Revisiting FFXIV

A week ago I downloaded FF14 again after 3 years and renewed my sub. The first thing that struck me is the sheer installation size of 120GB! I'm not sure at all any more, but my cloudy memory tells me it used to be around half back then. I have an older gaming notebook with a 1TB hard drive => 12% of it taken by a single game, is that normal nowadays, I wonder? The only game I played in the past 3 years was Master of Orion 2 from the 1990s thus I have no idea.

Anyway, back to FF14, I've been playing it for a week now with a brand new character. I forgot many things, had to learn stuff anew and the game was a pleasure. I like the art in general. Character design did not improve, but it is sweet in it's naïveté. I've spent hours on glamor alone! I was mesmerized until I've hit level 50..

The main quest dungeons

It was a bold move to incorporate the exceptionally long cut scenes - take longer that the fight - which cannot be skipped! It is quite cool for the very first time but needing to undergo the same cinematics over and over is just not worth it, even if the fight is quite satisfying.

Alliance dungeons

After unlocking the alliance quests I suddenly remembered why I quit the last time. It was ridiculously easy! One does not have to understand the boss mechanics at all, just press a few keys and follow the mass. There is no challenge in that! It is a shame! I wonder if other players prefer just getting it done fast solely for the daily reward. I remember the 60+ alliance dungeons to be somewhat more challenging, but the higher the level, the longer the queue times! And I play as a healer => usually instant queue for regular 4 player dungeons.

Regular dungeons

After getting the hang out of all the skills and regaining some of the muscle memory, the dungeons become to feel very similar. The hardest part is actually to heal through the trash mobs rather than the boss fights! The tanks rush and pull like crazy, it is not that easy to keep everyone alive! After a while a feeling of anxiety crept on to me before each run which I did not even realize right from the beginning. I felt like the game became a real job.

After that more memories came back of main quests at later levels, where one has to play as other in-game characters on a predefined keys setup. I hated those quests, even if the story was good! And I also remembered that there was nothing else to do after hitting the max level.

I have bad experience with FCs (free companies = guilds), most people just stopped playing after a while, or they are hard core mode enthusiasts, which stresses me out totally. I want a game to be chill, but not like ridiculous easiness. I guess I give it time till my sub runs out, but I suppose I won't renew it.