The new year has started, and it seems almost ritualistic as a society to create a "New Year's Resolution," something that you resolve to do this year that you just couldn't hang with last year. For many, it's eating healthier and exercising, for others it's about reading a certain number of books each month to hit a predefined goal by the end of the year.
For me, it's usually about gaming.
I have a giant backlog (I mean, who doesn't nowadays?). Oftentimes I'm chasing new games down and playing them months after they release because I was tied up with another game around launch (looking at you, God of War), or I've gotten sucked into one game in particular and nothing else scratches that gaming itch.
However, one game in particular has my attention this year, and I'm looking to finally, finally be caught up as much as possible by year's end, or at least when the next expansion comes out: Final Fantasy XIV.
We all know that Final Fantasy XIV is one of the best MMORPGs to play, but I'm still on Shadowbringers, which means I've got all the post-launch content to get through, and then Endwalker before I'm even remotely close to being caught up. It's going to be a sojourn, I know, especially when my time to sit and just play this game isn't always consistent. But I've resolved that this year is the year I'm caught up finally.
I just started playing Samurai as a way to spice up my Job rotation (I've been almost exclusively playing Red Mage for two years now), and since I don't mind using a controller, I can bounce between PS5 and PC relatively easily, thanks in part to being able to upload my cross hotbar to the cloud so my settings carry over. I'm nearing the end of Shadowbringers' initial content drop and am starting those final quests today, with the hopes that I'll be in the post launch content by mid-January/Early February.
This is while I'll be keeping up with my two main MMO beats here at the site: The Lord of the Rings Online and EVE Online, among others. I still plan on jumping into LotRO a lot more than I did in 2022, and EVE is usually running thanks to AFK mining going on with my Steam Deck and Mac instances, but FF14 is the MMO I feel like I want to spend the most time in, catching up, and finally being able to jump into content headfirst when the new expansion drops at some point in the future.
Also, I'm really tired of trying to dodge spoilers. I know it's been a few years since Shadowbringers, but c'mon.
Anyway, what about you? Have any New Year's resolutions for your gaming time? Is there an MMO you're hoping to dive into more this year? Let us know in the comments below.
Oh, and for my real resolution: finally get down to 170lbs. I lost 70 lbs in the last two years and kept it off mostly, but I'd love to hit and maintain my weight goal. My diabetes would likely thank me.
