Hi, everybody! Relative newbie looking to get more social!

[Voss_Sutpen]

I'm Voss, started playing FFXIV in May '17, and it has since taken over a massive portion of my life--in a great way! Heretofore, I've more or less treated the game as a single-player experience outside of duty finder instances while I've been learning the mechanics of my class (WAR main, lvl 62) and the world at large. I haven't yet come across an area of the UI that displays hours played, but I would conservatively estimate I'm in the 1000s of hours. I've no shame about this at all and happily preach to my friends and coworkers, most of whom do not play MMOs, how superior XIV is to the real world right now.

A little background info on me: I turned 30 this year (alongside FF!), currently live in the crazy alternate reality that is Washington, DC, and work in the music industry. I've been playing FF since I was 11 years old when my brother was hired as a 3D animator for The Spirits Within. No one in my family knew anything about the franchise then, so my dad went out and bought a copy of FF7 for me and my sis. Little did he know this would launch a lifelong love affair between us and the series. To this day I often refer to FF as my third parent.

I spent the next several years in the early days of e-commerce tracking down overpriced copies of whatever SNES Square games I could get my hands on, devouring every corner of fan sites and writing lots and lots of fan fiction. I eventually got to attend the premiere of FF:TSW in Honolulu, tour Square's offices (THE RENDER FARMS!!!) and meet the Gooch himself! I teared up while he autographed the hotel stationary (still framed on my desk at work, will share pics if there's interest), he laughed, patted me on the back and gave me a solemn bow that sent chills down my 13-year-old spine. Plenty more secondhand stories from my brother on Sakaguchi if anyone is curious.

Many years later, I'm still in love with the series; although I'm a serious fanboy, I do try my best to remain objective and have criticized some recent moves. I've amassed a robust collection of games, Amano art books, plushies and Play Arts figures. I avoided XI and XIV in the past because I'm very introverted (even though I love people and am quite charismatic in person, socializing can be very exhausting for me) and video games, particularly RPGs, have always represented a respite from people.

After I lost my (incredible) dad to pancreatic cancer in January of this year (no, I'm not seeking shoulders to cry on), while looking for fictional worlds to lose myself in before the release of XII: TZA, I finally cranked up that free trial of XIV that had been sitting in my PS4 library... What a fool I was to wait so long! Within a couple hours of gameplay around Limsa Lominsa, I was desperately signing up for the full game and told SE to keep the tab open.

I've had so much fun doing just about everything thus far, even through the seemingly endless fetch quests of the low levels, and now that I feel I'm more than proficient at my main job (no expert, still plenty to learn and discover) I'm looking to interact and play with a more static group of people. I just finished Heavensward last weekend and am now 34 MSQs from Stormblood! I've completed almost all of the dungeons from ARR and HW and am now interested in getting involved with raids.

Ideally, I'm looking to play with cool, like-minded people of all ages and skill levels who love playing the game and want to have fun together. 95% of the interactions I've had with folks in game have been amazingly positive and helpful and I'd like to keep it that way. Which isn't to say I'm not open to criticism in order to improve my skills (I encourage it for those willing to provide), but I have zero tolerance and interest in hanging out with D-bags who get off on putting others down IRL or online.

My interests beyond FF range from a similar obsession with difficult "L"iterature, SF/fantasy, Marvel comics, film, early 20th century abstract art and lots else.

If you're interested in playing or chatting find me in game (I'm online most week nights 7PM-midnight EST/weekends) or on Discord @ Voss_Sutpen.

Thanks, and look forward to seeing you in Eorzea!