Feedback from a new player

[Renathras]

...

Oh, one word of caution:

This game has a "don't ask, don't tell" perspective with add-ons. They're TECHNICALLY against the TOS, but people generally don't mind (and the Devs don't generally take action) as long as people aren't talking about it. So if you want to talk about those, I'd advise you do so on Reddit or Discords, but you MIGHT want to...modify...your 4/5 post to remove mention of any use of the things.

I don't know that they'd do anything to you over it here, but better safe than sorry.

It's really they don't want people running damage meters that they then use to insult and harass other players (you know the drill in WoW where the top DPSer in a random 5 man leveling dungeon tries to tell everyone else how bad everyone is for doing 1% less than them? That sort of thing), as well as prevent people getting unfair advantages in combat (like DeadlyBossMods; specifically, they don't want those things to become mandatory like they are in WoW, so they don't want them at all).

.

In general, you're fine using things like shader type things, just...don't talk about them on any official location (forums, in-game chat), if you get my meaning.

Personally, I don't use any, and I'm looking forward to 7.0 since it sounds like they're going to do a pretty major graphics overhaul/update. So I'm looking forward to that. Though I honestly like the game's graphics and visual style.

Anyway, just a...word of advice since you're new and all.

Again, glad you're having fun! Hope to see you out there somewhere. o/

EDIT:

Yeah nah, I aint a toxic positive like you are I am afraid, nor will I just stay quiet if I feel someone said something wrong, but hey, thanks for your input, not that it'll change anything as to what I think

I'm not "toxic positive" as I have critiques about the game all the time. Try again.

I just actually call out people lying or engaging in hyperbole. Like in your second post where you said making a single mistake while leveling in WoW would mean death. That's completely wrong. If you leveled a tank - ANY tank - you could pull multiple enemies easily as long as you weren't in overworld dungeons (the open world areas with all elite mobs). A Prot/Holy Paladin hybrid could pull entire ZONES. I routinely would pull 10-15 enemies. When BC hit and I went to Hellfire, I pulled tons of those boars and vultures. Between Consecration, Seal of Light/Wisdom, Judgement, and Holy Light, I was borderline unkillable.

I also leveled Priest, and while I died FAR more often, I could take any at-level enemy one-on-one making plenty of mistakes and survive. I could actually fight and kill up to 3-4 enemies (depending on enemy), it just took more resources and meant more downtime to eat/drink after the battle.

So this idea that Vanilla was EVERQUEST (it wasn't) is just rose tinted goggles.

I'm calling you out on entering a thread of a new player to tell them how bad the game is and that some other game is better, and being wrong about the specific points you mentioned.

I'll note you didn't contest me pointing out that Vanilla's combat was cake compared to FFXIV's, so I will mark that down as you conceding the point. Compare Molten Core to Coils or even Crystal Tower and it's no contest that FFXIV ARR was harder in both mechanics and class rotations. Even after WoW increased the debuff cap (so Hunters could actually use some of their abilities), a lot of classes were still what the negative nancies here would call braindead. Hell, Holy Paladin in Wrath was "Beacon the Off-Tank, target the Main Tank, Cast Holy Light, repeat Holy Light cast for 10 minutes, using Judgement of Light on CD if there weren't already 2 Paladins in the Raid." There's no reality in which that's more complex than modern FFXIV healers.

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Point is, Vanilla WoW had a better/more immersive world, but wasn't harder in any realistic sense unless you were a really bad player (and even then, if you were playing a tank, it still didn't matter).

[Tankymctankface]

Oh, one word of caution:

This game has a "don't ask, don't tell" perspective with add-ons. They're TECHNICALLY against the TOS, but people generally don't mind (and the Devs don't generally take action) as long as people aren't talking about it.

Again, glad you're having fun! Hope to see you out there somewhere. o/

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

[Kacho_Nacho]

Welcome to the game!

[Noumenon]

Add-ons:
I've seen the youtube video about the world first kill and the controvesy around add-ons, since the game does not support it. I also saw a yt creator mention that devs called for input on which features they can rather add to the base game to eliminate the need for addons.
My take on this has always been that any MMO should support add-ons. It allows for the customization that you can never achieve by trying to add a feature or features that will satisfy everyone. I play with a client that is strictly speaking very much against the TOS, and I'm definitely not ashamed of it, nor am I worried about getting my account suspended or banned. There are a lot of other MMOs and games out there that will gladly accept my money.
I run a reshade firstly, to make the game more vibrant. So I run a couple of plugins that increase vibrancy and over-saturates the colours a bit, along with some plugins that remove the white haze, and adds clarity and definition.
Then, I run the 4k texture pack. That alone currently stands at 372Gb worth of modification.
Then, just about every nsfw add-on I can find. It's how I prefer to play. Over the top boob sliders, the npc dancers in uldah are topless, my own character is anatomically correct when naked. Bust multipliers beyond the body replacements. Breast physics jigglers to the extreme etc etc.
I prefer a square minimap over the round one.
ACT for emnity or aggro management.
Hunty, because on one of the mobs the ingame description of where to find it is wrong.
Death Recap so I can figure out why I got 1 shotted
GatherBuddy
Globetrotter
Item Vendor Location
Market board
Party Icons
Male Paladin idle pose for female Paladin
and Simple Tweaks

(4/5)

Why exactly did you post this? I would strongly suggest you delete this before you get in trouble.

[Noumenon]

Thanks, but I did do that deliberately. I don't talk about it ingame as my FC advised, but I do want to force the topic here. It should be discussed openly. And as I said, I'm new, there's not much to lose if they decide to ban me. I can always sign up again and start from scratch or simply move on to something like Sand Land or something. There's lots out there. I love XIV, but I won't have a sword held over my head.

And I certainly do understand the down sides of mods, as you point out. But the customization they offer, that's not on "that" end of the 1%'ers and the must have etc etc, is still a discussion owrth having.... I mean, looking at something like Eve... The amount of setup you have to do just for mandatory mumble set up, and lots of "must have discord", "must have mic" really makes the no-to-add-ons point moot. Not to mention that a bad tank does not need numbers for others to see I'm a bad tank... Or not prepared, didn't watch the yt video etc etc.... There are lots of "must haves" out there for any game. I just don't think one should single out add-ons because it's the lowest hanging fruit.

You can discuss it on Reddit or X. Discussing it here is asking for trouble.

[Carin-Eri]

Welcome to the game!

Off-topic, but nonetheless - I *love* your signature!

[Noumenon]

Thanks, but I don't have any social media beyond Whatsapp...

You should be aware that they will ban users based on external evidence (Twitch VODs, Twitter posts, and so on) of mldding if enough people report.

[CerusSerenade]

Thanks, but I did do that deliberately. I don't talk about it ingame as my FC advised, but I do want to force the topic here. It should be discussed openly. And as I said, I'm new, there's not much to lose if they decide to ban me. I can always sign up again and start from scratch or simply move on to something like Sand Land or something. There's lots out there. I love XIV, but I won't have a sword held over my head.

And I certainly do understand the down sides of mods, as you point out. But the customization they offer, that's not on "that" end of the 1%'ers and the must have etc etc, is still a discussion owrth having.... I mean, looking at something like Eve... The amount of setup you have to do just for mandatory mumble set up, and lots of "must have discord", "must have mic" really makes the no-to-add-ons point moot. Not to mention that a bad tank does not need numbers for others to see I'm a bad tank... Or not prepared, didn't watch the yt video etc etc.... There are lots of "must haves" out there for any game. I just don't think one should single out add-ons because it's the lowest hanging fruit.

It has been "forced " before and was met with a hard bans, they have been over this. Their stance is immovable on the matter since if they endorsed a mod, if the mod maker ever did something malicious, which some have, they would be held responsible legally and in the eyes of the players. They just can't endorse mods period. You flagrantly saying you use addons is just begging to get yourself banned to maintain fairness across enforcement, and there will be no discussion on the matter.

I get you want to have a discussion about it, but you're doing the equivalent of setting yourself on fire to talk to a brick wall.

[caffe_macchiato]

the game, producer and moderators have said its "dont ask, dont tell", there is zero official support for mods,. there have been several mod related threads on the forums... but you do not name the mods. period. can discuss them all you wish, just no naming. you have people on both sides as you will find. after years of WoW I found the attitude towards no mods great, since it meant I could play the day something dropped, without waiting for some mod to update. obviously mileage varies, and some people find they cannot play without them.

He or she isn't going to listen. FFXIV has changed and most people no longer see it as "that MMO without mods". Instead, they see it as "the MMO with mods". It's gotten to the point where new players (assuming this isn't a troll) openly advocate for breaking the ToS, as that's now the way to play the game. And, of course, Square Enix isn't going to do anything about it. FFXIV is just their cash cow, they lose nothing and gain everything. And many people in the FFXIV community will defend it.

Oh sure, it's sweet to see new people enjoy the game. Until you realize that their game isn't your game. They want add-ons to infiltrate. They want FFXIV to turn into an open-air brothel. They want less content so they can play other games instead. And Square Enix depends on their naivety to replenish the player base after so many long-time subscribers are leaving.

[Kacho_Nacho]

Off-topic, but nonetheless - I *love* your signature!

Thank you, Carin-Eri!