More than just a game: Final Fantasy 14 during the pandemic

March 5, 2021

As time is marching towards the one year anniversary of lockdown, I have been reflecting on the things I did. I definitely have played a lot of Final Fantasy 14.

It is sometimes the opposite of an anti-social activity, and is getting more and more social for me lately. Its a massive multiplayer online universe, one that constantly has me interacting with real life people in a constructed world.

At first, I only associated with people I already knew from real life, my old high school friends Elise and Vin, and my husband, Ryan. Already, it made a big impact on us. We all used to live in the same town as teenagers but went our separate ways in adulthood. Final Fantasy 14 is a world we can still meet-up and with each other interact in.

I later made my first online-only friend through Elise, Megan. Never seen her in real life, but I know her voice.

The world is a great comfort, even before pandemic times. We all bought and decorated our in-games homes in the same neighborhood, so even when my friends aren't online, they always feel close-by. We could treasure hunt together, people-watch in the cities, and all die in a dungeon while screaming.

In fact, I felt it was magical enough that I commissioned expensive fan art of all of us as me and Ryan's first wedding anniversary present. It was all of our characters together with me and Ryan's in-game characters at their in-game wedding. I added quotes from Ryan's real life vows below it: "I promise to be a shoulder to cry on, a friend to laugh with, and in this game of life to always be your player two."

But I titled this "Final Fantasy 14 during the pandemic," so I really should get to the pandemic part already. My appreciation for the social aspects of the game skyrocketed. Playing on my PS4, I decided to finally buy a keyboard so it would be easier to chat with other players.

The best thing that has happened though is my friends and I founded our own Free Company (its like a guild basically). Now I have a lot of online-only friends as far as Australia. I have avoided getting on voice chat with strangers for a while, but realized there was nothing really to be afraid of once I actually did it. They are not so different from me. In fact, they make me laugh a lot. They are good folks and we share a lot of the same interests and humor. So strangely, I've made more friends in the pandemic than I typically do in pre-pandemic life.

The Free Company is super young so far, but I love it. We have a tiny house by and are saving up for a mansion. We do big group treasure hunts to raise money towards that goal. I even have a role of creating events. I had a Valentine's Trivia activity that was a ton of fun. I even bought and decorated an event room in-game for special occasions. I have a little place I store items for event prizes for the other players too.

While the streets of my home town are empty, I can always go to Final Fantasy 14 for a busy room. I may not know the players in real-life, but that is part of the fun too. I don't see their age, gender, or real life body. I just know and appreciate their personalities. Sometimes I wish real life would take a hint.

Anyways, thank you Final Fantasy 14. You've made the pandemic much easier for me and so many others.