WoW players that switched to FFXIV, I need your opinions

[Katchii]

My Lancer is 34. Where i am at in the MSQ i can not remember, it has been quite a while. My friends that got me into the game kept tell me to play to the expansions and it gets fun, as i love storylines, but man is that a chore. It is made worse by the fact that my friends were all maxed and busy with other things so i played largely on my own.

Yeah, unfortunately, you still have a bit of a slog ahead of you. The 2.0 ARR storyline that spans through patch 2.55 will take you to about ~51 or 52 depending on what xp buffs you have going for you. I like the story just fine, it's decent, but there's FAR to much down time in between action sequences and FAR too many fetch quests and quests that send you across the world to run some silly errand.

It honestly does pick up significantly though just prior to 2.55 and all through the Heavensward expansion all the way through Stormblood. I hate advocating for it, because it shouldn't be necessary, but buying the boost to get through the ARR story would totally be worth it IMO, and it's ~$18 i think? But it doesn't raise your character level at all. That said, there's a REALLY fast way to level called Palace of the Dead which you can queue for in Quarrymill after unlocking it. Otherwise just following the MSQ will get you to 50+ anyway.

If you're enjoying the story, but just hate the questing experience, I completely understand. What server are you on? I'd be glad to help you out if i can. I have characters on a few servers (Primal Data Center).

[bloodwulf]

Yeah, unfortunately, you still have a bit of a slog ahead of you. The 2.0 ARR storyline that spans through patch 2.55 will take you to about ~51 or 52 depending on what xp buffs you have going for you. I like the story just fine, it's decent, but there's FAR to much down time in between action sequences and FAR too many fetch quests and quests that send you across the world to run some silly errand.

It honestly does pick up significantly though just prior to 2.55 and all through the Heavensward expansion all the way through Stormblood. I hate advocating for it, because it shouldn't be necessary, but buying the boost to get through the ARR story would totally be worth it IMO, and it's ~$18 i think? But it doesn't raise your character level at all. That said, there's a REALLY fast way to level called Palace of the Dead which you can queue for in Quarrymill after unlocking it. Otherwise just following the MSQ will get you to 50+ anyway.

If you're enjoying the story, but just hate the questing experience, I completely understand. What server are you on? I'd be glad to help you out if i can. I have characters on a few servers (Primal Data Center).

I think I am on Siren. I keep thinking of getting the MSQ skip but not being leveled makes me worried about what id have to do to get to the point of being able to do expansion content. I think it is just a combo effect for me, I picked Dragoon (because iconic FF character) which is slow, and the MSQ is slow, it makes it hard to push through. If you tell me you think i have more than 25+ hrs of play before im done (with MSQ), i might just bite the bullet and get the MSQ skip.

[Katchii]

I think I am on Siren. I keep thinking of getting the MSQ skip but not being leveled makes me worried about what id have to do to get to the point of being able to do expansion content. I think it is just a combo effect for me, I picked Dragoon (because iconic FF character) which is slow, and the MSQ is slow, it makes it hard to push through. If you tell me you think i have more than 25+ hrs of play before im done (with MSQ), i might just bite the bullet and get the MSQ skip.

If you're only now at level 34, I can't say for sure, but I'd bet you have at least 25 hours left of questing to get into Heavensward. The slog through the post 50 quests of patches 2.1-2.55 take close to that amount of time alone. I think I have a character on Siren...I'll check tonight when I get home, If I do I'll post on this thread letting you know and ask for your character name and such.

Getting to 50 using the PotD deep dungeon is a breeze, takes a few hours at most given your current level, and there's no gear you need to buy to do that (it uses a separate leveling and gearing paradigm than the rest of the game). The challenge will be gear for questing through Heavensward, but you can get a decent set of gear from Ishgard NPCs once you get to the city (which is the first thing you do when starting Heavensward content so no worries there), and doesn't cost that much. You also get tomestones for running PotD so you could use those to purchase gear in Mor Dhona, not sure how many tomes you'll have by leveling there from ~34-50 but the level 50 tomestone gear is SUPER cheap so you may not have to worry about anything.

[Nights]

As somone who is bored with wow and hate it current state, trail in FF feels so good, im not sure if its just because its all new but it seams that there is just more to do, game is more engaging, makes u wonna play more, with wow i lost that long time ago and now its just clear raid each tier do weekly farm run, weekly m+, logout.

[bloodwulf]

If you're only now at level 34, I can't say for sure, but I'd bet you have at least 25 hours left of questing to get into Heavensward. The slog through the post 50 quests of patches 2.1-2.55 take close to that amount of time alone. I think I have a character on Siren...I'll check tonight when I get home, If I do I'll post on this thread letting you know and ask for your character name and such.

Getting to 50 using the PotD deep dungeon is a breeze, takes a few hours at most given your current level, and there's no gear you need to buy to do that (it uses a separate leveling and gearing paradigm than the rest of the game). The challenge will be gear for questing through Heavensward, but you can get a decent set of gear from Ishgard NPCs once you get to the city (which is the first thing you do when starting Heavensward content so no worries there), and doesn't cost that much. You also get tomestones for running PotD so you could use those to purchase gear in Mor Dhona, not sure how many tomes you'll have by leveling there from ~34-50 but the level 50 tomestone gear is SUPER cheap so you may not have to worry about anything.

I might do what you suggested. Also while i was reinstalling on my lunch, i noticed that there is evidently a free logon campaign going on again, so i might of lucked out and get the free 7 day window. I will see if it lets me log on without activated a sub. I want to see this game in the later stages as so many people say the expansions content was good, but man is MSQ a struggle.

I think i did some of the PotD before, but i was told by a friend to focus on MSQ instead. Is that the "endless" solo dungeon thing?

[Katchii]

I think I am on Siren. I keep thinking of getting the MSQ skip but not being leveled makes me worried about what id have to do to get to the point of being able to do expansion content. I think it is just a combo effect for me, I picked Dragoon (because iconic FF character) which is slow, and the MSQ is slow, it makes it hard to push through. If you tell me you think i have more than 25+ hrs of play before im done (with MSQ), i might just bite the bullet and get the MSQ skip.

Just remembered I could log into Mogstation from here and check my characters and I don't have any character on Siren, unfortunately.

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I might do what you suggested. Also while i was reinstalling on my lunch, i noticed that there is evidently a free logon campaign going on again, so i might of lucked out and get the free 7 day window. I will see if it lets me log on without activated a sub. I want to see this game in the later stages as so many people say the expansions content was good, but man is MSQ a struggle.

I think i did some of the PotD before, but i was told by a friend to focus on MSQ instead. Is that the "endless" solo dungeon thing?

It's not solo, at least not by default, and it is kind of endless. It's the one that has the randomly generated rooms with the glowy weapons and multiple floors per "dungeon run" in sets of 10 with a boss on the tenth floor.

Floors 51-60 are the ones that people spam for leveling. There's a whole guide around it somewhere online if that's what you're interested in doing.

[bloodwulf]

Just remembered I could log into Mogstation from here and check my characters and I don't have any character on Siren, unfortunately.

No big deal, i appreciate the offer. My friends have long since quit playing due to RL issues, so ill wander around and see if i can meet people again. I might try to find a guild or something social to hang out in.

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Just remembered I could log into Mogstation from here and check my characters and I don't have any character on Siren, unfortunately.

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It's not solo, at least not by default, and it is kind of endless. It's the one that has the randomly generated rooms with the glowy weapons and multiple floors per "dungeon run" in sets of 10 with a boss on the tenth floor.

Floors 51-60 are the ones that people spam for leveling. There's a whole guide around it somewhere online if that's what you're interested in doing.

Ah yes, i did that, the weapon comment reminded of it. Ill look into it tonight.

[Donald Hellscream]

So I gave this game a go since I got the starter edition through twitch prime.

I managed to get to level 24 before my subscription expired, and I have no urge or desire to renew.

I suppose its fair that instead of just claiming it is a shit game, which it isn't, it just couldn't captivate me. The combat feels slow and non-responsive to me as someone who is used to wows snappy reactions, and while it got somewhat faster as I unlocked for skills it just felt sluggish. That combined with the mindnumbingly boring questing experience really was offputting to me, I am aware that the story allegedly picks up in the subsequent expansions but I couldn't even stomach the 1-50 experience.
At this point I would take WoW's at times memey questing experience any day of the week, while its not exactly top notch quality, atleast its relatively quick.

This is my personal opinion on the game, probably worthless to people who likes the game but there you go.

[Katchii]

So I gave this game a go since I got the starter edition through twitch prime.

I managed to get to level 24 before my subscription expired, and I have no urge or desire to renew.

I suppose its fair that instead of just claiming it is a shit game, which it isn't, it just couldn't captivate me. The combat feels slow and non-responsive to me as someone who is used to wows snappy reactions, and while it got somewhat faster as I unlocked for skills it just felt sluggish. That combined with the mindnumbingly boring questing experience really was offputting to me, I am aware that the story allegedly picks up in the subsequent expansions but I couldn't even stomach the 1-50 experience.
At this point I would take WoW's at times memey questing experience any day of the week, while its not exactly top notch quality, atleast its relatively quick.

This is my personal opinion on the game, probably worthless to people who likes the game but there you go.

That's a very fair assessment. FFXIV combat doesn't match up to how fast, smooth and responsive WoW's is but IMO it has it's own charm...once you get enough abilities to make it more interesting.

The leveling experience also leaves a lot to be desired in comparison to WoW's constant combat/ action kind of approach, but it's focusing more on the narrative than WoW does, which isn't saying good or bad things, it's just different.

[Usernameforforums]

What level/ part of the MSQ did you get to before you quit?

Most classes, except for Monk and maybe Ninja, feel slow until much later when you have more oGCD abilities and just more buttons to press. By the time you hit 50 on most classes you have a full kit that feels fine.

The story quests in the original game do tend to drag on, but it does pick up in the expansions and they improved their quest design a bit too. Not SO many fetch quests that drag you back and forth and not so many long stretches of story with little to no action.

The game is still a story driven game at heart, but they've taken strides to improve on the overall experience recognizing that people play the game to actually PLAY, not read a shitload of text.

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One of the iconic moves of Dragoon in Final Fantasy is their jump attack. Dragoons get 3 of them between 30 and 50 and they are animation locked for their duration, but they're VERY short. Just like any other animation locking ability you just need to be mindful of the mechanics in the fight and not use the jump when you should be moving.

The animation lock used to be really bad, but it was fixed a while ago.

Yeah it may be iconic but it’s a meme in the ffxiv community that the dragoon is the first to die.

[Faroth]

Yeah it may be iconic but it’s a meme in the ffxiv community that the dragoon is the first to die.

What's odd to me about the lock animation is that it's missing an aspect of what makes it iconic.

FFIV, for example:
Cecil: Attack
Kain: Jump
Edge: Cast spell
Rydia: Summon
Rosa: Cure 4

The actions above would go into action with Kain jumping. Cecil would attack, Edge casts his spell, Rydia casts her summon, Rosa casts Cure 4 on everyone. Zeromus casts his AoE and...... Kain's not on the friggin' screen so he doesn't get hit by it. He drops down in the next round for damage.

With an animation lock, why they didn't put at least their strongest Jump on a longer cooldown with a brief invincibility that you're intended to use wisely is beyond me.

Jump was not only a strong attack, but it was a (wild card) invincibility. Granted, sometimes Kain would land just before the enemy attacked and he'd get hit. He also didn't get healed when he was mid-jump, so there was some counter balance there.

Why that brief invincibility wasn't baked into the animation lock for Jump is just a bit mind boggling to me. Probably concerns about cheesing fights, but I think it could have been tuned to work.

[Segus1992]

Yeah. Lancer is boring as hell to play early on. Once you get Blood of the Dragon and other stuff it starts to get better but sadly it is a very boring low level class. Imo anyway. A lot of games low level these days is boring as hell. WoW and this spring immediately to mind.

Most side quests aren't worth doing. The ones with a blue marker on them mean they unlock something however.

But at the end of the day if you don't end up liking the game then that's fine. It's not everyone's cup of tea. If you don't end up enjoying it imo don't force it.

Having leveled to about 25 a couple times in FF14, and having leveled a ton of times in WoW, is the increase in fun about the same going from leveling to max level? Because if so, FF14 must be an a lot less interesting game combat-wise than WoW is, as leveling in WoW starts to become interesting fairly early, whereas in FF14 I haven't felt anything cool from any of the classes I've leveled.

I was hoping it'd get better as I've been looking to try it again, but with the square/circle raids, no WPvP, japanese style and now this, I might not bother.

[Eleccybubb]

Having leveled to about 25 a couple times in FF14, and having leveled a ton of times in WoW, is the increase in fun about the same going from leveling to max level? Because if so, FF14 must be an a lot less interesting game combat-wise than WoW is, as leveling in WoW starts to become interesting fairly early, whereas in FF14 I haven't felt anything cool from any of the classes I've leveled.

I was hoping it'd get better as I've been looking to try it again, but with the square/circle raids, no WPvP, japanese style and now this, I might not bother.

Honestly the levelling in FF14 is absolutely droney. Imo both WoW and FF14 need a serious levelling revamp. The issue with doing it in 14 however is the game progression is more straight to the end rather than WoW in which you can deviate a bit. So it would be hard to revamp 14s levelling. I suppose and I hate to say this because I hate boosts but at least £18.50 for a job boost is cheap. (Yes I know I sodding hate boosts but hell the value here is a lot better).

WoW definitely has the better levelling hands down. Because it offers a bit more freedom in where you level now as well. However both games levelling suck after doing it for the umpteenth time.

The combat definitely gets better once you start unlocking the job and it's abilities in my opinion.

[Katchii]

Yeah it may be iconic but it’s a meme in the ffxiv community that the dragoon is the first to die.

Wasn't trying to deny that it was, I was just responding to your post that didn't seem to fully understand what jumps were.

What's odd to me about the lock animation is that it's missing an aspect of what makes it iconic.

FFIV, for example:
Cecil: Attack
Kain: Jump
Edge: Cast spell
Rydia: Summon
Rosa: Cure 4

The actions above would go into action with Kain jumping. Cecil would attack, Edge casts his spell, Rydia casts her summon, Rosa casts Cure 4 on everyone. Zeromus casts his AoE and...... Kain's not on the friggin' screen so he doesn't get hit by it. He drops down in the next round for damage.

With an animation lock, why they didn't put at least their strongest Jump on a longer cooldown with a brief invincibility that you're intended to use wisely is beyond me.

Jump was not only a strong attack, but it was a (wild card) invincibility. Granted, sometimes Kain would land just before the enemy attacked and he'd get hit. He also didn't get healed when he was mid-jump, so there was some counter balance there.

Why that brief invincibility wasn't baked into the animation lock for Jump is just a bit mind boggling to me. Probably concerns about cheesing fights, but I think it could have been tuned to work.

Agreed, why they didn't bake the invulnerability into the animation seems like a missed opportunity. Though I can understand why they didn't, would be pretty OP for the DRG to be invulnerable to a purposely hard hitting, or even wipe party mechanic.

Having leveled to about 25 a couple times in FF14, and having leveled a ton of times in WoW, is the increase in fun about the same going from leveling to max level? Because if so, FF14 must be an a lot less interesting game combat-wise than WoW is, as leveling in WoW starts to become interesting fairly early, whereas in FF14 I haven't felt anything cool from any of the classes I've leveled.

I was hoping it'd get better as I've been looking to try it again, but with the square/circle raids, no WPvP, japanese style and now this, I might not bother.

It honestly just sounds like FFXIV may just not be a game for you. Which is fine, everyone doesn't have to like or enjoy the same things, but based on your post here, you'd be forcing yourself to suffer through all the things you don't like (especially the entire art style and aesthetic), which doesn't sound like it would be enjoyable at all.

[Faroth]

Agreed, why they didn't bake the invulnerability into the animation seems like a missed opportunity. Though I can understand why they didn't, would be pretty OP for the DRG to be invulnerable to a purposely hard hitting, or even wipe party mechanic.

That's why I'd think the invulnerability jump would need a more notable cool down and a stronger potency to make it a "use wisely" ability. You'd want to use it at the right times.
Avoiding a hard hitting mechanic would be the time to use it. I wouldn't think a single DPS taking less damage would be game breaking. Healers will still need to heal the party up as everyone else takes it. Avoiding a party wipe mechanic... well, kind of irrelevant in 99.999% of cases if a lone DPS survives. The boss will just face smack 'em afterwards and remind them they're not a tank.

[Segus1992]

Honestly the levelling in FF14 is absolutely droney. Imo both WoW and FF14 need a serious levelling revamp. The issue with doing it in 14 however is the game progression is more straight to the end rather than WoW in which you can deviate a bit. So it would be hard to revamp 14s levelling. I suppose and I hate to say this because I hate boosts but at least £18.50 for a job boost is cheap. (Yes I know I sodding hate boosts but hell the value here is a lot better).

WoW definitely has the better levelling hands down. Because it offers a bit more freedom in where you level now as well. However both games levelling suck after doing it for the umpteenth time.

The combat definitely gets better once you start unlocking the job and it's abilities in my opinion.

The boost being lower priced is actually a deterrent for me, because it feels like that's why leveling is a trudge - so that you're goaded into buying a boost. At least with WoW's extreme price I'll never be swayed into buying one, regardless of how boring leveling can be.

[Eleccybubb]

The boost being lower priced is actually a deterrent for me, because it feels like that's why leveling is a trudge - so that you're goaded into buying a boost. At least with WoW's extreme price I'll never be swayed into buying one, regardless of how boring leveling can be.

Eh people buy it either way sadly. Blizzards deterrent is about as effective as a splash attack. But combined to be fair the full cost of an FF14 boost is £37 if you want to skip the story as well.

Personally in RPGs I don't think a "level boost" should exist at all and the developers should try to make the experience as engaging as possible.

I think the most fun I had doing it in a game recently was Guild Wars 2. You don't just do the hearts, you do events, vistas and other stuff. You get a good explore of the zone most of the time if you do it properly.

Honestly mate from the issues you listed I think FF14 just isn't your cup of tea. Which is ok of course. I will say don't try and force yourself to like it as well. If you don't like it then you don't like it and that's what matters.

[Onikaroshi]

Honestly the levelling in FF14 is absolutely droney. Imo both WoW and FF14 need a serious levelling revamp. The issue with doing it in 14 however is the game progression is more straight to the end rather than WoW in which you can deviate a bit. So it would be hard to revamp 14s levelling. I suppose and I hate to say this because I hate boosts but at least £18.50 for a job boost is cheap. (Yes I know I sodding hate boosts but hell the value here is a lot better).

WoW definitely has the better levelling hands down. Because it offers a bit more freedom in where you level now as well. However both games levelling suck after doing it for the umpteenth time.

The combat definitely gets better once you start unlocking the job and it's abilities in my opinion.

I really only find the 40s (when you hit silly walls constantly and have to farm dungeons or such) and post 50 bad with leveling in XIV.

Sure its more on rails, but I always feel more connected to the story while leveling, specially in HW and SB, WoW I just feel like it's chores.

Leveling alternate classes could use some help though, there's only so much PotD and HoH I can do before I claw my eyes out.

On a side note, I hope the fix the MSQ amounts even more in ShB, SB was good, but not perfect, I think I had to grind out 69.5 to 70.

[Segus1992]

Eh people buy it either way sadly. Blizzards deterrent is about as effective as a splash attack. But combined to be fair the full cost of an FF14 boost is £37 if you want to skip the story as well.

Personally in RPGs I don't think a "level boost" should exist at all and the developers should try to make the experience as engaging as possible.

I think the most fun I had doing it in a game recently was Guild Wars 2. You don't just do the hearts, you do events, vistas and other stuff. You get a good explore of the zone most of the time if you do it properly.

Honestly mate from the issues you listed I think FF14 just isn't your cup of tea. Which is ok of course. I will say don't try and force yourself to like it as well. If you don't like it then you don't like it and that's what matters.

I've felt the same way, but I keep getting interested in seeing what the fuss is about. It's a shame, I've long wanted WoW to have some competition, but for it to have competition I don't care about isn't as fun as I thought it'd be.

Maybe the expansion does something to make it better.

[Eleccybubb]

I've felt the same way, but I keep getting interested in seeing what the fuss is about. It's a shame, I've long wanted WoW to have some competition, but for it to have competition I don't care about isn't as fun as I thought it'd be.

Maybe the expansion does something to make it better.

Honestly we all like/dislike different things at the end of the day. WoW does have competition you are right. But it can't be helped if you don't find it fun. All you can do really in that case is either stick with WoW or try to find a game out there for you. (Hope you do find one)