As a WoW Player, what do you think about FF XIV?

[Shigma]

Hello everyone!

Lately, i am not enjoying WoW anymore (I played since release, with ups and downs, and un-subbed now and then, but consistently played for all this long).

WoD is not an appealling expansion for me, i'm not gonna enter discussing this since it would de-rail the topic here, so let's just say i'm just not enjoying it and i'm looking for a new MMO.


So here are the questions:

-You, as a WoW player (I really want the opinion from WoW players, i don't discard others', but if so, please say it in your post), have you tried FF XIV?

-Did you enjoy it compared to WoW?

-Ups and downs VS WoW?





I'm not really sure about trying this one, because in the end, i always used to go back to WoW, but for now it seems that that's not gonna happen, so i'd really appreaciate your opinions and experiences here. Thanks for posting!

[Acidbaron]

As a person who plays and has played mmo's including WoW for a long time the first thing you'll notice that can make or break the game for you is the speed of the combat. In WoW and others you're used to things of the GCD and relative fast GCD's (believe a second in general with a few exceptions), due to FFXIV being released on both the console and PC platform this speed had to be significantly increased to build in a larger buffer period for network issues and due to controller responses being slightly delayed than a direct key press. (the first point is true the last point is a bit speculation on my behalve due to having to press more than one button to directly trigger a skill)


That's the main gameplay difference in terms of base mechanics. I won't comment on the rest as far skill complexity, rotations and priority systems as FFXIV is too vague in my memory and things could've changed on that front for better or worse depending on personal taste.

Think there's a trial available if not sort of friend keys. If you enjoy the whole FF setting and world i recommend it, if JRPG turns you off i really would ignore it and try another mmo on the market plenty to go around.

[Graeham]

If nothing else, there's always something to do and the content delivery is impressive. I've turned my back on WoW in favour of ESO and FFXIV and enjoy both just as much as I used to enjoy WoW back when I considered it to be in its prime.

The combat can feel a bit sluggish at first but it does improve once you unlock more class abilities at higher levels and gain access to the full rotation. The story is fairly decent too. Some aspects of the game involve a major grind but they're all optional. Dungeons and raids - especially the higher level ones - are pretty well designed, atmospheric and the music is decent too.

[Shigma]

Thanks for the feedback, Acidbaron, those are the kind of things i want to learn about the game. Didn't know there was a trial, gonna look for it now, thanks!

- - - Updated - - -

If nothing else, there's always something to do and the content delivery is impressive. I've turned my back on WoW in favour of ESO and FFXIV and enjoy both just as much as I used to enjoy WoW back when I considered it to be in its prime.

The combat can feel a bit sluggish at first but it does improve once you unlock more class abilities at higher levels and gain access to the full rotation. The story is fairly decent too. Some aspects of the game involve a major grind but they're all optional. Dungeons and raids - especially the higher level ones - are pretty well designed, atmospheric and the music is decent too.

Really good to know, the problem i have, and that's why i wanted to hear opinions from WoW players, is that because of WoW's play style, it really conditioned me after so many years, and i tend to compare all mmos to this. And because, as many other people happen to be in a situation like mine now and try the new "wow killers" (if you know what i mean), and end going back to WoW again, i'm looking for something different. I wanna try something fresh, but at the same time it needs to share some aspects for the game to grow inside me. Thank you!

[Deleted]

I tried the trial and the 2,5 second global cooldown made me uninstall in a few hours.

[Shigma]

I tried the trial and the 2,5 second global cooldown made me uninstall in a few hours.

So it really makes a big difference? Gonna try the trial myself and see!

[Valeron]

So it really makes a big difference? Gonna try the trial myself and see!

from what I understand it goes down at the higher levels. but at the beginning of the game it does make the game slow (at least in comparison to most other games out there)

[Jack Hatchet]

The first thing I notice anytime I play any other game besides WoW is all the little things. Like a dressing room, item linking, barber shop, and other minor stuff that a lot of games seem to leave out for one reason or another, but it just pisses me off.

Fortunately, FFXIV does try to copy WoW in a lot of aspects, and they do have a dressing room, item linking, non-combat pets, a barber shop, and some other stuff.

Final fantasy is similar to WoW in a lot of ways, but it's slower, and the community seems more spread throughout the world (maybe). I've yet to reach max level, but I never see hundreds of people in one area at a town, unless there's a new holiday event then I realize there's way too many people on my server.

Ultimately I would say the game is too similar to WoW, and way more grindy that it won't win you over on its own merits. However, I find that the community can overcome the pitfalls of any MMO. Instead of searching for the perfect MMO, you should search for the perfect community. Otherwise you might as well consider all the single player games too as potential choices for your time.

[Deleted]

In my opinion:

WoW has the better raids, (I wouldn't say FF14's raids are bad per se, they're just not as huge of a focus as WoW raids are) a seamless world and faster paced combat. (mostly because console limits - the GCD is 2.5 seconds to compensate for gamepads)

FF14 has much better non-raiding/outdoor content and the crafting/profession system takes a huge dump on WoW's crafting too. It's a really good alternative to WoW in my opinion unless you are only interested in raids and nothing else. Plus the content updates are excellent, they arrive frequently and have tons of stuff in them. Only potential issue is the 2.5 second GCD as I and others have mentioned, just want to point that out as that seems to be the main thing that puts people off the game. You do get used to it but it was a bit jarring at first.

[CJack14dt]

I say the biggest difference is in WoW you have to love your class so much that you want to main it for everything. In FFXIV you have to love your actual character so much that you want him/her to do everything. This is because in FFXIV 1 person covers all the classes, so classes are alts, not different people.

[Terridon]

I loved the main questline. That was way more fun than wows. The narrative way in it. Disliked the forced way into instances though. I played as a tank, so wasn't really a problem, just a bit annoying.
Was pretty easy to avoid things, as soon as you knew how it worked. It's overall somewhat different from wow, and if nothing else you should play it for the quests. Found that worth it.
Mind you. I never got to raids, so i'm being casual-scrub commenting on my personal experience ^^

[Shigma]

I'm downloading the trial now, even tho there is mixed feedback, i'm liking some of the thing that im reading

I really want an alternative to wow now, let's see how this ends. Thanks guys for the great feedback!

[Orby]

I have a confession, at 32 years old I have NEVER played a Final Fantasy game! even as a kid I never saw the appeal in the game. Could say I overlooked it more than anything!

[RoninaThorstone]

So here are the questions:

-You, as a WoW player (I really want the opinion from WoW players, i don't discard others', but if so, please say it in your post), have you tried FF XIV?

-Did you enjoy it compared to WoW?

-Ups and downs VS WoW?

- Yes.
- Far more so than WoW.
- Better story, bosses, cosmetics, events, community, crafting, housing, and reward systems. Just, all around, a better game.

[Shigma]

- Yes.
- Far more so than WoW.
- Better story, bosses, cosmetics, events, community, crafting, housing, and reward systems. Just, all around, a better game.

Cool Thanks!

[Fallen Angel]

The only thing I didn't like about FF XIV was none of my friends were playing with me. The story, atmosphere, look and feel were all better to me.

I would seriously run on over to the FF XIV subforum and talk with the people there.

[Bearshield]

FFXIV to me, has some of the best story of any MMORPG I've ever played and definitely the best immersion. That being said, I'm also a longtime FF fan so I may be a little biased there. Visually the game is stunning in my opinion. They manage to use the semi-cartoony look while still having top notch graphics. As far as gameplay is concerned, there are honestly a lot of similarities between the two games. For me, I leveled a character to max in FFXIV and while I enjoyed the story and basic leveling experience, when I reached max I found myself in about the same position someone reaching 100 in WoW for the first time would be in. You have your crafting professions, you have dailies, you have dungeons to farm for gear and then you can get into raiding and work your way up the raid tiers from there. Where the two games differ, however, is that compared to WoD, you have more options for getting the gear you need and there is more to do outside of the main raids.

For me the biggest drawbacks to the game are definitely the GCD, which others have mentioned. I'm not into the fast-paced action games that many people want MMORPG's to mimic nowadays, but combat in FFXIV does take some getting used to after coming from WoW. I'm also not a fan of how limiting dungeons and the dungeon finder tool are of roles. For example, in WoW if I queue up as a dps on a tank capable toon and the tank drops, I can easily switch and fill that role but you cannot do this in FFXIV. Also, changing roles in queue drops you from the queue or makes you unable to accept when the time comes if I remember correctly. So if you want to go out and quest or farm while you wait, you must do so in whatever spec you are in queue for.

Overall the game has its pros and cons just like any other. If you are a FF fan and can get past the GCD, you will prob enjoy at least playing through once for the story. My sub has been off since the summer but I will likely purchase Heavensward just to play through it at least once.

[Veluren]

As a lot of people had said, the combat in XIV is a bit deliberately slower, which since MMOs tend to be faster-paced in general can be a make or break

As well, combat can be slow at first because of the pacing of skills, every skill fits into every class' endgame rotation in some form, and a majority of the skills you get entirely change how you've played the class up to that point, as such the lower levels tend to feel relatively hollow

As for the world, I think FFXIV has one of the best-looking and most enjoyable game worlds of any MMO I've played to date. As well, the release/levelling story, however cliché, is cliché in the kind of way that makes you reminisce about older Final Fantasy titles. Now that the patches have come further along, the main story's come into its own as an incredibly good and detailed story deserving of the final fantasy name to the point I always look forward to new content.

Most raid content can mostly be considered casual or soft-core, extreme mode primals are definitely pug-able, as is the first few coils ( All of third coil, and after turn 7, second coil, is for the hardcores), meaning that you're never really unable to do the endgame as long as you have the minimum required gear for it.

And speaking of, my only big, big complaint is with the endgame pacing. Once you're level 50 and you've finished the first story arc (when the credits roll) you have five patches (and increasing) of story to catch up on, as well as at least fifteen new dungeons, many of which require higher item level requirements than you have right at the end of the first arc, making figuring out the gearing path a bit painful, especially since some of these dungeons you NEED to do to progress the main story.

[Osmeric]

When I tried FF XIV, the graphics performance on my machine was so god awful that I stopped playing it right after getting into the starting city. It was even worse than Rift.

[Jofe]

The first thing I notice anytime I play any other game besides WoW is all the little things. Like a dressing room, item linking, barber shop, and other minor stuff that a lot of games seem to leave out for one reason or another, but it just pisses me off.

Fortunately, FFXIV does try to copy WoW in a lot of aspects, and they do have a dressing room, item linking, non-combat pets, a barber shop, and some other stuff.

I agree on this point because those are little QoL aspects that complement the game and since they're not game defining features it's not that of a problem if they take them from other games.

What I liked about FF XIV is that it feels like a familiar experience but at the same time it has enough differences to make it feel like something new. The basic idea of the MMO is there, but the main story, class and job quests, the idea of a single character being able to be everything, the job system and the 'cross class abilities' (I forgot the real name, the idea is that you can use certain abilities from other classes you make the one you're playing more efficient) makes it feel different. When it comes to quest objectives it doesn't feel that different from WoW, from what I remember (I played for 2 months like 8 months ago and came back just in time to miss the free week announcement). The crafting and gathering system is sorta of a mini-game on its own, the problem (to me at least) is that it takes quite long to level a single of these classes. Overall I recommend it.