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Final Fantasy XIV - Preparing for Stormblood - MMORPG.com
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Final Fantasy XIV - Preparing for Stormblood - MMORPG.com
The pre-expansion season is always a weird time to play an MMO. If you’re anything like me, then you’re probably stuck between having things you still want to do on FFXIV and thinking that nothing you do now will matter once Stormblood comes out anyway.
Comments
Crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their women...
Aloha Mr Hand !
Aloha Mr Hand !
True, few games are as proud of old content as FFXIV, which forces you to do stuff from prior patches as much as possible, at times making it near impossible for you to catch up to current content.
Fixed it for you.
I don't dislike story, I just don't play just for the story. I am fine with doing the current content story, I just got tired of slothing through the old story solo. It isn't that good.
Having a lot of story does not excuse the lack of compelling gameplay. The Secret World did story right. FFXIV does not.
This is why I stopped playing. I love story and while I did enjoy the main storyline I thought the pacing and presentation weren't very good at times. Some of the quests were downright boring and like you said, an absolute slog to get through. I tried to work my way through quests to get into Heavensward content but I just wasn't enjoying it. I'm the savior of Eorzea and they want me to pick up Chocobo crap. Yeah, no thanks.
I think its only really "proud" of the story. You can skip most of the content and it becomes irrelevant and mostly abandoned very quickly. Lucky for people who like doing basically the same thing with new skins...this game does that often.
FFXI for ages kept its content relevent, constantly played and always came out with pretty different types of content each expanion. They also did the story much better in terms of design. It did not force it, you could do plenty all the way to endgame without touching it but kept the incentive to do it with good story and great rewards (gear or access to special areas like sky or sea).
You can play something else which will always be true, but games like early EQ/FFXI are non existent now (save for something upcoming like Pantheon). The games themselves have changed dramatically and basically everything out as of late has been standard post WoW design or gimmicky Korean games that constantly pop up.
I think the other side of that is if you enjoy parts of a game but other parts you really don't, which really can suck. You have a desire for it to change those parts so you can full dive into it and get lost in the game for years on end. Sadly at a point like how FF14 is...its pretty much has its formula and likely will never stray much.
You are completely missing the point. This game is a on the cusp of yet another expansion, yet if you start it now you will be forced to slog through obsolete content while the majority of the player base will be enjoying current content. Blizzard knows how to attract new players, include a leveled toon to get to the newest "where it's at" content. No doubt the newer content is much more entertaining than the old crap. Not to mention good luck with the forced group content when 99% of the population is in expansionville. This "ride" you speak of is simply not very fun. The game opens up more in Heavensward, and with my max level toon I had prior to the expansion coming out I found out I would have to jump through a crap-ton of boring hoops just to enjoy the expansion. There is no reason for that. Now I am going to be two behind, no way.
If SE doesn't want to do this, fine. They are the ones missing opportunities to attract new or returning players. Eventually they will have to do it, by that time better options will hopefully be out.
I don't need you "to feel bad" for me dude, get over yourself. I don't play to "put effort" into games, I play for fun. Blizzard gives you a level 100 if you buy Legion so new or returning players can enjoy current content with the majority of the population. This is a smart business decision, if nothing else. But wait...you are part of that "I worked for it so should you" crowd right? ROFL. You people really need to get over yourselves. Work is what you should be doing 40 hrs per week to earn the money to pay the sub in the game you want to have fun in. Grinding through obsolete content solo is not fun.
Like I said though, not really my problem. Eventually SE will be begging for new players and offering all kinds of crap to get them. All MMOs get to that point, esp the ones that let "pride" get in the way.
This. I came back 2 weeks ago. Joined an FC and I went from 2.0-3.0 in three days.
I'm a MUDder. I play MUDs.
Current: Dragonrealms
That's kinda why I am scared of coming back into FF. I haven't even finished my FIRST main story yet. Let alone the Heavensward expansion. I feel I might of left it too late. And unfortunately due to my timezone the Siren server is always dead when I'm online
Eliminating / altering some of the 2.1-2.3 quests, making it so that the level 49-50 ARR story / dungeons are level 46 and allowing the restructured 2.1-2.3.5 quests to be used as the best way to level your first class 46-50 would improve the flow the old 2.0 game dramatically as we move into new expansions. From there, increase the experience gained from 2.4-2.5 while it both leads one into Heavensward content and allows them to get up to level 52 or 53 before starting HW quests for similar amounts of experience. Then giving Heavensward (which I think they are doing, anyway), the same treatment they gave 2.0 content in that main quests give double the experience.
They are already making it so Samurai and Red mage are playable without completing ARR or Heavensward (only requirement being level 50, since they start at level 50 as a job). So that would be among the best ways to help anyone that doesn't just want to have fun and play a game. Some just can't get past a WoW mentality that the only content is at the end.
With enough feedback they may restructure one day, as they are doing with the Samurai and Red Mage being accessible early compared to the HW jobs. Though they will likely just stick with potion that allows you to skip ARR content as spending development time and all that might not be the best option for creating new content, even if their budget was tripled over HW and they're adding new EU servers (and locking a dozen overpopulated ones) due to stable growth.
Though as a whole they add a lot of new systems to the game consistently, and even without expansions. Some promote playing old content and helping new players for additional chances at optional systems and some are independent. Though there's almost always people looking to help new players out since they'll be immensely rewarded by different systems at once that they can opt into or out of at any given time. Heck, even if you use the new cross-server party finder and state that it's your first time in a dungeon, you'll likely get people joining quickly for the benefits they get for helping.
Just have to be social and use the systems available, join a FC (guild) or even ask in chat and mention you're new / have the first time bonus. The soloist "I want to do it quick and easy" attitude isn't really suited to the game.
This game literally forces you into doing old content alone in order to do current-tier story quests. It's not fun and it's not a good feeling being so behind the curve. My opinion is to save your money or quit your job.
You won't even be ready for the expansion AFTER Stormblood if you start the game fresh today.
/endrant