Last Fantasy 14 charity speedrun turns right into a 23-hour marathon, as donators give $20 for the prospect to put down instructions its gamers should comply with
Last Fantasy 14 charity speedrun turns right into a 23-hour marathon, as donators give $20 for the prospect to put down instructions its gamers should comply with
On: July 28, 2023
Last Fantasy 14 is not a typical game to observe individuals speedrun—whereas sure elements of the game do have a speedrunning historical past, and there’s a devoted group working the game, finishing it in report time nonetheless usually takes hours. These cutscene-skipping blitzes are spectacular, certain, however they do not precisely make for nice viewing except you are actually into the nuts and bolts of the game.
If you wish to speedrun for charity, like how avid gamers on the European Speedrunner Meeting (ESA) have been this week, you may be caught on methods to make Sq. Enix’s flagship MMO watchable for hours on finish. Because it seems, all it’s a must to do is give viewers the ability to screw you over for 20 {dollars}.
Whereas elevating cash for the Swedish Alzheimer’s Affiliation, speedrunners Nashlax, Metako, Leonis and HabKeineName sat down for a gruelling marathon run of Last Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn. The one catch is that the run, affectionately named “$20%”, could be derailed at any time by a $20 donation.
So long as they shelled out the money, viewers might give the game’s poor runners a brand new rule they needed to comply with. Granted, all donations had been pre-screened as per the ESA’s pointers, however every time a brand new donation was learn aloud, it grew to become legislation. It took them 23 hours to complete.
I’ve solely simply scratched the floor with my trawling by way of this admirable marathon of self-punishment, however listed below are a few of my favorite moments from the VOD:
Round 23 minutes into the run—a donation calls for the speedrunners and the viewers to alter locations. One casually says “I’ve by no means performed this game” as quickly as they sit down.
On the 1 hour and 10 minute mark, a viewer calls for the runners full the “Triple Group II” achievement, which includes beating 30 NPCs in Last Fantasy 14’s collectible card minigame, Triple Triad.
At 1 hour and 34 minutes, a donator mandates that the speedrunners drop every little thing they’re doing to search out and pet 10 misplaced lamb enemies in a very completely different zone.
Lastly reaching the game’s first dungeon after two complete hours and 12 minutes, a wombo-combo of donator malice mandates that they have to full it with out working.
Practically 7 hours in, one donator asks the runner to double the scale of their UI. These shenanigans proceed all through a lot of the run, which might render it unwatchable if it wasn’t so humorous to have a look at.
After 11 hours, the runners are pressured to show their total game shows sideways.
(Picture credit score: Sq. Enix / European Speedrunner Meeting)
It is a wonderful instance of the sort of punishment individuals are prepared to place themselves by way of for an excellent trigger. Speedrunning has an extended historical past of offering help for charities, and I am glad to see that proceed in such spectacular vogue—even when I’m a contact apprehensive as to what 23 hours on the mercy of Twitch chat has achieved to those courageous troopers’ minds.
ESC Summer season 2023 will conclude tomorrow July 29, and a full schedule of runs is out there on its web site.
