FFXIV: A Realm Reborn (PC) - A Free Trial is FINALLY Available

By PGHammer
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Grand Master

PGHammer

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Apparently, Square Enix finally feels brave enough about Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn to actually offer free trials (14 days, and capped at level 20).  Arguably, this was the second-messiest MMORPG launch ever (second only to The Matrix Online), and actually required a reboot to get right.  Despite the mess, S-E stuck with a traditional MMO pricing model, as opposed to going F2P or pay-once.  However, they finally feel brave enough to offer a free trial to the masses - those are officially available as of today.  I'm downloading it as I type this, so I'll be offering my impressions of the trial later in the thread.

 

Has anyone ELSE jumped into this trial, and what do YOU think?

 

Mentor

Grinch

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I played it with the launch of A Realm Reborn and felt after the main story was completely there wasn't really anything to do. The side quests felt subpar. Haven't played it since then so maybe it is better. Though from what I gather both FFXIV:ARR and TESO suffer from subpar gameplay and story content.

Grand Master

PGHammer

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I played it with the launch of A Realm Reborn and felt after the main story was completely there wasn't really anything to do. The side quests felt subpar. Haven't played it since then so maybe it is better. Though from what I gather both FFXIV:ARR and TESO suffer from subpar gameplay and story content.

ESO definitely had their share of QA/QC problems even during the beta.  When FFXIV originally launched, I had hardware too weak to play the game (I was still running a Celeron Dual-Core E1200 at that time)..  Also, I DO have MMOs to compare it against (specifically, Everquest II in the same genre).  While EQ II (or even Landmark) is not THAT graphically exciting, FFXIV is supposed to be.

 

Therefore, I'm curious as to how it stacks up - compared to both EQ II, and the trailers for FFXIV: ARR itself.  (Basically, do the trailers tell the truth about the graphics?  All too often, they lie like Pinnochio the Politician.)

Grand Master

PGHammer

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I might check this one out. I just need to know a few things has anyone done crafting on this MMO. I need to know what its like. I am big on crafting. I just need to know if its similar to Aion, ESO, Rift or Tera's crafting system.

No crafting yet - however, there IS a craft system.  (I haven't explored it yet, because I've just gotten to level two and I'm more a Smarter Barbarian from the Highlands.)  However, even Barbarians need to get "crafty", as any RIFT player will tell you.  Also, FFXIV is closer to Rift graphically than ESO (thank goodness), and the trailers actually DO match up to the in-game graphics.  Fighting-system wise, it's closer to Guild Wars (the original) - which is a good thing; anyone that has played Guild Wars (or RIFT, which uses a similar system), will pick this up easily.

 

I'm playing at 1680x1050 firewalled, and it's smoother than "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter", and this is on Dead Hardware (Q6600, 4 GB, GTX550Ti).  How well will it run when I move to current hardware?

Grand Master

dead.cell

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FFXIV is a great game, I just don't have friends to play with much anymore. Considering I only have time on the weekends to really dig into games, I just don't have the time for MMOs anymore, but XIV is definitely not a bad pick. ESO and Wildstar though, I'd be a bit more wary on.

 

Give it a try though, it's absolutely worth it. Fantastic graphics, fantastic character customization, great polished controls and combat, established community and lore with a history that doesn't feel like it was drawn up on a napkin. (that's how Rift felt to me for example, faction-wise)

 

I may just try to jump in again now that I'm thinking on it...

Grand Master

spacer

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I might check this one out. I just need to know a few things has anyone done crafting on this MMO. I need to know what its like. I am big on crafting. I just need to know if its similar to Aion, ESO, Rift or Tera's crafting system.

ARR has my favorite crafting system out of any MMO I've ever played.

Grand Master

+Anarkii Subscriber²

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ARR is now one of the best MMOs out there. It feels more up to date then WoW and when you do hit level 50, the raids are amazing. Especially when you are challenged with Hard Mode and Extreme versions. I would highly recommend at least trying the game out. It is pretty boring even at level 20, but once you hit the higher levels, the game is highly addictive :) 

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