Morning in Vana'diel: I'm Quitting! See you in 2 months.

Morning in Vana'diel is your daily dose of FFXI and all things Vana'diel. Give us your thoughts on the interesting topics of the day! Do people ever really let go of Final Fantasy and the experience?

Through the rumour mill it would appear that a certain Ace tank has had his interest piqued enough to want to return back to the sunny shores of FFXI for I think.. the 4th time now? Which got me to ruminating.

One of the most common things you see in the people who "quit" is a declaration, "This is it guys, I'm leaving" followed by the obligatory dispersal of gear to the AH or various friends who you can either use as a repository for your gear while you are MIA or just because you are feeling generous.

Of those that actually do make a decided departure from the game, a good number of them end up returning, maybe not as intensively as they used to or even as consistently, but more often than not it seems as though the "I am quitting the game" is followed by the inevitable rejoinder of "Yeah yeah, see you in a month when you get bored/split with your girlfriend/realise that hanging around with us is really THAT much more fun".

I don't know if I would say it is necessarily an addiction, but great company and experiences is a lure that is extremely inviting, why is it so strange to consider that FFXI might have replay value? I mean, it isn't that uncommon for people to go back to single player games and replay them over and over. Sure, single player is far easier to put down. Its a once time-through thrill and then you go back, pick up every single last health pack you missed the first time around for that 100% completion score that merely proves your anal retentiveness, that apparently is latent in all gamers to some degree.

So what is it about FFXI that makes us that much more uptight about it when people quit, and the sheer shiver of delight that gets you dancing with glee at the return of a player? The human connection and interraction is an aspect of uncharted and dangerous territory that we sign into every single day when we spam through the Yes-yes-just-let-me-get-into-the-game-life?-that-happens-to-other-people menus, could that possibly be the answer to this line of thought? Dangerous ground to go on, no-one wants to admit to emotions any more, for fear of being called emo or frigid, or any middle ground between that.

But at the end of the day, its the people you hang out with every day that make FFXI fun, not the game right? LoL who said school was fun, it was the joking around with your mates that made the days swim by. Everything else was just a frame to hang that on.

What are your thoughts on the quit/unquit sagas that take place. Are you a drama queen who posts on every forum to announce you are leaving or do you just vanish into the ether never to be heard from again? Leave a comment and let us know your opinions!