Hi everyone. I hope it's ok to post here I just don't know where I can put it. I’ll try to keep this as short as possible. For privacy reasons, I’ll keep my character name, the officers involved, and the FC name anonymous. This all happened almost 7 years ago.
I’m from Balmung. I have both a medium private house and an FC house for nearly 10 years now.
I started playing around Heavensward, after dropping WoW during BfA. I was very much a loner at first, but I spent entire days playing through every expansion and adored every moment of it. Eventually, I moved to Balmung hoping to find an FC and really take part in the RP community.
Over the course of a year, I had no luck. Most FCs I joined didn’t last more than a month, or the scene just… wasn’t for me. If you know Balmung, you know.
Eventually, someone from the last FC I had joined (another one that flopped) asked if I wanted to help them start a new FC as a senior officer. I said yes.
We worked together. We got a small FC house, upgraded it to a medium later, and slowly built a community of RPers who were invested in in-character lore that respected FFXIV’s world. We recruited officers and members, and for about a year or two, it was genuinely the best time I’ve had in this game. Everyone was active, and it felt like something special.
One day, the FC leader wanted to know more about my character’s backstory. They questioned a campaign I was working on for the FC, so I explained that my character originated from a comic project I had been developing for years, but that I was actively adapting them to fit into the FFXIV universe.
Their response was to shut the idea down entirely and push to “rework” my character to suit their preferences. At the time, I didn’t fully realize it, but looking back, it felt very manipulative. I said no.
They immediately left the call.
Long story short, right after my birthday, they deleted the FC Discord, blocked me, and sent me one final DM with screenshots of our deleted year-old Discord conversations. They pointed to an old “term agreement” where we casually mentioned wanting the FC to be “lore strict.” That Discord was originally just a test group, and I had no idea they were quietly collecting screenshots for leverage.
They also stole our submarines from the workshop and held our FC plot hostage for two weeks, threatening to demolish the house.
Those two weeks were some of the most stressful and genuinely traumatizing experiences I’ve had in a game. One officer, who I still call the “hero officer,” was the only person communicating with them, constantly trying to calm them down.
Eventually, after two weeks, the FC plot was handed over to that hero officer, and the former FC leader left the FC entirely.
For about a month afterward, the remaining officers and I tried to ask the hero officer what had been said during all of that. They never told us. To this day, it’s lost to history. Shortly after, they left the game entirely, burned out and hating FFXIV. Before leaving, they transferred FC leadership to me.
For the next six years, myself and a few officers kept the FC alive.
From the ground up, We had ups and downs, but some members stayed loyal for the content and small RP moments. Then Dawntrail came out, and the RP community started to fade. Members slowly left for other FCs or quit the game entirely.
Now, I’m exhausted.
I was never meant to be a leader. I tried my best, but I’m completely burned out from both the game and running an FC. I even took a year-long break after finishing our FC campaign, hoping time away would help.
It didn’t.
The only reason I’ve kept my subs active is the FC house. Even though it carries bitterness, even though I’m the only member left, it holds memories of everything we built and achieved together.
So I guess my question is this:
Should I finally let it go?
submitted by /u/Dry_Distribution_261
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Continue reading...
I’m from Balmung. I have both a medium private house and an FC house for nearly 10 years now.
I started playing around Heavensward, after dropping WoW during BfA. I was very much a loner at first, but I spent entire days playing through every expansion and adored every moment of it. Eventually, I moved to Balmung hoping to find an FC and really take part in the RP community.
Over the course of a year, I had no luck. Most FCs I joined didn’t last more than a month, or the scene just… wasn’t for me. If you know Balmung, you know.
Eventually, someone from the last FC I had joined (another one that flopped) asked if I wanted to help them start a new FC as a senior officer. I said yes.
We worked together. We got a small FC house, upgraded it to a medium later, and slowly built a community of RPers who were invested in in-character lore that respected FFXIV’s world. We recruited officers and members, and for about a year or two, it was genuinely the best time I’ve had in this game. Everyone was active, and it felt like something special.
One day, the FC leader wanted to know more about my character’s backstory. They questioned a campaign I was working on for the FC, so I explained that my character originated from a comic project I had been developing for years, but that I was actively adapting them to fit into the FFXIV universe.
Their response was to shut the idea down entirely and push to “rework” my character to suit their preferences. At the time, I didn’t fully realize it, but looking back, it felt very manipulative. I said no.
They immediately left the call.
Long story short, right after my birthday, they deleted the FC Discord, blocked me, and sent me one final DM with screenshots of our deleted year-old Discord conversations. They pointed to an old “term agreement” where we casually mentioned wanting the FC to be “lore strict.” That Discord was originally just a test group, and I had no idea they were quietly collecting screenshots for leverage.
They also stole our submarines from the workshop and held our FC plot hostage for two weeks, threatening to demolish the house.
Those two weeks were some of the most stressful and genuinely traumatizing experiences I’ve had in a game. One officer, who I still call the “hero officer,” was the only person communicating with them, constantly trying to calm them down.
Eventually, after two weeks, the FC plot was handed over to that hero officer, and the former FC leader left the FC entirely.
For about a month afterward, the remaining officers and I tried to ask the hero officer what had been said during all of that. They never told us. To this day, it’s lost to history. Shortly after, they left the game entirely, burned out and hating FFXIV. Before leaving, they transferred FC leadership to me.
For the next six years, myself and a few officers kept the FC alive.
From the ground up, We had ups and downs, but some members stayed loyal for the content and small RP moments. Then Dawntrail came out, and the RP community started to fade. Members slowly left for other FCs or quit the game entirely.
Now, I’m exhausted.
I was never meant to be a leader. I tried my best, but I’m completely burned out from both the game and running an FC. I even took a year-long break after finishing our FC campaign, hoping time away would help.
It didn’t.
The only reason I’ve kept my subs active is the FC house. Even though it carries bitterness, even though I’m the only member left, it holds memories of everything we built and achieved together.
So I guess my question is this:
Should I finally let it go?
submitted by /u/Dry_Distribution_261
[link] [comments]
Continue reading...