Greetings,

Within the live letter posted on 13 May Yoshi-P discussed no current plans to be directly involved in the Ultimate Race competition. I would ask Final Fantasy 14 to reconsider their position for several reasons; least of which is not to fall into the same trappings as World of Warcraft. Blizzard has refused to get directly involved with the Race to World First Raid Clear; however behind the scenes the Warcraft team spends untold hours laboring during this time fixing issues and so forth. Not to mention Blizzard develops the launch of a patch around the Race; to include tuning of from dungeons to gear acquisition.

I counter as well if there is Councenter over any 3rd party mods being used then hosting say the top 10 guilds in the world allows for that be not be a issue and something that can be monitored onsite. 3rd party issues aside; by embracing the race and Hosting the Race it’s self this would allow for something truly unique and grand. Imagine those taking part in the Race in their areas with their teams, with commentators that have worked with the teams in the past to broadcast things. The sheer amount of Goodwill and fanfare would be off the scale. Not to mention after; having those that took part sit down and talk with devs and what not would be insane. Not to mention the precedent that it would be setting.

The other part to this; what would the rewards look like and such. Well they would not have to be anything too outlandish. Why not honor the top 3 free companies in game in some way for that ultimate where their achievements would live on in Final Fantasy 14; similar to the how the first guild they killed the Lich King in World of Warcraft is honored by a fountain in Dalaran. Maybe the prize for finishing as one of the top 10 guilds is the honor to be apart of the next event as one of the featured guilds.

Ultimately my reasoning though selfish; is I would love to see Final Fantasy do something truly different and way more meaningful than what Blizzard has done or in this case not done. I feel as though it is such as missed opportunity on Blizzard’s part; especially since the teams are holding events themselves; why not embrace that spirit that is already there and bring the teams and communities together into a unique one of a kind experience that could if done right rival the Arnold Schwarzenegger Fitness Expo that brings people from all over the world together. The competitors come to compete; while the fans go for the experience. I believe FF14 could be the new Arnold Fitness Expo for gamers.

Thank you
.