I wonder what can of worms I just opened by deciding to write this, but I wanted to do it, so do it I shall! Please don't hate me.
This is not so much for the hard-core player, and more for a new gamer looking to start into MMORPGs. Please remember that this is only my opinion, and that it may be edited because opinions change. I am only human, and therefore, I naturally have some biases.
All three games will be rated on Character Customization depth, Music enjoyability, Graphics and Lag, Questing and monotony, End-Game Content, Class uniqueness and abundance, Race uniqueness and abundance, PvP quality, Controls, Combat systems, Crafting systems, Mobility, and, finally, Price. They will be scored on a system of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest possible score.
As a side note, I do use a bit of gaming terminology in this review. Nothing too out there, but maybe some common terms that are good to know anyway, such as AoE, kiting, kill-stealing, PvP, etc.
I'm also thinking of doing one of these for the more popular free-to-play games as well. Is that a good idea?
Also, I can't really rate fun-factor, because that is really a matter of "you have to try it for yourself." I know a lot of people love FFXIV's dungeons and such, but I personally can't stand it. Same goes for raiding in WoW. I'm one of the people that really things GW2 is fun, but I know many people disagree. That said, I enjoy each and every one of these games for different reasons, and also because I just enjoy MMORPGs as a genre.
Character Customization
WoW: 5/10
GW2: 8/10
FFXIV: 7/10
Compared to the other two, WoW is really lacking in the customization department. During creation, you get a couple preset skin tones, hairstyles and colors, faces, earrings, and maybe something specific to your race (tusks or horns or ears, etc). All characters of the same race and gender combination are the same height and build. There are a couple hairstyles you can get later if you visit a barber, but that's about it. Its saving grace is Transmogrification, which allows you to customize your equipment to better fit your aesthetics. That said, Transmogrification only goes as far as allowing you to cover your actual equipment with another, better looking, piece of equipment. You cannot customize colors or fit or anything like that. You also cannot transmogrify out of your armor class or the weapon type you currently have equipped (with some exceptions, bows can be "mogged" into guns and crossbows, and vice versa).
FFXIV gets a better score because the initial customization is rather in-depth. You have a choice from a diverse palette of colors for skin, hair, eyes, etc (with some variation depending on race choice). There is very in-depth customization as far as facial and body structure goes, if you so choose. There are also simple presets as well. That said, I don't feel like I can give it the highest score because it's difficult to make your character really stand-out. My Miqo'te doesn't look all that much different than any other Miqo'te out there, you know? All the characters kind of look the same.
GW2 gets the highest score for me. While it's customization is not quite as in-depth as FFXIV's, it is still nothing to scoff at, especially when compared to WoW's presets. It costs real money (or a lot of in-game grinding for gold) if you want to do the equivalent of WoW's transmogrification, but it makes up for it by the fact that you can dye your armors provided you have the appropriate dye. Dye can be made through crafting (cooking, I believe), or bought through the auction house. More importantly, I feel that most characters end up looking pretty unique, Asura and Charr aside (even then, they're pretty unique most of the time). The thing that really beats out the others is the customization options for the Sylvari. I very rarely see two Sylvari that look similar.
Music
WoW: 8/10
GW2: 4/10
FFXIV: 5/10
WoW wins this by far. The other two don't really have much in terms of memorable music. WoW's music definitely sticks out, especially their tavern-music. I can think of one song from FFXIV that stuck out. I can't think of any from GW2.
Graphics
WoW: 6/10
GW2: 9/10
FFXIV: 8/10
WoW loses this one. The new areas are gorgeous, but a lot of the older content is showing its age. Which is fair, because the game has come a long way. The first time you enter a zone, it can be breathtaking, but it is nothing compared to the other two games. That said, it is made to be run on a lot of older operating systems, so long as you have the graphics down low enough, making it much more accessible than the other two.
FFXIV definitely has the best graphics out of the three, but it loses out because of the lag. Oh goodness, the lag. I had to turn my graphics down to Low, and even then, it's not wonderful.
GW2 wins this because the graphics are very nice, and I have not experienced nearly as much lag on my computer.
Questing
WoW: 6/10
GW2: 8/10
FFXIV: 6/10
WoW and FFXIV are tied because their questing systems are very similar. Talk to this NPC, kill 10 of these and collect this item, bring the items to this NPC, then return to the original NPC for your reward. FFXIV has active events similar to GW2's, including their shared plight: They pop up exactly when you don't want them to, and never when you do. The big difference being that FFXIV's F.A.T.Es are less common and more of a pain to reach. They also seem to cause quite a few arguments, as far as I can tell.
GW2 wins this one because it is like a breath of fresh air to me. There are multiple ways to complete any given task (heart quest?). Their active events are rather frequent (sometimes annoyingly so), and you are generally given plenty of time to reach them. Waypoints add to the ease of traveling to them in time, unlike in FFXIV where you have to run through the map. That said, it barely gets a higher score because you don't get gear quite as easily due to there not being any exact rewards to quests. It also succeeds because anyone who participates in the kill gets credit. Kill-stealing is pretty much nonexistent. On top of that, you can go back to any zone that is a lower level than you, and level there as if you were the level it was intended for. It syncs you down to that zone's level, but you still gain experience as if you were your actual level.
End-Game
WoW: 10/10
GW2: 5/10
FFXIV: 5/10
WoW is the king of this. There are many different things to do, such as raiding, farming, daily quests, dungeons, running through old content, collecting achievements, pet battling, etc.
GW2 and FFXIV are tied because, honestly, you don't hear magnificent things about their end-game. WoW and Raiding are pretty much synonymous. What do you think of end-game wise when you think of these two games? Nothing. They're pretty much nonexistent. GW2 consists of grinding for end-game gear that you don't end up doing much with. Same with FFXIV. GW2 has the living story going for it, but that's not constant, and FFXIV has more end-game dungeons to grind.
Classes
WoW: 10/10
GW2: 6/10
FFXIV: 4/10
I think WoW definitely wins out here. There are a total of 34 (I think. Counting has never been my forte) unique playstyles (this includes all the specializations, by the way). That said, the classes don't always feel that unique. Playing a DPS Paladin and a DPS Warrior feels very familiar; not identical, but definitely similar. The same goes spec-by-spec, not including specs that fill a different roll (healer and DPS specs are not similar, for example). A Fire Mage, Arcane Mage, and Frost Mage certainly all have their own playstyles, but they are all a Mage. They feel familiar. Not that familiar is bad, but I'm sure you get what I'm trying to say.
GW2 is next not because of the abundance of classes, but due to the fact that each feels unique. There are 8 classes total, and all of them legitimately feel unique. My Necromancer feels completely different than my Mesmer. My Warrior feels completely different than my Guardian. Added to that, every class has different weapons that they can equip, each of which gives you a completely different playstyle. My favorite weapon for Necromancer is the staff, which allows me to kite and AoE, but if I switch to, say, a Dagger, I am suddenly a melee class that wears down its opponent with conditions. That said, you are often forced into specific weapons in order to be viable. Which makes me sad.
FFXIV gets the lowest slot due to my personal bias. There are 8 combat classes, and 9 jobs which branch off those. It gets the lowest slot because I feel it is overly complicated to figure out which classes you need to level to get which job. Leveling a new class feels overly complicated and unnecessarily time-consuming.
Races
WoW: 9/10
GW2: 8/10
FFXIV: 8/10
All the games are pretty equal as far as races go, I think. It really just depends on personal preference as to which races you like best. WoW gets the higher score only because of the sheer number of them.
WoW has the two factions: Alliance and Horde. Alliance has Humans, Night Elves (purple elves), Gnomes, Dwarves, Draenei (aliens), and Worgen (werewolves). Horde has Orcs, Trolls, Tauren (cows), Undead, Blood Elves (elves), and Goblins. Both factions have access to the Pandaren (pandas). In all, that covers pretty much any fantasy trope you could want, from dwarves and elves to things like aliens and werewolves.
GW2 has the Asura (tiny, alien-looking things), Sylvari (plants), Humans, Norns (giants), and Charr (cat-cows).
FFXIV has the Elezen (elves), Hyur (humans), Lalafell (gnome-like), Miqo'te (cat people), and Roegadyn (giant blue/green seafarers). Each race consists of two sub-races, which determine your starting stats and some aesthetic options. For example, Midlander Hyur have pretty rounded stats and are smaller and have more delicate features than the Highlander Hyur, whose stats are skewed towards physical attacks, and who are taller and have a stronger-looking posture.
PvP
I can't actually rate this. I know next to nothing about PvP. That said, I do enjoy WvWvW in GW2. I should like normal PvP in that game, since I play a Necromancer, but nope. Just don't enjoy PvP in any game ever.
Controls
WoW: 7/10
GW2: 7/10
FFXIV: 7/10
This is kind of tricky to rate because it falls to personal preference most of the time. WoW is the most intuitive to me, but that may be because it was one of the first MMORPGs I played. GW2 is tied because I personally enjoy the ground-targeting mechanics, and the rest of the controls are relatively the same as WoW's. FFXIV loses out because some controls and hotkeys are counter-intuitive to me. Terminology can also be rather unfamiliar to someone coming from other MMOs.
Crafting
This is another one that is just personal preference. I find GW2's to be the simplest, but WoW's is also very simple, albeit slower. WoW can also be rather grindy and there's a bit of competition for materials. I don't quite understand the crafting mechanics in FFXIV, although their gathering mechanics are much more interesting.
Both WoW and GW2 only allow you to have 2 crafting professions at once. WoW only allows 2, GW2 allows you to drop them at any time and pick them back up later at the same experience level (I think. I may be wrong).
FFXIV allows you to take on as many crafting/gathering classes as you can handle.
Mobility
Again, preference. This one, I can really lay out for you though.
WoW: Has ground-mounts starting at level 20, with max speed available at level 40. Flying mounts start at 60, max speed is 70 or so, I think. Lots of flight upgrades through each expansion (WoD notwithstanding, because we don't know yet). Flight paths are available in most towns. Zeppelins/boats across continents. Mage portals. Various mobility abilities available to different classes. Hearthstones to return to your home point.
GW2: Waypoints allow easy access to most places, at the cost of some in-game money. Most classes have at least weapon that offers you a mobility skill.
FFXIV: Some warp points, and easy teleportation to a home point. Ground mounts are available, and they help in combat as well. Chocobo Porters can be used to get from place to place if you don't have a mount and you've visited the place before. Running is relatively fast.
Pricing
This one, you need to make your own judgements on. The prices are currently as follows.
WoW: $19.99 for the base game, which includes Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, and Cataclysm. That gets you up to level 85. $9.99 for Mists of Pandaria. $49.99 for the Warlords of Draenor pre-order (although that price will drop after it comes out, obviously). The price of a year-long subscription is about $155.88. This comes out to a total of $235.85 for your first year of the game. I think. My math may be wrong.
FFXIV: $49.99 for the base game (not deluxe). Year-long subscription comes out the same as WoW's: $155.88. The total comes out to be about $205.87.
GW2: $24.99 for the regular edition of the game (not deluxe). No subscription fee. There is an in-game cash shop. You need to buy Gems with real money in order to buy from it. You also have the option of grinding for gold in-game, converting them to gems and paying attention to conversion rates to get the best deal, and then obtaining Gems that way.
So, take that as you will. That said, with WoW you are paying for a lot of content, and you do not have to buy it all at once. The base game will suffice until you hit level 85. And, like I said, Warlords of Draenor will definitely drop in price once it's been in game for long enough.
The prices here definitely go in order from most content to least content, so remember that when you make your decision as well.
Summary
Overall, my opinions are as follows:
Casual gamers (by this, I mean players who don't have a lot of time to put into the game) might want to put more thought into GW2. No subscription fee means you can play when you want to without feeling guilt about not playing. There is not a ton to do at end-game, but if you play infrequently, you may be satiated by the living world content that is periodically released.
FFXIV: ARR is your kind of middle-of-the-road sort of game. It's right in the middle of the two.
WoW is great for someone who wants to put a lot of time into the game. It's a daunting game to start up, for sure. If you really want to get into the raiding scene, this is just about your only option.
So, those are my opinions. I'm really meek and don't like arguing, so please go easy on me.
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