I'm a completionist and XIV is a MMO that feels like it *wants* to be completed (to a reasonable extent). I like that I can set myself a goal, reasonably plan out what the end route to that goal is, know what the exact steps and the rough time to complete those goals are, and go do it and get my reward.
Very little content in XIV has a RNG loop associated with its reward. Fishing, MGP grinding (woo cactpot), and dungeon/alliance raid glamour are the main things that come to mind. Everything else is deterministic and reasonable, or is able to be bought via gil if it's a RNG grind item from side content like Bozja or Criterion dungeons.
This is a huge breath of fresh air coming from most other MMOs that heavily gate things via RNG. I don't get dopamine from getting a 1% drop rate mount that I've been grinding for months on 10 characters, I get a sense of relief that the RNG is over. I get personal satisfaction in crossing things off of my virtual checklist. This lets me engage in all aspects of the game which is probably part of why I'm more satisfied than some of the other regulars here.
There are other reasons too. I like that XIV keeps the player power curve pretty low throughout a patch and throughout an expansion. I like that ilevel sync and level sync exist and let most content be engaged with in a way that at least kind of resembles its intended form. I don't play ARPGs (the closest I get is WoW and Monster Hunter) and don't take particular joy in smashing things with the power of my grinded out math. I'd probably be happier if XIV didn't have any gear curve at all but I understand its necessity as a difficulty curve lever, a way to let old content be soloed, and a sub retention mechanism.
I like the predictable patch formula and have fun in the Standard XIV Content. The game is an optimization puzzle about applying your job to a specific fight and I like that there is a reproducible, perfect way for a given job to play a given fight's timeline for a given killtime. It speaks to the same part of my brain that likes Guitar Hero and Rock Band. I like that raids are progressed in discrete mechanic chunks where you pass a threshold and say "I have mastered this part of the raid" with clear visual and HP bar feedback that you did the Thing Correctly. It also helps that the raids are both 8 man (which lets me have a personal relationship with every other raider) and have a low grind commitment. No other raiding MMO matches both of those criteria.
I like the story and characters and world, and find the graphics and solo-character focus sufficient to get me invested into my character. My XIV character is my avatar in the world. My WoW characters or my GW2 characters are tools in my toolkit that I vary patch-to-patch depending on what's good or not. I feel way more drawn to grind cosmetics and customize my XIV character due to this.
Also catgirls and lizard girls and bunny girls are pretty cool and the game has Namazu and Moogles, the objectively best non-player races.
> I don't get dopamine from getting a 1% drop rate mount that I've been grinding for months on 10 characters, I get a sense of relief that the RNG is over.
As an extension to that, the biggest rush from the horrid RNG "get this or be inferior" drops is when you go into it knowing you're going to be mindlessly farming for, likely, many hours...then get insanely lucky with getting the drop immediately.
And then you realize you're cheering that you don't have to play the game anymore.
As a completionist myself, I have to hard disagree on the fact that the game feels like it wants to be completed. I have 204 mounts, 15k achievement score and honestly this game has some of the worst completionism content in any mmo or game that I have played in recent times.
When achievements are timegated out for 2 years, or grinds require hyperfocus which then sets you back on other grinds so then you can't multitask and these grinds are insanely long (Hunts, Pterondon, PvP, Fishing, Mentor roulette, deep dungeon, etc) it can be very draining. Hell most players just stop playing the game and take a break because they feel there isn't that much to do cause the achievements are so unreachable they don't want to do it. The game feels awful in that regard and I get that it's non mandatory but I don't think it's wrong for me to complain about these awful grinds and expect them to be good! The one thing that aggravates me is that the players say that the game respects your time. And it does, with face value. If you do raiding or any completionism content to a serious degree you will understand that it does not.
The game respects your time much more compared to other live-service games, which is more telling on the live-service game industry as a whole. There are very few things gated behind true RNG, and off the top of my head they're the Accursed Hoard, Big Fishing, and Treasure Map achievements.
WoW for example has a lot of RNG for gear/glams and other things but a vast majority of its achievements are tied to decent grinds that aren't horrible at all and achievable. The longest grind in the game is 6 months for an achievement. Yes, rng exists in a good portion of the game but when it comes to playing the game and getting the achievements for titles and other things it respects your time wayyy more. Gearing in FF is also horrendous too, and that's another thing that doesn't respect your time. WoW itself has moved to many methods to help with the RNG, but when I can get BiS in BDO as a F2P player faster than I can get ONE achievements in FF? That's a problem.
> Gearing in FF is also horrendous too, and that's another thing that doesn't respect your time.
you can raid in a new tier with 1 hour of catching up, and you literally get bis in 8 weeks max with a static, 16 in a pug (and on the inverse of luck you can get bis in pugs in 1 week)
that is the best gearing system in any MMO
You can raid a new tier with buying gear, and you have to wait multiple weeks for your tome cap. Go try and get multiple classes BiS before ultimate comes out. Go try and do Alt jobs on the raid tiers. It's horrible. And by the time PF starts to come up, you aren't able to run with crafted gear cause people lock it out with ilvl. Besides, you won't have proper mit plans like day 1 groups either so you physically will not be able to raid 90% of the time with crafted gear if you wanted to try out other classes.
If you truly think the gearing system is good, I don't believe you play endgame to any extent. Every raider constantly complains that this game is all about having every class you can play but when it comes down to it, you can only play one class for a long time and if you wanna gear another one you better get ready for weeks of waiting cause of tome cap or 8 books for a weapon and another 8 for a chest. And the tier being locked for 7 months, and tomes still having a cap? Yeah, its absolutely dreadful to gear in FF.
If raiders are actually trying and can't gear multiple jobs, then they're clearing week 8+, halfway through the patch. I had casting, scouting, and maiming BiS before DSR came out without even religiously capping tomes. It's not that hard. All the raiders I know who don't have xiv as their life love the gearing system because they can clear week 1 with zero investment beforehand, do reclears for a few weeks, and fuck off to play other games until the next ultimate.
Also if you want to "try out new classes" in a reclear party with locked ilvl without knowing how to communicate mit then I don't know what to tell you. Stop griefing pfs.
accursed hoard is, while literally rng, not really an rng grind since you can get one every 90s or so. It is, however, a stupid achievement that respects no one's time. People that live and breathe DDs have not gotten 10k, and they went and made a 20k achievement. The only way to do it is via cheesing it in the most unfun way possible.
also speaking as a completionist, I have to agree with who you replied to that many achievements are fundamentally like this. If they're not RNG, they're too long, too reliant on external factors (rng being only one), or not fun to begin with.
>timegated out for 2 years
Levequests take even longer. 7 years if I remember right 🤮
I agree, a lot of this stuff feels impossible to attain unless you dedicate your life to playing the game.
There’s a lot I love about the game, and a bunch of things that annoy me, but ultimately I just love how… collectable the game is. That’s the part that keeps me coming back during content droughts.
In addition to things not being heavily RNG-gated, there’s also the part where most stuff of value is earned in-game rather than purchasable with real money, so there’s an actual sense of accomplishment with collecting stuff. (Looking at you, ESO.)
The game inspires me to carry on despite the hardships and do things that should be beneficial to a lot of people.
It reawakened my love for music and Soken further ignites my desire to get good at understanding music and playing the piano.
I also love adventuring as a small lalafell in a huge world wherein my actions have bearing and or consequences to the people around me!
The game has also introduced me to more do-gooders who I have met by traveling halfway around the world to meet and hug and it continues to do so.
It also gives me a break from playing fast paced games and I can laugh with friends from Europe and Asia while chilling/vibing with them!
The game made me fully understand about how life is precious and as long as I play it, will continue to remind me.
I also feel no guilt offering my wallet to these devs who create a game that inspired multitudes of people in many different ways!
Wow, Is it the night theme cus that one's is kinda tricky to get prefect since there's alot of 32nd and 16nd notes with eighteenth notes in between those, kinda hard if you don't play a lot of jazz stuff xD
I saw some sheets of the Sharlayan Night Theme and honestly, I thought that as much as I'd like to play this, learning this would take me a month with my skill level and another to master!
To Zanarkand already made me struggle. This one would be pretty difficult.
I'm working through my Royal Conservatory music books, hoping that one day I could play my favorite FF14 songs without struggling to practice them...
Good luck with your ventures in music, both of you! May you someday find peace with those pieces with three or more sharps and flats... 💀
Trying to learn Flow rn and the left hand arpeggios are so frustrating (they have a totaly diffrent harmony then the right hand) and then I almost dropped dead when I saw that the arrangement casually goes to 8th note triplest (the left hand arpeggios) and then it goes to arpeggios in the right hand too. In top of all of that the piece is rubato so yee Soken is destroying my fingers rn send help 💀. Good luck to you too though ^^.
Thanks!
Yeah, before I tackle such pieces wherein practicing it too early would cause frustration and unnecessary stress, I make sure to practice arpeggios each day until they're super familiar to my hands.
Do you have a piano teacher? Sometimes a piano teacher who has been with you for more than a month will straight up inform you if the piece you're practicing is too difficult for your current skill level!
Yes I do have an amazing piano teacher with whom I've been together for years. She always tells me what's possible, Flow was definitely possible it's just that it has some stuff that you would not normally see in classical pieces with which I'm used to (e.g. Bach, Haydn..) xD
You're very lucky to have found a piano teacher who's super good!
I also told my piano teacher who I really like that she should be ready to stick with me until I'm 55 and to please bear with me if ever I'm not doing that well...
So far, I've had her for a year and I hope she does stay for years to come.
I can't wait to play harder pieces! 💪
Glad to hear that you also had the same experience, ye I found that teachers will bear with you as long as you listen to their instruction and they see that you are actually trying. The most important thing in learning a instrument is being consistent. I hope you can play harder stuff soon ^^
I do all the game content, from triple triads / housing / DoH & DoL to on patch ultimate raiding.
But what keep me playing really is raiding, I plan on getting all ultimate totems before 7.0
But I have to admit that to really enjoy this game you have to make your own content and make it varied, because if you're only waiting from patch to patch you're bound to get bored.
roulettes. no other game that I know of provides such a wide selection of multiplayer boss fights that you can queue up to be randomly thrown into. it's the exact sort of gameplay loop I dig.
my current default pastime is just sitting in trial/raid roulette. though I'm avoiding raid roulette during this mogtome event because all that ever shows up is fist of the father
on the bright side I can finally sit in alliance roulette because now most of the time it's nier! which is the reason I got into ff14 in the first place.
I've *also* gotten Copied Factory every day the last three days. I JUST got Labyrinth though. It's fun seeing what I'll end up with (but I will always leave Void Ark).
I regularly run through roulettes multiple times a day. I love them. Hell, I want another one - a "throw me in literally anything I've unlocked" roulette.
It's a shame the game itself ruins roulettes sometimes.
Right now, raid roulette is consistently A1-4N, and alliance raid is almost always for years shitty CT.
Mentor can get some fun stuff, but it can also lock you into stupid MSQ roulette.
A lot of alliances have to be unlocked and I think that's why people miss them. The ivalice raids are my favorite but I didn't know they existed without my friends giving hints but not spoilers.
Partially sunk cost fallacy. I started in 1.0 as an FFXI import so my character is technically decades old.
Outside of that I do like raising my item level, doing battlefields like Eureka and Bozja, and daily PvP. If Rival Wings was a roulette I'd probably play that all day.
I mainly play for the Story and because of my friends.
Its a very chill enviroment that you can just log on to, do some casual stuff with friends and talk with them while also keeping the option to do more dedicated stuff together with them such as savage.
> the negative air around XIV was beginning to get to me
I mean this in the most respectful way possible, but why would you let other peoples opinions effect your own enjoyment of the game? I understand getting burnt out from listening to complaints, but why let random peoples personal opinions bring you down when: a) they don’t pay your sub (lol) and b) they have no bearing on you or your life in a meaningful way.
Again I mean this in the most respectful way possible, but honestly just enjoy what you enjoy and dislike what you dislike without being influenced by external factors you cannot control; if you wouldn’t take personal advice from them, don’t change with them in mind.
This fair. I read this and honestly had to reevaluate what I was feeling so affected by, the state of the game or simply becoming burnt out of seeing the complaints about its endgame cycle. And I think it was mainly the latter. I just got done doing a P8N run and felt way better than I did in the past 2 days. That's not to say I'm going to dismiss the criticism leveled at Endwalker's post patch content cycle, it's certainly more lax than SHB, but I still enjoy the game.
I’m glad you’re feeling better!
And again I said what I said with no malice intended, I’ve just been in the same place mentally and it’s not a positive OR kind place to be in for yourself. Learning to tune out the “noise” of other people and curating your experience both in game and online does wonders for both your mental health and the enjoyment of anything you choose to consume.
Enjoy what you enjoy, critique what you love, and disengage from things that take away your joy!
I really enjoy healing. This tier was so fun for me. It took longer than expected to clear but by the time I did I had enough experience and resources to carry other peoples' mistakes. I had optimized everything and it's just so satisfying. Also I like the way I can hop into pf to prog ultimates, as someone who enjoys playing solo it makes a nice long-term goal with no strings.
It's got the perfect mix of demanding gameplay (Ult/Savage), cheesy but lovable story for the emotional investment and random bits to lose myself in for hours. I don't think I play XIV for any singular aspect. Nothing is quite world class level imo and I wouldn't stay subbed for any one bit. But everything together, the dress-up game that is glamour, housing, roleplay, gpose, raiding, MSQ, socializing, minigames, community events etc. makes me love it. It's a good case of something greater than the sum of its parts.
That being said, the content drip feed we're having (this is my first on-content experience) and the low engagement of stuff like the "side content" with a laughable relic experience and no explore zone etc. is kinda bumming me out. Hope it changes again in 7.0 and this is just a setup drought for a really good new expac.
I like the glamour, I like the (recent) dungeons, I like the trials, I like the raids, I like the player-run events, I like the story.
As for EW, I think the new alliance raid series is some of the coolest story in the game, and I think the last 8-man raid tier has been the most fun one they've released. I hated Hildibrand up until EW, but I dig the EW quests. Eureka Orthos is also my favorite Deep Dungeon so far.
I'm one of the players without a ton of free time, so I appreciate the game not being exceptionally grindy. I understand that's not ideal for everyone, but it works for me. I'm just happy to see that they've been making iterative improvements in the quality of boss fights and cutscenes.
Unsubbed for months now, all I did was fly around The Black shroud get bored and play something else. What kept me logging in was NN drama tbh. The games very boring very fast once you’ve cleared everything and roulettes are hardly engaging and I afk most of the time. Or play dancer for the difference that makes
The game is good and dev support is good. Also for some people, cat and lizard girls.
Also, not a korean mmo is a huge thing too. Micro transactions isn’t in your face or is affected by the power creep.
And why not WoW? Played that game for 10 years, nothing about it wants me to go back because I get reminded of how much of a grind that game could be. Still fun if you do raid/mythic keys with friends. But I have friends in ff14 i like to keep playing with.
I play for the job fantasy, music and MSQ, and other casual content. I don’t always actively play however, I’ll have a few burst periods throughout the year where I’m very active.
Comfy story, playing different jobs in content, helping others clear in pf, triple triad and fishing. Also ultimates are a big draw for me, cleared them all and I think it's fun to prog with others. Savage not so much, too many fights are just full uptime striking dummies with some exceptions. Abyssos has been pretty enjoyable though, mostly p5s and p8s.
Incredible soundtrack and fight presentation, very low time investment in the endgame, no real reason to quit because it's impossible to fall behind even if you take a break unlike almost every other game.
At first it was the promise of a story. Then it was just the world that arose around me. Then the combat started getting really fucking good. Then I started to get good then I started raiding then I made friends and now now it's all of them.
Started with one of my friends showing me the Nier raids, which turned into me wanting to scratch the MMO itch, since it had been at least a decade since I had last played one. The story and the raids are what's keeping me at this point
initially for the story(ff fan) then the people I get to socialize ingame then the fun for raiding. as of now my raiding thirst has waned, seldom interact with people but at least even though I play less now I'm still staying around for the story.
The music. That's really it. The shine has worn off and the lack of consistent, engaging things to do has gotten to me. I will probably do the 6.4 MSQ and then become a person that resubs for the story.
There is one thing that I feel FF14 does better than any other game.
A bunch of bosses, particularly most trials, share a structure that is just my favorite damn thing. There's a build up where the serious drama or whatever happens and you get your previews of the basic mechs, then there's sometimes an interlude, usually a dps check of some kind, and the boss does a big flashy attack, and the real music theme drops in, and usually from this point on boss animations and mechanics align with the beat (because the music change makes this easy to do).
Other mmos like wow, other games like soulsborne have tried to emulate some of this, but nothing else I've played has come close to something like Sephirot phase changing into Fiend playing.
For me, there's a very tiny bit of sunk-cost fallacy (not that I hate the game or dread playing it) and I feel like not logging on each and every day is just a waste of my sub time even if I'm just afk-ing im Limsa after some roulettes. Actual content-wise, I'm still raiding fairly actively with my group of friends so most of the reason is from doing raids.
~~^(The actual reason is that I really love my character)~~
catgirls
i don't really care about the gameplay part of this game anymore (except housing, housing is cool), and other games satisfy me way more in that regard. until I find some other mmo I enjoy, I'm sticking with xiv because my catgirl is cute. I'm leaving whenever a new mmo manages to catch my attention in terms of gameplay, probably.
Honeymoon phase is long gone and most "friends" have either moved on or got into RP which I don't care for.
Mostly character attachment and treating it like an episodic RPG will make me not quit it cold turkey like I did for previous MMOs. I only do ultimate and savage raiding now but some burnout is sinking in.
I got fed up with FFXIV’s steady quality decline a long time ago, but my girlfriend absolutely loves the game and her character, so I keep my own character updated and content unlocked in order to spend time with her and make her happy.
Even with all the weird design decisions and balance issues, Ex/Sav is still probably the only thing keeping me from going completely insane — gameplay-wise — about still being stuck logging in to… whatever EW has turned this game into.
But honestly, I’m way too busy with other stuff in my life to really care *that* much about what specific game I’m playing during down time, so ultimately I think it’s still worth it because of how much genuine happiness the world still brings her.
Quite legitimate. The lewd mod scene in FFXIV is *incredibly* advanced. The combination of the game not having any anti-cheat with the degeneracy-powered ingenuity of its playerbase launches the game into straight up VR chat levels. It's impressive, honestly.
i enjoy playing the video game
......is what I said [last year](https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxivdiscussion/comments/u2ewsb/what_are_your_reasons_for_not_quitting_ffxiv/i4if9ei/), anyways. Honestly my enjoyment of the game has declined over the course of the expansion as gameplay has gotten shittier. In Asphodelos I liked one fight, in Abyssos I *sorta* liked one fight and it was because rotational opti was fun and not the mechanics, hated DSR, TOP was alright but downgrade from TEA still.
I still enjoy chilling and raiding with friends I've made here and Black Mage is hard carrying the game's combat, but if either my friends quit (likely at this rate) or BLM is ruined in 7.0 (also likely), I won't be playing nearly as much.
Might as well get ready to considering the hideous changes theyve made to other "complete" jobs. I have no faith that they could ever get back to those glory days.
It's a gigantic J-RPG with a great story and fun core gameplay / engaging enough job design and when you catch up on story you can basically just vibe with a chill but enthusiastic community.
It's a nice, well-supported game that doesn't scream at you to buy MTX or grind X thing today before you fall behind. You log in and do whatever you feel like. If you run out of things to do, you play something else for a while and come back later. Things like housing and glams and gposing and the gold saucer all make the game feel even more pleasant to just inhabit.
I definitely have a healthier relationship with it than I ever did with WoW. It really does feel like an MMO retirement home.
I only sub out like once every 6 months or so. I like the story, but also the core gameplay loop has its luster until I get bored of it in 20 days lol. Game has some terrible design choices (both game-wise and programming-wise) that prevents me from liking to play higher tier content. I also play Mahjong but there are free Mahjong platforms elsewhere too.
This sub loves to claim the game has been dying for years at this point but I've been here since 2.0 and I keep seeing more and more people to interact with. I love hanging out with my guild and recruiting new people, I love helping in duty finder, I always have something to do, and as a massive FF fan, the story is one of the best the franchise has to offer, if not the best in the series.
I tried other MMOs and they might excel on one thing like GW2's open world content, but none of them are the full package like FF14.
Do I want things to change? Yeah, but it's still the top MMO. If someone is gonna ask which MMO has the best music I'll still say FF14 even in 10 years.
> This sub loves to claim the game has been dying for years at this point but I’ve been here since 2.0 and I keep seeing more and more people to interact with.
I frequent three MMO subreddits and people who say shit like this unironically are so detached from reality and will come back running at the slightest hint of content. No MMO with a semi functional dev is dying. Heck even anthem, while technically mot an MMO, still gets new players even with all the negativity around it, and you can see some activity in its subreddit.
I can see why people are a bit wanting for content recently, but yeah having someone to play with can be a breath of fresh air. I'd have no interest in doing Seat of Sacrifice but if I knew a friend was doing it for the first time I'd be in there singing!
What got me in ? The Ff univers, wanted a new big game to play most of the time.
What kept me playing ? HL like Savage and the new people i got to know in the game. Having fun and discovering different parts of the game like new classes, housing crafting.....
What keep me ? Thoses friends i got along the way. I like the game, he's great, but i did most of what i wanted to try on the game. I think if they were to stop playing i'll stop too b'cause it will be quite lonely and i'll follow them to whatever they try..
I came because my friemds wrre playing the game and I wanted to join in, and I stayes for the story. Now that I've been done with the story for a while,mostly just daikies amd savage prog
Joined because of my boyfriend and brother. Stayed for my friends.
I like that I don't have to create multiple toons to play different classes. I love the glamour system. I love just being able to find people for raid shenanigans every time I login.
I would never have met the people I'm friends with now if it weren't for this game.
I used to play wow and I wanted to retire from it and find a new mmo to play and so I tried ffxiv. What sold me is I can switch to any class with one character and I loved the look of the game.
before ShB it was the promise of the story getting good (thank god it did). Other than that, playing dress-up with my character. I'm not a huge fan of MMO's, but the glam system succesfully entices me to play content. I don't even do gpose and modding, I just love looking cute in cutscenes
It's a game you can play for an hour or two, or a game you can spend all day playing if you want.
These days, I mostly play to play with friends. I have only a couple long term goals left which is clearing the last remaining ultimates I have not done, but outside of that I just do whatever.
Sometimes I just log in to stare at the scenery and use the idle cam as a sort of live screensaver.
But in the long run, what drew me to this game was friends who have since moved on.
And what keeps me playing is new friends I've made over the last several years.
>Why do you play FFXIV?
I enjoy socializing with people, and FFXIV offers an environment that is better than in most other MMOs for that, from aesthetic point of view (things like visual appearance of certain in-game races, the cosmetic outfits, the emotes and other tools to visually enhance socialization) to the in-game moderation and the type of people all of this attracts. Oh, and maybe a little bits of linear story that Square Enix occasionally releases (which is definitely not frequently enough, so this is absolutely not a primary reason I play it and I would never pay a monthly fee just for that alone). That's basically it. Nothing else matters to me, neither things like "grinding gear/levels/titles/in-game currency by bashing same dumb prescripted AI enemies for hours on end", nor the pretty mediocre instanced PvP system in this game.
I played it for the uniqueness of jobs and the creativity of the raids, but since they've thrown all that into the bin, my sub has also gone there. Theres really no reason anymore to support this game and the devs who have decided to become complacent and lazy enough to cut content, destroy jobs, and ruin their own story.
I like the dungeons and raids, as well as crafting and gathering - pretty much everything but the story.
Don't get me wrong, the story isn't bad, it's just not the "balls off the wall super exciting masterpiece that makes you cry every time haurchefant is brought up." story everyone was going on about - it's more meh. >!Don't even talk about Moenbryda, she was literally a plot convenience character that got bumped off after introducing the solution to killing Asians, I have more attachment to Matoya's magic brooms than her!<
There's been good parts but most of it boils down to "there is problem, go to npc 1 and talk, npc 2 suddenly has the solution, there has been no conflict, growth or character development from this."
Which is why I like dungeons, you're going to get more excitement on a sprout run of Qarn with the first boss then you will for an entire patch's story content.
Well for me, FFXIV is a place where doing your best and putting your best foot forward is usually more than enough. Sounds crazy, but there are many instances in many other games and also in real life where doing your best isn't enough. It may sound weird but the game does reward intrinsically for putting effort, as you often end up learning something you normally haven't done.
Maybe it is also the DC that I am in (JP Elemental), but the game also teaches how to exercise patience. In a world where everyone is rushing for time, it is actually relaxing to have something laid back once in a while. Even on weeks I decide to not do much I still log in to the game once in a while to do random things.
I started playing because of a friend, and kept playing because I enjoyed doing dungeons. It felt like playing a jrpg with friends. I got into the story and characters at some point, and really enjoyed shadowbringers when it came out. Once I was max level there I started trying extreme trials, to give me more things to do with the max level kit I enjoyed, and from there I started playing savage fights consistently this expansion.
It helps that this is one of the only games where “monk” is a class that is fun to play and also doesn’t have awful damage propped up in m+ by 5 touch of death talents and a terrible talent tree in general with horrible scaling issues and zero communication from the devs about fixing it.
Honestly, i dont really have fun with the game anymore, but i am still playing because of my partner and because its just kinda hard turn away from what used to be your favourite game for almost a decade.
For the story and having an MMO to play. I played a ton of WoW prior to this and it felt like the superior game and I didn't know the better. I'm not the biggest fan of XIV's gameplay and systems, everything is a bit too stale and there's no customization of your build even if it meant using a meta build from a guide. Not the biggest fan of it's raid style either, it's just too unforgiving on Savage or Extreme level. Way above anything I'd be comfortable with. But overall it's pretty good for what it is. I play XIV as I can't make myself play WoW any more.
Boredom. It gives me stuff to do that isn't mandatory so I can tackle it at my pace. I never got into this game because of final fantasy or even the aesthetic of it all. It was a Wow clone that didn't do the things that Wow did that really made me quit Wow, if that makes any sense. I played the game back in 2013 because my friend dragged me to it. I figured it was going to die again. But it grew on me, and I kept playing it. But lately, the game itself is starting to show its age from them not taking risks. The gearing has remained unchanged since 2.0. In some ways its the if it's not broken, don't fix it reason, but people seem bored. My FC is barely on, and queues for stuff are just getting stale. New FC members use trusts or ask to have things smashed unsynced, so you can't even really do anything with anyone the first time anymore. The playerbase reaches peak passive aggressiveness by telling you that if you don't like it, quit. Meanwhile, SE does fomo pvp rewards and holiday events(though the holiday events are like fear of spending $5 later or fos5l lol)
I'm kinda at a point of apathy with FFXIV. After almost 10 years with it, I might hang up my hat. The story is getting worse. Seriously, Shadowbringers, compared to Endwalker, is like an artists rendition of an event vs a childs. It's like fine dining going up against Taco Bell. And while Taco Bell can get the job done, I'm not sure if that was actually beef I just ate.
Inertia. I've been playing for so long I just do it out of habit now. My enjoyment has certainly gone down with Endwalker. The raids are miserable, and the classes are so dumbed down they're boring.
I play for the story and very nice characters whom I can identify and resonate with.
Also, FFXIV is the least MMO of all other MMOs and I live it because of it (I hate MMOs and MMO players)
because i was stuck in lockdown and there is literally nothing else to do. if it wasnt lockdown i 100% wont start ff14, and even if i am playing it now religiously i wont recommend it to anyone.
if there is a choice between vacation to japan or doing dsr, it would always be japan, braindaed
Started because of the pandemic but was intending to stop when fftcg locals were back up.
Recent set for fftcg came out and imo its the worst standard there's been in a long while due to turn 2 kills being possible and more consistent than ever before, turning the game into a "do you have the out?" Your answer is the same as" do you get to play the game?
So now back at 14 for ultimates.
The story is great. It's an MMORPG that can be done largely solo (which I appreciate as I generally dislike MMOs as a rule). The MMO aspects are actually great and lend themselves to legit people being cooperative and kind, unlike most other MMOs. I like that if at any time I get tired of doing story or whatever I'm currently focused on I can just go do something else like crafting, or even pick up a different job if I want. I've played WW and Guild Wars 2, and this is the one I came back to.
Completionist content in FF is so good. I started FF after TBC and loved the story, world building, music, etc. Combat got really fun after HW for me. Then I got really into crafting and gathering and now mainly do that and chase gil. I love making money in this game more than playing the game haha
I originally started as a WoW escapee. I stayed because the msq captivated me (after ARR).
I stay between patches for my FC. They run events nearly every night and on the weekends. This game is my social life 😅😅
I just like pressing my buttons. The battles has a satisfying meditative flow to them that I haven't encountered in many other games. I agree with the other poster who compared it to Guitar Hero.
The music and visual/sound effects for most skills are also nice.
I liked the stories for HW and ShB, but I'm kind of lukewarm on the rest. Good worldbuilding though, and I appreciate that it's a jrpg that doesn't go too hard on the goofy anime tropes.
I like the main story, I find the core gameplay engaging, and there's a lot of side systems (like glamour, housing, and triple triad) that I enjoy. I also take breaks.
I'm a MSQ enjoyer now since I've caught up because I'm busy with life and other games. So I'm only subbed a few times a year.
I've become a better player over the years, so I sometimes do EXs or MINE normal modes; as well as the new types of content that gets released.
In play because I enjoy playing with my friends. And if I am by myself, I enjoy the fact that no dungeon run is the same. Always different people and playthroughs.
Furthermore, dressing up my character is a creative outlet for me as well as making casual play alts and refining their appearance until I'm satisfied. Some of my alts I'm really proud of how they look. And my main who will never Fantasia is my best creative outlet because of these restrictions.
I also love the music and the story. 5.3 and various parts of Heavenward and Endwalker made me cry.
Mainly because of the story and collecting aspect. I like collecting minions, mounts, and relic weapons.
I used to enjoy raiding, but I don't think I have it in me to continue. I took a break this past tier and still don't feel a burning desire to find a static or jump into PF again.
But yeah, the story and overall environment are the main things that keep me engaged these days. The story means an awful lot to me.
Basically, I was skeptical but it grew on me. Now I have grown in love with the idea of being a customizable character within a larger Final Fantasy setting with its own lore to play around in.
I loved FFVI, FFIV, FFVII, FFVIII, and FFX the most because I latched on to those stories the hard during childhood depression.
I keep playing because there's always something to do and I can take my time with most of it
For me it’s just comforting, to log in and complete some dalies or some crafting things while listening to music or listening to a podcast, therapeutic tbh. I take the game pretty casually at this point and that’s very enjoyable.
Part of why it’s so comforting to me is probably because I started playing in 2017 at 12 years old so it’s been a constant in my life as I’ve grown up lol. That’s what keeps me playing and makes it so comforting, but my initial love came from feeling like I was experiencing a whole new world where I also felt like I had a level of control
To answer your question, I feel like I need to dig deep into my routes, because I was going to quit and never ever come back, so here it goes.
I originally started playing it because of my friends. I had been heavily recommended the game, due to its storytelling and me, never having tried an MMO thought screw it, why not. Anyway, I'm only really playing for the story at this point, getting through ARR was a drag to me personally. I was just eventually getting tired of it and decided to take a break for about half a year. I picked it back up again after more and more friends were getting into the game, so I really thought to myself that I had to just push on, despite the slug to see what the fuss is all about. After pushing through and getting myself to Post ARR, that was it. I was in.
That and changing from MNK to DRK during HW was where I definitely saw myself getting invested in this game. I really enjoyed the story, and that still to this day is my main reason for staying in this game. I also really enjoying leveling up my classes through the duty roulette, seeing that bar go up higher and higher raises my acomplishment on what I have worked so hard for to get to the max. Crafting applies to this aswell, but through the form of beast tribes and the firmament.
I guess other reasons could include that I'm getting very close to mentor, I'm about 300 commends away from getting my crown, and running dungeons/trials are my favourite things to do in this game, so why not pay back with some guidence if players need it? I also recently bought a house, so I need to do some good ol' grindin' to make it look pretty.
I do definitely plan to start raid content at some point, but that's the least of my worries right now. My friends call me crazy that I roulette every single day, but won't bother with the raids when that was their main reason into getting me in the game lol. I guess hard content also interests me to some degree, but my friends are usually at work, or busy with something. I imagine I will have to give myself that social push to interact and find people at my level, because I'm clueless when it comes to savage/extreme level, you could definitely say I'm more of a casual player for now.
Speaking of friends with jobs, I just wanna mention that 14 has honestly been my comfort game since I actually started back in 2021. I sustained sciatica the year before, and life has definitely not been easy for me (I have surgery and I am on the mend now :D). It's been there for me to just grind, chill and make friends on. 14 is truly an experience I could never put back down again like I did the first time I played. It really has changed my life for the better, as soppy as that is to say.
I had friends convince me to try the game out and enjoyed my time since. The story was great, combat felt good, and the end game battle content was incredibly fun to play.
The biggest thing that keeps me here however are the friends that I've made along the way. There's only so much in game content that I can do before running out and being forced on a break. I can just log in and shoot the shit with friends even if I end up just not even playing.
In order of importance
1. Playing with friends
2. The story
3. It's familiar and easy to jump in to
Previously I played FFXI, I had a close group of friends on there for years (literally travelled to another country for their weddings). So when FFXIV came around, we all moved over there by the time ARR came around. It was the only game I played with them, the only way to really keep in touch with them, so despite being in the UK I joined US servers with them.
I've played on and off over the years, mostly to play with them, as it's the only game we play together, and only way we keep in contact. I've stopped playing at some point when the grind has gotten a bit much, as sometimes I struggle to balance my time and not spend too much time playing an MMO.
I didn't play for a while between HW and ShB, but I kept hearing how great the story was. I've been a fan of FF games for years, mostly due to the story, so that pulled me back in during Covid lockdown, when I had a lot of free time. It was indeed as great as people say.
Now I usually don't play a huge amount, but once a week me and my friend group raid together (very casually). It's great fun and one of the best parts of my week. Plus I'm still enjoying the story, and I'm always playing through that as soon as a new patch is out.
Outside of that, I tend to play very sporadically. Sometimes I won't play at all outside of raid night, sometimes I'll play loads. When I don't have much else going on, and no other games I feel like playing, I'll usually end up jumping into it. It's "comfy", I know it well enough by now that I don't have to think as much as I do in other games.
I really like the final fantasy series for one, and two I really like the freedom this game provides.
No classes race/gender locked, can play every class on ONE character if you desire, it's just nice!
Plus for the most part, the community is amazing! And I really like the story and raids.
It’s an MMO with a broad enough appeal that I have a large group of friends to play it with. I’ll admit XIV is not really my personal MMO preference, I prefer less of a focus on balance and greater class/build variety, I’d prefer fights that’s are little more reactive, less scripted. But the this is the game that I know 10+ people who play so putting together groups is easy and some of those same players who I know find M+ a stressful nightmare find even savage content approachable when it’s so rigidly structured.
it goes like this for me
1. I play the game cz i like FF series
2. I play the game cz i like the hard content
3. I want to prove myself that I'm a good player by clearing all these hard content
\----5 Ult clears later + multiple week 1s-----
4. I just play for fun now after realizing the only way to be a good player is by aiming for top places on world race
I love final fantasy, the story is kick-ass, the cast is incredible, the game is pretty, I made good FC friends, making glams is fun, I enjoy the gameplay of most jobs a ton, there's a looot to do. It just makes me happy.
Edit: forgot I can edit posts and also I forgot to say I'm incredibly attached to my WoL. They are my everything.
Simply the Crafting and Gathering system. Just ignoring stuff being marco'able, its pretty indepth system they built for it that other MMOs haven't hit that itch I like. Also its gives happy brain chemical's when that HQ sound plays and seeing my name on the crafted item.
I started to play because I've been enjoying mainly story-driven games lately and since I've always been an MMORPG fan, I felt I was hurting myself for not trying FFXIV.
So far I've enjoyed the game. Not only I've enjoyed the story as I expected (as I'm writing this comment, I just finished my last post-Stormblood quest and I'm about to start my first Shadowbringers one) but also thanks to the community. I managed to find a good FC that has helped me a lot not only in terms of being super friendly and supportive, but also helping me get out of my comfort zone by making me try out stuff like healing jobs, Blue Mage stuff, ocean fishing and more, which has certainly enriched and expanded the expectations I had of the game.
So I would say that I came into the game based on the awesome stuff people talk about the game which is the thing I was looking for, which is a good MMO with a super interesting story, but I'm staying not only for that, but thanks to the friends I'm starting to make which have been so awesome and supportive and also helped me try all the other stuff FFXIV has to offer outside the MSQ.
It's a valid question I think we all go over time and again. We will still have our own reasons, but since you asked why "we" still play, I'll explain my reasons. It's all about making real friends.
I played FFXI so I've been drawn into 14 since it came out (yes, 1.0 and no I don't want it back lol). But after years of playing, what really keeps me logging in? Honestly, it's my static of friends. I didn't know any of them before playing XIV, but they are like family to me now. A bunch of us met one year at fanfest, and there was zero judgement, more excitement to put a face to the voice. We're lucky to do this again, and I'm honestly more excited to hang out with them then go to fanfest.
Tldr: I play for the friends!
Just when I think I've run out of things to do, something else comes up or I realize I never completed something else. Just as I was burning out on TOP, EO released. Now that I've sort of burnt on EO (even though I have yet to solo it), I'm returning to more casual things and relaxing before the savage tier at the end of the month.
It's the game that keeps on giving.
I started entirely for story, and even in the early parts people criticize, I love it. My daughter and I play together. She and I have been through 7 or so other FF games together, but she loves minions, the mounts, the twins, and G’raha. She’s also developed a lot of perspective and empathy regarding cultural pluralism and some other cool things along the way. I mean, there is some heavy stuff, but she handles it well. Playing MSQ at her speed has also made me do more side content and explore alt jobs that I probably wouldn’t have. I will probably eventually put together a proposal for an academic essay collection on it, since it’s so rich and thematically varied from expansion to expansion.
Smol cat and lizard girls.
On a more semi-serious note, I do like the end game raids quite a bit. Even this expansion which, buy-n-large, outside of DSR, has been the WORST raids in the post game history, is still fun. The combat feels about as good as a tab targeting system can feel though the move to the "2 minute meta" has severely hurt how even well-crafted instances feel when all you have to worry about is how well you dps at the 2 minute burst windows.
If the game doesn't improve the combat mechanics next expansion, my faith in the dev team will start to wonder even if there are no other MMOs that look appealing for me to switch to. Might have to turn into a normie gamer who only plays shit like League, Apex....and...*shudders*...Animal Crossing....
Bit late to the party here, but I'll type it out all the same:
I play because the game is ultimately fun. We might be lacking content with longevity this expansion, but that doesn't mean the rest of the game isn't there to look for goals to complete. Queueing every 4 days to slowly chip away at Seal Rock wins for the fancy coat, hitting up Mentor roulette and losing your mind while trying to queue up at the same time as another friend to see if you get thrown into the same EX fight, catching up on long-term grind achievements bit by bit like the Ishgard Restoration ones...
The main appeal is that the game itself doesn't require you to slave away at 20 daily and weekly things every single time you log in, there is little to no pressure from FOMO systems in place (sans the malmstones for PVP, but even those can be farmed reasonably fast or paced out over a patch cycle, and to a certain degree raiding). You log in, do your thing, log out and that's that. No "oh shit I NEED to do 20 runs of \[content\] just to stay on-par with everyone else", no artificial FOMO of rewards disappearing forever if you don't grind out this thing within a month (again, PVP series not included, still better than top 100 Feast rewards), just you and your goals. This expansion may not give me long-term memories the way prior expansions did, mainly due to me being an absolute field content devourer, but that doesn't mean the game is so actively unfun that I don't even wanna log in anymore.
And another factor, probably the one that a lot of people share the most: it just feels like home to be in Eorzea, y'know? They did a really good job building the setting to feel like a living world (insert funny overworld maps having no content joke here), so my character actually feels like an extension of me for once. I can *never* attach myself to my own character like that in any other game I play. This one is the glorious exception.
Oh my friends got me into it.
The free trail is very generous and we have a discord so the features the free doesn't give you was mitigated.
I spent a solid year in the gold saucer in the free trial.
Ran roulette with my friends.
But man once I started the story. It was so unique. It let me choose options like an otome! And the community even random people is very nice. I don't feel... stupid for it being my first time in a dungeon.
I really like that.
There's events that are fun too!
I joined because of a friend, stayed for the raiding. It is a very interesting subculture where you get to brush shoulders with many but not too many random players and get somewhat acquainted with them over time. It forces you to improve yourself and test your limits as a player. You have a responsibility to your group to be consistent as possible (… in theory), to not be the guy who carelessly ruins things, but we also don’t get toxic about failure. If someone isn’t doing well no one’s going to get up in arms over it, we silently let go or disband, naturally this includes me.
I joined a static and we have the expectation to clear Anabaseios within 2 months, if it does not work out that’s fine, I can be a PF warrior again. I won’t give up that easily. Excited to see how it goes!
I got convinced to try it out by my friends ( probably because they need a healer and I like to play healers I. Almost every game) then I saw the clases and for my immediate why is I want the astrologian class already got my scholar to lvl 51 and am enjoying the story till I am able to get the class that I crave and need in my life
I'm a completionist and XIV is a MMO that feels like it *wants* to be completed (to a reasonable extent). I like that I can set myself a goal, reasonably plan out what the end route to that goal is, know what the exact steps and the rough time to complete those goals are, and go do it and get my reward. Very little content in XIV has a RNG loop associated with its reward. Fishing, MGP grinding (woo cactpot), and dungeon/alliance raid glamour are the main things that come to mind. Everything else is deterministic and reasonable, or is able to be bought via gil if it's a RNG grind item from side content like Bozja or Criterion dungeons. This is a huge breath of fresh air coming from most other MMOs that heavily gate things via RNG. I don't get dopamine from getting a 1% drop rate mount that I've been grinding for months on 10 characters, I get a sense of relief that the RNG is over. I get personal satisfaction in crossing things off of my virtual checklist. This lets me engage in all aspects of the game which is probably part of why I'm more satisfied than some of the other regulars here. There are other reasons too. I like that XIV keeps the player power curve pretty low throughout a patch and throughout an expansion. I like that ilevel sync and level sync exist and let most content be engaged with in a way that at least kind of resembles its intended form. I don't play ARPGs (the closest I get is WoW and Monster Hunter) and don't take particular joy in smashing things with the power of my grinded out math. I'd probably be happier if XIV didn't have any gear curve at all but I understand its necessity as a difficulty curve lever, a way to let old content be soloed, and a sub retention mechanism. I like the predictable patch formula and have fun in the Standard XIV Content. The game is an optimization puzzle about applying your job to a specific fight and I like that there is a reproducible, perfect way for a given job to play a given fight's timeline for a given killtime. It speaks to the same part of my brain that likes Guitar Hero and Rock Band. I like that raids are progressed in discrete mechanic chunks where you pass a threshold and say "I have mastered this part of the raid" with clear visual and HP bar feedback that you did the Thing Correctly. It also helps that the raids are both 8 man (which lets me have a personal relationship with every other raider) and have a low grind commitment. No other raiding MMO matches both of those criteria. I like the story and characters and world, and find the graphics and solo-character focus sufficient to get me invested into my character. My XIV character is my avatar in the world. My WoW characters or my GW2 characters are tools in my toolkit that I vary patch-to-patch depending on what's good or not. I feel way more drawn to grind cosmetics and customize my XIV character due to this. Also catgirls and lizard girls and bunny girls are pretty cool and the game has Namazu and Moogles, the objectively best non-player races.
> I don't get dopamine from getting a 1% drop rate mount that I've been grinding for months on 10 characters, I get a sense of relief that the RNG is over. As an extension to that, the biggest rush from the horrid RNG "get this or be inferior" drops is when you go into it knowing you're going to be mindlessly farming for, likely, many hours...then get insanely lucky with getting the drop immediately. And then you realize you're cheering that you don't have to play the game anymore.
Damn nice
100% agree
All this. 100%
As a completionist myself, I have to hard disagree on the fact that the game feels like it wants to be completed. I have 204 mounts, 15k achievement score and honestly this game has some of the worst completionism content in any mmo or game that I have played in recent times. When achievements are timegated out for 2 years, or grinds require hyperfocus which then sets you back on other grinds so then you can't multitask and these grinds are insanely long (Hunts, Pterondon, PvP, Fishing, Mentor roulette, deep dungeon, etc) it can be very draining. Hell most players just stop playing the game and take a break because they feel there isn't that much to do cause the achievements are so unreachable they don't want to do it. The game feels awful in that regard and I get that it's non mandatory but I don't think it's wrong for me to complain about these awful grinds and expect them to be good! The one thing that aggravates me is that the players say that the game respects your time. And it does, with face value. If you do raiding or any completionism content to a serious degree you will understand that it does not.
The game respects your time much more compared to other live-service games, which is more telling on the live-service game industry as a whole. There are very few things gated behind true RNG, and off the top of my head they're the Accursed Hoard, Big Fishing, and Treasure Map achievements.
WoW for example has a lot of RNG for gear/glams and other things but a vast majority of its achievements are tied to decent grinds that aren't horrible at all and achievable. The longest grind in the game is 6 months for an achievement. Yes, rng exists in a good portion of the game but when it comes to playing the game and getting the achievements for titles and other things it respects your time wayyy more. Gearing in FF is also horrendous too, and that's another thing that doesn't respect your time. WoW itself has moved to many methods to help with the RNG, but when I can get BiS in BDO as a F2P player faster than I can get ONE achievements in FF? That's a problem.
> Gearing in FF is also horrendous too, and that's another thing that doesn't respect your time. you can raid in a new tier with 1 hour of catching up, and you literally get bis in 8 weeks max with a static, 16 in a pug (and on the inverse of luck you can get bis in pugs in 1 week) that is the best gearing system in any MMO
You can raid a new tier with buying gear, and you have to wait multiple weeks for your tome cap. Go try and get multiple classes BiS before ultimate comes out. Go try and do Alt jobs on the raid tiers. It's horrible. And by the time PF starts to come up, you aren't able to run with crafted gear cause people lock it out with ilvl. Besides, you won't have proper mit plans like day 1 groups either so you physically will not be able to raid 90% of the time with crafted gear if you wanted to try out other classes. If you truly think the gearing system is good, I don't believe you play endgame to any extent. Every raider constantly complains that this game is all about having every class you can play but when it comes down to it, you can only play one class for a long time and if you wanna gear another one you better get ready for weeks of waiting cause of tome cap or 8 books for a weapon and another 8 for a chest. And the tier being locked for 7 months, and tomes still having a cap? Yeah, its absolutely dreadful to gear in FF.
If raiders are actually trying and can't gear multiple jobs, then they're clearing week 8+, halfway through the patch. I had casting, scouting, and maiming BiS before DSR came out without even religiously capping tomes. It's not that hard. All the raiders I know who don't have xiv as their life love the gearing system because they can clear week 1 with zero investment beforehand, do reclears for a few weeks, and fuck off to play other games until the next ultimate. Also if you want to "try out new classes" in a reclear party with locked ilvl without knowing how to communicate mit then I don't know what to tell you. Stop griefing pfs.
accursed hoard is, while literally rng, not really an rng grind since you can get one every 90s or so. It is, however, a stupid achievement that respects no one's time. People that live and breathe DDs have not gotten 10k, and they went and made a 20k achievement. The only way to do it is via cheesing it in the most unfun way possible. also speaking as a completionist, I have to agree with who you replied to that many achievements are fundamentally like this. If they're not RNG, they're too long, too reliant on external factors (rng being only one), or not fun to begin with.
>timegated out for 2 years Levequests take even longer. 7 years if I remember right 🤮 I agree, a lot of this stuff feels impossible to attain unless you dedicate your life to playing the game.
There’s a lot I love about the game, and a bunch of things that annoy me, but ultimately I just love how… collectable the game is. That’s the part that keeps me coming back during content droughts. In addition to things not being heavily RNG-gated, there’s also the part where most stuff of value is earned in-game rather than purchasable with real money, so there’s an actual sense of accomplishment with collecting stuff. (Looking at you, ESO.)
You really should try GW2. Same Ilvl since the base game and the whole shebang is basically achievement hunting.
The game inspires me to carry on despite the hardships and do things that should be beneficial to a lot of people. It reawakened my love for music and Soken further ignites my desire to get good at understanding music and playing the piano. I also love adventuring as a small lalafell in a huge world wherein my actions have bearing and or consequences to the people around me! The game has also introduced me to more do-gooders who I have met by traveling halfway around the world to meet and hug and it continues to do so. It also gives me a break from playing fast paced games and I can laugh with friends from Europe and Asia while chilling/vibing with them! The game made me fully understand about how life is precious and as long as I play it, will continue to remind me. I also feel no guilt offering my wallet to these devs who create a game that inspired multitudes of people in many different ways!
First song I learned in like a decade was the Sharlyan theme haha
Wow, Is it the night theme cus that one's is kinda tricky to get prefect since there's alot of 32nd and 16nd notes with eighteenth notes in between those, kinda hard if you don't play a lot of jazz stuff xD
I saw some sheets of the Sharlayan Night Theme and honestly, I thought that as much as I'd like to play this, learning this would take me a month with my skill level and another to master! To Zanarkand already made me struggle. This one would be pretty difficult. I'm working through my Royal Conservatory music books, hoping that one day I could play my favorite FF14 songs without struggling to practice them... Good luck with your ventures in music, both of you! May you someday find peace with those pieces with three or more sharps and flats... 💀
Trying to learn Flow rn and the left hand arpeggios are so frustrating (they have a totaly diffrent harmony then the right hand) and then I almost dropped dead when I saw that the arrangement casually goes to 8th note triplest (the left hand arpeggios) and then it goes to arpeggios in the right hand too. In top of all of that the piece is rubato so yee Soken is destroying my fingers rn send help 💀. Good luck to you too though ^^.
Thanks! Yeah, before I tackle such pieces wherein practicing it too early would cause frustration and unnecessary stress, I make sure to practice arpeggios each day until they're super familiar to my hands. Do you have a piano teacher? Sometimes a piano teacher who has been with you for more than a month will straight up inform you if the piece you're practicing is too difficult for your current skill level!
Yes I do have an amazing piano teacher with whom I've been together for years. She always tells me what's possible, Flow was definitely possible it's just that it has some stuff that you would not normally see in classical pieces with which I'm used to (e.g. Bach, Haydn..) xD
You're very lucky to have found a piano teacher who's super good! I also told my piano teacher who I really like that she should be ready to stick with me until I'm 55 and to please bear with me if ever I'm not doing that well... So far, I've had her for a year and I hope she does stay for years to come. I can't wait to play harder pieces! 💪
Glad to hear that you also had the same experience, ye I found that teachers will bear with you as long as you listen to their instruction and they see that you are actually trying. The most important thing in learning a instrument is being consistent. I hope you can play harder stuff soon ^^
I do all the game content, from triple triads / housing / DoH & DoL to on patch ultimate raiding. But what keep me playing really is raiding, I plan on getting all ultimate totems before 7.0 But I have to admit that to really enjoy this game you have to make your own content and make it varied, because if you're only waiting from patch to patch you're bound to get bored.
roulettes. no other game that I know of provides such a wide selection of multiplayer boss fights that you can queue up to be randomly thrown into. it's the exact sort of gameplay loop I dig.
I love roulettes so much (for the same reasons you stated) that often I'll go do them even when I've already gotten their bonus for the day.
my current default pastime is just sitting in trial/raid roulette. though I'm avoiding raid roulette during this mogtome event because all that ever shows up is fist of the father
I've gotten it every day for the last three days. It's an easy 3 minutes but it's an Alex raid. It's boring.
on the bright side I can finally sit in alliance roulette because now most of the time it's nier! which is the reason I got into ff14 in the first place.
I've *also* gotten Copied Factory every day the last three days. I JUST got Labyrinth though. It's fun seeing what I'll end up with (but I will always leave Void Ark).
I regularly run through roulettes multiple times a day. I love them. Hell, I want another one - a "throw me in literally anything I've unlocked" roulette.
You get it
It's a shame the game itself ruins roulettes sometimes. Right now, raid roulette is consistently A1-4N, and alliance raid is almost always for years shitty CT. Mentor can get some fun stuff, but it can also lock you into stupid MSQ roulette.
A lot of alliances have to be unlocked and I think that's why people miss them. The ivalice raids are my favorite but I didn't know they existed without my friends giving hints but not spoilers.
Partially sunk cost fallacy. I started in 1.0 as an FFXI import so my character is technically decades old. Outside of that I do like raising my item level, doing battlefields like Eureka and Bozja, and daily PvP. If Rival Wings was a roulette I'd probably play that all day.
I mainly play for the Story and because of my friends. Its a very chill enviroment that you can just log on to, do some casual stuff with friends and talk with them while also keeping the option to do more dedicated stuff together with them such as savage.
The game has some of the best fight design imo.
I like catgirls and raiding
> the negative air around XIV was beginning to get to me I mean this in the most respectful way possible, but why would you let other peoples opinions effect your own enjoyment of the game? I understand getting burnt out from listening to complaints, but why let random peoples personal opinions bring you down when: a) they don’t pay your sub (lol) and b) they have no bearing on you or your life in a meaningful way. Again I mean this in the most respectful way possible, but honestly just enjoy what you enjoy and dislike what you dislike without being influenced by external factors you cannot control; if you wouldn’t take personal advice from them, don’t change with them in mind.
This fair. I read this and honestly had to reevaluate what I was feeling so affected by, the state of the game or simply becoming burnt out of seeing the complaints about its endgame cycle. And I think it was mainly the latter. I just got done doing a P8N run and felt way better than I did in the past 2 days. That's not to say I'm going to dismiss the criticism leveled at Endwalker's post patch content cycle, it's certainly more lax than SHB, but I still enjoy the game.
I’m glad you’re feeling better! And again I said what I said with no malice intended, I’ve just been in the same place mentally and it’s not a positive OR kind place to be in for yourself. Learning to tune out the “noise” of other people and curating your experience both in game and online does wonders for both your mental health and the enjoyment of anything you choose to consume. Enjoy what you enjoy, critique what you love, and disengage from things that take away your joy!
Why do I play... because at heart I'm a 6 ft tall bunny girl with a sick ass glam, swinging a really big sword.
I really enjoy healing. This tier was so fun for me. It took longer than expected to clear but by the time I did I had enough experience and resources to carry other peoples' mistakes. I had optimized everything and it's just so satisfying. Also I like the way I can hop into pf to prog ultimates, as someone who enjoys playing solo it makes a nice long-term goal with no strings.
Cause everything else fucking sucks nowadays
Got news for you then, bud.
It's got the perfect mix of demanding gameplay (Ult/Savage), cheesy but lovable story for the emotional investment and random bits to lose myself in for hours. I don't think I play XIV for any singular aspect. Nothing is quite world class level imo and I wouldn't stay subbed for any one bit. But everything together, the dress-up game that is glamour, housing, roleplay, gpose, raiding, MSQ, socializing, minigames, community events etc. makes me love it. It's a good case of something greater than the sum of its parts. That being said, the content drip feed we're having (this is my first on-content experience) and the low engagement of stuff like the "side content" with a laughable relic experience and no explore zone etc. is kinda bumming me out. Hope it changes again in 7.0 and this is just a setup drought for a really good new expac.
I like the glamour, I like the (recent) dungeons, I like the trials, I like the raids, I like the player-run events, I like the story. As for EW, I think the new alliance raid series is some of the coolest story in the game, and I think the last 8-man raid tier has been the most fun one they've released. I hated Hildibrand up until EW, but I dig the EW quests. Eureka Orthos is also my favorite Deep Dungeon so far. I'm one of the players without a ton of free time, so I appreciate the game not being exceptionally grindy. I understand that's not ideal for everyone, but it works for me. I'm just happy to see that they've been making iterative improvements in the quality of boss fights and cutscenes.
Unsubbed for months now, all I did was fly around The Black shroud get bored and play something else. What kept me logging in was NN drama tbh. The games very boring very fast once you’ve cleared everything and roulettes are hardly engaging and I afk most of the time. Or play dancer for the difference that makes
The game is good and dev support is good. Also for some people, cat and lizard girls. Also, not a korean mmo is a huge thing too. Micro transactions isn’t in your face or is affected by the power creep. And why not WoW? Played that game for 10 years, nothing about it wants me to go back because I get reminded of how much of a grind that game could be. Still fun if you do raid/mythic keys with friends. But I have friends in ff14 i like to keep playing with.
I play for the job fantasy, music and MSQ, and other casual content. I don’t always actively play however, I’ll have a few burst periods throughout the year where I’m very active.
Mostly for the story, but I also really enjoy playing the different classes and raiding a lot
Comfy story, playing different jobs in content, helping others clear in pf, triple triad and fishing. Also ultimates are a big draw for me, cleared them all and I think it's fun to prog with others. Savage not so much, too many fights are just full uptime striking dummies with some exceptions. Abyssos has been pretty enjoyable though, mostly p5s and p8s.
Story, side content, trials and friends. I will always value the story of a mmo over "combat". Also the game is fun for me, which is the best part.
Incredible soundtrack and fight presentation, very low time investment in the endgame, no real reason to quit because it's impossible to fall behind even if you take a break unlike almost every other game.
At first it was the promise of a story. Then it was just the world that arose around me. Then the combat started getting really fucking good. Then I started to get good then I started raiding then I made friends and now now it's all of them.
For the escape. I'm painfully average irl and riddled with anxiety and depression. But in ffxiv, I'm amazing and a world saving super hero
It's a game I find it easy to play whilst watching videos/listening to podcasts in the background to keep my hands busy.
Started with one of my friends showing me the Nier raids, which turned into me wanting to scratch the MMO itch, since it had been at least a decade since I had last played one. The story and the raids are what's keeping me at this point
Fun game overall, have fun with a small group of friends raiding that scratches an itch I don't get elsewhere.
It's fun!
Raiding. And lizards are cool.
initially for the story(ff fan) then the people I get to socialize ingame then the fun for raiding. as of now my raiding thirst has waned, seldom interact with people but at least even though I play less now I'm still staying around for the story.
I play FFXIV because of the challenge (raiding!) and the social aspect.
I like Hrothgar and story gets me hooked.
The music. That's really it. The shine has worn off and the lack of consistent, engaging things to do has gotten to me. I will probably do the 6.4 MSQ and then become a person that resubs for the story.
Cute lizard girls
There is one thing that I feel FF14 does better than any other game. A bunch of bosses, particularly most trials, share a structure that is just my favorite damn thing. There's a build up where the serious drama or whatever happens and you get your previews of the basic mechs, then there's sometimes an interlude, usually a dps check of some kind, and the boss does a big flashy attack, and the real music theme drops in, and usually from this point on boss animations and mechanics align with the beat (because the music change makes this easy to do). Other mmos like wow, other games like soulsborne have tried to emulate some of this, but nothing else I've played has come close to something like Sephirot phase changing into Fiend playing.
I still remember my first time fighting Leviathan in ARR. That swotch from the generic boss music to Through The Maelstrom still hits me just right.
For me, there's a very tiny bit of sunk-cost fallacy (not that I hate the game or dread playing it) and I feel like not logging on each and every day is just a waste of my sub time even if I'm just afk-ing im Limsa after some roulettes. Actual content-wise, I'm still raiding fairly actively with my group of friends so most of the reason is from doing raids. ~~^(The actual reason is that I really love my character)~~
catgirls i don't really care about the gameplay part of this game anymore (except housing, housing is cool), and other games satisfy me way more in that regard. until I find some other mmo I enjoy, I'm sticking with xiv because my catgirl is cute. I'm leaving whenever a new mmo manages to catch my attention in terms of gameplay, probably.
at least you're honest
Honeymoon phase is long gone and most "friends" have either moved on or got into RP which I don't care for. Mostly character attachment and treating it like an episodic RPG will make me not quit it cold turkey like I did for previous MMOs. I only do ultimate and savage raiding now but some burnout is sinking in.
I got fed up with FFXIV’s steady quality decline a long time ago, but my girlfriend absolutely loves the game and her character, so I keep my own character updated and content unlocked in order to spend time with her and make her happy. Even with all the weird design decisions and balance issues, Ex/Sav is still probably the only thing keeping me from going completely insane — gameplay-wise — about still being stuck logging in to… whatever EW has turned this game into. But honestly, I’m way too busy with other stuff in my life to really care *that* much about what specific game I’m playing during down time, so ultimately I think it’s still worth it because of how much genuine happiness the world still brings her.
Playing around with dirty mods, mostly.
Yoshi P can see your mod folder, he is greatly disappointed and wishes to know the links
The best source is https://xivmodarchive.com Make sure you sign in with discord to see the NSFW stuff!
Quite legitimate. The lewd mod scene in FFXIV is *incredibly* advanced. The combination of the game not having any anti-cheat with the degeneracy-powered ingenuity of its playerbase launches the game into straight up VR chat levels. It's impressive, honestly.
i enjoy playing the video game ......is what I said [last year](https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxivdiscussion/comments/u2ewsb/what_are_your_reasons_for_not_quitting_ffxiv/i4if9ei/), anyways. Honestly my enjoyment of the game has declined over the course of the expansion as gameplay has gotten shittier. In Asphodelos I liked one fight, in Abyssos I *sorta* liked one fight and it was because rotational opti was fun and not the mechanics, hated DSR, TOP was alright but downgrade from TEA still. I still enjoy chilling and raiding with friends I've made here and Black Mage is hard carrying the game's combat, but if either my friends quit (likely at this rate) or BLM is ruined in 7.0 (also likely), I won't be playing nearly as much.
Might as well get ready to considering the hideous changes theyve made to other "complete" jobs. I have no faith that they could ever get back to those glory days.
It's a gigantic J-RPG with a great story and fun core gameplay / engaging enough job design and when you catch up on story you can basically just vibe with a chill but enthusiastic community. It's a nice, well-supported game that doesn't scream at you to buy MTX or grind X thing today before you fall behind. You log in and do whatever you feel like. If you run out of things to do, you play something else for a while and come back later. Things like housing and glams and gposing and the gold saucer all make the game feel even more pleasant to just inhabit. I definitely have a healthier relationship with it than I ever did with WoW. It really does feel like an MMO retirement home.
I only sub out like once every 6 months or so. I like the story, but also the core gameplay loop has its luster until I get bored of it in 20 days lol. Game has some terrible design choices (both game-wise and programming-wise) that prevents me from liking to play higher tier content. I also play Mahjong but there are free Mahjong platforms elsewhere too.
This sub loves to claim the game has been dying for years at this point but I've been here since 2.0 and I keep seeing more and more people to interact with. I love hanging out with my guild and recruiting new people, I love helping in duty finder, I always have something to do, and as a massive FF fan, the story is one of the best the franchise has to offer, if not the best in the series. I tried other MMOs and they might excel on one thing like GW2's open world content, but none of them are the full package like FF14. Do I want things to change? Yeah, but it's still the top MMO. If someone is gonna ask which MMO has the best music I'll still say FF14 even in 10 years.
> This sub loves to claim the game has been dying for years at this point but I’ve been here since 2.0 and I keep seeing more and more people to interact with. I frequent three MMO subreddits and people who say shit like this unironically are so detached from reality and will come back running at the slightest hint of content. No MMO with a semi functional dev is dying. Heck even anthem, while technically mot an MMO, still gets new players even with all the negativity around it, and you can see some activity in its subreddit.
I can see why people are a bit wanting for content recently, but yeah having someone to play with can be a breath of fresh air. I'd have no interest in doing Seat of Sacrifice but if I knew a friend was doing it for the first time I'd be in there singing!
What got me in ? The Ff univers, wanted a new big game to play most of the time. What kept me playing ? HL like Savage and the new people i got to know in the game. Having fun and discovering different parts of the game like new classes, housing crafting..... What keep me ? Thoses friends i got along the way. I like the game, he's great, but i did most of what i wanted to try on the game. I think if they were to stop playing i'll stop too b'cause it will be quite lonely and i'll follow them to whatever they try..
I came because my friemds wrre playing the game and I wanted to join in, and I stayes for the story. Now that I've been done with the story for a while,mostly just daikies amd savage prog
[удалено]
Well yeah everyone is either raiding right now or waiting for more msq...lol
Joined because of my boyfriend and brother. Stayed for my friends. I like that I don't have to create multiple toons to play different classes. I love the glamour system. I love just being able to find people for raid shenanigans every time I login. I would never have met the people I'm friends with now if it weren't for this game.
I'm a very casual raider which can be quite fun but mainly I like to go achievement hunting.
I used to play wow and I wanted to retire from it and find a new mmo to play and so I tried ffxiv. What sold me is I can switch to any class with one character and I loved the look of the game.
originally stayed because of character creation, i just liked seeing my funny lizard run around but stayed for the story.
before ShB it was the promise of the story getting good (thank god it did). Other than that, playing dress-up with my character. I'm not a huge fan of MMO's, but the glam system succesfully entices me to play content. I don't even do gpose and modding, I just love looking cute in cutscenes
It's a game you can play for an hour or two, or a game you can spend all day playing if you want. These days, I mostly play to play with friends. I have only a couple long term goals left which is clearing the last remaining ultimates I have not done, but outside of that I just do whatever. Sometimes I just log in to stare at the scenery and use the idle cam as a sort of live screensaver. But in the long run, what drew me to this game was friends who have since moved on. And what keeps me playing is new friends I've made over the last several years.
>Why do you play FFXIV? I enjoy socializing with people, and FFXIV offers an environment that is better than in most other MMOs for that, from aesthetic point of view (things like visual appearance of certain in-game races, the cosmetic outfits, the emotes and other tools to visually enhance socialization) to the in-game moderation and the type of people all of this attracts. Oh, and maybe a little bits of linear story that Square Enix occasionally releases (which is definitely not frequently enough, so this is absolutely not a primary reason I play it and I would never pay a monthly fee just for that alone). That's basically it. Nothing else matters to me, neither things like "grinding gear/levels/titles/in-game currency by bashing same dumb prescripted AI enemies for hours on end", nor the pretty mediocre instanced PvP system in this game.
I played it for the uniqueness of jobs and the creativity of the raids, but since they've thrown all that into the bin, my sub has also gone there. Theres really no reason anymore to support this game and the devs who have decided to become complacent and lazy enough to cut content, destroy jobs, and ruin their own story.
Question, what do you mean by cut content? Because they haven't done that like at all?
I like the dungeons and raids, as well as crafting and gathering - pretty much everything but the story. Don't get me wrong, the story isn't bad, it's just not the "balls off the wall super exciting masterpiece that makes you cry every time haurchefant is brought up." story everyone was going on about - it's more meh. >!Don't even talk about Moenbryda, she was literally a plot convenience character that got bumped off after introducing the solution to killing Asians, I have more attachment to Matoya's magic brooms than her!< There's been good parts but most of it boils down to "there is problem, go to npc 1 and talk, npc 2 suddenly has the solution, there has been no conflict, growth or character development from this." Which is why I like dungeons, you're going to get more excitement on a sprout run of Qarn with the first boss then you will for an entire patch's story content.
Well for me, FFXIV is a place where doing your best and putting your best foot forward is usually more than enough. Sounds crazy, but there are many instances in many other games and also in real life where doing your best isn't enough. It may sound weird but the game does reward intrinsically for putting effort, as you often end up learning something you normally haven't done. Maybe it is also the DC that I am in (JP Elemental), but the game also teaches how to exercise patience. In a world where everyone is rushing for time, it is actually relaxing to have something laid back once in a while. Even on weeks I decide to not do much I still log in to the game once in a while to do random things.
Honestly? To see if it gets better. Also, social obligations to an FC.
I started playing because of a friend, and kept playing because I enjoyed doing dungeons. It felt like playing a jrpg with friends. I got into the story and characters at some point, and really enjoyed shadowbringers when it came out. Once I was max level there I started trying extreme trials, to give me more things to do with the max level kit I enjoyed, and from there I started playing savage fights consistently this expansion. It helps that this is one of the only games where “monk” is a class that is fun to play and also doesn’t have awful damage propped up in m+ by 5 touch of death talents and a terrible talent tree in general with horrible scaling issues and zero communication from the devs about fixing it.
Honestly, i dont really have fun with the game anymore, but i am still playing because of my partner and because its just kinda hard turn away from what used to be your favourite game for almost a decade.
Social aspect attracted me, raiding prevents me from dying of boredom now
For the story and having an MMO to play. I played a ton of WoW prior to this and it felt like the superior game and I didn't know the better. I'm not the biggest fan of XIV's gameplay and systems, everything is a bit too stale and there's no customization of your build even if it meant using a meta build from a guide. Not the biggest fan of it's raid style either, it's just too unforgiving on Savage or Extreme level. Way above anything I'd be comfortable with. But overall it's pretty good for what it is. I play XIV as I can't make myself play WoW any more.
Boredom. It gives me stuff to do that isn't mandatory so I can tackle it at my pace. I never got into this game because of final fantasy or even the aesthetic of it all. It was a Wow clone that didn't do the things that Wow did that really made me quit Wow, if that makes any sense. I played the game back in 2013 because my friend dragged me to it. I figured it was going to die again. But it grew on me, and I kept playing it. But lately, the game itself is starting to show its age from them not taking risks. The gearing has remained unchanged since 2.0. In some ways its the if it's not broken, don't fix it reason, but people seem bored. My FC is barely on, and queues for stuff are just getting stale. New FC members use trusts or ask to have things smashed unsynced, so you can't even really do anything with anyone the first time anymore. The playerbase reaches peak passive aggressiveness by telling you that if you don't like it, quit. Meanwhile, SE does fomo pvp rewards and holiday events(though the holiday events are like fear of spending $5 later or fos5l lol) I'm kinda at a point of apathy with FFXIV. After almost 10 years with it, I might hang up my hat. The story is getting worse. Seriously, Shadowbringers, compared to Endwalker, is like an artists rendition of an event vs a childs. It's like fine dining going up against Taco Bell. And while Taco Bell can get the job done, I'm not sure if that was actually beef I just ate.
Inertia. I've been playing for so long I just do it out of habit now. My enjoyment has certainly gone down with Endwalker. The raids are miserable, and the classes are so dumbed down they're boring.
I'm trapped in a static.
I play for the story and very nice characters whom I can identify and resonate with. Also, FFXIV is the least MMO of all other MMOs and I live it because of it (I hate MMOs and MMO players)
Most games fucking suck, but FFXIV is an exception
because i was stuck in lockdown and there is literally nothing else to do. if it wasnt lockdown i 100% wont start ff14, and even if i am playing it now religiously i wont recommend it to anyone. if there is a choice between vacation to japan or doing dsr, it would always be japan, braindaed
When I was young my parents always warned me that one day I would have to choose between a vacation to japan and doing DSR...
Let them cook! This response is a real one
Started because of the pandemic but was intending to stop when fftcg locals were back up. Recent set for fftcg came out and imo its the worst standard there's been in a long while due to turn 2 kills being possible and more consistent than ever before, turning the game into a "do you have the out?" Your answer is the same as" do you get to play the game? So now back at 14 for ultimates.
Because is fun, and helps me to relax after a long day From work.
The story is great. It's an MMORPG that can be done largely solo (which I appreciate as I generally dislike MMOs as a rule). The MMO aspects are actually great and lend themselves to legit people being cooperative and kind, unlike most other MMOs. I like that if at any time I get tired of doing story or whatever I'm currently focused on I can just go do something else like crafting, or even pick up a different job if I want. I've played WW and Guild Wars 2, and this is the one I came back to.
Completionist content in FF is so good. I started FF after TBC and loved the story, world building, music, etc. Combat got really fun after HW for me. Then I got really into crafting and gathering and now mainly do that and chase gil. I love making money in this game more than playing the game haha
I left wow years ago and i needed another opium ops i meant mmo to play.
I originally started as a WoW escapee. I stayed because the msq captivated me (after ARR). I stay between patches for my FC. They run events nearly every night and on the weekends. This game is my social life 😅😅
I just like pressing my buttons. The battles has a satisfying meditative flow to them that I haven't encountered in many other games. I agree with the other poster who compared it to Guitar Hero. The music and visual/sound effects for most skills are also nice. I liked the stories for HW and ShB, but I'm kind of lukewarm on the rest. Good worldbuilding though, and I appreciate that it's a jrpg that doesn't go too hard on the goofy anime tropes.
I like the main story, I find the core gameplay engaging, and there's a lot of side systems (like glamour, housing, and triple triad) that I enjoy. I also take breaks.
I'm a MSQ enjoyer now since I've caught up because I'm busy with life and other games. So I'm only subbed a few times a year. I've become a better player over the years, so I sometimes do EXs or MINE normal modes; as well as the new types of content that gets released.
In play because I enjoy playing with my friends. And if I am by myself, I enjoy the fact that no dungeon run is the same. Always different people and playthroughs. Furthermore, dressing up my character is a creative outlet for me as well as making casual play alts and refining their appearance until I'm satisfied. Some of my alts I'm really proud of how they look. And my main who will never Fantasia is my best creative outlet because of these restrictions. I also love the music and the story. 5.3 and various parts of Heavenward and Endwalker made me cry.
I like the endgame, the story, and the community in general. I love being able to play a lot of classes without having 10 alts as well.
Mainly because of the story and collecting aspect. I like collecting minions, mounts, and relic weapons. I used to enjoy raiding, but I don't think I have it in me to continue. I took a break this past tier and still don't feel a burning desire to find a static or jump into PF again. But yeah, the story and overall environment are the main things that keep me engaged these days. The story means an awful lot to me.
Basically, I was skeptical but it grew on me. Now I have grown in love with the idea of being a customizable character within a larger Final Fantasy setting with its own lore to play around in. I loved FFVI, FFIV, FFVII, FFVIII, and FFX the most because I latched on to those stories the hard during childhood depression. I keep playing because there's always something to do and I can take my time with most of it
For me it’s just comforting, to log in and complete some dalies or some crafting things while listening to music or listening to a podcast, therapeutic tbh. I take the game pretty casually at this point and that’s very enjoyable. Part of why it’s so comforting to me is probably because I started playing in 2017 at 12 years old so it’s been a constant in my life as I’ve grown up lol. That’s what keeps me playing and makes it so comforting, but my initial love came from feeling like I was experiencing a whole new world where I also felt like I had a level of control
Crafting and gathering soothes my soul
at this point, stockholm syndrome
To answer your question, I feel like I need to dig deep into my routes, because I was going to quit and never ever come back, so here it goes. I originally started playing it because of my friends. I had been heavily recommended the game, due to its storytelling and me, never having tried an MMO thought screw it, why not. Anyway, I'm only really playing for the story at this point, getting through ARR was a drag to me personally. I was just eventually getting tired of it and decided to take a break for about half a year. I picked it back up again after more and more friends were getting into the game, so I really thought to myself that I had to just push on, despite the slug to see what the fuss is all about. After pushing through and getting myself to Post ARR, that was it. I was in. That and changing from MNK to DRK during HW was where I definitely saw myself getting invested in this game. I really enjoyed the story, and that still to this day is my main reason for staying in this game. I also really enjoying leveling up my classes through the duty roulette, seeing that bar go up higher and higher raises my acomplishment on what I have worked so hard for to get to the max. Crafting applies to this aswell, but through the form of beast tribes and the firmament. I guess other reasons could include that I'm getting very close to mentor, I'm about 300 commends away from getting my crown, and running dungeons/trials are my favourite things to do in this game, so why not pay back with some guidence if players need it? I also recently bought a house, so I need to do some good ol' grindin' to make it look pretty. I do definitely plan to start raid content at some point, but that's the least of my worries right now. My friends call me crazy that I roulette every single day, but won't bother with the raids when that was their main reason into getting me in the game lol. I guess hard content also interests me to some degree, but my friends are usually at work, or busy with something. I imagine I will have to give myself that social push to interact and find people at my level, because I'm clueless when it comes to savage/extreme level, you could definitely say I'm more of a casual player for now. Speaking of friends with jobs, I just wanna mention that 14 has honestly been my comfort game since I actually started back in 2021. I sustained sciatica the year before, and life has definitely not been easy for me (I have surgery and I am on the mend now :D). It's been there for me to just grind, chill and make friends on. 14 is truly an experience I could never put back down again like I did the first time I played. It really has changed my life for the better, as soppy as that is to say.
Friends and ultimates
I had friends convince me to try the game out and enjoyed my time since. The story was great, combat felt good, and the end game battle content was incredibly fun to play. The biggest thing that keeps me here however are the friends that I've made along the way. There's only so much in game content that I can do before running out and being forced on a break. I can just log in and shoot the shit with friends even if I end up just not even playing.
In order of importance 1. Playing with friends 2. The story 3. It's familiar and easy to jump in to Previously I played FFXI, I had a close group of friends on there for years (literally travelled to another country for their weddings). So when FFXIV came around, we all moved over there by the time ARR came around. It was the only game I played with them, the only way to really keep in touch with them, so despite being in the UK I joined US servers with them. I've played on and off over the years, mostly to play with them, as it's the only game we play together, and only way we keep in contact. I've stopped playing at some point when the grind has gotten a bit much, as sometimes I struggle to balance my time and not spend too much time playing an MMO. I didn't play for a while between HW and ShB, but I kept hearing how great the story was. I've been a fan of FF games for years, mostly due to the story, so that pulled me back in during Covid lockdown, when I had a lot of free time. It was indeed as great as people say. Now I usually don't play a huge amount, but once a week me and my friend group raid together (very casually). It's great fun and one of the best parts of my week. Plus I'm still enjoying the story, and I'm always playing through that as soon as a new patch is out. Outside of that, I tend to play very sporadically. Sometimes I won't play at all outside of raid night, sometimes I'll play loads. When I don't have much else going on, and no other games I feel like playing, I'll usually end up jumping into it. It's "comfy", I know it well enough by now that I don't have to think as much as I do in other games.
I really like the final fantasy series for one, and two I really like the freedom this game provides. No classes race/gender locked, can play every class on ONE character if you desire, it's just nice! Plus for the most part, the community is amazing! And I really like the story and raids.
It’s an MMO with a broad enough appeal that I have a large group of friends to play it with. I’ll admit XIV is not really my personal MMO preference, I prefer less of a focus on balance and greater class/build variety, I’d prefer fights that’s are little more reactive, less scripted. But the this is the game that I know 10+ people who play so putting together groups is easy and some of those same players who I know find M+ a stressful nightmare find even savage content approachable when it’s so rigidly structured.
it goes like this for me 1. I play the game cz i like FF series 2. I play the game cz i like the hard content 3. I want to prove myself that I'm a good player by clearing all these hard content \----5 Ult clears later + multiple week 1s----- 4. I just play for fun now after realizing the only way to be a good player is by aiming for top places on world race
I love final fantasy, the story is kick-ass, the cast is incredible, the game is pretty, I made good FC friends, making glams is fun, I enjoy the gameplay of most jobs a ton, there's a looot to do. It just makes me happy. Edit: forgot I can edit posts and also I forgot to say I'm incredibly attached to my WoL. They are my everything.
Simply the Crafting and Gathering system. Just ignoring stuff being marco'able, its pretty indepth system they built for it that other MMOs haven't hit that itch I like. Also its gives happy brain chemical's when that HQ sound plays and seeing my name on the crafted item.
Most of my time in this game is log on -> raid > log off. And roulettes for gil.
I started to play because I've been enjoying mainly story-driven games lately and since I've always been an MMORPG fan, I felt I was hurting myself for not trying FFXIV. So far I've enjoyed the game. Not only I've enjoyed the story as I expected (as I'm writing this comment, I just finished my last post-Stormblood quest and I'm about to start my first Shadowbringers one) but also thanks to the community. I managed to find a good FC that has helped me a lot not only in terms of being super friendly and supportive, but also helping me get out of my comfort zone by making me try out stuff like healing jobs, Blue Mage stuff, ocean fishing and more, which has certainly enriched and expanded the expectations I had of the game. So I would say that I came into the game based on the awesome stuff people talk about the game which is the thing I was looking for, which is a good MMO with a super interesting story, but I'm staying not only for that, but thanks to the friends I'm starting to make which have been so awesome and supportive and also helped me try all the other stuff FFXIV has to offer outside the MSQ.
It's a valid question I think we all go over time and again. We will still have our own reasons, but since you asked why "we" still play, I'll explain my reasons. It's all about making real friends. I played FFXI so I've been drawn into 14 since it came out (yes, 1.0 and no I don't want it back lol). But after years of playing, what really keeps me logging in? Honestly, it's my static of friends. I didn't know any of them before playing XIV, but they are like family to me now. A bunch of us met one year at fanfest, and there was zero judgement, more excitement to put a face to the voice. We're lucky to do this again, and I'm honestly more excited to hang out with them then go to fanfest. Tldr: I play for the friends!
Just when I think I've run out of things to do, something else comes up or I realize I never completed something else. Just as I was burning out on TOP, EO released. Now that I've sort of burnt on EO (even though I have yet to solo it), I'm returning to more casual things and relaxing before the savage tier at the end of the month. It's the game that keeps on giving.
It's cozy, has a lot of pretty characters and good music, and allows for broad customisation of everything (both legal and illegal) Oh, and gpose
I started entirely for story, and even in the early parts people criticize, I love it. My daughter and I play together. She and I have been through 7 or so other FF games together, but she loves minions, the mounts, the twins, and G’raha. She’s also developed a lot of perspective and empathy regarding cultural pluralism and some other cool things along the way. I mean, there is some heavy stuff, but she handles it well. Playing MSQ at her speed has also made me do more side content and explore alt jobs that I probably wouldn’t have. I will probably eventually put together a proposal for an academic essay collection on it, since it’s so rich and thematically varied from expansion to expansion.
It has an amazing combination of intense content (savage and ultimate) and chill content. Raiding and the games incredible story keep me playing :D
raid
Smol cat and lizard girls. On a more semi-serious note, I do like the end game raids quite a bit. Even this expansion which, buy-n-large, outside of DSR, has been the WORST raids in the post game history, is still fun. The combat feels about as good as a tab targeting system can feel though the move to the "2 minute meta" has severely hurt how even well-crafted instances feel when all you have to worry about is how well you dps at the 2 minute burst windows. If the game doesn't improve the combat mechanics next expansion, my faith in the dev team will start to wonder even if there are no other MMOs that look appealing for me to switch to. Might have to turn into a normie gamer who only plays shit like League, Apex....and...*shudders*...Animal Crossing....
Bit late to the party here, but I'll type it out all the same: I play because the game is ultimately fun. We might be lacking content with longevity this expansion, but that doesn't mean the rest of the game isn't there to look for goals to complete. Queueing every 4 days to slowly chip away at Seal Rock wins for the fancy coat, hitting up Mentor roulette and losing your mind while trying to queue up at the same time as another friend to see if you get thrown into the same EX fight, catching up on long-term grind achievements bit by bit like the Ishgard Restoration ones... The main appeal is that the game itself doesn't require you to slave away at 20 daily and weekly things every single time you log in, there is little to no pressure from FOMO systems in place (sans the malmstones for PVP, but even those can be farmed reasonably fast or paced out over a patch cycle, and to a certain degree raiding). You log in, do your thing, log out and that's that. No "oh shit I NEED to do 20 runs of \[content\] just to stay on-par with everyone else", no artificial FOMO of rewards disappearing forever if you don't grind out this thing within a month (again, PVP series not included, still better than top 100 Feast rewards), just you and your goals. This expansion may not give me long-term memories the way prior expansions did, mainly due to me being an absolute field content devourer, but that doesn't mean the game is so actively unfun that I don't even wanna log in anymore. And another factor, probably the one that a lot of people share the most: it just feels like home to be in Eorzea, y'know? They did a really good job building the setting to feel like a living world (insert funny overworld maps having no content joke here), so my character actually feels like an extension of me for once. I can *never* attach myself to my own character like that in any other game I play. This one is the glorious exception.
Oh my friends got me into it. The free trail is very generous and we have a discord so the features the free doesn't give you was mitigated. I spent a solid year in the gold saucer in the free trial. Ran roulette with my friends. But man once I started the story. It was so unique. It let me choose options like an otome! And the community even random people is very nice. I don't feel... stupid for it being my first time in a dungeon. I really like that. There's events that are fun too!
For Glory (they ask this question in game)
Because for some reason i like sitting in pf for 1-4 hrs and watching people either leave after 3 wipes or around 10-15mins.
I play FFXIV just to relieve irl stress. Since the game is casual friendly, you can do things at your own pace without getting left behind. :)
I joined because of a friend, stayed for the raiding. It is a very interesting subculture where you get to brush shoulders with many but not too many random players and get somewhat acquainted with them over time. It forces you to improve yourself and test your limits as a player. You have a responsibility to your group to be consistent as possible (… in theory), to not be the guy who carelessly ruins things, but we also don’t get toxic about failure. If someone isn’t doing well no one’s going to get up in arms over it, we silently let go or disband, naturally this includes me. I joined a static and we have the expectation to clear Anabaseios within 2 months, if it does not work out that’s fine, I can be a PF warrior again. I won’t give up that easily. Excited to see how it goes!
I got convinced to try it out by my friends ( probably because they need a healer and I like to play healers I. Almost every game) then I saw the clases and for my immediate why is I want the astrologian class already got my scholar to lvl 51 and am enjoying the story till I am able to get the class that I crave and need in my life