How are you staying in touch with people?

[petra]

It's been a little more difficult than usual being social. How's that going for you, and what kind of conversations are you missing having?

Comments

[althea_valara]

Final Fantasy XIV. It’s got a lot of quality of life features that make it easy to play casually, which is good because the last thing I need is to become addicted to a game again. And the story is fantastic.

But... I’m a former Final Fantasy XI player, and while it wasn’t good for me in some ways, I really miss the camaraderie of it. In XI, the best way to level was to make a party with other players, find a camp, and then stay put for several hours. You naturally would get to know other players because you were spending so much time together.

In XIV, the best way to level is to do Duty Roulettes, in which you are matched up with random players who might not even be from your server, and you do a random 30 minute dungeon together. It can be lots of fun with the right group, but usually people are focused on clearing quickly so there’s no chit chat, and because it’s a random group of players, no chance at making lasting connections.

I am in a linkshell (Final Fantasy’s name for a guild) that I sometimes do activities with, but I am very shy about asking for help so most of the time I’m playing solo. But there’s a lot you can do solo in the game, so that’s good, I guess.

[petra]

I can see how having a group of people to camp out with would be much better socially than a 30 minute in-and-out dungeon. Maybe not so great for your offline life, but more fun.

Casual gaming is about my limit too. I'm glad you have something that suits your speed.