[Megathread] Final Fantasy XIV

[Faroth]

Started replaying this weekend and while I am immensely enjoying the game (everything seems more organic and imaginative) I have a few criticisms of the first 25 levels.

1) The Lalafell. I don't mind the race itself. But having a Lalafell in an emotional or serious cutscene just kills the gravitas of the moment. And it's not just one or two characters. Every single one is a arm waving two year old.

2) The loooooooong back and forth main quest line between the ceremony to remember the fallen to the introduction of the Grand Companies. Go to each of the three nation states (first time is free airship ride), then back and forth to the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, then back again to all three nation states to do the three introductory dungeons, then back to the Scions, the AGAIN to all three nation states for the ceremony. Either you suck it up and run for an hour or poney up the airship/ferry/teleport fee each time. I hope the main story quest coalesces back into a more localized area after this but not holding my breath. Thankfully, at the end of that you get a mount which helps

It will coalesce more into a straightforward "Story takes place in area and you do stuff in that area/that area's city state until moving on" but there will always be the occasionally annoying return to the Scions headquarters.

Little tip for that: Register Limsa Lominsa as a favorite destination. Teleport to Limsa, use Aetheryte to the Arcanist training location, and ride the ferry over. I used to teleport into the zone and ride my mount to Scions before I realized this is actually faster.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

1) The Lalafell. I don't mind the race itself. But having a Lalafell in an emotional or serious cutscene just kills the gravitas of the moment. And it's not just one or two characters. Every single one is a arm waving two year old.

I'd think people would take them more seriously if the dub didn't give them squeaky voices.

(removed)

2) The loooooooong back and forth main quest line between the ceremony to remember the fallen to the introduction of the Grand Companies. Go to each of the three nation states (first time is free airship ride), then back and forth to the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, then back again to all three nation states to do the three introductory dungeons, then back to the Scions, the AGAIN to all three nation states for the ceremony. Either you suck it up and run for an hour or poney up the airship/ferry/teleport fee each time. I hope the main story quest coalesces back into a more localized area after this but not holding my breath. Thankfully, at the end of that you get a mount which helps

Yes, the slog is inexcusably bad but please stick with it. There are high moments within the ARR story (any story that takes place within Coerthas is good, the Ul'dah story is also very interesting) and it gets better as you go on. By 2.3 is starts getting into gear.

[Aruhen]

This is the first time I'm not a huge fan of almost every raid set. The caster set is the only one I'd think about using. Aiming is okay.

[Redwyrm]

I'd think people would take them more seriously if the dub didn't give them squeaky voices.

(removed)



Yes, the slog is inexcusably bad but please stick with it. There are high moments within the ARR story (any story that takes place within Coerthas is good, the Ul'dah story is also very interesting) and it gets better as you go on. By 2.3 is starts getting into gear.

I'm definitely going to continue playing. I've been looking to keep me occupied in my free time and a main game plus three expansions worth of content/excellent story will fill that void nicely. My complaints are really minor compared to the positives.

I have been really enjoying the aesthetic and design that has been put into the game. The mobs are imaginative and well animated. They aren't just stock enemies just walking around. The armor is a welcome change from the WoW philosophy. Robes and hats etc. make me feel like I'm playing a magic/cloth class again.

I have heard a lot of good things about the Hildibrand quest line. Is that part of the MSQ or a side quest. If it's a side quest I want to make sure I don't miss it (location, level, lead in quests?)

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Hildibrand is a storyline disconnected from the MSQ. You just have to beat the 2.0 MSQ and then go to Ul'dah (Steps of Nald) and pick up the quest "The Rise and Fall of Gentlemen".

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The mobs are imaginative and well animated.

That's one thing I love about JRPGs; the monsters aren't just wolves or bears or dragons; they have very unique designs and it makes their worlds more memorable.

[StrawberryZebra]

Eh, I actually find them to be the biggest detractor from group gameplay TBH, but that's just my epeen speaking most likely. I hate relying on other people to do more damage. I'm already annoyed at the nerf to tank DPS. I do roughly 50% of a good DPS's damage whereas in SB I did roughly 75-80%. PLD definitely has busted AOE though.

I wouldn't disagree with you there, however they're one of the the few things in the entire game that require coordination across your group. In that respect, they do add more to group play than any other mechanic barring positional attacks.

It sucks that a lot of your potential damage is tied up in other people being able to play correctly, I'll agree. But without them you end up with the situation where you're just doing your rotation in a vaccum while other players around you do theirs.

In an ideal world, being grouped up with other players should have a multiplicative effect. Where you feel powerful alone, but with friends, you're all a lot stronger together than you would be individually. The issue I have is to the delivery method of it, where it's all crammed into a 20 second window where you blow everything and go balls to the walls. And that's fun, but it's not really conducive to a version of the game where Jobs can stand on their own merits as well.

[Wrecktangle]

Do you agree that Holy is the prettiest spell in the game?

No. It's top 5 probably for sure. I think VerHoly is prettier.

But #1 is Confiteor. Without a doubt.

I swear, one of these days I'm giving a tank a seizure spamming that. :X

Any respectable tank plays on limited. At least I do LOL.

I wouldn't disagree with you there, however they're one of the the few things in the entire game that require coordination across your group. In that respect, they do add more to group play than any other mechanic barring positional attacks.

It sucks that a lot of your potential damage is tied up in other people being able to play correctly, I'll agree. But without them you end up with the situation where you're just doing your rotation in a vaccum while other players around you do theirs.

In an ideal world, being grouped up with other players should have a multiplicative effect. Where you feel powerful alone, but with friends, you're all a lot stronger together than you would be individually. The issue I have is to the delivery method of it, where it's all crammed into a 20 second window where you blow everything and go balls to the walls. And that's fun, but it's not really conducive to a version of the game where Jobs can stand on their own merits as well.

For sure, I just don't think it adds anything good, or that the little good it does add, doesn't outweigh the bad. I would much rather prefer making encounters and jobs more dynamic (less strict, rigid, etc.) and then remove the synergy.

I mean how would you get around the burst window/multiplicative function? I can't see any reasonable way around it that makes sense or feels good from a gameplay perspective, but perhaps I'm not looking at it in a meaningful way?

[RohanV]

2) The loooooooong back and forth main quest line between the ceremony to remember the fallen to the introduction of the Grand Companies. Go to each of the three nation states (first time is free airship ride), then back and forth to the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, then back again to all three nation states to do the three introductory dungeons, then back to the Scions, the AGAIN to all three nation states for the ceremony. Either you suck it up and run for an hour or poney up the airship/ferry/teleport fee each time. I hope the main story quest coalesces back into a more localized area after this but not holding my breath. Thankfully, at the end of that you get a mount which helps

Just teleport everywhere. The teleport fee is tiny compared to how much money you get.

[Granyala]

Any respectable tank plays on limited. At least I do LOL.

Yeah as nice as the spell FX are, I see no way to keep them on. They are too aggressive.
Oftentimes I can't even see the smaller bosses at all.

[Poppincaps]

Crazy fun raid although this is the first tier that I have done whilst current and I was surprised at the lack of wipes in Normal. I cleared all of the fights in 3 attempts or less in a pug group that didn't even have guides as I did 3/4 fights at 6 A.M. (because I was up for god knows what reason). Also having 4 bosses per tier seems like very little considering it seems like they're easier than WoW bosses if Normal FFXIV = Heroic WoW and Savage FFXIV = Mythic WoW.


The music and overall encounters were crazy though.

[Wyrt]

So, this is my first start of an expansion, when does the second type of Tomestone get added to the daily queues? Stormblood had Mendacity and Genesis(and others earlier in the expansion). I was thinking it'd pop up with the first raid, but seems not. Is it when the savage raid is released?

[RohanV]

So, this is my first start of an expansion, when does the second type of Tomestone get added to the daily queues? Stormblood had Mendacity and Genesis(and others earlier in the expansion). I was thinking it'd pop up with the first raid, but seems not. Is it when the savage raid is released?

I think so. 5.05 is the target patch, I believe.

[Aruhen]

It'll come out with savage in two weeks.

[dope_danny]

So, this is my first start of an expansion, when does the second type of Tomestone get added to the daily queues? Stormblood had Mendacity and Genesis(and others earlier in the expansion). I was thinking it'd pop up with the first raid, but seems not. Is it when the savage raid is released?

phantasmagoria comes with the new tier of gear that replaces Goetia if memory serves. Its 425ilvl for Eden Normal so it should be around August 2nd when Fanta tomes hit with the next gear upgrade after Savage progression starts to even out.

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Took some friends through the Binding Coil of Bahamut as thats piss easy as a lvl.80 RDM unsynched and its a real shame so many people know about the Answers video but not the Flames of Truth extended version they released after people beat Coil that shows what actually happened to Louisoix. It seems like more players know about Hildebrands Zombie Gentlemen stuff from the same time for example and thats a real shame.

[TriHard]

[IMG][/IMG]

tfw you finally spot a Miqo'te again in the wild.

Lmfao that face

[blackpink]

Eh, I actually find them to be the biggest detractor from group gameplay TBH, but that's just my epeen speaking most likely. I hate relying on other people to do more damage. I'm already annoyed at the nerf to tank DPS. I do roughly 50% of a good DPS's damage whereas in SB I did roughly 75-80%. PLD definitely has busted AOE though.

I hate relying on other people to make my parses better. It's really bad design tbh.

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I wouldn't disagree with you there, however they're one of the the few things in the entire game that require coordination across your group. In that respect, they do add more to group play than any other mechanic barring positional attacks.

It sucks that a lot of your potential damage is tied up in other people being able to play correctly, I'll agree. But without them you end up with the situation where you're just doing your rotation in a vaccum while other players around you do theirs.

In an ideal world, being grouped up with other players should have a multiplicative effect. Where you feel powerful alone, but with friends, you're all a lot stronger together than you would be individually. The issue I have is to the delivery method of it, where it's all crammed into a 20 second window where you blow everything and go balls to the walls. And that's fun, but it's not really conducive to a version of the game where Jobs can stand on their own merits as well.

Yea coordinate with your group when you even have a comp with buffs to begin with. Outside of hardcore groups, no one cares about it and groups have samurais and black mages all the time =/ I've also never been in a group with a ninja, only like once.

[Advent]

Yeah, I'm not a fan of Eden so far. Boss 1 was cool, but 2 was a confusing cluserf@#$. After the third wipe I had to stop doing dps just to try and figure out what was going on and I still didn't get it. I certainly had fun explaining to my group why I wasn't using all my abilities Boss 3 was just dull, and boss 4 made me want to cut my own wrists. I haven't been this aggravated since Alexander back in Heavensward.

[Aruhen]

I already like the raid a lot more than first tier of Omega. Story is much more interesting too and non of those solo duties to deal with. Fights are really interesting too.

[Wrecktangle]

Also having 4 bosses per tier seems like very little considering it seems like they're easier than WoW bosses if Normal FFXIV = Heroic WoW and Savage FFXIV = Mythic WoW.

Normal FF14 is on par with normal in WoW, not heroic. Savage gets a little trickier to pin 1:1, but generally it's like the first 2 bosses are like heroic mode mid to end bosses and the last 2 are like mid tier mythic. Ultimate fights are probably harder (if you're doing genuine blind cutting edge progression) than some mythic end fights, but if you're doing it with a video they're easier.

Maybe I'm oversimplifying it in my mind, but I feel like the system of buffs and "damage utility" just makes every class' gamplay, team coordination, and encounter boil down to, "Everyone line up your cooldowns and we'll do a ton of DPS."

There seems to be very little utility that's valued (or that exists!) other than damage and not much to pay attention to for each individual's gameplay other than lining up those cooldowns. Well, that and the occasional raid shield to survive the inevitable raid-buster that has to be in every fight.

It's one thing to have Bloodlust exist and everyone make sure that their major CD's are up for it, but XIV goes way beyond that. Even class tweaks seem happen with the intent of, "Making it easier to line up cooldowns" sometimes.

I suppose it's only natural in a game that seems to be all about "MORE DPS!!!" at all times. Still, it starts to make everything from Job gameplay to encounter design start to feel a bit "samey".

I'm actually not a huge fan of bloodlust/heroism either, but I tolerate it. Kind of like the LB system in FF14. I am not a fan of it's implementation, but I tolerate it because functionally it is valuable and useful.

This all circles back though to my points on encounter/systems design. If you design your combat engine around the bare minimum requirement (HPS > x, DPS > X, then you end up with binary toolkits and encounter design. It sucks and I had HOPED the interrupt system would be more valuable, but it's not. 75% of the new content doesn't even have a situation to use it, or the stakes are so low it doesn't even inconvenience you if you make a mistake, let alone threaten you. I'm hoping Savage changes that, but I don't have my hopes up.

If it were up to me, I'd probably go back to role roots and identify core design responsibilities and toolkits. Something like healers having meaningful external cooldowns, tanks having more involving gameplay, more organic damage mitigation (make tank swaps more frequent based on available cooldowns, not hard timeline defined), DPS having CC. But even then without a corresponding shift in encounter design all these changes would be useless. You'd need a reason to CC a boss or adds. You'd need to ramp up incoming damage, which then has its own consequences of how to design healing to sustain it without feeling spammy.

I hate relying on other people to make my parses better. It's really bad design tbh.

It's tough, because I do believe that a group should be > than the sum of its parts, but I don't think shared DPS utility is the way to go IMO just because the downsides are annoying and not generally that much fun from a gameplay perspective; let alone from the societal impacts.

I already like the raid a lot more than first tier of Omega. Story is much more interesting too and non of those solo duties to deal with. Fights are really interesting too.

I actually like the idea of the 3rd and 4th fights, only because the older ones haven't aged all that well and were by and far some of the best fights I've ever played (at the time) in my entire MMO career. Maybe it's nostalgia? I don't know, but there's something about them so seeing re-imaginings of them is a positive thing in my mind even if I think their models are cabbage.

I actually thought Halicarnassus in savage was one of the best designed fights in a long time, same with exdeath (neo, not as much).

[Aruhen]

I actually like the idea of the 3rd and 4th fights, only because the older ones haven't aged all that well and were by and far some of the best fights I've ever played (at the time) in my entire MMO career. Maybe it's nostalgia? I don't know, but there's something about them so seeing re-imaginings of them is a positive thing in my mind even if I think their models are cabbage.

I actually thought Halicarnassus in savage was one of the best designed fights in a long time, same with exdeath (neo, not as much).

All I know is I'm not looking forward to the 4th boss on savage for my BLM. I think I'll finish leveling up my BRD or MCH for savage...

For future bosses Garuda and Ifrit are probably all but certain that they'll happen but I'd really love Ramuh. Shiva would be a freaking emotional rollercoaster so I'm not sure how I'd feel about that one.