I just renewed after quitting soon wow after SL launch. Went exclusively to FF14 after 8 years of playing both at the same time. I thought I would note some of the reasons I feel make FF14 more casual friendly than wow in hopes wow can improve.
The first thing I do after returning (and what most returners do who have been playing often since a long time) is buy the best reasonably priced BOE gear (profession crafted most of the time) from the auction house. Obviously this is not an option most of the time for new players/boosted players.
This is the first thing that FF14 does better than WoW. The item level of wow boe crafted gear for the most part is a joke. In comparison FF14 boe crafted gear is 1 tier below raiding gear level (heroic gear in wow). Gearing is a massive part of mmos but I feel most casuals and and new players never make to obtaining decent gear in wow before they quit. If decent gear in Wow is obtainable for casuals its almost always 100% rng based or time gated.
The second thing FF14 does better than wow is the use of non rng based currency. Ironically FF14 pretty much uses Wraths currency model. In ff14 your base currency (Wraths justice badge equivalent) is received by doing almost all queued content. This lets you purchased lfr quality gear that could be farmed in 1 day if you wanted to. On top of this is a more valuable currency (valour badge equivalent) that is obtained by doing the once a day queued dailies (like wraths daily heroic). This gear is Heroic level quality but is obtained much slower then what raider would obtain it by. Eventually after months of logging in doing your dailies, this gear can be obtained with out buying boes or rng.
The third thing FF14 does better than WoW is it doesnât make everything about fast times or get it over as soon as possible. This is pretty straight forward. This kind of game play is awful for new and returning players who might not know the instances best path,mechanics, mob skips, ect. Never mind the people who want to enjoy the story and scenery. This is especially hard for new and returning tanks who are expected to know everything which can be overwhelming, even for veterans.
The fourth thing Wow lacks is mentors or community leaders. This is also straight forward. FF14 has designated players called âmentorsâ who are willing to help and advise new or returning characters. In ff14 they even have their own channel and are marked with crowns beside their names so you know who these people are. The WoW equivalent is a leveling guild. These can be very hit or miss. Some wow classic servers had people and guilds with similar rolls to these âMentorsâ Its easy to see how they improve the community and game experience for all players.
Last point is probably to most obvious. Its the communities attitude towards new and returning players. All the points above contribute. Even veteran players have a problem with how toxic this community can be. Being vote kicked can be devastating to some people, especially if your trying your best. This often happens in even the most casual content in WoW to many new, casual and returning players. Obvious vote kick is needed now and then. IMO it should be used to get rid of toxic players, DCâd players or trolls. Not beginners doing the best they can (This includes LFR). In FF14 I have been playing 10 years and have never been kicked from queued content. I can count on 1 hand how many times Ive seen beginner players mistreated or kicked in any content for lack of skill and knowledge in ff14. In WoW Ive seen this happen more time then I can count.
Wow needs to make it so being kind and helpful to new and returning isnât so unappealing as it is now (pretty much a waste of time). FF14 has a commendation system where people who are helpful, polite and leaders or are rewarded in pugged content. Often times evens the sprouts (beginners) are rewarded for doing their best. Swtor veterans might remember something similar in pugged PVP. Being Toxic, rude and putting people down should be discouraged, especially personal ridiculing and insults to all players doing their best and just trying to have a good time.
TBH I donât expect anybody to respond or even read this. I just thought I would put my 2 cents in before my account expires. Sorry for my bad grammar if you did read this. Hope all of your have fun in Azeroth and beyond!.
If you actually want anyone to read this post you need to space your text out instead of posting it in a massive text wall. But some margins between those list points, and make paragraph breaks.
As it is currently 95% of people arenât going to waste even 5 seconds reading that.
As a Guide, I usually recommend new players to avoid the AH when leveling, gear changes so fast, itâs a waste of gold and energy. I tell new players, use it to offload greens and blues for gold. It might not be much but they wonât be struggling as hard at later levels.
As for âboostedâ players, they chose to skip ahead of the line, canât help them. If they had the gold to buy a boost, they have enough gold to equip themselves off AH or pay for runs.
I often wonder what people mean when they say âcasualâ in this context. You can run nothing more difficult than a M+5 and easily wind up with 226 gear âcasually.â
People make a big fuss about the timer in M+, but ever since the change from timed criteria for achievements/upgrades to the rating system, I donât think Iâve ever once stressed the timer. If you miss it, who cares, you can always just run another right awayâŠand youâll still at least get valor/anima even if you arenât lucky enough to get a piece of gear.
I canât even remember the last time I was in a group that vote-kicked someone for anything other than disconnecting or being afk for half the dungeonâŠ
Iâm an extremely casual player and I never understood what was wrong with gearing in WoW for us. I donât expect raiding gear to complete WQ or to participate in LFD or LFR.
Sounds like you want to play FF14 instead of WoW, OP. Which is fine, itâs a well reviewed game with a game director who seems passionate about the project.
ButâŠWoW is about as casual as it gets these days. You can literally buy legendaries now. Leveling 1-60 can be done in a day if youâre dedicated. If anything, WoW needs to âDe-Casualizeâ, focus on creating engaging content, and start stamping out the âlog in, get lootâ mentality which has been pervasive for the past few expansions.
Sorry for not making it more clear. Iâm talking about LFR, Daily heroic and especially levelling dungeons (and maybe mythicâs (0-5) I donât think people who are good at the game and been playing along time know how intimidating it is for new and returning players to do something as hard as a mythic 0, or even queuing for a dungeon. Especially when you have no friends to help you or you might be started the expansion late.
