A useful tip: If you accidently skip a dialogue box (or the dialogue goes in one ear, out the other) OPEN THE CHAT and go to the "Event" tab (assuming it's the default settings) and you can see all the spoken dialogue from the NPCs. Saved my bacon a few times.

Dear Catboy, As someone allergic to MMOs I really appreciate your take on this, Jo. I briefly tried FFXIV with some friends and the social aspect is what appealed to me but _everyone_ I know adores the narrative, at least to some extent. Still don't think the typical MMO combat/pacing/structure is for me but maybe one day I'll have to set aside a couple dozen hours and fall down an explainer rabbit hole. Also thanks for the lil' shoutout haha. Yours, Bee Boy

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for talking about how boring the actual gameplay is within the MSQ. I felt like I was genuinely being gaslit by the community when I would complain and just flat out be told I was wrong for feeling that way.

I made my journey through the MSQ so much better by practicing my Voice acting. I would try and give any random NPC voices and it was pretty fun and also helped me pay attention to what was happening.

"And now you know how to enjoy FFXIV. You're Welcome!"

"Yes this is a real thing, this is happening now, I like this it just makes me happy." I could hear him blushing at the end and Jo. I have not giggled so hard EVER! You are adorable and I can't Wait to see more content.

This video is the main reason I now enjoy FFXIV. I had much of the same gripes at first but I also now enjoy the game immensely for much of the same reasons. Thank you for making this!

The MSQ is designed to be experienced one expansion at a time, which for veterans that's one big story every two years and some snippets in between. When starting fresh now at Endwalker and going 1-90, you experience it all back to back which is way too much. It's like having to binge watch 10 seasons of a show to catch up to the rest of us who have been watching since day one on a one episode per week basis. It will make you hate it. Most players know that story experiences are few and far between and you spend a lot of time doing combat and duties. When grinding MSQ the first time, you will spend most of your time reading cutscenes and wishing you could slap SOMETHING with your sword! That's normal. It will get worse for new player with each expansion and I fear that we are already at a place where new players might hate the game due to how long the MSQ is and how little action there is during it.

I have a friend who started FFXIV a few months ago and he always lets me know when he unlocks a dungeon or trial so that we can run it together as he feels more comfortable when doing group content with someone he knows. One time afterwards he thanked me for always getting on to run stuff with him and I said, "I'm going to let you in on a little secret: veteran FFXIV player *love* watching/listening to new players go through the MSQ because (in my experience) we want to be able to play through the story for the first time again and living vicariously through new players is the closest we can get." He said he felt used XD 6/2022 Update: He just reached Endwalker and got someone to cover his shift at work to play it all day XD

The part at the end "...I just like this, it makes me feel happy." That made me smile

Just wanted to send some appreciation your way and especially say I'm happy I found your channel. In particular, I am so grateful that I found this video when I started FFXIV, because your enthusiasm for the game and honest sharing about the rock experience getting into it helped me embrace my time with the early parts. FFXIV's story is bringing me so much joy

Hearing the passion as he's talking about this game's story, and that he had the same type of gripes that I do for the MSQ has actually given me the drive to at the very least watch a story recap video, (the one i've got pulled up is almost 4 hours long so hopefully it's good enough to hook me) if not go back and do NG+. So, thank you Jo, for potentially causing me to sink even *more* hours into this game than I already have lmao

Oh, right. I was coming into this game as someone entirely new to MMOs (basically didn't even know what they _were,_ and so certainly didn't have any genre biases going in), and as someone who liked/likes reading and was (and still is) very much into slow buildup-to-payoff arcs and extensive worldbuilding, no wonder I took to it so readily.

I hope you all enjoy this video as it has been a year in the making - not constant work mind you, more on-and-off over the time its been in production, but a long time coming regardless I'm happy to have these thoughts that have been nagging at my mind for so long to finally be out there it's a big loveletter to the game and my own closure to these complex feelings I've had about the game for so long

I've been primed to try this game out thanks to you. Now that I'm actually playing it, I'm having an absolute blast. I think that, having watched the video in the past has massively influenced me to actually enjoy the early game. I'm sitting at level 35 right now and its a lot of fun to just do stuff at my own pace. And yes, I level up every crafting and gathering job that is not fisher while also just doing my dragoon/archer stuff on the side. I've started the game alongside friends. They are not enjoying their time with the story at all, to the point where I'm like: Where have I heard this before? TLDR; forwarded this video to them and I'ma gonna re listen to this as well again now. Thanks for this one chief.

I gotta appreciate that Jocat gives attribution for everything. Thanks for all the work you do dude.

I cannot agree more with the 'paying attention' part. Literally they'll pull out a detail that'll just make you jump out of your seat once you recognize it and it's such a rewarding feeling. This MSQ is definitely worth all the the slow burn for me. Once you have the correct mindset playing it's well worth it. Of course just like Jo said, you can play this game in a multitude of ways, this game stands out so well on it's own with the MSQ or the gameplay alone. Someone show Quinn this video.

The "older players love watching newbies go through the story" thing is very, VERY true with me. I've been actively seeking out newbies to watch on Twitch (whether they be the higher profile guys like Preach and Pyromancer and Nobbel or smaller streamers like Giltspire who streams it every Wednesday evening), and reaction videos on KZfaq purely because I've enjoyed seeing other people experience the story. I still enjoy the game and have a BUTTLOAD of things to do (especially since I'm juggling two characters on two DC's) but that has been a fun thing to do on the side while I play.

Really glad you made this - thank you for your effort JoCat 🙏 I started to feel a bit similar, questioning the game design/MSQ, wondering why it's so slow and arduous - this new perspective is very helpful!

The most common question I’ve found myself asking more experienced players during the MSQ is “so when’s the next dungeon?” and I think you explained why that is very well

"It has handsome elf men" Yeah... one of my friends simps for Aymeric, another simps for Estinien And I'm just sitting here like: "I think Lucia would be an amazing partner, she loyal!"

ARR had me burned out like 3 times before i pushed through. Stormblood too repelled me once or twice. Sometimes, Eorzea tests your patience.

I watched this when it first came out and agreed with most of what you said. I started when ARR launched, and skipped a lot of the story, manually, until about lvl 48. By then, I knew something was going on, but wasn't invested enough to care. When I started to sit down and read the words on my screen, I started to really like what I was reading. I had already started crafting, and gathering, so I had other distractions. Now, years later, I am showing my child this game, and my wife and I are trying to help, so I sent her this video, and asked her to watch it. It really helps on the "slog". Thanks JoCat, I love your videos, and your ability to articulate your thoughts is showing in this video.

I love your long form videos, just your dedication and fascination and the way you take the time to articulate what you want to say about them, just makes me very happy :) Also think your voice is just a gem

I will say: the bit about "take your time with the msq" is so very important. I have been playing the game for roughly 6 months now, and I'm still in the post-patch content for stormblood. I have often taken week or even month-long breaks from doing any msq content. Enjoy it at your own pace, it will make things so much better. This game is a marathon, not a sprint.

Jo knows how I feel about FF14. I had many of the same gripes. And since I started playing again this year I wanted to come at it with a better head and with Jo's help, I have been doing a lot better. And I am glad you made this video Jo, as I know you have been working on it for a long time. Thank you for sparking some love for it again.

Been in and out for a few years now with some friends. This is really helpful. looking forward to a new outlook. Thanks Jocat.

JoCat I want to thank you for giving my wife and I the encouragement to push through and give this game a second chance and we both are absolutely hooked. Still on the free trial, but we're gonna try to do everything we can in it before committing money to it

This just goes to show that, when you recommend the game, you don't have to tell the person anything about the game being good at X amount of hours or when you reach a certain point. All you have to do, is let the person know that the game is STORY heavy, and have REALLY BIG EMPHASIS in story so paying attention to it is crucial. It's an RPG first (JRPG to be exact), MMO second. If its it doesn't tickle their kinks after trying it out, they can put down the game and try other ones as the game won't go away anytime soon. I had a friend who was into FPS and MOBAs and has no care about the lore in the games he played because he's just not interested in it. He never played JRPGs or Western RPGs. He was my room mate, he saw me play this game from hours to end (I have 700+ days total playtime, YES I WAS THIS ADDICTED TO THE GAME) and he was curious as to why I was having so much fun in the game while he doesn't find the same amount of fun anymore in MOBAs and FPS games. He tried the game with me and he was starting to burn out around the post ARR patch that involves the Sahagin before the big fight and the last straw were the Sylphs *(I still remember the questlines that were removed involving these beast tribes because I played them and they are really tedious so I understand why it was removed even though it provides more lore context why we need to do what we need to do or why the thing happened)*. I never pushed him to slog thru and just told him to take it easy, slow or put the game down if he starts getting frustrated. Part of it is him trying to understand why the game is so fun to me, and similar to you, he feels like he is missing out. So he took a 4 month break, went back to the old games he played and then one day he asked me if I can play with him, this time I said, "Ok, if were gonna do this, then let's go all the way. I'll create an alt and I'll start over and catch up to you" To which he replied, "No, I'll delete my character, it didn't have anything special in it anyway and we'll start together." Then I started to tell him to take the game slow, read the main quests because me and the game is not going anywhere. Needless to say, he followed my advise. 2 years later, he is now a Triple Legend (which is something I didn't accomplish since I am not a hardcore raider but an omnicrafter) and fell so in love with the game that he keeps recommending it to some of his friends whenever he is asked of games he would want to recommend and is excited play with them so that he can see their reactions to certain points of the quests. He was even the one that started to convince me to get into Savage Raids because he was having so much fun. Played Endwalker together and he kept messaging me that this game is something he really treasures and thanked my patience to go thru the entire game again with him even though I already have a max level character way back in Heavensward. Also, additional note after getting hooked in this game, whenever he wants to take a break from the game, he tries out any RPG he can find, even the RPGs in the PS1 and SNES era, as he fell down the rabbit hole that is RPGs. He loves Witcher, Legend of Zelda and FFIV (to him it was the best FF game next to FFXIV) because it resonated with him having a brother that felt distant, yet always there when he needed him most. So whenever the topic of him being an RPG nut, from being an FPS and MOBA fiend, I always get the blame. KEKW P.S. English is my second language so I hope I did not misspoke. LUL

The minifilia joke about not being a character was hilarious. Personally, I was totally desensitized to doing time wasting quests, so I had no issue with the slow burn of the MSQ, but I definitely understand whenever one of my friends plays and they complain bitterly about all the parts of the MSQ that waste time.

Amazing video I appreciate how much time and thought you put into it. I play this with my husband and we enjoy going through the story together! There are things you said here that I didn't realize were hurdles to me but I appreciate your swing on the perspective on some of the fetch quests. Getting into the RP part of RPG has always been a struggle for me personally but I find it easier to just let go of expectations and just try to experience from perspective of my character. I have never felt connected to my character but I think it's more of being in the wrong mindset. Thank you!

your videos are amazing honestly, you leave a positive impact on the internet and that’s a neat thing to do

It was so fun watching your love for the game grow over time and see you reach the end. I love this style of video btw. I have been missing them!

"This is happening, it makes me happy" That is a bloody mood!

I'm sending this video to every FFXIV friend I have, old, or new, as well as anyone who has ever expressed interest that hasn't jumped in yet. This is the most honest expression of finding joy in this game I could imagine. This is almost verbatim how I've tried to articulate how I came to love the game to people, but in a far more digestible format than my in-person gesticulations.

I'm think I'm getting there with the loving it mind-set! But it is great to know I wasn't alone in this feeling and seeing someone else have a similar experience. Great video ♥

Can I just say that I LOVE how heartily you recommended Hildibrand content without giving potential players even the smallest hint about what they're getting in for. I mean that sincerely, I think it's brilliant. I think you can enjoy it TONS knowing what it is, but oh god, going in blind? You are just NOT expecting the game to take that kind of turn. Great video! Even as someone who already loves it, and didn't have the same problems. I'll definitely recommend this video to people trying to get into the game if they have these issues.

This kills me because this is basically how I felt about the Secret World, but that's kinda long dead at this point. Guess I'll give FF14 a try.

From 12:09 to 12:15, I love the adorable art of Jocat being romanced by MSQ-Chan and introducing him to her friends!

Thank you so much for including song titles in the video as they come up!

My main annoyance was that people with linkpearls still needed you to go to them and talk to them in person only to send you away again. Or instead of using their linkpearl to talk to another person with a linkpearl they send you...

Playing through ARR again recently I realized the MSQ is like a skeleton of just the basic plot. I found a ton of cool stuff by talking to the optional NPC's in the Waking Sands between quests. Things you wouldn't ever expect like an origin story for Arenvald's silver armor lol. Those have been filling out the story and making it feel much less like a saturday morning cartoon where the primal of the week gets slain by the one person immune to them.

31:58 i feel like that's actually one of the biggest issues in the game that you touched upon earlier. So much of the game is effectively single player other than dungeons and trials. I really wish more of the game was co-op, such as being able to go into instanced story battles together, duty support dungeons together so you can take your time to read lore stuff, being able to team up to finish quests together. Etc etc. Like you said a lot of it will be your friend having to do the quests alone while you wait on the sideline until they reach the next dungeon or trial, then rinse and repeat. I know it's a old video but I thought to give it a watch because my partner quit on one of those post ARR errand quests where Minfilia mentions that they are wasting your time with errands in the text box. Made them think "I really am wasting my time aren't I?" And quit. Trying to get them to get back for the free login event and got the reply "Nice try squenix, you can't trick me into wasting more time on pointless errand quests tho" which really sucks.

This is still one of my all time favourite FFXIV videos to revisit every couple of months just to go through the butterflies of finding and falling for this game all over again

This video explains EXACTLY how I feel about the game. I love everything about the game, EXCEPT the MSQ fetch quests. I think I need to try and look at it at a different angle… One of my biggest gripes with games like this (not limited to MMOs) is watching my friends with a whoooole lot more free time than I do learn, grow and accomplish a lot of things. Leads to the friends essentially carrying me through the game and eliminating the challenge to a lot of raids. That said, I think I might just get back into the groove and I have you to thank JoCat. Thank you :3

I feel like a weird outlier for the fact that I was almost immediately invested in the story and the lore of the world right from the get-go in ARR, which started with my character actually FEELING like a character in the story instead of just an empty avatar and having a race that appealed to me on a spiritual level (Au Ra) helped with that further. I wanted to know more about mysterious folk like Hydaelyn and the Ascians and about locales that were mentioned off-hand like Ala Mhigo, Othard and Thavnair and it was just little teases like that kept me motivated to keep pushing forward. I'd constantly speculate about what was coming next in the story, and more often then not there were enough clues strewn about that I was able to make fairly accurate guesses, even for some of the more...outlandish twists like those introduced in ShB and EW. I agree that most of the actual quests in the MSQ are pretty dull gameplaywise, but the little bits of world building scattered about even in the random sidequests managed to hold my attention all the way through.

great tips, been playing a few days and noticed I'd been struggling to get immersed and skimmed a lot of dialogue, but your tips have helped me slow down, focus on one quest at a time and get immersed in both the story and the world :)

Really awesone video :) As someone from 1.0, it's actually amazing how big and beloved this game become. It's really a blast seeing ppl enjoy it for the first time. Let's all have a blast

Conversely, I fell in love with FF14 almost instantly, and feel immense disappointment in the fact I can't afford a subscription. But maybe there's something in this video that can help me enjoy FF14 even more than I already do, so we'll see what I think after I watch the video. Edit: I might play FF14 again, despite not being able to progress anymore.

I was invested since ARR. Helped me through quarantine at thr start of pandemic. Did take a break at lqte heavensward since most of my friends were also taking a break and resumed last year. Ff14 helped me through depression actually and it is one on the top games for me.

I started this journey in April with encouragement of a friend. Last night we just finished the 5.3 patch and to say there was tears and every other emotion is an understatement. I have fallen in love with this game. Plus your crap guides are some of the funniest xiv content on the KZfaq. Thank you for sharing your story.

I've read through about 8,000 books, and I gotta say Mr. JoCat. Listening to you and your associate Mr. JoCrap are tied with my Instrumental Playlist that took 2 years to perfect. Your voice is great for someone like me who is an avid DEVOURER of medias and information as it gives me a soft grounding element to keep me on focus, and also lightly entertained. I found that especially in my studies when music won't suffice your videos are most excellent at allowing me to return to focus. I think the work you do is quite brilliant, and I'd like to thank you for helping me these past few years with your mirthful and humorous videos. Cheers for the chin wag bromigo. TLDR: nice dude with a nice voice helps me devour more info and lovely, lovely lore.

Some people are so focused on the “MMO” part that they forget the “RPG” part of the full genra name. Nothing wrong with that, but it is something to consiter.

I have really been considering getting into this game lately, actually after I watched a supercut vod you uploaded. This has pushed me more into the mood of getting it, thank you. Now I just need some people to play with.

I started FFXIV because of this video, and having just completed ARR I can see a lot of the points made. Yes parts of it are rough, but you weren’t kidding about the story being worth it in the end. Thanks for making this video!

Hey Jocat, I just want to say that this enthusiasm for the series has been wonderful to the community as a whole, I have seen so many people saying that they tried it because of your guide and that they are glad this video exists because it braced them for what was coming. Also you finally got me into healing and I am honestly thankful for that, so glad to have you back and honestly, kinda wish one day I run into you just so I can drop dead in front of the internet's favourite Cat.

This is literally exactly what happened to me. Started out loving the crafting and other progression, but started getting really bogged down trying to get through MSQ to unlock things. Near the end of ARR I just kinda gave up and stopped playing. Halfway through watching this video I started the game up again and I'm gonna try to follow the advice here... hopefully it works, because I really think I could love this game and its community if I could just get into the groove. So ... I think I gotta go practice my imperial salute or something? Wish me luck.

36:55 I feel like this is one of the most important things, taking your time with the MSQ. It's designed to be a slow burn, and it's worth keeping in mind that all this content has been released over the span of a decade. Sometimes the MSQ's momentum is high, sometimes it's low, and that's a very deliberate thing. Don't binge for sake of getting to something later, play at whatever pace feels natural, taking things at the pace that feels right in the moment. There's no shortage of non-MSQ things to do when the momentum of MSQ is at a low point, and in many ways the game actually expects you to take these breaks from the MSQ, as part of how it loosely establishes gaps in time in an immersive fashion.

When this video first went live, and I watched it, it finally helped me realize I really wanted to go from FFXI to XIV. That's right. It's been over a year since I was brought over because of your in depth look into the game. And ngl. I still appreciate that. So much so that I'm rewatching it, again. It's brought me into a new experience that's been hard to top in other games, both the highs and lows, and let me appreciate the experience more.

At the end there and with my... Sort of passing into "veterancy"... I can 100% agree with the "Veterans love watching new players experience the story" because all the reactions of friends who've started playing are priceless through all the ups and downs of the story in the game. And, well, listening to their reaction when they find the Hildibrand questline is just flawless every time.

This is art. I've been searching for a game to suck up my free time *and depression* and this convinced me to try FF14. This is a great primer for what the game is about and how it's not wrong to dislike parts.

This is my first time ever playing an MMO and I feel exactly the same way you do right now. I’ve been finding myself focusing on other things like the hunting log, fates, dungeons with my FC, and promotions within my grand company because I find them more interesting than the MSQ. I think some people just perceive and think about things differently tbh.

I don't know what to say, this video is incredible, made me sad at first, then happy, with tears of joy filling my eyes. Thank you so much for doing this! ♥ I'm sending it to my boyfriend who is a bit like you were in your early days on the game, and I have my fingers crossed that it will be helpful to him too!

I just got to the gator family. And when i read that my cmpanions where equaly annoyd as me i really had to chuckel thinking about the laundry that would await. I was actually kinda worried you werent joking that much. Turned out to be a rather nice quest actually.

I was in a similar seat, thought I was lucky enough to have friends pushing me about. But I remember the exact moment I fell in love, I was gonna do the Shiva trial for the first time ever and thought the music was very pretty... Then everyone got frozen and it got all quiet, the finger snap happened and suddenly the punk rock ballad starts playing and I get goose bumps all over my skin. That was when I truly realised why my friends love this game so much. I'm not suprised that it was a song that finally really got me into the game, whenever I get interested in something it's usually related to some music I heard from said thing.

Thank you for the video, I kinda needed this in order to actually do what I know I should and slow down.

there's so much effort put in this video, love it!

I'm a reader by nature and I devoured every last bit of XIV's story and even the quests. Yes, even the subquests. Some of those tell very interesting little stories or add just a bit more character to the zone or give a bit of trivia that you would have never known otherwise. To have it ALL come back and be important in Endwalker was just mindblowing.

That ending made me smile so much 💖 that blushing fun is exactly how I felt when I used my free fantasia to change from hyur to fem-roe. Love that you embrace it you wonderful cat-boy! And I'm so glad you loved the Hildebrand quests. They seem to be very love/hate but I enjoyed them very much too.

That was a very interesting and enjoyable watch! While I didn't experience a lot of stuff you went over about the MSQ, I did feel some burn out with it at points despite how much I was enjoying the story, its definitely not something you can binge easily even if you do enjoy it a lot. I have found myself struggling to get into the game though but for a completely different reason that I hope I can find a solution to soon, especially since I do love the game very much and see how good it can get, its just getting past this problem that is proving to be tough. Which that problem is not being able to confidently do anything in the game. Whether its just daily roulettes, trying to learn extremes or savage fights, finding a static, or just talking to people, I always find myself very hesitant or scared to do it, no matter how much I do want to do it. And its only really with FF that I have been experiencing this, I used to play WoW before FF, and while I experienced this problem a bit there, it was never this bad. I know FF's community is very forgiving to people, especially people new to a situation, but I still find myself extremely hesitant to do stuff, I have to push myself to even just do daily roulettes. I know no one will probably never see this, but if by any chance someone does and has experienced this same problem or something similar and has found a solution to it or you think you might know a solution, I'd greatly appreciate any insight anyone might have.

I really respect the amount of time and effort that must have gone in to making this video. It's been a long time since I've actually sat through an entire video of this length that talks about games. I'm gonna give it a go mate, fingers crossed! Peace out.

I feel like I actually would defend the "run in a straight line from one part of said spoiler area and back again a few times over a course of an hour or so" simply because if it were just cutscenes back to back to back, it would be overwhelming. Like, the downtime in moments like that lets you process or think/talk about what's going on so it doesn't just turn into channel surfing at 4 a.m. without really paying attention.

For me I was skipping most dialogue and cutscenes until I got to Coerthas around lvl 35-40 IIRC. One of the characters mentioned a dragon sex cult and I was like... wait... I should pay attention now. That story about the heretics and the Inquisition hooked me good. I still hated most of the post 2.0 patch quests, but I diligently read through them all anyway, and when it came time for Heavensward, my understanding of the characters and the stakes made everything that much better. I agree that the quests themselves still aren't great, but the characters and the payoffs make it all worthwhile. Oh and the Extreme trials are a ton of fun and made me realize that progression raiding with randoms was a thing in this MMO, unlike some others.

By Halone's spear, this put into words so much much of what I've been feeling. The first few times I tried to get into it was with a group of friends who were interested in sprinting me through the ARR content, but that just made things feel stressful. But I *love* taking my time and savoring the little details.

Coming back to the game myself, the mindset stuff you talked about really helped me customize my character during creation oddly enough.

I really appreciate what Jocat said starting at 14:04. I am one of those people who thought the story was great all the way through, But I have gotten hostility online when I say that I like ARR. It's fine to not like ARR, but don't get angry at people who do 20:11 Exactly right. I started out ARR role playing my character. This might actually explain why I loved ARR so much I wasn't there to get through the story ASAP. I was there to be my character

Thanks Jocat. A few of my friends recently got REALLY invested into FFXIV so I decided to join them, but ultimately ran into the same issues as you with ARR. I made it about halfway through trudging through the MSQ until I ultimately lost steam and gave up trying to get to the "good part" after about 30 hours of playtime while the rest of them got through Heavensward and are now well on their way through Shadowbringers. After watching this, hopefully I can give this game another chance with a new mindset, and not skip through all the dialogue this time. Wish me and my tiny conjurer "The Chris" luck! [EDIT 2023]: I got through Ifrit and gave the game another break, but by now I realized I don't really like the gameplay of being a White Mage. So I'm now having a way easier and more fun time as my tiny Summoner "The Chris"

this was such a great video to watch. I plan to show this to a friend or two and hopefully pull them in with me ;P

I finally saw this vid about a week ago, and it got me to make a new account and get playing. It's been about 4 days and I'm on the verge of hitting 30 and loving it. Thank you Jo for all you do!

Just wanted to thank you for this video, ever since I started paying more attention to the story my enjoyment of FF14 has skyrocketed.

This was interesting to hear since I've been feeling the same about the series since playing for about 3 months now. I really like crafting but haven't had the story get its story hooks in me as hard as it has for my friends. I'm going to take this advice and really sit down with it to try and get invested one more time but it's comforting to know I've not been alone in this initial feeling.

Honestly, this was incredible content and genuinely explained my experience down to the last detail. I'm currently almost done with ARR on an alt I chose to make for fun, and the experience is totally different - not only because of ARR updates (the duty support system is AMAZING as a DPS main), but also because I'm noticing things I never noticed or flat out ignored before. I mean, I've put well over 3,000+ hours into this game. Shadowbringers REALLY lit a fire under me when it came out, too. I'm at a point where I really want to appreciate every detail. This is all amazing advice and insight and you 100% earned yourself a sub and like from someone who has never seen your content before.

i need more jocat video essays about anything and everything in this format

Thank you for making this video, it’s what got me to finally try the game. I am now done with ARR and I absolutely loved it

It's taken me a while to get around to watching this video but I'm glad I finally did. Definitely one of your best videos you've made and I'm looking forward to content like this in the future. (Although, I guess a video about hundreds of hours of play might be just a bit hard to make a few of)

Thanks Jocat, I am sitting just before Shadowbringers after getting through the all the MSQ up to 4.0 in a month (I'm disabled so I have a lot of time to game). Thanks for making me feel good about stopping to just play around in the crafting sandbox for a while. My friends have been pushing me to rush to 90 or do MSQ but I'm enjoying just leveling a few different classes to 60 and messing around with the other stuff. Hope to heal you soon. :D

This video almost makes me cry, hearing how much you enjoy the game, since I'm in the same place, of loving it like crazy. And yes, the chocobo sniffing quest was very important, just for the WAY later dialogue choice "as transcendent as smelling a chocobo"

glad you found a way to get into it. For me, I was hooked from the very beginning. It's like the game was made for me. Completely immersed and filled with joy from the instant I got off the boat in Limsa. I still can't completely empathize with people who find ARR to be a slog, but I try to respect it and come up with ideas of how they can enjoy the game anyway. story skipping just ARR then watching all the cutscenes might be the answer- though there's a thousand little things in ARR I'd never want to miss- like Hildibrand or the Postmoogle quests.

I appreciate this so much! I'm someone who tried free week trials and have a partner long with plenty of friends trying to get me to play. It never quite hit but this gives me a new perspective.

What an engaging video, good job! I'm at level 58 in the MSQ and I've been playing for around 4 months. I loved the story even the boring fetch quests, so I am definitely in the latter category. After ARR I had to take a month break, before I even thought about touching the MSQ again. During this time, I still played, there was a lot of other content I enjoyed! Everyone told me to take my time playing and I'm so glad I listened. There is sooo much to do other than the MSQ, so I wouldnt recommend playing this game to just get to end game as fast as you can. The game is well designed that your friends in endgame can still play with you, and do dungeons with you.

this video really speaks to me because I just started the game only a few days ago and have some friends playing it. the story is super long and I will say it will be a while before I start not skipping most of the cutscenes and speed through the dialogue for msq but if its a class quest I have more attention. even though I am still near the early parts of the game and my friends know it gets better its very hard but I have been able to fool around with being a miner or blacksmith and trying to get cute or cool minions or mounts. This video was amazing by the way and hope you talk about ff more.

37:49- My brother-in-law had me skip the cutscene before the vault dungeon in heavensward, and I would say whole-heartedly I missed out on something extremely important.

I think I'm odd. I loved FFXIV's questline. I loved the story, EVEN ARR. Maybe it's cause I was and am a book nerd, so the book-like feel of the slow burn story really resonated with me. . . . I also am someone who likes LotR book version and even own the collectors edition, so my tolerance for 'standing around talking' is pretty damn high. But I'm still at a point where I wish I could like this game more, and its all because of my friends, especially my boyfriend. They rushed me. A lot. I barely remember Stormblood because I blitz though it then quit the game. I came back for Shadowbringers and Endwalker--and those are my favorite expansions hands down--but the rush was just. My boyfriend wanted to raid, and wanted all his friends to raid. End content, first month release. So every time I wanted go off an do a side quest, I'd be told to do MSQ. Want to do crafting, do MSQ. Want to try the minigames, do MSQ. It. . . killed the game for me, for a story rushed is no story at all--and I love all the side content. I don't like combat, and grinding, and raiding--I'd rather spend 50 hours in the Gold Saucer racing chocobos. I guess I'm somewhat venting, but people, don't let anyone rush you through this game. Go at your pace, deviate as you want, and it'll be a LOT better.

Looking back on this, it's so sad that we won't be getting anymore wholesome content like this from him. Thanks internet. >:/

I just started this game a few weeks back and I've been enjoying it for the most parts. Some quests are tedious but I am finding myself getting more and more into this game trying to find more content to watch, even tempted to stream it. I have so much fun doing things only got one friend to play with at the moment but him being a tank and me being a healer make it so fun going into things.

The Hildebrand questline is honestly what saved the game for me, that and having friends play it. Hands down the best FF side story I've ever seen - perhaps the best MMO side story I've ever seen tbh

23:36 THIS. This makes me think about how EW [spoiler] . . . . . . . . . . brought up the 7th Umbral Calamity and how it wiped people’s memories, and how big a point it is for EW’s narrative. People will mostly forget that this is mention at the very beginning of ARR when we first arrived at the major cities.

Mans really just said "the real content is the friends we made along the way" lmao

Ngl i just started yesterday and i love it, cant wait for it to get better in time like you said, i think i made a good choice for this to be my first mmo

I feel like the odd one out cause I immediately loved the story and world building. By the end of ARR I did feel burned out ngl but the lore kept me going. I think it’s cause I love writing and making my own characters so I love experiencing world building and character development.