Leveling to 50 - it's way too fast

[knightblaster]

This is always a debate when a new MMORPG launches, really. It's almost according to a script.

 

The point for the folks who are complaining about outleveling content is that there is no fireproof way to do this when an MMO launches. You basically have two choices: (1) make people play all the content (including group quests and dungeons/flashpoints at least once) to reach leveled content or (2) allow people to reach leveled content while not playing group quests and dungeons/flashpoints.

 

If you follow (1), your leveling curve literally stonewalls the solo players cold.

 

If you follow (2), you leave players who play all the group content at least once overleveled for quests.

 

There isn't a great way to skin this cat. On balance, I think being overleveled is a lesser evil to having solo players hit a brick wall and not be able to level (grinding in this game doesn't really give adequate XP for soloists to make up the difference grinding). So, BW chose to structure it to accomodate soloists, because this makes the content available to all, and allows all to level. In other words, both approaches have downsides, but one leads to a stonewall, whereas the other does not.

[Darkeus]

I have to agree actually. It is just a bit too fast. Not too bad but it could be slowed down a notch to keep it balanced with where you should be when leaving a planet for the next.

 

And Space Combat does give you WAY TOO MUCH XP. Seriously, with the daily quest, you can score over 10,000 xp on one run alone.

[PhoenixStar]

MMORPGs have evolved beyond leveling and if you're still playing them all about levels then you're doing it wrong so shape up or ship out.

 

The focus is now on endgame content not the "leveling process" which is now simply there to help you learn how to play your character before endgame.

 

Likewise I know many people have been playing all day everyday since the game launched to try and max out so don't try to act as if you leveled entirely too fast playing casually. You played all day long and you know it.

 

The leveling speed is beyond perfect for everyone because it keeps the focus on the endgame where it should be. Focusing on leveling was a good way for old games with little to no content to keep people placated and quiet about the fact that there was really nothing to do aside from watching a bar get a little higher.

 

If anything I just said went over your head go back to WoW and leave this game alone please, thanks.

[dwullers]

I dunno maybe I'm wrong but it feels slower leveling than it did in wow and rift which feel by far faster than here. Took me a week to get to 50 in rift and I never played beta. I'm not even 30 here and tomorrow will be a week.

 

Yes, you are wrong. WoW - and I'm talking pre-addon - was extremely slow when I started to play which was on the day of its release. At the time I was a hardcore player pretty much. Nevertheless, it took me about three weeks of 3-4 hrs/day to get my first mount at level 40. In SW:Tor it took me like three days. And I did not skip dialogue. And I did not have to save at all. I even bought an inventory extension right before Nar Shadaa for 20k. That's way too easy. When I got my WoW mount I took pictures of that thing because I had been waiting a long time for that. Same with the ship. There was no OMG moment there, it came way to easy. No heroic quest line that requires me to do a lot of work for it, no it's just handed over after a fairly simple quest. That was seriously disappointing. I still love the game and its atmosphere but I absolutely agree that this game is too short to be challenging in the long run (as of now). I really, really like the game and it wouldn't take much to slow gameplay down or make accomplishing milestones more rewarding by making the tasks more challenging. Regarding the "try the other stories" argument, I have to say that I tried that and since there is only one world per level-zone per side, the story won't make collecting item X on Balmorra for the third time more interesting. And levelling on story mode alone is impossible. So, please help us out here BW!

[Daeso]

Well from reading this I'm sure plenty of people had a similar reaction just didn't say anything.

 

Everyone complaining that leveling goes too fast is apparently playing from their parents or grandma's basement. I have a job, I have a life outside MMOs. I enjoy playing for an hour or two knowing that I will most likely level.

 

Anyways, I'm off to work!

 

Game on!

[WickedDjinn]

What exactly do you want? There will always be people in these games with nothing better to do then play until they reach 50 as quickly as possible. This can not be avoided unless you make the grind so tedious and painful that it's impossible to get anywhere.

[Rhyltran]

Yes, you are wrong. WoW - and I'm talking pre-addon - was extremely slow when I started to play which was on the day of its release. At the time I was a hardcore player pretty much. Nevertheless, it took me about three weeks of 3-4 hrs/day to get my first mount at level 40. In SW:Tor it took me like three days. And I did not skip dialogue. And I did not have to save at all. I even bought an inventory extension right before Nar Shadaa for 20k. That's way too easy. When I got my WoW mount I took pictures of that thing because I had been waiting a long time for that. Same with the ship. There was no OMG moment there, it came way to easy. No heroic quest line that requires me to do a lot of work for it, no it's just handed over after a fairly simple quest. That was seriously disappointing. I still love the game and its atmosphere but I absolutely agree that this game is too short to be challenging in the long run (as of now). I really, really like the game and it wouldn't take much to slow gameplay down or make accomplishing milestones more rewarding by making the tasks more challenging. Regarding the "try the other stories" argument, I have to say that I tried that and since there is only one world per level-zone per side, the story won't make collecting item X on Balmorra for the third time more interesting. And levelling on story mode alone is impossible. So, please help us out here BW!

 

It took you three weeks to get to 40 in original wow? It took me 5 days. I'm level 37 right now and I've been playing 5 days. Sounds about right.

 

To clarify.. Bioware I hope you don't slow down the leveling. You can add in a way to turn off exp if people don't want to over level content but the leveling speed is fine! Please do not make it a grind.

Edited December 22, 2011 by Rhyltran

[Technohic]

"Leveling is too fast. Slow it down."

 

-Signed: Level 50 player

 

That said, I will go back to queue up for PvP with leveling players for the lols.

 

 

 

 

*all the above is fictional

[Centra]

There isn't a great way to skin this cat. On balance, I think being overleveled is a lesser evil to having solo players hit a brick wall and not be able to level (grinding in this game doesn't really give adequate XP for soloists to make up the difference grinding). So, BW chose to structure it to accomodate soloists, because this makes the content available to all, and allows all to level. In other words, both approaches have downsides, but one leads to a stonewall, whereas the other does not.

 

I am primarily a solo player and I think the leveling is too fast. The issue is less how long it takes (although I don't want it to be too fast timewise either) and more to do with outleveling an area before moving onto the next. I don't want to be too high a level for the area I'm working in. It makes it too easy.

 

MMORPGs have evolved beyond leveling and if you're still playing them all about levels then you're doing it wrong so shape up or ship out.

 

The focus is now on endgame content not the "leveling process" which is now simply there to help you learn how to play your character before endgame.

 

Likewise I know many people have been playing all day everyday since the game launched to try and max out so don't try to act as if you leveled entirely too fast playing casually. You played all day long and you know it.

 

The leveling speed is beyond perfect for everyone because it keeps the focus on the endgame where it should be. Focusing on leveling was a good way for old games with little to no content to keep people placated and quiet about the fact that there was really nothing to do aside from watching a bar get a little higher.

 

If anything I just said went over your head go back to WoW and leave this game alone please, thanks.

 

The very fact you felt the need to make this statement, negates your statement, since apparently there are plenty of people who enjoy the leveling process, and probably have since before you ever picked up a game.

 

You, young man, are the one doing it wrong. And the fact that you and many others like you are doing it wrong, is causing massive problems for games like these who try to "placate" you.

Edited December 22, 2011 by Centra

[knightblaster]

I am primarily a solo player and I think the leveling is too fast. The issue is less how long it takes (although I don't want it to be too fast timewise either) and more to do with outleveling an area before moving onto the next. I don't want to be too high a level for the area I'm working in. It makes it too easy.

 

At level 17, I haven't come across this. In fact, at level 14-16, I was routinely doing missions +1-2 levels higher. And now I have on level missions, but still tilt towards higher ones. Some of this has to do with playstyle, too, I think. If you follow the scorched earth policy while mission running (i.e., kill everything within range), you may level faster. I certainly haven't had an issue with outleveling content, and have experienced the reverse (or very close to it) a few times so far, and I'm only level 17.

[Centra]

At level 17, I haven't come across this. In fact, at level 14-16, I was routinely doing missions +1-2 levels higher. And now I have on level missions, but still tilt towards higher ones. Some of this has to do with playstyle, too, I think. If you follow the scorched earth policy while mission running (i.e., kill everything within range), you may level faster. I certainly haven't had an issue with outleveling content, and have experienced the reverse (or very close to it) a few times so far, and I'm only level 17.

 

I think the leveling process itself is probably a little slower than current mmos, because there is more content to be had. But I had to keep myself from killing anything outside of my quests as much as possible, in order to stay in level. I don't enjoy that, I like killing most things in sight.

 

How I feel about fast leveling is doublesided. On the one hand, I think people should play what they enjoy. On the other, I think working hard after something builds character and patience, something that seems to be sorely lacking in mmo communities these days.

[knightblaster]

I think the leveling process itself is probably a little slower than current mmos, because there is more content to be had. But I had to keep myself from killing anything outside of my quests as much as possible, in order to stay in level. I don't enjoy that, I like killing most things in sight.

 

How I feel about fast leveling is doublesided. On the one hand, I think people should play what they enjoy. On the other, I think working hard after something builds character and patience, something that seems to be sorely lacking in mmo communities these days.

 

I agree. My point, though, is that I don't think that the leveling is too fast, currently. I don't find it "slow", but I don't find it too fast. I think if the XP for missions and space were nerfed, I would be forced to do group quests and flashpoints in order to level, which I think is not a good design.

 

It is interesting how different players experience the leveling curve differently. I suppose it has much to do with playstyle (solo v. group, kill all v. only as needed, and so on). I don't think it's possible to design a one-size fits-all-system, and a system that leaves some content-devouring players a bit ahead of the content is probably less bad than one that leaves some "surgical" players stonewalled in terms of leveling.

[PhoenixStar]

The very fact you felt the need to make this statement, negates your statement, since apparently there are plenty of people who enjoy the leveling process, and probably have since before you ever picked up a game.

 

You, young man, are the one doing it wrong. And the fact that you and many others like you are doing it wrong, is causing massive problems for games like these who try to "placate" you.

 

It's funny that you just tried so hard and failed to make any sense.

[Babikir]

Maybe I am just different, but in my MMO experience, the game really begins at level cap. The leveling pace is fine. I am currently sitting around level 30 and put in an average of 2-3 hours a day, with a few marathon sessions on my off days. Hitting 50 doesn't mean the game is over, its just time to start working on entering and completing the endgame.

[mcjediknight]

Shhhhhh!!! Don't tell anyone but the long queues are being kept in to slow down people's progress. You can't level if you can't play

[mogishu]

I'm sorry do people have to complain about everything, seriously.

 

I have level characters in a number of different MMOs at different time periods and I would have to say Star Wars hit it pretty good in terms of time to max level.

 

People need to also realize this game has been designed to be heavily alt friendly and if it was waaaay to long to get to max then the alt game would suffer.

[Digital-N-Plus]

I guess I'm just playing the game wrong if the leveling is too fast. But then I actually watch the dialogue, explore the planets for neat views, craft, read codices, RP, and otherwise just be plain old silly. I feel I'd only get a fraction of bang for my buck if I only leveled in this game.

[markcameron]

do you pvp alot?

[Overtone]

They are banking heavily on people making LOTS of alts. The fully voiced aspect is also going to make new content slower to put out as well. I am curious how they are going to try to handle people easily reaching 50 inside the trail period.

 

Yep, this is a major concern of mine. Having to do redo all the same side quests seems like a hinder on replay value. You can get a different feel to the game if you level an opposite faction alt but on your 3rd toon you will be redoing most of the same content.

[Amaranth]

I agree. My point, though, is that I don't think that the leveling is too fast, currently. I don't find it "slow", but I don't find it too fast. I think if the XP for missions and space were nerfed, I would be forced to do group quests and flashpoints in order to level, which I think is not a good design.

 

It is interesting how different players experience the leveling curve differently. I suppose it has much to do with playstyle (solo v. group, kill all v. only as needed, and so on). I don't think it's possible to design a one-size fits-all-system, and a system that leaves some content-devouring players a bit ahead of the content is probably less bad than one that leaves some "surgical" players stonewalled in terms of leveling.

 

Yeah. For me, the leveling seems a bit fast in that it seems to be extremely easy to outlevel the content if you "stray outside the box". My everyday group likes running flashpoints and heroic quests a few times a week, so by the end of Coruscant I was already 2-3 levels higher than the content. I'm just hitting Nar Shaddaa at level 24, and that's with 2 characters at the same level that have been alternating for flashpoints so as not to get too far ahead. I'm sure I can skip some content, but I really don't want to since that's what BioWare has spent so much time working on.

 

At the same time, if they lowered mission XP, it would probably be perfect for me but may be too hard to level on just quests alone for those that only play solo. In my opinion that's not a good solution either, so unfortunately it's a no win situation.

 

What I would like to see them implement is a way to temporarily turn off XP gain altogether. That way those of us that feel like we're outleveling the content have a way to "slow ourselves down", while those that feel it's fine can continue playing like normal. EQ2 had something similar, and I think it worked pretty well.

[Digital-N-Plus]

do you pvp alot?

 

I duel a lot. I stay a bit away from Warzones, though. I heard if anything makes leveling too fast, it's that.

[Digital-N-Plus]

And... well honestly, I think that's the problem I see here. It's not so much the quest pacing that's really mucking the leveling process so much as Space Missions and Warzones doing the same.

[Riotus]

I only do Quests at the moment. I don''t do warzones, and I rarely, if ever, do the heroics. I''m about to leave Taris at 23 headed to NarShaada/Tattoine, which is right on target. The world levels are based on the above playstyle. They simply don''t take heroics, warzones, space combat, etc., into calculations. I really don''t think they have to, because if that were the case, every player would be -forced- to grind warzones, flashpoints, heroics, and daily space combat in order to keep pace with the class stories and world levels. That''s no fun, and even more "on rails" than the current system. The game is designed so you have alternatives. If you want to do every possible skill gain imaginable, then great, but don''t complain when you actually do level FASTER than other people.

 

QFT...

 

I dont do pvp or space, i do flashpoints once. I just like to do my quests, and im always exactly right on target When moving from planet to planet.

 

XP is fine how it is. Leave it be. Just because you are outleveling stuff because you are doing pvp and space doesnt mean they should slow down xp and make everyone do pvp and space.

[Amaranth]

And... well honestly, I think that's the problem I see here. It's not so much the quest pacing that's really mucking the leveling process so much as Space Missions and Warzones doing the same.

 

Yeah, agreed. I would bet that if you just stuck to doing the missions, it would probably be a really good pace. But if you go outside of that, it's easy to outlevel the content. Not really sure how to solve that though without having a negative effect on solo-only players.

[knightblaster]

What I would like to see them implement is a way to temporarily turn off XP gain altogether. That way those of us that feel like we're outleveling the content have a way to "slow ourselves down", while those that feel it's fine can continue playing like normal. EQ2 had something similar, and I think it worked pretty well.

 

I agree -- this would be a good fix for this. Unfortunately fixes like this usually only come well after release ... sigh.