It all started...Twelve knows how long ago, but I remember it was about a month or so before Heavensward dropped. Me, my family, and my best friend have moved from our hometown in Indiana to what felt like half a world away, to a rental property in Florida.
While I love my best friend like a brother, even we can’t stand each other for overly long periods, and I still felt this overwhelming sense of loneliness and a gnawing depression from the move. Top it all off with a heaping dose of social anxiety and you had a young adult with nothing to do, no school to attend since I graduated, no other friends save for a few discord friends, and no job. I was...just stuck in a rut.
One day, though he swears he never said it, I remember my friend mentioning he’d like to try out Final Fantasy XIV. As he was the one to introduce me to Final Fantasy and JRPGs in general, I agreed with him and, with some spare capital from an old job, ended up buying the game for myself. My friend never did start playing, though.
So, I booted up the game on Steam on my old popoto of a laptop, listened to the iconic prelude on the title screen for far too long, and set about creating my character, the soon-to-be Calamatologist Sky Landrien. ...and soon after learning I had begun my journey, my discord friends convinced me to pony up the 15 bucks to transfer from Adamantoise to Gilgamesh to play with them. So, there I was, fresh faced Elezen Thaumaturge, sitting outside of the Ul’dahn Aetheryte, waiting for another friend, Ren, to finish making me some complementary welcome gear for my class.
To be honest, even with my laptop chugging, I was in awe of how beautiful the world was. I thought “I prolly won’t stay for the long haul, but at least it’ll look pretty for now.”
I. Was. Dead. Wrong.
After I joined my friends in their FC, I found myself always wanting to go back and talk to them. I wanted to go on more adventures. I even rant halfway across the realm at level 5 to the Cathedral to attend a wedding. I joined voice calls, learned my job class, learned about butt cleaves, learned it all.
I finished ARR shortly after the HW release, went on to have my mind blown at every turn. I became more social by chatting with my FC mates, FFXIV became one of the reasons I want to hold down a steady job. I was well and truly in love with the game, the story, the music, everything. And now, here I am, probably, what...6/7 years later? And I’m still enjoying everything.
So here’s to many more memories and many more years.
May you ever walk in the light of the Crystal, my friends.
submitted by /u/skyzerk
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While I love my best friend like a brother, even we can’t stand each other for overly long periods, and I still felt this overwhelming sense of loneliness and a gnawing depression from the move. Top it all off with a heaping dose of social anxiety and you had a young adult with nothing to do, no school to attend since I graduated, no other friends save for a few discord friends, and no job. I was...just stuck in a rut.
One day, though he swears he never said it, I remember my friend mentioning he’d like to try out Final Fantasy XIV. As he was the one to introduce me to Final Fantasy and JRPGs in general, I agreed with him and, with some spare capital from an old job, ended up buying the game for myself. My friend never did start playing, though.
So, I booted up the game on Steam on my old popoto of a laptop, listened to the iconic prelude on the title screen for far too long, and set about creating my character, the soon-to-be Calamatologist Sky Landrien. ...and soon after learning I had begun my journey, my discord friends convinced me to pony up the 15 bucks to transfer from Adamantoise to Gilgamesh to play with them. So, there I was, fresh faced Elezen Thaumaturge, sitting outside of the Ul’dahn Aetheryte, waiting for another friend, Ren, to finish making me some complementary welcome gear for my class.
To be honest, even with my laptop chugging, I was in awe of how beautiful the world was. I thought “I prolly won’t stay for the long haul, but at least it’ll look pretty for now.”
I. Was. Dead. Wrong.
After I joined my friends in their FC, I found myself always wanting to go back and talk to them. I wanted to go on more adventures. I even rant halfway across the realm at level 5 to the Cathedral to attend a wedding. I joined voice calls, learned my job class, learned about butt cleaves, learned it all.
I finished ARR shortly after the HW release, went on to have my mind blown at every turn. I became more social by chatting with my FC mates, FFXIV became one of the reasons I want to hold down a steady job. I was well and truly in love with the game, the story, the music, everything. And now, here I am, probably, what...6/7 years later? And I’m still enjoying everything.
So here’s to many more memories and many more years.
May you ever walk in the light of the Crystal, my friends.
submitted by /u/skyzerk
[link] [comments]
Continue reading...