and a flood of memories came back.
one in particular was of weeks and weeks I had spent leveling in the Valkurm Dunes (ah, my Red Mage, and Beastmaster.. HOW could I ever have been happy without a perma-pet???). I remember that once I'd reached the right level to return to Bastok (I THINK that was the town), passing through Gustaberg the music just completely overwhelmed me. It was the most powerful sensation, sadness, joy, home-sickness... it was really a home-coming after having been away for so long.
WoW has some incredibly beautiful music as well.. but because of how the game is designed, you never really get to spend those extended periods of time away from your "home base". God only knows that I don't MISS it at ALL!!! It's just a different way of going through the game experience. I'm glad WoW doesn't force that hateful grind on you.
But that emotional catharsis from the music and that whole homecoming event is a hard one to replace, or forget. I'm much happier in WoW than I ever could have been in FF-XI. For me, WoW is the right game environment. But the emotional impact of that particular event will forever leave an indelible mark on my psyche.
I'm glad that WoW has also left marks on it
Of course, in my case, they were drug induced... relax, legal drugs... I had a bad reaction to meds I was on JUST as Cataclysm came out. I was an emotional wreck, and traveling around the post-cataclysm world kept making me burst into wracking sobs. Seeing Camp Taurajo in smoking ruins will be one particularly strong memory for me.
Anyway, don't know why, I felt like sharing this.
