What are your favorite things about FFXIV?

As the title says.

It can be as little, or as many items/content/whatever you want to mention.

A lot of people think I hate XIV simply because I see it has a whole lot of room to grow and improve. Even small things like adding the auto-hide chat log, which was in version 1.0 as well as in FFXI, which I also play. To allowing us the option to turn off the "you are here" black box notification that is insistent on telling you every 5 seconds where you are and what you're doing.

So, what is it that you enjoy most about FFXIV in its current state?

It can be something that was added in a previous patch or something in the current patch or anything at all, and as many items as you like.


Here is my rather long list of things:


-The Crafting system/mini game.

I feel the crafting system is the strongest part of FFXIV. It makes crafting involving and enjoyable. I find no enjoyment from other MMO systems where you just get a bunch of items and just watch the same tired animation over and over. It doesnt feel like I'm actually doing anything. The FFXIV system feels like I'm actually making something.

-The Materia system (its the last thing that even slightly resembles character development)
-The First Binding Coil of Bahamut raid design. (it would have been perfect if they threw a treasure chest with materia or some gil at the end of turn 3.)
-The Zodiac Relic weapon questline
-Almost all trial bosses
-Battlecraft leves, especially large-scale ones.
-The character creation system. (I actually like that its rather limited. People cant make absurdly looking nonsense like you find in most MMO games where they max out every single slider and the character looks deformed.)
-Treasure Hunts (aka maps.)
-Crafting leves
-Fieldcraft leves
-Grand Company seals and equipment
-Grand Company quests
-Dzemael Darkhold
-The Aurum Vale
-The 5.0 story line
-The 4.0 story line
-The 2.0 story line
-The Golden saucer mini games.
-Palace of the Dead (Especially solo)
-Heaven on High (Especially solo)
-Trial roulette
-Normal Raid roulette
-The Hunt (open world monster battles B/A/S Rank mobs)
-Underwater Spearfishing
-Veteran rewards
-Achievements rewards
-Level 50 items unique traits such as durability loss %, Spiritbond %, gear set bonus, Sanction bonus, etc.
-Eureka (Especially anything after Anemos)
-The moogle tome system (Not because it makes you do old content, but because it feels like XIV is trying to reward you for actually playing/being active.)
-FATEs .... kinda... they could be significantly better, but I just really enjoy open world content.
-Frontline The Fields of Glory Shatter.
-The Challenge log
-The hunting log
-Grand Company Supply missions
-Grand Company provision missions
-Blue Mage open world leveling
-The Share Fates/Bi-color Gems system


Certain Zone designs:
-The Lochs
-The Tempest
-The Fringes
-Il Mheg ... kind of...
-Southern Thanalan
-Upper La Noscea (Especially once flying was added. Would be great if there was a boat cutscene for when you travel across that amazing lake.)
-The Dravanian Hinterlands

-The Doman Enclave (And the donation box.)
-The Grand company rank system
-The Free Company chest
-The Armoire
-The Inn Room cutscene (so glad they actually re-added it. I just wish there was a "Feather bed" housing item that gave the same scene.)
-Gardening


I'm sure I'm forgetting things as the game has a lot of things that have been added and never expanded on, so its difficult to remember things that were part of only a specific expansion. I also do a lot of different things so its hard to remember everything I do or have done and enjoyed.

What is your favorite things??

Hopefully this type of thread wont get horrible backlash and the Dev's might actually appreciate it and actually understand whats good and whats appreciated? I will just have to see.

Not Bozja and not this community that's for sure.

Midlander and Raen/Xaela men.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MPK

Not Bozja and not this community that's for sure.

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Thats not very many things then!

The wonderful news is, Bozja is optional, and you can complete most all the story solo, so you really dont have to interact with the community often!

That leaves everything else! So you have plenty to enjoy it seems!

That potentially could be misleading. I personally see where both Bozja and the community can improve and should improve. But what I was implying is since things are likely to not be done about it, your best bet is to minimize negative impact. That was what this statement implied. Best of luck!


Also how foolish of me. I completely forgot chocobos! I for sure like the chocobo mounts! They arent too large or too small to crowd the screen or look ridiculous. I have tried to get every version of a chocobo as a mount, but some are not obtained in natural ways, like the new mogstation chocobo carriage. I dont have that one.

Incredible story and narrative. It's really awesome.

The Ascians and the Garleans, and elements of their storylines.

Crafting, Story and the funny yet sometimes questionable acts happening in limsa :confused:;)

Fav things:

Chief Admiral Merlwyb Bloefhiswyn
Roegadyns
Fell Cleave
Inner Release
Nascent Flash
Trick Attack
My glamour chest

Minions and my companion, I adore mine.
I like being part of the story.
I too love Aurum Vale, the most amusing times have been spent there. Especially when the new healer tells the new tank to pull everything. Glorious moments ensue.
Emet-Selch



I dislike the frog suit the most.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Daniolaut

As the title says.

It can be as little, or as many items/content/whatever you want to mention.

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I like diversity in the outfits and jobs and I like how the main character is actually integrated into the main story. Most other MMORPGs I've played apart from SWTOR to a really bad job of integrating the player character into the story. Being able to see my glam in cutscenes is a huge bonus.

I also like the the homes you can own have a lot of potential for player creativity. It really invests my character into the world.

I also like the the art style of this game is realistic as oppose to cartoonish.

The fact that I could play any role on the same character is the best thing in my opinion. The zone designs look real nice. I like flying or driving around just looking at anything that catches my interest. Talking to friends while I play. The continuing story that’s actually good. It’s simple things like that, that I find that I like from this game.

It's beautiful. From npc's and player characters to dungeons, overland zones and mobs, it's the most visually appealing game I've played.

I'm not sure if it's a jrpg thing or unique to FFXIV but I enjoy how dark subject matter is normally presented in an optimistic or comical manner. Even as a horror fan who appreciates the exploding zombies in Diablo and the creepy atmosphere Elder Scrolls achieves with it's crypts and caverns, I love that FFXIV simply doesn't go there. It's unapologetically bright and heroic.

Gold Saucer

Glamour (I've heard criticism but compared to the only other games I've played this system is great)

Squadron and trusts

Lalafells

My favorite pastime with friends is farming mounts. Alone, I like working on crafting logs, fishing, and various low stress but time consuming achievements.

Here's my list:

• the friends I've made and been playing with since v1.0
• the story and characters
• that I can play multiple jobs on one character
• the quality of the visuals and scenery
• that I can play at my own pace and not run out of things to do

Catgirls and BLM

The music,
The main story,
Being a healer,
Amaurot,
Minfilia as the Word of the Mother,
The Stardiver transition in Nidhogg trial. Love the colors and that sound oof, I regulary queue for it just for that moment.
Skill/Spell effects,
The Namazu, all hail the Big One !

I like how they made jobs in FFXIV unique to each of its own class (Except for Blue Mage). Normally in most RPG games you would rely on a Technical Points (TP) and it is just generic especially if every class has the same thing. FFXI did it and I like the game but it is used mostly for weapon skill combos and it worked. FFXIV managed to standout with the Job Gauges, a new way to building up resources for a Job and each to their own. I mean most of the time they use the generic build-up gauge system, which can be applied to all of the roles but in the end it still make its unique and it is what makes the MMO standout (Even though it was implemented in 4.0).

I love Blue Mage, but not the state it is in. I like how you can make your own set of builds and rotations. When I saw the generic Moon-flute rotation, I thought I could spice it up and I did for myself and out DPS-ed the other raid members in my group for a short period as it was a burst rotation. I want that as a Normal Job a new kind of variation added to the job to play with, I already can imagining myself adapting to the situation when the time calls for it. Hell it'll even stand out more if it implemented with a Job Gauge to let it have its own stand in the roster.

For clarification: I DESPISE limited job system and it has to be removed.

I like spriggans.

I'm sure some people may think they are funny looking but I find them oddly endearing.

The story, aesthetics, lore, and ability to play everything on one character are the main things that have kept intrigued by the game a lot longer then other MMOs have.

Though I'd be lying if I said it wasn't the Au Ra specifically that drew me in initially since I'm a sucker for reptilian/draconic races.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RajNish

Incredible story and narrative. It's really awesome.

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This. /10char

The women. Yes, even the catgirls to an extent.
The Roegadyn and Highlander women especially.

Direct Crits, as well as the substat phasing from Accuracy > Direct Hit and Parry > Tenacity. My first thought when that happened was the line from near the end of Lufia II from Dekar, "It seems I've forgotten how to miss. I guess I'll have to take care of those that want to die first!"

The music. While at first, and even still in some regards, it felt vastly inferior to FFXI's music, the boss themes have gotten better and better and better. I'm at a point now where I could make a playlist between the two Final Fantasy MMOs and never listen to anything else for like a month solid.

The lore and story. Again, at first it wasn't all that great to me (Especially coming from FFXI). I wasn't invested. Over time though, I fell in love, and started to scrutinize it. It got to the point where I wanted to at least catalogue the MSQ, so I started a Let's Play where I did just that. It's currently just shy of Qitana Ravel, and I look forward to hitting the end of the current story with it.

The armor sets and weapons and glamor system. I do wish they'd add some from FFXI though. Would love to glam an Organics on my PLD.

Chocobo Companion finally being allowed to be used while you're queued for dungeons. I remember the times before that, I completely disregarded my chocobo, because I couldn't queue with it out. Talk about a ball bust heh.

151+ of POTD
41+ of HoH both of these just for the look of the dungeon rooms

Getting to see FF6 monsters and bosses brought into the new age of graphics. The Warring Triad blew me away, but also stuff like the second boss in Ghimlyt Dark / Castrum Abania.

Story

FFXIV is the only other JRPG besides the Trails series with a long running storyline and a definite end to the story in sight.

I love how Aldenard feels huge. You have two dozen different countries: Ul'dah, Gridania, Limsa, Sharylayan, Ishgard, Ala Mhigo, Thavnir, Werylt, Hingashi, Doma (Yanxia), Nagxia, Dalmasca, Bozja, Garlemald, etc. It feels huge. I also like how we get to see glimpses of all of these countries; I really liked the Kugane section even we didn't get to see all of Hingashi. I think that the Trails series does a better job developing each individual nation, but the Zemurian continent feels like there are only six nations on it total (Liberl, Crossbell, Erebonia, Calvard, Leman, and Arteria). in FFXIV, Aldenard really feels like a huge continent with lots of different nations involved. So FFXIV nails the macro worldbuilding, while Trails nails the micro, making the country feel like a place.

Villains actually die. Trails has a recurring anti-climax problem, where the henious villains who have committed mass murder usually tend to escape at the end of the game. In the worst case, the protagonists KO the bad guy... and then rather than killing him, they just walk past him and let the bad guy wake up an hour later and leave to continue haunting the series to its end. Furthermore, the main bad guy faction, Ouroboros, keep replacing members who do die, so you never feel like you are making progress. Meanwhile, in FFXIV, most villains tend to die within about 3 patches of being introduced. I feel like we're making progress, like we're ridding the world of the filth and making it better. The big bad guy faction, the Ascians were gradually reduced across the storyline and now there is pretty much only one guy left.

The soundtrack by Soken rivals the Trails soundtracks by Falcom JDK as my favorite game soundtracks ever. Soken's strongpoints are the recurring location themes/leitmotifs, and the vocal songs. I love how each boss fight in FFXIV has its own unique boss theme, and sometimes has different themes depending on the phase of the fight. Falcom JDK does overall better normal battle themes and setting the tone for the story.

Very few retcons, and the writers are very good at making everything seem connected all along. If I hadn't read dev interviews, I would have thought that the Crystal Tower and the HW WoD storyline were always setting up ShB all along.

Also, as SugarPuff said earlier, I like how the story is unashamedly optimistic and heroic, even if it touches on dark subjects.



Gameplay

Unlike WoW, I don't need to spend three hours every day doing chores to keep up. Each day I would have to world quests, a mythic + dungeon, do my visions, and so on. But in FFXIV all I have to do is show up on raid night with your potion and raid food and I'm good to go.

Reputation/beast tribe storylines: one of my favorite things about Mists of Pandaria was doing the reputation storylines, like the Serpent Riders or the Halfhill farm or the Shado-pan or the Dominance/Shieldwall storylines. But then in WoD they stopped doing those storylines for reputations. FFXIV still does them in beast tribes, and they are fun and flesh out the world.

The story and the lore, and how the latter is integrated into the first.
I mean, the story is awesome, but it also does a great job of explaining stuff, so you always know why something is happening instead of "a wizard did it". Also, how each expansion keeps the storyline moving forward without a single retcon.

Apart from that, the glamour options and the option to marry other players.

Job system would be the first thing I think of. I can't see myself playing any MMO that doesn't have either a job system or a hyper aggressive alt friendly system (and I've yet to see an alt friendly system aggressive enough to consider it 'hyper aggressive').

Following that would naturally be the music, story (with ShB having many moments I would have considered good for sRPG standards too, not that say other expansions like 2.0 story is bad, still very good for an mmo, but I wouldn't even begin to joke about comparing 2.0 story to say Mass Effect 1 story or something, ShB had me forgetting I was in an MMO a few times (in a good way)), clear understanding of their story (such that they can write 'with'/'smoothly around' issues if they have any, and often don't- unlike say WoW which has had major retcons multiple times), visual presentation 'style', FF nostalgia being played with, a nice underdog story (1.0 -> 2.0), a good deal on subscription (legacy), the normal jobs have a fun nuance but are not to be so horribly balanced that they aren't acceptable choices for content, crafting and gathering are significant content pieces which I don't use all the way but I just think is cool that it's a thing, a consistent schedule of content, and the general sense of theme park design (content will be eased later for more people to enjoy, whether the issue is lack of time or lack of desire / ability to play high skill). They also generally avoid, generally, hyper RNG mechanics that make games feel like lottery machines and even if it is present will often lower that when the content is older so it is more approachable when it doesn't need to last as long (where the worst offenders would be the stereotypical Korean mmos). Most content is made with a mindset that you don't need to dedicate your life to the game in order to enjoy it, I appreciate that as I don't have a lifetime to dedicate lol. MMO that has a lot of content but can be played by a busy person.

I think that's what I'd say at least in a general statement. Could easily expand on each point or make addendums or whatever but that's my short quip.

Oh I'll add more to my list:

-The Final Fantasy fanservice.
Such as FFIII, FFXV, FFXIII, all the things they have done to reference another Final Fantasy game.

-I also like some things that werent in version 1.0, that are now in version 2.0, and I'm going to be real here, and say some "physics" make things that much nicer!

-I do like the addition of face paint, I would really like them to add the option for a player to unlock additional face paint with say 100 achievement points or 10 million gil or something to make items and currencies have more value, and reward invested players.

-I like how they finally opened up more creative gear designs. I really wish they would utilize more of their already created items and expand on all types instead of the same few sets. Like certain models of gear havent been touched sinced 2.0 or 3.0 and its a shame, because some of those are the most unique and creative.

-The chocobo saddlebag is basically a gods-send.
Going off that trend, the glamour dressor, crafting log, gathering log, fishing log, some of these things werent in 1.0 and I couldnt imagine XIV without them.

The Monsters.

I like the environment and monsters of nearly every game I play. FFXIV has awesome environments, and monsters.

For the most part, I am no longer a hardcore mmo player since around......XI Abyssea. Despite the $hit that DLC got, it was the 1st time nearly every job was included in end-game content. People did not care if you came BST, because the goal was proc, then defeat. After that, I got a taste of causal play, and never looked back.

What I like most about XIV, is the environments; they need to hurry up and add BST already so players like me can explore and take it all in......

How cute my Au Ra character is.

No, seriously, it's just so pleasing playing as her. Especially when I play around glamors and dress up. It's so nice, hahah.