I just started playing FFXIV last night, and so far i'm level 16, and I have to say; I am really enjoying this game! I did try it out during its open beta test phase, and the game was dreadfully bad. After reading a lot of comments though about how much XIV has improved, and seeing how cheap it is now on Amazon.com, I decided to give it a try.

I really like the old school feel of the game, while at the same time it has a few modern day MMO features that make it more accessible, and the leveling grind is not that bad. Although i've been told to expect it to get much harder later on.

I've played everything in the MMO genre, from Ultima Online, Everquest, Dark Age of Camelot, Asherons Call, to World of Warcraft, and what the game has become today, Star Wars:the Old Republic, Lord of the Rings Online, and Rift. So i've seen my fair share of both hardcore and casual friendly MMOs. I feel like FFXIV strikes a really good middle ground.