Final Final Fantasy (For Now)
I gave FF14 six months. But I just can’t take it anymore.
Obviously I did not play it as my primary game, else I would not have ended at level 42. That had less to do with my motivation and more to do with the fact that it simply isn’t fun. There is zero satisfying about FF14’s combat – none of the attacks have any weight, and it’s all just flashing lights and high-pitched screeches. I might have been able to get over that, if questing had any meaning. But it doesn’t. Maybe WoW has “corrupted” me into believing one should be able to traverse a narrative without mandatory grinding breaks, but that’s what on offer here.
The final straw was more recent. The day before, I was once again stuck a third of the way into level 41 and the Main Story Request required level 42 to continue. I joined a group of three friends and we ran a dungeon and guildhest in order to get enough XP to get over the hump. The next day, I played through 3-4 MSQs and once again got stuck halfway to the required level 43. So, I queued up in the LFG equivalent and started playing around on my phone.
Then, 23 minutes later, the queue popped. It was a one-boss, no-trash encounter. No loot, shit XP. Fantastic. I queued again, and 17 minutes got into a more traditional dungeon. Except by the time I got to the end of it, I still had not leveled up. I was halfway to 43 with full rested XP at the start, and still needed 25% of a bar to go.
People complain about questing in WoW where you out-level the quests in a zone before reaching the end, but the alternative is apparently completing a zone and then farming public quests/dungeons for days. No thank you.
There is always a chance that I come back a year or whatever down the road. Perhaps after Square Enix fixes their dumbass game design. But for now, I am done. Yearly attempt over.
Posted on December 4, 2017, in FFXIV and tagged LFD, Main Story Quest, Questing, XP, Yearly Attempt. Bookmark the permalink. 6 Comments.
In An Age 
You must be missing something major, because after the expansion they boosted XP gain for the main story quests, to the point that even in the 50s, the main chain was enough 99% of the time to keep going.
Also if I recall correctly, LFD was always a pretty poor source of XP, since its the main/better source for items. The solo queue events were better XP, as were PQs, especially if you found a group running around doing them.
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That’s what I had been told, and it seemed accurate up until the 30s. But even then, I think that was entirely due to the Earring that gave a 30% XP boost or whatever, and that capped out at level 30. Since then, it’s been incredibly painful to the point that not even doing all the sidequests was able to relieve anything – it was rest XP + dungeons + food buffs or bust.
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It probably wasn’t the ring, because it only affects trash experience, and stacks additively with any other bonuses (rested, fc buff, food, and most importantly, chain kills). It doesn’t affect the exp from bosses, the roulette bonus, fate and quest rewards, etc.
This is not clear from the post, but did you get into the second dungeon by queuing directly for it, or through a leveling roulette? The leveling roulette bonus is massive, but it only applies once a day. In terms of exp/hour, discounting queue time*, it’s generally trials roulette > leveling roulette > highest level dungeon you can do (the roulettes with the daily bonus, obviously). I’m not 100% certain it’s like that 30-50 because I haven’t leveled anything at that range since ninja came out, but it’s probably true. At 50 you get access to the raid roulette which is comparable to the leveling roulette in terms of exp/hour.
But probably the fastest way to level, as long as you can stand the tedium, is the Palace of the Dead. Did you give that a try?
Too bad you are giving up on it already. If you could only spend just 800-1000 more hours on it you’d probably find how much fun we are all having at the endgame.
* I’ve always discounted queue time because I always have something else to do in the mean time, either in game or out.
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Both dungeons were queued via Leveling Roulette. I know that the bonus only applies once a day, but honestly, dungeon mobs have always seemed to be the best XP out of any activity: ~1600 XP per mob as I remember. When the MSQ awards 22k and that’s like a hallway between bosses… the choice becomes clear.
I did not try PotD, as it was heavily discouraged everywhere I looked. That would have at least given me something to do solo, I suppose.
I dunno. I do feel kinda bad for not at least hitting 50, if only so I can give some kind of actual report on the much-vaunted storyline. Which, up to this point, has been pretty garbage. Primals are dumb, collecting cheese is dumb, and the MSQ I got stuck in was in the middle of what I assume was going to be a drawn-out joke about gathering the wrong corrupted aether crystal four times in a row. Which is dumb. I have to keep asking myself if all JRPGs were like this and I just forgot/was a teenager with no standards, or if this is really what people harp on about. Or maybe everything gets Super Serious ™ in the final moments with the 40 minute cutscenes or whatever.
It’s just too bad that it takes 100+ hours to get decent, and those 100+ hours are an absolute slog to get through.
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I played FFXIV for about two years ending six months ago. The story is better than any MMO I have played (including WoW). However, it is not as good as people claim or comparable to the single player FF games. Part of the problem is that the story gets stretched out so that it can last over the lifespan of the the game. Coupled with the strain of creating new content across the entire theme park, you get a lot more filler compared to single player FF games. How much you mind the filler depends on your attachment to the characters and the writing style. People I know who get as frustrated as you do with the story generally cannot stand the quirky writing. It comes across as anachronistic.
As for the Xp gains, I found that around lvl 40 or so, you do have to get xp from doing more than the MSQ. I used POTD and Roulettes and unlocked the side quest dungeons which give great first time bonuses. Around the late 40s things get easier as there are a crap ton of MSQ quests and side dungeons ( especially when you get to 50). By the time you are done with them, you will easily be at least 52 or 53. Along with the new roulettes you unlock, you will never be MSQ level blocked. TLDR: Xp gains are high until lvl 40 or so then dip till around 48 or 49 then climb back up.
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Also in terms of combat, I thought it was a mixed bag. I loved the healing and magic classes but agree with your opinion when it comes to melee. Light, floaty and awkward. It just didn’t feel natural or fun either. The button sequences didn’t feel intuitive and were too rote for maximizing dips. I found the monk and dragoon fighting laughable. Poking and punching beasts and machines. Lol.
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