To be completely honest.. I do wonder I will walk away with by playing FFXI, long term wise. I imagine myself playing for another 5ish years, and after a 10 year long streak of playing FFXI, I will one day retire. Then what will I have to show from all the money and time investments I put into the game? I want to work overtime this weekend, but I decided not to because I wanted to go home and level fishing. I'm sacrificing extra money and possibly a brighter future for my FFXI fix.
Now don't get me wrong, I am by no means in trouble in life because I play FFXI, I simply could get a little something extra in life like a vacation to a tropical resort or a Christmas with parents in another state. $700 tickets for 2 people = Cancel Christmas plans. But do you know what I did? Spent $1,000 for the fan festival a week ago.
Sometimes I really question if FFXI is harming my real life.