Why do you play FFXIV?

[Wincy]

First, I'll say I came back to the game after 1.21.

I play because the game gives me hardcore nostalgia, not just from FFXI but other FFs too like III, VI, VII, IX and XII. I am, like most of you probably, a big FF fan so that is a huge seller.

Like XI, this game is shaping up to have a really great plot (read: not just lore). That is very very important to me (the cutscenes really sell it). I read someone say once that FFXI had more story in 1 cutscene than other MMOs have in the whole game, and I think that is largely true. Even uneventful cutscenes just convey much more emotion to me than text boxes on the regular map ever can. I think FFXIV has that potential and more, because they've made the plotline more accessible to all players, and so that keeps me excited and playing.

Additionally, I have a TON of faith in Yoshi-P, so I look forward to how he and the team continue to shape the world. He is an unusually charismatic and visible Director/Producer, so I give him a lot of props for that. He seems to understand the modern MMO market, and he is doing his best to make a truly good product and regain the respect of we, the players. I'm personally looking very much forward to the CRYSTAL TOWER and Dalamud/Meteor...truly the end of an era! And we here get to take part in it exclusively; how cool is that!?

I've actually made some friends in my LS and I really enjoy playing with them. I haven't had that pleasure since Asheron's Call and then FFXI. No other MMOs have ever had that kind of community, in my experience.

OH, and like someone else said, gamepad support definitely helps.

[Roaran]

When I do certain things, my brain does weird things and the synapses and stuff make me feel good. Feeling good is good so I like it. I like it and I want more.

[Arcturus]

Pretentious OP is pretentious. "Core reasons" vs. "Reasons." Haha, you made that shit up. Seeing something as "fun" should go without saying. Much less involve "critical thinking." If you're asking people for such arbitrary reasons as why they enjoy something, you should expect arbitrary answers.

That being said, I play because I like exploring areas, killing monsters and earning loot, with the company of others who also enjoy doing similar things, and not because I want to fulfill some strange desire to deconstruct and analyze my feelings about why I like doing said activities.

[Ziyyigo-Tipyigo]

Because I'm pretty much fresh out of non-endgame content on XI, and this is where all the actual development is happening.

[Khazar]

Im mostly playing atm because of friends i made in the game and they are playing, if not i wouldnt be playing it until 2.0 i think. Do not misunderstand me, im enjoying the game with my friends but if they werent playing it i would be playing other game.

[Lux_Rayna]

For me, the biggest reason I play currently is because it's fun to see how the game is progressing from crap product to Final Fantasy. It's fun to be part of the development and keep up to date with the goings-on. Of late, I've been visiting the forums more than actually playing the game. I don't think I'm the only one.

I find this really funny, considering you are telling everyone else that they have to explain why its fun, even when you dont do so yourself. Seriously now lol.

I play, like you said, because the game is fun. Honestly thats as deep an answer as you can get, one that you apparently throw out as shallow and insufficient. Well let me tell you, its a lot deeper than you apparently give it credit for. Let this be a defense of all those who answered before me, as well as a dose of the "critical thinking" you so desperately want in your thread. Reader bewarned, this will be lengthy. Read or gtfo my post.

I would like to start by mentioning that the reasons you are looking for are insufficient and inadequate in explaining why anyone continues to play FFXIV. Things like community, personal achievement, growth, or whatever can be found in any MMO in existence. You can feel stronger in WoW, FFXI, single player RPG's, and even Maple Story. Thus, these "deeper" feelings cannot accurately explain why someone would continue to play FFXIV in lieu of the plethora of choices available. These are reasons you start to play a game, but are not reasons you continue playing. The proof is in your OP.

You explain you play games for community and such. Yet in an interesting move, you also proceed to explain how FFXIV fails and succeeds to meet your primary motivations for playing an MMO. As we can see, the reason you continue to play FFXIV cannot be embedded in those motivations, precisely because FFXIV fails to deliver on all of them. This being the case, there must be *some* reason why you continue playing, and again, the answer is in your OP: its fun. Now to you, fun is a shallow answer that needs explanation. I vehemently disagree. Fun is about as deep an answer as you can get.

Unlike those other reasons you listed, fun is the only one that cannot be necessarily found everywhere. As stated, things like community, strength, etc, are a fundamental part of the MMO genre. All MMO's will generally have these things in common with minor variations. Yet, as im sure you've discovered, you still don't find *all* of these MMO's fun. Despite any similarities, "fun" is one of those things that is beyond explanation, and is independent of a game's general traits. Yes, having things you like surely helps make something fun. But having things you like doesn't necessarily make something fun. This is an important distinction to make, and one worth remembering. Ultimately, you have fun for reasons you can never clearly define. If you simply say "because it has the things I like," you are oversimplifying the matter. If anything, that is the shallow answer that only pretends to critical thought, without having it at all.

Asking why someone finds something fun is like asking why they think pizza tastes good. It just does. We are all unique individuals, with unique "tastes" for things; certain things just appeal to us simply because that is how we're wired. You cannot accurately explain why you love someone, why that girl over there is the hottest chick you've ever seen, or why boobs (despite being a collection of fatty tissue) are such a turn-on. You can pretend to list logical reasons for your appeal to all these things, but none of them really explain it. They are nothing more than logical assumptions. The truth of the matter is that you like them because you do; somewhere at the core of your spirit these sorts of things connect to you and give you sensory pleasure. Why? Because you were born that way, or your tastes changed and developed through life experiences.

Long story short, "because its fun" is the most fundamental reason you can get, and also the deepest psychological admission you can find for continued action.

Tl;DR Fun is an adequate explanation.

[GinTama]

um ... you dont get it do you .... he said "fun to see how the game is progressing from crap product to Final Fantasy" and "fun to be part of the development and keep up to date with the goings-on" and not "because the game is fun" go back to school.

Back to topic: i play because i see potential in the game to be awesome so i want to be part of this process.

[Lux_Rayna]

um ... you dont get it do you .... he said "fun to see how the game is progressing from crap product to Final Fantasy" and "fun to be part of the development and keep up to date with the goings-on" and not "because the game is fun" go back to school.

You are the one who doesn't get it. Why are any one of those things fun? None of that explains what he's asking other ppl to explain. Thats like saying: "Playing FFXIV is fun because things in FFXIV are fun". By the way, thats exactly what he said. The game is fun because stuff in the game is fun. You think thats an explanation? Apparently you're the one who needs to go back to school. Next time be sure you know what you're saying before you start throwing those popular lolinsults at ppl. That was totally uncalled for btw, but its whatever.

[Denmo]

It's cool! I'm totally OK with being called pretentious by random people I don't know and having my answers thrown back at me using circular logic.

I dunno why you have to feel so threatened by a simple topic, though.

As I stated before, if you don't want to give a full answer, you don't have to post~

[sorahitoshi]

Because I can be short and cute and its fun