One of the things I appreciate about FFXIV is that, like LOTRO, it’s a game that I feel comfortable showing to my little ones. It’s slower paced and has a lot of visual treats for wide eyes.

The other night I was going through a class quest (archer, I think) and I had two kids on a lap and another in a chair right by the computer. As I described what we were doing — hunting down a poacher (“Dad, what’s a poacher? Oh, that’s BAD!”) — they got incredibly engrossed. I got a lot of backseat directions: go in here, talk to this guy, get back on your chicken (chocobo) already!

Then as we’re traversing a zone, the weather system kicks in some lightning and thunder at night. No rain, just thunder and lightning, and it has an enrapturing effect on all three. “Dad! It’s going to start raining! Get to shelter! Ohh that’s scary!” It was cool to see the world come alive to them.

And then I tasked them with helping me find on-screen clues leading us to the poacher, so there were three sets of eyes combing the screen and pointing to anything with a name tag over it. “Is that it?” “No, that’s another player.” “What about that?” “That’s the same player.”

I also got asked a lot of questions about what the various creatures were and if they were real. FFXIV has whimsical versions of normal critters, like turtles and deer, so I get into a lot of arguments with my kids over whether this is actually a turtle or not. Kids like definitives.

Jumped down into a creek. “Dad! She’s going to get wet! Why is she running around in water? She needs galoshes!”

Anyway, we tracked down the poacher and cue a cutscene and fight. The kids gasped when one of my teammates got shot (I think) and were relieved to see she got out of there OK.

It was quite the little adventure, made all the more intense with kids getting really into the world, the setting, and the story.