Introduction

We were all affected by the COVID-19 lockdowns of 2020 through 2021. The rules were simple: stay at home and save lives. Yet, so many of us were suddenly faced with an impenetrable cloak of loneliness that we’d never experienced before.

For many people, their busy daily lives ground to a complete halt and they were left lost. Even introverts like myself, who would normally thrive by keeping to ourselves, began to feel the burden of no social contact.

And yet, with the power of the internet and the growing popularity of online gaming, many of us began to realise that we weren’t as alone as we’d first thought.

Enter the world of MMORPGs.

The Rise of the Virtual Social Space

MMORPGs have functioned as a second life for people for decades now. From the early 90s right through to the late 90s, games such as Ultima Online (Origin Systems) and Neverwinter Nights (Bioware) captured the imagination of audiences. It was hard to play online then — many people didn’t have internet access at all, let alone the hardware to be able to run such games.

And then came the 2000s. The online space was becoming more accessible to the ordinary person and games like Ragnarok Online and Runescape became an obsession for many schoolchildren, myself included. It was Runescape for me. There was something so bizarrely cathartic about chopping down blocky polygonal trees after a stressful day of school. Even to this day, MMOs are my go-to for unwinding.

Everything changed in 2004 when Blizzard Entertainment released their behemoth of a game, World of Warcraft. There had never been anything like it before. Sure, there were other giant games — Final Fantasy XI (Square Enix) and Everquest (Verant Interactive, 989 Studios) — but something about WoW captured the hearts and minds of millions of players across the globe. It boasted an estimated 5 million players in 2005 (Statista).

By comparison, it is estimated that FFXI had 500,000 players at its peak (Fandom), and Everquest is estimated to have a total of 1.2 million players over the years (MMOStats). If we compare that the total number of estimated players enjoying WoW, MMOStats offers a mammoth number: 230.3 million. Even the wildy successful Final Fantasy XIV has an estimated total player count of 47.6 million. There’s no match to WoW’s success. Not yet, anyway.

There was a time when MMORPGs were seen as a niche genre with passionate but small audiences. This perception has changed drastically over time. Perhaps the surge in general online gaming has opened many minds to the possibility of MMORPGs being another viable avenue in the gaming space. Whatever the cause is, these games have only increased in popularity over the years.

Lifelong friendships have been formed between people from all over the world. Relationships and marriages have been forged. Every MMORPG player has a myriad of happy memories and funny stories to tell of their time in virtual worlds among the community they either call or once called home.

Some of the most heartwarming stories are where the communities come together to overcome adversity and it’s one of these very stories we are discussing today.

The Explosion of Community Events

During the lockdowns, Final Fantasy XIV had an explosion of popularity. Many people attribute this to many popular World of Warcraft streamers — Asmongold, Preach, AnnieFuschia, for example — giving the game a shot. They brought some of their audiences with them and those people either played for a few months and trickled off or decided to stay, either making FFXIV their new home or enjoying both FFXIV and WoW simultaneously.

But as a long-time player of Final Fantasy XIV (since September 2013), I think it was more than that. It certainly played a role — that’s undeniable — but the game’s popularity was rising before that.

I noticed an increase in players around the time the lockdown started. Who could blame people? Many were signing up to MMORPGs hoping to meet some new online friends or even just have someone to talk to. The community in Final Fantasy XIV is very friendly but I have to admit, we do have some bad eggs. You’ll find those people in any online space — it’s not just a problem within the gaming world. Social media, video streaming, forums, and so on. We all know at least one of those people in our offline lives too, let’s be honest.

Final Fantasy XIV offers many great things for players to enjoy. There’s the incredible main story, abbreviated by players to the ‘MSQ’, dungeons and raids to enjoy, savage raids and ultimate raids for those who enjoy a challenge and then comes the community driven part of the content: roleplay.

Roleplay, or RP as I will call it from this point on, has always been a big part of Final Fantasy XIV’s appeal. You’ll often find players dressed up to mimic NPCs (non-player characters) or cosplaying their favourite anime or video game characters using the game’s clothing options. You can even create custom text emotes by typing /em before a sentence. An example of this would be:

/em pets the chocobo!

To other players, this reads as:

Your Character Name pets the chocobo!

You can imagine how this simple function opened up a world of possibilities for RPers. From custom emotes describing the working night of an underpaid bartender to entire sequences describing the exciting hunt of a Viera in the Rak’tika Greatwood, the possibilities are truly endless.

Players can purchase houses using in-game currency and decorate them to their desire. In-game houses morphed from sanctuaries of quiet solitude and places to hang out with a few friends into venues. As RP became more popular, homes were turned into libraries, cafes with staff taking orders (your food or drink would be in-game items), and even themed photo studios for those who dabble in the game’s screenshot system, G-Pose.

It was only a matter of time until players began to think of other types of venue. And thus, we discover the in-game nightclubs and music venues.

These player-driven venues exploded with popularity during the Covid-19 lockdowns. While most of them would feel a little awkward with everyone’s character using in-game dances in silence (/beesknees, anyone?) while a DJ played music on a Twitch stream, some venues would host live performances by players using the Bard’s in-game music system. This system allows talented virtuosos to plug in a midi keyboard or use their existing keyboard/controller skills to play music for their audience.

More often than not, many of these bards would use a third-party tool to play the music for them by loading in midi files which would be translated into the game. While third-party applications are, by default, prohibited in the game’s terms of service, many players give these people a pass. It’s common knowledge that the use of bard music programs is a form of botting but it’s done for the enjoyment of others, not to hinder anyone’s gameplay.

But to be crystal clear, it is a violation of Square Enix’s terms of service, and as such, I cannot condone such actions, no matter how well-intention they may be.

These venues became hotspots for players with long queues forming and excessive wait times to get into the venue itself. In a time of darkness, loneliness and crushing uncertainty, the community came together to support each other. When people could no longer go out and socialise, they turned to the virtual world to get that important human connection instead.

It wasn’t just nightclubs and long nights of chatting to other players that helped the community get through the lockdowns. Community events started popping up in the game’s Party Finder system. Glamour (transmogrification) contests were hosted with in-game rewards, art parties were popular where artists would draw people’s characters and share the artwork with them, quiz nights and similar events with gil rewards appeared. The online space was thriving.

And it still is. You just need to take a glance at the Party Finder to see a myriad of nightclub venues still being opened or advertised.

Friendships were forged and I have no doubt lives were saved. People often underestimate the impact the lockdowns had on mental health. Sadly, while the lockdowns were vital, many people sank into depression for the first time. For many gamers, MMORPGs — not just Final Fantasy XIV — were lifelines.

Some Players Share Their Thoughts

One player expressed that, although she had only been playing for almost a year now, the game was one of the best decisions she had ever made. In her time in Eorzea (the fictional world of FFXIV), she has already made connections and friendships that are important to her and the game itself (and the friendships forged through it) have been essential to help her through dark times.

Another player expressed similar sentiments, explaining that, even though they play alone most of the time, the game is an enjoyable time-sink for them to unwind. While they may play the game alone, they have met people on other servers or datacentres and chat regularly with them via external channels — Discord, for example.

These are just two examples of many I received when I asked my XIV-centric friend circles and Discord communities how they felt about the community during lockdown.

Personal Thoughts

And for myself? Well, I’ve had my ups and downs in Eorzea. I’ve seen Free Companies (the game’s version of guilds) bring people together and then tear them apart when drama inevitably rose. And yet, I still play this game regularly because I love the world and I adore the player base.

As I mentioned previously, there’ll be bad actors in every space, online or offline, and it’s important to remember that the vast majority of people you’ll meet in Eorzea are friendly and eager to offer their aid. There are people I met in this game that I’m still chatting to regularly after almost a decade of play time. I would never have met those people otherwise, as most of them are on the other side of the globe.

For me, personally, most of my friendships come from the raiding scene. You meet people with similar in-game goals and you work together as a team to achieve those goals. It forges a sense of comradery and kinship.

It certainly helped me to feel included and welcome during one of the loneliest periods of my life.

In Conclusion

Final Fantasy XIV isn’t perfect. No game is. Our community isn’t perfect either but we try our best to support each other when we’re able to. If you’re interested in trying the game out, you can download the free trial from Square Enix’s website (link is in the references) and enjoy hundreds of hours of gameplay up until level 60.

See you in Eorzea if you decide to visit!

References

Headphones Addict. “World of Warcraft Player Count.” [Online]. Available: https://headphonesaddict.com/world-of-warcraft-player-count/.

Final Fantasy Wiki. “Final Fantasy XI.” [Online]. Available: https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_XI.

Final Fantasy XIV Free Trial: https://freetrial.finalfantasyxiv.com/