From WoW to FF14 | 3 Years of Final Fantasy XIV

by



The story nobody clicked, until now.

0:00 – Three Years
4:19 – The Start
10:22 – Finding the Fun
15:45 – Its Our Main Game

Want more Grinding Gear? Get access to bonus videos, members-only Discord channels, and support both of us by becoming a YouTube member or joining our Patreon at http://supportourbromance.com.

Support Garrett & Kyle on Patreon!: https://supportourbromance.com/
Clips Channel: https://youtube.com/grindinggearclips
Full Stream Archive: https://www.youtube.com/garrettandkyle
Merch: https://garrettandkyle.myspreadshop.com/

#GrindingGear #FFXIV

Follow Garrett & Kyle!
https://twitter.com/garrettart
https://twitter.com/kylefergusson

source

38 thoughts on “From WoW to FF14 | 3 Years of Final Fantasy XIV”

  1. great video and all, but i can't believe that you would spoil the fact that the lich king was a bun boy all along in the thumbnail… smh…

    seriously though: three years already since you started covering ffxiv? dang. glad the algorithm worked its magic back then. from "these guys seem all right, i'll keep tuning in" to "thursday night, time for that GG stream 😎"

    i'm glad, also, that xiv has helped in cultivating a healthier relationship with video games overall. i'm technically a legacy player, but i've taken long breaks here and there when the game didn't capture my attention as much as some other activity in my life… and it was always easy to pick it up again when i was ready to go back to eorzea (whereas with the other MMOs i've played, it was harder to jump back in, and more confusing). the vibrancy of the xiv community, and the gearbox more specifically, goes a long way to helping too. even for someone like me, who rarely chats in-game and only gets super sweaty over crafting and gathering, it helps to just… not feel alone in the experience!

    so cheers to ya, garrett and kyle. keep being yourselves, because that's what we like most about ya 🎉

    (well, and the hair. the hair helps.)

    Reply

  2. I remember starting "shadowbringers", and looking at the YouTube recommendations I saw a live of you. You were in Limsa and Garret was talking about the minions and how he spent 1 hour looking at people standing still. Somehow listening to you talk about the game made me discover the "emotional vampire" side of the game. So, thank you for sharing your experience.

    Greetings from Argentina.

    Reply

  8. Okay, regarding Stormblood's ongoing feedback… NGL the reason why I love this expac was because of Red Mage addition. I was about to accept that as a casual player I just suck at positionals and at being BLM Leylines/SMN very long opener and rotation (this was before LEGOS primal, people! XD) when this came out. My friend insisted that I should give this class a shot and ever since then, it had became my main class. RDM during Eureka Boom was one of my favorite moments and getting the REZMAGE tag (Especially the Anemos big boss). While people are entitled to their opinions, I'll always look back and remember StB times fondly.

    Reply

  10. Re: Getting people into the game – I swore off FFXIV after trying the 1.0 beta and despising every moment of it, from an EQ, WoW, and FFXI player. Garrett Sure-as-shit wasn't going to play? That is MUCH nicer than the things I'd say after my beta experience, for many many years~

    What got me here in the end? A friend who was visiting showed me Twintania (ARR Coil raid, last boss of the first tier), and I was shocked at how much it reminded me of the raiding I had done in BC – Early Cata. This was during mid-ARR? Maybe … Patch 2.3? I had been missing this since I stopped after early Cata in WoW.

    I gave it a go after that – and of course, the fact that one of my best friends was vouching while knowing my early beta 1.0 experiences helped a lot. Friends make the MMO, after all.

    I had been playing RPGs all my life and was obsessed with great stories in them, but at the time any MMO I had played wasn't really about that, or didn't execute it well. It wasn't even a factor in my mind for the MMO experience. Ask me today and of course, I'll be right on board with how great the numerous stories can be in FFXIV. Back then though, I needed to see the raiding content just because that's basically what I had been doing MMOs for for awhile, even back in EQ.

    Which is to say – I agree. People may be looking for different things to get hooked on the game, so gotta custom tailor what the main selling point is for what someone needs at that time in their life. The story didn't get me here, but it's been one of the main reasons it's kept me! I might use it as the main reason when talking to some friends interested in playing, or I might use something else like raiding, glamour, or even the music (We all know Soken is a blessing~).

    Anyway still happy as always to have you two as part of the community – hope this video helps some curious people out, and hope you two enjoy your time in Dawntrail!

    Reply

  15. As a tank main with 2 tank main friends, I 100% understand Garrett's reason for playing tank, Bad tanks suck to deal with (Let's ignore the backhanded compliments I keep getting about being better than most people on Keyboard when I'm on controller lol)

    Reply

  16. I've found you guys around the start of June and I've been binging the vods starting from Stormblood and I'm just catching up to 6.3 today and it's been amazing to follow your journey and your theory cooking. Feels like I've been watching for years now and I'm glad I found you guys. Excited for Dawntrail.

    Reply

  17. As one of the old folks thats played since patch 2.3ish, I've had a blast watching the videos you guys put out when you go through the story you drop your theorycrafting and everything. I can't wait to see your takes on Dawntrail. Have fun in Tural you two!

    Reply

  23. With you, my mind and memories shall travel to the ends of the world and beyond. But in this place shall my body stand immovable. May it serve as an undying promise, not only to those who looked to me for leadership, but to any soul who has known despair, that hope is everlasting." G'raha Tia/Crystal Exarch.

    Reply

  26. Time truly flies, i remember finding u guys trying FF 14 out when i was also still playing it and just getting sucked into the atmosphere u both still bring with u.
    I hope u have many fun years ahead together playing tons of games 🙂

    Reply

  27. I guess it's because its tied to Lyse's arch so when I think about Stormblood, I think it was passable but forgettable. But then I remember Othard, and onwards was awesome, and I had so much fun!

    Gosetsu, Yotsuyu, Hein, the pirates of the Confederacy, Magnai, Sadu, and the Azim Steppe, Gaius's return, and Emet-Selch's introduction

    When comparing the Ala Mhigo's arch to that, even if it had interesting characters, it felt underwhelming

    Reply

  28. Weirdly I got big into HotS a few months before they canned it, and I definitely watched some of your content back then. But for a while I didn't realize that you were the same people from back then. Honestly I think this duo format is great for non-competitive gaming. You're kind of tapping into that couch co-op feel that we all miss

    Reply

  29. My first character is a lalafell, i am still said lalafell. The only difference is how drastic the change in appearance throughout the many expansions.

    From a young green-haired hopeful adventurer with big dreams and fair skin to a grizzled veteran with trust issues, a head full of grey hair and sun damaged skin who uses sarcastic dialog options to cope with the emotional roller-coaster.

    Reply

  30. Honestly one of the things I respect about FFXIV so much is how it has opened my eyes to gaming in general.

    I have always bounced around more then the average MMO player, I would say, but there was always still that constant search for "this will be my forever game, the one I return to in between everything else, my second life." I had WoW for a while, I tried many other MMOs like TERA and SWtOR, spent far too much time in and out of Destiny 2, I did some MOBAs with plenty of years sunk in League and I did try HotS for a time as well, but there was always this kind of disappointment when I would "run out" of things to do, ya know? Like I needed those games to continuously provide something for me, to the extent mixing in other single player games would be distractions, just brief distractions while I waited for my "main game" to get more to do even if that "more" was just faction/rep farming like WoW loves to focus on, and now it's pretty clear which of those games were deliberately designed in a way to constantly drag you back and suck you in, make you scared of missing out or even just falling behind. Those were what was constantly bringing me back to most of them, not the game or gameplay itself, but the fear of not being in "relevant" endgame content like everyone else.

    Now That I've spent so much time in FFXIV and the mentality that game is designed on, I really just feel more freedom in the games I play. I have fully quit any other long form games and now mostly play either single player games like BG3 and Nioh 2 or I spend more time with friends in shorter form multiplayer games like Helldivers 2 more recently but also still games like Stellaris. But all the while I still repeatedly return to FFXIV without feeling pressured at any point in time to do so, I play it when I want and when I CAN, I do what I want for as long as I want and I stop when I want as well, and it never punishes me for it and I never feel like I've "fallen behind" cause the game doesn't go anywhere and parts of it don't get removed or locked away by devs or lack of player involvement.

    So now if I'm looking at a game and I see fomo, I see those same old tactics to try and just keep me stuck, to suck me into something again, I just turn away from it cause I now know what I actually want and when I find it I know I won't ever have to worry about FFXIV going anywhere without me. I mean that's precisely why I literally don't touch ANY Blizzard games anymore, the fomo isn't even disguised at all, so put that on top of the sexual abuse allegations forever souring my opinion of the company and it not being something I will ever just be able to overlook like so many others it seems, and Blizzard might as well be a dead company to me now.

    Reply

  31. Many years ago I tried to get a friend to play WoW. He was a big Diablo 3 player. I figured it would be an easy thing to do. But nope. He just played Diablo 3 until Diablo 4 came out. 🫤 Guess it doesn't really matter because I don't play WoW anymore either.

    Reply

  33. I was watching you guys LIVE progging Shinryu Extreme and I think I was just as invested as you guys that whole night. I never thought I'd be yelling just as loud as you guys when you beat it. I cannot believe it's been three years.

    Reply

Leave a Comment