Returning player(s) from 2013--stuff to do other than gear grind/raid?

[Ivven]

My husband and I are thinking about making this our main game, as WoW is just...eh...so bored of it after 12 years. We've also played GW2, but it seems a little shallow for our tastes (though the combat is fun), LOTRO, EQ2, and yeaaars ago we were big into FFXI for quite a while.

We're not really raiders or heavy into gear grinding these days. No time, and burnt out on that playstyle. One of the things driving us away from WoW at this point is how easy/boring/tedious the pre-latest-expansion content is. The formula never changes, and now leveling is so faceroll we can't even bring ourselves to run alts to level new classes :/

SO. We're looking for a game with stuff to do other than raiding, and a bit more depth than GW2. I know this game has housing and chocobo raising, which sounds fun and cool, but what kind of challenging content is there at higher levels for solo, duo team, or small party? Thanks in advance!

[silverlunarfox]

snips

OMG make it your main game, at least something you revisit once and a while!

Endgame content is basically the same. 8 man raids, the chaotic 24 man raids, primals etc. Our FC likes doing naked dungeons to make end game a little bit more fun. It's really dependent on what you want from this game. But like any game, youre eventually going to hit that "Now what?" wall. That's why we have gotten creative with what we do.

But I don't think you'll find anything super new here. I mean, you have tons of story to go through....so that will take time, but it follows its old tried and true formula too...eventually you're going to get bored in here.

[EveK]

If you're especially interested in very challenging content for four players, you will likely most enjoy the deepest levels of the Palace of the Dead. It's also possible to now do previously-hardcore stuff like the Binding Coil of Bahamut with an undersized party. For the record, I also find it odd that one feels content is exhausted when they only have 3 of 25 jobs at max level.

[silverlunarfox]

I've made an effort to not level everything just for the sake of leveling for stormblood for now. I have enjoyed everything I have done. But the end of the day, well....it's the same stuff to repeat until the next patch. It's a tried and true formula they wont change which addresses the OP's concerns.

Also I have 4 classes at 70. 3 more almost there.

[ChameleonMS]

Solo and small group activities include:
Crafting and Gathering - you are going to need stuff for that house. Much cheaper to make it yourself instead of buying off the Marketboard.
Free Company (FC) housing has a workshop. The workshop requires a party of 4 crafters to build stuff (airship parts, housing parts, and stronger FC buffs)
Deep Dungeon - 4 player party in an RNG generated dungeon
Treasure Maps - completion of a treasure map can open a dungeon, with the newer dungeon there is further hidden dungeon that could be found. Many rare items for housing can be found in there.
Hunts - Open world rare monsters (the S rank hunts do require many full parties) but most A ranks can be killed with a 4 man.
Beast Tribes - fun little side stories (each one takes about a month to complete and there are 11 currently in the game).
Inspector Hildibrand - a hilarious side story (this story has been evolving continuously.
Gold Saucer mini games - You already know about Chocobo racing (raising a super chicken). Other include GATES (randomly occur in the saucer), Triple Triad, and Lord of Verminion.

[CNJ]

WELCOME BACK TO FFXIV!! Always happy to see the community grow.

#1. There's going to be a housing change in the next patch (read: DOUBLE the housing wards in ALL areas), so make sure to stock up on gil and ideas! You might even get a place in Shirogane if you're fast.

#2. You can still do maps! It helps to have a larger party of people contributing to the map pool, but it's a good way to do combat end-game without getting crazy into raids. Some of the Lv70 materials make for some hefty returns on the market as well.

#3. Hunts are very similar to #2 but require less effort! Get someone to invite you to a Hunts Linkshell and just follow whoever links what for a huge inflow of seals and Cracked Clusters (trades for VI materia).

#4. Crafting is still here! As a solo or duo entity, you can really take control over markets. It takes a pretty big sink in patience and/or gil, but it's very fun (or so I think!), gives you a ton of housing independence and market power.

[Ivven]

Thanks for the replies everyone We don't level very quickly (have limited time due to family life and work and such), so I suspect it will take quite some time until we even hit "end game" levels, but sounds like there's some stuff for more casual players to work on outside of raiding,so that's all good

[silverlunarfox]

Thanks for the replies everyone We don't level very quickly (have limited time due to family life and work and such), so I suspect it will take quite some time until we even hit "end game" levels, but sounds like there's some stuff for more casual players to work on outside of raiding,so that's all good

Look me up on Lamia if you ever need help with anything! I know all about casual play and real life There's only so much time in a day!

[LittleSparrow]

SO MUCH STUFF. AAAAA

[Erigby]

I have been just doing all quests and trying to get all dungeons/raids/trials unlocked..ive quit the game a couple times because of it. its quite hard for me anyways..just seemed so long.

i have a few HW things to unlock yet but i have been trying to cleanup my questlist. and with p finder and making unsyncd groups i have been able to get rid of quests ive held onto for a year or two.