Harder to enjoy ARR as a 1.2X-era FF14 player?

[Klefth]

I used to think the single biggest downgrade they had made in ARR was the combat, but after doing the main story, I must say they totally, absolutely, fucked the whole thing up big time - way worse than they did with the combat system.

You might make the world's most awesome plot in gaming history, SE, but if it ALL revolves around incredibly stupid excuses to have you do idiotic fetch quests that makes me feel like a delivery boy instead of the "hero" I'm supposed to be in the story, it will all fall flat on it's face. None of that retarded fluff should be part of the main story quests at all. No arranging a FUCKING BANQUET to be able to "gain some NPCs trust" so he can deem you worthy of challenging a primal by testing your patience and your skills as a delivery boy. Hell, even the game's very own NPCs seemed fed up with that shit (See Y'shtola during the fucking banquet part, or Alphinaud in Coerthas). All of that crap just cheapens the storyline by a lot and it's just made the game feel silly as fuck.

[NefarioCall]

I miss the lag in Ul'dah.

[Yoruichi4478]

Anyone miss the old dungeon music from 1.0 compared to what you hear now progressing through them? I miss the animations my actions had in 1.0 for sure, it was a varitable light show 1.23. The change Flare has now to what it looked like in 1.0, the jury is still out on that one. It just seems the battle music in the instances don't mesh with the scene before me when I'm fighting the trash mobs. At least in 1.0 the music changed a little when you were engaged in battle. I smiled at the beginning of Tam-Tara's music, it's nostalgic of 1.0's but alot slower, wish they'd kept it or done something more fitting the instances. Granted, he's done a great job on the score but I do miss some things, and of course some things I don't.

[AlexNiculaie]

Sorry, I played 1.0 from beta 1 to shutdown, and I for one do not miss it in the least. The zones all are a vast improvement in design, the storyline is far more involved (not to mention there is more to it), the quests are enjoyable and the music works well. I can wait for DX11 to improve the graphics, they most certainly are not bad now. The introductory quests may seem unnecessary to those with experience, but has been a godsend for those who are new to the game/genre (we've had several members join our FC for whom this is their first MMO). Except for a few tweaks here and there I have been duly impressed with what they accomplished. So no, I don't share your rose colored outlook on 1.2x.

[alexhatesmil]

You might make the world's most awesome plot in gaming history, SE, but if it ALL revolves around incredibly stupid excuses to have you do idiotic fetch quests that makes me feel like a delivery boy instead of the "hero" I'm supposed to be in the story, it will all fall flat on it's face. None of that retarded fluff should be part of the main story quests at all. No arranging a FUCKING BANQUET to be able to "gain some NPCs trust" so he can deem you worthy of challenging a primal by testing your patience and your skills as a delivery boy.

Levels 20-34 are definitely the low point of the story. But from Titan on, it become incredibly engaging. There aren't as many fetch quests, and the ones that we do have to do feel like they have a purpose. The lore is built up much better (especially everything about the Ishgardian noble houses); the battles are decent; the dungeons are better integrated. Makes me wonder why they couldn't have made the entire story in such a way.

But, yeah. Travelling all over the world to find a bottle of wine? Pretty fucking weak.

[Klefth]

Levels 20-34 are definitely the low point of the story. But from Titan on, it become incredibly engaging.

Fuck no. The Coerthas part was far worse. Sure, the excuse for the idiotic fetch quests wasn't as bad as travelling the world for meat, a piece of cheese and a fucking bottle of wine, but they repeated the same gods damned excuse of "gaining trust", what, like 4 times in Coerthas? Sure it seemed more interesting than a fucking banquet, but as I said, even if they were to make the most amazing plot in gaming history, it will all fall flat in it's face if it just revolves around pathetic excuses to make you do a bazillion menial tasks.

I feel like all of those quests about gaining trust within the Ishgardian High Houses would've been much better off saved for the quests that would eventually lead up to our entrance to Ishgard, not here, tacked onto the main story in a ridiculous way. Hell, they even modified the game's story to fit that crap in! That airship was not in Ishgard! We rode it to Rivenroad, kicked Darnus' ass, and rode it back to Gridania, so wtf, SE?

[alexhatesmil]

Fuck no. The Coerthas part was far worse. Sure, the excuse for the idiotic fetch quests wasn't as bad as travelling the world for meat, a piece of cheese and a fucking bottle of wine, but they repeated the same gods damned excuse of "gaining trust", what, like 4 times in Coerthas? Sure it seemed more interesting than a fucking banquet, but as I said, even if they were to make the most amazing plot in gaming history, it will all fall flat in it's face if it just revolves around pathetic excuses to make you do a bazillion menial tasks.

I agree to an extent. Mindless fetch quests are boring. But there weren't a lot of those in the Coerthas portion. Most of it involved running around talking to people, which is really the bulk of most Final Fantasy games, if you think about it. Plus, the entire questline was concentrated inside Coerthas, which meant everything was within walking distance. The Titan storyline had you travel all over the world for no good reason at all.

I feel like all of those quests about gaining trust within the Ishgardian High Houses would've been much better off saved for the quests that would eventually lead up to our entrance to Ishgard, not here, tacked onto the main story in a ridiculous way. Hell, they even modified the game's story to fit that crap in! That airship was not in Ishgard! We rode it to Rivenroad, kicked Darnus' ass, and rode it back to Gridania, so wtf, SE?

Yeah, but they specifically said the airship went down at the Battle of Carteneau. All of the stuff you're talking about happened before that.

[Fensfield]

Actually no, I do have one very, very major complaint between the two versions and not just a mild sense of loss at a few missing features.. and I explained it in proper detail in this thread asking they try not to repeat the mistake in subsequently released content:

Our Characters Apart

But the short version? Our characters are too special.

Yeah I know that must sound nuts at first, but in the simplest terms, I haven't met a single, friendly storyline NPC wasn't dedicated to stroking my character's ego. They're good, well-written characters being undermined not only by their endless need to suck up to our apparently messianic player character, but even worse, lie about our character's achievements. Most obvious being the Ifrit fight with its even setting up a narrative reason for us to face the primal in a party, then being told to our faces that our character defeated it, and I quote, 'single-handed'.

v1.0's original story may have made the player characters too much just the 'background sword', but at least it went out of its way to make damn sure you believed they were a part of the game world and struggling for their place in it. Now the game seems to be taking pains to make you keenly aware that you could never be a proper resident of Hydaelyn - you're too special.

[Jonjey]

1.23 is the better game in every way shape and form.
ARR is a game for 12 year olds.
It's utterly impossible to enjoy. I love how the argument was "WAIT FOR END GAME LOL YOU HAVEN'T EVEN PLAYED IT YET AND YOU'RE JUDGING IT"
Yeah, well now I have played it AND IT'S STILL GARBAGE.
COMBAT IS STILL 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 1 1 1 1 1 2 3
GAME IS TRASH IF YOU LIKE IT YOU'RE TOO CASUAL. 1.23 was a game for real players and that's why real players thrived on it and so many quit because they couldn't handle the journey to end game.
inb4 I'm a troll because I liked the superior game.
inb4 blocked for differing opinion

[Zanel]

I miss that I can't wear my eyepatch anymore. That was the one thing I loved from 1.0, I could wear any piece of equipment regardless of what level or class/job I was. From the beginning of 1.0 beta to the end of 1.0, my character always wore an eyepatch.

So that's the one thing I miss, it became such a huge part of my character that not seeing it on him anymore makes me sad. I miss my eyepatch wearing whm ; - ;

Also I miss Nael van Darnus