I'm just too old for FFM

This has been bothering me for a while.  I notice that the FFM rules point to the younger members as a reason to keep the LS family-friendly, yet by and large the younger members are the prime offenders.

It seems like I can only stand to have the LS equipped between the hours of 6a and 4p.  It's relatively quiet during that time, and that's when the people who act like adults (whether they are or not) are on.  The straw that broke the camel's back was tonight around 8.  I woke up, got my coffee, and sat down just in time to see someone offering "2000 gil and nude pictures in an exposing position" for someone to PL them.


Now, I'm quite certain that he/she/it was joking, I don't need to be told that.  But I also didn't need to see that any more than I needed to see "Open your eyes not your legs", "Mithra fun hole Can I have it?", or "Hume rod Do you need it?" the other night.  Sackholders were on both times, I rather suspect one was involved via x-box chat in one of the incidents, and this sends a clear message to me that these things are considered acceptable in LS chat.

I don't claim to be perfect.  I'm not above the occasional "fuck" word or bit of innuendo.  However, I'm 34 years old, and such crassness ceased to be amusing and became downright offensive years ago.  I may be a little more of a prude than the average person my age, I'm not sure.  But I'm definitely more of a prude than the average FFM member.

I won't pretend that the late-night crassness is my only issue in the LS.  The categories of members are:  The Whiners,  The Pompous Assholes, The Crude Ones, The Annoying Ones, The Attention Whores, The Morons, and The Cool Ones.  Many members span more than one category, and while the last category does have a population that very nearly uses up both hands to count, they are always outnumbered by members of the other categories.  The latest clique to take over LS chat really is too much in all of the categories but one.

It reminds me a lot of the first guild I joined on WoW.  It was run by a friend of my friends, someone I've known and disliked since I was a teenager, but it's where my friends were at the time so it's where I went.  Guild recruitment was indiscriminate, anyone who was looking for a guild got an invite.  The members there fell into the same categories as the members of FFM, and the balance was about the same.  I was made to feel like an arrogant, judgmental bitch there, too, and maybe the description isn't entirely inaccurate, but I stuck around or a while for the sake of being with my friends.  One day, that ceased to be enough reason to stay, and leaving it was the best move I ever made in that game.  I found plenty of people in WoW that I got on with wonderfully once I left that guild, and I'm sure there are plenty of them in FFXI as well.

I wish now that I hadn't accepted the help on my AF helm this morning, because I feel like I'm walking out on a debt.  I haven't yet completely decided to drop my pearl, but I won't deny it's headed that direction.  While there are some people in FFM that I owe a great deal to, I don't think I owe them my own sanity and happiness, and it's hard to justify sacrificing them any longer.

To The Cool One that I know is reading this:  I'll always be available to help the people that don't suck, as I nearly always have been.  Just send me a tell if I'm needed.