Today we bring you yet another community interview!
Playing as a male hyur myself, I've been a huge fan of Lys Aludra for as long as they started posting glamours -
and that was a long time ago! With an incredible sense of style and male fashion, Lys is one of the most well-known and liked creators
in Eorzea Collection.
This month, I finally got to meet my glamour crush and know more about how some of these handsome glamours were created.
So read on Eorzea Collection's exclusive interview with Lys!
Hey, Lys!
To start us off, can you tell us more about yourself?
Hi, y'all! I'm Lys from Cerberus!
In this badly designed game that we call real life, I'm a 28-year-old from France, living in Paris. Previously working as a Game Developer, I'm now kinda branching out to Web Development, but I still have my eyes on video game creation, but more as an indie dev now. I also spend some time on other creative stuff, like writing, but I'm still a huge amateur.
As for my hobbies, I go with the basics. You know, playing video games, looking for new Tactical RPGs, spending hours on Spotify perfecting my playlists, taking way too many pictures of my cat... The usual.
How long have you been playing FFXIV and what drew you to it?
I started FFXIV back in ARR but the game didn't really click for me back then. I reached level 40, got bored and stopped playing for some time.
Then a friend of mine kept talking about how he wiped for months on end against Nael and showed me videos of high end fights that looked and sounded way
too awesome.
So I gave FFXIV another try. That was not long after Heavensward came out and I never really stopped since then!
Five years and countless fantasias later, here I am!
What is your favourite thing about FFXIV?
I spend way too much time taking screenshots everytime I login to not mention the whole Gpose system that keeps on being improved.
But, really, what keeps getting me back into the game are the Extreme and Savage boss fights that are both really creative in terms of mechanics and also really pleasant. Also - did you hear those soundtracks? I can’t get enough of those.
I'm a big fan of RPGs, maybe even more of JRPGs, so the mix of storytelling, shiny visuals, dramatic musics and over-the-top boss fights made me fall in love with this game.
Were you always as invested in glamour or did that interest develop over time?
Well, I always look for cool outfits in games, even when that means dropping some Defense points for a better hat. A glass canon should be pretty, after all.
In FFXIV, however, I spend more and more time thinking out my outfits and looking for fresh new pieces to add to my Glamour Dresser. Between major patches, glamour even becomes one of the only reason for me to boot the game - that and the dread of losing my house.
What about in your everyday life, are you as fashion-conscious as you are in-game?
Fun thing is that spending a lot of time glamming in game pushed me to see real life fashion with a new eye. I don’t own as many clothes as my character does (and my bank account thanks me for that), but I’m still trying! Getting clothes is much more complicated IRL, though. I don’t have a tool to try on clothes with something as simple as a right click and I even have to talk to people, which is the hardest content of all.
Can you walk us through your process of creating a glamour?
Usually, I will pick a piece and build something around it. Most of the time, that would be the body piece or the boots, as you can easily guess since I’m wearing the same pants on half of my glamours on EC (whoops).
Sometimes, I’ll give myself the challenge to build something around an undyable weapon - as I did for some trial weapons in Shadowbringers. That can be a lot of fun to try and find a good outfit to match with them.
When I have nothing new to consider, I’ll just mix some pieces around the Glamour Dresser, until something looks good enough. I have a ridiculous amount of Bard armour in it and never get tired of trying to make them work together.
Do you have a go-to glamour or gear piece?
I’m definitely a compulsive glamour changer. I tend to keep at least four backup outfits for my main job at all times, ready to swap them out. Thank Hydaelyn for short raid lock-out timers so I can put on new clothes before going back to battle.
What about a favourite in-game colour?
Wine Red has no competition.
- Xennon Song, 11/05/2020
No, but really! I am a huge fan of red dyes and I have to fight against my own mind to try out other hues.
I might be a gillionaire, but I almost always prefer the Soot Black and Snow White dyes over their more expensive counterparts. Some would say I’m cheap, but I am convinced that they have a charm that the “green” ones don’t. Also, I’m really cheap.
One thing that I love finding out is how to dye a metal piece to match it to the metal parts of another piece of the outfit. Usually Aldgoat Brown or Gobbiebag Brown are my friends on that quest and for that, I respect them a lot.
We know glamour is the true endgame, but is it your main focus in the game or do you mix it up with other activities as well?
I definitely love raiding in this game. I have been doing Savage since the last tier of Heavensward and I’m still not tired of it and I have high hopes for the next fights!
For all the rest… I’m a lazy player. If I have to run something more than once, I’ll usually think of a good excuse to skip on doing it. Well, except for beast tribes - they are nice comfy friends.
If you could wish for one thing in FFXIV, what would it be?
More. Glamour. Dresser. Slots.
My four retainers are full of gear and I am a nervous hoarder. Please, Square Enix.
How did you first find out about Eorzea Collection?
I honestly can’t remember. It feels like it was always there, first when I lurked on the website, then after I posted my very first glamour here. If I would have to take a guess, I would say I found out about EC on reddit. At any rate, I’m glad I did!
What do you love the most about Eorzea Collection?
The website is a great tool that can be used both for creativity and as a database for a ton of screenshots of glamour pieces and the community around it strives to make it even better. You always update it with new features, content and quality-of-life update and I won’t be surprised if a year from now, EC has conquered the whole world!
What about Eorzea Collection, if you could wish for one thing, what would it be?
My biggest wish would be profiles, but I won’t add to the pressure since I know you’re already working on those!
I adore the creations of a lot of people here, so to have an easy way to see all their new stuff at once would sure be lovely.
Thank you so much for your time, Lys!
Do you have any closing remarks?
Thanks for reading all of this and if you ever spot me around Chaos DC, feel free to say hi!
Some quick thanks:
Lighte and Melisande for being my partners in glamourous crimes.
Mel again for bearing with me while I’m rambling about clothes made of pixels and the in-and-outs of being a Bard.
Neneko for their incredible shaders that turn any screenshot into a masterpiece.
