Rabanstre and future Raids

So overall, what do you guys think of Rabanastre in comparison to Crystal Tower and Void Ark? I can't really get into it from a fan perspective because I've never really cared for the world of Ivalice and have been having a very hard time getting into it. I did the Royal City and enjoyed the last two bosses but this time around, I haven't even attempted the lighthouse because of the lack of excitement, rewards and new "Greed Only policy." I spoiled myself and watched a video on the mechanics and decided I'd probably just sit this raid out until the next one in the next expansion.

With that said, what would you guys want in the next one? I know it's still a bit early to ask but what do you think the next area will be with some of the subtle clues provided in the MSQ?

The greed only change has overshadowed any other feelings on Ridorana I've had and left an overall bad taste in my mouth. So it's tough to say that I like it, but I think I do.

I like the story ok, and seeing bangaas in XIV is great. I don't care what the next run is but it would be cool if there's a viera NPC in it.

My best friend loves Tactics and I've been interested in it through her, so being able to play these raids together has been a lot of fun. I hate the new greed-only policy, but I also never gear up my mains through the 24-mans anyway so while it's frustrating it also doesn't really change much for me. It does suck for wanting items for alt classes/glam, though.

Find it interesting, i'm more into it than void ark but only because I played FFXII so I was curious about detail.

The quest itself bore me to death when it don't trigger my bad mood, especially that Ramza guys whom pisse me of so hard I'll kill him on the spot if I could.

Pissed of by the minor modification of the FXII story (Rassler is the brother of Ashe ?! those lezard a**hole are good guys ?! give me a break !)

The clockwork part of Ridorana are a bit disapointing since its nor even look like a lighthouse anymore.

But overall its kinda okay I guess.

For the next I'd love to see Gilvegane.

I keep saying this but honestly I just wanted to see the Ivalice moogles but since they changed them I've lost interest in the story.

Gameplay-wise the raids are fun, though the greed only rule is still really confusing.

#NotMyMontblanc

What did they do to my upbeat little mage? The one that pretty much leads a clan in all his appearances and is kind and reliable? It was enough to have this Ramza be "everything the real Ramza wasn't so we can force him to grow or something." Don't need it for my poor Montblanc, too. And come on, his pom's orange. At least they gave Hurdy an instrument, but urk. The dev team's insistence on making moogles such a joke time after time irritates the heck out of me when they're intelligent and very technically capable in XII, A1, and A2 - and it's clear with Bangaa and Seeq around that XII's races are part of this despite none of them existing in FFT. It just stings hard since I love the siblings. Nono should be on the airship too, dangit. He's Nono.

I haven't been particularly gripped by the story so far but I've enjoyed the raids as a whole more than the void ark line. I couldn't get into Void Ark's stuff at all. I actually really like the mechanics of each boss in Lighthouse (moreso than Rabanastre, which I felt was kinda whatever) and I'm a big fan of Ivalice's music in general so that always helps me. I think Lighthouse is aesthetically pleasing, too. I'll continue playing through it, but ultimately I feel I'll be disappointed by how Ivalice was handled. It's my absolute favorite high-fantasy setting. Time will tell in the last raid, though.

Edit: Always interesting to just hear how people's tastes differ on aesthetics and tone, too!

I love XII and the references make me happy, but visually, plot-wise and gameplay-wise, I preferred Void Ark. The storyline for these raids feels very drawn out, Ramsa is a little git, Alma is insipid fanservice, nothing really stands out as new or interesting and it's kind of bland to look at after the likes of Weeping City and Syrcus Tower. I'll admit Construct 7 is fun, though.

I'm hoping they really pull out all the stops with the third raid, because it's been incredibly underwhelming for me so far.

I'd quite happily forgive all of that if they gave us a peek of Viera though

or Balthier

Personally enjoyed Void Ark more mostly because I enjoyed the tale of the folly of man's pride trying to bind demons and the ultimate downfall of the city.

As an Ivalice fan I love the story! All the references! And I especially like that the characters are circumstances are different. We have a nice AU fusion of all Ivalice games. The only thing that would make it better is if they mention or better yet include Vayne and Cidney. I need Cidney's glam!
Mechanics were pretty fun even if i died like 50 times on the first run. Unfortunately we already overgear it so it's less interesting for me. Still good as an overall fights design.

I'm loving this raid series, it's been fantastic with the way fights work and how they are challenging in a positive manner.
The Greed Only rule has been a big NOPE for me as well, and I hate Ramza's face and everything about him. Hopefully the final arc of the story will be able to redeem him in my eyes.


It's been a pleasant surprise so far and I hope to see more of this kind of work done in XIV in the future.

I like it, and that there is a fair amount of story between the actual Raid's.

However compared to CT and VA I think CT was just a series of trash encounters in between fairly evenly balanced bosses with good mechanics. Void Ark series I felt the actual layout of the raid and bosses was better than CT, but the story that connected it was better than CT. With the Ivalice raids, I like the larger boss fields, but in general I think we're kinda just over-compensating for gear creep.

All the raids kinda have the same established pattern:

1. Three groups of trash
2. One decently hard boss
3. Three paths of trash
4. One fairly facerolly boss
5. Some more group trash
5. One reasonably good mechanics boss
6. The final boss which is often easier than the previous boss.

Like I felt the lighthouse was more fun than the Rabanstre raid. However I like Sycrus Tower the best out of the Crystal Tower (though I felt the end boss was more fun in WoD.) Void Ark series, I actually preferred Dun Scaith, if only because the final fight felt like "did you think this was over?"

Don't care much for the story as I'm not a big tactics/XII fan, but I do like the scenery and callbacks as I did enjoy a bit of XII here and there.

The fights are great, I especially like Belias and Construct 7 from Ridorana, none of the bosses of Royal City stood out for me, however. Overall, I do prefer Syrcus Tower and Mhach over Ridorana. Ridorana felt very... repetitive in its scenery, and bland. But the fights are definitely more fun and intuitive.

Unlocking Ridorana was stupid, though.

As someone who has never touched the games this raid series was based on, I can't say I've found the story all that interesting, nor has it given me any reason to check out the source material. It comes off as mere fanservice to me (which I know sounds rather silly given the whole of FFXIV anyway), so it's difficult for me to really appreciate. I liked the Void Ark series much better, in story, aesthetic, and design. It doesn't help that the "Greed Only" rule has left a sour taste in my mouth either, although we've just been given an update that it will be reverted:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Naoki_Yoshida

Hello, Producer and Director Yoshi-P here. Patch 4.3 brought major changes to the Need/Greed system in alliance raids, and we received a lot of feedback from players around the world. After careful consideration, we have decided to revert those changes and bring back the Need option. This will take effect from the next hotfix and includes all alliance raids.

We hope you continue to give us your feedback on your experiences in the world of FINAL FANTASY XIV!

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Overall Return to Ivalice has been pretty "meh" for me. I know a lot of hard work has been put into it by the developers, and I'll still give the 3rd raid a run or two when it comes out but I don't expect it to change my mind.

I'm yet to do Ridorana but every time I queued the wait time was so long, I figured people weren't doing it as much till greed only was fixed. Or I just picked a bad time to queue.

I enjoyed CT's story most. It felt like I discover something part Eorzea's history. I think having NPCs we're familiar with helped my immersion while with Void Ark I didn't quite care for the characters but loved the lore bits. Ivalice feels very fan-service-ish. I'm a huge FFT fan but I also kinda wish these raids would be more connected to FF14 and it's already established history.

I honestly prefered CT over Rabanastre however they are all well done.
Ridorana is my favourite thus far.