How fast do you type, and has playing MMOs improved your typing in any way?
Final Fantasy 14 has introduced a new typing minigame at the Gold Saucer, the game’s social hub and arcade area. The minigame challenges parties of four players to defeat successive waves of enemies by typing words, making typing speed the primary gameplay mechanic. Players compete against each other while working toward shared objectives, with performance tied directly to text input accuracy and speed. The feature offers cosmetic rewards obtainable through playthroughs of the minigame. In PC Gamer’s “Terminally Online” MMO column—a bi-weekly feature exploring MMO culture, mechanics, and community perspectives—the author, a professional typist, spent several hours engaging with the minigame to unlock its complete reward set. The piece explores whether MMO gameplay meaningfully improves players’ real-world typing proficiency, using Final Fantasy 14’s new feature as a launching point for examining how gaming culture and professional skills intersect.