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Few (detailed) questions about game
Kayn33
Member Posts: 20
Hello,
I've been following the improvements made to the game recently and have been wondering if to give it a second shot (Had CE at release but ended up quitting soon after).
Thus I'd appreciate it a lot if someone was kind enough to answer a few questions about the game:
a) How are the dungeons/raids? Are they a major part of the game and difficult to complete or just an "addition" to say another major endgame, like crafting? I don't have much experience with MMOs that have other types of endgame so any details there would be awesome(aka what do you do once capped on a character).
b) How important is crafting? Is it better than all dungeon/raid gear? How much RNG and luck is involved in making say the best equipment in game(if it is actually better than raid drops)? And how much grinding is involved in the gathering of stuff like materia(which I have no clue what is btw, so wouldn't mind info on that too =P)?
c) More of a personal question to the current subscribers but what do you enjoy most about the game? What sets it apart from other MMOs specifically? Say, an example of what an average day playing FFXIV is like, what do you do, etc.
d) How hard is it to get groups, find a good linkshell, and isn't there a language barrier on some servers(since afaik they're all in Japan so I guess there's a lot of mixed language talk in general)? Would there be any recommendations on where to start, since merges are soon from what I saw? And how's lag/ping for EU/NA people btw?
tl;dr: a) Game difficulty/endgame b) Crafting/Grind c) Fun factor d) Socializing/Languages spoken/Latency
Thanks in advance for any replies, they'll be much appreciated, as I'd really like to get into this game with some help ^^
Comments
For a new player endgame will consist of the two new instanced raids, and probably one of the older raids. The vast majority of the gear from previous raids/strongholds is obsolete. A word on difficulty -- the hardest "raid" in FFXIV is mechanicly no harder than the easier bosses in WoW (if you're familiar with WoW.)
Crafting in FFXIV has got to be one of the most masochistic things I've done in any MMO. It is not fun by any definition. The only way it's tolerable is to do it while I watch Netflix at which point I end up just closing the game and watching the movie. YMMV, but I personally would rather spend an extra eight hours at work IRL than spend an hour of free time crafting in FFXIV.
Materia is a chunk of rock that a crafter sticks in armor that boosts stats. The ability to affix materia to armor is restricted by the type of craft and the level of the craft. I believe you can affix up to 3 (?) pieces of materia on a single piece of gear, but as you try to slot more than one, the rate of success drops. If you fail to attach materia you lose everything.
If you want to play the RNG game with materia then yes, crafted gear can be better than raid gear. However, the base gear without materia is significantly worse than what you would get in a raid.
I came back to check out 1.21 because of the job quests/armor and new raids, but I've played since beta. If I'm not checking out new content then I'm doing something else outside of the game. I enjoy that it's a Final Fantasy MMO, and have deluded myself into thinking that it will be as awesome as FFXI is/was. A stupid reason, but at least I'm honest lol.
Finding a group for leveling at this point is nigh impossible, but I see a lot of shouts for the new raids and job stuff. Finding a good guild without prior connections in any MMO is tough. There's an auto-translate function that I find workable with some creative usage, so the language barrier isn't a big issue for me. Stay away from Ragnarok. Client/server communications in this game are generally pretty awful without even taking ping into consideration. That will be fixed in 2.0 hopefully.
If you are a brand new player, there will be enough content to keep you busy depending on how much you play. My advice would be to continue to wait until 2.0.
You can slot up to 5 Materia not 3, and it is not a rock it is spiritbonded from gear. This chart explains the system:
http://www.mystina.ffxivmaps.com/Materia%20Chart%20%28v2.0%29.png
If you think WoW had difficult endgame, then good luck obviously we have no common ground. I would say you are way off as most WoW encounters I did involved 9 year olds running up and spamming their add-on assisted macros which I think would be less sucessful in FFXIV, though I understand that to some people WoW is the pinnacle of every MMO ever except for whatever far off MMO they are waiting for. I however constantly see people wiping to the first boss in Darkhold which is the easiest of all endgame content here, so I really have no idea what Zookz is going on about.
A.)
Job Quests/AF At 50 (the current cap) the first thing you will want to do probably is work on all the AF's/final Job Quests (though you can start these before cap). These are pretty long quests that are made up of Solo, light group, and finally full party quests. Each part giving you access to new abilities, and the later parts awarding you your AF gear. The story/cutscenes are pretty enjoyable also. The fights are not extremely challenging, but you do have to know how to do them and many people still wipe on them.
Primal Battles You'll then want to do the primal battles if you desire their weapons, though you could do these as classes before unlocking jobs too. Ifrit's are generally better for melee, and Moogle are better for Mages. These are still absolutely worth doing, as they are much better than anything crafted (though that is debatable for Mages with multi-melded weapons, it is not debatable for melee).
Materia spiritbonding/melding If you are ambitious about your character development you'll want to spiritbond/affix at least double melds to certain slots where you will not wear AF/Dungeon gear (when you do this depends on how fast you progress).
Pre 1.21 content you still need to do: You'll want to do Darkhold as the fastest, and least painful way to get credits to advance in your Grand Company (gear from there, to-to rak, and the NM's are turned in to the expeditionary NPC). All dungeons have multiple paths, and secret chests which you can unlock by beating them in a certain amount of time (20 minutes, in a normally 60 minute timed dungeon). The items in the secret chest are of course better/worth more credits.
You will have to do Darkhold, the Strongholds, and the two new dungeons at least partway in order to get certain AF pieces for your jobs. You also cannot ender the Vale without completing the Darkhold quest. So you cannot avoid these completely. There is however little reason currently to do the stronghold bosses except for the achievement/title, and if you want to collect those peices of stronghold gear which may be used for something in the future (Sentinel/tanking gear can also be melded).
1.21 dungeons: Cutter's/Vale The two new dungeons are the "main event" of 1.21 and is what most people at endgame will spend the majority of their time doing once they finish the rest of this until 1.22 when Hamlet defense and Garuda are released. Honestly these two dungeons contain the first non-primal weapon items which have been introduced to the game that were truly worth getting. This is because they have been revamping the battle system, and only with this patch added the jobs so we assume they were just holding back until now.
B.) Crafting is very important. Food/potions are extremely useful now after 1.21, and Jewelry/crafted gear is always in demand. Even though Dungeon gear/AF is better in many cases, crafted gear is needed for spiritbonding and is still the best in some slots, and in certain situations.
RNG no longer has much of an affect on HQ, as much as obtaining HQ materials. However RNG does play a heavy role in attaching materia (which can destroy materia/gear if you attach 2 or more to a piece of gear). Materia is fairly cheap at this point, and you can spiritbond it while doing other things so it isn't too painful. It is the main money sink however right now, but double melds are pretty easy to come by and anything further while it will enhance your character is not widely expected of you.
C.) For me I enjoy the community, I enjoy the battle system much more with 1.21. I enjoy the encounter designs over games like WoW which I find bland and not fun at all. I like the current storylines, and the overall atmosphere of the game. I enjoy all the options for progressing my character, and I have faith in their vision for the game moving forward (which I think is important in subscribing to any MMO).
My average day since 1.21 is I log on, and help people out with AF quests/do some of my own. I help new players sometimes with content I have long since beaten, but remains a challenge for them. I often join PUG's for exp, spiritbonding, primal fights etc. When I log on though I look forward most to doing the newest content with my LS.
D.) This depends on your server I guess. I have never had any problems on my server, others however (not Selbina) are being merged soon which hopefully should make things better for them. If you are an anti-social jerkwad you can expect to have problems regardless however. I see plenty of groups for EXP, Primals, AF quests, dungeons etc. forming at all hours on Selbina.
There is mixed language, but there is also an Auto Translate tool, and the servers are populated 24 hours a day. I have no problems getting groups with non-English speaking European players or Japanese players.
Lag is not a problem for me playing from NA. There are server problems still which cannot be adressed until 2.0, but it is no worse for NA/EU than it is for JP players for the most part. All content is done by EU/NA players, people who claim it is a disadvantage I think are just making excuses.
The game is not for everyone, and you might be better served waiting for 2.0 or avoiding it all together I don't know what you look for in an MMO. Myself, I am pretty sick and tired of the current MMO offerings and despite FFXIV's current flaws (which there are many have no doubt, we wouldn't need a 2.0 if it were not so) there is nothing else I would play.
http://xivpads.com/?1595680
http://guildwork.com/users/murugan
Thank you very much both of you, it really helped getting different versions of opinions -
I have played WoW, and raiding was enjoyable in some tiers, others not so much; can I ask what the most difficult mechanics found in dungeons/raids in FFXIV are? Or just a proper video of a difficult encounter would be enough, have had a bit of a hard time finding them - and I really enjoy difficult play as well as "working" for your character's progression, as of late all MMOs seem to give out equipment and such way too easily, so I'm hoping FFXIV is a bit different in that regard.
On that note, how is the stream of incoming content? It seems like they are working pretty hard on releasing more and more content, or at least that's what I'm seeing - or do people rush through content and end up not having much to do on a daily basis?
I am a bit worried about the latency, since at release I remember the delay on skills firing off and general lag issues, which I don't have in other MMOs - Is it at least bearable or can it ruin gameplay?
I'm guessing crafting is the usual gather materials, craft, skillup, rinse/repeat or are there added mechanics to it(besides the minigame which I remember being quite rng actually)?
As for what I look for, even if I think it's a bit implied by now - skillful, fun gameplay; activities to enjoy with friends and guild; character progression and alternate ways to do so; meaningful "grind" but not eccessive, whether for gear or just utilities for your class(es); useful crafting but not that it overshadows all else, especially group content; and as little possible "luck" factor(although I do accept a certain amount).
Finally - thanks again, you've both been really helpful ^^
EDIT: Oh, and are there any sites with good updated guides/info on the game, jobs, etc?
Latency doesn't bother me, but it is something you have to account for in certain fights like Ifrit (which is a pretty WoW-ish "move off the fire" encounter).
Spoiler for encounters---------------------
Add spawns based on HP, damage per second, continuous, and timed.
Unkillable/CC'able adds.
Attacks/aoes based on aggro list (next 2-3 on aggro list, stuff like that)
Directional attacks regardless of tanking position
Attacks which should be disabled by incapacitating that part of the mob.
Hate wipes
Enmity negating debuffs
Assist targetting (certain moogles/ants for example will defend either whichever mob is being targetted or a specific mob, to heal or damage)
Various triggers in dungeons for chests (have to kill certain things, do it a certain amount of time, in a certain order etc.)
Environmental obstacles (I think this is kinda lame personally and WoW over uses it as does the Ifrit fight in FFXIV)
The encounter designer is Akihiko Matsui who designed a lot of encounters I like in XI too. His encounters in XIV keep getting better despite working with a flawed system. Are they the hardest thing ever? No, and I don't believe single party battles are ever capable of being that difficult though the hardest ones I have experienced were in oldschool XI. Rather than focusing on their difficulty alone, I respect his creativity and what he does with the design. They are very fun, even if some were in their time unfortunately triviliazed due to battle problems (the current ones if harder, would also be a lot better). They are good designs though I think and once he gets a better game to work with I look forward to what he comes up with. I was very bored by endgame encounters in most newer MMO's like WOW, LotRO, EQ2, AoC, etc. The best raids I have seen were in EQ, FFXI (Zilart->CoP/Sea), and Vanguard (APW->Giants, not after cap raise/BoD/PoTA).
http://xivpads.com/?1595680
http://guildwork.com/users/murugan
Thanks much, sounds like much fun so looking forward to it - will be renewing sub soon then, ty again ^^
Know it's bit much to ask but would ya mind offering bit more insight to other questions in my other post as well, like amount of new content being released/crafting/sites and overall just how much randomness/luck is in the game, as it's my only big turnoff.
Besides that you were very helpful, hope it's a reflection of the FFXIV community as well ^^
How about the exp "fatigue" system? Do they still make you gain 0 exp after so many hours of playing a certain class?
No fatigue was removed.
Content is slow(er) than it will be once 2.0 is out since most of the team is working on 2.0.
There are 2 patches scheduled before 2.0.
1.22 will have Hamlet Defense, AF weapons, and a Primal battle.
1.23 will have the final Garlean battle for this storyline.
I don't know what you mean by randomness, like I said materia is chance based. So are getting drops, and HQ materials etc. Pretty standard for an MMO.
http://xivpads.com/?1595680
http://guildwork.com/users/murugan
Materia is pretty much a chunk of rock, but you did explain it much better Murugan.
In regards to difficulty, we will have to disagree. When's the last time you did a hardmode raid in WoW? The two are not even comparable. WoW's version of the primals (a boss in a room) in WOTLK was much much harder (and more fun IMO) than Ifrit or Moogle. The "raids" in FFXIV are about as hard as the easiest heroic were in WoW at the start of Cataclysm. New content gets cleared in a day or two in FFXIV by the best LS. Put that same LS in WoW and they wouldn't even be able to compete for world first kills. It takes the best guild in WoW weeks to get a world first clear. I'm sorry WoW touched you in the wrong place and you think it's filled with 9 year olds smashing a single macro to get a boss kill. I'm calling complete bullshit on this particular portion of your post.
Heya,
thanks for the added info, I know WoW difficulty well so it's nice to have that sort of comparison as well.
I actually had a question for you Zookz if you don't mind - what's lacking in FFXIV that you miss from FFXI and that made it enjoyable? Would be good to know what specifically made XI so awesome and see what they did "wrong" and didn't improve on as devs, if that makes sense. ^^
Apples to oranges, my friend.
I won't claim to be in the top-tier "world first" camp. I'm competitive but not that competitive. I do however have a number of server firsts across WoW, Rift, and TOR to consider myself fairly well-versed in the difficulty level of these traditional themepark dungeons and raids, and I can tell you that the demands of these games versus FFXI / FFXIV are fundamentally different.
WoW/Rift/TOR rely heavily on DPS rotations, ability spam, and platforming / "get out of the fire" mechanics. Taunt mechanics are often insta-threat, allowing adds to be picked up with near-certainty by anyone paying attention. These games are also fond of using enrage timers as DPS checks, requiring you to meet a certain gear level / fulfill a certain rotation in order to continue. For the most part if you can meet the gear checks and react fast enough to avoid the environmental effects, you're in the clear. The most difficult part of this is avoiding getting tunnel-vision due to how focused the game is on UI spam and rotations that you forget to move out of the fire.
FFXIV has a slower pace to it, and encourages threat and MP management over rotation spam. Positioning is key for multiple combos, and becomes problematic when you have to execute things from in front of a target that cleaves, or in the case of the Chimera, just about any side of his body. Threat isn't a guarantee and so everyone has to be ready to deal with aggro and survival, and in cases such as the Myrmidon Princess, black mages / thaums have to be on the ball timing their AOEs without going OOM in order to keep the adds off of the healers. The ability to raise mid-combat is also accounted for, and changes the dynamic quite a bit compared to WoW where you only get one battle-rez every...what is it now, 15 minutes? Yes, the game also employs some environmental / "get out of the fire" mechanics, most obviously seen in the Ifrit battle, but the basic demands of the combat system are different enough between the two that I don't consider it fair to claim one is more difficult than the other. As it is, the WoW players I've brought into FF have suffered many deaths from trying to spam their attacks and pulling threat from the tanks. It goes both ways.
I like your rationalization of the fundamental differences. However, I think that there is still some merit to the claim that WoW and the like are ultimately harder.
I think that this is the case because when you overcome the differences in gameplay and master the mechanics, there will be little to keep you on your toes afterwards.
Introducing more environmental hazards and other platforming mechanics is a good way to counter this problem, since you still need a certain amount of reactionary skill to overcome them. It is too bad that the current iteration of XIV does not really support these sort of mechanics so at the end of the day the game is easier once you have played it long enough.
Granted, in FFXI the development team came up with creative ways to overcome the limitations of the engine to offer such mechanics, so they can do it here too if they want to. However, I guess that they are going to make their engine less limited and approach the problem that way instead.