AaronLamm wrote:
I started in 1.0, albeit quite hesitant but I had faith because I was a long standing member of the FFXI community.
Safe to say I was disappointed in the end and simply quit. I gave up on the chances of character recreation and legacy because it didn't matter enough to me.
When I heard about ARR and the overhaul on the game and the eventual re-release of FFXIV: A Realm Reborn I was immediately overwhelmed with excitement.
Now, just a few days into playing I'm already, shall we say finding myself wanting. Maybe its the lack of challenge or the gross punishment I would experience in FFXI that made the game so addicting that has brought out this feeling. I've already gotten my PUG and GLA to 15 and both were extremely tedious and mind-numbingly similar, monotonous button crushing, little to no strategy. Grouping remains the same, lackluster and un-inspired.
I am not sure what you are doing that is tedious, or mind-numbing. But, the first 20 levels are actually supposed to be (and while, I will admit, I have only made it to 5 before continuing on things that I actually want to get done), there is a vast variety of things to do now. Especially in comparison to either 1.0, or 11 in ways of getting leveled. And because of the volume of quests, you can't do the same quest over and over again for exp.
Now, liking or not liking FATES, or quests, or dungeon crawls, or meaningless hack-n-slashing might be a different issue. However, you do have your choice in these categories starting out. Each one of them gives good experience, and while your abilities are limited (which I believe is more of your issue), having a level 50 character, I can tell you, being only up to mini-ifrit, I am missing the abilities I am teased with. And while my combat moves are fairly locked to the same combos I start with, 90% of the abilities I use at 50 are not melee attacks. This makes me much happier to use paladin. We have defense, we have pacify, we have stun, we have ranged pull-in. There really is no lack of things to do, but rather a learning curve on when to use what when. It becomes more about the strategy in using the abilities, then just spamming the strongest ability when it's ready.
AaronLamm wrote:
Maybe the game is too easy? Too WoW-esque (which was just an awful experience for me because I flew through the game in just a few months). I was happy that the game was entering a more "casual" pipeline for players seeking both challenge and ease of play as well. I run a small internet marketing firm so I only have so much time to relinquish to FFXIV and even then (as a casual gamer) I'm finding the game already to be, too casual maybe.
I am not sure what you mean by casual. At the point you are in the game, it is not the way it is specifically for casual players, but to allow any player to get in, and begin the ramp up to hard stuff. But, instead of taking a 3 hour climb up a tower where the nearest respawn point is a 20 minute walk away, everything is set so that you can repeat it if you need to, and you can take on any part in 1/2 hour increments. There is still well over 40 hours of content in the main storyline alone, and an apparent hundreds of hours in dungeon and quests. Some of them incredibly easy, some annoyingly difficult (we already have FC members saying they will not go back to some dungeons).
AaronLamm wrote:
Just looking to see if other people are experiencing similar feelings. Hardcore FFXI players probably feel my pain and FFXI also took an absolute leap from the cliff of "excellent gaming experiences" to the all too common {Too Weak} reference.
The hard-core 11 players that I know so far have been telling us that this actually is a hard game. And they are enjoying the challenge, and are taunting about the Hard mode Primal fights, the Bahamut stuffs, Behemoth, the new relic quest, and extreme Ifrit. They have found their challenge, and are working it over.
It didn't matter to them what was put in from 1-50, they were going to get through it in a week. It could have been 200 hours of content required for end-game, and they still would have made it through. Hard mode Garuda, Hard modeVan Darnus, and extreme Ifrit proved that in 1.0. If there are road-blocks to get somewhere, they are just chewed through, and ignored by Hard-core endgame players. Casual players actually digest the content, and read the dialog, and watch the cutscenes.
AaronLamm wrote:
I don't know. A month free to make a full decision but my fear is that FFXIV is doomed to fit into the {Too Weak} category.
That is one of the benefits to the starting content being easier to digest. You have a chance to build up your character and get a feel of the game before 30 days are up. In 30 days, a casual player can get through the required content, and be able to participate in content that others want to do. That is the real benefit to the content you are currently working on. The difference is that everyone else (for the most part) is still working on the same content you are. As a result, it is not so much a race to catch up with people, as everyone learning how to get started... With training wheels. No one likes training wheels, least of all ones that are visible. And having helped dozens of people with their Dragon fight in 11, and the climb up dekfults because they have been searching for hours or days even for anyone to help them, the "new" way I think, while seemingly childish while we are getting the game up and going, serves more in the long term.
My only sadness to this is that you have made up your mind that the game (which is a 180 degree change from 1.0), which now has more quests at level 1 than 1.0 had total at launch, more dungeons, actual challenges (in 1.0 people were killing level 99 mobs with level 50 parties in the first week after the game was launched), more specialization (again, flaw in 1.0, the only difference between a CON and MRD was the weapon they used), without actually seeing the game.
At level 15 you have not had a chance to experience the game. While a lot of people are saying the world is smaller, once you take in the dungeons, and the new zone areas (The desert, the out edges of la noscea), you start to feel the real size of the game. Yeah, they definitely shrunk the known open world at release, but you can already see the areas planned for expansion.
You have not had a good taste of the abilities and functionality of your character. The difference in available abilities between 15 and 50 is incredibly noticable with any class or job for that matter.
You still have yet to make it to content meant to challenge you as a player. You are however close (in level). ~20-30 you will start to run into quests that can defeat you. 30+ you will begin doing content that, if you are not on your game, or are in a pick-up party, there isn't just a good chance of death/wipe, but, there is a good chance of party break-ups and reforms. As well as frustration.
And then there is party play. Party play starts with the first dungeon. It is merely a chance to introduce you to party mechanics, leading up to Ifrit. Where party balance is necessary (if you're party doesn't deal enough damage, it's a wipe. If your tank can't hold hate, it's a wipe. If you healer can't keep people, especially the tank healed... It's a wipe).
You are still at the crawling stage. If you are that much into a punishing push to feel like you have accomplished something, you need to get to the point where people are not. Get your Magitek mount, that is an accomplishment right now. Beat brayflox (sp?) with a a pick-up party. Or for those who wanted a craft or gathering route, just complete the quest line up to 50 on those (yeah, short victory, but still HQ for turn-ins made them more than worthwhile, and rewarding)... Though I do feel bad for everyone who has an illuminary...
Hmmm, need more sleep and less rant maybe:).