The next chapter.

I like to game.
But being the somewhat narrow-minded gamer that I am, I've been mostly sticking to one gaming series for the longest time - that being Final Fantasy.
Even so, I've been finding it increasingly hard to keep up even with that one franchise alone.

It seems that as much as I like RPGs, I find myself less eager to commit hours upon hours to a single game, or that I just don't have as much time to do it as I did before. I don't think I'm the only one because many of my friends seem to share similar sentiments. Like, I still haven't completed my FFXIII's 'Perfect Game' playthrough.
And hardcore fans are supposed to be pretty hard up about their Perfect Games.

Then of course there are MMORPGs, the relatively newer heavyweight genre that most people would be playing anyway. Final Fantasy had the luxury of one MMO, and that alone has sucked about 8 years of my life. Other people have their Everquest and WoW, I have my FFXI, but its not all bad.

I've made so many friends around the world over these 8 years, some of whom have grown really close, and shared many fun memories with my computer and a few burnt out graphic cards. I still play, and for the most part I don't regret having put in THAT much time to something so virtual, but I'd have to admit many of my priorities have vastly changed.

That kinda leads me to what I'm really getting at in this post. Tomorrow marks the start of a new chapter, because Square-Enix's second major MMO (FFXIV) goes on retail, and my pre-ordered Collector's Edition from Amazon.com is well on its way to my place.

And I simply have to play it, of course.

What new adventures await? New friendships, new experiences, new timesinks...
That strong sense of wanderlust does come back to haunt me, and I actually did take part in the alpha and beta tests already. Will this new baby be all that its made itself out to be at retail and will it be as fun to play? And will Marcus and Alex finally play the same MMO as me again?

I guess time will tell. I look forward to the adventures ahead.

Right now, I still have yet to decide on which server I'm going to play on, but I have settled on what I'm going to call my character, which will retain my FFXI character's heritage in the form of a last name.

Should probably decide soon right? It IS tomorrow after all.