Final Fantasy 14 plays host to a number of harrowing challenges, but as with all MMORPGs, the title's greatest appeal stems from interactions between players. The game's latest living legend won his fame through a highly unorthodox odyssey, however, even when judging by the odd standards of online gaming.
After its Realm Reborn relaunch, Final Fantasy 14 evolved its MMORPG format A recent patch drastically expanded the level cap for FF14's free trial and injected an enormous amount of new content, sending players both new and old flocking to the whimsical world of Eorzea. While most of these Warriors of Light are invested in powering up, hunting for loot, and pursuing the latest installment of the main story quest, champions come in many varieties.
Case in point: Ross O'Donovan, known in Final Fantasy 14 and on Twitter as Rubber Ninja, received an odd challenge and rose to the occasion without missing a beat. An unknown player presented Ross with 999 eggs in the seaside metropolis of Limsa Lominsa, and told him to eat them.
Ross started chronicling his gastronomic gauntlet on Twitter when he was 315 eggs deep, and continued to tweet a play-by-play as he persevered. It didn't take long for the feast to draw an audience, and the crowd quickly swelled into a party, providing a fun example of why Final Fantasy 14 is relevant in 2020.
While the digital food challenge may seem weird and pointless, it gave Ross an unforgettable spate of internet fame, and provided several dozen spectators with a fun diversion during trying times. It is also an excellent anecdote to refute claims that online interactions are uniformly toxic or hostile, like Red Dead Online's recent rash of racist griefers dressing up as the KKK.
Like memes and other viral content, the exchange between Ross, his mysterious challenger, and the onlookers arose completely organically. If the challenge was promoted or hard-coded, the repetitive click-eat-repeat gameplay would become a boring drag, and Ross confessed that his hands started hurting when he was deep into the process. But it's the social values that people project onto the mechanics that transformed the odd event into something delightful, just as applying the wrong buff to a party member can be misread as an act of flirtation.
Those embellishments, uncomfortable and whimsical alike, are what make MMOs such potent forums for socializing. With the world in quarantine, opportunities to be together while staying apart are all the more valuable. Those who have never experienced an MMO would be well served to give one a try, and after the recent free trial upgrade, there has never been a better check out Final Fantasy 14.
Final Fantasy 14 is available now and offering a free trial on Mac, PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.