How does FF14 compare to WoW? (And other MMOs)

[SecretIsland]

I don't know that you'd get an unbiased opinion on either games official forums.

I believe most people can be pretty reasonable on the forums. Most of my interactions here were very helpful and nice other than a few trolls. I don't have a WoW account so I can't ask them but hopefully someone who has played both can answer (and will likely be more unbiased since they played both). Always curious to know more! No judgments here.

The best way I've seen the communities described was "Criticize wow and wow player will agree with you; criticize FFXIV and a FFXIV player will fight with you."

The games themselves are essentially the same thing at their core.

Interesting. Is that due to the developers or due to the playerbase? In other words, do people criticize WoW more because the developers are bad, or because they are more critical of a game?

I'd say it's a mix of the two. Blizzard has been all over the place with development, but XIV has been more stable. The WOW community is more likely to speak their mind and more likely to recognize game faults; the XIV community is more likely to leave things that need to be said unsaid until they get out of control, and more likely to attack an "outsider" that dares to question the status quo.

See also: Scottzone.

The way you describe the issue, it sounds like both communities could find a middle ground between the two extremes! Thanks for the explanation.

biggest significant differences are that world of warcraft will retcon and abandon 99% of what happens from expansion to expansion so they can rehash the same 3 narrative arcs they've used since like 1993, and there is always a chase item to keep people on the RNG loot treadmill towards the next arbitrary number increase.

FFXIV has more consideration in general for keeping its world and setting consistent with itself and more clear of a notion that games should just be fun to play in the first place without a carrot on a stick to chase forever.

I see! It does very much look like FF14's world-building and story is amazing. I've had a lot of fun playing through the story!

[van_arn]

Interesting. Is that due to the developers or due to the playerbase? In other words, do people criticize WoW more because the developers are bad, or because they are more critical of a game?

I'd say it's a mix of the two. Blizzard has been all over the place with development, but XIV has been more stable. The WOW community is more likely to speak their mind and more likely to recognize game faults; the XIV community is more likely to leave things that need to be said unsaid until they get out of control, and more likely to attack an "outsider" that dares to question the status quo.

See also: Scottzone.