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*K, edited format from a block to paragraphs [/smile] woot*

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I'm going to add my ramblings here: Yeah, I also hate it when people repeat the "It's just a game" mantra to excuse douchebag behavior like being way under-geared in a party or monopolizing NMs or just generally being a ***.

On the other side of it, though, I myself have reminded people, for completely different reasons, that it's "just a game."

People can get all ridiculous and pathetic and show that they clearly get their only sense of pride and self-worth from their character(s) in this game, and act like giant a-holes because of it. If they keep to themselves, that's fine (as sad as it is). However, when they try to "get" me personally with that crap, I have to respond with ridicule.

I love this game, and I take it seriously enough that I get all mad, just like anyone else, when I lose exp, or my favorite upper-60s FoV camp of Very Toughs is crowded with players to whom the mobs can't possibly check harder than EP, or I accept a party invite and it ends up being a total waste of my time because they're insanely unprepared, or someone takes an NM from under me, or any of the myriad other things there are to get mad at in this game.

So yeah, I take the game seriously. However, I don't mistake my character's accomplishments for anything genuinely important in life. Sure, I loved getting Rank 10 in two nations before I was level 60, and sure I drool over crazy-awesome gear, and of course, sure, I love that I can solo some pretty damned difficult mobs. I love my gardening knowledge and that I raised a sweet li'l red chocobo. I love that I got myself back into skilling up my cooking and it's finally getting to a respectable level. I love that I recently got back to spending more time leveling my RDM and she should be 75 in less time than it took me to take her to 50 once I started playing last year. (I'm no power-leveler, that's fo' sho'.)

But my loving the game and wanting to get things done in it doesn't translate into my being selfish or a *** to other players. If you've met me in-game and you think I AM a ***, then I guarantee you did something totally and completely dickish to see that side of me. I'm hard to anger, and I don't play selfishly. If I want to farm materials from mobs that lower-level players are trying to level on, I move on. If I decide to camp an NM for some R/E gear I won't even use soon but someone with a job that can use it now shows up, I go do something else, or I might even stay and help them get it. I mean seriously, come on.

So anyway, my point is that there are two completely different sets of reasons that people say "It's just a game." Some say it to excuse their own douchbag behavior, but some of us say it to other people in an attempt to get THEM to stop acting like a ***.