Indeed, will be really interesting to see how it turns out.

Definitely looking forward to it.

lol, you could copy-paste that comment on almost every article at Massively.

Win.

Thank GOD someone big is going no levels!!!

Look the fact is that the one-big-level is bad for MMOs. It separates players and friends, it forces constant re-balancing, it antiquates content super fast, and it makes the newbie experience worse and worse as time goes on.

If we just look at the big elephant MMO, World of Warcraft, you can see the various tools that Blizzard has givin the new player to level through to at least 70 as fast as possible. Even Blizzard would prefer that you zoom through their old content to get to "end game" faster.

Why? Because there is where they put all their work into. Just today they uploaded patch 3.2 with new "end game" content. There are no new level 10 instances, nor any level 50 instances. You have to be 80 to play in their new dungeons. Yet, players who have been level 80 for months are looking forward to the new content because there is still advancement to be had.

And thus, WoW shows many forms of player advancement and reward-based gameplay at the top level. In fact, the end level offers more advancement paths than you get when you are leveling your main level.


I applaud Final Fantasy for making a game where we advance our characters in other ways than a big level number. There will be a difference between a new character and one who has been around for a year, but there is also more of a chance that the new character can group with the year-old toon on adventures right away as opposed to the older guy trying to help "powerlevel" the newer.

I see very good things.

To "Brian!" - that isn't exactly true. Other games that have had no levels and are skill based, such as UO and the first Asheron's Call still divided the player base up just as much. It's not a traditional level system, but you can still find your power and even give yourself a generic "level" if you want, because people with higher skills will be fighting in higher areas that people with low skills can not think of fighting in. Instead of not having the level to fight in areas, you won't have the skill to fight in them, it's the same as having a level even tho it doesn't show up. You are limited by your skill instead of your level, so it's basically the same thing, only often you get to make your own character class by mixing and matching skills.

If you like a game that breaks out of the mold, then you ought to consider becoming an FF fan. No single game revolutionize itself nearly as often as FF. In fact, apart from Tactics sub-series, you would never find 2 FFs that play the same.

But yeah, I'm really interested in this system. It seems like the game will include a lot of features that I wanted to see in an online game. A definite winner for me.

Same here.

Agreed :) I am going to watch this one.

i just hope its not like EVE...just getting better at skills from time is so lame.

Probably the more you use one weapon the more skills and magic you obtain like Ninja Gaiden or Devil May Cry...

So to unlock certain moves or skills you have to get better at that weapon....

They are NOT shifting away from the job system. They stated already that the job system in FFXI was it's main driving force and they wanted to keep that force alive in FFXIV. Albeit in a different way, but we will have jobs and you will have one character that can be any job on any give day depending on your mood. The question is will we have SUB jobs or something similar?

The joystiq article says the job system will be heavily altered. That's where I got what I said about the job system.

I'm thinking RogueJedi86 that your sword doens't level up but rather your skill as a swordsman or a broad-axe wieldsmen? I mean, let's be honest. If you've been practicing fencing for 10 years and I pick up a sword for the first time, I'd expect you should score a lot more hits on me than I'd score on you.

A. You know how to parry
B. You know how to dodge.
C. You know how to position your body to increase your range.
D. You know when you position your body to increase your attack range without leaving you vulnerable
E. Your quicker at swinging and then returning to a defensive position.

However, as an expert fencer if we both picked up crossbows and as total beginners tried to shoot eachother, you'd have no real advantage over me. If you practice for a few months though, you'd be a much better shot. I'm kind of expecting the levels have been replaced with 'defense skill' or 'offense skill with weapon types a, b, c, or d.

Similarly, maybe the magic system will have say a 1 to 200 or preferably maybe 1 to 1000 system for your magic missle spell were the move you use it, the greater your range and/or dmg. Some spells could be grouped to make it take less long to level like a general 'projectile spell' category and an 'aoe' spell category.