How has your overall experience been teaching FF XIV?
It’s been an absolute blast! I really enjoy playing FFXIV again, I feel I am so happy to be playing everyday, to be playing with so many friends, making so many new friends, helping people get clears in raids they have been working on, or just assisting in page runs that someone might need for the week. Helping people get their first clears is such a great feeling because clearing savage fights isn’t easy, and you know everyone worked so hard in preparing or practicing to accomplish these goals. It’s such a great feeling to be there for it, and I’ve realized I will probably main FFXIV as a broadcaster on Twitch for the rest of the time I stream with the occasional variety games here and here. I didn’t realize I had missed raiding so much, and the camaraderie that comes with the bonds you create with your raid buddies.
So this might sound silly, but I honestly don’t think I qualify as a teacher for FFXIV, as I am just getting back into the game myself! I’ve only been at it for about four months now, and there is just so much information to take in, it can be extremely overwhelming. I feel I learn something new every time I play. I feel I’m less qualified to answer specific questions about jobs that I don’t main – such as dps rotations or optimizations. But I have some wonderful community members who are always in chat willing to answer questions I may not know the answers to.
I feel I’ve really found my passion for raiding again and it’s hard to express how elated I am. I have some big things planned for the next few months. I’ve cleared the current savage tier and I am starting on my first ultimate raids this month! (Ultimate’s are considered the hardest raids in the game and can take months to clear, even with strict schedules). I am very excited to announce I have been progging UwU for the last two weeks and I am about to start TEA prog this week! (Progging is progressing in a raid, and UwU and TEA are two ultimate of the raids abbreviated terms).
There is also a lot of lingo that comes with MMOs, and I am sorry if any of the above is confusing – I am always happy to clarify if need be!
Have any new players surprised you with their skill?
Absolutely! In terms of raiding, everyone starts at a different skill level because some players have played MMOs before, which gives them a HUGE advantage over someone who has only played lets say, FPS games. So not only would a new MMO player need to get oriented with the very distinct and different play style of an MMO compared to an FPS game, but they would also have to learn their characters abilities and how to optimize them and having so many abilities at your disposal can be very overwhelming for new players. This isn’t even touching on the raiding aspect of the game, which requires an intense amount of focus, mechanical skills, experience, and the necessity to adapt on the fly if something goes wrong.
However, there is a lot of end game content, and raiding is not everyone’s cup of tea. The great news is, if you aren’t a huge fan of raiding, there is still so much content do to. For example, I know people who get paid to do interior design for the houses in the game. So skill in this game is completely relative, as I view those players as also very skilled as I cannot do interior decorating for the life of me. I think there is a niche for every type of player, but the hard part can sometimes be finding that niche.
Seems like your FF14 streams have been longer than your normal streams, do you find that this affects you in any way?
Yes and no! For some reason, when I play FFXIV it feels like time flies by. I just enjoy the game so much that I end up going over my intended stream end time more often than not. I’ve noticed my energy levels outside of stream have dropped, so to avoid burnout I have been making sure to take break days if I need. I have been wanting to up my hours to the hours I’ve been streaming recently for awhile now, so I am just trying to take it one day at a time, and I am closely monitoring how I’m feeling. I won’t lie, there have been some days where I accidentally overdid it (like doing the 10-12 hour streams) but I made sure to take adequate rest time afterwards. I guess I’m just nervous to lose the momentum I feel I’ve worked so hard for these past few years and I don’t want to lose it, so I guess the grind can be real sometimes.
How does it feel to be homeless in FF XIV?
It’s cold. It’s dark. It’s lonely. I sleep outside under a tree. I’ve spent over 30 hours trying to get a small house. Send help.
Any other insights you wanted to add?
Right now, there is a complete lack of game content in general. This is probably the best time to trial an MMO if you have ever been interested. FFXIV is definitely not for everyone, but I honestly think since the free trial is so generous it’s worth giving it a try. Not only that, but I believe there is a sale for the entire game right now at a STEAL of a price (about $25 dollars for all expansions I believe). The next expansion isn’t coming out until the end of the year, so there is plenty of time to level a character, get through the MSQ, and to learn the game before the new expansion drops. It is a monthly subscription game, but I honestly think there’s a chance you might fall in love with the game as much as I have, and will find the subscription worth it.
The community is so incredibly nice, I have had far more positive experiences and interactions than negative, and I used to/still kinda am a variety streamer meaning I have encountered many many different communities on Twitch and I think that FFXIV is a standout in content, community, and overall versatility in terms of how you can ejoy and play the game. If anyone ever wants to start playing and has questions, please feel free to reach out to me, or if you want to raid with me, create a character on the Data Center Primal and find me on the Exodus Server! 😀
Enchanted Expression 