Should I stay or should I go

[Erghiez]

I know, using a song title by the Clash as the topic title is in bad form. My apologies, but it is relevant.

I'll make my post short, sweet and to the point.

I've had nothing but issues since I've picked up this game. Long DF queues, Fates, a serious issue with ambiguity (in everything), etc, etc, etc. The list is long. As it is now, I am finding more reasons to uninstall it, than I am to continue playing it. My search for some reason to continue logging in has led me to seek the collective wisdom of the community.

If you enjoy this game, why, and what keeps you pressing the 'play' button every day?

(I'd be more descriptive if it wasn't for the thread 'character' cap)

Editing of post (to add more info) done from here on -

To answer some questions; I am in an FC. Most of the people in my current FC are people I know outside of the game. Given that I have been a long time player of MMOs (Anarchy Online, EQ, EQ2, Guildwars 1&2, Eve Online, WoW, a few more in there) my friends suggested I'd try FFXIV. I played XI for a bit, but due to work and school at the time I was unable to divide my priorities in order to play it. So I skipped XI.

As far as ambiguity is concerned. I don't need a game to sugar coat every detail, but as far as objectives are concerned, its usually, "Go to big red circle, do objective'. Ive come across more than a few quests that could use some more detail. It isn't a huge issue, just one I think needs some improvement. As far as the rest of the game is concerned, there is much vagueness to be had. I bought a digital copy, so I had to navigate the home site 'guide' to find some information, but I had more luck with user posted content.

At around level 40 I hit a wall. Queuing for storyline dungeons became ridiculous. I've queued for Stone vigil around 13 times now. I've only managed to find a party twice in less than 45 minutes. One of those groups gave me the boot because I chose to open my mouth out of courtesy to inform them that it was not only my first time fraying into SV, but I was also fairly new to the healing mechanics of FFXIV as my SCH. The second group resulted in two of our members going afk before the first mob pull, which in turn resulted in the only other member in our party not afk (aside from myself) dropping because he/she didn't feel like waiting. I'd ask help from my FC in running this dungeon, but my work schedule is goofy, so I am usually logging on around the same time they are getting off. So far they have helped me through the majority of Storyline dungeons, so I have no doubts they'd assist me if it werent for my own personal life schedule.

When I decide to run Fates, its only because I've exhausted every available NPC offered quest in an area appropriate for my current level. Considering much of my leveling has done through Fates, I am already sick of the Fate mechanic and grow increasingly more irritated whenever I find myself gravitating toward the need to use them to continue leveling. I understand that other options would be running Dungeons, levequests, or use of the Hunting log, but these seem to be poor alternatives. There is no sense in running other Dungeons for leveling purposes if I cant efficiently queue for a singular Dungeon I've been trying to get through for almost a week now. Levequests are just as repetitious as Fates, and the hunting log at some point or another inevitably throws you back into the DF.

To break away from the mind numbingly boring Fate grinding I decided to try crafting. More specifically just gathering. I have little space left in either my retainer or my inventory for crafting despite my continued attempts at clearing both inventories out. I figured leveling mining would offer me some reprieve, but I found myself once again bored to tears, so my FC suggested using field-leve quests to advance levels quickly (in conjunction with survival manuals.) While this did give me a flow of nice EXP, it seemed counter intuitive to use levequests to level a gathering class as you miss out on the point of said 'job' if you're not actually utilizing it.

Someone mentioned leveling the Chocobo. Thought it'd be fun, so I tried it. I found myself realizing that I was probably going to see the extinction of the human race before seeing my Chicken horse level any further than rank 2.

While I get that my rant may seem like I am bashing the game, I am just pointing out how I view my current experience. I have been a long time fan of the Final Fantasy franchise, and again, I have been playing MMOs for a good portion of my time alive. This is the first time Ive entered a 'top shelf' MMO and found it so monotonous that watching infomercials suddenly became more interesting. If I am to leave the game, I'd like to think that I not only got my moneys worth out of it, but gave it an honest enough effort to enjoy it. I do appreciate the responses though.

[johnbeck1000]

you can be more descriptive if you submit a post and then edit it.....

you could try to join an FC or LS that will help in the DF which is probably most of your issues... the game is fun is why I continue to push play

[Lgalang]

Thats all depend on you. Time will tell.

[Erghiez]

Thats all depend on you. Time will tell.

Ive been playing for 3 weeks. Part of the reason I am asking for peoples thoughts is due to my assumption that if I was going to enjoy the game, I would be by now. So as of now I am just assuming that I am missing something or another.

[Lgalang]

There are several things that you can enjoy the game. Right now we have a event "Lightning Return" which will give you low level gears and some pretty cool low level weapons.
I suggest learn healing. Since your a Arcanist you can become either summoner or a scholar. Healer has a quick or sometimes instant queue on DF.
Level other jobs.
Do hunting logs.
Join in Fate.
Finish main quest.
Craft.
Do Grand company Hunting log.
play with your chocobo.
Thats all i can think off for now. But yah I know you enjoy it cause otherwise you wont ask for others for their opinion.

[KuroKona]

I think you should simply ask yourself what do you actually expect from MMORPGs in general and then try to compare your expectations of this genre to what this game offers. That's pretty much how most people do it.

If none of us know what you enjoy in mmorpgs it'd be quite difficult to give you any valid answer as to why you should keep playing ffxiv.

[Rivienne]

For the duty finder issues, the answer is to find a FC and/or LS to help. It makes all the difference. If you can find one that is community oriented as well as progression friendly then it becomes that much more fun because of the interplay with other people, working towards common goals, having fun/silly events together etc.

I find that if you came into this game and are trying to play solo all the way, while it is doable, it is sadly lacking. This is because it is a game designed around both solo story, and group dungeons and events.

If you focus on the solo to the exclusion of the group content, it will really hurt your game experience.

For Fates, I am not sure what your problem is without more descriptions, or if it is something solvable. (I personally find them boring zergfests and typically avoid them except for the occasional half level exp bump)

Regarding Ambiguity.. I am not sure I understand what you mean? Can you edit your topic and expand on this?

This game isn't for everyone, I certainly can agree to that, but without more information it is hard to really know.

[Anova]

I'm not certain I understand what you mean by ambiguity. I believe the quests are well marked and that the system does a good job of introducing all the activities to you (leves, guildleves, dungeons, fates, hunting logs, gathering logs, gathering nodes, etc). Of course, the game rarely brings them up again, but you should realize they're all meant to help you level and you can do them at any time.

Fates can be a huge bore when leveling your war and magic classes, but you're always allowed to switch to hunting logs, leves, and dungeons. As far as dungeons go, I would try to form a party with a tank and healer first before queuing. If you get both classes, it will make the df queues much shorter if not instant. This relies on finding a friendly FC or linkshell though, and those do change depending on the community of your server. Unfortunately the lower level dungeons are much harder to finish now that the majority of players aren't running them now.

As for me, I managed to find a group of players I get along with and we're pushing on raid content. Otherwise, I spend the majority of my time leveling up my crafting classes to help gear and train lowbies in my FC and linkshells. In other words, I just enjoy playing house and the game's crafting system is really quite fun.

Anyway, if you don't like the game, you don't like the game. There's certainly some parts that are a grind. You might want to give the game a rest, although I would suggest at least checking the forums for a status update at 2.1 if the df wait is giving you a lot of trouble. Yoshi-P did mention they were setting up an incentive system for lvl50 chars to visit the old dungeons, so that should speed up your dungeon queue considerably.

[Orophin]

If you're not enjoying it at the early levels I don't see how it's going to get any better at end game for you.

[Sadana]

I enjoy interacting with my FC and LS people. We try to do things such as bikini FATE cheering parties, hide and seek, and other silliness to break up the monotony. FATE grinding isn't what you'll remember from this game, awesome fun with people is (imo).