Kotaku game diaryThe last thoughts of a Kotaku employee about a game we’re playing.Talking to people online can cause communication problems, but recent interaction in Final Fantasy XIV made my week. A much more experienced player, out of nowhere, put a few thousand gil in my pockets to update my wardrobe.
I started playing Final Fantasy XIV on the last day of my holiday, after some friends mentioned that they were messing with it. Picking up a massive multiplayer RPG the night before you get back to work is probably one of the worst ideas, but I am nothing if I am not consistent in my poor decision making. Soon, I had wrapped an Au Ra magician (read: horned dragon person), hoping to eventually become a white magician.
Final Fantasy XIV it’s cool, but i would be lying if i said i treated it as more than just a way to waste some time while my anxiety keeps me glued to social media. My friends and I worked very different hours, so I spent the last week or so fumbling on the first missions of the game on my own. Although the various cities are full of other players, and I have reached the point where I am combining with other dungeon adventurers, it still feels like a very personal and isolated experience.
That’s why, when a top-level player tried to get my attention in the Black Forest region of the Shroud, I was completely oblivious. It wasn’t until I absently looked at my chat log that I realized someone was talking to me.
At first, the simple message asking if I was new made me frown. My social anxiety, unfortunately, extends to online interactions, and I toyed with the idea of closing Final Fantasy XIV totally down instead of responding. But after struggling a bit with the chat window, I told them that, yes, I was a new player. What follows is my best memory of how the conversation went.
Player: “I noticed that your equipment is slightly below the level you are at, so I wanted to give you some money to buy things from the seller.”
I: “Oh ok!”
Player, trading me 25,000 gil: “Someone helped me when I was starting, so I wanted to pay it forward.”
I: “Thank you so much! This is so good!”
Player: “Don’t worry. Can I help you with anything else?”
I: “No, I don’t think so!”
Player: “Alright, have fun.”
I: “You too!”
And then the mysterious stranger flew on his winged mount, never to be seen again. I’m still blaming myself for not writing down their names, because this was one of the most beautiful interactions I’ve had with anyone in my entire life.
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After finishing my missions in the area, I returned to the city-state of Gridania to examine the market, eventually deciding on a variety of new items that have served me well so far. Obviously, I had to go through the job of learning how to dye clothes to change the sickly color from the equipment’s yellow to a beautiful dark purple – which involved fleeing to a completely different part of the world and fetching orange juice for a navigating NPC – but that’s life.
Final Fantasy XIV and other online games can be scary at first, especially for someone like me, with very little experience with MMORPGs other than simple things like Maple Story and Runescape. It’s people like the player who helped me who really realized the potential of the genre, and I’m happy to know that this type of experience is not uncommon in Final Fantasy XIV community.
Wherever you are, mysterious adventurer: thank you. I will do the same for someone else if I stay in the game long enough.