Class design is top notch in FF14 and not so much in WoW atm. That’s probably the biggest reason I play it right now, but I also play WoW.
The base story is pretty bland, and until you get to the expansions leveling is a major slog. Once you get to Heavensward though the story is really good from then on imo. To be fair though, I guess I’m one of the few people who actually enjoys WoW’s story, so I think they’re on par with one another.
Dungeons and raids don’t hold a candle to WoW imo. Blizz understands very well how to make group content.
The overall community is a lot like WoW’s RP community, which lacks the toxicity of WoW’s general playerbase (in most cases).
Never PvP’d in FF14 so I can’t comment on it. But I can say that WoW’s PvP is hot garbage.
So it really depends on what you want from an MMO. They both have things they do particularly well with. I play both in spurts. When I’m bored with WoW I play FF14, then when I get bored of FF14 I go back to WoW. I have a physical dependency on MMOs despite the genre being in major decline.
I wouldn’t say “better” since it’s subjective to what you look for in an MMO. However, I do turn to it for the fun I’m not getting here.
Granted I’m still leveling there (just started Stormblood), so I can only say so much. Here’s what I enjoy so far from my experience:
Character customization; it has more options than even what SL is bringing
Every race can be every class. You can be all classes on one character.
I get to enjoy the main story from each expansion as I level. There’s also a separation between the main story quest and the usual “errand” quests. I’m also enjoying the story.
Someone there introduced me to the game’s mentor system. That person helps new players like me and I even get bonus XP by being their apprentice.
Their mogging system has dyeable gear and a more of a variety to choose from (e.g. skirts, glasses, swimwear)
I didn’t have to visit third-party sites to learn how to dps and gear.
Profession crafting mechanics seem to have more depth and farming mats are enjoyable; I’m not competing with other players for nodes.
Their pathfinder is just finishing a zone’s story chain and finding aether currents. No rep grinding.
The Gold Saucer (their casino equivalent to WoW’s DMF).
Again, still new to the game and experiencing everything. I haven’t had any gripes just yet.
If the ARR wasn’t so long and drawn out I might still be over there. I’m not going to buy a story skip just because they refuse to make the first 50 levels or so more enjoyable.
A lot of people (myself included and to this day) came to WoW because they immensely enjoyed the Warcraft lore (mainly in Warcraft 3) and wanted to know more about the world… And Blizzard was known for the quality of their games.
Some in the gaming industry expect that MMOs might have a resurgence, but they don’t know exactly when or how (although some signs are there). Like in anything, things come and go in cycles…
FF14 is the weebiest game out there right now. I have a few friends that recently started playing it and every picture they post on our Discord is nothing but cringe. Half naked cat people that look like they belong in some kind of furry p0rn. That game is nothing but a bunch of weirdos.
It’s a game for people who want nothing to be remotely challenging and want a mmo centered around transmog for the endgame
And a big LOL @ any clown that thinks their community is better in anyway. They’re the same rush rush rush crowd and they’re every bit as toxic. It’s the internet. Every community is rough and every person telling you otherwise is lying
I like Hrothgar myself, shame wow doesnt have saberon as race yet but ehh. Biggest draw I have is all the class/jobs are fun filled with variety, people are nice I cant count how much vile i ran into in wow, its just sad how hard is it to be respectful? I also love the boss fights and themes. neat each boss has their own music.
For me, unless Shadowlands is complete garbage (which from Alpha so far its not so high hopes), I will always play FFXIV for the story because its just beautifully written. Though if a WoW expansion is trash I will hop on there and do Savage Raid progressing.
For me what FFXIV does better than WoW is the story, its linear, its beautifully done, and surprises which seem to come out of know where are explained in the game itself and not books.
Though WoW and FFXIV are equal on many aspects imo. Classes each have their own charm, though FFXIV they try to make each class balanced where in WoW the issue is balancing specs.
They each have their own artstyle appeals to them. You don’t need to enjoy anime to enjoy FFXIV’s artstyle, its more realized like SWTOR. Also they are better with character customization.
Both have great music soundtracks, however FFXIV really shines because each Raid/Trial Boss has its own theme music which is beautifully executed with a wide range of styles. Usually these theme songs are in Latin, English, or Japanese and are beautifully composed and are elegantly related to the boss. They also reflect if the boss has a second stage with new music playing. The Ruby Weapon OST is one of my favorites and that is from Shadowlands. Link to the OST if you want a sampling of music, and how the fight looks like.
Imagine if WoW incorporated music on their boss fights? I think N’Zoth fights could be 10 times better with just having an amazing soundtrack to it.
The FFXIV is alot less toxic than WoW’s and is more welcoming in showing new players around and is more friendly.
But overall I enjoy both games and I will always be playing FFXIV just to keep up with the story or when I am burnt out from WoW.
Why? Probably because it doesn’t use excessive amounts of rng to obfuscate extremely shallow gameplay so as to keep you subbed without realising how you’re being diddled.
Yeah this…there is, and i know this is a really weird concept for a lot of people not seen since the days of cata, but there is Linear character progression
