Well....do games have a soul?
They have a community for sure, and this XIV community for the most part has been one of the most interesting but ultimately helpful I've been a part of. In Beta I realize there was chaos, forums were scary places...but post release several sites including the Lodestone, Eorzepedia, our beloved DoL site and others have established themselves as premier locations for players to communicate and discuss the game at hand. Its ups and downs, its stumbles and triumphs...
They have a following for sure, fans of the FF series are united in love for this game (self included) and can see it for not only what it is, but what it can be. Its potential so to speak...no different in how a parent view's their children.
So...does this game have a soul?
I would challenge you to watch this pre-release trailer …
http://www.youtube.com/w...;feature=player_embedded…and then answer me that it does not. The song "Answers" used in this trailer, its words and imagery paint a living, breathing, vast, dynamic, and exciting picture for me. The music moves me to believe in something more than mechanics and grinding, more than stats and gear drops. There is a story there.
....If a game has a soul, and that soul is its story...what is the condition of that soul? Can a game survive if its soul dies?
I know this is rather more 'cryptic' and 'musing' that I usually post, but re-watching that trailer (combined with where I recalled it from...a long dead community site "Origin") brought back a flood of emotions I realized I still feel for this game.
While being consumed with crafting and grinding, I remembered why I’m doing all this, biding my time a bit until the game presented me with something more exciting...a continuation of its story....a glimpse back into the favor of its soul.
Having completed the main story quests some time ago, it is encouraging to see that SE continues to strive to care for the soul of this game. That it discusses and listens to those who care about its soul (us the players) and is prepared to make changes to reflect that passion and excitement we feel for it. To nurture and re-kindle that flame of passion we felt when we first learnt of its presence.
Like the slain and diminished corpse of Bahmut that sits speared motionless on the battleground that is now Mor Dhona, this games soul was headed for such a fate. We have all helped keep it alive though, fighting to have our voices heard that perhaps our input would help those in position of power to restore this fallen soul of a game to its once proposed glory. We fight a battle similar to that which resulted in the dead beast some many years prior to the life we know in Eorzea. The difference is we could very well be on the way to salvation…
Recent patch after patch has attempted to breath life back into this game, and I believe that it shall succeed. Like all seriously injured souls, there is a process to redemption. Some change is quick and apparent, seeking to stem the bleeding and close the wounds. Other change is more subtle, a redirection of focus, a drive for new passions and wants, a reconditioning of the ones who loved and cared for it. Anyone with a soul will tell you, there are events which will permanently change you…some for the best, others for the worst. The result may be a being that some people wont recognize, or respond to…as their soul has changed beyond what first attracted them to it. We see friends drift away all to often because of this…the depletion of server populations, the closing of a linkshell, the time spent away…
…Fortunately though, I believe all souls have a core virtue to them. It is what is meant when people say “See the good” in someone. As the above trailer will elude to, the core of this soul is good and not beyond saving nor repair.
I write today only to serve one thing: remind myself and those who would read this, that if a game does indeed have a soul that it is an entity that is worth helping, worth changing with, and worth seeing the ultimate outcome of its transformation. The development staff and direction of the game has changed radically over its inception. If we stay the course and play this through, I believe we will all be rewarded for our commitment and can enjoy an engaging product that we’ve helped shape. For now, the grind continues…soon, the adventure and discovery will begin anew.