Final Fantasy XIV Hot Takes

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Originally Posted by TheMightyMollusk

Somebody had to be a tank for Trusts, and Thancred got shoehorned into it. And they might as well have him advertise the brand-new job at the same time. Although to be fair, warrior would've been even more out of character for him, and paladin and dark knight have too much magic for a guy who can't use magic. At least with gunbreaker they could handwave it by having someone else enchant his shells.

The hilarious part to me is that, with seemingly no other gunblade users on the entire First, he'd stand out even more, which should make sneaking around even harder. I guess he's just that damn good.

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Which is a shame because if they waited one more expansion, he would have had the perfect job for him : Reaper.

A job whose history is linked with a people who can't use aether and decided to make contract with voidsents to get around their magical limitations.

It's even stated that Reaper were silent assassins which would fit Thancred too.
It would have been a natural progression from his rogue days, to stay a stealthy DPS, hiding in the shadows.
And he has gone in Garlemald multiple times, he could easily have picked the job there instead of gunbreaker.

Reaper wouldn't fill the need for a tank for Trusts, though. That was kinda the sticking point. All of the other Archons (and the twins, for that matter) are primary casters, Thancred's the only physical fighter, so he came the closest to making sense as a tank and got stuck with it. I guess we could've just picked up someone else to do it on the First, but the main cast was a bit bloated already.

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Originally Posted by TheMightyMollusk

Reaper wouldn't fill the need for a tank for Trusts, though. That was kinda the sticking point. All of the other Archons (and the twins, for that matter) are primary casters, Thancred's the only physical fighter, so he came the closest to making sense as a tank and got stuck with it. I guess we could've just picked up someone else to do it on the First, but the main cast was a bit bloated already.

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Yeah that's fair, it's just sad that his characterization suffered from it. Felt so weird to have him switch from sneaky mcstabby to probably the loudest tank in the game.

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Originally Posted by TheMightyMollusk

Reaper wouldn't fill the need for a tank for Trusts, though. That was kinda the sticking point. All of the other Archons (and the twins, for that matter) are primary casters, Thancred's the only physical fighter, so he came the closest to making sense as a tank and got stuck with it. I guess we could've just picked up someone else to do it on the First, but the main cast was a bit bloated already.

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Well, I guess Estinien does cover the DPS role for the Scions.

Oddly, they could really have given Gra'ha a DPS role too but I guess wanted to maintain some link to his past as the Exarch and made him a hybrid instead.

G'raha was given the All-Rounder role because we didn't have a tank for Holminster Switch, but locking him out as an option for tanks would be kind of a dick move.

I'd like to see move of the Trusts get multiple roles in the future. Gives more flexibility for not having to have the entire group around at all times. Y'shtola picking up healer as an option in Troia is a good start.

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Originally Posted by Absimiliard

It's okay to criticize the game.

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In other games this would be a given. In this one, it's a hotter take than the average temperature of a summer day in Death Valley.

Duty Support should be removed from the first 3 dungeons (or Sastasha at the very least).

a lot of new players will be anxious about the first dungeon, Sastasha, when they get to it and this will prompt a large number of them to use Duty Support.

I was the same when I began playing the game and looked around for a way to do the dungeon Solo or with a group of NPCs, Duty Support didn't exist yet so I just had to suck it up and do the dungeon with Duty Finder and it was then that, after wiping due to a Dark Knight wearing a chicken costume pulling too many mobs for themselves and the healer to handle, I realized how much fun doing content with others was.

I am 100% sure if I was allowed to do Sastasha with a group of NPCs I would have, and then I would continue to do that for the rest of the game and would have never came to that realization.
I'm also sure that's the case with at least some of the new players who ended up playing with Duty Supports, the only way to remedy that is to force people to play a small bit of the game with other players so they can compare that to Duty Supports and choose which one they prefer

I feel like most of the jobs in game are just a bit to "extra" with their animations and such. It's not like having a job that's extremely animated is a bad thing, but there's some points where it just looks a bit ridiculous.

Relatedly, it feels like almost every job seems to require a constant stream of button presses to do well; I'm not exactly complaining about it, but as someone who has a ton of latency and drifting issues on my end - it's not exactly uncommon for combos to simply not register, or for attacks to simply not go off - it makes me a bit hesitant to play some of the more button-heavy jobs such as Monk or Ninja in higher-end play.

Also, I personally enjoyed Endwalker's story. It's not perfect, very far from it in fact, but I found myself having a ton of fun with it overall. It's actually my personal favorite expansion, so far.

Conversely, I found Shadowbringers to be a bit overhyped. Not a bad story, far from it actually, but the constant hype from the community as a whole makes some of the plot's issues - Ran'jiit's character, some pacing issues, some plot twists being too obvious, etc. - stand out all the more. It's similar to Undertale's community, really; good story, but the hype can draw some very unrealistic expectations.

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Originally Posted by Travel

I feel like most of the jobs in game are just a bit to "extra" with their animations and such. It's not like having a job that's extremely animated is a bad thing, but there's some points where it just looks a bit ridiculous.

Relatedly, it feels like almost every job seems to require a constant stream of button presses to do well; I'm not exactly complaining about it, but as someone who has a ton of latency and drifting issues on my end - it's not exactly uncommon for combos to simply not register, or for attacks to simply not go off - it makes me a bit hesitant to play some of the more button-heavy jobs such as Monk or Ninja in higher-end play.

Also, I personally enjoyed Endwalker's story. It's not perfect, very far from it in fact, but I found myself having a ton of fun with it overall. It's actually my personal favorite expansion, so far.

Conversely, I found Shadowbringers to be a bit overhyped. Not a bad story, far from it actually, but the constant hype from the community as a whole makes some of the plot's issues - Ran'jiit's character, some pacing issues, some plot twists being too obvious, etc. - stand out all the more. It's similar to Undertale's community, really; good story, but the hype can draw some very unrealistic expectations.

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That's a whole series of hot takes, but I'm with you all the way through. Re: animations especially, we really should have non-self Limited animation filters on by default for party content. That's the sort of thing people need to turn on eventually, then forget it's not default when a new player complains that they can't see anything.

I'm thrilled Square had the guts to make an ending, rather than just tread water for infinity. Of course people are going to be furious it didn't end The Way They Wanted, and of course people are going to be upset when they look back over the decade and realize some threads were abandoned (even if they still might get picked back up.)

I'm not someone that believes in telling the creators what they can/can't do because "the lore says so" when the creators can make the lore say whatever they want (see also: LOTR's latest fracas) but I consider it a miracle Square was able to wrap this story in a way that was sensible and fun. Yeah, there's going to be improvements here and there-- but Endwalker just made me excited to see where we go from here. We're in uncharted territory, and that is probably the most exciting thing for me storywise in a very long time.

I dont get it. Why is a burger the reason to fight on the forums lok

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Originally Posted by Zanarkand-Ronso

Hot Take....I understood the complaint, but I still think it was nonsensical. Personal Opinion.
And it wouldn\\'t be a big deal and wouldn\\'t have spiraled so much, if it would stop being brought up, or referenced.

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Sorry forgot to add the quote

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Originally Posted by vanaii

(see also: LOTR's latest fracas).

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Just about the worst example you could have picked given the creator has been dead near half a century.

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Originally Posted by fulminating

Just about the worst example you could have picked given the creator has been dead near half a century.

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Not really; the canon is canon, but new stuff by new people doesn't have to be. I'd happily take a Muppets LOTR series if it's fun, even if it lampoons the canon written 50 years ago.

That said, it's certainly a bonus if it precisely falls in line with established lore. My issue is with telling someone far more qualified than I that something can't be done because of some triviality written long ago. Especially if that triviality is a throwaway line, a forgotten phrase in an appendix, or something the author withheld from publication during their lifetime. Saying something might be done better next time, saying I didn't quite buy something presented in the narrative in hopes we might get clarification, maybe daydreaming about "what if" certain scenarios come to pass-- all of that is fair game, though I say that with full knowledge whoever's making something could find something better on their own. It's a case of saying something "can" be done, rather than saying something that already exists "cannot" be done.

Sometimes that works out, sometimes it doesn't. I'm glad the Amazon series happened, because something happening is much more interesting than something remaining unplublished forever because it's not perfect.

Sir Aymeric would look pretty good with a bald head.

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Originally Posted by vanaii

Not really; the canon is canon, but new stuff by new people doesn't have to be. I'd happily take a Muppets LOTR series if it's fun, even if it lampoons the canon written 50 years ago.

That said, it's certainly a bonus if it precisely falls in line with established lore. My issue is with telling someone far more qualified than I that something can't be done because of some triviality written long ago. Especially if that triviality is a throwaway line, a forgotten phrase in an appendix, or something the author withheld from publication during their lifetime. Saying something might be done better next time, saying I didn't quite buy something presented in the narrative in hopes we might get clarification, maybe daydreaming about "what if" certain scenarios come to pass-- all of that is fair game, though I say that with full knowledge whoever's making something could find something better on their own. It's a case of saying something "can" be done, rather than saying something that already exists "cannot" be done.

Sometimes that works out, sometimes it doesn't. I'm glad the Amazon series happened, because something happening is much more interesting than something remaining unplublished forever because it's not perfect.

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There comes a point where it's abundantly clear that all that was wanted is the free publicity from an established name. I'm pretty sure the muppets would be more true to the source material while being entertaining given their track record with Treasure Island and A Christmas Carol. The fundamental lack of care shows, particularly when compared with prior adaptations, and with the degree of hype surrounding it something of higher quality should have been delivered. I don't think any of this applies to ff14, I don't like dynamis as a concept but it works within the setting, I am still bitter that the entire middle section of the ala mhigan expansion was a holiday in yanxia, but the concept was at least interesting. Certain fake-out deaths feel a bit eye-rolly at times, but if they're doing something interesting with the character then whatever - I'd not trade the werlyt questline for a confirmed kill. This is completely different to having two Durins alive at the same time, or forging the rings in the wrong order or whatever it was they were trying to do to Galadriel, presumably because SE works with their lore chief and by all accounts amazon fired theirs.

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Originally Posted by fulminating

There comes a point where it's abundantly clear that all that was wanted is the free publicity from an established name. I'm pretty sure the muppets would be more true to the source material while being entertaining given their track record with Treasure Island and A Christmas Carol. The fundamental lack of care shows, particularly when compared with prior adaptations, and with the degree of hype surrounding it something of higher quality should have been delivered. I don't think any of this applies to ff14, I don't like dynamis as a concept but it works within the setting, I am still bitter that the entire middle section of the ala mhigan expansion was a holiday in yanxia, but the concept was at least interesting. Certain fake-out deaths feel a bit eye-rolly at times, but if they're doing something interesting with the character then whatever - I'd not trade the werlyt questline for a confirmed kill. This is completely different to having two Durins alive at the same time, or forging the rings in the wrong order or whatever it was they were trying to do to Galadriel, presumably because SE works with their lore chief and by all accounts amazon fired theirs.

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Oh, don't get me wrong about SE at all -- they clearly care about their lore, and they're able to pull off things I can't possibly imagine. LOTR is an extreme example, but it just shows up much I'm willing to put up with if the story is fun. That's a personal thing, and not a slight against the care that went into making this game or its expansions.

I might daydream, but it takes an order of magnitude more talent to define the dream. That applies to Tolkien as much as it applies to Square, and why I leave those definitions (and arguments about those definitions) to someone much more talented than myself. Even when some claim it doesn't work out as it did in the Rings of Power.

The game's overuse of the 'implied love interest' trope when it comes to NPCs (and there are several to whom this would apply) is tiresome.

I find the jobs in this game utterly boring and monotonous, if it wasn't for the enjoyable boss fights I'd throw the whole PvE in the trash.

I dislike dragonsight as a skill and wish it'd be removed. It single handily keeps me from playing Dragoon but it's way to popular to be gutted.

FFXIV has worse mid-expansion drought syndrome than WoW, somehow.

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Originally Posted by NegativeS

FFXIV has worse mid-expansion drought syndrome than WoW, somehow.

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I wouldn't call it "mid-expansion" drought but rather "entire-first-half-of-expansion" drought.

This game is only successful because all the other mmos are so much worse. A mcdonalds meal atop a pile of shit.

Yoshi-P isn't really a good game director and people who worship him like he is one make this game worse. His ego is bigger than Kojima's but at least Kojima backs it up nearly every time (dunno about death stranding haven't played it yet hence the nearly). He doesn't know the direction to take anymore and the job balance is so bad it's pretty sad. Also refusing to do any form of player feedback that isn't JP is disingenuous and comes off as "I'm better than everyone" yet he only plays one job and a vast majority of players are unhappy with the state of healers but it's okay because black mage will always be fixed if theirs any issues.

This game's super active when an expansion drops and then dead af for months after and I wish SE held events or did something to keep people interested because I hate watching my friends list vanish every expansion on the same timeline like clockwork. "Durrhurr pls take a break from my game" bro maybe give people even one basic thing to do each month if they choose to stay subbed and keep your game functioning. I've played games with shoestring budgets that don't even cost anything to play that will do exp events or double drop events and things, and sure it's done with a manipulative bend in mind but at least they give a shit about keeping people playing through the dry periods where there'd otherwise be nothing to do.

While we're talking about manipulation, telling MMO players "just take a break, it's fine" is like being a dealer telling your crack client to try yoga instead. MMO players are a different type of gamer; most are addicts and some will literally feel happy to just log in and do nothing, while others legit use it to substitute their social life. I'm not saying this is a good thing, but it is a thing, and Yoshi knows this because he used to be an mmo gamer himself. So I don't think he was being sincere when he said that stuff, especially since a real player drop would lead to him being flayed at work like, the very next day.

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Originally Posted by Avoidy

This game's super active when an expansion drops and then dead af for months after and I wish SE held events or did something to keep people interested because I hate watching my friends list vanish every expansion on the same timeline like clockwork. "Durrhurr pls take a break from my game" bro maybe give people even one basic thing to do each month if they choose to stay subbed and keep your game functioning. I've played games with shoestring budgets that don't even cost anything to play that will do exp events or double drop events and things, and sure it's done with a manipulative bend in mind but at least they give a shit about keeping people playing through the dry periods where there'd otherwise be nothing to do.

While we're talking about manipulation, telling MMO players "just take a break, it's fine" is like being a dealer telling your crack client to try yoga instead. MMO players are a different type of gamer; most are addicts and some will literally feel happy to just log in and do nothing, while others legit use it to substitute their social life. I'm not saying this is a good thing, but it is a thing, and Yoshi knows this because he used to be an mmo gamer himself. So I don't think he was being sincere when he said that stuff, especially since a real player drop would lead to him being flayed at work like, the very next day.

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The take a break thing is such bullcrap. If you have a house you have to log on every month or lose it (when demolition is turned on), among other things this game does that doesn't respect player time as much as YoshiP might say otherwise.

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Originally Posted by Necrotica

This game is only successful because all the other mmos are so much worse. A mcdonalds meal atop a pile of shit.

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Yep. I'm really hoping that ashes of creation and the league of legends MMO are good when released. Otherwise, there's not much else on the horizon for the MMO genre.

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Originally Posted by Necrotica

This game is only successful because all the other mmos are so much worse. A mcdonalds meal atop a pile of shit.

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I wouldn't be that crude, but ...have to agree. XIV seems to be getting that "unpopular kid becomes popular" syndrome, and I'm sure many of us refugees have been spotting the same red flags too.

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Originally Posted by Necrotica

This game is only successful because all the other mmos are so much worse. A mcdonalds meal atop a pile of shit.

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The fact that the worst FFXIV white knights only ever talk about it in comparison to WoW is a good indication this is true.

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Originally Posted by kpxmanifesto

Yep. I'm really hoping that ashes of creation and the league of legends MMO are good when released. Otherwise, there's not much else on the horizon for the MMO genre.

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...you know it's a sad day when we're relying on League of Legends to feel better... *sigh*

Honestly, I'm having fun in GW2. I don't really understand why people dislike it so much when it's really just a different sort of game. It otherwise isn't that bad. I did try PSO2, but I couldn't deal with the controls all that well. Apart from that, it looked somewhat solid from what I've played.

FF14 is a nice game as well. But it definitely has its flaws and is showing its age. I'd understand comparing it to WoW because it's the closest in terms of gameplay, but the comparisons almost always feel like they're going to be positive. Because it's a foregone conclusion: FF14 came after, learned from its predecessor, tried for a good portion to listen to its fanbase, whereas WoW has a really old system and differences in development views have skewed the game's priorities. But just because one's better doesn't mean it's "good". And just because a game's "good" doesn't mean it can't be "better".

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Originally Posted by Zebraoracle

The take a break thing is such bullcrap.

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"Take a break and play other games" is basically SE removing responsibility from themselves to provide content with good long term play value while painting is as being out of concern for player welfare. If you get bored because content lasts 10 minutes, it's your fault, you're meant to be taking breaks.

You pay SE for a game, they tell you to pay another company for a game to get entertainment, while continuing to pay them.

I hate the main scions with a passion, I was almost so happy at end of ultima thule...but alas....

I dont like heavensward, its a solid 4/10 to me. arr, stb, shb, ew rank solid 8/10s

Miqotes irritate me, too many of them in the storylines, not enough roegadyn

SGE is a wasted effort and shouldn't have been made if it was just going to be a SCH clone with no lore.

Stormblood gets overhated by people who only care about story, and most Heavensward/ARR jobs played like garbage, with MCH being the one major exception.

The Bee's Knees dance emote is the most overused and annoying emote ever created. I can't wait for the devs fto finally give us a new sexy dance to put this old one to rest.

Give us a new dance like Mr. Libido's from Yakuza 0. At least his dance is funny.

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Originally Posted by Soge01

Give us a new dance like Mr. Libido's from Yakuza 0. At least his dance is funny.

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Dang woman you are speaking my language now. I'd love that dance.

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Originally Posted by Renalt

Dang woman you are speaking my language now. I'd love that dance.

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Did you just assume my gender!? Lol, I'm a man, good sir. xD

And you can't beat the moves of Mr. Libido! Unless your Majima. Nothing can beat Majima combined with Mr. Libido's moves.

I've been watching this for a while, now free login campaign as let me in I can post my hot topic:

-I hate the battle system. It lacks Depth and strategy, it's just 1,2,3, dot filler here or bust, I can't play DPS in this game because it makes me fall asleep, but healers combat isn't good either, I have moved to FFXI which the combat and subjob system makes battles interesting


- I hate the Holy Trinity in this game: Final Fantasy 14 jobs feels Samey and Lack distinctive features that makes them feel different and stand out from each other, Red mage doesn't feel like a red mage, where is the cures? Haste? enfeebling magic spells? why does red mage get a cure so late (level 54) in comparison to it's other Final fantasy counter parts? FFXI red mage gets cure like levels 4 and has alot of enfeebling magics and cures ( up to cure 4) XIV red mage is the worst red mage out of the series and the job system in this game is terrible.


- I hate the Scions. Why do they have to follow me like a fly on Poop everywhere? like I'm an adventure, I should be on Adventures instead of having these people following me and praising me and my every move or anything I do for that matter. Let them leave me alone. let us meet new people to help on our adventures. FFXI did an amazing job meeting new people from Different expansion like Lisette or Lion, and for the first time, the story NPCs wasn't praising me for everything I did, and it wasn't all about me in the storylines
it was a breath of fresh air to honest. Yeah Ystola is the poster girl for XIV but so is Shantotto in XI, but you don't see her following me all the time like a lost puppy, and always in my face.

I hate the Gear system in this game, it's very linear and uninteresting. Bigger ilvl = bigger damage which that's all it has to offer, meanwhile in XI, all the gear is unique and offer different effects and enchantment to wear some level 75 gear is very useful ( e.g White mage main hand level 75 Yagrush- makes all status removal spells AoE 100% of the time)

I hate xiv and what it's become, AST 3.0 and 4.0 was my favorite and SE crushed it for homogenized to be on pair with other heals

for a game like XIV to be all about " Balance" this game has a lot of issues balancing jobs

but that makes the jobs very boring, there will always be a meta

xiv no longer interests me and I'm loving XI alot

The Apocalypse should've hit the entire planet, or at least the great three continents. Not just Thavnair and Garlemald, which was already a dead place.
And no, not just a few turned mobs, like in the role story.
Would've been great if for the duration of the story, the player would see the affected zones with the Apocalypse-weather. But that would require phasing, like WoW has since WotLK 14 years ago.

Looking back at my dislike of Endwalker I think I finally got to the root of the issue when looking back at it all. They are horrible about what story beats they elect to promote in advertising for expansion and those showcased at fanfests as super hype for next expansion points.

I am reminded Shadowbringers initially at a fanfests had "Take the fight to the Garlean Empire" as a selling point. This was only further messed up with EW with "The end of the Hydaelyn Zodiark arc" and "The Final days are upon us" when both really aren't heavily the point of the main narrative or at least not showcased as heavily as all the promotional stuff would lead you to believe. I do want to replay EW while trying to put those expectations out of my mind to see if it is any better.

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Originally Posted by Soge01

The Bee's Knees dance emote is the most overused and annoying emote ever created. I can't wait for the devs fto finally give us a new sexy dance to put this old one to rest.

Give us a new dance like Mr. Libido's from Yakuza 0. At least his dance is funny.

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It's also the shittiest dance out of all of them.