Final Fantasy XIV limits you to 8 hours levelling a week - why that's a good thing

Good for them, but I don't care, I don't have a ps3, don't play MMO's on my consoles, and besides, WoW : Cataclysm will keep me busy as I have planned a complete reroll with all my friends. Never like ff.

Low level games are no rubbish at all, actually. FF VIII, anyone? Or maybe the total opposite of every RPG leveling, FF II, anyone? (Hitting yourselves, kids) I know some level specifics about games I missed from TV Tropes, as long as it is no FF XIII story-event locked Crystariums, it is GOOD!

I like the underlying notion that because you can play way more than 8 hours a week, you somehow don't have a life. I'm in college, hang out with friends on a constant basis, get my work done, etc. However, when it comes to my free time, I have way more than 8 hours. If I want to play way more than 8 hours, does that mean I don't have a life? It's no comparison to a full time job and/or having a family, but it counts as 'having a life.' With that said, a lot of people have forgotten something important: people don't want to try out every class. There's a huge number of MMO players who have those 1 or 2 main classes they play over and over again even after they hit level cap simply because that's just how they are. They are perfectly fine with that. They don't want alts, they don't care about the other classes, they just want what they consider fun. So the idea that this gives people the opportunity to try out every class only applies to those who want to try out every class. And the people you see complaining about this are the people who do not want to try out every single darn class. I understand people want balance, but look at WoW *gasp*. (I'm using it as an example so please stop and think before you get all up in arms and feel like you need to reinforce how much you hate that game.) No 'weekly limit' but people are still flocking to that game. There's atill a ton of people who are considered 'casual' playing the hell out it because they feel like they're making progress. They don't care that there are players they might never catch up to because they're having fun and that's what counts. Although Square wants to create balance, they seem to be leaning heavily on the side of the casual player. Not a very 'balanced' idea is it?

real question is why didn't they implement these features on a mmo sooner, so they have a chance to not have the players burn out by tedious grinding.

Actually in oblivion you could just leave your hamster to jump on the jump button for a few days (or use some other way to press a button constantly) because you can stack levels and then sleep ten times and get them all in one go. Just sayin'

I don't play MMOs, but this sounds like a good system to implement in any competitive online game that gives you better stuff for levelling up. However, it shouldn't really be applied for that long-3 months tops, so that latecomers can still get ahead.

I think all the uproar is much ado about nothing by people who haven't really sat down and read into the way the system works in FFXIV. Since there are 18 classes at launch (a mixture of combat, gathering, and crafting) and you can take on and level any specific class for up to 8 hours straight before taking the 7 hours steadily diminishing xp hit, that really means you should be able to level (at normal growth) some aspect of your character for up to 144 hours/week before having to worry about XP loss. Since there are only 168 hours in a week, there's only a 24 hour window where a sleepless FFXIV zombie would have to make do with something else before having something hit the 7 day cooldown. The only flaw to this logic will be if there isn't enough content to allow for 8 hours of skill leveling before peaking in any specific skill. If FFXIV carries over some of the more common traits that FFXI has, levelling will be a slower process than your typical WOW-esque MMO anyhow. The real benefit should be when advanced jobs come online, as this system should be conducive to making the transition to an advanced job easier, since the skill prerequisites would be more equally levelled instead of having to take your character to level 20 before even getting access to a sub-job.

Great idea. The player with the most free time to play always levels up faster, unlocks the good weapons first, plays the hell out of the maps and then uses those 'powers' to crush the casual or newb player. It's hard to find a game with really good balance.

I love the idea since I don't have as much time to play MMOs or games in general but still want to dive into FF14.

Some of us have jobs, families and - what do you call 'em? Oh, yeah - lives! If this works out well, maybe I'll stop resenting the classic parents' basement gamer. Games should reward you evenly based on time invested and skill. I like the call.

I think this is definitely a good idea. Well, for me anyhow - I generally only have a limited amount of playtime during the week. Also, I play various other games as well, so this would help to 'force' me to allocate my time to those games as well, instead of pouring every ounce of free time into a single game.

If you can switch jobs to get more time I don't see how hardcore players can complain. The eight hour level limit then encourages players to diversify jobs, which players already do in XI.

I think 8 hours is way TOO low of a number. Why such an arbitrary number? 12 to 16 hours would be more consistent. I'm willing to bet this hour limit changes within the first few months of launch.

i've never have and probably never will play one of these games but the story caught my eye. This fits perfectly into todays society of everyone wins. What happened to the good old days when there was a winner and a loser? now my nephews soccer games don't even keep score. 10th place still gets a trophy. It's turning us into a bunch of pansies

this strikes me as incredibly short sighted. I for one do not have time to put in 8 hours a week on a consistent basis. I'd be more likely not to play for a while and then take a weekend and really get into it--which i can't do if i cap out at 8 hours.

Internet cafes and energy drink producers across the world will be weeping at this news

I'm not a fan of MMO's so I'm not sure how valid my opinion is, but this limited levelling system sounds like a good idea. Like you said Justin, this might mean that hardcore fans and newcomers will have a more even playing field. I've always been hesitant about playing an MMO (or online game in general) because I'm worried that I'll be alienated by the swarms of hardcore players who do nothing else but play the game. FFXIV sounds like an MMO that will confortable for MMO newcomers to get into. In other words, sounds good!

I think it's a great idea. As long as it's not an actual cut-off to play time, then there shouldn't be an issue. Or are MMO players admitting the point to the game is purely just stats-boosting and just-one-more levelling? Because I thought that we also play MMOs for the socializing, the immersive game worlds, and because we do still find the gameplay entertaining itself to at least a degree? If so, then that's all still here, no restrictions on those.

Its not. I will NOT be playing if you are limiting me in such a silly way.