What's so good about FFXIV?

[BrintoSFJ]

https://youtu.be/kwYKUx8PWgo?t=63
Good luck playing that with a 1 second GCD. It would be like 200 APM, literally unplayable.

This is another example of bad combat design. It is also the reason why I don't even want to go to higher levels. As many people have said, "after X or Y level you get flooded with so many abilities" and so on. Why? Why continue on with this archaic game design? Look how many actual abilities this guy used and how many abilities he has on his hotbars and how many of them are on gcd. Look at how the combat slows down to a near halt within 10 seconds of beginning. We can literally see how crazily he is tapping those buttons on impulse, it is as if he wanted to make the abilities faster with those button smashes. It makes me feel like the gcd exists to make us look at the animation of later abilities.

[dlld]

If food tastes bad, do you continue to eat it hoping that it might taste better later? If a movie is bad at the first 20 minutes, do you continue for the next 60 minutes? It is the same here. Why should I slog through for hours to "get to the good parts"? How is this a good combat design?

And I already wrote how it could feel better for me.

The food analogy doesn't work, but the movie one is alright. If i browse netflix and see some no name movie i never heard about and I watch it for 10min and think it's boring as hell, I won't continue to watch. If multiple friends tell me the start of a movie is a bit slow but it will turn into a masterpiece halfway through, I probably will.

[Orby]

FFXIV is a single player RPG with MMO features. Where as WoW is an MMO with RPG features. Also people tend to think FFXIV is better than WoW and I do see that in some of the aspects. the story is more fluid and the narrative is better designed. That progress through the game is so much smoother than WoW where as WoW feels disjoined. I still prefer the playstyle of WoW though mostly in combat and movement, but maybe thats because I been playing WoW for so long lol. But if you love lore in MMO's FFXIV does lore in MMO's well. Not saying it good lore in general but as far as telling it coherently FFXIV does it better.

The only thing I tend to disagree on with the community is the music. I love WoW's music. Maybe I am more of a sucker for ambient over the epic score and emo radio jams of FFXIV, but WoW's music tends to really gel well with me. But I do like FFXIV's music direction, for example boss battle music and mount music is something WoW doesn't have and am shocked they never added over time.

[Echo of Soul]

11. Graphic is not cartoon. Enough to handle for MMO across PC and PS.

11.5. Only one furry race compared to WoW's four furry races

[Delever]

One thing to people that are enjoying the game.
Do not belittle the negative experiences of new comers just because we were able to push through them.
The fact that the early game experience is not good is indeed a valid concern. A lot of people will not stick to a game if it doesn't grab them and considering the story also takes some time to pick up its not a very engaging first experience for a lot of people.
Small steps have been taken over the course of the expansions to make the early gameplay better but there is more work to be done.
The only complaint about the gameplay which I find invalid is the Gcd. The gcd is intentionally like this due to the way that fights are designed in the late game and because of gcd weaving. I am not saying you re not allowed to dislike this and if you do then maybe this is not the game for you but a lot of people, myself included enjoy this type of gameplay more than the rapid button mashing in wow.
It's a more proactive playstyle rather than a reactive one and that is totally OK since people that like that can choose to play XIV and people that like a faster, more reactive playstyle with less cryptic but equally challenging fight mechanics can play WoW. Isn't it nice to have choices instead of making every game the same?

[Absintheminded]

Seriously, anybody complaining about the 2-2.4s GCD (depends on job), most likely hasn't leveled up enough to even see a fully realized rotation. Every job I've tried has several off-GCD abilities that get weaved into the rotation, effectively cutting the number in half. Sure, it's slow to begin with, but it wouldn't be very good design if you were threw into a game at level 1 with a full rotation and constant button mashing. Players learning would be completely overwhelmed.

[Wramp]

i dont know, im sure there are several things about the game some folks will like...i just completed my 2 "try" at the game, as alot of my former WoW guild plays it, but i just cant get into it. i really really tried this time, but no.

[BrintoSFJ]

The food analogy doesn't work, but the movie one is alright. If i browse netflix and see some no name movie i never heard about and I watch it for 10min and think it's boring as hell, I won't continue to watch. If multiple friends tell me the start of a movie is a bit slow but it will turn into a masterpiece halfway through, I probably will.

The thing with FF14 combat is, it is just like what adults tell children, "You have to study hard to have your own house and tv when you are older!". We are older, have our house, own tv and stuff but we are stuck with student loan debt, mortgage and other shit. It never gets better, it looks better for a while but then you realize that you are still living the same old life. That is FF14 combat for you. It looks cool and better on the surface as you go to higher level but it is still the same if you actually look at it properly. The flashy animation and effects keep us occupied and we don't realize that we are still going through the slogfest.

I did a lot of research before I started playing, the game is already several years old, many mmo came out later than FF14 and already died but it is still here. There is no shortage of content creators for this game and more than enough resources too. I knew what I was getting into but it hit me harder than I thought it would be because the combat felt even slower than those youtube videos. I wanted to give it fair amount of time but could not and stopped playing completely. Just returned because of all Blizzard nonsense and just going through crafting and gathering. The combat really doesn't suit me.

On the other hand, the game runs smooth in my potato pc. I get constant 40+ fps in 720p with several details in high, which more than I can say for WoW. The cpu and gpu usage is also very nice, my pc don't heat up as much as it does during WoW or many other games. I really hope that they do something with the combat. It is not about the number of abilities, it is about the extremely slow pace.

[ippollite]

Heres what they can do: 30 levels on rogue with 2 buttons is over long. Well, three. But its still too long. I know you get flooded with mudra between 30-40, and a lot of stuff depends on this, but theres a few more class (not job) skills that could be baked into early gameplay. Once you move to ninja, sure then we focus on mudra combos.

The thing is, i understand they know this is an issue and they intend to fix it. But the sudden explosion of players probably caught them off guard. By my understanding, post endwalker is when they planned to address the bulk of clunky systems. I really dont think theyll change their plans to be honest. Its not like they can do it now... or even 6.1 when the new story begins. Not sure what they can honestly do here? They know its an issue for new players, but they know its not completely game/immersion breaking. So its not realistically a priority.

But it does need fixed. And im sure it will be, but not until 7.0 (or maybe a 6.55ish feeler test).

[Tyrick]

The thing with FF14 combat is, it is just like what adults tell children, "You have to study hard to have your own house and tv when you are older!". We are older, have our house, own tv and stuff but we are stuck with student loan debt, mortgage and other shit. It never gets better, it looks better for a while but then you realize that you are still living the same old life. That is FF14 combat for you. It looks cool and better on the surface as you go to higher level but it is still the same if you actually look at it properly. The flashy animation and effects keep us occupied and we don't realize that we are still going through the slogfest.

I did a lot of research before I started playing, the game is already several years old, many mmo came out later than FF14 and already died but it is still here. There is no shortage of content creators for this game and more than enough resources too. I knew what I was getting into but it hit me harder than I thought it would be because the combat felt even slower than those youtube videos. I wanted to give it fair amount of time but could not and stopped playing completely. Just returned because of all Blizzard nonsense and just going through crafting and gathering. The combat really doesn't suit me.

On the other hand, the game runs smooth in my potato pc. I get constant 40+ fps in 720p with several details in high, which more than I can say for WoW. The cpu and gpu usage is also very nice, my pc don't heat up as much as it does during WoW or many other games. I really hope that they do something with the combat. It is not about the number of abilities, it is about the extremely slow pace.

You can say anything you want but not too many people going to take you seriously, you already stated that your highest level character is level 30.
I was playing WoW for 16 years, and not the starter edition, I actually did high-end content and after that I said what I think of the game.
I didn't go to the official forums to say how bad the trial edition is because I only had 2 spells + auto attack and one buff.

You keep saying how bad the combat is, but you never actually tried it. Yeah, you disliked the first 20 levels really much, okay. I hated the level 20 trial version for WoW too but I still ended up playing it for all that years.
Just accept that the game is not for you, move on.

[starstationprofm]

Yeah they don't compare to WoW's because they are on a completely different level than anything wow has.

Yeah, a worse level.

Also I can't believe WoW devs get called lazy when in FF you portal straight to the boss and there's no trash or meaning to the 'raid'.

[NineSpine]

Yeah, a worse level.

Also I can't believe WoW devs get called lazy when in FF you portal straight to the boss and there's no trash or meaning to the 'raid'.

You think trash is what makes raids interesting?

[dlld]

You think trash is what makes raids interesting?

It adds to the scale of things, just like flying 5 circles around a zone before actually landing with a flight point.

[NineSpine]

If food tastes bad, do you continue to eat it hoping that it might taste better later? If a movie is bad at the first 20 minutes, do you continue for the next 60 minutes? It is the same here. Why should I slog through for hours to "get to the good parts"? How is this a good combat design?

And I already wrote how it could feel better for me.

When I was an immature, spoiled child, I absolutely would stop eating food if it didn't taste amazing right away. This led to me being in my 20s and eating like a 10 year old. Eventually, I grew up and realized that if I made a good faith effort to work past my initial response and actually TRY to like things, more often than not I ended up liking them.

If I turned off every movie with a boring first act, I absolutely never would have watched some of the great films of all time like The Thing, Audition, Dr. Strangelove, or Vertigo.

You've inadvertently endorsed a childish attitude towards new experiences.

[Xilurm]

It's like a anti-WoW honeymoon phase. FF isn't actually good when it comes to gameplay, UI, overall aesthetic unless you're into a typical looking asian MMO and are perhaps a weeb.
Big streamers are the only reason FF has a lot more players right now but it will die down when they find an actual good alternative to WoW.

Said like someone who hasn't played the game. Very nice.

[CalamityHeart]

You can say anything you want but not too many people going to take you seriously, you already stated that your highest level character is level 30.
I was playing WoW for 16 years, and not the starter edition, I actually did high-end content and after that I said what I think of the game.
I didn't go to the official forums to say how bad the trial edition is because I only had 2 spells + auto attack and one buff.

You keep saying how bad the combat is, but you never actually tried it. Yeah, you disliked the first 20 levels really much, okay. I hated the level 20 trial version for WoW too but I still ended up playing it for all that years.
Just accept that the game is not for you, move on.

Here's the thing. "You didn't stick around long enough to flesh out your kit," doesn't really work too well as an argument, and belittling someone for trying the game and not liking the early game doesn't really help the argument you're trying to make. The early game is the game. The entire rest of the gameplay builds upon that foundation. If a gameplay-oriented player doesn't like the foundation, then them stopping before they get past the early game is not unreasonable. Huffing at them and refusing to take them seriously because of that is just a shitty look, nothing more. You don't have to have played the entire game to the endgame to form an opinion on it, and level 30 on multiple classes is MORE than enough time spent in the early game to form a reasonable take on the gameplay loop as a whole. Saying that they haven't tried it is just plain dishonest.

And speaking as someone getting deep into endgame with multiple classes at 80 who absolutely loves this game, I can also see pretty clearly how the slower pace of the game can be a tough pill to swallow for players who are used to a game being fast and responsive enough to feel like it can move to their rhythm, rather than being forced to move at the game's rhythm. Even at max level with a fully fleshed out kit, it's faster, yes, but the overall pace is still slow in ways that will create noticeable jank and delay if your own rhythm of playing and pressing buttons is at all faster that what the game demands it to be. And from the perspective of someone who's been used to WoW for years and is trying FFXIV, you absolutely will stumble upon that odd delay and will be forced to adjust yourself, because WoW is a faster game. That's not a crack at FFXIV, nor is there any derision intent in the comparison between the two games. It just is what it is.

So when someone from WoW says that they can't get into FFXIV because the combat is a slow and unresponsive slogfest? I get it. I like the gameplay anyway, personally, but I absolutely get where they're coming from. And I feel like anyone who's played both games should get it too, on some level or another. FFXIV is slower, and that's a perfectly valid dealbreaker.

[Tyrick]

<snip> Saying that they haven't tried it is just plain dishonest.

So if I go now and download The Elder Scrolls Online or Guild Wars 2 and I level up a character to like level 20 or something (I'm not sure what the max level is in those games, but we are talking about like 25% of the max level.) I can argue with people who played it for years and they do the hardest available content in the game.
But will they listen to me and understand me?
Or they are most likely just ignore me because I haven't even touched the game?

[NineSpine]

Here's the thing. "You didn't stick around long enough to flesh out your kit," doesn't really work too well as an argument, and belittling someone for trying the game and not liking the early game doesn't really help the argument you're trying to make. The early game is the game. The entire rest of the gameplay builds upon that foundation. If a gameplay-oriented player doesn't like the foundation, then them stopping before they get past the early game is not unreasonable. Huffing at them and refusing to take them seriously because of that is just a shitty look, nothing more. You don't have to have played the entire game to the endgame to form an opinion on it, and level 30 on multiple classes is MORE than enough time spent in the early game to form a reasonable take on the gameplay loop as a whole. Saying that they haven't tried it is just plain dishonest.

To come into a type of game, like an MMO, that is expected to be playing for hundreds of hours and complain that the classes didn't feel fully developed at a level that takes roughly 3 hours to get to is simply unreasonable.

Let me provide a comparison. Let's say someone declares they want to get into hiking, so they go on one 3 hour hike and then decide hiking isn't for them. Would we say they really made a good effort to get into hiking? Probably not. Do you know what we certainly wouldn't say? Oh, well after your 3 hour hike you are now justified in going on hiking forums and pissing and moaning about how much hiking sucks.

And speaking as someone getting deep into endgame with multiple classes at 80 who absolutely loves this game, I can also see pretty clearly how the slower pace of the game can be a tough pill to swallow for players who are used to a game being fast and responsive enough to feel like it can move to their rhythm, rather than being forced to move at the game's rhythm. Even at max level with a fully fleshed out kit, it's faster, yes, but the overall pace is still slow in ways that will create noticeable jank and delay if your own rhythm of playing and pressing buttons is at all faster that what the game demands it to be. And from the perspective of someone who's been used to WoW for years and is trying FFXIV, you absolutely will stumble upon that odd delay and will be forced to adjust yourself, because WoW is a faster game. That's not a crack at FFXIV, nor is there any derision intent in the comparison between the two games. It just is what it is.

Yeah, but that's not what the poster in question is doing. You are providing a reasoned, nuanced comparison based on a substantive level of personal experience. He is not.

So when someone from WoW says that they can't get into FFXIV because the combat is a slow and unresponsive slogfest? I get it. I like the gameplay anyway, personally, but I absolutely get where they're coming from. And I feel like anyone who's played both games should get it too, on some level or another. FFXIV is slower, and that's a perfectly valid dealbreaker.

It's not about anything being a personal dealbreaker. It's about where someone gets the authority to come on forums and start whining.

[crusadernero]

Why is everyone migrating to this game now? what makes it so good?

Nothing much really, except from probably the story(its quite good, but takes time to go through). Its not like FFXIV is new or anything, it probably got popular now cause its there and available to play. wow is in a deep pit right now and aint popular for several reasons and FFXIV is one of very few MMORPGs that fits the "masses" of the playerbase.

Just look what happend when New World beta launched. Suddenly everyone was playing that game and when it do launches 30 august, expect alot more people playing that instead of FFXIV/wow.

People are desperate for two things:
1. That wow is returning back to a great game again.
2. That a new MMORPG launches that sweeps them away like wow once did.

FFXIV is the best band aid at the moment for the MMORPG hungry masses. Soon enough it wont be.

- - - Updated - - -

One thing to people that are enjoying the game.
Do not belittle the negative experiences of new comers just because we were able to push through them.
The fact that the early game experience is not good is indeed a valid concern. A lot of people will not stick to a game if it doesn't grab them and considering the story also takes some time to pick up its not a very engaging first experience for a lot of people.
Small steps have been taken over the course of the expansions to make the early gameplay better but there is more work to be done.
The only complaint about the gameplay which I find invalid is the Gcd. The gcd is intentionally like this due to the way that fights are designed in the late game and because of gcd weaving. I am not saying you re not allowed to dislike this and if you do then maybe this is not the game for you but a lot of people, myself included enjoy this type of gameplay more than the rapid button mashing in wow.
It's a more proactive playstyle rather than a reactive one and that is totally OK since people that like that can choose to play XIV and people that like a faster, more reactive playstyle with less cryptic but equally challenging fight mechanics can play WoW. Isn't it nice to have choices instead of making every game the same?

Im one of those that called it quits early on. I knew than and know now that its worth going through, or atleast thats what I hear and read everywhere. But I just can bother slogging through content I find rather tedious and boring with gameplay I dont enjoy. Rather spend my time elsewhere. But - each to theyre own!

Im also eager for a new MMORPG besides wow, ideally something that replaces wow 100%. But its not this game and by the looks of it no other MMORPG coming the next year(s).

[Echo of Soul]

Im also eager for a new MMORPG besides wow, ideally something that replaces wow 100%.

That's probably never going to happen. No game is ever going to be WoW but not WoW, you either accept that other games do things differently or stick with the one you have.