FFXIV - I Hit The Cactpot

When I'm not digging through EVE Online's monthly economic report, I like to play Final Fantasy XIV. One of the things I do every day is visit the Manderville Gold Saucer. I have to play the mini-cactpot and do either one of the "Leap of Faith" jumping puzzles or "Air Force One" on-rails shooter to start my play session.

The Manderville Gold Saucer, for those who don't play FFXIV, is a very patron friendly casino. Basically, a player would have to work really hard to lose their money. In order to make sure a player doesn't gamble away all his gil, players use a secondary currency called the MGP, or Manderville Gold Saucer Points. Think of the MGP as chips. And players cannot buy MGP if they have over 500 MGP in their possession.

The big game in the Gold Saucer is the Jumbo Cactpot. The game is simple. Players choose a number between 0000 and 9999. Players can purchase up to three tickets per week, with each ticket costing 50 MGP more than the previous. So for three tickets, the cost is 450 MGP. The ultimate prize is over 1 million MGP, with drawings held every Saturday.

Remember how I stated the Gold Saucer is very patron friendly. By buying 3 tickets, the minimum payout a player can receive is 3702 MGP. Is a game really gambling if you can't lose? So, since I can't lose, I play every every week.

And on Saturday, I did it. I hit the Jumbo Cactpot.

Winning the Cactpot, with the free company bonus included

My free company runs the Gold Saucer buff on Saturdays for just such occasions. Including the 10% buff, I received 1.2 million MGP. I already had over 1.2 million MGP from just rolling into the Gold Saucer and not spending any money. At the end of the day yesterday, I was up to 2.5 million MGP.

I now have enough money to buy anything the Gold Saucer has to offer. I already own the two most expensive mounts, so if I wanted to, I could pick up at least three more mounts. But I have a different plan. I'm certain that with the next expansion will come a new selection of goods for the Gold Saucer, including a new mount. So I intend to keep saving up my MGP for the next expansion to buy the new mount on day 1. I've never been rich enough in a game to do anything like that before.