FFXIV is too simplistic and bland

[Erza_Scarlets]

75 era of ffxi was probably the worst. Dunno what kind crack people smoking saying it was the best. I played through all the eras of ffxi and still play it and 75 was no where near the best era of ffxi. It started to improve after the 75 era and got better.

One thing that I would say ffxi still has and probably will have over every mmo is the gear system. You actually had gearsets for different things. Not just get highest ilv and your set. Gear actually has value in ffxi cause each piece has its own use. Gear also has its own unique stats to buff different abilities, spells, ws's, etc.

FFxiv's main selling point is the theme park and glamour. It takes a lot less time to do things in it so lot more people are drawn to it. Which in this day and age is great. Could it use improvements? Yes. All games could always use improvements. Overall it has gotten much better over time.

1.0 also was nothing like ffxi. It failed for a whole lot of reasons and being like ffxi wasn't one of them. They basically took what they learned from mmos the first time around and didn't use it and used the worst things they could in 1.0.

I'm glad they were smart and made ffxiv what it is now from what 1.0 was. It could use a bit more of a job spread that is true to the ff brand. Brd being mixed with Rng was crappy. They should of been two separate jobs.

[Catwho]

I played XI for about a decade. I ran a large Dynamis shell, and participated in HNM shells.

There are certain aspects about XI I miss, but a lot of the things OP mentioned aren't among them. Like the boat cutscenes. Nothing worse than planning to do content in that one ToAU island that was a 15 minute boat ride from the mainland, and the main tank MISSING THE BOAT. And the only shortcut option available was a cash shop item for an ugly pewter Leviathan necklace that cost $100. We'd have the handful of folks who had that item stationed in Aht Urghan, ready to teleport the latebies, but there was always that one person who logged in 2 minutes after the last one teleported.... and we had to wait for them to catch the boat. I think Ocean Fishing was a great way to give the boat fishing experience to the fishers without really inconveniencing the rest of the player base, and I'm grateful for that.

Things I do miss about XI - tiered HNM pops in open zones for raiding. Raids up to 64 people. And.... uh..... that's about it? I mostly miss my friends. Very few of them made it with me to XIV. But some of them did! And we still play together.

[Naoki34]

FFXIV is too simplistic and bland

You are only level 25...
https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodes...cter/28848283/

You haven't seen half of the most boring and bland part of FFXIV.
The "real gameplay" starts in Heavensward and extensions after extensions, It evolves a lot to become more interesting in terms of gameplay.

LvL 25 : "FFXIV is too simplistic and bland" Ok
But you've seen nothing of the game. WoW Classic wasn't really great before Burning Crusade.

If FFXIV was fun at ARR it would be known and he wouldn't have wanted to do the ARR part again.


Thanks for your review of newbie lvl 25/80.
Try again in Shadowbringer...

[Telvanni_Guard]

You are only level 25...
https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodes...cter/28848283/

I may be off but those are the Ala Mhigan earrings in that lodestone image. Either there's a way to get them past the Stormblood preorder that I don't know of or it is an alt.

[LinXiaoMei]

Honestly, I just kind of wish they'd kept the cross class requirements. I had quit when HW released and returned when Stormblood dropped. One thing I definitely recall was having actual incentive to level other jobs. The game doesn't feel like a Final Fantasy game despite always being referred to as a single player role playing game with online multiplayer elements or something along those lines. Zones are dead, there's nothing to do in them no incentive to do anything in zones other than, what a few rare fates that drop unique items and gathering nodes.

I just want the world to feel alive, and feel like I'm playing a game that's alive. Not a game where everyone is either in an instance fighting a boss or just sitting there AFK/Roleplaying/Crafting in an instanced town. The social aspect of this game is still here thankfully, but the adventure isn't. Feel like our adventure is just waiting for the next MSQ patch to drop and that's it.

They did however attempt to patch the dead world in Shadowbringers by giving a bit of incentive to do FATES again, but that didn't last long at all. Even still zones are dead. I don't have much issue with questing though cause really, what can you do. Take the god awful Guild Wars 2 approach and just remove quests overall and do the dumb hearts and never feel like you've progressed in any sense of the word? Yokai Watch, just another small fix that won't last once its gone until lit returns again.

I currently have no issue with traveling to be quite honest, though I don't play WoW I did play ArcheAge and sitting on the airship in open world and watching the environment change around you in real time as you traveled on it and switched zones was something and still is something that I enjoy. This game cater's a lot towards the casual community and I'm okay with that, but there's still no incentive to do anything outside of raiding for me personally. I love crafting and gathering in MMOs and I do it in this game too. Maybe I just want more? More content.

The game definitely is very simplistic, the most amount of skill this game takes is learning your rotation and doing a dance in a boss fight which ironically people still can't do. My other problem in this game is that there are a lot of things that go unused and serve no real actual purpose even if used by some. Linkshells don't serve the purpose they used to in XI. Fellowships, really are useless and don't know why they exist at all honestly cause nobody does anything with it. Really you can't do anything with it....it serves absolutely no purpose.

Also my thought process is everywhere, I don't have a organized way of thinking and writing or talking so this is sort of a mess. All in all, the drought I feel is nothing compared to what 15 year WoW vets feel about their game but I probably feel something similar in XIV. Pretty much just a game of glamour and roleplay...at least that's been my experience since returning for the past 2 years.

edit: just wanted to say this is just my personal opinion/experience. I've read this entire thread and enjoyed seeing what you guys had to say as well.

[He-Saiyan]

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results; but insanity can also be trying something different other than what was working......... FFXI was deemed the most profitable game in the franchise for good reason, it worked. XIV is solid, but it will NEVER be beloved like XI.

I am also playing XI as I type this while looking at big booty ebony chicks in my tabs, so you can't tell me to go play XI then...

Bwahahahaha!!!!!

[Vickii]

The original post is comparing oranges to apples. Can’t compare a stand-alone single player game designed to be played and completed to an MMO designed to keep you paying a sub for years.

I do think it could be improved though. What’s there isn’t bad, it’s very good, but it’s formulaic. I mean I’ve just done what essentially boils down to the exact same allied tribes quest line for the third time. Only not as good as the first one. Same with Hildibrand.

I would say that while presentation is getting better with each expansion, the formulaic nature of the quests, job design, dungeons and end game content can come across as lazy. However I guess a lot of it is by necessity. If they made Astro overpowered and uniquely fun to play in a single player game they wouldn’t have upset scholars. And when they have tried something new like Eureka there have been as many not liking it as do.

[dinnertime]

To be honest I used to have some of these opinions, some I still agree on like the overworld/zone design, homogenized job design and boring equipment, but I learned to just appreciate what FFXIV does have to offer. These days I only play FFXIV for the story, new (but otherwise short-lived) battle content and social interactions. The game doesn't completely fulfill what I wanted in an MMO but it's still enjoyable.

I would be surprised if FFXIV drifted from its current content roadmap and significantly changed the fundamentals in the next expansion, especially this late into its lifespan.

[Razard]

FFXI WAS deemed the most profitable game in the franchise for good reason

Bolded and underlined for emphasis.

[MsMisato]

To be honest I used to have some of these opinions, some I still agree on like the overworld/zone design, homogenized job design and boring equipment, but I learned to just appreciate what FFXIV does have to offer. These days I only play FFXIV for the story, new (but otherwise short-lived) battle content and social interactions. The game doesn't completely fulfill what I wanted in an MMO but it's still enjoyable.

I would be surprised if FFXIV drifted from its current content roadmap and significantly changed the fundamentals in the next expansion, especially this late into its lifespan.

They have changed the fundamentals quite a few times. It wouldn't surprise me if it changes again before 6.0.