Difficult topic, but sadly this one isn’t new.
Those of us who’ve been here for a long time know of these types of communities, and the dangers that come with them.
Original Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9WZWJM79nk
Tiktok I learned it from: https://www.tiktok.com/@aerithgirl/video/7319220354348502315
Azure Infinitum’s website: https://www.azureinfinitum.com/
*** I DO NOT CONDONE ANY HATE TOWARDS THESE PEOPLE, THEIR GUILD/FC/COMMUNITY/EMPIRE REMEMBER THERE ARE PEOPLE BEHIND THE KEYBOARDS AND IF THE MEMBERS ARE HAPPY, CONTENT, AND IN GOOD HEADSPACES, LEAVE THEM THE HELL ALONE ***
This is simply a cautionary tale.
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**Note: While this video is not sponsored, for transparency, there have been past affiliations with Square Enix**
source
Read the description on this one.
Consider this a cautionary tale, but also, be kind to those who are still in these groups and content, and those who are seeking to leave.
I was in a Guild in Guild Wars 2 and I got cancer and as president I was expected to be on everyday so they told me I couldn't be President because I could not be on everyday. They then made a new Teamspeak without me. Being in a big community is very difficult. I am now in an FC that has less than 10 people and no one is required to be on. That is good because having some time off until Dawn Trail.
For me it’s when guilds mention “no politics.” That’s an immediate red flag because from experience, it’s always problematic players that exist at the top (mods, leader, etc.) and when you tell them what they’re saying/doing is mean or unfair they’ll always side with each other, call you soft and kick you for having a problem with their behavior. I understand trying to discourage political differences but it’s pretty rare that political conversations happen because people in gaming spaces often don’t engage in politics.
Again, my own experience on the matter. The only baseline should be respect each other.
I fortunately escaped this by being in tiny guilds that were comprised of RL friends.
Every fandom I was in basically , my old age too lol — I think you begin to see certain patterns. I remember I was in a guild in a game like 20 years ago, I dont even remember what the conversation was about but I remember saying something like " we shouldn't over think things to the point you can't enjoy it anymore" and then get called a simpleton , not a " true" fan … things don't change. I can still eat popcorn and watch a movie and be entertained .
First of ALL you look GORGEOUS girl
i remember in my younger younger days in online roleplay communities (forums, fucking LIVEJOURNAL lmao, etc) i was in a similar situation. like a huge group of roleplayers that was incredibly taxing on my mental health at the time (this must have been like what, 15 years ago or more?). like they sort of were abusing the fact that i was a young nerd online that lived far away from irl friends so i spent a lot of time on my computer. like at some point i was EXPECTED to be online to do writing for the overarching plot at certain times of the day otherwise i'd be cut of from the group
so this "controversy" with the azure mega fc really like hit TOO close to home. i totally get you. i don't even know how i got out of it, i think i just got caught up with other stuff and basically ignored them. lmao
we really went through the trenches girl you earned the warchief title
Some of this stuff can be good. My FC started life as a WoW guild connected to a podcast. It is multi game and it does have a website with a moderately long list of rules. Not the real problematic ones you listed, but there is a fairly long list. It does come in handy however. We had an applicant to the FC and everyone was uneasy about letting them in, but no one wanted to be the one to outright refuse them. I went and checked, and sure enough there was a rule against character names containing "sexual references" so it was easy enough to just point them at the website.
Outside of the topic. I like the new dark mode surrounding for your background.
I was part of a corp in Eve Echoes (Eve Online mobile). CEO's grandparent died. During her week away for bereavement, disgruntled players staged a coup, trashed the discord, and formed their own corp. I didn't mind the mass exodus. It is what it is. The discord trashing was too much though. And when I thought that the more extreme elements had left, some of the remaining members started to really talk weird and just… it was wildin'. So I jetted. Flew solo for a few months until I found a better corp. Since then FF14 has caught my attention, but my experienes in EE has taught me a little about the warning signs of mismanaged groups. I'm pretty sure folks from all games can attest to these kinds of experiences.
I'm going to copy paste my comment from the original video here. I'm really happy people are seeing this FC for it's true colors.
Good evening, I'm Sebastian Lacroix and I was once part of Azure. As well despite Reika would love to say other wise, I was one of the very select few Officers in his community that he'd talk to about the most sensitive of topics. Including actions taken against other Officers in the FC should they 'fall out of line'. I'd like to add onto this.
First about me: I joined in 2019, and after a short break, quickly rose through the ranks of the "FC". There i obtained the highest rank below FC Master and even at one point filled in as the shoes of the FC Master during an unrelated IRL crisis of Reika.
1. Azure is a cult. Full. Stop. Do not let anyone try to sway you otherwise. At every position in the FC, you are there to be a yes man for Reika. He will occasionally entertain the ideas of others on his "Council" if he doesn't already have an answer in his head. However, outside of that he only wants people to reaffirm to him that he is making the right choices.
If you manage to get into "Council" you will face consistent loyalty checks from Reika anytime there is an issue with people he perceives as your friends. I had friendships strained heavily to the point of not talking to some of them for weeks to months after they left because Reika will guilt trip you into thinking that you should be loyal to Azure.
Time wasting activities such as meetings that last for up to 3 hours, documentation that would make an office worker pity you, and sacrificing your IRL to show up to host in game events that absolutely must go on. Even if you're the only person "trained" to run. Reika loves to lead people on the same way a Manager at a fast food place with a sky high turnover rate will lead you on. Comments such as 'We are getting extra help soon', 'You can relax once we pass this milestone ', etc.
2. Reika truly and honestly believes that God one day spoke to him. Telling him that he needed to make a gaming news website to spread God's word "when the time is right"
3. Reika is a manipulative partner and friend that considers even the slightest thing a personal attack. Are you going online and offline on Discord mobile a lot because you're swapping between apps? That's you coordinating an attack against him. Are you able to tell the guy is tired and should take a nap? You're trying to pull the wool over his eyes to attack the FC. If Lovecraft and Reika both tried to enter a bar they'd run away screaming at sight of their own shadow in the doorframe. Reika is paranoid beyond a reasonable doubt and will assume you are a constant threat to keep watch over unless you move mountains to convince him otherwise.
If you're like me and try to leave amicably while not wanting to cause any drama. Reika will try to guilt trip you into staying, then act depressed that you're leaving, only to ghost you like a tinder date using you for a free meal. If you leave on bad terms there is no "mending" that bridge unless you come back to him to apologize. Reika's never is in the wrong, even when he is. Not to mention if you hang out with your friends in FFXIV and you're not using the "official" Azure Discord to communicate then that's a sign that you're not loyal to the FC. Reika believes that if you are online, in-game, and in VC with someone then you should be 'promoting' the server by using the VC channels in the Discord. Even if that would be detrimental to your gameplay experience by having randoms hop in to interrupt you during a raid or talk over everyone about some new fighting game they started playing while failing to read the room.
4. There exists protocols for protocols that must go through such a lengthy approval process it'd make your head spin. Want to introduce an event for people to run together on? In a normal FC you'd pick a time and let everyone know. In Azure you must first submit a request to him, then "group" for the event unofficially for 2-3 weeks, show a consistent level of turn out, and then Reika holds a 'vote' to get it approved. Once it becomes an event it has to go through the grouping protocols.
Grouping protocols? You ask! What the hell? That's right, if an event (say doing synced PVP que or mount farming) you would have a set time. Then you must sit in the yard for 30 minutes to build a group and wait for anyone who was going to trickle in. Even if you had a full group you needed to wait the full 30 minutes to ensure everyone was set. Because if two people walked in at 28 minutes in and wanted to go you had to find a way to fit them in. With very few exceptions.
The time was eventually dropped down to 15 minutes after months of constant pressure against Reika to change it. Even then it came with the clause that you should wait the full 30 if people were still trickling in. When you have more protocols and bureaucracy than the Vogons from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I truly wonder what makes that person happy.
Not to mention Council itself had its own level of protocols, documentation, and administrative busywork meant to make Reika feel like he was running a full scale business and not a video game social club
5. Reika has a deep passionate hatred for the high end community. In Reika's mind a static is a blood pact of 8 members that give them the ability to sacrifice their IRL lives, holidays, and other related things to prog Savage or Ultimate content. He views The Balance as a massive disrespect to SE & YoshiP by "ruining" the game's authenticity. This is despite the fact that Reika barely knows how use a tank stance, struggles to hold aggro, and constantly dies to the most basic mechanics in the game.
There's a reason a parse below a 0 doesn't register on FFLogs and it's because of Reika. If you're a hardcore player that wants to get involved in the community that's awesome! You just need to give up on prog, statics, and ambitions for high end content because people who are involved in the FC should be available for the FC at any time while online.
If you're in a static that conflicts with an event you're expected to step down to a regular member or step away from the static if they can't change the time for you.
6. Infantilization is rampant within the views of Azure. The FC markets itself as a 'PG-13' guild that is LGBT friendly. However, you can't swear without someone using a bastardized form of 'dirty word' on you. Talking about certain viewpoints of relevant hot button issues or even just trying to find something humorous in a depressing situation is heavily looked down upon. Chat rules are made up and then enforced on the spot by Officers who don't like the topic you're discussing. Discussing any sort of 'political' issue, even in the most minor sense, will have an Officer pulling you aside to talk down to you in /tell. I've seen it happen many times before and trying to make it a fuss about it in the Officer's chat just gets you talked down too for not being 'sensitive' to the overall FC's feelings. This is despite the fact that Officer's have free will to just allow whatever topics you want. Consistency doesn't matter when it comes to enforcing chat rules because Reika is too busy drafting his next mega chapter of the RP storyline of his character to notice until someone makes enough of a fuss.
There is a lot more but I don't want to create a novel
TL;DR: Azure is a cult, Reika is a textbook manipulator and narcissist. If you want to become involved in the FC beyond just being a member, be prepared to take on a second job in FFXIV. Do not believe his lies.
>inb4 some random bozo says 'lul fell for a cult'. I used to think it was impossible for me to fall for some of the most obvious cult like practices because I knew what to look for. The problem is, all it takes is one very charismatic person or someone willing to hone in on your desires to make you slowly toss out any sort of rational thought while ignoring major red flags.
well I guess I'm lucky I'm in 5 FCs with 5 out of 6 characters and they don't require much out of me, to say hi when I'm online but I'm on an EU server and they know I'm in so many FCs I'm not going up the ranks but I'm not worried
just be honest when you join an FC as I did I said I have so many characters and play with all of them when I get the need to play I'm helpful when I have free time stop my quest or whatever I'm doing to help but when I have to logout I'm login out can I still join your FC that can say YES or NO set your boundaries early
This is wild, I'm in this FC! I was invited on an alt I've been leveling up on Midgardsormr about 2 weeks ago. I had no idea there were these issues with the FC or history with the leader…I've been going down a rabbit hole tonight since watching your vid.
Just sharing my (very brief) experience, the people I've talked with or seen chatting have all seemed chill. I've run a few roulettes, saw some folks doing treasure maps, people chatting about their holidays, getting hyped about the fanfest, …I mean just feels like a normal FC. And I had never seen those rules you were showing, wow lol. I wonder if that's more something the FC leader and officers care about? Hasn't come up at least for me.
Either way it looks like I need to find a new FC for my alt. Where there's smoke, there's fire – I've seen enough with your and the linked videos (and comments on those videos of former members talking about past issues). I have no interest in stickling around to see history repeat itself.
Just wanted to share my 2 cents, and totally agree – please don't harass the FC. I honestly think most members like me don't even know all these things are being said about them.
this is not the FF14 gaming Community This is more FC drama . IT is even the Community as a whole, It is you talking about ab FC. The least you could do is make your title correct.