leveling
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The Think Tank: How do you feel about quick-leveling promotions?
With TERA's new level-58 boost for brand new characters, Guild Wars 2's automatic level 20 for new characters last month, and EverQuest II's upcoming free level-85 heroic characters, it seems that studios are finding new ways to push players through the early content and into the end game. Games like World of Warcraft and Lord of the Rings Online have streamlined the starting zones, but these new promotional events are much more straightforward and obvious. So how does the Massively crew feel about this? Should this type of advancement be available only during special events? Should level boosters be rewards for veteran loyalty only? Do you consider double- and triple-XP weekends the same thing? Or is it all nonsense as we should all play these games as originally intended?
The Daily Grind: Would you prefer to level quickly or level 'right'?
There is almost always a method to speed your character along to the level cap. Sometimes it's just slightly faster than the path you're supposed to take; sometimes it's orders of magnitude quicker. It almost always does not involve actually challenging content. Instead, you grind something repetitive with good rewards (FATE parties in Final Fantasy XIV, rifts in RIFT, and so forth) until you can happily say that you're at the level cap and ready to take part in the endgame. Of course, you frequently aren't ready to participate in that endgame, as the past however many levels didn't really teach you how to play the game except for efficiency. For some people, learning at that point is easier than learning as they go. For others, it's better to take a little longer to hit the cap on the condition that you'll know how to play the game better when you get there. So which do you prefer? Learning along the way or just learning when you're at the top? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Ghostcrawler on crafting professions and leveling
Sometimes I actually love Twitter for how it can bring the players and the developers together in a more immediate way. Case in point, this tweet from Ghostcrawler. When asked about crafting professions falling behind as the expansion progressed, the answer was clear and unambiguous that Blizzard agrees it's a problem. @JakeSteel423 Yes, but no immediate announcements. We agree it's a problem. - Greg Street (@Ghostcrawler) August 23, 2013 While it's light on specifics I'm glad to see they get the problem. At this point I'm only keeping blacksmithing for the extra sockets, and I know a lot of JC's who were mighty disappointed when they found out there would be no epic gems this time around. Maybe a return to BC style scaling items is in order? Maybe not. Making my original Lionheart Blade was a pain.
Leveling a time capsule
I still remember the first day I played this game on live servers, even though it's been nearly nine years since I looked at the login screen and tried to muddle out what to pick. Friends of mine had already made an Alliance guild and encouraged me to join them. When I mentioned I wanted to play a rogue, I was told that they really needed healers, not rogues. However, my friend suggested I roll a druid, as they could not only heal, but they could turn into a cat and stealth around like a rogue does. That seemed suitable to me, so I rolled a night elf druid, logged in and began to play. Several months and sixty levels later, that experience remains full of fond memories of endless frustration with the class and how it played. It absolutely did not help that giant improvements for that class were rolled out in a patch shortly after I hit 60. I rolled Horde, and the rest is history ... or it was, anyway. The druid remained at level 60, years after I hit 70, 80, 85 and 90, frozen in a distinct period of time. Several months ago, while idly looking at the login screen and pondering what to play, I decided to actually level the druid and get it caught up. Furthermore, I decided to make the trip without heirloom gear -- after all, it didn't exist when I originally played the character. This is the story of a peculiar alt that used to be a main, and what happens when you crack open a time capsule from 2005.
The Mog Log Extra: Tips for a Final Fantasy XIV beginner
We're all kind of beginners with the new version of Final Fantasy XIV. Some of us have high-level characters already, but none of us has years of experience with the game. At best, you have memories of how things worked in the last beta test or two. But there's still a difference between having a character from version 1.0 dripping with high-level items and having a fresh guy or gal stepping off the boat into Limsa. Fortunately, the game's tutorials now do a solid job of introducing you to how the game works. But there are still some tips and tricks to consider, and it's with that in mind that I present this column. If you're new to the game completely or even just an occasional dabbler in the previous beta tests, here's some advice to help you out during your first steps.
Community Blog Topic Results: Do we need more levels?
Last week's Community Blog Topic was "Do we need more levels?" There were more yes's than no's in the comments and blogs this topic sparked, but there were also some innovative solutions for how leveling or progression could be handled in the future. JeffLaBowski started this discussion off over at Sportsbard, with his answer firmly in the No column. He gives several reasons for not having more levels, starting with questing: They would still have quests, but these quests would be more meaningful. They would tell rich tales full of lore and character development. New races would be completely and meaningfully fleshed out. No loose ends. No abrupt stops. They could even add max level class quests. There could still be dailies and reputation but you would work on these from the moment you set foot in the new zones.
The Road to Mordor: Getting over the 40s hump in LotRO
Sometimes column topics are handed to you on a timely platter of complaints. Over the past week, I've heard several people in the Massively office and in my guilds talk about how they hit a wall in Lord of the Rings Online in the level 40 range. If you hear just one person talk about it, it's probably nothing. But when four or five mention it independent of each other, I think it's important enough to discuss. The 40s are a tricky time for LotRO players. It's the last stretch of pre-expansion road that must be traveled, the levels start taking longer, and unlike much of the 1-40 content, 40-50 really never has been revamped to bring it in line with the rest of the game. As a result, for some the 40s can be a slow slog that requires a lot of zone hopping to conquer. Oddly enough, it's never been a big problem for me, although I think I approach LotRO in a slightly different way than some. In any case, today we're going to examine the "40s hump" and come up with a few strategies to get over it and get into Moria ASAP.
WoW player levels Pandaren to 60 without picking a faction
As we all know, when a baby panda grows up to be a big-boy or big-girl panda, he or she leaves the roost and sides with either the Horde or Alliance. It's just the way things go. However, World of Warcraft player Doubleagent said "nuts!" to that and has refused to leave home. Since 2012, he's slowly but surely leveled his Pandaren Shaman from 1 to 60 without leaving the Wandering Isle. Once he finished the starter quests and outleveled the mobs, he's had to rely completely on herbalism and inscription for his XP influx. He isn't using heirlooms and said he won't play the character unless it has rested XP. The end result is a level 60 Pandaren that's completely faction-neutral -- and can talk to both sides. You can check out his latest leveling video after the jump.
Breakfast Topic: The leveling games we play
We've leveled a lot of characters in our day -- and I do mean a lot. So many, in fact, that leveling new ones can be such a snooze that we have to invent new challenges to make it interesting. So we create things like the Ironman Challenge, where death means you have to reroll. Perhaps to spice things up you're considering leveling your next alt purely through PvP, healing, or even daily quests. Tell us, readers, are you playing any leveling games? I am personally considering leveling a new priest purely through healing dungeons for a change of pace... though we'll see how long it lasts before it just starts driving me nuts.
The Road to Mordor: But what if I'm three expansions behind?
One habit that I'm constantly trying to break myself of is assuming that everyone who reads this column or plays Lord of the Rings Online is going through (or has finished) the most recent content that Turbine's pumped out. Over the past few weeks, I've had discussions with Massively staffers, guildmates, and podcast co-hosts who all have admitted to being way behind the content curve in LotRO, many to the point where catching up to the endgame crowd seems like an insurmountable task. As a particular person asked me, "But what if I'm three expansions behind? Is it even worth paying for all of these expansions and pushing myself to get to Rohan?" This is a valid concern and obviously one that several folks have, so for today's column I want to talk to those of you who aren't level 85. Maybe you haven't even seen the interior of Moria yet, or maybe you have been following the most casual, sporadic path through Middle-earth possible over the years. Maybe the one-expansion-per-year pace is actually pushing you away from the game. Here's what I think will help.
Arcane Saga launches with Steam bonus packs
Ready to start a new saga? After a brief period of open beta testing, Arcane Saga has officially launched today for players to enjoy a saga all about the arcane. Or a saga that is itself arcane. However you want to dissect the game's title, you can download directly from the official site or pick the title up among Steam's free-to-play offerings. Steam players also have the option of purchasing up exclusive item packs, so that might be an added incentive. Arcane Saga's main selling points are fast leveling, job combinations, and a competitive PvP endgame. The stated design goal is to get players into the meat of the game quickly and provide players ample opportunities to forge their own paths. No events are scheduled to celebrate the game's launch, but considering the number of free-to-play titles that simply add a full cash shop onto an open beta, the official launch is compelling enough. [Source: Netmarble press release]
Hyperspace Beacon: The SWTOR F2P experiment, closing chapter one
It's been a couple of weeks since I've covered anything dealing with my Star Wars: The Old Republic free-to-play experiment, so I should do a quick rundown of the rules. I believe that it is possible to play SWTOR from beginning to end, including endgame, without paying for anything. The SWTOR cash shop (Cartel Market) and auction house (Galactic Trade Network) are directly connected in a way that allows for nearly everything sold in the cash shop to be sold to other players with in-game credits. There are enough people who have more real-life money than time to support those who have more time than money. So during my experiment, I vowed I would not take any gifts from other players or my alts and I would buy all of my unlocks off the GTN. So far, I've noticed little change from level 1 to 10. However, Coruscant started to get rough. I also learned that leveling alongside a subscriber turned out to be disappointing. Yet in general, the leveling process seemed to be right on par with the planet I was on. It was my theory after leaving Taris that although there is a F2P experience penalty, my XP placed me on-level with each planet. Subscribers had an advantage of rising above the recommended level for each planet. Then I ran into Tatooine.
Pirate101 sets sail for Marleybone
One of the bonuses of having Pirate101 set in the same world as Wizard101 is that the former can benefit from some of the latter's layout. KingsIsle has launched a big expansion for the game that includes some old favorites for veteran players, starting by sending pirate captains to the familiar land of Marleybone. Players will be investigating a war zone they helped inadvertently create while working up through another 15 levels of experience. The update also adds the new region of Aquila, a new Bazaar system for players to trade goods, and a new tutorial to help players get accustomed to the game. There are also new bosses and transport systems to give players more to do while they sail across the oceans. Last but not least, new companions are scattered through the added regions, and old companions are learning some new tricks. Pirate101 players can log in and start enjoying the update immediately.
Breakfast Topic: Should Blizzard brake base XP while preserving boosts for experienced players?
We recently explored how you felt about alternate characters, whether you believe they should represent true alternatives to your first character or whether they should remain secondary to a more fully developed main. Either way, there's no stuffing rapid leveling back into the bag. WoW's current leveling design pushes players forward relentlessly, whether they're experienced gamers or not. The problem is that today's leveling pace already outstrips zone content, quest lines, gearing -- you name it. Should Blizzard apply the brakes to base XP while still permitting seasoned WoW players to choose to move more rapidly? Consider this: What if the leveling experience weren't tuned to catapult players so quickly through and past leveling zones and dungeons? What if the pace were a little looser, giving new players more time to soak up the leveling game itself -– and then at the same time, the current XP boosts were spread across tools designed for experienced players who choose to hop, skip, and jump their way to 90? The precedents are there -- just look at the heirloom armor system. Today, you can buy Grand Commendations to boost various reputations for your characters once you've played through them once. And remember when everyone was buying the Tome of Cold Weather Flight for their alts? The tools are already in place. From leveling XP to reputation gains to player convenience, the helping hand of a level-capped main character is key. Do you think WoW's leveling experience should remain something to be played through quickly and efficiently, even for brand new players, or do you think there's merit to allowing that part of the game to move at a more deliberate pace? Would you support more mechanics that give experienced players a way to speed up leveling for their alts, preserving a slower pace for new players and players who enjoy slower leveling? If you like a strong emphasis on mechanics like heirlooms and commendations, should those tools be simple, affordable purchases for any level 90 player, or should they take some time, effort, or money to earn?
Things that were harder before
I did a post this week about raiding in previous expansions and in vanilla WoW, and how people often say those raids were harder and my opinion that it is easily demonstrable that current raids are if anything more complicated than they have ever been. I frankly believe there is almost no room for comparison between the game at 60 and today in terms of raid complexity and difficulty. Part of this stems from the many different variations on what the word hard means in this context. Something can be harder because it is conceptually or executionally more complex (the difficulty can stem from how much is required to successfully complete its mechanics) or it can be hard because it is laborious and/or time consuming. Was raiding with 40 people in classic WoW more laborious? Absolutely it was. It wasn't mechanically harder, but it was more time consuming and took a great deal of effort to organize and plan. It's the difference between working out a complex multi-stage math problem and carrying five thousand pounds of rocks from point A to point B. But there were some points worth addressing. It absolutely has never been easier to level, even without heirlooms, than it is right now. Vanilla leveling to 60 took more time and effort than leveling to 90 does today. Even without heirlooms, one can easily and without much stress reach level 20 in a few hours, level 40 in less than two days, and be level 60 within a day of that, and this isn't spending all day staring at the screen either. This is a fairly casual leveling pace. I leveled a blood elf warrior to 35 in two days of rather casual play, an hour on followed by a half hour reading websites or having a snack or even going for a long walk. It's also far easier to do the following things: Get a dungeon group. You can queue for dungeons at level 15, and from that point on, all you ever have to do to run a dungeon is hit that queue. If you're playing in the tank or healing role you can effectively chain dungeons all day, and even leveling as DPS there are stretches where you don't even need to quest or do anything but dungeon. Run a battleground. While you could argue that doing well at BG running as you level up and at max level takes some time and effort, if you want to risk queueing in whatever gear you have, it's simplicity itself. Getting ready to raid at max level. The game now has catchup mechanisms in place for players who start later. If you just got your alt to 90 and are switching to it for raiding, deciding to give raiding a try for the first time, or what have you it's not the case that your raid group is compelled to run you through previous raids for attunements and keys, much less gearing you through older raids to get ready for the current content. Find something to do. You could even argue that there's too much to do, or that it feels too mandatory. But you can't argue you don't have options - if you don't want to run dungeons, raid, or PvP there are pet battles, daily quests and scenarios you can do. So the question then becomes this: is it better or worse for the game that these things are easier? For that matter, are they easy enough?
The good and bad of GOGOGO
This week on Drama Mamas, we discussed a couple that disagreed on how to handle GOGOGO PUGs, the sort that attempt to rush through everything as fast as possible. The tank felt that the DPS who pulled should not be healed, while the healer believed that everyone should be healed indiscriminately. In my opinion, the tank should pull and the healer should stay with the tank, healing others as needed as long as they are in range. But many in the comments disagreed. Leveling dungeons are, for the most part, easy places to run -- over and over -- for experience and loot. The question is, are they only that or are they also places to practice your role for the endgame? Many commenters believe that endgame playing should be left for max level and that leveling dungeons should be raced through. Others believe that keeping to a standard pace is boring and chain pulling, even by DPS, is the only way to go. In practice, a tank has little to no queue time, so the pace ends up being whatever the tank wants, else he or she will just accept the votekick and get into another group immediately. Though I don't believe in strongarm tactics, I do think the pace should be set by the tank, even if it ends up being a little slow. Learning on the way up is good. On the other hand, there is a challenge of the GOGOGO team that can be appealing. What about you? Do you prefer GOGOGO dungeons while leveling? Why or why not?
The Daily Grind: Are there games you would play if you could skip to the end?
Most of the time I can't really recommend starting new in Final Fantasy XI, which is a shame. It's not that the game is bad, nor is it lacking in things to do once you're at the level cap. No, it's just painful to get to the level cap. If you could somehow skip months of tedious leveling and just get straight to the broad and varied endgame, you would be set. Which sounds dangerously close to an endorsement for leveling services, but that's not the point. We all have games that we like, but not enough to fully commit to in terms of leveling. Some of these are games that are great at the cap, but we'll never see them. Of course, some would argue that if you're not willing to put in the work to level, you're not going to be willing to play the game at the top either. So are there games you would play if you could skip straight to the end of the leveling game? Or would that defeat some of your attraction to MMOs? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: What's the fastest you've hit the level cap after a raise?
I hadn't really been trying to hit the level cap in Star Wars: The Old Republic after the expansion launched. I wanted to, certainly, but I figured it would happen when it happened. Turns out that it happened very shortly after the expansion launched, thanks to a combination of early access and a whole lot of play for first impressions. As it stands, I'm pretty sure it's the fastest turnaround I've had for hitting the cap after it's been raised. Everyone's racing to the cap when a game first launches, but when the cap is raised it's a different ball game. You know how to play the game, you've got resources on your character, and you are often in pretty good equipment to start off. So what's the fastest you've ever hit the level cap after it's been raised? A week? Four days? A few hours after the patch has gone live? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: Do you grind for max level prior to a cap increase?
So Rise of the Hutt Cartel descended on Star Wars: The Old Republic last week, bringing with it some new content and five additional levels. BioWare hosted a series of double XP weekends leading up to the expansion's early release, presumably to aid players in getting a few of their avatars to the level cap. I partook as much as I could, but I didn't quite make it as I'm still sitting at 48 on my Gunslinger. I'm not usually a grinder, but for some reason I found myself disappointed that I didn't hit the cap before it was raised. What about you, Massively readers? Do you grind for max level when you know a cap increase is on the way, or do you just go about your normal business and enjoy the experience? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: Do you like experience boost events?
If you've got one last alt in Star Wars: The Old Republic that you want at 50 before the expansion goes live, this weekend is the time to make it happen. You've got doubled experience gains, after all. For someone like me who has reached the level cap multiple times over, the fact that I could suddenly jump in and scream up in levels has been a very pleasant departure from the norm over the last few weekends. However, that came with a downside. Sure, during the weekends I could blast through leveling, but during the rest of the week I found I didn't want to touch any characters that were still leveling. Why push hard when I could just wait and get another experience rush? A lot of games like to turn on increased experience gains at various points, usually during weekends. Do you like these experience boost events? Or do you feel they cheapen the leveling experience as a whole? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
