Kotaku game diaryThe last thoughts of a Kotaku employee about a game we’re playing.The first thing I did when I set foot on the Foundation, the central world center for Final Fantasy XIVThe expansion to heaven, was to sign up for astrology and dark knight classes. This is extremely strange to me because I only play damage damage in MMOs, and Astrolgian and Dark Knight are classes of healers and tanks, respectively. But part of the beauty of Final Fantasy XIV is that you can play all classes on a single character – there is no need to make a new character and start the game over again as you would in other MMOs. I thought I would give it a chance to tank and heal and, if I didn’t like it, I could go back to any of my three damage classes. But now, I think I will remain an astrologer forever.
This happens frequently – the damage taker crosses over to see how other roles live and discovers a world full of wonder and enthusiasm. In that regard, my experience trying a healing class for the first time it’s not out of the ordinary. But what has been so interesting and Fun for me it’s like changing classes has become not only an enjoyable gaming experience, but also a narrative experience.
I play Final Fantasy XIV to enjoy your story. Although I am not on a server known as RPG, nor on a free RPG company, I like to act alone in my head. After the events in The Realm Reborn, my miqo’te is upset, depressed and alone. (Yes, Tataru and Alphinaud are there with her, but one she hates and the other has never been more than the adorable administrative assistant who works in a completely different department, so they are only moderate acquaintances, at best.) answers, trying to see some meaning in all the shit she had to go through. His black wizard mentor offered no advice. All his bard teachers did was fight while secretly kissing behind the chocobo’s stables. And his sensei samurai seemed interested only in correcting the mistakes of the past with his best impression of Robin Hood. In each turn, my character was offered no consolation until she stumbled upon Athenaerium Astrologicum.
After a series of missions, my character was on her way to becoming a powerful astrologer, and at each step, her teachers taught her to look to the stars for guidance when things were not clear or difficult. For such a wounded character, becoming an astrologer and being able to find the answers she needed in the stars was personally gratifying. I am not one of those types of astrology in real life. I don’t know my birth charts and I have no idea what my rising sign is – I’m a Lion, that’s all I care about. But, since I was a child, I am totally fascinated by the stars. Most of my tattoo ideas are from stars. I hunt Etsy in search of thematic art of stars, even my name on Twitter “adashtra” is a mixture of my name and the Latin “per aspera, ad astra” or “through difficulties, even the stars” Stars are kind of my beach, so I was happy to see something that I like in real life to give comfort to my character.
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From a game point of view, astrologers are really cool. They struggle with ornate-looking devices called star globes that float in their hands as a deck of tarot cards magically orbits them. It is so creative and unexpected and I love it. None of that tired Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings bullshit, fighting with wands and staff, we are doing the shit of extreme fantasy, fighting with the power of the Tarot. I mean, look at me, that doesn’t look absolutely horrible!
The prospect of a cure was and still is worrying. My DPS-connected brain is having a hard time adjusting to a healer’s mindset. Before, I hardly had to know a boss’s strategies – just don’t stay on the “X” where “X” is any area damage spell that a boss will generate on the ground. Now, from the lowest level dungeons to the highest attacks, I need to know everything or people will die. I ran through the Stone Watch dungeon as a damage taker, perhaps a dozen times, knowing nothing more than “don’t stay on the ice.” It was only as a healer that I learned that you had to use cannons to kill the dragon adds during the second boss. Switching from damage to healer was like asking me to learn level star Carl Saganas a teenager just out of Algebra I.
The stress of being responsible for a successful dungeon race was killer. And with me, people died a lot. Even though I am a healer, I am still expected to grant some of my damage to help kill the mobs. But sometimes, while I’m damaging, I notice the health of the tank decreasing. I’m going to cast a healing spell and keep casting healing spells wondering why they aren’t improving until I finally notice that I haven’t changed targets – I was casting those healing spells on the crowds. I will change targets quickly, but it is too late – the tank is dead. This happened at Haukke Mansion once and I was so embarrassed that I feigned a disconnect and immediately disconnected.
I got a lot better. Being a healer is great if you want to develop your leadership skills. I have progressed to the point where I am the one to lead new players through the lower dungeons, instructing people not to attack the explosions in the Copperbell mines and to jump at the right time to fight the Titan. It is as if the stars, in their omniscient cosmic power, have invested in my character the knowledge and confidence that she needs to guide others.
The truth is, I’ve never been more involved in Final Fantasy XIV as I have done a healer. I was on autopilot for 50 levels and now that I have to use my brain, I don’t want to go back. I understand that my damage classes become more complex the higher my level, and I am looking forward to any challenges they offer, but I am thinking of making my astrologer my main class. It fits my character’s story, it’s fun to play and I never have to wait more than two seconds in a dungeon line. Oh yes, I will never give up on that.