My "ah-ha!" moment of FFXIV

[Vyncent]

I've been playing a lot of FFXIV over the last month, coming back for 1.19 after only lasting a month during the game's inital public release. I found the level progression addictive: if I only gained two more levels, I'd get new skills and be able to challenge new content. Rinse and repeat across all classes. Day in, day out.

I knew I wasn't having "fun", but I always held the belief that I would be having fun eventually. In just a few more levels.

But that fun never came. I would log on, grind, sell some trash, and repeat. Day in, day out. I'd try to mix it up by working on crafts (far too monotonous), doing side quests (huge time sink for little reward), or gathering (if I had the anima to burn).

And then along came Skyrim, an open-ended world that focuses less on "levels" and more on content. I can tell you exactly what each of my class levels are in FFXIV. I have no idea what my character "progression" is at in Skyrim. When I play it, the hours fly by compared to watching a status bar slowly slowly rise and fall for hours on end. And the reason?

There are many. But the result is the game is fun. Everytime I play I discover a unique story or adventure that makes my investment worth while. There is very limited UI, limited progression, and yet a great sense of accomplishment. For example, just last night I stumbled upon a band of mauraders who had set-up camp along a mountainside. At the top of the mountain were two hags reanimating a corpse. I found myself unable to stop them in time, and was quickly outnumbered three to one. From atop the mountain, I ran to the top of a waterfall and lept, falling...falling... and escaped with a splash into the pool below. It was a huge rush. And what did I gain? No experience, no loot, no levels... but a sense of adventure.

And that's what's missing from FFXIV.

I, for one, will be "waiting until 2.0". And I suspect I'll be having a blast doing so.

[captainpicard]

I agree FFXIV needs some serious work, as serious as it can get, but I can't say that Skyrim seems any more fun to me. Perhaps it's the lack of other people to play with that I find unpalatable. Your post has made me think perhaps I should go revisit it. Thanks for the neat story.

[jones6]

Yeah this game is very grind skills oriented and less on the adventure side. I had fun for a while exploring the areas, but it was just sad to see most of the duplicated terrain and access to places was cut off by mobs far too high of level for anyone to really explore. I am really looking forward to 2.0 with the redesign of the terrain and unique landmarks.

I also recently picked up Skyrim to try it, having never played any of the other releases. I got stuck in the first area and had to reload from a previous save. I got to the first town and just started running off exploring. Seemed like some pretty sparse environment that was randomly generated. Even had a moment where I was out swimming for 15 mins until I realized there was nothing out there. Kiting, glitchy combat where I can stand on a rock and melee people will never get to me is fun for a while I guess. Maybe it gets better with cooler skills, I don't know.

[Meow_Zedong]

The difference being Skyrim is an offline game. Comparing apples to oranges.

The Elder Scrolls games have too much stuff to do. I get overwhelmed and it just pisses me off. Then I go play FFXIV, or something, with a nice linear progression and a clear goal lol. I even have word documents and spreadsheets detailing all the things I've got to do in the game in order to get all the achievements/get all the U/U gear. 100% completion is damn near impossible in a game like Skyrim and that turns me off.


Also. Not all games are for everyone. If you aren't having fun, do something else. I have a ton of fun grinding on levels.

[Pyretta_Blaze]

In theory the Elder Scrolls games should be my cup of tea but I can't play them.

I am very much like Meow. I load up an in Elder Scrolls game and look at all the things I can do and I get paralyzed. I have no idea where to start or what I want to do. It seems strange that so much freedom ends up in me feeling lost. I'm sure it is a fine game, just not one for me. Lol, I have the same problem with the Sims.

[Dakin]

In theory the Elder Scrolls games should be my cup of tea but I can't play them.

I am very much like Meow. I load up an in Elder Scrolls game and look at all the things I can do and I get paralyzed. I have no idea where to start or what I want to do. It seems strange that so much freedom ends up in me feeling lost. I'm sure it is a fine game, just not one for me. Lol, I have the same problem with the Sims.

Can someone please explain why we're comparing a MMO to a console title?

[Answa]

Can someone please explain why we're comparing a MMO to a console title?

Because the OP thinks that's what MMOs are supposed to be like.

[DeadRiser]

Can someone please explain why we're comparing a MMO to a console title?

He's not literally comparting the gameplay, but how much content there is to do. Currently, there is just Ifrit and Darkhold every so often. That's about it. Oh the strongholds too... but that's about it.

[Vyncent]

Can someone please explain why we're comparing a MMO to a console title?

Sorry, that's my fault. I was using Skyrim to exemplify a point and rather than clarify, it confused.

To summarize what I was trying to articulate: levelling should be a by-product, rather than the goal, of a game.

My point meant to show that Skyrim accomplishes that (IMO), but FFXIV falls short, and therefore doesn't meet my own definition of "fun".

[Answa]

Sorry, that's my fault. I was using Skyrim to exemplify a point and rather than clarify, it confused.

To summarize what I was trying to articulate: levelling should be a by-product, rather than the goal, of a game.

My point meant to show that Skyrim accomplishes that (IMO), but FFXIV falls short, and therefore doesn't meet my own definition of "fun".

The point is that when you mix together different players with different levels, you can't just adjust content to that party. It's unworkable. There's a ton of quests between Lv. 1-50 that give you EXP, as well as guildeves, etc. Grinding is just faster, and not really a bad thing. I see so many people talking about FFXIV being a grind fest. But really, what MMO isn't?