GamerEscape

The first season of the Feast is well underway and while we still have quite a bit of time before it is over I thought it was worth mentioning some of the implications that can be seen based on how things are going thus far.

Final Fantasy XIV has never really been thought of as a PVP game and its addition was sort of an afterthought. The development team added the mode at the request of the community, but there really wasn’t much going on aside from an arena and some new abilities. It did offer the opportunity for players to find new ways to use their PVE abilities and discover what worked best when facing off against each other. The PVP abilities are mostly just secondary options for status effects. The best example I can think of is for the black mage who has sleep and then an ability called Night Wing which is an instant cast sleep. Others have stuns and silences, as well as some abilities to reduce resistances to various attack types. These extra abilities can make a huge difference in a fight, an increase of damage can push you right over the edge of dealing more damage than a healer can heal, but it has to be well timed and in conjunction with your team to maximize the effects.

Probably my favorite part of these new PVP changes is just the attention that it’s been getting. It has its issues, as with anything new, where players abuse the system, but in this first season of ranked PVP I’ve really enjoyed watching streams of PVPers and keeping track on the lodestone to see who’s moving up on each data center. I would love to see an esport scene start to develop, but we’re going to need more features for that to take off.

My most anticipated feature is spectator mode. I want to be able to watch the matches from various vantage points and see some shoutcasters start to build a knowledge base of strategies being used and call out those sick plays. I would also love to see some cross data center PVP tournaments. Pitting the very best against the very best would be pretty intense and entertaining. The matches aren’t long and I think that plays into some of the popularity. I’m much more interested in watching a PVP match in FFXIV that is only going to last about eight to ten minutes versus something like League of Legends that can take thirty minutes to an hour or more to play through.

All in all I think that PVP is heading in the right direction. It needs some more attention to weed out some of the issues, especially feeding, but it is still enjoyable and I think that’s the most important part. Win or lose I still have fun in PVP. I am probably a minority in that respect, but as long as it’s fun and continues in that direction I greatly look forward to see how it evolves in future updates.

What do you guys think? Have you tried it? Do you think it’s going to continue to pick up steam? Tell me your thoughts in comments section.