Final Fantasy XIV in the theater and without leaving the house? A player’s acting group makes it possible.
Video games are simply a complete waste of time and do not get you anywhere in life! At least, that is what the Federal Employment Agency claims. Steve Pederzani, however, sees it quite differently and is convinced that video games can make a valuable contribution to society.
Steve Pederzani is currently studying law and also plays Final Fantasy XIV in his free time. Last December, he organized a special kind of role-playing game there with his character “Wanderer Sakabu”, which motivated players to create new accounts and wander to his game server “Diabolos”.
Final Fantasy XIV becomes a stage with actors and audience
When playing on “Diabolos” in Final Fantasy XIV, you can find the most diverse player-run events. There, colorful life flourishes with theaters, cabarets, haunted houses, parties, and many other experiences that role-players of the server provide for others.
Steve Pederzani is one of those role-players who has dedicated himself entirely to theater. With his character “Wanderer Sabaku,” the student rehearsed a script based on Final Fantasy IX with a virtual theater group. The script “I Want to Be Your Canary” is about a princess and her commoner lover.
Pederzani coordinated over a dozen players who participated as actors with their characters. He was also the director, stage designer, and played a role in the piece as “Wanderer Sakabu”. The virtual theater can accommodate over 50 players, who as audience members have the opportunity to react with emotes like clapping or laughing.
With the online theater, Final Fantasy becomes a cultural asset for the acting group
Pederzani has a theater background himself and has acted in several plays during his school years – later also professionally for a while. When he began to play the first Final Fantasy MMO (FFXI), he felt inspired by the plots in the game and started to write small scripts based on the lore of Final Fantasy. With “I Want to Be Your Canary,” Pederzani performed his largest piece online to date.
Sometimes the actors had to be a bit crafty – like their colleagues in real life. In Final Fantasy XIV, players cannot simply kill each other, but there were a few death scenes in the play. For these, the group placed beds under the stage, where the actors could lay their characters down to “sleep” on stage.
Pederzani and his group see themselves as artists and prefer not to be called role-players. They are actors and a theater group. They want to bring theater closer to as many people as possible around the globe, while connecting their passions – Final Fantasy and acting. For them, Final Fantasy is not just about gaming; they find stories, culture, and art in it.
Video games are increasingly being used for purposes other than just playing: Pokémon GO is on the curriculum of some universities.
