Pink aetherial items were good, actually

[Feathetaria]

I came from WoW a few years ago and I currently only play ffxiv to socialize and be creative with Housing Design. But I might as well mention some of the things that prevent me from enjoying pve in this game and led me to not commit to it. It starts off with itemization and how in all my experience of leveling and doing msq and dungeons. Gear feels ineffective. Tbh it feels like gear doesn't exist or stats don't matter. Even in WoW, gear gets replaced every few patches / expansions, but at least in WoW, when you gain +15 agility, you can see your crit chance go up from 31% to 33% or something, and Trinkets in wow make for some very satisfying gameplay.

In WoW Classic, getting a rare epic world drop feels amazing, especially because you can sell it for huge chunk of Gold or use it your self to Wreak Havock in pvp or dungeon. Gear that actually matters for leveling, and the fact pvp can be enjoyed at any level, against players of similar levels. And world PvP. It all makes gear feel like it truly matters, but ffxiv seems to push me away from its pve and pvp because i feel like stats do nothing and everyone is the same.

The Essence of an MMO like WoW and the main appeal of it is that you can work hard to get the best gear to literally be the strongest player. Gear matters A LOT! And you feel it. Every upgrade is something you feel in combat. More crits, bigger crits, bigger non crits. Faster hits, trinket procs etc.

ffxiv combat feels bland, looks bland, gear is stale and stagnant as far as stats and power go. My opinion is that ffxiv could use an entire overhaul of Combat, Stats and Gear.

I am here to stay, though, and I love this game. I will continue to be a housing design addict and social butterfly and I will continue to do MSQ when I am in the mood, but i cannot see my self getting into this game's PvE and PvP because it feels like an even bigger waste of time than getting invested into Gearing in WoW.
Not to mention Talent Trees and all the different specs players can try for each class in WoW. Haste builds, Crit builds, Attack Power/Spell Power builds. Players have so many options for combat in that game and they all feel great. Ffxiv combat never felt great to me, or even good.

FFXIV is amazing game but if i want to do combat, I would prob go back to WoW

Also, even effects on items in WoW are 1000% more appealing. I love weapons and trinkets that say "chance on hit: trigger x effect"

I also feel like ffxiv is BLOATED with Useless Items that Nobody wants or needs. Stuff that isn't even used for crafting. In WoW, i can get excited in any leveling zone while looting random mobs, just because of the fact that greens, blues and epics can drop in random places like that.

Ffxiv has NOTHING rare in the world to find. Nothing that makes the environment worth exploring. Very stale. Anyway sorry for the rant, but i had to share my thoughts on what makes ffxiv Combat, Gearing, and Items so BORING compared to WoW's.
<3

[CamuiKushi]

The Essence of an MMO like WoW and the main appeal of it is that you can work hard to get the best gear to literally be the strongest player. Gear matters A LOT! And you feel it. Every upgrade is something you feel in combat. More crits, bigger crits, bigger non crits. Faster hits, trinket procs etc.

This feels like you described the exact reason why I never bothered giving WOW a shot and have no interest in changing that.