WARNING!: If you don't like graphs (and basic math), then you may want to skip this post. I tried to make it as simple and least technical as possible, but this explanation still hinges on a graph shown on this post. Otherwise read on to learn how to maximize your campaigning!
Lately I've noticed that some people don't really understand campaign or don't know how to maximize their time in it. This post should help you achieve maximum potential out of it. First off, if you don't know how exp is calculated in campaign, please read one of the links just to get a grasp of it, take your pick:
http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Campaign_XP_Point_Calculations
http://wiki.bluegartrls.com/Campaign_Point_Calculation
http://ff11wiki.rdy.jp/2026067319.html#z86c536a (Japanese)
The exact numbers do not really matter, just the ideas in those pages - in particular the idea of caps and how high they are, and the time-based EXP caps.
Now onto the meat of this discussion...... every player participating in campaign will move through 3 "phases", one which is described by this graph:
Now naturally, this graph is not to scale nor close to exactly what happens. However, it shows the different trends. First, the blue line is your EXP cap - it is based on time. This cap starts at 60EXP/min, and increases by 2 EXP/min for every rank up. This holds true to at least the Wings of Integrity at 88 EXP/min (the rank I currently hold), and I see no reason for it not to stop following the trend. The function represented by the blue line is actually incorrect, as it should be a step function but it won't affect this discussion really.Now, the red line is the Total EXP you actually gained throughout the campaign. There are 3 distinct phases if you're doing campaign properly (meaning you're doing as much as you can to get EXP than if you just sit back and do something weak for exp gain).
The first phase (labeled A) is where you have the fastest EXP gain. You are also not capped in any of the categories for calculating EXP. Here, you should be gaining EXP at a faster rate than the time-based cap.
The second phase (labeled B), is where you have moderate EXP gain. Some of the smaller exp caps are reached - like swings, critical hits, buffs, debuffs, enfeebles. Your EXP cap may be gaining on your actual EXP gained, but you should still be still above the cap.
The last phase (labeled C) is the one of interest. It is where your exp gain rate has slowed to the point where it is less than the cap's rate. This is due to the fact that every category of campaign calculation has a finite cap, even curing and dealing damage (I do not know if taking damage has a cap but I suspect it does). It is in this phase where the two functions should intersect (circled in orange in the graph above).
That crossing in the graph is the primary point of focus for this discussion. After you hit that crossing, you're more than likely not going to reach the time-based EXP cap again for the rest of the tag, since too many categories are capped. In order to maximize your time, you should turn in your tags (assessment) before you hit this critical point!!! When you receive a new tag, then you will reset all the calculations, so you are no longer hitting the caps on the categories. Once you realize this, all there is left to do is re-evaluate every time you're close to the critical point. The trick though is finding out when you hit this intersection on the graph.
For me, I try to estimate when this happen based on EXP. I seem to reach this point at around 2000 EXP gained at Holyknight rank, so it occurs around 25 minutes of campaigning. That means I should reset my tags at every 20-25 minutes to make sure I always stay at the time-based EXP cap. However you can do it differently, if you have some system to "estimate" how far along you are on that graph. Guessing by time is the most simplest way for me to do this.
However, to make this more complicated, this will vary by circumstance and players. For example, if I am attacking Shadowfang Voids, I will reach that point sooner, since I can't take much damage from them nor deal as much. If I am attacking fortifications, I'll hit that point even sooner. Depending on how you campaign, the graph may shift or distort, but you will always have the 3 phases and the critical point. As long as you stay before that critical point and reset your tag regularly (even if it means resetting every 10 minutes), you should be gaining nearly the most you can out of your current rank. At the time of this writing, if you follow this style of campaigning, it would mean almost achieving 3,600 EXP/hr at Bronze Ribbon of Service and 5,400 EXP/hr at Wings of Honor (minus the time it takes for finding another campaign and travel).
As a side note, I will have to eventually redo my campaign research as many things had changed in the few patches since I first done the research. I had a working campaign EXP calculator prototype program, which was fairly accurate but I doubt it is anymore now. If I ever find the time to, I may post the results of such research, but for now I have too many things I want to do in this game and not enough time.
