KZread keeps recommending me these "[INSERT MMO HERE] veteran tries FFXIV for the first time!" style videos, probably because I keep clicking on them, but most of them end up rubbing me a bit the wrong way because they're usually either coming in really wanting to compare it to their own MMO (and thus usually missing a lot of what makes FFXIV unique and great) or they come in with this sort of "my old game sucks, I'm going to be positive about FFXIV at all costs so that I can complain about how my old game has gone downhill" attitude that's pretty standard among gamers. I've really enjoyed your series of retrospectives because you seem to be willing to genuinely engage with what FFXIV is doing on its own terms and give it the benefit of the doubt, while not being wilfully blind towards its faults. I guess this is just a really long way of saying: I've thoroughly enjoyed the videos so far, and I'm looking forward to any more that is to come.

@dougfax

3 ай бұрын

Veteran player here, the game is newcomers friendly but the first storyline is extremly big and its a big run killer for a lot of people, while you see a lot liking it, a lot in the other extreme also happens, the journey to level 50 for every player is either enjoyable or awfull, nothing in between

@Elyakel

3 ай бұрын

​@@dougfaxyeah as you said , i didn't liked arr at all except the end , and some thing like ysaile( came in 5.3) But arr still matters so i had to follow it xD

seeing this video after i just finished endwalker last night and i'm on the floor, never in a thousand years would i have expected the story that started in arr to end like THAT and im still crying over it if i think too hard over it. watching these videos makes it all the more impressive to see how far we've come. the journey was really worth it after all

Fun fact about my FFXIV journey, I had no desire to tank or heal in any mmo ever. I was strictly dps in every mmo I played. I picked gladiator when creating my character because sword, not knowing it was a tank. I didn’t know it was a tank until I did the smith quests and I said “f*(k it, I’m probably not gonna play this weeb game much longer anyway, how bad can it be?” I now have all tanks to lvl 90 and have tanked everything I’ve done. Only last week did I start leveling a dps job after almost 2 years of playing.

@vernacularham

3 ай бұрын

Haha. I’d also never tanked in an mmo until I picked up the gunbreaker class after having leveled as a dps to that point - mostly because of fond memories of FF8. Never looked back. It’s my main class now.

@TheFrantic5

3 ай бұрын

I hear that, I was strictly a soloist hunter in WoW. Started with marauder, wasn't too fond of tanking, so switched to arcanist and eventually scholar. Now I main healing. That feeling when you and the tank are on the same page, that is a bromance for the ages, let me tell you.

@mobius4247

3 ай бұрын

Blue DPS

@maddragonqueen_

3 ай бұрын

Very similar experience!! Played WoW for many years and would never consider tanking in WoW even if I played for a million more. I tried several DPS jobs in XIV and just couldn't get into any of them. I loved the game and wanted it to work out so eventually just decided to try warrior and ended up LOVING IT. I love WAR, I love tanking, I love XIV ❤

@whitefox25

3 ай бұрын

im trying to find who asked tho

Non-haters of ARR win this time. I am relieved that not everyone's like that.

@kaala7939

3 ай бұрын

I think I've played through ARR more than any other expansion honestly, there is so much lore that you really need more than one playthrough to catch it all and sometimes I still learn something new.

@faeb.9618

3 ай бұрын

tbh i personally do rank arr at the lowest when i rank expansions, but it isn't out of hate, just... arr was a very solid start that hooked me, but they did such a great job building on top of everything in the next expansions and improved the story so much that arr just pales by comparison

@Dharengo

3 ай бұрын

@@faeb.9618 I mean if you're not a hater then you're not... A hater. So I'm not sure what you're defending yourself against.

@tangentkatz

3 ай бұрын

Having played ARR 3 times (at launch, again in SB when I returned to the game, and recently after all the updates) the ARR of today is soooo much better than in the past. There are still 2 slow parts that drag on more than they needed to, but the rest of it is fun imo.

@rlcmza6705

3 ай бұрын

I was fine with Arr it was the 100 quests between Arr and Heavensward that I didn't like.

The best advice I've ever heard relating to how people talk about FF14's global cooldown is that this game is a rhythm game disguised as an action RPG. The mechanical construction of the game's action usage is really setting a rhythm, building your muscle memory, and then gradually making that rhythm more and more complex. It's all about timing and consistency.

@SNAFUq

3 ай бұрын

This is how I felt when I picked up Bard and was switching between the songs.

@dacomputernerd4096

Ай бұрын

I do really get into the rhythm sometimes. Then I level up, unlock a new skill, and have no idea what I'm doing again lol

@KellyB21

Ай бұрын

I recently started playing FFXIV again as of a few weeks ago, I'm only recently reaching Endwalker but my favorite thing to do is to level up all the classes I'm interested to 50 and break down each ability and the most efficient ways to use them/organize them in my hotbar. It feels good to develop a deep understanding of the role each class plays and the most optimal way to make use of their skills.

@NoifPeck

27 күн бұрын

Actipn arpg with 2000s combat system? Not thx

A correction on the payment - you can purchase mogstation items as a free trial player and remain on free trial. You only lose access to the free trial if you buy the game or start subscribing. Additionally, $15.00 is the standard monthly fee; you can shave off a couple dollars and pay $13.00 by using the entry subscription (also monthly) or paying for 6 months at a time. Only difference between standard and entry subscriptions are how many characters you can have on a single data center. If you need to be on a monthly sub but don't think you'll need more than 8 characters on a DC, the entry should do you just fine.

I think what makes FF14’s story the strongest MMO story is that it does a good job of making expansions feel less like just hopping to a new zone with new raids and your character starting at a narrative square 1, but more like a genuine continuation of a Lord of the Rings like epic. Also like Tolkien’s work it’s good at tackling tired and overused story themes in ways that don’t feel hokey or forced.

@CaffeinatedDad

3 ай бұрын

Agreed! I haven't felt like it was procedurally generated it all feels natural in its progression which is something I have loved thus far!

The game has one of those stories that you can remember the names of all the characters even years later of being away from the game and notable story arcs that click back to memory like a puzzle piece. That satisfiying feeling you get after reading a really good book; never get that from a video game before.

@thyrussendria8198

3 ай бұрын

The characters and their quotes linger in your mind, both filled with joy and sadness. But you should not cry for your fallen comrades, afterall a smile better suits a hero.

@LuriTV

3 ай бұрын

​@@thyrussendria8198hah, I see what you did there. I gave you a like, so do not squander it, the upvote I gave you!

@thyrussendria8198

3 ай бұрын

@@LuriTV Heh, good retort.

If you want an extra challenge instead of just syncing down you can also do MINE which is min ilvl and no echo which makes it as close to release as they can get it. There's a lot of people who get groups together to do runs that way. I am really glad you are enjoying the game.

@gateauxq4604

3 ай бұрын

‘MINE’ never thought of that. Very cool

@CaffeinatedDad

3 ай бұрын

I am finishing up crystal tower MINE on stream this Friday and really looking forward to it!

I think what a lot of people don't take into account for plot is you are, in the end, still an adventurer. You start from nothing, and you build up your reputation but even with that you STILL need to work in the end. You need money, and you love your job. And it's WONDERFUL.

the cool thing in eorzea is, the people doesnt neccessarily hang around in the endgame zones, they hang around especially in the starting zones, starting cities, because theres not just a bound to the places, a real cozyness and a kind of himy-feeling, because most of our sprouty-sprouts are there! and player made events. and live music. and, and, and.

I like how in this game you can be an big burly Warrior, a dainty Scholar, a Leatherworker who makes their own gloves, AND a fisherman who wants to catch some fish on their downtime. For MSQ I leveled at least 2 jobs at the same time because MSQ made me over-leveled really quickly and I wanted to spread out the experience. I honestly enjoyed ARR too! I went from GW2/WoW to FF14 and it felt just like playing a childhood RPG. It's sooo cozy yet strangely dark and funny. I enjoy being able to just explore the world, fishing, and just talking to optional NPCs. I loved seeing the NPC characters get slowly closer to each other in the Waking Sands. How after every few MSQ quest the NPCs would change positions and say different things. It honestly broke my heart when ___ happened. If you like lore I recommend the Post Moogle quests (it's super long so I usually just do a tiny bit of it at a time when I'm bored). Also FATE chains that drop minions are neat :D. Ohhh maybe try Palace of the Dead. I hope you get to do Coils with your Community in ARR patch content :D!!

Man I can't wait to see your reaction to the 2.3 patch story leading into Heavensward. It really is a kick in the guts in all the right ways.

What a joy to tag along on your adventure! I'm glad you're enjoying it, and excited for you to see what's to come. "We're on a roller coaster that only goes up!"

@CaffeinatedDad

3 ай бұрын

Ya know I have to say I've loved your optimism throughout my journey Zach, I'm excited to see where it goes from here!

Ive loved following your journey I started during the xbox beta and ive racked up 7 days playtime already and its been great watching you essentially playing the story alongside me cant believe they made us wait 14 years for this incredible game

Within the first ten minutes and first to like? Crazy. Glad to see your journey thru 2.0! Here’s to the rest! ☕️

@DayleDiamond

3 ай бұрын

Second!

@CaffeinatedDad

3 ай бұрын

Damn you moved in fast! Thank you for tagging along and of course the support through here!

Thanks for the lovely videos. I was thrilled to watch every one of them. I hope you'll do some of the expansions as well, since the story gets better from here. I started playing FFXIV two years ago, and I've tried to play other mmos to little success. I love seeing the perspective of someone who's coming from the other end: someone who's played a whole bunch of them and seems to really like the vibe of them in general! Even if you don't play more, I'm glad the game brought you such joy.

Great content, fantastic to hear you've joined the club as a story enjoyer. Hopefully you explore and find out what other content you enjoy as you go.

Really glad you've loved your time in Eorzea. I hope you can make more videos on your journey, they've been a blast as a FF14 and GW2 fan.

Hi there, First off, I have 900 hours in FF14 and in post Endwalker now. It have been a very long journey I can tell you. You capture a lot, what 14 is about. I enjoyed ARR, but it´s a long haul not in a negative way. ARR are world and character building, even a kind of an tutorial, it was for me. I want to mention one big important thing, and that is, remember to take a break from time to time or you will get a burn out or can get burned out. I have taken several breaks during my journey in 14. Even now in post Endwalker, I am on a break and playing some other Mmo´s among GW2, which I really like. Also playing some Retail WoW just questing around, having fun. Good video. I do wish you all the luck on your travels/journey in Eorzea. A lot to come and enjoy. Lokee

I think the lack of individual job builds loses necessity due to the ability to freely change jobs. You want to play differently, you play a different job.

@Karasugou_

3 ай бұрын

Not to mention you can use Mateira to kind of customise what your stats are, higher crits or higher damage for example

@Lordoftheapes79

3 ай бұрын

@@Karasugou_ while true, you tend to replace your armor so fast while leveling and materia progresses so slowly that it doesn't make much of a difference unless you're at current content.

You came out of nowhere as one of my favorite youtube content creators. Keep it up dude.

@CaffeinatedDad

Ай бұрын

Wow, thanks! That's high Praise!

I'm glad you're taking a shine to XIV. Honestly there's been a rush of MMO creators coming in wanting to play the game like their old MMO or people in general trying to grow their channel and using XIV as a means to gain that growth. There was one creator who just panned the whole game, called the Scions cardboard cutouts/ co-workers and overall complained that there's "not enough death". I've always been a person that death needs to be meaningful to drive the story, not so much killing off important characters for plot convenience.

The reason as to why their no focus on player customization in regards to skills and points assignment for stats is as yoshi-p has stated because players will focus too much on min maxing and in the end wont really have a character that is based on themselves but rather focus on meta or what the community is looking for when it comes to raiding. In fact, we had skill assignments back in 2.0, but it really didn't fit well with the game design.

Fun fact about FFXIV, it is inherently different than other MMORPG that the problems most MMO have do not apply here. For example: starting cities is never abandoned, even after you are at endgame you will still chill and gather in Limsa or Gridania. Whether you enjoy Live music with live band or doing seasonal events that always started from starting cities.

Great video. Glad to see new people falling in love with FF. Been playing since 1.0 and have enjoyed it. Give a healing class a try. I love healing in FF. so much fun. I was a Scholar main before Sage came out. Good luck out there!

Fun fact about the slow beggining: they choose to do it that way because they considered the possible players that where FF fans but had no experience in mmos and it automatically includes the everyone that has no experience in mmos, be they an FF fan or not. 😄 Great video! I'll continue to lurk in here for sure! 😆

Looking forward to your journey! and Hopefully finish your whole experience as a Free Trial player, it's a good perspective to see it from. Also I'd like to see you experience the new expansions after and see how they've progressed.

@CaffeinatedDad

3 ай бұрын

I will take my time and take a look at each piece as I step into the expansions. Lots to cover so why rush it?

Starting ARR as a sprout and the few skills you get trains you on how to use your skills , later levels would introduce more skills that you would incorporate into your skill rotation as muscle memory, when to use it how to use it without the confusion of what that skill do or mean. It's good to know, been playing for a couple of years and now i'm going to train as a BM , i;ve maxxed out my Pld to lvl 90 so i would like to try out a new class and get more EXXXXPOOOLSIONS, heh :)

When I think back on what really hooked me, it wasn't some of the big name characters--it was actually Wilred. A lot of people might go, "who?" ARR PATCH SPOILERS BELOW Wilred's story resonated with me. He was a young man growing up in the slum of Little Ala Mhigo when a friend of his was kidnapped and gangraped by the Corpse Brigade. That moment made me realize FFXIV wasn't afraid to go to some very dark places to tell a story. Wilred and his friends were blinded by thoughts of revenge, and their blindness led them to being manipulated by an Ascian. But can you imagine easier people to manipulate? They were kids, used to being shit on by the rich of Ul'dah, having to scrap to survive and hearing stories about a homeland taken over by the Garleans that most of them weren't even old enough to see for themselves. Then one of their friends gets violated and nobody outside of them seemed to give a fuck. How mad would that make you? Wilred and his friends almost did a stupid thing, but luckily Gundobald and the WoL were there to stop them. Later, Wilred decided he wanted to make himself a better man, so he joined Alphinaud's Crystal Braves. Sadly, he ended up getting murdered when he got too close to learning about Teledji Adeledji's duplicity. Wilred was a good kid who got manipulated in a weak moment, but he wanted to be better. When he was killed, it gutted me. Maybe it was because I rolled a Highlander, too, but I think that was the first time I ever teared up in the MSQ. Other people may barely remember this kid, but I do. I've always remembered him, and I'm glad the writers did too in Stormblood.

@katmeerkats

3 ай бұрын

Need to label this ARR patch spoilers. CD has only finished base ARR.

@natebroadus8474

3 ай бұрын

@@katmeerkats edited

@RothAnim

3 ай бұрын

Agreed. The fact that he joined to be better, and was killed _because_ he was trying to do the right thing in that role was a tragedy.

@kaala7939

3 ай бұрын

omg! I thought I was the only person that cared he died. I cried when I found him cause I was like nooo he wanted to be better, he wanted to make the world a better place. It would have been THE moment for me if not for Noraxia earlier I really like slyphs.

@natebroadus8474

3 ай бұрын

@@RothAnim The "Dreaming of Home" questline in post-SB is one of my favorite questlines in the entire game. I was so glad the writers hadn't forgotten about Wilred. If anyone deserved to return to a free Ala Mhigo, it was that kid.

A thing that will come up as you keep progressing is that everything you do, from raids do picking up different classes, are made mention when appropriate. People will react to you differently if you have done relevant things.

Great video! Maybe one day you'll give a go with a disciple of hand or land (often called "trades" or "professions" in other jobs). They also contain their own stories and quests, are great time fillers if you wanna take a breather from being a murder hobo and, once you get into paying for the game, greatly contributes to the economy and are excellent ways to make some extra scratch. Personally Fisher is the king and peak content that you can pretty much always find someone willing and wanting to pull up a stool next to you, whip out their rod, and relax for a bit.

I highly recommend the No Clips documentary on FFXIV. It explains the failures of 1.0 and how the Devs, under Yoshi P, breathed new life and love into what became 2.0. I've played a lot of MMOs but never seen a dev team so devoted to the fans

Great video! Glad you are enjoying the game and will hopefully continue to the end!!

@CaffeinatedDad

3 ай бұрын

Well I gotta figure out what happens!

@sherrij5566

3 ай бұрын

I definitely look forward to the cooking!! 😀

I don't know if this has been asked yet and my apologies if it has, does CD intend to continue playing/showing post content ARR and Heavensward, because I would LOVE to see a KZread series of that!

I feel that, I resisted reading too but I think that's where the hook is in FF14. Good stuff!

@CaffeinatedDad

3 ай бұрын

What games are you into recently?

@Emacspirate

3 ай бұрын

@@CaffeinatedDad I've been messing with lots of random games like Halls of Torment, Death must Die, Valheim (again!) Farthest Frontier, PoE, and my 3 nights a week WvW raid in GW2 still

I had been told that ARR was going to be kind of a snooze fest, but I actually have really enjoyed it so far. This also happens to be my first MMO and it has been a super fun experience

Oh, if you have not done them I highly recommend doing The Wanderer's Palace, and The Wanderer's Palace (Hard). They link in with the Scholar job quests, and the hard mode has possibly the best "Duty Complete" in the entire game.

Hi dad! (If I may call you that) - Looking forward to you doing Crystal tower & Coils and such. :)

@IKMcGwee

3 ай бұрын

Ah Coils, my beloved. The lore in there is soooo good! However due to it being the first raid series they made... Let's say that they weren't as tuned in to difficulty as they later did. Normal Coils is basically savage default. Most people just wait untill like lv80 and up and run through them all unsynced, so a lot of people haven't really experienced them. But streamer privilege means that it probably wouldn't be hard to legit do the raids synced, so enjoy that!

Honourable mention for the Amazing music in this game... Heavensward OST brought me to tears.

The global cool down is about 2.5 seconds. It does feel slow at first, because there’s only a couple skills. But as you level and get more skills, that “down time” fills up fast. You honestly feel the GCD the most when you do a roulette and end up in an ARR dungeon, especially one of the first three.

ladies and gentlemen, we gottem jokes aside, i'm glad you're enjoying the game! i will be here to see the next steps of your journey and hopefully see it til the end!

I'm actually really happy I started playing before the big surge of new players, and I got to see that influx, but I'm also glad because I did go into the game with 0 expectations, I literally tried it because I saw a banner ad somewhere and kinda wanted to try a new MMO(I burned out of WoW early BfA, and quit playing then, despite being a vanilla vet) and I was pleasantly surprised, and since I didn't know what to expect I just sort of took it all in stride. TBH, I didn't really get "hooked" until about halfway through ARR, the post Titan stuff, but even prior to that, I've played enough older MMOs, that I was expecting a slow start and it exceeded my expectations after that.

I want you to remake this video after Shadowbringers and Endwalker's storyline crush your soul.

@CaffeinatedDad

3 ай бұрын

Deal.

The one thing that really caught me off when I started was the patch content. I felt like the game was holding me back from "properly" progressing through the game. Maybe some of that has to do with the story being told, maybe it's because I was used to gear and levels being the metric of progression as opposed to being secondary to the story, or maybe because people were hyping up Heavensward and I was eager to see what it would bring. That said, I really do appreciate the FF14 approach in retrospect. This gives the content they create far more longevity than a purely stat-based game. Thanks to the difficulty tuning and level synch, there are both reasons to run old dungeons, raids and trials, and people willing to do so. By the end of Heavensward, I was really eager to see where the story was going, rather than rushing to Stormblood.

I am glad you are enjoying FFXIV. I tried GW2 after playing FFXIV, and I've been enjoying it as well. I think the two games are really complementary and offer different, but great experiences for players. FFXIV has great story. GW2 has enchanting environments and more customizable (?) builds. GW2 players (so far) have also proven themselves to be super nice and helpful! I will say, however, that the story of FFXIV grabbed me a lot better, so I find myself more invested in my WoL, to the point where I often pull the camera close, just to enjoy his glams and animations. It's what encourages me to log into FFXIV every day. Either way, I can't wait to see how you interact with later (and more difficult) content. Should be fun! P.S. The whole "it's slow" rhetoric was probably true for the first iterations of 2.0. Since then, they've tightened stuff up and honestly, it's better now. I'm huge into reading, so for me, the "slow" start is a necessity.

this is making me want to play through ARR again lol. I've always liked it more than most other players.

Been playing since HW came out and the only thing I've paid for is the subscription, additional retainers and 1 server change. You definetely don't have to pay for anything other than the subscription (and the expansions ^^). I will definetely follow your future content, as it's fun to see people's reactions to this game :)

@CaffeinatedDad

3 ай бұрын

I plan on getting through as much as I can on the free trial cover as much of the game made available and then worry about costs!

I've been playing XIV for about 2 months, coming from a background of 14 years playing EverQuest II and then playing WoW off and on for 5 or 6 years. I was slightly put off by the whole "one character can be and do everything!" thing that Final Fantasy had going on, so went ahead and made my 8 characters anyway! (I'm a confirmed altaholic, I will never give that up!) I find the story involvement and the community of XIV to be really nostalgic and reminiscent of playing EQ2. I like exploring alt jobs and different roles, as it gives me a mini break from the MSQ and main job quests I've been doing. Currently maining a 49 Scholar/Summoner on the free trial and am really only dabbling in WoW off and on because I had JUST paid for 6 months of play before I got talked into trying XIV again. When my sub runs out, I'll probably switch entirely.

@CaffeinatedDad

3 ай бұрын

It's funny because I would would make other characters perhaps the hrothgar once I was forced to pay but I do really like the flexibility here. I've been doing the Hildebrand story on stream and it has been a welcome distraction!

The Free Trial was what sold FF14 for me. I just quit WoW and GW2 just never really did it for me (and I no-lifed it...) so it was then either ESO or FF14 - simply because I watched a compare video :D And FF had a free trial - back then only until lvl35 but even then no restriction on game time and I could theoretically level every job - including crafters and gatherers. Still, my mind was made up after a single hour and luck would have there was a discount for all expansions plus collectors edition: HW, ST and ShB for mere 40€! A steal if you ask me :D Havent looked back since.

I agree with most of what you said besides the world feeling alive part, the main hubs are populated for sure but all the leveling zone until the last expansion are pretty much deserted. Also going through the MSQ makes the game feel like it’s single player.

@CaffeinatedDad

3 ай бұрын

Perhaps I'm a bit used to it from GW2? Many of the zones I went to had only like a few other people it seems. At least as I'm going through too I do have an entourage of people with me?

A Realm Reborn is definitely the slog. By Heavensward things start to get interesting storywise, and every expansion after shit really starts to hit the fan. Better storytelling, voice acting, animations etc. And while ARR is slow, every small detail comes into play in later expacs, so it really feels like the time you invested in the slog actually meant something. And then it all culiminates in the big finale that is Endwalker, where everything storywise suddenly clicks. It's excellent. But it's very much an rpg first, and an mmo second. So that initial storytelling is slow, but vital.

playing other MMO’s I’ve always been a tank or dps. When endwalker came I was intrigued by Sage healer that came out but I was so conflicted thinking “I could never heal, like what?” And here I go through all of endwalker as healer and am now a healer main looking to pick up AST or SCH as my new main going into dawntrail

I enjoy the character playstyle customization in games like WoW and GW2. But in FF14, I've come to see it more as you have 5 roles (tank, healer, magic dps, melee, ranged dps) and the different classes are our version of specializations. The classes are similar enough* they're easy to swap between and having them all on one character almost makes them feel like different specs rather than different classes. (*I do think they've become too homogenized though.)

@CaffeinatedDad

3 ай бұрын

I can understand that, the classes have alot of interplay between each other and that somewhat makes them similiar

Ive only just hit 3k hours in this game, and ive still got so much to do. Me mates on there have around 15-40k hours (40k is excessive i know) but they still are having fun and trying content they havent touched yet) so i recommend it if your the type of person to like getting sucked into games.

Hey Caffeinated, what armor are you wearing in the thumbnail ? Please and thank you

If you want to customizes your character's skills and what role to play. there is a Job in FFXIV that let's you do that. Blue Mage. Blue Mage is a Magic DPS that can also Tank and Heal and has over 100 Spells to chose from. And to get these Spells you have to learn them by defeating enemies that have used the spell against you. there's achievements tied to clearing hard content with a group entirely made up of Blue Mages. And Yes Blue Mages are unbelieveable broken, which is why they are not allowed in current content (max Leve is 80 atm) and we get ANOTHER Job Like this in Dawntrail the Beastmaster

LOVE LOVE This game. I quit a few years back because its so damn addicting. Starting back when the expansion releases. And the graphics update looks amazing, I cant wait until that grass/tree shimmering effect is finally gone!

FF14 is one of those games where the investment really is worth it. The fact that you've still got Coils of Bahamut (which I *highly* recommend before Heavensward) and post-ARR before Heavensward and Stormblood, both of which are part of the *Free Trial* just makes me excited to see the rest of your journey

I do wanna mention that you *can* buy stuff off the mogstation without being forced to subscribe. I've bought lots of cosmetics and a couple of mounts from the mogstation and I'm going on five years of Free Trial. :)

I believe you can pay for mog station items and not have any impact. Not sure if all items work that way but I know at least cosmetic ones do.

I’ve enjoyed watching your journey through FFXIV. I started watching you and other FFXIV content because I’ve been unhappy with the MMOs I’ve played in the past. ATM, I’m at lvl 43 with my Warrior after finding the Summoner to be hard for me to get into. As it is I’m still on the fence about FFXIV but with the free trial I can take my time. I’m not comfortable with the tab targeting and prefer more active content. I love the story and humor in the game though. Finally, I’ve played a weird mix of MMOs and nearly MMOs. I’ve played Destiny 1-2, Elite Dangerous, ESO and BDO. I got bored with ESO and switched to BDO. I started to hate BDO and returned to ESO. ESO is comfortable and the combat is a bit more active, while the group activities can be pretty toxic.

Gotta love the fact that FFXIV is all about the journey and enjoying it, not sprinting to endgame.

@dddaaa6965

3 ай бұрын

ya the extremely easy impossible to lose combat and filler dialogue that has you teleporting across the map only to hear an NPC literally say two lines of dialogue THEN making you teleport to the original location before you can continue the story is awesome.

The community and developers both put the work in to cultivate a game environment like no other. I was dragged in by a friend, rolled a Thaumaturge and quit before level 30 because it was so mind-numbingly boring. He didn't chide me for this, he didn't tell me to try another class or demand to watch me play so he could yell advice at me. Instead, he let it go and I ended up trying again because of that a couple months later on a new character picking Arcanist this time. After that moment, I was hooked. Even if I didn't know it by the time I finished ARR, I sure as hell did when I finished the post-chain for it back when it was over twice as long and filler-y as it is today. I was just plodding along, reading the story because I knew it would be important down the road and it's one of the strongest points of the Final Fantasy series as a whole. By the time I got to Heavensward I was thoroughly invested in the story and could not put the game down until I hit what was the end of the MSQ at the time in patch 5.1. Fast forward to today, I still have that character and play with that friend as often as time permits, but I'm now playing on EU with next to no latency in an FC with my real life friends as well. I don't even remotely mind periods of content drought like the one we're currently in because the game has so much content to explore in ARR and every expansion that I have years of grinds ahead of me if I wanna finish everything I've started. To that effect, I've found myself simply enjoying achievement hunting, for points or rewards? I stopped caring about both. I just love the completionist aspect the game offers. I came from Runescape 3 of all games and haven't touched it since. Granted RS was and had been declining in quality for years at that point after the creators sold it off, but it was still a huge part of my formative years in life and online interaction. Going from a game where every schmuck wanted to scam items for you or to lure you into a PvP area to effectively murder and loot you to a game with a massive focus on co-operation with its own PvP content relegated to instanced modes that don't allow the risk of wealth or items was such an eye-opener. I loathe most competitive games, yet I find myself regularly grinding away at something from XIV's PvP and that to me is quite the achievement for any game, let alone an MMO. To this day I'm thankful to my friend for being wise enough to just let me carve out my own experience and for trusting in my judgement after I initially quit that first character. Because it only served to facilitate my growing love for the game and brought us a lot closer together over time. Life's good when I have time for XIV regardless of what I'm doing now.

I loved the story of ARR. The entire storyline of FF14 is crazy good. I am going back to FF14 after taking a little break for a few months. Best MMO on the market

FFXIV has been pretty fun to play but I still return to GW2 since it's my main mmo that I enjoy the most. The only issue I ran into in FFXIV was I was using the Duty Finder to join a run for The Striking Tree (Extreme) for the first time. We get a group going after about 10mins and someone said "Oh, this is extreme?" Then left along with half of the other players. Me and the other newbie asked one of the mentors what was up with that and they said "no one does these extreme trials normally anymore. You need to unsync to get into these fights." We told them that it's unfair for the newbies that wants to play it as it was originally intended so they managed to get a group of other mentors to join us. It was a fun fight but I thought that particularly scenario was sad.

@GalacticW

3 ай бұрын

that is deffinattly a bit of a shitty experiance, i will say you might have a better time if you put up party finders for extremes and up because that how its done for current extremes in NA, but if you due queue up for past expansion extremes you will get people from mentor roulette as that waht that roulette is for and the people you got should have been perpared to possibly get an extreme and to do their best to help.

Ive been playing it for over a year now, and it took me until midway Heavensward to feel truly engaged with the gameplay, and until Stormblood to start really caring about the story. (im kinda hard to impress i suppose) But now im doing endgame things in Endwalker and loving it. If you are impressed by ARR, then hoo boy is the rest of the game going to make you feel things.

While it is true that FFXIV doesn't have builds in a way like GW2 does, every Warrior has the same skills and the same rotation to do for optimal DPS etc. I like to look at it as the different class/jobs ARE the different builds. You got your Axe build in WAR, then a Sword/Shield build in Paladin, a gunblade build in Gunbreaker and a Greatsword build in Dark Knight. And that's just the tanks and only mentioning their weapons. They all have their differences that feels like a tank character with varied builds.

I’m still trying to figure out if it’s worth playing, after putting in over 100 days of playtime and all classes lvl 90 🤔

i believe when the new expansion comes out, shadowbringers will be added to the free trial

Something I'd like to reinforce from what you say in the video, yeah, combat starts really slow... Global Cooldown lasts 2.5sec. Atrocious, I know. But as you progress your character and unlock more skills, that feeling changes because most classes make use of off-global cooldown skills, which become fillers while you're waiting for the 2.5 GCD to comeback. Some job rotations even use 2 skills between the GCDs which make combat pace faster, so yeah, the beginning is slow because you don't have all the kit available to fill in these gaps but it improves a lot later. And yeah, walking advertisement we become. Although I'm more used to saying that Yoshi-P is a Primal and we're tempered 🤣

The choosing you build thing was eroded from ffxiv. We used ti hsve cross clsss skills. But ultimately, you need to respec every instsnce type, or yoy settle for a build that's good for one type of content, so it was removed from the base PVE experience. That said, many players play all jobs of their role snd they choose the hob best for a given instance. E.g. choosing DRK over PLD for a specific fight. That said, in special content in later expansions, they gave special abilities or consumables thst augment your job. I loved playing WHM in a piece of ShB because you tranform into a super DPS. There's also dueld in Bozja and you can devise a special setup that must have certain elements to clear. That type of content might scratch yhe customization itch.

Never played. But if I get the starter edition I can play for free up until just before the latest expansion? Do I need an active subscription or how much/far can I play with a one-time payment? EDIT: I have an account already but when I finally manage to log in (apparently all my logins are suspicious and demand a second password reset) I am told my account isn't eligible for the free trial lol. I remember I had some similar issue years ago when I tried to play FF XIV last time lol.

@Omegamario

3 ай бұрын

Starter Edition and free trial gives you up to end of Stormblood (4.55). Essentially if you don't mind having gil restrictions, no retainers for bank and trading functions and the ability to start party (Free Trial players can be partied with paid if the paid player leads it) then you could play so much in just those 3 alone (ARR, Heavensward and Stormblood.). Later on you would need a monthly sub and buy the latest expansion (Since Dawntrail will grant Shadow and End). EDIT: Saw about the ineligible thing and that is kinda gutting so hope that gets sorted but ouch

I really want to regain my love for FFXIV but I just can't bring myself to do so any longer. The story is good but once you've experienced it once it's really nothing special. Then logging in and seeing all of my friends are offline because they moved on, checked my FC and seeing 1-3 people online who never say anything. Going to the city and people doing their own thing, running past you as if you were part of the background. Just logging on to grind jobs or gil just isn't fun for me and doing duties that I've done hundreds of times before is boring. It's a terrible feeling.

@CaffeinatedDad

3 ай бұрын

I understand that, personally I experienced that with world of warcraft, I had an entire friends list empty after all was said and done. The raiding experience was great but they moved on. I suppose it's always good to keep in mind that you can move onto other games if need be!

@CoDwithSwords

3 ай бұрын

@@CaffeinatedDad The development team actively encourages players to explore other games as there's always going to be down time. They don't want people to burn themselves out. They even delayed the next Expansion's Early Access by a few days so people could enjoy the Elden Ring DLC.

I'm in love with FF14 but it is very backloaded. The slow global cooldown is meant so you can weave other abilities in between. Problem is you don't get those until later, so you have the slow without the filler. This is also present in the story. Base game is generally considered to be incredibly weak story wise, with it getting exponentially better. Again the problem is the story arcs are LONG. I hate when people say it's a great game...later. But, with ff14, it's a great game...later. Too Caffeinated Dad's point about the post 50 slow down. It's 100% accurate. Each expansion and base game have "patch quests" that give almost no exp, because on release you're job would be max level. He's also 100% correct that it speeds up again once he hits the next expansion. The community is some of the best you will find, however. You won't see the typical toxicity in dungeons or other content. If it's your first time doing content, people are HAPPY to teach you.

During ARR when it was fresh we got new abilities every 1 to 2 levels at first and then 1 every 3 or so. It was reduced after heavensward due to bloat. They removed a ton of abilities overall due to classes having way too many as well as every job having a dot. This caused it to be necessary for everyone to always to keep dots up for residual damage.

@wiziek

3 ай бұрын

Didn't they also move a lot of abilities to higher level caps?

@cstaie85

3 ай бұрын

​@wiziek I remember they shifted some around, and got rid of cross class requirements and skills making role skills. They also reworked Bard, and Machinist heavily as it was a dark time for ranged physical dps. Having to add and remove a barrel to make a cast time for more damage and such. The game was in constant reworks back then for skills. I remember at one point I think jobs had like 60 abilities if you counted cross class, base and all jobs.

@cstaie85

3 ай бұрын

​@@wiziekbig thing was Dark Knight burst was dark arts push over and over to keep Darkside up and down, as well as juggling tank stance for damage. And then also knowing when to use aggro combo or dps combo. Tanking was way more intensive back in Heavensward. As well as healing with cleric stance

I want to like this game. I can’t get into the story. I enjoy crafting, fishing, questing, the instances with an NPC party. Is not being into the story going to be a big issue the longer I’m playing? I’m very new still. Thanks.

Actually a player that quit FFXIV and went to Gw2 here. I loved every second in FF, but, unfortunately, there were 3 things that I just couldn't let slide: 1. For a PvP enjoyer or someone who actually takes PvP seriously FFXIV will probably be very dissapointing. Crystaline Conflict was a nice try from devs, but in the end it comes down to just whether ur team knows how to push the crystal (when to back off and when to go in) and that's it. There is absolutely no skill issue. 2. Something that was mentioned in the video: the lack of customization. In Gw2 you choose ur stats, ur specialization, ur weapons, ur pvp AND pve builds and even tho certain end game content may force/encourage you to play certain builds for the most optimal performance, you can still freely try out meme builds in different game content/modes. In FFXIX, in my opinion, you just never feel special. You always fight exactly the same way other ppl playing the same job do and that's dissapointing after the amount freedom u find in Gw2. 3. Mobility. In Gw2 you have access to different mounts (each and every single one moving in a different way and having different inner abilities), dodge rolls (that actually matter), swiftness and superspeed buffs, teleports, blinks, portals, dashes, backflips, gliding, leyline gliding, updrafts... When I logged in FFXIV after a week of playing Gw2 I felt extremely frustrated cuz suddenly my ADHD brain couldn't enjoy the same amount of possible movements that are very easily achievable in Gw2. I'm not really trying to compare the two games. As someone said in the comments, they are two completely different games and I deeply enjoyed them both (FFXIV even more in certain aspects). FFXIV was an awesome game for me for the time I spent there and I don't regret it and I just wanted to share the reasons that ultimately made me stick to Gw2 (at least for now) and out of all (many...) mmos that I have ever played, Gw2 is by far the best.

good vid

Minor statement/spoiler here, but the whole job changing thing is deeply ingrained in ff story too. Some of the other characters change jobs. Some of them actively have multiple jobs. Its even said at one point that one such characters was inspired to do so by you, the WoL

Not to be pushy: But given your experience playing other mmos, arpgs, etc, you really ought to check out Extreme Trials. Doing them with a premade group will be a genuine challenge and a blast, I guarantee it. Even moreso if you go in blind. Galactic (and many others) could help you unlock and figure them out.

As someone that played the 1.0 version of the game, this iteration is vastly more playable and enjoyable. Yes, the ARR part of the story is probably the driest part to get through. It has the responsibility of setting up all the groundwork for the next 4 expansion of the game; which is where you get all your payoff. That's not saying ARR is bad, rather it's laying down the groundwork so later expansions don't have to give some random exposition as to why things are a certain way.

My dnd friend was like "oh I don't wanna try it, it's 500 $ for all the expansion..." I had to tell him he'd have at least 150 hours of gameplay just in the trial.

@DN-qd4dp

3 ай бұрын

Did you tell him that you only need to buy the last one to get them all ?

@8BitCerberus

3 ай бұрын

@@DN-qd4dp This. And even if they wanted ALL of the collectors editions of all the expansions, that's only like $150. In total, not on top of the base/latest expansion price, that's all included with the collectors edition. But that's only relevant if you want all the mounts, minions, and glam that are included with the CEs. Otherwise just need the latest edition, $40 (when not on sale, which consequently it's currently is on sale for 60% off right now) gets you everything up to and including the latest expansion. Granted, I would personally probably wait until Dawntrail releases to buy the current edition for $40 and get everything, because right now it's everything up to Endwalker and Dawntrail will be a separate purchase. But if they get in at 60% off for Endwalker, another $40 for Dawntrail (+everything before it) in a few months isn't too bad.

19:30 Just as a little note, that is false. You can buy stuff from the shop while you're still in free trial and enjoy it. But the second you switch from the free trial to the paid subscription (via the game's starter pack or complete edition), then you can't switch back.

I am now lvl 40, msq lvl 25 and i didnt read a single thing. To me its insanely bad to read a book while playin ur game... however it does pick up, I got finally some dps spells not only defensives and got also my final job aka ninja. I will level all the way through to see what the hype is about, therefore i also got every expansion and pay a sub. I hope the story stuff will change, im all in on a good story, but i want to get it told not just read it. For that price i can buy 10 books and read in peace. Also something to note, the global cooldown is crazy long and makes it feel a little like an autobattler. But i started to be able to live with it. So my journey continues.

ARR through Stormblood i think had what were called cross class skills. You could learn a ability on other jobs and bring them over. It was a way to add personal build but in the end it was scraped because Ragin Strike was the only ability that mattered. GCD base is 2.5 seconds across the board Casters get fasters with Spell Speed and Physicals get Skill Speed. Different jobs will end up different optimal GCD windows for Rotation/Damage. The Leveling system is a weak point IMO for FF as until CUrrent Xpac you will just be way over leveled from MSQ alone. Level Synch is the way they get around it as a problem but theres way to break lvl synch with overpowered gear as it doesnt synch down well past a point. One point about the Mogstation purchases, SquareEnix does NOT get the money from that it goes to help fund more FFXIV, so Mogstation is really there to help bring upgrades and more content to the game. THe reason we got a new Oceania Datacenter is because Mogstation paid for it. Sub fees are really just a way to pay for the game and fund new Xpac Mogstation funds new features kinda stuff.

My mannn

@CaffeinatedDad

3 ай бұрын

Ayyy! How you doing buddy?

The lack of skill trees in FFXIV makes the game way easier to balance for the devs - smart move, IMO. There is a bit of personal variety possible at end game if you get into savage raiding and start pentamelding your gear, but the differences are marginal. I was halfway through HW on the free trial when I decided to pay. I knew I wanted to continue playing, and I was fed up of being capped at 300k gil and no access to the market board. Btw, you have to pay for the current game as well as the sub, and then again for each new expansion. I feel it's fair because the new content updates land to a very regular schedule.

8:30 Back in 1.0. What your asking for is, what they took out of the game. People wanted more defined rolls and or they didn't want to have to build the job they wanted. To obtain the skills, back then, required leveling more than 1 job. So basically you were a hybrid until to put in the effort to make say a PLD. Those voices were loud, but the game sucked so, to make people happy they went with the current system.

I love playing as a white mage or paladin, I believe in God so I enjoy being able to tank enemies within reason & keeping the party alive with regen, benediction, medica II & cure I & II. Clemency on paladin too for keeping healers alive All I can say is that this game gets better after level 60

The answer is yes...nuff said

Story only gets better from ARR. 4.0 may feel a bit of drag but 5.0 and its patches are the best mmo story ever.

As a player, I originally went in with basically one expectation: it gets better. I think we do this game a huge disservice when we trash ARR cause I honestly didn’t hate it. It was a good ride. Dragged in some places, but it got me where I was going. I think a big part of why I enjoyed it was that I decided not to rush and try to reach Heavensward as quickly as possible so I kinda got sucked into the narrative, got to enjoy the side content, spent way too much time at the Gold Saucer, and then when the story really started to pick up in later expansions, I was utterly blown away.

@xiaocheng6643

3 ай бұрын

Thing is, people who are bashing ARR are mostly players who did it prior to the rework. The team cut over 100 quests from the base game and reworked several dungeons to make things more enjoyable which paid off immensely. Right now, ARR is a good story with a ton of worldbuilding to give new players the knowledge they need to understand later events. "Back in the day" the drag that is the Titan arc was the common pacing all throughout the base game and even the patches... Not to mention, without road to [insert 10 levels below max] you didn't even get enough exp to keep up with ONE job and got stuck spamming dungeons, leves and FATEs around level 48 at the latest.

@ugxsan

3 ай бұрын

@@xiaocheng6643 It’s definitely gotten better, which is even more reason we need to stop trying to talk it down to new players. I did it in 5.3 just after Crystal Tower was made mandatory, flight was added, and a good 30 quests or so of the 1-15 stuff and 2.1/2.2 were removed. But still well before the dungeon reworks happened and permadeath from falling was removed.

@katherinemerkel3505

3 ай бұрын

Now all ARR needs is a rework of the alliance raids. And rework of the voice acting to be up to the standard of the rest of the game. With these 2 things ARR would be golden golden.

@katherinemerkel3505

3 ай бұрын

Oh and ability to skip cutscenes in pratorium.

@katherinemerkel3505

3 ай бұрын

Oh adding to the new voice acting. I think an increased amount of voice acted scenes would also benefit ARR as well. At least as much voice acting as HW.

Do the trees and grass kinda flicker in the game? I can’t tell if it’s js my pc or the graphics

@megapyro88

3 ай бұрын

Theres a major graphical overhaul coming in like 7 weeks.

@speedydoggo

3 ай бұрын

What graphics settings are you running with?

@dazzlemasseur

3 ай бұрын

Just don't play for the graphics. You're holding your enjoyment bavk

@UnashamedlyHentai

3 ай бұрын

i do not have flicker in my game with the current graphics. running a 1080ti on a 1st gen ryzen. the new graphics coming with dawntrail will change stuff, though.

@HollowRepost1

3 ай бұрын

@@speedydoggo hey Im running very thing on max!

Should have gone to the end of the post launch patches 2.55(?)

@GalacticW

3 ай бұрын

hes working on that...though we got him distracted with hildibrand first

Why is it no one ever says ARR is world building? Everyone always says the same thing, "it gets better." Talk about group think.

@CaffeinatedDad

3 ай бұрын

I've seen some comments about world building!

@saintjayme

3 ай бұрын

@@CaffeinatedDad I hope so. I have not and I am getting tired of it. I mean let people have their own opinion. "It gets better," already puts a negative spin on it and I find some people are shamed for liking ARR. Sorry, I didn't mean you personally, I mean as a whole as a community, and that hit me harder than I thought and out of no where lol.

W Dad

I just started playing but I'm afraid I won't make it through the story before the new expansion 😅

@k.vn.k

3 ай бұрын

Is it necessary to start new expansion as soon as it’s released? Enjoy your journey.

@Dewkeeper

3 ай бұрын

There's absolutely no reason to rush your journey, all the players enjoying Dawntrail will still be queueing into your leveling dungeons (they get endgame rewards for it), passing through cities going about their business and the launch hype will mean there are people all over the place. Not only should you not rush, you should do the opposite and take your time, immerse yourself, and dabble in any side content you find interesting. Everything in the new expansion will be right there waiting for you when you're done. The journey IS the destination.

I've said for years that FF14 isn't a game made by game makers it's a game made by people that wanted to write a long series of fantasy novels and a trilogy of movies. I've tried multiple times to log in and say, "I'm going to read all of it this time", I've never followed through on it. I'm sorry, I just don't play video games to read The Wheel of Time series worth of reading.

I Didn't Really Like Visual Novels But A Femboy Catgirl Got Me Addicted To This Award Winning MMO And Now My Sub Count Is Through The Roof, What The Heck Do You Mean It Gets Better?! My favourite new light novel series.

@GalacticW

3 ай бұрын

are you describing caffinated's video with this comment?

@shingshongshamalama

2 ай бұрын

@@GalacticW that that's the joke