What gives you the incentive to play?

Hello everyone.

So I've been thinking about playing again and found out about the 72 hour free login offer a while ago, logged in, walked about for 5 mins, logged out. I was just instantly bored.

A few days later I feel the urge to play again, but I have no incentive to play. I just know that i'll pay the sub, login, do nothing for 5 mins and logout again. So i'm curious, what gives you guys the incentive to keep playing?

I've played from beta 4 on PS3 (now on PS4 :D) and have completed the MSQ every time an update was released and just grinding out tomes isn't fun and really makes me fall asleep. I'd even go as far to say running dungeons is better than ASMR videos lol.

So guys, what gives you the incentive to play? What stops you from being bored? I'm curious and I wanna see if something you guys might do can give me the spark to keep playing.

And don't say relic quest! :P

People stop me from being bored.

I go out of my way to talk to other players that might just be passing by or idling. When I'm not doing that, I'm actually doing dungeons or gathering or something :b

I play most games for character leveling and story, I'm a 'journey not the arrival' type of player, end-game phat lewt grinds are mind-numbing to me so my incentive is to play the story, once that's done I either level alts or go do something else until more quest content arrives.

My raid group, in this case it's like a peer group.

I tried doing the help groups through savage floors big brother act last week and learned why I like my group so much, progression mindset lol.

So I guess what keeps me going is...

1. Pushing my character to its utmost limits.
2. Gathering with my raid group that pushes my character to be better.
3. Ripping hate from DF DPS tanks and showing them how tanking the floor is done!

It's kind of strange. Every time I see someone playing this on youtube or streaming it, I have this huge itch to play but as soon as i turn it on and login, it all fades away and I become uninterested.

My friends and raid static keep me occupied. My interest tends to fade as a new patch is on the horizon.

i gonna leave this even when I already quit the game after 2 years of playing ;

Game it's extremely boring and easy.

1)I never could stand to level up a craft job because I find it pointless in all the ways. Craft things for what? Money? why do I even need money in this game? ; Only for teleport,repair and buy the glamour things? you can' even craft armor/weapons that worth all the effort,sacrifice and time.

2) Huge maps but doesn' feel alive . Invisible walls everywhere and loading screens separating each map ( PS3 Limitations I know but i was expecting something like WOW traveling to each city without cut content or loading screens) I was really motivated with the HS expansion but once I realized that I just need to walk across a loading screen ( in the bridge on the coerthas map ) in order to get to the new city, instantly killed the hype for me

3) RNG and Grind to far. Why SHOULD I need better equipment in this game? you don't need ILVL 275 for clear dungeons/raids where its the motivation? grinding the same dungeons over and over for weeks for tomes and get new and better armor? when you can perfectly finish dungeons with green poop items. Doing SAVAGE raids with the same REHASHED BOSS with different mechanics isn't original why even bother? you already defeated it in the normal way.

4) DPS/Healing isn' even rewarded. I literally dropped all my dps/healing classes just for have a TANK beause insta queues and more money/rewards, no point of playing a dps that needs to wait 15-20 minutes for a dungeon.

5) All the dungeons are the same. Just a long corridor with 3 mobs > safe zone > 3 mobs > safe zone> boss > pick worthless item that you will sell for 500 gils > 3 mobs > safe zone > 3 mobs > boss > end (Just like FFXIII)

6) No sense of danger and no drama involved. You are the warrior of the light that never do anything interesting and have 0 personality in the story. I always wanted a cut-scene of my character DOING SOMETHING, instead of standing still without saying nothing only "nodding" and doing expressions.

7) No open world content, yeaaah maybe the hunts were the only thing I liked it because I could interact with people of my own server instead of go in to a menu > select dungeon> be placed by randoms that you never gonna see again, people doesn' even bother saying HI or something interesting because they only want to finish the easy dungeon in 15 minutes and leave.

8) The game have a lot of content , but all that content doesn't worth the time ( in my honest opinion don't curse me ) because its so limited/plane/bored/non-rewarding.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LunaSnowfield

1)I never could stand to level up a craft job because I find it pointless in all the ways. Craft things for what? Money? why do I even need money in this game? ; Only for teleport,repair and buy the glamour things? you can' even craft armor/weapons that worth all the effort,sacrifice and time.

4) DPS/Healing isn' even rewarded. I literally dropped all my dps/healing classes just for have a TANK beause insta queues and more money/rewards, no point of playing a dps that needs to wait 15-20 minutes for a dungeon.

---

1. You CAN craft i250 gear. Not on par with tome gear, but as you said with #3 you don't really need above that. You can also use money to buy mats you can't make.

4. Is due to population. Most rather DPS and there are a LOT more options. Healer queues are usually a little slower than tanks but not as bad as DPS. The extra rewards are mostly seals/gil, seals being for gil when you said you don't need gil? You contradicted yourself a bit there.

The rest is sound, but these 2 reasons are somewhat flawed in how you presented them.

When I play a game, my instinct is to play and practice, and Git Gud (if I enjoy the game). I did enjoy this game when I started, so my plan of Git Gud took over, and there it is. I will eventually have every class/job at 60. I will eventually join a raid static. I will eventually be Gud. Just not there yet.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dragonseth07

When I play a game, my instinct is to play and practice, and Git Gud (if I enjoy the game). I did enjoy this game when I started, so my plan of Git Gud took over, and there it is. I will eventually have every class/job at 60. I will eventually join a raid static. I will eventually be Gud. Just not there yet.

---

Rare to see this kind of enthusiasm for improvement in this forum. Normally it's, "I tried, I thought I did good, I was told otherwise, I quit!" Lol

Good luck man, find a great group who push each other to be the best they can. I respect that mindset and it seems like you are cast from a similar mold. Have fun man!

Decorating my house, playing dress-up, enjoying how different every single run is, just chattering with friends and strangers, marveling at the beauty of the game and taking 300 screenshots per day ;)
I don't think I ever get bored of that, but if I DO want to mix it up, there's dailies/weeklies and leveling and hunting elusive mounts, finishing my HW sightseeing log or tackling raids.

Basically, my incentive is FUN. I consider it fun to do things that others might hate - mainly because I do those things not for the rewards at the end but the experience itsself.
Sure, I like getting tomes, but I don't do content because "I need to grind out tomes"; I do content because "I wonder what kind of people I'll encounter today" and "I wonder how different this run will be from the one I did a few days ago" or sometimes "I want to be of help to someone else." So basically, everyday I do only what I feel like doing, not what is most..effective or whatever. I mean, unless you can get RL money from it (like in some MMOs), is there any OTHER incentive to play a game other than to enjoy yourself and have a good time? :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SgtLunatics

It's kind of strange. Every time I see someone playing this on youtube or streaming it, I have this huge itch to play but as soon as i turn it on and login, it all fades away and I become uninterested.

---

Find out what it is that looks "fun" when you see others play, so much that you want to return to the game.
Then do just that, don't go grind tomestones when, for example, what you enjoy is leveling a class or reliving the story.
Go level another class, or an alt, just do the things that are fun to you and stay away from those that aren't.
If there is literally not a single thing you consider fun or enjoyable, just move on and accept that you won't be returning to this game.

When I finally managed to snag a small plot in a housing ward, I found a new surge of interest by simply leveling all the crafting and gathering classes together so I can make my own furnishings. It feels great when I go to buy new gear for one of them, only to find I have the mats to make it myself, possibly even HQ. I've also had the opportunity to make an HQ level 19 bow to save a new player a few thousand gil. Yeah, they probably outleveled it the same day, but they were very appreciative and I got a huge kick out of that.

Because I'll eventually get them all to 60, I'll probably have to come back around and get cap the DoW and DoM jobs too.

Helping others, in general, is part of what drives me to keep playing after I've finished the MSQ.

I love to play for a lot of reasons:

1 - The history is amazing. I love how it's going so far
2 - A lot of Character customization options
3 - Friends of course
4 - My static is really fun and I love to put my char in it's limits and do some hardcore boss mechanics
5 - Explore gameplay and rotation of different jobs
6 - Roleplaying

Above all that, my wife play with me, so the game become 200% more interesting. (and she do the crafting stuff).

Raiding - 'cause that's about the most engaging thing play-wise.
Hildibrand
Friends
I'm not a fan of crafting, even though I'm a 4* crafter, but I use it for pots and food for raiding.
Playing into a class's strengths, testing where my limits are and then trying to improve further.
Story - while it's in chunks, I never get tired of it.
Houses - all of them :P I technically "own" four; my private one, FC estate (1 member FC), (RL and IG) husband's house and an ALT's house that stood there for a while before I decided to just buy it. People really don't seem to like the Goblet and I enjoy gardening and decorating.
Roleplaying is always fun.
Also... Drawing; love to draw my character or friends characters when I just don't feel like doing much or hubby is asleep.

Having fun is my biggest incentive. I played at launch, and my end game became all about tomes for gear and I burned out so bad I didn't play again for 2 years. I came back in July, and made sure this time I played to have fun, enjoy the story-lines, make friends, and be more active in my FC. What I found really helped me is making a daily routine that i do every time I log in. Then I set daily, and weekly goals that are achievable. As far as gear is concerned I've taken the patients route on that. I've leveled 7 classes to 60 and got all their gear between IL233-251 just by doing a little here, buying a little their etc. It helps make me a more diverse player for my FC, and I'm quick to volunteer when someone needs help. I also try to not stress about things. If I raid and have a bad day, I use that as motivation to work harder, practice more so I won't make that same mistake. Try to find the good in everything, and even your worse days are tolerable.

As an unsocial person I always enjoy the story, the glamour and the sight in MMO.
What's more, ffxiv is almost a PVE game in which I would not be disturbed by others when I'm enjoying my travel. Life here is easy, I paid for nothing but play time to get my gears, jobs and tens of millions of gils (not a big amount compared with others').
Having quitted several MMO, I know every game will get me bored another day. What prevent me from leaving so fast is probably my character (look at how much I paid on him and how pretty he is today...>.<), and the brilliant NPC in and out of the game (the fan-arts are soooooo amazing XD )
I don't have to fight so much as what I do in other MMO but I still have fun. When I decide to fight, I go to the roulette and do the utmost.
I'm a big addict of beauty but that does not mean I'm weak in fighting, thus I have sense of accomplishment in both areas.
Busy in team play, lazy in SOLO is always my ideal life and what ffxiv gives me.

I just play it to spend time really.
When I'm bored, I can always find something to do in the game. Sometimes I log in for just an hour to craft, continue the story or do some roulettes.
With friends its always fun to do content and mess around, its fun to run around with friends, find treasure, go fishing and talk about random stuff.

Obviously there is the harder content that is fun because it is somewhat challenging and there is a chance for some neat looking loot.

The way I see it, MMO's are first and foremost just to "spend time", then stories, lore and challenges of all sorts.
MMO's appeal to those with nothing better to do.

People.

My fc friends honestly make me want to continue playing, I have such a laugh with them.

There is also the fact I still have heaps of stuff to do...
Level all classes.
Level all crafts/gathering.
Chocobo racing.
Triple Triad.
Sightseeing logs.
Etc etc.

Relic quest! :p

I kid, but my biggest incentive is to not burn up current incentives. IOW, I pace content and don't spend too much time doing any one thing. But I also find enjoyment with things that bore the crap out of other players. One way I do this is I hardly buy things off the MB, and I go after what I need if I have the means to do so.

An example would be say a rare ochestrion roll. I won't buy it, instead I will do the instances involved with acquiring the mats to craft it. If I need battlecraft or fieldcraft demimaterias, I'll gather the mats, craft, and break them down. Hardly ever am I in a dungeon or any other instances farming tomes, but still acquire them for when I do need them. I try really hard to not have my progress halted by tome grinding.

I know crafting and gathering isn't for everyone, but it is a whole different animal and seriously keeps you busy and running content with your battle classes to help support it.

I enjoy the game well because it is Final Fantasy but I also enjoy the casual nature of the progression. I often take breaks for several months then come back and play the content I have missed...rinse repeat since ARR launched. I enjoy the raids, originally disliked 8 man limit on raids but like it now, makes it feel more personal than 20 man raids

I probably would stick around longer if there was a core group of people who played for an extended period of time but a lot of people are in same boat as me it feels where they play for a while then take months off