Heavensward outstanding expansion....

[Moonlite]

It was nice that they put the MSQ leveling to match up with levels. None of that grind time because you are seeing the next quest in the mocking red. The change of hunting log to a daily hunt for xp.

But the lack of fix for inventory for a whole expansion, a lack of fix for housing, a decrease in "main" content ie.3 to 2 dungeons (or content patches from 3.0 to 4.0 equal 4.8 months) and we could all go on. While they have made some small improvements the list of disappointments are huge.

Grats on enjoying your first play through. (not sarcastic) This expansion has to many lingering issues to be anything but a failure.

[DaikiKiyoshi]

Oh no, I totally agree with you, dude, I just didn't like how you said it.

Well I wasn't exactly out to please anyone with that post. Sorry. Sometimes when I see people being so overdramatic about such silly things I can't help but roll my eyes and respond without any filter. People complaining about incredibly trivial things seems to be the norm and after a while I just can't be bothered to sugar coat anything.


Glad you enjoyed the expansion OP. I loved it as well and I'm beyond ready for Stormblood. I think the devs have done an amazing job all things considered.

[DamianFatale]

I'm disappointed in this thread. A new player wanted to share why they felt Heavensward was the best MMO expansion they played, and how it improved what was established in A Realm Reborn. What I don't like is that people had to use the new players thread to rant about how much they hate the current state of the game. Can people please just let them have their fun, and not act like such a downer? Go make your own hateful threads. ;/

[Ryel]

I'm disappointed in this thread. A new player wanted to share why they felt Heavensward was the best MMO expansion they played, and how it improved what was established in A Realm Reborn. What I don't like is that people had to use the new players thread to rant about how much they hate the current state of the game. Can people please just let them have their fun, and not act like such a downer? Go make your own hateful threads. ;/

This is a forum for feedback.

Regardless of the original poster's feelings they opened a thread which is now a platform for discussion, one that can be contributed from both sides. It is not up to you to determine what is and isn't hateful and honestly your responses have been far more hostile than those of the people voicing their opinions in a calm and respectful fashion.

If you have a problem with open discussion, perhaps the forums aren't for you.

Back on topic:

I personally feel Heavensward's story was a massive improvement both in tone and delivery compared to that of ARR's, the devs promised a darker approach and I feel that delivered solidly on that front.

From a gameplay perspective however there were a few things to be desired.

Aquapolis and Palace of the Dead really shine as gameplay additions, though i feel palace of the dead can still use some branching out to meet it's full potential floors 150+ are an absolute blast and I'd love to see more content in the same vein.

Diadem sadly has not lived up to the expectations in both of its iterations. I feel part of this is due to budget / time constrants and the other part is due to misleading feedback. I really hope the answers to more open world encounters in stormblood don't boil down to simply FATEs or hunts and that the dev team finds a way to deliver a better experience.

As for raids...

Midas and Creator were a step in the right direction and Gordias was better tuned for an end of the expansion raid but with the addition of normal mode Alexander i find that for myself and a large number of people that I play with the incentive to continue raiding has taken a hit, itemization is not this game's strong-point and the lack of proper gear chase and equipment incentives has been more apparent this expansion than it was in ARR, I can only hope Stormblood improves this.

I wouldn't say Heavensward was a complete failure, however i feel that the game systems haven't been pushed nearly as far as they could have for an expansion claiming to be full of new systems and risk taking, hopefully Stormblood really does push the envelope but I'm approaching it with caution.

[Ririta]

I'm disappointed in this thread. A new player wanted to share why they felt Heavensward was the best MMO expansion they played, and how it improved what was established in A Realm Reborn. What I don't like is that people had to use the new players thread to rant about how much they hate the current state of the game. Can people please just let them have their fun, and not act like such a downer? Go make your own hateful threads. ;/

I appreciate that we have some actual discussion here while on Reddit the most interesting posts are hidden and ignored because people would rather downvote than discuss.

[DamianFatale]

I was talking about replies that ONLY complain. I understand everyone has a different perspective, but it felt like they were trying to ruin the game for new blood, out of spite.

[Atlaworks]

I was talking about replies that ONLY complain. I understand everyone has a different perspective, but it felt like they were trying to ruin the game for new blood, out of spite.

Well, my man, I understand where you're coming from, which is why I tried to talk about some stuff I liked about the Heavensward materials. You know, before I bashed the head of HW's crafting in like an overripe pumpkin. It's not like this whole thing is a huge garbage fire, and there are elements of the expansion I really like and think it as a whole is a good compliment to A Realm Reborn and serves to only enhance an already good game.

Except the changes to crafting. Screw those. I'd rather remove the specialization system entirely by the roots.

[Maero]

HW was good but i would not go as far as calling it outstanding. (Just my viewpoint)
Lots of good elements that could be expanded upon, myself i like Aquapolis and Palace and heard they are expanding Aqua
Gameplay wise, it was needed as some jobs were far too easy and may still seem so but good step at least
Definately room for some QOL stuff.
FFXIV was my very first mmo a little over 3 years ago now, so something must be good

[Texa]

I think overall the content was good but that they fumbled multiple times when it came to post-game content releases. Like how long they waited with letting the anima relic questline go live and had so much of it rely on running Alex at the start when that was most of what people had been doing for the past 3 months anyways. If they started the anima quest when Alex came out it would have been much more pleasant. I recall they delayed it because it was going to be about the same level as the Gordias tier savage weapon, but there was still so many better ways to handle that back then.

Overall I really enjoyed HW though, especially the ex trails. Good times.

[Silverquick]

You haven't completed it so you don't you know the pain of

A) The wAit between 3.0 and 3.1

B) Being around for diadem's launch

C) the raid being so hard and pointless that it kills off any drive for most of the raiding sCene to complete it

D) Diadem BiS for a few weeks, and then a quick nerf immediately killing it

E) rEd scrips

F) Blue scrips F

G) Crafters are no longer required for melding - YAY, the only thing that crafters could do is now gone! Awesome! Gathering still tied timed nodes, except for a good while all of their time was dedicated to a weekly currency! COOL!

H) a wHole bunch of other disappointing things.

This has been a dreadful expansion.

Dude...

I look back at what I just played... and then I look at the things you just said... and it looks from my standpoint to be bickering over hair splitting... and petty crap over people's little pet projects and really about nothing.

And the first thing that springs to my mind after looking at what I played now vs what you're claiming is... these guys are full of IT and full of themselves...

I admit I was not around during launch... but I know what I just played up to this point... and its no where near what you are describing.

Its pretty outstanding.