Check out the hottest discussions from the previous week in the FFXIV General Forum.

Late September can't come soon enough, can it?

With less than a month to go until Patch 1.19 goes live (hopefully), we've been given two important glimpses this week into the evolution of Final Fantasy XIV. Normally, I single out three threads in Hot Read Thursday, but this week I'm going to focus on the two threads that focus on these all-important revelations. The first thread is about the abolition of physical levels, which we've known was coming for a long time. The second thread focuses on upcoming changes to the claiming system and its effect on power leveling.

Interesting topics, so let's get to the links:

Title: Abolition of Physical Levels / Attribute Point Revisions

We've known for months that physical levels were on their way out, but what we didn't know was exactly what would take the place of this element of the game. Thanks to a development thread on the official forums, we now know players will eventually have the choice of allocating stats manually or having them spread out automatically. I believe this is a smart move by Square Enix, but the development team must be careful. Surrender enough control, and SE runs the risk of introducing balance issues into the game.

Perhaps more important is the revelation that as players rise in level, the impact of stat increases from leveling will take a back seat to stat increases from gear. Something I really enjoyed about Final Fantasy XI was that you didn't need spectacular gear to be good at playing the game. While having high-end gear was a definite plus, I strongly feel that player skill trumped any piece of godly gear. With that in mind, I'm not sure how I feel about tying advancement so closely to gear. That said, it's way too early to be overly worried about that facet of gameplay.


Title: Claiming System Redux

This is an excellent read by FFXIV producer Naoki Yoshida in which he discusses the age-old debate of power leveling. What, were you thinking this thread actually delves into the claiming system? In all fairness, Yoshi-P does discuss plans for revamping the claiming system; he also defines how experience points and loot will be distributed.

The fact remains this new claiming system will leave the door open for power leveling, but Yoshida doesn't seem to mind -- as long as the power leveling is used by the forces of good. While Yoshi-P says he personally believes in playing his way through tough games, he acknowledges that some people out there just don't find grinding levels to be fun. Hence, power leveling will be possible in Final Fantasy XIV.

If you're passionate about whether power leveling should be allowed, then I highly recommend you check out this thread. Yoshi-P's post, which was translated by Bayohne on the official forums, seems to reveal where the game's leader stands on the issue of power leveling -- something audiences usually don't get from the makers of other MMORPGs.