welp-ffxiv
welp-ffxiv
'Welp!' Reviews
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'Welp!' is an opinion piece publication designed to provide entertainment and constructive criticism to the role-play community on FFXIV. While there is the hope that the reviews can prove helpful to those that are struggling, there is the additional hope that it can be a source for those who are on the fence about attending a particular venue.
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welp-ffxiv · 3 months ago
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Venue Review: The Pelagio
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Overall Score: ★★★☆☆
"An aesthetically pleasing venue, the Pelagio was a treat for the eyes."
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As I found myself listless and devoid of companionship rather unexpectedly during the night, I turned my attention to a familiar haunt when it comes to finding new venues to enjoy and treat myself to. After two years of silence here, I thought it might be best to find one that would inspire me to finally put words to paper and punch out the first review.
I wanted something I hadn't seen posted about repeatedly, and to my delight I found just that - a fancy cocktail lounge funded by the spoils of successful privateers. Ahem, sorry - ex-privateers. Immediately, I was drawn to the venue by the care that was devoted to the carrd, built from a clean template crafted by a popular name in the template community, Suncarrds.
Deeply appreciative of such ardent care, I decided that this would be a venue worth attending. I am, after all, terribly easy to woo to any place with a nautical theme... but I really must make it clear that I am an absolute sucker for a first impression, and if the venue experience was anything like the carrd, I admit that my hopes were high that I would encounter a rare unicorn - a five star venue.
As has become habit, I joined the Discord as well. This is where I admit I began to feel concern.
It should be noted that the Discord is beautifully laid out. In fact, it is likely one of the cleanest I've seen in all my time of lurking in this community. Having built several over the years for both group and independent roleplay, I can appreciate the effort that goes into making a Discord clean, accessible and functional.
After having joined and agreed to the server rules, I began looking for the usual suspects and a little more information. I noted a rather concerning lack of communication in the general chat, which led me to believe there may be another channel used more often. A little more peeking into channels displayed some that were quite inactive, including several channels dedicated to 'reviews' of staff, at least two channels of which were lacking anything from this year.
As I made my way to the venue, I noted two other interesting - and alarming - bits of information. While NSFW hirings were possible, they would require you to verify your character with a bot in the server, one that requires you to muck about with your profile on the lodestone then verify that way. Having originally planned to hire, I quickly tossed the thought off my list. I'm not adverse to jumping through hoops, but this one felt uncomfortably unnecessary.
My next shock came when searching for the information to join a syncshell, as I do enjoy seeing characters as they wish to be seen - especially those played by members of the LGBTQIA+ community. I found that information, and promptly earned myself some sticker-shock: five million gil would buy my way into that sync, as well as an appropriate chat (ah, so that is where the chatter may be hiding) and event invitations to exclusive IC and OOC events.
My personal feelings about syncshells being paid for aside, that was far too steep a price for me to pay into, especially not having had any experience with the venue itself.
I was pleased to see that the venue matched the gallery on the carrd. Entering the Pelagio gave me a moment of confusion - absolute silence greeted me, prompting me to check if I had the wrong venue or even the wrong time. A quick search showed that there were people present, but even with the event already started, it was quite quiet.
I made my way upstairs to promptly run into a bottleneck of staff - none of whom turned to me to greet me or even motion me on. I proceeded further, and found myself brief and pleasant company at the bar before searching out other company to sample for the evening.
I did enjoy the brief interactions that I was able to get. The claim of high-quality roleplay was not a shallow one, but it would have been nice to see the idle staff interact with one another, existing in-character and breathing life into the venue itself instead of standing silently or only coming to life if approached by a guest.
I left feeling as though I should have left an ad on Craiglist in the 'missed connections' section, pleased yet somehow still left wanting and ultimately somewhat disappointed as I realized that, despite an italicized message strongly suggesting that if I enjoyed the efforts of the staff I should tip, I had not even been thanked for the tips that I had given.
Strangely, that felt worse than the earlier sticker shock.
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Ratings:
Hospitality - ★★☆☆☆
No greeter at the door to give direction and a bottleneck of inattentive staff make for a terrible first impression, and the lack of gratitude for tips left an unwelcome taste in my mouth. The hospitality rating is spared, however barely, a single star rating by the virtue of the company managed. Not the first time the bar staff have saved a venue.
Services and Amenities - ★★★☆☆
The menu is beautifully done and easily legible, and while there are prices on the menu, when I was handed my inventory clutter it was traded without expectation for pay. That does make me curious about the 1.5 million for the bar buyout and if that is handwaved as well. It is not clear either way - so I'd bring coin just in case. I did not purchase time with anyone, as I was not keen on doing anything with a bot, but it should be noted this venue has SFW charges as well and is a 'per hour' venue.
Aesthetic and Ambiance - ★★★★☆
A truly beautiful venue that embraces the nautical, waves and sunken ship aesthetic in a truly creative and wonderful way. If I returned, it would be to sit amongst the corals and think heavily on my choices in life.
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welp-ffxiv · 3 years ago
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'Welp!' - Navigation Pin
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'Welp!' is a solo-run opinion blog focused on bringing honest reviews to the FFXIV role-play community regarding the events and venues that run across the various servers and data centers.
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The 'Welp!' reviewer looks forward to adventuring beyond their own comfort zones and meeting many and more of the amazing event and venue community, and it is their hope that others are also inspired to visit venues they may not have before.
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