How Final Fantasy 14 Fans Are Looking Forward to the Next 10 Years, Starting With Dawntrail

ign.com:

On July 28, Square Enix’s Creative Business Unit III unveiled the newest expansion for Final Fantasy 14, Dawntrail, at the 2023 FF14 Fan Festival. The energy on the show floor was electric, especially since it had been several years since a physical Fan Festival took place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following the events of Endwalker — the previous expansion which concluded the decade-long Hydaelyn and Zodiark arc — the development team had suggested that the next adventure would be a return to form for the game. Rather than an Etheirys-defining story, the beginning of the next narrative arc for the MMORPG would focus on recapturing the sense of adventure of earlier expansions.

To learn more about the community’s reaction to the Dawntrail reveal and what they want to see from the MMORPG’s future, I spoke with several FF14 players who attended the event. While overwhelming excitement was the predominant thread, some within the game’s incredibly diverse community are approaching Dawntrail with understandable trepidation. They also reflected on their journey with Endwalker, and how that experience has shaped their anticipation for what’s to come.

During the keynote, the crowd in the Las Vegas Convention Center roared as if the state of the world depended on it once the announcement trailer was first revealed. While I’m aware of the FF14 community’s infectious energy as an avid player myself, it was another thing to be in the room when everyone erupted in a cacophony of noise over Meteor — the affectionate name the community has for the protagonist used in FF14’s promotional material — and his new hairstyle. This energy never wavered throughout the event, during which people on the show floor would cheer when the Dawntrail