Great excerpt. My unhappiness stems from my current reality not vibrating on the same level as my expectations. I am trying to play this game as I've been told to play it. Yet I keep wondering why the other players don't have to follow the same rules....

Interesting question. I do see life more as a sandbox mode(don’t know if this term is still in use). Where we only limit ourselves with excuses.
I’m talking about healthy people, not the one who are fighting with a deathly disease.

I'd say that words of wisdom handed down from generation to generation pave the way for a more linear RPG. There are certain quests that must be achieved in order to level up and get to the next stage which is where I believe the streamline/linear approach comes to play however... It is totally different when you are actually experiencing it first hand from a teenager to adulthood. It certainly feels like an open world MMO as there seems to be this huge expectation on you to grab the world by its nuts and take it as you choose.

I guess when you get older, you look back at the bigger stages in your life and say "yea those were times I'd definitely love to relive" which appear to be relatively linear while when your younger, you tend to focus on the smaller things "what game do I play today?" which appears to be more random. It really comes down to perspective but if I must take sides, it certainly appears to an open world. The variation between each human being is so great, its hard to imagine any single person being completely the same as the other!

A great topic to discuss! Nice one!