XI vs XIV Lore - similarities and differences

[Enkidoh]

One of the things I really noticed about FFXIV compared to the single player FFs (that I played) is the way many NPCs have zero respect for the Player Character - in fact, entire Class storylines and sections of the Main Scenario story revolve around you being harassed, beaten, and even manipulated by questgivers and city-state governments alike. According to some other people, this was very much the case in XI as well.

But in XIV, much of it seems to be because Adventurers in general are freedom-loving, and hence they've acquired a reputation for being untrustworthy. In a game like WoW, by contrast, it's more due to the fact that they're training you military-style

Ironically enough, FFXI was worse in that regard in that often the player was officially sent on a mission from their home nation, only to find themselves arrested and accused of some trumped up charge through no fault of their own other than they just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time or because they were 'guilty by association' with a npc who was violating some official decree (accessing the Full Moon Fountain under Ajido-Maurjido's orders in the Windurst storyline, inadvertently being present when Prishe allowed Bahamut to escape capture by the Jeuno/Zilart authorities in Chains of Promathia) - usually this then involved the player being blackmailed into doing something against their will simply to avoid jail/execution, often with predictable results.

It seemed more often than not the player became nothing but a tool that differing sinister forces tried to exploit that went far beyond the nations of Altana, simply because of the player character's tendency to stick their nose in where it really didn't belong.

FFXIV 1.0/ARR takes a similar tack, but at least this time everything the adventurer is doing is with official backing - there's no double-crossing by the three nations just to save their own hides for one thing.