[Megathread] Final Fantasy XIV

[Wangming]

Ha, I hope that was a pun

It's me. There's always a pun.

[The Casualty]

How about via 2 or 3 people ?, I guess maybe to make it trivial you'd need to be able to skip phases/abilities

If the goal is just the mount (or maybe some glam) I would just put it in PF with whatever - grab at least 1 heal and 1 tank. The entirety of creator was weird insofar that they didn't have guaranteed scripting with gating - you just outright push the boss through phases. Most everything is survivable, even the giant raidwide you needed tank LB 3 for.

Alexander savage gear was some of the nicer looking raid gear imo, it should be pretty easy to get folks wanting either the mount or some chest/weapons

[Hyral]

Well considering Endwalker will have us go against two villains you don't care about I wouldn't hold my breath. Enjoy your stay in Outland. It will be a long one. Not trying to be rude, you understand. Just tempering your expectations. Two characters you don't care about will try to kill all the other characters you don't care about. It won't work for you. And that's fine. Game's not for everyone. You gave it a chance. Cool. Your opinion aside, that already makes you better than half the board here in my book.

Nah I feel ya, I know you are not being rude, everything you've said is correct and I agree with you, just gonna play something else for a little while and take a break. But it's not that I don't care about the characters, I really did a lot which is why I'm disappointed. Their stories already have ran their course and there's no reason to keep them around. It reminds me of what I don't like about anime how it goes on for 800 episodes of the same thing over and over with characters who have already had their arc or even died but nope gotta pump out more episodes! This is specially true of the cats and Zenos, none of them should be alive at this point anymore, literally. It's just sad to see them stagnate and be immortal. Heh, immortal stagnation, guess they've become ascians.

And I didn't "give it a chance," I played this game. It was my main MMO for the past few years since I heard Orbonne would become a raid, which was just about over two years ago or so? I really love the game in general and my comments about ShB are not about FFXIV as a whole.

I'm not expecting much from EW, but I am kind of curious for the patches. I'm interested what story they can cook up beyond Zodiark and the Ascians, they are pretty good with worldbuilding and sidestories so I look forward to that. I hope we get to see the Dragon Star at some point.

[Merie]

I would give what shipped with ShB a 10/10. It was just amazing. Everything since though... eh. I wouldn't say they nailed it with Elidibus. But I think it was "good enough". Sadly, besides him and gaius' arc, the xpack has been a disappointment.

[Wangming]

uld become a raid, which was just about over two years ago or so? I really love the game in general and my comments about ShB are not about FFXIV as a whole.

I'm not expecting much from EW, but I am kind of curious for the patches. I'm interested what story they can cook up beyond Zodiark and the Ascians, they are pretty good with worldbuilding and sidestories so I look forward to that. I hope we get to see the Dragon Star at some point.

I'm sure we will get there eventually. But we still haven't seen Meracydia or the New World, so there is plenty to explore on Hydaelin. Plus all the shards that didn't get destroyed yet.

For EW I am excited, but worried. I trust Natsuko Ishikawa to write good stories for characters that seem uninteresting now, but I really don't feel the struggle with everyone surviving everything. Hell they missed the obvious chance for a Freaky Friday flip when we brought back the souls of the Scions. I won't leave till Endalker especially not for WoW, but for me this is a last chance. I am huge on story. It is a make or break for me. And if I don't feel that the literal end of the world is a threat I will lose interest.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

I'm willing to give 7.0 a shot. I want to see why they were in such a hurry to dump the Garlemald, beast tribe, city state, and hydaelyn-zodiark storylines for a fresh start. I doubt it will fix the writing problems associated with Ishikawa's tenure (lack of stakes, bad guys being forgiven/victimized, consequences being swept under the rug, preachiness and moral grandstanding, etc).

[infinitemeridian]

I just started playing and have a few questions:

1) How does transmog in this game work? I've read about it, and it seems vastly inferior and more cumbersome than WoW. The options are way better obviously, but there's no "collections" where you just get something and have that look forever. For instance, I've been vendoring low-level gear while leveling. But it seems that I needed to keep that gear if I want to mog it by dumping it into a closet? Which has limited space? So basically like void storage from Cata? If only it were just as simple as you loot the piece, you have it forever as an option.

2) When does the leveling get interesting / fun? I know people say ARR is a slog, but man...the classes are super slow. I'm ARC level 20, and I feel like I have almost no abilities. And from reading, it doesn't seem like FF14 classes really have any "utility" / flavor abilities - every ability is just damage or healing and is meant to be used. There's no Eyes of the Beast, Ghost Wolf, Demonic Circle like abilities. Also, doesn't seem like any classes really have any mobility - don't see anything that is the equivalent of Charge / Fel Rush / Heroic Leap / Grappling Hook / Roll.

Also, 99% of quests seem to be just "go here, give this person this". Does the game ever evolve beyond that in terms of quest design? I know it's ARR, but if this is the majority of the game with just some additional perks down the road, not sure if I can stick with it.

[Graeham]

preachiness and moral grandstanding, etc).

I'm very confused by it.

I dislike how Limsa has effectively ditched piracy altogether. Pirates are pretty cool and a standard trope in high fantasy when it comes to seafaring nations, though the game seems to be branding it as something unwelcome and better left in the past.

Equally, the most recent patch revealed that nobody is allowed to fight for the Scions if they care about coin. That effectively takes a dump on the concept of mercenaries which, again, are a typical trope in fantasy settings.

I think I'm at the point where I'm ready to hop over to a fresh MMO but there's nothing out yet that gives me what I want. I've tentatively got my eye on Blue Protocol, Pantheon and Ashes of Creation so I'm hoping at least one of them steps up and proves to be a major rival so that FFXIV is forced to be better.

My major hope at the moment is that the Reaper job is a step in the direction of the game being less preachy about what the player character seeks to do. As someone who loved the likes of Shadow Hearts and Vagrant Story growing up, I want something that lets me be a good guy but an anti-hero, I guess.

[Katchii]

I'm very confused by it.

I dislike how Limsa has effectively ditched piracy altogether. Pirates are pretty cool and a standard trope in high fantasy when it comes to seafaring nations, though the game seems to be branding it as something unwelcome and better left in the past.

They're not against piracy, per se, but Limsa Lominsa has a set of rules around it. Don't break the rules and you're fine. There are still plenty of "pirates" around Limsa and MANY quests touch on how it works.

Equally, the most recent patch revealed that nobody is allowed to fight for the Scions if they care about coin. That effectively takes a dump on the concept of mercenaries which, again, are a typical trope in fantasy settings.

Only within the Scions. Not as a whole. It makes sense, honestly. They're only against mercenaries who are ONLY in it for the coin. Given the Scions goals and missions, having folks within the organization that could easily be bought and paid for by someone outside the Scions to undermine them and whatnot.....that's exactly what happened with the Crystal Braves. It's obvious why they would be wary of people like that.

My major hope at the moment is that the Reaper job is a step in the direction of the game being less preachy about what the player character seeks to do. As someone who loved the likes of Shadow Hearts and Vagrant Story growing up, I want something that lets me be a good guy but an anti-hero, I guess.

Dark Knight is already kind of like that, but given who the player character is and what we do in the MSQ, I highly doubt it will get any less heavy handed in the "goody two shoes hero" department. I personally don't mind it. I signed up and paid to experience their story, not my story. But I 100% understand where folks who want their character to have their own story come from.

[Wangming]

I'm very confused by it.

I dislike how Limsa has effectively ditched piracy altogether. Pirates are pretty cool and a standard trope in high fantasy when it comes to seafaring nations, though the game seems to be branding it as something unwelcome and better left in the past.

Equally, the most recent patch revealed that nobody is allowed to fight for the Scions if they care about coin. That effectively takes a dump on the concept of mercenaries which, again, are a typical trope in fantasy settings.

Well for the first one I think you can understand it. Piracy is not a sustainable form of economy. Especially if most of the world is your allies. You can go all piracy fuck yeah and all that, but let's be realistic.

For the second one, there is a difference between caring about coin and only caring about coin. Smiling widows don't pay your rent, so you obviously need money. But the Crystal Braves were there just for the money. Alphie messed up and only asked: Do you want to be in a private army not affiliated with any City States? Everyone said yes. But of course one sheltered rich twerp can't pay as much as Midget Trump and those who only wanted money gladly changed sides. But if you are there because you want to defend Eorzea then the ability to buy miqo'te hookers is just a fringe benefit. And the promise of more hookers is not enough to persuade you to betray your boss.

Yes it may be preechy a bit but it does make sense if you stop to think about it for a bit.

I have my own problems with how Natsuko Ishikawa writes, but she was the one who brough us: "Warrior of Light massacres an entire garrison of Ishgardian knights for trying to take away her weapon." She has my trust for Endwalker.

[Katchii]

I just started playing and have a few questions:

1) How does transmog in this game work? I've read about it, and it seems vastly inferior and more cumbersome than WoW. The options are way better obviously, but there's no "collections" where you just get something and have that look forever. For instance, I've been vendoring low-level gear while leveling. But it seems that I needed to keep that gear if I want to mog it by dumping it into a closet? Which has limited space? So basically like void storage from Cata? If only it were just as simple as you loot the piece, you have it forever as an option.

You have it about right, and it does take some getting used to. It is vastly inferior to WoW and many other games in this department.

2) When does the leveling get interesting / fun? I know people say ARR is a slog, but man...the classes are super slow. I'm ARC level 20, and I feel like I have almost no abilities. And from reading, it doesn't seem like FF14 classes really have any "utility" / flavor abilities - every ability is just damage or healing and is meant to be used. There's no Eyes of the Beast, Ghost Wolf, Demonic Circle like abilities. Also, doesn't seem like any classes really have any mobility - don't see anything that is the equivalent of Charge / Fel Rush / Heroic Leap / Grappling Hook / Roll.

Unfortunately, classes take a LONG time to get to the "good stuff." Many do not get fleshed out until level 50+ with some classes having their entire rotation and game play rotation changing all the way up to the level cap because of the new abilities they add along the way.

There are several classes that have movement abilities, Archer/Bard is one of them, but they don't get many of them until later in the game. Pretty sure all of them require a target though. Additionally, every class gets "Sprint" which increases movement speed by a significant amount so they don't have the flavor type movement abilities like Grappling Hook and Roll.

Also, 99% of quests seem to be just "go here, give this person this". Does the game ever evolve beyond that in terms of quest design? I know it's ARR, but if this is the majority of the game with just some additional perks down the road, not sure if I can stick with it.

The quest design does evolve, but not much past this. But that's true for most games though IMO. They just polished it up a bit. You'll get more quests that make you fight things, more battlefield quests, some where you take control of other members of the Scions, but overall it's the same routine. NPC gives you a task, you go do it by clicking the things, killing the things or healing the things then return to the NPC or go visit the next NPC in the chain and repeat.

What's your reasoning behind playing FFXIV? What are you looking for?

I would personally say that if you're not invested, or don't care about the story at all the game isn't worth it. The MSQ gates almost everything in this game, so if you're not enjoying that....I don't think the content outside the MSQ is enough to satiate most people. I say "most" because there are some who play JUST for the game play, but...they're very rare in my experience.

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I have my own problems with how Natsuko Ishikawa writes, but she was the one who brough us: "Warrior of Light massacres an entire garrison of Ishgardian knights for trying to take away her weapon." She has my trust for Endwalker.

I don't remember this, lol. What quest was this?

[Poppincaps]

In what world is villains with understandable motives a bad thing? It's not like they're super common when compared to the typical "I want to rule the world because I want more power" trope that many Final Fantasy villains fall into.

It makes them more interesting and human. Regardless, if you expect the writing to change, you probably will want to leave now. Shadowbringers is by far the most well regarded expansion in terms of writing and story, so Ishikawa has no reason to change what she's doing right now.

[Wangming]

I don't remember this, lol. What quest was this?

The Dark Knight job quests in Heavensward. That at Rogue/Ninja was Ishikawa's first job as a writer. The players gave it a lot of praise, so she was promoted to be the lead writer in Shadowbringers.

[Katchii]

The Dark Knight job quests in Heavensward. That at Rogue/Ninja was Ishikawa's first job as a writer. The players gave it a lot of praise, so she was promoted to be the lead writer in Shadowbringers.

Ah, right. Was thinking about the MSQ not the job quests. Yeah that one was pretty great.

[RampageBW1]

I just started playing and have a few questions:

1) How does transmog in this game work? I've read about it, and it seems vastly inferior and more cumbersome than WoW. The options are way better obviously, but there's no "collections" where you just get something and have that look forever. For instance, I've been vendoring low-level gear while leveling. But it seems that I needed to keep that gear if I want to mog it by dumping it into a closet? Which has limited space? So basically like void storage from Cata? If only it were just as simple as you loot the piece, you have it forever as an option.

There were a few posts a page or two back concerning this subject.

https://www.mmo-champion.com/threads...1#post53207980

For a quick recap. I do agree that the Glamour system could use an overhaul and take a few features from WoW's transmog system, because my Glamour Chest is already full and I still have gear sets to get.

2) When does the leveling get interesting / fun? I know people say ARR is a slog, but man...the classes are super slow. I'm ARC level 20, and I feel like I have almost no abilities. And from reading, it doesn't seem like FF14 classes really have any "utility" / flavor abilities - every ability is just damage or healing and is meant to be used. There's no Eyes of the Beast, Ghost Wolf, Demonic Circle like abilities. Also, doesn't seem like any classes really have any mobility - don't see anything that is the equivalent of Charge / Fel Rush / Heroic Leap / Grappling Hook / Roll.

I'd say the classes/jobs become a bit more fleshed out at lvl 50. I do agree that ARR is a slog to get through, and that the story does not really get interesting until MSQ that starts to lead up to Heavensward (I think at either 2.4 or 2.5 patch content and onward).

I am considering purchasing a MSQ skip on my alt just so I don't have to deal with the Company of Heroes Arc that is coming up soon for that alt. -_- However, since this is your first time through the game, I'd suggest just persevere through it since ARR lays the foundations for future plot lines.

As for utility and mobility. Some classes to have certain abilities (every character has the sprint ability), like I think ranged physical DPS jobs like Bard, Machinist and Dancer have a party wide run speed boost that's Pelaton I think it is. Dragoons have a disengage like abiility that I totally forgot was a thing until I saw someone use it recently.

EDIT: I got a question or two for those whom might have purchased and used a MSQ skip (Tales of Adventure), aside from the skip, 30 Allagan Plat Pieces and (10) Silver Choco feathers, does it also unlock all dungeons the MSQ unlocks if you were to do them normally?

[Leyre]

Welp, finally started Heavensward and so far has been nice, the prince is an idiot, but an amusing one, the redhead in command its lovely, only complaint its that the free 115 armor its HORRIBLE, did they changed the guy who was making the quest rewards? the harley queen armor i got previously was really good looking, but now my armor gives me depression with all that shades of gray

Also, is it safe to assume i'll be able to fly as i progress through the story and there's no need to rush it?

[Granyala]

I have many a pet peeve with XIV but the story writing is definitely not one of them.

I for one enjoy it. Yes I know, we will never get the freedom in terms of playing OUR character like we did in RPGs like Neverwinter Nights but that's to be expected in an MMO. Ifalna happens to be kind hearted, so it mostly fits for me anyway.

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Also, is it safe to assume i'll be able to fly as i progress through the story and there's no need to rush it?

Rule of thumb: you will be able to fly in a zone when you completed the Main Story part and leave it.
Assuming you collected the swirl thingies and did the few side quests that grant currents.

It's handled fare more sensibly than WoW's "wait half a year to a year for some distant patch" approach.

[Katchii]

Also, is it safe to assume i'll be able to fly as i progress through the story and there's no need to rush it?

You need to also go around using the Aether Compass collecting the Aether Currents throughout the zone and completing the side quests that give you them. Some of the MSQ also give them and if you've collected all of them and done all of the side quests, the final MSQ for that zone also provides an Aether Current and will unlock flying in that zone.

Just following the MSQ will not unlock flying.

[Leyre]

You need to also go around using the Aether Compass collecting the Aether Currents throughout the zone and completing the side quests that give you them. Some of the MSQ also give them and if you've collected all of them and done all of the side quests, the final MSQ for that zone also provides an Aether Current and will unlock flying in that zone.

Just following the MSQ will not unlock flying.

Hm, guess its google time, im only focusing on the main story, had no idea i needed to do all of what you just said

[Granyala]

Hm, guess its google time, im only focusing on the main story, had no idea i needed to do all of what you just said

I think they fixed it that current granting quests get the blue ? icon that all quest which unlock sth. have.
So no need to google.

Open world current locations are straightforward enough.