So it is dear readers with great sadness that I inform you that we are coming upon the end of our sojourn together known as the Final Fantasy XIV:A Realm Reborn review in progress. Some of you are probably overjoyed by this news, while still others are lamenting the death of this series as much as I am. Regardless of your emotional status on a written review next week MMORPG.com will finally present our official review of FFXIV: ARR and replace that 5.1 score that version 1.0 did so well to earn. This week on the RIP we will talk about quests, heists, leves, grand companies, and the economy.
Like most MMOs Final Fantasy has the dreaded curse of exclamation point quests givers that hang out and idly chit chat at their quest hub until you arrive to save them from the world! But, and this is a big but, that is not all. The main storyline quests are exclamation points encircled with a meteor to help them stand out from the pack. While quests are a staple of the A Realm Reborn storyline they are by no means the only form of interaction that your player has with the world. In a previous review we talked about FATEs, the XIV dynamic questing system throughout the world, but there are also leves and hests that you will participate in as you play the game.
Leves are part of a questing system that was held over from version 1.0. Originally this was one of the primary ways that your character could earn experience. Leves are represented by cards that are presented to you from NPCs throughout Eorzea. Leves are grouped by level range and award players that complete them experience, money, and sometimes items. There is also a high probability that you will find a chest in the wild if you are participating in battlecraft leves that can contain dungeon quality items. Battlecraft levels also award you bonus experience and gil based upon how fast you complete them and if you complete the leve at a higher level of difficulty than is recommended. Most battlecraft levels amount to go to this area and kill 10 somethings. There are also tradecraft and fieldcraft leves. These leves reward you for crafting or gathering certain items and returning them to the NPC. You get additional experience if they are high quality items. Leves have a twice daily allowance. You gain an allowance of 3 leves every 12 hours and can stock your leve allowance up to 100 leves. If you are trying to use your leve allowance as efficiently as possible you will find it best to use leves to help you level your tradecrafts. While there is nothing overly exciting about the leve system, some of the artwork on the cards that represent the leves is very nice. At max level leves can also act as a type of daily quest to help you earn money, though it will not be a large sum.
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Guildhests are another type of quest that you will earn outside of the normal quest hub system. Hests are located in the duty finder tool. Heists help prepare your character to participate in group content as you level. If you are an inexperienced MMO player, participating in hests will help you develop the skills you need to understand your role in a party before you have to go head long into the end game dungeons. Hests also reward a first time adventurer a substantial experience and gil boost when completed. If you are not new to MMOs doing the hests while leveling a second or third class can go a long way to supplement some of the experience gains you will not find in certain areas because you have completed most of the normal quests for that zone.
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Most MMOs have factions that you have to grind up reputation with in order to earn some type of reward. In ARR factions are represented by grand companies. Each of the grand companies represent one of the three major cities. The Maelstrom (Limsa Lominsa), The Order of the Twin Adders (Gridania), and The Immortal Flames (Ul’dah). The biggest reason you will want to affiliate yourself with a Grand Company is to earn your mount. After that you are not required to gain any further affinity with these groups. If you choose to you will earn reputation with them by completing a number of side dungeons that are not part of the main storyline. You will also need to complete grand company specific hunt logs and collect a large number of company seals which most of you probably have in spades because you have been grinding FATEs (no not you, the other people reading this article). For your efforts you will be able to purchase items from grand company outfitters that can keep you from having to choose armor from quest rewards, selecting the currency instead as you level, or help those of you that are unlucky and never get gear from dungeons. I can’t be the only one right?
You probably noticed that I recommend you choose the currency reward and not the gear as you level while completing quests. A lot of players right now are concerned that the economy is going to implode on itself in months if not weeks. I cannot predict the future and tell you what is going to happen with any sense of certainty but I can tell you that I think the economy will be fine. I can also tell you that if you keep reading about this subject you are going to learn more about fountains and sinks then you ever cared to know. Players, however, are going to have to make adjustments to the way they play this game. There is unquestionably a number of money sinks in this game. Some of the sinks are for things you will be required to use. Most of the sinks are for things that are convenient for players to use. When the game first launched repair prices for armor was definitely out of line and probably unsustainable. Since then Square Enix has reduced the prices on repairing your gear. Another thing that concerns players is the price for teleports. I am going to give you some sound advice. Do not use them. You do not have to teleport in the game. It helps speed up travel but it can become very pricey. There are not a lot of gil fountains in the game right now and that is going to keep the economy from rapidly inflating but that does not mean the game’s economy is broken. It means that you are going to have to manage your money and for some people that is going to be a serious problem.
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We have talked a lot about Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn over the course of the last month and I hope that you have found this series informative and entertaining. I am having the most fun I have had in a long time playing this game and I find myself more and more tired each morning when I roll out of bed to go to work because I probably stayed up a little too late the night before. I hope you are enjoying the game too. If you have what have been your favorite parts? If you are not enjoying it, why not? Let me know in the comments below. PS: Cross your fingers that a lot of people in Japan beat Titan at the Tokyo Game Show. I want those Cactuar earrings.
Robert Lashley / Robert Lashley is a Staff Writer and Online host for MMORPG.com and RTSGuru.com. Rob's bald and when he isn't blinding people from the glare on his head talking in front of a camera you can find him spending his free time in Eorzea pretending he is a Paladin in the Midgardsorm realm or you can chase him down on twitter @Grakulen
Read more of Rob's work:
- Final Fantasy XIV: ARR Review in Progress #1
- Final Fantasy XIV: ARR Review in Progress #2
- Final Fantasy XIV: ARR Review in Progress #3
- Final Fantasy XIV: ARR Are Seasonal Events Fun?
