I joined because my friends were playing it, saying how awesome it was. After spending several months cobbling together a PS2 (had to get it fixed), HDD, copies of the core game and Promathia I managed to log on in time for the first Summerbreeze Festival. Then my friends all quit several months later. Not sure why I kept playing, maybe it's the great writing or the fulfilling quest lines. I DO know that I tend to gain only one level a month, so it's clearly not the gameplay.