The Final Fantasy XIV Cloud Data Center Stress Test starts on Nov. 21, and while we’ve already detailed the steps needed to join it, I think the reality of the Stress Test is finally setting in. After all, it’s offering job boosts for all Main Scenario Quests (MSQ) and jobs through Shadowbringers, and 50 million gil.
This is an unprecedented amount of wealth and advantages in Final Fantasy XIV. The job and story boosts alone would put the dollar value of this at $571, and the 50 million gil according to more illicit sites, would put you back another $32. So over $600 of advancements. It feels like something out of a private server, or a RMT site.
But no, it’s real, legit, and happening next week. So it got me thinking: What would I do with that much freedom in-game? Here’s what I came up with:
Get that Stupid Amaro Mount
The Amaro mount is a reward for getting all the jobs in the game to 80, and was highly sought after, especially in the wake of the Shadowbringers’ post-game that saw the Warrior of Light reunite with Unukalhai, and discover the true origin of Cylva.
But for all the effort to get every single job to what was the max level at the time? All the time grinding healers through Party Finder and struggling DPS jobs? Not worth it for a big gray bird. I’m not an Amaro fan. The camel-dragons were a distinct downgrade from Chocobos, and with notable exceptions (we’re not knocking Seto here), they don’t strike us as the most pleasant creatures. But it honestly feels like a mount they’d have given away in the middle of the MSQ, rather than after leveling up everyone to 80.
So this will be my chance to have some fun with the Amaro, to see if owning it is a transformative experience, and if not, I can hold off leveling through those remaining jobs for another few expansions.
Deck out my Dream Home
Limited test, limited players, and a blank housing slate: I’m getting that mansion I’ve always wanted. Or even just a house in Kugane. Look, I’ve had an FC for years, and when Ishgardian housing dropped, my FC and I logged in at the crack of dawn and secured a new house. It’s cozy and cute, and I wouldn’t give it up for anything.
But with a cool 50 mil, we’re going for the mansion, and we’re decorating it how we want. Honestly, I’m not sure how this is going to work out. With limited crafters on the server, I don’t expect huge amounts of furnishing options beyond what’s NPC vendor available. Still, maybe this is time to start planning for when a mansion finally becomes available on our home world.
Setting Server-First Records
All the world record clears have long since been claimed… or have they? Guess what: I’m racing to be Sever-First Ifrit (Extreme). Server-First Odin. Even the savage tiers. Yoshi-P said we should test everything, right? So why not go back and get server-first on some of these.
With jokes aside, it would be great to see this test become an avenue for people who maybe haven’t tried Savage or Extremes to jump on the difficulty wagon and try them. I’d love to try and get together a rag-tag group of raiders to see what they can do with their Stress Test characters.
See how Quickly I can Spend 50,000,000 gil
This is one that should firmly be put under dumb social experiments, but how easy is it to spend 50 million gil in FFXIV? Remember that not all mansions cost that much, they have a roulette system, so you can’t spend it instantly like that. And there’s really no item in an NPC shop that costs that much. Perhaps you could give it all away to the Housing Lottery Clerk NPC in Ishgard, but is that really spending the money?
And there’s not going to be any access to outside market boards, so it’s just what people sell in the week-long period. Honestly, we think your inventories might get full before you spend it. You’d perhaps have to find a really expensive food vendor and hope for the best.
Get Bored Worryingly Quickly
As mentioned, this Stress Test bonus feels like something out of a private server. Back in the distant past, as a penniless adolescent, I played the Ragnarok Online free trial. I was hooked. The MMO had its claws on me, and I played it obsessively for 30 days. After the trial ended, I was lost. I desperately searched for ways to play for free. Private servers were the way I found, but they had increased drop rates, experience boosts, skips, and more. It just felt off, and so I got bored very quickly. And I think that’s what’s going to happen with the FFXIV stress test.
Obviously, it’s just a test, and it doesn’t matter, but I worry players will get caught up in the fun of creating new characters with no restrictions and then get bored almost instantly. It happened when they opened the Oceania servers (How many of those joke name alts still get played on?), and it’ll likely happen here. Hopefully one week is enough for Square Enix to gather enough data, because the FFXIV community moves on quickly once the memes dry up.
