Final Fantasy XIV

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by MeoTwister5

The lead writer for the expansion was the one who wrote much of the DRK quest line, especially in Heavensward and the Doma sections of Stormblood, and thematically speaking it shows. There was much fan adoration for those parts of the game and thankfully SE heeded the fan clamor by making them the lead writer for this expac.

I wonder if this might be a sort of weird rumour that got out of hand, as this expansion has the same two lead writers as Stormblood had (Ishikawa and Oda). The work was obviously divided differently, though, and maybe Ishikawa did the overall plot outline this time. I really think, more than the writers themselves, it seems to me like the benefit of learned lessons from HW and SB feedback and a really strong overall plot concept.

That being said, though, I also finished Shadowbringers MSQ today and 100% agree with your assessment. Until now, it was pretty easy to say that the FFXIV story was "very good for an MMO," but with this expansion I'd really say they finally hit their goal of having a story that stands alongside the best FF games. HW was "close" but this one absolutely surpassed it.

Really, this expansion has it all -- a meaningful journey with characters that demonstrate nuance and growth; a huge variety of colorful, interesting and fleshed out locales, races, and NPCs; epic and memorable dungeons and boss battles; a well-developed antagonist that you could almost even sympathize with; a moving plot that adeptly goes from the deepest despair to the highest triumph; and lots of meaningful and game-changing lore reveals that put the whole story into a new perspective. The way they integrated the new Trust system into the content, and the way they integrated all the dungeons/trials into the plot flow were masterfully planned.

Spoiler for Shadowbringers MSQ Level 79+ plot:

I enjoyed everything on the journey to the level 79 trial, but was completely blown away by the "secret" final map and the way the game ended. The main map itself was cool enough (and that music!) but then the way they integrated the ruins and recreation of bygone end-days (including that final dungeon) were just amazing. It definitely reminded me of mainline FF games where the very end of the story takes you to a special zone leading up to the final boss fight.

Anyway, I'm sure I will go through again on an alt at some point in the future just to appreciate all the little things I missed (although New Game+ will be a thing soon as well), but really loved how it all came together.

(And I would just echo what Ishikawa said at Fanfest, to anyone who hasn't gotten to it yet, be sure to do the Crystal Tower Alliance Raid series first. It's not required but it makes the story better.)

[MeoTwister5]

Yeah I loved the final map as well, and the moment you hit THAT region you finally understand why SE was so strict and tight-lipped on making sure nothing about it leaked. Even the dataminers on reddit tried to withhold revealing the map.

And like Azim Steppe it's my home aetheryte now.

[barcode120x]

Haven't touched FF14 in a few years, and back then I only hit level 40 as a bard. After watching the SB new job actions, I had to jump right back in as a lancer. Just hit level 22. Really enjoying the game despite it being "slow." I've been on Black Desert for a long while now and FF14 brings a change from BDO. Although I'm not really focusing on the story or lore of FF14 (I know absolutely nothing about the FF universe haha), I'm just focusing on killing and leveling. Enjoying the lancer quite a bit right now, but the leveling process is slow and I wish there were more skills haha. I watched the video again and I do want to try out the samurai as as well as the ninja later down the road. Any tips are appreciated as I work my way to level 50

[Jan-Poo]

Originally Posted by barcode120x

Haven't touched FF14 in a few years, and back then I only hit level 40 as a bard. After watching the SB new job actions, I had to jump right back in as a lancer. Just hit level 22. Really enjoying the game despite it being "slow." I've been on Black Desert for a long while now and FF14 brings a change from BDO. Although I'm not really focusing on the story or lore of FF14 (I know absolutely nothing about the FF universe haha), I'm just focusing on killing and leveling. Enjoying the lancer quite a bit right now, but the leveling process is slow and I wish there were more skills haha. I watched the video again and I do want to try out the samurai as as well as the ninja later down the road. Any tips are appreciated as I work my way to level 50

The combat system may seem slow at lower levels but it becomes very busy once you level up, this has become even more pronounced with the newer expansions since they removed several low level skills to introduce new ones at higher level.

Generally speaking you have a global cool down (GCD) that you need to wait before you can press most skills, but then you'll gain several off global cool down (oGCD) skills that you are supposed to use between GCD, essentially halving the downtime between each button press.

There are then jobs that gain the ability to decrease the GCD so they can be faster (Monk and Ninja) if you really prefer it that way.

As for not knowing anything about the FF universe, it's really not a problem. Each Final Fantasy is its own game set in its own separate universe with a few exceptions (for example FFXII being tied to every FF tactics, or FFXIII-2 and Lightning Returns being tied to FFXIII), but FFXIV isn't one.

There are a lot of homages and cameos of characters, music and various stuff related to previous FF titles, but they are just that. For example there's always a character named "Cid" in every FF game but they are all different characters that just happen to have the same name and that are somehow related to technology (mainly flying technology).

[barcode120x]

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

The combat system may seem slow at lower levels but it becomes very busy once you level up, this has become even more pronounced with the newer expansions since they removed several low level skills to introduce new ones at higher level.

Generally speaking you have a global cool down (GCD) that you need to wait before you can press most skills, but then you'll gain several off global cool down (oGCD) skills that you are supposed to use between GCD, essentially halving the downtime between each button press.

There are then jobs that gain the ability to decrease the GCD so they can be faster (Monk and Ninja) if you really prefer it that way.

As for not knowing anything about the FF universe, it's really not a problem. Each Final Fantasy is its own game set in its own separate universe with a few exceptions (for example FFXII being tied to every FF tactics, or FFXIII-2 and Lightning Returns being tied to FFXIII), but FFXIV isn't one.

There are a lot of homages and cameos of characters, music and various stuff related to previous FF titles, but they are just that. For example there's always a character named "Cid" in every FF game but they are all different characters that just happen to have the same name and that are somehow related to technology (mainly flying technology).

Good to know.

Definitely all too familiar with the GCD and that was the main reason why I initially stopped back then. So used to spamming skills in other MMO's, but it is tolerable right now and as you had mentioned, there are some skills that can be used of GCD.

Edit:
When do you get your first mount? Getting pretty triggered by the super slow moving/traveling. It seems you can also buy mounts on the website but you can't use it until you get your first "personal mount" according to the site.

[Twi]

You get your Chocobo when you join a Grand Company.

[Galaxian]

How much has the game change since Heavensward? I stopped playing right before Stormblood came out, but Shadowbringers is threatening to pull me back in.

[Twi]

Can't say since I only joined up a few months ago.

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by Galaxian

How much has the game change since Heavensward? I stopped playing right before Stormblood came out, but Shadowbringers is threatening to pull me back in.

It hasn't fundamentally changed. They added some new jobs, made some changes to the skills existing jobs had, and implemented a bunch of QoL changes, but it won't feel all that different. That said, the story is still quite good, and this new expansion especially. If nothing else, I'd recommend at least coming back to go through the MSQ, as it's worth doing even if you just treat it as a single-player game and ignore endgame entirely.

[Galaxian]

Ok, went back in and... Yeah... My hotbar has been shot to hell...

[Twi]

Oh yeah. They gutted Scholar and Machnist bad. Though, the latter recovered. The former... not so much.

[MeoTwister5]

MCH feels so much less clunky and unforgiving now compared to SB.

And as a career tank, well, I can say that I've had a lot of issues with my SCHs not being able to keep up with incoming damage and ASTs fumbling with their cards.

[Galaxian]

Do you get any special dialogue in Stormblood if you leveled Monk up like you did in Heavensward with Dragoon?

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by Galaxian

Do you get any special dialogue in Stormblood if you leveled Monk up like you did in Heavensward with Dragoon?

I don't think so. The only class-specific dialog I remember in Stormblood is an extremely minor tweak in a cutscene if you're a healer class, but nothing major at all.

[Jan-Poo]

Originally Posted by relentlessflame

I don't think so. The only class-specific dialog I remember in Stormblood is an extremely minor tweak in a cutscene if you're a healer class, but nothing major at all.

It's quite sad that Widargelt isn't even mentioned in the MSQ, he should have had a part in the restoration of Ala Mhigo as much as Estinien had a part in the resolution of the Dragonsong War. In that case we would have probably had some special lines for those who completed the MNK quests, but that didn't happen, so no special lines.

[Twi]

You mean the Monk teacher?

Considering his lineage, yeah he should have been like Eistenien was in Heavensward.

[Galaxian]

What happened to the Healers in the game? Back then queuing in as a a Tank was almost instant, but now I have to wait several minutes for a Healer...

[Twi]

Well, a combination of things but mostly:

* Scholars and Astro mains being pissed about the changes and choosing not to play as them.
* Gunbreaker and Dancer being a Tank and DPS.

[zibi88]

Those that leveled up tanks started to level other classes so now there is a lack of tanks. A moment ago I saw in alliance raids - adventurer in need (dps), so it might depend on time you play.

[Galaxian]

Originally Posted by Twi

Well, a combination of things but mostly:

* Scholars and Astro mains being pissed about the changes and choosing not to play as them.
* Gunbreaker and Dancer being a Tank and DPS.

Dancer seems to be quite popular. Ever since coming back I don't think I've been in an instance without a Dancer in the party.

Originally Posted by zibi88

Those that leveled up tanks started to level other classes so now there is a lack of tanks. A moment ago I saw in alliance raids - adventurer in need (dps), so it might depend on time you play.

I've only seen that unicorn once before.