by Burbie52, HSM team writer

As humans, we are – for the most part – social creatures. From our first breath to our last, we seek the company of others. We congregate in cities and towns, creating social structures of every size and shape imaginable, no matter where we inhabit this planet. There are a few who feel uncomfortable in the presence of other people: those who seek shelter from the masses by staying out of urban areas and keeping to themselves, of course. However, most of us look for that human connection – with varying degrees of success – all of our lives.

Social structures come in a myriad of forms, from the places we actually live to the ones we inhabit in online communities. Social media is a huge enterprise, and growing by leaps and bounds each year. Places like Facebook and Twitter show just how important human connection is to most of us; some of it to the point of constant input from others. For me, that is a bit too much; I don’t use Twitter at all, and Facebook sparingly, but to others it’s a way of life.

One place I have been inhabiting a lot in recent months is Final Fantasy XIV. This game is huge, and constantly changing. I haven’t even finished the main story in it yet, though I am close. They add new in-game events at a regular pace to keep things interesting. People have been given a lot of incentive to work toward the rewards in these events, as they are unique and many players are reward oriented, just like Home. There has been one event that was a tie-in with Lightning Returns, the latest Final Fantasy XIII spin-off. This event happened a couple months back and is going to happen again this month to bring awareness to the game, and it is replete with in-game rewards for those who participate.

All of these things and more, like new dungeons and the new PVP area, help keep FF XIV very up-to-date and interesting for those who use the game. But the one thing that keeps the game going strong has nothing to do with the events and questing; it is the social structure built within it. There are multiple social choices, but the basic one that most join is called a Free Company.

The Phantom Knights – My FC

A Free Company, or FC for short, is a guild of players who help each other in a variety of ways. At least that is what the Free Company I am involved in does. The goal of my company, the Phantom Knights, is to help everyone who joins to get through the game and into what is called the end game, which comes with a huge set of goals attached. It is a long process, which can be done alone, but is much more fun if you can form relationships with other players who have similar goals.  Aiolos Saggitarius, our leader, is dedicated to making this FC work, as are all of the others involved. You need others in this game to get through some major battles and dungeons required by the storyline. You can choose to play as a mercenary, or lone wolf, but I find it much more entertaining to go into these situations with people I know and trust.

When you play alone, you are thrown into these battles with three strangers, and you take the risk of not getting through because they aren’t good at their job or they quit in frustration. The dungeons are timed, and if you have worked for over an hour on something only to have someone back out at the last minute for whatever reason, that is an hour of your life you just threw away. When you play with friends, you can push through, and even when you don’t complete the dungeon in time, at least the comments you hear won’t be derisive. That alone makes the playing more fun.

To form a comparison to Home, a Free Company is like a club. In some cases, they are more like the “fams” that roam about Home. Many are about numbers, getting as many members as possible to join, which in Final Fantasy is a huge number: 512. This feature of a large member count comes at the expense of forming a group of people who bond, learn to like each other, and want to actually help one another. (For a fascinating deeper dive on this subject, look up Dunbar’s Number, which states that humans function best in groups of approximately 150 people.) It is easy to get lost in a larger group, and cliques form within them as well. I find that the bigger you get, the less interaction you get among members, and the more drama you will get as well. Drama can destroy any group – be it in a game or in Home – that is a well known fact. I have met several other players who have quit their Free Companies for this very reason.

A typical house in Limsa Lominsa ward.

There was a recent update that gave the Free Companies the ability to buy a piece of land and build a clubhouse on it for all the members to meet in. This was a welcome addition, and all of the players are hoping for individual housing to become available as well. You can furnish your clubhouse with things you either win or make yourself, so it can be a very creative process. You can actually choose what features to build into the house itself as well.

Each FC works to build an affiliation with one of the Grand Companies from a region within the game. There are three countries involved with the story of Eorzea, the continent that they rest on or near. Gridania has the Twin Adders Grand Company, Limsa Lominsa has the Maelstrom, and Ul’dah’s Grand Company is called the Flames. As your Free Company grows in reputation with one of these Grand Companies, they get a series of perks that allow additional experience to be generated in a variety of forms – from additional crafting experience to fighting experience, from getting more seals (which is the currency of the Grand Companies) to having less wear on your armor and weapons, resulting in less money spent repairing them after battle.

There are several forms of communication in Final Fantasy XIV; all of them are available in text only, though. Just like Home, there is one you can send private messages through to people you meet or have on your friends list, and of course, there is the local chat everyone can see. Here, you have several chat modes, including one exclusive to the Free Companies, where they can talk privately within their group. There is a party chat for people playing together in dungeons and other gaming pursuits, and there is a chat room, called a linkshell. This is used for a variety of purposes. I belong to one for the FC itself , though it is rarely used. There is also another I belong to that has people who have reached level fifty, the highest level available in the game, who are all doing end game dungeons and questing together. That one comes in handy when you need help for a particularly hard dungeon or primal fight. There is a hope that that might change at some point; microphones would be very welcome there.

A questing party

There is a huge bank of emotes available to everyone to show emotions of every kind, from happy to sad, angry to loving. All of these help your companions understand your moods, though many times they are just used for fun or for use in the game to complete quests.

As you can see, though this game is very simple in social structure, it has a big learning curve when it comes to how to use it, very much like Home does. I have found a lot of new friends in Final Fantasy XIV, people who share a common goal to build a strong Free Company and have a lot of fun in the process. It has been a learning experience, as I find new ways to recruit and mentor new players, and also learning how to balance my time spent in-game, in real life, and Home. I am still working on that, and I will continue to enjoy this fantasy world that Square Enix has built for a long time to come.

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