| danasider said: Good breakdown. Though something like this can't be completely unbiased (for instance, you and I disagree on FFXIV art score, I think it should've been higher), the compare and contrast format still gives a nice breakdown of these three games without being fanboyish for either one. I played WoW for a short time, because I couldn't get into it. Haven't touched GW2. Was a 3 or 4 year FFXI player, so I've given FFXIV a try and am pretty happy with it so far. I was a little disappointed with how easy everything got since XI (I liked really having to make sense of a quest myself instead of killing marked off monsters, also I liked NMs), I can appreciated how steam-lined the game has become in terms of its UI and leveling. I'm glad I don't have to grind out several hundred mobs in one or two areas per level. Guess I have WoW to thank for that what with the experience questing. FFXIV is pretty much FFXI meets WoW, I suppose. Hope FFXIV continues to impress and keep me on for a long time to come. Oh, and my 2 cents on a few of your points. I think that penalizing FFXIV 1.5 points for showing where the monster will hit (for special attacks) is a bit much considering the combat is still very engaging. 2.5/5 makes it seem just plain bad, but I find myself having fun during combat (which is more than I can say for WoW even though I will chalk that up to my taste not fitting WoW's style, not so much that WoW was doing anything wrong...it was just boring). Also, even though I can understand you point about FFXIVs multiple classes on one character diluting the freshness of re-rolling a character, there are two major counterpoints to that. For one, each race (and even sub-race, like highlander vs lowlander or whatever it is) has different starting stats so in the end when people are playing to get the ultimate character, they'll choose a specific race because it fits a certain job better even if that race can do all jobs. Also, going through the story and events for multiple classes/jobs with one character not only avoids redundancy by having to do the same starting quests for each class, but it also makes the character feel like a part of its world and story exploring Eorzea. It feels more organic that simply re-rolling a character and possibly starting the game in the same zone as before with the same quests and same storyline to mull through all over again. |
Well, the game is way too easy. that's pretty clear. I mean, you can run any instance as an idiot and wind up killing the boss without breaking a sweat. In WoW, early instances like Wailing Caverns and Stockades still produced wipes if your party wasn't careful. Solo questing is very boring because the enemies are too weak and as mentioned, my biggest gripe is how easily you can avoid special attacks that would have made the game a little harder.
Re-rolling a character is much more than just the quests or the story. It's the aesthetic of having a different looking character. If, for example, you're human and you decide to become a night elf, you feel completely different and everything's fresh. The little differences in starting stats mean nothing in the end game. I mean, what's 6 strength and 3 vitality for a tank? That's next to nothing.
