I love FFXI. I've been playing it since it came out on the PS2, and I've put the most hours into it of any game I've ever played. However, I must say that I hate having to depend on other people to get anything done in the game. I've wasted hours of precious play time just standing in Qufim waiting for a party invite so that I can level my character. I've had members of my linkshell promising me for about a month now that they'll help me get the 3 airship keys, and that they'll help me get to Rank 3 by fighting the dragon (Mission 2-3). But each time we agree on a time to meet and take care of this stuff, I log on and either nobody can do it because they're busy doing other things or they act like they forgot all about it. I've managed to find 2 of the keys myself, by hooking up with various people and getting the job done. However, I'm pretty sure the dragon is going to take more than just me and 1 other person, so I guess I have to be one of those people you hear doing shouts for people to join them for a mission. I thought that's why I had a linkshell, so that I could have a group of friends who would be willing to help me out now and then. I dunno, maybe I ought to look for some more linkshells.

And on a sad note - my Logitech Netplay controller/keyboard died yesterday. The keyboard still works, but the analog part just stopped working. It happened while I was riding a choco, and made me run the choco right into a tree. :) So now I have to either buy a new one, or juggle a regular controller and the keyboard. :( I've only had the dumb thing since April, and I loved it. <sob>

I'm a 38-year-old mom of 2, and I've been playing games for 22 years now. I live in a suburban neighborhood filled with stay-at-home soccer moms. I am supposed to be one of these people. I live day in and day out among them, yet I cannot relate to them in any fashion. None of the women in my neighborhood hardly knows what a videogame is, except that it's that convenient little "doohickey" attached to the tv that keeps their kids out of their hair for hours on end. These women are content to drive their minivans on various domestic errands throughout the day, and attend various coffees, book clubs, and Pampered Chef parties in the evening. I've been to all of the above functions in my past efforts to become a bigger part of my community, and believe me, these women can get as excited over a Pampered Chef spatula as we do over Halo 2. They wear their horrible little brown, black, grey, or white shoes and they dress like they're going out for a night on the town just to run to the grocery. God, what a total bore!! I'm driving a little sports car, I'm out there in my t-shirts and Converse Chuck Taylors, and I feel like a scumbag. Have they forgotten what it's like to have any fun whatsoever? Do they not have any of those visceral urges that allows us gamers to enjoy blowing the crap out of everything? Are they afraid of bright colors? What makes me so different from them? I feel totally alienated in my neighborhood because I cannot talk to these women. When I run into one of them and they ask me what's new, I can't say to them "Well, I finally got my Choco license and I've been leveling THF as my sub." I might as well be speaking Japanese to them. And the few that have found out what I do for a hobby have acted like it's either very strange or very immature to enjoy games as much as I do. It's like I have to keep my hobby a secret in order to be accepted into their little society, and I'm not about to do that.

Well, I guess I've vented enough for one day. :)