[quote=@BrokenPromise]
I'm enjoying ff 14. Playing through the Storm Blood expansion right now. I really like the story for Heavensward, but I have a hard time reccomending it to friends because the base game (A realm reborn) is so bad. It's like eating vegetables before moving onto desert, only instead of vegetables, it's a mess of a story where 90% of it feels like mandatory side quests and doesn't really matter. Fortunately the dungeons and everything else is pretty good. 

Speaking as someone who's played very few MMKOs. 
[/quote]


A Realm Reborn was a lot more forgivable back when it was all that the game had after the disaster that was 1.0. ARR had the monumental task of having to be good enough to make people forget the first go-round while also being an MMO worth subscribing to in an era of increased buy-to-play or free-to-play models. While the base game is [i]fine[/i], it's clear they were playing it super safe. It takes forever for the game to find a plot thread to follow and then it takes even longer for the game to do anything with the setup it introduces at like level 15. 

The true issue with ARR is the post-game, pre-HS quests. Again, at the time they were a little more acceptable since the content was doled out in patches and the new trials and such were fresh challenges and all, but for new players the end of ARR plays out like a massive filler arc that only starts being interesting at the last hurdle. 

FF14 is a weird game to get new people into just because of ARR's post-game since I can't suggest people buy a level skip but at the same time the game didn't really hit its stride in terms of narrative presentation and design until HS. 

ARR needs a revamp or at the very least an Aetheryte outside the Waking Sands god dammit.