Why do you play Final Fantasy XIV?

Why do you prefer the long term playstyle of MMOG to other kind of games like single player's instant gratification?

When you add in other players, even to scripted fights, I like how you have to start compensating for mistakes and how no two fights are ever the exact same (outside of your raid group, and even then...). Plus, bonus time wasting~!

Most single player games offer a difficulty slider which involve learning to get better at the game. I see how FF14 is doing something right but this is not something the competition does not have.

To be blunt: Catboys and glamour mostly.

Although, the social aspects are nice as well. This is a game I can play and interact with family who live away. I've also made friends here that I wouldn't have met offline.

Even with difficulty sliders, predictable things are still predictable. Scripted events are still scripted. You generally just get punished harder for making a mistake. The AI will still always do what it's programmed to do flawlessly. The only human error is on you.

Single player RPGs don't have the social aspect of an MMO, and they also don't have the same quantity of content.

That's not to say that I don't play and enjoy single player games, but it's rare to find one that really offers much longevity once you've done everything it has to offer. Plus there's generally a lack of grinding (unless you intend to face the uberbosses....but RPG uberbosses rarely pay off relative to how long you have to grind to be able to fight them, imo), and a lack of satisfaction at having attained a specific goal, since those 'goals' tend to be 'sidequests' more than anything.

MMOs don't have the instant gratification factor no, but generally there's more of a rewarding feel when you accomplish something. IMHO, of course. The repetition and grind can be tedious for sure, but the payoff for completing your anima weapon is better to me, than slaying that 50 million health uberboss that wasn't even really that hard, when all was said and done.

I somewhat disagree.

Content in a MMOG will always be limited. Rewards are spread on a longer period through dailies and other RNG methods which are all calibrated to make sure the company makes money. In a single player, the rewards are skill based. It's not a matter of getting that 0.5% drop chance item like a green fish because you want to make a swimsuit. It's a matter of standing your ground and learning to overcome the difficulties.

Apples and oranges though, MMOG and Single Player.

Ever since i started playing this game every other game feels so shallow now.

I do still enjoy other games but i feel this game will always draw me back.

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Originally Posted by Train88

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Content in anything will be limited, but MMOs come frontloaded with more content than most single player games do, even when they're brand new. And there's the general expectation of additional content beyond what developers put out for most single player games for the future. Is everything slower and grindier? Absolutely. But like I said, I feel the payoff is better when you had to sink a lot of time into something, when compared against the instant gratification factor.

I don't dislike instant gratification or anything, but the only single player games I've invested anywhere near as much time into as I have FF14 would be Baldur's Gate 1 and 2. Games that focus on the 'feel good now' aspect I tend to be done with after completing it once, with little to no interest in a repeat playthrough. That's still 20-30 hours of entertainment, and I'd probably feel like it was worth it. But that hardly competes with the hundreds of hours I've gotten out of FF14. *shrug*

-The FC I'm in and the friends I made in it
-My character looks pretty
-The game is pretty
-It's more story-driven then other MMO's I've played
-I can play it on my computer, which isn't a gaming rig

There's no longevity in it at all though really. Everything is outdated so fast it can't possibly have any form of longevity. It's part of why they often try and pad things out to push players back into old long dead content. Crystal towers for example. No one ever queued. Bam let's put the relic oils in there, try and push ppl back into dead content. it worked for a few weeks.

There's also the fact that nothing you do holds any lasting value or benefit to your character. For example I cleared coil in ARR but that provides no benefit at all if I decide to do savage. It's the same with savage. If I cleared.midas savage in 3.2 it would provide benefit at all to my character in 3.4. This is why mmos are dying because they are becoming more and more short term and full of instant gratification.

Virtually everything you do guarantees a reward almost instantly. It's not a lasting reward though it's just a cheap thing to carry you to the next cheap thing and so on. instead of working for something valuable that takes effort / time / dedication its just a bunch of instant items that are gone almost as quick as they are gotten. It's the reason the tombstones system exists. Instant gratification.

I play for the story mostly and the social aspect with a few good friends some of which I've known since XI and EVE. But even the social aspect of mmos is dying because of things like duty finders. Most fcs or guilds or whatever are nothing more than glorified chat rooms. Gone are the days of actually working as a team to get stuff done together. Now it's just jump in the duty finder and off you go. maybe ask in your fc/ls if anyone wants to queue with you but no need to wait for them or others or work together...

It's the social element that helps keep mmos alive and it's lacking heavily in modern games. Sure you queue up in the duty finder and run that content with 3-7 other people. But you don't often build connections with them or even talk to them, chances are you might never see those people again anyway. They may as well just be npcs helping you through.

there was a thing about mmos dying a while back. and they looked at it from the other side of the fence. rather than asking people why they play. they were more focussed on asking former players why they stopped playing. the average time gamers stick with mmos is dropping a lot. almost to the point where players pick em up and put them down almost as frequently as single player games because the long tem aspect of mmos doesn't really exist anymore.

I could stop playing today. pick it back up in 4.3 or 4.4 and wouldn't matter at all. within a week I could be "caught up" skip massive amounts of stuff because doing it offers no benefits to my character at all. and that's exactly why the player base is up and down so much here. because players drop the game for months at a time.

few in my friendlist subbed up to 3.4 caught up on story cleared soph ex. got some weapons, smashed a12s and now unsubbed again. till the next patch. theres no reason for them to play any more than that. no longevity. no real social aspect. or anything. need to bring these things back if mmos want to survive long tem I think. otherwise they'll just turn even more into single player games pick em up for a couple of weeks and put em back down.

and its the amount of time players typically spend playing mmos dropping so much that developers aren't really making new ones anymore because players don't stick around long enough...

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Originally Posted by Train88

Why do you prefer the long term playstyle of MMOG to other kind of games like single player's instant gratification?

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I used to be very competitive in gaming. Not MLG or anything, but I was into everything hardcore. Over time, I think it happened as I got older, but I began to only want to play co-op games. My preferred genre is RPGs (mostly turn-based followed by anything that grants experience points and loot), so MMORPGs are a plus since they have co-op.

I also feel like when I play MMORPGs, I am calm and relaxed. There's fights, there's crafting, there's chat, etc.

- The combat, especially when attempting and succeeding to parse well for my gear level, and/or to perform my role and mechanics well for my level of experience in a fight.
- A few remaining friends
- The hope that things will improve
- Access enough to check my facts before suggesting something

The loaded question in the OP aside, I mostly play for friends and fun trials. I like the side content in game much more than raiding.

Game I can play with my wife.
She doesn't have a PC, so no WoW, and she likes cute stuff, so FFXIV wins because cat people, chocobos, and potatoes.

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Originally Posted by Train88

Why do you prefer the long term playstyle of MMOG to other kind of games like single player's instant gratification?

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Because I played the free trial and got caught with it relatively quick, this game is also my first MMO experience by the way!...

MMOs seem to be never ending games and although I've gotten bored many days since I started playing I have yet to see the end of this story, the game is by far the best Final Fantasy I have ever played and I doubt I'll drop it anytime soon, I'll keep subbed from start to finish and the only thing that can change that is if SE releases the next FF Online while XIV is still alive, like it happened with XI vs XIV!...

I just wish the next Final Fantasy MMO will let us import our characters from this one and of course that it will also have at the very least Miqo'te amongst its races!... :)

I was a former WOW player and I felt that WOW reached a point where it wasn't growing anymore. Despite all the new bells and whistles it had every expansion, it felt very stale. I reached a point where nothing I did in WOW felt fun anymore. So I quit. This was around a year and a half ago.

Discovered FF14 in September of this year. I really love everything about it. I feel like everything WOW lacked is present in FF14. What I love most about this game is that it isn't all about raiding. I can go at my own pace. It's a nice feeling.

I play mainly because its just here. Already invested time and money into it, playing anything else kinda feels like I am wasting money. Granted once I do get to that point I will play other stuff for awhile but mainly the only thing keeping me here at the moment is my raid group. We are making progress on A11S (50%) but overall I think the lack of info of the expansion and wanting something new to do. A new job to level and learn, new maps to explore. The current stuff is stale or uninteresting to me so I am kinda just beating whatever bush i can find to keep interest. At the moment trying to gear up BLM and try to master that.

I've played lots of MMOs and I think XIV is a pretty solid game in the market right now. The dev team is constantly putting lots of efforts into this game, I feel I'm being listened by them. I also feel the community here is really good, despite the few exceptions you'll find around.

Because it's the best series of all time.

There are a lot of reasons. But, what makes this MMO better then others I played before, is the fact that you don't need to make a social circle to play. Most MMO deman to have a premade party to do content. This game allows you to play alone. For a unsocial being like me with difficulties to make friends (I still have friends in game, but don't like depend on them) it is good do most of the content without depend on others. Duty Finder is one of the greatest things. I used similar tools before of course (like the one in SWTOR), but in this game is jsut perfect. That's one of the things that liked me form the beggining. FFXI who everyone idolize in this forum is not what I want. YOu NEED to have party. That's why I don't like the ideas a lot of player insisted on put into FFXIV from this game.Yes of course the companion system of FFXI allows you to solo things, but is just a shortcut. THis one of the thing makes me stop play FFXI very soon (I don't know how is now, I have no intention to return anyway).

And of course, the natural reasons. This game is wonderful in gameplay, environment, comunity and content. It is easy to learn (But hard to master) and there are contens of all types. Also the most beautiful graphics I've ever seen on a MMO, who usually lack a lot in this aspect. And, the music. Is just the best OST I heard in a MMO. And One important things should be mention. The Capabilty of use any class without need make another character. This gives the final strike to others MMO.

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Why do you prefer the long term playstyle of MMOG to other kind of games like single player's instant gratification?

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What kind of question is that anyway..regardless of if single player games are instant gratification (hint: they aren't),
why are you posing the question as if everyone who chooses to play an MMO, at the same time decides to never touch a single player game again? o_Ô
I'm pretty sure that except for extremely rare cases, we all keep playing single player games too!
Both have their own charms and I wouldn't want to miss out on either of them and I'm pretty sure that's the case for most players :)

For me personally, the main attraction to MMOs comes from them never "ending".
With single player, even if I put in 200, 300 hours of playtime and do every single hidden quest and easteregg, at some point, I will be finished.
That's it. That's what got released, at most there were a few DLCs, but it's done now.
With an MMORPG, that never happens. Sure, I might run out of stuff to do in patch A, but patch B will expand on the story, and it will continue in C, D and E and so on.
Unless the MMO gets shut down, I never have to worry about the story coming to an end.
This is 100% me:

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...cf0c8675ec.jpg

Because of that, I can't remember when I last actually completely finished a game (or book/TV series, for that matter),
because it never leaves me with a feeling of accomplishment and closure, only sadness and a feeling of lacking a purpose.
With an MMO, I don't have to worry about that, I know it won't end anytime soon. Maybe it will, 8 or 10 years down the line,
when I long have lost interest and won't even care about it anymore. But at least it won't while I am still havily invested in it.


The other big draw is the social aspect. Humans are social by nature, so of course doing something I enjoy together with others is more enjoyable than just doing it by myself.
So much more, in fact, that I willingly put up with the less enjoyable parts this brings with it (trolls, socially inept people, cheaters, and so on).
Also, no matter how amazing the AI is programmed in a single-player game, it is completely unable to be as versatile as humans.
You say "there can be different difficulty levels" in single player, but with humans, every single run is completely different from the one before because of different people.
Harder, easier, troubles at different parts, etc. Even if you always run with the same people, they might do something right one time and wrong another time. An AI can't recreate that.
There is also much more reason to work on long-term goals when there is someone to compare that progress with.


But yeah, that does not mean that I "prefer" MMOs :rolleyes:
I prefer FFXIV over other MMOs though, because of it's story focus and how generally well-polished everything is.

It distracts me from my miserable life

I play it because it's a final fantasy game lol, I played every one of them besides 11 and 12

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Originally Posted by Train88

I somewhat disagree.

Content in a MMOG will always be limited. Rewards are spread on a longer period through dailies and other RNG methods which are all calibrated to make sure the company makes money. In a single player, the rewards are skill based. It's not a matter of getting that 0.5% drop chance item like a green fish because you want to make a swimsuit. It's a matter of standing your ground and learning to overcome the difficulties.

Apples and oranges though, MMOG and Single Player.

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Pink tails in FFIV. (1%; BTW, this gives you the strongest armor in the game.)
Shiny Pokémon. (1 in 4,000 chance Sun and Moon if using SOS battles, it's about 1/500 chance)

Tons more that I probably can't even think of or games I've not even touched. Rare item drops have never been limited to MMOs.

I feel it's the only MMO worth paying for right now. That of course changes based on new games, new expansions, new content, etc. I constantly re-assess my financial situation and what my thoughts are on any new games/content that comes out in gaming as a whole.

I'm at the point where after I finish a single player game, I never touch it again... so I tend to gravitate towards open world games like Saints Row, Infamous, Arkham games, and Elder Scrolls/Fallout and while Fallout 4 left me unsatisfied, it was a good game. Haven't yet played XV since I plan to get it by Christmas. If I get the Nintendo Switch you better believe Zelda and the rumored Xenoblade X port will be the first in my collection. (Square, please consider XIV for Switch)

XIV, like XI is just a nice never ending game that constantly updates. I like interacting with the people and the lore in this game is incredible. in XI, I didn't care much for it but for some reason I became heavily invested in XIV's world and it's people. The storyline for what it's worth has me hooked. Destiny is okay, but the game is already wrapping up for it's sequel so it's just going to be lacking content for the time being.

Real life sux

Because once I finish a single player game I come back to XIV or play both. Single player games have an end XIV has not. XIV managed to rekindle the fire of excitement over the FF franchise. Something that I thought it was lost years ago. Also there is something about XIV that other MMORPGs have not. It's not only the FF sticker on it. It has a different feeling and a lvl of quality you don't see in many games.

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Originally Posted by Train88

Why do you prefer the long term playstyle of MMOG to other kind of games like single player's instant gratification?

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I don't really care that it's a MMORPG, it's just an added bonus to play the XIV entry with other fans of the series. I'm not even a MMO fan.
I just play it because it's a numbered Final Fantasy title and as a fan of the franchise I felt the need to play it, this game plays like a single player FF game most of the time anyway so I feel like I'm right at home.

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Originally Posted by Xlantaa

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I agree. I never really played an mmo for long before this, and I have difficulty relating to other people a lot.

This will be on page 5, so no one will see, but I needed material to fap, and this game had good graphic at the time. 3 years later still fapping.

Lately it has pretty much only been to see my character. Things that want to do, I can't when I have no one to do them with. Keep thinking I'm going to take a break, but haven't yet for some reason.

My only reason I play FF XIV is the social aspect.

MMORPGs are more of a social and team experience than single-player games, which I like. I prefer MMOs to the rise of MOBAs because while I do raid and can be competitive, I don't game for e-sports and they're very caught up in that plus what it takes to support such a game development-wise.

I'm dealing with a disability that makes it very painful to sit or stand for long periods and it's pretty much killed my social life. Like, I have to plan a trip to the movies with a friend weeks ahead of time if I want to enjoy it and I'll be bedridden for a couple of days afterwords. FF XIV is the most social thing I can reliably do anymore. That also annoys me because I would honestly like to quit but then I'd go back to being alone in my apartment all day without any real time interaction with other people which is honestly not good for my head.

I want to move on someday and get back to doing real things, but it helps fill a big gap in my life until I can be mobile and working again.

I play it because I absolutely love to get (somewhat!) lost in the lore!
I also love collecting armor, and the social aspect is also something I find appealing.

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Originally Posted by Texa

I'm dealing with a disability that makes it very painful to sit or stand for long periods and it's pretty much killed my social life. Like, I have to plan a trip to the movies with a friend weeks ahead of time if I want to enjoy it and I'll be bedridden for a couple of days afterwords. FF XIV is the most social thing I can reliably do anymore. That also annoys me because I would honestly like to quit but then I'd go back to being alone in my apartment all day without any real time interaction with other people which is honestly not good for my head.

I want to move on someday and get back to doing real things, but it helps fill a big gap in my life until I can be mobile and working again.

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I cant begin to understand how you feel everyday but what i can tell you is try to reach out to family and friends to see if they can stop by for a game of chess or cards. Or take you for a ride somewhere just to get out for a while. If not I recommend trying meditation.

Meditation is more than just breathing you can take your imagination for a ride to any place you want to go or discover creative ideas you never thought could be possible. I recommend trying out a meditation technique called "Silva Method." Silva Method would be a great starting point to open up your creative side.

I also recommend taking up art or music to help with your creativity. Believe it or not but when you draw or use the creative side of your brain time seems to move faster. Also, studies have shown that using your creative side (music, drawing or painting) can help in a positive way while recovering from an illness or disabilities.

You never know what you may discover along the way :) I really do hope you feel better soon.

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Originally Posted by Astral145

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I know you mean well and that you're trying to help, but the only thing that's going to help me right now is a bowel resection which is gonna run me a good $25,000. Until then just gotta take each day as it comes and find ways to keep myself busy.

Let's just keep focused on the thread topic from here though.

I play it, because

• its the only stable, polished, good looking MMORPG out there with a almost perfect native gamepad support. In my opinion, there is no alternative to FFXIV ^^
• it looks great, the music is nice and I totally in love with my Au Ra! Even when some things are annoying, grindy and outdated... its still fun somehow.
• there is still so much to do. I tried so hard not to find new things. And it will never stop, because next patches and addons are coming...
• its the only game which keeps me playing for 3 years straight. And its a Final Fantasy title! Sometimes, FFXIV feels like a good collection of previous FF-titles.