[nervosa]

Its been alittle over a month since the update...

Quote

The Version Update Has Arrived! (06/21/2010)

The June version update is here, marking the arrival of "Vision of Abyssea", the first in the Abyssea series of battle add-ons set to offer epic new challenges to adventurers who would take up arms under the sunless skies of this forbidding realm.

But that's not all! This update will feature the long-awaited lifting of the level cap,...........

How do you feel about the changes?
What do you think the rest of the Abyssea series and level caps will do to the game?
Do you think this is how XIV end game will be like?

[nervosa]

I like Abyssea, I find the system really cool and rather fun, but also feel it has changed how we play they game.
Lately I see people spending time shouting dumb stuff in whitegate, doing magian weapons, or exping in abyssea.
The days of six man partys seems a long gone. Old content doesnt have the challenge like it had pre 80 (how are things gona be later on, 90+?)

Unless SE changes how time is acquired in Abyssea or how the new ones work, I dont see it getting any better.

[Nanako]

Abyssea would have been damn good if it weren't quite so gimmicky. Having people in the alliance constantly bicker over lights and killshots has gotten old. It also would have been better if it didn't take 2 hours just to get into the swing of things. If I get into a good party, it's great. But if I get into yet another pickup party that barely lasts 2 hours because people are freaking out about lights, it's almost enough to drive me to drink.

The level cap on the other hand remains to be seen. It's too soon to tell if these add-ons are going to be enough content to justify a 24 level increase. Level increases really need to accompany a boxed expansion, and it doesn't seem like SE is able to do any more of those.

[Kenshiro]

They're going to add stronger mobs to preexisting areas, just like they did last time. People will still be able to merit in a regular pt, just like they can now. But honestly, something like abyss is just what this game needed. Is it the beginning of the end? Absolutely.

[Shanvhere]

Majority will quit anyhow due to an AWESOME game like FF14

[.Sotek.]

New Walk of Echos better not be shit, I'd rather not have to pay for actual endgame content (though Abyssea is far better value for money than that horseshit that came before it).
I'm half expecting the saving grace of old endgame activities and old gear to resemble a Trail such as "Kill Proto-Omega 500 times" (to upgrade Homam for example). Which actually wouldn't be bad if trails of the magian weren't by their very nature ridiculously annoying.

Shanvhere, on 29 July 2010 - 09:34 PM, said:

Majority will quit anyhow due to an AWESOME game like FF14

Does it being a Final Fantasy mean it wont end the same way as every other shiny new MMO that caused mass quits over the past few years?
Ok it's not a Korean grind-fest (though I've seen nothing to suggest it's not just a grind-fest), but SE being at the helm isn't really selling me, since they're dumbing it down for the WoW crew and well, they're SquareEnix.

[Aleera]

I feel like it was much needed, honestly. Old content is old; and not everyone wants to join a new shell and compete with people who've been there forever or compete at all for older gear they may want/need. It'll breath a more casual life into the stuff we've done for years. If they kept content the way it was AND added in an entirely new MMO, it would be too much for people who want to play both to handle. It's a nice break from the somewhat stressful camping of NMs/HNMs among other things. And people who have been lagging behind on gear because of shit drop rates and in-shell competition will no longer have to worry about it, as most of these things can be easily low-manned, if not now, but by the time 99 rolls around.

And for those not satisfied with that, we'll have newer, harder content in the coming months to satisfy those wanting a challenge yet. Plus, it's nice to be able to finally reach towards 99 like you have been able to in past FF games.. I'm personally liking everything. Exp has gotten easier to get, merits are super easy to get now, and going higher in level and diving deeper into each job has been pretty cool so far, and will get much better as the new expansions come. Some may see it as a chore, I look at is as just making whatever you already have being pushed beyond their limits into new tiers.

[pathwriter]

The only thing I find off-putting about the expansion (beyond that I have to go back and level all those support jobs I thought I was done with) is the time limit in Abyssea. There are ways to circumvent it if you're going in for some reason other than getting XP, but trying to accomplish that with a group of six or so (a low-man team, that is) practically requires miracles. It puts a serious wrench in people's motivation to go after the harder or more obscure content. And as I have better things to use my time on, chances are good I'm never going to max out fame in Abyssea or even do much of any of the quests. I'm sure the premise is sound: "Here's something that you can do for a couple hours a week instead of feeling like you have to be there 24/7," but then they populate it with pretty much all of the content of the latest version update and, well, what else are you supposed to do? This goes double for anyone working on various Magian weapons that require Abyssea kills or drops. We might see a completed Empyrean weapon just before the next update.

[Corrderio]

I can't comment on Abyssea, but for the level cap I don't see it hurting the game. I see it as SE's way to keep the game somewhat alive after the game takes a bit of a dip in population after XIV is out.

[Arkanethered]

I find the time limits really annoying and needing to stay with a exp ally for almost two hours before exp starts to become decent. Other than that I really enjoy it.

[fillerbunny9]

Yes and no, as far as abyssea goes. Watching a level 73 Blue Mage try to get Wild Carrot in the level 30 gear he likely entered Abyssea with is a gut punch. How is this really different from Astral Burns and game balance though. Level correction is already helping in things like ZNMs, and is good for all fifteen people doing them. I think at issue are the number of kills needed for Trials of the Magians weapons, which is making it a pain in the ass to use more than one job post-75 in several cases.