So Final Fantasy XIV is a subscription game. By design, the developers want us, the players, to take time achieving our goals. But also, and i like this side of the equation, they want us to have many goals to aim for. I’m really a lowlevel player, bein level 23 with my Arcanist, but i have so much stuff to do. The most annoying part, i have to confess, is travelling back and forth for the different quests. So here’s what i’m doing at the moment.
Get a chocobo
If i had one other problem with FFXIV, it would be the sometimes so very much apparent candy-cuteness, like with the “mounts” they use.
I guess it’s a matter of tastes, but i don’t really like riding around on a chicken. But there are other mounts available, as well, so i’ll see to that when i have gained access.
As with so many things in Final Fantasy XIV, you’ll have to unlock the ability to ride while doing story missions- after choosing your grand company, one of the first quests they’ll assign to you is to get a chocobo. You’ll need to get 2000 seals, though, to buy some writ from your grand company shop. 2000 seals doesn’t sound much, but it is. Or maybe it’s just because i’m so low level in everything. You can do different things to get these seals- i hear you could just do Fates, but what i’m doing is- i’ll get out to the first grand company levemete (?), get two duties, which are basically just-for-you-quests in the open world, each one good for maybe 250 seals.
Then i look at the crafting and gathering missions that grant seals. Right now, i’m able to accept one for every crafting and gathering job i began with my character, and while the crafting experience these missions grant are very good, i’ll only receive about 200 seals for doing three of these quests. So i’ve been doing that for the last 3 sessions in game.
Crafting
Which leads me to this: so i can take a mission for every crafting and gathering profession i have? Why didn’t i begin all of them in the first place? What i’m doing now is to get into every crafting guild the moment i encounter it. I mean, i’m interested in crafting, anyway, so where’s the harm, right?
Also, since you unlock the crafting professions while doing story missions, you are behind in your first choices. Basically, you’ll be level 12 or 13 when you are able to pick up crafting- and then you’ll have to play catch up. My highest crafting-related profession is the Botanist, and it’s level 19. So there is a slight problem in that i can’t craft very useful stuff for myself, because i lack crafting experience.
As i’m sure i’ll try out different classes at one time (Monk, Archer, Bard, for instance), i want to give the other professions at least a little headway. So i’m going to pick up all crafting-related classes in the next few days, because i’ll be in every capital anyway.
The Barber
And that’s because there’s a quest to unlock a barber shop in the game, where you can change pretty much everything appearance-wise, except race/gender, of course. This quest begins in Limsa Lominsa and sends me to all three capitals, and i’m not really sure it’s finished after that.
Storyline
Also, of course, i want to follow the story line to make these quests as high in level as i am- right now, my story quest is still for level 20 characters. I haven’t done any quests besides these, what’s mentioned above and some crafting since “returning” (realizing i still have a sub) to Final Fantasy XIV, but the missions have only gained one level.
There’s just so much
When Final Fantasy XIV re-released, many people were complaining that there are few ways to level your character. Quests can only be taken once, after all, so what i read was that you’d get one profession to maxlevel and the second one would have to do Fates, all the time. Maybe that was true then, but it’s very different now.
I do like when there’s stuff behind quests, when you unlock something, explore something and all that. But it doesn’t really mix with the way i level right now- for instance, i avoid doing quests, because i want to keep them for later classes. But that could mean i miss out on some hidden feature until i discover the related quest.
All in all, it’s a great game and i’m looking forward to the next dungeon, the day my crafting professions catch up and the day i will accept normal quests again.
Party Business 
A lot of those around me are playing this game and I really wasn’t sure what that entailed, other than seeing a stream of screenshots of ‘beautiful people’ Thank you for putting a bit more beef on the fashionable bones 😀
Thanks for the comment! FF14 is a really nice game, you could take a look at my post about why i like it- https://partybusiness.wordpress.com/2015/01/29/why-i-like-final-fantasy-xiv/ .
Right now, i’m a bit torn between finding it very good that it has lots to offer and just wanting to get ready for the expansion, though. I’d really like to see the max level before the expansion hits, but i also don’t want to rush anything and spend the sessions in game with the activities i enjoy doing in that session. If i get too distracted, i’ll be ready for Heavensward in 2018, though.
To me, it seems as if more and more bloggers i follow are heading to Eorzea. Also, please keep in mind that i think this problem/advantage gets even worse/better when being in endgame. And the golden saucer is coming up, as well (from what i understand, that’s a ‘themepark’ with fun side activities to waste some time)….and i don’t even think about housing yet.
I would be in FF except that it is sub only and my precarious financial position in Argentina prevents external outflows of cash…(that and being a foreigner here my bank refuses me a credit card!)
I have always been a FF fanboy, indeed I was there for FFXI until my computer died…
I plan to get my family to Europe and the hopefully then I will be able to catch up on all the digital delights I have been missing over the last 5 years!
FFIV will be close to top on the list!
That’s too bad! I had some people tell me here that the situation in Argentina is about to get better- due to the last elections, so i hope it is true and your plans work out for you.
Elections are coming up but I do not see it getting better for some time…KAPUTSKI springs to mind!
This is the MMO I want to like and any post with news on the game or personal game play experience eventually entices me back. But it just doesn’t stick. I think I’ve made it to 38 or 39 on a Black Mage, with a few other classes in the teens and twenties.
I think where I take issue is with the class system. I love the freedom to change on the fly and level all classes with one character but what I don’t like is how each class is pigeon-holed into a single role. For example, I like playing a warrior but I don’t always want to tank, especially my first run through a dungeon.
All in all a solid game though. I see why so many others are drawn to it, and I’m sure I’ll wander back for another month at some point.
Yes, that and the fact that there doesn’t seem to be a skill system- from what i understand, every Warrior is like the other Warriors- although, isn’t there the ability to refine your equipment in some way?
I guess they think that if you want to be a heavy armored melee dps class, you should play a xyz (Marauder?).
It has some issues- it’s kind of grindy, the candy-cuteness in some places, the world’s not really big, but as you say, it is a good game and one of the few where crafting/economy isn’t just a gimmick.