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So here's my question, in the simplest way I can ask it: What do you do when you play this game and why? A little story to go along with this question, if you're at all interested: I came to ask myself this question a short while ago, when I was asked for help from another player in a run of "Toward the Future" on hard mode, so they could get to very hard as quickly as they could. I did, yet even though I had generously given them my assistance, they continued to berate me to go as quickly as possible, rushing through as fast as I could. Of course, they died many, many times over in their carelessness, constantly moaned about their weak gear and grew frustrated at me when I tried to save them from the claws of some horrid beast because I didn't give them a chance to tag it so they could get the experience points (even though their accuracy was so low, they couldn't reliably hit a Lilly in the caves). I told them "you should slow down a little and play a bit more carefully" of course only as a word of advice so they might not have to keep relying on me and my steadily dwindling supply of Moon Atomizers. They ignored me entirely, instead constantly spamming messages like "go go go" or symbol chats specifically designed to tell me to "go go go". When we (or, rather I) beat Falz, I was completely out of Moons (since they also told me not to go back for more before the fight because it would "take too long" and that they would "promise not to die") and they were lying on the floor, dead. Again. And, of course, got no experience from the fight as a result. They then became extremely aggressive toward me for not reviving them and denying them their share of the experience. They then left, without so much as a "thanks for the help" or anything of the sort. This happens with surprising frequency, as I've come to notice. I do very often find myself being asked by lower level players (both new to the the server and old players simply starting new characters) to help them grind up their levels. Or being asked to give them better gear. Or being asked to help them farm for rare/powerful drops. In essence, just to help them shoot to the top as fast as they could. And then I wonder (only wonder, never ask—I'm not a callous bigot) "why don't you just do it yourself?" Now, I'm not saying that I wouldn't want to give a helping hand to those that need it. Even in my ponderings, I still often offer help where I can and I don't mind, really. I was there before; I know what it's like to be on the bottom and want to get to the top—good gear, decent level, higher difficulty modes. But the thing is, when I did it, I didn't try to beeline for the top. I didn't "grind", I played; I didn't "farm", I played; I didn't make a beeline for all the best gear and a level cap, I PLAYED. I'm not looking to "win" by finishing this game as fast as possible; I'm trying to have fun. What I'm wondering is, what's the point in shooting for the top as fast as you can? Why bother? What do you think you're going have to show for it at the end? You're going to get there quickly and then realize "welp, I've done everything I can. I'm the best (around! No one's ever gonna bring me down~!) and now I've got nothing to do." And then what happens? Well, you could start a new character and do it all again, grinding and speed-running your way to the top once more. Or you might just call it quits and forget about PSO because you've been there and done that so why bother doing it again, right? You might also do a bit of bragging beforehand about how great you are now and how pathetic all the little nooblets are (even though you were once there yourself and probably only got to your lofty status with excessive help from players far better than you—show some humility, damn it!). I'm not going to tell anyone how to play this game. But I do wonder why anyone would bother playing at all if they don't really want to play as much as just wanting to get to a point where they can say they "won"—max level & great items, usually by getting help from much stronger players to do so as quickly as they can. Whatever happened to the adage "it's about the journey, not the destination"? When did playing a game like this stop being about killlin' monsters, savin' the world, feelin' your power grow with every level-up, revelling in every new piece of gear you got a hold of and having fun playing with other players in a community for the sake of it—for fun—and start being about getting to the top as fast as humanly possible, using other players as stepping stones to get there while treating them like they're not other human beings trying to play a game with you? Bragging rights? Instant-gratification? Or are you just so lazy that you can't even be bothered to play a video game—which is something you usually do for fun—on your own and have to let others do it for you while you hide behind them (and then, of course, take all the credit)? I'm not mad. I'm just... confused. Is this what is considered "fun" nowadays? Would someone care to explain? ...Anyone?