Returning to Eorzea

Morning Friends! I guess I need to admit that I am now properly playing Final Fantasy XIV again. Like I had no real intention to get back into another MMORPG right now, but it seems when you are least expecting it… is when a bought of the feels happens and draws you back in. I am trying to figure out how to enjoy the game on a sustainable level rather than the salted earth binge and bail pattern that I have been in for the last few expansions. In both Stormblood and Shadowbringers I bounced pretty shortly after finishing the initial patch content, and I have not really arrived at real integration with the game since ARR and early Heavensward.

I think ultimately coming back solo, I have been more interested in connecting with the community of the server once again. For those who are unaware I play on Cactuar in the Aether Data Center and it has always been a pretty great place to call home. This is Limsa Lominsa during primetime and it is hopping… there are so many people that the game engine refuses to load them all in at once. Each time I would take a step a batch of players would disappear and a whole new crowd would come into view. I’ve been reaching out and having conversations with people from my friends list that I did not remember at all. Some of them ended up being folks that I did know as another name like Liore’s husband Vajra and others just people that I apparently friended along the way. Thing is… every single one of them has welcomed me back and been excited to see me playing even if they only vaguely remembered me.

I’ve come to the realization that if I am going to reach a state of sustainability in an MMO, I am going to have to make new friends. That is super hard as a 45 year old gamer to reach out and make new connections, but FFXIV and Cactuar server is the sort of place that makes it fairly easy to do this. I had more conversations with strangers while hanging out in Quarrymill between Palace of the Dead runs than I have had in the last several years likely. I rolled up on this group of people who were very clearly playing their instruments by hand and not with a macro script… and many joyous “doots” were had by all. The thing is… it is the sort of place where if you wave it is highly likely that someone is going to wave back which seems simple but that has not been the case in a lot of MMORPGs that I have played over the years.

The other thing that I have been noticing while roaming the world is just how damned gorgeous it can be at times. Granted I am playing this on my beefy gaming rig that is complete overkill for the sort of game that it is. I had not really been back to the Sea of Clouds since Heavensward, and flying through it for a Paladin quest made me really appreciate how much care went into this world. I mean the same can be said with pretty much any MMO, but like… how do you create a zone full of floating islands without making it seem stale? You introduce a shocking amount of variety and interesting flora and fauna so that it feels like yeah… this could legitimately be an ecosystem rather than a chain of small destinations.

I wanted to ease back into the game and one of the jobs that I had been wanting to level for some time was Paladin. When I last left it I think I had just pushed it to level 50 before parking it. I picked up from there and it turns out that I really like the way the Paladin has changed since I last played it. Like I am enjoying it enough that I am contemplating switching to maining it over the Warrior. Last night I dinged 60 in Palace of the Dead and this allowed me to equip a bunch of level 60 gear. Tonight I am probably going to try tanking a few dungeons, since I have been effectively tanking PotD for the last several days. I feel like I have a firm grasp on the basics of the class at least and since I need to get to 61 before I can start running Heaven on High, it seems like a good option rather than more Palace.

All in all I am greatly enjoying my return to Final Fantasy XIV, but it is taking a bit to remember the various systems. There are so many things that I never engaged with heavily along the years. For example a few days ago was the first time I ever took my Grand Company Squadron out into a dungeon… because you can absolutely build up a team of NPCs and go dungeoning with them. Granted they also added a system in Shadowbringers that allows you to do the same thing with the other members of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn. It seems like a really solid way to go back and farm older content, but also not just “un-sync” and steamroll everything.

Mostly I am happy to return and find out that the community is still pretty freaking awesome. Now I just need to get my confidence levels back and start tanking for strangers again.