[Junyi]

It's been a year since I last stepped foot on Vanadiel. I recently started visiting this forum and to my surprise, it's not as active as it was before. Where is everyone? Did they all move on to different jobs, or just quit playing?

[Banter]

Junyi, on 09 August 2010 - 05:10 PM, said:

It's been a year since I last stepped foot on Vanadiel. I recently started visiting this forum and to my surprise, it's not as active as it was before. Where is everyone? Did they all move on to different jobs, or just quit playing?

Lot's of people have quit in lieu of the release of FFXIV in a few months.

[Xanthe]

Didn't quit the game, just KI.

[Dragonix]

Xanthe, on 10 August 2010 - 05:33 AM, said:

Didn't quit the game, just KI.

How can you quit KI when you just posted right there?

[MrReinhardt]

We should have Milano come back just for some lolz.

[Banter]

MrReinhardt, on 10 August 2010 - 12:36 PM, said:

We should have Milano come back just for some lolz.

lol

[Ammoth]

I remember that guy...

[Betelgeuse]

I stopped playing Final Fantasy XI two years ago. My DRG was pretty damn pimp, Hecatomb gear, Ares Cuirass, Homam gear, Love Torque, blah, blah, blah. I was pretty well known on Sylph for my soloing, e.g., Aquarius, Amemet, Greater Birds in Lufaise Meadows, Aura Statues - I soloed all of them. Among the trickiest and proudest was Zooral's Ja's Pkuucha (who I defeated several times):

http://www.flickr.co...N06/3079626422/

Moving along, I could sum it up as - life goes on. After being away from FFXI sufficiently long, I came to realize how "destructive" it had been for me. I didn't lose my job or anything like that but it's as if I "paused life" for 5 years. Something I deeply regret now.

As for some saying FFXIV was a factor, not, FFXIV got trashed in reviews. It's crap. GameSpot gave it a 3.5/10. Square Enix put out an anachronism known as FFXIV. A game that might have worked 10 years ago but no longer. Square has gotten incredibly complacent, e.g., they keep re-releasing old versions of FF games for various platforms and wanting lots of money for them versus concentrating on the creation of new compelling material.

I might point out they put out a mediocre single player experience with FFXIII. Edge Magazine gave it a 5/10.

The larger problem is that Square Enix being part of Japanese culture is subjugated by tradition rather than being practical, i.e. realizing gamers have evolved. Bear with me and let me step back a few centuries. With the introduction of firearms into Japan several centuries ago, an average Japanese man could now suddenly take down a well skilled Samurai who prided himself on swordsmanship. Well the Samurai which were the ruling class were so peeved by this that after a time they systematically sought and destroyed all firearms so as to keep their traditional swordsmanship alive. This footnote in history is brought to life, in part, by the 2003 film with Tom Cruise, "The Last Samurai" where at the end of the film they go against a European trained regiment with firearms solely armed with "classic Japanese" weapons.

Once when I was having sushi a friend commented that in Japan it would be considered "wrong" as far as how much wasabi I had mixed with some soy sauce (I made something of a paste). He said that in Japan only a "small amount in the middle" of some soy sauce was considered "appropriate".

The reason I'm saying this is, to iterate, the Japanese are neurotic about tradition to a fault (which Square Enix is most definitely a part of). SE's game designers do not realize that most gamers (the world at large) have moved beyond what is par for the course for Square Enix and material that *USED TO* garner glowing reviews no longer cuts the mustard. In short, Square Enix is on the edge of a precipice of irrelevance. Anyone remember game companies like Interplay, Microprose and Looking Glass Studios? Well Square Enix may be joining that list.

For those curious as to just how neurotic the Japanese culture can be when it comes to tradition over practicality, check out the following PBS documentary available through Netflix (instantly streamable):

http://movies.netfli...6?trkid=2361637

It more than eludes to what I just said.

This post has been edited by Betelgeuse: 23 March 2011 - 12:19 AM

[Banter]

Betelgeuse, on 22 March 2011 - 11:51 PM, said:

I stopped playing Final Fantasy XI two years ago. My DRG was pretty damn pimp, Hecatomb gear, Ares Cuirass, Homam gear, Love Torque, blah, blah, blah. I was pretty well known on Sylph for my soloing, e.g., Aquarius, Amemet, Greater Birds in Lufaise Meadows, Aura Statues - I soloed all of them. Among the trickiest and proudest was Zooral's Ja's Pkuucha (who I defeated several times):

http://www.flickr.co...N06/3079626422/

Moving along, I could sum it up as - life goes on. After being away from FFXI sufficiently long, I came to realize how "destructive" it had been for me. I didn't lose my job or anything like that but it's as if I "paused life" for 5 years. Something I deeply regret now.

As for some saying FFXIV was a factor, not, FFXIV got trashed in reviews. It's crap. GameSpot gave it a 3.5/10. Square Enix put out an anachronism known as FFXIV. A game that might have worked 10 years ago but no longer. Square has gotten incredibly complacent, e.g., they keep re-releasing old versions of FF games for various platforms and wanting lots of money for them versus concentrating on the creation of new compelling material.

I might point out they put out a mediocre single player experience with FFXIII. Edge Magazine gave it a 5/10.

The larger problem is that Square Enix being part of Japanese culture is subjugated by tradition rather than being practical, i.e. realizing gamers have evolved. Bear with me and let me step back a few centuries. With the introduction of firearms into Japan several centuries ago, an average Japanese man could now suddenly take down a well skilled Samurai who prided himself on swordsmanship. Well the Samurai which were the ruling class were so peeved by this that after a time they systematically sought and destroyed all firearms so as to keep their traditional swordsmanship alive. This footnote in history is brought to life, in part, by the 2003 film with Tom Cruise, "The Last Samurai" where at the end of the film they go against a European trained regiment with firearms solely armed with "classic Japanese" weapons.

Once when I was having sushi a friend commented that in Japan it would be considered "wrong" as far as how much wasabi I had mixed with some soy sauce (I made something of a paste). He said that in Japan only a "small amount in the middle" of some soy sauce was considered "appropriate".

The reason I'm saying this is, to iterate, the Japanese are neurotic about tradition to a fault (which Square Enix is most definitely a part of). SE's game designers do not realize that most gamers (the world at large) have moved beyond what is par for the course for Square Enix and material that *USED TO* garner glowing reviews no longer cuts the mustard. In short, Square Enix is on the edge of a precipice of irrelevance. Anyone remember game companies like Interplay, Microprose and Looking Glass Studios? Well Square Enix may be joining that list.

For those curious as to just how neurotic the Japanese culture can be when it comes to tradition over practicality, check out the following PBS documentary available through Netflix (instantly streamable):

http://movies.netfli...6?trkid=2361637

It more than eludes to what I just said.

tl;dr SE ruined your life and they are bad people...?

[treelo]

Quote

tl;dr I lack self-control and let a game rule my life for five years.

Fixed.

[Betelgeuse]

Banter, on 23 March 2011 - 12:22 AM, said:

tl;dr SE ruined your life and they are bad people...?

You said it, I didn't. As I clearly stated in my post, I never had any obvious bad consequences such as losing my job (something you read about now and again). I just wish I hadn't spent the massive amount of time with the game that I did.

Beyond that a significant portion of my post chews Square Enix for continuing to focus on "grind" with FFXIV and not making its latest creation competitive with say WoW. But since I've never played WoW, I can only conjecture, everyone I've talked that has played it and FFXI says it is more friendly to casual play, i.e. you don't have to sell your soul to get good gear.

-Betelgeuse

[pathwriter]

Betelgeuse, on 23 March 2011 - 10:57 AM, said:

I just wish I hadn't spent the massive amount of time with the game that I did.

Since this forum and thread are dead, anyhow...

What exactly would you have done with that time otherwise? This is a diatribe I often hear from people who are trying to make themselves sound "reformed" or somehow better. I'm pretty sure I've uttered it myself a time or two. Looking back on my own habits, though, I played MMOs and games in general most heavily during the colder half of the year. Hmm... what option do I have if not video games when it is January and there is snow and ice everywhere? Well, I could go get hammered at a bar and drop most of my paycheck on alcohol in an attempt to entertain myself and maybe score some drunken sex that I will either a.) forget or b.) wish I could forget. I could read or vegetate in front of the television. I could... what?

Do you honestly think you're going to cure cancer in your spare time? Do you seriously imagine that you'd have spent all those long hours at the computer instead training for an Iron Man competition? Be real. You'd have either played offline games or otherwise "wasted" your time on pointless leisure activities, almost all of which cost more and produce even fewer tangible rewards. Let's not forget, too, that MMOs are inherently social, even if you're off doing something solo and just chatting with your linkshell or bragging about how awesome you are at solo'ing things. Compared with alcoholism or memorizing every word of every episode of VH1's Behind the Music, your time spent playing a massive social video game is pretty well-spent if it didn't impact your day-to-day responsibilities (or, at least, didn't impact them any worse than whatever else you'd be doing).

It's sad that people who are gaming enthusiasts and who will, in all likelihood, be playing video games for the next 60 years, have allowed themselves to be so mocked by their idiot parents' generation that they have a deep self-loathing tied to a completely valid form of leisure. People who build ships in bottles or compete in darts tournaments or volunteer for SETI all own their hobbies and rarely, if ever, say, "I wish I hadn't spent the past 3 months recreating the Statue of Liberty out of home-churned butter."


Edit:
By the by, people who derail threads, launch into ego-stroking storytelling, and feel the need to "sign" their posts that are already very clearly signed by their login probably need to be hit in the head a few times until their eyesight realigns with reality where they are not the most interesting and important creature on the planet. It's acceptable behavior for blogging (damn near required, actually, but I won't go into that), but forums are, well, forums.

[Banter]

HERD U GUIZE LIEK BOOBIES

[MrReinhardt]

Quote

By the by, people who derail threads, launch into ego-stroking storytelling, and feel the need to "sign" their posts that are already very clearly signed by their login probably need to be hit in the head a few times until their eyesight realigns with reality where they are not the most interesting and important creature on the planet. It's acceptable behavior for blogging (damn near required, actually, but I won't go into that), but forums are, well, forums.

like some who sum up their post with an "~M"?

[DaEvilOne]

Banter, on 09 August 2010 - 05:14 PM, said:

Lot's of people have quit in lieu of the release of FFXIV in a few months.

lol, I didn't look at the date at first and thought that was a pretty good one.

[CerGoltana]

pathwriter, on 23 March 2011 - 04:33 PM, said:

What exactly would you have done with that time otherwise? This is a diatribe I often hear from people who are trying to make themselves sound "reformed" or somehow better. I'm pretty sure I've uttered it myself a time or two. Looking back on my own habits, though, I played MMOs and games in general most heavily during the colder half of the year. Hmm... what option do I have if not video games when it is January and there is snow and ice everywhere? Well, I could go get hammered at a bar and drop most of my paycheck on alcohol in an attempt to entertain myself and maybe score some drunken sex that I will either a.) forget or b.) wish I could forget. I could read or vegetate in front of the television. I could... what?

I'm with the guy who regrets involving himself in the time sink as much as he did. Really, I could think of a lot of hobbies and activities, hell, even spending more time with one's famiily/friends, that would have amounted to something more meaningful than typing /playtime and seeing 600 days xxhrs etc. Don't use the winter as an excuse to say "Well shit, its cold outside, so I might as well stay inside and play FFXI." Unless you played this game enough to actually get something out of it in return (RMT, friendships, love? etc), really the amount of time we all spent in this game could have been vested in some other hobbies. Don't kid yourself. Now, I sold my original account, so I got something out of it, but I somehow still felt as though the years I spent grinding and trying to progress could have been vested into something else. But shit, its like that with all games. I find a certain satisfaction from outwitting my opponents in Super Street Fighter 4, but to ever get better and perform at a high level, I have to study the game, play a lot, invest a lot of my energy into getting better, attend tournaments and play live matches, etc. So what the fuck?

I think it's natural to look back in time and have that kind of reasoning that one spent far too much time sitting in Jeuno/Whitegate/RuLude while appearing afk in blue name letters with our "town gear" on, when really, we were sitting right behind our computer screens doing shit but watch people walk by and /check us., sorting inventory, then running to AH to see if our shit sold. Or maybe that's just me. If I had the chance to change things, I certainly wouldn't have invested so much time into FFXI like I did, OR I would have had a plan ahead of time before I logged into the game. Oftentimes I played for 5+ hours and only got 1 hours worth of work accomplished. I regret that

[treelo]

Quote

the amount of time we all spent in this game could have been vested in some other hobbies.

Like playing CoD?

I'm with path on this one. There are plenty of things I could have done with my time, but didn't because they weren't as interesting. I spent three years playing games all day at work, coming home and putting in another equivalent working day doing the same on FFXI. Followed by four years of pulling sixteen hours days camping HNMs in an endless cycle of monotony. But I enjoyed it, most of it. I'm a gamer, if it hadn't been this it would have been something else. If it hadn't been something else, it would have been more drugs. A hell of a lot more drugs.

If the game was such a terrible waste of time, why continue to play it for so long? Clearly at the time, you had nothing better to do, or you apparently would have done it. That you failed to meet whatever standards you set for yourself is hardly a fault with the game, more your own efficiency. When I quit, I was happy with what I'd done. I still am, I'm in touch with a few people I played with, I'm constantly plagued by the urge to return. Looking back at your time playing an MMO and moaning is like berating yourself for not learning particle physics or advanced mathematics as a child. Think of what you could have accomplished with that time.

[iSlash]

Quote

Oftentimes I played for 5+ hours and only got 1 hours worth of work accomplished. I regret that

not to mention this is almsot the norm now, for online gaming anyway.

[MrReinhardt]

why dwell upon past choices? you made the decision, get over it. why bitch about the past?

[pathwriter]

CerGoltana, on 25 March 2011 - 10:08 AM, said:

Oftentimes I played for 5+ hours and only got 1 hours worth of work accomplished. I regret that

That's your fault. Out of any given month, I could count on one hand the number of times I sat around doing nothing. My old Salvage LS could probably tell you stories about the level of pissed off I was capable of achieving because they were dicking around and wasting my time when I had things in-game or in real life that I needed to get done, but here I was sitting in Whitegate waiting for them to log in or get points or whatever the hell. If I was absolutely forced to sit around doing nothing, such as when LFG, I'd go do something else in real life or Alt+Tab to work on homework or read a forum or something. I really can't remember the last time I sat down while LFG, though, given Fields of Valor have been around for ages and I solo'd XP long before they were introduced, anyhow. Worst case scenario, I'd sit down to do some heavy reworking of macros, which would inevitably result in a party invite before I got much done.

It's on your head if you don't know how to make use of your time. That extends well past MMOs, too. If you've ever wondered where your evenings disappear to as you watch paint dry instead of perfecting your Ken game in SSF4 or hitting the basketball court down the street, just remember that it's because you are the incredibly boring person who made it happen.