Final Fantasy XIV v. Elder Scrolls Online
Disabled Gamer Rants
Final Fantasy XIV
v.
The Elder Scrolls Online
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Setting and world |
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FFXIV |
ESO |
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Eorzea, same setting as FFXII
and FF Tactics series. Compelling and interesting, has the perk of being
nostalgic. Not an open world game. World is
carved up into various rooms, some larger than others. World is not as engaging. Beyond
the Main Story Quests (MSQ) there seems very little reason to go out adventuring. (More about
this in zone design.) I have had considerable
difficulty navigating from time to time. Quite stressful to play when the
in-game world is too dark, such as at nighttime. Simply can’t see because of the color theme used. Not that it matters to me, but
worth mentioning because some players care. Setting and world are “cartoony.” I actually LIKE that,
though. Not only can characters have more expressions in cartoon form, but it
reinforces the sense of being somewhere else. Reinforces the fantasy. |
Tamriel, same setting as ES
universe. Has the perk that I am a Bethesda fanboy and love the content. Open world. Players can go
almost anywhere they can actually see. World is engaging, compelling, easy
and comfortable for me to navigate for the most part. Sometimes the graphics can seem
simple for modern games, but other times the world is simply breathtaking. World and setting bend toward
realism. Many players enjoy this. For me, it’s not much of a factor. This is
an area where FFXIV goes one way, and it works, and ESO goes another, and it
works as well. |
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Winner ESO world is more compelling to explore, and I do
not have the same navigation problems as in FFXIV. Outside of survival horror
games, I shouldn’t be stressed out and feel anxiety by just trying to move
around. When it comes to the point that I would rather log out than play
during in-game nighttime . . . it’s done. |
|
Character design |
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FFXIV |
ESO |
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Repeated comments about
“cartoony” features apply here. Not an issue for me, and I enjoy cartoons. Overall character design seems
lacking. I cannot make a human male look like I want it to look. It’s either
young and sexy or . . . weird and funny-looking. And not funny in the good
way. Only body types are sexy, more sexy, and potato. Race selection has a good
variety. Visually unique races, clearly distinct from each other to give
variety of gameplay options. The REAL customization for
characters comes in the form of glamours – the ability to change armor and
weapons to have different appearances. FFXIV goes full tilt into these,
allowing for deep and meaningful customization. Players can make very
intimate choices about clothing. However, players must actually have the item
whose appearance they want to use. This requires inventory space, meaning
that players will ultimately have to choose which appearances to abandon. No racial bonuses, which is
probably a good thing because it places emphasis on aesthetic over
functionality. Each race has lore, but racial
lore does not seem to fit into the narrative. In one way, this is a good
thing. Race doesn’t matter. In another way, though, it sort of weakens the
narrative because everyone IS the same. An absolutely wonderful feature
of FFXIV is that the Bard class can actually play music IN GAME. And not just
pre-recorded songs, though that option is available through modding. Players
actually use the keyboard as an instrument, and numerous MIDI voices are
available. This creates wonderful player events where bards simply stand
around towns, playing to crowds. |
Repeated comments about
“cartoony” here. Not an issue for me. I enjoy the direction ESO’s realism
takes. Character design is intimately
detailed, allows players MANY ways of changing and editing their characters.
All body types are present for both sexes, from stick-thin skinny to Arnold
muscular to Robert Baratheon fat. Simply astounding level of initial
character design. Really good race selection – ten
races as opposed to eight (FFXIV). “Human” races (breton, imperial, nord,
etc.) can seem to indistinct at times, and from a distance will have the same
features. Only up close can differences be told. Clear distinction from “mer”
races, however, and this is where ESO really shines through. Like FFXIV, ESO also offers
“transmutation” for clothes and weapons. From what I have seen, the
transmutation selection seems just as deep as FFXIV, with the exception that
ESO does not break lore. FFXIV allows players to dress characters in sweat
pants, for example. ESO will not. But where players in FFXIV have to actually
have the item whose appearance they want to use, in ESO the appearance is simply
“unlocked” and available for access at any time. ESO employs racial bonuses, so
that each race does have a distinct flavor. These racial bonuses do not
substantially affect gameplay, however, except for those players obsessed
with min-maxing the maths. 99% of gameplay is unaffected by racial choice. Unlike FFXIV, race does factor
into the ESO narrative, and it’s done so effectively. Character and NPC races
feel important and significant, at once allowing players to enjoy and lament
narrative events based on race. No bard class or musical playing
that I know of. |
|
Tie I am calling this a draw because
each game offers a different flavor and style. The inclusion of racial
dynamics in ESO does positively influence narrative and player choice, but
the glamour system in FFXIV is amazing and allows for MUCH role play. And
while the bard does facilitate some wonderful in-game moments, there are
similarly engaging social elements in ESO. The sheer depth and significance
of racial choice and appearance in ESO cannot be ignored, but neither can the
Miqo’te female in FFXIV. (Hey, I’m just as guilty as the next person.) Both games simply have good
systems where character design is concerned. Each has its perks, and each has
its drawbacks. |
Tie |
|
Zone design |
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FFXIV |
ESO |
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Zones in FFXIV have good art, but
are narratively not well designed and utilized. One single area, for example,
will have enemies ranging from 1 to 30; so if I decide to explore and wander
into a section with a higher level enemy, I get squashed and have to rez all
the way back in the city. The intent for this (above) may
be to get players to come back to areas at various points throughout the
game. Okay, fair enough. But the problem is that zone quests themselves are
(1) not narratively engaging, and (2) insignificant compared to MSQs. There
are no cohesive zone stories, which I think is a failing point in any type of
game whatsoever. Narratively, each zone should offer a cohesive and unique
experience so that players feel like they are accomplishing something, and
not merely running around doing stuff . . . things. As it stands, FFXIV zones
do not focus on storytelling experiences, but instead seem to have a bunch of
“stuff” for players to do. (Helping Luke with his chocobo problem, for
example, has nothing at all to do with helping Lauren with her plant
research.) Level differences between zone quests are also dramatic. I can
accept a level one quest over here, whilst merely one minute walking time
east is a level thirty quest which is completely unrelated. Such vast
differences cause the illusion of fiction to shatter under stale game
mechanics. In addition to not having a cohesive narrative, zone quests only
offer paltry XP, money, and other rewards compared to MSQs. Why the hell
should I do zone quests for 600 XP and 50 Gil, when one single MSQ gives me
11,000 XP and 1,500 Gil? I remarked earlier that FFXIV is
not an open world game. This limitation really shows in zones, where
invisible walls pop up everywhere. Vistas are nice, but not explorable. Look
but don’t touch. See it, but don’t go there. When players unlock flying
(after finishing the MSQs), large areas of zones (ALL zones, unfortunately)
are not even coded to allow landing and walking. So you can fly over them and
collide with them (like making the choboco fly against the ground) but
because they are not coded for ground interaction, the player is stuck in
flying animation. One good thing is that all zones
offer FATEs, randomized events like monster invasions or escorts and various
other tasks. Narratively, however, FATEs serve little to no purpose. And as
with zone quests, rewards are paltry compared to MSQs. Aside from getting
extra xp toward leveling an alternate job/class and getting sigils for grand
company ranks, FATEs are meaningless. Just more “stuff” for players to do. I commented earlier that the
world is difficult to navigate during an in-game night. Many zones get too
dark, such that I can barely see anything. I really do not like having to
increase the gamma so much that colors get washed out. This ruins the overall
graphics and causes me to dissociate from the game world. Why couldn’t they
have just made sh-- brighter, or used a different color scheme at night? "I know, just throw a shadow over everything! Viola! Night!" Windwaker is an awesome example of how to
distinguish between night and day, between dark dungeons and sunlit plains,
without sacrificing enjoyment or art. |
Zones in ESO have good art,
often amazing art, and are narratively well-designed and utilized. What’s
more, all zones adjust to player level, encouraging and rewarding exploration.
The “One Tamriel” release was a really, really good move. Each zone IS narratively
engaging in two ways. Firstly, each zone has its own story, meaning that
there is narrative reason to run around in addition to the various “stuff”
to do. Some zones have multiple main stories (two big things going on). There
are also “mini-stories” scattered around each zone. So if I go to a ruins,
for example, there is a mini-story related to those ruins which players can
experience. Zone quest rewards are proportional
to main story quest rewards, so doing the side quests DOES matter and IS
rewarding in maths as well as narrative. Each zone offers oodles upon
oodles of “stuff” and “things” to do, and even gives players a checklist to
track their progress. These may AND may not be related to the MSQs and
mini-stories. Despite enemy levels being
adjusted to player levels, there are still stronger enemies that will kick
players’ asses. Some zones are still more difficult than others, and some
NPCs simply should not be taken on alone. Zones do not have flying, and I
think that’s actually a good thing because it keeps players grounded in the
fictional world. (Pun intended.) ESO is an open world game.
Players can go nearly everywhere they can see in zones. Greatly fewer
invisible walls than FFXIV. Room-switching limited to important quest areas
and player housing. Every zone in ESO has something
similar to the FATEs in FFXIV. The main difference is that these randomized
events (dolmens and deadzones, for example) relate directly to the game’s
overall narrative. They aren’t “monsters invading just because,” but instead are
monsters invading because the big-bad sent them. In other words, there is a
narrative reason to explain the randomized events. Rewards for participating
in the randomized events are on par with MSQs and zone quests, and sometimes
can be even more rewarding (type of gear, items). Zones can be dark, but have
never been so dark that I can’t see to navigate. My grumps here are that the
day-night cycle in the fictional world is . . . weird, and that the art
itself can sometimes seem overly simplistic by today’s gaming standards. It
can be night time in one zone but daytime just one zone to the west. WTF,
right? It can also be midday IRL but 8p in-game. While I may be conditioned
to WoW after so many years, I really do like logging on during the IRL day
and it being daytime in-game; and logging on at night IRL and it being
nighttime in-game. For some reason, I find that this eases me into the fictional
world and enhances my overall immersion. Terrain and plant life can sometimes
seem more basic – that is, less complex than we are used to getting now,
given advances in the last five or six years. However, this isn’t as
important a concern as other things. I still play original Nintendo games,
FFS, and have perhaps an inordinate amount of fun with them. The bottom line
is that I don’t get as frustrated or experience the same level of anxiety just
by traveling as I do in FFXIV. When I go out adventuring in ESO, I am relaxed
much more often than not. In FFXIV, however, I simply dread the night. Not
because it brings dangerous monsters (which it doesn’t), but because I just
can’t f---ing see anything. |
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Winner |
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Narrative quality |
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FFXIV |
ESO |
|
FFXIV places MUCH emphasis on
the main story and its related quests, which is honestly and frankly a
refreshing change from WoW and WoW clones. Even if games are MMO, main and
zone narrative content should always be completable solo in some way. (We are
paying to play, after all.) Players complete the main narrative arc by going
on quests. Any time something in the main narrative requires a group, there
is a tool to put players in a group so that they can complete that section
with little to no problem. (The worst case scenario is having to wait ten to
fifteen minutes in queue.) Quality-wise, the narrative is
really good from the perspective of MMOs. The story isn’t that deep until the
expansions, but the characters are at least interesting, and the story
content makes sense in the fictional universe. Personally, I don’t feel that
the major villains were developed enough to be significant. I never felt
threatened by the Garlean empire or afraid of their Weapon. Oddly, the most
threatened I felt was from a character in the Coerthas arc. Every time I did
a quest to help people in that zone, that character was there to block my
progress and influence people to hate me anyway. This was a wonderful
addition for two reasons. (1) the Hero’s Journey pattern we like to see in
stories requires that the hero become outcast in some way. Not many games,
and almost no MMOs, even approach that arc. We do things, and the NPCs
automatically love and adore us. It shouldn’t be like that. Every now and
then, there need to be situations which cause society to NOT like the PC. I
really, really enjoy that FFXIV does this. (2) The NPC cock blocking my
progress made me frustrated in a GOOD way, because it involved me in the
narrative as a player in addition to my avatar. Even though I did something
right, narratively it still went wrong. Used correctly, such a strategy
positively influences engagement and immersion. The only serious gripe I have
about the narrative is that, functionally, the MSQ rewards so substantially
dwarf other things in the game that side quests and FATEs become almost
pointless. Now I understand that this decision was made to encourage (force)
players to complete the story. And I agree with that focus – completing the
main narrative SHOULD be the main drive. What I don’t like is how disproportional
the rewards are. I remarked earlier that side quests will net the player
maybe 600 XP and 50 Gil, whereas MSQs will net 11,000 XP and 1,500 Gil. This
is not an exaggeration. The main narrative should absolutely be the focus,
but it shouldn’t make other areas of the game insignificant. |
ESO, like FFXIV, emphasizes its
narrative. Unlike FFXIV, however, ESO confines its narrative to solo-only
content. Yes, players can group for story content, but they don’t need to;
and sometimes party members simply cannot access story areas, so we get a
weird situation where one party member goes to do the quest while others just
sit around and play dice or pickup-dnd-improv. Overall, the narratives are more
streamlined than FFXIV, which means players will progress through them faster.
If it makes a difference,
stories in ESO are narrated AND text-based, rather than text only. |
|
Winner I am giving this one to FFXIV even though both
games have good things going for them. Overall, I was more involved in
FFXIV’s narrative because it actually took more time in storytelling and
development. Final Fantasy is about storytelling, and it shows. In spades. |
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Gameplay mechanics Classes Spells and Abilities Combat Monsters and NPCs Leveling Dungeoning Gathering Crafting Markets/Auctions Inventory Addons/Mods |
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FFXIV |
ESO |
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Classes |
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FFXIV is the clear, uncontested
winner here, boasting eighteen unique combat jobs (classes) with two more on
the way. Each job has its own distinct flavor and purpose, and caters to a
different style of gameplay. What’s more, one character CAN DO EVERY JOB IN
THE GAME. All you have to do is change your weapon to change your job. This
is amazeballs in and of itself. You can play as a ninja AND as a
samurai, and their gameplay is f---ing amazing. (Weebs and Narutards
rejoice.) You can play as a Bard. (Mic
drop.) |
Only six classes. While each has
a distinct flavor, ESO is severely limiting in this regard. For me – and
maybe it’s because I’m a paladin at heart, or maybe it’s because one class
simply “clicks” with me – it seems like there are only two classes: the
templar, and not the templar. |
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Winner In fact, I’m giving two wins for this. Just
because. |
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Spells and Abilities |
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FFXIV may be the uncontested
winner of character classes, sure. And it’s absolutely not argued that each
class has its own unique set of spells and abilities which distinguish it and
make it interesting. That is not being debated. In my experience, nearly every
spell and ability was useful and fun. Admittedly, as in every game, some were
more fun than others. There are two things, however,
which make FFXIV fall flat compared to ESO. Firstly, there are too god------d
many spells and abilities on the hotbar; and for that matter, there are too
god-----d many hotbars that need to be used. (Like WoW, twelve per hotbar,
and at minimum three hotbars.) For normal players this probably isn’t an
issue. Some of them (or many, for all I know) probably like having so many
options available. But given my window of vision (slightly more than ten
degrees), I can’t watch my character, the enemies, other players, health
bars, and my buttons all at the same time. And secondly, while WoW allowed
for semi-effective macros to reduce the number of buttons, FFXIV does not.
Yes, players can do SOME macros, but there is no “castsequence” allowance to
help reduce the numbers of buttons, and spells and abilities cast with macros
cannot be queued or “pre-cast.” There are two things FFXIV could
do to fix this issue, and I think my recommendations would not only better
enable blind players to engage the game, but also greatly improve the quality
of life for regular players. (1) Change combos from being a
series of individual spell/ability casts to a series of individual and
LIMITED button presses. Take the samurai class as an example. One combo has
eighteen spells/abilities spread out over eleven to twelve buttons. That
could be easily reduced to three to four buttons if spellcasts/abilities were
context sensitive rather than individual spells. Here is a layout of four
different spells on four different buttons. The way the samurai works, you
press all of these in sequence. For S4 to work properly, you must have cast S1,
S2, and S3 in that order. To reduce this to, say, three
buttons, we could code S1 to be context sensitive. So if I cast S1, I run a
check to see if S1 was just cast a moment ago, and if it was then S1 instead
casts S2. Instead of pushing all four buttons in a row, I would push S1
twice, then S3, then S4. (Remember, S2 is coded to follow S1 on a repeated
button press.) I could further reduce this to two buttons by coding S1 to
morph into S2 and then S3 on successive button presses, leaving alone S4
(because we would want the iaijutsu button to remain context sensitive as it presently
is). But how would this help? Imagine
being able to pull off, say, twenty different possible combos by using only
four buttons. Not only would that make gameplay easier, it would allow for
more technique and variety. Let’s keep the same buttons as before, but make
this change: S1, S2, and S3 are all sensitive to combo presses in succession.
S4 is essentially the “special move execute” function. Possible combos: 1, 1, 1, 4 1, 2, 3, 4 1, 1, 2, 4 1, 1, 3, 4 1, 2, 2, 4 1, 2, 1, 4 1, 3, 2, 4 1, 3, 3, 4 1, 3, 1, 4 2, 1, 2, 4 2, 2, 2, 4 3, 2, 1, 4 3, 3, 1, 4 2, 1, 3, 4 And so forth. (2) Prune repetitive support abilities
or allow them to be context-sensitive as well. The main idea is to reduce the number
of buttons in order to keep the focus on the character and the field – to NOT
have players basically just watching their hotbars the whole time. |
Where ESO succeeds here is their
dedication to having only five buttons on the hotbar (six if you count the
ultimate), and by having the hotbar switchable at will. Because there are
only five buttons, I know exactly what spells are on what button, and I don’t
have to constantly look. Also, because there isn’t a GCD as in WoW or FFXIV,
I don’t have to continually watch buttons for timing. I can actually look at
my characters and see their animations. And because I can look at my
characters, I can actually see where they are on the field, especially in
relation to enemy NPCs. Kind of an important thing. Having only five buttons – ten
if you count the “back bar” – does NOT, however, mean ESO is limited where
skills are concerned. There are nearly 500 active spells/abilities players
can choose from, which are accessible by different “skill lines” unlocked
through gameplay and story completion. This makes character building a thing,
a big thing actually, and adds depth to the game. To be fair, however, some
players do wish there could be more buttons on the hotbar. That, however,
would go against ESO’s design scheme and the overall point put forth by devs
to specifically not overwhelm players with buttons. On a personal note, especially
where spells and abilities are concerned, I am a big fan of “simple but
elegant.” Having few buttons, but making them sensitive to context and
timing, seems to me the best way to go. Like Smash Bros. Melee, or
Castlevania Lament, or God of War. Kingdoms of Amalur even. Depth of combat
and technique need not – should not – be determined by having 36 different
buttons on the screen; but instead by how only a few buttons are used in
conjunction with each other and events in the game world. |
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Winner |
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Overall Combat Healing DPS Tanking |
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FFXIV combat is basically WoW.
Tab target, push or click buttons on the hotbar, wait. Combat becomes complex
and needlessly anxious because I cannot see the field and my buttons at the
same time – let alone all 36 of them. Combat can be REALLY fun
depending on the class, but the bottom line here is that there are just too
many buttons no matter what the role is. Other than that, combat is
smooth and easy to get used to for the most part. One other negative is that for
much of the game, there are indicators letting players know when to GTFO of
an area. Oddly, even if I get out of an area before an enemy spell goes off,
I still take damage from the spell I just avoided. Because of my limited vision,
I’ll glance down to look at my GCD. By the time I glance back up, a warning
area has flashed on. I do my “oh sh-- oh sh--” run out of the area, and even
though I’m away BEFORE the enemy animation executes, I still take damage. WTF? Or, specifically because I can’t
see the field and my hotbars at the same time, in just trying to play the
game I miss out on AOE cues. |
ESO combat follows the Skyrim
model, plus five buttons on a switchable hotbar. Left click to hit, right
click to block. Mouse looks around. The simplicity of button arrangements and
controls allows me greater control over movement, and allows me to actually
watch what is going on in the game. It also encourages me to prioritize
spells/abilities according to taste and effectiveness – not to just throw
everything up there and push whatever. Because only a limited skillset
can be equipped at any time, combat becomes more personalized and individual.
Granted, like other games, certain people have completed certain calculations
about which abilities at which times make the highest DPS. But their obsessive
compulsion does not greatly affect general gameplay. I still have the freedom
to use spells because I like them and they are cool. Overall, I get to actually see
and react to combat in ESO, without as much anxiety. |
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Winner |
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Monsters and NPCs |
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Both of these games have really
cool and unique NPCs as well as monsters. I could take time pointing out
which from which, but the bottom line is that both games are good here for
different reasons. Except for Hildibrand. He’s an
annoyance at best. |
Sir Cadwell, voiced by John
Cleese. Amazing. |
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Tie |
Tie |
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Leveling |
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Leveling in FFXIV works just
like any other MMO on the market. Complete quests, kill mobs, do dungeons,
make stuff. The key difference is that in FFXIV, zone quests and FATEs are not
effective aids. This is a problem when you’ve raised five job classes and are
beginning your sixth (completionism and variety!), because by that point
players have most likely completed all the MSQs, done all the FATEs multiple
times, and run dungeons again and again. Zone quest rewards not being
significant actually hurts longevity of the single character focus; and not
having narrative driven zone quests removes the reason to go out adventuring
in those zones. At a certain point, leveling
collapses into spamming dungeon runs. I think this ruins the gameplay experience.
(More on that later.) At max level, character growth
once again (like WoW) devolves into gearing. And that’s it. Just gear. Yay. |
Leveling in ESO is way more fun because it is so significant. Rather than automatically gain spells/abilities every few levels, like FFXIV and WoW, you just judiciously choose which spells/abilities to take each level. Even though everything is scaled to level,
there is still challenge depending on where you are and what you face.
Craglorn, for example, is harder than Glenumbra. You really need to know
what you are doing to survive for long in Craglorn. To fix the expansion issue –
rather than simply increasing the overall level cap – devs
implemented a champion point system after level fifty. For the past couple
years, this has worked really well. Stat points get allocated to improve and
refine your character into what you want it to be. So growth isn’t just about
gearing, it’s also about how and where you allocate points. Characters
focused on crafting, for example, may have a completely different focus than
characters oriented toward melee combat. |
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Winner |
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Dungeoning |
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Both games have slick-looking
dungeons with wicked cool design and animations. Boss mechanics in both games seem pretty well scripted and tooled. However, I am rating both of
these as fail. Why? Because dungeoning is supposed to be special, different
from the overworld and presenting a little bit more of a technical challenge. What
it becomes in EACH game is high-powered characters running through at breakneck
speed, like the Road Runner or the Flash having taken a truckload of speed,
killing every boss before other players can even get out of the lobby. (Okay,
so that’s an exaggeration. But not by much. No, seriously. Not by much.) In both games, actually learning
dungeon and boss mechanics is pretty much pointless for newbies given that the overpowered players kill
everything too quickly for mechanics to matter. This problem exists because
higher level, higher geared players need to participate in lower level
dungeons to keep the game moving for everyone involved. (It’s not 2004
anymore, and we aren’t high school and college kids with loads of time on our
hands. The party finders / duty finders / raid finders / dungeon finders are
a necessity.) To fix this issue, all power
levels should be equalized and dungeons should be tooled to present a
reasonable challenge able to be completed within a reasonable time frame.
Fifteen to twenty minutes on a standard dungeon (a little more and a little
less on smaller and larger areas) should be good, while thirty minutes to an
hour on trials and raid wings should be good. This of course assumes
proficient completion, and does not account for repeated failures. |
There is absolutely no reason,
given modern technology and coding abilities, why players cannot receive rewards in
proportion to their gear and experience levels either during or at the end
(or both!) of dungeons. The main idea here, which I
think is squandered in modern MMOs, is that dungeons should be special and
present special challenges – accessible by ALL players – that give unique and
proportional rewards. They should NOT be something players can face roll if
they are powerful enough. Dungeons should be crafted to take strategy to
complete, and not just the ability to run through all the mobs without
consequence. Not having equal challenge, I argue, actually harms the player base in the long run. New players cannot learn necessary skills and strategies if speed-running is mainstream, which means they are largely underprepared when beginning EX/Savage/Hard/Veteran content. “But I’m level 80 with maxed out
item levels. I shouldn’t have to spend my time in lower dungeons.” But you
choose to, or you choose to use the random finder tool which could put
you there. Because you choose to engage that, you should be presented with some modicum of challenge to keep you
entertained and on your toes. And for spending that time, and being good at
it, you should receive reward commensurate with your character and gear
level. |
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Tie |
Tie |
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Gathering |
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Both games have gathering
professions as a sub-class. Both have pros and cons. Both are way better and
deeper (more engaging) than WoW ever was. What sets FFXIV apart is that
gathering is limited to specific areas of regions (level 1-5 items here,
level 6-10 items over there, etc.), is cast as a mini-game, and allows
players to choose what they harvest from any of various nodes. Overall it’s
pretty cool, but being confined to smaller area is a bummer, especially when
gathering should push players to explore zones to their fullest. |
ESO does not cast gathering as a
mini-game, but keeps the “clickable” nature started by WoW. It does, however,
force players to explore and wander in order to find items; and that’s a good
thing. There are also a variety of sources to gather from, continuing the
Elder Scrolls tradition that ALL THE THINGS must be collectible, whereas
FFXIV can be quite limited. |
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Tie |
Tie |
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Crafting |
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Both games have crafting
professions as a sub-class. Both have pros and cons. Both are way better and
deeper (more engaging) than WoW ever was. FFXIV crafting is cast as a
mini-game. Different quality items are producible depending on how good you
are at the mini-game. Traits can be added via actually using your gear in
combat, and by turning it into materia (spirit linking). Also, the more
powerful and special your materials are, the more powerful and special your
products are. |
ESO crafting is not a mini-game,
but it is nevertheless just as engaging and complex. You use various
materials to make products, but rather than having to be good at a mini-game
players must upgrade crafted items using special collectibles. The are found
through deconstructing uncommon/rare/epic gear and items found throughout the
world and in dungeons. ESO crafting also includes
traits and special abilities, which must be researched in order to add to
gear. This makes crafted gear very personalized and targeted. In addition,
there are certain rare forges which add bonus abilities, but only if players
find those forge and use specifically those forges when making gear. |
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Tie |
Tie |
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Markets/Auctioning |
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They both have markets and
auctions of some kind. The basic functionality in each game remains the same
– sell stuff to other players rather than a vendor. Nothing is particularly
GOOD about either auction system which makes them stand head and shoulders above
Auctionator or Auctioneer in WoW. The fact that both games do not
tolerate Real Money Transactions (RMT), whereas WoW embraces it, makes them way better. What’s bad about FFIV markets,
then, is that it can only be done through a “retainer” system. Basically,
players hire a NPC, give it items, and have it sell them on the market board.
Since FFXIV does not allow mods or addons, players must manually search and
locate current market values and price goods accordingly. Not a bad thing . .
. just takes a lot of time that could be spent on other things in the game. |
What’s bad about ESO auctions is
that players can only auction if they are part of a guild, and only if that
guild hires a NPC to “sell” their wares. In short, each game adds
superfluous mechanics which I think detracts from the game more than it adds.
One good thing about both games,
though, is that the in-game economies seem very well preserved by the marketing systems. Again, though. Both games get
props for having zero tolerance toward RMT. |
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Tie |
Tie |
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Inventory |
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FFXIV starts players out with
all bag space they will ever have. Most items stack to 999, which is really
cool. Another cool feature is the
Armoury Chest feature, which separates gear from other types of items in the
game and allows for casual auto-equipping of best possible gear for a class. What is NOT cool is that players
must actually have the gear piece whose appearance they want to use. This takes
up inventory space, which means players focused on collecting glams will have
to make sacrifices elsewhere. There is no bank. Retainer
system is used instead. Retainers are NOT SHARED between characters. Items
are not easily transferable between characters. |
ESO starts players with 50 item
slots, and items stack up to 200. (They should make it 999.) Bag space can be
upgraded through in-game purchases to a maximum of 140 slots. Bank space starts at 60, and is
expandable through in-game purchases. Bank space IS SHARED account-wide, so
items and gold can be easily transferred between characters. How ESO really wins over FFXIV
here is that item appearances are unlocked when that item becomes bound,
meaning that players do not have to sacrifice inventory space just to use another
item’s appearance. That means players can have their cake AND eat it . . . so
far as armor looks go, anyway. |
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Winner |
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Addons/Mods |
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Addons and mods are not allowed.
Players can be permanently banned for using them. Some players still use them
anyway. To be fair, FFXIV devs have
tried to make every facet of the UI customizable, and the game features a
native chatsound feature which is VERY useful for blind players like me. |
Addons and mods are allowed. Players
are encouraged to add their own personal flare to the game, or else add
functionality developers may not have considered. As always, using addons comes
with a risk that certain game elements may malfunction. |
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Tie |
Tie |
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Community |
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FFXIV |
ESO |
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The FFXIV community thus far has
been perhaps the best around. However, I have to wonder if this is due to the
no tolerance policy toward harassment and bullying more than the collective
character of gamers. Just in running random dungeons, we can see the same
toxicity and frustration through backhanded compliments
and general impatience. Higher-level and more experienced players rush off,
pulling everything, then become upset when newer players or “sprouts” lag
behind. Some players don't give a flying f--- if new players aren't in the boss room. They will pull anyway. Dungeons, trials, and other
challenging material are often run in complete radio silence; players
offering only a “o/” at the beginning and refusing to respond to chat prompts.
“It’s because they use a
controller.” Okay, but part of community is talking and communicating, too. “Then use Discord.” I do. Still
mostly silence. And in some raiding groups, that’s where the toxicity is
funneled. For some reason, people don’t like
to actually converse any more. |
Unfortunately, many of the same
issues exist in ESO as well. It’s probably a modern gaming thing, more than a
game-specific thing. So what makes ESO better, where
community is involved? You can join five guilds instead
of just one. |
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Winner |
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Overall likes |
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FFXIV |
ESO |
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The art and music are just
wonderful overall. I adore Ul’dah. Really good storytelling. I love
that each class has its own narrative, even if some of them aren’t even that
good. More games need to do this, so that players feel their class/job
selection is just as narratively important as the MSQ. Ninja. Samurai. Bard. Lots of classes. One character can do everything.
Some of the zones are especially
enchanting to be in (aesthetics). Childhood and young adulthood
nostalgia. Gilgamesh, and the green chicken he painted to try and cure his loneliness. Guaranteed materials when
gathering and harvesting. (So long as you know what you’re doing.) Personal
nodes. |
Same comments about art and
music. Even my wife feels relaxed when I play this game, and she’s not even a
gamer. Seriously good compositions, both visual and aural. I’m an ES fanboy, so . . . Morrowind. Elsweyr. Glenumbra <3. Pulling enemies with Fiery
Chains. Puncturing Sweep. Sir Cadwell. The Prophet. The
Mad God. The drunken kitty-cat Khajiit. Gathering and crafting very
deep, very involved. Gathering encourages and rewards exploration. Perks of ESO+ sub are actually
really good. Worthwhile. Way better than paying monthly for base access and
no perks. Tons of skills to choose from. |
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Overall dislikes |
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FFXIV |
ESO |
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Too many hotbars and buttons. UI clutters the screen. Hard time keeping up visually,
lots of anxiety healing or tanking in this game. Zones are fragmented,
disjointed. Aspects of the game other than
MSQ seem trivialized. F---ing Hildibrand. Ugh. Not permissive of other
characters or “alts.” All gathering nodes collected to
limited areas. Gathering itself discourages zone exploration. |
Only six classes. No unarmed skill line? And this
is f---ing Elder Scrolls? WTF man, seriously? (Bethesda made the same mistake
with Skyrim.) High-powered dungeon tankers who
don’t care whether they’ve got aggro, only that they can finish within five
minutes. (Maybe I should start calling them “minutemen.” Chuckle.) Mounts are WAY too expensive. Can only upgrade mount riding
speed/stamina/inventory once per day. (Should scale instead per day, as with
bank and bags. Should be able to purchase at least one of each per day,
rather than just one.) To actually craft, and craft well, pretty much need to sub for the infinite crafting bag. Otherwise, have a fully upgraded bank toon JUST for storage. |
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Final verdict |
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FFXIV |
ESO |
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Wins = 3 |
Wins = 7 |
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