[FFXIV JOURNAL] And So It Begins...

 Since I'm not currently able to make videos due to computer problems, this is how I'll be documenting my adventures in Final Fantasy XIV. And old-fashioned game journal. Because I'm Internet-old, and this is how I do.

This is my first time playing FFXIV, so I am a complete newbie at all of this. But I have to tell you, nothing makes me feel more ready for an adventure than hearing the Crystal Theme start playing as I gaze upon a huge city, knowing it contains so much possibility. Let's do this thing.

So I set about making my character, agonizing over every little thing because let's face it, that's just how you make a character. You spend an hour going, "Hmm, is this right? Maybe this would be better. Oh, but I like the look of that instead..." It makes no damn difference what colour my eyes are, self, so just get to the game already!

In the end, I made myself a cute little Au Ra lady, who's the same height as me, but far more pretty and adorable. She has pale freckles. She has pale freckles!

She is Razreesh dol'Zima, she's a Gladiator, and she's ready for an adventure. So if you see me around, feel free to say hi. But keep in mind that I'm playing on console, and typing a reply with a controller is a pain in the ass, so I may just reply by emotes.

So I start off by waking up in some merchant's wagon, and I'm just thankful that this isn't Skyrim so I'm probably not about to get executed. The merchant seems like a nice guy, and before he leaves me at the gates of Ul'dah, he tells me this:

So no pressure or anything.

Anyway, I make me way into Ul'dah, get directed to the Adventurer's Guild, which honestly just seems like the Fetch Quest Guild, but I guess someone has to do it. Momodi, the most adorable Lalafell, sends me off on a few quests to help me get my bearings. I then proceeded to get lost for over an hour, because Ul'dah is freaking big, and there are lots of little side streets and multiple levels and holy hell was I ever glad to activate a bunch of the little aetheryte crystals, because that allowed me to just teleport around instead of wasting time walking and getting lost again.

Which I did anyway. Because not everything is near one of those crystals. Took me a while to really figure the place out, but I already know I'm directionless, so that wasn't exactly a surprise.

And it was nice to get some easy experience to level up my character. 

She also dropped some really interesting lore about a moon opening up and unleashing hell upon the world, and excuse me, what? Your moons can do that? Can I opt out of the hell-moon feature, please?

And then you all forgot things about it?!

Yeah, this is normal...
 

...Did she just ask for stories of me getting laid?!

Anyway, a chunk of the early game is, understandably, just spent getting used to controls, running some fetch quests, gaining a few levels, the usual stuff. Nothing too spectacular. I run around and explore a bunch before continuing with the main questline, which I was happy to see getting told in actual cutscenes and not just walls of text. So many MMOs have their main questlines just be delivered to players in text chunks, and sure, it works, but it's nice to see such polish in a game.

It's not surprising. This is a well-funded Final Fantasy game, after all. But I was still happy to see it.

 
So I'm sent to find this Lalafell named Lilira, and it's at this point that I realise I have no idea how to tell Lalafell ages. Is Lilira a teenager? 40 years old? 10? I have no damn clue. Anyroad, she gets attacked by this emaciated wyvern thing, and I lay the smack down with the help of a handsome white-haired stranger who I definitely don't develop an instant crush on or anything. And then...

And then I black out and start dreaming that a giant talking rock is telling me that I need to bring light back to this realm via smaller probably-not-talking rocks.

Cool story, bro.

At that point I decided I needed a break from destiny and went around exploring guilds. And I found a Weaver's Guild! Yes! Yes, I will be a Weaver! My fibre artist heart is happy!

But I'm not allowed to join other guilds until I reach level 10 in my current job. Let me rephrase that. I'm not allowed near a loom until I've gotten better at killing things.

Looms is dangerous beasts...

So okay, I go kill more things, finish the level 10 Gladiator quest, and am allowed to switch jobs if I want to, including switching to non-combat jobs. I can finally become a Weaver, yes!

How does one prove themselves worthy of being a Weaver, you ask? By making yarn. Using grass and a sewing needle.

Tell me you have no idea how weaving works without telling me you have no idea how weaving works.

Literally, I start off by using grass and a sewing needle to make yarn, which I then turn into cloth using the same sewing needle, and then turn that cloth into pants, and only then am I given a godsdamned spinning wheel! I'm sorry, but what I actually just did there was naalbinding. Not weaving. Not spinning. I used a single needle to turn grass into pants. Come on, game. Get it right.

So you know what? I think I'll leave "weaving" aside for now, and just focus on being a better Gladiator. At least then I don't have to cringe every time someone gets their textiles wrong.

So, Razreesh's adventures in Eorzea have begun. I'm enjoying myself thus far, and will happily keep playing for as long as I can, because I enjoy MMOs and I'm a level-grinding nerd who will cheerfully master all the jobs given enough time. I have the feeling that this is the start of something fantastic, and I can't wait to see what happens next.