Final Fantasy XIV

History's Note: This Know Your Meme entry focuses on the 2013 relaunch version of MMORPG video game Final Fantasy XIV, also known as Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. Please read the history below for 2010's defunct 1.0 Legacy version of Final Fantasy XIV.

About

Final Fantasy XIV,^{[1][3][4][8][14][17]} also known as the award winning re-release of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) and the fourteenth installment of the Final Fantasy franchise and second Final Fantasy MMORPG that takes place in the fantasy world of Eorzea. This game currently has over 22 million subscribers worldwide.^{[2][18][35][49][59]}

History

During development, Final Fantasy XIV, also termed as Version 1.0^[7] and Legacy, originally goes by the code name Rapture until at E3 2009 Square Enix reveals Final Fantasy XIV as the official name. On September 27, 2010, the collector's edition of Final Fantasy XIV was released and the standard edition a week later.

Reception

During the release of Final Fantasy XIV 1.0, the game critically receive very heavy criticism and very low scores, damaging the Final Fantasy franchise and the Square Enix company itself. Complaints included, but were not limited to, multiple lag and connection issues, dull and repetitive grinding just for leveling your first class, a "fatigue" system which halted players trying to level their characters by grinding heavily, a confusing and inflated crafting system, no way to even buy gear outside of crafters and copy/pasted environments padded out to try and make the game seem big. GameSpot rated the game 4/10, GameTrailers rated it 4.2/10, GameSpy rated it 2/5, IGN rated it 5.5/10, and Cheat Code Central rated it 4.2/5.

Shutdown

The Square Enix company officially apologized for the damage Final Fantasy XIV has caused and will be replacing a huge amount of development teams. Naoki Yoshida who also goes by the nickname of Yoshi-P was later given leadership as director and producer of Final Fantasy XIV to rework on the game by scratch. A final 1.0 update was released on November 2012, showing a red meteor getting closer every day, hinting the conclusion to the game's shutdown. On December 2012, the final day for shutdown arrived in order to fix the game. Legacy players that waited online for the countdown to shutdown was treated to a epic cinematic movie clip of the conclusion, showing the allied nations and the Warriors of Light in a war against the Garlean Empire, and the giant red meteor revealed to be the awakening of Bahamut. After the movie concludes, the game temporarily shuts down until relaunch.

Relaunch

On October 2011 during the release of Version 1.0 of Final Fantasy XIV, Square Enix announce the game's relaunch as Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn with the help of the new Final Fantasy XIV director and producer Naoki "Yoshi-P" Yoshida and its brand new developers. The storyline on Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn takes place 5 years after the 1.0 legacy timeline. Naoki Yoshida and team spend 2 years working 24/7 revamping everything by scratch. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn was relaunched on August 27th, 2013, for PC and PlayStation 3. The PlayStation 4 was later to transfer on April 14th, 2014 due to discontinuing the services of the PlayStation 3, and later backwards compatible with the launch of the PlayStation 5 on November 12th, 2020 with in-game PlayStation 4 Pro settings, quick loading times, and 4K graphics.

An Xbox One version of Final Fantasy XIV was also originally planned to be released with the PC and PlayStation, but due to the rules of cross-playing by Microsoft, Final Fantasy XIV did not release for the Xbox One. Naoki Yoshida interview with Wccftech^[33] to explain why Final Fantasy XIV is not coming to Xbox One^[32] is due to Microsoft's rules for not allowing cross-play, and why it's impossible to play Final Fantasy XIV on a Xbox One without cross-play. On November 15, 2019, A GameSpot^[31] article was posted to confirm that Xbox boss Phil Spencer is having good relations with Naoki Yoshida, and to announce from Phil Spencer that he's changing regulations to bring Final Fantasy XIV to Xbox One^[51] and cross-played after the X019 livestream has ended, but will not be coming on Xbox's Game Pass^[50] due to Final Fantasy XIV itself being a subscription-modeled game.

Relaunch Reception

Ever since the relaunch of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, the reception for the game receive overwhelmingly high praises^[54], high score reviews, multiple gaming awards^[9][26], several Guiness World Records^[10], and the only MMORPG people claiming this game to rival World of Warcraft as the very first "WoW killer". Later it found its way to create memes^[3] related to Final Fantasy XIV and Naoki Yoshida. A Final Fantasy XIV Awards and Nominations^[34] page shows the nominations and awards Final Fantasy XIV has been nominated and won.

On March 25th, 2020, the 2020 SXSW Gaming Awards announce the winners online due to the coronavirus outbreak that cause the decision to cancel the live event. Final Fantasy XIV won for Excellence in Multiplayer with a video of Naoki Yoshida thanking the 2020 SXSW Gaming Awards for the award.

Expansions

Heavensward

The first expansion pack, Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward, brings you new areas and content to discover in the snowy nation of Ishgard where the Warriors of Light must put an end to the Dragonsong War and to form a peace between the humans and the dragons.

Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward introduce a new 6th playable race, the Au Ra. Three new jobs such as the Dark Knight (tank), the Machinist (DPS), and the Astrologian (healer). New trials to battle (Ravana, Bismarck, Thordan / Knights of the Round, Warring Triad), new raids (Alexander series, Dun Scaith), flying mounts, and a level cap up to 60.

Heavensward was released on June 23rd, 2015, coming out to positive reviews.

Stormblood

The second expansion pack, Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood introduce you to explore new areas in the city-states of Ala Mhigo and Doma (similar to Doma from Final Fantasy VI) where the major antagonist Zenos yae Galvus of the Garlean Empire has taken over and the Warriors of Light must help Lyse who was formally Yda, and the liberators to reclaim their homelands from the Garlean Empire.

This expansion was officially announced at Final Fantasy Fan Festival 2016-2017 in the US, Europe, and Japan, in those orders. The release date was announced at Final Fantasy Fan Festival 2017 in Japan, aiming for a June 20, 2017 release. A level cap of 70 is increased, two new DPS jobs Red Mage and Samurai, new trial battles (Lakshmi, Susano, Shinryu, The Four Lords), new raids (Return to Ivalice from Final Fantasy Tactics / Final Fantasy XII, Omega series), swimming, expanded inventories, and many more features to be revamped.

Stormblood was released on June 20th, 2017, continuing it's streak of favorable reviews and press, albeit with a rocky start due to overloading on the servers, though not to the level of 1.0.

Shadowbringers

The third expansion pack, Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers was announced on November 16th, 2018, during Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival 2018-2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. In this expansion, the Warriors Of Light is tasked with traveling to a new world known as The First, where it's collapse in imminent due to an overabundance of light aether. The Warriors of Light must now don the mantle of darkness as the Warriors of Darkness and find a way to bring this world back from the brink.

With Shadowbringers, the level cap was increased to level 80 for all jobs (except the limited-job Blue Mage) and came with two new jobs; the Gunbreaker, a tank who uses a gunblade similar to Squall from Final Fantasy VIII, and the Dancer from Final Fantasy V, a DPS who uses chakram throwing weapons, and a dance partner to give buffs while they deal damage. Two new playable races were also released, this time with the unusual point that both were gender locked, a move only previously seen with 1.0's Miqo'te and Roegadyn, the races being the long-awaited female-only Viera from the Ivalice series of Final Fantasy, and the male-only Hrothgar similar to the Ronso race from Final Fantasy X. New raids include the Eden series similar to Final Fantasy VIII, and a 24 person raid YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse, is set to release that takes place in Nier: Automata and involves Yoko Taro and Yosuke Saito as writers. New additions included new trials (Titania, Innocence, Hades, the Weapons), a Trust system similar to Final Fantasy XI but different, new data centers for NA and EU, new dungeons and a New Game Plus system.

Shadowbringers was released on July 2nd 2019, after a early access period for people who bought the expansion early.

Shadowbringers Reception

Reviews were shining for the expansion, with IGN saying that Shadowbringers "has only further solidified Final Fantasy XIV's status as one of the greatest Final Fantasy games ever made."^[28], Destructoid also chiming in and saying that "Final Fantasy XIV is arguably the best it has ever been."^[29]

On September 1st, 2019, Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers main scenario writer & co-writer for Shadowbringers' YorHa raid storyline Natsuko Ishikawa alongside Takeo Suzuki introduce themselves to the public at PAX West 2019 to talk about the creation and behind the scenes of Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers. After Natsuko Ishikawa introduce herself as the main scenario writer for Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers, the crowd highly praises and cheers for her as she breaks in tears of joy.^[46]

Endwalker

The fourth expansion pack, Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker, was announced at digital event FINAL FANTASY XIV Announcement Showcase on February 5th, 2021, and later FINAL FANTASY XIV Digital Fan Festival 2021 on May 14th, 2021, for the rest of the information to reveal due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. In Endwalker, the long-running saga between Hydaelyn and Zodiark that began with the relaunch of A Realm Reborn will come to a legendary conclusion and to begin a new chapter in the Final Fantasy XIV storyline. Meanwhile, the Stormblood antagonist Zenos yae Galvus awaits his reunion with the Warrior of Light to finish where they left off.

Endwalker introduces new areas to explore and to stop further threats; New cities like Old Sharlayan and Radz-at-Han, and new areas such as Thavnair, the imperial capital of Garlemald, Labyrinthos, Mare Lamentorum, and even the Moon (similar to Final Fantasy IV). Endwalker also introduces a level cap to 90, two new jobs; the Sage (Healer with Nouliths, floating magical hi-tech swords), and the Reaper (melee DPS with a two-handed scythe), male Viera as a playable new race (and female Hrothgar at a much later patch), a high-difficulty raid Pandæmonium (similar to Final Fantasy II and Final Fantasy IX), a new 24-man raid series Myths of the Realm, new trials (Anima, The Magus Sisters), Island Sanctuary, Ishgard housing, Estinien Wyrmblood as a Trust ally, and World Data Center Travel System.

Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker will be available November 23rd, 2021.

Final Fantasy XIV Classic Response: "Nightmare!"

On June 15th 2019, during interviews with Naoki Yoshida at E3 2019, Michael Damiani of Easy Allies^[52][53] asked Naoki Yoshida that it's been a decade since the announcement of Final Fantasy XIV and Michael Damiani wonders if he ever consider bringing back the classic 1.0 servers like Blizzard Entertainment did with World of Warcraft Classic. Naoki Yoshida burst into a laughing reaction and responded "Nightmare!".

Character Representatives

Because Final Fantasy XIV is a MMORPG like Final Fantasy XI, there is no main protagonist in the game except for the character customized to play as. However there is character representatives that substitutes favorable characters as a protagonist / antagonist in a roster of other protagonists and antagonists from major crossover Final Fantasy related games like Dissidia: Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, and World of Final Fantasy. Similar to the Final Fantasy XI staff's conclusion to select Shantotto as the protagonist representative and later Kam'lanaut as the antagonist representative for Final Fantasy XI, the Final Fantasy XIV staff concludes to select Y'shtola Rhul^[5] as protagonist representation for Final Fantasy XIV due to the Miqo'te race being the most popular in the series along with Y'shtola being the most recognizable and favorable character. Zenos yae Galvus^[40] was later announced as the antagonist representative for Final Fantasy XIV.

Naoki Yoshida still has in mind on other Final Fantasy XIV characters he would originally love to bring to major Final Fantasy related crossover games (besides F2P mobile Final Fantasy games) like Alphinaud Leveilleur and Nael van Darnus.

Movies & Television Series Adaptations

Final Fantasy XIV: Dad of Light

Final Fantasy XIV: Dad of Light^[21], also known as Daddy of Light, is a heartfelt and inspiring original Japanese TV series that aired in Japan on April 16, 2017, and later aired worldwide on Netflix^[20] as a original series on September 1, 2017. Based on a true story in this live-action series, the story focuses on a father and son rekindle their bond through the online role-playing game Final Fantasy XIV. The reviews remain a mixed balance but mostly towards positive. Rotten Tomatoes^[22] gave the show a 100% score while the audience gave a score of 57%. on February 21, 2018, Japanese actor Ren Osugi^[23] who played as the father in Final Fantasy XIV: Dad of Light passed away of a heart failure at the age of 66. Maidy^[57] also passed away of cancer on December 11, 2020.

Television Series

A live-action Final Fantasy XIV television series by the producers of Netflix’s The Witcher[ as their second television adaptation of a major video game franchise, has been announced^[36] on June 27th, 2019. Square Enix teams up with Sony Pictures Television and Hivemind for the live-action TV series to happen. Originally the ideas were going to be a live-action television series of Final Fantasy VII. Dinesh Shamdasani told IGN^[44] during an interview at New York Comic Con 2019 that it was a hard choice and everything they want to do will go towards Final Fantasy XIV. An update has been posted on December 29th, 2019 by Gamer Escape^[45] that screenwriter Jake Thornton on Twitter announce the script is finished and currently looking for directors. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most TV production including a live-action Final Fantasy XIV show are at a standstill.

Notable YouTubers

Mrhappy1227

Mrhappy1227^[15] or sometimes Mister Happy is a YouTuber, gamer, and main focus on everything Final Fantasy XIV related. He focuses on mostly podcasting, Square Enix news, and Final Fantasy XIV guides on how to defeat bosses on extreme / savage difficulties. Mister Happy is also a legacy player from the defuntct 1.0 of Final Fantasy XIV and played it all the way to the shutdown and relaunch.

Work to Game

Work to Game^[16] is a YouTube gaming channel run by Brian and Chris that post YouTube rants on gaming related news and also things Final Fantasy XIV related including news and guides on harder difficulty raids and trials.

A Recipe Reborn

A Recipe Reborn^[41] who goes by Lemon Drop is a culinary arts student and gamer who cooks food based on the meals from Final Fantasy XIV. Partnered with YouTube, she runs a cooking channel on YouTube to teach people how to cook meals as seen on Final Fantasy XIV. She also runs A Recipe Reborn official website for guides on recipes and cooking instructions.

Alex Moukala

Alex Moukala of Alex Moukala Music^[55] is a African British professional music composer who focuses on music from video games and sometimes skits, mostly from the Final Fantasy franchise and Final Fantasy XIV.

Crossovers

Like most MMORPG games that has limited time holiday events, Final Fantasy XIV does limited time collaborations with not only just franchises by Square Enix, but with other franchises outside Square Enix. Some collaborations became permanent for Final Fantasy XIV such as Monster Hunter World^[13] and Nier: Automata. In fairness, other companies like Sega and Capcom did the same by collaborating Final Fantasy XIV with some of their games.

Naoki Yoshida had in mind of other collaborations in hoping he would bring to Final Fantasy XIV. In a interview with MonsterVine,^[12] Yoshida was asked if he could pick any franchise to cross over with, which would he pick and what characters and monsters from that franchise would he want to work on. Yoshida replied that his dream^[58] is to team with Blizzard Entertainment to work on a World of Warcraft and Diablo collaboration and other Blizzard games would make his life complete since he is a fan of games by Blizzard Entertainment. In another crossover related interview with Official PlayStation Magazines,^[47] Yoshida jokingly said that he'll drop everything to work on Diablo 4. Another collaboration^[25] Yoshida's a big fan of and would love to bring to Final Fantasy XIV is Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire. But knowing Naoki Yoshida, he admits that he's a fan boy at heart.

Final Fantasy XIV Crossovers

• Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII – In this first collaboration event and celebration of the release of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII for the PlayStation 3, players can fight alongside the Final Fantasy XIII protagonist Lightning in FATE battles against enemies similar to Final Fantasy XIII to help Lightning get back to her home world.

• Final Fantasy XI – Two Final Fantasy XI collaborations were made. The first Final Fantasy XI event takes place in a FATE battle against a giant mechanical version of Shantotto, the major representation for Final Fantasy XI. The second Final Fantasy XI event takes place during the release of Final Fantasy XI's scenario and conclusion of the Final Fantasy XI storyline Rhapsodies of Vana'diel. Players must help the main heroine of Rhapsodies of Vana'diel, Iroha, survive FATE battles against enemies similar to Final Fantasy XI.

• Dragon Quest X – In celebration of the currently Japan-only MMORPG game Dragon Quest X and the tenth installment of the Dragon Quest franchise by Square Enix, players can fight the familiar Dragon Quest Brickman enemies in FATE battles.

• Yo-Kai Watch – Players can collect Yo-Kai medals from FATE battles with a selected Yo-Kai minion in certain areas, in exchange for Yo-Kai minions and Yo-Kai themed weapons from the anime series Yo-Kai Watch.

• GARO – A PvP (Player versus Player) event for players to purchase GARO themed equipment to earn GARO related achievement titles and mounts from the Japanese TV series GARO. This event ended after the release of Patch 5.1.

• Monster Hunter World – Announced at E3 2018^[19] from the Square Enix panel, Final Fantasy XIV is collaborating with Capcom's Monster Hunter World. Players can experience fighting against the iconic Rathalos and earn in-game items from the Monster Hunter franchise.

• Final Fantasy's Ivalice Series – Return to Ivalice is a 24-player raid series from Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood with the Ivalice series creator Yasumi Matsuno as guest creator of the raid series, and the creator of the GARO anime series Keita Amemiya as the guest lead monster designer. Return to Ivalice is based on the Ivalice series of the Final Fantasy franchise, Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII. The Viera character Fran from Final Fantasy XII makes her appearance as a supporting character, hinting as a playable Viera race for Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers.

• Nier: Automata – During the announcement of Final Fantasy XIV's third expansion pack Shadowbringers at Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival 2018-2019, Naoki Yoshida announce his partnership with Yoko Taro to work on a Nier: Automata 24-man raid series for Shadowbringers titled YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse. The Nier: Automata raid began at the launch of Patch 5.1.

• Final Fantasy XV – In this collaboration, the players must protect the Final Fantasy XV protagonist Noctis and help him find his way back to his home world. By completing a chain of Final Fantasy XV quests and certain FATE battles, players can be rewarded with in-game items from Final Fantasy XV.

Crossovers With Final Fantasy XIV

• Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII – The protagonist Lightning can equip a Miqo'te costume to resemble a female Miqo'te adventurer from Final Fantasy XIV.

• Phantasy Star Online 2 – On July 2016, Japanese MMORPG game Phantasy Star Online 2 announce a Final Fantasy XIV collaboration^[6] on the Japanese livestream Nico Nico. The preview videos were shown players fighting the primal Odin, similar to the Odin battle as seen on Final Fantasy XIV. Players can be rewarded with adventurer costumes from Final Fantasy XIV.

• Monster Hunter World – Hunters can go on a quest to solve the mysteries of familiar appearances coming from their world and to later hunt down the Behemoth from the Final Fantasy franchise. Completing hunting down Behemoth for parts can let you exchange for armor pieces and a insect glaive to similar the Dragoon from Final Fantasy XIV.

• Final Fantasy XV – In one of the final DLCs for Final Fantasy XV, a Final Fantasy XIV collaboration quest has been introduced. The protagonist Noctis and his friends encounters a Miqo'te accompanied by a fat chocobo. She gives you a quest to fight the primal Garuda. Completing the quest will reward you Final Fantasy XIV in-game items.

• Pusheen – On September 6th, 2019, the Final Fantasy XIV Lodestone page announce a partnership with the Pusheen^[42] artists to create Final Fantasy XIV themed web comics of Pusheen as Final Fantasheen.

• The Gary Sinise Foundation – A special Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers pre-order promotional website^[43] shows the partnership with The Gary Sinies Foundation to help raise charity toward national and local programs. A trailer of their collaboration reveal heroic firefighters as the real-life Warriors in the Darkness.

Interactions with World Of Warcraft

While World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV have never directly interacted with each other, they have on occasion crossed paths on Twitter. The first time occurred when Final Fantasy XIV launched it's 3.3 patch for its first expansion pack Heavensward, Revenge Of The Horde, ^[24]causing the World Of Warcraft Twitter page to air the confusion due to one of their factions being the Horde.

Prepare for Patch 3.3--Revenge of the Horde! #FFXIV pic.twitter.com/QsivFKQC3h

— FINAL FANTASY XIV (@FF_XIV_EN) April 29, 2016

.@Warcraft Don't worry, we are prepared. pic.twitter.com/dnYVR9JXF2

— FINAL FANTASY XIV (@FF_XIV_EN) April 29, 2016

The most notorious and noteworthy of these interactions came in April 5th, 2017, when a Twitter user name S1N3N asked which one of the two games he should play, ^[11]resulting in both trying to one-up each other just for fun.

Laser eyes, huh? Here, have a building-sized meteor. pic.twitter.com/vdGxUxfvMB

— FINAL FANTASY XIV (@FF_XIV_EN) April 5, 2017

That’s big, but we’ll raise you an entire moon harbouring the elder primal Bahamut! If Deathwing is lucky he might get an audience! :) pic.twitter.com/1S0FYEJyc8

— FINAL FANTASY XIV (@FF_XIV_EN) April 6, 2017

That's a shame. Let us know if you need some heroes to help protect Azeroth! pic.twitter.com/kuGLkDfmru

— FINAL FANTASY XIV (@FF_XIV_EN) April 7, 2017

A few months later after the release of Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringer on September 30th, 2019, a Reddit^[48] post on r/ffxiv explains that Nathanial Chapman, a former World of Warcraft designer, was taking a vacation to Japan and drop by to Square Enix headquarters to surprise Naoki Yoshida and the Final Fantasy XIV team with congratulatory gifts from the Blizzard Entertainment artists for the release of Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers. One of the gifts involves an artwork card of a crossover of creatures from World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV with the Murlocs congratulating Chocobos and Moogles for the successful expansion release of Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers.

On November 1st, 2019, during BlizzCon 2019 after World of Warcraft announce its upcoming eight expansion pack Shadowlands, Final Fantasy XIV wishes World of Warcraft the best of luck^[38] in the Shadowlands on Twitter, knowing that Final Fantasy XIV's current expansion Shadowbringers show similarities with the expansion and its name that starts with Shadow.

Good luck in the Shadowlands, @Warcraft! pic.twitter.com/l4encZ2cjn

— FINAL FANTASY XIV (@FF_XIV_EN) November 1, 2019

On November 23rd, 2020, World of Warcraft: Shadowlands has launched to public servers. While most known people on Twitter are congratulating World of Warcraft on the launch of their 8th expansion Shadowlands, the most recognized came from Final Fantasy XIV congratulating World of Warcraft^[56] and welcoming them to the shadows due to their expansions named after 'Shadow'. With fans from both sides hyped from the responses, the tweet gained 4.3K Retweets and 21.9K Likes in less than 24 hours. Square Enix's Twitter page also weighs in to see Final Fantasy XIV congratulating World of Warcraft and retweeted Glad to see the darkness bringing friends together.

Thank you. 🤜🤛

— World of Warcraft (@Warcraft) November 23, 2020

Glad to see the darkness bringing friends together👍 https://t.co/vbc219wJbF

— Square Enix (@SquareEnix) November 23, 2020

Powerman 5000 Controversy

With the release of Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward Patch 3.2 came a boss fight involving one of the Warring Triad (a reference to Final Fantasy VI_), Sephirot the Fiend. During the second half of the fight, Sephirot transforms and the soundtrack "_Fiend" starts playing, a piece of industrial rock made by Masayoshi Soken for the fight. Shortly after the release of Patch 3.2, the band Powerman 5000 claimed that the song was a ripoff of their hit "When World Collide" and was theft. After this, Naoki Yoshida took to the FFXIV forum and clarified the situation, stating that industrial rock can sound like a lot of other genres and both he and Soken has no idea of the song existing.^[30] Shortly afterward Powerman 5000 deleted their post and dropped the statement.

A comic by Stan Kelly on Twitter was posted to describe Powerman 5000's complaint.

References to Internet Culture

A numerous of references^[27] in Final Fantasy XIV are commonly everywhere whenever it's from a achievement, a quote, or quests. Here are some samples of internet type references that happen in the game below.

• David Bowie: In Heavensward, the second boss of the Antitower dungeon is a spriggan creature name Ziggy who can summon a group of meteors known as Stardust. This is a reference to Ziggy Stardust, a song from David Bowie's album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: In A Realm Reborn, the Guildhest called Hero on the Halfshell is a reference of the slogan Heroes in a Half Shell. Another is a FATE called Clearing the Hive features two bosses, Severaint Seven Splinter and his pet adamantoise Shredder, referencing the characters Splinter and Shredder.

• Trololo / Russian Rickroll: During the main quest in A Realm Reborn, players meet a character named Tataru. While alone, before the player arrives, one of the tunes she sings is "Trololo-lo", a reference of the troll song and Russian singer Eduard Khil.

• My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic: In A Realm Reborn, after gaining your Chocobo, you get a achievement titled My Little Chocobo. Another is a follow-up quest is called My Feisty Little Chocobo where the player learns to summon his/her Chocobo into battle. These are references of the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic franchise by Hasbro.

• Shut Up And Take My Money!: In A Realm Reborn, a levequest titled "Shut Up and Take My Gil", is a reference to the meme line "Shut Up And Take My Money!!" of the protagonist Fry from Futurama episode Attack of the Killer App.

• Rip and Tear: In Stormblood, the last dungeon boss of Doma Castle, Hypertuned Grynewaht, screams "RIP AND TEAR!!!" during battle. This is a reference of a famous quote from the Doom comic book.

Related Memes & Term Memes

GAF'D

GAF’D is a inside joke term directed towards originally a NeoGAF guild, now currently a ResetERA guild, for controversial and impatient actions against elite ranked enemies done purposely wrong by ResetERA players during patch 2.3 Defenders of Eorzea where players are introduce to elite ranked enemies to hunt together as a group for in-game item rewards and achievements.

Balmung

Balmung is a server in the North American world Crystal that is jokingly used and criticized as a inside joke tyoe of term to provoke role player (RP) type of players doing erotic role playing, or ERP for short.

WoWfugees

A WoWfugees is a term for World of Warcraft Refugees that Final Fantasy XIV players call them for quitting World of Warcraft in order to play Final Fantasy XIV.

Sloppy!

Sloppy! is a known line said by a end-boss dungeon The Griffin / Ilberd during battle in the final conclusion of the Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward. This line has quickily been used for memes with the character Illberd involved.

Haurchefant's Death

Haurchefant's Death is a famous emotional scene of the death of Haurchefant Greystone, also known as Haurchefant of the Silver Fuller in Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward. Fans have treated his death as popular as the death of Aerith Gainsborough from Final Fantasy VII. A Haurchefant memorial stand was shown every Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival, laying gifts and flowers to pay the respects of Haurchefant.

Raubhan's Wall / Raubhan Extreme

Rauhban's Wall, also known as Raubhan Extreme, is a reference to an early instance in Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood. In it, players were tasked with setting up an ambush with Rauhban, part of the Eorzean Alliance, but due to the vast amount of traffic and server errors at the start, only a small number of people could actually play the instance at a time. Because Raubhan himself was the trigger point to it, it was quickly joked that it was an EX version of a instance, with Raubahn being the nigh-unbeatable boss, hence the name.

The Immaculate Janitor

The Immaculate Janitor, commonly known as Vauthryposting, It's Him! / It's Janny!, and Video Games On My /v/, is a 4chan reference of a certain janitor on 4chan's /v/ board with a grudge against Final Fantasy XIV threads except for World of Warcraft threads, and comparing the janitor to the secondary antagonist Vauthry / Innocence from Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers.

The Great Serpent of Ronka

The Great Serpent of Ronka, also goes by the sound of Scree!, is a companion and minion of a cute little snake from Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers that represents The Great Serpent of Ronka. This has been used for mainly Final Fantasy XIV related memes. After the Final Fantasy XIV devs including Naoki Yoshida got the message of The Great Serpent of Ronka along with La Hee being a favorite Final Fantasy XIV meme from the fans, they made a Beast Tribe area and daily quest chain in the Rak'tika Greatwoods to be rewarded with minions and a mount related to The Great Serpent of Ronka on patch 5.2.

La Hee

La Hee is a lyric from a song playing in the Rak'tika Greatwoods in Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers that quickily became a famous Final Fantasy XIV meme along with The Great Serpent of Ronka. Like The Great Serpent of Ronka meme that caught the attention of the devs including Naoki Yoshida, they made an arranged version of La Hee as part of the Beast Tribe quest chain on patch 5.2 when entering the Beast Tribe area at the Rak'tika Greatwoods.

You Don't Pay My Subs

You Don't Pay My Subs is a counter term when a player gives anoter player constructive criticism whether that player forgets what to do.

Such Devastation

Such Devastation is a known reaction line from A Realm Reborn antagonist Gaius van Baelsar after the ascian and antagonist Lahabrea convinced Gaius to unleash the spell Ultima, which ends up blowing up the entire Praetorium. Gaius then quoted his famous reaction line "Such Devastation! This was not my intention!".

The Twinning

The Twinning / A Long Fall is a leitmotif rock remix of Syrcus Tower and Omega's Theme used in dungeon The Twinning, which later began becoming a popular subject of dancing-related memes and videos.

Red Comet

Red Comet is a red chocobo NPC from the Blades of Gunnhildr relic weapons series The Bozjan Southern Front in Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers as part of the Ivalice crossover storyline from Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII. Like The Hogger from World of Warcraft, except Red Comet is known to be notoriously difficult to battle with abilities that requires lots of dodging speed. Red Comet later became memeworthy for its difficulty.

The Critically Acclaimed MMORPG

The Critically Acclaimed MMORPG is a advertising copypasta from Final Fantasy XIV that promotes the MMORPG with the message Have you tried the critically acclaimed MMORPG FINAL FANTASY XIV that has a free trial up to level 60 including the Heavensward expansion?. It later became a copypasta meme from fans.

Search Interest

External References