Final Fantasy 14's grinds feel horrible to midcore players

[SturmChurro]

To be honest I stayed away from Lost Ark because Korean MMOs are, stereotypically, ABSOLUTELY LEGENDARY GODS of grind, and I am a big pansy who wants to play about 2 - 4 hours weekdays tops, and maybe a little extra on the weekends, and still 'get stuff done' lol.

The combat is great in Lost Ark, the problem is the monotony. Lost Ark at launch was fantastic, in my opinion. There was a good amount of collection, and horizontal casual content to go out and do. Unfortunately, that isn't really the game anymore.

The grind in that game, entails - and Skiros can correct me if I am wrong - pretty much, having to go on 6 characters doing the same things, over, and over, and over. Just to keep up to date on your main character. You funnel stuff to your main, you keep your alts good enough to participate, but that is about it. On top of that, the legion raids are quite.. difficult. You can't really take breaks, because if you take a break you are left behind, and if you get left behind, parties won't accept you, unless you pay them to clear the raid for you.

Don't get me wrong, it makes sense why people gatekeep. Someone not performing adequately can really set a group back - this is something just inherent with the design. The raids are great for people who are into that, unfortunately this focus, has cost the game the majority of it's playerbase in the west, and people like me who are more mid-core (when I want to be), and casual.

[Shougun]

The combat is great in Lost Ark, the problem is the monotony. Lost Ark at launch was fantastic, in my opinion. There was a good amount of collection, and horizontal casual content to go out and do. Unfortunately, that isn't really the game anymore.

The grind in that game, entails - and Skiros can correct me if I am wrong - pretty much, having to go on 6 characters doing the same things, over, and over, and over. Just to keep up to date on your main character. You funnel stuff to your main, you keep your alts good enough to participate, but that is about it. On top of that, the legion raids are quite.. difficult. Don't get me wrong, it makes sense why people gatekeep. Someone not performing adequately can really set a group back - this is something just inherent with the design. The raids are great for people who are into that, unfortunately this has cost the game the majority of it's playerbase, and people who are more mid-core (when I want to be), and casual like me.

Sounds like a fun short term experience and then awful, at least from reading lol. Coming from a casual to mid-core at best player perspective, by strong desire and choice.

I used to be hardcore, I just don't mesh with it anymore... way too much effort and stress to do the same thing again and again and again and again when I can enjoy it for a nice palate cleanser to my day. Elden Ring type stuff is quite fun but that's solo, so I can rely on me and get it done when I've 'got gud'- unlike the multiplayer stuff where unless you have a set crew you run the high chance of failure without gains and on a limited schedule that's just me noping out on why I'd do that to myself. That said I do actively consider I'm not the only player and read people's wishes from different angles lol.. just cause it's not my style doesn't mean its wrong.

[SturmChurro]

Sounds like a fun short term experience and then awful, at least from reading lol. Coming from a casual to mid-core at best player perspective, by strong desire and choice.

I used to be hardcore, I just don't mesh with it anymore... way too much effort and stress to do the same thing again and again and again and again when I can enjoy it for a nice palate cleanser to my day. Elden Ring type stuff is quite fun but that's solo, so I can rely on me and get it done when I've 'got gud'- unlike the multiplayer stuff where unless you have a set crew you run the high chance of failure without gains and on a limited schedule that's just me noping out on why I'd do that to myself. That said I do actively consider I'm not the only player and read people's wishes from different angles lol.. just cause it's not my style doesn't mean its wrong.

At this point.. not really. Everyone at launch was completing their stuff, their horizontal content. You could find groups for events at any time of day. People were out doing stuff. If you tried to go out and do your islands now: it's dead. You won't have anybody to help you. For example, if you want to do Spida island, you probably won't have anybody there to help you break the egg, meaning you cannot get it done. Low level world bosses, you'll have to come back later and solo them, or whatever, because there is no way in heck you are getting them done anymore, since nobody is doing them.

There is no real good short term, or frankly, long term experience, anymore unless you are either a big high-end PvEr interested in these kind of grinds, or you are a whale.. that just pays to skip it all and go straight to the raids. I suppose you'd still have to be a high-end PvEr though.

How does this circle back to FFXIV? How not to do a grind.