MMOs of 2015: FFXIV

Last year my MMO adventures included five games primarily: FFXIV, ESO, Trove, SWTOR, and WildStar. At the end of 2015 I saw a number of bloggers doing a “review” for the year however as I was not actively writing at the time I missed out. Instead, over the coming weeks I’d like to write a little on each of the five titles I focused on, noting what I liked, what I didn’t, and what factors ultimately led me elsewhere (if any). First up, it’s Final Fantasy XIV.

I started playing FFXIV off and on in the fall of 2014 but started the new year with an expectation of staying with the game long term. It had many of the features I was looking for in an MMO: I could progress all classes on one character, the combat while slow at first was the classic tab targeting I preferred (that’s changed since then), the atmosphere was beautiful, the community was friendly, and there was a steady cadence of content that included dungeons which were and are my favorite form of group content.

The day I earned my Ninja merit badge.

 

Previously I had hopped around between jobs but with the introduction of the Ninja I had finally settled on a main class and leveled my way up to 50. Even now the FFXIV Ninja easily ranks as one of my top three favorite classes to play. I loved the layered rotation, having to manage one set of abilities on the surface while weaving in another set in between. It was fast, complex, and very satisfying to execute well. Had my decision been based purely on class mechanics I would probably still be playing Final Fantasy, but eventually I moved on.

Unfortunately I don’t remember all the specifics of why I took a break from the title, but I do remember why I never picked it back up. When I stopped my subscription I was a little burnt out and figured I would take a little break before Heavensward. There was probably another game I was planning to play in the interim (maybe Trove?) but I don’t recall. I hadn’t finished the main story questline but assumed if I popped back in a few weeks before launch I could finish it up and be ready. Then I learned that the reality was far more complicated.

For whatever reason, Square Enix has designed the story aspects of FFXIV like a single player game, locking players out of the next tier of content before the previous one has been complete. Of course all MMOs do this to some extent but generally provide a way to “catch up” when a new expansion is launched. That’s what I was expecting, for Heavensward to be a kind of equalizer and help me catch up to those players who had been around for much longer. Once I realized that I had a solid month of content (and that was if I played nothing but FFXIV) including group dungeons and raids before I could even step foot in the new expansion I decided to move on.

While I wouldn’t mind seeing the conclusion of the story, I didn’t then and I don’t now want to work through the gear progression necessary to access the dungeons and raids that make up the rest of A Realm Reborn’s storyline. Heavensward sounds like it has been an enjoyable expansion but now with even more content between me and everyone else playing the game I don’t think I’ll ever return. There’s simply too much barricading my entry. To some extent, this “laziness” is just an illustration of how I felt about the game in general, it was good, but never great. It didn’t grab me like it has other people and with the way the game is designed I would have had to work harder than I was willing to be on par with the current patches.

Preparing to ride off into the sunset to see what other MMO worlds are just beyond the horizon.

 

I’d rate Final Fantasy XIV as one of the best MMOs on the market, and I love that so many people are enjoying the game. There seems to be a really healthy community coupled with an exemplary rate of content production; you can’t ask for much more than that. That said, it’s not for me. Between the required subscription and the gated content it’s one of the few games from last year to which I don’t think I’ll ever return.

Dual Wielding: On the Level

Dual Wielding: A series featuring two bloggers writing on one topic and answering the question, “If the pen is mightier than the sword, what happens when you dual wield?”

Make sure you don’t miss Kunzay’s take.

The topic of leveling in MMORPGs can be a contentious one. Some players view leveling as the “meat and potatoes” of the game, others as a means to an end (game). Then there are those who view leveling as an irrelevant and outdated feature. I’m inclined to believe it is the first of those choices; I consider leveling to be a definitive feature of the genre. That said, if leveling is so important to the MMO experience, why is it not always an enjoyable one? Which characteristics make the process a pleasure and which make it painful? There are several MMOs with leveling I enjoy, however there is no single game that has designed a leveling process with the perfect blend of pace, variety, and continuity and all three of these aspects are necessary for a quality leveling experience. For this edition of Dual Wielding I’d like to examine each, discuss what benefits they bring to leveling, and offer examples of games that have done them well.

Pace

A good leveling experience will allow the story to set the pace, rather than letting it be determined by a bewildering insistence on unnecessary grind. One of my biggest pet peeves while leveling is when an abundance of filler is included simply to drag out the process. Generally speaking most MMOs will have a main storyline told through questing that leads the player from zone to zone and ultimately ties in with the end game content. Additionally, within these games each zone will have a quest line that is distinct but supports the main narrative. Both of these categories of story quests make for enjoyable leveling, especially when they tie together in some way.

However when there are additional filler quests that must be completed in order to gain the level(s) necessary to enter the next zone, I get irritated. There is a point when the story the developers want to tell is segmented so badly by the mechanic of grindy leveling that I am no longer able to enjoy the unfolding of the story. Half the time I can’t even remember what was happening in the main quest line before I had to kill ten rats for “nameless peasant #17”. Imagine having a parent or spouse call you every fifteen minutes to run an errand while you are in a theater watching a film; that’s pretty much the same effect filler quests have on MMO storylines.

“Please let the next quest reward me with a new pair of paints…”

There aren’t many titles that pace the leveling with the storytelling well, most are too concerned with slowing the players down for fear that they will “finish the game” too quickly and move on to another MMO. Final Fantasy XIV is perhaps the best game I can think of that illustrates good pacing. While there are a few one-off storylines at every quest hub, they add character to the zones and are not so numerous that you lose sight of the main narrative. I especially like how the game ties dungeons in with the story so that for once I know why I’m entering the instanced scenarios. Because the pacing in FFXIV is done so well I am able to follow the storyline and understand the motivation my character has for traversing the world.

Variety

Variety is not only the spice of life, but of leveling as well. In addition to narrative driven questing, leveling should include dungeons, battlegrounds, crafting, gathering materials, exploration, and any other creative feature developers can imagine. Questing on its own grows dull very quickly. A good leveling system will provide the player with opportunities for other types of gameplay and reward experience points for participating in those features. In addition to alternative forms of gameplay while leveling, MMOs should also provide multiple paths for leveling as well. This can be accomplished by having several zones with the same level range or by allowing characters to scale down in level to match the zone they are in. Having variety in leveling allows players to gravitate toward those activities that best suit them as well as granting them options when leveling a second or third character in the same game. Options even while leveling allow me to change up my gameplay based on mood or inclination while still allowing me to make progress on the character I’m playing.

Don’t let out-leveling a zone give you a big head.

Guild Wars 2 is one of the best examples of providing variety for leveling. It is one of the few MMOs that grants experience for nearly everything you do in the game and it also allows you to scale down so that you can continue to progress while you finish a zone, even if you out-level it considerably. Gathering and crafting even provide enough experience for leveling; with my first level 80 character I completed the last three levels solely through crafting. There are also vistas and points of interest to visit, dungeons to run, and realm vs. realm PvP to participate in, all of which contribute toward gaining experience. Nearly everything you do will help progress your character’s experience and all are viable options to choose from.

Continuity

Nothing mars the leveling experience like discovering once you’ve attained max level that everything you have done prior has no bearing on the end game. In fact, the reason why some players see leveling as a means to an end or why they would rather it be abolished all together is because of this issue. If greater continuity existed between the leveling experience and end game, there would be no reason to rush. Continuity between leveling and end game would also “flatten” the experience while also allowing for the sense of progress and achievement that levels provide. Rather than creating one experience while leveling then tacking on a completely different one at max level, MMO developers should first determine what it is they would like players to be doing in their game and then find ways to incorporate those goals from the very beginning of the leveling process. With a cohesive gameplay model the process of leveling can be enjoyed because the game elements you want to play are those you are already playing rather than on the other side of a goal line.

I… can’t figure out how to take a screenshot in Marvel Heroes. But Trove is another game with great continuity between leveling and end game.

Few MMOs manage to pull this off, however Marvel Heroes does it quite well. Once you reach level thirty or so you have more or less completed the main storyline, despite having thirty more levels before end cap. At this point you can play through the story again at a higher difficulty level, complete legendary quests, mindlessly destroy aliens and androids in midtown, level your vendors, and obtain better gear through nearly all of these options. Once you reach level 60, you will more or less continue to do the same. While the options are somewhat limited compared to traditional MMOs, they are closely related to your leveling experience. I actually think having the traditional questing storyline end prior to reaching max level helps alleviate the sense of a dramatic change in play style once you reach max level. You essentially enter the full end game about half way through the leveling process and nothing dramatic changes once you reach level 60. And the end game options that are available are so similar to the gameplay from the first thirty levels that it isn’t a jarring transition. In Marvel Heroes there’s no surprise or shift in what you’ll be doing when you log in as a max level character, it’s exactly the kind of gameplay you’ve been enjoying all along.

I don’t want to see MMOs remove leveling all together, but I would like for game designers to smooth out the process and make it fun. Leveling is not a “necessary evil”, it is a vital way we interact with our virtual worlds, challenging us to branch out and explore and rewarding us with a sense of progress. With the right pacing, a network of options, and a seamless flow into end game, leveling will be something to savor and enjoy. As for the “real game” that so many players allude to? It can start where it always should have: at level 1.

State of the Rez: Invariably Variable

Commitment is not a strength of mine; I’m more of a visionary. That’s true of both my blogging endeavors and my MMO gaming habits and while I’m conscience of this tendency toward good intentions with little follow through, having it on display via blogging heightens that self-awareness. A few weeks ago I decided to post three times a week— Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday— with specific categories in mind for each day. I was able to maintain that schedule for a week or two but quickly realized it was too much. I’m now committing (as I did at the start) to once a week with anything else being optional. That said, I have in mind to improve my speed as a writer and may attempt one or two additional posts per week, limited to 30-45 minutes for completion. (If any other bloggers have advice for writing quickly and briefly, I’m all ears).

Around the same time I set a goal to write on a schedule I also wrote a post about Final Fantasy XIV, stating that it would serve me well as a “home” MMO. I’m no looking for permanence in my virtual spaces, I’m more of a world traveler when it comes to these games but nonetheless I was enjoying the title so much I thought surely it had become the homestead amidst my nomadic exploration, a place for hat racks, area rugs and of course, ninjitsu. As with every venture I’ve had into Eorzea it begins well but ends with a fizzle. On paper it fits with what I’m looking for in an MMO and I imagine I’ll revisit the game in the future but for now I’m finished with Final Fantasy XIV.

The deciding factor was Elliot’s post at Massively OP listing the steps necessary for a fresh 50 to be prepared for Heavensward. When last I left FFXIV I had just reached 50 and was planning to take a month off before returning to finish the main story scenario up through 2.55. I did not realize at the time that completing the story would require a certain ilvl. To be ready for Heavensward I would need to devote my time more fully to FFXIV rather than casually playing through a series of quests as I had expected so instead I uninstalled the client for now. I may return in the future but at this time I am put off by the prospect of having to go through the end game grind of A Realm Reborn before entering the next expansion.

Final Fantasy XIV wasn’t the only game I removed from my hard drive recently, either. The WoW token was released this past month and I had more than enough gold to purchase several months of game time and could do so from the character selection screen. Warlords of Draenor still offered little of interest for me but I had intended on leveling my followers and setting up my garrison in such a way that I could passively earn enough gold to continue my subscription indefinitely. After two weeks of logging in daily to send my followers on missions with little desire to pursue any other objectives in game it dawned on me: if I’m not having fun in WoW anymore, what’s the point of having a garrison able to cover the cost of a subscription?

At that point I made the decision to not only uninstall the game but also the other Blizzard titles I own, the battle.net client, and to delete all the bookmarks to the WoW related podcasts and news websites that I have followed for the past three years in order to completely distance myself from the game. In all this time I’ve been playing other MMOs, I’ve never completely left WoW. Even when I wasn’t subscribed I continued to follow the news and listen to opinions on class design, content release, and lore. I was like an ex-boyfriend too curious about the current status of an old flame. As such I would inevitably return to the game but I think it’s time now for a clean break and a cleansed palette. That’s not to say I will never play again, but that if I’m going to return it will be refreshed and curious, rather than jaded.

Several other titles were uninstalled as well leaving only those games I am currently playing and a few others I may pick up again in the coming months including Star Wars: The Old Republic, Marvel Heroes, Rift, The Elder Scrolls Online, Guild Wars 2, and Trove. As for my current favorites, I have nestled quite contentedly into Star Wars: The Old Republic and Marvel Heroes. Coincidentally, the former was the title that a little over a month ago I thought was unable to compete with the others on my “must play” list. With both expansions purchased and having played for a month as a subscriber I have subsequently changed my opinion. It turns out I’m quite happy with the Star Wars flavored WoW clone, theme park, combat lobby MMO. In fact, I believe those words— often used derogatorily by many a Massively OP patron and columnist— describe the elements I enjoy most in the genre. It’s liberating to recognize and be content with the fact that I am happy with the mainstream model. Besides, if I wait long enough the genre will shift and I’ll get to tell the new MMO youngsters about the glory days of dungeon finders and gear treadmills.

“You mean characters used to progress vertically grandpa?” my cyborg grandchild will say.

“That’s right Mark-I,” I’ll nod, remembering those nights of chaining dungeons and raiding for hours with guildmates. “And we use to gamble on loot pulled from the corpses of dragons once a week as well.”

“You mean you didn’t have to wait in these lines? What about the crafting overlords, weren’t they mad you didn’t have to buy their stuff?”

Reality will wake me from bittersweet reminiscence. “That was before the rise of OPnet and the Bree-800 series cyber-economists,” I’ll say, resisting the tears. “That was before #Sandboxgate ruined everything.”

And then of course I’ll send my cyborg grandchild back in time to prevent the Sandbocolypse by stopping the development of Star Wars Galaxies at all costs. As his form vanishes a Bree-800 series android will burst into my open world housing plot and overcome my avatar slowly but assuredly with item decay.

….what was I talking about again?

Right, Star Wars: The Old Republic and Marvel Heroes. With 12x XP arriving on May 4^th, I plan on diving into the class story of my Scoundrel however lately when I log in I spend most of my time healing in Warzones and Galactic Starfighting. With most MMOs in the past I’ve engaged in PvP sparingly and sporadically, but in SWTOR I am uncharacteristically preferring the leet pwning of noobs over PvE questing and Flashpoints. I’m not great at either Warzones or GSF but this past week has seen a couple of significant milestones for me in these arenas. During my last GSF match I managed to rack up eight player kills, three of which were rapidly one after the other. It was exhilarating. I attribute this relative success to my upgraded striker as much as any skill development on my part. As a healer in Warzones I managed to heal one million HP in a single match at level 35 this week and over 650k HP without a single death in another. I accomplished something similar in the 10-29 bracket but that was largely due to the fact that few people knew to target the healer at that stage. This time I survived because I had a better grasp on when and how to use my defensive cool downs, crowd control abilities, and cc breakers.

Whereas SWTOR is my new favorite MMO, Marvel Heroes is more of a guilty pleasure. I recently leveled my first hero to 60 and rather than explore the end game for max level characters I have decided to level the other heroes I have in my roster. At first I was working on Ms. Marvel but with the announcement that the Avengers would be receiving an additional 50% bonus to XP, I decided to give Black Widow a try. In a handful of days I’ve leveled her to 40 and I fully intend to blitz my way to 60 before the event concludes. Afterwards I’ll pick back up where I left off with Ms. Marvel or set this game aside for a while as I tend to play it in bursts.

A lot has shifted over the last month with both my gaming and my blogging. My intention with this post was to outline some of those changes and to put my current blogging expectations in writing and to mention what I’ll be playing over the coming weeks and months. Expect one post a week with one or two writing exercises in brevity as well. I’ll be chronicling my leveling progress in SWTOR as well as Marvel Heroes and hopefully I will also get back into the habit of writing reflectively on scripture once again. David and Goliath Revisited was one of my favorite posts of this past month and I’d like to do more in that vein going forward. Of course, given my proclivity for writing down one set of plans and then taking off in another direction entirely, next week I may be chronicling the adventures of a fictitious time-traveling, cybernetic grandson instead. One never knows.