I'm playing Final Fantasy XIV. It's an MMORPG. Is it 2005 again?

I heard a recommendation for Final Fantasy Online a few days back and decided to give it a go. It is a long time since I felt the urge to play an mmorpg but I have been bouncing around between a few games recently and perhaps in a fit of nostalgia I remember the good times I had fifteen years or so ago when  World of Warcraft and Lord of the Rings Online were cool. For a brief few years MMORPGs offered an exciting glimpse into the possibilities of virtual worlds. They also demanded a huge time commitment and required a lot of busy work which is why I and most other gamers eventually moved on. I am trying FF XIV at a very casual level, no guilds , no raids just questing around in the world. First impression are pretty good. There is a very generous free trial that appears to offer a lot of content with not many restrictions. the game has been around since 2013 so it is not surprising that it seems very polished by now and it looks pretty too. Of course it has a confusing array of locations and skills and characters and everything else to learn but since I am playing casually I am not too bothered about anything that I am missing. At least it doesn't appear to have a cash shop and seems to be subscription based. Cash shops always introduce an eve more confusing array of currencies and collectables to the mix. 

Edit: Turns out it does have a cash shop for gear and such but from what I can see it uses actual cash so thankfully no extra currency involved. 

My first character is an Au Ra conjuror by the name of R'liath Theuma. I didn't have a clue about the races and classes when I chose her but having played a few levels I get the impression that conjurors are healers first and foremost. I think that it may also be possible to change your class or at least your role simply by equipping different gear but R'Liath seems to be pretty self reliant for the moment. At level 9 she has four spells which cover all the main bases: A direct damage spell (Stone), A damage over time spell (Aero), A heal spell (Cure) and a 30s sleep spell (Repose). Having such versatility already on a low level character suggests to me that the game encourages solo play but it is way too early for me to form a definitive conclusion on that. I did stumble across some drop in public quests called "Fates" which are also indicative of a game which encourages casual group play. The world seems full of other players although most of them are at higher levels.  

When I first logged in UI was set up for a game pad. I am delighted to see that it is entirely possible to play a fully fledged mmorpg with a console game pad but I did switch back to mouse and keyboard controls because that is what I am more familiar with. In fact once I choose Mouse control mode and standard movement settings all the old muscle memory kicked in. 

I don't know how long I will keep playing this but it is enjoyable so far.