We are the watchers in the wild.
We are the eagle on the wind.
We walk the lonely road.
For ours is the Unseen path.

I'll be your candle on the water

No guts no glory
No pain no gain
No sacrifice no victory

In the light, we are one.

Look to the light of the stars
Fight cause this isn’t the end…
It’s the start of a storm
That will strike in the glory of hope
As we rise from the dark.

In the dark, dark below
Angst and Fear kept calling
Rousing pain, and regret
That we faced over and over
Through the trials, we awoke
Left our demons crawling
Once we learned to embrace
That we’re never gonna change who we were
So we fight for what we’ll become
Raise your light and carry on through this night…

Where do we go from here?

 So as content draught starts in FF14 and we work our raid schedule down to one day a week to farm the new eagles. We got everything done that we wanted to.  Savage alexander is a hot mess none of us wants to dump the hour upon hours into it for a slight gear boost. We like to play other games together as well. We still like doing the small group content in FF14 to. We are just waiting for the next content patch and enjoy hanging out for the most part.

 So I got asked by another raider. I'm starting a filthy casual raid group in WoW just one day a week no mythic.  Any of you guys want in? At first I was like two MMO's no way. I had said previously that I might not play WoW again.

Then I thought about it. Why not? We really don't have any reason to play FF14 more then 2-3 hours a week unless you want to dump more time into it.

 There wouldn't be any gear push in either game since we don't raid more then one or two times a week. The WoW raid system is flexible so you don't even have to show up every week. It won't interfere with FF14.

 I was interested. I don't have to lead it and I get to hang out and raid with no pressure. Just like my FF14 group. So yea I am in. I will be trying it out.I f I don't like it I can always unsub. I will be playing what I want to. I will be raiding with poisoned in two games now. Three if you count destiny Yes I was pjs. I will always bleed blue. That was another time though. I've put that behind me long ago. That story is over. I have moved on and I am happier about it.

Where do I go from here? Who knows? Why not?

I am starting to see things with an open mind.

You know where to find me.

Limelight

After I left FF 11 which will always be my favorite MMORPG. I jumped right into World of Warcraft which I did hardcore progression and 10/25 man raiding. I had some great experiences and accomplished some pretty amazing things. It just wasn't the same after a while. So I left WoW and for the first time in a long time I didn't have a main MMO that I played. I lived in the limelight. I sporadically rejoined xpacs only to quit a few months later.

 A gamer at heart I started diving back into single player games and discovered what I had been missing. I had dropped off the games scene for a good 7 years. I can't believe what I had missed.

 I always had this void that only an MMORPG could fill though so I was never quite happy. My brief stints back into WoW  just weren' that t fun for the most part. The people that I loved hanging out with just aren't there anymore. I wanted to get things done like I did in the old days but I just didn't have the time like I used to. We used to call them casuals and for some reason. I thought that was a bad thing. Filthy casuals they used to say. I still had some of that hardcore urge.

 Then FF14 happened. It was great game but it ended up the same way. I kept struggling with myself between hardcore and casual. I didn't want to give up the other games I played. I didn't have the time to commit. In reality I had grown out of it. I did quit FF14 for a good while.  I did another brief stint in WoW before just taking some time for myself.

 Eventually I missed playing FF14 so I logged back in just myself at the time and went through the content I had missed. One by one some members of the old raid group came back over the few months I had started playing again. We were not a full group at the time but we farmed the primal ponies. I ended up putting the groups together for the most part. When heavensward hit we almost had a full group. I headed it up again after the raid content dropped we lost a person or two and we ended up at a stalemate. We just didn't have the time for the more challenging content. I just about quit and gave up again like I had for the past 2 years.

...but I didn't. I took a month off. When the new content dropped. I got right back to it. We gained another member and we filled out the group again. Even when we lost a person again we gained a new one that actually wanted to be there. The biggest change I made in those first few months as a truly solid group of friends that spreads across a few games is that...

I accepted a truth in me.

I was a casual now.

and you know what.

I was proud of it.

I made a change in my life.

Taking the first step

 Everyone knows I like  MMO's they have been a passion for me since I first set foot in West Sarutabaruta 10 years ago. Was it 10 or 12?  I can't even remember these days. I'm getting to old for this. A common phrase I said when I got into harder and more difficult content spread across 3 MMORPGS. Final Fantasy 11, World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy 14.

 I have been playing the FF series since the first one that came out on Nintendo. Played just about all of them since. So when this MMO version came out I was skeptic. I had planned on just keeping to myself when I bought it. I will just get to the end of the solo content and quit. Who pays monthly for a game anyways once you beat it your done right?

 I kept telling myself as I kept leveling to 75. I was meeting all kinds of people and making life long friends along the way. Eventually I became the opposite. I grouped up for everything. Then I got to maat I figured ok I am near the end of my journey. I won't be able to beat him. I'm close to finishing the game anyways.

 I had met a level 60 tarutaru white mage named Minimuse along the way she had helped me and a old friend to Jeuno our first time. She was patient with us as we aggroed everything along the way and raised us as we died a few times each. She kept pushing me all the way to 70 afterwards with XP parties and other events that chronicled the journey to 75. Even after the two people that headed my old linkshell that we did genkai and af with  had quit at 60 I kept going.

 One day she asked me if I want to join an endgame linkshell that she was in. Huh? What is the point of that I said? She said you should join. You haven't been happy with the game lately it might motivate you. She was still level 65. So I joined and there I got my first taste of endgame. They used teamspeak. I wasn't used to it at the time but I quickly adapted. I would go on to beat Maat on the first try and worked my way to 75.

 I knew what I wanted to do in the game now. I wanted to be part of the bigger picture. Minimuse remained 65 for a long time. Our views on the game started to differ. She wanted to fish and hang out with a small group of her friends. She started to fall out with the linkshell leader because he kept trying to push her in a direction she didn't want to go. She withdrew even further from everyone including me. She said she might quit or transfer servers when they opened up. I tried to talk her out of it several times. While I had made many new friends she was one of the few that remained from when I started.

 It was there our paths split. She left for another server and I never heard from her again. I won't forget the lessons I learned and the example she set for me in my coming journey. I went on with pj's to accomplish many things and had a blast all the way through. In the scope of things even after pj's broke and continued playing I have no regrets. There was good and bad experiences. I made enemies and friends. I even fell in love for the first time. I would do it all again if given the choice.

 As I look back on it. Logging out in W. Saru where my epic journey all started. I am glad I took that first step out of my comfort zone. Never be afraid to try new things or experience them. Yes you might not like them but what if you do. Do you want to wonder the rest of your life. What if? I wouldn't.

So come with me and take the first step.

I am my own worst enemy.

Those who know you see your tears even in the rain.