Yeah it's crazy, I had no idea.
FF14 seems like the kind of game where you can't actually miss anything and can always just go back and do it.
Other than the seasonal events and other collaboration type event things, yeah they don't really delete stuff. I guess technically the pvp season rewards too but so few people bother with this shit. Even these they will usually just add recolors of the stuff in other ways later on.
Cool. In a bit ill gather up some info. If anyone wants to link guides they like , I can include them
(using this post to test formatting for the first page FAQ. feel free to ridicule my shit while i edit it and format)
FF14 2021 FAQ
If anyone wants a guide added or thinks i should add a bullet some where, let me know
FF14 is best described on it's surface as a final fantasy style RPG first, and mmo second. it's extremely feature dense, and it seems like it satisfies lots of play styles including raiding, but the story and setting seems to be the main draw for many.
You can treat it like a normal FF game and just ignore any single aspect of the game. most seem to play it as a generic story rpg, and then mguffin collectable gathering with some style flexing on the side.
- ARR is widely considered the weakest. It is old, and a bit sloggy on the quests, but it does a ton of world building that they use for the whole rest of the game's story. it starts formulaic, and repetitive, but it's a solid foundation that is never thrown out.
- there's one coherent story that lasts all four (ARR, HW, SB, SHB) boxes and will conclude in the next expansion endwalker (the game is not ending, just the hydolin story arc).
- Players love the setting, story, and systems in the game, but the ARR part will feel slow, and sloggy and a little repetitive. the voice acting is bad too, but once you get past that the game really takes off and flies.
- if you hate final fantasy, weebery, and story in general in games, you may not like it. try the trial it's free. there's a meme about the free trial. (insert meme here later)
- players are shockingly friendly, and accepting of new people, so you can easily ask for advice in game and you won't be crucified. they do a lot of goofy social gatherings and events in game, those are on youtube a lot.
- the mogstation is awful and starting a new account, or upgrading to full account is a nightmare. everyone knows it. I blame consoles and square.
- The game drips with fan service. they don't try to make women look like sacks of flour or fuck with the story just to do it. everything in the game after a certain point was stressed or expanded based on player satisfaction. It's refined to be a fan pleasing environment, not a fan punishing one.
- the real final fantasy tour de force is when you don't feel a deep need to catch up rapidly. do an hour or two of story, do a few roulettes, maybe do some side quests. and go to bed at night knowing that when you wake up, the game is there for you again to enjoy. Become attached to aspects of the game, or characters if you like. rabbit hole down some weird avenue of the game if you find it interesting.
- Combat 'seems slow' early because they drip feed you skills from 1-50. it adds more each expansion and toward the end the GCD/OGCD shuffling really hits a prime place with tons of button mashing. google some optimal level 80 rotations if you want to see.
This video breaks down a sort of comparison between WoW and FF14 in 2021, it's pretty good:
If raiding is your thing: this is a break down of mythic wow raiding vs FF14 ultimate raiding.
Some one asked why this game was popular all of a sudden, i wrote this:
Final Fantasy XIV (Guide in first post)
Meanwhile at Square Enix, where marketing is not completely asleep at the wheel, unlike some indie companies that can't even afford GM staff or community managers: https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/special/freelogincampaign/www.firesofheaven.org
Yes right here:
it's absurdly long for a trial. you can reach level 60, and play through base game and great first expansion. You'll likely know you like the game before then, but the first expansion, heavensward, is considered one of the best final fantasy stories.
Play FINAL FANTASY XIV's Free Trial
Become the Warrior of Light, and fight to deliver the realm from certain destruction. Play the Free Trial up to level 70 for FREE with no restriction on playtime!freetrial.finalfantasyxiv.com
If you intend to buy the game, you can follow some one's link to be buddies and give them a reward. not sure if it stacks with trial or if a trial goer can use a buddy code to migrate to full subscriber. some one let me know if it works.
II. What class / race should i play?
Race literally doesn't matter. play with the styles and emotes and play something you like. There are plenty of weeby races, but others are standard fantasy fare.
In ff14 you can change class at will once you unlock them. each class has their own level which rises independently (for combat, gathering, and crafting classes).
They are some what balanced with deviations on how they play, some are button mashier than others, some are one trick ponies, but they all do roughly similar tanking, healing , or dpsing. Some may make you want to kill yourself, so try lots of them.
it's worth noting that Healers followed by tanks followed by dps is the queue speed. so some people level a tank/healer for doing roulettes, and then level a DPS in the MSQ.
This wiki page has a great chart toward the top showing you what level various classes unlock.
Each expansion added some classes and they start 'higher level' than base.Job - Final Fantasy XIV Online Wiki - FFXIV / FF14 Online Community Wiki and Guide
ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com
this video spends like 45 second giving you a raw run down of each class, pretty accurate:
Data center is more important than server. you can group with anyone who is on your data-center by either migrating to their world via the big city aetherite, or you can join a cross server party to start a duty queue.
if you cannot make a character on your preferred server (because it's popular) try to log on to make the character in off peak hours. you cannot start on a server when it is 'full' but if you make your character at 3am you can join even the bloatest of servers.
They've announced a plan to have cross-datacenter-play with endwalker so you can group with anyone, anywhere instead of just your datacenter.
Most FOHers play on gilgamesh. there's a guild, post on the thread for an invite.
a lot of streamers play on aether data-center
more role playing crowd sorts play on crystal (balmung/mateus)
Server Status | FINAL FANTASY XIV, The Lodestone
Official community site for FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn.na.finalfantasyxiv.com
this video kind of humorously sums it up, but his designations are mostly true:
there are hardcore raiders, heaps of casuals, role players, and various weeb levels.
Yes, in 1.0 the game was dogshit. everyone knew it, the devs experienced great shame and being Japanese they fixed it. the guys who did the fixing still work there today and have kept everyone on task and the game has steadily risen in quality this whole time.
shockingly the 2.0 (arr) content is still playable today and you can level lock / item sync down and experience them and recently some streamers did it and people were blown away by the quality and spectacle of them.
it truely is something of a comeback story, and in a modern gaming landscape of game devs half assing and fan-disservicing their games, it's held up pretty well.
this video breaks it down. it's long. it's literally a documentary. it has 3 parts:
(videos follow at the end of the bullets)
1. don't sweat about your first job. at level 10 you can unlock any base job (see the post about which class to play above). you can change at any time, even in the field.
2. do your main story quest. it's really fucking long. Literally everything in the game is locked behind stages of MSQ. you cannot open expansion classes till you're at the expansions in the MSQ. you can follow along here if you want: Main Scenario Quests - Final Fantasy XIV A Realm Reborn Wiki - FFXIV / FF14 ARR Community Wiki and Guide
3. do your job quests. Every 5 levels or so. in ARR/HW they add skills with many completions, after that they add skills on the capstone (level 70,80) quests. worth doing, usually have great stories.
4. A Duty Roullete (opens around level 20 i think?) per day is great xp. if you do MSQ and daily roulettes you can easily xp 2-3 classes at the same time.
5. Don't cap tomestones. you'll get these as you aproach 50. you spend them for gear levels 50-70. level 80 gear also uses tomestones but they use their own currency sets you'll understand at 71+
6. your chocobo unlocks at level 20 after you join a grand company, quest: my little chocobo. the chocobo can carry you around, has saddle bags (more inventory space) and can fight as a pet near you. heals great. dpses okay, tanks horrible. spend his skill points. use him to do your quests.
7. game features open with 'blue' quest markers. Some are super useful, most open new versions of fights, some key things to open:
Challenge log at 15
Gold saucer at 15
Dyeing at 15
Hall of novice at 15 (rewards a set of gear and a +XP till 30 ring)
Retainers at 17
Chocobo at 20
reference here:
Zepla breaking down some new player tips:
9 Things EVERY New FFXIV Player Should Know!
zepla breaking down a much longer list of which blue quests to unlock. you can just watch till she reaches your level and stops, it drags on a bit:
IMPORTANT Blue Unlock Quests in FFXIV
Eureka is the level 70 (post stormblood) relic zone, where you go and farm materials for fancy weapons and armor. it's full of shenanigans and it isn't like the rest of the game:
A text guide for the first zone, the following zones are linked at the bottom. you have to do the quest line for the zone to progress.
The Forbidden Land, Eureka Anemos – Gamer Escape: Gaming News, Reviews, Wikis, and Podcasts
this video sums up eureka:
FFXIV - How Long Does It Take To Do Eureka Now? - Getting Started
ffxiv-guide.com - ffxiv guide Resources and Information.
ffxiv-guide.com is your first and best source for all of the information you’re looking for. From general topics to more of what you would expect to find here, ffxiv-guide.com has it all. We hope you find what you are searching for!ffxiv-guide.com
Triple Triad - Final Fantasy XIV A Realm Reborn Wiki - FFXIV / FF14 ARR Community Wiki and Guide
Amod
I set this post up to be a replacement for the first post so we can reference the links on it. can my post be moved to the first for easy editing? or is it just a copy/paste job?
