Oh god.
Harass!
Well put! I think the thing that amazed me the most early on was when Sand released, a whole different culture spawned there. People like Dona really took the village as their own and made it something completely different from what Leaf was up till that point.
That's a nice comparison. I played Mabinogi during the golden age for awhile and really loved how hard it was. I spent more time in a dangerous world, doing less dangerous things and just connecting with people.
Thanks for the feedback!