My intention was always to play FF11 but then I saw FF14 existed so I knew it would have to be that. I would have played 1.0 despite the issues but I wasn't ready to at the time.

I wanted to play because I believed the aesthetic would turn away people I don't like and draw in people that I would rather interact with. I wasn't really personally into a lot of the aesthetic myself (such as lalafells), but you're never going to like everything.

I would have most likely played very casually, but the brightness of the game, the bright colors, the music and how great Thanalan looked drew me in. As crazy as it may sound, I found pressing my 2 buttons on a Gladiator so much fun that I couldn't wait to login every single day. Only needing to kill 3 enemies for quests was also really good, although not having a mount from the start was tedious.

But what drew me in really quickly was the story. I was gripped by ARR from the start, but especially through all the scion deaths and helping Cid find his airship and his memories. After that, it just got better and better, as if SE aimed to make every new patch better than the last.

I would have just played casually but because it was so good, it drew me in enough that I wanted to play more.