It's like watching a friend waste away...

[Michae]

Ok I am not starting a post to complain about the new changes in ffxi. There have been alot of good and bad changes, as there usually are. But I have to say the past year has made me really sad.

The best way for me to articulate this is like this.

You have a friend that you met in high school that you hung out with every day. You and this friend didnt have much at first but you got to meet alot of ppl, have grand adventures and though things sometimes took alot of time and took alot of effort you were really pleased with what you accomplished and all the shiney new things you had. Now say that friend won the lottery and things came easy, your friend and their new friends didnt wanna work for anything anymore and didnt have to since they had won the lottery and they got everything they wanted with no time or effort. Soon you and your friend run out of things to do together and all you do all day is listen to your friend and all his new little groupies whine about not having it easy enough even tho they have the best of the best all around them. Not long after you friend becomes ill and starts to slowly die. What do you do? Do you stay beside this friend who has been with you all these years and hope the devs can find a cure? Or do you sadly walk away to find a new friend to have grand adventures with?

I know the old days were a time suck. But what I miss most is meeting ppl and having laughs as we climbed nyzul isle or poked fun with each other as we tried various strats and fought our way through dyna or just spend 5 hrs in East Ron [s] fighting colibri well chatting. It wasnt all about fighting a nm 50 times while not talking to each other just so you could get ur drop and disband. It wasnt about kicking someone from a pt after calling them a noob cause they made a mistake or hit the wrong macro.

With that out there tho let the flamers begin flaming. I am just sad to even contemplate saying goodbye to an old friend.

[Octaviane]

Michae, I honestly don't remember people complaining too much about levelling old style or doing all the storylines, missions, quests, endgame etc. Like now though, I am sure they did, just not the same way people do now. Sure it got old from time to time, but we always ended up with smiles on our faces and no matter what, we had fun and made a few good friends along the way. I remember receiving a phone call from a friend when I was incapacitated a few years back saying they had beaten their first Maat on WHM. That was cause for celebration and boy! Did we ever!

Many of the people I knew from when I started left right after CoP was nerfed the second time. A few came back to try Abyssea, but again, most left within a month, not because they were bad players, trust me, they were outstanding players without being high and mighty about it, but because they didn't like the silver platter approach. I think there might be 4 people left from the 30+ I knew originally.

I have enjoyed both old and new content in FFXI, but have chosen to walk away from what's planned for several reasons, none of which I will elaborate on here. It wasn't easy but I eased out of the game over a long period of time, 8 months or so. Actually, I look back and have to say I decided to quit right after the level cap increase to 90. I have no regrets because I enjoyed this once unique game and the people I had the priviledge of meeting and making friends with. All good things come to an end eventually and we move on. We don't ever forget our old friend, but we are excited about meeting a new and/or new ones.

You can keep in touch with what's going on in these Forums and make your own choices about what to do or not. I wish you the very best of luck. Most of all play the game how you want to and have fun. :)

[Inafking]

This game is more like an abusive husband. It's been kicking your ass for years and just as you're about to leave (or in some cases after you've left) "Please, baby, I've changed." Then you come back / stick around only to find out he made minor changes to things that are no longer relevant and is still coming up with new ways to kick your ass. It sounds like you might have had fun at one point with random people / parties. I can honestly say I've never met anyone in game who has had that experience.