I don't know what it is about this game but...I love it. A lot.

FFXIV is not perfect. It has its flaws. It has things that annoy me. It has things I hope change someday.

But overall, I just...really like this game. I love it, actually. Perhaps because I was a former jaded WoW player who quit during Legion. Perhaps because in gaming the mentality is, everything is terrible, everything is horrible and everything sucks, except the MMOs that are really old or have been shutdown.

I don't white knight this game. As I said above, it has its flaws. But coming from WoW and also playing a variety of other MMOs (and I do mean a variety. Name any MMO and it's probably on my desktop) this game has created kind of a soft spot for me. I've said numerous times, if FFXIV is the only MMO you've ever played, then you don't know how good you have it. Despite its imperfections. People here complain about butterfly wings being sold in the Mogstation, while over in STO (Star Trek Online) I can pay $30 USD for a Tier 6 ship and one-shot EVERYONE. Or at least, anyone who doesn't have disposable income.

Anyway, I'll probably be here till the game shuts down. Or I die, which at this rate could be any day now. (Not suicidal or anything. Just mean the state of the world with Covid and such. Just wanted to clarify that.)

I'm usually one of the first to speak out against things I don't like, and I took a pretty lengthy break toward the middle of Stormblood thanks to Eureka and another this past year since 5.3 was delayed, but overall I have been enjoying myself since ARR launch.

I actually want to log in most days, usually multiple times if I can. Compared to other MMOs (looking at you WoW) I feel my time is very much respected here. There's also some sentimental value to certain aspects of the game for me that I quite literally can't find anywhere else. There is also plenty of rewards I can go after which is nice. Like you, I think it is the perfect fit for me after all of my years of gaming.

I play this game to relax...mostly. I will hit up an Extreme trial or 2 every expansion (this expansion's was Memoria Misera and GOOD LORD that was nearly impossible to clear when it first came out), so during those periods I typically don't relax until I'm done. lol But I'm not as...intense when it comes to MMOs and MMO grinds as I once was. It's not too demanding, but there's challenges available should I want to seek them out. That is more than enough for me.

Nothing is perfect. FFXIV is the best mmo on the market today. That is all.

There is a sweetness to FF that doesn't exist in any other MMO. That sweetness also extends to the player base, at least that's been my experience. Easily the least toxic of any MMO I've ever played. FF is a pleasant place to be, and for me, the kind of escape I'm looking for in a real world that has become brutish.

Final Fantasy games tend to have beautifully realized worlds, nice visuals and a fun vibe in general. It translates well to an MMO.

Also, while everyone might not share this sentiment, I think forcing everyone to play through the story of every expansion is a good thing. I started playing this game during Shadowbringer, and my first instinct would've been to just level up and skip all the dated "irrelevant" content, like I would with most MMO's. It's what I did with Shadowlands trying to get back in WoW, and I lost interest pretty fast.

In FFXIV I feel invested in my character and the world, though, and it keeps me coming back. That said, this really isn't a "full time" MMO. For me it's a gap filler between other games and something I play around with at work.

What bothers me is this thread only has 6 posts...

People, the game is not that bad...

I like this game and play it almost every day outside of crazy circumstances, but I will admit that my interest has really died out a bit this year and I feel it's missing a certain something. During ARR I had imagined how cool the game would be in the future and I guess I feel like rather than building on the base, it instead feels like a shell of it's former self.

It's starting to become too formulaic for me, honestly. That's why I appreciate Bozja or even Ocean Fishing to break the mold. But I log in less and less.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Payadopa

It's starting to become too formulaic for me, honestly. That's why I appreciate Bozja or even Ocean Fishing to break the mold. But I log in less and less.

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Bozja doesn't really break any mold, to be fair. It's just Fates. And more Fates. And more Fates. And more Fates. And more Fates. And more Fates.

I could go on.

It is also Eureka 2.0, though slightly improved in my opinion, so...still of the same mold as something else.

The critical engagements are certainly no normal fates, the items you can use aren't in the overworld either and then there is the castrum which is a lot of fun. All FATEs in the overworld are brain-dead.