Recent reviews by Stryfe

I actually have over 600 hours on a non-steam account on this game. I've played MMOs since Ultima Online in the 90s, Korean MMOs long before Black Desert, and all the classics like DAoC before WoW took over the genre. I played Age of Conan, Aion and other obscure MMOs and of course I played all the major ones as well. Outside of prime Warcraft, non have felt like "Home" until I played FF14. Something about this game just makes me drawn to it. Once I got past the boredom of early level combat, battles and dungeons became more complex and strategic. But what really made me come back over and over again is the socialization, events, in-game clubs and venues, friendly community, etc. I even played music in town (impromptu Bard concert) for onlookers. These things are what separate Final Fantasy from other MMOs. Its atmosphere is special and there is no pressure to always keep the subscription active. I take breaks, I come back and get sucked in all over again. In this way, this is not an MMO that makes you anxious if you don't play for a bit. On the contrary, it's the only MMO that completely respects the player's time and gives back proportionally what you put into it, without pressure, without FOMO. It's like an old friend that's always there waiting for you when you need them. Because of this, I'd recommend this game not only for lovers of community/MMO aspects of the genre, but lovers of Role-playing games in general.

If they handle the fresh start server demand at this pivotal time correctly, then I would say NW 2.0 is definitely worth a revisit. If not...well, there's a lost opportunity if I've ever seen one. New expansion and new player experience will only be complete if new servers are released alongside (or even prior to) the xpac patch. They're releasing this expansion for free to make up for their past blunders and entice a portion of the previous fan base back. This is their opportunity to show that they really are listening to player feedback.