Final Fantasy XIV

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Final Fantasy XIV is a MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) produced by Square Enix and released in September 2010. The original release stayed live until November 2012. Three expansions were produced after the disastrous launch titled A Realm Reborn, Heavensward, and Stormblood respectively. The original Final Fantasy XIV released to mostly negative reviews. This lead to director Naoki Yoshida to scrap the whole project which then was released later as A Realm Reborn also known as Final Fantasy XIV V2.0. Currently the game is stated to have over 10 million users closing in on the number of 12M that World of Warcraft had in its most popular years.

A Realm Reborn

The first expansion following the ill fated release in 2010. This game is a result of a complete overhaul of the original Final Fantasy XIV which while praised for its graphics and music, was criticized for its design. Unlike the previous iteration this game was applauded and mostly received positive reviews for the complete change in gameplay. This game follows you as the player character in an epic tale of kingdoms fighting against each other in a land called Eorzea. To do this you pick between 6 different races. The races are known as Hyur, Elezen, Lalafell, Roegadyn, Miqo'te. When you pick your race you are thrown into the world to explore. The class system is set up to where you can switch between four disciplines in four categories of Disciple of War, Magic, Hand, and Land.</ref>https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/a_realm_reborn/game/#!/classes</ref> These can range from things such as gladiator to something like a fisherman. When you switch between different skill sets you gain experience and eventually can upgrade these jobs. This allows a variety of leveling, exploring and replay-ability for the game.

Heavensward

Released on June 23rd, 2015 this is the next expansion in the FFXIV universe. Heavensward continued the trend that A Realm Reborn started in that it received mostly positive reviews. This expansion focuses on the millennium-long conflict called the Dragonsong War between Ishgard and Dravania. Numerous gameplay changes including the level cap raising to 60, adding all sorts of new abilities to all the classes in the game. The expansion also released three new classes Dark Knight, Machinist, and Astrologian. In addition to the three new classes added there was also a new raced called an Au Ra which came into two sub categories titled Raen and Xaela.

Ethical Issues

Ethical issues in large online communities can be numerous. The anonymity can provide a feeling of indestructibility for many people. According to the Asymmetry Thesis it is stated that actions online are never wrong because it "isn't real" However, in most large online communities there are numerous amounts of theft. In particular, theft is highly prevalent in large games such as FFXIV. However, this is something that is highly debatable for many people as something that is morally wrong or can be punished by the law. But, as pointed out by Jeff Dunn is it not truly property that you own? He brings up the point by stating that you can get in trouble for stealing music, which usually is in digital form, so why not virtual MMO property? What makes this such a hard ethical issue is there are numerous examples of this happening to people, and in the United States it is not something that is really punishable. However, in other countries, such as Korea, there is laws set in place to punish people for virtual theft in MMO's if it is against the rules of the game.