too much time?Follow

So here's the deal... I recently checked my play time after learning how to do it and discovered that I had 10 days of playtime under my belt... I didn't think too much about that because I heard others that had 30+ days of playtime since the release, so to put it into perspective i was a lvl 28 thf, lvl 14 mnk, lvl 7 thf with about 30-35 windurst quests done and had just completed missions to attain rank 3... I was working my way to becoming a samurai thief, but I began to realize that it would take me easily 20-30 more days of play time just to finish all the windurst quests and become a lvl 75 samurai/37 thief... not including the fact that partying aparently becomes harder at lvl 30 + and level cap quests are required before proceding beyond 50... I'd be looking at a good 40-50 days more playtime if I threw in Artifact Armor... and that's not including any other classes I might want to play...

So, being conservative and assuming 40 more days of play to get to where I would be content to put this game on the shelf (barring any expansions), It'd take 60 straight days to level one character (advanced job, artifact armor, windurst quests complete) to 75 and complete the main story line...

take out 8 hours of sleep a night and that time extends to 90 days... take out 8 hours of work a day and that extends to 180 days... now i realize this isn't allowing for weekends, but it also isn't allowing for grocery shopping, my girlfriend, other friends, travel, and family, so I'm hoping you'll agree that it'll even out...

So without giving myself any free time for anything other than this game, I'd be playing for another 6 months just to feel like I completed the game... and I'd most likely lose my girlfriend in the process (along with a few other friends)...

if i spent half my time on the game then I'd end up taking a full year to complete the game with a very upset girlfriend and band members...

I personally have stopped playing, and though it was hard (I went through stages of withdrawl... rationalizing, fighting, denying), I know that the rest of my life will appreciate it...

I know I will get flamed for this post, and just to let you know, my girlfriend did not ask me to stop but was relieved when I told her I was giving up FFXI...

My point is not to say that you have to stop playing FFXI... just to open a few eyes to how long some goals may take... I know my figures may be off for power gamers and that they may even be off for the ammount of time I would have needed to level my samurai/thief to 75, but even if it took another 10 days of time I know that personally it wouldn't be worth it...

I'm sorry if I hurt anyone with this post... but I think that what I have to say deserves listening to, even if it's flamed beyond belief... if you're playing, have fun and make sure the people around you aren't getting hurt... and take some time to look at exactly what you want to accomplish in the game before you would be satisfied to put it on the shelf...

Doru-

I feel for ya man. One of my buddies recently quit for about the same reasons as you. Just was taking up too much play time, not as much as some, but reading your post makes a lot of sense. This was my first stab at a MMORPG and I don't know if I like it or not. I enjoy playing, but not at the cost of a relationship/job loss or any of that. Square is serious when they say don't neglect family or friends, and I think that it's just hard. I have goals in the game I want to accomplish as well, but at the sacrifice of my real life. I don't think so. I haven't logged as many days as some, but I mean I've got a job, want a better one, and I've logged like 200+ hrs on this game. That's 200 hrs I could have spent drawing, working on cg(my degree and current job I'm an animator), so I'm in the same boat as you. Do I just throttle back game time? or give it up cold turkey? I would like to hear other peoples comments, especially those who have significant others, and would like to know how you deal with it.

oh and hello to all, this is my first post here.

Thanks---

IMO:

It's all about balance;

Want to play? then play

Think maybe your neglecting your work/spouse? Then you probably are.

Sometimes i come home from work and would like to level but by the time i get a group and get going it will be time for bed so i fish/craft etc.

If you think that you should quit FFXI or MMORPGS then you probably should. After all this is a game, meant for fun and if it is causing grief/stress/irrational behavior/Anger/etc to you or others then it is no longer a game but an addiction...

BTW im addicted as fuq but i love it, so fuq it. >=)

off work in 11 minutes, be home in 30, online in 31 minutes.

I agree that the time involved is a massive commitment. I have no delusions about that. I do feel the desire to play every night and rush upstairs to the computer when I get home. But I always eat dinner and talk to the wife about what we can do together that night. Usually we watch a movie, take a walk etc.. and when she goes off to bed I play for a few hours and get my quests done or do some fishing or leveling. I see myself in Vana'Diel for the next 3-4 years so It's not like you have to get everything done in one year as you said. I'm on a 3 year plan to get to lvl 75 with my Red Mage. I'm also interested to see how the world evoloves as the developers add new content over the next 3-4 years.

Edited, Wed Jan 14 21:20:12 2004 by Rhialtho

I don't have a significant other. I do my job and then I play the game. I know that I have to log at midnight otherwise I can't get up at 7 in the morning and get to work.

I guess I am lucky... And yes, I am still playing it now.. Two computers.

8 hours? That's impossible. Maybe you meant days =)

Anyway, I do agree w/ the previous post 100%. SE should create a time limit or something that the player manually sets up everyday. Like you can set up that you can only play for 2-5 hours a day and when the timer stops, the program simply logs off and will not let you log back until the next day. It's really perfect for people(like me) who are truly addicted to this game.

I've played this game just 3 weeks ago and already, I have 8 days worth of hours invested in this game...I've spent half of my waking hours playing this game...It's sounds so...scary.

Yea I have a serious addiction. Its almost to the point where Im doing horrific in school. I went from being an A - B student to now all Cs and Ds. But I hardly care to put any effort forth, and any free time I can manage im squeezing into this game. I know 12 days doesnt seem like a lot. But with my free time its almost everything i can put in.

I keep saying that the next weekend im gonna achieve so and so. And then I even contemplate lieing to my friends so I can play longer. But thankfully im not massively addicted, i still hang out with my friends and such.

I guess I should learn that getting my dragoon and ninja and thief to all 30 isnt a feasible goal by mid february... or is it? >.<

More details to come after my high school finishes exams (yes i know its late, but remember its HS).

I am a massive addict! Fortunately my boyfriend and a few of my other RL friends play too so we chat a lot while we're playing. :)

And to TropicSloth-
I know exactly what you mean. I was addicted to DAoC during HS and my grades did a nose dive. =P I would suggest leaving your books/papers next to your computer (as I did) and open to the assignment for the night. Every time you (or the party's WHM) need to regen just do one problem, answer just one question, read a paragraph. Even if you forget to do it sometimes you will be that much closer to getting better grades. :)

Good luck and good hunting!

Edited, Thu Jan 15 04:39:42 2004 by Erynis

I also set goals, and also set my time aswell. I need to sleep at 12 am at the latest or suffer the consequences the next day at work. I usually have 3 - 4 hours from the time I come back home and the time I go to bed. Usually I play with my friend who is in the same timezone as I am. As an european player, there are not many people to party with neighther japanese nor americans. Which means we usually stick together do something with 2 of us. Mainly doing quests and such. I am single atm (finance problems prohibits relationships heh), and probably will for a while. So I have all the time I want after work till the time I go to bed.

P.S. If FFXI seems bad, well EQ is even worse... I won't go into details but the game have more TIMESINK (I mean HUGE TIMESINK), REQUIREMENT (Guild requirement etc...).

Edited, Thu Jan 15 07:45:47 2004 by Shiia

Reality Check!!! NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

I'll say :
"Never underestimate the power of Denial".. don't just sit there playing... and IN the back of you Mind knowing that the rest of your life is Stagnating.. and deny it. All aspects of your life can suffer from this ..save for converstions with other g33ks like ourselves...(Hence This Forum <^_~>)

There is alot I want to say about this.... but I've realized reading this thread, that long posts suck. and i'm tired.. and need to go back to sleep... cause I played too much.



Edited, Thu Jan 15 09:01:02 2004 by Kelvyquayo

ooo ****, you guys all made me feel like i REALLY over do playing games ;) in ffxi, i only have like 10 days of play time, but...................i've been mudding for *cough* 7 yrs *cough* and i still do once a while =) so you guys saying that you have like 30days of playtime is nothing compare to my chars in the mud :P one of my main char has like over 4 months worth of playtime..yeah..that's 120days :) and that's only one char...i have like *cough* 12 *cough* maxed out chars...each of them has any where from 20 days to 100 days of playtime on it :P only until recently, i havn't play much because of ffxi =) and get this..i have a happy engaged gf, i managed 3.5 gpa during my college, and i do my job just fine :) are those time wasted? well, let's put it the other way, if i wasn't mudding...i woulda play my ps2 instead or simply just sit there and watch tv or sleep =) i did exactly that while waiting for my cable to be install :P *btw..tv with antenna sucks :P* so i wounda wasted my time anyway :P so might as well do something that actually involve thinking :) yes, the game will use up a lot of time, but if you managed it well, you can enjoy it..put in a lot of game time...and NOT mess you up with your regular life =)

I wish I had the self discipline to limit my playing, but frankly when there are no other options to get away from in your life, then FFXI takes front seat. I failed my first semester college because the game came out at the end of October (damn you square, couldn't you wait till christmas!) but oh well, the school was worthless anyway. If my friends are around, which hardly ever are, then I'll spend time with them, but if I wasn't playing ffxi then I'd probably be doing something gay like reading (kidding, haha), or playing some other game. By working fulltime it's like a huge rewarding treat to end your day.


Hail ffxi!
and Goddamn you ffxi.

hehe...am i that lucky? :) i don't drink because i'm a little allergic to it =) i don't go out very often other then with my gf, because we don't have many friends yet. she goes to work on saturaday..and i don't..muahhahahahahahaha =) and of coz, i don't just play game at home. i do watch tv =) like discoray, TLC, history, news, and the most important one....SPEED! bore my gf out of her mind..she will rather let me play games so she can watch her channels :P and she sits on me while i'm playing game and she is watching tv x-)..i guess that also consisder time spend together? and when she says i need to stop...i'll stop =) unless i'm walking in the middle of aggro zone or battle of coz =) we had a talk before and she asked me why i play games so much... i simply answer her, what else there is to do? would you rather have me be a couch potato watch tv all day? or would you rather have me go to the bar every night and blow like $50 a night? or would you rather have me blow thoudsands of dollars on my car? she couldn't answer me =) and i also told her that i like to keep my mind busy, so out of all those unproductive way of spending free time, playing games keep my mind working pretty well =) shurg...that's how i look at things, you don't have to agree =) but it works for me ;)