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[General Article] Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn: Review in Progress #3
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Now that Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn has "matured" to nearly three weeks since release, we have more thoughts to offer about the game play and more on our way to our final review. See what this week's installment of our Review in Progress has to say before heading to the comments to add your thoughts.
The armory system ties hand in hand with the class and job system in A Realm Reborn. In any MMO inventory management can become a burden especially for a class that can fill multiple roles. Now imagine the frustration for players trying to carry around gear sets for their disciple of land, disciple of hand, disciple of magic, and disciple of war gear and then toss in a set for fishing to boot. All told that can turn into a mountain of gear that very few people, if anyone, could realistically manage. That is where the armory system comes in.
Read more of Rob Lashley's Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn Review in Progress #3.
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Comments
God Jesus, now we have groups of four, whats the problem? With 5 players the monsters have to be harder and that means that every one, and expecially the tank's output damage in % will be lesser and lesser - and as a repsonse - insignificant!
So get your a** up and play tanks, too as you will be able to inflict good damage as well now!
Btw. the Japanese are smarter than you! :P
People do not like the responsibility of playing a tank or healer. Specifically because the hostility that has been adopted by MMO players. I play a tank, rolling in as a Paladin currently tanking is fairly easy.
However the DPS mentality has carried over from over MMO's to this one. A lot of MMO solo players like DPS because they can divorce themselves from the other people in the game and get on and do their own stuff. As such I have many DPS join my group that FAIL to speak. I speak to these people, tell them what I would like them to do to ensure a nice swift and safe run but they do not read, they do not react. Only when we wipe do they react to which is toxic at the best of times.
Of course I remind them that I had spoke earlier informing what they needed to do, but of course, it isn't a DPS issue it's a 'Tank' or 'Healer' issue. I have literally had people say to me "You're the tank, it's your job to hold aggro, I just do the damage". It is almost like these DPS see me as an NPC there solely to gratify and progress their experience.
It's a frustrating process to be fair that the biggest difficulty I have with group content as a tank are other players.
Anyhow, to do with your party size issue. I actually think you're wrong on this in part. You see, Final Fantasy 14 has been the first MMO in a long time that encourages group play. Yes, the duty finder has a long wait for DPS (sometimes 40 mins for those guys). But, it's their fault in honest.
You see, the game has been designed to encourage people to interact with one another, sure the duty finder is there for those who want to go lone wolf. But the rewards of progression come to those who interact with the world and the other players.
When I play on my DPS job, I am not going to wait for 40 mins in a dungeon queue. I join the Duty finder and then I ask the company if anyone wishes to come. I also stand outside the dungeon and ask around because typically those coming to the dungeon are those who have just unlocked that part of their story and need to progress.
So, if I want to do Thousand Maws, I go to Quarry Mill I head up to the dungeon, I ask for for a group. Typically I always get someone join and if that person is a tank or healer you'll be surprised how quickly you move through that queue.
So, to say that it's a missed mark to not have a 5 man group because DPS out weigh tanks/healers is a cop out answer. It's a lazy answer in fact. The game is groomed to encourage interaction, you'll get the best out of it for that interaction. If you don't LIKE interacting with other players, then I beg the question as to why you're playing an MMO in the first instance.
Maybe it's just JRPG nostalgia but I've loved every moment of questing so far in this game. Even the mundane generic ones. I am thoroughly enjoying the leveling experience and feel inclined to log in every day to play more. I don't think you can speak for all of us any more than this reviewer than accomidate your tastes into his review.
Crafting can also build pre-raid quality gear.. so... ok.
Currently playing - FF14ARR
Previous games - SWG, World of Warcraft, ShadowBane, Warhammer, Age of Conan, Darkfall, Planetside Asheron's Call, Everquest, Everquest 2, Too many.
Good to know it is "kicked up a notch" at 30. Trying to get there on my archer to get the bard job.... so far the quests are a bit mind numbingly generic and solo or grouped we seem to be able to plow through everything with minimal difficulty. Still going to give it a month and see how it goes... but i will say this>>>>If they DO NOT make it easy to black list/report gold sellers i will not subscribe to this game.
So being a tank in this game has been really fun and challenging. I also like being able to sync my level with my friends leveling dps so they can instant queue for dungeons with me.
The one down side is that dungeons don't provide a great deal of exp. You can farm fates for quicker exp as a full party. I hope they increase the exp for dungeons soon, because i think it will get more tanks/healers playing that route.
Anti-flea treatment, is that for the pet class?
To the tanks above
I must say that youre right.. after being a DPS and having a truely horrible healer in the first dungeon, i went and reclassed as a Conjurer (i had healed in past MMOs) and found it to be fun and sometimes challenging. havent had a bad word spoken to me but the tanks get it worse than any MMO i have been in. Even if its known this is their first run its a constant barrage of harassment.
Personally .. i would leave the groups if i was ragged on this much.. half the time they are doing a decent job too .. and the dps are grabbing aggro off one then doing the "hair on fire" run around the room with the tank trying to catch up to get aggro back. Hopefully at later levels people are a little more understanding.
^This
You pretty much just described WoW and GW2.
I've been playing for 3 weeks now and I don't find the quests boring nor do I find crafting useless, in fact, the crafting system is far better than most MMO's.
The problem I have with the some of the articles on this site and some of the forum posters is that everyone focuses on quantity of features instead of the whole. Most gamers fall into two camps, PVE or PVP with a portion of gamers who love both. From everything I've been reading outside of this site and from my experience up to level 8 or so, most quests feel like bland fetch quests, kill x, kill y. There are no voiceovers and the mouths don't even sync with anything. It feels like a step backwards in a much more prettier skin. I'm not referring to Fates which allow people to level way too fast or dungeons. I'm talking about the core PVE questing system. To me if that is boring, the game is not a step forward and doesn't deserve the happy happy joy joy these writers are giving it.
Regardless, since I didn't really level very far and I'm still on the fence with this game, I may wait it out just a bit to see if they patch things up some (like reducing XP for fates, etc) and then see if the PVE questing systems has more interesting quests later on....but this site should score HEAVILY on the quality of the PVE questing and not make it feel like some sort of ancillary side feature.
There Is Always Hope!
You want to say something bad about the game, go ahead, but at least make it a legitimate thing. Useless crafting? Not even close...
My biggest gripe? My retainer can not purchase items for me...
I am concerned about the forced grouping for the following reason; what happens when the population is all at max level? Particularly in this game, since there is no need to roll alts, anyone joining the game late is going to have a very hard time finding level appropriate groupmates.
Any thoughts on this future dilemma?
LOL This cracked me up. Far too true. I'll turn mobs away from my group, as a PLD, the DPS finds their way around mobs into the cones or getting cleaved. I even have a handful of healers that will end up right at my feet, having been standing still tanking, dead on the ground from cleave mechanics. Sometimes I just sit there going "How.... did you even get there to die, RIGHT HERE..." Great times though.
the game makes it very attractive to level your other jobs, since even if you want to stick to your main class, being able to obtain skills from a bunch of different classes to improve on your main class can be very important.
Most memorable games: AoC(Tryanny PvP), RIFT, GW, GW2, Ragnarok Online, Aion, FFXI, FFXIV, Secret World, League of Legends (Silver II rank)
"Torquemada... do not implore him for compassion. Torquemada... do not beg him for forgiveness. Torquemada... do not ask him for mercy. Let's face it, you can't Torquemada anything!"
MWO Music Video - What does the Mech say: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF6HYNqCDLI
Johnny Cash - The Man Comes Around: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0x2iwK0BKM
Not only tanks, but you REALLY notice good healers who can manage both heals and dealing dmg. I've seen some able to switch in/out of cleric stance and drop some decent dps before switching back and healing. I tell you, the healer and tank DPS is not to be underrated, especially being able to pick abilities from other classes.
"They essentially want to say 'Correlation proves Causation' when it's just not true." - Sovrath
If one is new to healing (me) understands the dps plus healing but it comes down to having rest of party working as a group following tank direction and tank keeping aggro because it can easily become the healer trying desperately to stay alive.
If one is new to tanking (me) understands have to mark and manage aggro but comes down to having to let dps die because can't chase around in circles the archer who has decided to blow his load on target 3.
These are my experience in 4 man groups. I would hate to see 5 man. Surprisingly for me, I went to dps after finally getting a server I could actually join into every day. I don't mind the waits in the DF. I don't have the issues that I see most complain about. I keep seeing tanks that I am pretty sure have DPS mind frames as they only want to charge into one target and forget the rest. Have the archers who take aggro and run in circles which means I sit and wait. I don't chase them and feel very satisfied when they die. Have the casters who will sit in the AoEs of bosses to finish casting (Ifrit predictable locations and still had a thaum and conj sit at wall over and over casting) so wipe and start again. I like the game and might get frustrated but I know that I will live with it as I have fun.