New player, loving a lot so far but feel I'm being driven away

[Arendir]

Hi all,

I wanted to provide some feedback on my experiences so far and ask some questions to see if I should keep playing. While I've been loving quite a bit of my experience (story quests, friendly community, crafting depth, idea of a job system), there's a lot of simplification to systems and 'rushing' that is driving me away. From my perspective, it feels like attempts to make the game easier or faster are actually making things more confusing and less fun for me as a new player. Basically, I want an immersive experience not a blind rush with simple combat and only a handful of abilities, while I feel a lot of the game is delivering on that the other half feels to be in conflict with it.

As an example, and what compelled me to post, was my disappointment upon reaching level 30 and unlocking Scholar; I've been excited about Scholar since I picked up the game because I heard it was a complex healing class with a lot of support options after reading some guides, though after I unlocked it I lost more abilities and complexity than I gained. Similarly, the pets seem redundant which was both very confusing and disappointing as a new player; I was looking forward to the support pet as I want to play a support class but I've learned since that the two pets are the same now I think? While I'm sure the healing functionality is useful in groups, it not useful or fun for me while leveling with my girlfriend as the game is too easy to require heals (another issue which has made things less engaging). Gameplay-wise it doesn't feel like the class that is depicted in the story or that I'd heard about. Basically, it sounds like much of what I read that had made me interested in the class (and game as a whole) has since changed in the recent expansion.

Similarly, the dungeon experience is not very new player friendly. My girlfriend and I planned a whole day around running a dungeon and were super excited to jump in but instead of an interesting experience with social elements and teamwork, we were thrown into an AoE rush and honestly felt overwhelmed, confused, and bored all at once. We had no time to learn anything, meet players, or actually play the dungeon. We felt like dead weight and we weren't having a good time because it was mindless.

Maybe I'm just too focused on these things, but I let myself get really drawn in to the game before it felt like I was hit with a bunch of aspects of gameplay that punished me as a new player. As such, I wanted to just let the developers know that some of these design decisions leading to churn among newer players (I work in game development so this is relevant to my interests and to me professionally).

TL;DR - I love a lot about this game (community, job concept, crafting, MSQ) but some things I have encountered have given me pause (rushed dungeon experience, simplified class designs/Scholar changes, lack of purpose for sidequests). Should I stick it out or is this not the game I'm looking for?

[Vahlnir]

The dungeon rush will only be more prevalent the higher you go. That's just a fact of FF XIV life. I can't really comment on SCH much, to be honest, but I know a lot of former and current SCHs are not happy with what the devs did to it with Shadowbringers. Perhaps experimenting with other jobs will help you find your way. Some can't be unlocked until 50, others at 60. But what you have to realize is that this an MMO. Playing with others might not result in ways you'd like them to. If you are looking for a less rushed and social experience then you may want to look into finding a Free Company to join that suits your needs. You aren't going to find that through the Duty Finder 99.999% of the time. I think it could be the game you are looking for, but you need to have reasonable expectations of the community. And it also sounds like SCH is not for you. Again, I would give some other jobs a go from every role to see if anything clicks. You will never know until you try. Play what you enjoy. Hopefully you can find something.

[seida]

Scholar has changed a lot, unfortunately. I still enjoy it but it's a lot simpler than it used to be. I'd recommend just trying another job if you're not happy playing scholar.

What was the dungeon? Planning a whole day around one dungeon seems... odd. They tend to take 20 minutes on average. In duty finder people are going to rush through dungeons, unfortunately, because they're easy and the other players have probably done it a hundres times before. If you'd like a slow run, either request this at the beginning of the dungeon, or make a party finder post.

Free companies or linkshells are a better bet if you want to socialise with other players.

[Edax]

Similarly, the dungeon experience is not very new player friendly. My girlfriend and I planned a whole day around running a dungeon and were super excited to jump in but instead of an interesting experience with social elements and teamwork, we were thrown into an AoE rush and honestly felt overwhelmed, confused, and bored all at once. We had no time to learn anything, meet players, or actually play the dungeon. We felt like dead weight and we weren't having a good time because it was mindless.

Maybe I'm just too focused on these things, but I let myself get really drawn in to the game before it felt like I was hit with a bunch of aspects of gameplay that punished me as a new player. As such, I wanted to just let the developers know that some of these design decisions leading to churn among newer players (I work in game development so this is relevant to my interests and to me professionally).

TL;DR - I love a lot about this game (community, job concept, crafting, MSQ) but some things I have encountered have given me pause (rushed dungeon experience, simplified class designs/Scholar changes, lack of purpose for sidequests). Should I stick it out or is this not the game I'm looking for?

If your looking for classic WoW levels of raid difficulty that you have to spend an entire day planning for it, this game may not be for you. FFXIV is far more casual and is designed to be completable by most players. If you have real trouble with a dungeon, if can be solved watching a 10 minute guide from MTQcapture. https://www.youtube.com/user/MTQcapture

Simplified class designs give you pause but your only at level 37, you'll still be missing over three quarters your arsenal at this point since you still have to reach the first milestone of level 50 and the 3 expansions beyond it. I can't really think of an MMORPG that gives you a massively complex class to pay right at the start of a game, so I really don't know what you're looking for if this gives you pause. Perhaps a First Person Shooter would be more to your liking?

[LisSquid]

Other people have covered most of your post, but I'll speak on scholar. I loved this job, and all healers were hurt during the ShB redesign. If you still want to heal, I suggest trying Astrologian. It still has need for a little extra brain power, but as other have said, you're only level 37. Dungeons sadly don't retain their teeth when the expansion moves on, and you're going to be in for a bit of a wait until you start to feel like you have to actually use your full toolkit.

It's also not going to be something you want to hear, but this game is VERY "everyone should be able to complete msq content rolling their face across their keyboard." That changes once you start doing extreme trials and savage, but that is a loong ways off.

I do say, as a healer main, don't knock the dungeon rushing until you get your full toolkit. It's the only way to encounter situations where you're using your full kit, and being efficient with every ogcd and gcd feels rewarding.

I do really wish you had a "job trial" feature that let you play with jobs at max, though. Ask any BLM main. lvl 60 and lvl 80 are totally different jobs.

[Swording509]

Hey Arendir
I was also a bit overwhelmed with the dungeon experience at first too!

If you visit my Youtube channel I go through in detail how to complete each dungeon and the mechanics needed for new players to able to play stress free

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBy...zgbMZNrYBMINzw

I hope this helps you!

[Vyrerus]

None of the jobs have any complexity at level 30. You have to get through more of the leveling process to start seeing it. FFXIV is tailored more around complex boss fights than complex dungeons, by popular demand.

If you want a sneak peek at your current job at a higher level, I recommend unlocking Palace of the Dead with your GF. You can duo it with her or find some friends and form a party, or even DF, though you must queue for it in Quarrymill. That may be the kind of dungeon EXP that you want, and it will let you preview your job up to level 60, assuming you have the job unlocked. Decent way to level until the mid 50s, as well.

[Reap00]

The dungeon rush will only be more prevalent the higher you go. That's just a fact of FF XIV life. I can't really comment on SCH much, to be honest, but I know a lot of former and current SCHs are not happy with what the devs did to it with Shadowbringers. Perhaps experimenting with other jobs will help you find your way. Some can't be unlocked until 50, others at 60. But what you have to realize is that this an MMO. Playing with others might not result in ways you'd like them to. If you are looking for a less rushed and social experience then you may want to look into finding a Free Company to join that suits your needs. You aren't going to find that through the Duty Finder 99.999% of the time. I think it could be the game you are looking for, but you need to have reasonable expectations of the community. And it also sounds like SCH is not for you. Again, I would give some other jobs a go from every role to see if anything clicks. You will never know until you try. Play what you enjoy. Hopefully you can find something.

Dungeon rushing is a fact of MMO life period.

[Dogempire]

Scholar is a far cry from what it used to be in its Heavensward and Stormblood days, as for the dungeon, that's not too surprising since most people getting a low level dungeon tend to want to speedrun it instead of taking their time, as a tank I do it too simply because it's the norm and people tend to get annoyed at slow paces and single pack pulls.

If you'd like a more social experience I'd suggest making a party finder group and seeing if you can get people who are either also new, or interested in not rushing through and want to explore and socialize instead.

[Quintessa]

The faster part is definitely not the fault of the game design.