This game is awesome... wish I’d tried it years ago

[Frizze]

I’m pretty sure that I was out of combat (in a scene) longer that I was in combat during that last raid... then there was at least 15-20 more minutes of video after the raid ended. It was very cool, but after a while it was starting to wear thin. Ultimately worth it though.

The Praetorium instance(and to a lesser extent, Castrum Meridinum before it) are infamous for the number and length of the mid-instance cutscenes. Rest assured, this was a lesson that the devs learned from and you really dont run into it much going forward. Most instances from that point on will have an opening scene(usually just a quick flythrough), and a boss appearance scene, plus a super short victory dance scene. The longer story bits are usually taken care of before you join the instance, and after you leave.

As the others have mentioned the CT raids already, ill mention another. If you care, the Coils raid series offers a lot of interesting lore and really helps explain the calamity from a couple of angles. Now unlike the Tower raids that you can just que up for using the duty finder, the Coil raids were the hardest fights in the game at the time and took dedicated groups to clear back when they were relevant. These days they are mostly completed in unsynced groups made via the party finder tool. They do have a lot of cutscenes, but if you make a party specifically for it you shouldnt have trouble finding people willing to sit back and let you watch the scenes(helping new players through runs gets veterans a bonus, and 13 coil instances means 13 bonuses if they help you through the whole thing).

[purgatori]

I started playing just after Black Friday (after buying a new computer) and I just made it through the primary story arc of the base game yesterday. The overall story was great.

The use of cutscenes got a bit brutal in spots... particularly that last raid (seriously, that last raid and the follow up was borderline-crazy with clips). It still made for a great gaming experience though.

All dungeon experiences were completely drama free, which is amazing in itself. The crafting system is the best I have ever seen in a game... so much so that I leveled all 11 crafting and gathering classes into the low 50’s before I had even hit level 33 on my combat class.

There were a few things that I could criticize, but so far, those things have been fairly minor.

Great game.

I wish I shared your affinity for the crafting system. I've been playing since 2.0's launch, and I've yet to get any of the DoL/DoH classes to 50.

That aside, glad to welcome you to the community. You have an incredible journey ahead of you with the expansions, and I wish you all the best along the way!

[Neoom]

As someone who adored the game since the first time I launched it (on free trial too, ended up buying sub before it ended) I'm happy to see you share the same passion! And as everyone else have said, it will get only better, with story wise and dungeon wise. I really hope you enjoy your stay, and will continue to have alot of fun (fighting or crafting or why not both!) ^^

[Goji1639]

Congratulations. You're about halfway through the base game. The second half can drag a little, but the end is pretty great and the expansions are a considerable step forward in story telling for this game. You've got a lot to look forward to.

[MrKusakabe]

The cutscenes are super long. Normally I dislike when the "It might take longer" popup comes up. But as soon as the cutscenes actually run, I enjoy them. As my mom (and me) are both massive Lalafreaks I recorded the cutscene before...something happens in Ul'Dah and that scene alone was 45 minutes straight.

I kept recording the event cutscenes and the main cutscene with Nanamo and I ended up with 1:30 hours of footage - that we both watched on my parent's living room TV as I hooked up my USB harddisk. And even my mom liked them ("[Lalafell] are so cuuute" and "[Yshtola's] eyes are creepy"), so that speaks about their quality when random cutscenes are enough to keep her occupied for 90 minutes. I just hate that we are mute and just nod. In Guild Wars 2, the (German) voice acting is absolutely fantastic and it does not remotely ruins any immersion as the developers of XIV say ("We want you to imagine your voice" - while providing sound effects of someone else's voice...). But yeah, that stoic nodding is terrible. Later, you can choose answers and I pick the meanest now to make up for all the smiling errand boy years.

FFXIV has something very, very special. I can't really point on it, but it's very cozy. I ended up here eventually, too. I'd never want to play something else than Red Mage and Scholar, both are very great professions only Japanese game designers can make and in XIV, I like those professions so much. Rapier-wielding magician with healing abilities and a Dr. med. Scholar far off the typical shiny White Magic healers. Find that in U.S. games! No stupid nonsense like other Asian MMOs pull off, like "Pirate" and such. And the engine is actually running super good - back then on my GTX670 and now on my GTX1080. You always get fantastic performance while having good graphics even on low settings. The ingame community is older than the usual playerbase, but also more mentally instable. I ran into more helicopter mothers in their late 30s than in real life. If you want to stay on the forums, you should get accustomed to a love-hate relationship and enjoyable toxicity.


It's a good deal and it's time people enjoy the game as a piece of art - not as a job/chore.


Sincerely,

[Infinitygirl]

I just started too. Took me a while to get used to the combat system as I am still so used to WoW's fast combat system but other than that I am really enjoying the game too. I tried the game about a year ago but I had too many things to play at the time so I couldn't play it so I tried it again a year later and now I am addicted! It's great to have another MMO to play.

[Frosthaven]

Hated the game back in 2013 when I picked it up. Grinding fates until my eyes bled to max jobs was not my idea of fun. Quit after maxing 2 jobs.

Came back a few months ago and there is so much to do I can't step away! It's such a major difference to the 2013 offering.

[Averax]

I’m pretty sure that I was out of combat (in a scene) longer that I was in combat during that last raid... then there was at least 15-20 more minutes of video after the raid ended. It was very cool, but after a while it was starting to wear thin. Ultimately worth it though.

Ah yes, the praetorium. For more experienced players it's an opportunity to open up whichever your preferred streaming service is tab back in every 10 minutes to do the next thing.

[SigSauer]

OP: do you believe in Eorzea? I certainly don't, because a wise man said, to believe in Eorzea is to believe in nothing.

[Dmoloth]

For anyone who enjoys the story I cannot stress how important it is to do these quests. Later on in the story the events from there are essential for understanding some extremely important plot points.

I'm glad you're enjoying the game OP

I made it to this point tonight. Ran the quest chain and opened up access to the alliance raid.

I doubt I will do the raid but I have access should I get the chance.

Thanks for the info!