How does FFXIV fare against other modern MMORPGs?

[Ryaz]

Right now the only two really relevant MMOs are WoW and FFXIV, imo. You've got some niche games like ESO and Secret World Legends (which I also enjoy), but for the most parts it's the former two that are considered the more popular ones. Here are my thoughts:

Combat: Combat is a preference, but I'll take the higher GCD and weaving of oGCDs of FFXIV anyday over the 4 button rotations WoW gives you now, even with the lower GCD (especially considering most things are on GCD now). FFXIV combat feels much more satisfying and rewards good play.

Crafting: Gotta give this to FFXIV. The crafting system, while grindy and a bit unwieldy unless you omnicraft, is actually useful (WoW crafting has turned to garbage). Weapons and armor are relevant and not immediately inferior to quest items and the job system really lets you craft items for other jobs, which helps with leveling.

Innovation: WoW wins this. FFXIV is static. Even "new ideas" like Eureka is just a rehashed versions of Diadem, which was pretty universally hated. WoW is always trying new things. They don't always work out (the new Island Expeditions and Warfronts haven't been all that well received, especially with how buggy the game has been), but they at least try something new. Raid tiers and mythic + dungeons also provide a lot of midcore content that FFXIV lacks.

Choice: Not story choice, but gameplay choice. WoW wins here as well. Talent trees let you customize your character like you want and while not always equal and there are clear winners at times, for the most part the talents are well-balanced with each other. Some are better for dunegons, some are better for soloing, some are better for raid bosses. Some complete change up play style. But that choice is there. The only choice you make in FFXIV is what job you want to grind next. There's no customization outside of that and even within job types (melee, caster, ranged), they play fairly similarly.

World-Building: I'd also give this to WoW. WoW has had time to build the world they have now, true, but even the beginning two original continents felt expansive and connected. All the zones really have their own personality and the freedom of movement around them, from flying through trees and over mountains to swimming to the bottom of the large beds of water, feels alive. There's a ton of beautiful architecture and scenery. You don't get that a lot with FFXIV with it's smaller zones and every piece instanced. To be fair, though, not many games have actually replicated WoWs scope when it comes to building the geography. WoW is pretty unique and in my mind is the best built world in MMOs. I feel WoW has also had a lot more world building in general. FFXIV is no slouch either, but WoW has such a rich history of lore that it's hard to match.

Content: Extraneous stuff not related to the main story- side quests, extras, fun sfuff to do, etc. FFXIV has housing and many items to decorate them with (a huge plus), the Gold Saucer with mini-games, chocobo racing, triple triad and chocobo racing. Custom deliveries each week. Not much else. WoW has no housing (boo), has pet battles, a ton more stuff to collect, and much, much better seasonal events, even if they could use a new coat of paint. So, this is pretty much a wash, imo. Housing does make me lean a bit more towards FFXIV, but that's a personal preference.


Anyway, I know it was a long read, but those are my feelings. Though FFXIV is my main MMO, I'd have to give the edge to WoW just because the lore building is so much better and there's more gameplay choice.

[Krokov]

Though I will say as a kind of follow up I'm Finding myself bored with world warcraft I haven't played many others in the terms of MMO just couple of free to play ones and then 11 heck have more fun In 11 then wow. I'm just with doing the same world quests and such over and over wow is almost pretty much boring now not really much else.

[AngelCheese77]

Though I love alot about FF14, they are way behind on some things.

Like glamours. Games like EverQuest2 have an entirely separate slot where you can change appearance gear on the fly.

Housing ... gosh just put in ways where a many people can click on a door and get he same house.

This game needs some kind of calendar. Can be soooo helpful for letting people know about in game and FC related events.

Doing tells in a Duty. Just .. ugh. Especially if a GM sends you one.

And cloaks. We need cloaks! lol

[Ayer2015]

You're obviously going to get a bias response on a FF14 forum. That said, I enjoy FF14 and WoW equally for different reasons. ESO is ok, but I can't seem to enjoy the combat system in that game. There are no one MMOs worth playing currently imo.

[Voltyblast]

World-Building: I'd also give this to WoW. WoW has had time to build the world they have now, true, but even the beginning two original continents felt expansive and connected. All the zones really have their own personality and the freedom of movement around them, from flying through trees and over mountains to swimming to the bottom of the large beds of water, feels alive. There's a ton of beautiful architecture and scenery. You don't get that a lot with FFXIV with it's smaller zones and every piece instanced. To be fair, though, not many games have actually replicated WoWs scope when it comes to building the geography. WoW is pretty unique and in my mind is the best built world in MMOs. I feel WoW has also had a lot more world building in general. FFXIV is no slouch either, but WoW has such a rich history of lore that it's hard to match. .

I want to add something that WoW does right while FFXIV does wrong, the fact that most of the game plots in wow are self contained and the entire MSQ is a long questline instead.

Let me explain here: WoW has the great idea of making each expansion its own storyline: TBC was about the burning legion, Wotlk about the lich king, cata about deathwing and the cataclysm etc, without mentioning that you aren't required to do the previous expansion to do enjoy the new story parts. On top of that each area has now their own storylines with their own quests, making each area very different from the last and having a small, self contained piece of plot that may or may not add to the game. Stonetalon mountain storyline gave us a good example of how Garrosh is despite being hated, or how the storyline in Badlands show us how we witness the possible salvation of the black dragonflight...

In FFXIV however, the expansions aren't their own story "per se" because you have this one long streak of quests from 2.0 that you must do, essentially meaning you're doing one long quest that feels more like a chore after a while: you can compare this as if you're watching a series on a dvd, with you wanting to skip one season because season 2 is boring but season 3 is amazing, but in this case you can't because in order to unlock "season 3" you must watch all the boring season 2. I personally don't like this way: I didn't like 2.0 and everything after 2.x, everyone tells me that 3.X story is amazing but why do i have to "watch" 2.X that is boring? You don't watch 3 hours of boredome for looking at the last 30 minutes because they're awesome: you either make it ALL good or just split it.
And the areas themselves don't defend much either: sure there are some chain quests that have some sort of connection but they aren't many and I felt they were underwhelming (i personally disliked hildebrand so much that i don't even do it anymore)
On the other hand, the job quests are quite good: they're my favorite piece of storytelling by far because they're short, simple, mostly unrelated to the main cast and they do have some amazing scenes on their own (the dark knight questline from 30 to 50 is still my favorite)

[OurMom]

I guess it would depend on the type of mmo more than anything.

XIV can't hold a candle to bdo, Archeage, nor old mmos like Aion they just have a lot to do, a lot of options, open world, and your gear actually matters. There's a community and so much more.

But compare xiv to other extreme themeparks like Wow and I guess it's ok? Idk I just thought WoW was super boring, I mean I think XIV is boring but I can some how deal with it here.

[Ilyrian]

Played WoW since for 12+ continuous years and took a break mid Legion.
Playing FFXIV for a year and a half so far.

I suppose the grass is always greener etc, but I think that WoW is the superior MMO, by far.
That's not to say I don't like FFXIV - I do, but I think I may just like bits it took from WoW - at least I think WoW's influence on this game can't be understated.

This game lacks engaging content - not necessarily 'hard' content - but I feel it is less rewarding, I suppose. I was a pretty hardcore raider in WoW, few server firsts way back in the day, but I have no drive to do anything in this one. Yes, started this to take a break from raiding but I think that this game just doesn't have the same sense of reward that WoW does - for me at least. There is no drive to get better gear, no drive to create any sort of character build - you can in theory slam on the previous tiers welfare gear and clear Savage day one. That just doesn't happen in WoW.

Story and aesthetic are of course subjective, but I find WoW just has more engaging characters. This is an unfair comparison with FFXIV though, as it's got years of plot and character development on it. I just don't engage with the story here - I literally play for the content... so without the story I don't think FFXIV holds up very well in the game play aspect. But that's my choice, I take responsibility for that.

FFXIV does cater to a section of the MMO audience that WoW doesn't provide for though, so it definitely has its place and I do hope it continues to grow and hopefully solidify where it wants to be in the MMO market.

[TaranTatsuuchi]

...
uggg. I had to quite all F2P MMOs I just can't afford them any more.
...

Yep, F2P = Fee to Play.


I've tried many F2P games, mostly curiosity.
In all of them I go completely free at least until I understand their monetization schemes.

Then, I decide if they're worth supporting or not.
Many F2P games have not been worth it.

[Derio]

F2P = P2W IMO

I have played Elder Scrolls Online and I think that MMO is up there in the top 10 it just lacks in dynamic story telling and combat in that game can be clunky in many aspects.

Right now WoW and FFXIV hold the top spots in terms of MMO, but who knows. Maybe in the next 5 years a new MMO will take over. Many people did not expect FFXIV to be this close to WoW 5 years ago.

[Clover_Blake]

As far as I'm concerned it's the best MMO on the market right now. It has something for everybody and is perfect for a player such as myself who likes to dabble in different activities.

Basically this.

In my case, since WoW and ESO don't have art styles I like, I've never given any of them a honest chance. I must say I did love GW2, but only the part about exploring the world; other than that, there aren't any social or creative activities you can do in that game, that I know of (you can't even sit on a sad chair and feel like you're a part of the world).

The main reason why I still play FFXIV, even at times when I'm done with main content, is that this is a world I can live in. I can create scenes thanks to the most awesome screenshot system, play with house decorations, play with fashion for my different alts... If the game was merely about beating dungeons like every other game, I'd enjoy it for a month at max, then I'd have nothing interesting to do. I'm not the kind of gamer who merely takes pleasure in upgrading numbers in my character's equip; I need creative things to do or I get bored fast, and FFXIV delivers.

WoW has the great idea of making each expansion its own storyline

Umm, while I think that might be interesting, I don't think FFXIV's current story system is bad. In fact, the current story system is what made many players emotionally engaged, for the story feels more personal. You feel more involved with the characters after all the things you've lived together; if you removed those things and would merely stay on the surface of what's happening, it wouldn't be the same.