Looking to start the trial - a few questions.

[x_Fiona_X]

Hi all, my partner & I are looking to start playing this. Just wanted to ask a few questions while we wait for the download!

* How is this game for group questing / leveling? Are a lot of the objectives shared amongst the group etc? We've enjoyed playing WoW together but a little burnt out and bored of it now, so a break is needed.

* How is the community in FF? There's quite a difference in the community between WoW & say GW2.. from personal experience, anyway.

* Are there many dungeons while leveling or are they mostly max level?

* Population wise, would it be best to play on the NA or EU servers?

* And lastly, do you have any helpful tips for a noob? Thank you, friends

[Nikkaszal]

There are very, very, VERY few standard "kill X monsters/loot Y items" quests in the main story (which is pretty much what you should focus on - sidequests add very very little except extra exp, and you will hit level cap WELL before finishing the story anyway). Most quests are talking or fetch quests, and the combat ones usually involve triggering spawns of very specific enemies that only you and anyone else in your party on the same quest can kill.

That is, you move to a designated area with a glowy purple circle, a message comes up, monsters spawn, kill them and advance your quest.

There's a whole slew of dungeons while levelling. In fact, you're required to do most (if not all? Can't remember) as part of the main story.

Main thing to keep in mind is that the main story is required to be completed to unlock new stuff. Like, even when you hit lvl 50, which is the level that the expansion content starts at, you will be unable to do Heavensward stuff until you have finished the vanilla main story in its absolute entirety. Like, the gates to Ishgard won't actually open until you have done this. It's quite a slog, especially the parts which were patched in between the release version and the expansion. Heavensward is your reward, because the story there is absolutely gripping.

Also, once you get comfortable with the game, and/or don't mind looking up dungeon strats before you run them for the first time, you'll want to change your language preferences in the Duty Finder (LFG) to say that you speak all available languages. Especially as DPS. That will cut your queue times SIGNIFICANTLY. I'm talking 30-40 minutes as DPS as English-only, down to 5-6min average if I say I speak everything. I don't mind not being able to understand chat because I make sure I know what's going on before I step into new content, and the old content can be done on autopilot.

[x_Fiona_X]

Incredibly helpful information. Thank you, Nikkaszal, greatly appreciated

[dope_danny]

The Dungeons start at 15 and by 50 theres a good two dozen and unlike something like WoW where you are locked to a tiny number for your level that you cannot que for after passing it FFXIV has level scaling. Its beneficial for max level players to que for 'leveling roullettes' where you may enter a lvl 25 dungeon and only have your lvl 25 skills but beating it gets you stuff for endgame while the at level people get their exp. and items. So technically the number gets larger at endgame since the post hitting 50 to heavensward patch content adds another half a dozen or so but dungeons, guildhests, trials, primal fights and later raids all have level scaling and rewards which keep them relevant after you level past them.

Along with a diary you get each week called "wondrous tails' for a miqo'te orphan girl which gives you random tasks like "go clear the second binding coil raid part 1" to try and get stamps to line up for prizes. That keeps duty finder and party finder busy.

Community wise its basically the anti WoW which in my experience is far more league of legends style in attitude nowadays. I think it comes from the fact that its a japanese game so there was a lot of players at beta and launch actually queing for things in game and such that had this notion of 'shame' attatched. Bare in mind you are your character, you can be any job and do anything but that name and face is you in eorzea. You be a giant douche and you get blacklisted by everybody and 'put in the shun' as the amish say. People are a lot less likely to be wankers when you don't have a stable of alts across a number of servers to hop. The investment to get all 23 jobs to max alone means people get attatched to their character and that is not something you want blacklisted.

Case in point: at the launch of ARR my server had a monster free company of french players from goonsquad that well and truly had the modern "FR hates all english and will ruin their own good time to ruin theirs" stereotype on point. They flooded the market and wasted all their gil buying things to put them up at 1gil and basically kept /shouting "engless pig get out this FR server only" and for a while people just stopped using the marketboard. But they made the error of forgetting what kind of rpg this is and what audience it pulls in.
Then a group of 3 german free companies full of players whith more crafting jobs than combat jobs levelled who decided to essentially make a grey market using a 'linkshell' system which are player created chat channels to buy and sell. With players in the small english, spanish and the very tiny "we know its most of us but its the hicks that hate english becoming the lingua franca for some crazy nationlism reasons" french free companies basically being the suppliers. You would go out and get a stack of toad skins, get your gil but also find the materia melders you needed to make your Relic weapon.
Thats basically when it started to collapse. The "FR ONLY PIGS LEAVE" FC found their names were blacklisted by everybody. They wanted their Relic weapon then they needed a crafted weapon and materia melded into it. But nobody would supply them and none of them had more than their starting combat job levelled and their anti social nature meant they refused to help each other ironically. So discovering they were now untouchables nobody would talk to and they made it so they couldnt find what they needed on a dead marketboard they had a mass exodus to moogle and balmung and shortly after everyone made it their business to drop stuff on the market at way higher prices. There's always the undercutters but the market is healthy now and theres no group trying that kind of thing again because people will know your characters name and shit sticks in FFXIV.
But at least nowadays you will often see those german merchant players out in the towns or the other small FC's you worked with to get stuff done and they will offer a wave and hello 3 years later.

So its not some gods gift to mmo communities. But your character and its name are your name and face in Eorzea. That is definitely an influence on community behaviour.

[Judic]

@Nikkaszal Are you suggesting skipping most side quests and just doing the story/dungeons? I just started back up again with a new character. I suppose saving the side quests for other jobs isn't a bad idea.

[Eleccybubb]

@Nikkaszal Are you suggesting skipping most side quests and just doing the story/dungeons? I just started back up again with a new character. I suppose saving the side quests for other jobs isn't a bad idea.

For other jobs it's better to use Palace of the Dead on a full account with a mixture of the duty roulette.

[Nikkaszal]

@Nikkaszal Are you suggesting skipping most side quests and just doing the story/dungeons? I just started back up again with a new character. I suppose saving the side quests for other jobs isn't a bad idea.

I mean unless you REALLY wanna do them, sure. You'll hit 50 aaaaages before reaching the end of the ARR story, just by doing story/hunt log/challenge log/daily roulette. You're forced into doing the entire story anyway, it's not hitting level cap that is the "gate".

This changes a bit in Heavensward content. There aren't enough Main Story quests to keep you on track with levels (esp between 56-59). Example: you're doing the level 57 story quests, and then the level requirement to advance will jump to 58 while you're only a third of the way there. So you have to grind out dungeons and do sidequests and stuff, then you hit 58, and then I shit you not - four quests later the requirement jumps AGAIN to 59.

Luckily, if you're going through Heavensward on your first job, you will have earned so much extra exp that you will start Heavensward at about 55 or so and won't run into this problem. If you're like me and switched jobs to do expac content with... yeah. Problems.

[Wrecktangle]

Hi all, my partner & I are looking to start playing this. Just wanted to ask a few questions while we wait for the download!

* How is this game for group questing / leveling? Are a lot of the objectives shared amongst the group etc? We've enjoyed playing WoW together but a little burnt out and bored of it now, so a break is needed.

* How is the community in FF? There's quite a difference in the community between WoW & say GW2.. from personal experience, anyway.

* Are there many dungeons while leveling or are they mostly max level?

* Population wise, would it be best to play on the NA or EU servers?

* And lastly, do you have any helpful tips for a noob? Thank you, friends

Hi there!

1) The game is decent for group questing/leveling. Bear in mind your class picks could put you in different starting cities. You will eventually come together around level 15. If that's an issue keep that in mind when selecting classes. I always recommend the tank/healer combo for instant queues. In that vein I'd recommend Marauder and Arcanist as I find them to be 2 of the more engaging classes (i.e. less boring) and they start in the same city. The story quest/class quests often force you to drop party over and over to do solo trials. It's annoying, but not a deal breaker. You just reform your party after.

2) The community is very friendly to newcomers as long as you don't whine, complain, or make excuses. If you're new don't be afraid to say you're new or don't know something. People are much more open to that. If you plan on playing at a fairly high level you'll see some hostility and lack of patience for fights/strategy/mistakes.

3) Depends on where you live. I'd play wherever you live closest to. I also recommend joining the biggest server you can find. The perks outweigh the cons.

4) Take it slow, don't be overwhelmed, enjoy the story, and have fun. There is no rush to play the new expansion when all the content before you is still new to you.

[Judic]

I mean unless you REALLY wanna do them, sure. You'll hit 50 aaaaages before reaching the end of the ARR story, just by doing story/hunt log/challenge log/daily roulette. You're forced into doing the entire story anyway, it's not hitting level cap that is the "gate".

This changes a bit in Heavensward content. There aren't enough Main Story quests to keep you on track with levels (esp between 56-59). Example: you're doing the level 57 story quests, and then the level requirement to advance will jump to 58 while you're only a third of the way there. So you have to grind out dungeons and do sidequests and stuff, then you hit 58, and then I shit you not - four quests later the requirement jumps AGAIN to 59.

Luckily, if you're going through Heavensward on your first job, you will have earned so much extra exp that you will start Heavensward at about 55 or so and won't run into this problem. If you're like me and switched jobs to do expac content with... yeah. Problems.

Thanks for the advice! I'll just go through the main story then.

[Scufflegrit]

1) The game is decent for group questing/leveling. Bear in mind your class picks could put you in different starting cities. You will eventually come together around level 15. If that's an issue keep that in mind when selecting classes. I always recommend the tank/healer combo for instant queues. In that vein I'd recommend Marauder and Arcanist as I find them to be 2 of the more engaging classes (i.e. less boring) and they start in the same city.

Small note here, but Arcanist actually starts as a DPS and doesn't branch out to Scholar (healer) or Summoner (DPS) until level 30. The only starting healer is Conjurer, but it doesn't have an accompanying tank in its home city. For fast queues though, having just a tank or a healer along with a DPS is enough to get very fast queues either way, so the initial advice is still sound. Just don't want you to think you'll be starting out with a tank and full blown healer right away. I mean realistically an Arcanist COULD heal any pre 30 dungeon - the game just doesn't permit them queue up as a healer right away.

class quests

This is also a slight correction to all the other advice given regarding quests. You get Class/Job quests every 5 levels. DO NOT SKIP THESE
Class/Job quests will give you weapons and/or armor appropriate for your level as well as sometimes teaching you important skills you will need - especially if you pick a tank or healer. It's only happened a few times, but I've run into tanks you didn't bother doing their class quests and were lacking key skills, like their threat generating stance. In some cases it just made the run painful and slow. In others it was simply impossible to finish the dungeon.
Completion of class quests is required to progress to the more advanced Job category at level 30. Also, completion of your starting class's level 10 (therefore level 1 & 5 as well) quest is required for you to switch to any other class should you decide you don't like that starting class.

[Kazgrel]

Hi all, my partner & I are looking to start playing this. Just wanted to ask a few questions while we wait for the download!

* How is this game for group questing / leveling? Are a lot of the objectives shared amongst the group etc? We've enjoyed playing WoW together but a little burnt out and bored of it now, so a break is needed.

* How is the community in FF? There's quite a difference in the community between WoW & say GW2.. from personal experience, anyway.

* Are there many dungeons while leveling or are they mostly max level?

* Population wise, would it be best to play on the NA or EU servers?

* And lastly, do you have any helpful tips for a noob? Thank you, friends

- Group questing/leveling: The quests, at least early on, are mostly solo, up until level 15-16, when the first dungeons become available. FATEs (think events like in GW2) are also scattered around zones, which you and your partner could team up for and clear those out.

- Community: Overall the community here is really good. There are the occasional rotten eggs, so to speak, but few and far between.

- Dungeons: There are a pretty decent amount of dungeons throughout the leveling process; in fact, many of them are required to progress the main story.

- Servers: It's best to choose one closest to you geographically; for NA players, it's the Aether and Primal datacenters, while for EU folks, Chaos datacenter would be the best. In terms of population, with NA servers, we have the mega-populated Balmung and Gilgamesh, both of which are locked to new character creation 99% of the time (not an exaggeration, either), with a plethora of other mid-high pop servers (mostly in Primal DC...Excalibur, Hyperion, Behemoth, and Leviathan all come to mind). I am not as well versed on the servers in Chaos DC.

- This info won't make sense right now, but if you do play, write this down for future use:

How to get to the Waking Sands as quick as possible:

1. Port to Limsa Lominsa
2. Run or take aetheryte to Arcanist's Guild
3. Take ferry to Vesper Bay
4. Run the 50 feet or so to the Waking Sands

[x_Fiona_X]

I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who has posted so far. We won't be able to try it until tomorrow - but the replies have been fantastic. Hopefully it helps anyone else who may have these questions

[Nikkaszal]

Small note here, but Arcanist actually starts as a DPS and doesn't branch out to Scholar (healer) or Summoner (DPS) until level 30. The only starting healer is Conjurer, but it doesn't have an accompanying tank in its home city. For fast queues though, having just a tank or a healer along with a DPS is enough to get very fast queues either way, so the initial advice is still sound. Just don't want you to think you'll be starting out with a tank and full blown healer right away. I mean realistically an Arcanist COULD heal any pre 30 dungeon - the game just doesn't permit them queue up as a healer right away.

I was able to heal Haukke Manor as a Thaumaturgist, when our healer bailed right at the start, without too much trouble (except for the last boss, which was a shit show) just by staying in Ice tossing Blizzards and the occasional Physik while staying at 100% mana. For the first like... 40 levels or so, basically all DoW gear is Str/Dex and all DoM gear is Int/Mind so healers and casters have the same stats.

[dope_danny]

I was able to heal Haukke Manor as a Thaumaturgist, when our healer bailed right at the start, without too much trouble (except for the last boss, which was a shit show) just by staying in Ice tossing Blizzards and the occasional Physik while staying at 100% mana. For the first like... 40 levels or so, basically all DoW gear is Str/Dex and all DoM gear is Int/Mind so healers and casters have the same stats.

Man nowdays the gear platueing means i have tanked lvl.60 small pulls and bosses as NIN and seen others do it as DRG with a SMN or even BLM throwing a heal as the heal and tank dc'ed. A lot of folks forget there are some 'cheese' ish mechanics you can use like the ninjas blink to get around obstacles a huge boss needs to take a long route or everyone using their stuns in turns on a stunnable enemy for example. Creative use of skills the 'im just here to dps' crowd who stick to their rotation never use can save a wipe.

I mean shit to think there are people who play summoner but dont go to swiftcast+raise a dead ally to save a massive amount of the healers mana since they lack aetherflow.

[Post]

I wanted to try the trial, then I got an error (Unable to download patch files. [30413][25008][20495]) and it wouldn't let me download the game. I got a VPN to get past the initial errors but it still stops me on these files. Apparently after lots of Googling this has been a problem for YEARS, and they haven't responded or fixed it. I'm trying to give this game a chance to get me addicted and it's pushing me away as hard as it can. It's a shame.

[Wrecktangle]

Man nowdays the gear platueing means i have tanked lvl.60 small pulls and bosses as NIN and seen others do it as DRG with a SMN or even BLM throwing a heal as the heal and tank dc'ed. A lot of folks forget there are some 'cheese' ish mechanics you can use like the ninjas blink to get around obstacles a huge boss needs to take a long route or everyone using their stuns in turns on a stunnable enemy for example. Creative use of skills the 'im just here to dps' crowd who stick to their rotation never use can save a wipe.

I mean shit to think there are people who play summoner but dont go to swiftcast+raise a dead ally to save a massive amount of the healers mana since they lack aetherflow.

Pretty sure you have me on your blocked list because you never respond to anything I ask you, but just for others to see:

All of the content in the game is tuned so that if you don't have a tank or healer it is a guaranteed wipe, or you could have done it with no healer or no tank to begin with. Very little middle ground.

Why would you take turns stunning adds when adds don't need to be stunned except in like 2 fights in the entire game?

I've never seen a SMN not use swiftcast raise if it was necessary. Not once. Healer mana is largely inconsequential in the content that you stated you participate in. You don't need to conserve mana in normal alex, hunts, or dungeons.

I wanted to try the trial, then I got an error (Unable to download patch files. [30413][25008][20495]) and it wouldn't let me download the game. I got a VPN to get past the initial errors but it still stops me on these files. Apparently after lots of Googling this has been a problem for YEARS, and they haven't responded or fixed it. I'm trying to give this game a chance to get me addicted and it's pushing me away as hard as it can. It's a shame.

I got the same error when reinstalling the game last month. I changed my DNS to something else (I saw a post on the forums explaining his process), got me through the bad part, changed it back, and download went smooth.

[Scufflegrit]

A couple other things worth mentioning more in detail: The Challenge Log and Hall of the Novice. As you go through the Main Scenario Quests (MSQ), you'll get the level 15 quest Call of the Sea which sends you to talk to the bar keep in Limsa Lominsa, one of the 3 starting cities. After you talk to him, notice 2 other NPCs nearby with quests for you, a waitress named I'tolwann, and a guy just standing nearby called The Smith. Take their quests.

I'tolwann's quest unlocks the Challenge log, which basically gives you free weekly rewards for just playing the game. Complete 3 dungeons via the duty finder: free gil and exp. Complete 5 dungeons total: more free gil and exp.You'll want to unlock this asap.

The Smith unlocks the Hall of the Novice which is basically just a few training exercises for players new to MMOs, so if you know your way around an MMO already, it'll probably be fairly boring to you. But as you complete it, it gives you a set of gear for your current role (no weapons) that will last basically to level 30. And it's all repeatable. So for example you can get your tank set now, then pick up the physical DPS set later if you want to try out Pugilist (and who doesn't love punching things in the face?), and finally grab the caster/healer set should you decide you want to be a Thaumaturge (and who doesn't love blowing things up with giant fireballs?).
The final reward is a ring that boosts exp earned by 30% at or below level 30. Even if your actual level is above 30, but you do something that level syncs you to 30 or lower, the ring still works. It's definitely worth hanging on to it for a long time.

[Katchii]

A couple other things worth mentioning more in detail: The Challenge Log and Hall of the Novice. As you go through the Main Scenario Quests (MSQ), you'll get the level 15 quest Call of the Sea which sends you to talk to the bar keep in Limsa Lominsa, one of the 3 starting cities. After you talk to him, notice 2 other NPCs nearby with quests for you, a waitress named I'tolwann, and a guy just standing nearby called The Smith. Take their quests.

I'tolwann's quest unlocks the Challenge log, which basically gives you free weekly rewards for just playing the game. Complete 3 dungeons via the duty finder: free gil and exp. Complete 5 dungeons total: more free gil and exp.You'll want to unlock this asap.

The Smith unlocks the Hall of the Novice which is basically just a few training exercises for players new to MMOs, so if you know your way around an MMO already, it'll probably be fairly boring to you. But as you complete it, it gives you a set of gear for your current role (no weapons) that will last basically to level 30. And it's all repeatable. So for example you can get your tank set now, then pick up the physical DPS set later if you want to try out Pugilist (and who doesn't love punching things in the face?), and finally grab the caster/healer set should you decide you want to be a Thaumaturge (and who doesn't love blowing things up with giant fireballs?).
The final reward is a ring that boosts exp earned by 30% at or below level 30. Even if your actual level is above 30, but you do something that level syncs you to 30 or lower, the ring still works. It's definitely worth hanging on to it for a long time.

The gear sets from Hall of the Novice are great both from a fundamental gearing standpoint since they have good stats, last a while and are a complete set but also because (at least the caster set) are really good looking sets. In a game that looks as good as this, aesthetics/ glamour are important so having a set you feel proud to wear and enjoy looking at is important. Just be aware that certain sets throughout the game don't always play well with certain hairstyles/ other pieces of equipment and can have some pretty terrible clipping issues, hairstyles can be changed at the aesthetician (unlocked through a quest in Limnsa Lominsa at ~level 15).

[Ajora Glabados]

I know I'm late to the topic since everyone already answered your questions but I'll vouch for the community being far more pleasant than WoW's. You do run into unpleasant people which is a given for any online game but players as a whole seem way more easy going. I think part of it may be that if someone is running a dungeon or trial for the first time you get a slight bonus for exp or tomes.

The biggest problem I've had with the FFXIV playerbase in pugs is that I run into people who are just god awful. I'm pretty average at video games but I've seen so many people at level cap who just stand in big glowing orange aoe cones with long ass telegraphs and then act shocked when they die. One issue is that later on you will have way less time to run out of aoe indicators so if you wait til the very last moment and then move you'll still get damaged.

Its not something that bothers me a whole lot though and I like helping out struggling players when I can.


If you do end up enjoying the game and getting to 50 do your best to weather out the 100 post game quests you have to do to unlock HW. I've seen so many people quit at that point but the game's story gets soo good toward the end and then it only gets better with HW.

[Deleted]

@Wrecktangle Arcanist you say huh... I fucking love Summoner, but the dot management murders me in real content, aka bosses xd