[Megathread] Final Fantasy XIV

[jearle]

.... like how hard would it be to take botanist a step further and let them grow shit? Tend soil, plant seeds, water the plants, fertilize and if you don't take care of them they die. That's the shit I'm looking for. Not this boring... gathering. They wanted a better crafting system but got lazy half way imo.

There is also farming simulation games where you can have your own farm and grow crops and tend to the and harvest them, why didn't FF14 just do that?

Oh that is right this is a fucking MMO we're talking about. One with a subscription I might add so Im not even sure why you would be in this thread as your stand on P2P is pretty clear cut.

The crafting in this game is more fun and interactive than any recently release MMO i can think of. Its has enough depth to it that its fun but not so complicated that you have to make a job out of it.

Keeping a crafting gear set up to date and learning cross crafting skills from other professions can make a difference, using abilties at the correct time can make a difference. This game got crafting right imo, not sure about end game and viability but from a basic feature of the game it is good.

[Redmage]

So I know nothing at all about this game (and honestly the thread is too big to look through properly). The last real Final Fantasy game I played was VI (aka III in the US), and never got that much into VII and beyond; I never tried XI. I tried watching one of Towelliee's streams the other night and it looked somewhat interesting, but before I consider spending money on a game and possibly a second subscription after WoW, some basic questions:

1) Compared to WoW, how does it play? What I mean is, is it more WoW-like or similar to a "console MMO" like Neverwinter where you use the mouse buttons for your main attacks; in the stream it looked like standard keybindings with a lot of abilities on the bars.

Standard MMO auto attack + action bar layout. WASD + Mouse for movement and number keys for skills. Entire UI and keybinds can be changed if you don't like them. The game also has a separate control scheme for controllers (even on the PC version). This game has the most impressive UI of any MMO ever, everything from the bag systems to the gear swapping is so fluid and way beyond what you can even do with mods in other games.

2) What is the endgame PVE content? WoW style with raids, or GW2/Neverwinter style with mostly dungeons?

The game has a real storyline, starting at level 1 and ending at 50 (max level) that alone makes it worth it playing. At max level you can go back and fight "hardmode" level 50 versions of the story bosses (small group content) there is currently two raids in the game as well. This is on top of world bosses, fates (zone events), and level 50 4 man dungeons. You can also go back and do any of the games low level dungeons and the game auto-scales your level and gear down to the appropriate level. Each class also has it's own interesting storyline and since you can be multiple classes on one character you can do it all!

3) Overall, as a current WoW player, is FF XIV worth checking out either as a supplementary MMO or if it's that good a primary MMO? What does it offer a WoW player that is worth consideration?

Yes, but the game is currently suffering from a rocky launch with lots of server issues and what not. They just added a bunch of new servers so maybe if you start on one of those it won't be so bad.

Other than that the game is amazing I haven't been this enthralled with a game since I got into the wow beta. If you want a game that focuses on story and PvE in a beautiful world that makes you feel like you are playing a real RPG then I recommend it.

[jearle]

S

1) Compared to WoW, how does it play? What I mean is, is it more WoW-like or similar to a "console MMO" like Neverwinter where you use the mouse buttons for your main attacks; in the stream it looked like standard keybindings with a lot of abilities on the bars.

2) What is the endgame PVE content? WoW style with raids, or mostly dungeons?

3) Overall, as a current WoW player, is FF XIV worth checking out either as a supplementary MMO or if it's that good a primary MMO? What does it offer a WoW player that is worth consideration?

1. Its very similar to WoW with lots of spells and abilties and tab targeting (which is terrible btw please fix) the combat is slower than WoW there is a 2.5 second GCD that takes getting use to.

2. 4 Man dungeons and Primals (single boss encounters) there are 8 man and 24 man raids planned as well

3. If you like WoW especially the end game content FF14 will not replace it. As a secondary MMO personally i think its fantastic. I lead a WoW raid guild and I play FF14 in my downtime because I like the game as a whole. The crafting and gathering system is really really good and the game itself is just different which is a nice refresher. If I were strictly grinding the end game to gear up and run the hardest content I probably wouldn't be enjoying myself as much.

Dungeons are a bit of a throwback where you have to worry about threat as a tank dps need to focus fire.

Also its very Final Fantasy, the music, the cutscenes, if you are a fan of the series its pretty cool in that sense.

If you are like me and 30 bucks and the monthly sub dont bother you then I would suggest picking it up and trying out all the aspects of the game.

[Nobleshield]

Wow. I might have to scrounge up the money to buy the game. That does sound pretty good.

If I buy the game, does it have a trial period or something before I have to cough up the money for the extra sub?

[jearle]

At this point my only real complaint is the respawn system, instead of ressing you when you release at the nearest crystal you always go back to your home one. When thats a 500gil trip each time from one on the other side of the world because of something like the quest to down a giant malboro wipes you with its breath or something its really annoying, especially with the big load times occurring with fast travel.

You can always update your return point to the nearest city if you are worried about dying. There needs to be a death penalty especially since so far (up to level 40) there have been maybe a handful of times Ive come even close to dying and most of those were in fates.

Also you can always nicely ask for a raise in /shout someone will usually come and help you out. When im out question as a MRD i keep rez on my bar to help people out unless they are douchebags about it.

- - - Updated - - -

Wow. I might have to scrounge up the money to buy the game. That does sound pretty good.

The GCD is something to consider, especially if you play melee its not so bad as a caster. Some people can't get over it as it can make the game feel very very slow compared to woWs button mashing, watch a video of someone playing a melee and you'll see how it works, you really do "wait" on abilities, but it does give you more time to react I guess.

[Redmage]

The GCD is something to consider, especially if you play melee its not so bad as a caster. Some people can't get over it as it can make the game feel very very slow compared to woWs button mashing, watch a video of someone playing a melee and you'll see how it works, you really do "wait" on abilities, but it does give you more time to react I guess.

I find it relaxing.

[Wolfbear]

I appreciate that this game didn't deviate from the Trinity. I also love the need to manage threat as a tank, and not just mindless AOE dps with a large health pool.

[Redmage]

I appreciate that this game didn't deviate from the Trinity. I also love the need to manage threat as a tank, and not just mindless AOE dps with a large health pool.

Yes, marauder tanking is fun as hell. I could never tank in wow after they made threat irrelevant. Never saw the point.

[Lulane]

Wow. I might have to scrounge up the money to buy the game. That does sound pretty good.

If I buy the game, does it have a trial period or something before I have to cough up the money for the extra sub?

The first month is free (and that straight from the first day, not like other mmo that force you to pay for getting the free sub

[Mekanikos]

I'm not making progress because I'm doing everything at the same time.

Help.

[Forsedar]

I find it relaxing.

I find it necessary. When animation lock can kill you, or the fact you have a lot of CDs and other abilities off of the GCD, the 2.5 (2.47 for me) gcd isn't so bad. Combat actually feels fast paced as a DRG during most fights.

[mkultra55]

I'm not making progress because I'm doing everything at the same time.

Help.

I'm sort of in the same boat but it's all good. No rush to 50 for me since there really isn't a ton to do yet. I level my Dragoon a couple of levels at a time in sessions and then switch to crafting or gathering. Sometimes I'll level a side Class to pick up a skill I'd like to slot.

I find that keeping all my crafting and gathering around the same level may be slow but it's very cost effective. I really like gathering in this game...it's incredibly zen.

[Kaelwryn]

I know that no one likes gold sellers, but seriously the amount of people who happily say "I tell gold sellers to go kill themselves." is kind of disturbing. Hopefully tho, Square makes is easier to blacklist/report them. Doing /blist add <r> is kind of tedious.

[Reg]

I know that no one likes gold sellers, but seriously the amount of people who happily say "I tell gold sellers to go kill themselves." is kind of disturbing. Hopefully tho, Square makes is easier to blacklist/report them. Doing /blist add <r> is kind of tedious.

Yeah, a nice Right Click -> Ignore/BlackList feature would be nice.

[DeadmanWalking]

Yeah, a nice Right Click -> Ignore/BlackList feature would be nice.

They should have a function where if someone gets blacklisted 50 or 100 times them SOE should examine the account to see if its a gold seller and then NIFOS that account.

[Grogo]

This game has been totally of my radar. I understand there is raids, anyone able to comment on that ? How are the 5 man (or whatever dungeons) Does tanking/healing properly take some skill?

[Dunkman]

This game has been totally of my radar. I understand there is raids, anyone able to comment on that ? How are the 5 man (or whatever dungeons) Does tanking/healing properly take some skill?

I'm probably not the person to answer as I've just done some of the lower level ones. They are fun but fairly vanilla, I haven't seen anything very challenging yet.

[Prancing Minstrel]

This game has been totally of my radar. I understand there is raids, anyone able to comment on that ? How are the 5 man (or whatever dungeons) Does tanking/healing properly take some skill?

Raids are currently 8 man, normal dungeon groups are 4 man/ I haven't tanked, but healing feels more challenging than WoW. Largely because for a long time you only have 1 heal and 1 aoe heal, so you're pretty much constantly spamming it.

[Nobleshield]

I think I definitely need to check it out, it sounds like it's fun but still WoW-like in execution so it's not a total 180 like GW2 or Neverwinter was for me.

How is tanking overall? From the tiny bit of research, it seems you have Gladiator -> Paladin and... Marauder -> Warrior (or vice versa) as tanking classes? More than likely would stick with tanking, probably Paladin for obvious reasons (also Cecil in FFIV was my favorite). No Dark Knight or Red Mage though (other favorite FF classes from the past)?

Also just to clarify since I'm a bit confused reading.. you can switch classes/jobs on a whim? So like I could start Gladiator, and take Conjuror (I think?) to get Paladin, but I could also go Marauder and... whatever else to take Warrior? So I could switch between Paladin and Warrior, just I'd have to level them both and presumably have different sets of gear for them. So there's no need to actually have any alts at all, I'd just have to invest the time in leveling the different jobs but theoretically I could have every class/job at 50 on one character?

[Mekanikos]

Raids are currently 8 man, normal dungeon groups are 4 man/ I haven't tanked, but healing feels more challenging than WoW. Largely because for a long time you only have 1 heal and 1 aoe heal, so you're pretty much constantly spamming it.

Except the healer last night decided he'd rather DPS than heal... and he'd DPS a completely different target than what I (tank) and the other two actual DPS were on. -,- Luckily the wife has a heal button.