How FFXIV Is Similar To Society

In most cases online, people smirk about the redundancy of trolls running amok in the online world, as we half heartedly take our actions worth any grain of who we are in real life. However, as this sentence may make you laugh, I insist on stating that FFXIV is a very close reality simulator to societal hierarchy, interactions, and grievances goes.

“How is that possible?” you may already be dismissing the entire article but do not fret! I have experience and that alone, so I ask you take my word in my findings. What I find most interesting about FFXIV (in my case) is the lack of social interaction across my server. I hear it already “Well your server sucks, mine is full of nice people!” Okay, I get it - but that is besides the point. That’s like saying NC is nicer than NY which many would agree on but that is an opinion. The fact is, I tried many times creating social situations, /telling random people for conversations, helping others whom may die, and all for naught! I don’t hear anything back except the echos of my keys clanking, as I trudge onward in my lonely journey whom I’m assisted with by my girlfriend, as we play together. We talk about it many times “This isn’t really a social game. Nobody talks.” I blame the schematic of the way the game is laid out since you enter Dungeons with a team of 4 but none of them are usually from your server, so the bond (or grudge) you form in the instance will be dissipated in the 40 minutes you leave.

Speaking of Dungeons, this is the real meat and bones of the matter here. I come to accept that FFXIV isn’t a sociable game, as we continue in our quest and suddenly it appears, it happens, the gut sinking feeling “4 man dungeon required to progress” OH MOAN. THE MUTINY, SWEET GODS, FORSAKEN BY MY OWN PROTECTOR, DO WE HAVE TO!?!?? The thoughts continually race through my head as I jolt around my quests hoping by some miracle it is optional, but thus it was not. Right away, my girlfriend and I would turn and look at eachother “Fuck.” almost simultaneously the words spilled out.

“But why?! Aren’t dungeons the best part of the game?” Some of you exclaim in disagreeance, “You get to socialize in the dungeons!” some more of you in the crowd urge on. Yes, while this is true - you are not realizing how painful this is for introverts. Usually most cases I find myself escaping to the online world for moments of brevity, to get away from what cold reality awaits me outside the interwebs, however this my friends, is not the case. The sinking gut feeling when I enter a dungeon cannot be contained in a mere few words, and I’m not even the tank. Let’s get into the specifics here.

A dungeon mostly pretains to a team of 4. 2 DPS, 1 Healer, 1 Tank. The 2DPS most of the time have it lucky UNLESS you have a DPS check which emphasises on your DPS to do the best the they can to keep the team alive. It’s when eyes are on you, and the pressure mounts up. That’s hardly the problem though, the problem mostly lies in the social anxieties of mixing with 3 random strangers (usually my gf runs with me so we balance number the stranger factor) as we enter and prepare for the long 40 minutes ahead. “Yo!” I usually proclaim as I am greeted back once again by the silence of the dungeons air. Onward we go, dashing like fucking reindeer from santa’s sleigh, following ferociously behind the tank who does not utter a single word of companionship, attacking mobs of poor enemies ahead. So impressed with himself, he neglects the team and ignores statuses, bam, suddenly he is dead because the healer is keeping the others alive as well. “What the fuck!” The tank exclaims as the team stares in silence. I feel it already, the battle of the beasts coming on as if someone just rear ended a car in front of them. “Well you know you could slow down a little.” One of us would butt in before the white mage even has a chance. “Or you could do your job.” the tank says in rebuttal. Immediately I feel my aggression getting the best of me, wanting to curse this stranger out but knowing it won’t get us anyway. My girlfriend in the room with me begins to talk with me “This guy is an asshole.” I agree immediately, “Should we kick him?” I usually go. “No let’s wait it out.” she would insist as we revive the tank and try again. BAM, OFF TO THE RACES THE TANK FLIES AHEAD, speeding like a demon trying to escape heaven, he enters the fray with no communication. Most of the time this happens, I come to accept it, but in most cases it results like the scenario above.

Other scenarios usually feature are for instance a healer let my girlfriend die after a certain point because we would lag and bombs killed her. “Learn to do your job.” the healer insist. “I can’t help it, I lag sometimes.” my gf would explain. “Revive her.” I would say as a minute of silence went by. “I don’t see a reason to.” the healer said, as we suddenly felt our blood curdle and the pounding of the keyboards commenced “You fucking asshole, you won’t revive her because of a little lag?” as my dead gf’s body would magically be talking “I told you I tried to avoid them.” with a justifiable alibi. The white mage halts as suddenly a “Vote To Kick” screen appears. The roulette is rough here as usually the tank will be the ultimate decision maker as my girlfriend and i made up our minds. Sometimes this can result in a draw because my gf and I usually decide on the same person while the healer and tank could decide on another, ultimately leaving the silence of awkwardness behind as we all stare at eachother.

Do you see the pattern here? FFXIV puts such a high anxiety situation on four players whom admittingly are strangers and forced to work together. The true nature of mankind rises much quicker online in my opinion, and this game portrays the harshest of instances. Not every scenario is like this of course, but you really do experience some unique times. We had a healer who was going to quit on us because the 4 of us tried to beat the same boss for a hour, while we had a few minutes left I said “We got this far, if you want to leave us, that’s fine but it’s on you.” and surprisingly the healer stayed. We didn’t win. But besides the point, you can really experience some powerful moments in this game that really do rattle to the outside world. I suggest that FFXIV is as close to a social experiment that we will see for gaming because of the high stakes environment it pushes everyone into. The savage dogs in us often come unleashed and ready to tear at one another instead of slowing down and seeing what the problem is. We ignore eachother, push forward, or punish one another of innocent mistakes that could be corrected with a little diplomacy.

Similar to the world around us, I see it often. Cursing, honking, tailgating, pulling in front of, most of this refers to driving because of the “anonymity” the driver has (oh yeah, nice tinted windows, bitch!) allowing a lot of quick stings to be done and not many repercussions to be paid off for. Humans are often now a days lost in a track of their own story that they so much forget as to take a look at someone else's. So entitled are we to speed around someone or weave through traffic that we don’t see the damage we are doing to ourselves. This echos back to FFXIV because people cannot take a second to acknowledge themselves before attempting to say something hurtful, usually in the case that they are just short tempered and frustrated within themselves, unable to speak kindness.

So remember this, when you look for help in FFXIV, or in real life, you will find some kind people like we have but nowadays there is one good apple among the sour bunch.