Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn Impressions continued. It's not so much an upgrade.

[deskpro2k3]

Just going to answer a few points. First and foremost.  Wagram's impression is coming from a beta, and from a level cap that is maxed at Lv20 content wise, with not all the features implemented in this beta phase.

Combat:
I agree combat is easy for me as well. I've been in version 1.0 and I have my class/job levels capped at Lv50. So yes, I agree the Lv10-25ish content is easy for my experience and equipment level. Furthermore I think the combat is a step up from the old version because there is positioning combos, and the global cool down is like a ATB bar with a different graphic. The combat is not just a face to face smack fest either, because now you can step out the way from a frontal attack against you, or from a circular area attack before it hits you.

Latency:
I have not had any Latency issues. I play on a 4 year old laptop with a geforce gt 130m card, and on PS3. If people are experiencing issues such as latency, then I think its their hardware or their connection.

Questing:
About questing. I have not played a Final Fantasy game that has none. It is Final Fantasy and the story and lore should feel like one, and its an MMORPG after all. I certainly enjoy the questing because some of them is funny. I'm not going to give any spoilers ::coughbiggsandwedgecough:: but it encourages people to explore at their own pace especially if they don't have a lot of time on that day to play for many hours. XP partying can still be done in dungeon raids where there is optional objectives to fulfill. Besides once you complete all the quest on one class/job that will be it. There will be other methods to gain exp such as, dungeons, pvp, hunting logs, guildhest and some others I can't remember right now.

About content, competition and gears. I can't fully answer this because the beta is capped at LV20 content wise, and nobody knows anything about the Lv50 contents such as The Crystal Tower, Bahamut Maze, the Primal battles, and Frontline PvPs.

About NM in FATE. Its a hell of a lot fun. Its dynamic, some requires task that must be done or else it'll end in failure. But...Some people like camping for long hours, and fighting with other players for claim. "A camping and claiming competition" I call it. I don't think that will ever work in this game because it contradicts cooperative play in PvE content.

The music is kickass.

Anyways that is all. I'm very pleased with my experience from the beta. Thank god it is not a FFXI-2. I've played that for 8 years and I do not want to play it again.