I have all sorts of reason for creating new characters/alts in Final Fantasy 14, but sometimes I just make them as a way of coping with the stresses of the real world. Even then, I have a basic idea of what I’m going for and have names and backstories picked out before entering character creation.
Alas, I’d reached the 40 character limit on my main FFXIV account but I really didn’t want to fantasia or delete any of my existing characters because they’re all important to me. So I decided to create a second FFXIV service account on my main one and got just the basic game for 20 bucks because even that includes up through the Stormblood expansion.
The second service account came with 30 days of free play time and I got another 15 days when my first character on the account reached level 30. I also got the million gil bonus at level 30 for the first character because I made that one and the following three on the Dynamis server. All four of my newest characters also have the road to 90 level buff for as long as it exists on Dynamis, which at this point is looking like forever. Works for me!
I was curious to see if I could get the refer a friend bonus from my original service account to my new one and sure enough, I could! Now my original account received additional gold chocobo feathers from the second account and the second account will get the friendship circlet if/when I decide to pay a sub for it. Of course my second account doesn’t have all the goodies of my first account, such as my various account-wide mounts, so I might reroll some characters her and there as time goes on. I did get the second account the account-wide Adventurer’s Supply Kit and the Garlond GL-IS mount so they have some starting goodies and a two-person mount with the instant speed bonus in zones.
Creating a second account in FFXIV might sound ridiculous or “crazy” to some people but it’s one of my few indulgences. I don’t go on road trips anymore, I eat out rarely, and I’m pretty much a homebody. The way the world is today, playing my FFXIV characters is all that keeps me from being overwhelmed sometimes when I’m alone and without my daughters. An escape from reality just feels necessary when it all becomes too much.
On to happier thoughts! Namely, my newest characters. The first new character I created is a Keeper of the Moon Miqo’te named Acorn Willow and she’s the younger sister of my character Punkin Willow. I got the idea for her when I was doing the Father’s Day pose of Punkin and her adoptive father Cordial Oak.
I began to wonder what would happen if Punkin discovered she had a younger sister she’d been too young to remember when she became an orphan? And thus a scrappy younger sister came into being.
I decided on the name Acorn after discovering a small oak sapling growing amid the invasive bushes I cut out from the base of one of my trees. I was amazed that an oak tree could grow within all that mess and I’ve wanted an oak tree forever. The tree it’s growing near is unfortunately half-dead, so I’m just growing its replacement as far as I’m concerned. That little sapling serves as inspiration for my character’s tenacious nature.
The second new character I created is my version of an NPC we meet for about five minutes towards the end of the arcanist quest line. That NPC is a Seeker of the Sun Miqo’te named K’rhid Tia and he’s the elusive guildmaster of the arcanist guild who makes us dance for a box among other things. I always found him an intriguing character and even though in his quest dialogue he says with 100% certainty that we’ll meet him again, we never do see him again.
So I decided to change that and make my own version named K’rhid Xivruve. I changed his skin and hair color a bit to make him more my own but his other features match the NPC.
For my version of K’rhid, Acorn did see him again just under different circumstances that are a story in the making.
The third new character I made is named S’harra Ista and she’s a Seeker of the Sun Miqo’te. I discovered when creating a spreadsheet of my characters that my Keeper of the Moon kitties far outnumbers my Seekers so I decided it was time to change that. I also discovered that I had no Miqo’te with face four so S’harra is my first with that face. I took S’harra’s name from a character named Sharra in one of my favorite fantasy series called The Dragonriders of Pern. I started reading the books when I was around 13 years old and 35 years later, I still love them and their characters.
In the Pern books, Sharra is a healer who ends up marrying a young Lord named Jaxom. So of course I had to make Jaxom too! Jaxom Ruatha is a Midlander Hyur and I based his looks on one of the dancer NPCs named Kuihlud. Kuihlud is one of the musicians for the dance troupe and I’ve always thought he was a cutie. I couldn’t match the NPC appearance exactly because his face is customized to look a bit younger, but I got pretty close. Obviously Jaxom is taller than Kuihlud but as he’s not supposed to be an NPC copy anyway, I think that’s fine.
I added all four new characters to the Free Company called Luna Nova on Halicarnassus on Dynamis where Kibbles is my main. I was already well-known in Lunar for my alt obsession because I have eight characters in the company but when I added my four new ones, I became even more “famous.” A couple of the members made memes about Kibbles numerous alts and I was very honored because I’ve never had memes made about me. I think it’s cool that I’m known for something. š
I’ve been taking all four through A Realm Reborn and got them all up to choosing their Grand Company and getting their chocobos. I’m in no rush to get them through anything and have no plans to buy any boosts for them. They can do PVP now to level and I’ll keep unlocking dungeons as I go. As I’ve been taking them through the ARR MSQ though I’ve noticed something rather interesting, but that’s a post for another day!
Srinity 