Its Harsh
Age:25 just so people know.
True true, the situation is harsh. Its sudden, there isn't time to plan everything out. I worded it that way on purpose. That's why the title is "would you leave your life behind". Its a sacrifice. I have some close friends that I would realy miss. And not being able to listen to Megadeth any more would be kinda painful. But like a few people have said what better a trade then being able to affect a real change on the world? True the world is not going to be tailored. Its going to be status quo. You go into Troll Hills and you will encounter Trolls, wether your ready for it or not. But on the other hand, with logic and such, dragons would be super rare, as would Beholders. They would be killing each other. And depending on the world you choose there may not be any dragons or beholders or mind flayers. Some people aren't ready to go out and fight wars or slaughter hundreds of goblinoids. Some people might want to just study magic, or become bards. Your going to level up faster with regular training then off and on encounters any way. Things will be hard, dissapointing, require work and such. But most people who bust their ass in the real world find their pay off to be a movie rental and a can of beer cause they are too tired to do anything else after working their dead-end job the whole day just to stay fed and comfy.
This is just my experience and the way I see things. I've been all over the world. I've done more then most people twice my age. I'll make the best of what I have in this life, but if that portal opened, you couldn't clock the speed I would leap through it.
Oh last thing, I sneer and giggle at those who say "I'm not afraid to die" unless they've looked death in the face at least once. I spent some time in the ER of a hospital and I saw people praying to gods I doubt they even considered in life. Gods that they hoped and hoped would realy be there when the lights went out.