With nearly one million subscribers, YouTuber Jesse Cox is one of the largest in the MMORPG field. In a new video, he makes a direct comparison and explains the differences and similarities between WoW and FFXIV, and which one you should play.
What is it about? More and more well-known WoW streamers and YouTubers are at least partially turning their backs on WoW and raising Final Fantasy XIV as their new main game. YouTuber Jesse Cox is no exception here, but he wants to explain in the nearly 40-minute video what this phenomenon is about.
For this, he compares various aspects of the two games directly and explains which players these mechanics make sense for. Among other things, he goes into detail about these elements:
- What content is available in the games?
- How does the gameplay differ?
- What are the graphical differences?
- How does the music differ?
- What are the community differences?
Why is this happening now? It cannot be pinpointed to exact points, but there are clearly two main reasons for the more or less sudden migration of players.
After the last major expansion of World of Warcraft, there was a long content pause and Patch 91 took 7 months to arrive. The previous add-on “Battle for Azeroth” was not well received by the community either. Among other things, actions like “BfA refugees, welcome!” (via reddit) circulated as many WoW “refugees” were looking for a new game.
Final Fantasy XIV turns this spiral around, however. After a rather reserved start, FFXIV has been gaining more popularity with each new add-on. The game is getting better with each expansion, as it should. At the end of the year, Endwalker is the next major expansion, and many are already eagerly waiting for it.
This at least roughly summarizes where the player flow between the two games has its origin.
In this video, Jesse Cox explains everything to you in detail:
The Major Differences Between the Games
What content is available in the games? Both WoW and FFXIV know how to offer a wide range of content. You will encounter dungeons, raids, PvP, crafting, events, daily quests, and more in both games. The differences lie in the fundamental ideas behind the actual content.
Jesse Cox mentions that WoW content is a goal, while FFXIV content is a journey, and explains this statement accordingly:
- The focus of WoW is on a perfect spiral with clear goals to keep players engaged for as long as possible. Certain progression systems, grinding daily quests, and various time-gates prevent players from reaching their goal immediately. However, the aim is still to reach it as quickly as possible.
- Final Fantasy XIV places more emphasis on the journey to your goal. You should not quickly reach the maximum level and thus play the story quests, but rather want to play them because of the story. The narrative drives FFXIV forward. Every side quest, every class, every profession, and of course every main quest is filled with story. Thus, the journey becomes the main content.
How does the gameplay differ? Especially in terms of the combat system, Jesse Cox points out clear differences. He criticizes the feeling of combat in Final Fantasy, at least until you reach the maximum level of 50. Only then does the combat system fully open up, and you no longer feel held back.
WoW’s combat system is described by him as a kind of street fighting and reactive. You press a skill, and the next appropriate skill in your bar lights up, offering more options than in the direct comparison with Final Fantasy 14. Here, he describes the combat system as proactive; although you rarely change your rotation, many abilities are tied to positioning, such as ‘You must stand behind your target to use skill X.’
Furthermore, Jesse explains that with add-ons, World of Warcraft can be customized much better and the user interface optimized, while this is not possible in FFXIV. He emphasizes, however, that here you also do not feel the need to adjust anything.
His last major gameplay point is the races and classes. Here, World of Warcraft wins its comparison as there is much more diversity, both in class design and in races. Final Fantasy XIV adheres to the MMORPG rulebook while WoW often breaks this with classes like the Brewmaster.
Races in WoW 
Races in FFXIV
Where are the graphical differences? The biggest difference is obvious – while World of Warcraft opts for a more cartoonish graphic, Final Fantasy XIV tries to create a ‘muted’ world that shouldn’t become too colorful.
One major point is the cutscenes: While story cutscenes in World of Warcraft seem out of place, FFXIV has been developed with a focus on story, so the cutscenes feel natural, and the characters behave more expressively.
However, Jesse Cox sets a minus point for the console availability of FFXIV. The developers would have to hold back graphically to ensure that the weaker PS4 can still be played. This restriction is not something WoW has.
How does the music differ? The music teams of both games are great, according to Jesse, but the difference mainly lies in how they use the music. In Final Fantasy XIV, more emphasis is placed on the recognition of the musical pieces. Jesse says, ‘I might remember two or three songs from WoW, but a dozen from Final Fantasy.’
While the music goes hand in hand with the story of FFXIV, it is used more as background material in WoW, which is a shame because the music is still great.
What are the community differences? According to Jesse Cox, the differences between the games weigh the heaviest, and the developers are to blame.
World of Warcraft structures all its content around the aspect of competition. There is no element of the game where it is not about being better than a fellow player. Even healers try to outdo each other with their healing.
Final Fantasy XIV, on the other hand, places much more value on people playing together to achieve a goal. So-called “damage meters,” where you can read how much damage individual players do, are allowed – but it’s forbidden to talk about them. Jesse doesn’t want to say that there are only nice people in FFXIV, but overall the atmosphere is much, much less toxic than in World of Warcraft.
As another example, he cites the handling of world bosses.
- If a world boss spawns in WoW, the first player to find it will do everything possible to kill it as quickly as possible.
- In FFXIV, however, there are so-called hunt trains. Players wait until all world bosses have spawned before they go out to hunt them together so that everyone gets something out of it.
World bosses in WoW 
One of the world bosses from FFXIV that you can even ride
Conclusion: If you find yourself in the competitive mindset, loot spirals, and grinds, and enjoy measuring yourself against others, you should stick with World of Warcraft, as Jesse Cox says no game does it better.
However, if you want to move away from exactly that, want to experience a more “relaxed” gameplay experience, then you should take a look at Final Fantasy XIV.
Or would you prefer something else? Here are the 8 best games to start with MMORPGs.
