Quote Originally Posted by Jzarah View Post
I was just wondering, are there any official records (or at the very least, widely accepted by the roleplaying community) of what people get up to during their downtime? Any card/board/dice games, any popular sports, anything? Or is Eorzea devoid of anything but drinking your cares away and/or going to the Gold Saucer?
Okay, so here's what I've got, because I actually have looked into this. Looking overall at the Source rather than specifically on Eorzea, because there's some interesting things further afield:
  • There is chocobo racing, mainly showcased in the Golden Saucer but there's evidence of chocobo racing elsewhere. Lord of Verminion, sadly, does not seem to have the same reach.
  • Triple Triad has spread worldwide (and further, thanks Crystal Exarch), with people playing it in and from every nation we've been to. Personally I'd like to know its international card distribution methods, but that's me being a nerd.
  • Naturally, bloodsports are a thing; you've got the gladiatorial pits and the Masked Carnivale in Ul'Dah, and from what lore we've got Crystal Conflict is seen as some kind of sport.
  • Thavnair of course has hippo chariot racing!
  • Ishgard has a local ball sport, mentioned like, once. Basically all we know is its name, and even that I don't know off the top of my head.
  • While somewhat speculative, the fact that the Limsan government is determined by boat race says that there has to be a boat racing circuit around La Noscea as well, even if we haven't seen it.
  • Dipping into a more historic view, an Azys Lla fish description tells us that Allag had their own variant of pigeon shooting.

In terms of less codified recreation, we've seen children playing plenty, although they probably aren't sticking to a codified ruleset. And if you count watching theater, musicians and dancers, they've definitely got that, as well as entertainment-minded literature.