Totally new to site, not even in-game yet (questions included)

[Leencat]

Hello everyone,

 

First, I should state that I have not even purchased Final Fantasy XIV: ARR yet. I intend to in a few days (when I get a day off from work to get it, as the website is not allowing me to purchase a digital copy at the moment). I have never played a Final Fantasy MMO before, but I am familiar with several games in the series.

 

I'm not even sure what type of character I'd like to play, but I'm pretty sure I'll play on Gilgamesh, both because I know it has role-players and a good friend has a character there.

 

I get to be pretty shy about role-play, but I'm really open-minded; the only thing I won't ever do is erotic role-play. I prefer playing good-aligned characters, especially ranger types, paladin types, and mages. I usually stick to one, maybe two, characters.

 

Some questions I have:

- Is the lore and general story of the game fairly easy to learn? Is the story and lore presented coherently and logically, such that I won't feel overwhelmed by small details or feel like I need to research every other thing? (I'll try to clarify if that doesn't make sense.)

- Do the mechanics of the game compare to the mechanics of other newer games? (Basically, does the game offer me more than point-and-click mechanics?)

- What are some of this game's very unique features in your opinions and/or what makes it worth its monthly fee?

- My friend told me that this game offers a lot of PvE. Can several of you confirm this? I don't care much for PvP and prefer to have plentiful PvE, lest I get bored quickly.

- For anyone with very good knowledge of computer hardware, would you be able to tell me if my computer (the exact model detailed here) will handle the game at least on low settings? (I'm not getting my new video card or power supply for a few more months yet, but I know that the video card really needs a replacement. Extra points if you can recommend a video card and/or affordable power supply that you can confirm would work with my compute and fit in it that would make a significant difference. If it helps, it handled Guild Wars 2 on low settings with a few medium settings.)

 

I think that's it. Thank you to anyone who reads all of this and/or takes the time to reply. I'm hopefully looking forward to seeing a lot of you in-game very soon.

[IncubusManatee]

Welcome to the game/group on here, Leen!

 

To answer some of your questions:

 

1: The lore is rather simple and easy to pick up so far, I am new as well to it and have begun figuring it out.

 

2: It's a tab-target MMO at heart, with some variations. Some dodging occurs during combat as to avoid AoE/Cone attacks, and also position on enemies is important for some classes to maximize their effectiveness. The game boasts a rather fun "Fate" system akin to Rift's portals. Really indepth Gathering and Creation system. Classes wholly devoted to just THAT altogether. 

 

So you could say it does compare, and is rather polished!

 

I only have some minor disputes with the Chat UI

 

3: Unique features. Hmmmmm. The crafting systems I can fall back on-as it's like having an entirely different game to play when equipped for Botany/Mining. And for the crafting classes. Limit Break's in instances are awesome. Team Mechanics like that always have enthralled me. I enjoy the ease of leveling and the ability to mix several different classes skills together. And be able to switch classes at any time to just try something new without re-rolling. 

 

Can I also say "Pretty Skyboxes?"

 

Combat does feel much more lively then the regular MMO. Only one which I would say is more active "Combat"-wise is TERA.

 

The Levey system is also a lot of fun.

 

 

4: Yes it does offer quite a bit of PvE. And it's bound to increase the amount of it available to us in the near future. If you space out your PvE with RP, it should last you quite a long time.

 

5: Yes, it should be able to run quite well on Low Settings. Maybe even on Medium as well. If you can handle GW2 on low, then you can handle this easily enough. Well, atleast you -Should- be able to handle it with your box. Also, if you are on a budget-check out NewEgg when Black Friday rolls around. You can get some top-rated gear for your rig that way at low prices. Or even buy a really good one for 50-70% off when Black Friday get's here.

[Swift Nightclaw]

(Curses, foiled by that aquatic mammal, the manatee!)

 

Welcome, Leencat!  Let me be the first (second...manateeeee! *shakes fist*) to welcome you theoretically to Gilgamesh (and I'll officially welcome you when you buy the game and join us!).

 

I'll try to answer some questions!

 

1.  Is the lore and general story of the game fairly easy to learn? Is the story and lore presented coherently and logically, such that I won't feel overwhelmed by small details or feel like I need to research every other thing? (I'll try to clarify if that doesn't make sense.)

 

Well, yes and no.  There's not a wiki quite as robust as, say Wowpedia for WoW, but there are sources out there that are ever growing and of course there are plenty of helpful people on these forums happy to answer questions.  That said, the only lore knowledge I had of Eorzea was basically watching the End of an Era video (which is also the opening cinematic for A Realm Reborn).  But you start the game as a traveler arriving in Eorzea's city states (1 of 3), so it's actually really easy to have little to no lore knowledge because you can simply not be from around there.  The main story is easy to follow and explains things and helps catch you up on prior events rather well in my opinion, though.

 

Of course, there are plenty of little details to pour over and learn as you explore the game and ask questions.

 

 

2. Do the mechanics of the game compare to the mechanics of other newer games? (Basically, does the game offer me more than point-and-click mechanics?)

It's not doing anything tremendously new in this area.  If you've played WoW, you pretty much have a basic grasp of the overall feel of the UI.  Target enemies, use abilities.  However, the things they've taken from other games are put together beautifully in a smooth way.  There are still a few things that some would argue could be streamlined for quality of life (like clicking items from inventory to put in a window to "hand over" to an NPC), but I love them. They had a tiny bit of "believable feel" to me.

 

3. What are some of this game's very unique features in your opinions and/or what makes it worth its monthly fee?

Imagine WoW, GW2, etc, etc.  Imagine getting abilities and leveling up and end game.  Now imagine that ladder climb applied to crafting.  Crafting has its own jobs and abilities and mini-game to make items of varying quality.  It's also designed to be extremely difficult to be totally self sufficient so there is co-dependence among the crafting professions.

 

I'm only level 17 on my highest adventuring job (pugilist) but I am really enjoying the game.  There's not a lot brand new to me yet, but I would argue it's worth the monthly fee for the same reason WoW was at launch. "It takes all the good things about other MMOs on the market, polishes them, and puts them in a well made bundle."

 

The key thing it does better than others is the story.  FFXI was fantastic on main story presentation, and ARR is right there.  I find myself annoyed that I'm waiting on friends to catch up because I don't care about leveling, doing other jobs, unlocking classes, or getting gear.....I want to see the next part of the story.  But even when I get to max level and see the main storyline through, there's so much to do still.

 

4. My friend told me that this game offers a lot of PvE. Can several of you confirm this? I don't care much for PvP and prefer to have plentiful PvE, lest I get bored quickly.

There is definitely a lot of PvE options.  FATEs are sort of like GW2 dynamic events. There are dungeons and raids. Leves are sort of like daily quests in a way.  And bear in mind that one character can access every job.  I started as a pugilist (fist fighter), but I'm also level 3 archer, gladiator, and conjurer. I've also gotten to about level 6 as a cook, tailor, leatherworker. I've heard fishing is actually addictive as well.  And then getting combinations like pugilist/lancer unlocks classes like monk (others are dragoon, paladin, etc).  It feels like there's a lot to do. At the very least enough to make the purchase and a few months subscription worth it.

 

5. For anyone with very good knowledge of computer hardware, would you be able to tell me if my computer (the exact model detailed here) will handle the game at least on low settings? (I'm not getting my new video card or power supply for a few more months yet, but I know that the video card really needs a replacement. Extra points if you can recommend a video card and/or affordable power supply that you can confirm would work with my compute and fit in it that would make a significant difference. If it helps, it handled Guild Wars 2 on low settings with a few medium settings.)

 

I'm sure someone can link the benchmark, which will let you see how your PC will run.  If they don't, I'll link it from home tonight! I agree with manatee, I think you might be okay on standard settings. Your video card is better than mine and I can play on standard/high settings just fine. You only have a little less processor and RAM power than me.

[YesGood]

- Is the lore and general story of the game fairly easy to learn? Is the story and lore presented coherently and logically, such that I won't feel overwhelmed by small details or feel like I need to research every other thing? (I'll try to clarify if that doesn't make sense.)

 

You'll learn a lot of the lore through the story quest, but there's not too much to learn. I recommend focusing on: 

 

  1. The Calamity

  2. The City-states and Grand Companies

  3. The Twelve

  4. The Primals

  5. The classes and class-origins

 

- Do the mechanics of the game compare to the mechanics of other newer games? (Basically, does the game offer me more than point-and-click mechanics?)

 

 It's fairly simple and clean. Much like WoW, not so much like, say, GW2.

 

- What are some of this game's very unique features in your opinions and/or what makes it worth its monthly fee?

 

 Besides the fact that it's an absolutely beautiful game and the gameplay's smooth, I personally enjoy the depth of the RP community. I have to say it plays a really big role in the game I want to play and I just haven't be able to feel at home in F2P game communities. Not sure if there's a correlation there, probably not-- but the story line is great also, the classes and multiple job system is very unique, and I like how dedicated SE is to making this game work.

 

- My friend told me that this game offers a lot of PvE. Can several of you confirm this? I don't care much for PvP and prefer to have plentiful PvE, lest I get bored quickly.

 

 PVE is pretty much 90% of the game, so far. At least to me. They've yet to even put in the PVP area and it will be 4v4+, not 1v1. There's no world PVP and no factions so you won't have to worry about being merc'd while leveling.

[Leencat]

Thanks so much, everyone! Now I look forward to being able to purchase a digital copy and join in! Final Fantasy always has such beautiful worlds, and I can't resist the idea of roaming around on an armor-clad chocobo, and already I'm really interested in the Miqo'te.

[Duhbine]

Well seeing as all your points have been answered, not need to answer but just say. Welcome to the site, and hopefully to the game when they reopen sales of the digital copy. Final Fantasy has always been a great game, story wise and well its just very beautiful worlds they create and such detail goes into it..

[Leencat]

I'm officially in-game now on Gilgamesh with a Miqo'te named N'arysha Eshir. I'm clueless right now, but if anyone wants to look me up, feel free! I've barely even considered my character's concept, as I'm still learning everything, but her class is Arcanist.