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[Croyles]

lame. Looks like I won't be getting this.

For Heavensward you had to finish the base game, we are not sure what they will do with Stormblood yet. They have previously mentioned that they do not want it locked like Heavensward.

I understand why this annoys people, but for Heavensward it really allowed them to focus on the story and make it as good as possible. So good in fact, that I am just a bit worried about Stormblood's story if they do decide to ditch the linear progression, but I know it's something they must do.

There are also people who don't care at all about the story and in that case Heavensward locked content would have really been annoying.

 

[AuthenticM]

i'm assuming everything will be new content to you anyway, so what difference does it make between starting from the new expansion versus starting at the beginning of a realm reborn?

Too much of a time investment. I've also heard how much Heavensward was better than the base game.

 

[Reknoc]

You basically just describe how the arcanist works with summoner and scholar. Honestly, I think the only thing that makes sense for red mage in FFXIV, is to make it a healer class, with healing magic, melee weapon skills and a few offensive spells(perhaps with procs based off of your weapon and healing abilities that allow you to instant cast or w/e?). Then just have them use cleric stance(or possibly one unique to the class for the melee abilities) so they can focus on whatever role they need to at the time(or just sit in cleric stance all day because stance dancing is hard).

Yea, exactly just in this case they're both "Red Mage" and the exp gained is for Red Mage. It's basically exactly the same just that there's no "class".

I feel pushing it towards just a single role would mean that it would need to sacrifice one half of being a Red Mage which to me seems like it wouldn't feel worth it to put it in.

 

[Garlador]

Too much of a time investment. I've also heard how much Heavensward was better than the base game.

Heavensward is better than the base game.

... But that's selling the base game short. The base game and Main Story Quests are ridiculously good as well, and it has one of the absolute most satisfying story resolutions in the whole series.

It's got great villains, a great introduction to all the primary players, great exposure curve to new mechanics and new areas of the game, great skill curve, tons of excellent class based quests... and, again, one heck of a finale.

Heavensward IMPROVES upon this in many ways, but you really do owe it to yourself to start at the beginning and see the initial quest to the end. Heavensward IS so good because it's the payoff for many of the things the base game built towards.

 

[AuthenticM]

Heavensward is better than the base game.

... But that's selling the base game short. The base game and Main Story Quests are ridiculously good as well, and it has one of the absolute most satisfying story resolutions in the whole series.

It's got great villains, a great introduction to all the primary players, great exposure curve to new mechanics and new areas of the game, great skill curve, tons of excellent class based quests... and, again, one heck of a finale.


Heavensward IMPROVES upon this in many ways, but you really do owe it to yourself to start at the beginning and see the initial quest to the end. Heavensward IS so good because it's the payoff for many of the things the base game built towards.

The story cannot sell me on this game. No matter how good the writing is, it is wasted on terrible presentation consisting of stiff camerawork and NPCs jankingly shifting from emotes to emotes as they convey information mostly through text.

The gameplay is what seems interesting. I've played it. I got the Gobuu mount before ARR came out, then I played it again for a month one year later. I like wandering the world and playing the game, but there were just too many terrible quests that boiled down to "kill X amount of enemies", so I became tired after a while.

So if the expansions can cut on the filler and deliver a more consistently meaty experience, that's what interests me.

 

[magwizsorc]

I think a another magic-based tanking option would be cool. I saw a post about using the rune fencer from and Final Fantasy : Tactics Advance and that seemed interesting.

 

[Tenrius]

there will be a special FREE PS3 to PS4 upgrade campaign

Oh! I knew getting the PS3 version for super cheap would pay off.

 

[DeadPhoenix]

Yea, exactly just in this case they're both "Red Mage" and the exp gained is for Red Mage. It's basically exactly the same just that there's no "class".

I feel pushing it towards just a single role would mean that it would need to sacrifice one half of being a Red Mage which to me seems like it wouldn't feel worth it to put it in.

Smn and sch share XP as well. The problem is if you split red mages roles with weapons, all you've done is create 2 different jobs, which is not how a rdm works either. They have to be able to switch between all 3 skills(melee, black magic and white magic) on the fly. Healer is really the only thing that makes sense, since in FFXIV healers are expected to be doing decent damage. Even I don't think that will be enough to be a real red mage but the way the game is built doesn't give a lot of options.

 

[Croyles]

Heavensward IMPROVES upon this in many ways, but you really do owe it to yourself to start at the beginning and see the initial quest to the end. Heavensward IS so good because it's the payoff for many of the things the base game built towards.

This.

 

[Nottle]

Quick question If I wanted to really just get though the original story and then heavens ward stuff how many jobs or classes should I stick to? I played this game for about 2 months and didn't really get anywhere because I was picking herbs and tanning leather while also trying out every magic and physical class I found. I felt like I hardly got anywhere because I spent too much time spreading myself too thin and doing the baby level kill 10 of this quests.

 

[DeadPhoenix]

Quick question If I wanted to really just get though the original story and then heavens ward stuff how many jobs or classes should I stick to? I played this game for about 2 months and didn't really get anywhere because I was picking herbs and tanning leather while also trying out every magic and physical class I found. I felt like I hardly got anywhere because I spent too much time spreading myself too thin and doing the baby level kill 10 of this quests.

The game actually gives you an XP bonus for every class you level after you level up your first class to max, so it is in your best interest to stick to one class until you hit max level.

 

[Garlador]

The story cannot sell me on this game. No matter how good the writing is, it is wasted on terrible presentation consisting of stiff camerawork and NPCs jankingly shifting from emotes to emotes as they convey information mostly through text.

You're not playing the right sidequests or getting far enough into the story then...

The animation, voice acting, and camera work have all significantly improved since the relaunch.

The gameplay is what seems interesting. I've played it. I got the Gobuu mount before ARR came out, then I played it again for a month one year later. I like wandering the world and playing the game, but there were just too many terrible quests that boiled down to "kill X amount of enemies", so I became tired after a while.

Everything has significantly been streamlined since then. Leveling up is faster, quests have become far more dynamic, and traversing the world has become easier and far more efficient than before. It's still an MMO, but if exploring the world is what you initially liked, there's more of it than ever before, better than before, and the world state keeps shifting and changing as the story evolves.

So if the expansions can cut on the filler and deliver a more consistently meaty experience, that's what interests me.

It's more of the same but better. But Heavensward is very much a continuation of the base game, not JUST in story but also in mechanics. It expects you to know your stuff at level 50, to have mastered a few classes, because it doesn't throw the training wheels back on for players or raids. It's a continuation, just like StarCraft: Broodwar or Dragon Age: Awakening were. It's got plenty to explore, but if you think you got anywhere CLOSE to exhausting all the cool stuff the base game has to offer, well... that kind of makes me laugh. Three years subscribed and I'm STILL finding new things to see and do in the base game.

 

[Heartfyre]

Pretty much the same. Not because I don't like paying or anything. It's more that I'm just not sure I can dedicate enough time to a single game for it to be worth my paying a subscription for something.

That said it's super successful so I don't see it going F2P anytime soon.

The entire game is balanced around the lack of monetisation of gameplay elements. To change that would change the game in its entirety, which would mean it'd no longer be the game that we exalt.

Honestly, I was the same way before I began to play FFXIV; I didn't understand the benefits that the subscription brings to the game over F2P. It's great to play a game that gets these large content patches that everyone can access with no extra fee. It's great that, besides items tied to events, everything is available to everyone, since everyone is subbed. It creates a large, tailored, supported world where you're never nickel-and-dimed over banal customisation options or, worse, actual content.

I get that paying a sub isn't ideal for a casual player, but the success and acclaim the game has is because of the subscription model, not in spite of it.

 

[AuthenticM]

You're not playing the right sidequests or getting far enough into the story then...

The animation, voice acting, and camera work have all significantly improved since the relaunch.


Everything has significantly been streamlined since then. Leveling up is faster, quests have become far more dynamic, and traversing the world has become easier and far more efficient than before. It's still an MMO, but if exploring the world is what you initially liked, there's more of it than ever before, better than before, and the world state keeps shifting and changing as the story evolves.


It's more of the same but better. But Heavensward is very much a continuation of the base game, not JUST in story but also in mechanics. It expects you to know your stuff at level 50, to have mastered a few classes, because it doesn't throw the training wheels back on for players or raids. It's a continuation, just like StarCraft: Broodwar or Dragon Age: Awakening were. It's got plenty to explore, but if you think you got anywhere CLOSE to exhausting all the cool stuff the base game has to offer, well... that kind of makes me laugh. Three years subscribed and I'm STILL finding new things to see and do in the base game.

Let's say I bought the game for PS4 and I continued from where I was (which is not far). How long would it take me to beat the base game's story if I concentrated on it (and doing a few sidequests here and there)?

 

[Sgt. Kabukiman]

Still haven't finished Heavensward but I'm hyped as hell, FF14 is a fantastic game.

 

[Duress]

How are the controls on the PS4 version? I always felt that playing a mmo on console with a controller wasn't intuitive. There are so many skill buttons :/

 

[Brazil]

How are the controls on the PS4 version? I always felt that playing a mmo on console with a controller wasn't intuitive. There are so many skill buttons :/

It's ridiculously good. It actually makes no sense how good it feels.

There are some issues with the inventory interface, but actually playing the game on the controller is amazing.

 

[Kremzeek]

Honestly the inventory expansion has me the most hyped- it's like 2 years late.

I REALLY hope they go the extra mile and the game will pull from your retainer while you're crafting. Maybe as long as you're in the same zone as a retainer bell.....

 

[Zen Mu]

Let's say I bought the game for PS4 and I continued from where I was (which is not far). How long would it take me to beat the base game's story if I concentrated on it (and doing a few sidequests here and there)?

Not too long probably. If you ignore the non-essential side quests. I mean FATE parties are still a thing, and there is palace of the dead as well (although I forget how much you need done to access that tbh), so leveling up really isn't hard. You could probably get through the base story stuff in a few days to a week depending on how hard you played. Less if you are already 50 or close to it.

The main thing is leveling, although you said you played 1.0, did you get to 50 back then? A good idea might be just to do leveling dungeons & FATEs and get to 50, then blow through the story.

 

[DrDogg]

If we get RDM and it plays closer to FF11 RDM than what the current "support" jobs play like now, then I'll come back.

I really liked the challenge and reward playing jobs in FF11, and I don't feel that at all in FF14 so I stopped playing shortly after Heavensward released. When I interviewed YoshiP at E3 last year I asked about proper support classes and he made it pretty clear they wouldn't fit with the other classes, so I'm not particularly hopeful.

 

[Guess Who]

How are the controls on the PS4 version? I always felt that playing a mmo on console with a controller wasn't intuitive. There are so many skill buttons :/

Completely viable. Healing is maybe a little trickier, but still very doable, and other jobs have no issues in my experience. I play on controller all the time.

 

[Firebrand]

How are the controls on the PS4 version? I always felt that playing a mmo on console with a controller wasn't intuitive. There are so many skill buttons :/

It's FFXIV's biggest innovation, it works amazingly well. I prefer it over KB&M. One issue though is targeting, there are different ways to cycle through targets and filter them on the fly that becomes muscle memory, but when shit hits the fan it can definitely get tricky to target the right thing.

 

[Garlador]

Let's say I bought the game for PS4 and I continued from where I was (which is not far). How long would it take me to beat the base game's story if I concentrated on it (and doing a few sidequests here and there)?

I got through the entire base story in my free month period years back. Since then, it's been made quite a bit easier for newer players, FATES and raids drop more EXP now, and there's a lot of ways to get experience-boosting gear.

I'd say if you got serious about it, you could clear the whole main campaign in a week or so, neglecting anything else.

FATE parties are still super-popular (especially around level 30 when the new classes dropped) and folks love a new player for any raid or trial because it boosts the drops for everyone else.

 

[Depths of Orion]

So i've been playing this game for years of PC but im thinking about getting this game for PS4. Have they talked about FFXIV on the PS4 Pro yet?

 

[Matt Attack]

How are the controls on the PS4 version? I always felt that playing a mmo on console with a controller wasn't intuitive. There are so many skill buttons :/

It's brilliant on controller. In fact, they have just added a new option for controller users in the most recent patch called the W Cross Hotbar that gives controller users access to even more abilities at any given time. I exclusively use controller and I don't feel limited in the slightest.

Edit: To elaborate on how many more buttons you have access to with the new feature, you can access up to 16 additional abilities by double tapping the triggers. That makes for a ton of easy access abilities when you add it to the options the posters below mentioned.

 

[Killthee]

How are the controls on the PS4 version? I always felt that playing a mmo on console with a controller wasn't intuitive. There are so many skill buttons :/

Its really good. You've got sixteen skills available via a combination of holding or pressing a trigger+face buttons/dpad and another eight - thirty two skills available by doing a trigger combo+face buttons/dpad. Thats all without flipping through hot bar pages which is also quick and painless (can cycle quickly by tapping shoulder button or jump directly via shoulder button+face buttons/dpad). It all works out surprisingly well and intuitively for how few buttons there are on a controller.

The one thing that is a bit of a drag is flipping through targets. You cant jump directly to a specific target like you can on a mouse and have to cycle through if you want a specific one. There's filters that you can enable on the fly to help cut out the clutter (party only, enemies only, etc...), but its not as quick as using a mouse to select something.

If you cant get the hang of using a controller on ps4, the game fully supports MKB controls on consoles. One flick in the options menu and the interface and control inputs switches to MKB.

 

[Aeana]

How are the controls on the PS4 version? I always felt that playing a mmo on console with a controller wasn't intuitive. There are so many skill buttons :/

You have easy, direct access to 32 skill slots with a controller, plus 16 more if you use the square toggle. You also have the ability to quickly select any of the 8 palettes (16 binds on each) by pressing R1+face button/dpad direction. I feel more comfortable managing a large amount of keybinds with controller than I do with keyboard.

EDIT: And I haven't even tried the W cross hotbar mentioned above yet.

 

[tatsuki]

I play a heavy amount of blade and soul and black desert right now. Is the differentiation between those combat systems and ffxiv going to be a huge pain getting used to? I've always wanted to give ffxiv a try but the fear of less freedom and slower combat has always prevented me from playing.

 

[Zakalwe]

Heavensward is better than the base game.

... But that's selling the base game short. The base game and Main Story Quests are ridiculously good as well, and it has one of the absolute most satisfying story resolutions in the whole series.

It's got great villains, a great introduction to all the primary players, great exposure curve to new mechanics and new areas of the game, great skill curve, tons of excellent class based quests... and, again, one heck of a finale.


Heavensward IMPROVES upon this in many ways, but you really do owe it to yourself to start at the beginning and see the initial quest to the end. Heavensward IS so good because it's the payoff for many of the things the base game built towards.

I really loved my time with this game and the expansions, but while the stories of the base game and HS are pretty good relative to the genre, they're hardly wonderful examples of storytelling.

 

[Abhor]

Might return to the game when this drops. Had a lot of fun until we reached the token grind and decided to move on. Dark Knight actually got me into playing tank roles for once as I usually go DPS.

Dropping PS3 support is a good thing. Really outdated tech compared to PS4 let alone a modern PC. They even have a free PS3 to PS4 migration. Hopefully this means optimization along with new content.

 

[Nottle]

The game actually gives you an XP bonus for every class you level after you level up your first class to max, so it is in your best interest to stick to one class until you hit max level.

So meaning if I picked Lancer at first I'd need to max that out to get an exp boost? Or if need to be a dragoon and max that?

 

[thequickandthedead]

Let's say I bought the game for PS4 and I continued from where I was (which is not far). How long would it take me to beat the base game's story if I concentrated on it (and doing a few sidequests here and there)?

One thing you really should keep in mind. After you finish the base game's story there are 100 story quests you HAVE to complete before even touching Heavenwsward. That's another 10 hours right there (if you're fast).

 

[Owari]

I really want to see the new UI, but there's a 90% chance I'll buy this and resub if only for the Summer since I have multiple 60s.

 

[Garlador]

I really loved my time with this game and the expansions, but while the stories of the base game and HS are pretty good relative to the genre, they're hardly wonderful examples of storytelling.

Opinions, of course, but I found it to be the best storytelling since Final Fantasy IX, regardless of the MMO genre. It's got great, memorable characters, big and looming villains, some genuinely emotional moments here and there... I think it's superior in storytelling and characters than more than half of the Final Fantasy titles on market.

 

[Freyjadour]

For Heavensward you had to finish the base game, we are not sure what they will do with Stormblood yet. They have previously mentioned that they do not want it locked like Heavensward.

I understand why this annoys people, but for Heavensward it really allowed them to focus on the story and make it as good as possible. So good in fact, that I am just a bit worried about Stormblood's story if they do decide to ditch the linear progression, but I know it's something they must do.

There are also people who don't care at all about the story and in that case Heavensward locked content would have really been annoying.

Offer a summary cutscene that warns you of its length and still uses your character model in the right scenes. Most of the required pre-Heavensward stuff is absolutely not essential to the story and just filler content involving secondary or tertiary characters.

Also offer an incentive for doing things the long way. Rule 1 of MMO content you want people to do: offer a reward.

It's a little heavy handed or immersion breaking sure, but the choice doesn't have to be "skip all story and make future story worse for it" or "do a shitload of old content".

 

[Tanston]

Didn't read the whole thread just the first post but it sounds like housing plots will still be a thing that normal players can't get. Very disappointing. When housing came out and was impossible for normal players to get it killed my interest in the game. I tried to get into heavensward but that housing envy is a tough nut to swallow. A room in some random guild house doesn't scratch that same itch. Some of the best times i've ever had in MMOs has been messing with houses....Ultima online and LOTRO mostly.

 

[suzu]

So meaning if I picked Lancer at first I'd need to max that out to get an exp boost? Or if need to be a dragoon and max that?

http://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/wiki/Experience#Armory_Bonus

You get bonus exp if the class you're currently leveling is lower than your highest leveled class.

Exp gained goes to your lancer class. Dragoon is a job that's acquired at level 30 and by equipping the drg soulstone to your lancer.

 

[Pyros_Eien]

Didn't read the whole thread just the first post but it sounds like housing plots will still be a thing that normal players can't get. Very disappointing. When housing came out and was impossible for normal players to get it killed my interest in the game. I tried to get into heavensward but that housing envy is a tough nut to swallow. A room in some random guild house doesn't scratch that same itch. Some of the best times i've ever had in MMOs has been messing with houses....Ultima online and LOTRO mostly.

They added some appartment system last patch or something, I haven't played in a while so not sure of the details or how it works, but instead of buying a house plot with a garden, it's just the house, which for most people is enough anyway, and there's apparently a lot more of them cause they're instanced(there's a lobby for your appartment complex that's shared so there's still some social aspect, just less so). But yeah not sure if they're limited or what's the situation on the overcrowded servers.

They did double the amount of housing at some point in the past though, and they also made it so houses are destroyed if you don't log for a few months, so I assume a lot of stuff was cleared out from inactive people. I know my house is gone next time I log in for example, but not too much of an issue as I didn't really use it that much anyway, mostly just the garden and since they stopped making it relevant I didn't care much about it anymore.

 

[Silvawuff]

I think the base game's story was a bit convoluted. Sure, it had good buildup and it was pretty complex. The way it was presented (your character growing in power to become the salvation of Eorzea) seemed a bit too forced. I found myself just skipping cutscenes after a while just to get things done.

Heavensward I haven't done that. Every cutscene is a treat. It was great to see some sidelined characters from ARR come to the fore -- and some new very, very good ones that added to the character dynamic and helped present the story in a pleasing way that seemed to naturally include your character rather than spotlight her.

As for the tank thing: I think SE could make a dozen more tanks and people would still be waiting in queue for a tank. The culture surrounding how tanks are treated (at least in my experience) is pretty abysmal. Granted it's not a role you should jump into without some additional effort to learn how to do it properly, as with anything. YMMV depending on your data center and the people you play with.

 

[Cathcart]

Let's say I bought this for PS4. Could I just jump straight into the expansion's content without having to go through the base game?

It's actually ridiculous. Not only do you have to play the entire main story quest from 2.0, you also have to play all of the additional main story quests that were added in 2.1-2.55 (a total of 100 quests after 2.0).

I hit 50 with my first character last Sunday after 8 days of playing (w/full time job), bought the xpac and started right in to 2.1. This morning I started 2.5, still not allowed to play expansion content or try the new jobs. To make things worse, the 2.x content gives almost no xp (presumably because it was originally intended for people already at the cap, but that's really a poor excuse) so I've been playing every night this week and I'm still only 2 levels higher than where I was last Sunday.

The game is alright and I like the classes and group content but the story is terribly written and you're forced to play through all billion of the main scenario quests in order to unlock basic features of the game and the expansion. Can't even imagine having to go through it as a new player once 4.0 hits. If I didn't have friends playing I would have gone back to GW2 or WoW by now.

 

[AuthenticM]

Not too long probably. If you ignore the non-essential side quests. I mean FATE parties are still a thing, and there is palace of the dead as well (although I forget how much you need done to access that tbh), so leveling up really isn't hard. You could probably get through the base story stuff in a few days to a week depending on how hard you played. Less if you are already 50 or close to it.

The main thing is leveling, although you said you played 1.0, did you get to 50 back then? A good idea might be just to do leveling dungeons & FATEs and get to 50, then blow through the story.

I got to level 30 to get the Gobuu mount. Then when I played ARR a year later, I believe I had to create another character or something. Or maybe it was my existing character that got back to level 1; I don't clearly remember. It felt like I had lost progression somehow.

I got through the entire base story in my free month period years back. Since then, it's been made quite a bit easier for newer players, FATES and raids drop more EXP now, and there's a lot of ways to get experience-boosting gear.

I'd say if you got serious about it, you could clear the whole main campaign in a week or so, neglecting anything else.

FATE parties are still super-popular (especially around level 30 when the new classes dropped) and folks love a new player for any raid or trial because it boosts the drops for everyone else.

What are FATES?

One thing you really should keep in mind. After you finish the base game's story there are 100 story quests you HAVE to complete before even touching Heavenwsward. That's another 10 hours right there (if you're fast).

This seems like a weird design choice.

 

[Killthee]

Didn't read the whole thread just the first post but it sounds like housing plots will still be a thing that normal players can't get. Very disappointing. When housing came out and was impossible for normal players to get it killed my interest in the game. I tried to get into heavensward but that housing envy is a tough nut to swallow. A room in some random guild house doesn't scratch that same itch. Some of the best times i've ever had in MMOs has been messing with houses....Ultima online and LOTRO mostly.

They removed the housing restriction back in ARR, normal players have been able to buy one since then. On top of that in the last year they've added new plots via new wards and subdivisions, have begun kicking inactive players from their housing plots (45 days inactivity blows up your house), and have added apt rooms for people who just want a room to decorate.

The new area in Stormblood means hundreds of new housing plots per server available to FCs and normal players and on top of that the housing transfer system they have planned for it will free up some of the old plots from people who want to move to the new area.

 

[Lucael]

It's actually ridiculous. Not only do you have to play the entire main story quest from 2.0, you also have to play all of the additional main story quests that were added in 2.1-2.55 (a total of 100 quests after 2.0).

I hit 50 with my first character last Sunday after 8 days of playing (w/full time job), bought the xpac and started right in to 2.1. This morning I started 2.5, still not allowed to play expansion content or try the new jobs. To make things worse, the 2.x content gives almost no xp (presumably because it was originally intended for people already at the cap, but that's really a poor excuse) so I've been playing every night this week and I'm still only 2 levels higher than where I was last Sunday.

The game is alright and I like the classes and group content but the story is terribly written and you're forced to play through all billion of the main scenario quests in order to unlock basic features of the game and the expansion. Can't even imagine having to go through it as a new player once 4.0 hits. If I didn't have friends playing I would have gone back to GW2 or WoW by now.

So, after two weeks of playing you're expecting to have cleared all the content of 2.0 we got in two years? With all due respect, just take your time and enjoy the game

Except for the main story, they already made a lot of (more important) things easier for new players, like relic quests.

 

[~Cross~]

The game actually gives you an XP bonus for every class you level after you level up your first class to max, so it is in your best interest to stick to one class until you hit max level.

Not really. Each class under the highest leveled class you have gets a flat 50% extra exp on every activity. Rested exp is another 50% extra exp on combat kills. You get an adventurer ring that gives you an additional 30% on top of all of that as long as you are below level 30. Plus getting the collectors or being invited by a friend gives you a headgear that also boosts your exp before a certain level.

 

[AuthenticM]

It's actually ridiculous. Not only do you have to play the entire main story quest from 2.0, you also have to play all of the additional main story quests that were added in 2.1-2.55 (a total of 100 quests after 2.0).

I hit 50 with my first character last Sunday after 8 days of playing (w/full time job), bought the xpac and started right in to 2.1. This morning I started 2.5, still not allowed to play expansion content or try the new jobs. To make things worse, the 2.x content gives almost no xp (presumably because it was originally intended for people already at the cap, but that's really a poor excuse) so I've been playing every night this week and I'm still only 2 levels higher than where I was last Sunday.

The game is alright and I like the classes and group content but the story is terribly written and you're forced to play through all billion of the main scenario quests in order to unlock basic features of the game and the expansion. Can't even imagine having to go through it as a new player once 4.0 hits. If I didn't have friends playing I would have gone back to GW2 or WoW by now.

wow, I'm not sure I want to suffer through this.

 

[Boss Man]

Not sure where the story praise comes from personally. I try to pay attention and also go out of my way to do all of the side-quests, but I feel like they are pretty lazy about the story. You're the hero of the world and of all professions in the world so it's kind of hard to take the story seriously. They also really avoid complexity in this game, on all levels from the story to the class design.

Having said that, I've been playing for about two years and I love the game. The result of the simplicity is an incredibly polished and fun to play game.

 

[SuperStiltzkin]

Let's say I bought the game for PS4 and I continued from where I was (which is not far). How long would it take me to beat the base game's story if I concentrated on it (and doing a few sidequests here and there)?

Honestly took me a long time to get through the main story even trying to power bomb it because they added a lot of post-vanilla-game story quests to basically tide players over until Heavensward dropped. So after you beat the main final boss of the level 50 content, there's a toooooon of quests to do to get to Heavensward.

 

[Reknoc]

Smn and sch share XP as well. The problem is if you split red mages roles with weapons, all you've done is create 2 different jobs, which is not how a rdm works either. They have to be able to switch between all 3 skills(melee, black magic and white magic) on the fly. Healer is really the only thing that makes sense, since in FFXIV healers are expected to be doing decent damage. Even I don't think that will be enough to be a real red mage but the way the game is built doesn't give a lot of options.

Oh I know, I'm just saying you can do a multi-role job without a base class since they're not making new classes just jobs. Anyway, even if not for Red Mage at least for Samurai when people are inevatbily upset that it's a tank

 

[Heartfyre]

wow, I'm not sure I want to suffer through this.

If playing the game sounds like suffering to you, that's probably the right decision.

I never understand why people want to skip the meaningful content. The endgame isn't supposed to be the main draw. The game is an ongoing journey, not a race to a destination.

 

[Ploid 3.0]

Question about Heavensward. Did they make the open world somewhat challenging to explore? I was told that SE was looking into the open world. If they did make the world challenging I hope they put valuable materials behind them for crafting stuff, though I'd imagine it wouldn't last long with how fast gear would be outclassed (I wonder if Alchemy is king in this game, would people even need it though). I would have played a lot longer if challenging monsters dropped things that were worth farming. I mainly killed Apkallu for their eggs in trains, the challenge was shooing people away from my camp somehow, and killing fast enough that I could have them all.

One of my best times was when I crossed a type of Hunt monster for the first time by mistake. I was bored, just sitting at Camp Tranquil in South Shroud. I started fixing my macros and button layout on monk 47ish. I saw a ffxi damselfly and didn't realize it wasn't normal for a while, and it eventually killed me. I then revenge killed it many times until I realized how worthless it all was (sadly my first FFXIV revenge kill I think. Maybe a big FATE but that's a zone event and I can blame everyone else). It woke me up, and I had fun for a bit. I also loved the hunter journal thing while I was leveling up at the beginning, but that was killed when I made it to the monsters that were locked behind dungeons. SE and their darn dungeons!!! I hear you can enter them solo now at least.

I know the topic of the challenge presented in the open world is a touchy subject, aka tedious, and annoying, just like elemental resistances. I'm just curious, and it's ok if it's the same as ARR base game. And for what it's worth, I agree that elemental resistances probably wouldn't work in ffxiv with it's gcd and circular rotation, fixed sort of simon says gameplay. Also classes already have limited spells as it is. I did sort of like BLM's Ice Fire rotation, mana goes up and down so fast, free casts, and such, it got old to me eventually though. The same for the other class rotations. Maybe if I try it again I won't mind it as much after such a long break. I did not like the monk stacks thing, dodging things and being forced to lose them make me cry. The odd thing is I've played other games with GCD and they seemed ok to me. It's probably just the design of the gameplay with the constant moving around to dodge things.