With Final Fantasy looming on the horizon (September 22), and the impending great great depression coming this January, I have had to make a difficult decision. As of the end of this month I will retire my enormous 270+ day life that was Final Fantasy XI, server: Lakshmi. Keep in mind I don't mean 270 days played, I mean 270 days of in-game playtime! Yes I have spent nearly a year of actual in-game time crawling through dungeons with often grumpy Japanese, all hours of the day/night, in cars, on airplanes, in foreign countries, and in various states of sobriety. It probably lead to my divorce, added ten pounds to my waistline, and deducted 1620 dollars from my checking account. But I wouldn't trade the adventures, friends or foes for anything. How many people can say that they built on something for close to ten years that ultimately was all about the journey and not about the finish line?
I have to admit certain zone's music actually stirs old emotions in me, and with lightning speed I am back in 2003 noobing it up with a shitty party in the dunes. There are untold stories of sadness and triumph built into the soundtrack that is the Vana'diel world, and that mirrors my own experience as the ups and downs of my life always seemed to have a certain dungeon task-at-hand. It is a little pausing to look ahead at Final Fantasy XIV, and wonder what the next decade of gaming will bring, what major changes in our world I will hide away from deep underground with a trusty party of warriors, all working together, to basically avoid real life. I guess some might think an online life of this magnitude is rather pathetic, but I would challenge the troubleshooting, loyalty of my online Linkshell with any actual friendship in the offline world. It sounds contrived certainly, but I don't really know a single person (apart from family in the real world) that would work through a 90 day hell that was the multiple part quest of COP 's caliber.
So as of the end of August my account will go on hiatus, I honestly doubt I will ever be back, I know how hard and fast I will most likely fall for FFXIV, and now with more limited time then ever, I will devote the majority of my gaming time to the new endeavor. The video above was the first in a series of some recordings I may do to take a relaxing last tour over the next week to some of my favorite zones, and just kind of document them. I will travel as my favorite job, the master soloist that is Beastmaster, and with the trusty beasts of Vana'diel by my side will wish all my friends, and places a hearty goodbye.
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