a yep that is the problem you are on the jap servers did have that problem when i played on us server from eu because of the timezone , and yeh bit hard when you are from aus so find a decent data server no idea whats best timewise for you than.
japanese timezone is literally like 1hr behind me, we play at the same time + my server is heavily populated with other Au / NZ players... it's just one of those unfortunate circimstances.
I don't mind that they want me to do all of the quests to get to the Heavensward stuff, because I would want to do all of them anyway, but I am not at all enjoying having to wait to unlock the new classes until I do all these quests. I know exactly what class I want to be, Machinist, and I am having to play classes I don't at all enjoy in order to reach that class. And I am having to play them a LOT, and gear them up. That's very frustrating.
I would absolutely love to be playing these quests as my ACTUAL class, instead of this placeholder that I care nothing about. Unfortunately, it's very immersion killing in this regard.
Gating the new Jobs and GOING to the new zones was a mistake, fine gate me from the story progression I get it. Gate me from ALL the content and I don't. Oh my miner is 51, well fuck me I get nothing until I grind through these quests. Good quests, but I don't like spending 2-3 hours a day doing them and still no end in sight. This could be because this is my 3rd toon though.
It bothered me from early on. I think at level 15 there is a dungeon you have to do to continue on. I like dungeons. My favorite games are dungeon crawlers. Dungeons are why I fell in love with World of Warcraft. All these dungeons to do and I'm working my way through them with other real people online? So awesome.
But, I choose to do those dungeons. I didn't HAVE to do them to move on. I started World of Warcraft back in The Burning Crusade expansion, so there was no LFG. I watched chat while I was in the cities to see if anyone was trying to get a group together for a dungeon, and I would volunteer to join if I saw one.
Gating content behind something you have to wait for other people for is absurd.
People throughout the thread have said, "It's a story based MMO! Duh." Okay, if you want to tell a story, write a book, make a movie, or produce a TV series. An MMORPG is not the best medium for telling a story. Telling small stories relevant to the place you are in? Yes. A story that arcs across the entire existence of your character? No.
If that is your goal, make a single player game. An MMORPG should have a world that you explore how you want to explore it, while fulfilling the ROLE you have chosen. Because it is an MMO, you can join up with other people in your adventures in that world. . . or not.
I really enjoyed FFXIV from 1 - 50. So I, too, bought the expansion. Installed it. Was like, where do I go? Found out online that I still had to do a bunch of stuff in the original game before I could get to the new maps.
Stopped playing.
It was akin to telling me in an airport that I can't go to Ireland and check it out because I haven't finished America yet. But I'm old enough? Yes. So why can't I go? Because you're not done with America yet.
Think about this: what if FFXIV is around for ten years, so people who haven't played it are like, "Damn, it's been around for ten years. It must be a good game." Buys the game, gets to 50, buys the expansion, finds out she's not done with ARR and has to queue for things no one had done for like seven years. Asks FC about helping her. FC is like, "WTF?!"
It's a bad design. And I'm not going to pay them money for a potion to get me around their bad design, either.
It's a real shame because I really did enjoy FFXIV from 1 - 50.
Playing | GW2 Wanting | Pantheon Watching | Crowfall Retired | WAR, Cabal, MO, CO, SHK, WoW, FFXIV: ARR
I slogged through it and by the time I got to Heavensward I felt burnt out played for about a week and gave up. It's a stupid amount of fetch quests with a mediocre story line that soon gets boring and click through. Over self-indulgent devs that think they know better.
Fixed the last line for ya. And I agree.
I make spreadsheets at work - I don't want to make them for the games I play.
I also find the questing incredible dull, what's worse is that I would have enjoyed the story if I could just have done them on a time of my own choosing. Right now I wanted to check out the dungeons, and fast forwarded a bit to get there.
It's incredible that you have to do all these quests just to sign up to the dungeon runs. I have no idea why this game is so popular. The quest mechanics, zone sizes, and graphics are below average.
I just came back on a completely new account after being away since 3.2. Had to start a new account because Visa did a mass charge back on my card for certain date range of charges and my wife didn't realize my SE charge was bunched in with the fraudulent charges so boom, bye bye Legacy account, lol. SE is heartless when it comes to their policy on this, but I understand their stance as if they don't take a firm stance it will just get exploited.
Anywhoooooo, I've been enjoying my time back since mid-August and have finally finished the original 2.0 MSQ story along with the getting a few different classes to level 50 (tank, healer, melee & ranged dps each) and having fun going through some of the newer low level quests that have been added since my original leveling at the launch of 2.0. Currently working through all the Primal quests, continuation of MSQ, and all the other side stuff 24 man raid side quests and what not. I mean it's a lot of questing but at least the story is good (pretty much everything post 50 gets better story wise even the side quests) and there's other stuff to do while.
Now, I'm taking my time and playing rather leisurely and have even gotten my wife to play and spent time messing around getting her going on crafting/gathering & the housing stuff she was interested in.
There's a ton of things to do as you work your way through the story quests so it doesn't feel like such a slog, but I can certainly understand if you're wanting to pick up or get back into the end game of FFXIV on a new account it's gotta be a daunting grind.
Again, I'd suggest watering the grind down with some of the many fun side activities there are to do in game. But if your only goal is end game asap then I do feel for you, but also enjoy the gating from my side of things as it has encouraged me to take a bit more leisurely stroll on the way up through this time. I'm finding myself feeling less burnt out on the whole process than I was at launch with just the 2.0 content.
From the perspective of a returning vet who went through the launch leveling/grind compared to now it is a lot less grindy feeling. The game feels like there is a lot more to do to keep you occupied while working through the slog of quests and waiting in queue for the MSQ instances that can take ages to pop if you are solo queueing.
P.S. I can't imagine what people who think this is too much of a grind must have thought of actual grinding oriented games.
Funny seeing this thread, I've just started the post reaching level 50 patch content and my experience is very meh. they could have tried to implement the quests a bit better so that I don't feel like Eorzea's number 1 errand boy back and forth back and forth back and forth etc... how any of the devs could test this and give it a thumbs up is beyond me.. it's almost immersion breaking, why would my character even want to save this land? It's filled with the laziest bunch of slave drivers I've ever seen, someone with too much time on their hands could easily come up with some funky alternative fan theories to the story how your character is a puppet being manipulated by the evil scions.
Fortunately the world is so nice to explore that it's making it bearable for me but really when they decided to gate all this for Heavensward, they could have went back and trimmed the fat off a lot of the stuff I'm being forced to do.
I just signed back up too, I think I had hit lvl 50 when i stopped, should be some good fun running through the story, only hard part is monk or ninja? lol
I just signed back up too, I think I had hit lvl 50 when i stopped, should be some good fun running through the story, only hard part is monk or ninja? lol
Ninja is way more needed in endgame, but trades off the pure DPS of Monk for offering much better raid DPS overall. Also, Ninja is a lot more fun to play.
Welcome to walking simulator. Was in the same boat I just no lifed it because I wanted to get to the expansion content. Good luck getting through it. Storywise you won't be disappointed.
Personally I just dont think this game is for the OP if he finds the content to be a problem, you are expecting something from this game that it is not obviously. I think this may be a perspective thing as well, try getting through it any I bet you will feel a sense of achievement unlike most MMO's on the market. I see what the devs are doing with gated content and I believe it works for the most part as long as the content your unlocking is worth it and in this case I find that to be the true.
Personally I just dont think this game is for the OP if he finds the content to be a problem, you are expecting something from this game that it is not obviously. I think this may be a perspective thing as well, try getting through it any I bet you will feel a sense of achievement unlike most MMO's on the market. I see what the devs are doing with gated content and I believe it works for the most part as long as the content your unlocking is worth it and in this case I find that to be the true.
Slogging through days of fetch and fed-ex quests to get to endgame so you can farm for gear isn't my idea of a good payoff.
Personally I just dont think this game is for the OP if he finds the content to be a problem, you are expecting something from this game that it is not obviously. I think this may be a perspective thing as well, try getting through it any I bet you will feel a sense of achievement unlike most MMO's on the market. I see what the devs are doing with gated content and I believe it works for the most part as long as the content your unlocking is worth it and in this case I find that to be the true.
Slogging through days of fetch and fed-ex quests to get to endgame so you can farm for gear isn't my idea of a good payoff.
I think they meant more that the story (and quest design in general*) does get better. Also, if you aren't playing it for the story, and you view 'end-game' as nothing but a gear grind, they why are you playing?
*The moogle quests are an exception to this... good times (that I'm glad are over).
Personally I just dont think this game is for the OP if he finds the content to be a problem, you are expecting something from this game that it is not obviously. I think this may be a perspective thing as well, try getting through it any I bet you will feel a sense of achievement unlike most MMO's on the market. I see what the devs are doing with gated content and I believe it works for the most part as long as the content your unlocking is worth it and in this case I find that to be the true.
Slogging through days of fetch and fed-ex quests to get to endgame so you can farm for gear isn't my idea of a good payoff.
I think they meant more that the story (and quest design in general*) does get better. Also, if you aren't playing it for the story, and you view 'end-game' as nothing but a gear grind, they why are you playing?
*The moogle quests are an exception to this... good times (that I'm glad are over).
Because the story ends and you're left with nothing but a gear grind.
Personally I just dont think this game is for the OP if he finds the content to be a problem, you are expecting something from this game that it is not obviously. I think this may be a perspective thing as well, try getting through it any I bet you will feel a sense of achievement unlike most MMO's on the market. I see what the devs are doing with gated content and I believe it works for the most part as long as the content your unlocking is worth it and in this case I find that to be the true.
Slogging through days of fetch and fed-ex quests to get to endgame so you can farm for gear isn't my idea of a good payoff.
I think they meant more that the story (and quest design in general*) does get better. Also, if you aren't playing it for the story, and you view 'end-game' as nothing but a gear grind, they why are you playing?
*The moogle quests are an exception to this... good times (that I'm glad are over).
Because the story ends and you're left with nothing but a gear grind.
Yup. Hard to believe that in the end, this themepark MMO plays like a themepark MMO. I mean, who could've seen that coming?
Personally I just dont think this game is for the OP if he finds the content to be a problem, you are expecting something from this game that it is not obviously. I think this may be a perspective thing as well, try getting through it any I bet you will feel a sense of achievement unlike most MMO's on the market. I see what the devs are doing with gated content and I believe it works for the most part as long as the content your unlocking is worth it and in this case I find that to be the true.
Slogging through days of fetch and fed-ex quests to get to endgame so you can farm for gear isn't my idea of a good payoff.
I think they meant more that the story (and quest design in general*) does get better. Also, if you aren't playing it for the story, and you view 'end-game' as nothing but a gear grind, they why are you playing?
*The moogle quests are an exception to this... good times (that I'm glad are over).
Because the story ends and you're left with nothing but a gear grind.
Yup. Hard to believe that in the end, this themepark MMO plays like a themepark MMO. I mean, who could've seen that coming?
FFXIV has two dungeons to grind currency for gear, raid tiers with 4 bosses, a single boss in a box, and PVP that may as well be nonexistent being that queues take forever. Meanwhile, WoW has 9 dungeons that scale, a raid tier with 7 bosses, and PVP that's worth a damn.
Endgame in FFXIV is pretty lackluster if all you're interested in is running endgame instances.
I was pretty upset with the decision to lock classes behind patch content, as well. Granted, the story got pretty interesting later on. FFXIV has almost always been about story and feeling like you accomplished something at the end of the day; it is unlike many other MMOs in that category as most of them just hand you everything like candy and you never feel accomplished unless you're a world first guild in your respective game of choice.
I'm even more disappointed that they promised to cut 2.x content so that people could skip it, but have yet to do so. While it was heavily hinted they will allow for this with 3.x content at the recent Fan Festival, it doesn't help the fact that I had 16 characters I needed to push through 2.x story content just to access level 52 class quests and Heavensward classes. As mainly a crafter -- with each of those characters having crafts, and several having every one at max -- this was especially annoying and indicative of a lousy system. Not because I have to work, or because they (Perhaps correctly) force you to do the storyline in a storyline-based MMO, but because they locked so many features if you didn't. Luckily they got rid of any quests that involved FATES to help facilitate the process.
The crafting is still top notch, however, and the economy on the servers that I am on is very healthy. Still making millions a day. So, I'm fairly satisfied as a whole that the end game for crafters is so robust. Attempted the new system on WoW and just wanted to bash my head against the wall with the RNG with skill gain in the last bits and the way they set it up. Plus, the gear was outdated before I even started crafting.
Personally I just dont think this game is for the OP if he finds the content to be a problem, you are expecting something from this game that it is not obviously. I think this may be a perspective thing as well, try getting through it any I bet you will feel a sense of achievement unlike most MMO's on the market. I see what the devs are doing with gated content and I believe it works for the most part as long as the content your unlocking is worth it and in this case I find that to be the true.
Slogging through days of fetch and fed-ex quests to get to endgame so you can farm for gear isn't my idea of a good payoff.
I think they meant more that the story (and quest design in general*) does get better. Also, if you aren't playing it for the story, and you view 'end-game' as nothing but a gear grind, they why are you playing?
*The moogle quests are an exception to this... good times (that I'm glad are over).
Because the story ends and you're left with nothing but a gear grind.
Yup. Hard to believe that in the end, this themepark MMO plays like a themepark MMO. I mean, who could've seen that coming?
FFXIV has two dungeons to grind currency for gear, raid tiers with 4 bosses, a single boss in a box, and PVP that may as well be nonexistent being that queues take forever. Meanwhile, WoW has 9 dungeons that scale, a raid tier with 7 bosses, and PVP that's worth a damn.
Endgame in FFXIV is pretty lackluster if all you're interested in is running endgame instances.
This is a fair assessment (aside from the 2 dungeons remark -- that was 3.0, and still not entirely correct), if only because you said "if all you're interested in is running endgame instances." Though I would say that about pretty much any game (why wouldn't you take advantage of all that is available to you?), as a whole.
You can actually earn some of the best non-savage gear from a system that draws from every dungeon in the game. Every hard dungeon in the game (which are all different and not just number changes; different layout, enemies, bosses, story, etc.), Every primal fight, etc. They scale every dungeons to be able to do such, if you use the appropriate system. Daily roulette, Mentor System, Hard, Primal, etc. In addition, they added the Palace of the Dead and The Vault, which provide random items and 235 gear -- it is also a new way to level additional classes. With the Vault being an added system to treasure hunting and the gear / items you get from that in which to play the economy game. This isn't including the "LFR" raid content (different raid and setup from savage), Alexander, etc.
In addition, the add two new dungeons each patch in addition to new systems such as the Squadron System, Gold Saucer, and Wondrous Tails. Wondrous tails being something that encourages you to do old content (especially dungeon / instances) and gives you random rewards -- some beyond certain raid quality (and raid level tomes). As well as there being crafted gear that easily competes with raids for the crafting and economy end game players to acquire (that is able to be penta melded).
Not to mention The Hunt (Centurios) and The Hunt (Monster Hunting) giving you excellent starting gear for hunting monsters, as well as a lot of Tomes to buy 235-260 items; though you have to be a part of a Hunt LS or Guild to get the most of that, with many people having spawn timers with rare hunts down to a near science (Easy to get a thousand or so Tomes).
There are actually more systems in place that take advantage of instanced dungeons. Though, if one isn't aware of such (very common as they don't hold your hand in game and tell you where things are -- you typically have to stumble across it or do some research) systems, then you could very much so just grind the latest dungeons released in a patch and see the Tomes pour in. As well as all the 3.0, 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3 dungeons, that still offer tomes (they update to new tomes with each patch) that will give you 235-260 gear. It isn't a case of simply running two dungeons -- that was for people who didn't know what they were doing at the start of the expansion. Or those who felt it was the most efficient and wanted to rush to raid content. In terms of trying to max your character out in gear before the first raid opens, that may very well have been the case once they spent 5-8 hours completing the other venues.
Post edited by Yaevindusk on
Due to frequent travel in my youth, English isn't something I consider my primary language (and thus I obtained quirky ways of writing). German and French were always easier for me despite my family being U.S. citizens for over a century. Spanish I learned as a requirement in school, Japanese and Korean I acquired for my youthful desire of anime and gaming (and also work now). I only debate in English to help me work with it (and limit things). In addition, I'm not smart enough to remain fluent in everything and typically need exposure to get in the groove of things again if I haven't heard it in a while. If you understand Mandarin, I know a little, but it has actually been a challenge and could use some help.
Also, I thoroughly enjoy debates and have accounts on over a dozen sites for this. If you wish to engage in such, please put effort in a post and provide sources -- I will then do the same with what I already wrote (if I didn't) as well as with my responses to your own. Expanding my information on a subject makes my stance either change or strengthen the next time I speak of it or write a thesis. Allow me to thank you sincerely for your time.
Personally I just dont think this game is for the OP if he finds the content to be a problem, you are expecting something from this game that it is not obviously. I think this may be a perspective thing as well, try getting through it any I bet you will feel a sense of achievement unlike most MMO's on the market. I see what the devs are doing with gated content and I believe it works for the most part as long as the content your unlocking is worth it and in this case I find that to be the true.
Slogging through days of fetch and fed-ex quests to get to endgame so you can farm for gear isn't my idea of a good payoff.
I think they meant more that the story (and quest design in general*) does get better. Also, if you aren't playing it for the story, and you view 'end-game' as nothing but a gear grind, they why are you playing?
*The moogle quests are an exception to this... good times (that I'm glad are over).
Because the story ends and you're left with nothing but a gear grind.
Yup. Hard to believe that in the end, this themepark MMO plays like a themepark MMO. I mean, who could've seen that coming?
FFXIV has two dungeons to grind currency for gear, raid tiers with 4 bosses, a single boss in a box, and PVP that may as well be nonexistent being that queues take forever. Meanwhile, WoW has 9 dungeons that scale, a raid tier with 7 bosses, and PVP that's worth a damn.
Endgame in FFXIV is pretty lackluster if all you're interested in is running endgame instances.
This is a fair assessment (aside from the 2 dungeons remark -- that was 3.0, and still not entirely correct), if only because you said "if all you're interested in is running endgame instances." Though I would say that about pretty much any game (why wouldn't you take advantage of all that is available to you?), as a whole.
Don't get me wrong. There's loads to do in terms of gearing up and side activities. There's just not much to do for people who are only interested in endgame instances. The 2 dungeon remark was because Xelphatol and The Great Gubal Library give the most tomestones of scripture and there's not much point running the others in terms of gearing up.
Personally I just dont think this game is for the OP if he finds the content to be a problem, you are expecting something from this game that it is not obviously. I think this may be a perspective thing as well, try getting through it any I bet you will feel a sense of achievement unlike most MMO's on the market. I see what the devs are doing with gated content and I believe it works for the most part as long as the content your unlocking is worth it and in this case I find that to be the true.
Slogging through days of fetch and fed-ex quests to get to endgame so you can farm for gear isn't my idea of a good payoff.
I think they meant more that the story (and quest design in general*) does get better. Also, if you aren't playing it for the story, and you view 'end-game' as nothing but a gear grind, they why are you playing?
*The moogle quests are an exception to this... good times (that I'm glad are over).
Because the story ends and you're left with nothing but a gear grind.
Huh?
The story continues with each patch. And unless you're purely obsessed with having the best gear ASAP it's not much of a grind (4-5 dungeons + a few normal raids per week). There is also a fair bit to spend time on outside of instances... but I guess that requires being social.
Personally I just dont think this game is for the OP if he finds the content to be a problem, you are expecting something from this game that it is not obviously. I think this may be a perspective thing as well, try getting through it any I bet you will feel a sense of achievement unlike most MMO's on the market. I see what the devs are doing with gated content and I believe it works for the most part as long as the content your unlocking is worth it and in this case I find that to be the true.
Slogging through days of fetch and fed-ex quests to get to endgame so you can farm for gear isn't my idea of a good payoff.
I think they meant more that the story (and quest design in general*) does get better. Also, if you aren't playing it for the story, and you view 'end-game' as nothing but a gear grind, they why are you playing?
*The moogle quests are an exception to this... good times (that I'm glad are over).
Because the story ends and you're left with nothing but a gear grind.
Huh?
The story continues with each patch. And unless you're purely obsessed with having the best gear ASAP it's not much of a grind (4-5 dungeons + a few normal raids per week). There is also a fair bit to spend time on outside of instances... but I guess that requires being social.
Yeah, it's nice to run through the new story, but in the end you're left with a gear grind with very limited options in terms of actual content. Bit presumptive to assume I'm not social because I don't enjoy all the fluff content.
I have to chime in here. I recently returned to FFXIV. I bought the Heavensward expansion and awoke my level 45 White Mage from deep slumber. Then started on my way to 50.
When I hit 50, I happily completed the main story and my class quests. Then I checked how to enter Heavensward and almost crapped my pants. What? I cannot enter yet, it's like a gazillion more quests? Why?
Ok I thought. I can do this. I then started the Main Scenario quests which start with "The Price of Principles" and another 18 quests. It was fairly interesting, moving the HQ to another place. Lets do it! I finished those quests and then started "Through the Maelstrom" which consists of 19 more quests.... At this point it started to hit me how fuc.......g mundane some of these quests are.
Speak with F'lhaminn.
Collect the wine. 0/2
Speak with Alys in the Seventh Heaven.
Collect the fresh meals.
Deliver the meals and wine to the Adventurers' Guild Assistant.
Why in gods name do I, Silviana Aliheiri, a Hero of Eorza, destroyer of The Ultimate Weapon, King Moggle Mog XII, Bahamuts and Ifrits need to collect wine and meals to some refugees? It's just extremely annoying and a waste of time creating stuff like this. Another place, in Horizon I had to literally run back and forth across the place talking to different people. Why not just place them all beside eachother? There was no logical reason to why they were placed on the opposite side of a fuc.....g fountain? And another mundane quest was searching for some children hiding in different buildings......
At least now I have killed Leviathan and beginning on the Defenders of Eorzea questline, another 19 quests before I can play Heavensward. I just hope I can do it before I throw up in my mouth....
I'm no hater. I like the game alot. But they have to start thinking about shit like this. I understand if Im level 2 and nobody have heard of me, and I have to empty the toiletpots for other adventurers in a tavern, but when I'm The Gifted One who saved almost all of Eorza, I should be used for greater things than latrine duty.
Comments
I would absolutely love to be playing these quests as my ACTUAL class, instead of this placeholder that I care nothing about. Unfortunately, it's very immersion killing in this regard.
It bothered me from early on. I think at level 15 there is a dungeon you have to do to continue on. I like dungeons. My favorite games are dungeon crawlers. Dungeons are why I fell in love with World of Warcraft. All these dungeons to do and I'm working my way through them with other real people online? So awesome.
But, I choose to do those dungeons. I didn't HAVE to do them to move on. I started World of Warcraft back in The Burning Crusade expansion, so there was no LFG. I watched chat while I was in the cities to see if anyone was trying to get a group together for a dungeon, and I would volunteer to join if I saw one.
Gating content behind something you have to wait for other people for is absurd.
People throughout the thread have said, "It's a story based MMO! Duh." Okay, if you want to tell a story, write a book, make a movie, or produce a TV series. An MMORPG is not the best medium for telling a story. Telling small stories relevant to the place you are in? Yes. A story that arcs across the entire existence of your character? No.
If that is your goal, make a single player game. An MMORPG should have a world that you explore how you want to explore it, while fulfilling the ROLE you have chosen. Because it is an MMO, you can join up with other people in your adventures in that world. . . or not.
I really enjoyed FFXIV from 1 - 50. So I, too, bought the expansion. Installed it. Was like, where do I go? Found out online that I still had to do a bunch of stuff in the original game before I could get to the new maps.
Stopped playing.
It was akin to telling me in an airport that I can't go to Ireland and check it out because I haven't finished America yet. But I'm old enough? Yes. So why can't I go? Because you're not done with America yet.
Think about this: what if FFXIV is around for ten years, so people who haven't played it are like, "Damn, it's been around for ten years. It must be a good game." Buys the game, gets to 50, buys the expansion, finds out she's not done with ARR and has to queue for things no one had done for like seven years. Asks FC about helping her. FC is like, "WTF?!"
It's a bad design. And I'm not going to pay them money for a potion to get me around their bad design, either.
It's a real shame because I really did enjoy FFXIV from 1 - 50.
Playing | GW2
Wanting | Pantheon
Watching | Crowfall
Retired | WAR, Cabal, MO, CO, SHK, WoW, FFXIV: ARR
I make spreadsheets at work - I don't want to make them for the games I play.
It's incredible that you have to do all these quests just to sign up to the dungeon runs. I have no idea why this game is so popular. The quest mechanics, zone sizes, and graphics are below average.
Anywhoooooo, I've been enjoying my time back since mid-August and have finally finished the original 2.0 MSQ story along with the getting a few different classes to level 50 (tank, healer, melee & ranged dps each) and having fun going through some of the newer low level quests that have been added since my original leveling at the launch of 2.0. Currently working through all the Primal quests, continuation of MSQ, and all the other side stuff 24 man raid side quests and what not. I mean it's a lot of questing but at least the story is good (pretty much everything post 50 gets better story wise even the side quests) and there's other stuff to do while.
Now, I'm taking my time and playing rather leisurely and have even gotten my wife to play and spent time messing around getting her going on crafting/gathering & the housing stuff she was interested in.
There's a ton of things to do as you work your way through the story quests so it doesn't feel like such a slog, but I can certainly understand if you're wanting to pick up or get back into the end game of FFXIV on a new account it's gotta be a daunting grind.
Again, I'd suggest watering the grind down with some of the many fun side activities there are to do in game. But if your only goal is end game asap then I do feel for you, but also enjoy the gating from my side of things as it has encouraged me to take a bit more leisurely stroll on the way up through this time. I'm finding myself feeling less burnt out on the whole process than I was at launch with just the 2.0 content.
From the perspective of a returning vet who went through the launch leveling/grind compared to now it is a lot less grindy feeling. The game feels like there is a lot more to do to keep you occupied while working through the slog of quests and waiting in queue for the MSQ instances that can take ages to pop if you are solo queueing.
P.S. I can't imagine what people who think this is too much of a grind must have thought of actual grinding oriented games.
Fortunately the world is so nice to explore that it's making it bearable for me but really when they decided to gate all this for Heavensward, they could have went back and trimmed the fat off a lot of the stuff I'm being forced to do.
This isn't a signature, you just think it is.
*The moogle quests are an exception to this... good times (that I'm glad are over).
FFXIV has two dungeons to grind currency for gear, raid tiers with 4 bosses, a single boss in a box, and PVP that may as well be nonexistent being that queues take forever. Meanwhile, WoW has 9 dungeons that scale, a raid tier with 7 bosses, and PVP that's worth a damn.
Endgame in FFXIV is pretty lackluster if all you're interested in is running endgame instances.
I'm even more disappointed that they promised to cut 2.x content so that people could skip it, but have yet to do so. While it was heavily hinted they will allow for this with 3.x content at the recent Fan Festival, it doesn't help the fact that I had 16 characters I needed to push through 2.x story content just to access level 52 class quests and Heavensward classes. As mainly a crafter -- with each of those characters having crafts, and several having every one at max -- this was especially annoying and indicative of a lousy system. Not because I have to work, or because they (Perhaps correctly) force you to do the storyline in a storyline-based MMO, but because they locked so many features if you didn't. Luckily they got rid of any quests that involved FATES to help facilitate the process.
The crafting is still top notch, however, and the economy on the servers that I am on is very healthy. Still making millions a day. So, I'm fairly satisfied as a whole that the end game for crafters is so robust. Attempted the new system on WoW and just wanted to bash my head against the wall with the RNG with skill gain in the last bits and the way they set it up. Plus, the gear was outdated before I even started crafting.
This is a fair assessment (aside from the 2 dungeons remark -- that was 3.0, and still not entirely correct), if only because you said "if all you're interested in is running endgame instances." Though I would say that about pretty much any game (why wouldn't you take advantage of all that is available to you?), as a whole.
You can actually earn some of the best non-savage gear from a system that draws from every dungeon in the game. Every hard dungeon in the game (which are all different and not just number changes; different layout, enemies, bosses, story, etc.), Every primal fight, etc. They scale every dungeons to be able to do such, if you use the appropriate system. Daily roulette, Mentor System, Hard, Primal, etc. In addition, they added the Palace of the Dead and The Vault, which provide random items and 235 gear -- it is also a new way to level additional classes. With the Vault being an added system to treasure hunting and the gear / items you get from that in which to play the economy game. This isn't including the "LFR" raid content (different raid and setup from savage), Alexander, etc.
In addition, the add two new dungeons each patch in addition to new systems such as the Squadron System, Gold Saucer, and Wondrous Tails. Wondrous tails being something that encourages you to do old content (especially dungeon / instances) and gives you random rewards -- some beyond certain raid quality (and raid level tomes). As well as there being crafted gear that easily competes with raids for the crafting and economy end game players to acquire (that is able to be penta melded).
Not to mention The Hunt (Centurios) and The Hunt (Monster Hunting) giving you excellent starting gear for hunting monsters, as well as a lot of Tomes to buy 235-260 items; though you have to be a part of a Hunt LS or Guild to get the most of that, with many people having spawn timers with rare hunts down to a near science (Easy to get a thousand or so Tomes).
There are actually more systems in place that take advantage of instanced dungeons. Though, if one isn't aware of such (very common as they don't hold your hand in game and tell you where things are -- you typically have to stumble across it or do some research) systems, then you could very much so just grind the latest dungeons released in a patch and see the Tomes pour in. As well as all the 3.0, 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3 dungeons, that still offer tomes (they update to new tomes with each patch) that will give you 235-260 gear. It isn't a case of simply running two dungeons -- that was for people who didn't know what they were doing at the start of the expansion. Or those who felt it was the most efficient and wanted to rush to raid content. In terms of trying to max your character out in gear before the first raid opens, that may very well have been the case once they spent 5-8 hours completing the other venues.
Don't get me wrong. There's loads to do in terms of gearing up and side activities. There's just not much to do for people who are only interested in endgame instances. The 2 dungeon remark was because Xelphatol and The Great Gubal Library give the most tomestones of scripture and there's not much point running the others in terms of gearing up.
The story continues with each patch. And unless you're purely obsessed with having the best gear ASAP it's not much of a grind (4-5 dungeons + a few normal raids per week). There is also a fair bit to spend time on outside of instances... but I guess that requires being social.
Yeah, it's nice to run through the new story, but in the end you're left with a gear grind with very limited options in terms of actual content. Bit presumptive to assume I'm not social because I don't enjoy all the fluff content.
When I hit 50, I happily completed the main story and my class quests. Then I checked how to enter Heavensward and almost crapped my pants. What? I cannot enter yet, it's like a gazillion more quests? Why?
Ok I thought. I can do this. I then started the Main Scenario quests which start with "The Price of Principles" and another 18 quests. It was fairly interesting, moving the HQ to another place. Lets do it! I finished those quests and then started "Through the Maelstrom" which consists of 19 more quests.... At this point it started to hit me how fuc.......g mundane some of these quests are.
Why in gods name do I, Silviana Aliheiri, a Hero of Eorza, destroyer of The Ultimate Weapon, King Moggle Mog XII, Bahamuts and Ifrits need to collect wine and meals to some refugees? It's just extremely annoying and a waste of time creating stuff like this. Another place, in Horizon I had to literally run back and forth across the place talking to different people. Why not just place them all beside eachother? There was no logical reason to why they were placed on the opposite side of a fuc.....g fountain? And another mundane quest was searching for some children hiding in different buildings......
At least now I have killed Leviathan and beginning on the Defenders of Eorzea questline, another 19 quests before I can play Heavensward. I just hope I can do it before I throw up in my mouth....
I'm no hater. I like the game alot. But they have to start thinking about shit like this. I understand if Im level 2 and nobody have heard of me, and I have to empty the toiletpots for other adventurers in a tavern, but when I'm The Gifted One who saved almost all of Eorza, I should be used for greater things than latrine duty.
/rant off