It's a fair question in Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV and really pretty much any MMO, especially because it's one of those questions you don't really ask while you're knee-deep in the game. You're just playing, you see that your level isn't at the level it could be, and you start doing what you have to do in order to make that number go just a little bit higher. By the classic model in Final Fantasy XI, you find a party, and in Final Fantasy XIV, you get some leves and head out to the races.
But that doesn't address the question. You know what you're doing, and I know what you're doing -- the question is why you're doing it in the first place. Even in a game without levels, you shouldn't be leveling. The answer to that question should always be confusion not over the reason but over the very concept.
So I'll ask again -- why are you leveling?
There are two usual answers to the question. The first is that every level brings you closer to the endgame, which inevitably starts at the level cap. Leveling is how you get there, learning more about the game and playing correctly as you go. Leveling is essentially the very extended tutorial of the game in which you learn how to play, what you're supposed to be doing, and what you can expect from the game once you hit that level cap. You're working your way toward what you want to do.But the other answer is that you aren't leveling -- you're enjoying the game right now. Leveling is not your end goal; it's a side effect of what you'd be doing anyway if left to your own devices. You might be aiming for the endgame with time, but leveling is really just an incidental reward you're picking up as you go.
The thing is, leveling alone does not create the feel that most MMOs are going for. I admit that I was never terribly keen on the books, but I don't think there was a part of Lord of the Rings wherein Aragorn suggested that the party make camp in one spot for a few days to grind on some low-level orcs and wights for a while. I certainly don't recall a point in Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn where Simon took some time off from his quest to group up with a couple of trolls to farm up experience. Yes, these are stories and not games, but the games we're talking about are specifically trying to emulate the feel of these heroic fantasies.
In Final Fantasy XI, of course, the answer to why is that you're leveling because that's what gates more powerful content. You might be having fun chatting with your party, but the leveling itself isn't terribly fun, something that's become terribly evident if you try to level a lower job these days. The concessions made to players come largely in the form of things to make leveling easier, not to make the process of gaining levels any more interesting. Compare this to Guild Wars, where you fly up in levels without even trying -- or heck, World of Warcraft.
Contrary to popular opinion, I'd say the big thing that World of Warcraft was aiming for wasn't simply solo leveling; it was the hope that the leveling experience could be as interesting as the endgame. The fact that you could do it solo was almost a design glitch, as evidenced by the large number of quests that either explicitly or tacitly required a party.
Yes, there is content below the level cap in FFXI, but it's not meant for you to level up on. It's meant for you to unlock other elements as you go. You have to be a certain level to undertake missions and get other rewards, and then you have to continue advancing your level to reach the next tier of neat content. The one saving grace that the game had in this regard was that because you were in a party, it was hard to always notice that the leveling process was kind of bland. You didn't notice that you weren't doing something fun and leveling in the process.
FFXIV, for all that I liked and still like it, didn't get this memo. Guildleves are effective leveling content in the sense that they give good rewards for time spent and they work well in the game's engine, but they have the distinct failing that they are not inherently much more fun than just sitting in camp and grinding out levels. More efficient, certainly, but not inherently more interesting.And it's unusual in that regard. I can play City of Heroes for hours enjoying the story and the mission arcs and leveling as I go. There's a lot of content to explore in Star Trek Online that happens to keep me leveling. But FFXIV offers me content to level and content that is interesting in two linked but separate packages. It has the same sort of leveling process as its predecessor without the veneer of group content that FFXI offered.
The point? I don't particularly have one, save for the simple observations that I've already put forth. The fact that FFXI and FFXIV don't make leveling an incidental reward for interesting content isn't a dealbreaker, and it means that the interesting content of both games can be completely unshackled from the needs of gaining levels. But I can't help but think that both games could do for a solid infusion of this, even as I doubt it's going to happen.
As always, comments are welcome below or via mail to eliot@massively.com. Next week, I'm going to talk about something less abstract but still fairly conceptual: timing.
From Eorzea to Vana'diel, there is a constant: the moogles. And for analysis and opinions about the online portions of the Final Fantasy series, there is also a constant: The Mog Log. Longtime series fan Eliot Lefebvre serves up a new installment of the log every Saturday, covering almost anything related to Square-Enix's vibrant online worlds.
