As The World Turns

I watch and I learn from the world around me. To the best of my ability.

I am in a FFXIV group on Facebook, and what do I see the most? Bitching. Whining. Complaining about everything. Endgame is this. This job does this but this doesn't do this. Content is this and this and that and that. Complain, complain, complain.

For several months, I have stopped playing FFXIV. Going cold turkey was nowhere near as difficult as when I had FFXI flowing through my veins.

No joke, when I had to go out of town for a weekend during 2006, I was shaking because I needed to play. Had to play that shit, man. It's what FFXI did to you back then. The game played you, man, the game played you!

Even now, I catch waves of nostalgia that make me want to play, although deep in my heart, I know the game will never have the same charm it once did.

I have stated before how brutal FFXI was. Crawl on a pile of broken glass then jump in the ocean for an hour and you'll know how it felt to form a party. Then after 30 minutes, tell everyone you have to go eat dinner.

Despite everything the game did to kick your ass, there was one thing that always picked you up and brushed the blood from your nipples: the community.

While the game itself has changed to the point of being almost single player, I believe at its core, the community will never change.

Lately I have been trying to contact people I used to know, and am getting baby steps closer to finding my long lost friends. But through this journey, I am finding people who remember me, although vaguely, and share with me bits of their fond memories. Yet these memories do not consist of an epic boss battle or a new piece of gear. It's all about everyone they've met along the way, and the friendships forged from the baptism of fire that is FFXI.

FFXIV does not have this type of community, I promise that. I have played the game since beta and have only made a number of friends I could count on the one hand that is not currently stuffed in my pants.

I know I've been beating a dead horse, but this horse needs to become ground meat before people realize just what magic FFXI's community had.

I'm holding onto what little faith I have that my quest to reunite with friends will come to fruition, but I will indeed post all my findings on this blog.

Let me take this moment to thank each and every one of you for being part of a community that created a legendary game that can never be replaced. You all are FFXI.