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Is this game for Me?
Sayzon
Member UncommonPosts: 24
Hey guys long time lurker and new account here. I have been playing Wildstar for awhile and play ESO. I played WOW for a few years (mid 70's level) I am looking for a new PvE game. I am looking for a long term game. I am not much of a hopper.
A couple of questions about this game.
Is the crafting good? I mean is it useful to other players?
Are the classes fun to play?
Is there more to do than just questing? like housing or treasure hunts or whatever?
I know it is all subjective but any opinions would be nice to read and consider.
I loved WOW while I played it. I loved Vanguard. ESO is fun at times but does not feel like a true MMO to me.
Thanks guys
A couple of questions about this game.
Is the crafting good? I mean is it useful to other players?
Are the classes fun to play?
Is there more to do than just questing? like housing or treasure hunts or whatever?
I know it is all subjective but any opinions would be nice to read and consider.
I loved WOW while I played it. I loved Vanguard. ESO is fun at times but does not feel like a true MMO to me.
Thanks guys
Comments
I love the classes, one of few mmos with spears.
I have heard people complain that the classes are to limited, as all classes have one specific role to fill, and an other thing is that each class only have one weapon, like paladin can only use sword and shield while a dark knight can only use two-handed swords and so on.
There's housing and treasure hunts, though I'm not sure if they are made the way you would expect. There are videos on this on Youtube which could help you understand how they work.
There's also the place with all the minigames, forgot it's name. There's chocobo racing, and pet battles though I have never tried it (not even sure if it's released).
I love the game and am very biased imo.
All jobs are DPS, Tank, or Healer. Each job has 1 role. SE has went out of thier way to ballance things to the extreme so each is more or less capable of doing the role with in each archtype. A dps played correctly is almost even to all other DPS in dmg. All tanks can tank everything. Healers can all heal effectively.
Honestly it is so over ballanced it is at the point of everything being bland, but that is my personal opinion.
As for dps managing agro, not really. A dps does as much dmg as humanly possible 100% of the time from start to finish. Tanks generate so much enmity a gimp geared tank Say Ilvl 200 can hold hate off a Ilvl240 dps if they use thier abilities and spam the hate combo. Endgame non-boss mobs in dungeons a tank gathers alot of mobs, and DPS quickly AOE burn them all down, again doing as much dmg as possible. Mid/Low game the pulls are smaller typically due to gear but it changes the higher you get.
The game is ultra shallow in its combat though. As I said DPS only worries about dmg, Tanks keep hate (there is a meter) and the do as much dmg as possible. Healers Heal and then do as much dmg as possible.
Every hard fight has rage mechanics. So insta-kill mechanics for too low dps is the check for literally every fight at endgame. No CC, no real support, no having to manage resources. Just go full out of everything and dodge the circles.
The Crafting and Gathering system in FFXIV is one of the best in the whole genre... the economy is one of the worst in the AAA genre... So yea great system but 99% of what you craft is vanity gear only. All the real drops come from endgame, which entree level endgame is faceroll easy and drop gear equivalent to the top tier crafted gear.
Aside from that, the crafting may be more 'interactive' in comparison to many other mmos since you actually change to that crafter (gets it own 'weapon') and you craft. Gathering has a lot of risks involved while leveling them, requiring you to use stealth mechanics and such so it can be something 'new'.
Overall, its a decent game that will keep you busy for a while especially if you're just starting now and are a completionist. I can take a few months to get everything to cap while saving up to buy stuff like a house etc (enjoy the housing rage if that's your goal). My only recommendation is to not take the game too seriously as the progression is quite lackluster in the eyes of several players. You wont even get a decent gear progression as wow in this game such as set bonuses/added effects etc, so keep that in mind if that's the kind of player you are. Story is solid, voice acting is a bit sparce and hit/miss on a few characters, but if you enjoy reading 50% of it, its alright. Hildebrand side quests are where the writing truly shines imo. So all in all the game will keep you busy for a while and shouldn't bore you for a few months if that's what you're looking for. If you're a melee dps person, I'd recommend drg (lancer) or nin (rogue) and if you're more ranged, I'd recommend blm (thm, long crazy name I wont bother to spell) or brd (great job pre-52).
Originally posted by laokoko
"if you want to be a game designer, you should sell your house and fund your game. Since if you won't even fund your own game, no one will".
The only way to really answer your question, OP, is for you to play it yourself. I haven't touched FFXIV in close to a year, but can still acknowledged that it's a top-3 MMORPG, and does a lot of things better than WoW. But, ultimately, the lack of any kind of world PvP (or substantial, meaningful PvP in general) killed it for me. I need that split dynamic - and FFXIV asks you to wield some gold-plated shield with one hand, and throw stones with the other. It is bereft of the dual satisfaction I need.
Games just depend on what kind of style you like (tab target vs action) and progression systems (continuously gaining skill points,etc vs gear grind). Also if you like pvp or pve more. FFXIV is definitely a more PvE focused game but oddly enough the pvp skill system is more developed than the pve skill system....
Also treated well is gathering. Miners, fishers, and botanists are also all treated as jobs in FFXIV and fleshed out similar to crafting classes. I bring them up specifically because you asked about treasure hunts, and treasure hunts are tied directly to gathering. You can find a timeworn map while gathering and then decipher it to produce a treasure map. My understanding is that you do need to fight enemies after digging up the treasure, but it is still a neat diversion.
Outside of crafting and gathering, there is still loads of non combat options. FFXIV has excellent player housing, and I knew some players that spent all their time focused on that. It has a Collectible Card Game called triple triad that can be fun. There is mini pet collecting and even a strategy game revolving around it called Lord of Verminion. You can breed and race chocobos (not the same as your combat buddy chocobo). Each of these can be played against players and NPCs. They are all available at the Gold Saucer which also has a small collection of minigames you can do for points.
As far as FFXIV combat classes go, I found little to like about them. Thematically they are varied and interesting, each coming with class quests to make them feel further unique. In practice, they do not feel so unique. Keep your self buffs up as much as possible, hit the highest priority off cd skill. The only dps class that felt different to me was the Monk, but it wasn't better enough to make me really enjoy it. If you are a tank, you are actually just a dps until the occasional telegraphed boss hit comes up, then use one of your many defensive CDs. If you are a healer, you are actually a dps again, only needing to occasionally reactively heal someone. Every class has several long cooldown abilities just to bloat their skill bar. Between the class design and the long GCD, I really dislike combat as a whole in FFXIV.
If you particularly enjoy non-combat options, then I still think FFXIV is a fun game. Even if you end up feeling the same way I do about the combat, FFXIV offers a lot of other experiences.
Crafting is a huge part of the game. While you personally can go 100% without crafting yourself, there are some things in-game that require certain items that only crafters can make. For example the Relic Weapon (an ultimate weapon you can obtain) has a step that requires items only crafters can create. They sell these on the market board, so you'll be able to buy them separately should you wish not to craft. Though it's crazy good money to do so.
There's also tons of gear and weapons and food/pots/useables you can make. Plus fun cosmetic goods. It's basically a great thing to get into. Plus the 'act' of crafting is fun as well.
Are the classes fun to play?
This is obviously a personal thing. Some complaints I've heard is that the GCD is slower than WoW and it's not as action-y as titles like Wildstar and Tera. It's very old school in terms of combat but once you hit 60 and have to weave around things and dodge and such, it feels rich and satisfying.
I personally play Machinist and Bard. And enjoy using Astrologian, White Mage and Scholar in off content. Black Mage and Summoner are really satisfying and the recent changes to Dragoon are great fun! I'm not too into tanking but Warrior was fun to level and so was Dark Knight.
Is there more to do than just questing? like housing or treasure hunts or whatever?
Tons! It really depends on what you're looking to do in FFXIV.
- Treasure Hunting is a good thing to mention as they recently introduced a new thing called the Aquapolis. Basically there's normal maps you can get (via gathering classes) each day. You can also buy these. Different maps are different difficulty. If you get Dragonskin Maps (level 60 4-8 man maps) there's a chance I can open a portal to the Aquapolis. There you fight waves of monsters and, if you're lucky, you get to go into the next floor. There's 7 floors. It's 100% random and it's really funny how "troll" it is.
- Housing is a huge part of FFXIV. If you join an Free Company (Guild) that owns a house you can purchase a room within that house for 300,000 gil. That is a single room, kind of small, that you can decorate 100% yourself. You can buy a house, though good luck as most popular servers are completely sold out of properties (apart from Goblin apparently). There is an "Apartment" system coming soon which will introduce larger properties to the player base without restrictions of housing area space. Not much is known currently.
- PvP isn't as good as other MMOs but I partake in it on FFXIV and enjoy it. There's no real "free for all" type fight and you rely on having a good team behind you to win. There's several different modes but the most recent one is called Frontline: Shatter. It can be up to 72 players split into 3 teams who gain points by killing other players, capturing points and destroying crystals that spawn. Great fun!
- Dungeons, Raids, Guildhests, and Trials are a huge part of the game and split of the questing. They are instances fights that range from 5 to 40 minutes (depending on team skill).
- Gold Saucer is a place to enjoy and relax with mini-games. There's a card game called Triple Triad (from FF8) which you can play. You collect cards from in-game NPCs, fights and more. Chocobo racing, a simple RTS called Verminion, and more.
- Crafting and Gathering is pretty involved with separate gear, a weekly token system, hard to get items and a robust crafting system and rotation to learn. It's really full on. I know a few players who don't bother with combat classes and only do the Crafting and Gathering side of things. I'm currently trying to finish my Fishing Log and capture rare big fish for fun.
- Public 24-man Raids/Casual Raid: There are a few 24-man casual raids. There are currently 2 level 60 ones. They're great fun to learn and the difficulty is slowly increasing after complaints that content was becoming too simple.
- Leveling other classes: you only need to make one toon in FFXIV and you can level everything on it. Once you hit max level with on class you get an XP bonus for leveling subsequent classes.
- Deep Dungeon is getting added in the next patch 3.35 and will add a 50 level dungeon you fight your way through as a group of 4 people.
There's ton I'm missing >.< but these I things I do mostly. I've been playing since beta and have only had a few short breaks due to irl stuff. The game is updated very regularly.