Were my family impressed?

However, it is one super cute mount.

A flying pig wearing a crown?

A man crouched down in a graveyard posing next to a grave with Thancred from Final Fantasy 14 on it.

Im a sucker for all things merch.

Both digital and physical, and if it accomplishes both in one fell swoop?

You have to buy at least three drinks in one transaction to get a code for the mount.

A Warrior of Light walking into the Arcadion in Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail.

Drinks vary between 5-7 so youre looking at spending 15-21 to get the Porxie King.

Mounts available via Square Enixs online store are often 13-25, so its not abadprice.

However, the same rule applies to the keychains.

A Lightsaber in Fortnite’s Galactic Battle season.

If you want the mount and all three keychains, youll be buying 12 drinks and forking out 60-80.

This means theyre left going without or forced topay the horrendous prices scalpers are charging.

The problems dont end there either.

A Final Fantasy 14 player thinking while looking at scalper prices for the Gong cha collab event.

Some have reported store clerks giving away more codes than they should, rather than sticking to the limit.

And things have already started to run out within days of the event starting.

The keychains appear to be the most sought-after item, and the most limited.

A bunch of Final Fantasy 14 themed Gong cha drinks with a code and keyring.

Essentially the same pig, just without the crown.

I could tell the staff in the Gong cha I visited hated the event.

Their tired expressions practically screamed Im sick of asking grown adults which silly animal keychain they want.

A player on the Porxie King mount in Final Fantasy 14.

Lots of customers were paying for the drinks and specifically asking tonotreceive the actual drinks.

All they wanted was the merch, or at a push, the merch and the empty FF14-themed cups.

But not the drinks themselves.

Live-Service Games

Sadly we didnt have self-service machines to direct people to.

This isnt the first FF14 collab event Ive rushed out to buy things for.

Years back I bought three GameMaster magazines to get a code for the Original Fat Chocobo mount.

Final Fantasy 14

However, there is hope yet for those missing out on Gong cha.

However, the keychains will likely remain forever limited to this event and forever overpriced on eBay.

I dont even like bubble tea.

But I bought six of them for a digital pig and a keychain.

I love both, but ultimately I cant help having mixed feelings about the event.

Now is the perfect time to dive into the Arcadion in FFXIV.