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As it turns out, Final Fantasy XIV is fantastic

C

Carlisle

Member
I played XI for a couple years, but never reached endgame. I did a free week of WoW and it was alright. Played the PS2 EQ for a couple months, and eh...

But by golly FFXIV nails it. Fun all around. Fast-paced battles where you can spam your special moves in ways that make you feel intelligent, amazing music, sexy people everywhere. What more could you want? Oh yes, XP that's easy to come by, a party system that requires zero effort. Just fight a monster near where someone else is fighting and suddenly you're sharing XP! Brilliant! Level up like a madman and have fun and go on adventures. Best of all? The fairest death/weapon damage system ever. The bro who designed this was seriously on the ball. Even SmokyDave would approve.

I'm having a blast and I hate MMOs. I think I'll keep my sub going. It's too good. You're all missing out.

There's a more-than-likely possibility that this is a drunk thread. But I fell in love with XIV as a soberman and could only express it now. Please join us UnenlightenedGAF. Also buy Vitas and Wii Us.
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
The safest MMORPG ever designed, for sure. Probably a good idea since they wanted to attract people who don't typically play MMORPGs.

It sure is pretty, though. Great music and sound design, too.

Just so damn plain and uninspired as an MMORPG.
 
C

Carlisle

Member
Zefah said:
The safest MMORPG ever designed, for sure. Probably a good idea since they wanted to attract people who don't typically play MMORPGs.

It sure is pretty, though. Great music and sound design, too.

Just so damn plain and uninspired as an MMORPG.
Click to expand...
You think so? I mean, how would you improve? I was blown away by how it sort of did things that normal fun games did and the usual mmo didn't. Maybe that's safe, but for a mmo, it felt like that was unheard of. Or maybe I've been living under an mmo rock for too long.
 
H

Hibachi

Banned
I've never even tried a MMO before but I'm really tempted to give this game a shot. Mostly because I'm a huge FF fan. I think my worst fear is that I'll really like it and get sucked in. That's all I need, another monthly bill lol.
 
C

Carlisle

Member
Hibachi said:
I've never even tried a MMO before but I'm really tempted to give this game a shot. Mostly because I'm a huge FF fan. I think my worst fear is that I'll really like it and get sucked in. That's all I need, another monthly bill lol.
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In honesty, this was a fear of mine too. And now that I've played it makes me want to go back and finish XI as well as. This, which is terrible for my time, myself, and my lovely wife. But what can I say? It's a lot of fun and I love playing it. I just got 3D World, so I really wanna make progress there too, but I'm having such an unexpected blast with XIV :/

First world problems I guess.
 
C

Ceebs

Member
It's far too grindy for a modern MMO. Other than the main story quest your options are really either dungeons or farming FATEs for hours.
 
M

Malreyn

Member
I gave it a shot for 1 month in ARR, i told myself i'd stop after a month if non of my RL friends would commit, so i did, but i finished the main story quests and was not disappointed how the game turned out.

Its a very solid MMO, very similar to WoW back in the BC days. but because of the "play any class" aspect, you spend alot of your time grinding exp by doing Fates, which was actually faster than doing quests during peak hours.
 
S

Shamdeo

Member
They upped dungeon and battlecraft leve experience in the most recent patch, so if you get bored of FATEs there are worthy alternatives.
 
H

Hibachi

Banned
Carlisle said:
In honesty, this was a fear of mine too. And now that I've played it makes me want to go back and finish XI as well as. This, which is terrible for my time, myself, and my lovely wife. But what can I say? It's a lot of fun and I love playing it. I just got 3D World, so I really wanna make progress there too, but I'm having such an unexpected blast with XIV :/

First world problems I guess.
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I really know nothing about the game other than the troubled first version or whatever. Does it have any kind of ties to FF at all? I'm guessing some of the monsters, spells, etc. and whatnot are from FF lore?

Do you have to play in a party or can you lone wolf it? I don't have any friends that play MMO's so that was another thing that made me hold off.
 
C

Carlisle

Member
Hibachi said:
I really know nothing about the game other than the troubled first version or whatever. Does it have any kind of ties to FF at all? I'm guessing some of the monsters, spells, etc. and whatnot are from FF lore?

Do you have to play in a party or can you lone wolf it? I don't have any friends that play MMO's so that was another thing that made me hold off.
Click to expand...
You can totally lone wolf it and it's actually fun to do so. I'd read that XI was solo-able now, and I gave that a shot too but it was so slow. The battle system in FFXIV is a lot more... Involving I guess would be a good word. You're able to use your special attacks far more often and work them together into chains. And you feel great doing it.

As far as FF lore, I saw dudes traipsing around in magitek armor. If that doesn't do it for you, then you don't deserve XIV.
 
C

Carlisle

Member
Malreyn said:
I gave it a shot for 1 month in ARR, i told myself i'd stop after a month if non of my RL friends would commit, so i did, but i finished the main story quests and was not disappointed how the game turned out.

Its a very solid MMO, very similar to WoW back in the BC days. but because of the "play any class" aspect, you spend alot of your time grinding exp by doing Fates, which was actually faster than doing quests during peak hours.
Click to expand...
Shamdeo said:
I love the hell out of it.

Currently on Titan Extreme/Binding Coil Turn 5.
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YES! Heroes, both you! Great bunch of lads. For the most part anyway :)
 
A

akaoni

Banned
I got burned out leveling my other classes during FATEs while juggling IRL stuff. I couldn't commit to doing those for 40(?)~ hours for each other class. Can you level in PvP?
 
G

Grief.exe

Member
For those that are interested, there is a sub in the Steam Registry that gets updated on occasion. The store page is even updated with pictures.

Square is planning on bringing it to Steam eventually, just a question of when at this point.
 
S

Shamdeo

Member
Hibachi said:
I really know nothing about the game other than the troubled first version or whatever. Does it have any kind of ties to FF at all? I'm guessing some of the monsters, spells, etc. and whatnot are from FF lore?
Click to expand...

Yes, yes, and yes. It's very much a Final Fantasy-feeling game and it'll let you know that throughout the story in terms of the overall themes and the world itself.

The spells are Fire, Fire II, and Fire III (like pre-FF8) which idk if that turns you off it's kind of trivial. But all of the Final Fantasy "things" are treated quite well such as the summon pantheon, the jobs, and so on.

Hibachi said:
Do you have to play in a party or can you lone wolf it? I don't have any friends that play MMO's so that was another thing that made me hold off.
Click to expand...

You'll be able to solo aside from dungeons and trials interspersed throughout the plot, including the final two dungeons. These are required to progress the story. However a lot of people in our GAF "guild" have tried this as their first MMO and intended to solo whenever they could -- only to find that when they give party play a shot they prefer it. There are a lot of pitfalls like you or others making mistakes that result in failure, but it's something that you learn to get used to.

Despite it being a "MMO", it feels like one of the least cynical Final Fantasy games in ages. A lot of people say the game is "safe" in that it borrows a lot from other games -- that's true, but it makes it work for itself (and seeks to refine these systems) rather than just a copy/pasted effort.

That, and people are taking the game at "launch" value when through patches and expansions, the wonderfully solid base of the game they had can lead to more experimental gameplay. From what I've seen from the developers I'm sure they're keen to try.
 
F

Fjordson

Member
Zefah said:
The safest MMORPG ever designed, for sure. Probably a good idea since they wanted to attract people who don't typically play MMORPGs.

It sure is pretty, though. Great music and sound design, too.

Just so damn plain and uninspired as an MMORPG.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I kinda agree. Enjoyed my two months with it. My interest fell off after that, though, and I ended up back in WoW as usual.

May play some on PS4 since I think some friends are getting it on there, but we'll see.
 
O

Oyashrio-Sama

Member
Got it during the sale on PSN in December and loving it. Got into a really good Free company and am having a blast! Can't wait for the PS4 version.
 
S

serversurfer

Member
I used to love FFXI, but the gil-sellers, auction house cartels, and bots made me sad.

Have they fixed any or all of these things in FFXIV? Since it's available on PC, I guess they can't do much about the bots, but is the economy sound, at least?
 
SUPARSTARX

SUPARSTARX

Member
There is nothing innovative with ARR compared to WoW but I feel like the game is really good at a baseline. I renewed WoW for a month and I totally regret paying for it, this coming from someone that has actively played WoW from 2004 till the end of Cata.

ARR just needs some more content and quality of life changes and it's perfect for me until the next big MMORPG comes out.

It also helps that the games is real pretty.
 
L

Lesath

Member
Zefah said:
The safest MMORPG ever designed, for sure. Probably a good idea since they wanted to attract people who don't typically play MMORPGs.

It sure is pretty, though. Great music and sound design, too.

Just so damn plain and uninspired as an MMORPG.
Click to expand...

Agreed; it falls short as an MMO.

In terms of combat, the 2.5s global cooldown and the animation cap made for really, really slow encounters. The game, in general, also suffers from a ridiculous excess of "press X to buff Y for Z seconds by so-and-so percent" abilities. Moreover, their special brand of a debuff system is absolute tripe.

In terms of environments and exploration, FFXIV offered more or less the same three "types" (desert, forest, or coastal before you hit Ishgard). So in that front FFXIV can't compare to GW2, which offers great incentive to explore (jumping puzzles, viewpoints, treasure), and changes stuff up. Heck, even WoW has the good sense to drastically change the scenery every 10 levels at least, and they have at least made an effort to encourage exploration through lore objects and treasures.

And my biggest beef with FFXIV: you can't hit max level just progressing through the quest content. You have to "grind" FATEs eventually. One can argue that going through the same quests in multiple characters is its own sort of grind, but having experienced both, FATEs are much worse. What's more, even if you have only one job in mind, to maximize your character's capabilities, you NEED to level other jobs. And, once you've consumed what few quests there are, you are forced to do the same FATEs and hunting logs over and over again. There weren't even enough quests to carry my toon to the end-game, and I made certain to do every dungeon at least once when it came up.

If the game didn't have the Final Fantasy brand and aesthetic behind it, I would rank it lower than many "failed" MMOs (e.g. WAR, AoC, TOR).
 
H

Hibachi

Banned
Carlisle said:
You can totally lone wolf it and it's actually fun to do so. I'd read that XI was solo-able now, and I gave that a shot too but it was so slow. The battle system in FFXIV is a lot more... Involving I guess would be a good word. You're able to use your special attacks far more often and work them together into chains. And you feel great doing it.

As far as FF lore, I saw dudes traipsing around in magitek armor. If that doesn't do it for you, then you don't deserve XIV.
Click to expand...
Haha that's good enough for me! :D

Shamdeo said:
Yes, yes, and yes. It's very much a Final Fantasy-feeling game and it'll let you know that throughout the story in terms of the overall themes and the world itself.

*snip*
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Thanks for the reply. Sounds fun and I might give it a shot if you can still try it free for 30 days. I doubt I'll end up subscribing though because I work around 300+ days a year so I'm never home (my backlog is huge T_T ) but I'm definitely intrigued now.
 
M

Momentary

Banned
Grief.exe said:
For those that are interested, there is a sub in the Steam Registry that gets updated on occasion. The store page is even updated with pictures.

Square is planning on bringing it to Steam eventually, just a question of when at this point.
Click to expand...

I've got to stay away from this evil on Steam.
 
Joe T.

Joe T.

Member
FFXIV is indeed a great looking MMORPG, on PC anyway, and very accessible. I wasn't as impressed with its voice acting or music, but maybe I'm just hard to please after WoW's excellent OSTs.

I wouldn't mind seeing more nods to older FF games tossed into future updates. Riding around in magitek armor was pretty sweet.
 
F

Forkball

Member
I couldn't get into this game. It was too MMO-y. People say it does the typical MMORPG the best, but I want something new in MMORPGs these days and not just the same format.
 
K

Kalnos

Banned
Grief.exe said:
For those that are interested, there is a sub in the Steam Registry that gets updated on occasion. The store page is even updated with pictures.

Square is planning on bringing it to Steam eventually, just a question of when at this point.
Click to expand...

When subs start declining or they make the move to F2P, same as any MMO.
 
J

Jaxter09

Member
It is the first MMO I have ever played, I'm up to around level 18.

The first 10 hours or so was pretty much a constant fight with the UI, which is pretty cumbersome and confusing at first. The neverending stream of text tooltips only makes the learning process awkward and unintuitive. Things got a whole lot easier when I switched to KB/M though. I really like the combat and the fate system reinforces the fact that you're playing with other people.

The quests (so far) have been mind numbing though, there is basically one quest- keep your mind occupied while auto-running to the shiny dot on (one of the two) mini-map(s). Maybe it is to talk to someone, or to feed someones cat, maybe after you feed the cat an angry bug will emerge and sit there while you hack it to pieces. Quest Complete, repeat. I'm hoping they will get more engaging at higher levels. The combat is the best part about it at the moment, still not sure if I'm going to subscribe to it.
 
S

studyguy

Member
Join us in the general

It's been kicking with 2.1, lots of issues have been fixed and content has been fun.
PS4 beta comes in Feb and the patch 2.2 will probably hit soon after. Anyone who drops in at that point fresh will be in for a megaton of content from lots more endgame, PvP, housing, etc. Glad to see it's been doing well.

t5Y2iZd.jpg
 
V

Vyse The Legend

Member
serversurfer said:
I used to love FFXI, but the gil-sellers, auction house cartels, and bots made me sad.

Have they fixed any or all of these things in FFXIV? Since it's available on PC, I guess they can't do much about the bots, but is the economy sound, at least?
Click to expand...

Honestly, that's my one gripe with the game. Most rare loot is not sellable. Stuff that spiritbonds (equipment you actually use) to you is also not sellable. So, most of the market is just stuff you can find easily yourself. The only money making stuff is ingredients and materials for crafting.
 
D

Daouzin

Member
Same, I love the game. I don't play it obsessively, but roughly 20 hours a month. It's a hella fun game.

I'll never get people that say the game is 'uninspired,' maybe gameplay wise as I have zero MMO experience besides FFXI, but I couldn't get into WoW and other MMOs because aesthetically they come off as generic fantasy. When it comes to music, animations, and world settings, I haven't seen anything come close to XIV. I think Guild Wars 2 is the closest I've seen to being another MMO I'd consider playing.

I really want to play DQX though as it appears you can play that game entirely solo.
 
LowParry

LowParry

Member
I really enjoy it. In fact, I ended up subbing another 6 months. Yes, it is your standard safe MMO theme park but it does it right. It's not for everyone though. I get the hate people put on it but eh, it is what it is. MMOs in general have become stale. Hopefully this year we'll see some improvement with the MMO formula with upcoming games. But right now, loving FFXIV.
 
H

HarryDemeanor

Member
I enjoyed my time with it. I wasn't able to get to max level during the month I had due to real life stuff but it's a solid MMO. The FATE grinding got a little boring over time so I'm glad to hear they re-did the experience gains in other stuff.
 
D

DY_nasty

NeoGAF's official "was this shooting justified" consultant
studyguy said:
Join us in the general

It's been kicking with 2.1, lots of issues have been fixed and content has been fun.
PS4 beta comes in Feb and the patch 2.2 will probably hit soon after. Anyone who drops in at that point fresh will be in for a megaton of content from lots more endgame, PvP, housing, etc. Glad to see it's been doing well.

http://i.imgur.com/t5Y2iZd.jpg[IMG][/QUOTE]

Do you have a link to all the changes since release?

I loved the game and all, but coming out the same time as GTA5 just didn't allow me to invest all the time that I wanted to.
Click to expand...
 
H

HeelPower

Member
Hibachi said:
I've never even tried a MMO before but I'm really tempted to give this game a shot. Mostly because I'm a huge FF fan. I think my worst fear is that I'll really like it and get sucked in. That's all I need, another monthly bill lol.
Click to expand...

It feels like like a standard FF.If you liked FF buy this game and enjoy it.To me it feels like a very early early FF realized into the modern era.FF 1-3 I mean.
 
A

akaoni

Banned
HarryDemeanor said:
I enjoyed my time with it. I wasn't able to get to max level during the month I had due to real life stuff but it's a solid MMO. The FATE grinding got a little boring over time so I'm glad to hear they re-did the experience gains in other stuff.
Click to expand...

Need link.
 
S

Some Nobody

Junior Member
Zefah said:
The safest MMORPG ever designed, for sure. Probably a good idea since they wanted to attract people who don't typically play MMORPGs.

It sure is pretty, though. Great music and sound design, too.

Just so damn plain and uninspired as an MMORPG.
Click to expand...

Don't know or care what this means, but their plan clearly worked because I loved what I played. I mean, it's still an MMO with all the silly things that come with that, but I fucking loved playing it nonetheless. Soon as I have the cash I'm subscribing.
 
V

ViciousDS

Banned
restarted this weekend got a level 16 marauder and will do first dungeon runs tomorrow........however im not on any GAF servers...aw well.
 
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