Sometimes, It's All About the Little Things

It has been quite a while since I have written in here. RL is again to blame; however, now I have a job -- a job in which I now have the time to take some breaks and um...well...write in here. So this might actually see a regular updating schedule somewhat.

Considering my track record, this would be beyond shocking (especially if I actually stick to it).

Despite the holidays and other RL conflicts for my rank mission static, we finally achieved rank 30!

...well kinda...two people couldn't make it so we still have to catch them up eventually...rank 29.5 maybe?

Either way, progress is definitely being made in the mission department. Now all I am looking at personally is taking down my remaining ToA missions and AN, and for the first time ever in this game, I will be completely caught up in major missions. Now if I can just find a way to get through assault, I'll be golden. Plus our static is going to stick together for anything WotG throws at us, plus most likely we will do some of the other random quests out there that you just can't complete on your own. I'm definitely looking forward to all of that.

That really leads me into the main topic of today's posting. Really, if you think about it, these aren't the "huge" things people shoot for in the game. Once I found myself trust into the endgame world, I found myself with a shift of mind. Item wish lists, dyanmis runs, limbus runs, battling big bad NMs, and the such. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy all these things a ton. But damn is it a grind -- doing the sky and sea farming alone can really suck the joy out of these fights. Plus, the reward at the end? Maybe an item off your wish list if it either (a) drops and/or (b) you are actually in line to get said item.

New pixels and stats on my character? Yay?

Hell the fight itself is more fun half the time I think. I'll get excited for sure if I do see one of my long awaited items drop my way, but the joy is fleeting. It isn't like I'll be the only Paladin running around Valefor with say, a pair of W Legs or M Head on. In, the end all I've really done is make myself statistically better in those fights. That's what the endgame really lacks in my opinion. The tangible rewards are a little lacking in this humble Paladin's opinion as far as accomplishment goes. I treat those fights like a boss fight, and at first that was the big deal to me...but it is slightly so odd when said bosses keep resurrecting themselves in a never-ending string and you continuously beat them down. Then you have the issue of expecting to kill these baddies, and it is surprisingly odd to have this mindset after a while. While yes, we should set a high expectation for our skills as a Linkshell, we can often times find ourselves with undue and unwarranted frustration in being beaten by mobs that SE made to be hard just do to a couple screw ups.

With the completion of any mission line, and even some quests, you get a little bit more. You get a great storyline, and a sense that few things in this game can offer. A sense of completion. Not only that, you get things like a nation's flag, a fancy ring, and a nice crown just to name a couple things that serve to remind you of said conquering glory. With the gods and HNMs, the item you get is more a show of the repetitive killing of the bastard and the patience to finally have the luck of being the next in line or finally having a winning lot. I don't care how much you love this game or even the endgame fights, I highly doubt a single person can say they just get utterly thrilled with repeating the same thing over and over again. Just imagine how much further the endgame would suck if the fights weren't entertaining too!!!

I love being able to tank in endgame, being involved in the fights, and having the shots to get some pretty badass items. But I think it should be well noted just how much fun some of the little things in this game really are and how easy it is to loose total sight of that in the grind of endgame. Hell, all I did after I logged into the game last night after work was do the Christmas event, messed around decorating with my MH (and trying to get more storage and not screw myself out of my CP enhancement), and fished for a little bit and I had a blast. In the end, I wasted quite a bit of gil, a ton of time, but loved every minute of it.

Take a breather every now and then. It's a big game out there.

--Stiker