[Eorzea]

I really hope FFXIV makes it both possible and effective to party in groups of two, three or four. The Final Fantasy series never required us to form groups of six until FFXI came along. I understand they were trying to emphasize teamwork, but this time around I would like to see more flexibility in the way we can form effective parties.

Thoughts?

:cool:

[Momotaru]

We'll be fine I imagine. They want to make soloing a possibility for anyone, so working with others shouldn't be a problem either.

I'd also enjoy a smaller, more casual party play.

[Cid]

I love a 2 person party. 2 people can usually mow down the baddies that are solo-able, and it's a lot more fun playing with a friend.

Since they say they are focusing on making this game more solo-friendly, I think small parties should be ok.

Sometimes there is a gap though. For example 2 people can party up and still get good XP killing solo-able monsters... but add a third and the XP drops too much to make it worthwhile.
Hopefully they will design the game where parties of all sizes are rewarding and playable.

[Chunk]

As long as I can still manaburn, thats all Im worried about. haha ;)

[Math]

I think four would be fun. Although I really did like six--a lot more diversity, choice, and let's face it... I bet some jobs would never get invites if everyone had four person parties.

Now duos are awesome. Really any two classes can duo pretty effectively and have fun (barring a healer healer duo).

[Chunk]

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(barring a healer healer duo).

Not true. My buddy and I duoed nearly all of my expensive BLM spell mobs on WHM/NIN WHM/NIN.

[Yuna]

Groups of 2, 3 and 4 would be interesting. ^-^ Personally though, I enjoyed the groups of 6, it made it more fun to me, and it made battles more interesting with the class diversity.

[Hydaelyn]

I agree that groups of 6 are nice, but having the option to duo with your friend or wife/girlfriend would be a nice option as well. So would being able to form small groups of 3 or 4 when you don't want to wait to find all the right pieces for your 6-person party.

I think being capable of at least some form of success in any type of group is important. Hopefully Square Enix makes this possible.

:angel:

[Darlicious]

Why limit grouping to just 6 or lower? I have many friends and we all like to play together but since the average party consists of 6 players many times people are left out. Why not have Parties of 7,8,9, or even 10?

[Cid]

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Why limit grouping to just 6 or lower? I have many friends and we all like to play together but since the average party consists of 6 players many times people are left out. Why not have Parties of 7,8,9, or even 10?

Good point!
I think we should be make groups that large if we want to. Maybe just put a limit on group size for certain instances or Boss Monsters?

[Eorzea]

Yes, bigger parties could be an option as well. Personally, I wouldn't want them to be any bigger than eight or so. Perhaps that's only me, though. I think having too many members takes away from the need to use skill and play your job correctly. Having a bunch of people gang up on one monster for XP seems a bit silly/boring. I want there to be strategy involved. If it's a boss or something, that's different (of course).

;)

[Gwel]

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Yes, bigger parties could be an option as well. Personally, I wouldn't want them to be any bigger than eight or so. Perhaps that's only me, though. I think having too many members takes away from the need to use skill and play your job correctly. Having a bunch of people gang up on one monster for XP seems a bit silly/boring. I want there to be strategy involved. If it's a boss or something, that's different (of course).

;)

I totally agree. I think about 6 members is the breaking point, really. Even a full party in FFXI was just starting to get a bit too large. It gets a little too hard to follow all of what your party members are doing and you lose your individuality. For instance with three healers (which would be ridiculous in most/all cases but it's just an example) if you're one of them you might not feel like.. 'the' healer anymore. If you know what I mean. You've got to feel special. :O

[Quinn]

I was actually wondering about this last night, have SE actually explained about leveling be it either alone or party?

As sometimes its going to be hard for me to wait to get into partys and do they whole waiting a hour before everyone is ready and get all their gear together and get to the destination...I work alot and now i've moved into a flat I'm not going to be hardcoring FFXIV i'm going to be a casual gamer (most days be on just for no more then 5+ hours a day)

I hope they make it better so you can solo more or also duo, i loved duoing you were both ready in 5mins flat and it was so nice to kill things with a friend, it was much more relaxed as well just being the 2 of you.

So imo I hope they make it so you DON'T HAVE TO go into a party to get anywhere in FFXIV, I love duoing and soloing so yay I hope they make that system nicer to do for casual gamers like i'll be.

[CrystalZodiac]

Couldn't agree more with the choice of say four players in a party. I think it's more likely due to it being a little more open to casual players, I wouldn't mind larger groups if events required it so. Imagine large scale invasions from the Empire/Beast Tribes

Band together Nations of Eorzea!

[Avonej]

Parts of XI did drag, i'm mainly referring to leveling earlier in the game. So i'm sure they will add an awesome solo leveling system that we will enjoy. The group content however by my estimates is going to be one of the major plot movers. Why? After watching all the trailers it seems they are doing their best to bring this world to life and what better way than to make events and dungeons and such that requires teamwork. I'm hoping for a mesh of solo and group playability that will take MMORPGs to a new level.