Quote Originally Posted by Wolfie View Post
This is the kind of mentality I never want to see again, and I'm so, so glad WOW and some other western MMOs have found a way to deal with it.

Please, enlighten us what's your definition of "not prohibitively". Because two of my friends that started FFXI with me had quit the game when they learned that they had to farm for a solid month just to continue leveling past level ~40, and I ended up buying gil because I didn't want to put up with that s***.
"Not prohibitively" as in less than 2 million gil (back in 2005). Scorpion Harness was 10 million, Charm was something absurd like 30 million and so on. There was a clear gap between "good" and "top tier" gear. I farmed a bunch for my Haubergeons, Ochiudo's Kotes, Leaping Boots, Emperor Hairpins and whatnot. Nothing was handed to me. If the rest of the group has some of these items, damn right I'm not going to join without also having them, as that'd force the the rest of the group to essentially carry me. Gimps can play with each other for all I care but in a team game you have to pull your weight or you will (and should) be eliminated as the weakest link.