When it comes to MMOs the only one I\u2019ve sunk any amount of time into is Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR). I\u2019ve been playing it on and off since the beta around October 2011. In that time, I\u2019ve taken 19 characters to the current level cap of 75 and had a taste of pretty much everything it has to offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have wondered over the years what other MMOs are like and with the launch of New World today and me recently taking the plunge into Final Fantasy XIV (FF14) I\u2019ve discovered that I really like MMOs. I\u2019m getting drawn into FF14 and loving the game overall but it is very different to SWTOR and I\u2019m finding there\u2019s things that are unique to the two MMOs. I\u2019m also rediscovering some things that drew me to SWTOR in the first place that have taken a back seat to other in game priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So in honour of me starting my second ever MMO, here\u2019s 7 things I learnt starting a new MMO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I first started SWTOR I didn\u2019t just go where the missions told me. I went everywhere! If there was a spot on the map not filled in I would search and search to make sure it was filled in. After a few characters that sense of wonder I got from exploring slowly receded. What\u2019s the point in getting the map filled in when it\u2019s exactly the same as the other maps you\u2019ve filled in?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
FF14 has reinvigorated the explorer in me. I love finding every nook and cranny and seeing if there\u2019s any treasure or other shiny things. I love being a tourist in the land of Eorzea, visiting the landmarks and taking in the amazing vistas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I want my character to be unique and stand out from the others. But there\u2019s so many options! Don\u2019t get me wrong I like that there\u2019s different customisation options and giving the player more choice is great, but trying to work out which race and class combinations without resorting to an online guide is tricky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MMOs have the holy trinity of DPS (dealers of damage), healers (fixers of damage) and tanks (takers of damage). I spent considerable time reading the descriptions of the races and classes in FF14 to work out which would be best for me. I like to start off with a DPS class when learning as they\u2019re generally the easiest for me to play, which I figured would be important when starting a new MMO. In the end I went with a Conjurer because it sounded the closest to the ranged magic user I wanted with what I thought was a good (as opposed to evil) alignment. I didn\u2019t realise I\u2019d picked the only healing class in the game and wasn\u2019t aware it until I was a few hours in. So now I\u2019m a healer and while I\u2019m enjoying it, it wasn\u2019t clear that\u2019s what I was picking at the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that\u2019s all before I even try and come up with a name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s no secret that I\u2019m a major Star Wars fan. I want to learn every little thing about it I can. And when I find another universe I like I\u2019ll throw myself into it and want to learn everything I can about it. Another benefit of loving exploring is finding lore items like signs explaining the world more, or side quests that introduce new characters and add more to the experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The level of detail in MMOs is incredible and quite often the most interesting things happen in side quests. So pick up all the quests you find and learn all you can. Although take can lead to the next problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Doing all the side quests has the unintended side effect of being incredibly powerful when it comes to story missions, inevitably making the combat trivial. SWTOR tried to combat this by making entire planets have a level sync, reducing your stats and level to something more appropriate for that area but keeping gear stats so you still had some advantage for playing further through the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
FF14 has its own level sync, but instead of being by region or planet it\u2019s done for certain missions. These missions and small world events called FATES will prompt you to lower your level to participate, keeping combat interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can always not do the side missions and keep your level low, but I feel that\u2019s not for a first playthrough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gameplay is important but I find that if a game doesn\u2019t have a fitting story, I can get bored with it. Both SWTOR and FF14 have interesting stories (at least the bits I\u2019ve played so far), but one key difference between the two is choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SWTOR gives you some agency over how the story turns out. Your choice to help certain people or do certain things can either aid you in future missions or make things harder because you killed the person that can help you. FF14 tells its epic story without input from the player character. Whatever the game needs you to do it makes you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Each story telling method has its pros and cons. Choice makes the player feel like the character is truly theirs and makes roleplaying easier but makes future stories complicated. Did player X kill this NPC? Alright well they can\u2019t appear in future expansions, but they can still appear for player Y who didn\u2019t kill them. Linear stories also end up in the same place and it doesn\u2019t feel like the player is being railroaded into a particular choice that\u2019s out of line for their character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One thing I was glad to see SWTOR introduce was the free to play model, even if I\u2019m constantly subscribed and don\u2019t use it. FF14 also has a free trial so that made my decision to jump into FF14 easier as well. If I can try a decent portion of the game without having to buy it or subscribe, I\u2019m more likely to try it out and I\u2019m sure I\u2019m not the only one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SWTOR offers a free to play option that lets you rank up to level 60 and covers the base game which includes 8 separate class stories, plus the first two expansions Rise Of The Hutt Cartel and Shadow Of Revan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
FF14\u2019s free to play option also lets you level up to 60 and contains the base game and the first expansion Heavensward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Free to play generally has restrictions on what you can do as well, like locking you out of some daily missions, trading restrictions or the number of characters you can have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Free to play is great, but what the game devs really want you to do is to spend money on the game. Subscribing is the main way MMOs make money and the access that gives you does vary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SWTOR has a fair in depth system for players that have never subbed, always subbed or were once subbed but aren\u2019t at the moment. Subscribing gets you access to everything. And by everything I mean everything<\/em>. All story content up to the very latest expansion, player vs player (PVP) content, no cap on in game items. EVERYTHING! And if you choose to stop your subscription you become a preferred player, still having access to your characters but also having restrictions on some content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n FF14 does things differently. Their free trial is only open to new characters and cannot be used for existing characters so it encourages new players coming in. You also need to buy new expansions separately, as well as be subscribed to use them. If you don\u2019t subscribe you can\u2019t play the game at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There you have it, the 7 things I learnt starting a new MMO. What do you think? Have something you\u2019d like to at? Lets us know on Twitter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Originally published on GameOnAus.com in Sept 2021 When it comes to MMOs the only one…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":383,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[26,24],"class_list":["post-382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-26","tag-pc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.str8jaktjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.str8jaktjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.str8jaktjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.str8jaktjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.str8jaktjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=382"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.str8jaktjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":384,"href":"http:\/\/www.str8jaktjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382\/revisions\/384"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.str8jaktjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.str8jaktjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.str8jaktjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.str8jaktjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}