Ok...let me level with you here SE...

[Maacha]

I was already barely playing anymore, but after hearing what they think is reasonable for the lvl 99 upgrades I am letting my accounts lapse. I didn't add Crysta this month, my mule account is already turned off and my other 2 accounts will be deactivated in a couple days when their billing comes due.

My husband and I made our relics (Mandau and Gjallarhorn) back in the days of 1 mil / 500k hourglasses and a full LS farming for a single weapon. We had a sponsor who would pay for runs and collect currency, members got points to use on lotting armor and freelot on synth items (some of which were actually still valuable). In 5+ years as an LS we made 4 weapons, it might have been more but several people who began sponsoring gave up part way. Our LS survived only weeks after the server merger (Ramuh -> Bahamut) and Dynamis change, luckily our last sponsor was able to finish his weapon only a few weeks before it all happened. Most of my old friends are now gone or have limited playtime and are no longer online when I am able to be online. I joined a new LS native to Bahamut, but it was very difficult for me to make it for their event times and I have been logging on less and less over the last few months. I've done VW 3? times, none of them gaining me any clears, gear, or atmacites. In the last 2+ months pretty much all I've done has been EXPing by myself, 3 boxing my chara, my husband's chara, and our mule account.

Knowing that the final trials will be impossible for me, even the stage 1 trials, has removed pretty much my last reason to keep playing this game. I'll keep reading fansites in case the devs change their minds, but chances are I won't be able to post on the official forums once my accounts go inactive. It just isn't worth my $60 a month for FFXI anymore.

Getting kills on ADL might be plausible, since relic holders could work together on the goals at the same time, but getting items from him means only 1 person will benefit from the work of a full alliance. I don't even know a full alliance worth of people anymore, let alone a full alliance that would help me with a pissy NM that would only drop a single item toward the upgrade of a single weapon...