One of the interesting parts of looking back on a year of playing Final Fantasy 14 is seeing just how disparate everyone’s experience with the game is despite how similar some of our activities and motivations can be. I mean, of course the person who plays every possible scrap of game available in the free version of it before they buy the game proper is going to have a different experience from the person who, a month in, gets frustrated with the cap on their wallet, inability to buy things from other players, and inability to do much social engagement at all such that they use the excuse of being fully bought-in on the story to buy the base game and every expansion as well. A difference of that magnitude describes not just a method of play or preference for a style of play, but an entirely different approach to what play even is or how one engages in play at all. Neither one is better than the other, of course, but there’s no denying that those two people will have incredibly different experiences with the game. It is, however, also very interesting that two people who appreciate the same styles of play, who like engaging in the same activities, and who are similarly motivated can still have such wildly different experiences. This was highlighted for me incredibly recently, as I’ve offered to help a player who has just returned to the game after a long absence. He was playing during my initial months, but he dropped off before long and returned to find a dramatic shift in what our Free Company was doing, not to mention how he’d been left behind by the advancements in gear that occurred over this period. By all accounts, he and I should have similar game experiences to hear our FC leader tell it, but in talking to this other player to discuss getting him geared up, it is clear that we are in incredibly different worlds.