Asmongold is one of the biggest MMORPG streamers on Twitch. He became known with WoW, but since 2021 he has also been known as a streamer of Final Fantasy XIV. After a break, he recently announced his return. You can find out why he is no longer interested in FFXIV on MeinMMO.
This is the situation:
- Asmongold is among the most popular streamers on Twitch
- From July 2021 until his break in 2021, he streamed Final Fantasy XIV
- Recently, he mainly showcased Lost Ark, Elden Ring, and Diablo Immortal
- Then he announced his return to Final Fantasy XIV
- Now he has expressed his true feelings about the game
You can see more about Asmongold’s life and success in our video:
Asmongold’s complicated relationship with FFXIV
It all started off so well: After the Twitch star known as a WoW streamer became unfaithful to his MMORPG in July 2021, the community welcomed him with open arms. Asmon himself had initially much positive to report. Especially the story and the raids captivated him.
When he switched to the hit MMORPG Lost Ark in February 2022, it caused discontent in the community. Rumors spread that Asmongold had never liked Final Fantasy and was only being paid to play it.
This escalated to the point that he issued a statement at the end of March, admitting he had stopped playing FFXIV. However, this had less to do with Lost Ark and more with his frustration at not being able to continue with the story quests without streaming the rest of the game. By that time, he felt pressured by parts of his community to show all his gameplay hours of FFXIV on stream.
At the same time, he also announced that he would not be saying goodbye forever and would return when he had nothing else to do in other games (dexerto.com).
That point seems to have been reached now, as at the beginning of June 2022, Asmon announced to the delight of fans that he wanted to resume FFXIV streams on June 21. However, this might be short-lived.
How Asmongold himself addresses this can be seen in his English video:
Asmongold is worried about becoming a pure FFXIV streamer
Where does this concern come from? “Oh my God, they are back!” Asmongold exclaimed in his stream on June 29, 2022, when he looked at his subreddit. The trigger was the flood of posts about Final Fantasy XIV that followed his announced return to the popular MMORPG. This seems to be exactly the situation he wanted to avoid.
I don’t want to have one of those situations where my stream becomes the Final Fantasy stream again. […] Every post is about Final Fantasy, everything else gets downvoted, and then as soon as I’m not playing it, people get mad.
This becomes very constraining, he added. After all, he also wants to watch videos or show his reactions. When asked if he actually likes the game now, Asmongold replied that his content can go in two possible directions.
Either he plays a game he likes and the community has fun, or he plays something he generally likes, but fans are constantly arguing and evaluating even the most casual comment. This is the case with FFXIV.
He does not believe that the users behind the flood of posts are merely trolls, they know too much. He also dislikes the suggestion to simply ignore or ban those individuals. Why would he want to exclude his own audience?
In the end, it comes down to the fact that he doesn’t want to do anything that doesn’t bring him joy. He would like to play the game without people trying to find something negative everywhere. His clear message:
If this continues to happen, I will just not play it.
Source: YouTube
Asmongold also points out that there has been no such reactions to any other game, except perhaps World of Warcraft Classic. And the farewell from it was the best decision he ever made for his stream.
The community reacts mixed
Everything from understanding to disappointment to frustration: Basically, fans seem to have understanding for Asmongold’s situation. Some are disappointed because they were really looking forward to the return of the Final Fantasy streams.
But there are also more critical voices. Asmongold’s statement that the annoyance over his too long intros or meme streams only started with FFXIV is not entirely accurate. There have been more and more posts on the subject lately, and these do not only come from the Final Fantasy corner.
In Asmongold’s subreddit, the situation has already been addressed (via reddit.com). They will remove all posts and comments that pressure the streamer or complain about what he plays or doesn’t play.
Let us know your opinion on the subject in the comments.
