I can see squeenix being somewhat arrogant, but I dunno, I might still try it.

I still play WoW off and on, and I love both raiding and PVP, so I guess I will get cata over this.

I do admit time is a bit much. I had to wonder at the point when WoW saw fit to mail me an albino drake just for collecting mounts over time. Its almost as though it was hinting something to me -_-

Trust me, it's worth your time.

Despite its flaws, as far as launch-build MMOs go FFXIV is fairly solid - it has a tight battle system, a very open-ended character advancement system, and a lot of truly breathtaking story moments.

At least, [b]I[/b] intend to stick around in the long term, and I'm awesome. ^_^

EDIT: ITT, FFXIV Players: What server are you on? I'm "Squeejee Quetzalcoatl" on Lindblum. If anyone wants to hit me up when I'm on, go on ahead~

Here's a good question:

If I was bored as hell with WoW, will I find any joy in FFXIV?

Seems like that depends on what made WoW boring to you.
If you never got to endgame content, and hated leveling, then this might give you joy yet since it seems to be much easier on the leveling character then WoW is.

If you made it to the endgame content and still hated WoW, then I think you are just not one for MMOs since WoW has some of the best endgame stuff.

I leveled a Human Mage to level 60, had a DK up to lvl 62, and quit. Never did endgame. Never did raids, nor PvP, nor did I find the level grinding fun. I hated the level grinding. I couldn't do some of the instances, because I could never find groups to do them, and on top of that, if you got too high of a level and had a class quest in an instance, you were pretty much screwed, as you could not use the finder to find a party for that instance. Every aspect of the game just bored me, and the overinflated economy drove me nuts.

It does sound like FFXIV might be more up my alley. Just need to get a new laptop so I can actually play it, as FFXIV does not like my CPU and GPU type (the speeds and everything meet requirements, but the branding is not compatible....)

Aye, at this point in time (and for last 6 months or so) WoW has NOT been new-person friendly at all. Based on what you're saying, you may want to give WoW a try again once Cataclysm hits, since the entire game is being redesigned, basically, and all of the level 1 - 60 leveling is being brought up on par with and / or above and beyond what Northrend showed us an MMO could do.

In fact, I've had several friends express interest in WoW and I've told them to wait until Cataclysm because the game right now will destroy you if you haven't been playing for a while.

This game sounds more and more Like Mabinogi.

I doubt I'll try it tbh.

Sorry, but any game that charges three extra dollars a month for every charcter I have on top of a monthly fee just feels like it's giving me the finger.

Regarding WoW, yeah the experience up to the endgame content isn't the best. Gameplay-wise raids are probably the best part of the game, and it can be a long grind until then. Leveling becomes a bit more enjoyable once you hit WotLK content and is a bit more story-driven. I have high hopes for Cataclysm, which supposedly will greatly improve the early experience and add more story elements.

I'm liking what FFXIV is doing with crafting, and this review makes me want to try it. Pity the system requirements are absurd, and I don't own a PS3. I'll wait for the free trials and give it a shot.

Glad to see someone actually do an informed review of the game. :)

*noting a post above it charges you more per character but you can experience the ENTIRE game on one character with no penalties no matter what race or city you start in you can master EVERYTHING if you put the time in it.

Greats points made by Marz Gurl and i found out about things i didn't know about. if your own Trabia server send me a PM im always looking for ppl to adventure with as my Thaumaturge =D

Personally I found Final Fantasy XI to be very boring and XIV basically looks the same with better graphics, the combat seems better but not enough to get me to come back. And yeah crafting looks better too but I'd rather get my gear from quests or buy it in a shop. I don't want to make my own swords and armor.

But whatever floats your boat. You're entitled to enjoy the game MarzGurl. You may not have swayed me but at least you have your opinion and you're sticking to it. I however am looking forward to Guild Wars 2.

sturmovik, let me guess, you're the guy who tells people to stop playing Rock Band and learn "real" instruments?

Have you ever read the trope page, "Stop Having Fun, Guys!"

I'll give it a shot, however I would like to do it with a group of personal friends so that way we can play together and do that party strategy that you suggested.

As a sworn FFXI fan, I had no choice but to play FFXIV. Marzgurl is right about the game getting much much better with each new phase of testing. And that is exactly why I have faith that the problems that exist within FFXIV currently will be solved.

I agree on almost every regard with everything stated in this video. I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that FFXIV was [i]NOT[/i]just a Final Fantasy flavored WoW clone. I respect Square-Enix for not making FFXIV that kind of game, regardless of the fact that that is exactly the type of MMORPG that is popular these days.

FFXIV is definitely the type of MMORPG that not just anyone will pick up and love. But then again, neither was FFXI.

I'm aware of the fact you can experaince everything on one character. But If I have a firend who wants to try out my copy, brothers or sisters that might want to play, or if I just want an alt I need to pony up extra.

There is no need to defend the fact you have to pay monthly for more characters. Even if you like the game. It's a dick move to get as much money as they can.

I personally find FFXIV distasteful for entirely different reasons. Level based MMOs are normally just a numbers game with very little actual skill involved, fantasy MMOs tend to all be very similar, RP severs rarely actually happen, monthly subscriptions for a game I might play ten hours a month seems a waste of money, and the game has serious design flaws that would bug the hell out of me.

All that said I feel a little insulted by the presumption that my opinion is based around someone who didn't even play the game and rarely does much research to back up his long rants on games. Many people simply don't like Final Fantasy because of the reputation Square/Enix has gained over the last few years and this particular game feels really rushed.

But at least you can apparently enjoy the game from the outset, making it a vast improvement over FF13.

Thank you so much Marzgurl.

I'm glad there is one reviewer on this site that isn't going with the popular opinion. Ever since this site's all out war on Metroid: Other M, Its been hard to express an unpopular opinion without getting voted down.

I have actually been looking forward to this game, however, I've kinda had to hold in my enthusiasm due to the masses wanting to bash the game a new one before it was even released.

Anyway, great review and overview as always. Sure your no Spoony, but I think this site has enough of them.

Wow, backhanded compliment.

Not sure if that was a dig at MarzGurl or Spoony or both.

Btw, unpopular opinions get voted down because they're unpopular, not because The Man is out to get you.

[quote=Divide By Zero]Wow, backhanded compliment.

Not sure if that was a dig at MarzGurl or Spoony or both.[/quote]
I'm sorry if it sounded like I was insulting either of them ^_^

I was saying I'm glad she isn't trying to be like other reviewers on this site who tend to moan and gripe about a game based on small flaws, a demo/beta, or only a few seconds of gameplay.

She legitimately gave the game a fair shot, and even though she liked it, she did say it wasn't for everyone. she pointed out flaws and at the same time gave credit to where FF14 got it right.

It was an fair an honest review that didn't have to resort to nit-picking to find fault, and at the same time wasn't an overall worship of the game either.

[quote]Btw, unpopular opinions get voted down because they're unpopular, not because The Man is out to get you.[/quote] thats a very childish way of seeing things. Just because someone doesn't agree with you doesn't mean you should bump them down. This site is for everyone, not just for the popular crowd. -_-

Righto, no harm done on the insult front. If Marz isn't inclined to be take affront it's surely no skin off my nose.

As for the second part, my comment may have appeared flippant, but I assure you it was flippancy born of exasperation. Comments such as "since X event happened Y group of people have been oppressing all us poor free thinkers" make my skin itch.

To elaborate on the original point, if an opinion is known by it's advocates to be unpopular, to present it in a public format is to [i]invite[/i] criticism. To then fling ones hands up in apparent bewilderment that your unpopular opinion was *gasp* [b]unpopular [/b] smacks of either naivete or hypocrisy.

In short, by all means have an opinion. I heartily and thoroughly endorse the act of thinking for one's self. Furthermore I most [i]eagerly [/i]advocate the sharing of that opinion. Dissension is at the heart of true analytical debate.

But please don't cry foul when other people don't agree. Opinions are, after all, just that.

Edit: Apologies if my tone seems acid. I know I can be blunt.

An even-handed review; hurrah!

You pretty much covered it all, too.. though couple of small things. First off, I'm in the 'no auction house' crowd.. not that the market wards aren't a complete mess >.>

But whether an actual Auction House is implemented or no, there are plans to fix the wards and all - starting with categorising them, which'll supposedly happen in about a week, and then moving on to some sort of search functionality. Frankly.. I like that, and even enjoy them as they are, though there's a Lot of room for improvement - I literally just have fun shopping around a bit. Plus the current system introduces a really nice degree of price variance that rewards people For shopping around.

Also you forgot to mention crafters and gathers have skills that can be used mid-crafting to influence the item being made, reducing durability loss, increasing progress or quality, and such - and these abilities can be cross-classed, just like Disciple of War skills.

Mh,, other than that.. the fact guild leves are called so to distinguish from quests, which function mildly different - there are the main story quests, the discipline quests.. did you mention storyline quests come every 10 ranks, not just in the starting cities?

Anyway, thanks, 'really enjoyed listening to the review - and that bit about Final Fantasy XIII at the end really made me laugh. 'Nice way to soften the blow of having to travel 100 miles into university at 6:00 in the morning >.>

.. Oh and %&@£#+!$ you GRIDANIA ROCKS! .. Okay yeah it's pretty different and harder to navigate than the other areas, but I absolutely love the feel, the music, and the culture. Limsa Lominsa wasn't so interesting for me.. but Ul'dah Was lovely, on par with Gridania, though I prefer Gridania's culture over Ul'dah's.

And why didn't you mention Gridanai's culture, for that matter? I mean come on, perverted Lalafell, whorehouses, quests to manufacture genital piercings and gibbets, getting propositioned by prostitutes everywhere you go, having this adorable little Lalafell innkeeper girl nattering away at you about the size of people's manhoods.. they're pretty much [i]taunting[/i] the censors with the at city!

I beta tested this game. It's shit. They killed the series from what it was originally was back when it started.

[quote=danethefurry]I beta tested this game. It's shit. They killed the series from what it was originally was back when it started.[/quote]
A dragon quest knockoff? :eyebrow:

End game is for freakish people. The secret to MMo fun is buy a month, play a bit then stop.

Anyway, the Final Fantasy has been over for a long time in my opinion.

I can't believe that with all sanity you are telling someone to waste money on this game. It's a complete and utter mess. It should have remained off the shelf at least a year, until every one of the millions of problems is fixed. I advise everyone to take a look at the Gamespot.com review, it tells it like it is. Even if the game was patched up after six months and was playable, which i doubt, it will be pointless. You know why? Because it will be DEAD! I doubt there will be enough subscribers to be worthwhile to keep the servers up. People are already fleeing this utter mess in hordes.

People are entitled to like what they like, regardless of the internet telling them they're not allowed to. If you haven't played the game in its current incarnation, then how can you say it's unplayable?

I'm not likely to play it myself since it's just not my thing, but I'm all for people giving their take on something, especially if they say WHY it's good or bad. If someone says something like "I hate this game because the combat is turn based" I know that's a reason I WOULD like a game. If Marzgurl is saying she liked the game for things you wouldn't like, then by all means, stay away, but don't think she's wrong to have her opinions.

loved your outfit!

for no reason at all, should wear that outfit and act that way on/off in your videos. the videos should have nothing to do with roll playing or mages(?) or anything of the like, just wear the outfit and act the part! i loved it!

overall A nice chit-chat over the game. Can't say that I would enjoy the game (not too big on games that involve social interactions, or eating up large chunk of time), but I do like the idea of killing stuff with people, dressed as magical/mythological/ whatever creatures.

I agree. I really think you should just randomly wear that outfit and come into your videos sometimes, because it was very entertaining. =D

As for the game, I've never been an MMO kind of person. Only The Old Republic is tempting me, and I don't even think I'm going to go for that. Still though, it's good to get another perspective on this game and you presented your point nicely. You ought to do more videos of this nature as you explain things quite well. Keep up the good work Marzgurl. =)

Speaking from someone who has no experience with MMO's, and from someone who has a lot of problems with a lot of MMO's for doing what they do (grinding, subscription fees, grinding, etc.) I have to say that I really, REALLY wanted to play this game. I really did. I missed out on XI and when this was announced I thought "Alright! Now I can see what I've been missing!"
Apparently I haven't been missing a whole lot. Ever since XIII I've now taken note to be incredibly careful with most games (like Final Fantasy) and to not impulsively buy them just because it's a well known, big franchise like Final Fantasy (A pre order and collector's edition strategy guide to XIII shows my stupidity).
I've watched two other reviews already besides this one and so far it's two against one =(

Gamespot review:
http://www.gamespot.com/ pc/rpg/finalfantasy14/ video/6281074/final- fantasy-xiv-online-video- review

Some unknown MMO reviewer:
http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=Ei0GxMOBztA

I am especially surprised at the Gamespot review. Usually I don't even trust the big reviewers because I have no idea if they're being paid by the game company to boost the score. And to see Gamespot give this a bad score was really shocking.

Square Enix, you had your chance to introduce me to the MMORPG genre, and you failed. All of the things that I had problems with MMOs are all in XIV, and you have also introduced some new problems too.

Quite frankly I'm looking forward to Guild Wars 2 because it seems like an MMO that really will put a stop to what made me hesitant on getting into MMOs in the first place (here's hoping).
Call me what you will and say that I'm instantly siding with Spoony and being his little minion fanboy. But from the other videos that I've seen of XIV, it just seems just as boring as the footage that Spoony captured at PAX.

Alright, I'm ready for the torrent of thumbs down.

[quote=Magmabear]Speaking from someone who has no experience with MMO's, and from someone who has a lot of problems with a lot of MMO's for doing what they do (grinding, subscription fees, grinding, etc.) I have to say that I really, REALLY wanted to play this game. I really did. I missed out on XI and when this was announced I thought "Alright! Now I can see what I've been missing!"
Apparently I haven't been missing a whole lot. Ever since XIII I've now taken note to be incredibly careful with most games (like Final Fantasy) and to not impulsively buy them just because it's a well known, big franchise like Final Fantasy (A pre order and collector's edition strategy guide to XIII shows my stupidity).
I've watched two other reviews already besides this one and so far it's two against one =(

Gamespot review:
http://www.gamespot.com/ pc/rpg/finalfantasy14/ video/6281074/final- fantasy-xiv-online-video- review

Some unknown MMO reviewer:
http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=Ei0GxMOBztA

I am especially surprised at the Gamespot review. Usually I don't even trust the big reviewers because I have no idea if they're being paid by the game company to boost the score. And to see Gamespot give this a bad score was really shocking.

Square Enix, you had your chance to introduce me to the MMORPG genre, and you failed. All of the things that I had problems with MMOs are all in XIV, and you have also introduced some new problems too.

Quite frankly I'm looking forward to Guild Wars 2 because it seems like an MMO that really will put a stop to what made me hesitant on getting into MMOs in the first place (here's hoping).
Call me what you will and say that I'm instantly siding with Spoony and being his little minion fanboy. But from the other videos that I've seen of XIV, it just seems just as boring as the footage that Spoony captured at PAX.

Alright, I'm ready for the torrent of thumbs down.[/quote]As a person who hasn't seriously sat down with an MMO since Phantasy Star Online, I know how you feel.

Personally, I'm liking what I've heard about 14 because it is such a departure from typical MMOs. [aside from the fatigue, which as MG pointed out wasn't much of a problem].

I'm usually not one to go with 1 reviewers opinion, or even with the popular consensus to determine if a game is good. I usually check the average reviews on gamefaqs and see the user ratings across the board. In a case of FF14, there are people who either really really like it, or despise it. http://www.gamefaqs.com/ pc/960613-final-fantasy- xiv-online/mygames

I'm also looking forward to GW2, and hopefully it carries over its free subscription with from the last game.

oh and i gave you a thumbs up.
yeah, take that! :snooty:

Speaking as a long time MMO player (I recently totted up what I've collectively spent on WoW subscription fees over the years and found myself wondering which Blizzard employee's new yacht I personally financed) I can say that Final Fantasy XIV looks totally, completely and utterly...

...not bad. Not great, but not bad. I think if I bought it I'd probably enjoy it. Whether I actually [i]will [/i]buy it or not will probably largely depend on whether I happen to have sufficient ready cash in my pocket next time I find myself staring at a copy in a game store.

A lot of folks are giving this one a bit of a knee jerk reaction I think. There's a lot of comments like "Oh, this game's shit. They've totally killed the franchise" and responses like "STFU, betas always suck".

Cards on the table, I'd say it's shaping up to be a... well, a game. Not a great game, not a bad game, just a game. Probably not worthy of getting so heated up about, except for the fact that it has the Final Fantasy label attached to it. And to be honest, that doesn't really say much cos every FF is it's own universe (not counting X2). If it were called something different it'd probably just blend into the crowd.

I'm not interested in this game at all, and for one big reason, it's mostly grinding on monsters, barely any quests what so ever.

You only get the story quests around every 10 levels or so, and you can only do 8 leve quests every 36 hours, so if you play a lot, you're gonna run out fast, and have to grind on monsters, something I hate in MMOs.

Give me lots of quests, or I won't care. I don't wanna have to kill the same monster 10 million times to level up. I got tired of that back when I played FFXI, which I liked at the time, though back then, I had only played one other MMO, EQ.

I tried to go back to FFXI last year, and it was a big mistake, I had been able to play many other MMOs since then, WOW, LOTRO, Eq2, etc.

After playing those, FFXI felt even older then EQ. FFXI is the same thing as XIV, grinding on tons of the same monsters, and almost no quests. Though from what I've been hearing about XIV, FFXI had a ton more quests compared to it. At least you can solo in XIV, you had to have a full group just to take a walk outside in XI.

So if you like FFXIV, that's cool, but it's not my kinda MMO.

Though to be honest, to hear you say you didn't care for WoW because most quests were the same, from what I've heard, pretty much all the guildleves are the same, not sure you can have it both ways.

[quote=Mitik]I can't believe that with all sanity you are telling someone to waste money on this game. It's a complete and utter mess. It should have remained off the shelf at least a year, until every one of the millions of problems is fixed. I advise everyone to take a look at the Gamespot.com review, it tells it like it is. Even if the game was patched up after six months and was playable, which i doubt, it will be pointless. You know why? Because it will be DEAD! I doubt there will be enough subscribers to be worthwhile to keep the servers up. People are already fleeing this utter mess in hordes.[/quote]

FFXI had this same issue at Japanese launch. Guess what? It's still running strong.

Learn about what you're talking about before you try talking about it.

Well yeah but back then there weren't as many MMORPGs around. So people had to eat it or don't "eat" an MMORPG at all.
Besides the japanese are way more forgiving with these kind of problems, as long as it looks pretty. If you want to play FFXIV in a year with people that only speak japanese, be my guest.

[color=blue]The main thing FF14 will do is kill FF11. That's where the majority of the player base is going to come from.[/color]

Awesome wow rant and great review of ff. I am going to buy it for the playstation when it comes out. Juno the sorceress was very funny.

If you hit the Experience Wall YOU NEED TO TO STOP PLAYING SO MUCH relax it is A GAME if you want to gather materials to sell do it

You know what I find funny?

Spoony and allot of people have said that the second FF went down the drain for them it drew in the anime crowd. I just find it very funny that it's not AJ, Sage, Benzaie or really anyone besides the anime reviewers to come up and say that FFXIV is good.

To the point now though. I had been playing the beta for a while before Spoony came along with his bashing of FFXIV and the deification of Guild Wars 2 and I can pretty solidly say that I did not enjoy the beta. I really hated it and was utterly bored at the end.

Now that is my opinion and seeing as there WAS an open beta. You should at least have given that a chance before you declared FFXIV a complete mess. I gave it a chance and I'm along with Spoony on this one. FFXIV couldn't be less suited to my tastes if it fried my hard drive at random times.

I for one have no interest in ever going through that horrible piece of shit again and am now eagerly awaiting my Star Wars and Guild Wars 2 MMO. Guild Wars 2 being free to play so I can always pick it up besides another MMO.

Thank you MarzGurl. I was losing hope on this game and decided to give it some time to fix itself till March, when the PS3 version is out. Till then, I'll be on FFXI and give FFXIV a second shot with all it's updates.

No seriously just watched Spoony's video and was utterly amazed by how dumb he acted over a trade floor beta using the Tutorial level as his main point, it's like me showing you the tutorial of Gulid wars 2. He's judging it based not one demos, I swear if Guild Wars 2 ends up bombing or being completely broken crap I want him to apologize

And for those who are saying "I watched videos" watching videos of almost any game can be boring, playing it is the point of a VIDEO GAME

Is it a game? I'm not sure you've emphasized that enough. Regardless, and while I am interested in trying this, you gotta admit Squaresoft sorta dropped the ball. If you want to get people interested in a game at, say, PAX, you show them the good parts. If I want to get people hyped for, say, Jurassic Park, I don't advertise it with a scene that's all dialogue. I show them the dinosaurs chasing people. Square was lacking in the dinosaur department at PAX.

It did seem to be a fairly crap demonstration, which really is a faux pas on the part of Square. Doesn't matter how good or bad a product is if you're not pushing it properly. Marketing is god in any part of the entertainment industry, and that goes double where you're asking for a significant amount of dough for the product.

Games ain't cheap. Learn to sell, Square.

Am I the only one bothered by the fact that the online FF games are in the pantheon of the numbered single player. Eh, guess it doesn't matter since they aren't in canon anyways, but still...

You're not alone with that.

If some of you havn't read up why square enix have done it so the levequests are every 36 hours for a new 8 quests its becuase they wanted to get the game release it in china and the chinaese can't play a mmo or video game for mroe then 13 hours so that why its only every 36 hours.They are still going to add the search then the auction house and chocobo too and yes beta 1 suck really bad and alot of the beta was closed off becuase they didnt want people to play the beta and get to the end like you can do in alot of beta's and yes notthing can fix gridania and now back to ff14 i go!

p.s Marzgurl you may of wanted to do the video of the game in windows mode as it runs way better in windows mode i got a top system that can run this game on full and its so much easyer to just use windows mode for the game.