Doing quests naked has made some of the lv. 20+ ones a little exciting. The difficulty is increasing, but knowing what I know about AF quests now, I'm still rather concerned. I actually lost twice against the GLA lv. 20 quest and had to slightly adjust my tactics. I liked that.
Still, it is very hard for me to enjoy this game right now. Even the aspects I like (namely, the aesthetics, but particularly those that feel associated with Eorzea and not the uncreative fanboy approach to "what is Final Fantasy" that is slowly enveloping it) are being drowned out by the sheer tedium of it being a very typical MMORPG that is too afraid of being "stressful". It is actually harder to enjoy the setting given how systematic and manipulative things have become - how brutally aware I am that this is a MMORPG player's MMORPG. Hanging over it is also my pessimism how it goes out of its way to destroy any sense of community outside of your free company (including having long since lost the multicultural aspect in the process) and how their game design reflects how little they think of the playerbase's intelligence and patience. If you are saying "wait til end-game", then you are failing to see how much of a cynical approach that is to treat players (especially when "it is a real Final Fantasy" is main selling point). I'm really looking for a moment where it clicks, where it is both challenging and not blatantly trying to manipulate me. If they can put forth a piece of content that makes me forget this is a MMORPG that is trying to patronize me, I'll be excited. Server issues at launch a short-term concern to me, so whatever, but I guess they are slowing me down while I try to look for that moment.
That being what it is, what I'm curious is how the game will look when the new MMORPG smell wears off.