Even in games that offer tailored gameplay bolstered by dialogue trees, divergent story paths, or moral choices made by the player, there’s always an underlying plot that dictates your character’s narrative. The same can be said for Final Fantasy 14’s Warrior of Light. We choose their background, we decide how they look, then we pick their class before setting off into the world. We might determine which side quests we complete and how our role changes throughout the experience, but ultimately, the fate of our characters is already decided.

The plot undoubtedly shapes our character. Not only does it change the world around us and set the guidelines for what we experience, but the narrative often punches us in the heart with unexpected twists and emotional turns. Events not only impact our character’s canonical place in the universe, as in many cases, roleplayers flesh out the story beyond what the game offers to add even further depth. It’s a great way to feel like we're taking hold of the reins of fate for our character, even if the game has other plans for eventual developments and relationships. If I want to ship my Warrior of Light with Estinien, I’m not letting canon stop me!

RELATED: Final Fantasy 14 Community Spotlight: LunarCon

The real and more lasting way we shape our characters is through what we choose to do in the downtime between saving the world in the main scenario. This is ultimately what gives our WoL their “brand”. In my friend group, I’m known as the person obsessed with collecting minions, as I’ve snagged over 350 of the cute little guys. It’s a running joke with those who know me, but the laughter soon stops when they have to repeat dungeons with me non-stop to get a new minion. That’s the beauty of friendship, isn’t it?

Final Fantasy 14 player with the wind-up bahamut minion

A few years ago, a real-life friend tried to talk with me about the latest Despicable Me movie. I was baffled as to why he was starting this random conversation with me and asking how excited I was about it — I couldn’t care less — but it turns out he had often heard me and some mutual friends discussing how minion obsessed I was and, as someone who had no idea about FF14, assumed we were talking about Gru’s little yellow followers. Sadly, I am no gentleminion.

The majority of optional FF14 content I play is done with the sole purpose of earning new minions. I started hunts for minions, and took part in FATEs, PvP, and more, all just to get more of the squishy little pets. It’s always a nice bonus to discover I enjoy some of the content more than I thought I would. PvP was something I didn’t know I would gel with, but I found myself playing it long past getting the minions I had my eye on. There is still loads of side content I need to tackle to hunt down even more minions, but that’s one of the great things about having those gaps between main scenario patches — it gives us time to be true to our WoLs personalities beyond what the game bestows upon us.

This is one of the main reasons I play seasonal events on day one. Sure, I love that they’re fun and quirky, but ultimately I just want to get my grubby hands on whatever new minion has just been added to justify the celebration. I’m counting down the days until The Rising, all for that adorable Emet-Selch minion, and I know I’m not the only one. I also have a wide variety of physical merchandise that I bought just to get the exclusive minion code, though I try my best not to buy up the entirety of the Optional Items store in one go. Don’t get me wrong, I love the CDs, the art books, and the plushies — but I love the minions more.

Final Fantasy 14 Island Sanctuary key artwork of player and minions near some horses

It should come as no surprise that I am eagerly awaiting the launch of Patch 6.2’s Island Sanctuary. This new area allows players to create a little slice of paradise for their WoL, collect resources, plant crops, build a little farm sanctuary, and, more importantly, have their minions roaming around. Square Enix has teased us that our minions will behave differently when left to their own devices, so I can’t wait to see what that entails.

The great thing about this new content is how players get hyped about it for so many different reasons. I follow avid FF14 fishers who are weighing up whether one of the buttons in the screenshots shown is a clam and whether that means more fishing content. Housing enthusiasts are excited to see if they have a new blank canvas to play with and wondering just how creative they’ll be able to get. We all have our own little hobbies for our WoL, and it shows in what we get excited about and what we choose to do with our free time.

I always love speaking with friends and other players about what they enjoy doing in FF14 beyond the scope of the main scenario and side quests. Meeting all these players who dedicate time to creating unique venues, performances, or experiences is one of the things I love most about doing my FF14 Community Spotlight articles. Much like Eorzea has its own reflections, our WoLs are a reflection of us as players, and so the story events don’t make us special, it’s what we choose to do with our time in Eorzea that makes us stand out from the crowd of all the other WoLs.

NEXT: Final Fantasy 14 Community Spotlight: Maid Service Cafe