Why do you play Final Fantasy XIV instead of other MMOs?

[KalkiKrosah]

I don't own this game so came here to inquire about it. What makes this the game you choose to play over other popular MMO games such as World of Warcraft, Guild Wars 2, New World or Elder Scrolls Online?

[Rhyagelle]

I play these MMOs: FFXIV, ESO, New World, World of Warcraft, Guild Wars 2, Black Desert Online, Lord of the Rings Online, and Star Wars: The Old Republic Online. Here is why I think FFXIV is the best, followed by Star Wars: The Old Republic and then The Lord of the Rings Online:

• Story-driven content. I will not have to endure poorly translated and or poorly written "story" like we see in World of Warcraft or games like Black Desert Online or Lost Ark that just feels like filler to get you to end-game as quickly as possible. The stories are so good, they feel like single player game sort of stories. They are rich, endearing, sad, powerful, funny, witty and smart. It makes me immersed in the world, which makes me CARE about the world.
  
• Combat that isn't ridiculously convoluted, thus requiring either dozens upon dozens of add-ons to get around, or sixteen tabs on a browser open to understand. It is tab-target attack, which I prefer in MMOs. It does have it's latency though...
  
• Traditional Final Fantasy roots, which is important to me as a Final Fantasy fan.
  
• Really fun classes/jobs to pick from, with really good stories made up for every one of them. Some better than others, of course, like DRK.
  
• Tons of varying degrees of "end-game difficulty" leveled content.
  
• TONS of content across all the platforms that STAY relevant, meaning you won't have WoW moments where you struggle to find someone to do a dungeon or raid with, because there's always either something to collect (mounts, glam, minions, cards, spells etc etc) and because they put in systems that make it easier to connect with people.
  
• No pay-to-win ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.
  
• A majority of great, nice players in the community. There are a-holes, but they are pretty insignificant against those who aren't. Great moderation too, if not a bit slow.
  
• World and Server travel, to play with friends from ALL over!
  
• Incredible amount of side-content to distract yourself with or relax too, like gathering, crafting etc. It's not the most "intricate" systems in place, but I enjoy it because it's not trying to be "realistic".
  
• Easy to get into, pretty "hard" to master.

Note: I own and play FFXIV off Steam. I have about 4k hours on my main character, and about 1.7k on my secondary. xD

Star Wars is second. It has INCREDIBLE writing. It looks...old. Yeah, really old, but it is GOOD. Lord of the Rings is really good too, also pretty story and environment focused, with combat "more similar" to old school MMOs.

[CEO of Cunny]

Because there are no other good MMOs currently. FFXIV is probably at its weakest its ever been atm and there still isn't another MMO worth my time or money. WoW sucks and has been dated for a long time. Unless you're a hardcore raider there isn't much fun to do. GW2 is just boring imo. I've never been able to get into it. ESO was sort of fun, especially the pvp large zone back when I played with friends, but the pvp hasn't had any major updates in like 5 years and it's actually one of the most expensive games to play because everything is locked behind paywalls.

All other games are mostly Koreaslop or China P2W garbage. Too much RNG and paywalls to enjoy. So yea, FFXIV is the only decent MMO left atm.

Kinda like being the king of a ruined civilization. There isn't much competition and there isn't much to rule over but hopefully the next expansion is fun.

[Sgt. Magnusson]

I play other MMOs too.

[Black Rain]

FF11 Horizon only, FF14 is too wowish.

[breast milk🥛]

Sunken cost fallacy lol. This was my first real MMO, and I've put so much time into it that It's just not worth it for me to: A, stop playing and play another, or B, split my time between this and another. At least for now.

[breast milk🥛]

Originally posted by Captain Sugoi:

ESO was sort of fun, especially the pvp large zone back when I played with friends, but the pvp hasn't had any major updates in like 5 years and it's actually one of the most expensive games to play because everything is locked behind paywalls.

Truuuu, ESO pvp was fun, but there was alot else about the game I didn't like, not to mention having to pay extra for little things like invo space, and so on, it turned me off some.

[breast milk🥛]

Extra thing to add: probably the community. Ofc there are some ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, but overall, no other community (besides maybe PSO2, but that's a dying game sadly) has ever been as friendly or welcoming to me as ffxiv.

[Fallaner, the Writer Eternal]

Story, story and more story.

I am someone who ultimately plays games for a good story. Very few games can hook me without a major story to go through (basically only games like Mount and Blade have historically achieved this for me... ...as in, "Literally only Mount and Blade and then Warband and Bannerlord in recent memory" Also Toontown, once upon a time) Thus, if I keep with a game or not depends heavily on the quality of the story.

In a huge plus compared to something like, WoW, which was my home MMO for the longest time, FFXIV's story... DOESN'T require you to do the hardcore highest tier ♥♥♥♥ to see everything! In FFXIV, the normal stuff is "how things actually went" in terms of story, with extremes, savages, unreals and ultimates all being "What if"s, not really being part of the story as it progresses, because the unique parts of those fights just never happened. Thus, the story is way more approachable for someone like me.

Also, I enjoy the gameplay loop. And it's oh so flashy in all the right ways. (Anyone who plays with party vfx off is a heretic and deserves to die, even if they can see way more.)

The major reason I am married to this game though, is definitely story.

[Chiryuu]

I'm still confused that ppl are talking about story being good, and yet I still didn't found anything good about story and I'm already lvl 30.

I'm playing mainly cause people were hyping the story and I want to find that good story... so far? No luck.

[Ralf]

I was waiting for the PS3 version back in 2010, since I'm a controller player. I did try out some other MMO's, but they aren't really playable with controller. But FFXIV isn't the only MMO I play, PSO2 has great controller support too.

[Chiryuu]

Originally posted by Ralf:

I was waiting for the PS3 version back in 2010, since I'm a controller player. I did try out some other MMO's, but they aren't really playable with controller. But FFXIV isn't the only MMO I play, PSO2 has great controller support too.

Take a look at the upcoming Blue Protocol, might be something interesting for you.

[Yournewstepmom]

Because after playing Runescape for almost 20 years, anything is better. I hate and despise the MMO genre because of that. WoW is just full of people who don't do their jobs correctly and only care about damage.
When I first started playing XIV a year and a half ago it was unlike anything I had experienced before, the mechanics that is. Even though the rotations are 'Simon-Says', you can still be a healer with a changing 'rotation' based on the circumstance - there's really something for everyone.
The thing I hate about it is that there's no backend so the client can't tell if you're cheating or not. Every time I see someone with the hardest mount or High-End level weapon glamour I just assume they've cheated, which really ruins the experience. Ofc not everyone cheats but it does make me cynical. Not a big fan of the story either, just the dungeons and mechanics of combat.

[GoreTiger]

-Story is great. Made me feel emotionally invested in the characters and companions. Reminds me a little of Mass Effect's level of companionship.

-Crafting system is actually engaging and not overly complex/drawn out. Hate how other mmos will drag their crafting system out as extended content.

-Combat is fun and engaging. Not the best, but good enough.

-The zones are beautiful and rich in atmosphere.

[A Random Canadian]

- The story, it cemented the game as my favourite of all time.

- The gameplay, I'm loving progging high end content with my static. Currently doing DSR right now. I actually enjoy the tab targeting, rotations, and dance-like boss mechanics rather than the more hectic kitchen sink of GW2 or WoW.

- The community, I found basically all my friends and close friends because of FF14, and my static makes up 7 of the people I consider some of my closest friends.

[Lord Kragan]

I like cristalline conflict, it is fun!