I've been logging into FFXIV every now and then since spring and have slowly made my way to a physical level of 16. Mainly I was just keeping the game up to date, because there has been many incremental patches. Recently I have been playing a lot more in anticipation of patch 1.18, which is coming out this month.

This game still does not require a subscription fee and I think after this patch hits, it will be the time for anyone who owns the game to take a look. Especially for everyone who tossed it into the rubbish bin shortly after launch (I know I didn't login for some months).

So why do I anticipate the patch? Well lets start with two official videos. First is the auto-attack, second is a preview of a raid.

I know auto-attack does not sound terribly exciting. But I look forward to no longer endlessly jamming on a hot key Age of Conan style. Next up is the change to monsters enmity. I have not had to deal with it yet but its good to know they are simplifying things so a party can better control aggro/hate. The other big change is for guildleves. Wait guildleves are in the giant bomb object database? Haha. I'm a bit unsure about this, but along with the changes to guildleves will be something called encampments. No idea what kind of quests there will be. But if I dont have to travel or teleport back to the city for guildleves anymore that would be nice.

Planned future updates are just as big too. Airships, Chocobo mounts, pets?, JUMPING! Whats coming in 1.19 is shaping up to be big as well. I am appreciative that the development team is constantly working hard to make this game better. While being very communicative with the player base. As an MMO veteran of sorts (that sounds stupid I know) I find it all pretty fascinating. I don't think such an overhaul has ever been accomplished.

Anyways I figured this might start up some conversation as this forum is pretty dead. Maybe inform somebody who bought a copy. The only news I've seen of all the updates is limited to MMO news sites like Massively or the lodestone itself. Also to be honest I'm actually unsure what big features were implemented in previous patches, outside of the ability to search for items now. I'm a casual player at best.

Lastly, here is a recent community interview with Naoki Yoshida. Damn does his team have guts. This mmo is far from dead.

UPDATE\EDIT:

So patch 1.18 just got bigger. Check it:

• Grand Companies will go live.
• Repairing is no longer crazy. They are doing away with all repair materials.
• Fatigue system is abolished.

I think I am about ready to summon Bahamut and get the fuck down!

The guildleve changes pertain to making them and future guildleve content more focused for solo gameplay instead of trying to balance it for the whole party range of solo to 8 player parties. One of the biggest changes is that guildleves will no longer give you more exp per monster kill and will now give you a lump sum of SP as reward for completion.  
 
But yes all this stuff sounds fantastic and i'm appreciative that i can find a place to talk about this game besides the official forums! 1.18 isn't going to be the miracle patch that we all wanted but its the first step. I would love to spread the hype train going on this game like i did before it was released, but its so hard to convince people that this game is interesting and promising. There is a strong Anti-final fantasy  sentiment going on these days, especially from the Giant bomb staff. And there's always been an anti online Final Fantasy sentiment. 

I played in the Beta tests for FFXIV and to be frank, I didn't come away very confident with what the game was like. I posted a fair bit on the forums running up to the launch, before I realized I probably wouldn't be getting the game and distanced myself from it thereafter.

The question for a real, live FFXIV player (a rarity I know) is this... Is the game worth your time? Are you having fun, finding things to do (that WORK, aren't busted), and have a reason to group up with people? I've been playing EVE for now but every once and a while I certainly think back to this game and kind of want to play it (or more accurately, play what it was supposed to be). I used to play FFXI, so that figures.

And for the record I agree, the anti-FF sentiment nowadays is pretty disheartening, largely because it's just a bandwagon thing (and partially because of 13 I suppose). GB however will always give the series a chance, or at least Vinny will.

I really want to get back to FF14, but I'm afraid that i'd just get hurt again like the first time I played it. Anyways, this patch does look intriguing, so I'd probably take a look. That is if I can find my install cd, lost it and reformatted my PC recently so I can't get back. Is there any client DL for the game?

Question for you guys that play the game (figured this would be a better place to ask than a new thread for a game probably not a lot of people check out), has the XI team made any significant improvements to the game yet? I was a long time XI player (6+ years, I think) and wanted to check out XIV when it hit the PS3. Well, we all know how that went, and seeing how poor the game was initially, I didn't want to build a new pc to play it.

I'm building a new PC tonight, so I thought I would take another look at XIV now that the XI team is in charge and see if it's worth checking out.

So to answer your guyses question. I am a current live player of the game and i'm close to Rank 40 Lancer. Ask any question about the game and i will be able to answer.
  
 Rusty Spoon, The FFXI team and the FFXIV team are different although a lot of old FFXI vets are on the FFXIV team now. They probably share a lot of man power inbetween but the thing to remember is that the directors and heads of each team are different people. The Old FFXI Battle director joined the FFXIV team and we have a complete Unknown heading FFXIV but is making a name for himself in Naoki Yoshida.  FFXI is pretty much developed by totally different people nowadays. 
 

What the new team has done? 

• Gave us a bunch of mid-high level NM's that drop gear for Rank 25 and 36. 
• lowered the party size from 15 to 8. 
•  gave use new targeting modes.
•  They gave us sidequests. 
• MP now refreshes itself outside of battle. 
• There are lots of other small things that you guys would have to ask me about specifically. 

All these things are important and make the game more polished and enjoyable and they add up to make the game quite different from when it launched.  It is a much better game than it was before but i would argue the major changes came from the old regime. The new leads are just starting the tide of huge changes as described in the OP's post due this thursday the 21st.  

Is it worth looking back into or picking up?

I was a long time XI player (6+ years, I think) and wanted to check out XIV when it hit the PS3. Well, we all know how that went, and seeing how poor the game was initially, I didn't want to build a new pc to play it. 

Are you having fun, finding things to do (that WORK, aren't busted), and have a reason to group up with people? I've been playing EVE for now but every once and a while I certainly think back to this game and kind of want to play it (or more accurately, play what it was supposed to be). 

@NickPhosy:

Killer post. I did not realize a lot of that NM re-jiggering had to do with drops. I just updated the op as well, the changes to the repair system they just announced are lovely.

@ NickPhosy:
 
Really good post.  I'm also playing FFXIV, got a few classes to 50, and would just add a few things. 
 
Most of the changes they've made so far are on the server/coding side.  Things like UI lag and latency, which have been vastly improved.  But they've also had to re-write the game code so that they can add in some basic functions that players have wanted.    
 
They've also made several minor changes.  Things like level indicators on mobs, aggro indicators, speeding up certain animations, and adding a recipe list for crafting.  Like Nick said, the Market Wards are now way easier to use, based on 4 things: 1) the search function; 2) server stability has been improved; 3) latency has been reduced; and 4) almost all players are now in one city -- Uldah -- which means you only have to search one Market Ward for your items.
 
Basically, they're rebuilding the game from the foundation up.  They started with coding/UI issues.  Next, they're going to change the fundamental battle system.  Then they're going to add battle content, refine the crafting/gathering systems, and add some other content (like player and linkshell housing, chocobo raising, etc.). 
 
The battle systems are going to be implemented and refined throughout the summer, with patches 1.18, 1.19, and 1.20 (they're supposed to come about once per month).  
 
1.18 is supposed to arrive on about the 21st.   1.18 is supposed to do a few other things, too.  The UI bar will look better (as you can see in the video).  The death penalty is increasing (they're adding damage to gear).  There will now be several different kinds of raise spells, which you can get as early as level 14.  Enmity generation is changing, and there will be a visual indicator of how much hate you're generating.  And yes, they're getting rid of fatigue/surplus, except on gathering classes (although they are increasing XP you get from gathering).

1.19 will include things like  chocobos, airships, more diverse weapon skill animations, refining crafting recipes (i.e., making them less complicated), adding a "materia" system (which allows you to imbue certain gear with additional attributes), and an Ifrit battle.  They're also getting rid of physical levels, and will completely change the effects of attributes; I suspect that will be coming in 1.19, but I'm not positive.   And I think 1.19 is supposed to include a "jobs" system, which will allow players to perform more specialized party roles (stuff like WHM, although the jobs system hasn't been completely revealed yet).
 
So I think the game is vastly improved from launch.  But it's still not done.  
 
Is it worth picking up now?  Well, I've been playing steadily since Collector's Edition launch, and I'm having fun.  And we'd love to see you all on sooner rather than later.  :)  But the game is still in the midst of huge changes. 
 
For example, Yoshi-P recently talked about the changes of the game's focus.  Previously, the game's focus was on leves (repeatable quests you can do every 36 hours, and which give an XP bonus over normal grinding).  Yoshi-P said they're changing the focus of the game from leves to quests/dungeons.  Leves are going to become solo-oriented content, so that if you can only log on for 30 minutes to an hour, you can do a few leves quickly and log off.  
 
Yoshi-P said he knows that by changing the nature of leves to solo-oriented content, there's going to be a lack of party-oriented content until they add more quests/dungeons.  He asked for patience while they develop and implement more quests/dungeons.  
 
What this shows is that the game -- while vastly improved -- is still in flux.  There are going to be growing pains while the developers work on adding content that they admit should have been there since launch.  So while I'm having fun and would love to have you enjoying the game with me, it probably wouldn't be a terrible idea to wait a few more months until things settle down a bit.  Let them implement the battle system changes, so that you can learn one system, and not have to re-learn it when it changes a few months later.  Let them keep fixing the stuff players are complaining about, so that the game is more refined when you start playing, and you'll be more likely to stick around for the long haul.  
 
And like Nick said, when you do start, be sure to join a linkshell as soon as possible.  The FFXI and FFXIV communities are the best that I've experienced in any MMO.  They're the biggest reason that players keep coming back.

@mattymillhouse:

Nice post as well. Though by the end your explanation of the game being in flux. All I could think about was how that could totally work for a subtitle; Final Fantasy XIV: In Flux. Haha. I agree about the Linkshell as well, though it is more important than ever given the population of servers. I've yet to have a pick up group ever in Limsa Lomensa (only rank 24), where as in Uldah its happened twice.

So why is Uldah the favorite city now? Is it because its the least annoyingly laid out city? It kind of reminds me of Bastok a bit.

Also seriously 1.18 can not come soon enough.

In Ul'dah, the main points, the guildleve counter, the market wards and the exit are in the same general area.  That's one reason i could think of. Its geographical location between Limsa Lominsa and Gridania is another plus. I also think it has the best guildleve design in thanalan that involves less running and more chopping.
  
It is funny because I always assumed that people just go where the the trend is, but the fact of the matter is across all servers Ul'dah is the main hub of the World. So its much bigger than just a 'trend'. The fact of the matter is the player base in any MMO always picks one City and sticks to it and that city usually is the same city across all servers. I do not think that the reasons i listed above are good enough for Ul'dah to be THE city, but there's some tangible thing about it that clearly makes it better than the other two. It seems like people just hate the shit out of Gridania and the Black Shroud (for no real reason yall) and Beta players are tired of Limsa Lominsa from launch. 

Nice post as well. Though by the end your explanation of the game being in flux. All I could think about was how that could totally work for a subtitle; Final Fantasy XIV: In Flux. Haha. I agree about the Linkshell as well, though it is more important than ever given the population of servers. I've yet to have a pick up group ever in Limsa Lomensa (only rank 24), where as in Uldah its happened twice.

So why is Uldah the favorite city now? Is it because its the least annoyingly laid out city? It kind of reminds me of Bastok a bit.

Also seriously 1.18 can not come soon enough.

@NickPhosy: @Gunharp: @mattymillhouse:

This is great! I'm so glad there are actually people on Giant Bomb who are still giving FFXIV a chance. What servers are you guys playing on? Besaid by any chance? It would be great if I could join your Linkshell, the game is really really quiet otherwise since it seems like people only talk in their Linkshells. I used to be in one, but they disbanded and regrouped so many times because of power struggles that I found it really silly and just decided to go on my own.

This piqued my interest. I was wondering though, how soloable is this game in its current state? I don't mind grinding etc, but are there any artificial barriers such as "group only" quests etc, or they finally learned from the last MMO not to do that? 

Anyone still playing this? Decided to give it a go, have a copy on the way, need people to play with.

Wait? is FF14 even a thing right now? Like you can't buy it anymore.

This is great! I'm so glad there are actually people on Giant Bomb who are still giving FFXIV a chance. What servers are you guys playing on? Besaid by any chance? It would be great if I could join your Linkshell, the game is really really quiet otherwise since it seems like people only talk in their Linkshells. I used to be in one, but they disbanded and regrouped so many times because of power struggles that I found it really silly and just decided to go on my own.

This piqued my interest. I was wondering though, how soloable is this game in its current state? I don't mind grinding etc, but are there any artificial barriers such as "group only" quests etc, or they finally learned from the last MMO not to do that? 

That sounds great. Seems like the perfect MMO for me since I like to play both solo and group depending on how much time I got, and what people I can find to group with.  The "you can play several classes with the same character" was just icing on the cake. I hope they don't change that but even so, it seems like they know what they're doing to make people like the system so any new changes might be for the better anyway.
 
Also, this guy over at YouTube explained the game in a very fun and interesting way, and although the 1.18 patch may have changed things, I'd recommend anyone else interested in the game to watch a few of his episodes. It got me to order the game after 4-6 episodes anyway. :)