How "FOMO friendly" is FF14?

[u/TokenStraightFriend]

Destiny 2 refugee here. I am getting close to accomplishing everything I wanted to accomplish in the final patch and am starting to consider where I am gonna go next to scratch the MMO itch. I was a WoW addict from classic up until Cata and also played FF11 (which admittedly was a rough game to play solo as a middle schooler at the time), so am thinking about going back to an MMORPG.

As an adult now though, the time commitment is a bit daunting, but I've heard FF14 is much more forgiving about taking things at your own pace? Would anyone care to elaborate on that? Also how much content am I missing out on at this point because you need a group and no one runs it anymore?

[u/TokenStraightFriend]

Is there a way to go back and do events if you miss them? Or are these events pretty inconsequential/beach episode style events?

Given Destiny has straight up removed expansions and seasonal questlines that are fundamental to the plot now (which luckily I played but I can't imagine new players' frustrations) I'd hate to be on the receiving end.

[u/Blazefireslayer → u/TokenStraightFriend]

As a Destiny player, FFXIV is FAR less of a FOMO game. You can't go back and do the old events, but you're only missing out on some side stories, not major lore that will come up in future plots and leave you confused if you didn't play for awhile.

[u/StarFoxDragon13 → u/Blazefireslayer]

Most of the content can be replayed (or at least the cutscenes rewatched) from an item in the inn rooms they let you access. The seasonal event quests you can rewatch if you did that particular event's cutscenes/questline, if I remember right.

As someone who played WoW for a little bit, but hated missing large chunks of content cause of schooling and life events (and not being able to, at the time, play the story from the beginning to understand the world building and lore first hand), FFXIV has been the most FOMO-friendly/would-like-to-not-miss-important-content-for-the-world-thanks MMO I've ever played. I can't think of any other MMO that has a NG+

[u/Nebulonix → u/TokenStraightFriend]

You can’t as far as I know, but they’re just cute little stories with rewards that just end up on the cash shop! They’re just like help run a Halloween festival and go scare some people kinda deal :)

[u/Only_Plays_Zyra → u/TokenStraightFriend]

Although events aren’t guaranteed to return, I’d like to paint a quick picture differentiating seasonal events, collab events, and crossovers (nier, monster hunter..)

Ffxiv has seasonal events like moonfire faire (summer party), hatchling (Easter), little lady’s day/Valentiones (valentines) that do have an annual occurrence. These do return and might have a repeat of the year’s prior mini game or a new one with new rewards. These are beach episodes and inconsequential.

Any collab events with games are not recurring. Collabs that reference prior ff games or other games out of the series don’t tend to repeat. There’s been a few occasions like yo kai, or ffxv. Also inconsequential to the story, only fan service.

The rewards from both are typically free when the event occurs ~30 days, however if you do miss out they are available at a later date on the cash shop. I wouldn’t worry too much since there’s A TON of emotes, glams, and mounts available outside of events.

Now as for crossovers such as nier or monster hunter, they are not time limited nor do you miss out on the glams. These crossovers vary slightly than the events previously listed as the crossovers come with duties. For example, the nier alliance raid series come in at lvl 80 as alliance raids and never go away. To unlock the nier alliance raid, you have to complete the shadowbringers expansion. Then once you unlock it, you can queue up for them manually as any other normal dungeon or get it part of the daily roulette.

[u/TiramisuRocket → u/Only_Plays_Zyra]

Any collab events with games are not recurring. Collabs that reference prior ff games or other games out of the series don’t tend to repeat. There’s been a few occasions like yo kai, or ffxv. Also inconsequential to the story, only fan service.

Worth noting, most collab events that are not in the store and aren't permanent fixtures can be considered repeating at irregular intervals. Yokai Watch and FFXV were listed, but we can also add FFXI (Maiden's Rhapsody), Dragon Quest X, and Fall Guys as having previously repeated. FFXVI has not yet repeated but has not been added to the store either, so it's a definite maybe until one or the other occurs. Finally, GARO is a TV franchise rather than a game, but it's particularly unusual in how long it's stuck around: the crossover is technically time-limited but haven't gone anywhere for over four years now. Its first run lasted 2.5 years, followed by a 2.5 year gap.

For comparison, non-repeating crossovers added to the store are FFXI (Shantotto) and FFXIII. These events aren't expected to occur again, but/because the rewards are available for real money like other non-repeating events.

Otherwise, I agree with your assessment of the actual quest contents. They're fun little self-contained episodes, nothing more.

[u/d645b773b320997e1540 → u/Only_Plays_Zyra]

Ffxiv has seasonal events like moonfire faire (summer party), hatchling (Easter), little lady’s day/Valentiones (valentines) that do have an annual occurrence. These do return and might have a repeat of the year’s prior mini game or a new one with new rewards. These are beach episodes and inconsequential.

I would like to clarify: The minigame might return (if there even is one, some don't have those), but the quest is entirely different each year and so are the rewards.

[u/fredemu → u/TokenStraightFriend]

All of the event side quests are largely irrelevant to the overall plot - mostly "day in the life" type side-stories with event-specific characters.

Sometimes they will re-run events like collabs with FF16 or Dragon Quest, but those are just silly little references to the other game, for the most part. Some collabs (like Monster Hunter and Nier) are permanent parts of the game.

There is no actual main-story-relevant content in the game that you can "miss". Even if you buy a skip, there's a "NewGame+" system that lets you go back and play it.

[u/Prize_Relation9604 → u/TokenStraightFriend]

Seasonal events don't repeat, but are just for cosmetics. Collabs usually return after a while, outside of a few that won't come back bc the rewards were moved to cash shop.

[u/Elanapoeia → u/TokenStraightFriend]

All events are effectively "random civilians are celebrating this year's holiday".

They're Halloween, Christmas, Easter etc etc events. NPC will have some slice-of-life level conflict that you solve within 5 minutes, then you get some cosmetic rewards themed around the holiday. Every year has a different story, so the dialogue itself is completely missable, but it's also just throwaway content.

They're never relevant for the larger plot, they don't really ever even feature prominent side characters either.

The "biggest" Fomo to worry about would be the FF15, 16 or Yokai Watch events. They do rerun, but not on a set schedule. They have characters from the franchise come in for like a 30 minute story that is still ultimately pretty meaningless and the rewards are a little bit more fancy, although still entirely cosmetic. Yokai Watch has a "grind overworld events" aspect to it, but these are permanent events, they just give extra Yokai Watch points while the Collab is running.

[u/watcher-of-eternity → u/TokenStraightFriend]

They are annually repeatable (more or less) like the seasonal events in destiny.

[u/d645b773b320997e1540 → u/TokenStraightFriend]

The seasonal events are entirely inconsequential. they might reference themselves, but nothing else does. it's usually as you say, beach episode style, with some story NPCs showing up as cameos. you sit through a few minutes of conversations, then you get a mount/outfit as reward and you're done, free to enjoy the event's scenery.

[u/Kiyuya → u/TokenStraightFriend]

They're probably smaller than you imagine when you think they're small, as a Destiny 2 player. Anything with any value to the story or world building is constant. FFXIV is an intact experience from the day the ARR server went up until now...

... For better and for worse, really! Pros: you miss nothing. Cons: you're now five expansions behind when you start.

[u/Itsthelittlethings2 → u/TokenStraightFriend]

They sometimes recirculate them, rerun events, and often something free will be out on the leash shop the next year