Final Fantasy XIV is celebrating summer time by kicking off the annual Moonfire Faire. This in-game event has some personal good vibes for me as it takes me back to my first days playing FFXIV in 2013.
A Realm Reborn launched in August that year, and still FFXIV put on the Moonfire Faire event, even in the face of all the launch required. I remember this event involved fighting bombs in FATEs and gathering ash to turn in for the cosmetic swimsuit rewards. Due to server congestion at launch – as you might imagine – they extended the summer event to last into the fall.
I didn’t start playing until a some weeks after launch as it was almost impossible to pick up a copy of FFXIV at that time – digital or otherwise. But, when I did finally get into game, I remember this strange bomb FATE well. As a brand new player, I had no idea what it was about, but I knew it had funky music and gave a lot of experience, so I always made a beeline for it! Eventually, I ran across the quests that cleared it up for me and got my event cosmetics.
Even today, the Moonfire Faire evokes memories of my early days and first experiences playing FFXIV. So, I always look on its coming with enthusiasm.
The first Moonfire Faire was celebrated long before my time in FFXIV – back in 2011, when it was known as the Firefall Faire. The game lore tells of how bomb-like creatures, known as Bombards, began to threaten Eorzea. The Adventurer’s Guild rose up to protect the people in an event which is carried on through the celebration now known as the Moonfire Faire.
The neat thing about FFXIV events is that from year to year, they change and build on the story of the previous year. I haven’t seen FFXIV rehash their festival events, always providing a new storyline, usually with a quirky or feel-good resolution. Often, the NPCs remind you of what happened during the event last year, giving the feeling that the FFXIV world is a moving and evolving one.
Granted, I feel the current Moonfire Faire is a bit short on actual quest content. However, where it is low on story, it’s made up for it in providing activities to earn this event’s rewards. It also may be due to the fact that the team is getting ready to blow us away with something cool for FFXIV’s second anniversary!
This year’s event sees FFXIV clearing off the entire beach at Costa Del Sol for what feels like one big beach party. I find this much improved over last year’s event, where quests sent you scattering over different areas to light fireworks and shoot cannons.
While I really love the Yukata cosmetics we earned last year, the overall quests were quickly done, and only worth repeating if you really, really wanted more fireworks. I still have so many fireworks left over from that event, I vehemently hand them out to friends whenever I get a chance. Take my fireworks, please?
Rather than a bunch of little quests in different areas, this year’s event provides all festivities in one location. Various FATES spawn on the beach near the quest vendors, and do so often enough that earning festive tokens to purchase cosmetics isn’t that difficult to do.
One thing I found interesting about this event is that your character must be at least level 30 to participate. This is a change from previous FFXIV events, which usually only require you to be level 15 to take part.
The FATES that spawn around the event location are also level 30. They spawn fairly quickly, and at this point in the festival, there are a lot of other people who are working to gain tokens, so FATES go down pretty fast. This is a great leveling opportunity for characters in the low 30s to take advantage of, and I’m certainly not complaining — I’ve used it to give my leveling classes a bit of a boost. I feel that this was designed on purpose, seeing that there are still folks out there interested in progressing with the new Heavensward classes, which all start out at level 30.
Running FATEs is not the only way to earn tokens, however. There are also quests for low level crafters and gatherers – specifically culinarians and fishermen. If you prefer to earn your tokens by reeling in fresh fish or cooking up battered fish, those options are there for you. It’s nice when you see folks in the community cooking up and giving away battered fish to random players in the spirit of the festivities.
Of course, what people are there for are the cosmetic rewards. This year’s faire provides two new swimming suits for male and female characters. There’s also a little wind chime you can put in your house for decor.
Interestingly, you can purchase some cosmetics from the previous Moonfire Faires as well. The original swimsuits and yukata from FFXIV 1.0 return as options you can buy with tokens. This is really nice for folks who may be celebrating this event for the first time and missed these rewards before.
The yukata that were released for last year’s Moonfire Faire and the Bomb Dance emote you earned through that quest line are missing from the in-game vendor, however. These have shown up as optional items that you can purchase from the Mog Shop, instead. While the cosmetics and dance aren’t very expensive, I’ve heard mixed feelings about this from other players.
While this isn’t really the place to get into the cash shop argument, it is relevant to this event. It’s not the first time that last year’s festival items have ended up in the cash shop for purchase, and I doubt it’ll be the last time we see this. I think the biggest issue players have with this is the fact that some feel a subscription game with an optional cash shop is double dipping, even when that cash shop is primarily cosmetics.
As a cosmetic collector myself, I haven’t really formed my own opinion on this practice. I just know that I make every effort to earn all the cosmetics I can from the events I participate in. Usually these events are long enough and simple enough to earn rewards without trouble. The one thing I do laud FFXIV for is that their festivals rarely make you jump through complex hoops to get event rewards, and they usually leave you feeling pretty good with their stories.
All debates aside, I’m going to continue to enjoy celebrating summer at the Moonfire Faire… and wonder who’s going to clean up the mess we’ve left on the beach once it’s done. The Moonfire Faire will continue on until Monday, September 7, 2015 at 14:59 (GMT).
