Lessons in failure

I really enjoy Nyzul Isle. No sarcasm or anything in that statement. I truly have a blast when I go in there, most of the time.

Unfortunately, there are times when I am ready to pimp-slap the shit out of the nearest moogle due to a bad run. Now, there are different types of bad runs. Really horrible floors with Chariots, Soulflayers, lamps w/gears, etc. Or when someone d/c on a lamp floor that has code and you're forced to fail cause not everyone has registered. These types of runs are definitely frustrating, but you usually get mad at the situation and not the people.

But...

When a run goes bad due to a lack of comprehension on the player's part, then I have a problem. Really, Nyzul is not hard. Yes, it has it's moments, but the concept of each floor type is fairly straightforward. So why lord, why do we have so many damned people that just can't understand a lamp floor to save their life? I just don't get it.

For all you people who check me and happen upon this blog, if you don't read anything else...read this and keep this shit at the front of your memory every time you go into this event. I'm going to break down lamps for you. You can't claim ignorance as your saving excuse now.

There are 3 types of Lamp Floors. I feel like I'm regurgitating Wikipedia here, but obviously people are having a hard time understanding how things are put.

1. Same Time

One of the easiest types. Everyone searches the ruins to find a lamp, and when you do, they must all be turned on at the same time. The concept is the exact same as timed nuking for mages. Look at the game clock, and ONE person calls a time. Then, when that time comes, everyone clicks the lamp and follows the prompts to activate it. If done correctly, all lamps light up and you go on to the next floor.

Of course, someone is bound to mess this up. In the event that happens, the lamps then enter a cooldown period where they can't be turned on again for a short while. This is around 20-30 seconds. So stay off the lamp, and wait for a new time to be called.

2. Code

This is the type that everyone prays for, but rarely ever get. There is one lamp within the floor. The only thing you have to do is click on it. That's it. No fancy trick to it. Just click the lamp and you'll get a message that says "Your certification code has been registered." Then you're done.

Now, the helpful thing to do here after you've registered is to take your happy ass back to the rune. If you're a mage, I can understand wanting to rest. DD's and Thieves have no reason to stand around the lamp. Get back to the rune so you can take everyone up to the next floor instead of having everyone run back at once. This seems minor until you get a code floor where the lamp is on the ass end of the map and it's a long distance to return to the rune.

3. Specified Order

This is the most painful of the three types, and what almost everyone dreads. The unfortunate part is that there really isn't a reason to be scared of this. It just takes focus and communication. When everyone finds a lamp, simple say you have one in party chat and wait. The universally accepted symbol for this is a very easy "/". This way the leader knows who's at a lamp and who's still looking.

There are as little as three lamps or as many as five. One person will call out the order for the lamp activation. Now here's the tricky part. You'll know when you've found all the lamps because they will turn on, regardless of the order. If you start a call with only three lamps and they don't turn on, then you know more are around. Once they light up, pay attention to the order than you used when turning them on. This is important because once they go off, if you use the same order that you just did, you're simply wasting time. I'll break this down for everyone (just like it is on Wiki...see a pattern here?)

Disclaimer: I'm just throwing out names here, these are not people I've been frustrated with.

Jacinda, Lisa, EP, Yoko, Yuna

This will be our first attempt. So I go first, followed by Lisa, then EP, Yoko, and finally Yuna. Also, when you activate a lamp, be sure to say so in party chat. Keep in mind that time is of the essence here, and people are waiting for you to let them know that it's ok for them to turn on their lamp. If you just sit there, then people wonder what's going on and that adds needless frustration.

All lamps will turn on at this point. After a few seconds, some of the lamps will go off. In this case, mine, Lisa, and Yuna's go off. Yoko and EP's lamps stay on. This means that Yoko and EP are in the right position while everyone else is wrong. Next turn.

Lisa, Yuna, EP, Yoko, Jacinda

Everyone's position except Yoko and EP has to change because we know their lamps were turned on in the wrong order since they went off. Now, Yoko and EP's lamps will stay on, even after everyone else's has turned off. However, when the new order is called, they still have to activate their lamp again. This seems to blow the mind of several people who sit at the lamp and just stare at the pretty colors instead of activating it again. Anyway, the lamps are turned on, and now we watch to see which ones go off again. Unfortunately, Lisa's, Yuna's and mine all go off again, indicating that the order still isn't correct. Don't fret when this happens. Pay attention to the order and remember which ones you used before. Now we try a third:

Yuna, Jacinda, EP, Yoko, Lisa.

The lamps light up, and the Rune of Transfer activates. Hooray!!

If everyone communicates, stays focused, and remembers their order (or use a pencil and paper), you can save yourself a lot of time when this floor type comes. Nyzul Isle is all about shaving off seconds, and wasting time on a floor that's relatively simple is nothing short of rage-inducing.

Now if you'll excuse me, I just had a tag that I waited all day to get wasted because of a lamp floor. I need to find a moogle; mine ran away.