Character

So, I got bored and decided to make an Alt character. I was going to use a story skip potion, but I decided I wanted to see the Limsa Lominsa story and took my character through it. It was interesting reseeing the beginning after going through all the later craziness, and you know what? It is a damn shame so much of the early stuff is unused.

Going through it all as a beginner, you get to ACTUALLY see the lands, see all the effort put into the surrounding countrysides landmarks, villages, farms, outposts, and out of the way nooks. You get to meet the little people, the workers, farmers, guards, and others. You get to see the stories of beginner adventurers like yourself and their efforts at trying to become famous.

If you actually stop and smell the roses and NOT try and speed through it all, there is actually a lot there and it is such a shame it is SO wasted in favor of the main save the world plot as soon as you leave the area to go to Minfilia and her primal quests.

One of the sad things is that the game really never resolves the plot with the Serpent Reavers. Their plan is stopped, but they are not. The idea of them is great, kind of a corrupted humans serving the Deep Ones kind of thing, lurking in the shadows, kidnapping people, and doing the Sahagin's bidding. It's so much cooler than the silly elemental nature stuff of Gridania. But, as far as I know, the game does NOTHING else with it once you become the Limsa envoy and leave the city.

Yes, I KNOW people want to level as fast as possible, but why? Why is having lots of buttons and powers so great? Why is power creep so much better than having slower level progression, slowly going though the world, having adventures and learning about it?

I remember when I first played WOW. Those early levels in the human forest were WONDERFUL. The place was so beautiful and vibrant, slowly discovering it piece by piece. The town, the bandits, the mine, the farms, dealing with Hogger, and everything else there. It was just so....magical and relaxing.

It's funny, I kind of felt a little of that too with FF14, taking a newbie character through the early quests, actually doing the side stuff with their little stories. Walking through the lands, I actually saw stuff I had never seen before, visited places I did not know that were there. I was kind of sad that my levels went up so fast and that the game just sped you through that low stuff. I bet it was different back then and you spent more time there.

It is also sad that they did not do more with the aspect of fellow adventurers. Their stories were interesting as well as hearing about their failures. It kind of felt like one of those Anime's like Goblin slayer and the various levels of adventurers going out on quests. But sadly, all that dries up after the Envoy stuff, and you become too important to hang out with the little guys as you go on to world saving stuff.

Of course, I know most people don't want the little stuff. They don't want to see 'slice of life' stories, go on little quests for common folk. They want grand adventures with grand fights, and be super powerful.

But sometimes, just sometimes, I wish they made it worth your while to just take your time and walk through the world, finding interesting things to see and do, and to actually experience the world of Eorzea instead of treating it like a speed bump on your way to the next new and cool thing.