How has the game positively affected you?

[Ammokkx]

I also don't really have much of a grand story to tell. Most of my friends don't play XIV, I'm mostly doing stuff solo, it eats away at my time, ...

But, despite all those seeming hindrances, I just... really love this game. I love its story, its world, the community. I love how much the devs care, I love how personal everything feels. It's probably the game I've been the single most positively emotionally invested in, well, ever. It's an amazing and magical experience that I don't really want to trade out for the world. I don't always feel "joy" playing this game, and sometimes I'm doing it out of pure addiction, but other times I can just feel how happy I am playing FFXIV. It's in those moments where I remember walking through my starting city for the first time, or remembering how I tried to figure out how to solo boss fates on a potion-chugging level 10 thaumaturge.

But also, the people in my FC are super nice and cool. I don't think I've made any lasting friends I'd talk to outside their circle, but despite that I really feel like a part of their community. They're chill, and I love them to bits.

This game is just fantastic, even with its myriad of faults, and reflecting on how fantastic it is sometimes just makes me happy.

[Smoresluv]

Nothing grand....

Severe PTSD and social anxieties make it very hard to connect to people in person. The game over the years has helped me make some positive connections and keep me sane while also fueling my love for the very fashionable endgame!

[Puremallace]

My stress levels are down like 100% compared to WoW where my last guild broke up after people gave literal death threats from stress and RNG items not dropping in raids. It is also really nice that factions are not arbitrarily split and massive unbalanced causing me to have to pay to server transfer just to find people to play with.

[Kolsykol]

Nothing grand....

Severe PTSD and social anxieties make it very hard to connect to people in person. The game over the years has helped me make some positive connections and keep me sane while also fueling my love for the very fashionable endgame!

I have pretty extreme social anxiety to the point that it significantly impacts my life in a negative way, and people in this game are way easier to interact with than in other games or MMO's.
Generally tho my issues are more irl but even in-game I can get stressed out about it sometimes.
People are a lot more compassionate and mature.

[WoW]

It got me away from WoW.

Whatever do you mean?

[BunniEclair]

It gives me an easily accessible creative outlet and a nice place to relax. When I get bored with battle content I like to decorate and make glams for fun, as well as take pictures with gpose. I get to do it while socializing too, which is nice - especially the last year or so.

[Kanehana]

My personal life isn't all that great either, but things are looking to improve, actually - and FFXIV was one thing that keeps me hoping for a better tomorrow. Not that far off from OP's, really.

It's given me some friends and a home for my heart. It's had its ups and downs, like any other thing that involves even a little socialization, but FFXIV has been a good thing for me.

[SturmChurro]

I don't know, it's a good way to kill time I guess. I like to make glamour in it, I like viera, and the story is decent. I'm mostly here to browse the forums nowadays. It's actually the only online game I play. No real deep personal story here.

[Alxyzntlct]

I don't have some kind of a big story.
FFXIV just makes me happy because I feel like it's one of the few games that isn't an indie game that has content I like.
FFXIV and fighting games and JRPG's or games like DMC and Bayonetta.
I am so completely jaded by the game industry nowadays particularly in the West and even moreso the AAA industry.

FFXIV has great developers that don't take themselves so ultra seriously and I actually feel good about supporting them.
Like compare the fanfest to basically any other event in the West, it's like the devs just having fun with us vs people reading scripts with a forced smile that is in reality aimed at the investors.
Can you imagine some of the stuff they pulled at Fanfest but at Blizzcon? I can't.

And FFXIV doesn't feel compromised for the sake of being '' safe '' or like it's based on trends.
Like I can't imagine races like Viera and Miqo´te from a Western studio especially a big one, not in the iteration of them we have in this game.
And the gear isn't ultra cereal and trying to be '' lore friendly '' all the time.

Maybe it has more to do with me just prefering the Japanese approach but I also think it's an industry problem I have on a whole too.
Like take the 2B costume for example, if it had been a Western studio does anyone actually believe they'd put it in and not '' alter it ''?
Or the Viera ( female ) reveal trailer and their cultural gear based on Fran.
Maybe it wouldn't '' ruin the game '' but it's like death by a thousand papercuts and I feel like it has been building up over time for a long time and really jaded me.
Just an example lol, but it's the same with Male Viera.
A lot of people are genuinely really turned off by them, but the devs aren't making compromises they just gave them to us and based them on what the fans had asked for.
They're not trying to '' appeal to everyone '', they're appealing to the fans.
And it makes it feel pure to me.

A rare thing I feel.
I just feel like gaming has forgotten what fun is but FFXIV haven't and it makes me happy to log in every day.


Also some of the story is cool in a cheesy way which I really like.
It doesn't take itself too seriously, like the end cinematic against Emet Selch was really cheesy but in a good way it actually made me smile and stand up going '' FUCK YEAH LETS GO! ''.
When I saw my character looking at him being all badass it gave me goosebumps.

I gotta say, reading this made me incredibly happy! This is everything that I'm looking for; a great game to play, a fun world to explore, supporting developers who actually care about their game...

Beautifully said. ^_^

[ern815]

The game itself was a miracle turnaround as well I would say.

FFXIV 1.0 was remembered as one of the worst FFs ever and Yoshida turned it around and made it into the success it is today. From Yoshida's (and his team's) devotion, passion and determination and belief to make the game one of the most successful MMORPG today, it made me believe even stronger that success would come to those who have put in their heart and soul in something they have passion for.

Also, the community in FFXIV is generally nice, most of the people I played with are rather patient and determined to work together towards a goal (more specifically, a clear) and nowadays I rarely encounter players badmouthing each other about how bad they are at this game etc. (used to be more frequent a few years ago. It shows that there's still humanity and compassion in the world after all (or in a MMO world).

Also, Yoshida seems like a genuine nice guy who treats his team equal and cares for his team. He tears for Soken who is battling cancer during his speech about his condition and still feeling determined to keep working for the game. I thought that was nice too that the dev team do care about the game and gave their best to work despite their conditions.