I see a lot of discussion about XIV going on right now, and I wanted to make this a space to do my best to answer any of your questions.
I’ve been subscribed to XIV since release and it more or less replaced WoW for me after Legion ended.
The two games are very similar on paper but have a wealth of differences, so if you’re thinking of playing then I will answer your questions honestly without trying to come off as a shill for the game.
I do NOT think XIV is a perfect MMO like some people seem to be doing on reddit, but it’s arguably the best option for me personally.
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How about posting this in the correct spot? GD is about WoW talk not some other mmo.
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Ehh… why not…
I’m waiting to finish out the full story and cap my main class (job) before switching and leveling others up…
For Bard… what do I have to do to get a musical instrument, and is playing said instrument difficult? Do I just set up notes and it plays? Can I have it play an Orchestrion roll? Do I have to push a button for each note played?
Why is every endgame raid just safety dance fights? I’m bad at memorization.
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There’s just a small side quest, and then you’ll have access to a pretty decent range of instrument options for your playing needs.
Depends on what one considers difficult. Some people use macros or MIDI to play the instruments, some people play by hand, some plug in a keyboard. There are options in this area, thankfully.
You can set up a macro, yeah, or you can play manually; either works.
I don’t believe so, though you can undoubtedly find a macro to play a line of one instrument from the song on the roll.
Typically, yes.
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Just wondering if vision problems that keep me from any cutting edge WoW content (current dungeons, raids, Mythics etc) would also prevent me from enjoying FFXIV. I have basically stopped playing WoW of late because I had hoped to do fun content for myself like solo running Legion raids for mounts & things (NO LEGACY buff for Legion ), archaeology (gone), etc. I do ok with open world pve things only & WoW is not fun for me any more unless I view it only as a grind or daily job full of “leet” things I cannot do.
I paid for just one month to get flight, which I did, & am just waiting for paid time to run out.
So is a casual solo player going to thrive in FFXIV or is it also necessary to be able to do top level group content?
Also thank you for offering to answer questions 
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Why does FF only make 1 or 2 Ultimate fights in an entire expansion?
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FF is far more casual friendly than WoW (imo at least) so yeah you should be fine. you have to run dungeons and boss fights in order to progress in the main story (which is required), but they’re much more laid back than WoW and most of the mechanics get reused here and there. if youre worried just watch a video before you jump into one but there’s nothing really difficult if you don’t plan on doing the cutting edge content they offer
This is an honest post: I can’t figure out how to download and play the game. Well, i downloaded it, installed it, but cant successfully setup an account to play.
Seriously I have tried four separate times to get verified with Sqaure-enix and the steps they put me through is insane. I have bought FF14 2 times to 2 separate email addresses WHILE LOGGED IN, and still cant get verification emails sent, the accounts show no record (though my CC statement sure does).
So I gave up… four times!
Unfortunately dungeons, raids, and trials (mini raid) are all mandatory to progress the main story.
And there are quite a few of them. Maybe 1 every other level or so.
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I have a question: Why are you posting this here and not at the Square Enix forums?
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Why are you saying static? Why are you not saying “my guild does savage”
In wow, the content is too hard to not have a very tight-knit guild that’s constantly adding strength and removing the weak links
are guilds(free companies) not required to progress through a savage?
It’s a red flag if that’s the case. And despite what anyone in this thread tells you, there’s only 1 thing people care about when comparing the two: who’s endgame is harder? Needing a guild of people you’ve known for years, over a static group that’s thrown together before a new tier comes out, is a point for WoW
I will have more questions. Please don’t take my attitude as dismissal for ff14. I love ff14s lore, but I cannot go through a game I have a passion for unless I’m doing the hardest content
I have done, up to this point, 1 endgame encounter(min ilvl/no echo). Extreme Garuda 
It was fun. Was a pug tho
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static just means raid group, the people don’t necessarily have to all be in the same FC to raid together weekly
sorry don’t mean to take OP’s thunder but since they’re not actively answering i’ll do it 
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FCs are social groups, statics are usually maintained via Linkshells and are raid groups. The biggest difference in difficulty is just tuning, the topic of “which is harder” keeps coming up, and I think it’s kind of irrelevant because there’s enough differences that makes it an apples to oranges comparison. I can go into more detail, but I’ll just put the biggest one here:
FF14 raids are tuned for “min ilvl” while WoW raids are tuned with the expectation that you’ll gear up through the tier a bit, and that’s probably where the gap in world first times mainly comes from. They had WoW-like tuning in FF14 for one tier and they ended up apologizing for it because a large number of players transferred looking for raid groups and a lot of players just gave up raiding that tier because the last 2 bosses just weren’t attainable for them and the relic weapon was the same ilvl as the one from the last boss.
Thank you for this. I think I will pass on FF. I do love story & questing, but I do all the solo things at my own pace as my vision allows. I tend to get lost in groups & hold them back.
Thanks
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Thanks for the information and your kindness in answering questions. I wish the dungeons were not required to play through the story, but it is probably fun for most others
FFXIV doesn’t have supported addons. So, instead of relying on DBM to yell at you and relying on timers, you rely on graphical warnings.
I just think of it as a built-in DBM. Both games have incredibly challenging content.
Because they do not solely develop endgame raid content. For good or for ill, they have other priorities.
I’ve done FFXIV raids, it was all rote memorization. There is no reaction, you’re in the right spot or you’re not. WoW raiding is reactionary, FFXIV was predictive. Or memorization.
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I wouldn’t be so hasty - the group content required by the story is never difficult. And groups are incredibly understanding (outside of a few extremely uncommon examples that everyone seems to be quick to point out) of new players.
But honestly… I’ve dragged a few sprouts (new players) through content that they spent 90% of their time dead (even after explaining the content). No skin off my back - the content is almost easy enough to do solo, if you know what you’re doing.
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