What gives you the incentive to play?

[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.

[WeekendSoja]

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!

[Atoli]

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?

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.

[Seig345]

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.

[AngelyLowell]

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).

[JunseiKei]

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.

[Nightlistic]

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.

[Dragon_Sanders]

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.

[iluvOP]

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.

[Kaelah]

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.