FFXIV vs WoW – Which MMORPG Should You Play?
The battle for MMO supremacy is a hot topic of debate even in 2022. While there are many titles from this genre to choose from, there is often a question raised over which of these two powerhouse entries are better; FFXIV or WoW? A tough question to answer, so let’s take a look at what makes each game better than the other, in a battle that sees FFXIV vs WoW.
In this article, we will be discussing the following:
- Which MMORPG has better content?
- Which has the superior story and quests?
- Comparing the dungeons and raids
- Endgame Content
To make a better judgement of which game trumps the other, let’s start by taking a look at which offers the best combat.
Table of Contents
FFXIV vs WoW – Which Has Better Combat?
If you have been a long time player of World of Warcraft and you decide to make the switch to Final Fantasy 14, you will soon notice a stark difference, and that is with the game’s combat. This is a result of the global cooldown. With FFXIV having a higher global cooldown than WoW, it means that the former has a slower combat movement than the latter. While in WoW you could effectively spam attacks much quicker, FFXIV has you casting at a slower pace.
With a higher cooldown coming in, it’s then up to you as to whether or not it flows with your style of combat. Having more time to cooldown, which is also true for enemies attacking you, can give you a bit more time to plot your attacks and prepare in kind. However, it can be seen as just a bit too slow, where it feels like you are waiting for the game to catch up with your attack input. Meanwhile, WoW feels far more like an action game in this regard. Having instant reactions to button presses, which might seem like common practice in other genres, is a big deal when comparing these two titles.
FFXIV vs WoW – Story and Quests
There’s little doubt that WoW’s narrative has kept a number of players coming back for the years that it has been running. What’s more, when playing the game you can expect to see many colourful characters and epic scenes here and there for you to enjoy. However, it does fall short when you compare it to FFXIV.
There just doesn’t seem to be as much depth with certain aspects of some of the quests and story in comparison. You can complete a task in WoW without being entirely sure why you had to do it. In this department, FFXIV has cut-scenes to lay out the narrative for even the smaller quests that you partake in. With this, there is a much bigger sense of purpose when playing FFXIV, as the title goes all out in even the smallest spaces to make sure the player is entertained and emotionally attached and with the latest expansion: Endwalker, this advantage continues and extends further. The emotional finale to the MSQ in FFXIV was a bitter farewell for many fans.
Dungeons and Raids in FFXIV and WoW
Then you have dungeons which feature in both games, and one offers a better experience here than the other too. In World of Warcraft, you aren’t really given much motivation to revisit a dungeon once you completed it, unless you want to level your alts. This may suit your goals better than the FFXIV, but it would be easy to argue that Final Fantasy 14’s approach stands out more. With a level scaling method along with daily roulettes, it gives you more reason to revisit the dungeons that FFXIV has to offer.
As for raids, there are arguments for both sides. As we touched on earlier, the combat is arguably less frustrating in WoW, which means that clearing a raid can feel much easier in certain ways compared to FFXIV. Having said that, having bigger groups in WoW for certain raids means there’s more room for error on your team’s part, meaning they are going to take longer than they would in FFXIV even with more players.
The way in which FFXIV’s combat works also leaves very little room for mistakes, so your reaction times need to be on point. WoW including a number of raid difficulties gives it a slight advantage for those looking to challenge themselves. You can see why you would choose either game for the best raids and dungeons, as both have positives that work in their favor.
Which Has Better Endgame Content?
This is another tough choice to make. Regardless of whether you like to take part in it or not, PvP is a big part of MMO games, and this is something that shines brighter in WoW. You can engage in duels, participate in tournaments in Arena PvP, and even War Mode to take on your rival faction. FFXIV meanwhile is rather limited in this area, offering less Player vs. Player opportunities for gamers to enjoy.
WoW also offers more raids, with more difficulties to choose from (as mentioned earlier). The mechanic of having a bigger party size makes it feel more like you are in a raid too. That being said, it still feels like there is much more variety in FFXIV as it makes the most of the content it has. Whilst WoW essentially focuses on Raids, Mythic+ and PvP, FFXIV has a bit more of a wide range to give. Final Fantasy 14’s content ranges from trials, raids, map dungeons, instanced areas such as Eureka to increase elemental experience, housing and more.
Conclusion
With all of that being said, there are arguments for both sides. In the end, it is a completely subjective matter as to which game is better than the other, depending on what you are looking to get out of your MMO experience.
When it comes to FFXIV vs WoW, you could say that if you are looking for more variety to your content, with a deeper sense of storytelling and meaningful questing, then FFXIV would be your choice. If you are looking for a much more approachable set of gameplay mechanics, with plentiful raid content and higher difficulty levels to challenge yourself with, then you should certainly opt for World of Warcraft. Whichever you choose, you are getting an MMO experience that is more than capable of keeping you entertained for a long time to come.
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ffxiv combat is only slow early on…, its waaay faster towards endgame, more complex and rewarding than wow.., the easiest ffxiv class still outshines the hardest wow class in endgame raiding..
(seems like they only compared early ffxiv to late wow…, very misleading)
Ok so if you think FFXIV combat is slow and boring it just means you suck at the game, yes the gcd is 2.5 tho that decreases with added skill speed but you are also meant to weave your off GCDs so if you’re actually playing the game correctly you’re hitting skills every 0.83 seconds which is faster than WoW,while still reacting to bosses and id you dont do that you wont hit the dps checks so…..
I have to agree. That was an error. M+ dungeons offer a lot of variety. Both are good games in their own way.
I plaid note game. I am not a hard core gamer and if booth worlds have nice content, the big difference for me is that in WoW you choose the level of difficulties as for ff14 you can be stuck in the game if you don’t get some solo dungeons or you will have to pay some book in the store to access the next content. This is why I left ff14
Quit wow over 10 years ago. Started playing eso, final fantasy and wow over the pandemic. Final fantasy is slow af and boring, basically braindead. Wow has the better world/ content/ raids. Eso by far has the fastest and most skilled combat, it just falls short on content.
After also playing Wow since closed beta, I felt just tired after all those years. I’ve done high end raiding, was highest in PVP back in Classic, did Mythic+ so I can say I know many aspect of the game.
Yet lately, not just considering that there hasn’t been any new content for months now, I’ve decided to try FFX XIV and boy – what a lovely change in pace.
The storytelling and level of detail to every single quest is lovely. In WoW you lost interest in the quests long ago. They’re absolute all alike while FF approaches this with way more storytelling and gets you involved in a way deeper atmosphere. You are merely an adventurer and feel like one. In WoW (if you level nowadays) you kill 2 boars and are called “hero”. No sense of progression.
Plus – I LOVE the flexibility of the class system. I played WoW this week and after an hour of intense searching there was not a single Tank nor Heal for M+. Players leaving since there is no new content leaves damage dealers like me high and dry. Whilst in FF XIV you simply switch gear and suddenly you have a healer. Or a Tank. Or vice versa. Plus – if you don’t like the feel and gameplay of your class you don’t have to completely recreate a new char. Go out in the world, try everything out and find out what you like best.
I could go on even longer here but last I want to mention the profession system. In FF you really LEVEL your job and do not merely acquire “skill points”. You get so much more involved, you are actively taking part in it, you farm gear for it and are again flexible in what job you want to do at a times. Being limited to two professions and having to level an alt for more is just dreary.
Like the author said – eventually it all boils down to what you prefer. But I want to remind you that here is no “right” or “wrong” as many fanboys of each game would love to make everyone believe.
Both games are great in their own regards and none forces you to pick sides. Make the best out of both worlds, explore each of them and find out what suits you more OR (like me) just play both 🙂 As soon as one gets boring – make a switch and get a fresh new look on great MMORPG’s.
Have a great day and may the loot be with you, adventurers <3
WOW Is trash nowadays. I played WOW since a closed Beta. I along with the 1 mill subs left because WOW got boring. Also WOW is not noob friendly. You can play Final Fantasy XIV up to Heavenward then you will have to pay but by then you have completed 45% of the expansion. So quite a lot of it is free. Also it’s soo much cheaper than WOW. Since I’ve joined FFXIV I haven’t went back to WOW.
Completely disagree on the story aspect.
Story in ff14 is very much on the rails, extremely linear and unavoidable. It’s mostly walk here, talk to this npc then walk here and talk some more. It takes so long for anything to actually happen, most of the characters are either annoying or forgettable, and it just feels like there’s an extreme amount of pointless filler story quests (all of which cannot be avoided). Horrible pacing and poor exposition choices (like unskippable half an hour cutscenes in the middle of a dungeon) just aren’t worth the payout you get from whatever qualities the actual story has.
Imagine a forced solo MMORPG, where most of your initial gameplay is “story” missions, with lotsa talking (a lot of it not voiced), where you only occasioalnally have to kill like 3 weak mobs, and sometimes a dungeon you have to go through with many hours of walking and talking inbetween.
WoW’s story pretty much devolved into a very superficial, bad guys vs good guys, but its story isn’t half as intrusive and is easy to get into. Character’s in WoW are memorable and pacing is way better. WoW has a much more elaborate background lore from all the books and games, so it feels like you can, if you want to, to learn more about the world and see the whole picture. Cinematics and cutscenes are usually awesome and to the point.
If you’re playing either of the games for the story, you’re in the wrong genre, but the story in ff14 feels like it’s getting in the way of the actual game and can be quite a chore at times.
New dungeons are boooooooooooooring
The Elder Scrolls Online, the best mmo.
“In World of Warcraft, you aren’t really given much motivation to revisit a dungeon once you completed it” What eeh, what’re you talking about? Did you forget M+ exists?