WoW players that switched to FFXIV, I need your opinions

[Lucrece]

GCD is way too long for me and using instant cast abilities autofacing you or not being usable at all makes for such a clunky movement experience.

If they fixed the GCD and how janky the movement feels the game would be a lot better.

[RotDog]

I've tried FFXIV for a month or so now and it definately feels weird when you're used to how wow plays. Gameplay with the 2s GCD is kinda slow, the english translation is sometimes odd and the UI is kinda meh, even if you customize it so i really miss addons to make it look how i want it to look. And there's alot of loading screens everywhere, or a black screen. Even just moving from one side of limsa lominsa to aftcaste which is the same city has that loading screen. Other than that there's a bunch of cool stuff like the casino and class systems with different jobs and the profession system seems way more enganging than what wow offers. And the story is amazing with loads of cutscenes and likeable characters. So for me, even with some of its flaws, FFXIV trumps wow right now, mostly because im tired of the constant grind that wow has become now, you never feel like your character is in a good place, since there's always that titanforged or whateverforged that can drop on your next run.

I actually don't mind the loading screens, they've allowed for some seriously superior graphics compared to wow without a shit ton of latency, and if you have a half decent computer the screens don't take long to disappear anyway. The design, detail, and art in this game are astounding to me for something like an MMO.

[Chandrassa]

Ok I did it! I downloaded the trial and it's installing now. I feel like I'm going to an AA meeting or something. Hi, I'm Ben and I'm a WoW addict, haha

Good on you for giving it a go, but a warning that the Free Trial seems to me a pretty poor representation of the game. At low levels, the game is very slow-paced... with only a few buttons to press and those spaced at 2.5 second intervals. If you were a long-term player in WoW, you'll probably find the questing to be painful up to about level 50. However, at that point the game starts picking up. The story-lines get better, the characters have probably wormed their way into your heart by then, you'll have loads of buttons that you can press between GCDs, and you'll have unlocked enough various different types of content to keep most people engaged for a lifetime.

Recommendations? Play when you're feeling relaxed. Focus on doing the "Main Scenario Quests" more than leveling. Do all of your class-quests as soon as you get them. If you hate how sparkly the game is, you can turn off a lot of the swirl-sparkle-starglitter-explosions in your visual settings. Finally, chill. A second spent reading quest text in WoW is a second further behind that gear treadmill later on. In FFXIV I haven't yet found any compelling reasons to rush, and the game gives you plenty of good reasons to take your time and get to know the characters. Oh, also, use a SSD (loading screens take way less time this way) and don't be stingy with teleporting... the gil costs are negligible relative to how much money you'll reach max level with.

[Wrecktangle]

WoW armor... look... better? Does not compute. >_o

Do you have links to screenshots of your characters? Curious what look you've gone for on them.

I played WoW for almost 10 years uninterrupted. Now I just play a month or two of an expansion to briefly see the story and otherwise play FFXIV here. I also broke out of the pet/mount collecting mentality since I left WoW, so I don't feel like I NEEEEED all the things anymore.

But characters needing to look "just right" I can certainly identify with, so I'm curious what your alt army is looking like right now. Gimme dem links!

I'm curious of this as well. As an avid critic of both games, WoW's art isn't bad by any means, but I find the armor design in FF14 to be considerably better. If you don't like the art style, I suppose it's likely that nothing in the game (no matter how objectively good it looks) would look good. Tough to relate though.

Although, I must call you out here for being a liar. You did NOT leave your pet/mount collecting mentality behind. I saw your posts about the otter.

GCD is way too long for me and using instant cast abilities autofacing you or not being usable at all makes for such a clunky movement experience.

If they fixed the GCD and how janky the movement feels the game would be a lot better.

You can turn auto face off. I don't know thy that feature is default. Definitely not MMO standard.

GCD being too long sucks for sure (some jobs have shorter GCD's via abilities). Not quite WoW's level of CPM, but combined with oGCD's the gameplay can get close (not the same, but decently close).

The clunky movement is an issue though for sure. That's their shit ass netcode.

Recommendations? Play when you're feeling relaxed. Focus on doing the "Main Scenario Quests" more than leveling. Do all of your class-quests as soon as you get them. If you hate how sparkly the game is, you can turn off a lot of the swirl-sparkle-starglitter-explosions in your visual settings. Finally, chill. A second spent reading quest text in WoW is a second further behind that gear treadmill later on. In FFXIV I haven't yet found any compelling reasons to rush, and the game gives you plenty of good reasons to take your time and get to know the characters. Oh, also, use a SSD (loading screens take way less time this way) and don't be stingy with teleporting... the gil costs are negligible relative to how much money you'll reach max level with.

Eh, I never rushed. I raided 3 hours a week in a shit ass heroic guild and put up 99% parses for my spec. I was on average 2-3 ilvl behind most geared players, and maybe 6-7 ilvl behind high geared mythic players, and wasn't nearly that far behind on damage. I did maybe 3-4 mythic + dungeons a week and that was about it. You don't need to play non-stop, you just need to play.

[Faroth]

I'm curious of this as well. As an avid critic of both games, WoW's art isn't bad by any means, but I find the armor design in FF14 to be considerably better. If you don't like the art style, I suppose it's likely that nothing in the game (no matter how objectively good it looks) would look good. Tough to relate though.

Although, I must call you out here for being a liar. You did NOT leave your pet/mount collecting mentality behind. I saw your posts about the otter.

ONE PET DOES NOT A COLLECTION MAKE!!!

There are still specific minions I want so I can have them follow me around, but I don't go for all the minions and I sure don't go for all the mounts anymore (Chocobo 4 life! ......Manacutter for Ruby Sea because it looks cool above/under water). I do roll on Primal mounts, though. If I'm contributing my time to the FC farm night, I'm gonna go for the collection on those. I rarely use them, though. My chocobo is my friend!

Honestly, and very strangely, WoW crippled my pet/mount collecting when they made them account wide. You'd think that would make it MORE appealing for me, but it did the opposite. Can't really explain why.

[Darkarath]

Thank you all again for this amazing topic. I have been trying the trial intensively (FF IX HD got in the way, though), and for this reason my opinion its only based in the trial content, which equals WoW current 1-50?60? content (what I mean is that I tried the vanilla version, not the new and shiny zones, etc.).

The brief version of this post is the following: WoW and FF14 are GREAT games, is just a matter of taste if you prefer one or another. In my case, I have been unsubbed of WoW for months, and while excited for the announcement of the new expansion, I'm not interested in playing WoW anymore, I will probably keep following the story though. As of FF14, today I erased my trial account and I don't have any plans to buy the game. Right now I just don't want to play this kind of games, they require (IMO) much time to be played properly, and I rather play other games, especially on my PS4 Pro.

You guys helped me a lot with your answers, so for those who are doubting as I was between WoW and FF14, here is my analysis:

- Graphics: both games are pretty amazing artwise. You may enjoy one over the other, but its just a matter of taste. I couldn't say which is better.

- Music/Sounds/Voice acting: again, music and sound are superb in both games, so it comes down to your personal opinion. In voice acting though, its not that FF14 is worse, but it has veeeery little voice acting, at least in the first 35 levels. WoW is the same in the first 35 first levels, but I know that they have improved a lot in the last expansions, I guess that FF14 too but I don't know it because I only played the trial.

- Animations: this is a close one. When you are moving around the world, I find WoW movement to be more natural. In general, I prefer how characters move and ''breath'' in WoW. In combat, both are great but I find that FF14 has very distinguished animations between the different jobs (classes), and all of them are pretty cool, while WoW reuses one animation over multiple classes. We have to take into account here, though, that WoW has way more races that FF14, and each class has 3 specs, while each job is unique in FF14 (no specs), so I guess that what FF14 does in this field is hard to accomplish in WoW.

- Races/customization/Transmogrification: In races WoW wins by a wide margin, but is much older too, so is natural that it has more races. In customization FF14 wins by far, the first time that you create a character you will be amazed by how many things you could change compared to WoW. In transmogrification, WoW is better IMO because the Wardrove; in FF14 you can dye your armor, though. Both games has pretty cool-looking armor and weapons.

- Professions: this comes down to taste too. At first I was amazed by FF14 profession system. Basically each profession is like a class, with its own skills and levels, and they are much more interactive than WoW (and I think that more useful too, but I don't know how they work at max level), and you can level all of them with one character, which is awesome. But after the initial amazement I found them too grindy, leveling them is much easier in WoW, but again, if you want to delve into professions, FF14 is better. Besides, each proffesion has a questline attached to it, one quest each 5 levels, which is nice.

- Classes/Jobs/Progression/Gear: for me FF14 really shines here for one simple reason, you can level all the classes with one character, and switching between them is as easy as changing your weapon (each job uses one type of weapon). In FF14 there isn't room for customization though (that I know). There are no specs or talents, you just level up and gain new skills. This is not bad IMO, because like this FF14 can have very different jobs, very unique. Again, each job has a questline attached to it, one quest each 5 levels, and the ones that I did were pretty cool. Progression and Gear are pretty similar I guess, both games have reputations, mounts, pets, achievements... FF14 doesn't have the RNG party that WoW has, and from what I read in FF14 is factible to get a pretty good gear even if you don't raid.

- Dungeons, Raids, Scenarios/Guildhests: both games has a lot of these, with different modes, the basics of any MMO. I guess that if you like raiding WoW is superior in terms of difficulty. Guildhests are in FF14 very short scenarios, usually involving a boss, not difficult, and there are a ton of them. I don't really know which game is harder, because I only played until level 35, but in FF14 mobs seem to last more and to be more dangerous. At least the dungeons that I made couldn't be as easily AoE as WoW's.

- Combat and skills: both are OK, but I prefer WoW. But, again, its important to know that I only played until level 35 and that I did it on a PS4 with a controller. I think that I would have enjoyed it more with a mouse and a keyboard, because compared to WoW it seems to me that FF14 has a lot of buttons. I read that from level 50 on FF14 gets much better and fast, and I hope that it does because it was pretty slow to me. All the jobs that I tried seemed to follow the combo system, which basically is use skill A that increases damage of skill B that increases damage of skill C. WoW seems more dynamic and different and fun, but again, I only played until level 35.

- World, story and questing: first, FF14 is instanced, which is not bad IMO. It is weird at the beggining but you get used to it, and it has a wonderful teletransportation system that helps a LOT to move between zones. Both worlds are beautiful, but FF14 world feels more dangerous and dynamic, with TONS of FATEs (events) around the world, which can be played by any character level thanks to the SYNC system (like WoW scaling system, which also applies to FF14 dungeon and raid finder, which is awesome). Focusing in the story, it feels to me that WoW is always talking about the end of the world, the new BIG threat, its more fantasy oriented and simple (and I love WoW lore, its what kept me playing this long), while FF14 its more 'real', more 'human', focusing on more terrenal subjects, like politics, or just a band of thieves that are messing with someone, or a soldier that got corrupted because he needed money. And there are a group of characters that are going to stay for a lot of quests, and you get to know them and they get the chance to develop, this is very well done in FF14, while in WoW, while they're improving, it seems way more rushed and forced, and sometimes just pathetic (Malfurion and Tyrande in Val'sharah). Questing is similar in both games but in FF14 you have a main, VERY large questline, the rest are sidequests and are marked as that.

- PvP: honestly I haven't tried PvP in FF14, so I don't know anything about it. I think that it doesn't have many PvP options or a big PvP community, and that it isn't very well balanced, so I guess that WoW PvP is better.

- Localization: WoW kills FF14 in this matter. FF14 is only available in 4 languages. I'm spanish, and I like to play games in English, but I know that a LOT of people would play this game if we get a spanish version. And I think that spanish is only behind Chinese and English in terms of speakers so I cannot understand this decision.

CONCLUSION: if you are tired of WoW, definitively give it a try, but an honest try. You have a TON of content in the free trial. Is going to be hard at the beginning, because they look and feel very different, especially if you are as attached to WoW as I was, but is worth it.

Hope that this will be useful to someone, thanks to all those that answer to this post and to those who read this wall of text

[Faroth]

Not picking apart your points, but wanted to add a little "beyond the trial" input.

- Music/Sounds/Voice acting: again, music and sound are superb in both games, so it comes down to your personal opinion. In voice acting though, its not that FF14 is worse, but it has veeeery little voice acting, at least in the first 35 levels. WoW is the same in the first 35 first levels, but I know that they have improved a lot in the last expansions, I guess that FF14 too but I don't know it because I only played the trial.

Voice acting is a little hit and miss as they do change characters some through FFXIV, but overall, I have to give it to Blizzard. They put more money into the voice acting these days. They have more money to burn, so it makes sense. FFXIV has definitely been improving on their end, though. The voice acting in Heavensward and Stormblood are far superior to A Realm Reborn (with a few exceptions where ARR fit characters better). Overall, though, I still give it to Blizzard as inching ahead here.

Animations: this is a close one. When you are moving around the world, I find WoW movement to be more natural. In general, I prefer how characters move and ''breath'' in WoW. In combat, both are great but I find that FF14 has very distinguished animations between the different jobs (classes), and all of them are pretty cool, while WoW reuses one animation over multiple classes. We have to take into account here, though, that WoW has way more races that FF14, and each class has 3 specs, while each job is unique in FF14 (no specs), so I guess that what FF14 does in this field is hard to accomplish in WoW.

As a hunter, I have one animation in WoW and it's the same animation I've had for every ability for 10 years (minus the melee abilities they took away, then gave back one set of them to one spec).

Races/customization/Transmogrification: In races WoW wins by a wide margin, but is much older too, so is natural that it has more races. In customization FF14 wins by far, the first time that you create a character you will be amazed by how many things you could change compared to WoW. In transmogrification, WoW is better IMO because the Wardrove; in FF14 you can dye your armor, though. Both games has pretty cool-looking armor and weapons.

You didn't give extra points to cat girls because cat girls?!

Where WoW went the extra mile was designing different skeletons for the races where FFXIV uses the same basic one. This is probably part of the reason Blizzard has been slow to grow past skinning chestpieces onto the model rather than unique armor. Different hurdles to tackle, and those hurdles are easier in XIV having same skeletons.

I agree with you, it's not really a matter of one being better than the other. It's just two different solutions addressing different issues (and thus creating different ones to adderss afterwards).

- Combat and skills: both are OK, but I prefer WoW. But, again, its important to know that I only played until level 35 and that I did it on a PS4 with a controller. I think that I would have enjoyed it more with a mouse and a keyboard, because compared to WoW it seems to me that FF14 has a lot of buttons. I read that from level 50 on FF14 gets much better and fast, and I hope that it does because it was pretty slow to me. All the jobs that I tried seemed to follow the combo system, which basically is use skill A that increases damage of skill B that increases damage of skill C. WoW seems more dynamic and different and fun, but again, I only played until level 35.

It does change up some as you get higher, you're correct there. Some of them are fairly standard, and the A, B, C is a core rotation that gets built on.

- Localization: WoW kills FF14 in this matter. FF14 is only available in 4 languages. I'm spanish, and I like to play games in English, but I know that a LOT of people would play this game if we get a spanish version. And I think that spanish is only behind Chinese and English in terms of speakers so I cannot understand this decision.

Most bang for the buck. The majority of video game consumers seem to be in the US, Europe, China, and Japan. Hence those are the areas that were prioritized for localization. They're not unaware of a desire for Spanish localization, though. They released a website in Spanish to help people learn about the game apparently. While they didn't have plans in 2016 (and we're closing in on 2018), if the demand is there, I'm sure they'll explore the possibility. They'd just have to see that the cost is worth it based on how many are likely to buy the game in those areas.

[Melsiren]

I personally have always felt the playable race selection in FF14 was one of the weakest points of the game.

I mean your choices are (from a male perspective):

Human
Tall-Human without eyebrows
Cat-Human
Lizard-human
Burly tall-human
Giraffe-Elf
Potato-Elf

Don't get me wrong I love my axe lizard, and overall I love the Xaela in lore. However, when push comes to shove when you compare both Warcraft and 14, Warcraft wins in racial diversity even if you just compare classic to modern FF14.

[Faroth]

Yep.

WoW beat them to a fox race. Fail, Square.... horrible fail. How could you let me down like this?

[Kazgrel]

A very fair wall of text from someone who played the trial

IMO, I'd either copy pasta that wall of text into your OP, or better, put a link to it there (if you haven't already). Might go a ways towards helping the occasional "should I try this game" post that plops in.

[Darkarath]

IMO, I'd either copy pasta that wall of text into your OP, or better, put a link to it there (if you haven't already). Might go a ways towards helping the occasional "should I try this game" post that plops in.

Good idea ! Thanks !

[dope_danny]

Potato-Elf

Nah Gridania hasn't discovered French Fries just yet

[Kazgrel]

Nah Gridania hasn't discovered French Fries just yet

Give the BTN guild another xpac...although that does make one wonder about the guild leader for that guild.

[Zumi]

I played all the FF mmos FFXI and FFXIV which is my main game now. But I played WoW on and off. I like the characters and story and stuff in FFXIV. Like my Au Ra Raen even doing stuff like collecting glamor outfits for her is fun. I actually like the slower pace of the game its more relaxed then WoW where it feels like you have to mash buttons so fast to keep up with the GCD.

The biggest drawback in FFXIV is the raid content, my raid group usually beats a savage raid tier in 3-4 weeks, then its another 6 or so months for another raid tier. They always make the first 3 bosses pretty easy and the 4th is usually the one that takes a bit longer. Although there is a lot of weeks of farming after you beat all 4 bosses it ends up being something you finish in about an hour once you have it on farm.

Not really sure what the WoW equivalent of savage raids would be now probably around heroic I would guess. WoW always had way more bosses in their raids and more difficulty levels. I never had a raid group in that game seemed pretty hard to find one but it took me a longer time to finish a raid tier in WoW with the lfg finder.

[Aliven]

Guys, I'm really trying to work up the courage to try FFXIV. I hate WoW in its current state. Mostly I hate Blizzard changing things I love and ignoring things that need to be addressed. So yes, I hate WoW. But I'm heavily invested. I have ALL your dream mounts, including the Blackfang Widow and my transmogs are 100% beautiful & perfect.

Everyone is going to say to me, just TRY FFXIV and then you'll know if you'll like it. But I'm SO hesitant. I'm walking away from A LOT in WoW. But I'm also worried about how FFXIV looks. I think the toons look stupid. I just went through 50 pages of different FF mogs and I didn't like any of them. With all the "epic customization" in FF how is it possible that WoW gear looks so much better? Tell me I'm missing something?

Overall, just lookin for some encouragement to take the plunge. WoW feels like a casino that is manipulating me and devs seem so lazy and disinterested imo. It's like a bad relationship that I need to get out of, but can't quite build up the courage.

What you are describing is cost sunk fallacy. Let it go. Seriously, you talk like those crack elves.

[dope_danny]

I played all the FF mmos FFXI and FFXIV which is my main game now. But I played WoW on and off. I like the characters and story and stuff in FFXIV. Like my Au Ra Raen even doing stuff like collecting glamor outfits for her is fun. I actually like the slower pace of the game its more relaxed then WoW where it feels like you have to mash buttons so fast to keep up with the GCD.

The biggest drawback in FFXIV is the raid content, my raid group usually beats a savage raid tier in 3-4 weeks, then its another 6 or so months for another raid tier. They always make the first 3 bosses pretty easy and the 4th is usually the one that takes a bit longer. Although there is a lot of weeks of farming after you beat all 4 bosses it ends up being something you finish in about an hour once you have it on farm.

Not really sure what the WoW equivalent of savage raids would be now probably around heroic I would guess. WoW always had way more bosses in their raids and more difficulty levels. I never had a raid group in that game seemed pretty hard to find one but it took me a longer time to finish a raid tier in WoW with the lfg finder.

Honestly you sound like an addict. I know thats harsh but there is nobody at blizzard waiting to delete your characters the moment you unsub. That stuff goes nowhere. If you are having serious panic over not playing a videogame thats a sign of a game having an unhealthy level of control over you. WoW is going nowhere. I know theres some folks that consider "videogames=WoW" and they play nothing else but there is a wealth of amazing games that came out this year alone. There is no reason to play any game you aren't having fun playing. Especially a subscription based game. The wealth of alternatives means you are only wasting your own money and time and this is a videogame. It shouldn't have the same feelings as a heroin addiction for you.

[leviathonlx]

I actually don't mind the loading screens, they've allowed for some seriously superior graphics compared to wow without a shit ton of latency, and if you have a half decent computer the screens don't take long to disappear anyway. The design, detail, and art in this game are astounding to me for something like an MMO.

Eh I find WoW's zones to have a lot more detail than anything in Stormblood (and don't even get me started on how awful the underwater areas look). Square still has an issue of copy pasting being a little to noticeable either because they choose not to or their tools aren't very good at doing things like just rotating a doodad (talking terrain here and not necessarily buildings which are understandable). They still haven't got down the whole idea of blending things in as well so you'll have tents just plopped down onto flat boring terrain with nothing like paths walked into the dirt compared to WoW's detailed areas or rocks that just seem to be plopped onto/into the terrain unlike WoW's more blended terrain. FF14 may have more 'realistic' graphics (though a bit too repeated and low res at times) butzone design wise it's still behind WoW.

In the end you'd have a hard time convincing me this in superior to this. Though sure player armor wise FF14 is superior....but I'd hope it would be when there's little variation between races.

[Sorrior]

Eh I find WoW's zones to have a lot more detail than anything in Stormblood (and don't even get me started on how awful the underwater areas look). Square still has an issue of copy pasting being a little to noticeable either because they choose not to or their tools aren't very good at doing things like just rotating a doodad (talking terrain here and not necessarily buildings which are understandable). They still haven't got down the whole idea of blending things in as well so you'll have tents just plopped down onto flat boring terrain with nothing like paths walked into the dirt compared to WoW's detailed areas or rocks that just seem to be plopped onto/into the terrain unlike WoW's more blended terrain. FF14 may have more 'realistic' graphics (though a bit too repeated and low res at times) butzone design wise it's still behind WoW.

In the end you'd have a hard time convincing me this in superior to this. Though sure player armor wise FF14 is superior....but I'd hope it would be when there's little variation between races.

Ancient elvem city fupl of magic compared to a mountain city with no magic used for architecture...not a good comparison at all.

[leviathonlx]

Ancient elvem city fupl of magic compared to a mountain city with no magic used for architecture...not a good comparison at all.

It's a perfect comparison in zone detail and has nothing at all to do with the lore of either. 'Magic' wouldn't be needed to make that part of Ala Mhigo not look like an undetailed repeating textures area not that magic is the reason for any of Suramar's buildings anyway. But I'm open to you posting what you consider a more fair comparison. I guess the Highmountain settlement I posted would be a good comparison given both areas were relevant for about just as long given FF14's lack of outdoor content.

[Sorrior]

It's a perfect comparison in zone detail and has nothing at all to do with the lore of either. 'Magic' wouldn't be needed to make that part of Ala Mhigo not look like an undetailed repeating textures area not that magic is the reason for any of Suramar's buildings anyway. But I'm open to you posting what you consider a more fair comparison. I guess the Highmountain settlement I posted would be a good comparison given both areas were relevant for about just as long given FF14's lack of outdoor content.

You are comparing a place meant to have insane varoety to one meant to look very similar.

In real world terms you are comparing bare bones architecture from say mexico or arizona to akihabara in japan. One would of course seem more dull looking.

Remember ala mhigans are just rebuilding(and they sttike me as not hyper showy colors wise too) whhile the nightborne were living in a city DESIGNED to be austentacious.

Try comparing them to similar places at least.

Though honestly not sure anywhere is truly comparable sans moonglad/teldrassil to griddannia. Though eveb then hriddanians do what is needed and try not to do more night elves have a history of being a weeeee bit flashy but not entirely so.

Oh maybe thunderbluff/tauren areas vs the steppes they seem to live similar nomadic lifestyles though one is mongol based the other native american comparing them seems easiest imo.

I guess the othee things is both games go for different types of fsntasy vibes warcraft has always been bright, a bit over the top and flashy in character, armor and city designs while ffxiv seems to be a bit jors grounded and not as in your face.

Both artstyles are good but nakes direct comoarisons hard.

As for outdoor content are you implying ffxiv has none? Because you DO realize wows current model likely used gw2 and ffxiv as a base.