WoW to FFXIV transition guide..

[Keres]

Get a controller. If you try to play it like wow, it won't work. You have to play it like ff7-10. When I went to xi from eq back int he day, i struggled for a long time with the controls. THen my friend gave me a controller and said "pretend it's ff7" and BAM, right away the controls were perfect and easy to navigate.

Movement, I agree. Combat, though, I think is far more difficult with a controller.

In particular, selecting skills on the action bar by hitting LEFT LEFT LEFT LEFT LEFT LEFT SELECT RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT SELECT UP SELECT DOWN LEFT LEFT LEFT SELECT is really frustrating to me when I can just hit a few number keys instead.

From my own perspective as an ex-WoW player, I think the things that will take the most adjustment for people making the transition are:

1. Controls (stiffness of mouselook, buying/selling things, the overall menu-based interface)

2. Pace of combat (there's a slight delay before any action you select is executed, you can't move while performing an action, things are slower-paced in general)

3. Leveling experience (far more mob-grind-focused than story-driven in general, far less variety in the things that you do and far more combat-focused from 1 to 50)

All of these things (except perhaps #2) are likely to change in 2.0, though.

[Valantrix]

I think is all really good info and I certainly appreciate the positive feedback. Any other advice from past WoW players or games with similar controls/play style, dont be afraid to chime in with your own frustrations that you felt and how you overcame them!

Thanks,
Valantrix

[Soukyuu]

Movement, I agree. Combat, though, I think is far more difficult with a controller.

It's not. It's just different.

In particular, selecting skills on the action bar by hitting LEFT LEFT LEFT LEFT LEFT LEFT SELECT RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT SELECT UP SELECT DOWN LEFT LEFT LEFT SELECT is really frustrating to me when I can just hit a few number keys instead.

Optimize you skill layout and you won't have to do it too often.
Animation lock is negating any advantage keyboard is giving you, except for having more free time.

[Keres]

It's not. It's just different.

Optimize you skill layout and you won't have to do it too often.

Entirely possible. I just know that for me, personally, I had a hard/frustrating time doing combat with a gamepad when I played that way. Not everyone may have those issues.

[Skies]

It's not. It's just different.

Optimize you skill layout and you won't have to do it too often.
Animation lock is negating any advantage keyboard is giving you, except for having more free time.

That is really, really a matter of prefference. My friends all play on controllers (one of them plays exclusively with the keyboard, no mouse) and it's kind of a worn out joke of mine saying something about controllers being bad.
In the end it really only matters regarding what the person is used to, I personally use a nostromo keypad and my mouse, move through the actions bars with the scrolling wheel, select actions with the mouse and that stuff. It's not about gaining performance, it's simply about what feels more comforable on my hands.

[Soukyuu]

That is really, really a matter of prefference.

Yes, in the end it is.

It's not about gaining performance, it's simply about what feels more comforable on my hands.

There are a few people who insist on gamepad players being subpar compared to keyboard players actually. So before we go either way with this, let's just say "try both, decide what is better for you".

I don't know why U'ldah is immune from this but it's the real reason people center there.

Ul'dah has multiple servers for each subarea, while Gridania and Limsa only have one server per subarea. Maybe SE even reduced server number for Grid & Limsa in favor of Uldah.