The STR and weaknesses of FFXIV - is it above the rest?

[Pinworms]

Hi, I was wondering what everyone thought the strengths/pros and weakness/cons of ffxiv were. This could help us pinpoint out what ffxiv's str or weakness are that separates this game from the rest of the mmos on the market. I know this is subjective to opinion, but I'm sure if we get enough opinions we will see several repeat offenders. Overall I love the game even though I do have a lot of weakness and cons.

STR/PROS:
good graphics
1 character to rule them all
Final Fantasy lore
Housing (soon)
Races
Emote motions without text
Controller supported
Chocobo companion
Dungeons (instanced)

Weakness/CONS:
Short Aggro pursuit by mobs
No sense of "danger" when Aggro due to above
Only one type of Aggro
No open world dungeons
Can't use duty finder with chocobo companion
Lag
Fast leveling
Lack of variety of ways to level efficiently
Too many people wear same gear at end of game (vanity fix)
Lack of Emerson in the world
Small zone size
No real time boat/air ship travel
Mining and botany are identical in leveling experience (not XP, but the process)
Core classes are obsolete once you obtain a job.
Game play is too similar to world of Warcraft
The jump button

[Esmian]

This game does have a surprising lack of Ralph Emerson.

[Welsper59]

Pros and cons weigh differently, so a listing really isn't a good measure of something. For example, I love jump buttons lol. The game being like WoW is HIGHLY subjective. WoW followed in the footsteps of games like EQ and utilized practically everything EQ did for gameplay. We always copy something in some way (whether we see it or not). That much is a fact.

[Terius]

That's odd, I had alot of fun with WoW, so following it would not make it an auto 'con' for some.

I'd say the key weakness at this moment is the lack of content. Everything we hear about 2.1 seems more and more like, 'things that we meant to put in at release.'

[RowanLauron]

The last two "cons" on your list are what helped make the game more popular than it was. I come from XI and 1.0, and I'm excited and love the changes to a more modern MMO.

I think the game has it's flaws and a lot of your cons I agree with, but I think it's on par and in some cases the better game out there. Especially since it's vanilla and the subs are still holding at least for now. We'll see in a few months.

[Tiggy]

100% subjective.

[Baneus]

Any game where I can't jump a small rock that's in my way automatically gets uninstalled. As has already been pointed out, pro/con lists with something like this are incredibly subjective, you may as well have started a thread asking What is the best music to listen to?

[ThanMazus]

The jump button

Are we back on the beta forums?

[chubnasty]

reads like someone who loved FFXI and is currently disappointed that FFXIV isn't FFXI 2.0

[BrockLi]

There.... there are people who don't like having a jump button? BUT WHY?

I'm glad FFXIV at *least* has a jump button. I get annoyed enough that I can't jump anywhere I want... invisible walls are everywhere, and it drives me crazy. And I wish we could swim >.< But at least they're not pulling an Aion, where you just walk into the water as if it was dry land... and then slowly die over time.
But these are mini complaints.

The only real "con" I can agree with is the tiny zone size. One of the biggest things I always looked forward to in MMO's was exploring and finding new things. Pretty much right from the beginning of the game once I figured out how easy it was to get around, the entire feeling of exploration got shattered. I know its an unfair thing to say (and don't get me wrong, I enjoy this game), but it feels *much* more like a single player game that allows you to chat with others at the same time... and occasionally group up for a short dungeon. Oh well, I'll just keep playing and hope things get more exciting.