When you’re starting off your FFXIV journey (or even long before that), you often hear some myths about the game that are either stopping you from enjoying it, or tend to drive you away from the game completely. I’ve heard my fair share of these myths, and I blame some of them for starting with the game too late, so the more misconceptions we get out of the way, the better!
The most cliché thing you’ll ever hear about FFXIV is that it’s a weeb game. Now, I have to somewhat disagree with this, because for the most part, the story is very well-suited for anyone not on the weeb train. Some expansions have more of an Eastern feel than the other ones, but I think the weeb thing is just being made out to be a big deal for some reason. I’ve been failing to understand why weeb is considered bad anyway, and yes – there are plenty of people playing the game who love this type of content – but if you don’t, I don’t see how the game would rub you the wrong way just based on this.
FFXIV is played without addons, as almost all of them are not allowed, but that doesn’t make the game feel bad. Coming from WoW, I was initially terrified of playing the game in its “naked” mode without tons of info on my screen, but I do like to customize everything, and the game has allowed me to do that. I no longer feel the need for some arbitrary information that I shouldn’t be bothered with as an MMO player, and I’m far better off that way. It may not be everyone’s thing, but for me it’s a relief. You may feel the same way after you’ve customized your UI to your liking!
Another one is thinking that you can breeze through leveling your first character. When I started the game, seeing how easy it was to hit level 20 or so, made me feel optimistic about my chances of leveling in about a couple of weeks. Boy, was I wrong about that! Not only that every single level takes a while to get through later on, but there’s also the MSQ gating you from being maxed out as a character. I’m just happy I realized that early in my gameplay, and I shielded myself from some massive disappointments that were coming my way!
People also tend to say that you can’t fully enjoy the game if you don’t know a lot about it. I may have a slightly different perspective as someone who’s streamed it and had a bit of help from the community since day one, but I can confidently say that the game is enjoyable even when you’re clueless. I’m still clueless about a lot of stuff when it comes to my job, various features of the game, and interface in general. However, I’m loving every step of the way!.
I think one of the main reasons why it took me so long to start playing FFXIV is because I don’t know anything about the other FF games, so I believed this one would confuse me. Luckily, they don’t actually have anything to do with one another storywise, so if you’re an FF noob like me, don’t worry, as you’ll be just fine!
As a hopeless introvert, when I started my MMO journey, I was pretty anxious about doing content with other people. In WoW, that didn’t used to be a big deal as a lot of stuff is soloable, and you get phased a lot. However, in FFXIV, the community is vibrant and inter-connected in ways I couldn’t begin to imagine. At first, I thought I wouldn’t fit in at all considering I do like my solitude sometimes, but FFXIV is making me crave company and interaction as I know that everyone is out there doing things. In a way, I feel like I’m missing out if I’m not around! There’s plenty of in-game content to do both with others and solo, so whatever you feel like when you log in, so there’s something for every one of your moods!
Starting FFXIV in 2021 was a bit stressful, as I’m painfully aware of how long the game has been out there, and I kind of knew I was behind. The very amount of content has been making me feel like I should’ve started earlier, as I would now have a lot more stuff going on, but I realized that’s just a silly thing to overwhelm myself with. In reality, I’ll only ever be doing the content I’m having fun doing, and that is definitely achievable in the foreseeable future, so I’ve got nothing to worry about – and the same goes for you. If you’re new to the game, just focus on finishing the main storyline and know that you’ll have enough time to do everything and anything you want, as those things are here to stay!
A lot of people used to tell me FFXIV is a copy of WoW in a way. Back when I played WoW, while the game still felt good to me, I didn’t see that as a bad thing. These days, I’m aware that it is both not true, and would be a very bad thing if it was true. FFXIV looks and feels nothing like WoW right now in terms of the story, the open world, the activities and so many other things. So no, in short, FFXIV is not a WoW clone and is a standalone game doing very well the way it is!
Also, there’s this thing where people talk about the story and the combat in the early game as if it’s the slowest thing they’ve ever encountered in an MMO. I’ll go ahead and say it’s a bit of a spoiled attitude, as both features pick up very quickly – as soon as you’re past the introduction to the game. The fact that there’s just a ton of story to go through shouldn’t be mistaken for it being slow, as the game is a digital carousel of twists and turns that keeps you on your toes if you give it a decent chance!
Lastly, there is an overly-optimistic misconception about the FFXIV community being perfect and fully non-toxic. Although it’s a lot better than in some other MMO’s due to both the game’s culture, and heavy in-game moderation, there are still some bad eggs around there. Some are newcomers who are unadapted to the tame community of FFXIV, and some are even veterans who feel quite displeased with the influx of both new players and new content creators (I’ve had the pleasure of meeting quite a few memorable individuals from all of these categories). All in all, I think it comes down to the World, and I’ve been feeling quite sheltered from any bad behavior over on Lich, but the situation differs from World to World. Most of the people I’ve encountered, however, are terrific, and I think that’s largely the case with most players, I hope so at least!
That’s pretty much all I’ve got when it comes to some FFXIV myths. What are some more specific ones that you know of, about jobs, the content, or the game in general? Let me know in the comments, and if you’re more of a visual person, and you don’t mind getting easy wins in-game, you can check out all of this in my video – and subscribe for more awesome FFXIV stuff!
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