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Thread: FFXIV Summer '12     submit to reddit submit to twitter

  1. #1
    New Odin
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    FFXIV Summer '12

    So a simple series of questions to the denizens of Eorzea from someone who hasn't followed FFXIV since it blew up on the launchpad back in '10:

    Is this game playable? Would you recommend it as the game shifts gears into its eventual 2.0 release? How is the community of XIV as it currently stands?

    Just looking for some feedback.

  2. #2
    D. Ring
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    Oooh oooh, I've never been the one to do this before

    *drumroll* Random Question Thread


    Opinion of course, but: Yes, No (after 2.0 hits, yes), Mediocre.

  3. #3

    I would say that as an adult who plays video games to have fun, and enjoys doing the end game aspects only, I would have not played past the first day or two I came back if someone didn't PL me.

    The community reminds me a lot of what is was like to play XI at PC release in Oct.2003, with people who have stuck with the game representing the JP community and anyone else as the dirty NA's.

    Grand Company questline would be infinitely more difficult to progress through without someone to help you when you got to each portion.

    Job quests, AF Dungeons can be a pain to gather people for.

    XP:
    Once you get past Lv30 or so is when people start partying, I haven't been in a good party since I leveled Marauder. (First job) Parties are also pretty sparse and you can sit LFG for days. You also have to be outside your Inn to hear shouts because a lot of people don't use the search function, so you won't be able to accumulate rested xp (50% bonus). There is no global LFG channel or 3p app like shouts in XI.

    Maybe it's me, but I'd rather get no XP than shit XP. I know what a decent group (read: not great) can pull an hour at each level. I'm not really interested in leves, all they are is grinding at an even shittier rate and you'll get even less invites because a lot of people don't use the search function.

    Endgame/Raids/Primals:
    If you level a job like THM(BLM) or ARC(BRD) first, doing Ifrit and Moogle won't be so bad. You'll have a really hard time learning the fight on MRD(WAR)/CON(WHM)/GLD(PLD)/any DD job, you'll die a lot and probably cause the party to wipe and get booted. No amount of videos or instruction will change this, but you can learn pretty quickly otherwise. In the case of Moogle, you can get by on a DD job if everyone else is solid. You can tank Ifrit naked, Moogle is going to require some enmity gear/melds and again, knowledge and experience to tank.

    Those 2 are pretty much the only thing you're going to get into a shout group for. If people are trying to do Aurum Vale or Cutter's Cry via shout they are either looking up your lodestone for previous wins or they probably aren't going to win/wipe a lot. This can be good for experience (in the wipe column) but generally if you are a good player it will just be frustrating. For the most part though, no one does this via shout so as content it is pretty cut off from anyone not in a linkshell running it.

    Garuda is off limits as well for the same reasons, but literally no one shouts for this as opposed to rarely being shouted for.

    There is a new event, Skirmish, which is supposed to be for people who haven't beat/can't beat Garuda. Time will tell if it is PUGable or not or if the rewards are worth it.

    ---

    That's not to say people aren't helpful, they are, sometimes. It's more like Port Jeuno in current/WoTG FFXI than it is anything else though. It's also not to say you can't accomplish any of the above, but without someone to help you when you need it you will likely progress very slowly. Depending on how you like your MMO's, this might be what you want. Like I said earlier though it's not my preferred type of gaming experience. Will this change in 2.0? Not on my server, not really anyway. They are allowing new people to make characters on entirely new servers. This might be okay, again, depending on what you want out of the game. A lot of things will be a lot more difficult, but it could definitely add to the exploration/fun factor. All of the zones/areas/content will change in 2.0, so a more established server may be a good idea for the same reasons with the added bonus of actually being able to be helped by older players.

    What I see as an issue is an unwillingness to lend a hand to do stuff for random people. This attitude may be okay when your game is successful and loads of new people are joining up, but if you like this game and you want to see it succeed then there needs to be a concerted effort by the high level community to help anyone and everyone out that you can.

    My first Ifrit for example, I was new, said I was new, no one said anything specific about what I should do. I watched some videos already, I had a friend tell me what I should do via tell, but it's not quite the same as someone showing me a marker in game or explaining in more detail in the arena. I did okay, but not great. I'm still unsure if I caused a wipe or not because no one said anything. I was moved to a DD spot, again with no instructions. I'm pretty sure I caused a wipe here lol, but no one said anything. We went again, I'm pretty sure I caused a wipe and then I was replaced. In every party I've been in since where there are new people, no one tries to help them, they just let them derp the fuck around and cause wipes and never say anything.

    tl:dr rant off

    Playable, yes, shift gears to, if you know someone who can help you get yourself started up in order to wait for 2.0, community: fucking awful_terrible_bad_mediocre_okay_good_great_blowjobs

  4. #4
    Blue Magic is Best Magic
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    If you are starting from scratch, I wouldn't recommend it and would advise waiting until 2.0.

  5. #5
    Justin Bieber
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    Yes wait for v2.0 or buy a lv50 character, not enough lowbies to make it an enjoyable experience.

  6. #6
    Nidhogg
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    In the last two months I have soloed two, almost three jobs to 50. If not for watching TV shows in my second monitor, this would not have been enjoyable.

  7. #7
    So hard we fuck rocks
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    Seriously, had my thm at lvl 19 yesterday and the LS I'm in got a PL party together. We took 20 min rotations, and in 4 hours i was 41. Thing is, it was linkshell mainly, so we were in vent, bullshitting and talking about stats and gear etc. leveling is boring, but thank god it's quick.

  8. #8

    Solo leves are the worst thing to do solo. I have had a few fun parties though, as long as you have some good healers and some fearless pullers you can get great EXP just fighting stuff.

  9. #9
    Sea Torques
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    My experiences were a bit different. I came back to get legacy status a couple of weeks ago since I had banked crysta and figured I would just power through some levels to get ready for 2.0.

    First off, finding a linkshell was difficult. I looked over all the websites and only found maybe 3 linkshells on my server who had posted anything in server forums on any site in the last 3 months. All three of those were endgame ls's with the usual rules, applications, etc. I didn't think my level 22 alchemist would stand out on an application. I tried asking XI people I still am in contact with, but none knew of any social ls's. I posted on ffxivpro, lodestone pads, etc and was basically told to level up and come back later. I even bit the bullet and shouted on a saturday. Just crickets.

    Soloing for me was between 20-25k/hr on thm, con, and arc. This is in the level 20-30 range. I would spend time between leves grinding out crafting or gathering levels but after 2 weeks of playing an MMO without one single piece of ls chat or even a /tell I figured there was no point in continuing since I couldn't see how I would find 7 other people to help me with job quests, etc. I heard in 2.0 there will be 'newbie' servers. If that is the case I may give it another go and start from scratch. I would have preferred to level now and just have done content at release, but the culture didn't seem conducive to non established players. Now this is just one testimonial, and other servers did seem to have more options on different forums. However, for now I'll just back burner FF and try my hand at guild wars.

    I hope this doesn't come off as passive aggressive or whining, that is not the tone I'm trying to convey. But playing an MMO by yourself is a miserable experience. I've played every FF on release. I'm good friends with XI folks well after retiring. I have maybe 200 pieces of ffxi music on my ipod. I drove 8 hours to see distant worlds and turned around and got home just in time for a 13 hour shift. I'm definitely a FF fanboy. I want this game to be awesome. And I wanted to be ready when it was. But my advice would be wait until 2.0 unless you have connections with players currently in game.


    There were some things noticeably better than when I left the game shortly after release. Targeting is better. There are options for keyboard configuration. Commands are faster. Crafting gives a ton more exp per synth. The recipes no longer require 14 subsynths to make a pair of shoes.

    Some things aren't better. The generic battle music is awful. There are still 1000 places where the devs make you run 20 yards to the right to get over a bump that is too tall for you to walk over even though its not even knee high. If you join a behest as a level 25 and a high level walks up and joins all the mobs spawn IT+++++++. The retainer system (although better) is still in place. SE's customer service is still the worst. They booted me from support chat because I had not "Properly identified" my information even though everything was correct. Turns out they had "N. Lexington St" in their system and I tried to confirm with "North Lexington St". No explanation, no clarification, just booted off with a "hope to see you online".

  10. #10

    This thread is difficult to answer because we don't know when the OP quit. Like when he/she was playing were there still RNG skill ups, physical levels, fatigue, no auto-attack, terrible classes with no real differentiation, no transportation other than teleporting and walking, countless other awful game mechanics designed only to frustrate the player, and of course, leves and crafting as the only content? Then yes you will see that the game has dramatically improved. The development team completely shifted focus after the disastrous beta and launch, and if you hadn't played since then I think it would seem like a completely different game.

    If you're just coming back from 1.19 or so there have been small tweaks and a little bit more content and that's it.

  11. #11
    Yoshi P
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    Quote Originally Posted by ronin sparthos View Post
    So a simple series of questions to the denizens of Eorzea from someone who hasn't followed FFXIV since it blew up on the launchpad back in '10:

    Is this game playable? Would you recommend it as the game shifts gears into its eventual 2.0 release? How is the community of XIV as it currently stands?

    Just looking for some feedback.
    I'm enjoying the hell out of it right now. It's got a lot of that old school XI feel while still being a lot more accessible (you only need groups for more of the hardcore 50 content, everything on the way can be soloed).

    I would definitely recommend starting up and seeing how you like it. It's a hell of a lot more playable than XI in its current state, which you pretty much need to be hardcore and have hardcore friends or a WHM mule to do anything.

    Quote Originally Posted by Draylo View Post
    If you are starting from scratch, I wouldn't recommend it and would advise waiting until 2.0.
    Actually the opposite of this. I would start now so that you're prepared for the new content. However, don't level EVERYTHING to 50 as they've promised that there is going to be a lot of lower level content too, so you'll want to be able to actually do that as well.

    Playing 3-4 hours a day you can get your first job to 50, realistically, without rushing like crazy, in about 3 weeks (and that includes staying up to date on all of the quests that pop up along the way - in fact, the main story quests, which will be unavailable after 2.0 give huge EXP and gil rewards and are also really fun - great story and great cutscenes).

  12. #12
    So hard we fuck rocks
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    Quote Originally Posted by Therin View Post
    I'm enjoying the hell out of it right now. It's got a lot of that old school XI feel while still being a lot more accessible (you only need groups for more of the hardcore 50 content, everything on the way can be soloed).

    I would definitely recommend starting up and seeing how you like it. It's a hell of a lot more playable than XI in its current state, which you pretty much need to be hardcore and have hardcore friends or a WHM mule to do anything.



    Actually the opposite of this. I would start now so that you're prepared for the new content. However, don't level EVERYTHING to 50 as they've promised that there is going to be a lot of lower level content too, so you'll want to be able to actually do that as well.

    Playing 3-4 hours a day you can get your first job to 50, realistically, without rushing like crazy, in about 3 weeks (and that includes staying up to date on all of the quests that pop up along the way - in fact, the main story quests, which will be unavailable after 2.0 give huge EXP and gil rewards and are also really fun - great story and great cutscenes).
    Spot on sir. Although, if you get into an active social shell that 3 weeks will probably drop dramatically

  13. #13
    CoP Dynamis
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    Quote Originally Posted by Therin View Post
    I would start now so that you're prepared for the new content. However, don't level EVERYTHING to 50...
    I agree with this.

  14. #14
    Yoshi P
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    Yeah, I don't get all of these comments about not being able to find people. Maybe I'm on a good server? It's Hyperion, by the way.

    Anyway, I've ran into tons of people leveling and whatnot. Obviously I did most of my leveling solo to take advantage of the fact that this is actually possible, whereas in XI it isn't (or wasn't, when we all started in 2004). I didn't find leves to be that annoying. What's annoying is that you only get a certain amount a day... but you can alleviate that issue by leveling a variety of jobs and letting the leves build up. Then, go from town to town and do quests. You'll end up with a ton of gil and some levels on the side, and then after a few days you'll have 30-40 leves saved up. That's way more than you'll ever want to do in one sitting. They're not THAT fun, but they're not mind-numbingly boring, at least to me, like some people suggest. Plus the gil rewards are usually pretty good. I've only been playing a month, have done virtually zero crafting and no farming whatsoever and I've already made enough gil to buy double meld gear in three slots... Those are 500k+ a pop, by the way.

    Anyway, I had several people asking to party up during leves when I was a new player and I did most of my quests solo, because as long as you wait to the recommended level, you can. You'll only start needing parties when you get to the middle of the Grand Company quests (these are really fun, by the way - and you have to start by doing four of them in every town, so you get to explore the world while doing them). But as soon as I hit 30 ARC, I was immediately able to find help with my BRD unlock and I also had no trouble getting help for the 35, 40, 45 and 50 quests too. I've had pearls to three different social linkshells already and now I'm in one that has an active endgame crowd as well (they have an endgame linkshell and a community linkshell, and only use the endgame one for events, so there's a lot of socializing on the community shell). I found out about this LS through FFXIVPro. I simply sent the leader a tell, told him that I played XI religiously for about 8 years and he sent me an invite. People seem very kind to help new players because the people playing XIV at this point realize that it is struggling and want to help it survive.

    There are tons of shouts for things too, so once you get to endgame level you can do all of your major content without needing to find an endgame linkshell. I've done Ifrit over 30 times successfully with pickups (just got my Bow tonight) and Moogle as well... The only primal I haven't done in a pickup is Garuda. I tried it once, but it destroyed us. It's a little more difficult and will require a very cohesive team of good players. I also did all of the dungeon runs and AF quests, as well as all of the hard mission and job quests with pickups. I've had no trouble at all finding help. In fact I'd say it's MUCH easier than XI. Last time I was on XI I had nothing to do, couldn't get anyone interested in anything so I just went with a pickup to do Bismarck and we wiped repeatedly because no one knew what to do. Haven't really had any experiences like that in XIV yet...

    Maybe I'm just on a good server.

    There are still some major issues... the UI is clunky as hell and slow, the targeting system blows (although the changes that you can make to it via the Config menu help tremendously, it's still a really bad targeting system), there is no Auction House (it's a Mercantile House instead and the system they use is terrible), there is almost no mid-level content aside from guildleves, quests and one single dungeon (all the open world NMs are too hard and there is only one dungeon, and by the time you can win it the rewards are worse than what you bought from the Mercantile House anyway)... There's significantly more content at 50, enough to probably keep you busy for about 4-6 months of playing every day, but you will run out of things to do eventually unless you take your time and go back to level multiple jobs or really want all the primal weapons from each fight (they're not a very good drop rate).

    At 50, there are three dungeons, although only two are really worth doing, three Primal fights (basically fairly tough BCNMs), a few beastmen-king-esque NMs in the strongholds, lots of high end quests that require a group (specifically in the Grand Companies), numerous world spawn NMs which are fun but not that rewarding and Hamlet defense, which is a pain and fairly difficult. The latter you will be forced to do if you want a relic, but I wouldn't even bother trying to get one of those yet. Who knows how they will be after 2.0. So, still fairly incomplete, but at this point you're only about 4 months out from 2.0 beta and we've still got at least one major update coming before then, so I doubt if you start now that you'll even have a chance of running out of content before 2.0's release. If you want to try XIV, I'd do it now.

    Once you get used to everything it's not that bad, and I really hope that they smooth all of these issues out for 2.0, but it definitely takes some getting used to. I'm loving the game right now but I won't say it's perfect, oh no, it's far from perfect, but if you compare it to the shitty version that we got on release it's an unbelievable improvement. Did I mention the battle system actually works now?

  15. #15
    Blue Magic is Best Magic
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    What does it matter if you start now or later if you move to a new server? Everyone will start from scratch and you won't have to "catch up". Difference in opinions, but as a person looking at this game and wanting to start fresh, I would choose a brand new server come 2.0 launch which means no having to catch up to the die hards.

  16. #16

    It's still catching up, whether it's to people around you or people who play the game in general. The accomplishments have been made, things have been speed ran, etc.

    If someone reads BG and starts a new character I think they would be much better off starting on a server with some people who have been playing and enjoy things like Random Fail and whatnot for the simple fact that you are dealing with a similar playerbase to what we had in 2004/05. I've seen shout conversation multiple times talking about the devil (also known as "Windower") and how that and people who used it are why they quit XI. read: Starcade's minions.

    The Pro's of a new server I would say are, everyone being in the same boat as you (no one to look down on you), lots of people working together to get different quests done, able to learn things from the getgo and not be required to be awesome or get booted, non fucked economies.
    (Only a matter of time, like, 3-4 weeks before people will be capped on multiple jobs/geared/able to look down on you)
    (Same for dungeon/fight experience)

    Pro's of an old server would be knowledgeable people to help you (waste less time doing the wrong thing), help grinding out levels/killing NMs, running dungeons properly the first time/help understanding how they work (For AF specifically), established economy/crafters (able to farm materials and make gil)


    As far as now verse later, the old storyline is still in place, so you make over a mil doing that. Grand Company stuff will still be around for 2.0, and getting ranked up will be just as grindy then as it is now. We don't know what leves will look like, we only know that quests will be a viable and faster form of XP than grinding mobs is now (which is pretty fast). The battle system and combo system is supposed to get an overhaul, but the same principles will apply. If all you're interested in pre2.0 is leveling, getting some gil made and quest progress done then it's a really good idea to start if you're not hopped on something else. Hell, even if it's to log in, get started, and accumulate leves to craft.

  17. #17
    Ridill
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    Quote Originally Posted by Therin View Post
    Actually the opposite of this. I would start now so that you're prepared for the new content. However, don't level EVERYTHING to 50 as they've promised that there is going to be a lot of lower level content too, so you'll want to be able to actually do that as well.
    Well there will be new classes in 2.0 so it's not exactly a good point. Either way you don't need everything to 50, just get the abilities you need from classes and most of them are available at very low levels. The only exception is ARC and Chameleon.

  18. #18
    Yoshi P
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    So they say, but there hasn't been any official announcements. Still, if they bring out (just random here) say Dark Knight and Geomancer, there will be loads of lowbies trying to level these jobs so trying to get into a group for Big New Level 30 Dungeon Mark IV with six other Dark Knights won't work out very well. If I were to recommend it now, I would suggest someone to level 1-2 jobs to 50 (preferably jobs that meet different archetypes), do all of the GC and storyline quests, get some crafting levels up and ready to go and make some decent gil. It wouldn't hurt to have primal weapons for your two main jobs as well. They probably won't be the best after 2.0 but they should be good enough to still use until you get the best.

  19. #19
    Hydra
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    I think its worth a sub till 2.0 I would not go all out crazy but you could easily make some friendships and connections while lvl'ing up. Durandal has a few good social shells and although shouting isn't always the most productive it will get you a group if your persistent.

    I think the av/cc dungeons are very entertaining, and most of the content can be done in a social group. A lot of the social shells are run by groups who have a smaller endgame group then the social group so if you are good at your job its pretty easy to get in on the endgame activities.

    Also 1 thing that FFXIV has done wonderfully well is making it so that anyone can earn money from day 1. The balance of what smaller population #'s we have combined with constant destruction of gear through materia and melding keeps a constant flow of money. You should never hit a point where you feel like any piece of gear is out of your reach. Most crafting makes money from 0-50 and provide constant flow of $$$ if you want to spend time on it. I really hope this part of FFXIV stays consistent in 2.0

  20. #20

    One thing XIV has done fairly well is minimize bottle necks when it comes to obtaining gear/materials as far as competition.

    The only ones I can think of are the unique mats from Novum, which aren't easily farmed solo and in order to get to them you need to wade thru clusterfucks of mobs. The old roaming NMs are pretty invalidated, but dodore doublet is still nice for the crafts that can use it (sidenote: I cringe whenever I see ppl using it on WVR/LTW/etc, even more so when it's a double melded HQ).

    Stronghold chests can be as well if only because the key dropping mobs are scarce but a lot of that stuff is pretty dated as well, a lot of them can be soloed tho if you know what you're doing.

    There's no competition for gathering, most farmable stuff isn't an issue because mob respawn is so low, and crafting leves throw misc mats at you hand over fist.