At the end of September, I made a trip to my parent’s.
I was busy with work, so I planned to just stop by for dinner one night.
The three of us sat around the dinner table. My mom, my dad, and myself.
Tonight’s dinner? Curry and rice.
I’ve stopped by my parent’s place a good handful of times since starting this Father of Light plan… and yet…
We’ve had curry three times in a row… Mom…
The plan for today was to show my dad how to turn on kana input on his PS4.
Thanks to your comments, I now know how to set the input. But of course, I also wanted to use this trip to check in on my dad in general.
While we ate, my dad talked about his many adventurer friends.
“Zezeru is very sweet.”
Zezeru? Oh, he’s talking about Rucochy.
“And Altemi’s pink hair is really cute.”
Altemi… Altemisia… Aru-chan.
Hey wait a sec dad, aren’t you forgetting a very important person?
You know… a certain blonde-haired miqo’te??
“Anyone else?”
Ack! Me and my big mouth!
I blame the curry!
“There’s this, like…”
My dad put his hands by his head kinda rabbity like…
What the… Is that miqo’te to you?
“This… like… Hrmm……”
“???”
“………Cat girl!!”
…The fuck.
After everything I’ve done…
Why do you only remember my character like something from a Shigeru Mizuki manga…
Seriously… geez…
The Father of Light Project…
That was what I called my plan to get my 60+ year old dad to play FFXIV and become his friend while hiding my identity.
We would adventure together until finally, when the moment was right, I would reveal my identity in a dramatic display of family love.
I recommended FFXIV to my reluctant father who, in the end, came to make friends in the world of Eorzea and blazed through the story.
The Father of Light had conquered the primal Ifrit. His next goal, Titan, awaited.
Can he really defeat Titan…?
“The Father of Light cleared Haukke!”
“The Father of Light has cleared Brayflox.”
He’s moving along at a good pace…
Since he can now type with ease, the Father of Light was able to express himself better.
For my One-Click Kill Academy LS, I look for players who readily support and assist new players as well as newbies like my dad. I invited my dad into the LS both for the help he could receive as well as to help him connect to more players.
The Father of Light had hit level 30, so now it was time to talk about jobs with him.
The Father of Light has been an archer thus far. Archer eventually becomes the bard job.
BRD has higher damage as well as incorporating songs that buff and assist your party members.
However, to become a bard, one must also level pugilist to level 15.
We brought the Father of Light to Ul’dah to explain class changing to him.
After talking to the guild receptionist, he received a weathered hora to start him off as a pugilist.
My dad seemed ecstatic getting the hora…
Ah!! Hold up!!
Pshew!
Because the hora changed him to a level 1 PUG,
He couldn’t wear his higher level gear from his archer class…
The Father of Light stripped right in the middle of town!
Oh no… He’s gonna log out from embarrassment!
Shitshitshitshit!
“Let’s get you some clothes! I’m sure I’ve got something…”
He sure has grown…
He’s even typing faster these days.
And… A “~”? What are you, Kirin-chan?
Starting today, the Father of Light would be a fellow pugilist!
I should give him lots of advice to help him reach level 15…
– The Next Day –
“The Father of Light has hit 15 on PGL!”
“Holy crap,” I thought.
He sure knows how to level grind…
Now… The Father of Light can change into a proper bard!!
I really thought he’d have more trouble getting this far…
This… is the power of a 60+ year old Warrior of Light…
Whoa…
He made it through Brayflox… So it’s finally time…
Time for the Titan battle!!
And so, one day I received a message…
Yes!!
WOO! WOO! WOO!
Giovinezza emergency team, assemble!!
One tank, one healer needed, STAT!
“There are no healers or tanks online!”
It’s the middle of the afternoon on a Saturday. Not many people are online…
This’ll have to do!
“Russy, DPS! Makky… sorry, please heal!”
As for tank…
I’m all we got!
I’ve only really played monk all this time, but I have to do this!
Yeah… He’s pretty scary.
Even I’m shaking… Normally this’d be a walk in the park…
But today… I’m tanking him for the first time.
If we fail here… my dad’ll probably think this is all too hard for him. Even I feared this would be impossible…
My thoughts scared me. I’ve got to do my best.
Deep breaths… deep breaths…
Maidy… set…
Shing!
Go!!
VS Titan.
For many Warriors of Light, this was a traumatizing battle.
In your first Titan fight…
The party comp was one (1) Tank, two (2) DPS, and one (1) healer for a total of four.
If just one player fell, you’d be in some serious shit.
The true terror in this fight…
It’s name…
Landslide!!
At set intervals, Titan turns at random and strikes an area with his attack called landslide.
Those that don’t escape?
In seconds…
They’re shot off the platform to where no magic can reach.
AKA, You’re stuck there dead.
And, if that happens…
It’s easy to think “It’s my fault we wiped.”
Just one slip up and it’s over.
This is why FFXIV bosses are commonly thought of as massive dances.
This Titan fight was a player’s first taste of it.
Despite my lack of tanking experience, Russy and Makky are here.
It’d be no problem to three-man this without the Father of Light.
We could clear with a newbie dead.
That’s called a carry.
But… We didn’t want to carry the Father of Light.
While he’s come to understand the joy of connecting with others…
There’s another joy hidden in this world…
One that he hasn’t really experienced yet…
The Father of Light fell time after time…
His internet… was ADSL.
Because of his higher latency, things appeared on his screen later.
He’d have to do his best to grin and bear it.
However… my dad has a soul of a gamer. A relentlessly persevering soul.
Daaaaaaaad!!
Watch out for land-
-slide!
He dodged it!!
He really did it!
Thanks to practicing, he was able to spot and avoid weight of the land and landslide AoEs!
Amazing!
Dad…
You’re…
A true Warrior of Light!!
Did you really just…?
That was not Titan’s fault.
Despite killing yourself, you’ve really gotten the hang of the fight.
We’re close to the clear!
Despite his efforts…
In the end… we cleared with a dead Father of Light.
We carried him.
Hey.
Hey, dad.
What are you feeling right now?
Right?!
That frustration…
That disappointment…
Beating yourself up over it all…
I’m certain my father will find himself feeling this way more in the future.
Time…
and time again…
That feeling of “I don’t want to give up now”…
Hold it tight.
While you may not know your partners’ faces…
Together…
You can conquer anything and find true joy.
Because everyone worked hard together, that’s why I’m happy.
And so…
My dad…
Cleared Titan without falling off.
He had thanked us when we carried him, I wonder what he’d say now lmao
You cleared without falling off a single time.
Of course you’d be ecstatic.
“Congrats on your clear!!”
“Let’s head back now!”
………………………………… . . . .
I… guess that’s better than cat girl…
Next up, Stone Vigil! The bosses there are quite a pain!
After that is the next primal… Garuda!!
The Father of Light is rapidly approaching level cap…
Whenever you need help, don’t be afraid to call me.
Just shout for “Madey” all you want.
Let’s keep working hard… Yup yup!
To Be Continued
Notes
- To explain the different names Maidy’s father gave the players: Rucochy’s character’s full name is Zezeruco Ginbis. Aru-chan’s is Altemisia Lupinus
- As this is prior to Stormblood, the sub-class requirement for jobs was still a thing
- As all names in FFXIV are written with English letters, Maidy’s father came up with a different reading for “Maidy” (マイディー, like “my-dee”, being the intended manner), that being メイディー (like “may-dee”)
