How do you view this game? :O

[Mindiori]

Much like other current titles, the game directors intend you to see it as themepark. Rather than push for a long stay, you turn up - ride your rides - and leave. What you remain for and get out of it amidst that is really just down to you. Ofcourse that has resulted in the 'luls' people experience in content; and that would be fine, if quality after the fact was always good or challenging. Sadly thats rarely the case. Which floats back into things seeming even more dead on the 'game' front. Story is pretty well delivered. It's no epic story, for those heavily familiar with Japanese mediums but its sweet enough and beats out its competitors in cohesive longevity.

Personally I have to build gaming around a busy life. At the dawn of the MMO golden era, I suppose I was pretty hardcore and ofcourse much younger. I played primarily only PvP (and the games then had barely any questing at all) so all in all, that fitted a very socially orientated and less game centric playstyle.

As we moved on story became a thing. Dungeons became much more intricate and well coded with dynamics. So you get that shift. If you see gaming as an investment in time and money, you are going to want to hit as many bases as possible and then gtfo in time for tea, so to speak.

On the social front, I am adaptable these days. If I really like you, I'll likely migrate you to being an actual friend from the digital F-list. So then conversation for me becomes more casual. As does game antics and moving away from pure 'productivity'. But at the same time, since most people have different hours, different backgrounds and ages (and so on) I just knuckle down and try and use the time as productively as I can when we interact and play more practically to progress when we don't (more relaxed).

If you are someone who needs to socialize here, I've found it can be like getting blood out of a stone from some. Meaning that its not quite IMVU material at all. Different expectations. But if you happen to find a good group, its like much else. You share the activity mutually and how much you play might be orientated purely around how much you enjoy their company.

There really is no right answer for me I don't think. The variable, is each individual I cross and the perception I get from them. I am in the camp of believing that MMO's are for the party, not for the lonesome. If it weren't I'd just stick to single player games with superior narrative. So thats going to colour my opinions on every element of the game.

[Alestorm]

Depends on my mood, sometimes it's just quick log ins and sometimes I spend whole days in game. Depends on how I feel/motivated to do anything.

[Eric_Riot]

I wish this game had funner "Side stuff". Dungeons can get old, the Gold Saucer is either to lame or to clunky. I wish the Square Enix would buy the dead "SolForge" game and add it to the Gold Saucer, that game was super easy super fun. The card game they have now is dead and way to annoying. The Chobo racing is meh. The minion game is meh. Even the events are just okay. That place has such potential, they should have their own version of "Multiplayer online battle arena" game like League of legends where you can play as your own hero. I do wish there were more reason to play FFXIV then just MB stuff and dungeons, and then gobble up what ever patch they release. I wish this was a one stop shop for all my gaming needs.

On the flip side if you are a completionist there is endless stuff to do.

[Hazama999]

FFXIV is my "background game."

That is to say, this is the kind of game where it feels like I'll always have something to do in the event that I don't feel like playing other games. When patches drop, the game steps into to the foreground somewhat, becoming what I play most for a few weeks before receding into the background once more. At that point I only log in 2-3 times a week and it's mostly to roleplay, which is something that has "freshened" it up for me, I might add. I think I've only ever stopped playing altogether (let my sub lapse without immediate renewal) somewhere in the 2.1-to-2.3 interval. Even as I started med school back in 2016 I didn't stop playing (though my playtime was severely reduced)... I was lucky that Stormblood dropped in between year 1 and 2. Shadowbringers early access also started on the same day I took my Level 1 board exam so... that's some timing lol.

Looking back, I've had a good time with this game. I can definitely see how people can come to revisit older MMOs (such as FFXI) if they'd been playing them for years before stopping.

[Rasikko]

I saw it as a means of building my social life but I'm not so sure about that anymore.

[ScottDoom]

I play this game exclusively with my wife. It is her first MMO, and honestly her first real PC game.

We played a lot of coop games on the console, and started to run out. I built a new PC, and gave her my 10-year-old system. I suggested trying this game out as I like the FF series (even though I've only completed FF7!), and it showed up in a lot of "Top MMO" lists. She said she would play it with me through the end of the free trial (or until she got bored/confused), but here we are six months later still playing!

It is just a great way for us to continue playing games together. She loves her character, and enjoys all the glam.

We just log on and do a bit of whatever. The MSQ is really great, but we try to spread the love so we don't just rush through it all. We just wrapped up HW.

We visit the Gold Saucer daily, mainly just for Mini Cactpot. We sort of like running dungeons. We very much enjoyed the Hildibrand quests (still have the HW line waiting to start).

[Kaiserdrache]

As a game that is by far currently the best MMORPG on the market, but that is also by far absolutely not perfect and still has tons of issue, flaws n simply bad designs/mechanics, in that are other games alot better than FF14 and far not feeling so outdated like FF14.

But its the total package around the storytelling, the FF typical humor and combat desings, that is convincing, plus that the dev team is here truly in touch with the community and TELLs us ectly, what is being planned for the game, and that already long before the content is there, so that you know as as player, about what you can happily eagerly wait about, instead of being left in the drk for ages through content draughts, because certain devs of certain companies are so feared about talking and communicating with their playerbase, that it brought the whole company close to the brim of extinction... I'm talking about Guild Wars 2 by the way... a once glorious game that a fled from to FF14, because with the dev stupidity of this game, they literally successfully destroyed themself over the course of the first two expansions and its horrible living story with basically the worst story telling ive ever experienced

By the end of the 2nd expansion and its terrible living story content, I was so bored, also because the game became literally unplayable in Pvp due to the worst ignorant game balang ive ever seeen in my life, that one day i had lost absolutely all my positive arguements I had once for that game, to stay there and not follow my friends that were all playing FF14 already at that point for 3 years, because I always had the hope GW2 returns one day to its previous glory, which it had before of the bad expansions.._ just to get repeatedly frustrated more and more and got enough, so I couldn't syy no anymore to my friends invites, when they went even so far to gift me the Base Game with the expansions, just to get me over to FF14.

Since then are soon 2 years passed, and I don't regret a single day since then. Those 2 years FF14 made way more fun, than the 6 years of GW2 before, despite of GW2 being technically the better and more modern looking game of the two. Good Developrs make the difference

[TeraRamis]

Like do most of you just log in to do dungeons and log off? Or do some of you plsy this like you would second life or IMVU? I was just wondering as I was doing a dungeon and thought back to when I used to play IMVU back in 2004ish. I always wanted controller support for it, not knowing that mmos existed, I only have and had consoles so I never got into Everquest or WoW of FF11. Those games didn't exist to me as I didn't know about them.

But yeah, I love the fact that XIV is a video game and has things that remind me of IMVU, I like the fact we can chit chat and kindof just stay online like it's another world or what have you. Am I alone in this and a lame or do others feel the same way or never thought about it? :O

I spent all day on it yesterday, though it tends to vary. I have a lot of fun here. It's less anal than WoW overall, and you don't constantly feel the pressure to push the envelope like you do with most other MMORPGs.

[Macleod]

With my eyes.

[AnotherPerson]

This game is great. For the majority of the part I've been here, the game has been a great way to wind down and just enjoy the adventure. I find this game to be both a place to go to chill and do a relaxing run and socialize with people / hang out with the FC. The story has been absolutely phenomenal and I'm glad I got to experience it. There's also a very hardcore aspect to the game for people who want that for the change of pace. There are a lot of flaws to the game, but it helps that the devs recognize and take feedback from the community often rather than ignore it entirely.

I think mainly though, it's the game's community that has been really great. There's a couple of bad apples, or people may have a bad day or some sort, but mostly I've seen people be very positive ingame, and I'll chalk it up to the community and the devs who helped shape this environment. There's a level of transparency between devs and players that bridges that gap and distant feeling from just being any other game in the market. Every time I explore an area, go into an expansion, a new boss fight, I can feel the amount of effort put into making it, and it has astounded me how much consideration went into the game. It definitely has a special feeling that I haven't found other MMOs to recreate.

From content design to gameplay to community aspects, there's a lot that makes me view this game in a positive light and think this was time well spent for a recreational activity - and the adventure & fun never really seems to end - which is what I believe is what all MMOs should be striving for.