Eorzea, how many times have you seen this happen: A member of your community loudly proclaims that they’ve had enough and they’re leaving everything behind forever, only to either not leave at all or show up again two months later?

I’ve seen it happen in Free Companies, but it’s also very prevalent in the venue community. Is it a cry for attention? Help? Chaos?

Of course I won’t name names, as it’s not my intention to ever put anyone on the spot, but just recently someone I know announced that they were closing their venue for important personal reasons. They wrote a post explaining their situation, though not revealing all the details, and it sounded like unfortunate circumstances that led to, at least from me and several others, well wishes and hope that they’d return eventually.

What happened?

They never actually left! In fact, they reopened their venue a week or so later as if nothing had happened.

I have to admit, I was both confused and even a little offended. Why shut things down and make a grand exit, but then not actually leave? What was it all for? It was difficult to not feel somewhat manipulated by their actions.

But that wasn’t the first time I’d seen someone do this, and won’t be the last.

In one of my old Free Companies, a member left multiple times, each time in a dramatic way, breaking ties with everyone. Until the most recent ocassion, when the returned a literal year later, hoping to pick up where they left off.

But guess what happened?

They left again!

Will they return? Maybe! But at a certain point, this is starting to get absurd.

Worse are those who lambast the community they’re in, lamenting how awful it is and how they want nothing more to do with it, only to slink back in later as if they had never said those things. And more often than not, everyone else carries on, ignoring their outburst and quietly welcoming them back, until the next great drama.

I do think people notice, but likely prefer not to draw attention to it. But it’s hard to repair a bridge you’ve lit on fire and thrown into a volcano. How can anyone take such a person seriously going forward? Maybe it’s easier to just ignore than get caught up in the same old, same old.

Sometimes, we have to leave things behind. Or sometimes we want to. And that’s okay! Letting people know is for sure the right thing to do. However, I’ll always assume that anyone who makes a big dramatic play of leaving is really after something else.

That’s it for this week’s Babble. See you next time!