[Megathread] Final Fantasy XIV

[dope_danny]

What is Babylon's Fall?

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Babylons Fall is the gaas square outsourced to Platinum games thats been in development hell.

[Cosmic Janitor]

Babylons Fall is the gaas square outsourced to Platinum games thats been in development hell.

I see, as long as it isn't something the core team is wasting time on..


In other news, another random thought while running Ghimlyt Dark ad nauseum: I have to say, looking at some of the Blade's weapons (I know I'm late to the party), alot of them could have been saved if they had just used the crystal shards better. Like the DRK one, double the crystals, angle them away from the tip of the bade and let them slightly pass each other over the blade's edge and you'd have a rather cool magical serated edge look, instead of 2 rows of weirdly floating crystals that make it look like a weapon straight out of the golden saucer.

[Caprias]

Something i reaaaally wonder about... what do other ff14 vets think about the influx and content of former WoW content creators.

I had this question in my mind for some weeks now but preachs last video pushed me to ask this question, because I really feel like some overhype/oversell it by quite a tad.
Content creators just being content creators or is this some kind of vengeance on the ex-girlfriend?

[The Casualty]

Something i reaaaally wonder about... what do other ff14 vets think about the influx and content of former WoW content creators.

I had this question in my mind for some weeks now but preachs last video pushed me to ask this question, because I really feel like some overhype/oversell it by quite a tad.
Content creators just being content creators or is this some kind of vengeance on the ex-girlfriend?

Its probably a mixture of both. I think some people get so invested into these MMO games that they feel like they have to justify leaving by trashing on their way out rather than realizing they aren't having fun and just moving on. I also wonder if some people have been playing the game and not enjoying it for such a long time that anything different looks like a breath of fresh air, despite any obvious flaws (and I'm not trashing WoW here, I've seen people overstay their enjoyment all the way back to Ultima Online and Everquest). That and obviously content creators have to get views and generally being milquetoast middle-of-the-road doesn't cut it.

Personally though, I am happy more people regardless of where they come from are playing. Not everyone will find it their cup of tea and that's fine, but I've recently had the opportunity to play with some of the Ultimate raiding community now that my work schedule allows for that, and it has been great getting to meet a lot of really cool people. I hope that as the population continues to grow there are more opportunities for people to find like minded players to do whatever activities interest them, hunts, savage, social etc...

[dope_danny]

Something i reaaaally wonder about... what do other ff14 vets think about the influx and content of former WoW content creators.

I had this question in my mind for some weeks now but preachs last video pushed me to ask this question, because I really feel like some overhype/oversell it by quite a tad.
Content creators just being content creators or is this some kind of vengeance on the ex-girlfriend?

Mostly its a case of "you are way behind but better late than never". Look at Preaches latest video:



Its a reminder why its such a smart move to put Heavensward in the free trial because at that point in time mmo's had gotten super complacent on story and there was just nothing like it and wether you played it complete this week or on release with all the issues like Gordias overtuning or Diadem being Diadem Heavensward sticks with you as something special. You hear that Ishgard leitmotif in later content and it excites you or gut punches you depending on the context.

Like its no secret WoW is kind of running on fumes after it wrapped up all it villains and tried to dbz power tier in a new cast of enemies purely because theres still subs to milk and i think its better for people that were so stuck in their wow bubble going "lol weeb game" all those years ago are finally going "oh, this is how good it can be when the developers give a fuck" and thats the beauty of FFXIV. If you are just playing it now or played it on release the MSQ means we all have those moments like "a smile better suits a hero" and thats something we all share and know the context for.

I dont doubt theres some wow content creators who are just desperate to chase what they perceive as a fad for clicks but for many its like watching stockholme syndrome break and go "oh. mmo stories can be more than skipping a few text windows per patch" and its a story that deserves experiencing.

[Merie]

It was a great move. As someone who now has every single job in the whole game to the cap, all the side content and quests cleared, re-watching that Endwalker launch trailer twice a day, I can frankly say that by the time I was 50 on my first job (PLD) wading through those 7th astral era quests, facing with buying Stormblood to get access to Heavesnward, I was THIS CLOSE TO QUITTING. Like jesus christ it was close. I nearly uninstalled and threw in the towel. It was such a good idea including HW in the free trial that it's almost stunning it didn't happen sooner. But it still boggles the mind that SE still hasn't simplified the registering and sign up process for the game. SE makes it harder to give them money than of any video game company I've ever dealt with.

[Lane]

Heavensward is a work of art. I especially love how everything you do there isn't forgotten in the future. Every Ishgardian regards you as their savior, Edmont still comes to visit you whenever he knows you're in the city <3, and Aymeric (unlike the other city leaders >_>) is always absolutely thrilled to see you.

[dope_danny]

It was a great move. As someone who now has every single job in the whole game to the cap, all the side content and quests cleared, re-watching that Endwalker launch trailer twice a day, I can frankly say that by the time I was 50 on my first job (PLD) wading through those 7th astral era quests, facing with buying Stormblood to get access to Heavesnward, I was THIS CLOSE TO QUITTING. Like jesus christ it was close. I nearly uninstalled and threw in the towel. It was such a good idea including HW in the free trial that it's almost stunning it didn't happen sooner. But it still boggles the mind that SE still hasn't simplified the registering and sign up process for the game. SE makes it harder to give them money than of any video game company I've ever dealt with.

Thats the crux of it isn't it? Heavensward isn't just one of the best mmo stories ever written it is free for aynone to play in its entirety.

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Heavensward is a work of art. I especially love how everything you do there isn't forgotten in the future. Every Ishgardian regards you as their savior, Edmont still comes to visit you whenever he knows you're in the city <3, and Aymeric (unlike the other city leaders >_>) is always absolutely thrilled to see you.

On NG+ its really telling that Amyeric had such a dogshit childhood that the he hasn't really been close to anyone but estinien and estinien is... estinien so no shit he is thrilled to see you, you and estinien are the closest friends he has had his entire life as the bastard of the pope.

Which of course then points out how rare it was for Hauchefant to be treated no different than his brothers and why his fathers line about "he did his duty" hits so god damn hard even before that voice actor died and now only makes it hit even worse.

Theres so many characters in heavensward i remember. Like i love other mmos but outside of Thuarassian and his sister theres not many new npcs i remember the stories of from wrath all these years later to use a beloved example.

[Tojara]

Something i reaaaally wonder about... what do other ff14 vets think about the influx and content of former WoW content creators.

I had this question in my mind for some weeks now but preachs last video pushed me to ask this question, because I really feel like some overhype/oversell it by quite a tad.
Content creators just being content creators or is this some kind of vengeance on the ex-girlfriend?

Probably both. Lots of content creators are pretty bad about being middle ground about anything, because views are typically gotten by being overly negative or hyping something up beyond belief. I don't really blame them, but if you look back at a lot of early feedback they have during betas of games they're overwhelmingly positive about it at the start (because it's new, go figure) and then turn on it later like they're some ancient sage with an innate knowledge of game design.

Some of them have to be hush about the games they deeply invested in because typically, at least on youtube and twitch, branching out to multiple games isn't really an effective strategy in generating income. So you're married to a game and put so much of your time and effort into something that you're sort of afraid to try something new, let alone attempt to bite the hand that feeds you. Really big content creators can sort of get away with this, but new creators or people trying to make a name for themselves? Naw, it's pretty hard to jump into something new (especially something that has a wealth of content like an MMO).

Playing other games though is a great way to both appreciate what you had before, all the while being thankful or wishful of features that might have been withheld from you in previous games. There are some pretty distinct differences in how both games are handled and when jumping over to a new audience it's usually better to land talking about things that are overwhelmingly positive about the game (which there are loads). Doing it the other way sort of alienates the new audience that you're craving and the people who followed you for the game(s) you use to be covering might not think it's worth their time to even jump in.

For a lot of these people it will be a completely new experience because they get to live and breathe FF14 is it's producing content, instead of playing catch up like they've been doing for the past few months. So it will be interesting to see what peoples perspectives are when they're all caught up.

At the end of the day they're still just people, and being harsh on your 'ex' isn't that uncommon. MMO players in general are a pretty fickle bunch though from my experience. Even if you like a game, people will come down on you hard if you don't like certain aspects of said game, sort of like in politics or certain sporting events where you have to fit into that narrow definition of views/values.

On another note including HW in the base free trial is a pretty genius move. Because it's free you're far less likely to give up on the game and push past ARR into HW (and TBH, I don't blame anybody for disliking ARR). To me HW and ShB represents the high points in the series (sorry, but Stormblood isn't nearly as good as these two expansions to me), and if the game doesn't grip you in any fashion when you finish HW than it probably just isn't for you.

[Caprias]

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I'd largely agree with both of you but my point is really just the overselling of it, maybe I just missed some important wording in that latest preach video but when he put Heavensward story as his 2nd best behind divinity (so he compares/puts single player rpgs with ff14 story) I was kinda alienated.

HW and SHB are arguably the best mmorpg expansions story wise, maybe swtor if you're a big star wars fan should be counted there too, but if he's going to compare it with single player rpgs I'd have at least half a dozen game story lines I'd put before HW and I'm only half his age.

Which is weird for me to realize now as i always thought of him as a more objective and laid back content creator unlike some other more polarizing streamers/creators.

But oh well, this is always a highly subjective matter and it's of course perfectly fine if he believes this is better than sliced bread, hence why I ask for other opinions on the matter.

[Drindorai]

Which is weird for me to realize now as i always thought of him as a more objective and laid back content creator unlike some other more polarizing streamers/creators.

Or maybe...he likes it more than whatever games you're thinking about?

You use the word objective for a reason I cannot fathom because he never presents his opinion on it as such.

[Tojara]

Divinity and Divinity OS 2 are both great games, but I didn't really think of them as having that great of a story lol.

FF14 has the best MMO story of the ones I've played and one of the better overall stories of games I've played too (hard to compare a game that's going to be spanning 10 years, with a single game). It's too bad WoW has never really taken advantage of the rich RTS background the game had, because a lot of the world building was actually pretty good. Granted, I'd say that telling stories in MMOs was kind of bad as a whole until the last decade, still not an excuse for how they've handled stories in the game (with IMO the only good story they ever told was MoP).

FF6 and Chrono Trigger are my overall favorites though.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

I think the people jumping ship from retail WoW to FFXIV are on a rollercoaster of emotions that is preventing them from judging FFXIV objectively. Over the past 7 years, WoW has had an embarrassingly small amount of meaningful content and only the latest expansion's content is relevant, so going to FFXIV where you have a backlog of years of content (that people still get queued to do) is surprising. It seems that Bellular, Asmongold, Preach, etc, haven't yet finished FFXIV's MSQ and side questlines, so they are still in the honeymoon phase. Those people also haven't played many JRPGs so they don't have a point of comparison for FFXIV.

I think FF14 is a pretty good JRPG. Good production values. Music isn't the best in the genre but still high up there. The cast is mostly likeable and the story is mostly satisfying. The game really suffers graphically, has some technical hiccups like the input delay, and the rotations aren't very fun. The MMO mechanics also get in the way of the JRPG part, such as gearing or being able to solo the game with NPC party members. As a JRPG, FFXIV wouldn't be my first recommendation to people new to the genre, as it is 300+ hours long and the first 50 to 100 hours are more likely to spurn normies away unless they had a taste for long winded visual novels and didn't know it yet.

As an MMO, FF14 is okay. FF14 for the most part does not have the awful grinds that plagues WoW, but once you've done all of the questlines there just isn't much reason to keep playing unless you really like the gold saucer minigames. FFXIV also falls into the common themepark problem where there just isn't much reason to play with other people. The game lacks good PvP, especially faction PvP, which I usually find to be the most entertaining part of MMOs.

[Tojara]

I'd have to go back through all of the expansions of FF14 but I think the music is pretty good in FF14 (in regards to music that is made specifically for the game).

Aside from the HW/ShB main motif (and the cinematics) I'm generally not a fan of heavy lyrics/singing taking place in video game music as a whole, so a good portion of the boss themes in the game aren't exactly themes that I enjoy. For example I love ShB story mission theme, but I'm not a big fan of the boss music theme for the expansion. While I know some people love the themes that take place in the Alexander raid series, I wasn't a giant fan of those either.

Still, there's plenty of story, battle or ambient themes I love in the game. Dub step type themes and most (not all) of the boss themes aren't things I generally dig though.

While Stormblood (to me) isn't one of my favorite expansions, I loved hearing Cyan's themes in addition to most of the themes that were played in that expansions raid.

[Leyre]

Is anyone else having issues with the thread?, cant get past page 2579

[Xilurm]

Is anyone else having issues with the thread?, cant get past page 2579

Yes, been having issues with this thread for ages now. Used to not being able to view the last page.

[RampageBW1]

Is anyone else having issues with the thread?, cant get past page 2579

Maybe someone went on post deletion binge.

[Poppincaps]

It happens to really large threads. The site just doesn't handle them well after a certain point. The Pokemon thread ended up having to be closed and a new one had to be made.

[dope_danny]

So on a whim while mining crystals i decided to do /playtime and got 257 days/6000+ hours over 8 years and thought "boy thats like 20 monster hunters for me, that sure is a lot" and then googled some of the other times for other players.

I say people with over 37,000 hours. Like holy shit. I thought i was bad at an average of like 2.2 hours per day.

[ranzino]

thread counter says we are 58 pages past 2580