I missed a day of Blaugust, but I had a pretty good reason for it. Since I don’t usually post on the weekends, I’ll make up for it today. There’s a lot to talk about.
Things have been in a flux for me where it stands in FFXIV. This week I chose to step down as the leader of the FC we established over 4 years ago, and move to a new server, Mateus.
This was a process that Syn and I thought out to some extent. Though we hadn’t considered such a big change until just this week, once we’d decided on it, we made the shift quickly. My goal was to transition the folks in our FC to new leadership in a way that would least impact their environment and fun.
I started by creating a new channel in our Discord just to discuss what was happening. Then, I wrote about my reasons, what members could expect going forward and who we’d chosen to take up the leadership mantel.
Snippet:
When you’ve been part of something for this long, you wake up one day and realize that you’ve changed. As a player. As a person. As an adult with real life responsibilities. Your definition of fun and desires for a game environment suddenly take on a different meaning as you mature with a living, changing online game like FFXIV.
I think this is what’s been happening with me for quite a while now. And it may even be happening to you, too.
Where some people seek raids and gear, I’m a creative person. I need a creative outlet in the things I do. I’ve tried many times to get into the RP scene in FFXIV because of this. When Mateus was dubbed the secondary RP server last year, I quickly dropped some characters on there to test the waters and see how the server evolved.
Recently, I’ve found myself pulled to this creative environment (and highly recommend anyone with interest in RP peek in sometime!). It’s rejuvenated my gaming experience, and I’ve come to see the hard truth that as much as Midgardsormr has been my home, I feel Mateus is where my future is.
In realizing that, I felt that it wasn’t fair for me to try to walk both lines. This FC is special. Maybe a once in a lifetime group of folks. You deserve leadership that is going to be attentive and who has the drive and energy to shape and maintain the FC into the future.
The FC is still active and functioning. It still has great people, some that I am sad to part ways with. There’s a few other things behind the scenes going on, but for the most part, for me personally, it’s a case of me being worn out with the responsibilities that come with organizing, bookkeeping, recruiting and all the what-not of a FC.
I’ve also gotten to a point in FFXIV where I, as a player, have chosen not to run content that’s not fun for me. That conflicts with the notion of being a FC leader, who should (in my mind) be more accommodating to those who need a hand.
Part of this comes from the shift in difficulty level in content in FFXIV. Need a hand with low level progression stuff? Sure, no problem. But newer stuff like Lighthouse? It’s not fun for me and leaves me with a high level of stress… so I’m not going to run it unless I really, really need to.
Syn did a TON to fill in the gaps where I just couldn’t. She enjoys helping people through content, while I preferred to keep the books and do Namazu quests. So it balanced out.
All that being said, after almost 5 years of playing the same MMO, it’s time for me to take a break and fully play it the way I want. Working on creative things, role play, performing music, juggling glamour… that kind of stuff. None of which requires huge bosses breathing down the back of your neck (unless, of course, it is the Crystal Tower raid series 😉 ).
So, on Thursday we sat down in voice chat with the new leader, answered questions, passed off information and documents, handed over the Discord server and website, and everything needed for him to run the FC. We’ve left alts in the FC and I’m still a part of the Discord server just in case I’m needed for anything. I doubt it, however. Our choice of leadership was accepted positively from what I saw, and most people kindly wished us well.
We also set up a Cross-World Linkshell so that anyone who wanted to stay in touch with us or run things would have direct access to us, even though we were on a different server.
I’d already set up a solo FC on Mateus just for my own story alts and RP main character, so we moved into that, and are now leveling the ranks. A couple people may follow in time, but we’ll have to see. I have no desire to run another FC that’s more than just a group of friends.
Through the RP connections I’ve made over the last month, we were welcomed to the new server and even joined an RP event last night! Since this has become more relevant, I’ll have to start talking about these things — maybe in another post!
Between them and the Cross-World Linkshell, starting over on a new server has been anything but lonely. My only frustration is losing my nice house in Shirogane, and trying to get a new one under the new housing system (I’ll post about that later, too).
So, that’s kinda where I’ve been. It’s going to be an adjustment, but I hope that when things settle down, this will have been the best for everyone involved.