I played FFXIV for about 6 months and really liked but the monthly cost is what finally drove me away. I'm currently playing GW2 and I freaking love it. Can't go wrong with either game and both have really good communities.

Also if you're just starting off in Guild Wars 2, its important to understand that you can progress in the game by doing whatever you want. It took me so long to get into GW2 since I thought the heart quests were the main content. Start joining random world events and groups, you'll have a lot of fun!

I am sorry, but the bag space and bank/storage expansion is not "mandatory" nor does it feel mandatory, unless you have a hoarding problem. I have played it for 3-4 years without buying anything from the gem shop just fine. The only reason I started expanding the storage and inventory is because of the convenience, which is nowhere near "mandatory". Even if you really need storage expansion it's easy to put aside some money every couple of months since the game has no monthly subscription.

I play WoW, FF14, New World & Guild Wars 2 and I have to admit once you experience the maps in Guild Wars 2, the maps in other MMO's just feel empty and boring. In your traditional MMO only main cities and current patch end-game zones are occupied by the majority of players and every other previously released zones is either deserted or you'll occasionally see a leveling player or a gatherer. How-ever in Guild Wars 2 there's Commanders running with huge groups in every map I go to, and if your map is getting empty the game literally asks you to join a more populated map. The maps in Guild Wars 2 also has elevation and multiple layers to it, to an extent in some maps having 4 layers. Guild Wars 2 maps are huge if you take that into account and also very dense. Due to the horizontal progression of Guild Wars 2, you aren't 'forced' to play or have a fear of missing out. I tend to switch between "WoW, FF14 & New World" when I want to jump on that gear treadmill for some vertical progression and always have Guild Wars 2 as my alternative 'go to' MMO to relax.

GW2 did not advertise the griffon one time, it was a surprise for the fans. Stuff like this really resonates with their fans, the fact that the devs cared enough to keep this a secret from all the marketing and everyone else in the industry is a wonderful thing. The first person who first discovered this mount was sent a signed sculputre from the entire dev team. That's how you keep a fanbase imo. Blizzard stole the griffon mount and pretty much advertised it everywhere as the cornerstone of their marketing for Dragonflight. This is the difference between Arenanet and the other guys. Arenanet truly cares for it's fan base in a way no other MMO developers can even come close to, and I say this as someone who really liked FF14, but I always come back to GW2.

Great comparison and I don't have to add much to it. The one thing I would add and you kind of already mentioned: They really go great together (or alternating), since both games have some gaps between their content releases, you can hop into the other one whenever you are waiting for new stuff to do. They are both great for that - GW2 even slightly better due to no sub fee to worry about when you take a break. Some feedback on the footage though: I realized that sometimes the footage didn't really matched the stuff you were talking about. Since my main game is GW2, I saw this more on that one, but when you were talking about the open world of GW2 being alive, you had a longer section of clips where no other player was on screen, or no footage of WvW when talking about that. But that are improvements on an already pretty high level :) Enjoyed the video and keep up the great work!

What’s up?! Just saw two videos of your channel, and I really love this versus, really well made video , quick but useful! Keep going! 👌

For the $15.00 per month fee in Final Fantasy you can purchase just about anything you may desire in GW2. Each and every month for life you can get more: bank spaces or backpack spaces or harvesting tools or cosmetics for just about everything. Additionally, you pay nothing if you have to take some time away from the game. You are never locked into spending money to just play the game.

This was a pretty good video. I don’t really play FFXIV, but I have played GW2 for years. So, I appreciate the comparison between these 2 games despite them being so different.

I agree I played both games and liked them. The only difference for me is GW2 I love the combat and my teens do too. I was able to get my teens into GW2 for free up to Level 80. FF I was having to share since I was having to pay every month. GW2 I can put it down before EoD came out to play something else. I came back after and my gear was still on par for anything in EoD. For me and my teens, GW2 is where it is at for cost and gameplay. Great video

This was a nice video. Glad to stumble across it on my feed. I've been on GW2 on and off for last 10 years with consistently being on for the last 6. It's my main game and I love how it runs. I've played other mmos but as I get older, I like games that respect my time and personally, the gear grind isn't for me anymore. It's a bonus that there is no sub fees.

Good video. These were the 2 games I was trying to decide on. Ive played a good number of MMOs over the years. Cut my teeth in Asherons Call, and EverQuest back in the early 2000s, playing them for years and making a great many friends (and enemies😅). I got into WoW for a few years. South Park inspired player here😅 Took a long break, then I got the urge to get back into the hobby, I took a look at what was out there. It came down to GW2 and FF. Im giving GW2 a try and is really scratching that MMO itch. The art style is great, the combat feels solid. The world is alive and kicking, and most importantly, Im enjoying the learning curve. I may have found what I was looking for.

Im pretty sure FF14 Starter Ed comes with the first expansion and now theyre giving away Stormblood the 2nd expansion for free!

12:30 --- Tirals dont count as "raids", they are just trials, easy and hard aka extreme version. The actual raids in FF14 are... well, the Raids, and not the Alliance raids with 24 people, meaning 3x8man parties, either. The raids are Coils of Bahamut (only available on hard aka savage mode, though its not called that because "easy" and "savage" didnt yet exist in ARR and the devs havent updated this - maybe never will, who knows?), Alexander (the "new" standardised raid-version, if you will, with three tiers, released in post expansion patches, and four bosses each, some with trash on the way - all 12 bosses in easy mode and savage; also some blue unlock-quests in between boss fights, that you only have to do once), Omega, Eden and Pandaemonium (the later three follow the Alexander model). Also, you have Ultimates, which are re-creations of iconic encounters. The fights are on a similar level as savage, take about 20minutes and are very, VERY elaborate. Sofar we have Ultimate versions of Bahamut, The Ultima Weapon, Alexander, Dragonsong and Omega; you unlock them by clearing the savage raids of the expansions in which the Ultimates were released. Dont worry, it makes sense XD 15:15 --- 14 has Jumping Puzzles, too :P But yeah, not near are good and numerous as in GW2. Personally, I dont care, I do the occasional JP but... not really: they exceed my accepted levels of frustrations :D Overall a very good video. I played a lot GW2 during base game, HoT and PoF, and then it just dropped the ball too hard for me during the Icebrood Saga (still havent bothered to pick it up...). Also, it's ingame references to real-life events and stuff are very jarring in some cases (like the charr racism, to name one thing...) and is very immersion breaking - imo at least. I think, GW2s meta events are without equal and the mount system is superior to any other game, however its lacking anywhere else. Another thing, though again, this is just my personal impression: I find the supposed "friends" I make in the story more annoying and, well, untrustworthy. I dont "care" for them, I dont see them as "friends". I dont know, where this comes from, again, its a personal thing, but yeah... On the other hand, if anything happened to the twins in FF14... I'd go rampage mode and burn the world, or at least my character would. Its hard to pinpoint where GW2 is a "bad" game for me that I dont bother to pick up anymore, despite the obvious strenghs it has... Also, in GW2 I find myself being a constant fire figher, rushing from one emergency to the next with little to no downtime inbetween... So, add burn-out to the mix ^^°

I tried GW2 when it first came out and was bored, felt a lack of customizalility with the skills (as it was very different from GW1, but here the first skills were locked to the weapon which I disliked) and stopped. Then I didn't play a MMO for years. I tried FF14 3 times, but when a friend told me to try to continue I didn't listen. Then I was unemployed for a while and gave FF14 another chance and when I reached almost halfway into Heavensward I was hooked and bought the entire thing and still love it 1,5 years later. If I played through Guild Wars 2 I would perhaps like it but I don't have time to play 2 MMORPGs.

GW2 gives me a gameplay feeling that simply no other MMO has to offer. FF14 is a cool game and I like it and wishing it all the success it has, but in terms of gameplay, I definitely have to give it to GW2. Both games are amazing in their respective areas.

I strongly disagree on things being mandatory in guild wars 2 I've played since release in 2012 and never paid any cash to get anything. Getting gold is pretty easy in the game once you understand that you don't make much gold from doing events and quest but you get a lot of materials and you sell the materials to other players via the trading post to make gold. You get 5 bag slots at the base game 1 bag slot is 20 and the remaining 4 can be upgraded to 32 slot so if you don't pay to get extra bag slots you can have a total 148 inventory space. If you do want to get extra bag slots you can get 12 total and you can convert you gold to the premium currency to buy the bag slot, 1 gold is about 5 gems. To buy an extra bag slot it's 400 gems so 80 gold can get you a bag slot. That's about 2-3 hours of fishing or a 2-3 days of Dailey fractals ( fractals are dungeons for max level) it's super easy and fast to level in game as well.

there more than just jumping puzzles in guild wars 2 ... beetle racing, griffing jet like flying... Mounting using to traverse the world in guild wars 2 is freaking amazing... somehow i always feel like it not mention in detail or is always gloss over. The raptor can leap long distance at a pretty rapid pace and a grouping up mobs as a finish/dismount; The Springer and jump vertically pretty high and area knock down effect when finish/dismount; The skimmer hover while slow on ground is pretty fast on water could submerged in water like submarine, its finish/dismount by area heal; The jackal it has decent speed the area that its shine is that it blinks like mage while travel , its finish/dismount by giving area barrier/shield; The Griffin *my personal favorite... even if i suck at it* its a glider/jet extremely fast when diving get you to place very fast and fun. its dismount/finish by area sweep attack; The roller beetle is like a motorbike but harder to control and start kinda slow because needing momentum its finish/dismount by Runs over enemies and launches them; The skyscale is the most use mount i think of it like a helicopter with the latest expansion its weaponize helicopter, its finish/dismount by setting area on fire; The Siege turtle have 2 seat the driver and the turret shooter,

Perfect simplified accurate analysis of both. I’ve played both fairly extensively and couldn’t agree more with your observations.

I think people sleep on Gw2 raids and strikes, I didn’t see you put any into the video. Have you tried them?

Just commenting to say that I wasn't expecting such a high quality and pertinent video for such a low sub number, good shit my dude

What i like about GW2 is that there is no "power creep griding" like other MMO. Basically every MMO just introduce new gear that stronger and stronger to kept you grinding. Gw2 instead introduce new content, and their gear is forever relevant. Since Gw2 is liner near progression, every endgame gear end in the same range, old and new one, so if you work hard to get one, it still relevant even 10 year later. Instead of introducing new more powerful weapon, gw2 introduce new way to get weapon, new stuff to play, and new endgame weapon collection with the same range of power. They give you the feeling of grind and harvest your fruit, without the feel of chasing the meta newer gear like the rest of the MMO. Also with this setting, you can basically took 2~3 years off, and still never fall behind, unlike other MMO where you just have to invest more to keep up

i have to say, regarding bank space, the additional subscription for more retainers and the fact you cant add your alt characters as friends to send them mail is way worse than gw2's bank situation in my opinion and its sad that you didnt mention that i think =(

Definitely drives me more to FFXIV just due to having never been a PVP person for anything. I prefer cooperative play and never been competitive. Unless it's required for major rewards in most games I completely avoid PVP altogether. And story has always been a driving force for my game enjoyment and the FF franchise as a whole has done great in that regards. Gotta give it to them just due to these. But Guild Wars does still look really cool

After spending significant time with both FFXIV and GW2 I can easily say GW2 is a vastly superior game. I cannot understand how FFXIV can even charge a monthly sub its crazy. GW2's world actually feels like a fantasy world that is alive, colorful, active, and exploring actually matters. GW2 combat is soooo much more fun, fast paced and entertaining. GW2 story in all expansions is told much more fluidly and better than FFXIV. Yes the monetization of GW2 is more aggressive for sure but I would take all the other positives I have mentioned over FFXIV any day of the week.

I bought GW2 when it came out, but never really played much because there were no mounts. I came from WoW and hated not being able to have a mount. I've been regularly playing GW2 on and off ever since PoF came out. Not only did Anet eventually bring out mounts, but they did it in a way that was way better and more fun than any other MMO I've played before--I absolutely love them. The only thing that comes close is the horses in BDO, but those are still just horses, and I can't play that game without having this nasty feeling in the back of my mind about the manipulative monetization and P2W that just ruins the whole experience for me. I've tried FF14 for a bit, but the combat felt really slow and boring, that long GCD kills it for me. Also, I don't like having all those abilities without being able to customize my UI for them to the level that you can in WoW. WoW's addons really spoiled me for that, but I feel I don't really need them in GW2 because of how it's designed.

Great video man. The only thing I think every content creator is afraid to mention is FFXIV as much as I love it, it does punish you for taking breaks. Not in an obvious sense but if you are a completionist and you miss a savage tier or an ultimate, the longer you wait the harder they get to find ppl to do them. Content in FFXIV just dies when it is old. It’s still possible of course but you are going to spend significantly more time finding players interested in old content or sit in PF for weeks. Also if you miss pvp rewards they are gone forever. GW2 you don’t get punished as hard or even at all sometimes for taking breaks.

I understand that you wanted to keep the video short but in the process you kind of sacrificed a lot of context.

I argue against the GW2 cash shop, items that feel mandatory in order to have a good time, the 10 years Ive been playing GW2 Ive spent roughly $20 in the cash shop and even if you felt that you needed to spend money on the cash shop in order to have a good time, that would likely be only from time to time which, compared to the $15/month sub from FFXIV, that still makes it a faaaaaaaaaar cheaper gameplay experience for the same quality experience, which also makes it less stressful since you dont feel like you need to log in and play everyday, because otherwise you are wasting money on something you are not using.

GW2 cash shop feels mandatory? I’ve been playing eight years and that is not true lol. It’s all cosmetics or convenience.

I enjoy both depends on how i feel. I still give the edge to GW2. Can't go wrong with either one.

When I was trying out mmos, the combat was a non-starter for me in ffivx. I quit almost immediately (fairly or unfairly, I know people say it gets better later). The one I tried next was eso, which also didn't do it for me. But when I tried gw2, it just clicked, the open world felt so alive and made me want to explore, and the combat felt so fluid and natural with action cam. And the combat system is very deep and customizable, which I love. It was a great fit for me.

Nice vid, I’m still stuck on which one I’d like to sink my time into

Guild Wars 2 maps are just so good. Other than EVE Online its the only MMO that really feels like an MMO. Whats funny is Guild Wars 1 feels like an MMO in the towns and hubs and then instances everything else. A lot of other MMOs dont exactly do this but kind of feel like they do because there is no one out doing stuff, every stays in the hub areas and queues for dungeons. Guild Wars 2 puts a lot of stuff out in the world to go find and conquer and there are a lot of groups out doing things everywhere. Its great to see so many people doing things. I played final fantasy for a bit but it just wasn't for me. Guild Wars 1 and 2 are the games for me

I just stopped playing FFXIV, I like the story but I hate how empty the world feels apart from a few gatherers and maybe a person going by. It just feels hollow like you said, maybe ill try base guild wars 2 and see if it feels better

At a social aspect, you can’t beat XIV with their housing and main cities being populated. GW2, still has social spaces but it’s consistent going into the open world activities. XIV when content is fresh, GW2 during XIV droughts 👌

Gw2 is a fantastic game, the only issue I have with it is the content release cadence is very slow. So if you are a new player that won’t be an issue for you because there is ten years of enjoyable content to explore. But once you’ve done it all, you are kind of stuck sitting there waiting for something new. But the combat and game modes are all fun. 10/10 would recommend. It’s also a great game to take breaks and come back to. You don’t get penalized at all for taking breaks unlike WoW and other gear based MMOs.

Both games are so damn good I always jump between them.

Great video man! You deserve more subs.

yeah believe it or not im actually new to using youtube. so thank you for taking the time out of your day to bringing content into youtube so i can watch! both r very good games but i think im gonna stick with guild wars 2 beings im poor and its only buy to play

free trial be up to level 70 + tons of games have mandatory subs, anarchy online and runescape are other ones. if you say they got f2p shit then u gotta mention wow's f2p/starter account stuff too.

FF is gorgeous but paying monthly for a game you already bought is just a no-no for me, doesn't respect your time cuz when you're burnt out you can't rest thinking about the monthly sub. GW2 earns the win for me since it respects your time. And pay once, it's yours to keep and play anytime to you want.

granted that guild wars 2 has item shop, it is still way more cheaper than ff14. 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

I have about 30 days worth of playtime over the last 3ish years on 14. Finally came back to GW2 while waiting for 6.4.

I think a good point is also content releases. FF14 has a standard content release schedule. GW2 had their last expansion in Feb 2022. They've re-released old content and done some QoL updates since then, with acutal new content being released February 2023. So a year with very little content, especially for veteran players. This really isnt something that new players have to worry about, as there is a lot of content to enjoy and catch up on. People will respond to this saying that GW2 announced a more reg content release schedule recently, and that is true. But with this company, you have to see it to believe it. They promise alot that they never deliver, or they go radio silent and it frustrates me to no end.

Great Video Man.

I like lalafell. That's Why l play ff14 more, lol. I just wish the content is not locked behind story. Paying for a new expansion should be giving you more story if you wanted it. I shouldn't have to pay again to skip the story to get to content. It should believe guild wars 2. You have to pay to get the story but the story is optional. I was able to join various eod strike missions without doing any eod stories. I just use teleport to friend to go to arborstone. I just do enough story to unlock savage, Then l buy skip when next expansion comes out. And Yes... The pvp is an after thought, but l can see their efforts with crystal conflict. I quit raiding after the pvp rework because thenew 5v5 is so much better than 4v4 back then. It is an enough end game content for me when combined with random stuff l do gw2.

I love both games and play both off and on! Currently, I'm in GW2, but I will absolutely come back to FFXIV next expansion

the majority of the comment sect is gw2 but how ffx14 is more popular? I mean, they ranked #2 next to world of warcraft, they never go down to 5+ ranks, they always ranked high, but I tried to play ffx14 today, it feels likes I am playing alone, do I need to finish my quest first to be able to see other players?

My issue with FF14 is that between professions there is 0 build customisation. My astro will b e 99.99% the same as any other.

2 different games entirely ...

for such an important section, combat was brushed aside way too fast... You didn't get even toe deep into the differences between the combat mechanics. No mention of Gw2's dodges, blocks, projectile reflect/destruction, combos, CC/CC breaks, conditions/cleanses, how bossfights work, how group combat works... I was curious on how it compares to ffxiv because I'm a gw2 veteran looking into ffxiv, but the combat seemed very bad early on and it put me off, but going off how badly gw2's combat was described here I still have no clue what ffxiv's combat is like later on.

Guild Wars 2 is better as a game but I like FFXIV more

Welcome to gw2

I think that GW2 promotes players enjoying the game together, but too many players still try to experience it as a solo player. It's an MMO for a reason, and is intended to be played in a social setting, so if you aren't enjoying it, just try playing it with one or more players, and I'm pretty sure you will have more fun and appreciate it more. Sure, there are parts of the game that can be enjoyed solo, but almost everything in the game is more fun with friends, and/or family. XIV might be the same, but since I haven't played it (due to the subscription requirement), I can't comment on what it is like, but I'm sure that both games are great.

As a vet of both games, the only difference that I could make of it is the mounts. Both games are so distinct that you cannot do a proper comparison. FFXIV is an unique MMO because of the manegement that it has aka Yoshida San. This guy is the best in his craft, and he literally single handedly saved FFXIV and made one of the best MMO's on the game market today. GW2 on the other hand has the most flexible system of all MMO's with events and such. Plues the mounts, they are so unique that no other MMO can even touch this system, let alone to compete. While the story is really good (has ups and downs) in GW2, FFXIV simply has the best story telling in any MMO (maybe SWTOR can close to that if you fancy this kind of stuff), but in general they have one the best writters currently on the market for creating stories. Remember; there's NO best MMO. The best MMO is the one that you enjoy, but please don't shit on something just because you didn't like it. Keep it civil. - May you ever walk in the light of the crystal. - Commander, a word....

I love both these games to bits. I only play FF14 when a new expansion launches otherwise I’m on GW2 because it’s non sub.

I hate ff14 forced story.... It's so overrated and dull with little to none voice acting...I much prefer gw2.

Both are great. I ultimately love GW2 the most for a lot of reasons: world feels alive, you are constantly running into events, exploration is amazing, every map has a stablished meta event, the horizontal progression, the quality of the maps (specifically expansions), you can literally skip the story if you don't like it! My time with FFXIV was a blast, I really love the more systematic and simpler combat although having much more variables is what lets gw2 to be as unique as it is, but the ffxiv combat is super fun too and the classes are pretty cool. But the story... even when good at times, it's pretty lame and feels old structured. Oh, also translation, ff does not have many options for this and I had to recur to third party apps. My english is above average while not being my first language, but when elf boy talks in ye olde english I had a hard time understanding him 😂 and yeah, story is foooorced. Stormblood, jesus christ! Also I hate that you get nothing, not even experience, between expansion stories. Gw2 is more varied, it has a lot of flaws also, but I think you have more ways to spend your time: collections, masteries, legendaries, dungeons, fractals, strike missions, raids, pvp, wvw, map completion, world bosses, home instance, THE BEST MOUNTS (griffon best mount)... lots to love.

The base Guildwars 2 is free to play, no subscription. Just download and jump in to try. If you like it, then put down money to buy the game or expansions. NO SUBCRIPTION Ever. You can take a break and go back whenever.

Gw2 Pros- no sub, open world content, no gear treadmill, respects your time. Better dye channels compare to 14. Devs does not care if you install mods (e.g. dps meters). Cons- elitism in lfg for raid/strikes/fractals, passable music, long ass collection quest/ach for gear, limited glam option compare to 14. Compare to 14, lacking in the social aspects. Ff14 Pros: good music, variety of glam, housing (if you care), player friendly compare to gw2 when it comws to raids or ex trials. Very social, and easy to meet new players. Cons: crafting, sub fees, gear threadmill, to get best gear you must raid, no other way, does not respect your time-not as bad as other cash grabs out there but always make sure what you work for becomes obsolete after a few months. Not much else to do if you do not raid or rp. Devs constantly dumbing classes down in the name of appealing to more players. The oversensitive devs who will ban anyone because someone hurt their feefees. The toxic positivity within the community. The carrying culture of 14 - where any feedback provided no matter how kind can land you a ban because sucking at the game is consider a 'different' play style by yoshi. Mods can result in a ban even if its just a dps meter. Compare to the elitism in gw2, i'd prefer dealing with elitism and having to run around discord to prog something than to be around entitled idiots who are too cheap to buy a clear. Guess who stopped paying their sub?

😂

Somehow FFXIV feels way more social and like a community to me, especially after you're caught up with the MSQ. Nearly all the battle content is designed to be played with a party, and because of the strict roles you know what everyone brings to the party instead of being just a zerg group. Last two expansions also had open-world zones that were dangerous enough that you needed to party up to explore, and it really felt like an MMORPG, like in old-school WoW where I would party up with randos to do an elite quest. Also simply sitting in Limsa or Gridania and seeing players giving concerts, spamming emotes, checking other people's plates, etc. If you remove the community from FFXIV and give me most trust bots instead, I will immediately quit the game. Meanwhile if you remove other players in GW2 (and made the world bosses soloable) the PvE doesn't change much, it's still a solid game solo. I have the best gear I could have on most of my GW2 characters and I rarely interacted with other people.

GW2 world looks significantly better the FFIV. both in terms of design and in terms of not looking like a static photo. especially ground textures and rocks look more natural in GW2. not to mention the emptiness and lack of life and ambient animations in FFIV world. FFIV looks like a higher resolution version of FFXI world and has the same "dead" and "static" look to it. zero immersion because you can always tell you're playing a game with low effort texture work. to me they are not in the same realm in terms of the open world. the mounts and PVP are also significantly better in GW2, even if PVP barely gets updates. the combat imo is also way better in GW2. where I think FFIV wins is instanced PVE, less microtransactions (you can earn the best skins in game, they don't sell them to you) and of course the regularity and quality of content updates, which it better since you have to pay a sub for it. GW2 is way more alt friendly and FFIV has a better story.

Where FF14 cleanly blows GW2 out of the water is crafting and gathering. In GW2 it's just a means to an end to get certain items. In FF14 gathering and crafting are like a game unto themselves. But where GW2 shines brightly is in jumping puzzles. They have far more and in my opinion far better jumping puzzels... and the more responsive controls to do them with than FF14 (though both games absolutely tower above SW:TOR's washy controlls and lazy jumping puzzles). GW2 is the only MMO I ever played where I did jumping puzzles for fun and not just to get the reward they give. Since you mentined water I think it might also be worth pointing out that in both games you can dive. In FF14 underwater is strictly non-combat and you can just travel, gather and spear-fish. In GW2 there are enemies below the waves and the moment you dive below the surface, you switch to different, dedicated underwater weapons and a seperate skill set. A positive for FF14 are the duty and party finders to find people to play certain things together with, which are better designed and offer more functionality than GW2's equivalent (or they did when I last played GW2 some years ago). Speaking of party play, both games have parts of the story you have to play alone and other parts where you have to play with other people (like mandatory dungeons), so you won't be able to play either games completely through as a group at all times or go through them completely solo.... albeit FF14 is gradually adding NPCs to the dungeons and trials required for the main story, so you might one day be able to play through the entire game solo, just not yet.

The reality is that GW2 is a way better MMO and game than FF14. You described GW2 just on the surface and reinforcing in the things while 14 was described as a game made by Greek gods. So, you think gem shop in GW2 is predatory but you don't consider is one of the few ways Arenanet receives money, while 14 have a paid base, game, expansions (ridiculously expensive), sub and even they have the nerve to have a in game store... Besides, the combat system is terrible and boring, the world feels dead, the graphics look super old, the content is mediocre, fanboys say that has the best story but you have to wait like after 100 hours to get something interesting, your toon don't have any voice... GW2 have the best open world and mounts, full exploration, nice and enjoyable combat system, dynamic story, build personalization, a non elitist community that knows that the game isn't perfect (try to say a 14 fan the game is not good), and a lot other things that makes this game way better than 14. Saying that FF14 is a good game when is a masterpiece of mediocrity, shows how people nowadays love to get scammed.

Endgame fashion wars of GW2 sucks. Eyesore and cringe.

One thing about FF14's is that while your attacks look big and flashy as if they would affect an area I've literally had mobs walking through my target who was completely unaffected. That sort of thing just raises cognitive dissonance in me and was the main reason I never got further into FF14 than I did.

I really like GW2 overall but i just couldn't stick with it when i realized how aggressive the shop is, you realistically have to buy stuff like bag slots, stash space, gathering tools, material storage space, scrapping tools, and even have to buy story parts on their own (???????) when they clearly should just be part of the expansion. This is just off the top of my head and ive just played through the story up to the end of EoD. What it really feels like (and how it really is) is that the devs made the game, then took parts off from it and put them behind paywall just to take more money out of players. For example all the living world, tools and scrap stuff should just be in the game period, same with bags and storage etc. It's just scummy and bs monetization that honestly I cant support. And yes I know you can buy stuff with gold, which you dont have as a new player btw so it means you have to deal with all this bullshit until you farmed like 100€ worth of gold JUST for the living world and the basic QoL stuff that you should already have. And it's such a shame cause it's such a great game. I'm SO TIRED of the videoludic age we live in where devs have to artificially make their games worse to sell you the fixes in the cash shop, I can't stomach it anymore. I'm done with any game that does shit like this.

i think if you wanna sweet pve raids you go for ffxiv since gw2 are boring mpo.. there's no hard content in pve at all in entire game.. but pvp is a bit different i think pvp is great in gw2, and with map being more lively i supose works better but when you found out you can leech and just fallow the groups just became plain and boring as pve, they need huge addition to event participation and stuff and more they need hard pve content since the pvp wasnt update it in years..