FFXIV: The Main Change (Again)
Posted on May 2, 2025 by Aywren
It seems like there’s a pattern with me switching up my Main in FFXIV every two years (more or less). This has happened again, a few weeks back, and was something I meant to write about before the whole hospital thing came up.
The last time I switched my Main to an “Aywren” character was back in May of 2023 - because I was missing having a more flexible “me” female character. Before that, I had switched my Main to my “Ben” character back in June 2021 – because I was bored of a “me” character and had hoped to do some writing and role play… that never happened.
So why did I do this again? And why do I think this time will be different than before?
What’s in a Main?
When I talk about “main,” I’m talking about a specific character slot on my FFXIV account. This was the first character I ever rolled, back in 2013. It has the most achievements, comms, mounts, minions, and content unlocked overall. So, when I want to use a character as “main,” I’m actually talking about changing the identity of my first-ever rolled character slot, which is somewhat sentimental to me.
It’s really hard to explain to non-alt/non-RP folks why in the world I have as many alts as I do in FFXIV – a game that isn’t designed to need alts. There’s something about logging into a specific character who has a certain look and feel and backstory. As an immersive gamer, this puts me into a character-related mindset that actually enhances the time I spend logged into a virtual world, no matter what MMO that might be.
That being said, I don’t get those vibes on a “me” character. I’ve tried to cook up a backstory for the “Aywren” characters I’ve made – though I’d never RP or write stories about her because it just feels weird. None of this has ever stuck, mostly because I think it’s been forced and contrived.
Process of Elimination
Thoughts about changing my Main all started when I was unlocking and playing newer raid content on Amon last month. I realized in doing this how much fun I was having playing content on one of my RP alts, just because the vibe of the character made things more fun for me. It was even fun raiding just because I was playing Amon. Weird, I know.
This time around, I took stock of all of the characters I have, thinking through them one-by-one to determine who my new Main would be. Some characters I eliminated were:
- Amon – I would love to make Amon my main, but he has too many things tied to his character slot. Certain mounts, minions, purchased emotes – that sort of thing. He also has community ties in terms of people on his friends list. Not to mention his Tea and Tomes apartment and his Secret Lab FC room, which I would not want to try and replicate. So, he was eliminated.
- Ben – I’ve already tried to make Ben my main, and it didn’t work in terms of engagement. He also now has purchased glam that I wouldn’t want to repurchase.
- Zuri – I considered Zuri for a good while, especially seeing “Zuri Nimat” was the original name of my character when I first rolled her in 2013. She’s also a flexible female character and I really like the way she looks. However, she does have purchased glam on her character slot, and she mains Dancer. While I don’t mind Dancer, I prefer someone who can pick up Red Mage, and I just don’t see that as a fit for her.
- Tai/SoYa/Kip – I now have a trio of Wayrift-inspired characters on my account, and any of them could have been set for main. Tai was actually my second-ever character and my first alt – but he has purchased glam that he uses, and he also mains Reaper. Again, I like Reaper, but I want a character who can main Red Mage. SoYa and Kip have similar job restrictions – SoYa would be a healer and Kip is a Machinist. So, neither of them really would work.
- Koh – She was a distant possibility, but she also wears purchased glam (hairstyle) that I didn’t want to have to re-buy. Also, I’m not sure I’d want to main an actual FFXIV NPC.
So that left me with one true option – Tad Kouris.
Just a Tad
Tad is an original character of mine that spun out of personal RP sessions with Syn for Amon and Scylla. He became Amon’s younger cousin, and eventually discovered he was the WoL for the Allagan age.
He’s a fun character who is tied just enough to my Spot of Mummery story that I can share his adventures on my Tumblr without feeling like I’m getting off topic there. This is important because my RP Tumblr and BlueSky remain my social connections and creative outlets for FFXIV.
My hope is that if I can tie my “main” character slot directly to the connections I have with the friends and folks I interact with normally, I will enjoy my time on “main” much more. So far, I feel like this has been a good move.
Tad is both original enough (not being an NPC) and immersive enough that he just feels right when I’m doing quests and I see him as the WoL stand-in during cutscenes. I can also justify making him a Red Mage – though I have to wiggle it into his character development a bit – or any other job I have interest in making him.
This also freed up his previous character slot, which I assigned to Kip – a character I’ve wanted to bring into my FFXIV group for a while. Seeing that Tad previously mained Machinist, and Kip would be Machinist, this allowed me to repurpose that higher-leveled Machinist and not have to re-level the job on another character slot.
But I’m getting off topic with all that.
You may have noticed that I went through all of my socials and turned my avatar back into the bird icon I often used. Since I no longer have an Elezen “Aywren” character to represent myself in game, and Tad just doesn’t quite work for that purpose, I decided it was the best move to make.
We’ll see if this works out for me. I hope that in another two years, I won’t be feeling the itch to switch up mains again. I could always switch Tad back to his original character slot if I really need to, but I’d prefer to enjoy the immersion and hope I can find a solid identity that makes my main fun again.