FFXIV shows what's wrong with MMOs (Not what you think)

[Synrin]

Hope you guys recognize that in between your constant complaining.

It isn't just the story though. It is the content. It isn't like ESO where you have to pay for a dungeon or 5 quests lines. It isn't like WoW that has been so stale that it begun to crumble and completely deter from what is used/could/should be. And since you mentioned SWTOR - I am currently gated from the Crisis storyline because of my item level. Like seriously, BW? Sigh As if that game had anything BUT the story going for it.

More appreciation and suggestions threads, less bitching as if you are entitled to all sorts of shit, thanks.

[Riardon]

As someone who played lots of Korean MMORPGS both F2P and B2P/ sub based it's the Lore and the story that keeps me interesting. It's one of the very few MMORPGS which are still honour the RPG side of their genre. Without the story, characters, writing, lore the game wouldn't have a soul and would be just like any other MMORPG I played. This one has a soul. It's both a good FF and a good MMORPG. There are many times that this game dissapoints me though. There are always large obstacles which prevent the game to achieve an even higher standard of quality and offer more things and features. XIV rekindled my love for both the FF franchise and the MMORPG genre.

[KisaiTenshi]

MMOs in the West are having a tough time. Mostly because it's all about ilvls and/or PvP ratings. FFXIV is about the story. And that's rare these days.

Hope you guys recognize that in between your constant complaining.

If someone comes to a game, and hates some core aspect of it (eg the story, the gameplay or the art style, the fact that it requires multiplayer interaction, all of which I've seen on this forum) What exactly is the point of playing it?

If Square-Enix had designed the entire storyline like Castrum Meridianum, where the cutscenes interrupt the pacing of the gameplay, I'm sure people would complain endlessly of being subjected to cutscenes they've already seen. That's a perfectly legitimate complaint, because people also skip cutscenes in single player games when they play them again, or fail parts of the game. That's why the solo instances exist in the job storylines, because otherwise people who are not on that job, would be spoiled. That's also why the solution for MSQ Castrum Meridianum and The Praetorium, to force the cutscenes was not the right permanent solution. The right permanent solution would require breaking those dungeons up in the way Coil/Alexander/Omega is done, and letting the players skip the cutscenes they've already seen.

The fact that SE started putting more single-player+AI player cutscene sequences in, is recognizing the fact that it's impossible to herd cats to do content like Castrum Meridianum and The Praetorium without players being jerks to people who want to see the cutscenes and enjoy the story the first time.

If all SE did was release content updates in the form of 24-man alliances, I would not object, because I actually like how the storylines were presented with them. But that doesn't mean I want to keep seeing them over and over again each time there is a new player.

[RiyahArp]

They kind of have their issues, though. They can reuse things a bit too much if they aren't careful; in Stormblood there are a ton of "lovable loser needs your help to discover their hidden talent and save their village" sidequests. The "outcast remnant must deal with their larger, tempered/evil cousins" makes up all but two of the beast tribe quests. And of course, nodding. They are consistently good otherwise, but it must be hard to do the sheer volume of story they do.

[Vhailor]

Because of how well it tells a story. The MSQ is one long continuous chain from the moment you first login at level 1, all the way to max level. And it's brilliant. No other game in the West - that I know of - does that. In SWTOR, you have your class story which goes from 1-50, but that's it. After 50, it's the same story for everyone.

I find myself fully engrossed and engaged in this game. I think about it even when I'm not logged in playing it.

Then I come to these forums and see non-stop complaining about everything. And as someone coming from WoW and other Western MMOs, I truly wonder if you guys know how great you have it. Honestly.

MMOs in the West are having a tough time. Mostly because it's all about ilvls and/or PvP ratings. FFXIV is about the story. And that's rare these days.

Hope you guys recognize that in between your constant complaining.

Many of us do. Speaking for myself, the storyline is the only game-related component that I stick around for. That said... a few other notes for me.

(1) I don't think the quality of the storyline arises from its continuous nature. FFXI had storytelling that matched or exceeded XIV, in my estimation, and that game split it into parallel chunks. I think the storytelling quality arises from the fact that SE has a good development team for it, albeit their writers use about 50% more words than necessary at times.

(2) The storyline does very little for my day-to-day immersion. It simply isn't linked to the game world very significantly. While I'm doing main scenario quests, sure, I'm invested - but as soon as they're done, they go on the back burner again. This isn't a complaint or critique directed at SE, but it's for this reason that I disagree, to a large extent, with your assertion that FFXIV's players have such a great thing on their hands. Storylines are quite compartmentalized in MMOs, even FFXIV; good ones add to the experience, sure, but it doesn't make up for other lacks.

(3) I also disagree with the assertion that FFXIV is about story. Or rather, I think it's selectively* about story. When new expansions launch, I agree 100% - and I don't think it's any coincidence that these initial launch periods draw so many players back to the game for awhile. Afterward, however, the story takes a back seat. I mean, really, we get what, a few hours of main scenario quests every three months? That's a pretty light touch. FFXIV is hardly a story-driven narrative right now, for example. There's no feeling of 'story' when grinding Roulettes, or crafting, or gardening, or messing around in Eureka.

Finally, and this is certainly a matter of perspective, but I don't hold XIV's story up on much of a pedestal, personally. It's good by MMO standards, but it's average at best when put up against single-player titles. The impact it has on individual players really varies as a result. I am glad that you enjoy the storyline, and find FFXIV immersive! Just realize that its quality is very much in the eyes of the beholder, even from a storyline perspective.

[Vahlnir]

This game does a lot of things right and a lot of things wrong. The story is...not high quality, I will say that much. That's not to say it's bad, some people rather enjoy it. I play the game for many reasons...but 1 of them isn't necessarily the story. I do keep myself caught up every patch though because I like to know what's going on. It does have its moments. Again, not bad, but I wouldn't call it this amazing FF story when...we've seen better both in XI and in other FF titles. Imo, HW's opening patch was their best so far in this game from start to finish. SB felt way too rushed.

[NephthysVasudan]

Because of how well it tells a story. The MSQ is one long continuous chain from the moment you first login at level 1, all the way to max level. And it's brilliant. No other game in the West - that I know of - does that. In SWTOR, you have your class story which goes from 1-50, but that's it. After 50, it's the same story for everyone.

I find myself fully engrossed and engaged in this game. I think about it even when I'm not logged in playing it.

Then I come to these forums and see non-stop complaining about everything. And as someone coming from WoW and other Western MMOs, I truly wonder if you guys know how great you have it. Honestly.

MMOs in the West are having a tough time. Mostly because it's all about ilvls and/or PvP ratings. FFXIV is about the story. And that's rare these days.

Hope you guys recognize that in between your constant complaining.

And here i thought I was the only one who saw this...... go figure.

[Fhaerron]

After 50, it's the same story for everyone.

Not sure if I play a different game but here in XIV the MSQ is the same for everybody too ...

Then I come to these forums and see non-stop complaining about everything. And as someone coming from WoW and other Western MMOs, I truly wonder if you guys know how great you have it. Honestly.
MMOs in the West are having a tough time. Mostly because it's all about ilvls and/or PvP ratings. FFXIV is about the story. And that's rare these days.

Again I'm not sure if I play a different game but here I'm always looking to get better and better gear (higher gearscore, unless of course the stats are bad and then I settle with lower gs weapon), I do not play PvP myself but I know some people of the small minority that do play PvP here and are always looking to get a higher score. Like I should just leech and do nothing and get a bad score?

Yes it's about the story, I mean it's a Final Fantasy game ... The reason I bought this (and all the other FF games) IS for the story. Even so, there's quite some annoying filler in this one, for peole who played this game since the beginning it's not so dull but for people who start the game right now you'll hear them complaining about the long ARR slog MSQ's, but yeah now you can buy a skip potion!

Guild Wars 2 is pretty story driven too, and I have to say I'm actually surprised how they are able to keep up that living world content updates without requiring a sub. But yeah, Anet is less greedy then SE I presume and they have less projects where they have to inject cash into.

MMOs in Asia are having a tough time as well, there are dozens of those F2P trash mmo games.


So we should not complain at all and not let SE know if they do something that we don't like? We should just let them do as we please and instead of telling what we like just stop playing? This game will be dead soon then. There are trolls everywhere but a lot of those complaints are actually legit and are made by people who want to keep playing this game for much longer.

I don't play GW2 anymore (or not actively anymore), I just don't really like the combat and skill system in that game. I've played quite some MMO's but the ones I played/like the most are WoW (12 years, +15K hours) & XIV (About 4 years with 2.5K hours).

I'm not subbed to WoW currently since I've taken a break and I just don't really have time for it with my full time job, evening classes playing this game and re-playing XV (windows version) and some other single player games that takes a long time to finish.
I'll check out the expansion and play for a month or two but I'll come back to this game ... UNLESS they don't improve and keep going downhill and that's the reason for my complaints. So that I don't need to leave this game, I don't want to but I WILL leave if I don't have fun anymore and that's how I currently feel for the first time since I ever started this game.

So that's why I will keep complaining and hope they change to better, because this is one of the very few games that I actually really love unlike you apparently or maybe you just don't have opinion on your own or you just like endless grinding?
This is coming from someone who actually don't play RPG games if they don't have some form of grinding into it.

Make this game great again.

[Solarra]

I come to these forums and see non-stop complaining about everything. And as someone coming from WoW and other Western MMOs, I truly wonder if you guys know how great you have it...
Hope you guys recognize that in between your constant complaining.

I'm not sure what your point is OP. Is the problem with MMOs...

a) most are focused too much on ilvl and PvP ratings ?
b) the community?
c) both of the above?

I can't say anything about PvP but when you get to endgame you'll find ilvl is important in this game, too. The gear treadmill is very much a part of FFXIV, but we do have various paths to get it, and I can't say I have a problem with that. You need something to do at end-game and some incentive to keep playing.

The forum community is similar to the WoW forum community in many respects, people are heavily invested in the game, passionate about their interests and opinionated, all of which makes the Official Forum a lively place where you can encounter a wide variety of views.
The pure complaint threads like, '(insert topic) is hard, please remove it' are very rare and generally not well-received. However, there are numerous threads criticising content and suggesting improvements.
I don't see a problem with that. I might not agree with everything people suggest and a lot of people have disagreed with me, but I've had some very engaging discussions here.
Let's be honest, no game is going to suit everybody in every respect, there are always going to be some aspects you like, some you dislike and a lot of stuff in-between. The whole point of the forum is so people can talk about their personal likes or dislikes and see how the rest of the community feels about them. Discussion is going to be weighted towards the negative because it's just human nature to be more vocal about things you'd like to see changed.

Do we know how good we've got it?
I'd say yes, judging from the numerous appreciation threads that pop up here, the enthusiastic responses to the Live Letters and community efforts to do things like create a gift for the producer's birthday.
Coming from WoW, I certainly appreciate the fact that criticism is not automatically met with snark or dismissal (when it's acknowledged at all, that is) but is actually listened to, and in many cases, acted on.

Like you, I like the story aspect of FFXIV, but many of my friends are disinterested or have issues with it. I think it's great that they can enjoy the game anyway but when they complain about filler quests or the long quest chain between reaching level 50 and getting to Heavensward, I can still appreciate they have a point, even though the quests are something I personally enjoy.

[WilhelmWhite]

I love the story, and I also love the fact that the story continues to max lvl. However, I also enjoy that I can be ANY race, and do ANY class. Most MMOS either have classes locked behind certain races, or if they aren't locked, those races have severe starting stat differences that would push you to use specific races with specific classes. (Black Desert Online is the worst with this, in my opinion.) I love that I can be a big dude and still be a healer/caster and not be limited to melee DPS/tank only. <3