I read this blog this morning, and one statement really stood out to me:

But back in the early days, we were given a set of tools as players and subscribers to craft our world.  If you think about that, it’s a very special thing to be able to do.  We were the ones, collectively, that were responsible for “making the game work.”

With my static having ended, I’m in a funk about Paladin — so I decided to level Dancer for awhile.

It’s not the job this post is about, but the party I was with from 20 to 23.  This party was so much like my static.  When this party ended I found myself both satisfied and wistful.

Satisfied because, this group played with the tools SE provided to make XP’ing interesting and engaging.

This group knew how to Skillchain and Magicburst, and used it to great effect.  When Fusion landed the Paladin and White Mage would Magicburst Banish, the BLM (yes, a Black Mage! In a party!) and Red mage would Magicburst Fire.  it was marvelous to see the monsters (Gigas) go from healthy to dead in just a couple seconds.

There was communication in the party to set up skill chains.  In the event something unexpected happened, we were all able to talk out what would happen.  And when things were running smoothly, we chatted each other up, bandied faux insults, and generally tried to be raucous.

Wistful because it reminded me static was wasn’t just good, it was great.

I dig this style of play, and my static did it well.  It bothers me when I see players trying to bring high level [TP Burn] mechanics down to lower levels [where it just doesn't work].  It removes a component of play that keeps the game engaging.  I also want to tell players that complaining about “part chat spam” when the party members are socialization to “go die in a fire.”  FFXI is a game you get to play with a few thousand other people — and you want quiet?

So the party last night was wonderful.   It’s encouraging to see players that played the game to be fun (all aspects of the game, including run-o’-the-mill xp’ing), instead of playing Final Fantasy XI like an Excel spreadsheet.