I find it completely sad. (Questing)

[Yasuhiro]

snip

The story in Final Fantasy XIV is pretty weak compared to other entries in the series
"Go and deliver wine so you can go and fight Titan Adventurer" - Bravo Lucas!
4 levels of this boredom and you forget why you're doing it because you wanna get it over with I love that shit in my Final Fantasy games.

Heavensward I can remember since it had less filler stuff that goes over your head.

[AskaRay]

The story in Final Fantasy XIV is pretty weak compared to other entries in the series
"Go and deliver wine so you can go and fight Titan Adventurer" - Bravo Lucas!
4 levels of this boredom and you forget why you're doing it because you wanna get it over with I love that shit in my Final Fantasy games.

Heavensward I can remember since it had less filler stuff that goes over your head.

Tedious it was, there was a reason you ran around and did all that...
I actually like that quest line.

A similar line that I DISLIKED though was the "run around and gather these crystals as these scholars forget which one you actually need". Mostly because I hate going down the Burning Wall.

[BlatantPyre]

One thing I'd like to point out (since pretty much everything else that has been whined about in the OP has been proven false quite well in this thread) is that preconceived expectations may be a huge barrier for anyone who doesn't enjoy something, in any game, in any medium.

Take the notion that there isn't very much differentiation between the races: most games, both lore and gameplay wise, that do have distinct variation between them are specifically designed that way. Take WOW, for example: based on an RTS, where races define playstyles and mechanics, turned into an MMO. The races therefore change how each class functions per character choice, due to the ingrained nature of the world, and therefore affects the gameplay. The lore had been established long before WOW was made; it was static in functionality.

Think of the in-world societies and biology of those races in WOW. Can they crossbreed? Mostly, no. Did their societies form in completely different situations and have vastly different histories, having both time and distance dividing them for much of those time periods? Yes. Are there massive rifts in mentality and morals due to much of this division? Absolutely. Do note that the races in that game, in the whole grand scheme of the story, are still relatively new to each other, having only met somewhat recently in regards to their societies clashing. Much of this can be said about GW as well, by the way, and Everquest, which OP has stated he enjoyed the lore of quite well; all of these games have race playstyle differences.

Now also look at SWTOR, which OP also has mentioned as having deep lore (I'm sure it being a Star Wars game didn't help at all...). Does it have a different interactive storytelling style than FFXIV? Sure and definitely. I would imagine OP enjoyed it's specific style of story telling; however, compare the lore and gameplay of that game to the others I've mentioned...

Can different species in SW breed? Yes. Do they have separate societies that have only somewhat recently discovered each other? No, in fact most "races" have been aware of each other for most of their respective histories, and have even melded societies (it's even in the title - The Old Republic...that's one government over an entire galaxy.) Are there massive philosophical, societal, and moral differences based on race? For the most part in the canon, not really, but in-game? Nope, not at all. It's light-side versus dark-side, and that's not race based... Oh, and one last thing - are there gameplay differences between the different possible PC chosen races? NOT. AT. ALL.

My point here is, you can take any aspect of any given game and isolate it as to what you expect for all games, and by doing so you are essentially crippling your ability to enjoy a different kind of gameplay that in actuality has nothing wrong with it. The OP has complained about FFXIV having certain gaps in the lore, but then tried to reason it away by comparing it to games that are supposed to be different. The reason I used the example of race differentiation (which he said was "missing" in FFXIV) in MMOs is that in FFXIV it wouldn't make sense if there was huge variation in the races; it just doesn't fit the world they've built, let alone the gameplay style they want us to enjoy. The races have been enmeshed culturally for quite some time, they have always been genetically compatible (yes, this has been stated both in-game and out) for breeding, and their societies are no longer race based (I would like to point out though that there is in-game lore about some of the customs of each race before they met the others, just gotta pay attention). Lore affects gameplay, and vice-versa. Many people don't see it, but game dev's are in truth story tellers, and they build games as they see fit while balancing the game experience for the player to enjoy.

The OP is expecting this game to be games he's enjoyed in the past, and because this game has a very distinct identity compared to any other MMO, all he sees are problems where there are none. I won't say FFXIV is perfect, but I enjoy this game, it's depth, and its many, many aspects, including the vast lore. You need to let games be what they are, without adding your own expectations. If you can't, stop playing them.

[Pence]

I kinda see your point....but at the same time I agree with everything everyone else has said.

Isn't there suppose to be a Roe homeland or colony, (or something) around Ishgard area somewhere? It'd have been nice to have been able to see it and give it a distinct feel and fleshed out their culture.

[ColorOfSakura]

Sorry you feel that way dude. I just wish there was more lore in the game.

Says the person literally playing on the unofficial Roleplay server, which is full of players who do nothing but talk about lore and where and how to find almost all of it in game and where specific bits of it are mentioned.

Yeah, there was a lot of lore foundation in 1.0 that we will likely not see in game again (and that SUCKS), but holy crap the game is full of it but you have to sit down and READ THE TEXT. And not just the dialogue boxes or the places where there's voice acting. The levequests and FATEs and EVERYTHING in the game has lore packed into it in ways that you don't see. From the named NPCs that you can talk to even when they don't have a quest to the random NPCs that just have dialogue bubbles pop up - lore is EVERYWHERE in the game.

All these RPers that you're surrounded with didn't all just play during 1.0 or pull lore from their asses. They took time to scour the game world and find references to stuff.

I kinda see your point....but at the same time I agree with everything everyone else has said.

Isn't there suppose to be a Roe homeland or colony, (or something) around Ishgard area somewhere? It'd have been nice to have been able to see it and give it a distinct feel and fleshed out their culture.

The Hellsguard live within the foothills of Abalathia's Spine. Not necessarily near Ishgard though. just within the mountain range (which spreads across a fair area, including to parts of Xelphatol, IIRC.)

[LadyVal]

The levequests and FATEs and EVERYTHING in the game has lore packed into it in ways that you don't see. From the named NPCs that you can talk to even when they don't have a quest to the random NPCs that just have dialogue bubbles pop up - lore is EVERYWHERE in the game.

The first to things that come to mind when I read this are the fate in Costa Del Sol where you are helping a guy have a romp with his favorite lady of the night (which is only explained in his dialogue as the fate begins and ends- he ends up taking her into a nearby shack....) and the fact that the B rank hunt in Northern Thanalan is the angry spirit of a boss from 1.0, and only the Huntmaster explains this to you if you ask.

You have to kind of pay attention to the little things to see bits and pieces of lore that isn't the big picture of the main storyline, but it definitely is there. Just like in Gridania near the Lancer's Guild where a Wildwood is making racist remarks against a Duskwight, since the two elezen races have a deep-seeded hatred for each other.

[Cherry_Phox]

All this talk about lore only reminds me of the saddest tale of them all. Edda's Story. Even to this day, she lies in Gridania.

[Torunya]

All this talk about lore only reminds me of the saddest tale of them all. Edda's Story. Even to this day, she lies in Gridania.

Oh stahp. My heart can't take it.

[Felis]

So, your pretty much saying. The "best" way to learn about the game, is not playing the game?

No
the way to learn about the lore (i think you mean lore, not game play) is to read everything in the game. Even what a random NPC have to say.
Then put the pieces together to get the whole pictures.

But because memory can be tricky, it help to discuss with other to refresh the memory or to get other lore pieces you overlooked.

If you want to learn about the story in the game, stop skipping NPC dialogues.

The story in Final Fantasy XIV is pretty weak compared to other entries in the series
"Go and deliver wine so you can go and fight Titan Adventurer" - Bravo Lucas!
4 levels of this boredom and you forget why you're doing it because you wanna get it over with I love that shit in my Final Fantasy games.

Heavensward I can remember since it had less filler stuff that goes over your head.

You learn alot about Bachus wine and how its grapevine was belived to be extincted since the calamity.
You also learn the people in wine port.

[MilesSaintboroguh]

Why are people even posting here? Don't feed the troll.

Or just use the ignore feature this forum has. It's quite handy.