TYFP

As of today it is 5 days and some hours until early access for Final Fantasy 14’s Endwalker release, I’m at my day job, and I’m so excited and restless I can barely stand it.  I’ve preordered the collectors edition of every expansion (sadly I had to settle for the digital collectors edition for Shadowbringers), and taken the early access time off work so I can properly binge the MSQ.

I’ve done this 3 times before, but I’m still excited for it. The anticipation of an expansion this time is compounded by the weight Endwalker brings with it: the end of the Hydaelyn and Zodiark story. 

In years past, this experience has been of mixed quality. The early access period for Heavensward was smooth, they perfectly instanced the different zones, and the only downside was that sometimes it was a pain to stay in the same instance as friends unless you were in a party. The early access period for Stormblood was a nightmare, partly due to Raubahns gate locking people at a certain point in the MSQ for several days. This was mixed with unreliable shipping for the physical copies and boxes, so my collectors edition didn’t arrive until a week into Stormblood release. This was pretty bad, because my wife and I both had days off work wasted, and then effectively got locked out of the retail game because our early access ended and we didn’t have the discs, so we couldn’t play Stormblood content for days. The early access of Shadowbringers was much better, although we had some pretty significant server issues and queue times.

I also did this for the release of New World, which was alot of fun when I wasn’t locked behind queue times and maintenance.

Despite these past issues and the the fact that a rocky launch for Endwalker is all but certain to take place, I can’t wait. I’ve been listening to soundtrack playlists, youtubers I generally despise, literally anything I can get my hands on just to have something. 

For me, and I think my wife as well, the anticipation is part of the fun. The planning and preparation helps solidify the pay off. Wednesday I’ll be spending Shadowbringers final live day streaming PvP, Frontlines on Crystal Datacenter, and Thursday I’ll be preparing food and supplies for a 9 day excursion to Eorzea, Old Sharlayan, Thavnair, Garlemald, and the moon. 

If you’re on Crystal Datacenter, look me up; Southern Flame on a Diabolos. If not, Lets use the DC travel function once its live eh?

See you on the moon.