The shutdown of 1.0 (the eve of the Calamity and the 'second' shutdown when the servers were temporarily reactivated for a month or so) - as utterly broken as 1.0 was, it was an experience to login on the last day with the "Time to Impact" counter edging ever closer to zero on the login screen and the ominous atmosphere in-game, with the errie Dalamud Answers replacing all zone BGM, the darkened stormy weather replacing all normal weather to the point there was no longer even an actual day/night cycle (the sky only lit by that huge bloated scarlet rock hovering above), the Garlean airships cruising menancingly above the citystates and the surrounding countryside, and the constant attacks by high level enemies on aetheryte camps and the cities themselves. And then, the end... booted back to the login screen with the login fields replaced by a link to Youtube for the 'End of an Era' trailer.... and then we had to wait seven months for ARR (or rather, if you were lucky you got a sneak peak in the Alpha and later on the Beta). It was an experience never to be repeated and I am glad I was there to do so.

ARR has only built on that.

My most memorable ARR moment though would probably be the end of ARR's 2.55 story in Ul'dah. Right in the feels.... And I was left wanting more. Wanting to wring Lolorito's skinny neck and beat Ilberd to a bloody pulp. Wanting to avenge the fallen Scions such as Minfilia and Raubahn and Nanamo. And wanting to clear Enki's name. I spent much of the time prior to HW's launch in Camp Dragonhead, rping my character impatiently waiting to be given asylum in Ishgard and vowing revenge against Loloritio and Ilberd for what they did. It still is my favourite part of ARR.