War in Wonderland

When I think of online role-playing games, I picture a fantasy world filled with dragons, magic, and knights, featuring forests, ice, and lava caves. In this world, I spend months slaughtering rats and bugs as an underdog, just to have a chance at emulating the veterans in their glittering armor. A tyrannical empire on the far side of the continent is plotting to take over the world with monsters and machines. Alongside a busty blonde, a yellow bird, and generally bored people who also pay ten bucks a month, I try to stop this threat by swinging my sword, learning spells, and hiding behind my shield when things get too intense.

I find myself in the Sultanate of Ul’dah. Venturing outside the city, I take on tasks from residents that lead me to a nearby mine, a small train station, and a spooky graveyard. That’s when I see them - the refugees who managed to flee from the so-called Garlean Empire. And while I merrily slaughter monsters, accompanied by orchestral background music, with nothing but my next piece of golden armor or diamond sword in mind, these people, who have lost everything, who had to flee from a fanatical nation that holds nothing sacred, and who are now crammed together, homeless and hopeless, are watching me from all sides.

Collect ten marmot steaks, forge three storm blades, catch eight navigator’s daggers - that’s probably all some players take away from Final Fantasy XIV. And just because I bought a refugee a meal in a video game, it doesn’t mean I’ve really achieved anything. When I finally stand at the gates of the Garlean Empire, armed with shiny armor and a gigantic weapon, everything happens quickly. I’m thrown into the catacombs with a motley group of fighters and mages. A huge machine attacks us. Bored, we beat on it for a quarter of an hour. It explodes. The end. If only saving the world and solving the refugee crisis were that easy in real life.