Amazing things to look forward to in Heavensward

[Madruck]

With the many facets coming to HW in less than 2 weeks.....I must give my hat off to SE for major choices they made that will not only make the game a better place but also help the community as a whole become stronger.

1. Limiting the 3 new jobs to level 50 characters: This in my opinion was one of the best choices the people at SE could have done in the past 2 years in regard to game design! Being a old WoW player, I remember the horrible times I had getting to level 58 to do my first higher level content dungeon in The Burning Crusade to only have it ruined by a player who either bought a account from some gold farmer service that had a lowly minimum level 55 character just to play Death Knight or level a dps class to minimum with no idea how to tank to be one of the worst tanking experiences you would have seen with over 58 other levels of dungeons for the most part having good tanks to this. If they had made it where a player could do Dark Knight from the bat without basic knowledge of the game which I will mention share abilities from the only 2 tanks classes currently it would have been a repeat of history for me. Thank you SE for this intelligent concept and design....again hats off!

2. Not continuing the current relic weapon: Heavensward in my opinion is a new chapter for FF14. Its not the remake SE had to do to get there fans back with ARR, or the failure of 1.XX....but this to me is truly the true FF14! This is the first time SE would come out with a expansion with standards already met but millions but also a time in where FF14 comes out without some type of overhead or shadow over it because of past mistakes. This is truly where FF14 should have been from the start when the game came out in 2010 but instead needed a brilliant person like Yoshi P behind it to succeed! The relic quest was in all regards something of legacy.....its a item to me that symbolizes their momentous achievement but also the failure of the past. Now moving forward with HW, we can truly see FF14 shine like it should have with a fresh start for everyone with the new Relic weapon from Heavensward that to me will be a symbol of where the games is now to the old relic and where ARR and 1.xx was. Be it alot of players will be mad with all the time and effort it took them to get these items since they sorta feel like it was somewhat wasted while others do not. I say this, take the ARR relic with not it being about the weapon itself....but the journey you took to get it, that and a really cool title!

3. Keeping RNG but also rewarding those that still put in the time, skill and effort for such weapon or item: This to me by far was the biggest and in my opinion best design feature of Heavensward. Still keeping the chance of a a lucky drop in game while also rewarding the dedicated and hard working players a guarantee that even if luck isnt with you......skill, determination, and dedication are! Who in game hasn't farmed WoD over and over again trying to get there Ilvl 120 gear so they can do coils 100+ times.....but now we are going to have a system of clear progression....hence the big word for me is PROGRESSION! Not only do you know that you get to some form of end goal that you clearly set for yourself, but also know that everytime you do that trial, raid, or dungeon you will finally earn these items for the most part equally.....not based purely on RNG, but by effort that makes a game great. Some lucky few will get there items sooner that others....but knowing no matter what you will get yours makes this game shine brighter than all other!

Lastly, I would just like to say.....there are only 2 major MMO's on the market today based solely on subscriptions, World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy 14. WoW currently has over 7 million players while FF14 is sitting at 4 million with no other MMO touching them. WoW lost over 3 million players in the past 6 months while FF14 is consistently growing.....just wait til HW comes out, I cant even imagine on the boost they may get with that! The back and forth between SE and Blizzard reminds me of the Sega and Nintendo fued in the 90's...they didnt directly attack one another but only a few times.....but we all know who lost in the end. SE is Nintendo, not Sega....SE to me has proven that they do make great choices for their loyal fans and will still continue for years to come.....Salute Square Enix!

[KaedrianLiang]

WoW lost over 3 million players in the past 6 months while FF14 is consistently growing.....!

They are all coming FFXIV. The China launch of FFXIV added like 2 mil subscribers and still growing. git rekt WoW.

[Vespar]

They are all coming FFXIV. The China launch of FFXIV added like 2 mil subscribers and still growing. git rekt WoW.

It's a shame they took such a successful MMO and are now plunging it into a dark pit of no return. I'm happy that XIV is steadily growing, but competition brings innovation to the industry, so I hope WoW manages to pull itself out of the 'dark pit' while it still can. I hope both XIV and WoW manage to remain successful for many more years to come. I'm curious to see what the MMO genre will grow into.

[Madruck]

Snip

I hope so as well that Blizzard does progress from this but SE has one ace in the hole: Yoshi P. To me SE has always had a niche to find people that make its products shine from Nobuo Uematsu whom everyone in the ideo game world brought the most intense and epic game music in to Final Fantasy to Yoshitaka Amano in his art design that made what was unique about Final Fantasy.