I think they are aware that there are less people leveling in the mid-game range. This is probably just the first in a series of steps they will have to take to make the game friendly to smaller groups and potentially solo friendly in the future.

This patch won't do crap for soloing as it is now though. You'll be able rest faster, but most jobs still won't be able to solo more than an EP beyond level 20. It think this just makes it easier to get a non-full PT and go XP when there are less people seeking.


However, I don't think it will have its desired effect for several reasons.

1) Usually when a PT isn't full it's because they are looking for a) a tank b) a healer or c) a refresher. Random DDs are available in bucket loads and those are the jobs that have trouble getting PTs. So most PTs will probably wait until they are full once they find these jobs. The only job necessity this path will effect is that of the Refresher... but I don't think it'll be enough for the next reason.

2) People are ridiculously obsessed with big numbers and IT++ mobs. With this update you could likely take a PT of 3-5 and go take out a lot of EM-T mobs quickly and get a large XP bonus. However, people are stuck in their ways and will prefer a PT of 6 taking out IT++ even if it's not the most efficient just because they have trouble realizing how flawed this method is.

For the same reason, refreshers will continue to be an absolute necessity because people feel that they are. This update could put non-refresher PTs at the efficiency level of a refresher PT... but it also raises the bar for how efficient a PT can be. Because of this people will still feel they can only XP with a refresher for fear of having 5 seconds of downtime between their IT++ mobs.


SE can change the system and imply how they'd like it to work better, but players still make the decisions and in general they make poor ones.