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[Column] Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn: An Escape into a Virtual World of Adventure
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
As my habits demand, I check on older MMOs periodically to see what’s new and to possibly download a new trial or even restart an old account. I do it with EVE Online, Ultima Online and other games that just scream nostaglia. Normally I find that the games have aged well but do not change so dramatically that I feel like I am playing a brand new game.
Things were different with this visit to Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn.
Read more of Beau Hindman's Final Fantasy XIV: An Escape into a Virtual World of Adventure.
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Comments
The largest factors that will allow you to fully enjoy the game are:
- Immersing yourself in the story. Several people treat the game like WoW and skip through the quest text, then later come back asking what happened when they could have just read it for themselves. The game, in my opinion, has a great overarching story with other well-written side stories and side quests.
- The battle system. This is pretty much the deal breaker for most people. It's either too fast (for older MMO vets like EQ/FFXI) or too slow. (for the GW2/TERA crowd who prefer the more action-oriented combat) One thing I want to say is you CANNOT judge the depth of the combat system on the trial alone. You are more or less on training wheels until the later levels and you don't really start to see how things flesh out until you unlock your first job at 30. The trial caps at 20, so if you are finding yourself still enjoying the game at this point, don't give up on the combat system. At 50 if you feel it doesn't mesh, then you can legitimately judge at that point that it isn't for you.
- Finding a community to latch onto. Apart from the mandatory dungeons you have to go through to complete the main story, the game is more or less completely soloable. I don't think you'll be able to fully enjoy the game without finding a Free Company of like-minded people, especially once you hit 50 and want to start tackling some of the end game content.
I find this kind of remark sad, because its so off base its almost misleading to a degree. I want to address it.
1) Inviz walls, you basically mean the lack of ability to jump off the map and wander around. Now, if this was a sandbox based game I would understand the complaint, but its not. It is a themepark based game. I am certain, if they wanted to they could of designed a means to the game to give you what 'you' wanted, but in honest unless there was something to do, it doesnt really add value.
Take WoW for example, before the flying mount days, you could walk from place to place, as you can in FF14. The only difference is that you could go into the water, but if I am honest, when I played WoW I didn't go into the water at all. The only time I would end up in it was because I fell off a pier or boat and half the time water was annoying because it would dismount you. Its about what adds value to the game and FF14 has plenty of value, even if you personally find it irksome.
2) FATE zerg grinds are pure nonsense, you can get from 1 to 50 without touching a single FATE in a nice smooth progression. I did so, when I got in on release and I can continue to do so now. The FATE Grind comes with looking to level other jobs, because the quests are now gone you have to seek other ways to level. Early on, the most efficent way to do this was to group and grind. This is not the case any more, with the challange log and dungeons being a more effective way to progress alternative job roles.
You have the hallmarks of someone who played 2.0 on release and did not enjoy it, this is fine. That is your preference, but your opinion is biased unless you've been keeping up with the game currently because it is the current state of the game new players are getting onboard with.
FF14 has been my addiction since WoW and with the sheer amount of content released every quarter I actually feel the weight of my monthly investment in the game other than the "pays for the servers" stuff that blizzard always spoke about.
As for any new player looking to get into this game, I would be happy to answer any questions just tell me the MMO's you really liked and I might be able to tell you if this one is for you also. Failing that, do the trial, its free and FF14 gained 500k subs since April and is at 2.5 mil strong. I imagine, once Golden Saucer comes out with Triple Triad this number will swell once again.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
You may not anyone's advice but the fact Is and won't changs regardless of how much bs you spew you are beyond 100% wrong and talking out your ass. I have put far more time into mmo's thAn you starting at eq1 and I can say with certainty after recently giving ff14 a second chance after the miserable junk the original release that it is one of the top 3 mmos available period end of story.
does a few invisible walls exist? Rofl sure I have yet to play any game that doesn't have them somewhere , do those wall matter in anyway? Nope unless you are some whiney wanna be power gaming retard who QQ's because your quest now takes an extra ten seconds as you move around the Mountain instead of just go over them.
same can be said about your stupid fate grind whine. Sure I now have 5 level 50 jobs and am out of quests so unless I start a fresh character I will grind fates and run dungeons or levequests to level up which is the fastest way anyways and more choices that suffering through silly quests over and over. You are just a whiney pseudo power gamer who QQ because you didn't like fate grinding because you didn't want to play the game just race to max level like a retard.
so enough with your inept innaccurate hate. Ff14 is literally the best mmo on the market period however there are two things you must give time to adapt to I order to really become immersed for the long haul.
1) combat starts out slow you wait on global cool downs (2.5 seconds between abilities) all games have them one way or another and because the abilities come in slowly you won't have many abilities to use until you get between level 30-50. Leveling is fairly fast so not a big deal imho but it did feel like I had to battle through it somewhat now it feels incredibly fun and enjoyable combat system.
2) I really didn't like the way you had to tab through all the small chunks of quest text because they gave you 1-2 sentences at a time. Not a deal breaker but I just skipped a lot of it and missed out on what I hear is a good story.
ok one more minor quibble the early level gear can look pretty pedestrian get very good later on though.
get past those minor issues and you get this amazing mmo that will carry you for a long long time. Huge amounts of content specially end game which also suits all skills of gamers some very easy stuff to get you some decent raid gear some stuff very hard for those types
Not going to quote all the above chatter, but I have two friends that really liked this game, but they both quit late fall. Numerous reasons, but basically, the game lacks the freedom to explore, it is easy to get burnt out in this game. If that is not important for you, then fine. I have tried it many times, but despite the effort, it just feels like a console game at heart.
I really don't like games that funnel you everywhere and I got that feeling lots of times in this game. It is hard to design a game that appeals to both east and west tastes. This game tries to do that and in the end fails on both counts.
So I have to beg to differ with the title, I don't feel I ever escaped in this game, it never gave me the chance.
KaitarBesh
It really doesn't even sound like you played the game past it's beta stages.
Right up till launch and a few weeks after it's always like this and people love it. You should not buy anything in cash shops or invest more into any game. Not matter how much you love it. Until you have played at least a couple of months.
I have been around for so many launches and it's the same pattern. Even with myself. WoW was the only game to hook me during the honeymoon period and never let me go. Played for years, and maybe will still play. Life in WoD at 100 isn't that compelling so I don't know.
You can play any game, love it, and the spark inside you that wants to keep playing shuts off. Are you burned out? Bored? Game not good as you progress? When the newness wears off you see the real game as it pertains to you.
Other than WoW no other MMO has kept me longer than about 4 months and that is Marvel Heroes a ARPG (still playing). Outside of that? Old Republic lasted 3 months, and Neverwinter 2 and half.
A bunch of others stuck shorter than one. ARR is a solid game and one of them. Maybe it's even great the master race and peasants working together. But the spammers and limited number ignore list hurt the game for me. In the end was just another game that didn't retain my interest.
You may not care about this and just want to have fun. But when you jump to a decent number of MMOs and none really fit you. It's feels like MMO ADD and drives me crazy. Some people prefer this but I don't.
Yep I clicked the little button as well for about an hour. I did manage to get in. Guess what I discovered? They never booted people for being away after a period of time.
We the people who did get it? Counted ourselves as lucky. So we never logged off. There was about 5 times demand for the game than expected. Wonder how many players left like you who could still be playing?
After all it's the only successful MMO sub launched since WoW (outside of EVE) that has not went free to play and is considered successful. ESO is hanging in there, last I checked around 1 million subs. But the six month sub vanished and people are screaming free to play or buy to play. Wildstar? Well it's dead for the most part. See more activity on LOTRO.
Er nope, FFXIV ARR has been around for 1 year so yeah. For comparison, I quit ARR after 4 months after launch, after finishing the relic weapon for my WHM and BLM. I quit ArcheAge after only 2 weeks in even with the sub.
Been an on and off gamer of ARR since its launch (for some reason I really can't stick with this game), and I also played (or at least tried to play) ver. 1~ back then. In terms of "adventure" in ARR, it feels more like you're going to an FF themed theme park where there is a lot of attractions to go to. It's fun for a while when you're going around and checking things out but once you've checked them out you lose interest in them quite quickly and also find out that they are pretty shallow. From my experience in adventuring in the game world it lacks excitement mostly because of the ridiculous amount of handholding you get in quests, instances and such, and also the lack of depth and complexity in most of the contents. In other words, the game world isn't really that "challenging" to keep you interested for a long time. Not to mention that most of the "adventures" you're suppose to undertake feel more like chores that you really just want to get over with quickly. And in terms of roaming around the zones, they feel a bit disconnected and small in some cases although it's saving grace is that the map designs look gorgeous. To be honest, I had more fun roaming around the seamless maps of ver. 1 even though they were mostly devoid of life back then (and when you do encounter life, it was most likely a high level enemy that will agro and eat you up lol), and there were also a lot of hidden caves, passageways, paths, etc. that you could discover and wouldn't necessarily be obvious at first look. It was so much fun just wandering around the game world of ver. 1 back then with its breathtaking sceneries and getting absorbed in its expansive and realistic looking world. Seriously, for those of you who played FFXIV since ver. 1 you know what I'm talking about. Its game world was more immersive than what it became in ARR. Hopefully Yoshida returns some of those elements back into the game to liven the playerbase since right now everyone is pretty much just doing their dailies for the day instead of actually roleplaying.
RIP Ribbitribbitt you are missed, kid.
Currently Playing EVE, ESO
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed.
Dwight D Eisenhower
My optimism wears heavy boots and is loud.
Henry Rollins
Coincidentally I also just started the free trial a couple of days ago and I've made it to around level 13, and I have to say I'm enjoying it a lot. The characters are quirky and fun, the story is quite engaging and well told so far and I like the look of the class/job system even if I wont be able to explore it much during the trial.
The only couple of issues I've had so far have been the cutscenes and the combat. In the first few levels there are far too many cutscenes, a lot of which are unnecessary, and it really slows the action down. I understand they're required for the dream sequences, but sometimes i'll get a cutscene when I'm having a simple conversation with a quest-giver. Between that and the first few quests being in the city it was the best part of an hour after installing the game before I got involved in any action. Not the best way to get new players hooked on your game.
Secondly, the combat so far hasn't impressed me. I like the fact that most of the mobs have some sort of ability youre supposed to dodge (even if at this level you dont need to, but I'm expecting that to change later) but other than that it seems like it's basically WoW combat. I'm playing an arcanist and it's basically throw dots on and then do direct damage. No need to move and very little complexity. Obviously it's early days though so I'm hoping things get a bit more interesting later on.
Overall I'm enjoying it though, and I'm more than likely going to sub when my trial expires. Definitely a game and world that I want to give a chance and explore a little bit more.
Kaiter, do you even FFXIV, brah?
"There is no. reason. to have invisible walls stopping you from jumping in a river that's ankle deep..."
"or over a fence..."
"or have painted background scenery riddling your game so badly that you may as well just have one single road with a sign."
Brah, I found all these examples of you being wrong in just one zone! One Zone!
"...most people do FATE zergs..."
FATE zerging? Na, no one does that anymore, brah. Seriously, no one has done that as a means to level up since launch which must have been the last time you played (Derp: "I tried FFXIV ARR at its release and in beta"), unless by "most" you mean "seriously, no body in the game does that" because then you'd be right.
Hunting missions, leves and dungeon grinding are a poor...poor...poor excuse for "content".
I enjoy the hunt logs while leveling because I get (as you said) "to go off the beaten path to see "what's over there" and explore the area looking for the mobs and often fine cool things like this this old wrecked airship thingy.
If I don't want to solo, I run dungeons because - you know - it's an MMORPG and being social is fun - as you said "at least the party dynamic made it more enjoyable." Dungeons also have sweet loots for my job I'm leveling. Most of the dungeons have really interesting background stories that connect to the main story line or the drama from local NPCs in the area (and there are even clues in the dungeons connecting these stories!), but you'd have to talk to NPCs to know that or - you know - read some text but, hey man, I get it - this MMORPG thing is a tough concept for you. I get it.
No one has used leves to level their job (except for crafting because it's freaking awesome to do it that way) since launch, so you're just being silly again, you silly billy.
There aren't enough quests to level more than 1 or 2 jobs, which means grind, grind, grind.
Each home nation has their own set of quest lines and connecting regions that you could use to level your new job to - at least - 30ish. So, doing math here (ugh, and I'm just terrible at math, terrible!) but three home nations means... at least three(3) jobs could be leveled before you even have to start think about grinding, but you'd still have those cool hunt logs and dungeons after the quests, but - again brah - I get you. I feel you. You don't want to explore or immerse yourself in the story.
And that means you definitely wouldn't be interested in other story driven content like the Hildebrand sidequests which clearly isn't your type of "content" either.
I'll sum it up like this:
Go home. You're spreading silly nonsense that even a casual player (yours truly) can see through.
I enjoyed the game and got my character to max level. The element I enjoyed the most in the game was the crafting system. I really enjoyed how they implemented it and it made you think a bit while crafting and reacting to various events. I'm mostly a crafter at heart (with exploration being the second most important thing) and I found the system in FFXIV being one of the better systems I've encountered.
Aside from crafting though, I agree with the comments on invisible walls and a small linear feel to the world. As much as I enjoyed SWTOR and the great class stories, I felt the same way in the SWTOR universe. I absolutely HATE the feeling of invisible walls and being a rat in a maze. SWTOR probably gave me the "rat in the maze" feeling the most, FFXIV took a close second. Not being able to cross a stream is just "meh" for me. Same thing with not being able to swim (looking at you ESO). As much as WoW gets bashed these days, I'm really enjoying my visit back to Azeroth and exploring all over again. I do best in a world that has a large open feeling to it. I guess that I was spoiled playing Asheron's Call as my first MMO. I recall the evenings my hubby and I would pick a direction and just explore. That world was huge and quite immersive. I do wish that there was an MMO that would give me a similar feeling to my early days in Asheron's Call. Maybe EQN but I haven't been following that closely enough to see if it would satisfy my exploring addiction.
Don't get me wrong...I think FFXIV is a fine game. I found that once I got to max level, the game wore a bit thin for me.
This is pretty much how I felt about the game.
Meh... FFXI had more variety in terms of magic skills, which is what Final Fantasy should represent in my opinion.
When I first bought FFXIV I decided that I wasn't going to investigate too much into it, and instead let the game do the talking for itself, but the combat just felt like it was every man for himself. You don't need any communication with team mates during most dungeon runs, and tactics are mostly dodge this, attack that and don't die.
Don't get me wrong, the world and graphics are what you would expect from a Final Fantasy game, with the exception of being very linear in terms of feeling like you're boxed in with not much room to move about and it's basically just a zone with several paths.
Now I don't know what it's like now, but the crafting was superb, with the exception of being almost useless. Hopefully it's better now, as it was honestly one of the best crafting systems I've seen implemented in a game.
The leveling system wasn't my cup of tea either. I know some people like it, but it didn't feel very fulfilling to me. Levels should represent how awesome your character is, instead though I didn't feel I had any respect for anyone that was high level due to the simplicity of it, but again, this is just me and I know some loved it.
It just felt like it shouldn't have the name Final Fantasy to me, but nostalgia is a bitch and will always dampen how I feel about FFXIV unfortunately.
KaitarBesh . Completely agree with you. The game has 2 much of invisible walls, its not free2explore and it is completely console looking.