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b'Welcome to a very special edition of Nerds Without Pants. Julian is joined by a couple of lovely ladies—Shanna and Allison—who are experts on the topic of the day: massively multiplayer online role playing games. That’s MMORPGs for you savvy ones. With Star Wars: The Old Republic doing well below expectations and Final Fantasy XIV needing a complete redesign this episode of NWP asks what’s so special about these types of games, and why do people still play them?\\nFinal Fantasy XI is the gateway drug for this conversation. Julian has played this game for nearly ten years, and his guest Shanna has spent nearly that long wandering the lands of Vana’diel. We talk about how we each got into this notoriously difficult game, and why we’ve played it for so damn long. Allison has moved on to Final Fantasy XIV, so she tells us why she left.\\nCommunity plays a big role in these games, and that’s the core theme that the panel keeps coming back to. With all the drama, naughty talk, and serious conversations there’s just something about bonding with fellow adventurers in a virtual world that’s very appealing. We take some time to remember a fallen friend, and talk briefly about other MMOs we’ve played, and why they didn’t stick with us.\\n\\nAllison got a chance to participate in the FF XIV:A Realm Reborn alpha test, and she’s all too happy to give us the dirt on that. But she goes one step beyond, and lets us know what improvements were made to the embattled game over the past couple of years since its launch.\\nWe go into some deep “inside baseball” talk at times, but if you’re not an MMO fan hopefully you find this discussion informative. And if you’re well versed in these types of games, we hope this podcast gives you a chance to think about all the fond memories and friendships you’ve made along the way. And if you’re a big fan of Final Fantasy, please check out our Final Fantasy retrospective. Comment and let us know your favorite MMO moments, or why you avoid them.\\nFeatured Music:\\nSelected music from Final Fantasy XI (Main Theme to Final Fantasy XI, Vana’diel March, The Kingdom of San d’Oria, The Federation of Windurst, The Republic of Bastok, Recollection, The Sanctuary of Zi’Tah,  Ronfaure-vocal version)\\nJace Hall-I Play WoW\\nSelected music from Final Fantasy XIV (The Hall of Flames, Good King Moggle Mog XII)'