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Final Fantasy XIV. I just could not get into it initially.
It sucked too becuase all my friends were raving about this MMO, excitedly talking about how it was changing MMORPG storytelling as much more, yet I felt like I was banging my head against a wall trying to force myself to get into the the Japanese MMO.
When Shadowbringers launched a few years back, I tried again, this time with friends. I (and a friend who really wanted me to play) spent money and boosted a character only for me to fall off rather quickly.
However, fast forward two years later and it’s the only MMORPG I want to play right now.
I’m not sure anything really has changed for me, either. The MMO is still, by and large, the same as it was before, with obvious content additions and some quality of life changes as well, sure. But a major change to how I played when Endwalker released late last year, as well as a renewed desire that I should at least have a working knowledge of a major MMO we cover spurred me onwards.
Part of the issue before, which I wrote about a little over a year ago now, was that I wasn’t sure I was really enjoying my time when I did play. Part of this was, I think in large part, to my environment. I would oftentimes stop working and transition to playing FFXIV at the same desk I’ve been sitting/standing at all day. This took a mental toll as there was no real separattion between work and play.
And while covering and playing MMOs is part of my job, it shouldn’t invade every time I hop into a game we cover.
Getting Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker on PlayStation 5 when it launched I feel changed a lot of this for me. While I’m still obivously trying to glean some editorial inspiration when I play, it’s no longer at the forefront of my mind. I can sit downstairs, boot up the PS5 and just explore. Learning the controller was a bit of a workout mentally (and for my fingers) but as I’ve played more and more it’s becoming the only way I want to play.
I probably still won’t want to sign up as a healer in the duty finder, but it gets the job done.
It got me thinking, though. How many other MMOs have I returned to after months or years of not really clicking? Oftentimes I know right away if I’m going to drop off an MMORPG for one reason or another. For Rift it was mainly because I was just more interested in The Elder Scrolls Online at the time I started playing with a few friends. Age of Conan saw all my real life friends return to World of Warcraft and I dropped off when I didn’t enjoy soloing (plus The Lord of the Rings Online was still dominating my life). I’ve revisted some of the games I’ve dropped off from (I’m revisiting Guild Wars 2 this weekend, in fact). But Final Fantays XIV has been the first one I’ve really gotten excited about the second or third time trying.
So what about you? Do you even try to revisit MMOs that just did not click with you initially, and what prompts you to do so? Do you find yourself enjoying them after revisiting, or do you still “nope” out and back to your favorite MMO? Let us know in the comments below.
