WoW players that switched to FFXIV, I need your opinions

[dope_danny]

FF 14 always felt like a more 'living' game than WoW does. Like as a character I felt like I was doing things in the world that mattered, NPC would acknowledge things I had done to help them and that made me feel good. Never really got that feeling in WoW.

I honestly think the big difference is the 'your character is your account' mentality. When you can go between characters it makes everything feel effervescent or less important on alts. With one character -for most players- there is your story with your name and face attached and that sticks. Throw in touches like characters regarding you differently if you did certain questlines or have a certain grand company rank means you are less a generic jobber but someone that earned a rep to the characters. If you have to share the load across a dozen characters that gets kind of lost. Even when WoW was my most hardcore gaming timesink in BC i still looked back on the same idea in FFXI and thought it was better.
Its a shame they started to think about this in WoW during wrath, originally a character you had at 70 would die fighting the scourge and on the login screen they would now be a new character in the dk starting experience. Thats long gone though.

[leviathonlx]

I honestly think the big difference is the 'your character is your account' mentality. When you can go between characters it makes everything feel effervescent or less important on alts. With one character -for most players- there is your story with your name and face attached and that sticks. Throw in touches like characters regarding you differently if you did certain questlines or have a certain grand company rank means you are less a generic jobber but someone that earned a rep to the characters. If you have to share the load across a dozen characters that gets kind of lost. Even when WoW was my most hardcore gaming timesink in BC i still looked back on the same idea in FFXI and thought it was better.
Its a shame they started to think about this in WoW during wrath, originally a character you had at 70 would die fighting the scourge and on the login screen they would now be a new character in the dk starting experience. Thats long gone though.

Overall story is definitely something FF14 does better. Admittedly as much as I like Legion I feel Blizzard did not give the Legion, the main enemy of the entire franchise for the past 2 decades, the sendoff it deserved. I'd almost have preferred us not doing the whole Argus thing given how silly it is that our small force manages to dismantle the entire Burning Legion like it's a walk in the park and we suffer absolutely no meaningful losses (and apparently the factions didn't suffer much as they can go all out in a war not even a year later). Then add in the whole 'Army of the Light' being more a 'Army of Draenei that sparkle more' with zero other races (not even any other expedition forces besides Alleria and Turalyon..prob could have been a good time to seed our coming out of nowhere Void Elves).

I don't care for aspects of Stormbloods story (such as my dislike for Lyse) and liked HW more but Square still has the better story telling ability and adding in little details like quest text being different if certain requirements are met.

[Katchii]

I honestly think the big difference is the 'your character is your account' mentality. When you can go between characters it makes everything feel effervescent or less important on alts. With one character -for most players- there is your story with your name and face attached and that sticks. Throw in touches like characters regarding you differently if you did certain questlines or have a certain grand company rank means you are less a generic jobber but someone that earned a rep to the characters. If you have to share the load across a dozen characters that gets kind of lost. Even when WoW was my most hardcore gaming timesink in BC i still looked back on the same idea in FFXI and thought it was better.
Its a shame they started to think about this in WoW during wrath, originally a character you had at 70 would die fighting the scourge and on the login screen they would now be a new character in the dk starting experience. Thats long gone though.

That was never actually implemented. It was discussed, but never made it to live.

I agree with everything else though. FFXIV feels better playing because your character is the only character. What you do matters and changes the world and the world acknowledges this. In WoW, it's not ever really mentioned. you just play and feel like a cog in the machine. FFXIV makes it feel like you're a key player and not just a cog. Aside from this I think both games do things well, but in this respect FFXIV is the clear winner.

[Graeham]

Overall story is definitely something FF14 does better. Admittedly as much as I like Legion I feel Blizzard did not give the Legion, the main enemy of the entire franchise for the past 2 decades, the sendoff it deserved. I'd almost have preferred us not doing the whole Argus thing given how silly it is that our small force manages to dismantle the entire Burning Legion like it's a walk in the park and we suffer absolutely no meaningful losses (and apparently the factions didn't suffer much as they can go all out in a war not even a year later). Then add in the whole 'Army of the Light' being more a 'Army of Draenei that sparkle more' with zero other races (not even any other expedition forces besides Alleria and Turalyon..prob could have been a good time to seed our coming out of nowhere Void Elves).

I don't care for aspects of Stormbloods story (such as my dislike for Lyse) and liked HW more but Square still has the better story telling ability and adding in little details like quest text being different if certain requirements are met.

I think one of my biggest issues with Blizzard is their habit of pandering. The development team seem more intent on doing what they think is cool at the time even if it does not make a whole lot of sense. Major, well liked characters have also been killed off for doing far less than what the likes of Sylvanas have done only for the Banshee Queen to get away with everything time and time again.

To be fair, I do have some similar concerns in regards to FFXIV where pandering is concerned as well. I'm hoping they avoid pushing the likes of Lyse too heavily in the future, I hope that they embrace nuances more where the ongoing conflict with Garlemald is concerned and I also hope that we see less cheap 'fake deaths' moving forward.

The only Blizzard game I'm really invested in these days is Overwatch. Even that is prone to pandering - especially where dumb headcanon becoming canon based on reddit upvotes is concerned. It feels like it cheapens the characters at times.

[TriggeredKid]

Both trash cans of a game, find a different genre WoW is the best mmorpg on the market.

[cparle87]

FF 14 always felt like a more 'living' game than WoW does. Like as a character I felt like I was doing things in the world that mattered, NPC would acknowledge things I had done to help them and that made me feel good. Never really got that feeling in WoW.

They did that back in BC. Factions you were exalted with would make comments as you walked by, like the Sha'tair Skyguard would say "<name> is an officer and a gentleman" or "I heard <name> flies without a parachute cloak!".

[Vargarii]

FFXIV has an unforgivable delay in ability activation/resolution.

Example: Cast Benediction, it goes on cooldown, target dies without receiving the heal. It's a server tick thing, and it's a big reason for my giving the game a break after leveling every combat class to 50+ and 9 combat classes to 70, grinding out lolMentor, and playing with a fairly successful guild. Left in October after the patch hit to play Legion, after skipping the entire first part of the expansion.

The example you gave has more to do with animation lock than server tick. A server tick example would have been among how mechanics were handled in A3s.

[Indigenously Abled]

The example you gave has more to do with animation lock than server tick. A server tick example would have been among how mechanics were handled in A3s.

The animation length causes the delay in the other player receiving the heal. The ability going on cooldown despite unsuccessful resolution is either a design issue or a server tick issue, either of which is unacceptable.

[leviathonlx]

I think one of my biggest issues with Blizzard is their habit of pandering. The development team seem more intent on doing what they think is cool at the time even if it does not make a whole lot of sense. Major, well liked characters have also been killed off for doing far less than what the likes of Sylvanas have done only for the Banshee Queen to get away with everything time and time again.

To be fair, I do have some similar concerns in regards to FFXIV where pandering is concerned as well. I'm hoping they avoid pushing the likes of Lyse too heavily in the future, I hope that they embrace nuances more where the ongoing conflict with Garlemald is concerned and I also hope that we see less cheap 'fake deaths' moving forward.

The only Blizzard game I'm really invested in these days is Overwatch. Even that is prone to pandering - especially where dumb headcanon becoming canon based on reddit upvotes is concerned. It feels like it cheapens the characters at times.

Blizzard has admitted that they always go with the rule of cool and in the end I've come to accept it given that's kinda what Warcraft and the other Blizzard games have always been. There's also the issue of the factions meaning that Blizzard has a tendency to make things tit for tat so if one character dies on one faction then someone on the other needs to die as well. As you say FF14 has its own story telling issues but I do like how it Square sticks to their lore pretty well. In the end I just keep a sub going with both games as they both have things I find pretty enjoyable.

[Deleted]

i know were 12 pages into this thread & youre probably bored with all the answers by now, but here is one more...
i know exactly how you feel/felt.
i started playing wow as a holy/disc priest in february 2005 & absolutely loved it from the off. played vanilla, tbc & wrath without a break. raided all the way through & had really good progress throughout each xpac. then came cata & i found it wasnt for me, i didnt really enjoy it that much & had a bit of a break.
luckily for me it was just a glitch, as i loved pandaland & the raids that came with it.
then began my lack of enjoyment with wow...WoD. ok i thought, maybe another glitch. unfortunately it wasnt, legion was more of the same & possibly worse. the grindfest of both previous xpacs was more than i could take & i have "the beloved" title, so grinding is something i really didnt mind.
this was worse, far worse & the storyline for me, wasnt great either. raiding in legion i also found pretty tedious.
during legion, i decided to give FFXIV a bash.
as i had 95% of my time playing wow as a healer, i thought i would go down the white mage line.
all i can say is wow!! the storyline in a realm reborn was what a main storyline should be...totally enthralling. everything about it was what wow wasnt. the questlines, the class quests, the msq's were all that i had wanted in a game & the class i had chosen in FFXIV was everything my wow char used to be. i came very late to FF, so i never got to raid. but after completing the msq's i bought heavensward & it didnt disappoint. it just carried on seamlessly & this time you could fly!! i loved the whole xpac.
but & there is always a but... & my but was wow.
all those years of playing it & i wanted to give it one last chance. i resubscribed & actually played it for a few months, even though stormblood was out, i just wanted to give wow one last chance. i accepted the grind that was coming my way, but i never raided, that still wasnt for me.
after about 4 or 5 months, i made the decision to quit wow again & buy stormblood. i had gone as far as i cared for in legion.
stormblood was like putting on an old pair of jeans, it fitted not perfectly, but as you remembered.
my only gripe with stormbloods main storyline is lyse.
imo she doesnt carry the same weight as the lead characters of previous xpacs, she is a bit too lightweight for my liking, but thats not to say im not enjoying this storyline & im now waiting on the next patch to continue.
in the meantime im happily doing old quests, duty roulettes & have just opened my 1st ingame raid.
im sure i will return to wow again at some point & i may even have a look at what the next xpac brings, you dont put all of that effort into a game just to throw it all away.
as it is atm, im very happy playing FFXIV & im sure i will continue to do so for a good while yet.
sorry for the long post, but you did ask

[Vargarii]

The animation length causes the delay in the other player receiving the heal. The ability going on cooldown despite unsuccessful resolution is either a design issue or a server tick issue, either of which is unacceptable.

That's fair. My major problem with the whole server side recognition thing is that it doesn't even offer the protection advantage against hackers that they claimed to be part of the reasoning to doing it over client side, but leads to the server tick issues regarding certain things, especially mechanics that lock your location in on cast rather than tracking your location through the mechanic.

[Indigenously Abled]

That's fair. My major problem with the whole server side recognition thing is that it doesn't even offer the protection advantage against hackers that they claimed to be part of the reasoning to doing it over client side, but leads to the server tick issues regarding certain things, especially mechanics that lock your location in on cast rather than tracking your location through the mechanic.

Like DRG jumps? I feel like a big reason why they die so much is due to the nature of their jumps.

[Usagi Senshi]

I play both and enjoy both as they both do things well that the other doesn't. I admit to enjoying WoW more atm though because of having proper plate dps classes, better race diversity (more furries!), and a better dungeon progression system. Great repeatable world content is also a plus and I really wish Square would copy the WQ system as they are much more entertaining than Fates and Beast dailies.

I will say this though, if we get another expansion that launches with nothing new as well as no new interesting system changes, I'll probably finally unsub after 4+ years. Getting another expansion that plays almost exactly like the last (lol, tome grind x3 in a row now) as well as the 6+ month asinine wait for new content types is pretty insulting IMO.

I do like the direction PVP in FFXIV is going though and I think more people should give it a go.

[Kelimbror]

I play both. Entirely different experiences. Wow still has the most polished and accessible gameplay of any MMO, providing rewarding experiences for just about any time investment you can throw at it. FF is a little less rewarding, more of a slow burn, and not as accessible. However, some of the slowness is a part of the charm as there are more time consuming tasks to complete that are relaxing to pursue.

Don't really have the time to go into more detail. Just play it again if you like it.

[Vargarii]

Like DRG jumps? I feel like a big reason why they die so much is due to the nature of their jumps.

I haven't been playing dragoon, but it is true that it used to be that your location was the start point of the jump until the animation was over. I've been told it's supposed to track your location now, but it's still among the longest animation ogcds and can cause issues if you aren't careful.

- - - Updated - - -

I play both and enjoy both as they both do things well that the other doesn't. I admit to enjoying WoW more atm though because of having proper plate dps classes, better race diversity (more furries!), and a better dungeon progression system. Great repeatable world content is also a plus and I really wish Square would copy the WQ system as they are much more entertaining than Fates and Beast dailies.

I will say this though, if we get another expansion that launches with nothing new as well as no new interesting system changes, I'll probably finally unsub after 4+ years. Getting another expansion that plays almost exactly like the last (lol, tome grind x3 in a row now) as well as the 6+ month asinine wait for new content types is pretty insulting IMO.

I do like the direction PVP in FFXIV is going though and I think more people should give it a go.

They aren't likely to change the progression system, it's actually popular since there are a lot of more casual players when it comes to play time. As far as the 6 months thing, that's for raid tiers, and between that there are smaller updates that will include primals and that tiers 24 man raid. Whether or not you like that content or wish to do it will vary between players, but the content gap is fairly small overall.

The main thing that's got people burnt out lately is the lack of replayability for content, the ease of this first content set, and all the stuff they've pushed back that should have been released already(I'm looking at you, relic armor). Even if those things are adjusted, the number of things people enjoy doing is what's majorly going to affect how long they enjoy content. Long time wow players who enjoy raiding progression are quite likely to burn out pretty quickly between tiers. I'm among those people, but I keep myself busy with crafting, or just playing other games when the content is in a lul for me.

[leviathonlx]

I haven't been playing dragoon, but it is true that it used to be that your location was the start point of the jump until the animation was over. I've been told it's supposed to track your location now, but it's still among the longest animation ogcds and can cause issues if you aren't careful.

- - - Updated - - -



They aren't likely to change the progression system, it's actually popular since there are a lot of more casual players when it comes to play time. As far as the 6 months thing, that's for raid tiers, and between that there are smaller updates that will include primals and that tiers 24 man raid. Whether or not you like that content or wish to do it will vary between players, but the content gap is fairly small overall.

The main thing that's got people burnt out lately is the lack of replayability for content, the ease of this first content set, and all the stuff they've pushed back that should have been released already(I'm looking at you, relic armor). Even if those things are adjusted, the number of things people enjoy doing is what's majorly going to affect how long they enjoy content. Long time wow players who enjoy raiding progression are quite likely to burn out pretty quickly between tiers. I'm among those people, but I keep myself busy with crafting, or just playing other games when the content is in a lul for me.

My main issue is mostly that so much of FF14's content involves being in a queue (dungeons, PvP, raids, and any other content they add like PotD and Eureka come 4.2) and there's not really much open world content that you can do to pass the time while in said queue that's rewarding. Sure you have hunts but those aren't very compelling and almost no one does Fates. So typically what I end up doing is just playing WoW doing emissaries and WQ's while sitting in my 30 minute DPS queue.

I feel the game at this point just needs a multi-queue like WoW so you can choose to do multiple things. That way I can do something like go into a 5 minute PvP queue and have my dungeon queue pop once I get out of the PvP match.

[Vargarii]

My main issue is mostly that so much of FF14's content involves being in a queue (dungeons, PvP, raids, and any other content they add like PotD and Eureka come 4.2) and there's not really much open world content that you can do to pass the time while in said queue that's rewarding. Sure you have hunts but those aren't very compelling and almost no one does Fates. So typically what I end up doing is just playing WoW doing emissaries and WQ's while sitting in my 30 minute DPS queue.

I feel the game at this point just needs a multi-queue like WoW so you can choose to do multiple things. That way I can do something like go into a 5 minute PvP queue and have my dungeon queue pop once I get out of the PvP match.

honestly hunts aren't even that good because it's hard to get a decent rating if solo or not with a few people, and joining a group will drop your queue. I end up just crafting, gathering, or afk reading with someone to tell me the queue popped.

[Berethos08]

They did that back in BC. Factions you were exalted with would make comments as you walked by, like the Sha'tair Skyguard would say "<name> is an officer and a gentleman" or "I heard <name> flies without a parachute cloak!".

Both have done it, but it's a matter of scale, and WoW's version isn't nearly as robust in its approach.

Some of the more obvious (i.e. chat bubbles appearing) comments from NPCs change easily a half dozen times, and the optional dialogue you can get from clicking on NPCs also frequently changes. Not everywhere, but a good portion of NPCs involved in a particular arc - even some just kind of in the background - will have their lines update easily as much as a dozen times based on events, and patches always change what the dozen or so "main cast" say that never shows up in a quest-based conversation.

[cparle87]

Both have done it, but it's a matter of scale, and WoW's version isn't nearly as robust in its approach.

Some of the more obvious (i.e. chat bubbles appearing) comments from NPCs change easily a half dozen times, and the optional dialogue you can get from clicking on NPCs also frequently changes. Not everywhere, but a good portion of NPCs involved in a particular arc - even some just kind of in the background - will have their lines update easily as much as a dozen times based on events, and patches always change what the dozen or so "main cast" say that never shows up in a quest-based conversation.

Intensive. /10chars

[Kazgrel]

honestly hunts aren't even that good because it's hard to get a decent rating if solo or not with a few people, and joining a group will drop your queue. I end up just crafting, gathering, or afk reading with someone to tell me the queue popped.

That's a somewhat annoying inconvenience in this game, that's for sure. Nothing like having to drop a queue that's (supposedly) nearing pop time because a S rank hunt got called out. I have it made, relatively speaking, though, for I can queue up as any job for pretty much anything short of Ultimate Bahamut. It would kinda be nice to be able to queue up for something, then join/expand a group for something like a hunt and have it keep you (and any people who queued with you) still in your respective queue. Course, that could hose a hunt group if, for example, a group of 3-4 got their expert roulette queue right before a hunt is pulled, so then the folks wanting to kill that hunt may lose enough people that they decide to wait for reinforcements. Not a likely scenario, but not outside the realm of possibility.