Awesome changes made that weren't there when you started playing?

[Destati]

When I started playing....
...Glamours were locked until level 50
...Glamour prisms weren't consolidated into a single type; there was one each for Woodworking, Blacksmith, Carpentry, etc. (I believe before that they were divided into several different grades too!)
...Glamour plates weren't a thing.
...World Visit wasn't a thing.
...You couldn't have a minion and your chocobo summoned at the same time.
...You couldn't increase your chocobo's summon time to 60 minutes by eating more than one Gysahl Greens.
...The chocobo saddlebag wasn't a thing.
...Stacks of items were limited to 99 instead of 999.
...Swimming in Costa Del Sol or the residential areas wasn't possible.
...You couldn't use aesthetician hairstyles on retainers.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

[Palibun]

I haven't been playing nearly as long as many of the people on here, but i have a few-

Making crafting/gathers more accessible is a big plus, i know people like the game to be hardcore, but with how boring they used to be (and kinda still are) quicker leveling made them much, much more bearable.

I also liked the removal of flash for tanks, maybe it was just me but going from SB pld to ShB pld it felt sooooooo much less clunky. Old pld had some good things about it, but the new system feels way better imo, even if the removal of some skills is a little saddening still

Lastly the ability to visit other severs was a VERY needed inclusion that im so glad is in the game now.

[Pheryx]

Rogue/ Ninja
Treasure Maps
Golden Saucer

[Bahd_Monkey]

Housing items are no longer destroyed when you remove them! Yeah, that used to be a thing.

[Silverquick]

Whatever they did in late Heavensward to stop gil sellers from spamming everyone with tells. It used to be that you got at least one every 5 seconds.

I never did get that.

Back in FFXI at least there was a reason gil sellers were the dirty little secret, it was impossible to make money in that game outside of some seriously boring grinding on gray mobs for like 10 gil per drop. And the high level things in the market that were seriously required for high level character effectiveness in a game that played more like old Everquest than it did FFXIV, used to cost millions.

Not so in FFXIV, at least after ARR. I have never had need of gil in this game for anything that wasn't frivolous or just eye candy. Everything else in this game that you need is buyable and at reasonable price... and they throw gil at you left and right from the MSQs and side quests.

I remember wandering through the Marketplaces in ARR going.... dudes what's the point of selling gil here? Its pointless, everyone has enough to buy whatever they need and the high level effective stuff is all no drop no trade anyway.

[tdb]

I remember wandering through the Marketplaces in ARR going.... dudes what's the point of selling gil here? Its pointless, everyone has enough to buy whatever they need and the high level effective stuff is all no drop no trade anyway.

Houses. Though you have to be lucky to find one of the larger spots unoccupied.

The gil sellers also sell loot runs of high-level content in addition to gil.

[Silverquick]

Well you kinda made my point there.

Houses are completely unnecessary for high level effectiveness. And when you take a look at the market and the things that cost the most money are all things mostly worthless to high level players. While the old gear out of Coils of Bahamut does look cool... there's no way in hell it compares to what you actually get at like 60th, 70th, 80th... and as an example the weapons from things like EX 8-Mans generally are far worse than BIS... they LOOK cool and make for great Glamors... but they're not really that necessary. They cost a ton, and they look cool... but they're not exactly top of the line... in fact they're far worse.

That's the real reason they're so pricy. Its not because people actually use them as gear... they use them for glamors.

This was the complete opposite in FFXI, all the high level gear either took days on end to farm or cost millions of gil on the market.

Its just not the case anymore post ARR.

[TheMightyMollusk]

Well, glamour IS the real endgame here......

[tdb]

Houses are completely unnecessary for high level effectiveness. And when you take a look at the market and the things that cost the most money are all things mostly worthless to high level players. While the old gear out of Coils of Bahamut does look cool... there's no way in hell it compares to what you actually get at like 60th, 70th, 80th... and as an example the weapons from things like EX 8-Mans generally are far worse than BIS... they LOOK cool and make for great Glamors... but they're not really that necessary. They cost a ton, and they look cool... but they're not exactly top of the line... in fact they're far worse.

That's the real reason they're so pricy. Its not because people actually use them as gear... they use them for glamors.

The sellers don't care if you want it for gear or glamour. If someone wants it, they'll sell it.

And at least one of the popular sellers actually does sell the very best gear. Their catalogue includes Eden savage and Alexander ultimate clears.

[Esmoire]

Golden Saucer

Gosh. I couldn't imagine FFXIV without the Gold Saucer. For some people they probably have not been there in years but for me I have been playing for a year and it's still my favourite place in the game.