I hear than Runescape is insanely popular still to this day and has a user/subscriber base bigger than wow in the millions still and active players online in the hundreds of thousands.
It is. Many don’t realize how popular runescape still is. Same with EQ2
There is design objectivity for sure.
No one is going to dispute that Mario Galaxy isn’t objectively a better designed and optimized game than Mario 64. Although what design is more fun is the question. In what way am I saying Mario Galaxy is objectively a better design? In quality, scope, size, fluidity, etc.?
To most people the only quality they look for is fun. That’s the subjective part.
Regardless of how objectively designed a game is, some people may just be attached to another game for other factors such as nostalgia, theme, or preference in some other form.
WoW has more content for sure and it’s more developed. FF14 has a higher quality of graphics which is probably why there is less content compared to WoW.
if Cyrodiil in ESO wans’t so laggy i’d play ESO full time hands down. Better graphics. Better transmog. Better “freedom” to play how I want. 1st person option for gameplay. More frequent balancing patches and updates. More fun and dynamic PvP. Getting Emperor is harder than anything i’ve ever attempted in WoW.
The simple and sad fact is that WoW is the best MMO out there for now.
I love WoW and look forward to the truly incredible game that will be made to replace it. As of this writing, no such game exists.
#boxingischeating
#endmultiboxing
You won’t find one because other companies can’t design other MMOs with meaningful story, content, and refuse to not make them giant cash shops riddled with far worse micro transactions than WoWs. It’s a shame in some ways but the formula they got right in 2004 is basically carbon copied and pasted onto every other mmo ever. I have tried every mmo imaginable and none of them really compare.
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I’m using the term to mean everything. Production value, game play, the technical side of the game. It is objectively a better game than FFXIV.
Their textures need a lot of work. Especially on gear. I’m hoping they’ll get to it next expansion, but if they don’t, eh. Won’t stop me from playing the game anyway, I just won’t zoom in too far if I can help it lol
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I guess it depends on what you’re looking for. My favorite endgame experience and overall story is in FFXIV, and I have a lot of fun with the customization and housing features. However, the leveling is so agonizingly dull and alts are so vehemently discouraged that it can’t really hold my interest for longer than a few months.
SWTOR is by far and away my favorite for the leveling experience. Replaying the stories is still consistently fun for me, and I think the gameplay stands up really well on its own.
I use GW2 almost exclusively for making and outfitting characters, but I also think it has the most fun PVP of any MMO, and if its style of gameplay appeals to you, you might like the PVE in it too.
If I had to suggest that any one of these games are holistically better than WoW, I would probably suggest FFXIV, but it seems like people who are attached to either game are kind of unwilling to cede ground on most points. In my opinion, FFXIV has better story direction, better art, vastly superior character customization and outfitting, and an engaging crafting system. It has really interesting music and great boss mechanics post-HW.
At the end of the day I think WoW still holds up very well, and a lot of my personal issues with it likely aren’t that important to most people (customization, story, lack of housing, hyperfocus on lore characters, etc). But they’re all pretty fun, and SWTOR and GW2 both have manageable payment models.
One of the biggest features I think WoW has over any competitive MMO is an interesting variety in playable races. FFXIV in particular had incredible opportunity to make Au’ra and Viera visually interesting and unique and in both cases ended up going in a worse direction. I also think WoW feels a lot smoother and more accessible than other MMOs, with a much more breathable interface. Also, the barber shop is huge. By contrast you’re unequivocally going to shell out money for basic customization changes.
I haven’t played ESO, but I generally hear positive things about it with the caveat that it has an incredibly predatory in-game shop and its combat may not be the best.
I’m just wondering how long the mmo genre can keep producing. It’s a dieing breed with so many great and amazing single player games released everyday.
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I’ve been playing WoW off and on since release and though I always come back to WoW, I think a number of MMOs are better. Off the top of my head I think ESO, SWTOR, and GW2 are all better. I’ve thought some that are now cancelled were better too. But WoW was my first and my husband plays it so I come back. I play the others from time to time too though, usually when I get bored of whatever the newest WoW expansion is. I do like WoW’s art style the best though.
It doesn’t need to be alt-friendly because… there’s not much reason TO make alts, and that’s a good thing.
Repeating unlocks on characters is a chore and it’s one thing I always hated about WoW. I want to have a variety of different classes, but I always hated having to redo reputations and unlocks.
Like… having to re-do the Maw Intro in Shadowlands. Bleeeeeh.
Or back in BfA where you had to do the Foothold Quests on EVERY FREAKING CHARACTER, it’s like seriously, why is this a thing?
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FFXIV focuses almost exclusively on releasing casual content and occasionally throws a single bone to hardcore players, while WoW maintains a much more even balance between casual and hardcore content. It’s not entirely about how long it takes to clear one encounter, but also about the quantity of content available.
You also need to consider that FFXIV’s hardcore community isn’t nearly as large or as dedicated as WoW’s because of that lack of content for them. If it did have a healthy and vibrant hardcore community I have no doubt that those encounters would be cleared much faster.
Final Fantasy is really good. Not my type of setting or artstyle but it has a lot of systems WoW could stand to learn from.
I think, for me at least, why wow keeps bringing people back is due to its combat. Every MMO I have played, WoW’s arguably feels the best.
It’s a matter of preference. I’ve played numerous MMORPGs. It’s easy to come back to WoW. Honestly, I much preferred old school FFXI, but that’s practically a full-time job and I just don’t have that kind of playing time anymore.
It’s technically been 9 years, since ES 5 came out on 11/11/11.
Although I see what you mean. The same team that makes Elder Scrolls series also makes the Fallout series. So they’ve tied their hands up with Fallout 76 after they finished Fallout 4 then moved onto Starfield. Then we’ll get Elder Scrolls 6.
Starfield is probably coming out in 2021 or 2022.
Yeah that’s my biggest gripe with ff14. The unfriendlyness to alts
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The treadmill is why I play, I love gearing and wow does it’s raids and m+ better than any other game I’ve played.
Fair enough. I just want a male and a girl toons. Lol sometimes I need that. Though wow could stand to learn a few things from other mmos like EQ2 and swtor. If its my toon on my account I should be able to mail stuff to them and not be locked because “different faction” nonsense.