Losing Interest - What am I missing?

[McVade]

I want to begin this thread by saying, flat out, this is not a troll thread. I am honestly floored by how great this community is. I come from other games where you want to interact with as few people as possible.

First, I never played this game before it was A Realm Reborn, but when I heard the revolutionary steps this game took to reinvest itself and redeem itself, I just had to try it and support that kind of ethics in the genre. Whereas most companies are happy to cut their losses and churn out the next money grab, Square Enix really went above and beyond - forsaking short term profits to regain its brand name. Kudos.

That all said, on three occasions, I've tried to play this game. The first time, I got it from a Steam Sale and I quit before level 20 or so. I had rolled a Gladiator and, fresh from WoW, I honestly can say that I quit because A.) The gameplay was so slow - hated the long GCDs and B.) The story, IMHO, was awful - just a series of fetch quests without any sense of immediacy. I went back to WoW after about a week.

Yet, I still kept hearing great things... so I resubbed and tried it again a few months later. This time, I rolled a Conjurer. I enjoyed the Gridania intro story much better than the Ul'dah one and was able to get to level 30/15 and become a White Mage. I will say the slowness problem I had with Gladiator gameplay was lessened by the fact I had spells - it didn't feel needlessly slow. As a Gladiator, I pushed a button, did something instantly, and felt like I was waiting a stupid length of time to do anything else. Casting a 2-2.5 second spell, then immediately casting another just feels better.

That said, after two or so weeks of continuing to do fetch quests and grinding out FATEs solo (it seems after level 30 or so, people become fairly sparse on my server), I was put off from the game once more and quit.

Now that World of Warcraft is in the doldrums and Heavensward was getting positive reception, I came back a third time to give it yet another go. I soldiered through the boring-as-sin story until, finally, things started getting interesting around mid-30s. After the tavern is attacked by the Empire, and Cid gets introduced, for the first time, I sort of *felt* like I was doing more than a series of unengaging snorefest quests.

I've since hit 49, however, I stopped having the urge to play. While the story indeed picked up (still not exactly blowing my socks off, but I admit, I'm interested), I've found that the gameplay of a White Mage is a bit simplistic. While in early-to-mid level, I enjoyed the fact that the group was basically invincible and I could DPS 95% of the time, only dropping out of Cleric stance once in awhile to drop a single cure spell on the tank - at higher level, with higher damage, my gameplay is essentially keep Regen on tank, spam Cure... and the only interesting thing to keep track of is when I get a free Cure 2. After running about 10 dungeons from 45-49 to fill in the EXP gaps to continue the story, I'm kinda ambivalent about healing in this game.

Despite thinking the game's all right, I'm not sure I wanna pick up Heavensward - FFXIV, after 3 attempts, is all right, but it hasn't blown me away. If I'm not sure I wanna pick up Heavensward, no real point in renewing/continuing to play as I'm nearing the end of the main game and my sub runs out tomorrow. $15 for 1-2 more days of gameplay doesn't strike me as logical.

Anyway, long story short - I really want to like this game, but I'm at a loss. My sub runs out today and just don't really see a point in renewing. The story is decent (at least for the last 30% of it), but far from anything special. Of all the Final Fantasy's, this is probably one of the weaker ones. The gameplay is simple, but okay. The community is outstanding, though a bit sparse on my server. In theory, this game should be a hit for me. While I'm mildly invested, I gotta decide if the game's worth another $55 to continue playing (One month Sub + Expansion)... and right now, my feeling is no.

Anyway - what am I missing here? What is it about this game that YOU love?

[Mercutial]

Short answer: Everything after Level 50. Hate to tell ya, but this is where about 95% of the games resides.

[WinterLuna]

Short answer: Everything after Level 50. Hate to tell ya, but this is where about 95% of the games resides.

Pretty much this. The game really picks up after level 50.

[Canadane]

I will be the first to admit that the main scenario quest is pretty tame and drags on for a long while. You're near the conclusion of the intial 2.0 story which is pretty decent, mind you. It really picks up later on as well, before Heavensward. At least, IMO.

However, an unengaging story aside, it sounds like you simply don't have people you're conversing with. Sparse players after level 30 isn't too uncommon only because lots of people are now in the 51+ areas thanks to the expansion. But you may want to consider joining a Free Company or a social linkshell, and maybe meet some people so you have someone to chat with and maybe ask for help doing whatever battle and dungeon you're on next.
If you were on my server I'd be happy to welcome you to my FC. But that's nothing worth server transferring for. I'm sure there are plenty of comapnies willing to house you up on Mateus.

Lastly, if you're not digging WHM, you can switch to something else. The nice thing about FFXIV is that you can be any class you want! If the long GCD turns you off from melee classes, Monk and Ninja both have gimmicks that rely on increasing skill speed to lessen this. But that's just a suggestion, it may be better worth your time trying out all the classes yourself for a few levels (though most don't really flesh out until later levels) just to see if one better suits your style.

[Avidria]

I personally enjoy the story, even the silly ones (though the lower levels did seem pretty slow). There's some good stuff in the side quests as well.

But I also like a lot of different classes. I main bard and recently whm, which is a lot of fun after 50 (I think, anyway), and I've been learning to tank. I like the dungeons and raids and their stories, I like the scenery, I like flying, and sometimes I like pvp.

Having a big, relatively active fc has helped a lot too. Lots of people do do content with.

It is true, though, that a huge chunk of the game starts at 50. All of the ARR endgame content + Heavensward starts there.

[Andevom]

Pre-50 content isn't much of a challenge these days. Trust me, you won't get away with DPSing 95% (or anywhere near that) of the time on White Mage for a lot of endgame stuff. I won't say it's the most sophisticated of tasks once you get into the swing of things, but I'm not sure making it overly complicated to keep people alive would be a good thing. I find it to be a comfortable middle ground: Enough stuff to toy with, but not so much that you can't keep it easily managed. That goes for most of the jobs. If you want a ton of complexity, it may not be the game for you.

I came to this game from playing Final Fantasy XI. I enjoyed it a lot, but it didn't always have a ton of things you could do in your downtime. XIV fills those gaps; there's plenty of stuff I can do on my own or with non-party members.

[Seryl199]

What is it that I love? One of the big things you touched on actually, I love the healing. Healers in FFXIV are so powerful that they are rife with opportunities to contribute DPS, which creates a very satisfying dynamic, especially at higher levels when DPS'ing becomes a careful measurement of timing and risk taking. I love the world's aesthetic, expressive characters, witty dialogue, and my friends.

You've yet to experience all of ARR, so you may consider holding off on Heavensward. There is a lot of story at level 50, and several dungeons, and you've only experienced one class at a higher level, where classes tend to flesh out their full kits and handle better in the 2.5 second GCD. Heavensward will still be there if you decide to invest in it, but there are certainly more options for you in this game if you want to try them.

[Drivont]

The footwork and fetch quests leading up to Titan? OMG I'd never have the patience to run through that again... THAT was the epitome of needless fetch quests to me....

[Warlyx]

yeah until u hit HW u will be a bit "bored" while playing healer , u will get overgeared ppl 90% of the time in all the content...but once u hit HW u will not be able to stay on Cleric stance oustide initial pull (a bit more if tank is geared ) , u will find HW content way more challenging.

2.0 picks ups in the end , and its awesome , HW is cool too u will be :O :O :O all the way to 60

[Anova]

I really like the crafting system and housing. The world and the story are great, and I spend a lot of time with the trials and glamour system.

As for what keeps me coming back, I really enjoy helping out new players, especially those new to MMOs.

I will admit the ARR storyline isn't so much fun until later on. It caused me to cringe some of the time, but the Heavensward story is definitely something you would probably like as a fellow fan of the Stormlight Chronicles.

If you can, I'd go one more month just so you get a look at Extremes and HM dungeons before jumping ship. Otherwise, take a break. You sound a little burnt out so just take a break and come back when you can. I promise it'll be much better than you remember (especially since you're close to the good stuff).