Current Events > Regarding Final Fantasy XIV: ARR and the "Play 50 hours" Promise

(+) Yeah! (+)

I, like many people recently, have quit playing World of Warcraft actively. I still play TBC: Classic two nights a week just for my guild's sake, since I'm the raid organizer, but my time on the retail game is completely over. Naturally, I needed a new MMO. Everybody was talking about FFXIV, raving about its story, its casual-friendly systems, etc. etc. So, of course I decided to try it.

One thing I've seen said a lot online, though, is that "The first ~50 hours are pretty dull, and it might not grab you right away, but stick with it. Once it picks up, it really picks up."

That sounds crazy, right? I thought it was a pretty absurd entry barrier, but honestly, once I started playing, I didn't really feel bored from the jump. The quests were fairly basic, and the early plots were standard fantasy fare (I was an Archer/Bard, so that was my class quest chain). Still, it felt more sincere and heartfelt than World of Warcraft has been since around the WotLK days.

Over time, I started to like characters in the story. They got to breathe, and speak, and interact, and really develop a personal relationship to the character. The slow drip of mysteries and escalating stakes had me curious. Reveals and twists happened at a healthy-but-gradual pace...I felt like I was playing an actual Final Fantasy game in a lot of ways, which is exactly what I was hoping for.

But then...Let's preface this and say that I don't know exactly what people are referring to when they say "Play 50 hours," be it one specific event, a new arc of the story, or just a general time investment, but for me, my "click" moment was when this track played (Spoilers for the name and appearance of a character, and the ensuing boss fight, but no plot details):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMBZEHSPyxM

In the course of that cutscene, that boss fight, and what happened right after...I felt it. I felt the hype. I felt the investment. Since then, I've played to the end of the first stretch of the MSQ and seen the credits roll for the first time.

That shit. Fucking. Slapped. I love this fucking game. I've been told it only gets better from here, and honestly this is a form of excitement I haven't felt about a game in years. I think the last time I was this hyped was when Devil May Cry 5 was announced.

Doesn't matter how good it gets however many hours in; that classic MMO style of gameplay is for the birds

Glad y'all like it though

the problem with ARR is that it's almost an epilogue to 1.0 and it's frontloaded with a lot of world building to show what the world is now like after the events in 1.0. The actual story doesn't really start until after you've been to all the areas and engaged with the locals, roughly 40 levels in.

So it's like 80% frontloaded world building, and then finally the story kicks in.

SSJKirby posted...

the problem with ARR is that it's almost an epilogue to 1.0 and it's frontloaded with a lot of world building to show what the world is now like after the events in 1.0. The actual story doesn't really start until after you've been to all the areas and engaged with the locals, roughly 40 levels in.

So it's like 80% frontloaded world building, and then finally the story kicks in.

I definitely felt that. I knew a little bit about the development history of the game, how it came out, wasn't great, and had a big grand finale before a complete rework from the ground up, which as I understand it, became the 1-50 story I just played. As someone who didn't play the original version, I appreciated all the backstory, flashbacks, and general exposition. By the time I got to the climax of this 'arc,' I felt properly invested in everything going on, though maybe not quite as much as somebody who played the previous version of the game might have.

Smackems posted...

Doesn't matter how good it gets however many hours in; that classic MMO style of gameplay is for the birds

Glad y'all like it though

I think for me it was a nostalgia thing. I played FFXI way back in the day, then got into WoW right before BC released and played through WotLK.

Pretty much stayed away from MMOs for over a decade at that point. I liked FF, but was hesitant to playing FFXIV since I did try it out briefly when ARR first launched (very briefly).

And I kind of enjoyed the "mindless" gameplay and it really is true that the story does increasingly grip you. Once I got to Heavensward content I was thoroughly gripped and I'm basically committed to playing through the story.

Overall, despite being an MMO. It feels like a pseudo-multiplayer FF first and MMO second. It really has super casual mechanics and a lot of quality of life things that make being able to progress through the story with minimal social interaction, but still getting that cooperative gameplay itch scratched. Overall really impressed with the game. TC you're in for a treat once you get to HW content.

It's so horrendously bad that you have to do the entire msq, and all the quest lines from all of the patches they have ever released if you wanna do current raiding content.

I too, as a former CE raider from retail wow, can see the vast potential this game has to totally consume my life, but at some point they gotta ease up on this do the entire storyline thing to get caught up.

I get that they are proud of their game (they should be). I get that ffxiv players take pride in the story actually being good. It's just way too high of a barrier of entry at this point. They should really do something like maybe only require ARR (not all the patches either, just 2.0), and then Endwalker and you're done. If you want to do all the expacs, you get a special mount or something for doing it. That way, people who are already invested would still do it, and you wouldn't be making people wait a year to join your game.

I started the slog in March of last year and I'm like halfway there. It's totally too much. Not everyone is a wow degenerate like I have been for a decade. I have to imagine most new players quit from fetch quest boredom.

Never heard of the "play 50 hours" thing, only the "free trial up to lv60" meme.

But yeah, ARR is kinda slow, but I never found myself bored at all. The way it immerses you in the world and has the plot slowly trickle out for you as you explore and get accustomed to the world felt really natural to me. I was always looking forward to exploring each new area, learning about the characters and what was going on.

And of course, the music fuckin slaps.

Basically, if you enjoyed ARR, you're definitely going to enjoy everything that comes after. There's some great stuff later on down the line -- and not only great in a FF sense, but for storytelling and games in general.

nexigrams posted...

It's so horrendously bad that you have to do the entire msq, and all the quest lines from all of the patches they have ever released if you wanna do current raiding content.

I too, as a former CE raider from retail wow, can see the vast potential this game has to totally consume my life, but at some point they gotta ease up on this do the entire storyline thing to get caught up.

I get that they are proud of their game (they should be). I get that ffxiv players take pride in the story actually being good. It's just way too high of a barrier of entry at this point. They should really do something like maybe only require ARR (not all the patches either, just 2.0), and then Endwalker and you're done. If you want to do all the expacs, you get a special mount or something for doing it. That way, people who are already invested would still do it, and you wouldn't be making people wait a year to join your game.

I started the slog in March of last year and I'm like halfway there. It's totally too much. Not everyone is a wow degenerate like I have been for a decade. I have to imagine most new players quit from fetch quest boredom.

You know they offer store options to skip the content. Yeah, it costs money, but not that much tbh

Gobstoppers12 posted...

I, like many people recently, have quit playing World of Warcraft actively. I still play TBC: Classic two nights a week just for my guild's sake, since I'm the raid organizer, but my time on the retail game is completely over. Naturally, I needed a new MMO. Everybody was talking about FFXIV, raving about its story, its casual-friendly systems, etc. etc. So, of course I decided to try it.

One thing I've seen said a lot online, though, is that "The first ~50 hours are pretty dull, and it might not grab you right away, but stick with it. Once it picks up, it really picks up."

That sounds crazy, right? I thought it was a pretty absurd entry barrier, but honestly, once I started playing, I didn't really feel bored from the jump. The quests were fairly basic, and the early plots were standard fantasy fare (I was an Archer/Bard, so that was my class quest chain). Still, it felt more sincere and heartfelt than World of Warcraft has been since around the WotLK days.

Over time, I started to like characters in the story. They got to breathe, and speak, and interact, and really develop a personal relationship to the character. The slow drip of mysteries and escalating stakes had me curious. Reveals and twists happened at a healthy-but-gradual pace...I felt like I was playing an actual Final Fantasy game in a lot of ways, which is exactly what I was hoping for.

But then...Let's preface this and say that I don't know exactly what people are referring to when they say "Play 50 hours," be it one specific event, a new arc of the story, or just a general time investment, but for me, my "click" moment was when this track played (Spoilers for the name and appearance of a character, and the ensuing boss fight, but no plot details):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMBZEHSPyxM

In the course of that cutscene, that boss fight, and what happened right after...I felt it. I felt the hype. I felt the investment. Since then, I've played to the end of the first stretch of the MSQ and seen the credits roll for the first time.

That shit. Fucking. Slapped. I love this fucking game. I've been told it only gets better from here, and honestly this is a form of excitement I haven't felt about a game in years. I think the last time I was this hyped was when Devil May Cry 5 was announced.

I get you where you're coming from. I just paced naturally and chilled throughout my journey. What if I told you it gets EVEN MORE BETTER?!? Haven't started Shadowbringers past the title drop but holy shit, you're in for SO MANY more treats along the way. Again, I haven't even started Shadowbringers yet which everyone had crowned as a all-timer by the time I started last year.

Rharyx211 posted...

Basically, if you enjoyed ARR, you're definitely going to enjoy everything that comes after. There's some great stuff later on down the line -- and not only great in a FF sense, but for storytelling and games in general.

This is the kind of promise that really tickles me. Like, I can't overstate how much I enjoyed the last section of the 1-50 stuff. I liked it the whole time. I found myself reading the text of every quest I did. I never skipped cutscenes or felt like my time was being wasted.

But then Garuda was revealed, and that was when I saw the true potential of this game. Ifrit and Titan were cool, and all, but holy shit the entrance Garuda made. The music, the slow unfurling of seraphic harpy wings, the focus on every aspect of her physical form. The build-up to the fight starting was the height of intensity.

Then my group wiped horribly on the first attempt because we let her destroy too many rocks before her huge AoE blast. We learned, tried again, and got her down...and that felt amazing.

But then that cutscene afterward. The reveal of the Ultima Weapon. The badassery of that scene hit me like a truck and I was so. fucking. in.

nexigrams posted...

It's so horrendously bad that you have to do the entire msq, and all the quest lines from all of the patches they have ever released if you wanna do current raiding content.

I think it helps the world, honestly. One of the big issues with a game like WoW now is that the previous story is basically swept under the rug. You basically can't level naturally through the plot of the world because the chromietime feature automatically kicks you out as soon as you hit 50... and there's no reason for it to do that.

If the alternative is to require you to complete the full MSQ to unlock the content, I think that's a good thing. You only really have to do it once, thanks to the feature that lets you play every class on the same character, anyhow. I think the MSQ goes a long way in making sure that players are invested in the world and the story and don't just treat the whole game like a soulless grind.

Gobstoppers12 posted...

In the course of that cutscene, that boss fight, and what happened right after...I felt it. I felt the hype. I felt the investment. Since then, I've played to the end of the first stretch of the MSQ and seen the credits roll for the first time.

That shit. Fucking. Slapped. I love this fucking game. I've been told it only gets better from here, and honestly this is a form of excitement I haven't felt about a game in years. I think the last time I was this hyped was when Devil May Cry 5 was announced.

I just want to point out that if you're enjoying the game this much, at this point, you're in for a real treat, because ARR is universally considered the lowest point by far, with Heavensward in particular taking a very, very significant jump in quality that just keeps increasing from that point forward. The current and previous expansion are often heralded as one of the greatest FFs of all time even.

I played for 200 hours, it never got better

The major story beats in shadowbringer and endwalker would not have hit nearly as hard if the game let players leapfrog the story like wow does. Saying there needs to be a way to skip the story is like complaining that Stephen King novels are too long and needs a cliff notes version that summarizes the first 400 pages in a bulleted list so you can enjoy the ending.

14 is an mmo, but it is first and foremost a final fantasy. You're playing it for the story and the MMO aspects are an added bonus to let you stay in the world.

The "play 50 hours" thing should just be "get to Heavensward".

nexigrams posted...

It's so horrendously bad that you have to do the entire msq, and all the quest lines from all of the patches they have ever released if you wanna do current raiding content.

Thats only one way of looking at it. Again, its a raiders perspective who doesn't even make up a quarter of the fanbase. The amount of people who care more about the story totally trumps what raiders want.

Like what others said, you can boost. But boosting in such a heavily story narrative driven game is questionable. Its best for people to find another game that has raiding content in it if thats all they care about.

Yes, FFXIV's raids are amazing and challenging, but if someone doesn't want to go through the story and other content, or doesn't enjoy story driven games, then try another game out. This is in the end, a Final Fantasy game first and foremost.

Caelthus posted...

I just want to point out that if you're enjoying the game this much, at this point, you're in for a real treat, because ARR is universally considered the lowest point by far, with Heavensward in particular taking a very, very significant jump in quality that just keeps increasing from that point forward. The current and previous expansion are often heralded as one of the greatest FFs of all time even.

This makes me so happy every time somebody says it. It's like, the universal opinion, which gives me confidence that it's true.

I'm a very story-oriented gamer. I love games with good characters and a focus on narrative. I love to get invested in things unfolding. Honestly, I had a couple of moments in the first arc here where I got a little teary eyed.

One moment that stands out the most might not have been all that significant, but it's when the alliance is in front of the enemy gates, and the speeches are being given right before the final assault on Castrum Meridianum.

Just one particular line got me. I don't even think it was voice acted. It was something along the lines of..."You probably know him as the one leading the charge, but we know him differently. We know him as a dear friend who has endured untold hardship on our behalf."

Shit, man. What a way to make me feel the story in a personal way. Having Alphinaud speak up about how much my character means to he and the other Scions as a friend, and not just as 'the champion.'

That's what's at stake here, to me: not just NPCs who offer quests, but characters who I feel an actual connection to.

They really did get a lot of things right with this one. Maybe I'm just so used to playing WoW and being neglected that any sign of personal appreciation makes me emotional, but that little bit really struck a chord.

Gobstoppers12 posted...

This makes me so happy every time somebody says it. It's like, the universal opinion, which gives me confidence that it's true.

I'm a very story-oriented gamer. I love games with good characters and a focus on narrative. I love to get invested in things unfolding. Honestly, I had a couple of moments in the first arc here where I got a little teary eyed.

I don't want to oversell it, but if ARR is getting you teary eyed the later expansions will destroy you in the best possible ways.

s0nicfan posted...

I don't want to oversell it, but if ARR is getting you teary eyed the later expansions will destroy you in the best possible ways.

I'm all the way down for that. I made a topic a couple of weeks ago asking about games with a really, really strong story that lasts a long time over multiple 'arcs'

And I think this is actually the game I was looking for. It's exactly what I'm interested in.

Yep, I had the same experience. Same spot where it really clicked, too, although I did a fair amount of side quests that got me immersed a little more.

I'm probably done with it now that I finished the Endwalker MSQ unless I hear rumblings that catch my interest later. The MMO life just isn't for me. But 460ish hours well spent, and I was very satisfied. The last thing I did was apparently a Shadowbringers-arc side quest for Dark Knight, but it was, in my eyes, the perfect place for me to stop after the Endwalker MSQ.

Gobstoppers12 posted...

I'm all the way down for that. I made a topic a couple of weeks ago asking about games with a really, really strong story that lasts a long time over multiple 'arcs'

And I think this is actually the game I was looking for. It's exactly what I'm interested in.

Something I wish I had told myself when I first started playing: while being zoomed all the way out is great for boss fights and dungeons, try to consciously zoom way in when playing story content. At lower zooms the game takes a behind the back angle and it fundamentally changed how I experienced the zones I was running through.

s0nicfan posted...

try to consciously zoom way in when playing story content. At lower zooms the game takes a behind the back angle and it fundamentally changed how I experienced the zones I was running through.

This is very good advice. I'm gonna try to remember this.

s0nicfan posted...

I don't want to oversell it, but if ARR is getting you teary eyed the later expansions will destroy you in the best possible ways.

I'm usually super skeptical when I hear people praise something to high heaven, as was the case with Shadowbringers -- before I got into FF14, I thought people were just gassing it up, and just saying it to get more people to play.

But then I actually got to Shadowbringers, and I was like, "Oh... Oh, damn, this actually is that good." lmao

TC's in for a good ride. I'd say to make a "playthrough" topic (or just keep this one going), but topics here get purged too quickly for that.

Rharyx211 posted...

I'm usually super skeptical when I hear people praise something to high heaven, as was the case with Shadowbringers -- before I got into FF14, I thought people were just gassing it up, and just saying it to get more people to play.

But then I actually got to Shadowbringers, and I was like, "Oh... Oh, damn, this actually is that good." lmao

TC's in for a good ride. I'd say to make a "playthrough" topic (or just keep this one going), but topics here get purged too quickly for that.

I'll probably make a topic each time I finish an "arc". I'm kind of taking my time, letting it sink in, etc. I can tell I'm gonna enjoy this, though.

All the positivity in this topic is awesome, by the way. I like when people like things.

There's one moment post heavensward that will really make you feel like the hero the game says you are, the finale of 3.3

Been playing the game since early 2014 and I don't regret any time I've put into it.

Like everyone else has said, if you're loving what's happening now, you'll really enjoy what's to come.

That said, it does have its dips, mostly the pacing. Post-ARR is notorious for dragging on and definitely requires some level of patience.

Also I agree, watching Ultima Weapon roll every primal you've fought up until then was the hypest shit back then.

Ps2Twilight posted...

That said, it does have its dips, mostly the pacing. Post-ARR is notorious for dragging on and definitely requires some level of patience.

Even if it's a little slow for that stretch, I'm motivated. I have to get through that portion to unlock the class I really wanna play. Machinist has been calling out to me.

YEAH GUN
Gobstoppers12 posted...

Even if it's a little slow for that stretch, I'm motivated. I have to get through that portion to unlock the class I really wanna play. Machinist has been calling out to me.

SSJKirby posted...

YEAH GUN

To elaborate some, I picked an Archer at first because I've been playing a Hunter in WoW for over a decade, now. But, more than just a hunter, I played a hunter with the Engineering profession. Always preferred a gun over a bow, I love having devices and machinery at work, etc.

I've always wanted WoW to add a "tinkerer" class to the game, but since they won't, it sure seems like FFXIV already has one. Can't wait to try it out, honestly.

Just a heads up MCH is braindead to play but very satisfying

SSJKirby posted...

Just a heads up MCH is braindead to play but very satisfying

Is somebody calling my name?

Also, to note that only the HW classes (Dark Knight, Machinist, and Astrologian) are story locked behind the (very beginning of the) Heavensward MSQ. The stormblood+ classes are all immediately available upon completing the 2.0 MSQ (not the patch content), and reaching the appropriate level.