FFXIV vs GW2

[Deo14]

GW2 has incredible amount of QoL features and in general game systems that actually make sense. They're not afraid to go against the flow to make new things or to rethink old ideas. Some of the more notable things are:
+ Game uses actual horizontal progression. My main's armor that I made in like 2013/2014 is still BiS today.
+ You can change your entire build while you're inside instance (as long as you're not in combat)
+ Mounts are actually fun, not just x% passive movement speed increase
+ There is no combat ress, but you get downed before fully dying
+ No ability downsyncing bullshit
+ WvWvW and PvP in general
+ Condition-based builds (builds focused on DoT, except that debuff have more complexity than just "deal X damage every Y seconds")
+ Actual choice in how you play. Sure, some specs will inevitably be weaker, but in FF we have 19 homogenized and streamlined jobs (compared to 9*(3+1)=36 specs, which can be further customized with different talents and weapon types) and yet we still have balancing issues.
+ Actual 99.99% server uptime. You can even play game for 3 hours on old patch when new one drops
+ You can salvage(desynthesize, except you can do all at the same time) all your looted gear, which will give you materials, which can be simply send with single button from your inventory to your collectable bank storage. This means no inventory problems.
+ Money - I play GW2 on and off since beta and I started FFXIV year ago and I've spent more money just on sub alone. GW2 has cash shop, but you can convert gold to "premium" currency. I even upgraded my DLCs to deluxe edition for ingame gold.
+ Legendary gear is something else. Imagine time investment of getting all ARR relics. That's maybe half legendary weapon in GW2. But you can obviously choose different ways to get all materials and so on, so it won't get boring.
+ FFXIV's FATE is nowhere near GW2's events and meta-events.
- Main problem is however performance. GW2 sometimes runs like shit, but it's becoming more tolerable, with things like dx12 proxy and just generally PCs getting more powerful (and AMD CPUs finally getting decent single-core performance)
- Also gatekeeping on raids is very aids. Do you want to start raiding? Finish 250 raids, then you might be accepted into some PF group.

In general, I enjoy encounter design much more in FF, but it took me long time to deal with the fact that there is barely any engaging open world content and the endgame content is just treadmill.

Most importantly, unlike FFXIV which claims to "respect your time", GW2 actually does. I'm enjoying FFXIV at the moment, but I know that I can go back to GW2 anytime I want and I won't miss anything and all my gear will be up to date. I can't say the same about FFXIV.

[RyuDragnier]

- Also gatekeeping on raids is very raids. Do you want to start raiding? Finish 250 raids, then you might be accepted into some PF group.

Depends when you try to do them. I've found Saturdays tend to be the day where you find the people most willing to train new raiders, and if you're completely new they often suggest Wing 4 or Wing 1. I personally prefer when the group trains people on Wing 4, the first 2 bosses are essentially training dummies with very few mechanics. The 3rd fight is more akin to a normal raid fight, and the 4th...well, I hope you've got a handkite, tank, and oil kite ready and are ready to learn how hectic it can get fast.