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Is FFXIV still "free-to-play-for-now" ?
TheMinn
Member Posts: 397
I am thinking about picking up FFXIV to give it a chance because I heard that, for now, it is free to play until the devs say it is ready to charge. Is this true? If so I am planning to purchase it. Please let me know. thank you.
Comments
It's true, but theres no timeline on how long it will stay that way.
Playing - EVE, Wurm
Retired - Final Fantasy XI, Anarchy Online, Mabinogi
Waiting - ArcheAge, Salem
I'd expect at least 6-8 months of free-time yet, especially after the latest player poll and this question:
Would you welcome changes to FINAL FANTASY XIV that would drastically alter the rules already set in Eorzea?
And from a public polling of this same question where we can see the results, its getting a resounding yes response, so I wouldn't doubt the official one is recieving the same responses. I'd expect XIV to get a total conversion and rebuild this year, with the launch of the PS3 version either in Sept or Nov, and until then the PC ver should be free.
ya through feedback i think 5+ months though 3 would suffice. 30 bucks for 3 months, im cool. but it'll probably be more so its worth it, regardless. was going to do RIFT but the 'kill x rats' is getting to me. even though 14 is broken it is more open-ended and will suffice for me, for now.
You do realize that 14 is packed with these types of quests. Kill X rats, now kill X sheep, now kill X super rats, now kill X different colored sheep.
I hope you also realize [TheMinn] that once you are out of the Rift tutorial area the only quests you would HAVE to do would be to gain more souls. All of the other quests are completely optional depending on how you want to play the game. Leveling through PvP + Rifts + Dungeons + mob grinding is just as viable as doing the quests.
You also get better gear for doing Rifts or Dungeons than you do through the quest lines.
Just because the quests are time-limited, not readily apparent (no icons over NPCs heads), and short does not make FFXIV any more open ended than Rift. Actually you get quite a nice XP boost for having a full group in Rift and rift hunting and doing dungeons is actually very enjoyable.
That's way more than I can say for the time I spent in FFXIV.
"There is as yet insufficient data for a meaningful answer."
Which are also totally optional and not required to progress like so many other MMOs. The guildleves that offer this style of combat ~ unless you use your guardians favor ~ don't reward a ton more SP than just fighting random mobs. Plus you can only do 8 of these leves per 36hrs, and behests once every hr at each Aetheryte camp.
One doesn't thrive and advance through the game by clicking on ! & ? over and over and over again, and thats all you do, like nearly all other MMOs. There are no ! & ? in XIV. And once you're done with your leves or skip them entirely, you can go anywhere you want and fight whatever enemies in any order you please. Plus upoin completing a leve you don't have to return to any NPC to complete it, you finish it where you killed the final mob of said leve, and then have the option to teleport back to the aetheryte you started from or continue on.
................
I could not have said it better myself. Thank you for clarifying this to a person that, clearly, does not know what type of MMO FFXIV is.
I've been in every beta for RIFT and I am going to pass. I played enough to know it is not for me.
Fair enough, I've just noticed a lot of people who have participated in the beta events for Rift are under the false assumption that questing is the best or only way to level in the game.
"There is as yet insufficient data for a meaningful answer."
Yeah I've been in the Rift beta 3 and 4 now, and I dunno why, but I was trying to convince myself to buy it because it was the latest shiney, but after awhile it dawned on me thats its nothing great. I knew it was going to be the same ole crap again, but they didn't even try to make it engaging, even the rifts & invasions are boring. I was like oooh colelctions and achievements {I seem to be a sucker for those}, but after reading through them and exploring the 4 zones available, there was nothing I cared to achieve. I did notice that achievements are shared across your account though, so thats a plus but not enough to entice me.
The zones are also so poorly laid out and funnel you along in such a linear path it made me sick, and when it would eventually come to playing an alt, the progression would end up being nothing but click ! & ? as fast a possible, run to where you have to complete said quest and repeat until you're at end game again. Argh, and don't get me started on end-game crap...lol
I found myself deriving a lot more pleasure playing Rift then Im having in FF14.
Action is fast pased and fun. And the game runs SO smoothly. Coming from FF14 this game is like WD40 has been sprayed on everything. Nothing chugs or lags or anything.
IN Rift, you log in and you start playing and having fun. I think alot of people will like it.
Its the first WoW clone that I think makes some worthwhile improvements, while keeping the accessibility of WoW.
I love snails.
I love every kinda snail.
I just want to hug them all, but I cant.
Cant hug every snail.
I love RIFT to death, it gives me that addiction feeling I love about MMOs, however some elements such as crafting and questing I avoid as much as I can as it painfully similer to WoW. I have bought FFXIV, and intend to try it, and maybe if i cant stand the UI, or other bad design elements, will dip in every so often to see how it is changing, and try some crafting and skill combinations.
Despite its flaws there is something enticing about it, whether its the look of the characters and their animations, or the Leve system and crafting mini-games. It at least won't remind me of WoW all the time, (unless the devs take the lazy route and wow-itize it in a bid to get players back). I think it will be worth the £10 i spent on it, as long as they dont bring the sub back for at least half a year.
it said i needed account created/activated before certain date (mid november) to get extra 30 days on their site
Yeah it did originally say that, but now F2P is extended until further notice. I bought the game acouple days ago and didnt even have to give them my credit card number. I downloaded the client off a torrent and bought a cd key from a third party website for 25$. Im enjoying the game alot since i found a good linkshell, and even more since it was so cheap! Its a pretty good game, people just overhyped it and expected it to be perfect on release when every mmo ive ever played took a good bit of time to develop into what it is today. its got a really solid foundation and a new group of developers that seem to be extrememly serious about taking this game in the right direction. At least they admitted to thier concerns that it didnt initially live up to the final fantasy name and have already, within the last month, made a whole bunch of very positive changes.