A moment to reflect on.

[Alerith]

I recently finished my Promyvions again, and got the Summoner job again. After this, I began to enjoy the game again as I did when I first started.

I've noticed many high level players asking themselves "Why do I keep playing?" This isnt a good thing, but im not saying its a weakness either.

I think that at various points throughout our gaming career, we lose sight of why we fell in love with the game in the first place. Prehaps it was a job, a quest, a friend, the openess of the game, the vastness, the interaction, whatever it may be for you.

Eventually, we lose sight of that and end up becoming too mechanical. Exp that, farm this, do this, spend this, complain about that, do this.

And usually, we dont have fun like we should. Its a game, a source of entertainment for us to enjoy. When the game becomes "work" or unpleasant, then your not playing it the way you used to.

The next time you log on, look at your character, and ask yourself: "Do I really need to EXP right now?" "Do I really need that <insert item here> right NOW?" "Is it worth getting frustrated over this?" "Is it worth farming this much for an item im only gonna use for a few hours?"

And now the big one: "Am I enjoying the game as much as when I first started?"

If you are, great. Im very happy for you.
If your enjoying it even more? Excellent. More power to you.

If your getting frustrated, upset, or not having a good time as much as you used to, you should reflect on your current playstyle compared to your previous style.

Don't take the game too seriously. Relax a little. Just because you don't take any EXP oppertunities for the next day or so doesnt mean you wont ever level. Just because you don't farm for five hours doesnt mean you wont last without a particular item.

Sometimes you just need a break from the mechanical day and go out and explore a bit. Help people. Enjoy the world that was created for your enjoyment and really take it in.

I'm not sure if anyone really understands what I'm saying, but this is how I felt. You lose the vision that you started with, and it all becomes serious and point A to point B.

Take a chance, take a new road, a sidepath. Enjoy the game like you first did.

 

[Kire]

Thats what my resson for lving rdm is for so when i like can walk around rasie a dead taru, WS a gob. hunt a random nm i find on somepage and chil out it helps alot when did it as a drg/whm but rdm be better :3 only job that truely solos that stuff

rdm is only job that solos well, a bst is a soloer with a friend

 

[Sculli]

Take a chance, take a new road, a sidepath. Enjoy the game like you first did.

For many that is simply not an option, or at least they don't think it is.
Their friends have just a little more playtime, and so they "must" constantly work on catching up to their friends.

Or their "friends" are elitist and will not accept less xp/hour because they do not have <insert end-game-item-here>.

Or any other number of reasons that are all rooted in what can only be described as peer pressure. No one is playing an MMO alone, and making lasting friends across levels and expansions is something only very few people are willing and able to do.

This of course is unfortunate. One could argue that the reason is selfishness, but I don't believe that to be true. I think it's somewhat of a "group think" situation where no one really wants to rush to the end of the game, but everyone does because everyone believes that everyone else is committed to rushing to the end game except that no one really wants to do it, but everyone does it anyway.

No one can possibly take joy in endless repetitivness of killing the same four mob models for months straight, but people still do it, thinking that when they get to 75 and are fully equipped, then they will have fun and that fun will make up for the tediouness of getting there. Ah well ...

 

[Alerith]

Indeed Sculli. This is all too true. The unfortunute thing is that people realize too late that the point BETWEEN levels 1 and 75 is the true fun and adventure. By the time people realize this, they are already level 75 and have practically missed the entire experience.

 

[dedalius]

No one can possibly take joy in endless repetitivness of killing the same four mob models for months straight, but people still do it, thinking that when they get to 75 and are fully equipped, then they will have fun and that fun will make up for the tediouness of getting there. Ah well ...

On the contrary, I love exping. Not for exping's sake, but for the enjoyment of fighting the monsters. Hell, I don't even directly fight the monsters (Brd main), but I love to do it. I know I'm not the only one that feels this way too.

 

[Sculli]

Aren't there like quests and stuff that let you fight mobs too?
I didn't get too far into FFXI, but my understanding is that XP parties are pretty much a surefire thing, I mean no one is going to get a bunch of people together in the middle of nowhere if there isn't the guarantee for constant high xp/hour. Such guarantee then comes with comparetivly low risk I can imagine?

I mean I am not saying you don't find it fun, it's great if you do, and I am sure there are others as well, but I think the point of the OP may have been that while some players feel pressured into xp parties (xp grind) by "group think" or peer pressure or whatever, you will seldomly find people who feel pressured into not xping or farming, but instead just running around completing some quest that has a shitty reward for risk and level just for the heck of it (to see the zone, or the dialog, or cutscene, or whatever).

 

[Alerith]

On the contrary, I love exping. Not for exping's sake, but for the enjoyment of fighting the monsters. Hell, I don't even directly fight the monsters (Brd main), but I love to do it. I know I'm not the only one that feels this way too.

But even then, you enjoy it in a different way from most people. Alot of people exp for exp's sake. "grind, gain, goal" and that usually doenst allow anyone to have fun. "Ninja blink this, warrior voke when his shadows fall, drk beat the hell outa it, blm nuke it, whm heal it, ill be a backup healer".

While this setup is ideal and grinds out the exp, it gets so monotonous past a certain point where it just isn't fun anymore.

Im glad you enjoy it though, theres alot of it out there.