Greetings everyone,

    I've had a love-hate relationship with FFXI since launch. Without going into detail, I'll say I've been through quite a few accounts and resubscriptions over the years. Recently, I've heard about this "Level Sync" system that's been released intending to make it easier to find groups. I just wanted to get the point of view of any new players that happen to have joined since its launch. Has this system made it easier to find groups? As an addendum, I'm also trying to get my girlfriend to play. Her sticking point has always been the grind. So,  with the slight increase to experience from decent and easy mobs, is it a bit easier to level? Thanks in advance!

I have played FFXI when the game released years ago, and I am playing FFXI now again. I can see that the mobs have been greatly reduced in low level zone. Most people are playing their alts at low level so they have guild guys to help them out. The chance to find a group is ZERO. No one want to party at low level. I still remember few years ago, it was so easy to get group and the King's Tomb or other instances are always lot of people, you don't even need to kill a thing because the route was all cleared.

Now, you wanna play FFXI, you are on your own. Besides, It has been released few years already so don't expect yourself to get a group.  

I just leveled my COR from 1-10 yesterday. I was shocked at how much faster it is now since EP and DC mobs give more xp. You can just tear through those mobs np for decent experience. Of course once you start getting into pt's after lvl 10ish that won't matter anymore since you fight higher lvl mobs.

The level sync, imo, has been amazing. I see more parties everywhere I go now because there are less people seeking and more people in parties. Of course, if your g/f hated the grind of FFXI before, not much has changed post-lvl10. It's just easier to get into parties now

Level sync is designed to help out parties that are short a specific job. So say you have a party that is 5/6 and needs a tank. Instead of waiting for one to pop you can now ask a friend or someone in your linkshell to fill in that spot if they are higher level.

Leveling is still going to happen in waves. Once a big group of people get to 75 and decide to try another job the lower level areas will be populated again. This cyclical nature has always been and will not change. If you happen to catch a wave you can ride it into the shore quite easy. Level sync is not designed so a group can stay a certain area making it more populated.

Level sync might help slightly with the frequency of parties, but where it truly is helpful is the the speed in which parties are created. Instead of waiting for the specific job the party can look a higher level or ask a LS member. This actually is a negitive for jobs that are less desirable (*cough*Puppetmaster*cough*) because where before Level Sync a party might be desparate for a specific job and take an undesirable they can pick a specific job and have the level gap they are looking for be even greater.

I sitll recommend for a new player to find a friend and play with them. For a new player or returning player level sync is not anything that will help improve your game.

Thanks for the replies everyone. After reading your response icon, I went over to playonline and reread the update notes on the feature. Your assessment is indeed correct (I must've been pretty sleepy to not get that from it ). Unfortunately, dice rolling on the leveling wave was something I was hoping to avoid. I think I'll hold off on resubcribing. Thanks again for your responses.