Interested in Suggestions for Solo Content

[Jojoya]

What content have you done in other MMOs that fits what you're looking for as solo content and lacks the limitations/drawbacks you've listed? You've mentioned everything you've tried or considered here but not what solo content kept you occupied elsewhere. If we knew what those things were, we could possibly find parallels in content here.

There's nothing wrong with playing a different game when your friends here go offline if you want something that's designed to be solo player. It's unrealistic to expect a single game to be capable of providing everything you're looking for. I might spend most of my gaming time here but I do have a couple of single player games I switch to when I want to be doing something different.

[Raynn]

What content have you done in other MMOs that fits what you're looking for as solo content and lacks the limitations/drawbacks you've listed? You've mentioned everything you've tried or considered here but not what solo content kept you occupied elsewhere. If we knew what those things were, we could possibly find parallels in content here.

There's nothing wrong with playing a different game when your friends here go offline if you want something that's designed to be solo player. It's unrealistic to expect a single game to be capable of providing everything you're looking for. I might spend most of my gaming time here but I do have a couple of single player games I switch to when I want to be doing something different.

ESO/SWTOR had a ton of quality story content that was a nice turn to when friends were a little light. WoW has several artifact/reputation/gear grinds that went far beyond the normal beast quests. EvE/WoW/GW2 had exceptionally good PvP (which is lacking here in FF14, but I know that’s not the main draw for most of the player base). Wildstar/ESO/ Star Wars Galaxies/Asherons Call had a massive housing system which made collecting things from your travels and decorating a place to call home phenomenal.

All these things made good fillers for those times when you found yourself the only one online. Housing here is kind of a joke, story is sub par at best, and PvP isn’t as engaging due to the longer GCD. Which is why I asked what others do in their downtime to see if there’s something I’m missing that may align with my interest a bit more.

It’s hard for me to use an MMO as a ‘sometime’ play thing. I usually focus on one game to pour my effort into due to being military and being gone for extended times for RL. That’s why I was curious.

[Veis_Alveare]

I don't know if this will be for you but personally the thing I enjoy most as a solo activity is personal improvement and by extension Party Finder.

In terms of improvement it's... like only sort of something that can actually be discussed on the forums. Blah blag, third party tools are bad blah. But essentially I treat the game like I do exercise - try to beat my previous best performance on a given fight. Can even work in normal mode raids and alliance and stuff, doesn't need to be Savage. Trying to totally perfect how to play a job in any given fight can give you that happy optimization feeling of knowing that because you modified a tiny thing in your opener you're getting a better reopened after a phase change or whatever. I dunno, it's dorky when I type it out but I find genuine enjoyment in it and it's easy enough to do solo.

As for PF in general I just like to join random groups that are looking for clears and try to help. I have a discord server set up that I just clean out regularly and I can use that to invite people for callouts if they need it. Just recently filled in and helped a static that had been stuck on the tail end of e8s as a PLD, they were all super pumped and I got to experience the fight on a new role. I was also invited to attend an ingame wedding some time in the future.

Not all PF stories are good and wholesome. A lot aren't. Either way, it can be a fun way to pass the time and make new friends.

[Vyrerus]

I definitely recommend leveling your other jobs. You don't have to rush, but that's where a lot of the flavor of the game comes in, and it helps you make note of what skills are big deals. Which might make you more miserable if you have good attention to detail and play with others' animations on.

There's SE lodestone leader boards for Palace of the Dead and Heaven on High, so if you've got a competitive streak, those would let you experience jobs you're leveling up to level 70 while simultaneously helping you level them.

I myself enjoyed trying to solo old content, and recently I've gotten into crafting in a big way. I always kept one crafter and gatherer leveled for the associated beastmen dailies, but now I've been steadily taking the others up, and I really love being able to do my own materia melds and repair my own stuff. There's also a load of satisfaction when you've made your own weapons/armor, and you're using it to kill things.

As a last sort of thing, if your FC hasn't already, once you start getting crafters up, you can make group projects like Submersibles and Airships. That sorta thing is oddly fun too! For me, anyway.

As for the sidequests, if you truly don't care about their story aspects, you could at least skip your way through them while waiting on queues, assuming you ever level a DPS all the way They're nice EXP and go faster if you don't care about their story/lore implications

[Raynn]

I don't know if this will be for you but personally the thing I enjoy most as a solo activity is personal improvement and by extension Party Finder.

In terms of improvement it's... like only sort of something that can actually be discussed on the forums. Blah blag, third party tools are bad blah. But essentially I treat the game like I do exercise - try to beat my previous best performance on a given fight. Can even work in normal mode raids and alliance and stuff, doesn't need to be Savage. Trying to totally perfect how to play a job in any given fight can give you that happy optimization feeling of knowing that because you modified a tiny thing in your opener you're getting a better reopened after a phase change or whatever. I dunno, it's dorky when I type it out but I find genuine enjoyment in it and it's easy enough to do solo.

As for PF in general I just like to join random groups that are looking for clears and try to help. I have a discord server set up that I just clean out regularly and I can use that to invite people for callouts if they need it. Just recently filled in and helped a static that had been stuck on the tail end of e8s as a PLD, they were all super pumped and I got to experience the fight on a new role. I was also invited to attend an ingame wedding some time in the future.

Not all PF stories are good and wholesome. A lot aren't. Either way, it can be a fun way to pass the time and make new friends.

That’s actually a great point. Especially as a GNB, I like learning where I can work my burst combo into a bosses rotation to maximize DMG output.

I think part of the problem is our FC. I’m back in FF14 (stopped after grinding to 70 a few months after SB launched) because they group of friends that used to play ESO got tired of their money grubbing techniques and wanted something more substantial. So naturally they wanted to start our own FC but there’s only like six of us. Maybe I need to look into a discord group (other than the Balance) to find something to fill time.

That’s actually a solid idea. Thanks for that!