I figure this is the best subforum, considering this is the most pressing and challenging content currently in the game. However, I hope this is something people can come back and read time and time again, as the game and ourselves change.

I've noticed lately that many people are feeling tired or pressured in many different ways, and with so much content and things to do, it truly is staggering sometimes! But I wanted to say a few things, to help everyone out, even if you don't do coils (since it's posted in said subforum), even if you like to lay back and just craft or gather. Please remember one thing:

It's okay to take a step back and go at your own pace.

Everyone has a different idea of how to play the game, and a different idea of what's fun about it. I encourage everyone to embrace that. If you like to craft and everyone's telling you to run dungeons or gather for them, then it's okay to say "no thank you" or "sorry, I can't help!" At the end of the day, we're here for our own personal enjoyment. However, even though we all have different ideas of enjoyment and our own personal goals, being in an MMO of course means that this is best capitalized when we all work together.

Which, I think, we are very good at! At the same time though, take a step back, and don't feel overwhelmed by what other groups have accomplished. Maybe as a whole we don't have Turn 5 down, we haven't beaten EX primals, and we don't have and actual roof over our virtual heads (at the time of writing). But is that what defines us as a group? Absolutely not! Is this what defines our individual members as people? Doubly absolutely not!

Don't look at what other guilds have done. How progressed they are, how much gil they have, what gear they have. Look at us. Look at what we've all done together. The memories we've had, the in-jokes we've shared (soooooo swoooooooole), our triumphant victories over content that's challenged us. Working together sharing crafting mats and tradeskills, building a group up together. That's what defines us.

Not what FC A has downed.

Not what plot FC B just bought.

Not what level Player C is at in all their classes.

Maybe you don't even like these people you compare yourself to, and that makes it worse. But that's okay. You're human. There's always going to be someone who is going to beat you at something. It's okay to want more, but you can't put yourself down because you don't have it. You can't put other people down for the same reasons either, however.

If you're feeling like this, if you ever feel overwhelmed or left behind, take a step back. Log out, maybe even for a few days (or however long you like), look at yourself, and just think about the things you've done, not what your character has done. Does playing this game make you happy? Does it feel rewarding? If not, what's keeping it from doing that for you? Identify that. Change it. But don't change that alone, we're all here for each other. Sometimes people may not be online, sometimes people may need a break or have had a bad day. And that happens. But don't let that hold you back.

Look at yourself as you, not your character. Think of everything you've done in your life. The things you're ashamed of, the things you're proud of, even if maybe some of these aren't good things. These all make up you, you've learned from every experience you've ever had, and you're quite literally a walking miracle.

Think about it. A world four billion years old, and through a long series of technical reactions we're all here today, together. We're the culmination of a series of miracles, a technical marvel. That's so goddamn cool! So don't feel overwhelmed by a video game. Your character can't boast that. Embrace yourself for who you are, and don't feel weighed down…

Because there's always a shoulder here for your to lean on and help carry you forward.

Very well said Rydia, it can be a real pain when people just expect you to do something they think you should just because you happen to have a certain class leveled.