Sometimes I think about playing another MMO, but then I think

[Lunaxia]

I play(ed) FFXIV because I was a fan of the series more than actual MMOs and thought it might be fun to try a FF game that actually has other people involved that are also fans of the games. MMOs always felt like a waste of time and attracted the kinds of gamers I'd rather avoid, and in my naivety I thought a FF version might be a little different. I guess I was somewhat right considering what I've heard people say about how other gaming communities compare, but not as much as I hoped, lol. Still, the notion that FFXIV is meant to be one of the better games when it comes to that sort of thing is enough to put me off trying any other entirely.

[Eastwall]

just try them out man. I also play guild wars 2. Your own character talks with voice acting. That alone makes its story more enjoyable than this game for me. And That game has no sub And no vertical progression. Thus no gear grind. Perfect secondary mmo for me.

[Evergrey]

just try them out man. I also play guild wars 2. Your own character talks with voice acting. That alone makes its story more enjoyable than this game for me. And That game has no sub And no vertical progression. Thus no gear grind. Perfect secondary mmo for me.

I also tend to jump between GW2 and also ESO, Both have no sub (ESO has an optional sub if you'd like tho) so they are perfect like you said as secondary MMOs.
Easy to put to the side for some time and can log back in at any time.
And both have horizontal progression so even if I don't play for a long time I can still jump in and comfortably play newer content.

ESO also lets you glamour/transmog any armor type on any character, no class restriction.
Something I always think of when I see people asking for the same system in FFXIV.

[Nebelheim]

There isn't anything wrong with trying out other mmo's if you need a break there are plenty of fun games to try out until you decide to come back.

[Local_Custard]

I personally don't usually look into other MMOs. I have anxiety and often scrutinize my own performance and worry if I hold other people back (so if I run into a group of people who don't particularly like how I play I often have a bad time). If I were to research another MMO I would likely want to look into their community among other things. Also, ffxiv is one of the only (or maybe the only) MMOs I know of that let me be a catboy. I guess it is also that I am normally a single player game kinda guy and ffxiv mostly lets me do that- tho I'm unsure if other MMOs let you do that or not (again I haven't researched any other MMO yet). I'm unsure if I am loyal to this game or not- I do know I am attached to it by the very least and has been a hyperfixation of mine for over a year.

Anyways, there are probably other great MMOs out there. Each one is like a different flavor and ffxiv is a particular flavor. I'm sure there is one out there that could work well with you! Or maybe one that appears in the future

[Gameovers]

I can't play other mmos because FFXIV lets me not only live in a house or APT. I get to USE the beds. Like actual sleep, and it doesn't auto log me out if I want to sleep while I sleep in real life. - Until the new expansion hits and we all get logout timers.-

[Turtledeluxe]

Being able to play every job on one character is nice but being punished for doing it on multiple characters is not fine.

Devs in this game listen to some players, not all players.

This game has a sub, which is aggressive monetization, as it barely pushes out enough content to sub for months. If housing wasn't a thing I would not sub 70% of the time.

Other MMOs have cons but feel like a breath of fresh air compared to XIV in other ways.

[Nihility]

honestly for me it's just this or WoW and all the free to play ones which i find tend to just be aggressively bad about needling you constantly and have substantially more rmt crap going on in the chats and bots wrecking the economy and whatnot

Just don't want to deal with it anymore

[Rolder50]

honestly for me it's just this or WoW and all the free to play ones which i find tend to just be aggressively bad about needling you constantly and have substantially more rmt crap going on in the chats and bots wrecking the economy and whatnot

Just don't want to deal with it anymore

Bots wreck the economy in FF14 too, it's just harder to see because gil is more or less worthless