I miss PSO... Options

[Castoth]

While FFXI is good and all, some aspects of it really get on my nerves lately. Here are a few things I miss about Phantasy Star Online:

-In PSO, you could SOLO anytime you wanted and could even do a damn good job of it eventually. I miss my offline romps, regardless of which episode I played. In addition, you didn't have to keep your level practically the same as everyone else that you played with. If you could enter Ultimate mode, you were pretty much welcome from 80 to 200.

-PSO was much more action-oriented or, at the very least, had a faster pace. Even Episode 3 moves much faster than FFXI ever can. You don't have to wait hours for a party to form, take an hour to reach your destination, and then play for hours on end just to gain one level (well, the last part is only true for the higher levels in PSO really).

-Teamwork. I like how in PSO, you didn't necessarily *NEED* a certain job or party makeup in order to succeed. Only have 4 robots? No problem, as you can do combo PBs with Mylla&Youlla or rock out if someone had a Zalure S-rank Shot (or Needle). Wanted to melee as a mage? Not a huge issue, as there were ways of effectively doing this.

-The item system. You didn't necessarily need the top tier items to do well in parties. Sure, it would be nice to have a Psycho Wand for the uberness of it but lower tier staves work out just fine. In FFXI though, if you don't have insanely expensive equipment later on, you are basically crippled and labeled a gimp. Unfortunately, this is more due to game design than just aesthetics. Like, if you are a DRK and don't have Sniper Rings (500,000 gil each or so), then you will have trouble even hitting the higher level enemies.

-The community. There is a decent community on the server that I'm on in FFXI but it isn't the same. I miss the players from PSO that I met, especially during my Episode III days as I was most social then. There are only a few people that I play with on a regular basis in FFXI, as 95% of the online community has a serious defect to them (moronic/horribly underleveled subjobs, spams shouts, wears level 1 equipment at 30, etc). Heck, thanks to FFXI, I haven't even really talked with anyone from those days now. Stupid addictions. >_<

Will I quit FFXI? Doubt it, as it can still be fun WHEN THERE IS SOMETHING TO DO. On the other hand though, idle times can be somewhat frequent and I need something to do during those times. Possible solution?

Renew PSO Hunter License...or not. I'm not sure really, as paying for two games a month makes me a tad squeamish. Besides that, it's been a few months now and doubt anyone still plays this game anyway.

*sighs*

Oh yeah, anyone else want to contribute to the FFXI bashing while I'm here?