Asking for help

In a game like Final Fantasy XI, you need help.

Not of the psychological type. Well, maybe that, eventually. But not usually.

No, you need help to do quests/mission/farming items or spells. The game is so designed in order to build a sense of community and comradery. We're all supposed to be one big happy multilingual family.

In practical applications, nice people become the bitch of greedy people. Much like in real life.

I cannot count the number of times I have seen people go to extreme lengths to help people, only to have trouble getting help themselves or being completely screwed by the person they are helping.

Now some might be wondering "Why Pawk, what makes you make such a bitter post?"

Quite frankly, it has nothing to do with something that happened to me personally in recent history. It has happened before, frequently. I did run a linkshell of my own, if I never mentioned it. And as the shell owner I regularly got screwed over helping people. It would normally work like this:

- n00b joins shell
- n00b asks for help
- I help
- n00b thanks me
- n00b ditches shell, never seen again

Now that I didn't mind. Helping newbies to the shell can result in long term friendships and valuable shell members. However not everyone cares to be loyal to a shell that helps them. But again, this hasn't happened to me in a while.

No, what makes me upset this time is seeing it happen to nice people I know. This almost upsets me more that it happening to me. I mean, if someone is nice enough to help, try to return the favor.