During this time of social distance and self quarantine, we all have to find ways of occupying ourselves. I’ve found several “constructive” ways of filling my time. I have taken some free classes online, started learning java from my husband, and cleaned a lot of things in my house. Even with all of that, what I do the most is listen to my husband work, and listen to him play games…more often than not, Final Fantasy XIV.
I’ve ranted in past blogs about his work, and I’m sure I will do so in future blogs as well. (I want to add this every time I talk about his work and the incompetence of their management…this is the norm in every company. When I complain about my husband’s workplace, I’m complaining about American corporate culture in general.) This blog isn’t a rant, it’s more a musing about how he plays Final Fantasy XIV.
Like many others who play MMOs, he has a static group who get together on specific days to take on super hard raid bosses. Often, it will take weeks, or longer, for them to memorize the boss’ patterns to be able to take him on perfectly, so they can defeat him. It’s like watching them practice the choreography for some sort of virtual battle ballet.
One of the things that I find really puzzling and amusing about it all, is that they have their own (code?) language, I guess. Apparently “salty” means difficult or undesirable. For example, in the middle of the fight my husband will say, “Ah shit, this is going to be salty.” He also yells out the word “reprisal” a lot, but uses it as a verb, “Reprisaling.” I assume that “reprisal” is a move his character can use, most likely some sort of counter attack (since the definition of the noun reprisal is – an act of retaliation).
I find it amazing and beautiful to watch how much time, effort, preparation, and strategic thought these guys put into defeating these bosses. They work together as a team, each person having a designated role, tanks distract the target and take damage, healers, ensure that the team have enough health, dps concentrate on dealing damage to the target. All this is maintained while understanding the boss’ mechanics and dancing through the virtual choreography. It truly is poetry in motion.
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