Feedback from a new player

[Tankymctankface]

Seldom does a game move me enough to provide feedback, especially this early on.

But it really feels like Wow back in 2005. I am truly loving FF XIV. This will be a long long long post, as I'll try to give as detailed feedback as a new player, as possible, while it is fresh in my mind.

Firstly the boring stuff. My past mmo experience, pc I'm running on etc. Please also bear in mind that I am posting from an authentic new player perspective, and I've only just finished the end credits, and what looked like a submarine primal cut-scene of Heavensward. So it is possible that some of the stuff I will comment on may be changed in the content that I'm going to get in to. In such cases, ignore my comment and please tell me about it, if possible, spoiler free. If anything I say can be interpreted as bad or nice, please believe me, I mean it in the nicest way.

Past MMO's I've played: UO, Wow, Rift, AoC, Warhammer Online, Aion, Eve, SWtor, BDO, Tera. There might be a couple more that I don't remember. Pretty much every "wow-killer" when that was still a thing, except GW and GW2.

PC used currently. i7-8700 3.2 GHz
PAlit 3070
32gb ram
Prime Z370-P mobo
Bunch of mixed NVME, SSD and platter drives.
Redragon Perdition Pro

Leveling:
I'm really enjoying the leveling experience. It's not too fast like BDO, which is boringly fast. And it's not too long and grindy like Aion at launch. Even Wow these days is waaay too fast. The exp given is a bit much, as I'm over leveled, but the level-sync system is really really good there. Makes the content feel relevant. Somehow it's also managed that the starter town like Uldah are not empty. They feel alive with lots of players around. This is something that's lost in Wow for instance that I played retail just before picking up FFXIV a couple of weeks ago. 3 maybe 4 weeks ago IIRC.
ARR feels lacking and drawn out. But not too much to be too much of a bother. It could use more voiced cut scenes to make me feel progression. Heavensward is much better in this.

Novice Network:
Though it took me a while to find a person with a crown to get an invite, I also appreciate that the Novice Network is firstly moderated, and second invite only. So no RMT spammers and such stuff. I found the player base to be really friendly, and even in the dungeons I've done. I'll really miss it if I ever can no longer join it.
I'll be honest, I'm not expecting the same on the forums though, but that's just from other MMO forum experience, I could be wrong.

(1/5)

[Tankymctankface]

Cut-scenes and Voice acting:
Heavensward is a big step up from ARR. To the point where I'd think it's probably worth redoing ARR voice acting and sound effects completely to enhance new player experience. And it's not the voice actors themselves, it's the sound effects (or lack thereof in ARR during cut-scenes), and the jerky, one sentence at a time, with an uncomfortable pause in between each new line that makes it so distracting.
For instance, in heavens, when I fought the 2 Ascians at the end, just before they combine, they put their arms up in the air for the invocation, and there's the clap of their sleeves' cloth when they raise their arms. That was great! But in ARR it's almost like listening to James T Kirk delivering.... lines.... one word... at a time...
The tutorials and explanations of the game mechanics is solid. I didn't have too much trouble finding my way around and learning how the game works etc.

Character development:
Really like the one character can do everything bit. And the little that I've done around professions feels like there's a lot on offer there, and I'm looking forward to get into that. But I don't have a lot of experience there. As I get additional skills I really do have the feeling that my character is getting better, which is a big "well done" to SE.

I don't have any experience in housing and cosmetics an all that yet, and again, something that is enticing that I'm looking forward to get in to!

NPC mechanics:
Really love the ground markings and telegraphing of upcoming abilities etc. Everything could be a bit harder, but I also like that there's an easy mode to get everyone to see and experience dungeons. Maybe a difficulty beyond Extreme that removes all the ground markings? I don't know, I just think Extreme (the little experience that I've had there, and Hard) are not really that hard.
Oh, and I love tab targeting. I don't like the BDO action-mmo thing. Holy trinity, tab targetting is where my love lies.

Story:
Really really love the story! It's really one of the strongest parts of the game that I am thoroughly enjoying. It's almost as good as the stories in SWtor in terms of execution, and better than swtor in terms of the story itself and the lore. I'm not a big FF aficionado, with only FF VII original launch and the FF movies to draw from. And the story of XIV feels familiar and is complete enough that I don't feel I'm missing certain elements.
The "I am the greatest, and only I can save the world every 5 minutes" feels a bit over the top though. I'd much rather be like the avengers. A part of a team of heroes. Not a deal breaker though. But to me, that's really where Wow lost it. When every NPC you meet has already heard of me and how awesome I am.

(2/5)

[Tankymctankface]

Web site to find an FC:
My only problem here is that the posts made in each FC introduction is sorted in reverse order by date. The oldest posts are at the top. It made me think that the FC I wanted to join was dead because the "last" activity was over a year ago. That should be sorted latest post or comment at the top. Luckily one of the mods in NN was also an officer of the FC, so that got sorted quickly.

Mounts:
I really appreciate not being able to fly in new zones. I've played too many MMOs where flying happens too soon and you miss everything that was worked so hard on by the devs. And you can't not fly, because you'll be at a distinct disadvantage behind everyone else. So that's a really nice touch.Wow certainly grabbed that idea from XIV for Dragon Flight.
And the mount speed coupled to pickups and quests is truly awesome! It keeps older mounts relevant, so you're not just always using your fastest mount.
I will say though, that dragonflight changed they way I would see a flying mount forever. If your mount runs out of stamina, you float to the ground and run, until you have enough stamina for take off. Would love to see a mount stamina kinda thing developed, with skills that influence how you can recover stamina while flying. Along with quests and pickups to level certain aspects of your mount. Stamina regen rate, flying low or diving steep to regain stamina, or just increasing your mount's total stamina. That really changed a flying mount from just a way from point a to point b, to minigame in itself with it's own skill building.

(3/5)

[Tankymctankface]

Random thoughts:
I hope devs and story writers have a broad layout of the story, the antagonists and a vague idea of where they'll come from, for about the next 25 years.... You don't want to write yourself into a corner 10 years from now, and end with.... "Oh, and then there was this race of Pandas...." Or, "Ummmm yeh.... You know Palpatine? Yeh, he's back...."

And a way to keep players coming back and spending time in starter towns so they don't become ghost towns as more and more new zones are added.

Narrator:
The voiced Narrator added in Heavenward is a very welcome addition! Really nice exposition from a 3rd person perspective. Really lends to the story.

Voice Acting for myself:
Can I please please please not be a mute that just lip flaps and nods during voiced cut scenes?! Give me a voice too!!!!

Sorry for the long read. Here's a potato

Edit:
Changed my mind after watching this video, and specifically the section around toxicity:
Asmongold on "15 Years of WoW vs 1 Year of FFXIV" | By Jesse Cox

(5/5)

[SophiaDL]

I will pick tiny snippets because most of this is just opinion, but some things need to be mentioned

But it really feels like Wow back in 2005

No it isnt, WoW was never an absolute cakewalk as FFXIV is, and the leveling even less. Are you sure you played vanilla ?

I also appreciate that the Novice Network is firstly moderated

No it isnt lmao, you just havent encountered the toxicity of it yet.

So no RMT spammers and such stuff

RMT is everywhere in this game, flying lalas, party finder spam, teleporting lalas, spamming low levels in Limsa, or trading gil to other players in busy mode.

[Carin-Eri]

Great summary, and thank you for sharing! There don't seem to have been too many new players posting about their experience of the game of late, so actually found it refreshing to read this!

[Tankymctankface]

Sorry Sophia... I should've put "feel" in CAPS.... Yeh, certainly did die alot more in Vanilla. The NPCs could certainly use a buff.
I meant more just the feel of the game. It is decidely different than the other MMOs I've played, and feels like Wow.... Hard to define.... Maybe it's just the amount of reading text again.... Maybe it's the tab targetting.... It just feels... wow-familiar, if that makes sense....
It is a bit too easy, granted.

I should also say... Retail wow, now, like a month ago... Also easy as pie (Leveling).... Nothing out there is Classic or rather Vanilla hard anymore....

[Jeeqbit]

I've only just finished the end credits

The end credits play after every base game and expansion, as well as at the .3 patches sometimes as well as at the .5 patches leading into the next expansion. So the credits play pretty often. It's not over because the game keeps going on.

submarine primal cut-scene of Heavensward.

Often previews the raid tier for the given expansion. That is probably what you saw. Most likely the Binding Coil raids. It's a good story. Easiest to do it unsynced where a level 90 helps you 1-shot all the bosses.

It could use more voiced cut scenes to make me feel progression.

This gets better with each expansion, but generally they have a lot of work to localize to many different languages and they have to bring forward some of the work for the voiced scenes that wouldn't normally be done in that order. They normally make changes right up until release, but once they voice it, it can't change, so they have to consider all these factors if they voice something.

Sidequests don't have the acting and that's unfortunate. I think they managed it in FF16 that recently released because they spent about 7 years on it, rather than 4 months to 2 years like with patches and expansions for this game.

Novice Network:
second invite only. So no RMT spammers and such stuff.

Used to get RMT spammers, which is why it got changed to be invite-only.

I'm not expecting the same on the forums though

Most people posting here are veteran players complaining about changes they didn't like, or burned out from those changes. There is a New Player forum that you can post in which is better.

it's probably worth redoing ARR voice acting and sound effects completely

They rarely revisit old content. They must focus on the new content because that is what makes people resubscribe to the game and makes them money. They did finally redo some ARR dungeons and add NPC support, but they can't focus on old stuff forever.

Everything could be a bit harder

Story content is easy as you say, because not everyone plays for hard content or just wants the story. They don't want people stuck halfway through trying to get to the current expansion, unable to progress.

Maybe a difficulty beyond Extreme

There is Savage, then Ultimate.

I just think Extreme (the little experience that I've had there

You probably did a direct queue and did it synced, which is not an authentic experience. You would have to do it Minimum Item Level and Silence Echo to experience something similar to what the difficulty was once like.

and Hard) are not really that hard.

Hard is not hard. Mistranslation or something.

I've played too many MMOs where flying happens too soon and you miss everything that was worked so hard on by the devs.

I appreciate this too. We get the on-foot experience at least once.

so you're not just always using your fastest mount.

Mounts all got the same speed, unless you got a mogstation mount and didn't get all the speed increases.

devs called for input on which features they can rather add to the base game to eliminate the need for addons.

Don't believe they asked us. They said they will just implement popular ones. They've already gone and investigated them and can see the popular ones.

My take on this has always been that any MMO should support add-ons.

Mods and add-ons will always exist for MMOs, whether allowed or not.

ACT for emnity or aggro management.

Shouldn't need this. The game indicates what you have aggro of with a red icon. Any other color means you lost it. When you target an enemy, the person with aggro has a red bar near their name and the person with second aggro has a yellow bar.

Party Icons

They implemented this.

I'm sure a lot of people here can remember the first iterations of Healbot in Wow.

Many people who play FFXIV have played WoW before. But not everyone.

I hope devs and story writers have a broad layout of the story, the antagonists and a vague idea of where they'll come from, for about the next 25 years....

They have for the last 10 years, so I think we're safe.

[SophiaDL]

Sorry Sophia... I should've put "feel" in CAPS.... Yeh, certainly did die alot more in Vanilla. The NPCs could certainly use a buff.
I meant more just the feel of the game. It is decidely different than the other MMOs I've played, and feels like Wow.... Hard to define.... Maybe it's just the amount of reading text again.... Maybe it's the tab targetting.... It just feels... wow-familiar, if that makes sense....
It is a bit too easy, granted.

No need to put feel in caps, was just saying that its mostly opinion which is normal, that's the point of the post, I'm just not understand the comparison from vanilla to FFXIV, FFXIV's leveling is an absolute cakewalk, the mobs hit like actual wet noodles, while vanilla had rough mobs that would kill you if you did a single mistake

Hell I remember when I leveled my main char, I could literally pull packs of 10 mobs and just aoe them down with a tiny tiny bit of kiting, that's why I'm not understanding the comparison

I guess if what you care about is the questing and stuff in itself I can understand, but combat wise it's like night and day really

[Tankymctankface]

I would also just say.... We tend to remember Vanilla harder than it was....
Who remembers the solo 60 prot warrior soloing ubrs?
watch?v=5oU9gQOiwlI

That's not the exact video I'm thinking of, but there was a lot of calls for prot warriors to be buffed because they were "hard to level", and a prot warrior posted a video similar to that, at the time....