What's Good About FFXI.

Things I think are good about FFXI, people tend to ask why are you still playing that game so I thought I would write some things down.

Basics: I like that I can play any job on one character, this instills a greater connection with your character and a greater feeling of community because people are always on that character, so you always see them on it. The gear swapping system is great for many different reasons, from the aspect of adding some complexity to play to just having so much gear to chase. I like the skillchain/MB system, that is still relevant today at near all levels of play. I like that the game has a massive wealth of different things to do and they are all deep enough to get involved in them, crafting, mog garden, pet rearing, monstrosity etc. It's so annoying to me when I find a game I really like and it's 90% just dungeon variation spamming.

1. No Cash shop (muh "optional" items), I know exactly how much I'm spending on FFXI and I can't spend anymore. The issue with playing an MMMORPG is that you spend large amounts of time in these games, and it's very easy to spend money on "optional items". You think you would not cause you're good with money, but you will and you can spend a lot. You get attached to your characters, you're feeling tired and mentally worn down after playing for 4-5 hours, it's 1am, you're bored and there is that fancy $30 mount you just saw someone run past you. Cash shops are predatory and the company manipulates you, you're not immune. On FFXI it's not "optional" at all, they don't have one.

1a. I like the subscription only model, not only for the reason above and because it creates a kind of unwritten contract where they make content regularly (I have another f2p game I enjoy but they very rarely add anything new at all, and it's infuriating because I do spend money on it) but also because paying a monthly sub encourages you to actually play the game. I have lots of f2p games installed that I can play any time I want to, I never play them because there is no mental imperative to do so.

2. I fit into the community in the game cause they are near all over 25+, I don't like playing games with a social foundation where I feel completely out of place. On games like Overwatch or whatever it doesn't matter, you're just shooting people but these games are community based. Not to say everyone on 11 acts like a civlized individual or anything but it's trolling, drama or jokes that gel with me and that I'm used to. Talking of which, you can actually tell jokes or be a troll/drama queen free from being banned for hurting somebodies feelings. The GMs ignore most reports about silly issues like this and just tell you to blist, cause the developers set these rules down long ago before current culture took over. Many modern MMORPGs are played by people who were brought up on social media, they think everything is toxic and many modern games are simply fake friendly because of fear of being banned.

2a) I like that due to the nature of the party building system, some of the most highly respected players of this game are the party builders. People who make groups and become admired for not only doing this but doing it well and being very knowledgeable. On modern games there would be no status in this, because it isn't needed.

2b) I like that the game still tries to force players to interact with others to a greater or lesser degree, there are still roadblocks like mission fights, gear unlocks or whatever where you have to reach out to others. Even new players can be totally lost in how to play and ask for help, and people can and do offer it. It's good that players are still the most important force in the game world, when you need help other players are there and not some UI button to insta match you with others. It actually does feel good to reach out for help and someone to send a tell and offer to help you with something you've been struggling with for hours or days, even if it's harder to get that help in the first place.

In my first year of playing I was on the verge of quitting, because I could not get my limit break 1 item in Eldieme. I played completely solo as a BST and so had nobody to ask for help, upto this point I could do everything alone so needed nobody. I struggled for 2 days and died over and over (I even had to go relevel and come back and keep trying), even if I did manage to down a Lich with my weak jug pets and reraise / dia the drop rate was so bad it seemed impossible. At the point of near just giving up a 75 BST checked me and sent me an invite, he spent an hour getting me my item and i remember feeling guilty he was wasting so much time on me. That simple action that really probably meant very little to him, changed my entire outlook on ffxi. I felt as if I was part of a community after that, the next day I carried on leveling WHM and would spend a lot of time helping other players (eventually on my main BST 75 too, wanting to do for others what he had done for me). I went from a complete solo player not caring about helping anyone to spending almost all of my time outside of a XP parties doing just that. Even today, FFXI still has this system in place for different things and most other games do not.

3. I like the way the auction house works, I like the economy where inflation and supply/demand are actually a thing and how everyone is interlinked more than on other games. I like that gil has real value for players and that to make gil you mostly have to get it from other players, farming items they want.

4. There is always something to do when you login. FFXI has so many long term goals and things to do that it's near impossible to have nothing to do when you login, on most modern mmorpgs you quickly run out of things to do becasue they are all aimed at casual players that complain about "grind" or "not respecting your time". As such they make the games now to appeal to non-mmorpgs players and I'm an mmorpg player.

5. I like that your server is your entire world and there is nothing outside of that. When I group up with some people, help some random person/get help or even just wandering around doing my own thing, I'll see the same names around all the time and I'll remember them from previous encounters. This promotes a heavy feeling of familiarity in your game world and world building, when I login and wander my home nation especially it feels good. It feels like "home" because I see the same people and have for years. When you play modern games you're mostly always playing with people off server, as such you're very aware you will never see this person ever again. So you have zero incentive to bother with them and they are instantly forgotten.

6. I like that the game does not tell you what to do at every moment, or that it's not completely linear (do this endgame, then this, then this in that order etc). Leveling is very open, endgame content has lots of routes to your goal (and those goals can be different).

7. I like that the game has long-term goals as standard. Whether it's getting +2 Ambuscade gear as a solo player, REMA or working on serious endgame gear with groups. Modern games are so afraid of people getting bored and quitting that everything is easy and short term. The problem with this is that gratification delayed is gratification magnified, so you will never get the immense feeling of gratification from anything on a modern mmorpg that you will get from achieving your goals on FFXI.

I remember none of the gear I obtained on most modern MMORPGS I've played, because it was easy to get and quickly replaced anyway. I remember every major piece of gear I've obtained on FFXI because I had to work hard to get them and there was emotion linked to that, from my Byakkos Haidate, Kirins Osode, getting my first Relic with the help of my linkshell, Dalmatica, my first Ambsucade +2 set after returning, completing malignance set etc.

8. I like that the game has more or less horizontal progression, there is always gear to go work for to improve but they don't wipe out your entire gear sets every 6-12 months. If you take a break for a year and come back, your gear is still good. Remember what they did with Abyssea with gear and how everyone was so mad? modern mmorpgs do that every major patch.

9. I like that they allow you to become really strong at endgame and that there is so much upgrade potential on your character (get to 99, get merits, get job points, get lots of gear etc), if you put a lot of work in it will show and you can become a beast. This is unlike most games where everyone is near enough the same and the cap is low to stop anyone feeling inferior. On FFXI the effort you put into your char/gear is significant and the game allows you to excel.

9a) I like that knowledge is important and you can't just overpower everything. For instance that Lillith can spike you to death and you need to turn, that a darkness skillchain heals her or how charm works etc. FFXI rewards hard work and knowledge, and that knowledge is figured out by the players and shared.

10. I like that FFXI does not have a single set of gear that you never take off, they have a macro system that lets you swap every piece of gear based on the situation or what you want to do. This means, you don't just work to get 6 pieces of BIS armor and a weapon and are done. You can get vast amounts of gear and swap between them. This builds into the "always something to do" system since there is so much gear to get.

11. I like the way the combat works, on most mmorpgs they have rotations of skills. So you're constantly pressing 1, 2, 3, 4 etc over and over forever. I hate this kind of busy work, because most of the time I'm doing casual stuff like farming or doing some daily activities while watching a movie. I feel like I'm wearing out my keys on most mmorpgs. Pressing 6 keys is no better than pressing 2 if the outcome is the same, it's just about fooling you into thinking you're doing something skilled when you're not. The combat also speeds up when it needs to (when you have buff jobs boosting you etc), and not always the same. Something else I'm really glad does not exist on XI is telegraphing, although this can be fun these games tend to overuse it and it becomes boring and very annoying. I don't want to endlessly move out of circles or red boxes while playing.

12. I like that the game has proper varied jobs that fill specific roles, for instance a healer is a proper healer and your job is -keep everyone alive- and that's it. There are pure buff jobs that exist just to buff the damage dealers, this is near unheard of in modern games. You can actually run out of MP if your gear is poor or you're playing poorly, the tank can lose aggro easily or a DD can miss a skill if you don't gear or play correctly. Modern mmorpgs make all jobs easy to play and very similar so no matter what job you're on, you're pretty much playing the same role and/or have to be really bad to fail to play it effectively.

13. I like that the jobs are allowed to be different and have strengths and weaknesses, I like that some jobs are far stronger than others for pure damage and that some jobs are situationally better than others. The jobs all actually feel really different and have different uses. Some jobs like BLU are incredibly fun and rewarding, you can change how the job plays or what spells it can use (blue can be pure DD, cure, crowd control, AOE murder etc) based on which spells you equip. Summoner on FFXI is fantastic, the avatars all look great and it's very powerful.

13a) I like that there is far more customization with your jobs on FFXI than on many other games, ultimately you do still end up fitting in with the meta but there is still a lot of customization possibility than you are allowed on other games. Subjobs, gear, weapon choices etc.

14. The endgame content is very unpredictable and can be very difficult (unless you're geared out the butt). I like that failing has consequences and doesn't just warp you back to the front of the boss to try again, when you have nothing to lose winning feels hollow. When I came back a few years ago, I struggled so hard with Zitah NMs. Beating my first one after failing many tries felt so good. To most others it's nothing, but to me it was a major victory and FFXI is full of things like this.

14a) I like how endgame isn't just directly linked to spamming different dungeons over and over, there are so many different things you can go do that have meaning. There is also far less stress put upon you to be doing specific things, when I play modern mmorpgs I very much do end up just spamming dungeons in group finder over and over all day. I very much do feel pressure to be doing that too.

15. I like that leveling isn't via stupid mini story quests that you never read anyway. I like that they just give you kill count quests and do away with the pretense that you care about "Fred Jones the hunter needs 10 rat tails or his house will be repossessed by captain crunch, can you help them brave adventurer?" "ok"

16. I like the crafting system, not only is it very difficult to cap out but it's very useful and linked to the economy. It also gives avenues of long progression if you choose to follow them. Sub-crafts, sheilds, knowledge of how to make profits etc

17. I like multiboxing, this is a niche enjoyment but I really like that I can not only multibox without having 4 computers but that the gameplay supports you doing it without automating everything, cause it does not have rotations etc. On other games I tend to make lots of alts and end up swapping between them for dailies, on FFXI I can have them all logged in at the same time and doing stuff. It does give an oldschool FF feel to me in some ways.

18. I like the customization via windower addons, the limitaitons of the UI was the mother of invention here and so we have all these things that a game with a more modern UI would never have.

19. I love the game world and how the developers encourage you to explore it and also to goto certain places to do content and not just let you warp into whatever form wherever (if you wanna do Amb you goto Mhuara, if you wanna do Ody you goto Rabao etc), I love how there is a nice mix or open/instanced/dungeon content, I love the deep lore where you can find things out years later that you never knew while doing the missions, I love the stories (even if many are bittersweet), I love the respect the developers have for the game world. Vana'diel feels like a real place to me in many ways, and this is not only for the things above but also because of the community aspects I mentioned earlier in the post too.

20. I personally like that near everything can be modded on FFXI, it's almost like a mini Skyrim in many ways. Not only from the perspective of making your own mods but using others mods.

21. I like how the game scales to the players and there are different paths, one person can be working on Ambu +2 gear as their long-term endgame goals when they login every day and another can be grinding out Gaol gear/upgrades. Everyone isn't just doing the same thing, and you can be a more casual player with less elite goals and be fine with that.

22. I like the music style, I like the overall aesthetic, character and monster designs. It's not stylized in a way that alienates people, it's not overly flashy and gaudy. A huge turnoff for me with 14 is the anime music style, art style, overly gaudy flashy OTT effects etc

23. I like that the game will not be replacing pictures of mithra with bowls of fruit or pandering to modern day SJW issues, the developers just want to make content and not push an agenda.

1. The world feels lived-in. It’s clear that the developers established a universe and timeline before building the game. There are many intricate details in the world that tell a story without ever having to be explained (though are often affirmed in dialogue). It makes for a cohesive story and immersive experience.

2. Adding further to the immersion is the consistent art direction. With a few exceptions, all in-game equipment matches the game’s established aesthetic. Zones and regions seamlessly and sensibly transition as geography would allow, with nothing looking out of place. Even things like mounts are kept within the boundaries of the world. I can only think of a couple of items that look a bit out of place (the track pants come to mind).

3. Every job has clearly-defined strengths and weaknesses for what it brings to a party, making the process of building a party a flexible key in the strategy of the game. The play-style of each job within a party adapts to the formation of the party to better cover one another’s weaknesses, making each job outstanding and unique. Trust Magic allows for all of this to exist while simultaneously allowing players the option to fill in gaps in a party with summoned allies.

4. “Optimal” is a fuzzy word. Typically when options are presented, there are varying degrees of different kinds of benefits to each- whether that’s to jobs in a party, equipment used, or rewards from events. For example, there may be a “fastest” way to earn experience points, but another option may earn money or armor while you earn it so you don’t have to do it later. It gives players flexibility to tackle objectives in a lot of different ways.

5. The journey is just as important as the destination. Leveling-up itself is well-paced, often staggering the process of grinding kills with earning money, questing for treasure, going on missions, and shopping for equipment. Each one benefits one another, but rarely puts any hard stop on a player, giving freedom to play at one’s own pace.

6. The ability to swap equipment in the middle of a fight allows for more equipment to be useful. This also makes progress gradually taper-off, which means that players new to a job aren’t left in the dust. And when new equipment is released, it isn’t necessarily stronger (thereby replacing all the now-obsolete stuff you worked so hard to get last patch), it simply gets added to your collection or maybe replaces a small fraction of your old equipment.

7. The game gets more fun as you make progress. As a result of everything adding up, the game actually becomes faster and more fluid as you play. This helps to alleviate any tedium that would otherwise arise from the concept of leveling multiple jobs or having to complete many quests and missions. It also makes every reward that much more satisfying, knowing it will make subsequent progress even easier.

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JK! great post Radial! Nice to see positivity out there.

Wow!

Ohh spicy! Don't forget they only allow marriage between one male and one female. Oh and every enemy and npc name are taken from religious texts from around the world.


This 100% There is still a level 5 neck piece in one of the BiS Puppetmaster sets.

My favorite thing about FFXI is that the community took what were objectively game design failures, accepted them, and built playstyles around them. I also love that there is no dungeon finder, you have to make friends and meet people. The transactional experience of FFXIV burned me out, log in, dungeon finder, get daily's done with randoms I'll never see again, logout.

1. I like how there's always something to tinker with. Even though I've been back for years now I don't feel like my jobs are all complete, there's so much fine-tuning that goes into gear and lua and strategies and teamwork that, even though the pace of content has slowed, I rarely feel bored in XI. Part of it is the horizontal progression. There are items which are clearly best for a given situation, but there isn't a pure item level scale that determines every piece of gear that you will equip.

2. There's a trinity system (it's really a 4-role system, tank/dps/healer/support) but it's a bit more fluid. A certain piece of content might call on a red mage to heal but another might use the job as a primary dps. And then there are different strategies, it's not like in XIV where any combination of tank/healer/dps will approach a fight similarly. You have melee strategies, pet strategies, nuking, ranged strategies. Each uses a different composition.

3. FFXI has actual pet classes. They are not just an ornament, if you play BST/PUP/SMN it's actually a viable playstyle to focus on your pet, and each job feels quite different. I can't think of another MMO that's done such a good job with pet classes.



This is a great point. There's a thoughtfulness and a consistency to the design of the world in Final Fantasy XI, from areas and their geography to story and lore to monster placement. Other MMOs that I've played, and I'm thinking of World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV in particular, don't do so well with this.

10000000000000000000000000000000%!!!!!!!!!!!

I think that's my favorite thing. The community. Windower should be the biggest thing to happen to mmo's ever. And I love the FFXIAH ppl so much.

That leads to another thing I love about FFXI. If you're a crappy person who can't get along with people, the game restricts a lot of accessibility. It's expensive to change servers and impossible to alter your character's name and appearance. If everyone in the world knows to not invite you because you're going to rip them off or troll them, you can't get parties, and you can't get stuff done.

FFXI's limited accessibility has a huge impact on the number of entitled and troll players. And while that also means it will never have the population of a game like WoW or XIV, it means quality over quantity.

Whenever I'm asked why I love FFXI, I always bring up Ninja. While Square-Enix doesn't really explain to us what every job is expected to play like, it was pretty obvious that Ninja was intended to be a damage-dealer. But because of the game's innate flexibility and the creative tinkering of the community, we turned it into a tank. But not just any tank, a tank so effective it had to be nerfed.

FFXI is great if you thoroughly enjoy doing the exact same thing over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and and over and over over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and and over and over over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and and over and over over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and and over and over over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and and over and over over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and and over and over over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and and over and over over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and and over and over over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and and over and over over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and and over and over over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and and over and over over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and and over and over over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and and over and over over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and and over and over over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and and over and over over and over and over

Bard and Red Mage were better even when Ninja was visible.

No cash shop? Mog wardrode 3 and 4 are cash shop items and are pretty much mandatory because XI's invent system sucks.

I like the game because I still know the people. If I didn't know people from years and years ago I probably wouldn't be around anymore

all my friends from the old days are long gone. i had to make new friends, and i've known them since shortly after i was forced to merge onto fenrir from unicorn. there's always a community to can get on with.

Goodness is tarutaru

Isn't it sad to anyone that you see more doom and gloom and negativity over anything positive for this game? I look at other forums like XIV and it reminds me of the past where people were excited to talk about the future and what possible jobs and summons etc can come out. Or about new content coming or expansions. I guess the community is just all aged up and has become pessimistic middle-aged people, lol. Or maybe they are just following the crowd and hating on a game this old just to fit in, who knows.

I still love playing this game, I love the versatility in fights and how I feel I have an influence on fights. I could come in with a 1hr and change a fight or recover, I have gear for all kinds of occasions and its nice seeing them in play. It's something I don't feel playing other MMOs, the freedom in playstyle. You feel a strong sense of progression.

I remember one time a friend came back to the game during the end of Delve era, and we did a Delve together and he got outdamaged by Shanttoto II. Then he laughed but slowly started to get better gear and he saw how he was able to participate in more things. The game is just set up so you feel that sense of accomplishment when you become stronger, other games you just feel like youre going through the motions. All in my opinion of course.

I like how theres always something to do, tons of different jobs that mostly feel different and play different. All with various gear sets you can tweak and improve endlessly. So many unique stats that you can make some wild builds and then test them out in various content.

The rest of the stuff Radial pretty much covered, I agree and like all that too. I just really wish the game would get the attention it deserves from the company. I'll never forget how happy I was when they announced Adoulin, the sentiment around the time was doom and gloom just like now, and I was so happy to see life put back into the game with that single announcement. I really am hoping for something come next year, I would die if they announced a remaster with another expansion. Personally, I love the graphics of the game aside from a few texture ugliness, but it has a unique style to it and has potential for remastering.

I hope if it does get a remaster they merely update the polygon count and maybe add more animations, from a visual perspective. The game has a wonderful art style that's really held up. I really appreciate how grounded the combat feels with exception of a few of the merited weapon skills (like Shijin Spiral and Requiescat, which make me cringe).

It would be nice if each job ability could have its own animation. Sort of unfortunate that Provoke and Phantom Roll put your character through the exact same motions. But I'd be worried about how that was handled, too. It would take me out of the experience to see my character flail wildly because they ran out of ideas for what to make an ability do.

The "less is more" approach really speaks to me.

Can we talk about how great the races are for a second? I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but one of the best things about FFXI is that every race is motivated by doing the right thing, but they all kind of screw it up one way or another. They're all so vulnerable and so real.

Just like how the job system is designed to give every job a weakness which can only be shored up with complementary jobs, the five playable races all have strengths and weaknesses that they use to complement one another. The theme of FFXI, strength in unity, flows through every aspect of the game. Only by working together could the Allied Forces of Altana beat the Beastmen Confederate.

They each show so much personality through their combat stances and other animations. You can tell from a mile away what race a character is just by how they stand or how they run. It's those little details that breathe life into Vana'diel.

Music, atmosphere, art style, story

Basically everything except the game part

This is a cash shop from ff14, it has had masses of additions since this of course (including a new 30 dolla mount). This is from 2020.

This is how these games work:

FFXI:
You gain status in the community by achieving goals and feel good about it yourself wearing them ("I look cool and unique!"). Item status in FFXI is almost exclusively obtained from content and/or hard work.

For instance beating content to get rare armor, the more rare the armor is the more status you get by wearing it and this encourages you to do it. There is a reason Sparks gear looks the way it does and has low status, it drives you to get better looking gear and do content. Developers will always put more effort into harder to obtain gear to drive you forward.

This not only rewards players for putting a lot of time into the game, but it gives other players goals to work towards. "I wanna look like that!"

Back when FFXI was new this was AF / Af2, Vermilion cloaks and the like were the status items, and to many they still are. There is a reason Af2 looks cooler than Af1 in most cases, to push you forward.

I joined a HNM shell to get a Dalmy back in the day, because I saw elite RDMS wearing it and wanted to emulate them. I wanted that dalmy / crim legs / af2 hat look on my RDM. I did not put hundred of hours into king camps for 1 refresh and 50 mp. I did it for the status and personal pride wearing this hard to get gear gave me.

HNM era was built on this, the gear was really hard to get and you had lines of shell members lined up in town showing it off, and people checked the crap out of them too.

Status via gear: rarity = more status > devs create difficult content and rarer drops.

WoW:
As above but also mounts, this game does not sell outfits as far as I'm aware because of what I said above. Again, its an older playerbase and they will rage at it if they do.

The moment they started selling mounts they devalued in-game mounts and this infuriated many players who valued mount collection. It destroyed this aspect of the game for collectors because credit card warriors could trump them out of existence with that $30 mount with unique animations.

The cash shop mounts got more dev effort, the ingame ones got less.

They do this intentionally to promote sales, so it impacts everyone whether you buy the cash shop mounts or not.

FFXIV:

FF14 attracts and is dominated by a much younger audience that grew up with cash shops as standard, they have zero issues with paying for baseball hats, pets and mounts for $30 (infact they attack you if you complain about them). Not only do they have no issue paying real money for outfits in a sub game, they like it becasue it allows these really casual players to be big shots in the community in a way they never could be in an MMORPG previously.

Because of this, the entire foundation of the game is different. Since the cash shop is the main force in the game now.

FFXIV is not about clearing content to get rare armor for status, it's about getting the latest pretty cash shop items before too many others get it and it's not cool anymore. This means there is a constant thirst to buy the latest and most expensive cash shop outfits and mounts to gain status and show them off in town. The more expensive the "optional items" the better, since that means higher status and because of this the prices are going to keep rising.

Since the main source of status is from the cash shop, the actual content doesn't have to be hard and it's not (infact they are nerfing it to make it even easier all the time for casuals). FF14 is not thought of or even promoted as an endgame mmorpg like ffxi or wow, it's more sold on the flash over the top effects or side content. In-fact hard content steals status away from cash shop sales and onto endgame players, and they do NOT want that. So endgame players on 14 are below cash shop elites in terms of status in the community.

FFXI = Design direction requires harder content for status gear, main drive = doing content. Endgame players in the hardest to get gear and REMA = Apex players.

FFXIV = Easy content, lots of side stuff and regular cash shop updates, main drive = buying stuff and standing around in prominent areas. Credit card warriors in baseball caps = Apex players.

I am well aware that FFXIV players LOVE this, because it allows super casual players to be at the top of the food chain now. This is why the main endgame on FFXIV is standing around town like you're in a fashion show instead of doing stuff.

The problem with this is you end up spending huge amounts of money when you get stuck in the rat race of continually buying the latest outfits and mounts, the game turns into a literal shopping mall with open areas you show off your stuff. The actual raiding content is fluff.

This is why I don't like cash shops in sub mmorpgs and this is why most wow and xi players will never like ffxiv or take it seriously.

Im in FFXIV group on Facebook (I joined long time ago when I was trying to play FFXIV). Literally 98% of all posts are about lockstyles, taking pictures of your char or dancing routines.

What's wrong with that exactly?

I haven't said it's wrong, I have completely neutral view of this. My point is "glamour" looks like main focus of the game at least in community, so it will apeal to people liking those things. Just pointing out difference between FFXIV and FFXI and confirming what RadialArcana said about this aspect of the game with my own experience.

it's what you want it to be, Glamour or End game fights or ultimates,

I'm talking about my own experience. You can have different ones.

Yeah that one little Facebook community represents all of XIV

That's fair. It was wrong of me to assume your intent, so I apologize for that.

I know the glamour community in XIV is huge, but I personally don't know/play with anyone who's main focus is glamour. Everyone I know are mainly into raiding Savage/Ultimate, so based on my own experience I would disagree, but hey, lotta damn people play XIV and I know the percentages of the players that clear Savage/Ultimate are fairly low so maybe I've just had the more uncommon experience.

Don't forget the grooming on FFXIV. Balmung is like 30% pedophiles.

Is there a credible source on this? That's a pretty serious accusation to make.