I've never played an MMO. Is FFXIV a good place to start?

I keep hearing from my friends to jump into FFXIV because it's an amazing game now or something. I've also heard this from other people. FF has been one of my favorite franchises since I was a child but I never played the MMO ones. I've also heard XIV has great music and story? It seems like it's something big I'm missing out on simply because it's an MMO and that's out of my comfort zone.

So with the Stormblood expansion out and the complete edition being a thing now, is this really a good time to get invested in this thing? It just seems like I'm missing out. Also, I only just now learned about this game's fascinating history with being critically panned and then literally being completely redone, hence the Realm Reborn title. Always wondered what that was about and now I see.

I'd be playing on PS4.

The casual content in FF14 is definitely the easiest of the MMOs I've played, so I would definitely say it's probably a good first one. All of the content is slowly unlocked as you progress through the story, so you won't be overwhelmed.

That being said, the story IS good, but not initially. I'm sure someone will tell you otherwise, but the story prior to Heavensward is almost entirely dry, slow, tedious, and boring (only the last bit of it is really good). The voice acting is also absolutely terrible in the beginning with a few notable exceptions. IF you can manage to make it pass that massive slog in the story, then yes, you'll love it! Heavensward and Stormblood are both really great, with great voice acting and excellent music.

Once I read "FF has been one of my favorite franchises since I was a child", yes I think you should play it. It's a really solid MMO. Nothing real special/different like amazing action combat or ground breaking graphics technology to give good back of the box bullet points in that way, but I find it a lot of fun.

I like the ability to switch classes with one main character on the fly. It plays and runs well. The story as said is slow and not great early on; I agree. The expansions definitely pick up the pace. It's also a long story that will take a long time to go through unlike a lot of other mmos tend to be, but it gives you a lot of meat and content if you're in it for those reasons and not trying to rush to end game. There is a lot of varied stuff to do. Crafting, housing, playing the markets, raiding and group fights but also gold saucer full of mini games and specialty currency, triple triad and all kinds of collecting and achievements.

The Great Story aspect of the game definitely starts with Heavensward which is level 50 and an extensive series of post game patches so it's quite a ways in. It's not that the story of A Realm Reborn proper is bad exactly but it is much more obviously bolted onto the pacing of an MMO. So you tend to run into very lengthy stretches of the game that are very obviously filler bits to facilitate your level arc.

Now if you create a character on a server that is specifically designated for newcomers you get a little buff called The Road to 60 which grants you double exp for everything you do which tends to alleviate that somewhat awkward journey through the base game.

FFXIV was the first MMO I really got into. I dabbled with a few before it (including FFXI), but it was the first time I liked one I enough to come back to semi-regularly. It definitely eases you into the MMO trappings pretty gradually. Maybe a little less so these days, with so much added to the game over time, but you shouldn't have much trouble grasping the mechanics, even as a new player. And if you like the idea of playing an MMO on a console it does it extremely well. That was actually a major reason it hooked me in the first place, as actually being able to play an MMO with a competent controller scheme was very refreshing and made the idea of long hours playing an MMO so much more appealing. Even if I switched over to a PC at some point I'd probably still use a controller.

I don't think the story of ARR is bad, it has a few high points and most of the rest is serviceable (especially as it gets into the post 2.0 content), but Heavensward and Stormblood is definitely where it went from "good enough for an MMO" to "the best FF of the last decade".

I can imagine ARR feeling a bit more like a slog these days though, even though it is way faster to get through due to the experience rebalance, just because everyone is well past that content by now. (The game does incentivize queuing up for old content though, so don't worry about finding a group.) Also, Stormblood streamlined all the classes to make hotbars more manageable late game. Which is good when you're level 70, but it unfortunately made most classes a lot less interesting to play in the early game. (Early game Dragoon is insanely braindead now.)

@zeik: I feel like they tweaked Dragoon a little bit post launch so that now you at least should be doing the proper combo attacks again instead of spamming one move but yeah it's maybe a regaining of a couple buttons at most.

I have my issues with it, but it's easily the best FF game in a long while. Other than WoW, it's probably the best MMO too...which, depending on how you feel about Korean MMO design philosophy may or may not be that big of a feat. But, I digress.

The ARR story doesn't hold up to well in my opinion, but maybe that's because I've already played thru HW and SB. Trying to go back to it is rough. Hard to say how I would feel about it if I was new, but I would suspect I wouldn't mind that much to be honest. I will say that there are large chunks of ARR that feel designed to waste your time/pad things out. Be prepared to to start quests that have you go talk to someone who sends you to someone else who sends you to pick up these five things just lying in the dirt that you'll bring back to someone else who sends you back to another person who then sends you back to the person who gave you the quests. And with all those people spread out in the same zone if not in different zones entirely.

I'm just keeping it real. It happens a lot even in HW and SB. It's not that big of a deal though and there are more than enough short and/or interesting quests to keep you going.

Music is stellar. Not much else to say there. ARR (specifically pre-50 ARR) doesn't have as many standout tracks as 50+, but it's enjoyable enough.

One thing that makes it easy for a first MMO is you can't really mess up your character - there's no builds or skill choices or stat allocations that will ruin you. You can't choose the wrong class that's too advanced for you and waste dozens of hours, since you can can play as every class at once. You can't go into a bad area and get stuck there or take up a questline that will destroy your gear or anything like that.

The game introduces every concept slowly and the combat is simple for a good long time, which means you can focus on all the other things which are new to a novice MMO player. Obviously for players who are experienced and like to rush through it's frustrating, but for somebody totally new to the genre it is one less thing to worry about when you are in group content and learning about all the different things to do.

The community is overwhelmingly accepting of new players and you will often find people happy and willing to mentor you. Don't worry that you've missed out or it's too late to get into it - the game has a lot of new players all the time and the recent sales will mean even more than usual. If you are playing on PS4 get a cheap bluetooth keyboard or plug one in via USB, since being able to talk to other players will make things much better. Don't be afraid to say "I'm new" or "first time" or ask players for help, it will make things much richer and more interesting.

My advice would be to absolutely take it slowly, enjoy as much of the sights and sounds and writing as you can while you are going through the main story, and try out everything the game throws at you - and if you find yourself getting burned out on one element then switch up to something else for a break. For sure there is a lot of back and forth, but then if you have enjoyed other FF games or JRPGs in general I'm sure you can cope. If you start skipping through all the dialogue and rushing around just to get through stuff, it will soon get tedious, but that's true of basically any game you can name. Like others have said the ARR story is good, but the Heavensward and Stormblood stories are wonderful and if you liked previous FF games you will probably really love these too. They are definitely my favourites from the series.

If you want any other tips or help just ask people here, or the daily questions thread on the r/ffxiv subreddit is very active and helpful. There's plenty of tips I have for new players, particularly on PS4 and using a controller (which is a fantastic way to play), if you would like.

It's hard for me to look at it through the lens of 'My First MMO' because I've been playing them since before WoW (and they're probably my favorite genre) so everything is just second nature to me, but I will say this:

I have played (or at least tried) most most of the popular MMOs of the last 10-15 years; I only played FF14 during vanilla A Realm Reborn (got up through doing EX trials/raids), but I can say that it's probably the second-best MMO behind WoW. I skipped most of the story cutscenes/dialogue, but the production was good and plenty of people like it, so I'm sure it's fine. Having one character that can play all of the classes is helpful, and the slower global cooldown will probably make the combat style easier for you to learn as a first-time MMO player. Playing an MMO on a controller seems like an absolute nightmare to me, but I know there are plenty of people (probably 1/3-1/2 of the playerbase) that play on a controller and do just fine. Given that you've said you like Final Fantasy, I'd say that you really can't go wrong, as long as you're open to learning the quirks of an MMO (some questions you might ask about how something works and why will be met with 'that's just how MMOs are'). Join the server that the Giant Bomb Free Company is on, unless your friends are on a different server. Other than that; have fun! MMOs get a bad rap from a lot of people but I find them to be one of the most rewarding genres of game.

Yes definitely. Whether you are new to MMOs or have been playing them since late 90s/early 2000s FFXIV is fantastic imo. And especially if you’re a fan of the franchise it’s super fun to see all the references and enemies from other games. I’m still impressed with how well the game works with a controller. I played on PC and used a PS4 dual shock instead of mouse/keyboard because it just feels so much better. Only used keyboard for some macros and stuff

Honestly don't think I've had so much fun with an MMO since Guild Wars 1 and Ragnarok Online.

This is all really helpful and cements the idea that I'm missing out by not playing it. I went ahead and got the complete edition. I know that's a stupid idea since I don't know if I'll love it yet but whatever.

Just out of curiosity, was anyone there when the original FFXIV ended? I watched a documentary on it last night and it was just fascinating. It's so crazy to think there's this game that is shutdown and only those people got to experience it. And they made the realm reborn work canonically

I think you should play it if only because you're a Final Fantasy fan. I am also of the opinion that 13 and 15 are dumb and the themes, tone, style of 14 is more along the lines of the games prior to 13, not including all the fan service nostalgia stuff. So this is the only decent FF thing we've had in a looong time.

Visuals that were pretty great for an MMO about.. 4-5 years ago it came out? These days it's decent but nothing crazy. Controller support is excellent and fun to use (what I use on PC). The music is one of the biggest reasons to check it out. Many original songs and various remixes/updates of classic FF music.

Story is harder to put my finger on as I haven't been through the early stuff since release, and I was playing through it patch by patch. I can imagine the Realm Reborn story and patches could be torturous. I thought Heavensward was where it picked up and was one of the best Final Fantasy things in, maybe, it's history. Stormblood on the other hand I'm less fond of; I thought it was incredibly cyclical or formulaic or whatever. You go from area to area doing literally the exact same thing (convincing different groups to stop fighting and work together or something), beat for beat, and I was so frustrated by how dumb it was when I finished.

That all being said, two things: 1. I think the story overall is good for an MMO, but not some real deep riveting experience. Don't get your expectations high. 2. You'll feel like you want to rush through it but don't. Once you reach the "end-game" it's pretty much just grinding on the same stuff infinitely, until you eventually (a few patches or years later) realize it's pointless and stop. And that's no fun.

FF XIV is the only MMO to ever hook me. Part of that is its extremely linear story. Though it does start extremely slow the story itself is pretty good and really starts to kick in with the DLC/expansion questlines. The hardest part is finding the class that's right for you. If you like low pressure, hard to master easy to play classes DPS is your way to go. My personal favorite is the black mage/thaumaturge but being able to switch classes on the fly means you're not locked into one thing and you can take your time finding what works for you.

Going back to the slow start; it's a bit of a double-edged sword. As someone who was new to MMO's XIV easies you in slowly and doesn't overwhelm you with too many options all at once. Everything rolled out to you over the course of the base story is explained thoroughly and there were very few times I was lost and didn't know what to do. However, with someone also new to MMO's keep in mind that this is still one of those. The game is really grindy, there is a ton of fighting and often the game requires you to monotonous and filler tasks to make progress. All those things come down to the nature of the genre but as someone not used to this kind of design a lot of patience will be required.

I actually started playing XIV sometime early last year and I have about 400 hours in it at this point. I like the game a lot and I would be lying if I said part of the reason wasn't the games blatant fan service. It has a lot of it and I eat it all the way up. I hope you give the game a shot and if you do pick the Ultros server, hook up with the giant bomb guild. It's filled with people ready and willing to help with any question or party up if you want to do some group stuff. Being someone who usually doesn't play games that way the way XIV handles that stuff made me more ready to party up than I've ever had before. It's good stuff, hope to see you around. :)

I think FFXIV is fantastic first MMO. I think the first few hours will be a bit of a chore, as there is a lot of fetch quests and running around talking to numerous NPC's. If you give the game a fair shake and get past all that, I think you'll find yourself having a really fun time. Not to mention, the game has some very good end-game content. Once you get your feet wet and start to understand everything, there is plenty to do in end-game to keep you coming back.

Was not there during that event as the servers were exploding, in-game and out, and it was next to impossible to log in. I did play some of the original FF14 1.0 during the beta and some later on. Actually just noticing that they have FF14 1.0 and A Realm Reborn as one wiki listing and I'm not sure how I feel about that. Completely different games honestly. Was confused at first when it said the Realm Reborn release date was Sept 2010 on the right side.

I actually think WoW is a much better introductory MMO but you shouldnt have much problems with FFXIV

I played the game at launch. Upgraded computer, played beta; I was ready. I stopped playing within a week or two and went to vindictus for a bit. The game was just garbage. Kevin Vanord from gamespot had one of my favorite reviews of it to laugh at. Then played wow for a year or something, end of cataclysm and first few months of mists of pandaria expansion when two friends I met on there wanted to try FF again. At that point we knew it was going to end and a relaunch was going to happen and we knew it had gotten a lot better (and it had), but overall was limited to HOW much better it could get in it's current form, but decided to play.

I was playing the final 4-6 months of the original release. The final night of it didn't play out as smooth for me as remembering it through the noclip documentary, but it was all very cool (and laggy busted MMO end of server stuff).

This first screenshot was somewhere near the end. You can see how big Dalamud was in the sky. Bard is still my favorite job. The second one is a lot closer to the end though I wasn't focusing on it and you can see the thing ready to crash into the planet.

I would always recommend WoW as a starter MMO, but FFXIV definitely seems to be a Quality Game from what I've played of it. Wish I had more time to poke around in it but Battle For Azeroth is right around the corner.

FFXIV is nearly idiot-proof as an MMO at this point. It's certainly good as an introduction to the genre.

FF14 is my favorite MMO and I've played dang-near every Western one since Everquest. It's great.

FAIR WARNING: The beginning is mind-numbingly slow, both narratively and mechanically. Power through, get into your 30s. Eventually the narrative will start to mesh and you'll get to hit more than 3 buttons in combat. If you manage to make it to Heavensward content...best story of any MMO hands down.

Let us know what server you're on, if you're on my datacenter I'd be glad to help you with dungeon content. I'm not playing actively right now but I stay subscribed so can always hop on. Holler if you need advice! MMOs can be overwhelming to new players.

I just started playing a few weeks ago for the first time and I'm really enjoying it. The early game content is a bit on the boring side, but they have increased the xp gain so much you can skip everything but the mainline quests and hit level cap in your first job in no time. Every time I've grouped up with people in dungeon roulette, everyone has been exceedingly friendly and helpful. I say try it. You can play for free as long as you want (though you'll be level capped at 35). Download it, create a character and find a job class you like.

@omghisam: Wait, subscription is free up to level 35? That's awesome.

I'll be sure to come back here and ask questions if I get confused

I think don't put your code in for the game early if you didn't already? I think that starts your regular monthly clock. You could easily get a day or week or month free, depending on how fast you go and if you switch up classes and stuff, up until level 35.

Its important to note that the backend stuff to FF14 is really odd, most specifically that the steam and nonsteam versions are different, and if you buy a boxed expansion it doesn't work with the steam version and vice versa. So you just have to be careful not to buy separately from the version you started. But timecards off amazon work fine with the steam version, that's what I've always done.

I was having a great time with this game, but I fell off hard around level 50. I wanna say up to that point I was able to follow the main story-line with minimal grinding, but around lvl50 I reached a point that suddenly demanded way more grinding than I was willing to do for the next story unlock. I should give it another shot someday.

@aktivity: Was this back at launch of ARR? Because back then there was definitely a significant grind around the last few levels to 50. But now that shouldn't be an issue at all. Experience is abundant, and they hand out free gear to get you through basically all of ARR without having to really grind for anything.

The content may be fine, but man, the hud garbage is bad in this game. Just trying to figure out how to jump or use skills (on PS4) was a huge pain. The UI really needs work and for a first timer, it may be a bit confusing.

WoW is much better for new players

@zeik: Without the new player buff you will still hit a hard wall if all you do is the main story stuff, you start hitting all the level gates at around the mid 40s. If you do have that buff you are probably going to be level 50 after around 3/4s of the main scenario.

You would probably bypass this problem entirely if you simply did the daily dungeon every day though.

@zeik: I bought the game maybe two months before Stormblood. I remember staying close to the level requirement for doing the next story bits, simply by doing things as they unlocked with minimal grinding. But somewhere around the lvl50 thinking the gap to the lvl requirement for the next story bit was larger than it had been before. The zone I was in was kinda deserted which made grinding the public events a pain and being a DPS made the queue times for dungeons too long for my liking.

The hud in both of these is pretty similar. It's either a series of hotbars or the crossbar if you are console or controller.

The crossbar is super simple to use from the onset but I will admit that getting advanced with it when you start to want a whole lot of varied skills set at once will definitely take some practice and coordination. Especially when you start to have some classes where you need to do this very quickly, Ninja springs to mind there.

@efesell: Maybe that was the difference than. I did make an alt character awhile back (shortly before Stormblood IIRC) just for funsies and didn't have any trouble rushing straight through to 50, but I think I did have the new adventurer buff by then.

I would say if the mere concept of doing any grinding is enough to make someone quit on the spot that probably means MMO's are not for you though. There's really no way around that being a part of the MMO experience eventually.

@darkjohnny477: The jump button is just the triangle button on the controller. I feel like a few seconds of trial and error should give you your answer if nothing else. Also as someone who was (and kinda still is) hot garbage at dealing with PC hotbars and M&K controls, I found FFXIV's crosshotbar system extremely intuitive for the most part. There are certainly some more advanced and complex elements to it if you want to get the most out of it, but at a very basic level all you do is press L2 or R2 then one of the corresponding face buttons to use a skill. It honestly doesn't feel that different than an average console game.

If there's anything about the crosshotbar that may trouble newcomers it would probably be targeting. It's a system that I maintain works extremely well once it clicks but I also remember as a newbie having an endless series of misfortunes in bigger dungeon fights.

Still though despite playing on PC I actually can barely imagine playing the game with normal MMO hotbars.

XIV is in this really weird place where... the beginning of the game is now really poorly balanced and boring (so much that Square recently sent me a survey about what i thought about the early parts of the game and why i "quit" playing the game when im still subbed and at endgame and play everyday), and the endgame is just some of the most mindless shit that is in a desperate need of a rethinking or just more shit to do in general. The sweet spot for this game always seems to be the leveling experience from 51-70 now, and then the supplementary content released after hitting 70 and completing the main story. XIV is a pain to start, and is a pain to keep playing after you've done everything possible (barring Ultimate fights, barely anyone really can even clear that stuff on the regular). I felt like Warcraft has done a much better job fixing its extreme low points and making good repeatable fun content that I can officially start re-recommending WoW over XIV again.

BUT, in terms of console MMOs XIV is still leagues ahead of nearly damn well everything available. So if you could get the complete edition I would recommend it, it'll last you quite a while as long as you stick out the 1-50 stuff.

@zeik: I don't mind the grinding as much (I play Warframe) if there's an easy to follow structure of side-quests. What turned me off was that all I had left in that zone was public events with no other players around most of the time and 20-30 min queue times for dungeons because I played a DPS role. Progression just felt painfully slow to me at the time. And I just kinda felt lost as to how to move forward in way that didn't have a lot of downtime.

@aktivity: I found on my last character that did this pre-buff then if I also did all of the available sidequests then I only ever hit the final level gates which was not a lot of grinding. Maybe one level worth which is not ideal but easy enough to manage.

There's a roguelike mode now that most people use for their leveling EXP since it requires no equipment purchased or anything just can go straight from level 1 if you like.

@aktivity: There's a lot of ways to gain exp in the game these days. Nobody really does the public events because they're not very efficient anymore. But for example, you could have done the various hunting quests, both daily and completion based, that give nice chunks of experience for hunting down specific monsters. Or you could do the daily beast tribe quests, which give some easy exp and progress toward various unique rewards. These could also be done while you're queuing up for a dungeon.

Palace of the Dead was the most popular way to grind low level classes last time I played. You don't need to worry about your level or equipment, since you have a separate level and gear for the dungeon itself. It can get pretty repetitive if you're grinding from 1-50+, but if you just needed push yourself to 50 near the end of the game it probably wouldn't take very long.

Don't have any experience with this game and I've never been a huge FF fan but I've heard good things about 14. If it's one of your favorite franchises though it's totally worth trying out even for a month. I'm a huge huge elder scrolls fan and I love playing TESO even just for the lore.

@frostyryan:

Played it since 2010. Part of the reason I've stayed so loyal is due to how rare it is (even today) to see how transparent and dedicated the new team was when they came on, and how earnest they've been to their audience since (let alone some division within a Japanese company like Square-Enix). If you're referring to the noclip doc, that whole final month was great because the developers just said "fuck it" and started doing a bunch of random and crazy stuff like spawning high level monsters in safe city zones. Atomos was spewing monsters out of crystal camps and bosses were literally roaming the streets. This is all while the moon was progressively drawing down upon the land like the moon from Majora's Mask.

I always find it kind of funny that one of my favorite short-lived sort-of-video-series from Giant Bomb was about dying MMOs (or MMO-likes) in their last hours yet they managed to miss what will likely be the best one of them for quite some time.

14 is great and you should play, sadly I don't anymore, but it was still no 11. ;(

Definitely! Coulda waited on buying it though and played for free to see if you enjoy it. They roll things out very slowly at first, but it's good for getting acclimated to it all, especially if you're new to MMOs. You can also roll every class up to level 35 i think, and you can have every class on a single character (there's a subscription option for just one character too that's cheaper), so you can try out every class and see which profession you're into.

Playing on the PS4 controller took a pretty lengthy adjustment period (about a month or so for me before it all clicked into place), but now I have a blast playing with a controller. Sometimes I'd like to play with a mouse and keyboard, just cause I know it'd be a lot more relaxing that way, but it's no biggie. More actiony with a controller.

It's a long road to Stormblood though, unless you get the thingie that skips everything. Just enjoy the ride!

Accurate from a number of different views, I suppose.

WoW is the best for first timers in my experience. Onboarding is crucial, and WoW does it better than anyone.

The most important thing when starting an MMO is personal interest. MMO's are pretty big commitment, so which MMO is the most beginner friendly is not a good motivation to start one imo. If you're actually interested and enjoy the MMO you're playing you will pick up the intricacies with time. And FFXIV definitely gives you ample time to pick up those intricacies before it really matters, so if that's the one that you are most interested in trying it's going to be the best one to start with.

The reason for me wanting to get into it was my friends telling me it's great and also my love for FF. The question in the name of the topic was more of a concern thing. I've never played an MMO but I want to get into this one, and was wondering if that's fine.

I plan on putting time into this. I definitely see how MMOs are more of a "commitment" than other kinds of games

I believe Elder Scrolls Online base game is really cheap. Like, $10? You don't need a subscription, but having one gets you all the DLC content. There's a new expansion that just came out, but 5 weeks into it and I've barely touched that content yet.

I've bounced off it a few times, but it got its hooks into me a few months back. You can solo/duo a lot of stuff.

If you go the ESO route, just don't get it on Steam. Sadly, it's a PS4 Fortnight scenario if you get it on Steam and there's no way that I know of to unbind an ESO account from a Steam account. The Steam version's been having login issues and the past few weeks, I've been playing when my girlfriend whom I got the Steam version for can't get in.

It's what made me understand why people play them, but helped me realize that it's just not for me. If I was really into Final Fantasy, I would have stuck around a lot longer then I did.

@frostyryan: I would advice you to just skip playing MMOs completely. They are a giant time sink for very little reward and FF14 is no exception. It's just less harsh about it. Whatever you're "missing out" on isn't worth the time investment. Just listen to the OST and look up some of the funny lines and you will be fine. If you still want to try it out, wait until S-E are done with cleaning up redundant quests.

I've been a fan of FF since 1991, have beaten all main line games and a bunch of the spin-offs, played FF11 in college, and FF14 for maybe 40 hours. The only ones I regret spending my time on are 11 and 14. I get regular updates on 14 from my friends who still play it and nothing I've heard would make me consider jumping into that hamster wheel again.