Remember a few weeks ago when I was all excited about my first foray into Final Fantasy XIV (and MMOs in general)?
I had chosen to use a trial version of the game for a couple of reasons; I wanted to make sure I was going to like it, and the game lets newbs progress pretty far without paying.
At least, at first glance it does.
See, the trouble is that as you start to progress with all your new excitement, you realize what a lonely little island you are on the trial version.
Sure, you can level up, get your class specialization, and even get yourself your very own chocobo, but there’s a lot you can’t do—and most of it is related to the MMO part of the game.
All by myself
On maybe our second or third day running around New Gridania, Shane and I had happened across the leader of one of Famfrit’s free companies, the Bork Pack. She was on a recruiting run, and I couldn’t help but love the name of the group because it was named after a meme.
She invited us to join, but because I was on a trial, I would have to wait until I managed to get the game. That was fine, though, because I had promised myself that if I liked it, I’d get it for myself in the new year; now I just had something to look forward to!
As I ran around with my FC-less name label, it wasn’t uncommon for recruiters to ask me if I wanted to join theirs. I was waiting to join Bork, but I thought it’d be nice of me to at least tell them I was good—which led to the next limitation discovery.
You can’t actually talk to people unless they’re in your party.
And you can’t create or invite people to parties.
So if you’re reading this, and you’re one of the recruiters that some Miqo’te called Diana rudely breezed past and ignored, please know it wasn’t just me being terrible!
A fantastic surprise
By last Thursday, I was reaching the end of what I could do on the trial. I had reached level cap, I had turned my archer into a bard (and my conjurer into a white mage), I was running out of inventory room because you can’t hire retainers on the trial.
I had even gotten my chocobo and the berries to dye my little Kirby bright pink (although Shane had to hold onto them for me, because I also couldn’t talk to the adorable mail moogles). I was just switching between classes, leveling them up to avoid losing experience on my main classes.
Imagine my surprise when I woke up on Friday and found out that Shane had decided to get me the full game for my birthday, much earlier than I had hoped!
Free at last!
The first thing I did was join that free company I’d been waiting for.
The second thing I did?
I stabled my chocobo Kirby at the company’s house and fed him the right food to turn him pink.
It took six hours for him to grow his new feathers, so by the time we got home from my parents’ house, he was ready—and I very happily spent the rest of the night progressing through the story and learning how to do all of the things I hadn’t been able to do previously.
The next mission?
Finding a good set of armour for my bard. Challenge accepted.
One thought on “Final Fantasy: Discovering the social side of MMOs”
Welcome to the world of Hydaelyn 🙂 It’s always fascinating to read/hear about people’s first experiences in FFXIV. Hope you enjoy the wonderful experience that lies ahead of you!