Sharlayan Dropouts: A Final Fantasy XIV Podcast

Love it or hate it, it's once again the time of year where the Dropouts directly and indirectly reveal way too much about themselves for the sake of a ridiculous Top 12 list. In what will surely be a strong contender for "Episode of a Final Fantasy Podcast Where The Hosts Make Up The Most Euphemisms For Doing it", Victor, Nadia, Mike, and Eric assemble the sexiest roster of FFXIV NPCs to duke it o...

If Final Fantasy XIV is a theme park then that means Mount Gulg is the Matterhorn, Matoya's Cave is It's A Small World, and Elidibus is someone wearing Mickey Mouse's skin! This all makes sense to me and it might even make sense to you after you listen to this episode! Victor, Nadia, and special guest Ash Paulsen talk all about the many many allusions in Final Fantasy XIV to the game that started...

The Fan Fest cycle has come to a close but that just means the Dawntrail hype is kicking into 4th gear as Summer(?) 2024 gets closer and closer. Tokyo Fan Fest 2024 was full of exciting announcements; Pictomancer, Female Hrothgar, Echoes of Vana'diel, and more! And to kick off the New Year we have a very special guest, Double Fine's own Harper Jay, to join Victor, Nadia, and Mike on the panel. And...

Lali-ho all you dropouts, troublemakers, and ne'er-do-wells! It's me, Nadia, Sharlayan's worst academic. What do bad academics do when they're supposed to be studying? Listen to music, of course. That's what today is all about. Since Vic is out of town for a little while, I thought I'd do a solo episode that explores some of the best songs FFXIV treated us to in 2023. Epic raids! Epic bosses! Love...

Good morning Dropouts. I hope every single one of you skipped out on your education to stream the 2023 Fanfest at London. The event brought as much FFXIV-related merriment as you'd expect, but the real meat of the show (aside from the thicc monster-meat steaks being grilled up by the Mamool Ja) was the new Dawntrail trailer and the new job reveal: Viper. Oh, and there was news about the next Allia...

It's the beginning of the end! Or rather the end of Endwalker which was the end of the beginning, which is ending after this beginning ends and it's ending begins. Archons Nadia Oxford and Victor Hunter take you through the most important information to come out of the recent Live Letter from the Tokyo Game Show floor to get you prepped for Patch 6.5 Growing Light. New mounts, more Zero, and snark...

If you missed our annual Axe of the Blood God Charity Livestream now is your chance to catch up on our initial impressions of all the exciting news that came out of Las Vegas Fan Fest 2023! New World, new console, new para-dye-gm. Plus, we have to stop talkin' TMNT on SD.

Turns out people like talking about their Warriors of Light! A lot! But what makes the WoL such a compelling avatar/character/actor in a genre not known for its interesting player characters? Hosts Victor Hunter, Nadia Oxford, Mike Williams, and Eric Van Allen discuss how they feel about their Eorzean proxy and what that means for roleplay as well as FFXIV’s ambitious narrative. We also get a chan...

You got your Final Fantasy XI in my Final Fantasy XIV! Get ready to shout chat and learn Red Mage as we start our journey through the completely different game that is Eureka. References to FFV and FFXI abound, getting from point A to point B has never been more treacherous, and Victor finds another chance to monologue about loading zones. Hopefully this episode will ease the pain of the grind, ev...

We hurl halibut and homilize halitosis but by The Twelve we look good doing it on this episode of Sharlayan Dropouts. It’s all things Blue Mage this week with your hosts Victor Hunter, Nadia Oxford, and special guest Eric Van Allen. Where did the Blue Mage originate? What’s the appeal of its innately masochistic mechanics? And what does the future of Blue Mage look like for Final Fantasy XIV? We t...

Kick back and relax as Field Studies returns for a guided audio commentary track through fan-favourite Shadowbringers dungeon, The Twinning. Sharlayan Dropouts host Victor Hunter takes you through the history of the Crystal Tower, the cascading effect that delays in the mid-2000s had on Square that are still being felt today, and the crystalline metaphor at the heart of this tragic-but-hopeful tal...

It’s the episode you’ve all been waiting for! FF4 has never been more relevant and we’re delighted to welcome a guest that couldn’t be better suited to the subject; FF loremaster, archivist, and all-round wonderful guy, Anonymoose. We talk all things Zero, the moon, and masked men with plans to move a whole lot of undead souls from one plane to another. This is an absolute must-listen for all FF4...

It’s the battle of the babes this month on Sharlayan Dropouts as we go wall-to-wall to figure out which hotties buff our hosts to max potency. That’s right, we’re ranking the Top 12 stone foxes, the veritable mamacitas, of Final Fantasy XIV. Listen as Victor Hunter, Nadia Oxford, Mike Williams, and Eric Van Allen tell on themselves for your enjoyment. Find out if your favs made the list! And if th...

Put on your Hawaiian shirt and cargo shorts because it’s tourist season in Eorzea! In this episode of Sharlayan Dropouts we’re taking you on a guided tour. Either listen as a standalone episode or follow along in-game for the Ultimate Immersive Gameplay X-perience!™ This month we’re looking at the tragic history of The Lost City of Amdapor and the brain fungus, abstract liminal spaces, and fun fac...

Fans of Ivalice, the history of visual novels, and the works of Jean-Luc Godard might just find something to sink their teeth into this episode. Victor explores the many twists and turns in the surprisingly robust history behind Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn’s Summoner weapon, The Veil of Wiyu in this first episode of a recurring series that aims to shed light on the real-world inspirations be...

Hop on the airship back to your hometown and listen to your favorite Final Fantasy XIV podcast, now on the free feed! The Dropouts bring a very special guest to family dinner, author of Fight, Magic, Items, Aidan Moher, to discuss the impact FFXIV has had on the JRPG and MMO genres over the years. Plus it’s the first annual Holiday Gift Guide; our hosts give you the perfect gift ideas at any budge...