I Have Begun Playing Final Fantasy XIV!

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Those of you who read my last blog entry know that I've been obsessed with Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call for the 3DS lately. What some of you may not know is that I'm a very musically-inclined person, and great music can really influence me and get me in the mood for something. Case in point: I fell in love with Final Fantasy XII's music so much from playing Theatrhythm that I started FFXII up again a few weeks ago. Now, I'm 120 hours into it and still having a blast doing side content. Xenogears' "Soaring" song in Theatrhythm also influenced me to finally purchase Xenogears on PSN to play for the first time.

Now, you may be wondering what all this has to do with the blog title. Well, it turns out, I also fell in love with the FFXIV Theatrhythm songs, so I asked a friend who shares very similar interests in games who has played FFXIV (both the original and A Realm Reborn). Upon his recommendation, I caved an did something I've avoided doing for a decade now: purchased and began playing a subscription-based MMO. And really, I must say, I am god damned loving it! Maybe it's my dear love for Xenoblade, which is a single-player RPG whose battle system resembles most MMO's, but I took to the combat instantly. I was naturally overjoyed when I heard the songs I've grown to love from Theatrhythm in their natural environment, and being a long-time Final Fantasy fan, I quickly found myself loving the hell out of all the references to all the various Final Fantasies made throughout the years. Things like Magitek Armor, Fat Chocobo, Ahriman, and Coeurl as mounts; materia slots in armor; job names; and more! I instantly felt at home.

Now let me just say, it's unusual for me to consider an MMO because it's by its very nature a social game. To my delight, though, I found that worrying about parties and how you fit into them is really more for instanced events, like duties, raids, or dungeons. A large bulk of the adventuring so far has been solo, which suits me well enough. I'd feel awkward asking people I don't know to just kinda...follow me around while I do stuff. No one wants to do that because it'd be boring. :derpe: I was worried about making friends, though. However, it turns out I needn't have worried at all! Within 3 hours of starting the game, someone came up to me at the warp crystal and invited me to their Free Company (kind of like a guild). Since there's no obligation or anything, I figured I might as well. Gives me some people to talk to who may be more willing to lend a hand or give advice to a newbie.

It gets better, though. Today, my third day of playing, I died and revived at the warp crystal I'd set as home, and before I could move on, a Lv18 someone who I noticed a little later belonged to my Free Company, walked up to me and waved. This began a pow-wow where we just sat and talked to each other over the chat. I was surprised at how endearing just sitting and tlaking to another player could be. It may have helped that I was visualizing our two characters conversing in my mind and it looked cute on-screen (well, everything my character does is cute, but more on that in a second). While we were talking, a Lv50 person walked up to us. Not part of our FC or anything, just a random person. She waved to us and we waved back. She asked if we were new players. My compatriot wasn't, but I am, and said so. She sat down with us and joined our conversation. During the course of the conversation, the Lv50 sent me a friend request.

This brought to mind that I hadn't exchanged this with the first person, and I did so. Then the Lv18 player logged out and logged back in with her Lv50 character, and we exchanged friend requests again. Near the end of the conversation, the first Lv50 person gifted me a Lapis Lazuli, which I found out, after a bit of research, can be used in the crafting of some very good magic armor (I'm a Thaumaturge, A.K.A. baby's first Black Mage). I asked if they wanted anything in return, and they declined. It was funny how such a little gesture could feel so nice. They also said they'd help me if I ever needed it. After the conversation wound down, I thanked them again and bade farewell because I was itching to get back to adventuring. So in the span of 10 minutes, I made friends with 3 characters, two of which are max level, and received a very nice gift for my class. It's good to see nice people, and I'll see if I can't be as helpful when I get where they are now.

Alright, so. Remember when I said that I'd get to the cuteness of my character later? Well, now is that time. My character is named Liliana Blumenthal, a lilac-haired, magenta-eyed, tiny little Lalafell girl with big dreams of making things explode. :derpe: I'm being facetious, but I do find something really adorable about cute little things trying to me megalomaniacs, like when Yzma turns into a kitten at the end of Emperor's New Groove.

[video=youtube;qfcEHOrhJmQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfcEHOrhJmQ[/video]
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Nah, but seriously, Liliana is just a little thing trying to make her way like everyone else. Not much else I can say to do her cuteness justice, so I'll just post these!

Spoiler: LOOT AT HER! DO IT. DIABEETUS

SO.

If anyone else plays Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, I invite you to get in touch with me in-game. The character is Liliana Blumenthal on the Aether data center in the Gilgamesh world!