The height of summer brings with it certain traditions, like sprawling festivals meant to bring people together. Players ofFinal Fantasy 14can enjoy that sense of community without travel or sweltering heat by going to the game’s virtual summer music celebration, Mogstock. Based largely onWoodstock(the classic festival, not the disastrous Woodstock ‘99, the team behind it was quick to point out), Mogstock is designed to span three entire days from July 14 to July 16.
Final Fantasy 14players may want to take note it will take place through the subdivision of Lavender Beds Ward 22 on Mateus, on the Crystal data center. It will also include nearly 40 musical performers, roleplay events, sparring matches, restaurants, giveaways, and more to create the full festival atmosphere the organizers want to bring to the game. Event leader Clayde Lockheart Lockheart–joined by fellow event leads Demytrya Eno’traeh, Tromad Moonrose, and Mihna Cohrvenn–spoke to Game Rant about their upcoming festival.
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While manybards and roleplay venues inFinal Fantasy 14seek compensation in in-game currency (gil) for their efforts, Mogstock is designed to be a labor of love for the community. Those who have come to help make the festival succeed do so out of their love of the idea and the other players of the game. This is a cornerstone of what Mogstock set out to be, according to Lockheart.
The team highlighted the massive community effort behind Mogstock, and that the talent brought together runs much deeper than just the headlining acts of The Songbirds, Broken [W]ings, and The Wiggles. It even has grander ambitions than 37 musical performers. The event site stretches through most of the subdivision in which it takes place, and brings together large swaths of theFinal Fantasy 14roleplaying community, from the political intrigue-focused Project Ishgard, to the restaurateurs of fellow annual festival A Feast Reborn, to the pub where the idea got started–Maggie’s Tavern.
Eno’traeh recounted that it was Maggie’s Tavern where she, Lockheart, Moonrose, and fellow organizer Viyene Vaitisionne first discussed the idea that would become Mogstock. Lockheart was craving concerts at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and was looking to do something on a grander scale than he’d ever done before. Over the course of meetings of their semi-secret group TinyClub, the plan for Mogstock came together, and the conversation turned to action to make Lockheart’s initial vision into the reality of today’s Mogstock.
Eno’traeh also explained the breadth of the event, and how that ambition needed a full three-day weekend to breathe.
Lockheart and Cohrvenn will be performing during the festival as part of their octet Final Fantasia, and Eno’traeh will be part of the Fens performance as well. Moonrose also will be active during the event as DJ Luna K. Moonrose has strong connections in the broader performing arts scene inFinal Fantasy 14as well, being one of the leaders of the Curtain Call Theater Company. They shared insights into the creativity of the player community.
“I am a huge fan of creativity. I love encouraging it, developing it. There is so much talent in the community tucked away in little corners and in some cases right in front of us. I think it’s important we foster that growth with the understanding that we are all in this together to create a world we can all enjoy. And when that world shuts down, I want to be able to look back with fondness and do something new with all my friends.”
As for Mogstock itself, the organizers want more than an event. Player-run events, and in particular roleplaying events, happen every day inFinal Fantasy 14with a crowded social calendar. Mogstock’s ambition isn’t to be one of the many weekend distractions offered to players inEorzea, but to be a destination. A true festival experience held in a digital medium, the closest a fully-online experience can get to the classic feel of Woodstock ‘69. It was summed up as a desire to be a destination.
Over the few years that Mogstock has run now, it has not settled for what it has accomplished. Being a destination seems, ironically, to be more a journey for the planners of Mogstock–a goal post that always moves to encourage them to aim higher year over year. There are problems with the massive scale of Mogstock, as Cohrvenn explained, but they’re worthwhile to create the destination that players seek.
“It can feel like herding cats sometimes. You have multiple people signing up for the event, and you need specific info from all of them, but everyone has different schedules and frequency they can check their DMs, so often you have to chase things down and don’t receive a lot of info til the last minute. Sometimes I feel like an octopus–all spread out trying to get everything I need from so many people … Mogstock definitely feels more like a destination than just a show. It takes over so much of the ward, from the bands to the venues. you’re able to walk around and still be in the festival. It’s a really immersive event.”
But that immersion can be easily broken by bad actors. The music system the game provides to Bards isn’t without ways to be griefed or abused, and griefing the festival has been an issue in the past. Even taking place in the heart ofFinal Fantasy 14roleplaying–the Crystal datacenter–there are those who seek to ruin the experience. Thankfully, according to Lockheart, Square Enix has taken action against those who have sought to ruin the festival for others.
And with that kind of support from both the game’s staff and its community, Mogstock ‘23 is poised to, yet again, be theFinal Fantasy 14destination of the summer. More information about the event is availableon the Carrd for Mogstock.
Final Fantasy 14is available now for PC, PS4, and PS5.
