Just a quick question to see if any of you people play FFXI Online. I mean, the Heroes series has always kicked butt, but still, for that more expansive MMORPG, it would be good to see if there's much of a community within a community.

I used to play FFXI... a lot. How can you not play an MMORPG a lot? They're addictive. Like drugs.

I played every single day for lengthy periods. By the time I quit (and thank God I did) I was a level 40 thief/ninja. In my opinion MMORPGs are engrossing to the point of being dangerous. I'm not talking about the fact that they've resulted in murder and sucide because its a mathmatical probability that with so many millions of players, you're going to get some who are predisposed to doing things like killing their best friend because he went on their account and sold their absurdly rare item. I'm talking about the undeniable fact that they take over people's lives. During my time as a player on FFXI, I met some very nice people and had some great times. I also wasted massive amounts of time and became very frustrated on numerous occasions. Many of the people I met (who also had their souls taken by the game) could have accomplished great things and it was truly saddening to see them waste away as they did.

I'm not saying MMORPGs are all bad, I'm saying that people need to stop what they're doing and ask themselves why they've just spent 7 hours straight hunting the leaping lizzy, and if the +3 agility and dexterity is really worth all that time (I know that's not all you do, I was being sardoic). Otherwise they'll either become institutionalised by the game, or break down into a state of agonizing depression when they realise they've wasted their lives.