What made you decide to buy and play FFXIV ARR/HW?

[Kosmos992k]

What made you decide to buy and play FFXIV ARR/HW and Stormblood?
White Knight Chronicles - which I was playing regularly along with a bunch of others - was killed by it's publisher about a month before the phase 3 beta for FFXIV ARR started. FFXIV looked like the most likely replacement for the kind of fun I had in WKC, so I joined the beta, and never looked back. Heavensward and Stormblood are simply continuations of FFXIV ARR, so of course I got them.

What made you decide that race for your first character and how did you pick your characters name?
Well, Miqo'te because they are Miqo'te. I am a cat person in real life, I love Nekomimi characters in Anime and Miqo'te females make very pretty characters. Also, Nekomimis.
Well, Kosmos is a tribute to Kosmos, my character in WKC who was in turn a tribute to KOS-MOS from Xenosaga.
Here is Kos in White Knight Chronicles (darker blue hair because light blue sucked in WKC);

and Kos in FFXIV along side her inspiration from Xenosaga;


What was your starting city? and Why did you pick that city first?

Ul'dah because I wanted to start as Gladiator, and after the beta I felt comfortable there. As it happens, I really like the story of Ul'dah, and the focus on helping the poor and refugees. In Xenosaga, KOS-MOS was a defender for Shion, loyal to a fault and despite being a 'machine' KOS-MOS had great heart and compassion. In FFXIV Kosmos is a defender of the people, the down trodden and the weak, she's sworn to protect Nanamo the Sultana of Ul'dah and considers The Flame General to be a personal friend. Kos would do anything required to protect Nanamo, Ul'dah, the people of Ul'dah and all those seeking succor within her walls.

What is your Favorite location/area?

Coerthas central Highlands - I love the snow, the quality of the lighting, and the quiet feeling you get tromping through the snow.
The Mist/Costa Del Sol because...well, lots of reasons; I like the beach and the sound of the ocean, I like wading in the water, Kos looks great in bikinis, what more need be said.

Name one of your favorite moments in this game...

My eternal bond with Hinagiku, my wife IRL. It was wonderful.

Also, when my Free Company and it's gaggle of members saved and earned enough gil to purchase a medium house in the Mist during the first round of Housing. I've never been more proud of a group of people supporting each other and working together to earn something like that.

What is your favorite Seasonal event/ Special Event?

It's hard to pick just one. I always appreciate and enjoy the Rising, and Little Ladies Day brings something different to Eorzea, something that is not the conventional MMORPG thing, something not about combat or armor. Little Ladies Day brings whimsy and fun, along with 2 dollops of Kawaii.

What is your favorite Job and why and whats the most funniest thing that has happened to as that Job?

Paladin. I like being an anchor or rock on which people can depend. I like being a knight in shining armor and I love the Sword and shield aesthetic. Not sure what the funniest thing that has happened is, but one of my best moments was beating Titan HM the first time, and nailing the interruption of Tumult. Very satisfying to see the run go smoothly because I could mitigate so much damage so effectively.

What is your favorite mount and why?

Bomb Palanquin, I can't honestly say why, it just is. I do like the way Kos rides the bridal Chocobo side saddle, but the Bomb Palanquin is just the best.

What is your favorite minion and why?

Namamo of course, and why not. She sits on my shoulder when the Flame General is not around, also Fat Cat and Gaelkitten.

What is your favorite dungeon and why?

Normal mode Temple of Qarn. There are puzzle mechanics, and optional areas and bonus mechanics to play with. those things make it more interesting that most dungeons to me.
Original Wanderer's Palace and Amdapor Keep.

Has the game lived up to your expectations? If not why?

Yes, it has.

What would you like Naoki Yoshida san & his developer team to add to Final Fantasy XIV ARR to help improve it and make it even better than what it already is?

Dungeons need something, or rather we need a new type of dungeon. PoTD was an attempt to add a Rogue-like area to FFXIV, and I applaud the attempt, but I think what we need is dungeons that not only have replay value, but that play a bit differently each time. I'm thinking larger maps, multiple paths, roaming monsters and mini-bosses, logic puzzles, random encounter and monsters that are interesting to deal with instead of straight tank and spank every time. The Wanderers Palace (original normal mode) and Amdapor Keep are nods in the right direction, as are dungeons like Qarn, Aurumn Vale and Pharos Sirius. We need dungeons that encourage us to play, not speed run.

[SrahaTia]

1. What made you decide to buy and play FFXIV ARR/HW and Stormblood?
Someone I'm no longer close to reminded me that it existed, and I really liked the customization/races, so I picked up ARR. Since I loved that, Heavensward was preordered, and now I've preordered Stormblood too.

2. What made you decide that race for your first character and how did you pick your characters name?
Normally, I only play human characters, but I liked the look of Miqo'te, so I'm the same exact male Miqo'te I've been since the day I joined this game. As for the name, the S tribal letter was chosen because it's the first letter of my own first name, and the given name Raha was chosen because I liked the way it sounded when I saw it on the naming conventions post. The Tia title was chosen for the surname slot because I couldn't imagine picking Nunh. I always choose lore names for my characters, in any game I play.

3. What was your starting city? and Why did you pick that city first?
Ul'dah, because I wanted to be a Gladiator. If I could have been a Gladiator in Gridania, I might have gone there, for aesthetic reasons. I'm really fond of plants.

4. What is your Favorite location/area?
I really love Urth's Fount, it's a really pleasant spot. I also like the Churning Mists a lot, especially when Umbral Static weather is up. Camp Bronze Lake is another favorite.

5. Name one of your favorite moments in this game...
Probably some of the things I've done with friends, like the parties we set up and decorated for, and just hung out together at. Honestly, this game let me meet some of the best friends I've got.

6. What is your favorite Seasonal event/ Special Event?
I love the Moonfire Faire, All Saints' Wake, and Little Ladies Day, because I enjoy all of the aesthetics and rewards associated with each. Moonfire Faire is probably top of the list, though.

7. What is your favorite Job and why and whats the most funniest thing that has happened to as that Job?
Paladin is and always will be my favorite job. I really do like pretty much everything about it, except the lack of AoE damage skills, and I enjoy the job aesthetic as well. There's never been another job that's clicked with me as perfectly as Paladin has. I'm super comfortable on it, so I do everything as PLD. I also have lots of fun memories on PLD, ranging from Primals with friends, to saving runs of things because I'm pretty hell-bent on not dying and keeping everyone else up, too, to all those moments in PvP where I've had a blast knocking people off cliffs. That'll never stop being amusing to me, tbh.

8. What is your favorite mount and why?
I really love my pegasus, war lion, and warhorse. The pegasus and warhorse for their aesthetics, the lion for that and the fact that it's a reward from my main job, so it's kinda special to me.

9. What is your favorite minion and why?
The korpokkur kid, I love the way it bounces around, and it's cute. Also, it's a plant. It's like my lucky minion, always catch big fish with it out.

10. What is your favorite dungeon and why?
I'm not too big on running dungeons all the time, but aesthetically, I love Wanderer's Palace and The Vault (which I actually don't mind running either). Dun Scaith is nice too.

11. Has the game lived up to your expectations? If not why?
Yeah, it's basically given me everything I've wanted and more. Could some things improve? Sure. Am I discontented overall? Nope.

12. What would you like Naoki Yoshida san & his developer team to add to Final Fantasy XIV ARR to help improve it and make it even better than what it already is?
I'm generally pretty happy as long as I get new places to go and new things to do every so often, so, aside from saying "hey, please give PLD some decent AoE", there's not much I can think of that I'd change, short of maybe some more fun ways to get tomestones for gearing. Mostly, it's glamour things, like equalizing the amount of male-exclusive items to match female ones (or unlocking things within reason), a wider range of dyes, some gear styles we don't have yet, etc. Less tank skirts, maybe? More vests? Idk, I'm really not that difficult to please, as long as my job is intact and I have places to explore, and things to do with friends. Perhaps a glamour closet? My retainers are drowning in glam items. Maybe a little more character customization? I love the way my character turned out, so I won't change him, but I know tons of others would enjoy that.

[Gamina]

What made you decide to buy and play FFXIV ARR/HW and Stormblood?
I played FF11 with a group of friends who migrated here so it was a natural progression.

-What made you decide that race for your first character and how did you pick your characters name?
Same race I played in 11 - I picked it in 11 because everyone was a catgirl, hume was too much like real life and you couldn't be a female roe (galka) in 11.

-What was your starting city? and Why did you pick that city first?
Limsa - I was meeting up early to grind with a friend who wanted to roll summoner so I went where he went.

-What is your Favorite location/area?
The Goblet - having hung out a lot there.

-Name one of your favorite moments in this game...
The heavenward story arc in general and the story of the Binding Coil along with the level 50 clears when it was challenging.

-What is your favorite Seasonal event/ Special Event?
Starlight - I love the christmas feeling >.> As an FF11 vet. I did enjoy the cross over we had.

-What is your favorite Job and why and whats the most funniest thing that has happened to as that Job?
I main PLD for my FC but prefer to play BRD.

-What is your favorite mount and why?
My GC Frontlines warhorse. I like the fact its a pretty plain horse that I don't ride side saddle.

-What is your favorite minion and why?
Shantotto

-What is your favorite dungeon and why?
I have fond ... probably looking with rose tinted specs... memories of early days WP speed runs! But I like Pharos nm when it first came out.

-Has the game lived up to your expectations? If not why?
Its different to what I played before but it works for my lifestyle. Past having a good time with friends (which this game facilitates perfectly) I don't have high expectations

-What would you like Naoki Yoshida san & his developer team to add to Final Fantasy XIV ARR to help improve it and make it even better than what it already is?
A glamour log of some kind would ease my everyday quality of life... That aside breaking the format would be nice. I have actually enjoyed some of the alternative stuff we have had POTD - would like to see more varied challenges though. I kinda like the new diadem.. shame it will die out quickly.

[Voltyblast]

-What made you decide to buy and play FFXIV ARR/HW and Stormblood?
I used to be a big fan of FF but I haven't played any since number 12 because of how bad and how clunky it was in combat and story, basically making me quit the series and jump on other series: ff10 already made me cringe and everyone i knew told me to avoid ff11 like the plague, so this is my first FF since 12. I bought ARR in thoughts of making me like it again and it kinda did, playing from 2.0 through the end and having enough care to not be totally garbage despite its limitation (invisible walls are a major nono to me).
Then HW came and made me realize I wish I didn't bother to begin with....

-What made you decide that race for your first character and how did you pick your characters name?
I always play as humans as they're usually the fitting race for everything: a Jack of all trade, plus they look good in every outfit.
Kahelin isn't my first name in game since I started with another one in the past and changed it for private reasons I rather not tell. My forum name is a good hint for who I actually was.
Kahelin Hayaros is just a warped version of Caitlyn and Hayaros is my sister's name backwards (Soraia).
And Kahelin is basically what I always call myself in every mmorpg since SWTOR.

-What was your starting city? and Why did you pick that city first?
Limsa Lominsa. Because I was a warrior. No other reasons really.

-What is your Favorite location/area?
I like the Mist: reminds me of my time back when I had a beach house.

-Name one of your favorite moments in this game...
I don't follow the story, but I liked the Nanamo moments (Just wished they didn't retcon "cough cough" bad storytelling "cough cough"))
In terms of actual gameplay, most likely buying my house...which I had to sell because I took a break and since there is a 45 days break, I had to relinquish it or I would lose it anyway. Basically, I had to pick up my poison.

-What is your favorite Seasonal event/ Special Event?
The songbird thingie. They got a lalafell. I like lalafells. My sister likes lalafells. And I loved Ulala in Space Channel 5, which she highly resembles. I think it's enough said.

-What is your favorite Job and why and whats the most funniest thing that has happened to as that Job?
Warrior because I like tanking and because of what my original character used to be, as she is from another SE game and she was an axe user. Forum name is a big hint enough.

-What is your favorite mount and why?
Fenrir. Because it's a flying wolf.

-What is your favorite minion and why?
Dodo, but I wish there was a parrot (an actual, legit and good looking one), for I'm a bird lover. My sister carried her dodo too when she played it.

-What is your favorite dungeon and why?
Haukke Manor pre-nerf: was challenging enough, had decent trash mobs, and bosses were quite fun.
Also Brayflox HM is on the same length: no gates, decent boss fights, and overall just enjoyable albeit too rushed, but it was part of the charm.

-Has the game lived up to your expectations? If not why?
During ARR, sort of: from 2.2 became too grindy to be really enjoyable.
During HW, no: it's basically ARR with a new coat of paint. Same patches even.
It's pretty much why I'm bailing SB until it shows some innovation.

-What would you like Naoki Yoshida san & his developer team to add to Final Fantasy XIV ARR to help improve it and make it even better than what it already is?
Maybe actually innovate and not copy the same exact things from ARR, and perhaps release fully complete content instead of bits of one content (I'm looking at you POTD and Diadem).
Afterall an expansion should Expand on the previous formula, not copy it

[Uhm]

What made you decide to buy and play FFXIV ARR/HW?
I wanted to play an MMO that was more frequently updated that GW2 and after I saw Ramuh fight on Youtube I was sold. I want to play stormblood because I enjoy the combat here.

-What made you decide that race for your first character and how did you pick your characters name?
As race I picked guy Miqo'te, because, look at those adorable faces, and they're about my height so I can relate. I most of the time give my characters names that just pop into my head and don't exist. Shao Ron is an anomaly.

-What was your starting city? and Why did you pick that city first?
Ul'dah because the very first character I made was Gladiator I think.

-What is your Favorite location/area?
Ishgard>Ul'dah>Gridania

-Name one of your favorite moments in this game...
The moment of clearing ARR Ex primals.

-What is your favorite Seasonal event/ Special Event?
Hatching Tide. Gotta love Benediction Egg. Although last Halloween was nice as well.

-What is your favorite Job and why and whats the most funniest thing that has happened to as that Job?
Can't answer that, I enjoy different jobs at different times. First time playing lvl 60 Ninja in 24 man my DPS was so bad I left the instance and logged out. I can laugh about that now.

-What is your favorite mount and why?
Tie between Fenrir and Raigo because I like armored Horses and the hoof noises.

-What is your favorite minion and why?
Lesser Panda/Naughty Nanka/Dust bunny (making me decide between them would be cruel). And It's a Panda sitting on my shoulder clipping through my upper body while running, what's not to like.

-What is your favorite dungeon and why?
The ones most tanks leave at the beginning, they're a challange.

-Has the game lived up to your expectations? If not why?
I didn't have any expectations in the beginning, I thought the game looked nice and bought it. I guess the only 'expectation' I had was fun, wich I most of the time have when I play.
I won't go into later expectations that build over time and wich ones where/are fulfilled and wich ones not. Would get too long.

-What would you like Naoki Yoshida san & his developer team to add to Final Fantasy XIV ARR to help improve it and make it even better than what it already is?
Your idea can even come from another MMORPG. How would you want them to implement that idea so it would fit into this game perfectly.
Let me first say that I think other games can also learn stuff from FFXIV and other MMOs, but I won't go into that because that was not the question. Just to be clear.
I think FFXIV could work on their quests, I have never needed to read the quests to know what I need to do, it's always either 'go there, talk to him, teleport there and give her this item' or 'kill x amount of this', I hate doing quests. Playing WoW I learned that quests can be diverse and I feel like there went a lot of thought into them (most of them). I actually enjoy doing quests, even though I had to learn to read quest objetives more carefully.
A Glamour Closet like in GW2.
Less invisible walls, I hate not being able to jump on or off somewhere for no visible reason. For water make it 'a strong current pushes you back' for air the same with wind, it might seem a small thing but immersion is better if I don't fly against a blinking forcefield.
And I got used to having an Armadillo pet follow me around, but that one is just the cherry on top.
I will leave it at that for now.

[Ririta]

What made you decide to buy and play FFXIV ARR/HW and Stormblood?
Regretted missing FFXI

-What made you decide that race for your first character and how did you pick your characters name?
Lalafells are funny, her name is an average lalafell name.

-What was your starting city? and Why did you pick that city first?
First it was Ul'dah, with this character it is Limsa Lominsa. Ul'dah because lalafells ran it. Limsa because arcanists start there orz

-What is your Favorite location/area?
Adventurer's Guild in Ul'dah

-Name one of your favorite moments in this game...
Cutscene: everything about Griffin
Gameplay: beating ADS with a PUG for my first time.

-What is your favorite Seasonal event/ Special Event?
The Lightning event.

-What is your favorite Job and why and whats the most funniest thing that has happened to as that Job?
Summoner. Killing everyone in Titan hard because nobody could see the Landslides after I used Meteor. Most embarrassing than funny though.

-What is your favorite mount and why?
Chocobo. I think other mounts look silly and kills immersion.

-What is your favorite minion and why?
Fat Cat and Tapir because friends gave them to me.

-What is your favorite dungeon and why?
Aurum Vale because in 2.0 it was pretty difficult.

-Has the game lived up to your expectations? If not why?
No and yes. No because the jobs are way too streamlined, I expected more freedom and identity. Yes because the story is actually better than I hoped for.

-What would you like Naoki Yoshida san & his developer team to add to Final Fantasy XIV ARR to help improve it and make it even better than what it already is?
Your idea can even come from another MMORPG. How would you want them to implement that idea so it would fit into this game perfectly.
Make the jobs and the trinity less rigid, focus less on how people should play and more about how people want to play.

For starters, allowing for more cross class abilities, giving characters more spells to fullfill other roles (ie a paladin and a summoner that can heal, a samurai and a dragoon that can tank, etc). Just let people have better tools to help their team instead of giving up when anything goes wrong because they can't fill in for the tank who died, they can't raise the healer who died, they can't help DPS, etc.

[Iromi]

What made you decide to buy and play FFXIV ARR/HW and Stormblood?
Actually, I've been playing since 1.0 ^^ Since the alpha of it actually! Being a huge fan of Tanaka's work all my life (from Secret of Mana to FFXI) I was super hyped about him making another MMORPG.

-What made you decide that race for your first character and how did you pick your characters name?

I picked miqo'te because in FFXI I picked Hume...with the pony tail and wanted to try something new ^^ Also the hair style matches with the name. I chose Babydoll after the girl in Sucker Punch.

But now I changed her up a bit...


Now she has pink hair because my favorite color..and while IRL I have long blonde hair, one thing I am too chicken to do is dye is pink..so why not let my FFXIV character have it? ^^ One eye is purple for our FC color (Tainted Fantasies) and the other is mint green for my favorite flavor! Mint chocolate chip ^^

And she is tan because I have always been obsessed with being outside and getting a beach tan lol.

-What was your starting city? and Why did you pick that city first?
I picked Uldah, because I love the desert.

-What is your Favorite location/area?
Costa Del Sol! Looooove the beach life ^^

-Name one of your favorite moments in this game...
When my BF, friends and I beat Van Darnus Extreme in 1.x and got our relics in 1.x...back then it was a true accomplishment that took months, not just a couple weeks haha.

-What is your favorite Seasonal event/ Special Event?

(Seasonal events are the main events we have all year round: Heavensturn, Valentione's Day, Little Ladies' Day, Hatching-tide, Moonfire Faire formerly Firefall Faire (2011)|Firefall Faire, The Rising formerly Foundation Day, All Saints' Wake, Starlight Celebration. Special events include: Breaking Brick M

-What is your favorite Job and why and whats the most funniest thing that has happened to as that Job?
My favorite job - SMN. Funniest thing that ever happened..hmm lol its more like frustration with summoner..yelling at Garuda >.>

-What is your favorite mount and why?
Favorite mount is the Night Pegasus because the first time we made it to level 200 POTD (When it first came out) my BF got two and I got 0..so he gave me one ^^

-What is your favorite minion and why?
Spriggan! I love Biggy in copperbell mines And loved them since I first saw them in 1.0!

-What is your favorite dungeon and why?
Oh, the anti tower! Dolls and Spriggans What more is there to love!

-Has the game lived up to your expectations? If not why? \

Hmm...it started to at the end of 1.23b in Aug 2012, it was really getting amazing. All my friends from FFXI came to play..it was so much fun! Then when it relaunched...it changed so much, everyone left and quit, so not anymore Now I play it because my new friends (and we run our own FC), and while my BF attends engineering school at NYU. It is just a time killer till he finishes and we can move back to SoCal ^^

-What would you like Naoki Yoshida san & his developer team to add to Final Fantasy XIV ARR to help improve it and make it even better than what it already is?
Your idea can even come from another MMORPG. How would you want them to implement that idea so it would fit into this game perfectly.

Give us horizontal content and longevity with gear. Ditch the ilvl...also fix the weekly lockout how it contradicts the armory system! More open world content for the FC to do (well, any at all!)

[Meillquei]

What made you decide to buy and play FFXIV ARR/HW and Stormblood?

I played WOW for a very long time but eventually got dissatisfied with it and quit. About a year and a half later, I was watching the anime Log Horizon and the urge to pick up a new MMORPG hit me. I looked into FF14. Started in September and haven't looked back since.

-What made you decide that race for your first character and how did you pick your characters name?

My main character in WOW was a blood elf so Elezen seemed liked the natural choice. Also, seeing the character Maryelle in Log Horizon made me miss my blood elf character. As for his name, I just ended up hitting the random name generator. It eventually came up with something like Cillian Quemperlain, so I changed it into Cillien Temperlain.

-What was your starting city? and Why did you pick that city first?

I ended up starting out in Ul'dah. My main WOW character was a monk so pugilist seemed like the closest thing to that. Monk is still my main FF14 job.

-What is your Favorite location/area?

Raincatcher Gully. The music and scenery there are just so lovely!

-Name one of your favorite moments in this game...

When I entered Ishgard for the first time. I think I stood there and listened to the music for at least half a hour before I could continue

Also, I somehow managed to get both Yo-Kai Watch mounts even though I started the game when the Yo-kai Watch event was almost over. I was proud of myself for that.


-What is your favorite Seasonal event/ Special Event?

I haven't experienced a lot of seasonal events yet, but so far I would have to say this year's Little Ladies Day is my favorite. That outfit is too good!

-What is your favorite Job and why and whats the most funniest thing that has happened to as that Job?

Monk was my first job and is still my favorite. I don't think I have any funny stories about being a monk. I'm ashamed to admit that the other day I was doing a boss for the first time and I forgot to put on Fists of Fire for about the first 20% of the boss. That's about all I've got...

-What is your favorite mount and why?

The Yo-Kai watch mounts because of the fact that I just barely was able to get them and not a lot of people have them.

-What is your favorite minion and why?

The wind up Estinien minion is adorable.

-What is your favorite dungeon and why?

The Fractal Continuum. I don't get it that often but I always have fun when I do get it!


-Has the game lived up to your expectations? If not why?

Most definitely. I wasn't sure what to expect when I first started, but this game is fantastic and the story line is great.


-What would you like Naoki Yoshida san & his developer team to add to Final Fantasy XIV ARR to help improve it and make it even better than what it already is?

More inventory space please. Or a better way to store glamour gear.