because the quests throughout including story line, side quests, class quests will easily land you your first 50. After that you get a bonus to XP on subsequent classes since you no longer have the benefit of either main story or side quests at all. At that point the most efficient means of grinding to 50 is through FATE groups which are just as dry as old fashioned FFXI grind parties only with less conversation. Although my best grind parties in XI were overnight with JP groups where nobody said anything anyhow so I guess... "The more things change the more they stay the same."

Edited, Oct 31st 2013 8:06am by Furiousnixon
#13 Oct 31 2013 at 7:14 AM Rating: Excellent
Was able to put in a good 3 or 4 hours of play time last night! I must say; this game has come a LONG way from 1.0! Made it to lvl 9 w/ con on Siren. If you're on Siren, please look me up - Jupiter Starshine.

After playing for a bit I can totally see that most xp is gained thru quests (on your first play thru). Even though I had absolutely no interaction with a single PC; I had fun and was enticed to stay up a 1/2 hr past my normal "bedtime" to complete another quest or two ;) All in all, definitely an enjoyable experience thus far.

Thanks again for the advice and tips!

Edited, Oct 31st 2013 9:15am by dradenmathias
#14 Oct 31 2013 at 8:45 AM Rating: Excellent
Your first major interaction with other people will come at level 15 in the dungeon Sastasha (the quest is "It's probably pirates.") Odds are everyone in that group will be a newbie. As a conjurer, you're not going to do much besides cast protect and spam cure.

Don't be afraid to talk to the other players. The dungeon is a tutorial, and instructions will appear in the right hand menu. If you find your group not doing so hot, let the DPS know that they should focus on 1. one target at the same time. 2. the target the tank designates, if he marks them and 3. ideally the same target the tank is actively hitting. Your tank needs to 1. Run into the mobs first 2. Get hate on all the mobs first and 3. Try to maintain hate on all the monsters. (These are all things they should have been taught in their individual class quests prior to running this dungeon, but newbies will be newbies.)
#15 Oct 31 2013 at 11:09 AM Rating: Excellent
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576 posts
I'm on Siren (Miss Pickins), hit me up if you want to join our FC. We're friendly and have a wide level range of players.
#16 Nov 01 2013 at 7:04 AM Rating: Decent
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181 posts
Just wanted to add a little here grinding on mobs ffxi style is a great way to get xp.

Last night I was in a fate pt at the refining plant. And instead of sitting at the crystal waiting for the next fate to pop we camped at dd and waited for fates to pop a ton of followers and grenades pop there and have fast respawn times. So as the pld I just kept pulling everything back to the party and with chain bonuses we were getting around 20k xp between fates. This method got me from 45-48 in a little over 3 hours. Same lower levels fates, thing is people just don't wanna grind on mobs for some reason they would rather just sit in town.

But if you want the best xp in the games is fates while grinding mobs
#17 Nov 01 2013 at 2:07 PM Rating: Decent
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425 posts
My whole plan was to grind on mobs to 50. And there are some FATEs that no one bothers with, that are pretty easy to solo.
#18 Nov 01 2013 at 7:16 PM Rating: Good
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TwilightSkye wrote:
My whole plan was to grind on mobs to 50. And there are some FATEs that no one bothers with, that are pretty easy to solo.

Do you mean for your 2nd class to 50? Or are you planning on not doing any of the storyline until you ding 50?
#19 Nov 03 2013 at 3:45 AM Rating: Good
41 posts
on hindsight i think its better to:

1. level a dps clasd via quest
2. meanwhile lvl a healer/tank class on dungeons

because dps have long queue time for dungeons, and repeatedly grinding fate could be boring. by doing this, ubcan have a dps class at 50 as well as get through story dungeons easily because u have tht healer/tank class, and running dungeons is really really fun.

just make sure u familiarize urself with the dps rotations.
#20 Nov 04 2013 at 1:26 AM Rating: Decent
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3,653 posts
Quote:
But if you want the best xp in the games is fates while grinding mobs


Pretty much this, but the problem is convincing a group of strangers to kill mobs between fates, rather than just sitting in town for rested EXP.
#21 Nov 04 2013 at 9:53 AM Rating: Excellent
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2,232 posts
blowfin wrote:
Quote:
But if you want the best xp in the games is fates while grinding mobs


Pretty much this, but the problem is convincing a group of strangers to kill mobs between fates, rather than just sitting in town for rested EXP.


Started doing this in Aleport. So much more fun to just blow up gobbies and hedgehogs. The resting xp isn't even enough to bother with because of how quick FATEs repop.
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