Content release

[BluexBird]

I think you're expecting too much out of this game. In a lot of ways, FFXIV is extremely limited compared to the other MMOs. One of the good things it has going for it though is the fact that you don't have to make a new character to try a new class. Unfortunately, unlike most other MMOs, each and every one of these classes pretty much has a fixed playstyle, and there are no items or skill sets that you can choose that will change that.

For instance, some MMOs will give you a bunch of different skills, and you are able to pick and choose between them to come up with a playstyle that you want. Others even take this system even further, and add gear in such a way that, depending on what gear you pick, your playstyle will change significantly.

A good example of this is how in GW2, a single class can have more than 5 different playstyles depending on which weapons you decide to take, what armor sets you decide to use, and/or what traits you choose. And the system is done in such a way that it's hard to determine which playstyle is the "best". Especially when the ones considered the best might not even be the most fun to play. This gives the game a lot of replayability, since if you can eventually just try out new playstyles. For each and every single class, none of which are in any way similar to one another.

In FFXIV, the closest you can do to this is pick up a new job. Which you then have to grind to level 70, and then gear up all over again. Yay? And once you're there, that's it. Yeah sure, you can have the tough decision about whether you're gonna go with skill speed or direct hit into your materia slots, but it's always pretty clear which one will be the best, to the point that it will show. And even if it didn't, it wouldn't change the playstyle, which is the important thing here.

So in the end, unless you do decide to pick up new jobs, the only really interesting thing left in the ACTUAL game (housing, glams, collecting stuff are kind of an aside), are the bosses and raids (and to some extent, the story) they keep adding from time to time. Because let's face it - once you're max level, max ilvl, and mastered your job, it's only going to matter if you have new challenges to overcome with it. Until those come out, there is nothing but waiting to be done.