FFXIV Endwalker Is Coming, But I’m Busy Hunting Cool Mounts

The hype for Endwalker’s impending launch recently pushed me back into the arms of Final Fantasy XIV. Instead of doing the smart thing and working my way through the litany of the main story quests of the massively multiplayer role-playing game, so I would be caught up in time for the expansion’s release on November 23, however, I looked for frames. And among the many choices, a sneezing boy holds a special place in my heart.

My love affair with frames began with the Quartz Regalia. I don’t have a lasting affection for Final Fantasy XV, but seeing his iconic automobile return to Final Fantasy XIV has aroused a strange hunger. I wanted to drive this beefy muscle car around Eorzea, but more importantly I wanted to be seen flying this beefy muscle car around Eorzea.

As a relatively new FFXIV player, I don’t have any accomplishments to brag about or gorgeous outfits to stunt other players with. Here, I thought, it was an easy way to increase my loot exponentially.

Mounts, if you’re unfamiliar with MMOs, are items – cars, horses, planes, and all kinds of other transportation – that let you quickly zoom in on the genre’s huge digital worlds rather than running around. on foot like a schmuck. Over the course of its decade of existence, Final Fantasy XIV’s stable of creatures and riding gear has expanded to nearly 200 frames, with different requirements, ranging from upgrading to paying for real money, for unlocking everyone.

An easy way to acquire Final Fantasy XIV mounts is through regular in-game events, where you can interact with characters from other games or celebrate the fantasy version of the real-world vacation. One such event recently saw the cute boy from Final Fantasy XV Noctis Lucis Caelum mysteriously teleported to Hydaelyn (the planet FFXIV takes place on) and it was up to the players to help him repair his iconic motor vehicle, the Quartz Regalia, so he could return home.

Each time the event, first introduced in 2019, returns in Final Fantasy XIV, it unlocks several special Final Fantasy XV-themed items. Noctis’ all-black casual outfit, for example, is rewarded when you complete the event’s short questline, but if you want to complete the set with the prince’s hairstyle and automobile (which in FFXIV works as a four-seater mount), you will need to go to a casino known as The Gold Saucer.

Help me this car is hugeScreenshot: Square Enix / Kotaku

Yes, that’s how I got sucked into the gambling world of Final Fantasy XIV.

The Gold Saucer is a palace of diversions, all of which pay in a single currency known as Manderville Gold Saucer Points (MGP). You can participate in races from Chocobo, for example, or Maple Story style quest skipping. There are several lotteries, some of which promise huge MGP rewards. The casino even regularly hosts tournaments for Triple Triad, the card game from Final Fantasy VIII. It’s a really cool place that I’m just starting to appreciate.

That said, all this is nothing compared to the MGP which is to be gained in the Fashion Report, a weekly challenge to find clothes that closely match the themes presented by the contest organizer, an NPC named Masked Rose. Every Tuesday, Masked Rose brings you a new fashion challenge with vague demands like ‘wandering’ gloves or something ‘avant-garde’ for your feet, and it’s up to Final Fantasy XIV players to figure out what it is. ‘he means and to build a unique outfit.

It is possible to earn up to 60,000 MGP thanks to the Fashion Report and a little help from Kaiyoko Star, a Reddit user who publishes Fashion Report solutions every Friday. Thanks to Kaiyoko’s discoveries, I reliably added tens of thousands of MGP to my chests every week, which greatly aided my quest to purchase a Regalia mount for its asking price of 200,000 MGP. But once I got the car in my possession it felt like it was hollow. Did I really deserve it? I tried to fly it several times, but quickly returned to my trusty Chocobo.

As I just got started, I wasn’t around for the dark age of Final Fantasy XIV’s initial launch and subsequent rebirth under beloved producer Naoki Yoshida. I watched YouTube videos in my free time to learn more about this time, especially the wonderful Documentary Noclip on how the MMO was restarted.

At one point, host Danny O’Dwyer explains how players came together to form a wall of Goobbues (pictured in the video above) in one of the game’s main cities as the home world was nearing its cataclysmic end. I immediately fell in love with the big asshole monsters, and you can probably see where it’s going.

While I was disappointed to find that these original Goobbue mounts are no longer available, I quickly learned that the Laurel Goobbue variation is always offered as a reward for strengthening your relationship with a beast tribe – this is how FFXIV refers to non-playable races, which sucks – known as Sylphs. All you have to do is complete small quests daily, basically doing some grunt work for the fairies until they think you’re cool. Ultimately, they think you’re cool enough to afford to buy a Laurel Goobbue horn, which adds this charming creature to your suite of mounts.

After several days of faithfully completing these Beast Tribe quests, earning my Laurel Goobbue was far more of an accomplishment than just following someone’s dress-up instructions. I appreciate the community’s effort to solve the Fashion Report every week, of course, but helping the Sylph was a special way to get more involved in the world of Final Fantasy XIV, even though the missions themselves weren’t there. weren’t that fun. or convincing.

I relax with my Goobbue Screen capture: Square Enix / Kotaku

And seriously, look at the guy. It has a dedicated sneeze button and everything. How cute is he!

Sometimes it’s not about having the coolest clothes or the craziest frames. I found a simple joy in riding my glorious Goobbue from quest to quest. Maybe it’s because of the extra work I’ve done to get it, or maybe I just like to treat traditionally ugly things with all the love and respect given to their more aesthetic counterparts. .

I’m sure future updates will bring us more great mounts, but I can’t see myself giving up my Goobbue anytime soon.