FFXIV and SqEnix vs WoW and Blizzard - My Perspective

[Ayuhra]

Only way to fix WoW is with a badge vendor. Add some currency from different things like in Wrath so casuals have real bad luck protection vs the never ending RNG time sink loop. This is one thing the FF14 devs have stuck to and I do not see casuals and hardcore raiders in this MMO literally hating each other.

I wouldn't mind seeing the badges back but that is also another form of gear progression.

What that game needs is more activities that can be done to get fun stuff that isn't actually NEEDED to perform well. This is an area FFXIV does well in. Palace of the Dead/Heaven on High/Beast Tribes/Hildebrand are all things that you get Stuff from but the game doesn't force you into them by dangling power over them.

....You could arguable include crafting and gathering classes there since technically they aren't part of the raiding endgame but they are so in depth that I genuinely don't think I can call them side content.

[Olinara]

I played WoW off and on since early 2006 and have played every expansion. I left Shadowlands right after I hit level cap, then went back last week to give it another try before my subscription ran out. I agree with the points made about level cap activities feeling like a list of chores. It's mostly the same chores from earlier expansions, but it feels like they went out of their way to make them take longer. I also never appreciated it when I'd make it to a major story payoff and see NPCs come in and steal the show.

I've played FFXIV pretty consistently for 18 months. The content is easier to get into. Gear progression feels MUCH better. I also feel much more at home with the Scions than I ever did in WoW. FFXIV isn't perfect, but it's the game I'd rather play.

[Puremallace]

I played WoW off and on since early 2006 and have played every expansion. I left Shadowlands right after I hit level cap, then went back last week to give it another try before my subscription ran out. I agree with the points made about level cap activities feeling like a list of chores. It's mostly the same chores from earlier expansions, but it feels like they went out of their way to make them take longer. I also never appreciated it when I'd make it to a major story payoff and see NPCs come in and steal the show.

I've played FFXIV pretty consistently for 18 months. The content is easier to get into. Gear progression feels MUCH better. I also feel much more at home with the Scions than I ever did in WoW. FFXIV isn't perfect, but it's the game I'd rather play.

What I do not get about Shadowlands is the entire was to reduce the grind which is why most of the stuff was so focused on just casual stuff but what they forgot obviously is you look for that casual stuff after you do things like GEAR UP! Making gear such a pain has made that the main focus of the expansion when all this other stuff like Revendreth parties and Torghast were supposed to be the main draws.

Swear to god if you told me Ion HazExcuses was a robot I would believe you because he only defines fun how I would expect Skynet to describe it.

[Absurdity]

Only way to fix WoW is with a badge vendor. Add some currency from different things like in Wrath so casuals have real bad luck protection vs the never ending RNG time sink loop. This is one thing the FF14 devs have stuck to and I do not see casuals and hardcore raiders in this MMO literally hating each other.

And it is something that WoW had for a rather long time as well but Blizzard decided to embrace their bullshit Diablo 3 rng loot model without realizing that it only works in D3 because there is no lockout, you can farm the same boss ad infinitum until you finally get the item exactly how you want it.

Not that I’m complaining, I quite like it and it’s fun when you really focus and squeeze that little bit more out but generally I don’t remember wow being this way. Might just be because I was always healer, but I find ff healers are very rotational based too.

The was one, Blood Death Knight in Wrath of the Lich King had a fixed dps rotation that always looped in exactly the same way. But generally no, WoW rarely had any rotations for it's classes

[eilhya]

I wouldn't mind seeing the badges back but that is also another form of gear progression.

What that game needs is more activities that can be done to get fun stuff that isn't actually NEEDED to perform well. This is an area FFXIV does well in. Palace of the Dead/Heaven on High/Beast Tribes/Hildebrand are all things that you get Stuff from but the game doesn't force you into them by dangling power over them.

....You could arguable include crafting and gathering classes there since technically they aren't part of the raiding endgame but they are so in depth that I genuinely don't think I can call them side content.

i totally agree with you !

[ItMe]

The was one, Blood Death Knight in Wrath of the Lich King had a fixed dps rotation that always looped in exactly the same way. But generally no, WoW rarely had any rotations for it's classes

I ask this in ignorance as someone trying to understand the comparison: does 14 have rotations that loop in exactly the same way then?
When I play any melee class (for example) based on when and how long I can get uptime really has me moving (sometimes large) pieces in my rotation around.

[zeylos]

From my expirience:
WoW feels like a really cool job and FFXIV like a really cool game.

In WoW you get the best raiding in any mmo, mythic dungeons and a ton of super hard content that is, arguably as good if not betetr than FFXIV's endgame but a decent bit, but endgame is all it has, and to participate on that endgame you have a list of chores to do

In FFXIV, while you dont have as good an endgame, you can always first of all just jump right into it without dedicating your life to the game, and you can just have fun. Collect glamour, take screenshots, partake in activities with the (immensly better than wow's) community, level alt jobs etc, which imo makes wow feel like a job where you have to do this to do that so you can do this better, and ffxiv feels like a world to do with as you please.

Imo, both are incredibly different conceps, but I find FFXIV much more relaxing and respectful of my time

[Liam_Harper]

Then Mists of Pandaria came out. Personally, it was my favorite expansion, but not everyone felt that way at the time. Despite having a lot to do (perhaps too much) it continued its decline. Since then (many years later) people have come to realize just how good they had it.

Mists was a great expansion. People ridiculed their whole "Kung-Fu Panda" thing and they took the risk, went for it and pulled it off. I only have respect for that. The biggest flaws in MoP were the huge amount of dailies on launch and the 18 month content drought, but it was something fresh and they kept subscriber numbers surprisingly stable all considered.
MoP introduced challenge mode dungeons, amazing raids, good class design, pet battles, challenging open world rares, Proving Grounds, Timeless Isle and so on. I loved Mists.

WoD was baffling. 18 months drought and one of the most incomplete expansions to date. All they had to do was tweak the flaws and polish what worked, but instead they scrapped everything that worked. No flying, open world rares near worthless, classes gutted, a month Apexis grind for rubbish gear, facebook mission tables that destroyed the economy, the removal of the MoP legendary questline and all associated story, a garrison that killed craft/gathering professions, the least number of dungeons/raids of any expansion, a whole patch for a Selfie camera, 2 entire capital cities and a lot of customization that never made it to the end product and so on.

Legion was good, but hindered by the fact they clung to bad remnants from WoD. The mission tables were there to stay, flying was still heavily gated, classes remained gutted, the grinds got far grindier, rng legendaries, rng titanforge. It was their last chance really and it went straight downhill from there without ever picking up. They were simply too stubborn to admit they got a lot of things wrong, lost touch of designing games with fun in mind and doubled down on time played metrics. It's really a shame when they were so close to getting the core of the game right in MoP. Honestly, if their current expansions were MoP standard but polished, I wouldn't be playing ff14 today.

[ItMe]

Honestly, if their current expansions were MoP standard but polished, I wouldn't be playing ff14 today.

Sorry it let you down, but for what it's worth I'm glad you're here.
I like talking with you

[TroySoFab]

All they need to do is add a bunny girl and everyone will go back.