Children, children...

I don't know why, but I picked up another magian weapon today. Some days, I don't even bother trying to figure myself out.

Anyway, the trials are fairly simple for this one. Thinking this would be a relaxing way to start my weekend, I got a few kabobs and was on my way to the sandbox. While there, something dawned on me.

People are jackasses.

I've seen some shady behavior there and all around but the jackass gene was in full force today. I was on the receiving end of some of it, but I also just watched others for a bit too. People provoking enemies right as someone else gets to it with their weapon drawn. Casting Dia on enemies that someone has slept. Black mages running around sleeping 4 or 5 enemies just to keep them to themselves. RDMs running past dead people just so they can get claim on lizards, and all sorts of other nonsense. I even saw some MPK action with Killer Johnny.

Then I went to Whitegate. Of cousre, it's relatively quiet there now, but only because people are in Abyssea. Once that dies down a bit, Whitegate will become the same drama-arena it's always been.

Of course, this got me thinking. It's pretty common when someone bitches about FFXI to hear "go back to WoW with all the other kids" or things of that nature. It's been said that the FFXI crowd has a more mature audience overall. If there was a survey done in the past which brought about such a perception, then I'd like to see another one done in present time and check the results.

Based on my overall experiences here, I really don't see the general crowd of Vana'diel as the epitome of maturity. In fact, I see the opposite. Perhaps I started out on the wrong sever, or happened to be unlucky enough to be part of presumably the worst server merge. I am at the point where I would not recommend visiting Vana'diel to anyone who has not already been here. Not because this is a bad place, mind you, but because of the overall attitude / behavior of the population.

Personally, I love Vana'diel. It's beautiful, expansive, and has endless hours of activity. I am both frustrated and enamored with this world. However, I think that my stay is mainly because I was lucky. I ran into a group of wonderful people early on and that helped to solidify my place here, even during my darker periods.

Yet, I'm hesitant to bring in any friends from the outside. I know I personally would not be able to be with them 100%, and would leave them to their own devices from time to time. Sadly, that thought bothers me. I've said it before, but FFXI is not a new-person friendly place.

From the way I hear it, WoW is full of young adults and teens who run rampant through the game and have a very immature disposition. I doubt this is 100% accurate, but it seems to be the general consensus. However, that raises a question. If WoW is the immature gamer's paradise, and FFXI is supposed to be for mature people, then why the hell does such a vast majority of FFXI players seem so childish?

You would expect such behavior in a playpen of toddlers who don't know any better. Has Vana'diel become that playpen? Of course, there are many people who don't fit in the group. I happen to be friends with a lot of them. Still, they are in the very small minority.