A lot of terms I'm going to use in this post are very general, perhaps even hyperbolic, and not to be overthought. This is mostly a thought experiment that I find fascinating as I consider the differences between the two MMOs playing tug of war for my time these past few months, and I thought I'd write it all down and open it for discussion.
I'm 2 months into my return into FFXIV after returning to the game for the first time since about two months into the launch of ARR, and FFXIV is just about the perfect MMO, indeed the perfect game where I'm sitting right now. It's an MMO that actually lets the player own their time and live in the world. I have very few bad things to say about FFXIV, and it feels like home almost if not as much as WoW does now.
There's only one question I have found myself asking at a couple points in the main thoroughfare of the MSQ: "Man... what if I was just... bad? I'd be screwed here!"
The most recent thing to bring this question front and center has been the role quest finale. I main DRK so I got the tank version. Personal skill tests as side content I have no problem with. When WoW threw in the mage tower in Legion (personal skill test to unlock weapon appearances) I was totally ok with it being there because it was optional difficulty where optional difficulty belongs: off to the side. I don't play MMOs "to be challenged," so I didn't do it, simple.
But those role quests, even "Using the power of Very Easy" were rough. It took me half a dozen attempts to get by because the NPC (a fellow tank) kept dying, and while I did nail it the first run I started using blackest night on him, it was really, REALLY close.
And this is a mandatory step to get through the story, the culmination of 2 months of binge watching the MSQ potentially stopping me dead at the final act. That's... that's almost inexcusable.
Crazy story mandatory dungeons or trials (the final fight of Stormblood's post-game and the bollywood fight in stormblood come to mind), you can just keep fishing for a carry group if you must, but this, this straight looking past my stats to my reflexes and asking "Are you the player good enough to see the end of the story," that's just insane to me! And don't get me started on duties where you're not playing the class you signed up for, and them actually daring to be "hard!"
My point is, it's jarring to me to come from one game that will generally give a properly respectful path of least resistance to the "I play to chill" player (what one might call "a casual scrub" *raises hand*) to see the story and unlock features (which the MSQ does also gate), to a game that literally has skill testing trials to ask "are you, the player, good enough to get through the story?" There's a very scandalized part of my mind that thinks "did you withdraw my sub fee? Then yes I am!"
Continued next post...
Continue reading...
I'm 2 months into my return into FFXIV after returning to the game for the first time since about two months into the launch of ARR, and FFXIV is just about the perfect MMO, indeed the perfect game where I'm sitting right now. It's an MMO that actually lets the player own their time and live in the world. I have very few bad things to say about FFXIV, and it feels like home almost if not as much as WoW does now.
There's only one question I have found myself asking at a couple points in the main thoroughfare of the MSQ: "Man... what if I was just... bad? I'd be screwed here!"
The most recent thing to bring this question front and center has been the role quest finale. I main DRK so I got the tank version. Personal skill tests as side content I have no problem with. When WoW threw in the mage tower in Legion (personal skill test to unlock weapon appearances) I was totally ok with it being there because it was optional difficulty where optional difficulty belongs: off to the side. I don't play MMOs "to be challenged," so I didn't do it, simple.
But those role quests, even "Using the power of Very Easy" were rough. It took me half a dozen attempts to get by because the NPC (a fellow tank) kept dying, and while I did nail it the first run I started using blackest night on him, it was really, REALLY close.
And this is a mandatory step to get through the story, the culmination of 2 months of binge watching the MSQ potentially stopping me dead at the final act. That's... that's almost inexcusable.
Crazy story mandatory dungeons or trials (the final fight of Stormblood's post-game and the bollywood fight in stormblood come to mind), you can just keep fishing for a carry group if you must, but this, this straight looking past my stats to my reflexes and asking "Are you the player good enough to see the end of the story," that's just insane to me! And don't get me started on duties where you're not playing the class you signed up for, and them actually daring to be "hard!"
My point is, it's jarring to me to come from one game that will generally give a properly respectful path of least resistance to the "I play to chill" player (what one might call "a casual scrub" *raises hand*) to see the story and unlock features (which the MSQ does also gate), to a game that literally has skill testing trials to ask "are you, the player, good enough to get through the story?" There's a very scandalized part of my mind that thinks "did you withdraw my sub fee? Then yes I am!"
Continued next post...
Continue reading...