Can we stop comparing the two at this point?

[Eriane_Elis]

Yoshi P. loves WoW and you can see WoW's influence over FF14. Before FF11, Japan didn't have any MMORPG they could call their own and well then there was FF14 1.0 and we all know what happened. Regardless what happens, FF14 will always be rooted in WoW. Personally I always disliked WoW and it's part of the reason why FF14 was never that great of a game to play for me but I still play FF14 because of my friends and there's many things to enjoy. Comparing the two is good, it's competitive. If you stop comparing things then you end up with disaster products that don't strive to innovate. Competition is and always has been healthy for grown whether it's for products or for self-improvement.

[Reap00]

WoW is antiquated garbage. FFXIV is amazing. Ok I am done with my comparison that is not open for debate in any way shape or form.

[linayar]

TL'DR: Stop comparing the two. They are in extremely different development cycles in their lifetimes and use VERY different development philosophies.

You do realize that the differences are what're causing the comparisons, right? If there were no differences, then there'd be nothing to compare. And development philosophy is something that can affect people's enjoyment of a game. So when you have two games in the same genre with different philosophies, comparisons are bound to happen.

Player choice making a difference (e.g. choosing to follow Sylvanus in her path to break the cycle of death at any cost or Saurfang in his quest to return honor to his people, even if such was only temporary for obvious [spoilers] reasons), though I'd prefer a... better... take on it.

That's actually an example of player choice not making a difference. And my chosen path made me "lose out" on a toy unless I choose the other path with another character. It made me quit Horde for Shadowlands, ugh. (Until being a BEDH draws me back again in the future.)

[RitsukoSonoda]

Note for the OP. FFXIV was originally designed for a PS3 which they eventually dropped support for. Additionally another impacting factor was FFXIV 1.0 was chewing up just about any PC that wasn't decently close to high end spec.

1.0 did have its issues on its own from a gameplay side. At the same time I think it was also suffering because not nearly as many people as they expected from FFXI tried it or chose to stay with it if they did. The visuals were a gigantic leap in quality from FFXI, however FFXI was far more rich in content and most players still had untapped side quests stories or even main stories after playing that game for years. Additionally they likely weren't gaining new players from other MMO's at a rate they expected due to a combination of available F2P MMO's and I think WoW was still in that period of flooding TV with commercials featuring celebrities, getting ads on as many websites as possible, and taking up like 10 pages for ads in game magazines, etc. Anything to get its face plastered everywhere possible and whip up its fanboy/fangirl base into a frenzy to run around the internet proclaiming it the first MMO made and greatest game in existence.

[Shurrikhan]

That's actually an example of player choice not making a difference. And my chosen path made me "lose out" on a toy unless I choose the other path with another character. It made me quit Horde for Shadowlands, ugh. (Until being a BEDH draws me back again in the future.)

That's why I said I'd prefer a better take (than, just say, Sylv/Saur, Alders/Scryers, which of the four covenants to go with, etc.). But the XIV alternative is literally no choice at all, or the difference between a nod of affirmation and a sarcastic nod of affirmation.

I prefer that as a soldier I can come to a given plotline with a different history, different preferences, etc., and act upon them. There's less of that than I'd like, and less well executed upon, but at least WoW gives that a genuine try.

Yes, it does necessarily mean that some content is seen only on a second pass, but used well and sparingly I prefer that to pure linearity.

[linayar]

That's why I said I'd prefer a better take (than, just say, Sylv/Saur, Alders/Scryers, which of the four covenants to go with, etc.). But the XIV alternative is literally no choice at all, or the difference between a nod of affirmation and a sarcastic nod of affirmation.

I prefer that as a soldier I can come to a given plotline with a different history, different preferences, etc., and act upon them. There's less of that than I'd like, and less well executed upon, but at least WoW gives that a genuine try.

Yes, it does necessarily mean that some content is seen only on a second pass, but used well and sparingly I prefer that to pure linearity.

I prefer the opposite. If both choices ended up being the same, then spare me the hassle of thinking hard of which choice to make only to not have the payoff that I wanted in making that choice and just give me an inconsequential but potentially humorous dialog option instead.

Being "cheated" of my choice is worse to me than not having to make a choice.

[Lily_Skye]

TL'DR: Stop comparing the two. They are in extremely different development cycles in their lifetimes and use VERY different development philosophies.

don tell me what to do

[ForteNightshade]

Considering FF is taking a very similar path to destruction, probably not.
Implementing cross server
Way too many classes
Destroying the economy
Making crafting 1 button win/useless
Forcing people to play "their way"
It's like FF is determined to make every single mistake that WoW did

I can give you almost every on that list, even if some are reaches. But how has cross server not been anything except a massive positive? A significant contributor to the disaster that was Gordias was not only its poor tuning but the fact if you weren't on an active raid server, you basically weren't going anywhere. Without cross world, you'd have Gilgamesh, Sarg and maybe Leviathan being a near requirement for any active raider.

Now if you're talking about cross world visit. I can see the criticism better.

[Penthea]

I personally am so sick of people telling me they have raid experience in WoW then think that it applies to FFXIV. I don't see how FFXIV raiding is comparable to WoW raiding, and I don't mean any offense by that but can please someone explain to me. It's quite frustrating not knowing! Halp a lala out.

Having prior experience in a game of the same genre will help you play FFXIV whether you raided or not. All of the basic stuff you learn in WoW is applicable to FFXIV: how a trinity combat system works, knowing to be mindful of your gear, how to manage your money, how to navigate the world, how guilds/fcs work, and more.

As for raiding, if you have raided a lot in WoW well you already have quite the advantage because you already know how a good team works. It's one thing to be really good at your class, but it's another thing altogether to know how to be an effective team player. Raiding in general trains you how to spot mechanics and how to quickly learn to deal with them. And of course it teaches you that a lot of kills are designed to not come easily. Many new raiders get shocked by how challenging raid content is, but if you raided in other games already you know that this is normal so you are far more likely to have the patience and resilience to put in the work to master the encounters.

While the raiding environments are quite different in both games, there is a considerable overlap in what is considered useful knowledge and experience. I'm saying this as a person who raided extensively in WoW and now raids in FFXIV, while in a team of others with a similar raiding background.

[Ayuhra]

I personally am so sick of people telling me they have raid experience in WoW then think that it applies to FFXIV. I don't see how FFXIV raiding is comparable to WoW raiding, and I don't mean any offense by that but can please someone explain to me. It's quite frustrating not knowing! Halp a lala out.

WoW has more kinetic encounters and skilled play isn't always about standing in the right place, it's also about knowing your class well enough to get out of a tight spot and back into the encounter. It's less constantly predictable and more reactive you could say. The less persistently scripted encounter design means rotations are a bit simplified.

Which is all to say, yes, they're pretty different.

I did some Mythic raiding in WoW but I'm hot garbage at FFXIV.