How the FFXIV Community Grew in 2017

Last year on Tuesday, August 30, 2016, I wrote an article about Final Fantasy XIV and the toxic fanbase during that time. Today, I’m writing to you about how that has changed.

I want to formally retract from last years article as well as stand by it and explain what some transitions have occurred over the last year+ since I had played. Let it be known that I have been subscribed to FFXIV for 2 years+ and through all the time, I would definitely say the community has grown, and here’s why:

New Jobs:

This one may be obvious for some of you but Square Enix has been bringing new jobs to the game with every expansion. This seems to be the the drawing point of the series, and I speculate that SE will continue to add many more jobs as future expansions are released. This kept the crowd coming back from ARR, which was necessary.

Higher Level Cap:

Ding! Level 70! The raise in the level cap has made it so that casual or toxic players have a harder time reaching end game. Although MMO’s allow a player to “take control of how you level!” FFXIV has a butt load of story you need to go through in order to even access the DLC, not to mention the leveling required with it. Any respectable player should have no issues, however quite the opposite for a toxic player. Someone who does not do well in the community will begin to suffer repercussions as we are looking at a game with a predictably long shelf life (time VS integrity).

Social Media:

On the same note, it’s thanks to social media becoming even more popular that gaming and media are hand in hand. What this allows is for people to be heard, allowing more accessibility for change. This is just a small but generous perk that we can look forward to relying on if we do ever need some other players to play with.

Dungeon/iLvl Prerequisites:

No more scrubbing your way to high level except for you, jump potions! (more on that later.) I have found that because of the caps you need to overcome to run particular dungeons, you will notice that the most die-hard of fans are sticking around, which means *usually* nicer people! Access to end game areas and dungeons will require you to be showing your individual devotion to the game - again challenging toxic players to stick around.

Your Story:

Are you playing alone? Are you an elitist of well-to-do FC? Are you a leader of a small troupe? What is it exactly that each player is pursuing? The journey FFXIV has brought me on has showed me that you can take your path any which way you see fit, and that determines the way others see you. It’s easy to tell I work with a small group of people that are mainly my friends in reality. That’s okay, because that’s how I wanted my experience to be - friendly. If you are still looking for friends, or a server, Twitter alone has provided me with endless FFXIV encounters with other people, which to my amazement has been positive!

My main point is, that FFXIV sort of worked out it’s own issues I spoke of last year which you can read about here: http://shadowedxhunted.blogspot.com/2016/08/how-ffxiv-is-similar-to-society.html

The benefit factor here is time. In my opinion, since we are witnessing more expansive gameplay, we will hopefully continue to see a growing community.

In time I have seen for myself not only the changes that I wanted to cultivate into my FFXIV experience, but for those around me as well. Running dungeons have been more of a fun experience since we've reached the expansions and I found it to be a breath of fresh air. Not everything is flowers just yet but I think we are witnessing a change in the game I once had no hope for. Personally I have yet to come to a final conclusion of what to expect for the future with the experience in FFXIV, but I do know that whether it be rain or shine, I have been thoroughly interested in where my next journey will take me when I boot up my game. I hope the same can be said for other players too.

Thanks for reading, and safe travels in Eorzea my fellow comrades!

Signing Off ~ Tsumetai Lapis of Lamia