A word of warning: If you don't want to read another post about the events that befell Japan in the last few days, just don't read.
The last few days have been rather bewildering to me. It's easy to ignore a catastrophe when it happens thousands of miles away from you, and it doesn't involve people that you know or have personal contacts with.
Being a volunteer I have seen several natural disasters in my life, the last one was the Earthquake in l'Aquila (luckily, while definitely bad, not nearly as disasterous as the one in northern Japan), but none of them directly involved friends and people that I knew, so I wasn't really prepared for this one.
They were still painful experiences, mind you. Very painful. But it felt somehow different.
I've spent the last few days in which the servers of FFXIV were up periodically checking my friend list, hoping that my Japanese friends would show up. Some did, some, unfortunately, didn't.
Of course I don't know if any of them was actually involved in the disaster (while every Japanese is somehow involved), the lack of news is disheartening.
This gave me a realization, one that, I'm not afraid to admit it, made me cry. The laws of numbers dictate that at least some FFXIV/XI players probably have been directly by the heartquake. Some of them we may have lost.
I don't know how many, and none of us will ever know, but it pains me that there are Lalafells, Mi'quote Roegadyn, Hyur and Elzen that will never appear again in Eorzea, not because they are disgruntled by some of the flaws of the game (and this all honestly makes me feel heavily how pointless those are), but because the human being behind them is no more.
I wish I knew their names, their faces, in order to be able to remember them as more than an online avatar with a fantasy name.
I can't help feeling a dull pain about it, and I hope that happier times will come soon for Japan and for all of us that care.
I hope, then, we'll meet again in Eorzea, put our silly differences about jumping, PvP, quests, classes and all that crap aside, and spend a moment to remember those we lost.
Those that we lost.
Printable View
-
03-14-2011, 06:49 AMAbriaelThose that we lost.
-
03-14-2011, 07:00 AMSirEdeonX
I share your pain :S
I played with a few japanese people, I hope everything's alright with them and that we can adventure in Eorzea gain sometime soon :\ -
03-14-2011, 07:04 AMPennywisE
Well put, well written.
I couldn't agree more.
However, don't take people's comments so personally - it doesn't do any good. -
03-14-2011, 07:08 AMKilta_Firelotus
I know I lost some ffxi friends. To the troll. Alot of us have jp friends. I was on ffxi and ppl on there handled stuff like this with respect. Unlike some of you that only care about a game. Forums are going to be somber.
-
03-14-2011, 07:11 AMviionI didnt even know he was "famous" for anything lol I see him shout whining about the game but a lot of what he says is true, to me hes no different than anyone else who whines/bitches including myself. Guess im famous if he thinks he is lolQuote:
Originally Posted by Abriael
Anyway to the thread. Its nice some people care, but it is getting tiresome that there is a new thread every damn minute... -
03-14-2011, 07:13 AMRotax
This post is very "nice".
I use google translator and I can hardly speak.
I hope many people as possible are well, I love the Japanese. -
03-14-2011, 07:16 AMAbriaelYou're right. Much better to post just another thread about the auction house or jumping, right?Quote:
Originally Posted by viion
-
03-14-2011, 07:22 AMMega
It's better use the Search feature and not be an attention whore.
-
03-14-2011, 07:29 AMAbriaelFunny, an interesting trend about forum posting is that one of the major ways to "attention whore" is stalking threads demanding that people "use the search function"Quote:
Originally Posted by Mega
-
03-14-2011, 07:35 AMMega
EDIT: It was off topic so I will let it be.
-
03-14-2011, 07:36 AMJhanaka
Hello Folks!
We appreciate the kind thoughts sent in this post, but please keep the replies on topic or the thread may need to be closed. =(
Thank you for your understanding.
-Senior Game Master Jhanaka -
03-14-2011, 07:45 AMIssac
Personally, I watched everything I could while it unfolded. My jaw dropped at the constant aftershocks that were serious on their own merit... When I watched the tsunami wash over the shoreline from the birds-eye view, I was overwhelmed.
And I couldn't help but think- All these drivers frantically doing 3-point turns and flooring it to get away while this helicopter just records, unable to help any of these unfortunate people. And it made me feel terrible.
I do have a few friends ingame that I hope are okay. It terrifies me to think of going through that nightmare. -
03-14-2011, 07:48 AMKimahri
Great thread, Abriael. I feel your pain. While the loss of any life is tragic in itself. To lose a friend is to lose a piece of your own soul. While I do not know many from foreign countries such as Japan, I know those very dear to me who have departed this world. It makes you cry. It leaves a very big hole in your heart where joy and laughter once stood.
To all those writing off topic on this thread, please do not. I want you to think how it would feel right now if you lost a mother, father, sibling, child, and/or close friend to a tragedy such as this. This is how those in or from Japan are feeling right now. Give them a symbol of hope and prayer in whichever way you can. Open up your arms and show them the true nature of Human Beings........Love. -
03-14-2011, 07:48 AMChezen
There's not much to say to this.
:( -
03-14-2011, 07:50 AMgifthorse
I suppose it's kind of sad when you think that lalafells died. But I don't really feel anything. This is kind of the case with the holocaust. I never felt anything for those that died until I read The Diary of Anne Frank. And even then, I only care that she died. I lose no sleep over the other 30 million.
To me, it's difficult to emotionally grapple with a statistic. Still, I wonder if I will notice some missing players when I next log on in a couple of weeks. -
03-14-2011, 07:52 AMMegaOnly something so beautiful would come from Kimahri Ronso. A symbol eh...Quote:
Originally Posted by Kimahri
Heres looking to the future:
http://site.video-game-central.com/b...asy-vii-e3.jpg -
03-14-2011, 07:58 AMAbriaelThis is exactly why i do feel something. My friend list in the game is full of Japanese players and with many of them i play quite a lot. For me it's not a statistic anymore. It's rather personal.Quote:
Originally Posted by gifthorse
-
03-14-2011, 10:55 AMMikitaThe hardest part is waiting and not knowing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Abriael
Both of my Linkshells are Japanese, and many of us spent the weekend logged in, just hoping for contact from all of our friends. Many people did not come.
Because we don't really exchange personal information, I fear that we there are people who we will never hear from again -- but we won't know if they just lost their ability or desire to come back to Eorzea, or if they lost their lives. -
03-14-2011, 11:01 AMAbriaelYes. That's the only problem I have with the server shutdown. With some of my japanese friend i never felt the need (stupid me) to exchange other ways of communication than the game. Unfortunately this means that I won't know whether they are ok or not until the servers come back up.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mikita
I wish more people used the lodestone. That'd help. -
03-14-2011, 11:25 AMHamadacouldn't agree more. :(Quote:
Originally Posted by Mikita
-
03-14-2011, 11:44 AMorigamikitsune
OP, very well said, and better than I could have said it myself. It was very disheartening after the earthquake to log in. Maybe I am imagining things, but it "seemed" empty to me. Maybe it wasn't, but the realization that there are probably people that I won't ever see again made it feel that way. Thank you for expressing what I couldn't express.
<3