Yesterday was the first of April, so you know what that means: Hoaxes abound, with Google pitching a run of fake products and Burger King touting a chocolate Whopper. Sadly, this column was due out the day after April Fool’s Day, so I wasn’t able to join in.
I can, however, share some of the best things people in the world of FFXIV came up with, now there’s no danger of spoiling the joke starting with the XIV team themselves. Introducing Final Fantasy XIV Go, the app you never knew you wanted:
I was on my way to work Sunday morning when I got a press release about a new companion app for the game. It’s been known for a while that a new app is planned, if not in development, integrating retainer and chat features, and FFXIV Go is a generic enough name that it could easily have been the surprise release. It wasn’t.
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Instead, FFXIV Go promised a sort of augmented reality gathering experience. It’s a sad reflection of my life that the first thing that tipped me off to the fact this might be a joke is that most PR folk don’t work on Sundays, much less Easter Sunday.
I mean, it sounds like a joke. But so does waiting hours for unspoiled node timers; gathering has a cult-like hold over people, and I’m not one to question that. Either way, the video is really funny — far more humorous than it has any right to be, in fact. Now, where can I buy a harvesting stick?
well, I can't sit on this any longer I guess. a few days ago, I was looking for some hi-resolution assets of FFXIV for some lore stuff on the SE press site. and what I stumbled across instead was far bigger: pic.twitter.com/taP9v2Iv4o
— Sylvia (@foulveins) March 31
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Another extremely well-done hoax was by artist @foulveins, who posted a convincing press pack suggesting a Switch version of FFXIV was on the cards, complete with a Mario cap preorder bonus. The catch? ‘It’s set to be announced April 1st.’ Damnit!
Meanwhile, the XIV Reddit announced it had partnered with a Discord server called The Spire, for players who want to “max min” — or find ways to be as bad at the game as possible. The advert invited those who wished to join to share their best “blame deflection strategies” before linking to the general /r/FFXIV discord.
If you don’t get it, they’re poking fun at The Balance (both server names are taken from Astrologian cards, though the Spire is comparatively useless), which is dedicated to players who want to push themselves to their absolute limit. I’d encourage anyone who wants advice on how to improve at the game to join the real thing, because it’s easily one of the most knowledgeable and helpful communities based around the game.
In other news…
Mogtalk, a very popular FFXIV podcast, has published an interview with producer Naoki Yoshida. There are a few big details:
- The XIV team is planning a yet-to-be-announced four-player experience akin to the latter floors of Palace of the Dead, that should be revealed soon
- A new iteration of Rival Wings is in development
- There are a couple of ideas about how to implement Blitzball, the sport popular in the world of FFX, but Yoshida doesn’t know how they can do so in a way that’ll be faithful to the original and keep people playing
- The new mobile app — no, not FFXIV Go — is in the works and should debut on a live letter very soon.
The full piece is well worth reading. You can check it out here.
