I am not sure if you seriously want to know but I will give you my own experiences.
I left Wildstar as I could not heal well in that game due to the fact that the action combat was too much for me. I wanted to play my old character in FFXIV ARR but my son who took my account refused to yield it up so I ended up buying another copy of the game and I hit level 50 on my Whie Mage a week ago. It took may be about 6 weeks just levelling up the Conjurer with a side dish of Arcanist and Thaumaturge for the skills.
The thing that struck me most about this game are the dungeons. They grow in complexity and personal difficulty in performance as you go higher. Some dungeons you really have to all perform well. Not just the tank or healer but even the DPS or you wipe constantly. Now I am getting to the more difficult encounters the game is getting more interesting and challenging and I am learning to play my healer as I make mistakes. That is what earning the gear and the constant chase for better gear is about but if you don't like this aspect then the game will hold little for you.
The quest like most quests need you to read them if you do not bother to read them then you are not qualified to comment on their quality.
I keep resubbing for a month playing for 2 days then unsubbing, I have done this 4 times now. The game is just really boring to me. For starters there is no openness to the world at all, everything is heavily instanced, which just really kills the immersion aspect for me.
The quests make you just want to click through without reading, the animations for quests don't match the words, and there are no voiceovers at all.
Lastly, the combat! It feels like I am waiting to do things between attacks.
I will say that the scenery is pretty and the music is good but that's about all this game has going for it in my opinion.
Reading this really made my brain hurt, look, you obviously like MMO's that's why you frequent a site dedicated to them, but understand that MMO's offer something different to different people. You do not HAVE to like every single one of them, all you have to do is find the one you DO like and get invested.
FF14 has had a very successful reboot with more subs than they ever hoped for, with quarterly updates that would rival some other games expansion packs.
Now, to answer your questions -
The game is a theme park, not a sandbox. What this typically means is that the game is instanced, but allows more stylized environments. FF14 1.0 was open but had horrible environments, goodness that was bad. Personally, it does not bother me if its instanced, it does not break immersion for me because the story and characters are good. As such, if it breaks immersion for you, then I would go under the impression that you are just not enjoying the game as much.
No, the quests do not make me want to click through them, they are written well and the characters are interesting, their stories also grow through the world making it feel more alive. The problem here is you just don't like to read, that in itself is fine, that's your preference but Voice acting on everything does not make the experience better nor do it always enhance the quality. Only one MMO come to mind that have excellent voice acting in an MMO the first is TSW, the rest are kind rubbish. Take SWTOR for example, main story voice acting is wonderful, side quest and other missions are flat, boring and just plain tedious to listen to. In honest so is ESO, that voice acting is always a bit hit and miss.
The combat is different, the lower level you are the less things you have to do, give it a bit and paths open up to you. Combat becomes quite frantic, with positioning and tactics, you'll be grateful for the slower pace and it makes combat feel more enjoyable rather than a clusterfuck of button mashing. Do I really need to hit 1, 2 and 3 over and over again in 4 seconds to feel engaged in combat? No, I do not. If you do, that's fine but if that is the case something like TERA or Neverwinter MMO might suit you best. In fact Neverwinter MMO has quite player made content I would recommend you check out anyhow.
Lastly, your opinion is noted. But, why waste your time with it on a game you do not enjoy but others do? I don't like ESO but I know others do and considering everyone is always looking for a new MMO home, who am I to berate their game if its what they are looking for.
As a recommendation to you, I think you might want to give ESO a go, voice acting, open world (kinda) and faster paced combat.
I can see how you look at the game because i have played every game from every angle and understand how other gamer's view and think of gaming.
IMO you are not a slower paced player,you prefer fast arcade type combat ,i personally detest that as it leads more towards spam and LESS thinking.
However in saying that ,the FFXIV combat system was rushed and although they made tons of effort to revamp and improve the game ,the core combat system was never improved and also the reason why i unsubbed.
There is more to it than that of course,one reason alone doesn't make me unsub.
However the base design of combat being slower is imo always better,it allows for reaction then reaction type combat,again this is much more intuitive "IF done right".That is why to this day FFXI combat design is imo by miles the best and yet even that design had tons of room for improvement but Square went to sleep on improving.The reason is simple developers seldom look back,all they do is make new content to keep the max level players coming back and that is another sad thing about developers.
I will say this in closing,Square "not approved by me" has decided to aim closer to a WOW audience,less thinking,easier combat,easier to access game,can't really blame them as a business.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
In light of that, we are not grinding for items that will help us with getting to future content because we can't even get in to do the current content. For a lot of people, all that is left in the game is to grind items for the sake of items.
Yeah, and you know what's disturbing? You calling this kind of activity something of "value". Not surprisingly, according to you the content with "value" is also the content which enables you to get the items you "need" marginally the fastest.
Sensible people know to actually quit the game when it doesn't offer them anything of real value. What are those items doing for you exactly?
In this post there is a hint to "a lot of people". I would like to say that most people actually quit the game if they find themselves in your position, at least until their problem gets fixed. I do hope that you will someday find the strength in yourself to be able to pull off the same.
Right now, you are enabling SE.
Right now SE is losing players hands down. The PC gamer populace is slowly trading places with the PS4 populace and even some of them are leaving.
But claiming that a single human being out of millions enables SE with his subscription is laughable, arrogant, and just a tad annoying. Your post can be summed up as a very roundabout way of saying "quit the game already if you hate it."
Also, you frame it as though its a way to get back at SE, and that would be the last reason in the world I would cancel a subscription. Two things: I'm not that kind of passive-aggressive SOB and corporations do not have feelings to hurt rendering such a petty action pointless.
And why go all passive aggressive? I merely stated my own opinion and observations. You, on the other hand, decided to take pot shots at me, which I do not appreciate. You took something that was impersonal and decided to make it personal. There is an agenda here and I'm not entirely sure what it is, because people responding like how you are can be doing it for a variety of reasons.
That isn't an opening for you to continue talking to me, by the way. I'm done reading what you have to say.
I keep resubbing for a month playing for 2 days then unsubbing, I have done this 4 times now. The game is just really boring to me. For starters there is no openness to the world at all, everything is heavily instanced, which just really kills the immersion aspect for me.
The quests make you just want to click through without reading, the animations for quests don't match the words, and there are no voiceovers at all.
Lastly, the combat! It feels like I am waiting to do things between attacks.
I will say that the scenery is pretty and the music is good but that's about all this game has going for it in my opinion.
Well it is very simple answer. People who enjoy it know it is a final fantasy game and they accept it for what it is. You have to be a fan of FF to really enjoy this game.
Yes it has small shoe box sized zones, exploration is next to none..but it does what it does well. provide regular content so that people don't sit on their ass twidling thumbs wondering what to do at end game.
Again, f you are big into exploration adventure type player who likes to explore and such you won't enjoy this game. Maps are small and riddled with invisible walls.
But if you enjoy a good storyline in FF settings and plenty of content to keep you busy then you are right at home.
In light of that, we are not grinding for items that will help us with getting to future content because we can't even get in to do the current content. For a lot of people, all that is left in the game is to grind items for the sake of items.
Yeah, and you know what's disturbing? You calling this kind of activity something of "value". Not surprisingly, according to you the content with "value" is also the content which enables you to get the items you "need" marginally the fastest.
Sensible people know to actually quit the game when it doesn't offer them anything of real value. What are those items doing for you exactly?
In this post there is a hint to "a lot of people". I would like to say that most people actually quit the game if they find themselves in your position, at least until their problem gets fixed. I do hope that you will someday find the strength in yourself to be able to pull off the same.
Right now, you are enabling SE.
Right now SE is losing players hands down. The PC gamer populace is slowly trading places with the PS4 populace and even some of them are leaving.
But claiming that a single human being out of millions enables SE with his subscription is laughable, arrogant, and just a tad annoying. Your post can be summed up as a very roundabout way of saying "quit the game already if you hate it."
Also, you frame it as though its a way to get back at SE, and that would be the last reason in the world I would cancel a subscription. Two things: I'm not that kind of passive-aggressive SOB and corporations do not have feelings to hurt rendering such a petty action pointless.
And why go all passive aggressive? I merely stated my own opinion and observations. You, on the other hand, decided to take pot shots at me, which I do not appreciate. You took something that was impersonal and decided to make it personal. There is an agenda here and I'm not entirely sure what it is, because people responding like how you are can be doing it for a variety of reasons.
That isn't an opening for you to continue talking to me, by the way. I'm done reading what you have to say.
You're not alone and you know it. Thus, when I say "you are enabling SE" I don't mean only you in specific. That this needs to be explicitly mentioned is rather sad, although it's nothing but circling around the real issue which is understandable.
I frame it as nothing but that which you do once the game doesn't offer you enough real value. Getting back at SE? You made that up, not me. I would never consider you that petty a person. Again we are circling around the real issue which is that you and other people like you seem to play a game that no longer gives you any real value. Again, I'm talking about a group of people and not just you specifically.
You should honestly try to listen once in a while instead of reflecting your issue towards me. I don't appreciate that either. I'm here to help.
Once again: what are those items doing for you exactly? What is the "value" when you clearly dislike/are not interested in the actual gameplay (Hunts aren't exactly the epitome of ARR gameplay)?
You will read this post, but there is no need to answer. We don't have to circle around the issue any longer.
Using LOL is like saying "my argument sucks but I still want to disagree".
Well, the major problem with Final Fantasy XIV is that the 1-50 game works great minus a somewhat slow start, but the end game is as broken as it can get thanks to a design team that has no idea what their player base really wants. I haven't seen something this bad in a long time and they keep making more impenetrable content each major patch such as Ramuh EX and the Binding Coil. Then they brought hunts in, which are broken in the same way wizards and other spell casters are broken in the new 5th edition of Dungeons and Dragons.
Basically, D&D 5th ed. has it so spell casters can't cast spells when wearing armor if they lack the proficiency, but without armor the survival rate if someone gets into melee combat is pretty low. So, they can either take an armor proficiency at 3rd level... or they can just take one level of fighter and get all the proficiencies they need. (That and the cantrip spell damage is pretty high).
Hunts are sort of like that in that there's a really high cap on hunting seals and you can get sands of time and oils of time to upgrade armor to 110. On top of that, players also get soldiery and myth from doing hunts, which are the current end game currency for armor, trinkets, and weapons. So, people can muck around in ST or dungeons for currency and i80-i100 loot, or they can spend their time grinding their proverbial asses off on hunts 24/7 until they max their seals and get all of the oil and sand they need. Basically it renders all other content in the game pointless.
Well, the major problem with Final Fantasy XIV is that the 1-50 game works great minus a somewhat slow start, but the end game is as broken as it can get thanks to a design team that has no idea what their player base really wants. I haven't seen something this bad in a long time and they keep making more impenetrable content each major patch such as Ramuh EX and the Binding Coil. Then they brought hunts in, which are broken in the same way wizards and other spell casters are broken in the new 5th edition of Dungeons and Dragons.
Basically, D&D 5th ed. has it so spell casters can't cast spells when wearing armor if they lack the proficiency, but without armor the survival rate if someone gets into melee combat is pretty low. So, they can either take an armor proficiency at 3rd level... or they can just take one level of fighter and get all the proficiencies they need. (That and the cantrip spell damage is pretty high).
Hunts are sort of like that in that there's a really high cap on hunting seals and you can get sands of time and oils of time to upgrade armor to 110. On top of that, players also get soldiery and myth from doing hunts, which are the current end game currency for armor, trinkets, and weapons. So, people can muck around in ST or dungeons for currency and i80-i100 loot, or they can spend their time grinding their proverbial asses off on hunts 24/7 until they max their seals and get all of the oil and sand they need. Basically it renders all other content in the game pointless.
Well I think end game does pretty well for what it is Personally. I think new end game content should be challenging when first implemented. It's true they made a mistake putting hunts in the game at the beginning but they balanced it pretty well thanks to patch 2.35. Also plenty of people run dungeons and coil because of glamour, money, tombs, and last but not least because they dislike hunts in general. I don't think it renders all other content useless because there is lots of content that has nothing to do with gearing up. Even if we were just talking about the content you gear up with it still wouldn't to me because I would get bored doing nothing but that every day I got on, so I do a little bit of everything.
I think saying the game is "broken" is going a bit overboard. It would be better to say the end game is not as ideal as the leveling experience is (although I do think it starts just a tad too simple, so its kind of a bonsai tree design). Hunts are not an issue. If anything they are finally putting activities into the game that can be considered "massively multiplayer."
If we are to look at FFXIV:ARR as a rushed redesign of a floundering game, then FFXIV:ARR does splendidly. If anything it is better in terms of presentation than the vast majority of its competitors and does change things up a little by means of a class system with cross class skills. I'm going to venture a bold guess that they probably are going the EQN route with cross-class skills which will become apparent in the expansion.
As for the game as it is for the moment, it is a beautiful yet rickety boat. It sails just fine, but many of its jury-rigged design features leave passengers never completely comfortable with the trip. I think its kind of water torture effect, where some small and innocuous imperfection can become a major annoyance if the player keeps exposing himself to it. New MMORPGs invariably have more rough edges than established ones.
Mind you, this isn't an attempt to shirk off the concerns of players. Rather, consider this an endorsement of the idea that polishing an MMORPG is just as important to preserving its health in the long run as waxing a car.
I keep resubbing for a month playing for 2 days then unsubbing, I have done this 4 times now. The game is just really boring to me. For starters there is no openness to the world at all, everything is heavily instanced, which just really kills the immersion aspect for me.
The quests make you just want to click through without reading, the animations for quests don't match the words, and there are no voiceovers at all.
Lastly, the combat! It feels like I am waiting to do things between attacks.
I will say that the scenery is pretty and the music is good but that's about all this game has going for it in my opinion.
honestly, it sounds like u should just stop trying. im a huge fan of this game. i love it. Its very popular also. So maybe its just not for you bro.
Well, the major problem with Final Fantasy XIV is that the 1-50 game works great minus a somewhat slow start, but the end game is as broken as it can get thanks to a design team that has no idea what their player base really wants. I haven't seen something this bad in a long time and they keep making more impenetrable content each major patch such as Ramuh EX and the Binding Coil. Then they brought hunts in, which are broken in the same way wizards and other spell casters are broken in the new 5th edition of Dungeons and Dragons.
Basically, D&D 5th ed. has it so spell casters can't cast spells when wearing armor if they lack the proficiency, but without armor the survival rate if someone gets into melee combat is pretty low. So, they can either take an armor proficiency at 3rd level... or they can just take one level of fighter and get all the proficiencies they need. (That and the cantrip spell damage is pretty high).
Hunts are sort of like that in that there's a really high cap on hunting seals and you can get sands of time and oils of time to upgrade armor to 110. On top of that, players also get soldiery and myth from doing hunts, which are the current end game currency for armor, trinkets, and weapons. So, people can muck around in ST or dungeons for currency and i80-i100 loot, or they can spend their time grinding their proverbial asses off on hunts 24/7 until they max their seals and get all of the oil and sand they need. Basically it renders all other content in the game pointless.
If only having gear earned through soldiery mattered as much as you say it does. There is a common saying in the game: "iLvl is not a stat". Why? Because iLvl doesnt determine which stats a piece of equipment has on it and it certainly doesnt mean you're getting useful stats for your class. A LOT of the soldiery gear has somewhat useless stats on it compared to alternatives which actually require work, like drops from 2nd Coil. Most classes only find a few of the pieces actually useful.
As a bard for example, there will only be 1 piece of armor that is actually beneficial, 1 piece that is negligible (literally a 3 stat point difference), and 2 accessories that are good to have. So really only 3, with an optional 4th, pieces out of 10 that actually give you any sort of optimal stats while the rest actually gimp you quite a bit and you are actually better off with either coil drops or lower level gear (ST drops and Myth gear) instead.
My final Bard build at the moment will only actually put me at iLvl 105/106, yet I will have far superior overall stats and damage for a Bard (Crit, Determination, and Accuracy cap for T9) over someone who is rocking iLvl 110 and is loaded with a bunch of skill speed and much lower crit and det than me because they went for the soldiery gear.
Similar situations apply to pretty much every class. Basically, the majority of soldiery is 2nd rate / welfare gear to make people feel special for having a high iLvl when in reality they have crap stats. On average only 3-5 pieces are actually the best to have. The rest might be used as a stepping stone until you get coil gear, but even so it is still limited by weekly caps and still requires you to spend quite a few weeks to get it all no matter how much hunting you do. You're only going to pulling in 1 piece every 1-2 weeks so even going full soldiery would still take you a couple of months to get. That's not even counting the extra 3 weeks worth of soldiery it will take you to get your weathered / unweathered weapon if you go for that instead of novus, and again that only gives you a 2nd rate piece of equipment to use while working towards the novus.
FFX is not for everyone, i was like you years ago, starting in FFXI, i heard the game was good, and how it needed so much team work for the raids, etc
then i bought the edition where you get 4 of the expansion, i think it was back in 2008 or 2009, it was the Ahn Ughart expansion, if i remember, i played it for 2 days, and i decided it wasnt for me, but i loved the world and graphic..
so i kept coming back to force my way to like the game, but no matter what i couldn't. so i quit after a week, then after, once in a while, i would watch a stream of people playing it, whenever i see them play, its so fun, but i just couldnt enjoy it myself
so i concluded that, it just not my MMO, i would suggest that you stop trying, if you have been coming back and out 4 times in a row and still couldnt find it fun, forget about FF, save your money and play something else, so many recent good games like Destiny and Landmark
Well, the major problem with Final Fantasy XIV is that the 1-50 game works great minus a somewhat slow start, but the end game is as broken as it can get thanks to a design team that has no idea what their player base really wants. I haven't seen something this bad in a long time and they keep making more impenetrable content each major patch such as Ramuh EX and the Binding Coil. Then they brought hunts in, which are broken in the same way wizards and other spell casters are broken in the new 5th edition of Dungeons and Dragons.
Basically, D&D 5th ed. has it so spell casters can't cast spells when wearing armor if they lack the proficiency, but without armor the survival rate if someone gets into melee combat is pretty low. So, they can either take an armor proficiency at 3rd level... or they can just take one level of fighter and get all the proficiencies they need. (That and the cantrip spell damage is pretty high).
Hunts are sort of like that in that there's a really high cap on hunting seals and you can get sands of time and oils of time to upgrade armor to 110. On top of that, players also get soldiery and myth from doing hunts, which are the current end game currency for armor, trinkets, and weapons. So, people can muck around in ST or dungeons for currency and i80-i100 loot, or they can spend their time grinding their proverbial asses off on hunts 24/7 until they max their seals and get all of the oil and sand they need. Basically it renders all other content in the game pointless.
Well I think end game does pretty well for what it is Personally. I think new end game content should be challenging when first implemented. It's true they made a mistake putting hunts in the game at the beginning but they balanced it pretty well thanks to patch 2.35. Also plenty of people run dungeons and coil because of glamour, money, tombs, and last but not least because they dislike hunts in general. I don't think it renders all other content useless because there is lots of content that has nothing to do with gearing up. Even if we were just talking about the content you gear up with it still wouldn't to me because I would get bored doing nothing but that every day I got on, so I do a little bit of everything.
I think saying the game is "broken" is going a bit overboard. It would be better to say the end game is not as ideal as the leveling experience is (although I do think it starts just a tad too simple, so its kind of a bonsai tree design). Hunts are not an issue. If anything they are finally putting activities into the game that can be considered "massively multiplayer."
If we are to look at FFXIV:ARR as a rushed redesign of a floundering game, then FFXIV:ARR does splendidly. If anything it is better in terms of presentation than the vast majority of its competitors and does change things up a little by means of a class system with cross class skills. I'm going to venture a bold guess that they probably are going the EQN route with cross-class skills which will become apparent in the expansion.
As for the game as it is for the moment, it is a beautiful yet rickety boat. It sails just fine, but many of its jury-rigged design features leave passengers never completely comfortable with the trip. I think its kind of water torture effect, where some small and innocuous imperfection can become a major annoyance if the player keeps exposing himself to it. New MMORPGs invariably have more rough edges than established ones.
Mind you, this isn't an attempt to shirk off the concerns of players. Rather, consider this an endorsement of the idea that polishing an MMORPG is just as important to preserving its health in the long run as waxing a car.
Well, broken doesn't mean it isn't enjoyable. Personally I like it when games are a bit asymmetrical, even if unintentionally so.
Comments
I am not sure if you seriously want to know but I will give you my own experiences.
I left Wildstar as I could not heal well in that game due to the fact that the action combat was too much for me. I wanted to play my old character in FFXIV ARR but my son who took my account refused to yield it up so I ended up buying another copy of the game and I hit level 50 on my Whie Mage a week ago. It took may be about 6 weeks just levelling up the Conjurer with a side dish of Arcanist and Thaumaturge for the skills.
The thing that struck me most about this game are the dungeons. They grow in complexity and personal difficulty in performance as you go higher. Some dungeons you really have to all perform well. Not just the tank or healer but even the DPS or you wipe constantly. Now I am getting to the more difficult encounters the game is getting more interesting and challenging and I am learning to play my healer as I make mistakes. That is what earning the gear and the constant chase for better gear is about but if you don't like this aspect then the game will hold little for you.
The quest like most quests need you to read them if you do not bother to read them then you are not qualified to comment on their quality.
Reading this really made my brain hurt, look, you obviously like MMO's that's why you frequent a site dedicated to them, but understand that MMO's offer something different to different people. You do not HAVE to like every single one of them, all you have to do is find the one you DO like and get invested.
FF14 has had a very successful reboot with more subs than they ever hoped for, with quarterly updates that would rival some other games expansion packs.
Now, to answer your questions -
The game is a theme park, not a sandbox. What this typically means is that the game is instanced, but allows more stylized environments. FF14 1.0 was open but had horrible environments, goodness that was bad. Personally, it does not bother me if its instanced, it does not break immersion for me because the story and characters are good. As such, if it breaks immersion for you, then I would go under the impression that you are just not enjoying the game as much.
No, the quests do not make me want to click through them, they are written well and the characters are interesting, their stories also grow through the world making it feel more alive. The problem here is you just don't like to read, that in itself is fine, that's your preference but Voice acting on everything does not make the experience better nor do it always enhance the quality. Only one MMO come to mind that have excellent voice acting in an MMO the first is TSW, the rest are kind rubbish. Take SWTOR for example, main story voice acting is wonderful, side quest and other missions are flat, boring and just plain tedious to listen to. In honest so is ESO, that voice acting is always a bit hit and miss.
The combat is different, the lower level you are the less things you have to do, give it a bit and paths open up to you. Combat becomes quite frantic, with positioning and tactics, you'll be grateful for the slower pace and it makes combat feel more enjoyable rather than a clusterfuck of button mashing. Do I really need to hit 1, 2 and 3 over and over again in 4 seconds to feel engaged in combat? No, I do not. If you do, that's fine but if that is the case something like TERA or Neverwinter MMO might suit you best. In fact Neverwinter MMO has quite player made content I would recommend you check out anyhow.
Lastly, your opinion is noted. But, why waste your time with it on a game you do not enjoy but others do? I don't like ESO but I know others do and considering everyone is always looking for a new MMO home, who am I to berate their game if its what they are looking for.
As a recommendation to you, I think you might want to give ESO a go, voice acting, open world (kinda) and faster paced combat.
@op...
I can see how you look at the game because i have played every game from every angle and understand how other gamer's view and think of gaming.
IMO you are not a slower paced player,you prefer fast arcade type combat ,i personally detest that as it leads more towards spam and LESS thinking.
However in saying that ,the FFXIV combat system was rushed and although they made tons of effort to revamp and improve the game ,the core combat system was never improved and also the reason why i unsubbed.
There is more to it than that of course,one reason alone doesn't make me unsub.
However the base design of combat being slower is imo always better,it allows for reaction then reaction type combat,again this is much more intuitive "IF done right".That is why to this day FFXI combat design is imo by miles the best and yet even that design had tons of room for improvement but Square went to sleep on improving.The reason is simple developers seldom look back,all they do is make new content to keep the max level players coming back and that is another sad thing about developers.
I will say this in closing,Square "not approved by me" has decided to aim closer to a WOW audience,less thinking,easier combat,easier to access game,can't really blame them as a business.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Right now SE is losing players hands down. The PC gamer populace is slowly trading places with the PS4 populace and even some of them are leaving.
But claiming that a single human being out of millions enables SE with his subscription is laughable, arrogant, and just a tad annoying. Your post can be summed up as a very roundabout way of saying "quit the game already if you hate it."
Also, you frame it as though its a way to get back at SE, and that would be the last reason in the world I would cancel a subscription. Two things: I'm not that kind of passive-aggressive SOB and corporations do not have feelings to hurt rendering such a petty action pointless.
And why go all passive aggressive? I merely stated my own opinion and observations. You, on the other hand, decided to take pot shots at me, which I do not appreciate. You took something that was impersonal and decided to make it personal. There is an agenda here and I'm not entirely sure what it is, because people responding like how you are can be doing it for a variety of reasons.
That isn't an opening for you to continue talking to me, by the way. I'm done reading what you have to say.
Well it is very simple answer. People who enjoy it know it is a final fantasy game and they accept it for what it is. You have to be a fan of FF to really enjoy this game.
Yes it has small shoe box sized zones, exploration is next to none..but it does what it does well. provide regular content so that people don't sit on their ass twidling thumbs wondering what to do at end game.
Again, f you are big into exploration adventure type player who likes to explore and such you won't enjoy this game. Maps are small and riddled with invisible walls.
But if you enjoy a good storyline in FF settings and plenty of content to keep you busy then you are right at home.
You're not alone and you know it. Thus, when I say "you are enabling SE" I don't mean only you in specific. That this needs to be explicitly mentioned is rather sad, although it's nothing but circling around the real issue which is understandable.
I frame it as nothing but that which you do once the game doesn't offer you enough real value. Getting back at SE? You made that up, not me. I would never consider you that petty a person. Again we are circling around the real issue which is that you and other people like you seem to play a game that no longer gives you any real value. Again, I'm talking about a group of people and not just you specifically.
You should honestly try to listen once in a while instead of reflecting your issue towards me. I don't appreciate that either. I'm here to help.
Once again: what are those items doing for you exactly? What is the "value" when you clearly dislike/are not interested in the actual gameplay (Hunts aren't exactly the epitome of ARR gameplay)?
You will read this post, but there is no need to answer. We don't have to circle around the issue any longer.
Well, the major problem with Final Fantasy XIV is that the 1-50 game works great minus a somewhat slow start, but the end game is as broken as it can get thanks to a design team that has no idea what their player base really wants. I haven't seen something this bad in a long time and they keep making more impenetrable content each major patch such as Ramuh EX and the Binding Coil. Then they brought hunts in, which are broken in the same way wizards and other spell casters are broken in the new 5th edition of Dungeons and Dragons.
Basically, D&D 5th ed. has it so spell casters can't cast spells when wearing armor if they lack the proficiency, but without armor the survival rate if someone gets into melee combat is pretty low. So, they can either take an armor proficiency at 3rd level... or they can just take one level of fighter and get all the proficiencies they need. (That and the cantrip spell damage is pretty high).
Hunts are sort of like that in that there's a really high cap on hunting seals and you can get sands of time and oils of time to upgrade armor to 110. On top of that, players also get soldiery and myth from doing hunts, which are the current end game currency for armor, trinkets, and weapons. So, people can muck around in ST or dungeons for currency and i80-i100 loot, or they can spend their time grinding their proverbial asses off on hunts 24/7 until they max their seals and get all of the oil and sand they need. Basically it renders all other content in the game pointless.
If "the point" is to do the content solely for the items you receive from said content...
...the items that have no purpose in itself...
...Outside the content you do (content which is "pointless" without the existence of said items).
The logic of an MMORPG gamer.
I think saying the game is "broken" is going a bit overboard. It would be better to say the end game is not as ideal as the leveling experience is (although I do think it starts just a tad too simple, so its kind of a bonsai tree design). Hunts are not an issue. If anything they are finally putting activities into the game that can be considered "massively multiplayer."
If we are to look at FFXIV:ARR as a rushed redesign of a floundering game, then FFXIV:ARR does splendidly. If anything it is better in terms of presentation than the vast majority of its competitors and does change things up a little by means of a class system with cross class skills. I'm going to venture a bold guess that they probably are going the EQN route with cross-class skills which will become apparent in the expansion.
As for the game as it is for the moment, it is a beautiful yet rickety boat. It sails just fine, but many of its jury-rigged design features leave passengers never completely comfortable with the trip. I think its kind of water torture effect, where some small and innocuous imperfection can become a major annoyance if the player keeps exposing himself to it. New MMORPGs invariably have more rough edges than established ones.
Mind you, this isn't an attempt to shirk off the concerns of players. Rather, consider this an endorsement of the idea that polishing an MMORPG is just as important to preserving its health in the long run as waxing a car.
honestly, it sounds like u should just stop trying. im a huge fan of this game. i love it. Its very popular also. So maybe its just not for you bro.
If only having gear earned through soldiery mattered as much as you say it does. There is a common saying in the game: "iLvl is not a stat". Why? Because iLvl doesnt determine which stats a piece of equipment has on it and it certainly doesnt mean you're getting useful stats for your class. A LOT of the soldiery gear has somewhat useless stats on it compared to alternatives which actually require work, like drops from 2nd Coil. Most classes only find a few of the pieces actually useful.
As a bard for example, there will only be 1 piece of armor that is actually beneficial, 1 piece that is negligible (literally a 3 stat point difference), and 2 accessories that are good to have. So really only 3, with an optional 4th, pieces out of 10 that actually give you any sort of optimal stats while the rest actually gimp you quite a bit and you are actually better off with either coil drops or lower level gear (ST drops and Myth gear) instead.
My final Bard build at the moment will only actually put me at iLvl 105/106, yet I will have far superior overall stats and damage for a Bard (Crit, Determination, and Accuracy cap for T9) over someone who is rocking iLvl 110 and is loaded with a bunch of skill speed and much lower crit and det than me because they went for the soldiery gear.
Similar situations apply to pretty much every class. Basically, the majority of soldiery is 2nd rate / welfare gear to make people feel special for having a high iLvl when in reality they have crap stats. On average only 3-5 pieces are actually the best to have. The rest might be used as a stepping stone until you get coil gear, but even so it is still limited by weekly caps and still requires you to spend quite a few weeks to get it all no matter how much hunting you do. You're only going to pulling in 1 piece every 1-2 weeks so even going full soldiery would still take you a couple of months to get. That's not even counting the extra 3 weeks worth of soldiery it will take you to get your weathered / unweathered weapon if you go for that instead of novus, and again that only gives you a 2nd rate piece of equipment to use while working towards the novus.
FFX is not for everyone, i was like you years ago, starting in FFXI, i heard the game was good, and how it needed so much team work for the raids, etc
then i bought the edition where you get 4 of the expansion, i think it was back in 2008 or 2009, it was the Ahn Ughart expansion, if i remember, i played it for 2 days, and i decided it wasnt for me, but i loved the world and graphic..
so i kept coming back to force my way to like the game, but no matter what i couldn't. so i quit after a week, then after, once in a while, i would watch a stream of people playing it, whenever i see them play, its so fun, but i just couldnt enjoy it myself
so i concluded that, it just not my MMO, i would suggest that you stop trying, if you have been coming back and out 4 times in a row and still couldnt find it fun, forget about FF, save your money and play something else, so many recent good games like Destiny and Landmark
So What Now?
Well, broken doesn't mean it isn't enjoyable. Personally I like it when games are a bit asymmetrical, even if unintentionally so.