Why aren't you subbing to Final Fantasy XIV now that the trial period is over?

Just to add a preface guys, this isn't a troll thread. I'm curious to know what's on other peoples minds about the game, and what has convinced them not to sub to the game now that the free trial period is ending for most of us. If you've subbed, that's fine and dandy, but that's not the point of this thread. Please respect that people who are not subbing may have valid opinions that can better the game for everyone, and improve the retention rate of players as more people hit 'endgame'.

I will start off by saying that I loved the 1-50 experience on my first class. Getting to 50 was a joy. Why? It was well paced with a robust storyline and quest system, with the occasional fate, dungeon, and leve. I thought that Square-Enix had accomplished the impossible. They created a mmo that didn't feel grindy... and I quite loved it. Then, I hit 50.

Currently endgame requires a lot of grinding for upgrades. I feel like the game established a brisk and rewarding pace for the first 50 levels and then suddenly expected you to grind the same stuff repeatedly for a minimal amount of tokens. This wouldn't be an issue if 1. Dungeon Queues weren't so long 2. the dungeons rewarded more tombstones 3. It didn't take forever to get a single upgrade. I started to lose interest at this point. I could kind of understand that a new game might not have a fully fleshed out endgame, so I decided to try working secondary classes.

I messed around with a few crafting classes and I thought they were ok. It wasn't til i started leveling a second class that I realized the game throws out everything it establishes during the first 50 levels of your gameplay experience. It becomes an absolute grindfest with no ideal alternative to leveling outside grinding fates, dungeons, and leves. Sure, I guess you might say that there is variety at least, but there is a clear winner when it comes to leveling speedily, and that seems to be fate grinding.

Fate grinding.. WHo thought this was a good idea? It has to be the most uninvolved, unengaging, boring ways to level in almost any game I've played. Not only is there a sense of urgency because people swarm each fate camp like flies to a fresh turd, but I felt completely disconnected from the game while doing it. Having played Final Fantasy XI for the first 4 years of its NA release, I'm not a stranger to grinding.. so grinding isn't the issue itself. It's just that fate-grinding is mindless and makes the game feel like a single player experience. Even in groups you have people coming and going, ... they just feel like people taking up spots in your group. It doesn't even contribute to the social aspect, because people tended to not even speak to each other. They were just there to pass the hours fate grinding, and grouping made it a bit easier, not more fun.

After getting sick of fates for awhile, I decided to do some dungeoning and use up some of my leves. There are very egregious issues with both of these alternatives. First of all, Dungeons take forever to get into unless youre a healer or tank. Once you are finally in a dungeon.. the experience is quite pitiful even with the 50% bonus. Even with rested exp, it's quite bad ... and pales in comparison to fate-grinding. Why is this the case? I will say that I found the dungeons way more engaging and fun, but trying to level in dungeons is very unideal. I think an exp boost could help dungeons seem more attractive to players who can't stand fate-grinding while helping queue times as well. At least there's some minor strategy involved to them'.

Now to get to leves. Who was in charge of balancing them? They give less than half the exp for a fate of any given level range. You also only get a limited number of them. I did quite a few leves, until i realized.. that choosing to do a leve in favor of a fate in a given zone was an experience loss. Why isn't there an experience bonus to secondary classes for Leves? Why is the exp so low on them?

How about rested exp? 50% application to mob kills/dungeons is too low. If it could somehow be boosted to 100% in dungeons and effect leves, then those alternatives to fate grinding might become viable. For the time being, fates are where it's at, much to the detriment of the gameplay experience. On a related note, rested exp can discourage someone from leveling low leveled classes. I know I personally avoided working conjurer because I had like 2-3 bars of rested that I didn't want to waste on a fresh Conjurer. There should be a way to lock rested for low level classes, so that you can unlock it at a level where it wont be wasted.

Game mechanics aside, me and my friends have been separated since the launch due to character restrictions placed on our server of choice... then secondary server of choice, and now were all scattered. This still hasn't been rectified.. and I think we're all in agreement that we will not pay for server transfers for a restriction placed on servers by square-enix, however good intentioned their reasoning may have been.

With that said, these are the main reasons I will not be subscribing. I really enjoyed the free trial period for the first 30 days or so, but I found that the repetition finally set in and made me realize I wasn't having fun with the way they designed endgame and leveling secondary classes. Making adjustments to these systems can go a long way in reinvigorating the game for me, that seems to have lost its freshness rather quickly, but in no part due to the fundamental mechanics of the game.. just the design approach after leveling your first class, and for a game that has tried to reestablish itself as a 'modern mmo', there is simply too much grinding in the end.

Now this brings me to the question. If you have decided not to renew, why is that the case? Being constructive helps, but no opinion is 'wrong'.

Thanks for reading.

incomming lots of white knights......


im not subbing because of the tome farm and because lack on variety , this game isnt worth a subscription

I'm subbing because i like the game

this game is going to be a ghostown very rapidly

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Originally Posted by Rushx

incomming lots of white knights......


im not subbing because of the tome farm and because lack on variety , this game isn't worth a subscription

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Basically this, and I'm sure people will be saying "why not try the other things such as side quests,leveling another class or crafting..etc,

Side quests/Leveling another class/job - What side quests are left after you've gotten one job to max? FATE Grinding is boring and dungeons don't give enough exp for the amount of time they take.
Crafting - I wouldn't mind crafting if the gear you crafted was a bit more useful.

I sure hope so. I get tired of new threads like this every day. Just leave the game to those of us who enjoy it.

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Originally Posted by Rushx

incomming lots of white knights......


im not subbing because of the tome farm and because lack on variety , this game isnt worth a subscription

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That's kinda where I was at. Sure I wasn't in Binding Coil, but I was at Titan HM, and other than that the only thing there was to do was to farm the same two dungeons over and over again for tokens, or craft, which was fun and all, but ultimately useless at endgame because everything worthwhile is either way to expensive or dropped somewhere else.

It's just an unfinished game, there isn't enough to do. I'll come check it out maybe once they get a few content patches in, but as of right now I'm happy not paying for something that isn't worth it.

I will give it 1 more month since I'm not 50yet but I do save side quests for other classes

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Originally Posted by JPPILIP

I will give it 1 more month since I'm not 50yet but I do save side quests for other classes

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Enjoy the trek to 50. It's a good one and well worth the time to experience'. More work needs to be done on the systems in place post-50, though. There are a lot of things I enjoy about the game, but the grindy endgame/post-game is a turn off. A few balance tweaks could rectify this problem for some of us. I get bored just thinking about more fate grinding. :O I really want to WANT to play the game.

I'm going to sub because:
1. I like the game
2. I don't want to go to back to any other game anymore.

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Why aren't you subbing to Final Fantasy XIV now that the trial period is over?

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I AM subbing (and am currently subbed.)

The people whose free trial period is already over and aren't subbed can't respond to your question, because access to the forums requires an active game account.

To think that not long ago MMORPGs were nothing but senseless grinding on mobs everyday for hours =3= yet people enjoyed the game...

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Originally Posted by Shayuyu

To think that not long ago MMORPGs were nothing but senseless grinding on mobs everyday for hours =3= yet people enjoyed the game...

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Yeah, but that's kinda like saying I should like VHS because VHS used to be state of the art.

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Originally Posted by Alhanelem

I AM subbing (and am currently subbed.)

The people whose free trial period is already over and aren't subbed can't respond to your question, because access to the forums requires an active game account.

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Early access ended on the 29th of Sept, I believe. Then we got 30 days + a 10 day free trial, at least for the people who preordered the game. I'm sure there are still a good number of us whose accounts are still in the free trial period, but perhaps you have a point... to an extent. Just figured this could be a thread for people who like the game and would like to voice what is preventing them from subbing, so that the devs know why certain individuals are leaving... so they can get those players, and players who are leaving for similar reasons but not posting why, to sub. Constructive feedback is so important for a game in its infancy and could help this game flourish for years to come.

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Originally Posted by Shayuyu

To think that not long ago MMORPGs were nothing but senseless grinding on mobs everyday for hours =3= yet people enjoyed the game...

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A smaller number of people'. The mmo audience is much bigger now, for better or worse. Not everyone can justify the time spent on grinding with little to no reward for hours spent performing the same set of repetitive actions, when there are other games that can provide gratification in a shorter amount of time with more meaningful gameplay mechanics. There's a lot of promise in some of the systems in place in Final Fantasy XIV, but some adjustments need to be made.

I will be subscribing as I love the game and I'm having a blast every time I play.

And just FYI OP, SE already announced we get five days to transfer for FREE, so your last point is moot.

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Originally Posted by Odd

I will be subscribing as I love the game and I'm having a blast every time I play.

And just FYI OP, SE already announced we get five days to transfer for FREE, so your last point is moot.

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Good to know. One less issue with the game. It shows that they do listen to the forums, and that this post wasn't all for naught.

I'll give the game a month, but if they use "The next patch" marketing tool and refuse to fix glaring quality of life issues + the teleporting bot farming, I'm out.

You have like 40 days for me! Enjoy the 15 bucks or w/e SE....I'll try to enjoy your product. :)

I've subbed for 3 months already. However, I do notice some glaring flaws with the game. Nothing is perfect MMO wise on release. I think it was a huge mistake to release coil and not CT (the precursor to coil). Fates are fun with the right group of people, however they should not eclipse dungeons / leves so hugely in experience. Right now I really detest the tome farming and honestly whats the point when lets be honest I guarantee you CT can be cleared in AK gear instead of DL. I'm just going to level and see what they have in store come November.

i Subbing -> That's it

Because I was hacked and they've locked me out for the next........12 or so days. Glad I didn't get the sub in before then.

I'm going to do a 4 month sub if I get my account back. Which I should. I feel that will give me ample time to do the things I still want to. Check out some new content in 2.1 then decide from there.

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Originally Posted by JuicyCouture

I'll give the game a month, but if they use "The next patch" marketing tool and refuse to fix glaring quality of life issues + the teleporting bot farming, I'm out.

You have like 40 days for me! Enjoy the 15 bucks or w/e SE....I'll try to enjoy your product. :)

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I think more frequent hotfixes would be desirable, at least to address quality of life issues more easily, though it seems they can't make even the most minor of changes without an extended downtime.

Im enjoying the game atm. But i think for most of us its not the game thats the issue more the people in it! The community is turning sour, but hopefully as trials end that crowd may thin ^_^ *Fingers crossed*

Personally, I just subbed (30 days). The reason for this is that FFXIV is my first "WoW-like" MMO and I'm interested as to where they're gonna go next. They have a lot of problems ahead to fix, but overall I think they're doin' alright - its just gonna take that extra step to go from "all right" to "outstanding". Currently I'm at the point where I'm experiencing the slow down that comes when approaching the level cap and the problem with leveling secondary jobs. Glad I made two characters and learned to save the side-quests for the second job, but you shouldn't have to do that, especially when one of your games' highlights is "you can be any and every job".

I had a 1.0 account, not legacy, so my free trial ended earlier. I subbed because it's a good game. I got to lvl 48 2.5 weeks ago, but I just decided to take it slowly, level up another class and focus on my family.

I chose not to make FFXIV:ARR a major source of joy/contentment, so I don't spend 3-5 a day like I used to do when I was younger. There's a ton of content for those who are just enjoying the ride. I've been playing on and off since Beta Phase 1, and slowly I got to learn what endgame was going to be and so I decided to not rush and burn through it because it would only leave me to be unsatisfied. I noticed that when I only few a days a week for a short period of time, those hours of playing are MUCH sweeter than the days I played everyday for 5+ hours. I think I made a good choice. =)

Plus if I did burn out, there are a ton of good games to play while waiting for patch 2.1. Good stuff!

I've decided to wait until it comes out on PS4 to sub. That way I can cash in on my PS3 to fund the subscription instead of out of pocket.

Not Subbing

1. Customer Support is really bad (so not worth paying for)
2. Lag issues are bad (not worth paying for)
3. Possible account blocking if I earned to much gil.
4. Massive RMT issues (reason for picking P2P was hoping to have less RMTs and better community, I was very much mistaken)

Game becomes ghosttown, suddenly Titan HM is on farm in pugs, turn 5 BC goes down, 2.1 and 2.2. come out, those who stayed are geared to the teeth and those who left wish they hadn't.

not subbing any further because:

1. Cleared Turn 1 through 4 in less than 2 hours in Coil with only one wipe (due to serverside LAG), brand new FC attempting it.
2. The first time leveling to 50 was great, the next two jobs to 50 was... FATE FATE FATE. Very boring. Yes other stuff to do but only a select few dilly dally lvl 1-49 with side dungeons. Most others would like to get to 50 and play endgame. Hunting Logs don't give you much and waste time/teleport money compared to the EXP gained from FATE with 50% exp bonus.
3. ENDLESS grinding of the same instance over and over. AK runs, CM runs. Every mmo has grinding but my god is it that hard to just give the primal battles a few myth more tombs? The amount of time required to grind is stupid not to mention Extremely boring.
4. Horrible players. Yes people are new, I am one of the few who actually don't say anything to them when they are in my group playing terrible, i would just carry them and explain shit. But my god, is it really that hard to move out of huge red circles on the ground? Especially after the 3rd, 4th, 5th time wiping? Every boss fight at endgame has pretty much the same mechanics. Watch your feet, adjust your camera, dps adds, stay out of the front and back of the boss. Even with the use of macros and /yell commands stating what abilities come next, people will still just be lazy and die so they are carried.
5. These forums: I can't stand how the mods respond to posts about character creation and such, instead of major in-game issues. BETA was WAY better with professional responses. Who cares what you look like when the game is so incredibly stale and boring after your first 50. Pay attention to the 100+ pages and +1000 Likes on important issues/bugs!!
6. Random things in-game that FF14 developers should have told players about in a tutorial or somewhere else. For example: Switching grand companies - 30 day cooldown. Would be nice to know that before you do it. Oh and not to mention lvl 55 crafted gear completely owns a lot of the Darklight gear. But wait, be careful buying from certain people you might get banned, be careful crafting those items you might be banned.... your kidding right? I feel bad for a lot of those players I guarantee most of them did nothing wrong but just loved to make money. Sell Titan Runs? Go ahead at least those people buying it don't have to wipe endlessly for weeks with idiots who /shout IM EXPERIENCED ON PHASE 3, then die to landslides before heart phase, or deal with 2 tanks Duty finder queues....really? Whats the other tank there for, moral support? Wait a minute, on that note, most fights endgame don't even need 2 tanks but Duty finder thinks so ....+20-30min to the runs. A half DL-geared paladin can rip through CM by himself with 2 heals and dps with no issues, no 2nd tank needed. Even Ifrit HM the PLD can shield bash the Eruption ability just by knowing the Bosses scripted rotation.
7. Having BRD be top DPS. Should I even have to explain this one? 480DPS burst with 300-320DPS over a 5-10min fight - the ability to move freely while casting and have mana battery song for everyone else. Just OP. Poor Warriors... wait whats a warrior I don't see any of them really at endgame raiding. Why would you even bring one of them to coil - give them some sort of interrupt on a small cooldown.
8. Gold sellers / RMT - How did all those people get banned yet I have 140 on my blacklist and adding about 5 a day whenever i stop by a major city. I even get in-game mails from them - at least they are saying 'sorry to bother' now before they give the sales pitch. Moving on up i guess. SE your gonna have to increase the 200 limit btw on blacklist.
9. Duty finder - where do i even start? Titan DF que'n with 2 tanks? Really? 140minute queues on Monday-Wednesday night and sometimes sundays for DPS. Meanwhile idiots who insta-que as Tank can just leave the zone wait 15minutes and go again. And why isn't relic quest monsters included in Duty finder -Chimera/hyrda?
10. The BS that led up to release. All these promises given about keeping the community up-to-date with issues. Yeah right. Like i said before, we get responses to things no one that I know cares about. I must not know that many people or something?


Bottom Line - I did sub for 90 days, which blows, because this game really sucks once you realize there is nothing at 50 to do besides the same instance over and over. At least make it so if you change jobs on your character you can re-enter Coil or something?

Don't get me wrong, I did like the game before. And yes, I am angry, and its because i REALLY liked this game in BETA and i really was on Yoshi/SE side and defended it against my friends who said it would suck. The forums are meant for bitching and hopefully some of you understand im more frustrated there is nothing to do but the same old shit over and over. But now there is nothing to defend against. The game is pretty crappy imo and VERY boring. There is nothing else out to play so yes you'll catch me online Mondays if it isn't laggy for one or two hours clearing all the content available to us.

For the OP its all about if you want to play or not. Take some notes from the people who are upset, there is a reason why they are. Maybe you don't fancy end-game stuff you like leveling, for me though I'll wait in hopes the game completely changes in the future to a real solid MMO i've been looking for.

I'm her until I see exactly what 2.1 shows me. Unless something impressive happens with that, I'll be out. Might check back in 6-12 months after, if 2.1 fails to tell me good things. Not mediocre things. Not ho-hum same ol' things. Good things, that convince me sticking around won't be an utter waste of my time.

i'll sub for 1 month, after that time if theres still this insane lag on aoe (on europe) and its still a dungeon grind fest(always same 2 dungeons) then i'm out.

teleporting gathering... teleporting Philo Farming... teleporting titan kills... teleporting core... people are abusing it to the extreme and u do nothing.

OP could you at least put a TL;DR on your post... I fell asleep reading it.

One of best MMO in last 10 year. Can't stop subbing. Simple, straight forward. Can't wait when 2.1 came out. Some MMO like guild war2 can't get me play more than 2 days.

Bots took over my favorite part of the game. I'll be back when they figure out how to get rid of the gathering bots.

Not subbing till they fix some issues. So either waiting till server transfers (so i can grind with friends, at least that is a bit more fun) or they fix the major issues in 2.1. I do intend to come back... just not now. You'd think after the failure of 1.0 they would know better. It's not like this is their first MMO. I love FFXI even now. I might go back to that since I still have some crysta on that account. I'll keep an eye on the forum to see if things are getting fixed.

Nothing to do, next content patch isn't adding much progression.

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Originally Posted by Alhanelem

I AM subbing (and am currently subbed.)

The people whose free trial period is already over and aren't subbed can't respond to your question, because access to the forums requires an active game account.

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No, it doesn't.

Not coming back. SE stole 99% of my/and my wifes gil and gave me/us one week in the brick without any evidence or reason, other than "suspicious activities" and the fact that some with X mil gil was RMTs.
never bought any kind of ingame currenies not even in F2P games, first time this has ever happened to me.
Just wanted to voice my opinion and I care little about what you think I really did, or any other fairytales.
Hope that the ones who enjoy the game keeps playing
Cheers!

I'm subbing because while I don't think this time sink is perfect, all MMOs are basically all time sinks and I enjoy this one because
1) It's got FF aethestics (and I hate how FFXI is these days)
2) A lot of my FFXI friends have come over (sadly many of us are split up on different servers :(