For our June feature we find ourselves in the sleepy suburb of Shirogane. Despite its calm appearance, this housing zone holds one of the most exciting venues Eorzea has to offer. Every Thursday night Milk Nightclub opens its doors and this otherwise relaxing setting is transformed into a hub of activity. Eager patrons gather prior to opening and form a line that snakes its way through the streets. Once the venue opens, club goers excitedly file inside to fill the dancefloor; quickly losing themselves in the masterful mixes of Eorzea’s very own DJ Awp.
If you’re looking for an exhilarating night out, look no further. Between the killer music, packed dance floor, gambling, champagne calls, and enthusiastic staff, the energy in the air at Milk is almost palpable. The sleek venue design and fantastic layout add to the overall experience, offering partygoers multiple areas for dancing, lounging, chatting, and drinking. Milk also boasts several different smaller settings to enjoy, tucked inside the plot’s personal quarters. Be wary when exploring though, Milk’s main hall quickly reaches capacity so adventures into the various rooms may be a one way trip.
In addition to all of the care the staff puts into making sure visitors enjoy themselves while inside the venue, Milk also has an engaging presence on both Twitter and Discord. They regularly advertise any upcoming events via Twitter, so if you’re interested in keeping up with them give them a follow! Every Thursday Milk’s skilled staff members take countless screenshots inside of the venue, capturing all the fun their patrons are having. These lovely screenshots are always posted inside of the Milk Discord Server, so if you drop by this venue be sure to check the server for amazing photos of your character!
Aside from Milk’s official Twitter and Discord, you can also catch live footage from the venue every week and listen along on Twitch, courtesy of DJ Awp. All past footage is archived on both his Twitch and YouTube, so check them out and follow along on those platforms to keep up with all of the latest sets!
All in all, this Locale is one we would highly recommend, so if you’re feeling the urge to dance the night away, vibe to fantastic music, gamble, or just be showered under a torrent of champagne; stop in and give Milk a visit!
Still feeling thirsty for more Milk related info? The staff at Milk was kind enough to conduct an interview with us. Read on to see their answers to various questions about the venue!
• What is the name of your Locale?
Milk
• Where are you located?
NA, Cactuar, Shirogane, Ward 23, Plot 7
• Is your Locale a personal property or a free company property?
Free Company.
• If your Locale is a free company property, what is your free company name and tag?
Milk Bread
• If you had to briefly describe your Locale, what would you describe it as?
A venue created by XIV nightlife culture, Milk was founded in 2021 and has since set the bar for service, music, culture, and design across Aether. With the purpose of spreading good vibes and good music for everyone, Milk upholds this tradition every Thursday 7-10PM PST.
• If you have staff working at your Locale, we’d love it if you told us a bit about them!
Milk staff are incredibly passionate and dedicated. The nightclub started through our FC, Milk Bread, and for many months was completely staffed by our members! Since then we have had the privilege to add folks to our ranks that share in the vision of the space and fulfill various roles across the venue. We strive to provide our staff the capability to flex their roles in ways that are the most fun for them and for our guests, which has given our staff a wide range of personality and quality.
• What inspired you to create your Locale?
In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic our long time friend group was struggling to find personal connection. We picked up FFXIV and within the first several months discovered the venue scene on Aether. We found it to be absolutely hilarious (in the best way!) and went out nightly together drinking and laughing and it was just such a cool way to feel connected, Camille and Lunetta vowed they’d make their own venue. Almost a full year later, <Milk> Free Company had grown to over 100 members and had the strong foundation to completely insularly support a venue, from a full suite of staff to our DJ. This was a unique opportunity within the club space to be completely contained within our own ecosystem, which was exciting!
By this time, several of our members had explored the Crystal venue scene and Camille and Awp took a chance on what bringing consistent and exclusively Twitch DJing as venue entertainment to Aether. Awp already ran a weekly Wednesday stream, and Camille had seen incredible vibes, comradery, and culture stemming from Crystal. Prior to this, the primary form of entertainment on Aether was through booking bards, which at times would be booked in conjunction with a DJ (both playing at the same time independently). We also found that our crews sense of humor and energy weren’t always welcome in more subdued RP venues, and we wanted to make a space where there was a lot less restriction and way more freedom to “be chaotic” (while still being respectful). The inspiration of connection, culture, and bringing something really special to Aether was what inspired Milk as it is today.
• What were your goals when decorating, and what were you trying to achieve with your design?
The goal was to bring a first floor dancefloor format to a visually stunning space that would remain consistent for the duration of the venues existence. We love F1 layouts when we’re clubbing, as soon as you walk in the door you are IN the party. You can take a sweeping look at the space and really get a sense of what’s going on! We wanted to create something that was uniquely modern and sleek, our design is something we are very proud of!• Did you do any concept sketches or make a list of key features or items to include for the build?
We wanted our FC to be involved in the design process once we decided to turn our mansion into a nightclub. We provided some mood board templates and also had members submit pictures of nightlife atmospheres that they would love to see recreated in FFXIV.• Can you explain the different areas of your Locale in a floor by floor breakdown?
• Was decorating a group effort with placement and crafting, or a solo build?
We initially hired a designer and provided to them the top voted mood board from our members, but the end result was not quite up to our standards. Luckily it was not a total loss, my close friend in the FC had designed some beautiful personal houses before and had the same passion as myself and friends to fulfill our dreams of making a night club. Although I gave him creative freedom to try whatever he wanted, Viewing Catscene and myself worked very closely together to rework the design.• Which area of your build was done first?
We started from the ground floor to the top, our main focus was the dance floor and DJ stage.• How long did the build take?
Catscene and I were very determined to create something we were proud of well before our planned launch. Both of us spent many hours each day for an entire week or so before our vision came to fruition.• Did you encounter any unique design challenges during your build, if so can you explain?
Nothing too unique! The most challenging part was balancing the item count so that we could include everything that we wanted in our two-story design.• What is your favorite part of the design?
Our favorite part of the design is the DJ stage!
• How long has your Locale been open to the public?
We had our opening night on Thursday, May 13, 2021
• Do you have set hours of operation, if so what are they?
Every Thursday 7 – 10PM PST (10 – 1AM EST)
• Does your establishment offer any services, if so what are they?
We have a full bar, and offer specialty champagne calls where our staff will converge on a guest or friend and pop champagne on them in unison, combined with any special message!
We offer a weekly live 3 hour DJ set through our talented LA based DJ, Awp.
We also offer gambling in the form of Blackjack, personal and private dances, and a large array of private room rentals for our guests to enjoy!
• Does your Locale have a menu available for guests?
https://www.milkffxiv.com/menu
• Do you have any recurring events that you have on a weekly/monthly/yearly basis? If so, can you tell us a bit about them?
Milk does monthly themed event evenings, sometimes more! These can widely vary depending on the time of year or what people are passionate about at the time.
• Do you have any upcoming events that you would like to promote?
Milk is celebrating a pride theme event every Thursday in June!
• What is the typical atmosphere like at your Locale?
High energy, great vibes, community, with that nightclub flavor we all love.
🌈 Swing by and show off your colors every Thursday night in June during Milk’s Pride Month festivities! ✨