Should You Play Guild Wars 2 or Final Fantasy 14?

Guild Wars 2 and Final Fantasy 14 are in my opinion, both fantastic MMOs. And really, if you can, you should just play both! But what if you only have time to play one? It's time for Guild Wars 2 vs. Final Fantasy XIV!
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Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
01:53 Narrative
05:10 Open World
06:38 Instanced Content
08:44 Combat
10:57 Buildcraft
12:59 Alts
13:53 Production Value
14:21 Playable Races
15:38 Music
16:19 Animations
16:56 Mounts
18:29 Subscription Fee
20:02 Social
21:14 Server Uptime
22:11 Player Housing
22:41 Fashion
23:42 Conclusion

[@benjaminfast5496]

I love both of the games, and you touched on so many reasons as to why both have pros over the other. However, I do find I can only play FFXIV for a few months before I feel burned out and unsub for quite a long time before I want to go back. With GW2, I can go 6 months straight logging in every day and always have fun. And without a sub fee, I don't feel guilty if I need to take a break here and there. Some things that are big stand out for me for what each has over the other: FFXIV: 1. The ability to play ALL jobs on one character! I so badly wish this was a feature in GW2. While GW2 is very alt friendly, I struggle to choose a main to really focus on because there are pros and cons to ever class. 2. FASHION! The detail and style of the fashion in this game is stunning and miles ahead of GW2. Making you're character look good is easy. With GW2, the armour/outifts aren't as nice, sleek, or high quality. And they don't work on some races. Some females (Charr/Asura) have to wear male versions of the outfits sometimes. 3. Story is a pro for FFXIV, but it's also rough at times because you can't progress without continuing the story and it's so slugish at times that it causes my burn out. But dang if it isn't well written! 4. Dungeons/trials. I admit I have done this stuff much on GW2, but mostly because it's so hard to find in the game. Like, it almost seems like it's hidden from you. With FFXIV you are unlocking them as you goo through the story and they're a lot of fun to run through with a party. It's a huge part of the game and I love it! GW2: 1. THE WORLD. It's so vibrant and alive. Each map truly feels unique and I love just wandering into new areas. Eorzea has a softer palette, and there's not a lot going on when wandering outside of the cities. With GW2, I'm like a dog with all the squirrel moments. I'll have an agenda, and then 1 hour later I'll realized I've trailed off and forgot what my agenda was. There's always something grabbing my attention and I'm always having fun doing it. 2. The Dying in this game is miles better than FFXIV. While the fashion is better in FFXIV, you can only slap one colour onto each piece and it often ruins the piece. You also need to keep buying more dye, and removing dye. With GW2, you start with simple colours, but gradually unlock hundreds of them and you can changed each piece of the armour/outfits with up to 4 colours. You can truly make your character stand out. 3. Class customization. While FFXIV has something like 18 classes, you are basically doing a copy and paste of every other player with the same class. You covered this in your video so I won't ramble about it. 4. Free to play! Sure, you have to buy each expansion, but after that, spending money us completely your choice and it's only for cosmetics/quality of life. I could do more, but those are the main ones I can think of. Both great games. Both have a lot to offer. Both do some things better than the other.

[@Laranity]

Loved this comment, thank you for sharing!

[@emissarygw2264]

A couple important ones you missed: 1) FF14 has a vibrant (E)RP scene. There's also a very high rate of IRL couples resulting from meeting in-game. 2) GW2 action combat mechanics and general movement/flow are top notch (also see griffon and roller beetle racing). This ties in with the general 'extremely good open world/exploration experience' thing.

[@benjaminfast5496]

@@emissarygw2264 Very good points! The community in FFXIV is amazing! And the flow of combat in GW2 is smooth and exciting!

[@benjaminfast5496]

@@Laranity Thank you! It was a great video!

[@Insig385]

the dog with squirrel comment about gw2 is accurate. yesterday I went to tangled woods intending on just doing the forager daily - got in n saw the meta was happening so I immediately got distracted with the meta. then I ported through wvw to get back to lions arch, saw tons of activity due to invaders, and jumped in head first. 2 hrs later, I remembered I still need to forage for my daily and still haven't had dinner yet. 😂

[@donmarelio]

This video is honestly so good, so succinct and actively manages to mention some minutiae and important nuances that many general overview MMO comparison videos just straight up miss. It definitely helps that you've played both games substantially. :)

[@azurechan]

As someone who plays both, with FFXIV being my main mmo and GW2 being the one I end up playing less of, I think you did a very good job of explaining why I really enjoy both. I like the simplicity of FFXIV's gearing and job system. There's really just one BiS, and only people who play high end content need to worry about BiS anyway. Just doing the story dungeons and regular raids for gear will keep you updated, and even if you fall behind, the story is super lenient on difficulty. Every job plays the same. All the healers share gear and can't equip others, so I don't have to worry about playing a healer but having the wrong stats. In GW2, there's too many options for me. I just look up what's good and copy that. XD I also like having all jobs on one character. FFXIV alts are considered to be the jobs your character has. Alt characters are mainly used to get around weekly lockouts for high end loot. Also, before Data Center Travel existed, you'd have alts to play with friends in the same region but on different data centers. I did that, and now that DC travel exists, I only need to worry about one character again. I prefer the open world of GW2 as far as running around and doing events. Doing things in FFXIV is very targeted. What I mean is, if I'm on a map, I went there for a reason, I complete my objective(s), and then move onto the next map. Very rarely do I stick around because something else started happening. It does happen, but it's super rare. On the other hand, I get distracted really easy in GW2. I'm on a map to work on an achievement, but then another event happens, and there's a bunch of people and I go along for the ride. I forget to go back and work on the achievement until later, lol. Neither of these game experiences are a bad thing, they're just different.

[@karisuma_elli]

Omg Lara. You did amazing on this video :D I really love your script, your editing and all your segways (the one with the moogle was clearly the best). I also love how there are different states of your bangs :D from no bangs, to long eye-blocking bangs. It was such a pleasure to watch this video and I really appreciate all that work you've put into this 🥰

[@karmamule]

I've played both of these games and love them both and thought you did an excellent job of capturing the key differences in a very fun and enjoyable way and I was happy to subscribe! :) While I've enjoyed both games I haven't got too far in either yet (partway thru Stormblood in FFXIV and just started getting into Season 1 of living story in GW2.) I recently retired and am looking forward to TONS of gaming and debating which one of these to fully play through first. (I'm sure I'll eventually do both). Talk about a fun problem to have! :) Anyways, your video was so helpful, thank you!

[@redlunatic2224]

I play and love both, but I must point out one important difference between these games: accessibility. Both in terms of controls and UI, FFXIV offers a lot more options to allow all kinds of players, which makes it much easier for me to spend longer sessions in it instead of GW2.

[@mrmeepsyt5917]

Accessibility must be limited in order to weed out the weak, its how evolution works.

[@redlunatic2224]

@@mrmeepsyt5917 ah yes, videogames: widely known as the method of selection for human breeding.

[@mrmeepsyt5917]

@@redlunatic2224 Indeed, spot on.

[@redlunatic2224]

@@mrmeepsyt5917 The sad truth is that I can't even be sure if you're joking.

[@citriosis]

​@@mrmeepsyt5917being able-bodied is a temporary state btw so remember this when you inevitably become disabled (whether temporarily or permanently) at some point and start wishing for accessibility 👍🏾

[@Engald]

I really like GW2 because there is very little grinding. The freedom of movement is great even during combat (except when immob hits 🤬). I got into World vs World and now I have neglected all other aspects of the game. 😁

[@ValkyrionX2]

Yeah because of the horizontal progression system, not so much grinding which is quite nice for casual player and those who got IRL responsibilities. Also if we decide to take a break from the game to focus on life we can always come back without pressure to catch up because very little thing to catch up. The sub fee part is really hitting the mark T_T I unsub from WoW during MoP because IRL forced me to now I haven't come back, the pressure to make your monthly sub worth is real.

[@emikochan13]

GW2 feels the grindiest to me because everything good takes a bunch of time to get, you can never get lucky and get something you want. also because loot from mobs is literally negatively enjoyable because it's busywork just to sort through it instead of exciting like in games like classic wow.

[@Engald]

​@@emikochan13 Yeah most of the drops are useless. I found a precursor once though, and a cool skin for the jackal. I get many ascended rings and chests playing WvW. At least we don't have to risk breaking our equipment to improve it like other games I that I have played. Also, we don't need to grind to improve our stuff every time the level cap changes or something. Now that I think about it, I have played some really bad games. XD

[@ValkyrionX2]

@@emikochan13 Isn't that good, just put everyone on the same ground you need X time to complete some collection. There is a lucky part though you can gamba open chest and if you get permanent contract you can sell and buy legendary weapon.

[@Theatricbandit]

I love both these games dearly. To me personally they fill different tastes. If I feel a different flavor I'll play one game or another depending on my mood. Both respect your time so for me it's easy to keep up on both of them and or not feel left behind (or take a break from one or both to focus on other games, etc) For example, If I want to fly around a huge overworld that feels living, breathing, take on events with tons of people that feels like an MMO, GW2 is generally my go to. It really brings lots of people together across a bunch of different zones for like world bosses, meta events, hero point trains as examples organically and I love it. If I want to do some organized instanced content, whether it be roulette's, doing some endgame fights, or teaming up with my friends to do stuff like the roguelike Palace of the Dead style content, for me FF14 is generally my go to. The streamlined duty finder or party finder makes getting groups in game easy so you can jump into different kinds of content. GW2 has this too, but for me FF's feels a bit more intuitive as far as grouping up goes. I would say if you're having trouble choosing one or the other, try them both out! FF has the whole free trial meme with the award winning Heavensward expansion for free (also the second expansion Stormblood is actually free too until May 8th, meaning if you get up to that expansion before then you pay zero bucks even after the 8th :o) I could harp about the story and its characters and prettiness but that's something you need to experience yourself if you're interested in that. GW2 has the entire core game free (you used to pay for core back in the day) as well as between expansion Living World Season 1 which has tons of repeatable content you can spend hours doing, collecting achievements, doing dungeons, lots of fun things to do for your account. Tons of huge maps. You can spend months doing free content on both these games to help come to a decision. I think both games are really good compliments for one another, these two together satisfies my MMO itch. FF14 to me is single player game first, MMO second, GW2 to me is MMO first, probably single player second? I think it can be more flexible than FF tbh. Both imo are like huge theme park games. P.S: Very excited for the Shadowbringers playthrough! You're gonna have a good time Lara, thanks for this video.

[@papervoice977]

As someone who's coming from GW2 into FF XIV, I can second a lot of the points. GW2 will very likely stay my main game due to sunk cost fallacy and no sub fee, but I really enjoy the slower gameplay of FF XIV as well for when I just... don't have the energy to dodge, read the enemy and perform my rotation with 3 steps per second and no in-game guidance as to what button is most effective now

[@Nienna_Asyare]

Lol I’m the opposite, I’m coming from FFXIV into GW2 xD And for me, GW2 is the calm and relaxed one that I feel like I can turn my brain off and not think during combat if I want lol

[@songoku6067]

​@@Nienna_Asyaresame here, especially in higher tiers in ffxiv mechanics and job roles are such a chore sometimes whereas in gw2 you have so many options to make your own playstyle

[@ichangeframes8261]

gw2 is by far the easier one in term of combat, ffxiv have a lot more skills to use and u really need to have a look all over the map in boss fights.

[@songoku6067]

@@ichangeframes8261 lol that is so untrue clearly u never played engineer or elementalist in ffxiv u have 1-2 rotations on top of few ogcds the only thing u need to watch out for are the buff cds for burst phases, in gw2 the combat is much faster paced and u have to utilize every ability, weapon swapping etc leaves more room to fk up

[@ichangeframes8261]

@@songoku6067 for me gw2 is easier for some reason, i have all classes to max in gw2 since its my main mmorpg tho. For me ff14 boss fights and screen looks more active than gw2, a lot of things i need to focus and look into, maybe is something about colors.

[@OneAmancham]

When I started playing GW2 my friend (who got me into the game in the first place) told me so much about the awesome feel of the mounts. I brushed it off, to be honest. I knew WoW mounts, and they were all the same and didn't feel special. But once I got on my own raptor, I was hooked. There is no going back from GW2 mounts for me :D I do miss player housing from other games I played over the years, but found it really hard to leave GW2. I did install and try FF14 for like an hour and uninstalled it afterwards. I just can't go back to the typical MMO questlines "go here, talk to X, pick up Y, carry it to Z, return to Y and get sent out on a hunt ..." nope. I'll take heart quests, exploration and dynamic events over that any day. Also ... LARA! you did not talk about crafting! Why did you not talk about crafting?!

[@DraconisV2]

That's because if you're going into FFXIV, you have to treat it as a Final Fantasy game first, MMO second. FFXIV has never been about the standard MMO questlines and grind, it's mainly all about the story like what is commonly seen in other Final Fantasy games. If the story gets you, then it's got you and it will carry you all the way to Endwalker. True, the gameplay and questing is great in GW2, however, to me the story there lacks the punch that FFXIV have and I wish more people can experience it instead of labeling FFXIV as just some typical MMO like the others.

[@Kuhazan]

@@DraconisV2 yep I have completed both stories and so many times in the Guild Wars 2 story they kill off a character before building them up making everyone just generic red shirt to me.... you do it too many times then the point of a character death is lost on a person. The gameplay was fine but they definitely need to rethink their writing. I will give the base game credit where it is due though. The base Guild Wars 2 is better than A Realm Reborn due to the variety of choices you can make and the playable races having branching stories but by the end of it all FFXIV wins out for actually making you care about its characters and referencing back to ARR making all of the moments mean something in the end.

[@Laranity]

I didn't talk about crafting because I just.. haven't done any! Hahaha, I probably should, but usually crafting is one of those things in games I don't actually enjoy very much. I'm pretty glad that it's pretty optional in both games!

[@somederp8915]

@Kuhazan the tradeoff is that FF14 doesn't really kill of major characters any more. The last big player loss was at... the beginning of Stormblood?

[@emissarygw2264]

​@@DraconisV2 100% makes sense... unfortunately in the 20 ish hours I spent in ff14, I just could not get interested in the story (I hear it gets better later, but I am not willing to spend the 60+ hours needed to get there if the gameplay itself is not fun).

[@fernaxv]

hope you enjoy 14!! personally im more of gw2's team, but both are solid choices (way more than "the other one" imo)

[@SubZole]

I played both and liked both. I played GW2 a lot more and i didn't play FF14 for a while (i still like it but i don't have time for 2 mmos right now). The best thing about FF14 is the class system. I love it that i can try out all the different classes on the same character. What i like the most about GW2 is that it respects my time and effort. If i leveled up a character and found good gear for it then it will be good no matter how many expansions will come out. I don't have to redo the grind every time. Instead i do it only if i want to try a new build.

[@ArchieBlacke]

Considering you're a veteran of GW2 but haven't reached endgame in FF14 I'd love to see an updated version of this video when you get there.

[@urud591]

That would be interesting indeed. I know that FFXIV has basically no PvP (I tried once to queue for a match, to complete a quest and I found no one in over an hour), but I'd like to know how's the raids' difficulty. I completed only the first expansion in FF14, and I never encounter a difficult fight, but I'm pretty sure it's more difficult later on. How difficult though, compared for example to Dhuum?

[@Tory-JJ]

​@@urud591insanely. Ultimates may take you months of prog.

[@ultrAslan50]

@@urud591 the first expansion is a joke.especially the crystal tower raid is an absolute faceroll. it gets harder every expansion and finally if you do savage raiding the difficulty is comparable to mythic+ in WoW. savage raids are extremely unforgiving. for me personally the real challenge in raids and trials starts after stormblood, though heavensward does contain some hard trials too.

[@AlvaroWilian]

Gw2 end game ? LoL

[@skamosfb]

​@@urud591 What PVP did you try to queue into? If you're talking Crystaline Conflict, that rarely has long waits unless you're on one of the new data centers or you queued during dead times. The only one that has impossible queue times is rival wings. The base trials that you fight through in the msq aren't designed to be difficult. They have to be manageable for casual players. When you get into EX trials, Savage raids and Unreal, that's when you'll find the challenges.

[@adamkmet8936]

4:38 I would like Lara to revisit this statement after Shadowbringers and Endwalker.

[@nexeus7302]

As a vet of both games, I can honestly say that both games are very very different. You cannot compare them at all. GW2 gives more freedom while FFXIV is more story oriented and unless you buy a boost (which is 100% not recommended) (same goes for GW2 btw), you cannot progress in FFXIV. Both games has very strong learning curve, which if you skip, you will be lost forever so to speak. If you're not into story games in general I wouldn't recommend FFXIV since the core of this game is story, and is written from one of the best story writers in the gaming industry nowadays. Also the head of all that is the best director that you will ever see. Naoki Yoshida, which 90% of the gamers consider him as the GOAT. He literally single handedly saved FFXIV from zero to hero which is very impressive. FFXIV has the best shutdown in the gaming history. And yes, Yoshida also plays from time to time GW2 as well. Even if you don't like FFXIV, watching the documentary about the fall and rise of FFXIV is something else, and incredible. NoClip youtuber has 3 parts and I highly recommend watching them. Many youtubers reacted to those videos.

[@medivh1035]

I tried to watch the story in ff14 but it just bored me out. It felt like reading a book... I did flip book in inn room to watch shadowbringer and endwalker. Nothing really impressed me. I play that game for pvp because they actually put in a lot of work at the 6.1 rework and l am having more fun than ever doing pvp. I even stopped raiding because pvp is just that good for me as end game content now.

[@nexeus7302]

@@medivh1035 Hence why heavy story mmos aren't for everyone mate. Same goes for some playing the witcher 3 by pressing escape and not watching the story.

[@lightningxiv-eb9rv]

Day 4 of binging all Laranity Video. back on the silver days I'm still watching them.

[@TheToeSong]

If gw2 ever got decent controller support, I'd come back. Between that and the brutal hot environment, it's tough getting excited to play again.

[@lj_aderyn]

GW2 is on steam nowadays so it probably has controller configs from the community - though I concur that official controller support would be amazing.

[@Whiskerbrew]

Love this video Lara! ...and that Black, Orange, and Tan top I want! 😃 I've been playing GW2 since the Beta and it has been a constant part of my life since its release. I only took a six-month break, so I never worry about returning to it and always enjoy playing it. The game has a comfortable and peaceful atmosphere, whether I'm raiding, playing WvW, doing quests, or exploring. It offers so much freedom to players, from customizing their own skills to playing with friends or simply wandering around casually. This level of freedom is quite rare in modern games and is easy to get back into when you have to work. Although I haven't played FF14 myself, watching you play it has shown me that it has some similarities with GW2, which is really nice.

[@f1reman237]

Im so glad you started out with the most important bit. Why not Both.

[@cariandi]

Never been a fan of the characters' walking/running animations in GW2 because they felt way too floaty for me. However, the mounts... THOSE animations are wicked cool. The first time I ever saw the raptor run and jump, I was amazed (still am). FFXIV's animations will always feel at least a little stiff because of the way they reworked the game in 2.0 to be more responsive, unfortunately. Back before ARR, the animations going from walking/running to standing had a more natural transition that they had to remove.

[@T.O.Wallee]

One thing to mention in FF14 is that the content doesn't just stop at combat only. There's crafting, gathering, mini games, gold saucer. sanctuary island, housing. There's no perfect in any good mmo out there. Is just down to which you prefer to your own taste. I sometimes dislike the subscription but it is what it is to keep the game getting patch update and quality of life as well. I've grown up from FF so everything in FF14 is like a dream to me as though FF always live around me. The music is really one of the epic and never fail to amaze by its Final Fantasy brand. I also able to comfortably play with controller on console.

[@mango_smoojii]

A great objective view! I'd also mention emotes. FF14 has way more emotes, so sometimes it can feel more expressive even though your character doesn't have a voice. I'd love to see more emotes in GW2!

[@Nienna_Asyare]

Coupled with that, FFXIV has a whole menu for the emotes that I can easily find but for GW2, all I know about is the text command (Also, this reminds me of UI customization now)

[@the1ben]

Thanks for this video. Something on the servers. GW2 megaservers in EU and NA are great - if you're in the EU or NA. The latency for people outside those regions makes the fast-paced gameplay of GW2 quite difficult.

[@siocdenarf1010]

Thanks to you I started to play GW2 (And I also play FF14 10K hours...) ON GW2 I am level 60 now and playing Thief, It is fun. It is nice two have an other good game but with an horizontal progression above 80, I can't wait to be there... FF14 should stop the verticality to go horizontal (It is enough complex now and could stop the course to power). Thanks again !

[@robbaskerville253]

Now I'm up to date on FFXIV, I'm thinking of trying GW2, but put off by the jumping puzzles. I #$%&ing HATE jumping puzzles. Is it a big part of the game?

[@greenumbrella6249]

Jumping puzzles aren't really part of any "must do" content, they're quite often in your dailies but for those there's usually a friendly mesmer or thief teleporting you to the end. Yes, they give achievement points but unless you intend on grinding those you'll get most of that over your playtime via those mentioned dailies. Long story short: You will never be forced to do em.

[@citriosis]

As an FFXIV player who's getting into GW2 while on a break from the former, I loved this video. I was really worried about looking for something like this because I'm honestly more interested in comparisons than "WHY FFXIV/GW2 IS THE SUPERIOR VIDEO GAME AND THE OTHER SUCKS AND YOU SUCK IF YOU ENJOY IT", so hearing from the POV of someone who enjoys both and will give both a fair chance, honestly just comparing their playstyles while recognizing that both are great games even if they might not both be great games for a specific person is SO refreshing. Your whole channel is just such a lovely space-you even got my anxious butt to consider raiding once I get further into the game! 😆 Thank you!

[@TheCylonBomb]

you know after all these years of playin GW2 it was now from this video that I realized the servers don't go down

[@AnthoJoh]

I practice safe mmo monogamy. Im a 1 mmo at a time kinda guy. I feel if I am playing multiple mmos then while I am in 1 game advancing that means I am not advancing in the other game.

[@slugrancher]

MMOnogamy.

[@Laranity]

Aaa, I love playing way too many at once hahaha

[@Spagoody]

I think this is a really great summary of the pros both of these quality games have! In the end I do agree it's probably best to at least try both of them. I tried FF14 and it ended up not being my jam, but I do think it's a very good game, and there's definitely a lot to enjoy! It just matters most what you're looking for in a game, and which game delivers on that in the best way.

[@no_way_I_care]

8:30 in FF14 you only need the crafted gear for the newest savage content. you can just buy it from the marketboard and get directly in the raid. there is no grinding needed to clear, the grinding is only done for BiS, which is not needed for clears.

[@dellenrules]

I know this is a 9 month old video and I’m just watching it today. You can set up build templates and equipment templates for a specific character to do different roles Ex.. equip/build 1 = Heal Scourge equip/build 2 = DPS Reaper equip/build 3 = Core Necro Tank You can assign these templates to their own keyboard command and change on the fly when not in combat.

[@namelessjuan4696]

I really dont like having to pay monthly just to play a game on top of buying the actual game.

[@Tory-JJ]

You don't have The first 3 expansions of ff14 is free. Literally.

[@arthusii3024]

​@@Tory-JJonly if you never become a premium user and then it's sub for life.

[@Krahamus]

​@@Tory-JJits 2 expansions not 3, base game doesn't count as expansion

[@m4rcin847]

I didnt see the problem if the game is worth it and your money are spent to actually take care of the game instead of pay for cinvinience bullshit and tons of real money cosmetics. Wanna look good? Earn it in game. Its extremely rare in gaming these days.

[@aznood3004]

@@m4rcin847 Really bro? But you are actually buying those cool skin buy subscription no ?

[@sapphiria39]

As a bit of an alt-aholic, I found that FFXIV couldn't really hook me in the long run. I did play quite bit, and had a great time with it, but it was too much of a hassle trying to manage multiple characters. I also got some awesome event armor on my main that isn't transferable to alts, so it's hard to try to switch mains without losing unique stuff like that. In Guild Wars 2 I've got so many alts, many of them just because I wanted to try out a different appearance. I've got at least 3 thieves and mesmers for example, which is completely unnecessary. But they each have their own unique aesthetic, and I can easily transfer ascended/legendary armor, weapons, tools, etc. I do wish the jade bot and fishing stuff that was recently added was more alt friendly though.

[@Laranity]

Aaa yeah, I think most people in FF stick to one character and then Fantasia whenever they feel like changing up their character? I love the job swapping system, but I do kinda miss having "multiple characters with distinct fashion at once"

[@urud591]

I don't like my character in FF14 anymore and I would like to create a new one, trying a different race, but the idea that I have to replay all the story... nah, I give up and just keep my ugly elf.

[@mintb3868]

I love your sweater/top in this video Lara!!

[@Laranity]

Aaa thank you! It's quickly become my favourite and I need to stop myself from wearing it in every video lol

[@TheAsheron]

Play both easy. Guild Wars 2 for map completion and world event and FFXIV for the story and raid. I personally play GW2 if I want to do map completion or world event and explore beautiful world on great mount system. I play FFXIV for the story once and then it became my hardcore game with the raids and ultimates. Both scratches itches the others don't. There is no game that scratches all my itches and do everything well. If I want to do something or feel something I play the game that will give me that GW2 gear system is confusing and buff and debuff confusing and the lack of UI customization is a crime

[@RyuNoZero]

well regarding the music.. Shadowbringers was so Good that I turned off battle and mount music^^

[@MacFernor]

Great video!!! I'd loooove to see a revisit of this video when you are done with Endwalker. Especially classes change A LOT between 70 and 90 and things just fall into place so it feels round and complete. Also....we need more tears, and they will flow. Rivers of them. ;) One thing I have to disagree though is the music being a tie. ;) Although I thoroughly enjoy GW2 music, FF14 is THE king of ingame music out there. The amount of unique tracks is a gaming record and most of them slap hard, especially because they are fitting so well into the world while still being different and unique. Btw, when you come from WoW or FF14, jumps and movement in GW2 feels like running and jumping on soap. xD

[@bandi138138]

4:17 oh, you're gonna LOVE Shadow Bringers

[@EvilDante16]

Oh sweet sweet child, if heavensward made you cry. Then shadowbringer delivers tenfold. Good luck and have fun. And as addition i do too play both gw2 and ff14.

[@Laranity]

I'm so excited!

[@JS-kr8fs]

GW2's simple approach to combating the ever-increasing ability bloat of MMOs always makes me respect it. On the other hand, I do appreciate not having to reroll a character to play a different class.

[@v9.000]

Since you didn’t touch on it, I will; GW2’s PvP/WvW system’s absolutely blows FFXIV’s basically non-existent PvP system out of the water.

[@XxUchihamistressxX]

I have to comment, as a FFXIV veteran. I know *exactly* which scene you blurred out and I'm still crying XD it's ingrained into my memory.

[@jn5328]

as a player who has played hundreds of hours of both FFxiv and Gw2 all of these points are spot on! One point in particular that made me realize maybe why I've been getting a bit bored with ffxiv's classes is the difference in having a very specific rotation and only one way to play a class in XIV versus the freeform style of GW2 classes. At the end of the day I love both games and personally feel that they are the best on the market.

[@emikochan13]

The reason for no new races is the way the armour system works, every single combination is a unique model effectively. (It's why there's no texture modding in gw2, the other upside of ffxiv is the modding community)

[@R_SENAL]

This is well thought out and well put together! Professional level transitions!! I think I'm sticking w/GW2 though, the biggest red flags w/FF is the reading, the servers, the lack of alts, and of course the sub fee for all the reasons you listed. Also I watched my wife play it on a free weekend promotion they had and it put me to sleep. 😴😅 I know, I know, the story gets better, they all do, that's a failing of most MMOs though, that they take too long to be good.

[@paulshelkov7956]

So far every time I want to get into FFXIV (because of all this super cool looking end-game stuff) I get destroyed by the text boss. I find reading so boring... maybe I'll like GW2.

[@TonightWillBeEarly]

Brainlets getting filtered out by having to read

[@R_SENAL]

@@TonightWillBeEarly I've read more novels than most people have had hot dinners, but I despise reading on a screen. It's a lighting thing.

[@Vaelios3292]

I've never played FF XIV, but for what i've heard, the main argument for the subscription fee is a faster content release, and i can't argue with the fact that FF seems to have new content more often. However, i think there are other factors (strategy, size of the studio, etc.). Also, something your haven't touch on, is GW2 unique World vs World game mode, but i guess the video is more pve oriented. From an outside perspective, i think FF looks incredible, but i've never been drawn to the art style and slower combat pace. But it's great to know there are very good game out there for player that are looking for different things!

[@farlonmuentes6004]

I dislike sub based games that completely bans you from playing the game if you have no funds to pay the subscription and ff14 does not have a free base game like Runescape. I mean I paid for the expansions that is price of a full game and you won't give me access just because i didn't fulfill the monthly payment? that's absurd to me tbh. at least in games like runescape, you'll still have access to free to play content if you didn't pay the sub. also, GW2 has discounts on their expansions which happens very often so there is no rush on buying the expansion once it comes out. I can just wait out the promos

[@Rivvy250]

The base game and first two expansions for 14 are literally free with no play time limit, if you bought the game without researching if it had that kind of trial first thats kind of on you, not the game or the developers.

[@farlonmuentes6004]

@@Rivvy250 and you did not mention that once you paid because you can't just play free content forever, you will be locked into it and no going back to free content. are you leaving that information on purpose?

[@Violetbunnyfish]

I've played both, and Guild Wars 2 is SO MUCH better in so many ways.

[@clarencezer]

I agree, Final Fantasy soundtrack is too fucking fire... I know we got good tracks in Guild Wars 2, I really enjoyed the soundtrack for EoD dragon's end meta but holyfuck Final Fantasy soundtrack is outta this world! I mean damn man, that new Dawntrail trailer so good, wish we could get something that rocking too in GW2 someday.

[@DegraTrip]

For about a few months I've been debating getting back into GW2 but as soon as I'm on the character select screen I exit. I was addicted at launch but at some point I just wasn't getting anywhere and the guild wasn't active at all. My 5 characters slots are full but don't know if should just delete them and start again. And the point about the gear/skins. Seeing some pretty cool gear and asking where someone got it just got the answer to be "I paid for it" feels weird. I mean I get it but it does make me hesitate a bit.

[@Master10k2]

You're right. GW2 does not get enough credit for its Black Magic Servers that basically have no downtime. Compare that to hearing about people queuing for New World when it recently got good, is like night and day.

[@jogumby]

I've played both games but FF14 just fell flat for me. It never really felt like an MMO because it seemed the story kept pulling me by the nose to do things in a certain order. It felt more like a single player RPG most of the time. I do like the combat system there but I'm not an instance fan and they seem to force you into those a lot. If someone were to ask me for my recommendation on which to play it would be Guild Wars 2 with zero hesitation! They do free to play better than anyone ever has...

[@woodywang2911]

Mount skins do drop in gw2. We juat had one drop this weekend and got the salamnder skin for the raptor

[@ArcEleos]

Amazing video! Love the sections, the transitions between topics ("Look it's a moogle" wins the day!), the jokes! I left FF14 again after playing it a little bit, but I'm sure to try it out again soon I guess. Thanks for the effort you put in these videos Lara!

[@craigsparton]

After watching this I'm going to stick with GW2. I love the Final Fantasy series for it's single player content and it seems kind of obvious the multiplayer games were grown from that. There are things that frustrate me about GW2 but I've never seen another MMO that makes me think hmm... maybe I should switch. Even in this video where you were being unbiased it seems GW2 was the easy winner in most categories.

[@badtiming2208]

Easily the biggest reason why I play FF14 instead of GW2 is what you mention around 20:38 - Server Structures. Like you said, they have 2 Megaservers (US & EU). As someone who lives in Asia and has had to deal with bad ping ever since I started playing online, Asia-centric servers are a godsend for connectivity. It's not perfect - connectivity and network issues still come up - but it's definitely a lot less painless when I can see what I'm getting hit by in real-time.

[@IKIGAIofficial]

Theyre both amazing mmo’s to dive deep into

[@firby7341]

thank you for pointing out that almost all races in ff14 are humans just with different heights and ears xD i always used to say that too xD

[@TheUltraAnime]

this was honestly a fantastic video, i clicked on it out of sheer curiousity, as i have played FFXIV since closed beta and played GW2 since around its release time, i do gotta say that i am more of a ff14 player, it is my main mmo, but i always love going onto GW2 and play around a bit here and there, fantastic stuff, enjoy shadowbringers! (and next expac when you reach it)

[@Genashi1991]

It's odd to think that a game where you don't pay a subscription fee doesn't have issues with loging in or servers being down wile the game that makes you pay money monthly can just make you unable to play for a full day.

[@benbeckman2377]

I don't know how hard it is for rare drop mount skin in FFXIV, but I'm on process to get skyscale mount and with the difficulty and how long it is to get this mount, I came to respected those who already completed all requirements to get skyscale. So for me, I think getting mount in GW2 is kinda comparable with getting rare mount skin in FFXIV. I guess what sucks is the RNG to get rare mount skin in FFXIV, meanwhile getting mount in GW2 is guaranteed if you complete all the requirement.

[@funjuror]

Is there any option in both games to turn off all the player-floating names? LOTRO has, and it makes for an uncluttered screen.

[@ultrAslan50]

gear grinding after a new patch in FF14 at max levels, takes 7 weeks , and when i say 7 weeks , i mean 7 days of login actually. if you log in every tuesday to do the normal and alliance raids and maybe a little bit of the dungeon roulettes for the tombstones, you can obtain normal mode BiS ,which is fairly more than enough to keep up with the content. you can finish your weekly raid run in round about 2 hours ( 4 normal raids / 1 alliance raid) . so to keep up with the content an overall playtime of approximately 28+- hours every 4 months is enough, if you would just play one job.. if the upcoming patch contains an alliance raid, the time to obtain full raid gear even drops for your alt jobs, because of lesser weapon item requirements. in this case, you can gear up multiple jobs in just a few days, which even shortens the overall needed playtime. the gear up system in FF14 is very easy. World of Warcraft has a grindy gear up for example but definitely not FF14. FF14 is extremely casual friendly.

[@Bear-rj7vd]

I started the free trial of FF14, I got to level 50, Got a mount and did a few cool things, I was really enjoying it - But then thought to myself, If im going to get back into an MMORPG, Ill just go back to Guild Wars 2 as im very established in GW2 Already.. FF14 to me felt extremely dead and empty, During my entire time i saw 1 other player, and i never saw ANY chats.. It made the world feel empty and sad.. But Gw2 is always busy and buzzing no matter where you go.. You could go to a level 5 jump puzzle and itll be full of people, Always easy to strike up a convo too.. Im sure FF14 has its areas but unfortunately i did not experience it :D

[@lj_aderyn]

I have no idea how you didn't see anyone in FFXIV. The open world zones are pretty dead sure - FFXIV doesn't have much of a focus on open world content like GW2 does - but the cities are always bustling with hundreds of people gathered in the main plazas.

[@Lanzetsu]

I love GW2 way more, because of how it respects my time, I can get away for 2 years, come back and almost everything still works but there is new content, story/instance content that I like without the need of the grind or the feel that my old stuff doesn't work anymore. Also the combat system on GW2 feels sometimes more challenging but fun, everything feels not only a theorycrafting and building but requires a lot of skill to actually make it work since the action based is faster, but as you said the personalisation on the builds. Anyway the thing I like the most is the story on the game, the way each character/race start, their motivations, how everything is put together, I simply fell in love with every single detail and even random NPC on each map telling their story and being a small part of a huge puzzle which is the world on their events.

[@moujayay]

What do you think: Is it worth starting ff14 when I don't intend to buy any in the future? I am pretty much on a short budget and therefore love gw2 as I can get myself the expacs for special occations and don't have to spend extra. I tried ff14 before but never dared to come back as I already heard that the base game that is free isn't that good anyways and for the good content I'd have to pay monthly. So what is you people's opinion on playing even if I never go over 30 and out of base game? Is it worth?

[@Laranity]

You'll probably have quite some fun with the free trial! There is a LOT of free content. But if you really wanna play long-term for like months-- you will eventually run out of free stuff to do. I'd say it's still worth a shot, though!

[@moujayay]

@@Laranity thanks a ton ^^ I just tried to get my old trial account to run and it seems it was a timebased trial in 2017 and now I am not eligible for other trials... I contacted support but it seems the universe is against me trying again :'D

[@shira2151]

I've played FF14 for over 10 years but I've never really gotten into GW2 because I always hear there is no Dungeon content and the ones that exist no one does it. I'll give it a try again. Also controller support has become a big thing for me. I have an ROG Ally now and will try to use Steam controller mods but I am so tired of MMOs not supporting controllers. We all grew up on PC but I prefer controller now and ESO & FF14 proved Controllers can work and the number of skills isnt an excuse.

[@lj_aderyn]

As for controller support, GW2 is on steam now so there is likely community support - though I agree that official support would be an amazing addition to GW2. As for no dungeon content - that's not entirely true. The core game of GW2 had dungeons, but they were abandoned - but they are still there and provide some rewards that keep people playing them to this day. However GW2 also has fractals, which are essentially dungeons with scaling difficulty modes - this is a very popular form of daily content in the game. Of course you won't find a dungeon system as fleshed out as FFXIV's though, Guild Wars 2 has placed a much bigger focus on its open world. There's no other MMO that can give you that same rush as seeing a massive 5 story tall dragon get shot out of the sky by cannons, crash into a mountain and then scream in agony before you and 100 other people destroy it.

[@oszaszi]

Summary: FFXIV: Good instanced content with abundance (dungeons, trials, raids, ultiamtes, etc), EPPPPPIC music. Fast new content. Story long but super good. Getting certain mounts feels like an achievement. Housing. Glamour plates. Multiple jobs in 1 character. GW2: More feel of open-world aliveness. Mega-servers with many people at one spot. No server shut down/ maintenance times. No sub-fee. Fully voice acted. Mounts are versatile. Combat feels more active. Glamour save but no plates. 1 time gearing, professions can be personalized via other means. I am honestly not surprised on what GW2 offers considering the fact that FFXIV was carefully made to cater to console players as well. They must make the combat adjustable to console players. They already need to press sometimes 30 buttons (im talking about you paladin and astro - calm down pls). If people would also need to constantly move in addition, that would be a disaster on console. GW2 was made for PC, and I think it really shows in many aspects. I wish more games were made for PC because there are certain things that are just never going to be the same on console. And most games that are console compatible are made in an order of 1. make it to console 2 adjust to pc. And it really really shows and not always in a good way. Regardless, I love ff, but I do play other games as I find it sometimes super boring. I may give GW2 a shot, but maybe I should be a responsible adult sometimes and not jump into another mmo XD

[@Laranity]

Solid summary!! Being a responsible adult is hard, I'm still working on that one lol

[@kit7412]

I'd probably disagree on super good story. Long story yes but a lot of it didn't grab my attention. There is way too much filler in the story and it is boring for the most part. Now if you take away the filler and only include the fun parts of the story sure. I played all the way until Endwalker and I'd say only the endings of the expansions caught my attention, the beginning and middle sucked. I'd say storywise, both are decent.

[@mikloskoszegi]

@@kit7412 If you are not into the story it will feel mediocre. Who knew.

[@kit7412]

@@mikloskoszegi I was talking from a general perspective. A lot of the story is filler and most people don't like it and wish to do away with it. A lot of people play the game for the raids or other stuff to do. The story is not the reason many play the game. If you play from the start instead of skipping and you watch every cutscene; chances are you're not making it to end game and it's rare. It's just a story many will find mediocre.

[@mikloskoszegi]

@@kit7412 No idea where you are pulling your statistics from. The raider community is a small minority of the player base, hardcore raiders are an even smaller part of that and people who only play for the raids are a fraction of that. Again, i don't care if that's your opinion about the story, but it would be nice if you didn't generalize millions of players from a game you clearly don't know much about.

[@AmeisenQueen]

I'm currently trying out the trial version for FF14, but it doesn't really click for me. The music can be great, but I'm missing the ambient noises of talking NPCs and stuff. So far there is not really roaming fauna and the quests can be fun, but usually just boring, especially since I don't read all of the quest chat. I'm missing voice over and occasionally FF14 has a voice for some videos, but in the next cut scene, the same NPCs don't have any voice anymore. It's just weird to me. I want to like it, since a lot of my friends are playing it, but I think it might just not be for me.

[@dasbroisku]

Lara, what is in that huge GW2 box in the intro? 👀

[@ruslansbehterevs-uw5ho]

Is there something like full Vods of you playng FF Xd?

[@Neurogenesis1251]

I dont understand why you say that there is no reason to go back to old raids in Final Fantasy, when these drops mounts?

[@hossamamin671]

Why i like you and your channel your years? I really like you unique energy and smile and fast talking way keep it up.

[@MrCarlWax]

As someone who has played FFXIV for over 5k hours I would describe the mechanics to be like a puzzle that you execute in almost like a dance that everyone is a part of. Just like its rotation, perfect execution is the name of the game I wouldn't say it's like WoW. WoW is more chaotic with certain tasks that need to be done, not always by everyone.

[@Laranity]

Oh, I haven't really experienced WoW raids like ever! I more so meant that the core combat system itself is very WoW-like

[@ZodaSoda]

@@Laranity Even then outside of tab target/hotbars, which all 3 games have to some extent, i still wouldnt call their combat similar, For me FFXiv is very core rotational with weaving of ogcd skills depending on more dps or situation, WoW on the other hand is spam rotation non stop and hit proc abilities when they come up, last time played, my class reliance on spamming 1 ability specifically hurt my finger for a week, so i quit.

[@MrCarlWax]

​@@LaranityI was talking more about the mechanics of raids. The combat in ff and wow is quite similar in relations to gw2 I agree, even if you can point out differences even there, like the quite rigid rotation of ff and ogcd weaving.

[@darvr4042]

If gear is maxed out and mounts skins are bought, what keeps player doing pve content?

[@SilverKnight16]

I play and enjoy both games, for entirely different reasons. FFXIV's story is fantastic, and I do very much enjoy the gameplay, but GW2 has a more freeform feel to it. Once you hit level 10 (as a free player, unlocked accounts can go at level 1), you can go pretty much anywhere in the base game you want. There's no restriction on where to go or what to do, and the weapon/talent combinations mean you can change your gameplay style quite a bit on the same class. FFXIV, though, has the ability to do absolutely EVERYTHING on one character, and while unlocking portions of the gameplay can take a chunk of time, once they're unlocked, they're unlocked permanently, so the reward feels very worthwhile. They both approach storytelling, world-building, and combat very differently, and I appreciate that they can be so dissimilar while still being very good, very rewarding gameplay experiences. I wish GW2 had native gamepad support, though.

[@manub9750]

I think you didn't mention the fact that the rare mounts of FFXIV having their own theme when riding them. Not game changer, but a nice little bonus. The most complete MMO would something like: the map meta events, the mount system, the alt system and the dyes and skin system of GW2 the story quality, the instances and the housing of FFXIV and the combat system of Tera. Tera was an action-RPG MMO, and its combat system was really good. I especially enjoyed the stamina gauge of the tanks to block attacks, it felt so much more intuitive and unique than the defensive CD of any wow-like MMO.

[@itachillianen]

Finally the comparisson I can follow behind and that mentioned all my pros and cons of each, good vid. I can add the pvp part though. For pvp gw2 is the only realistic mmo on the planet to play (at least that I know) or else just go play a moba. This is largely helped by the game's monetary system As gw2 does not have pay to win items on the shop, it is inherently more balanced than for example Black Desert or Lost Ark or any other that does so. Also because gw2 does not have a sub fee, people can spend more time on pvp, what I mean is, when you are paying a sub fee, you dont want to spend your precious payed time on salty waters (get it salt?). You will try to enjoy it doing less stressful things. I cant imagine a pvper being a fan of fees by default. Salt is already taxing enough. I'm not saying that GW2 pvp scene is the most salty option on the market, but it is pvp so there's bond to be salt. Honestly from all MMOs and Mobas I played is actually the less salty. FF14 on the other hand... has no realistic pvp scene, almost noone does it, and the few times I tried there only a couple people around. But it is understandable, like Laranity mentioned you do not have builds in ff14, so why bother with pvp when all characters will feel the same?

[@mikloskoszegi]

When did you try pvp last? It was completely reworked and while it's still super casual it is actually fairly fun now. Frontline and Crystalline conflict are very much alive (while rival wings is dead as always, tho there is a community organizing weekly matches). If you mean the Wolves' den is deserted, well yeah, people don't really gather there, since there is no reason to do so.

[@snoozebutton9996]

I played both and only FF holds my interest in the long run. I log into GW2 and get bored of the game within two days and i only log in every few month to begin with. In FF i still have so many goals and stuff to do that i won't get bored the next few years.

[@Grudgebearer47]

I tried playing FFXIV but the realm reborn storyline was a massive chore to get through Worst experience ever when it comes to leveling in an mmo. Gw2 is leagues better.

[@Kazgrel]

I've focused mostly on XIV after falling out of favor with WoW starting in/around 2015, thanks to the latter's Warlords of Draenor xpac. I've also been a GW2 player since day 1; was in the first closed beta and was sold on it then and there. That said, whenever I've hit points in XIV where I'm burnt out or simply don't want to chip away at any of the long term achievements and such, GW2 is where I go. Both games have their respective strengths (and weaknesses), as you've touched on here. Right now, as I chip away at the 2000 mentor roulette clears for the Astrope mount (one of the rarest mounts in that game), once I've done my allotment of those, I generally hop over onto GW2, where I've been chipping away at the legendary amulet as well as Aurora; despite being a day 1 GW2 player, I've still zero legendaries, but with the recent addition of the legendary armory, those items are absolutely worth the grind (since I've 1 of each class). The fact GW2 has no sub fee nor a gear treadmill lets me keep my sub to XIV and still be more or less caught up on most things in GW2 . For that reason alone, I recommend folks check out both games, especially since they have very generous free/trial periods

[@kotachio]

I currently play both games and aside from the story feel, which I admit I kinda skipped in FFXIV out of FOMO when I first started, everything else feels super on point. I honestly love how many things there are in the Open World in GW2. So far in FFIXV I have only enjoyed gathering to some extend. I love the huge meta events in GW2, the world bosses, the random voiced NPCs that give context into the areas you are. I am going back to FFIXV soon for the story and it feels like it's something I'll enjoy but the voice over of GW2 has me hooked so we'll see. I didn't like LW season 2 when I had to read a lot but that might have been that a lot of details were missing in story XD. All this to say I think the two games kind of complete each other and I enjoy them both so much :)

[@lemonaj4408]

I have to try FF14... i just dont like the sub fee, when i was playing wow and i went on like few weeks trip abroad, sometimes i just felt like "and now i am paying for nothing" and it just felt bad, i like that i can take brakes from gw2 as often as i need or want for whatever time and come back anytime but hey, time to try ff14

[@doctorgadget3580]

I prefer the sub fee because FFXIV i dont have to worry about the microtransactions and can enjoy earning cosmetics in game where asin gw2 you literally have to spend a lot to buy fashion.

[@Dark_Wizard_of_Mu]

GW2 is paytowin and the white knights will deny that. Exclusive item in cash shop like Gobblers, Templates, etc will give an advantage.

[@lj_aderyn]

Not entirely true, though not entirely false. GW2 does have a lot of fashion in the store - but then a lot of fashion is still obtainable in game. FFXIV also has it's cash shop exclusive outfits as well, though significantly less so than GW2. A major advantage of GW2 in this regard though is that if you want the cash shop cosmetics you can convert gold to the premium currency for the cash shop - essentially making everything grindable if you're willing to put in the effort. Of course, that's a lot of effort - but I would compare it to the amount of effort to FFXIV's rarer drops.

[@funnyanimalworld7579]

i cant do more than casual guild wars 2 because life, work, earning money and paying bills.

[@Skyztamer]

This is an excellent comparison video between these two games! While I prefer FF's way of handling alt jobs on a single character, I'll actually make a point on GW2's system for easy leveling alt characters. In FF you can do dailies for big exp boosts; then grind instanced content to gain levels; but in GW2 aside from the dynamic events or farming mobs its really easy to gain Tomes of Knowledge for free levels. Between the daily login bonus and casually playing sPvP and WvW, I currently have enough Tomes to level at least two fresh characters to max. For the build crafting I think I prefer GW2. In FF there are times when I don't like aspects of how a job plays, even if I'm good at it. I'm more or less stuck with its structure/ playstyle. In GW2 the flexible trait system is great and I find fun to experiment with. I prefer this over a traditional skill tree system that other games use since I also don't need to worry about paying some kind of currency or rare item to respec my points.

[@mortwycker]

If FFXIV and Gw2 could band together in one game I'll buy subs till I die

[@confirmedleek]

I would love to play both but I have a full time job 😭

[@xbree_]

Really enjoyed you’re video. I love FFXIV and guild wars looks awesome!

[@Odisher7]

"Enjoy both!" Me with barely any time or money to play one: :l great video tho, this will hopefully help me choose xd

[@mikhail2789]

I love both games so much. I have been playing GW2 for almost 6 years and FFXIV for 2 years. And even though GW2 has captivated me for a long time, I have to say that I am now more invested in FFXIV. Especially in terms of raiding. In GW2 the raiding has never really grew on me in FFXIV I love it. But i will still play both :3

[@Shunpon77]

Wow, this was a great comparison. 👍 No shade but it was more helpful than WP 😅

[@VampireNoblesse]

once you reach lv 90, the combat feels complete.., before lv 90 a few jobs can feel a bit lacking ... the classes might feel easier to get into, but dps checks in lv 90 fights, can push the skill ceiling

[@sophiastorm8616]

i mean, mostly no. dont take me wrong, i love GW2 and most things are just a matter of preference so no debate there. Still, there are things you should wait before talking about it. GW lore isnt, not even by a long shot, deeper than XIV (and i m not saying better or worst here), when it comes to both worlds, you simply dont have enought information to make an avaluation on XIV lore yet (you still on STB, am i right?). As for everything else, apart from open world and mounts where there s no debate gw2 is far superior (better than any other mmo out there actually),everything else is just a matter of preference. like suscription fee, for me it s hands down better because it provides the funding for more content, and lets get real here, the amount of new content output in both games is not even comparable. GW2 cant even compete with XIV there.

[@player554]

I want to say a lot, but for now I say this: Square need to revamp the job animations for each race because the only reason why I can't play roe is that most animations looks awful on them really. And there is only one mount in 14. It's chocobo. Everything else is just skins for it.

[@HezrouDhiaga]

why OR when you can do both? That's what I do.

[@Chris-og2vw]

I really wish GW2 had a subscription option ONLY because they make your spend money for so many things that are just given to you I'm other MMOs. Like every little detail on GW2 is monetized. Bag space, bank space, changing how a piece of gear looks, change your hairstyle, CHARACTER slots like wtf the list is forever if you need it or want it in an MMO GW2 has it on their store. Not much to be earned in the game not very rewarding

[@curryscarlet1678]

not really though,at least compared to FFXIV. GW2 has some distinct qol content, which even doesnt exist in FFXIV. Material storage let you immediately deposit materials you got no matter when&where you are. Normally,your bag wouldnt be full with five 20 slot bags (fractal 20 slot is very cheap) Also, GW2 tradepost doesnt limit your post number,while FFXIV with 2 free retainers you can only post 40 types Character&Bank upgrades can be big expenditure yes, depends on how you sort them. 2 additionl bank upgrade and 4 additional character upgrades are enough for me at the moment ( total 10 characters, 1 character is a storage), you can buy this with 3360 gems in discount, which approximately equal to 3 months of subscription fee in FFXIV

[@curryscarlet1678]

golds can convert to gems, that means your gameplay is rewarding actually.

[@TonightWillBeEarly]

Exactly Also gw2 andies say "buh buh golds can be converted!" yeah that means going through pug hell with the shittily designed high tier fractals and raids with people easily having meltdowns and being passive aggressive crybabies ect the game is hostile inside and out dont believe gw2 andies trying to sell it as anything but outdated garbage

[@gucciboy4555]

@@TonightWillBeEarly lmao just say your fucking broke

[@caitsiph1]

Gear progression is far easier in ff14 as well. Amd in a few weeks I've played up to shadow bringer done alliance raids, extreme content got tiobgear for my level and in gw2 I have good gear for my classes but still collecting hero points and other bits to improve. And ff14 is very much a meta based mmo where she says all the classes and gear are pretty much exactly the same and rotations get a bit boring after a while gw2 has much more variation with its classes

[@Kuhazan]

While both games are fine something not mentioned here is the fact that while GW2 is loaded with as much content as FFXIV however if you have played all of it and are at end game for both games Guild Wars 2 has a longer down time before new content comes to the game. Guild Wars 2 : End of Dragons released back in February of last year and the first patch featuring new content came one year later. FFXIV typically has chuncks of content in four month gaps (used to be even faster than that) while that content may not be for everyone there is at least something for someone.

[@Rift6in6the6Abyss]

I have over 2.5k hours in both games. GW2 was my first MMO so has an special place to me. Both very good games but GW2 respect your time way more with its gear system for the most part.