I liked the movie, shoot me.

A few more hours into FF14 and a few more features have unlocked.  Level 16 now, which seems to have a pattern of 1 class quest every 5 levels, which sometimes unlocks a new skill.  Super.  I rather like the leveling aspect, where activities are unlocked gradually rather than everything at once.  Still no mounts, though travel is pretty easy and the world is full of stuff to do.  Unlocked daily quests at level 10, which I’ve yet to complete.

Based on feedback from other players, I’m skipping on alternate quests and just focusing on the main line for the time being.  I’ll pick up the side quests once I unlock another class.  Currently, I get enough experience to stay on par by completing FATEs, the Hunting Log (which is a neat addition) and the central quests.

The coolest feature, and this might just be me, is the kill chain mechanic.  Kill 2 enemies of your level or higher and you get an experience bonus timer.  That lasts about 80 seconds (well that’s the highest I’ve seen) and any enemy you kill during that time has a 10% increase in experience, cumulative.  The highest I’ve got was 60%.  I can imagine that a group of players could easily hit 150%.  That is such a super smart implementation of group mechanics.

FATEs are fun

The group/open world quest system is interesting and bears some discussion.  At any given time on a map, there’s 3-8 FATEs running.  Each has a different expected level, as each zone has a very wide level range.  These provide great experience and are a nice break from regular leveling.  At level, it gives about 20x the experience of a normal enemy.  I like most that the events are just everywhere and offer some variety in enemy flavor.  RIFT has a system for this, with stages, which really was the cornerstone of the game.  It was hit/miss in some places but extremely fun at max level.  GW2, I never really got but many people think it’s great.  I’m quite curious to see how this system is managed at “end game” in FF14.  There seems to be quite a lot of potential.

Long story short, still having fun.  Pace is (much) slower than today’s typical MMO, which is nice.  There’s plenty of content and the world doesn’t seem empty, even after months since re-launch.  That’s a good sign.  I’m under the impression that this is the type of game where the complexities and investments are such that either you buy-in and stick around or just give up.  It would seem difficult for an MMO tourist to get far.