Glamor hunters FF14: the sneakerheads who kill God within the identify of (2024)

i assumed Last Fantasy 14 the glamor hunters – the gamers who commit lots of of hours to amassing items of apparatus and in-game wardrobe objects in Sq. Enix’s MMORPG – had been an unapproachable bunch of players. From the skin, they seem able to clearing all raids, no matter problem degree. They’re lone ranger hunters out for blood and very centered on grinding for his or her objectives. They’ve the persistence of nice white sharks stalking their prey (which, on this case, could be a shirt or pair of pants, identified within the sport as “glamorous”). I used to be flawed.

Once I reached out to a handful of glamor hunters on Discord, Reddit, and Twitter, anticipating pushback, I used to be greeted with enthusiasm. Once I requested for highlights of their glam hunts, anticipating to listen to one thing like an ESPN play-by-play announcer, I discovered that “sport” wasn’t even the correct metaphor for the glam hunt. For deep players, looking is one thing nearer to language.

This is smart if you happen to consider the hunt for glam as a real a part of the style dialog—these gamers are proper up there with sneakerheads, Vivienne Westwood acolytes, or devoted Fragrantica reviewers. As a result of hiding out on Grailed or Depop for restricted version objects, the equal of taking over tough raids like Savages, is barely a part of the expertise. “Being trendy” additionally means speaking about why you want Ann Demeulemeester or swapping recommendations on what to put on with a beautiful prime or platform boots. The identical goes for glam looking; regardless of happening inside the realm of FF14, the cutting-edge interest has extra to do with aftermath than looking. What I’ve found concerning the artwork of glam looking is that the purpose is all concerning the glam hunters themselves: not simply assembling wonderful garments, however sharing them with a robust neighborhood of fashionistas and discovering individuals who converse the identical language.

Picture: Sq. Enix through Leon Aquitaine

The character of FF14 being an MMORPG, launched in 2010, relaunched in 2013 and obtained 4 expansions through the years, means that there’s a enormous plate of actions and numerous methods to play. If a participant is barely keen on crafting, he could spend most of his time enhancing Disciples of the Hand abilities equivalent to leatherworking and blacksmithing. In the event that they’re solely keen on mahjong and mini-games, the in-game amusem*nt park The Gold Saucer has every little thing they want. Then there’s the glamor hunt.

The builders behind FF14 pay shut consideration in making the glamorous partaking. Typically throughout quests in the primary storyline, gamers get an outfit associated to the story or area. Endwalkers, the fourth enlargement pack that concludes the years-long story arc between Zodiark and Hydaelyn, rewards gamers with a black sophist’s gown in Elpis, a analysis facility set within the distant world Unsundered. Gamers can put on the black tunic over their armor to mix in with the Ancients. Participant Monsoon (brief for Monsoon-in-a-mug), an everyday on FF14 glamor subreddit, he informed me he usually switches to glam that matches the setting when he travels alongside the primary story. “It is humorous as a result of at one level in the primary story they ship you to a chilly place. Like they maintain speaking about how chilly it’s there,” Monsoon mentioned. “Additionally they exit of their strategy to give you a coat and every little thing. How will you not lean into that?

Glams are positioned elsewhere within the sport. You do not essentially have to “hunt” for glamor if that is not your purpose. For those who comply with the primary state of affairs quests, the gear will drop robotically, and getting items simply to do the subsequent dungeon or raid alongside the MSQ is not tough. It is solely a hunt if you happen to rummage by means of Beast Tribe inventories, order objects that carry you retainers, and decide to working the identical dungeon a number of occasions to get a selected piece.

Picture: Sq. Enix

There are a lot of the reason why players go looking for glam. Some have informed me that they like placing outfits collectively in actual life, so why not do it FF14 mashed potato? One other informed me level clean that he does not even like chasing glam, however he hunts glam anyway as a result of it is a means to an finish for the items. (That is proper.) Monsoon mentioned he began the glamor chase as a result of he offered a focus amidst the dizzying and overwhelming quantity of chasing within the sport.

Many gamers have additionally mentioned that the hunt for glamor has led them to expertise fights that they in any other case wouldn’t have confronted, particularly Savages.

Savages are the toughest raids FF14 and completely optionally available. You needn’t full them to progress by means of the primary story quest, however they current a problem to these searching for extra excessive fight experiences.

It is onerous to explain how dead-on-the-floor you would be if you first attempt a Savage. Success requires a transparent sense of optimum rotation of your work and spending a major period of time along with your raiding social gathering to make clear. It is like a standard date night time with seven different folks, however as an alternative of one thing romantic, the gamers are killing a gaming god.

FF14 participant Iggy she mentioned her most memorable glam-hunting expertise was managing her first Savage. “I used to be crushed,” she mentioned. However he added that he did not remorse on a regular basis he spent searching for out guides, training rotations, and asking his Free Firm (in-game player-run guilds) as a result of he made him a greater participant.

One other participant, Lizzie, had an analogous story for his or her raid entry level. “What actually bought me raiding was pestering my FC into becoming a member of me for Omega Savage raids to get the tops for my White Mage and Dancer,” Lizzie mentioned. “They don’t seem to be too onerous to finish nowadays, however you continue to need to put within the effort.”

FF14 participant Cassie, however, gave Raid Finder a primary go as a result of she wished “armor from principally each raid in Nier.” (No surprise the glams of Nier automata collaboration with FF14 they had been massively profitable.)

Raids and dungeons are the first locations gamers get glam, and a lot of the gamers I spoke to centered on getting glam out of these arenas. However Monsoon is one such participant who likes to hunt glam in unlikely locations.

He identified that there aren’t many rewards for off-the-beaten-path quests FF14however they exist. Rhalgr’s Attain in Storm blood has one such aspect quest, known as “Ant Juice”, and provides gamers a blindfold. It’s fairly a brief quest and the participant simply must sprinkle some powder to lure a monster, defeat it and return to the NPC Ranulf for the reward. Monsoon’s favourite and least identified glam merchandise was obtained by means of a Kugane quest known as “The New King of the Stump”. After acquiring the scales from a defeated wyvern-looking monster known as Rathalos, gamers can rework them into armor retailers who, as you’d count on, look very wyvern-like. It is simple to overlook, Monsoon mentioned, for the reason that sport does not notably flag it.

“Many of the issues which can be off the crushed observe are issues which have been forgotten. Lots of the Beast tribes reward the consultant with a set of armor that appears like them,” Monsoon mentioned. “You possibly can appear like a turtle man if you happen to date the Kojin lengthy sufficient!”

Picture: Sq. Enix through Lizzie

As for the Why Of all this time spent looking for digital clothes, what gamers usually introduced up was the completely different glamorous communities they participated in and the way they helped one another, whether or not it was buying and selling suggestions, planning hunts collectively, or taking part in challenges at theme.

Eorzea Assortment, a web site that catalogs glamor and a spot the place anybody can add pictures of their glamour, has been popping up in nearly each chat. Iggy is a patron of the location and an everyday on the Eorzea Assortment Discord. Every month, contributors vote on a glamor problem and share glam associated to the profitable theme on the Discord neighborhood. Throwback themes embody handmade trend, glam made solely with handcrafted objects, and for the story to begin after Endwalkers completed, Newfound Journey outfit.

FF14 participant Wynn can also be a part of one other glamorous neighborhood, known as Krumpets. The group organizes weekly glamor competitions within the Gridania amphitheater. Wynn additionally participates in themed glams with different gamers and was additionally a part of a five-person glam themed across the pure parts. “I used to be the Avatar of Hearth and my associates had been Water, Lightning, Wind and Earth,” Wynn mentioned.

“I’ve a gaggle of associates who like related actions and we determined to work on elemental units, a type of armor with uncommon emissive particulars” FF14 participant Leon Aquitaine mentioned. He added that they’d an satisfying couple of weeks romping by means of Eureka collectively, and once they earned the items collectively, they felt a way of euphoria.

For Lizzie, it is like a type of e-book membership inside the sport. “Each time I create a brand new glam, I ship it to my static lead and she’s going to ship me hers.” Lizzie enjoys buying and selling glamor suggestions with different gamers and fascinating her FC in materials hunts for crafting glamours, like Chocobo Pajamas. “Many of the questions I ask when it comes to glam recommendation are dye-related, since quite a lot of gear within the sport does not at all times dye properly,” Lizzie mentioned. “If somebody asks me for recommendation, I often begin by asking what sort of vibe they are going for together with her look. Does the outfit look balanced? Wish to mimic a basic workwear look? Create essentially the most cursed outfit you’ve got ever seen? It additionally helps new gamers loads to grasp the place the objects come from, are there duplicates which can be simpler to get or dye higher?”

Cursed garments?

“I feel usually,” provides Lizzie, “something involving animal costume heads and regular clothes is 100% cursed and menacing, particularly the frog head.”

Many players who repeatedly hunt glam do not do it themselves, and actually, looking glam is not a solo interest. It is a strategy to study different folks’s design language, get inspiration from different folks, or simply have Fats Chocobo Head glam gatherings on the Gold Saucer.

Leon informed me concerning the very first second he actually bought into glam-hunting, an exercise he hadn’t paid a lot consideration to beforehand.

“At some point, capturing some scripts in Firmament, a sort stranger despatched me a /inform saying how good that glam was, how a lot he appreciated it and that I ought to add it to the Eorzea Assortment… And the remaining, as they are saying, is historical past,” Leon mentioned. “So to you, form glamorous stranger: thanks a lot for these phrases of encouragement! I might by no means be right here with out you.”