Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Final Fantasy V Four Job Fiesta: a video game challenge run for charity





This is not a table-top gaming post, but it is for a good cause which has crossover with the RPG fandom, so I decided to share.

Final Fantasy V is a lot like its older counterparts. A straightforward quest in a medieval land to save the world from a mad tyrant, and crystals may or may not be involved. What sets it apart from most others is its innovative Job system. Jobs are much like classes in that they determine your character's role: a Black Mage focuses on offensive spells, a Monk specializes in physical attacks, and so on and so forth.

But outside of combat, you can change your character's Job at will.  Not only that, certain abilities you learn while playing as one class can be carried over to another, resulting in some versatile customization options for your party later in the game!

Four Job Fiesta is a self-imposed challenge run done on behalf of the Child's Play Charity, raising money to improve hospitals and domestic violence shelters for children around the world. All participants are limited to four Jobs for the entirety of the game out of the game's 20+ available Jobs. The Jobs are randomly determined by Gilgabot, although there are some choices which can affect this such as being limited to the six "classic" Jobs from Final Fantasy 1 or Jobs which can use magic or break rods.

As you can imagine, the playstyle of the game and its difficulty can rapidly change depending on your assignment, and the challenge of the Fiesta is to make the best out of the situation with the cards you've been dealt. Audience members and players can participate with pledges of their own, and new challenges for players are unlocked at certain tiers of donated money. Beyond that, gamers unsatisfied with their Jobs can switch out bad choices with new ones at the Job Fair by donating a listed amount for that class.

The Fiesta proper begins on June 13th, midnight EST (website accounts for local time zones) and ends on September 1st, so folks have about 2.5 months to beat the game.

As for myself, I plan to livestream the game on Twich, ideally on June 13th 6 PM EST. I donated $20 to Child's Play, and pledge to donate another $25 if I'm unable to beat the game by September 1st. One does not need to have a video recording to participate: you can mark your progress with screenshots and even smartphone pictures to show evidence of progression at major points (usually done during boss battles).

I look forward to participating in this event; please spread the word to folks you know. To all my fellow Fiesta-goers, I wish you good luck and good gaming!

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