Final Fantasy XI to receive mentoring-esque Level Sync system
by Samuel Axon 
Aug 27th 2008 at 10:00AM
Filed under: Fantasy, Final Fantasy XI, Game mechanics, News items
Square-Enix is taking another step towards making Final Fantasy XI a little bit more playable for the masses by implementing what it calls the "Level Sync" system. The feature resembles the mentoring systems found in EverQuest II or Age of Conan in that it allows higher level players to drop down to friends' levels and adventure with them while gaining experience.
In its announcement of this feature, Square-Enix went out of its way to emphasize that it has built in the system safeguards against abuse by powerlevelers and gold farmers. There are also some reasonable limitations intended to keep the game streamlined, fun, and balanced. For example, equipment-based stat bonuses will scale down with each level a player drops.
There are explicit details at the official Final Fantasy XI website about how experience gains and equipment scale. We approve of this addition (as if you needed us to); in fact, we wonder why certain other games still don't have it. Being able to play with friends regardless of their time commitment and experience is a big positive, and we can't even think of a substantial drawback.
[Via Allakhazam]
In its announcement of this feature, Square-Enix went out of its way to emphasize that it has built in the system safeguards against abuse by powerlevelers and gold farmers. There are also some reasonable limitations intended to keep the game streamlined, fun, and balanced. For example, equipment-based stat bonuses will scale down with each level a player drops.
There are explicit details at the official Final Fantasy XI website about how experience gains and equipment scale. We approve of this addition (as if you needed us to); in fact, we wonder why certain other games still don't have it. Being able to play with friends regardless of their time commitment and experience is a big positive, and we can't even think of a substantial drawback.
[Via Allakhazam]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Haggs said on 11:06AM 8-27-2008
Wasn't it City of Heroes who first introduced this system to the MMO industry?
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Joe Ardy said on 11:22AM 8-27-2008
Actually in AoC the system works the other way round, high level players can apprentice lower level player to bring them up to a higher level.
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vaharim said on 11:33AM 8-27-2008
Yes, Haggs, to my knowledge Co* had the sidekick/lackey system first. It also has the benefactor/malefactor system that allows the higher level player to drop their level down and continue adventuring.
Still, those systems are incredibly valuable regardless of which game they're found in. I do wish Co* received recognition for it though.
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Brian! said on 11:34AM 8-27-2008
Haggs,
Yes, City of Heroes has this years ago and it is great. It works both ways, you can lower your level to match your friends or you can raise his level to match yours.
EVERY game that has leveling should do this. I can always play with friends in CoX. Really, if CoX just had less boring zones and more compelling adventures, I would be hard pressed to play any other game.
Man, I would LOVE to see a blend between CoX and WAR. That would be a friggen awesome game.
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Mud said on 12:03PM 8-27-2008
I thought there was already a similar system in place called "Mentor"?
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Iconic said on 3:06PM 8-27-2008
FFXI already HAS (or at least HAD) a system like this. If you recruit a friend you both get a special silly looking hat. If you're both wearing your silly hat, the higher level character is temporarily de leveled so he can group with his recruited friend.
I wonder what's different about this version of the program other than S-E just attempting to get their name into the press?
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fanguad said on 7:32PM 8-27-2008
I'm a FFXI player, and this is one of the things that has bugged me from day one. I have a friend who got me into the game, but we could never really play together because by the time I joined, he was 10 levels higher than me. The Mandragora Hat thing that Iconic mentioned was cool, but only available under very specific circumstances - and you couldn't get one to play with just anyone either.
Honestly, I was starting to get bored with FFXI, but this might revive the game for me. Some of the most fun I had was in the mid-levels, but you can't stay there forever. Combine that with playing with my friends at any level, and this is a definite winner.
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gabe said on 6:55PM 9-13-2008
lol a little bit more playable for the masses even though people in japan fiend this thing and many people like it better than WoW because it has better graphics, cooler jobs and races and you can run all of your jobs on one character for a nice variety. Its not mostly easy as shit like WoW but it is a very fun game game if you have the patience to get into it. I must admit the game isnt as fun now since its like 6 years old and alot of people left the game just last year.
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