Free trial

[Daemonxel]

Is it worth it? Hadn't checked this game out since it first came out and everyone said it wad horrible. If I do try it out what server is everyone on?

[Shenrien]

Well it's free, what do you have to lose?

[Karbuncle]

Well it's free, what do you have to lose?

Moments of your precious fleeting life that you will never get back!

.. No but seriously, It depends on what you like from an MMO. Without sounding to bitter... this is, gameplay wise, a pretty standard MMO. You have an overly long and complicated amount of skills that fill up half your screen with skill icons on a skill bar making it just look and feel silly... You have your "Item level" itemization, meaning every item is essentially the same except +2~3 more stats than the lower level one, which comes with everything you own being replaced every other patch (though, I.lv isn't completely absolute in some accessories). both Leveling and endgame content generally revolves around Dungeons/Raids and other instanced content. Which is either a Boss fight, or a Harder-Boss fight, or a "Trash Grinder" of useless mobs then a boss fight.

It can get boring real quick once you run into some of the more tedious grinds and/or you don't have friends to play with. Its fun, in moderation, but I don't find myself "craving" to play it like i did with XI, I don't have that same sense of wonder when new armor is released... because I know what the new armor is going to be, its going to be the same as my current armor, with slightly higher values. There is no excitement here. But that excitement is replaced with the interesting Storyline (for me), the side activities like Golden Saucer coming up, Triple Triad, etc.

FFXIV has a lot to offer, rather it suits your taste or not... you won't know til you play. Personally despite its flaws I still log in, but I find myself logging in and doing things a lot less than I did when I first came back. I'm starting to slip away again because I'm at a point where I just can't bring myself to do the grinds... if you're like me you'll burn out real quick once you get to a certain point in the game.

[Luthia]

Give it a try, If youre here you will probably love it.

In other news... I never understood gamers who let others dictate what they should like... with demos and free trials around these days there is no reason to form your own opinion.

[Pruviant]

The game is fantastic in my opinion. That being said, it is very different from XI (if that is where you are coming from). The only times that I can think of that are "grindy" is once you get to endgame. Zodiac quest line and beastmen dailies are the ones that stand out, and Coil if you consider duplicate drops on a weekly lockout event a "grind".

Aside from dps queue times though, I think SE has found a favorable middle ground between players with numerous friends in-game and those that might not have so many as far as content progression. Sure you might have to wait a bit while queuing for some fights, but there are so many things to do while waiting that (in my opinion) it doesn't take too much from the experience. I have enjoyed the story very much so far, and in typical SE fashion they have created an immersive and engaging world that fans of the series have come to expect. My advice is to roll a tank or healer class, almost everything you do is zero wait time.

That being said, there are two things I dislike about XIV. I hate vertical gear progression, and that is the premise that the entire game is centered around. Like Karbuncle said, every new piece of gear is the same as the one before it, just with higher stats and ilvl. I also don't like how there is hardly any leeway as far as group makeup. In XI you could experiment with different types of party makeup to clear content where as here you are pretty much stuck with the cookie-cutter 8 man, 2 tank, 2 healer and 4 dps. (There are a few exceptions, but this is the norm).

All in all, the game is fun for me. The graphics are breathtaking on a decent machine and there are numerous things to keep you occupied. I would suggest a trial to anyone ... personally I would put it up there in the top 5 of current MMOs, but that is just my opinion.

[D44kpunk]

personally got bored doing dungeon/ST spam, reminded me of WoW heroic spamming prior to MoP (timeless isle etc replaced heroic spamming with a much better system imo)


worth a shot if you like FF lore and shit but if you don't want to devote most of your time to running the same dungeons/raid over and over again until you're caught up to end game progression, you're going to quit.

[Daemonxel]

Found out that a few I ran with back in Xi are on Excalibur. So giving the trial a try and if I enjoy it more than what I am doing currently then I well portion cancel my sub for swtor and switch up.

[Kipling]

The game is only going to get better upon the release of Heavensward. Now is probably one of the best times to "get established" and make a character to be ready in time to jump into what the expansion will offer in 4 months or so.

[Daemonxel]

So. . Coming in fresh. Any class I should maybe focus towards so add not to be left behind? I started a as a thurm thinking going blm. At least till they bring back blue mage

[Raldo]

If you're looking for faster queues to reach cap quicker, do a tank or healer class, otherwise it really doesn't matter.

[Kiarax]

Class balance is pretty good all round right now, most endgame groups consist of one of each tank (WAR+PLD), one of each healer (WHM+SCH) and then 4 DPS that people usually aren't picky about. Most common setup is 2 physical DPS (MNK/NIN/DRG), 1 magical (BLM/SMN) and 1 BRD, but it's anything goes really with BRD pretty much being the only "have 1 of these guys" class. Playing a DPS is gonna leave you with long queue times for dungeons if you're playing alone, but if you can rope a friend to play as tank or healer you can circumvent that issue. I'd say just dick around, try out any classes that actually interest you and play whatever you wind up enjoying. Being flexible is never a bad thing and it's not too bad to gear up multiple classes in this (with the exception of the top end gear as it's newly released, which is typically time gated in some form meaning your alt classes will generally be a little bit behind whatever class you decide to focus on).

[Eldelphia]

You're going to have to level a couple of classes at least. To unlock BLM you'll need Thaumaturge to 30 and Archer to 15. With the expansion coming in the Spring, a lot of people will be levelling tanks and healers but right now, queues for dps are quite long. Make sure you unlock your Challenge log as soon as you're able, it will help you on the way up.

The challenge log can be unlocked by completing the level 15 quest Rising to the Challenge, available from I'tolwann in Limsa Lominsa Upper Decks (X:11, Y:10).

http://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/Challenge_Log

[Luthia]

healer would probably be your best bet, not as much of a hassle as a tank and still get faster ques than dps

[Daemonxel]

OK played for a few days now and I noticed a few things.

1. Seems like they mashed all ff games together.

2. The FATE system is very reminiscent of Guild wars 2

The game itself is fun but very daunting. Just seems like your bombarded with so much to kind of grasp. . Such as materia..crafting as jobs just to name a few. I wish there was a way to filter quests add your in the area. . Level 17 walking in a area and a ton of quests for level 3 6 8 and so forth litter my map.

[Ratatapa]

You cannot filter quests that shows on map sadly.

As for 'they mashed all FF' they said before 2.0 came out, that they want to make a Final Fantasy that is a FF that has almost all older FF in it. so everyone would find themselves in the game

[Madeline]

take your time, do quests at your pace that are at your level. make sure you prioritize keeping up with the main story quests, which are a meteor icon instead of the generic ! or double arrow symbol that symbolizes a repeatable. everything else is just considered things to do on the side, namely exp while you're leveling. if you think you have a lot to do now, 50 will overwhelm you quite quickly.

don't worry terribly much about crafting early on. it's a daunting task. double that when considering that to be successful at the end you'll more or less have needed to level everything. it's arguably one of the more difficult things to succeed at. if anything, dabble in it and familiarize yourself with the concept, and more importantly with how the leves work, as you'll be using them to level.

fates.. you'll get used to them leveling, as that's one of the more popular ways to level alongside dungeoning, hunting logs, etc. i do suggest keeping up with your hunting log.

materia is largely irrelevant before level 50. at most spiritbind your early gear through the convert option once you've gotten enough exp and sell off the T1/2/3s that are worth something to establish some funds to go on. nobody wants that guy that runs around without accessories cause he didn't have any money left over. by the time you're 50, the concept of materia will have been explained to you through a quest in central thanalan, and will have had time to sink in.

i don't remember at what point beastmen dailies are available, but look out for when they are and keep up with them. they've proven to be incredibly valuable. some of them will assist you in leveling both crafting and battle classes. having them at max rank is a necessity, imo. starting early is a good thing. not something to worry about with where you are now, but worth a mention.

[Arthars]

like everyone said, depends what type of mmo u r looking for

if you want masochist type, like super rare drop rates but able to grind mindlessly for it and feel special, this game is not for you

if your like me, reaching mid-life, working etc etc, then i can say this is the perfect game

its casual yet still offer enough to do through the week, and have high end, good designed raid in coil (soon to be/or already a joke)

if you can/want to play 24/7, this games basically dont have enough to cater you, unless you made mules

also, every major (alternate patches for now) patch makes you start all over. If your the clingy type, like cant let go of your "precious" when a new patch comes, you will be very upset and quit faster than you imagine

[Daemonxel]

so you cant even roll free into a paid subscription for monthly fee...you still have to purchase?? thats kinda bs..if I already have it on my PC and willing to pay for the month I have to fork out the extra? bad form SE

[Kiarax]

You get a month free with purchase of the game, so the game itself works out extremely cheap anyway, not really sure why you'd expect to get the game free though just because you played the free trial!

[Daemonxel]

So cancelled my sub to swtor and paid for and subbed to this. The more I play the note I enjoy and it's very nostalgic to the glory days on slyph. So if anyone is on Excalibur look me up Daemon Xel.