Perspective of a Newer Player

[sirDarts]

You basically started at the "worst possible time".
It was very close to the expansion, so you felt rushed. And it was just before the help for new players was implemented (higher MSQ exp and i100+ gear for MSQ after 50).

[Hexceed]

You basically started at the "worst possible time".
It was very close to the expansion, so you felt rushed. And it was just before the help for new players was implemented (higher MSQ exp and i100+ gear for MSQ after 50).

Yes I see that now. How ironic since I originally thought starting 3 weeks ahead of time would actually work to my advantage only to lead me to feeling discontent with alot of misunderstanding about the "help for new players" that was implemented only to never received them when I actually needed them.

[T2teddy]

The changes to exp gain and the awarding of proper gear to level 50s began the day the expansion went live. Plus the Ishgard quests tend to hand out HQ 115 gears as well.
That being said FFXIV is not a game with some story. It is a story with the added perk of having a game to bring the story to life. The story is the game. Without it you have no idea why you're fighting or what you're fighting for. It may as well just be a generic series of back to back boring dungeons

[Onikimaru]

Seems to me that somebody was blinded by their own hype. Trailers are mean't to highlight the best aspects of a game, not tell you when you're going to get it. This game has a lot to offer and most of it comes from the story. You coming in and assuming you can do everything in the game straight off the bat is just insane...

[Hexceed]

Plus the Ishgard quests tend to hand out HQ 115 gears as well.

One of my FC friends gave me these and it's helped alot.

[Hexceed]

Seems to me that somebody was blinded by their own hype. Trailers are mean't to highlight the best aspects of a game, not tell you when you're going to get it. This game has a lot to offer and most of it comes from the story. You coming in and assuming you can do everything in the game straight off the bat is just insane...

Haha well put it this way. Say if you were super hyped about Halo 3 but never played Halo and Halo 2. All of your friends pre-ordered Halo 3 and they've played through Halo and Halo 2.

You then pre-order Halo 3 as well and look forward to playing the same game with them. Instead you get the joy of playing through Halo and after that Halo 2 while your friends are constantly exclaiming their excitement over their exploration in Halo 3 while you are stuck playing through old content feeling left behind. If there was any warnings in the trailer that everything if gaited by a wall of past content and you probably won't be joining your veteran friends on Day 1 launch, I most likely wouldn't have bought the game, simple.

[Takfloyd]

Even without any help or the new easy gear, you would never have been too low on ilvl if you just got the gear you were supposed to. You get enough tomestones from each set of content to reach the next ilvl requirement, every time.

And again your mistake was to think that you should be rushing through the story to "play with friends at level 50". There is no difference whether you're level 1 or 50 in terms of playing with friends, since the level syncs to the content anyway. What your friends are doing in the expansion content is exactly the same as you're doing - the story, with occasional multiplayer dungeons and bosses. And the story IS good, not that you would know if you skipped most of it.

In short, your bad experiences are 100% self-inflicted.

[Takfloyd]

Haha well put it this way. Say if you were super hyped about Halo 3 but never played Halo and Halo 2. All of your friends pre-ordered Halo 3 and they've played through Halo and Halo 2.

You then pre-order Halo 3 as well and look forward to playing the same game with them. Instead you get the joy of playing through Halo and after that Halo 2 while your friends are constantly exclaiming their excitement over their exploration in Halo 3 while you are stuck playing through old content feeling left behind. If there was any warnings in the trailer that everything if gaited by a wall of past content and you probably won't be joining your veteran friends on Day 1 launch, I most likely wouldn't have bought the game, simple.

No, the real comparison is your friends getting hyped over the newest episode of Game of Thrones and you wanting to skip right to watching that without having watched the rest of the show.

This is a story-based game first and foremost, like every FF game. It just has the added perk of being multiplayer.

[Parapluies]

I think you are just playing this game the wrong way. Well, SE is well-know for "you play my game my style or GTFO".
That being sad, I highly recommend taking a look at the ending of 2.55 if you skipped them all, then follow the 3.0 storyline. It's a pity if you miss the best part of 3.0 in the name of the grind ( the very reason you quitted wow). Cutscenes, character development, main storyline and even sidequests are over the top in term of quality for a mmorpg.

[AriaEnia]

I think MCH, AST and DRK are the "advanced classes".
These classes are for people who already have grasp game contents, mechanics, other classes, etc.
That's why they aren't be given straight away at the starting cities.
It's not that these new 3 classes aren't for new players but, I don't know, maybe because newer players still can't utilize them fully. Heck even for veteran players, some are having hard time with maximizing the classes' utility.

For newer player, I think the starting classes offered are the preparation for these classes.
So, i think for newer players, be patient and learn about the game's contents and mechanics first and also enjoy the story.
It's a progress.