Revelations of Insanity

Sensitivity Training

2012-01-28T12:43:00.002-05:00

If you're new to this blog, there are probably quite a few things you don't know about me. Then again, you could've been here from the start and still not understand me. One thing about me is that I am highly (and I do mean highly) sensitive. I don't mean that break into tears when I see the sunset, or I'll curl in the fetal position if you insult me. Not at all. My sensitivity comes up on the subject of racism and sexism.

What does this have to do with FFXI? Incoming QQ folks.

It has a lot to do with it. Perhaps it's not just FFXI, but I have never seen so much of it elsewhere. I spend a lot of time online in this game; maybe way more than I should. I guess that is why I see so much anger, sexism, and racial slurs. I know a lot of it has to do with the internet and its anonymity. No identity, no repercussions = no cares. There's a study about it, but I'm typing on my phone and can't look at more than one page at a time. Plus I'm doing Logwatch. Yay logsm

Anyway, back to the game. I see this stuff everyday, and recently it's really begun to take its toll on me. The use of things such as (anyone offended by these things....leave now.) " niggers, japs, bitch (for women), faggot," and whatever else you can think of. Or when people sit around make jokes about rape and dead babies. Really people, since when was a woman being raped or seeing a dead child ever considered funny? I'm not so naïve to think that I can go somewhere and never be exposed to such...verbal garbage, but to see it EVERY SINGLE DAY?? I think what upsets me more than seeing / hearing it are the excuses people give for it.

"Oh come on, it's just a word."
"It should only offend you if it applies to you."
"I don't have strong English."
"I'm not really like this. I'm just joking around."

Naturally, this only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to bullshit excuses. These aren't just words; they have serious meanings to them. The sticks and stones phrase we were taught as children was an outright lie. Words have started wars; they have motivated people to give their lives for a cause, and driven others to take their lives. To say that these words, which have a meaning deeply rooted in fear, ignorance, or hate is simply "just a word" absolutely baffles me. Worst yet are the people who say they don't have a problem with the people these words are meant to insult and are actually very caring and sympathetic to what they have gone through. Well...if that is how you feel, then why the hell are you letting these words come out of your mouth?

I really don't know what to say about these things. Am I too sensitive? Should I be like the rest and just completely forgot what these words have done to people over the years? If I'm supposed to jump in and be on board with the Internet Hate Machine, then I am sorry to say that I won't be joining. Caliburn says that I simply still value the meaning of words. I just wish that so many others could do the same.

But...I thought you liked it hard?

2012-01-27T10:24:00.006-05:00

So much to complain about, but my computer is broken and I'm too lazy to build a new one.

Anyway, remember when they announced the level increase and the rumors about the battle to take place? If you browsed the forums for any length of time, you would run into post after post after post of people begging the developers for a challenging fight. No, they didn't want to just grab a few Kindred's Seals or Crest and spend 20 merits. Nope. They wanted a fight. A real fight that would take everything they had learned and force them to come up with new methods for taking down a new and incredibly challenging boss.

Or 1 White Mage, 4 Monks, and a Summoner with Alexander.

I'll have to look back on the forums, but I'll be damned if someone didn't call this. They saw it coming. Not the setup, per se, but the reaction of the players. As soon as someone found a method to win, it would become the standard and people wouldn't bother to actually try any other way. So much for the challenging fight, right? Who needs to think about any strategy when you can just go in with Perfect Defense, Hundred Fists, and just spam Asuran Fists until you win?

Not only has it become the standard, along with a Black Mage Manaburn style, but people are being shunned away and unable to join in the fight if they don't have that specific job leveled. This is what amazes me. What happened guys? I thought you wanted a challenge? I thought you wanted this to be super difficult since it's the last level increase we'll have? So why are you turning away that 95 Dancer who's asking to join, or the 93 Bard who's been looking for days? Oh, is it because they don't fit the guaranteed winning method? Could it be that you're a hypocrite?

/gasp! It can't be true, can it?

Of course it is. People are full of shit in this game. Clamoring and crying about wanting a challenge, only so you can find the quickest, cheapest, and highest rate of success setup. Post it on wiki, and never actually think about trying a different setup. Of course, there's the other side to that argument, where you're just trying stupid setups for the hell of it. (ie 5 Bards and 1 PUP, or something equally stupid).

Now to deal with the "what's wrong with being efficient? Who wants to do a hard fight when you can just use that method to win and move on?" type of people. What's wrong with it, you ask? It's wrong because you begged for them to make it hard. That's what's wrong with it. You, the players, asked them to make a hard fight. Something that would kick your ass if you didn't have your A-game ready. That's what you got. A Tarutaru Monk who put you on the floor without even blinking, and what did you do? You turned-tail and ran away, looking for some cheap ass method to win. You found it, used it, and now go around Port Jeuno telling the people who need the win about how easy the fight is.

A few days ago, I was in Altepa with Alerith, and we were going to try Bennu. Is it an incredibly hard fight? No it isn't, but we decided to go with a non-standard setup of NIN/WAR and PLD/RDM. Things were fine and moving along nicely until one fight when we had Bennu, Ouzelum, and two other adds on us. It went from a smooth fight to chaotic, but we held it together. When it was over, we felt pretty damn good. As a matter of fact, we felt great. We went as a non-standard setup, had a difficult battle, and won. While it's nothing to run around bragging about, it made us both feel good. Could we have made it easier? Of course we could have, but where's the challenge in making things easy?

When they first released the level cap, I was waiting and hoping that this wouldn't happen. Maybe we actually would go into battle and have a really difficult fight that we could walk out of with our heads held high because we overcame a serious challenge. Something that made level 99 mean something. Unfortunately, being level 99 mostly means you happen to know a few Monks and a Summoner.

Hooray for challenges.

Speaking of wasting time

2012-01-11T08:03:00.003-05:00

Voidwatch

This has got to be the worst event ever created in my few years of playing FFXI. I've known that ever since I first started this game, it's designed to take time. Nothing just happens or is given to you. You wanted a relic, you had to make a serious effort to get the currency. Nyzul Isle, Salvage, Einherjar, upgrading gear, getting drops from NMs...nothing ever happened quickly. As much as dislike that aspect of FFXI, I have nonetheless accepted it as I continue to play this game.

Voidwatch; however, is completely different. It's the Corsair's dice of end game events. Meaning it's all luck. Though I find even that somewhat questionable. Of course, you have the people who just say "stop QQ'ing and just spam." To those people who even think this system makes sense or is remotely tolerable, I have to say...you're flat-out stupid.

Someone explain to me how Voidwatch is fair, reasonable, or even enjoyable? It's nothing more than trigger-zerg fest for anyone involved. It involves absolutely no strategy. Buy an abyssite that not only tells you what the NM is weak to, but even tells you the damn job it's weak against. I'd figure that for the "regular" NMs in Abyssea or something. These new NMs practically hand you their weakness, and it's not like you had to work hard to get this abyssite either. It's not like this one, where you actually had to put some effort behind it. Not at all, just grab a stratum abyssite to take part in the event, and buy the corresponding abyssite that tells you a weakness. From the start, people. I'm not even going into the temporary item spam that we all use.

But that's only a minor gripe of Voidwatch. What pisses me off is the "reward system," if you even dare to call it that. Kill the NM and run up to the treasure chest. Logs, SE? Really...logs. Is this your hidden way of saying that Woodworking is going to be a primary craft skill in future updates? Of course, not all of us get logs. Some of us actually get useful items, which is nice. Unless you happen to already have said item, which then just goes to waste. Oh, you didn't know? There's no treasure pool in Voidwatch. Nope, it all goes to you. So if you happen to come across something like...oh, a Mekira body piece, or a piece of Athos's armor and you already have it...well, oops. You can't trade what you have, and you can't put it in a treasure pool for someone else. It just goes to waste. So we're spamming fights for a random chance to receive an item, while those who actually have the item run the risk of receiving it multiple times and throwing it away because it can't be traded or put in a pool. Makes perfect sense.

Then it hit me like a giant ton of Marid crap. Voidwatch is a time waster until the next update. That's all it is. The whole event is designed to do nothing more than waste time. They knew that players would find a way to beat these NMs quickly with the stupid ass trigger system they put in place. They allow us to basically stagger lock an NM for the entire duration of the fight, so why create a reward system that would actually allow us to get the good drops from the fight? Make it the most idiotic, wasteful, and senseless system imaginable so we have no choice but to spam it.

Of course, we as players are stupid and have this "I need" mentality so we'll sit there, doing fight after fight after fight after fight. Wasting the stones the game naturally gives us and then going so far as to pay for void dust so we can have more logs fill up our inventory. When you step back and look at it, we are some damn idiots. The entire model around Voidwatch is designed to get us to waste our time and gil...and we eat that shit up.

Square Enix knows that, and uses it to their full advantage.

Pass that s**t, homie!

2012-01-11T07:36:00.003-05:00

Let me ask you, why is passing items so hard? Do you not realize items have a 5 minute duration in the treasure pool? Maybe that doesn't seem like much to some, but 5 minutes adds up. It's a long ass time when you're just standing there, waiting for items.

I was in a party last night because I didn't feel like seeing more Spacedragon shouts in Port Jeuno. I head out to Uleguerand and get ready for the fight. As usual, only one person in a seal run party actually brought the items to spawn the NM, and that was the leader. I already knew I wasn't bringing any because I was just there to help. The rest of the people either forgot, didn't care, or had the awesome "I can't afford 40k" excuse.

Bull. Shit.

I have got to be one of the poorest people in this game, and even I know getting 40k takes no effort.

1. Run outside, smack some enemies.
2. Shivite or something similar drops.
3. List on the auction house for 5 minutes.
4. ???
5. Profit.

It's that damn simple. Anyway, the fight goes off without a hitch and all is well. We then go to fight another NM who has one of 2 items needed to spawn the one we actually want to fight. The pop item drops and most people pass. All except one. Here we go. It always has to happen. There's that one damn person who just refuses to pass shit. So now we're standing around, waiting for it to drop so we can fight our NM. I can understand if reality calls you away for a moment, but when you're just standing there or even still fighting while we're telling you "Pass items please," then I've got an issue with you.

That is wasting my damn time, and I don't appreciate having my time wasted. Are you lazy? Do you not know how to access the treasure pool and select "Pass"? What makes it great is when you become so annoyed that you start doing in party chat, only to have them suddenly get pissy and tell you not to do that. Well if your dumb ass would pass the item from the start, that never would have happened.

Maybe it's the parser mentality. "Must do massive damage always! Can't pause to see pool; ruins numbers. RAWR!!" I don't know and don't care. If I'm lead in a party from now on and you don't pass that shit, prepare to be kicked. End of story.

Aren't you glad I'm back? :D

259.5

2012-01-05T13:00:00.001-05:00

Can you believe it's been 260 days since I looked at my own blog?

The funny thing about that is *other* people still have been. Two days ago, in the middle of a lovely Magian trial, a couple of friends happened to ask why I haven't been updating this. I honestly have thought about it, but as much as I enjoy / need to bitch about things, the desire to do so just wasn't with me. Still, it was nice to know that at least someone remembered and enjoyed my rantings after all this time.

So I sign on this blogging site and look to see if any of my friends from here had done any blogging. Naturally, Evilpaul just doesn't stop, so his was up to date. Then I noticed several other people had made a few updates too. It was nice to see that blogging hadn't completely died out. To my surprise; however, was Dizzmal's recent post. I haven't talked to him in awhile, but he mentioned that he missed reading my rants. It was just funny to have two friends talk about this in-game, then see my name mentioned here the next day. To add to that, yesterday I get a /tell from someone that I had only just met who said he enjoyed reading my blog over the holiday too.

I'm not one to say I believe in fate, divine intervention, or the mysterious workings of the cosmos, but I do know how to take a hint. So again, I offer my apologies to all of my loyal minions who have waited for so long. Now then, on to the bitching, shall we?

Holding on

2011-04-21T09:10:00.002-04:00

If anyone reads this, well color me surprised.

Granted, I haven't been gone long, but it feels like it. Anyway, I have a new job and that's been pretty fun. Actually, it's awesome. I'm a lot busier than before but I am not complaining (shocking, I know.) Apart from work, there have been some family issues that I'm working to resolve. Life would be so much easier if I didn't have a family, but I know I would be miserable without them.

The most interesting reason I've been away is because of an accident. Well, the family is pretty damn serious, but that's not something I'm going to get into here. Anyway, about this accident.

You see car accidents relatively often, but do you ever stop and think about the moment when it happened? I can understand why people who get in accidents get nervous once they are behind the wheel again. If you're one of the lucky people who have never been in an accident, I do hope you stay that way.

I was on my way home from work. I had a great day in the office and had just got out of the gym. If you know anything about my life beyond Vana'diel, then you know exactly how good it feels to be able to type the previous two sentences. It had just started to rain before I headed out. As I was approaching an intersection, I decided to move into the far right lane so I could take my usual shortcut. Behind me, there was another car who was apparently thinking the same thing.

I'm all for fast driving, as I can't stand being on the road. However, I'm smart enough to know that driving fast on a wet road full of cars is pretty fucking stupid. The person behind me didn't get that memo, unfortunately. They were driving relatively fast and Mr. Jackass figured I wasn't going fast enough so they got in front of me. The bad part about that isn't the fact that I was cut off, but where I was cutoff. Literally, this idiot got in front of me just a few car lengths from the intersection. I unfortunately had a knee-jerk reaction and hit the brakes, which then caused me to start hydroplaning. I guess the person realized that he also wouldn't be able to slow down fast enough without going out of control and then jumped back into the lane on his left, continuing through the intersection. It was too late for me and I ended up totaling my car. From that description, it doesn't sound like much. Now let me tell you what I saw in that short moment.

People say that time slows down when you're in an intense situation. It's like Bullet Time, only not in a cool way. Once I was cutoff, it was just an "oh-shit" moment. Then when I realized I couldn't stop and I was going to run into something, that's when the bullet time came into play. Going to the left would've put me right into the main traffic, which obviously wouldn't be a good idea. Turning right would've place me into a ditch. Heading straight was putting me on a collision course with a vehicle waiting for the light to change. Naturally, turning right seemed like the sensible choice, so that's what I did. Or rather, that's what I tried to do. The fun part about hydroplaning is that it's basically a big "fuck-you" to your steering ability. I was heading straight, and my efforts to turn weren't working as quickly as I wanted.

Everything gets louder and quieter in the same moment. The sounds of screeching wheels, your own heartbeat, breathing, and a sudden silence as the moment of impact approaches. The worst part of it all was the car in front of me on the intersecting lane. I looked straight ahead and saw them, staring at me. They knew I was about to hit them, but what could they do? What I could do, for that matter. I'm not even seconds from hitting them...I'm less than that. I can't imagine what the people in that car were thinking, but I know what I would be thinking. How can I protect the people with me? What can I do?

Let me put it to you this way...I felt absolutely helpless. Thankfully, I didn't hit them. What I did do was end up running off the road and totalling my vehicle. While I'm pretty pissed behind that, I take comfort in knowing that the people I was heading towards were spared. I'm more pissed that the fucker who cut me off managed to just drive on his way and never look back.

Anyway, I'm alive and so are the others. That counts more than anything. I was bit banged up, but I'm fine now. I have no idea why I decided to share that with you all, but there it is.

Now on to Vana'diel. I reactivated my content ID yesterday and signed on. Surprisingly, I was almost immediately greeted with several "Yay! You're back!" tells. Quite honestly, I'm surprised people noticed. Not to say that it wasn't appreciated. It truly was; it was simply unexpected.

One thing I did notice when I signed on is that my head started hurting. Do we just get used to the lag and other shit that's present in this game? Christ, I couldn't bear to watch things for more than a few minutes. Maybe it's because I've been fiddling with Crysis 2 and I'm used to that. FFXI just seems horridly outdated. Well, I guess it is, but we love it anyway.

Whatever, I'll bitch about things later. I have a headache and I'm also at work. I should do my job, for at least a little while.

Wishing for simpler times

2011-01-15T00:40:00.003-05:00

First thing's first. I apologize. I've been without a PC for awhile and it's been making me a little crazy. I've been very busy in the world of FFXI but haven't had a means to convey my actions to all of you. No promises of a long blog explaining what has happened since then, but there is one thing I'd like to mention.

See, I joined this small group of people a few weeks ago for Abyssea. Just a few people, and usually 3 or 4 during each event. Fights were exciting and since the group was small, people seemed to bond a bit faster. We were getting items and gear constantly, and it was just incredibly fun.

Then more people came.

I'm not sure how to explain my reaction. A bit of selfishness mixed with hesitation, but still optimistic. I don't know what the definition of "lowman" is, so I'm not sure if we are still a small group or not. Most of the new people are names that I didn't know, so that always makes things a little uncomfortable. Aside from the obvious part of gear acquisition slowing down, now events just take longer. Takes longer to start because we're waiting for so many more people. When everyone gathers, we have to wait while it's decided what we're going to do. More people = more decisions = more time spent planning.

Fights aren't as simple as they were before. I swear it takes longer to do the fights now than it did before. Maybe that's my mind playing tricks, but it sure seems like things went smoother and faster when we first started. Turul excluded, mind you. That thing's just a bastard. Now I see people getting frustrated, events lasting even longer than before, and it just doesn't seem as enjoyable anymore. Still, I can't help but think back to a few weeks ago when it was just a few people having a good time in Abyssea.

You'd think that me saying all this means that I don't like linkshells or large group events. Well, I do admit that lowmanning seems easier, but this is a large scale MMO. It makes sense to have events with a lot of people. In all honesty, I still like that. It's just that this group started out small and fun. As we expand, things just don't seem that way anymore.

I know my thoughts are selfish, and it's probably a bad thing to even admit them. These are all nice people. I feel pretty crappy for thinking this way. Still, a part of me really does wish that it would just go back to when it was all so simple.

It's late and I'm tired. Maybe my mind will be different in the morning. Happier rants await!

Why does this continue?

2010-12-23T11:53:00.007-05:00

Among you, who likes to repeat themselves? Do you enjoy the sound of your voice as you dictate rules and actions to other people? I can't personally say that I'm a fan of saying the same thing over and over to people. You know what this is about, so let's jump in.

Good old Abyssea.

Bigger should be better, but...

Remember when I said that small groups are better than alliances? I have been waiting, no...praying for someone to prove me wrong. Show me where an alliance just obliterates a small group in every aspect. Since that post, I have yet to see this come to pass.

Outside of Abyssea, this isn't so simple. We're not talking about that though. Recently, I've been doing some late night runs with new acquaintances of mine. We usually go with about 3-4 people consistently, but have seen times when we actually have a full party. When I first started, I was a nervous wreck. I'm just used to alliance-style fighting. Seeing a low-man group attempt things that I've witnessed 18+ people die to just makes me a little uneasy. Though it's only been a couple of weeks, I can now say that I absolutely loathe fighting in large groups.

Honestly, I'm saddened to say such a thing. Because I love having lots of people around. I like being social and having a bunch of friends or random people come together to accomplish a goal. It's supposed to make things more enjoyable, right? Hell no. It makes things infinitely more complex and wasteful than it should be. Does that knowledge not infuriate you?

Why can't people just listen and do as they are asked? Tell me why alliances take forever to trigger atma on NMs? Or why an NM who can absorb damage at specific intervals go from 10% to 60% in a matter of seconds? It's as if people just become stupid when they are part of a large group. See, I told you people that the Rule of 5 is never wrong.

You get a small group and watch things flow like melted butter. Get an alliance together and that shit becomes as smooth as cold molasses mixed with sand. I'll give you an example.

My first successful fight with Glavoid was done with a small group. I was invited to come along as a Corsair and you know I wouldn't pass that up. It was just over a full party, but some were waiting outside just in case things went wrong. It didn't. The fight I had previously didn't go so well due to a lack of time and plain inexperience, but I don't have a problem with that. The time after that (fight #3) was done with another linkshell, and I was going crazy inside.

Anyone who's read about Glavoid knows that it can absorb damage depending on the action it's doing. When it's doing a TP move, it absorbs physical damage. When it's casting a spell, you guessed it, Glavoid absorbs magic. So let's take a quick look at what might happen in an alliance.

[10:30:01] Glavoid readies Dessication
[10:30:02] Player A readies Tachi: Gekko
[10:30:02] Player B readies Sidewinder
[10:30:02] Player C readies Guillotine
[10:30:02] Player D readies Asuran Fists
[10:30:10] Glavoid starts casting Stonega IV
[10:30:11] Player E starts casting Burst II on the Glavoid
[10:30:11] Player F starts casting Blizzard III on the Glavoid

You know this isn't made up. I have a great imagination, but there are some things that I simply just can't fabricate. The sad part about this is that if you take ANY of those same people and put them into a low-man group, they would probably do just fine. Put them in a big group and their mind goes to shit.

Triggering weaknesses in an alliance is a huge pain in the ass too. I don't know what people think when they're fighting. It's a bit counterproductive to constantly beat down the enemy you're trying to trigger a weakness on, but people continue to use the primary NM as their source of TP instead of the enemies in the surrounding area. Why are people still telling others not to TP on the NM? Why do I see these all the time: "Get off the fucking NM!" "Stop TP'ng the NM" "Use the NQ mobs for TP" "DD get off the NM!"

You would think that people knew that stuff already. I mean, weaknesses are nothing new anymore. Still, people don't get it. Or they use the awesome excuse of lag. I call bullshit on that one. Lag will affect you for a couple of seconds. You might do an extra attack round, or maybe even two. Attacking the enemy for over a minute is not lag; it's just stupid.

Reading is hard.

There is something else that absolutely kills me with large groups: reading chat logs.

I cannot tell you how crazy it makes me when you have to repeat things you said only seconds before. It happened outside of Abyssea, but I see it much more often inside now. Say you've just warped to Abyssea - Vunkerl and it's time to do your event. Now that you and the leader are inside, the following occurs:

[18:02:05] Leader: Ok everyone, head to Conflux 3 and start killing so we can build time.
[18:02:15] Player A: /
[18:02:16] Player B: /
[18:02:16] Player C: omw
[18:02:20] Player D: which conflux?
[18:02:23] Leader: Conflux 3
[18:02:26] Player E: Sorry, zoned. Which Conflux?
[18:02:27] Player A: #3
[18:02:29] Player F: Hey guys! Which Conflux?

First offense: Player D. Learn to scroll up and read the goddamn chat log. Chances are that everything you're going to ask has already been answered.

Second offense: Player E. Stop lying. How do you know you missed something if you zoned? Text doesn't appear in the window during the zoning, and if it appears just before you zone, guess where it is? It's in the chat log, so scroll up and read it.

Third offense: Player F. Just because you're friendly doesn't mean you can't be stupid. Coming into the group with a great big smile and a friendly wave doesn't excuse idiocy or laziness when asking a question that's already been answered multiple times. Once again, read the chat log.

Free lot??

This is probably my biggest pet peeve in Abyssea. Lotting. There seems to be a few standard rules that can apply to how drops are handled in Abyssea now: Free Lot; Lot if you have the job; Lot if you can use it while in the party; and Auto Sort.

Truth be told, the only rule I will actually stand by is the second one. It makes sense. If you can use the item, then you should be able to lot it. It drives me crazy to see people lotting on stuff that they have no intention of using and simply want to sell it. Sure, people need gil for things and I get that. At the same time, if there is someone in your party who can really use it, why not let them? Is it really necessary to be that selfish? This goes hand in hand with Rule 3, which is really rarely ever used as it applies to mages more than anything else. Still, if there's an 85 BLM in the party and Aspir II drops, let them have it. It's not going to hurt you to pass on that item so someone else might be able to better themselves. Or Kindred Crests. Damn it people, stop bitching when someone lots those. Who gives a damn, it's a crest. If they need to unlock their next level increase, shut up and let those people lot. Or would you rather that they sit at 80 / 85 for the entire time they're in the party and hope that the seals auto sort to them?

Free Lot just encourages greed. It means that anyone with space can just lot the whole damn treasure pool without regard to anyone. Or the worst part is when you have idiots who random or lot on shit and don't know what it's for. I want to kill those people so badly. They're usually the ones who lot 950+ on items and then say "what does this do?" It's a good thing I don't lead alliances because I would be one kick-happy leader.

Auto Sort. Dear lord I hate auto sort. Let stuff like ingots and zinc ore go to auto sort. I can understand that. Spells should *never* go to auto sort. There is someone in that alliance who can use it. People say that lotting slows the party down. I disagree. Most actions are merely an /assist macro while waiting for 100% TP to do your weaponskill. Healers are the only ones who may not be able to constantly check the treasure pool, but things don't just vanish immediately from there. You want to know what slows parties down? The people who have to go afk for 20 minutes every 15 minutes that they're in the party. Those who always have an emergency whenever they're in the party. The kids who join alliances just before dinner time and then go away for an hour while expecting to be able to leech while they enjoy their meal. That is what slows down a party. Checking a treasure pool to get something you might actually need doesn't.

It feels so good to rant, I tell you.

A Day in the Life

2010-12-03T17:54:00.000-05:00

Truth be told; it's more like a month in the life. I swear I get all of these awesome blog ideas while I'm playing, then I forget to post it or get caught up in an event. Anyway, enough with the excuses. Stories and pretty pictures incoming!

They make it worthwhile

As you all can probably guess, I really dislike doing things alone. Sure, I can solo a lot of things at this point in my Vana'dielian life, but I choose not to. I didn't come to this place to be by myself, and I certainly don't like it when I am. For those times that I do get to do things with friends, even when they have to drag me out to do it, I appreciate it. So to my friends, thanks. ^^

Git 'er Done!

It's great to actually feel like you are making progress in FFXI. Well, in anything for that matter. Of course, I usually accomplish some small task every time I log on. I get very frustrated to simply sit around and do nothing, so I make it a point to do something productive, even if only get a few merits. Unfortunately, nothing in this realm screams accomplishment like the latest piece of gear or level cap. No matter what's going on underneath the hood, the paint job is what gets people's attention.

With that being said, I've actually picked up some new "paint" for several of my classes, and it does indeed feel good. The upgrade process is still a bitch and the quests are beyond stupid, but I don't believe SE will ever come to understand just how inane the quests they make really are.

This makes it sound like I have never received anything good before, which is far from the truth. Though what makes me notice my accomplishments more is because of one simple thing: Guildwork. I joined the site a short while ago just to see how it is, and I like it so far. What I really like is seeing the live feed of what everyone has recently (in Guildwork time) accomplished. Seeing when people reach that new level or get a new title is just nice. Guildwork doesn't judge the importance of what you get. It simply shows that you got it. I like that. When I feel that I haven't done anything recently, I just look at the site. It quietly reminds me that no matter what I *think*, the fact is that I certainly am moving forward.

On the subject of accomplishments, both myself and my LS have been making some progressive strides recently. I'm finally starting to fight (and defeat) the Abyssea quest NMs, and hopefully I'll be taking on the actual zone bosses very shortly. I've fought more Abyssea NMs that yield Abyssite and Atma upon defeat as well, making me considerably more effective while inside. Aristocrats beat Dyanmis-Qufim awhile back, which now opens up Tavnazia for us all. I've done Tavnazia a couple of times before, so it will be nice to finally go back. Maybe we'll even clear it. I'm in need of a new title.

Deleveling

Nothing ever comes easily, and it seems like I spend more time waiting for a raise than actually fighting or healing. I'm either extremely awesome and just pull way too much hate for anyone to ever take back, or I don't have the slightest clue of what the hell I'm doing and just get myself killed a lot. I prefer to think it's the former, but the end result is always the same.

Oye, I'm tired. I'll see you all later. Looking at myself dead on the ground makes me want to take a nap.

Is it still awesome?

2010-12-03T17:01:00.008-05:00

Think back to when Abyssea was first introduced. Let your mind wander to the Magian Trials' introduction and our first level increase.

The game we had come to know and love (or despise but can't leave) was about to be turned upside down and inside-out. The majority of end-game content that we were used to was soon to become obsolete in the eyes of many. The only thing we were missing was an appearance of the Silver Surfer delivering his quote from the Fantastic Four movie.

All that you know, is at an end.

Despite all this, people rejoiced at the perceived rebirth of FFXI. We now had actual new content, and not just a cheap event that people could finish in a day. As time went on, we figured out the key to obtaining never before dreamed of experience points. Jobs were leveled at amazing rates, and everyone loved it.

Then we discovered Abyssites and the NMs within the zones. Yet again, people were overjoyed and championing SE for their efforts. Soon after this, the discovery of Atma was found, and the hunt began. Weeks of research, theory speculation and testing...so much to do. Then the second update came, and now there is new Artifact Armor. Once we received the base items, it was discovered that we needed upgrade seals. Etc, etc, etc.

Abyssea has a staggering amount of things for players to do. When you look at everything this new content has to offer, it's mind-blowing. Now, there's even more content coming in just a few days, and we haven't even chewed through the stuff we have. Some of the major linkshells on my server, such as Excellence, Whirling Wind, Teletubbies, and others have managed to make phenomenal progress with Abyssea. How the hell you manage it is something I hope to one day understand. For now, I tip my Tricorne to you. For others; however, Abyssea is becoming a curse. Especially for some LS leaders. Unless you are a shell that is all-out Abyssea, you're going to run into the major problem that this content brings in terms of your members: time.

As Tal said, everyone wants to Get Shit. Everyone also understands that their desire to Get Shit won't always match with the desire of others. Some people will spend days farming AF in Attowha Chasm, while others chase NMs in Misareaux Coast. People are farming seals in Vunkerl Inlet as others are running after the Caturae. When it comes time for events, not everyone has the available time to participate.

The first reaction is to blame the members. If they want in on the event, then they should save the stones. Seems logical, right? Now pair that with the undeniable reality that people are judged based on what they have. Add to the fact that they know their shell simply can't do everything that they want them to do because it's not fair to the other members. Can any one person expect their shell to run out and do an event based primarily on their individual desires?

Of course not. Since I've started, there has always been a certain mentality of FFXI: If you want something, go out and get it. Don't expect your shell to do it for you. You want CoP cleared? Don't wait for an LS event; get out there and shout. You want the Razed Ruins Atma? Join an Atma LS. That awesome body armor you want? There's no telling when your LS will fight that NM, and you certainly aren't guaranteed to get it if they do. This thought process has carried over to the limited timeframe people are given within Abyssea, and it's not always a great result.

Do you take the selfless act and wait for your shell, hoping that the points you've accumulated will be enough to get the things you want? Do you sit back and ignore that shout for the NM you've been dying to kill, when it's not even on your shell's radar? From what I have seen, most people are not waiting. Like I said, I see the major players making progress, but I don't seethat same thing happening for many others. If you guys could share your methods, I imagine so many others could enjoy the happiness that you all have. I doubt that will happen, but it's a nice thought.

So to the LS leaders who have watched your shell crumble and the individuals who have been searching for a way to navigate this content, my question is this:

Is Abyssea still as awesome as you thought?

Let the lulz commence

2010-12-03T16:24:00.006-05:00

Just like clockwork, SE has released more notes about the upcoming version update. As expected, it contains quite a few surprises, both good and bad. While I'm always nervous that something will inevitably break or become nerfed, one thing that I can always count on is crying.

Currently, the loudest whiners are the Dark Knights. See why I chose not to level this class? Imagine how emo I'd be right now as opposed to just bitchy. Yes, you got a crappy and ultimately useless job trait. We know you can't parry worth a damn, so a trait that rewards you for something you more or less never do is insulting. I completely agree with your anger. You even got another shitty ability to intimidate arcana, which has been non-existent in Abyssea. Again, useless.

I understand your frustration. I'd be pissed too. What I wouldn't be crying about is this bullshit concept that your class has been put in a grave and can no longer be considered a viable DD option just because Warrior and Monk got some nifty stuff that you didn't. If you couldn't do shit to keep up with them before, don't get pissy about it now. While I'm sure their new abilities are going to be nice and shiny for now, you don't know how they're going to actually be used until the update. For all you know, there might be something else in store for DRK around the corner.

What I find especially amusing, with any class that feels left out, are the people who spent their FFXI lives on a job and then make all these threats to quit. Stop that already. You're only as useless as you make yourself. I remember a DRK in an Abyssea party who bragged non-stop about how he rarely needed to be healed as long as he had haste due to the curative properties of the Catastrophe weaponskill. Going on and on about his awesome damage and whatnot. Now that he got two useless abilities that don't hinder his current performance, he's threatening to quit. Really now. You're going to quit because SE seems to be leaving you in the same state that you're currently in? You'll still do great damage, won't need healing, and can still kick ass...yet you want to quit? Do you guys think about the things you say before you say it?

Cry when things are taken away. Scream and shout when they reduce your effectiveness. Threaten to quit when they take everything good about Dark Knight and reduce it to rubble. But seriously, don't bitch just because you got something you probably won't ever use.

If it makes you feel better, just remember the skillchain bonus trait that Dancers got. Cause you know, everyone wants Dancers to use their TP for weaponskills and not healing / sambas.

That special group

2010-11-29T14:11:00.001-05:00

You know what I wish I had more than anything else in this game? It's not gear, gil, power, or anything of that sort. What I desire is to have a small group of competent and skilled friends.

Now, I actually do have friends who are very skilled. Extremely skilled, in some cases. However, they are rarely available. Those who are available aren't usually around at consistent times, or I can only find one or two people at any given moment. Because of this, I usually wind up doing a lot of things on my own or with pickup groups if I'm lucky.

I truly don't understand why it seems so difficult for me to find a small group that I fit into. This should not be confused with a feeling of isolation with my current LS; I don't feel that at all. It's quite the opposite. I'm very much at home with this group. Well, when I can access the vent server, at least. Right now, I'm a bit detached from them because of some internet problems, but that's another tale.

What I'm talking about is that group of friends that you run out and do small things with. You know, go fight some NMs, do some quests or missions, farm some items...that sort of thing. That's the kind of group I want to be in, but my friends are always so scattered or already in their established groups. I don't always think about this type of deal, but a recent event brought it to the forefront of my thoughts. Are you ready for a story, my wonderful minions? Here we go.

A couple of posts back, I mentioned I had returned to leveling Summoner. I definitely like the job, but I had more or less retired that class. There's a reason behind everything I do, even when it appears trivial. Remember all the talk about improving some of my primary jobs? Summoner was never on that list, but I've been using that job more often than not lately. The reason behind this is because there are some other items in Abyssea that I am after, and really don't want to bother my LS or other people for. Items that are important to me don't necessarily have that same meaning for anyone else.

Enter the realm of the Iron Giants. I'm sure you've seen shouts for their items in Port Jeuno while you're looking for a party. Well, in my quest to improve, I noticed that these enemies have a few items that would be really useful to me. The first giant on the list for me is Ironclad Severer. I chose this one for multiple reasons. With this one, I could improve 2 jobs that are very useful in Abyssea (BLM / SMN) and there is also an item that would really help me with my melee TP set for Dancer, Corsair, and quite possibly even Ranger.

The next step was figuring out how to beat it. This is where SMN came into play. Could I do it with other jobs more effectively? I actually think I could do it faster as an RDM, but I still don't have wyrmal legs for movement speed. Though I have the Atma of Ambition, I think I'd be cutting just a bit too close for comfort. If I do ever get those pants, I'll certainly give it a shot. So I get SMN leveled, merited, and head off to find this thing. The first fight was not fun. I had no idea what to expect, despite reading wiki. I died multiple times, but I was fortunate enough to be on at a time when no one was camping. I came back each time until I finished the fight. Pitiful as it may seem, this is only the second major NM that I have ever fought on my own; the first being Boompadu a while back.

I remember telling Dierdren when I won. My hands were shaking and I was so excited to realize that I could not only fight this, but I could beat it. Naturally, the first fight took a long time for me. Well over an hour. Chalk it up to being inexperienced and afraid to take risks. Not to mention the whole multiple death and homepoints. Near the end, I did have a bit of help from Jamarn so it wasn't a 100% solo effort. Still, I was more confident to fight this without help now that I had an understanding of what it would do. Along with this win came the first of the upgrades, which went to SMN. While I could've taken the BLM piece too, I wanted Jamarn to have something for coming out and helping.

This was to become the place where I spent most of my solo time online. If I wasn't trying to build time somewhere, I was searching for this NM. When I saw people online who I thought might be willing to help, I'd wait to see if I could get the claim and then ask them to come out. Sometimes they would be able to, but many of the fights were done without them. At times when I arrived and someone was fighting it, I noticed something very different between them and me: They weren't alone. No matter who I met in that area, no one was ever by themselves. If a single person was there and got the claim, it was only a few minutes until an entire party arrived to help them.

So then I started to wonder, why don't I have that? Where's my group? For all the friends I've got on my friend list, why can't I get that small band of people that does stuff like this? I didn't want to beg people to come help me, so I just stuck it out and asked the few people that I saw online.

I think the most disheartening news I received during this whole thing was when I encountered a Japanese THF at the camp one day. I was fighting the giant when I got caught without Stoneskin and died. While there, a WHM was watching. I asked if they wanted an item and was willing to give it to them if they needed it. They said "I'm sorry" and I continued on until I died. At that moment, another Summoner entered. Then more people came, including this THF. He was the reason they all showed up. Turns out he and I were both after the last and most important item from this NM, Taranis's Harness.

There wasn't any expressed hatred from either side. I lost the NM and they claimed it. Fair is fair, I suppose. Miliani did show up to help me, but I more or less figured they would kill it and I just wanted the ToD. Turns out that Ironclad was pretty pissed from all of us messing around with it and it dropped the other group too. We got it back and continued the fight. While it was technically "my" NM since I got it when it first spawned, I felt a little sympathetic towards the other party. So I made a proposal to team up. It took a little while through auto-translate, but he agreed and we made it a team effort. Stupid giant still didn't put out, but now I had a small team to do this faster. He was willing to camp Severer as long as it took, but I had to run for Dynamis before the next spawn. Naturally, I get a tell mid-run. "{Body} GET ! ! ! !" Goddamn Dynamis.

Anyway, when our run was over, I resume the camping. The THF would talk to me in /t, but he was nowhere to be found as far as camping was concerned. He then told me: "You {/no} {Element} WS = {/no} drop." Referring to triggering the weakness of Abyssea NMs, he more or less told me that I was shit out of luck on getting that harness as long I was fighting as a Summoner. There was simply no feasible method for me to trigger the weakness. A part of me hated him for saying that, but he seemed to be right so far. Breathem tried to help me a few times with weaknesses, but it just didn't happen. The thought of not having a group got to me more and more.

People say that it's so easy to get a group of friends and go do things whenever you want. I beg to differ. Then again, maybe it's just me.

Desperation

2010-11-13T00:59:00.002-05:00

Why are you people like this?

I'm a nice person, and I think that's going to eventually cause me to explode and hurt someone online. More accurately, I think I'd take out a group of people. Namely men.

I swear on all things holy, you guys are pissing me off by the day. All this bullshit flirting is getting old extremely quick. I have friends who like to call me "hon, sweetie, cutie" and all that good stuff. Those people are fine. It's more a term of endearment than anything else. They might even say some stuff that would normally warrant a slap, but they are my friends and it's ok. To you other guys, cut that shit out. Seriously, it's damn pathetic.

Running up to me in town and staring me down while you say stupid shit just makes you look desperate and idiotic. Perhaps it's all in good fun and a joke to you, but I don't like it and I'd truly appreciate it if you would simply get the fuck out. Go away with your cheesy ass lines and stupid boasting. Knowing that you're pimped out isn't going to make me want to be your virtual girlfriend and brag to everyone about how I get to be with you while you deck me out too. I don't swing on anybody's dick hairs, so stop trying.

"Oooh baby, look at my new AF3+1. I can get it for you too if you hang out with me."

"Damn girl, you are so hot."

/stare /nod /stare /smile.

That's the best you people have? Please get the fuck out.

I might bitch, whine, and complain a lot about what I don't have but I am not that damn desperate to be with anyone or to get gear.

Summoner sucks

2010-11-08T11:20:00.010-05:00

....when put in Abyssea parties with mages. >.>

I'm not certain if I was just bored or hadn't done anything painful lately, but I decided to go back to leveling my only pet class. Well, I'm a level 3 Beastmaster but I doubt that's going to do me any good during events.

I got my first invite and was ready to go. I'm the first to admit that I'm not a pimped-out Summoner, but I still wanted to contribute whatever damage I could. That was part of my issue. I've always had a dislike for people who consider SMN little more than a support class with a pet, but that just seems to be the mentality of most. I blame it on the /WHM subjob. As luck would have it, I didn't really have to worry about healing anyone. We had plenty of mages and the party was going well.

Until the BLMs started running out of MP.

Confused? Me too. Even without Atmas, there really isn't much of a reason that a BLM should be running out of MP in Abyssea. Still, they were. So what does that mean for me? I was out there to throw out some avatar buffs, get some damage in, and kick ass with that fail of an avatar, Odin. More on that another day. With BLMs running out of mp, I wasn't able to do that. Instead, I got to stand around with Diabolos flapping his damn wings in my face.

I cannot begin to describe how goddamn boring that is.

First off, Diabolos sucks as an offensive summon. He's been a joke of an avatar since his release. I honestly don't know why people put forth the effort to do his battle. Nether Blast? Sure, if you've got several SMNs spamming the ability. Otherwise, I'll pass on that and continue to think of it as a waste of my MP. Now with Avatar's Favor, Diabolos has a bit of redemption in the fact that he can restore a bit of MP after a time. What good does that do for me? Not a damn bit. What it does; however, is put me to sleep. Which I did a few times. Seriously, spamming Dream Shroud is just mind-numbing.

Thankfully, the party either disbanded or I had to leave. My mind was so messed up from boredom that I honestly don't remember the circumstances of my departure. I was 75 when I started, and midway through 76 when I left. All I know is that there was no way in hell that I'd be able to maintain that method of play for 9 more levels.

Consistency

2010-11-05T13:15:00.002-04:00

Tidis hit the nail on the head awhile back when it comes to my blogging. I'm not nearly as consistent as I once was. Shocking, I know. When this blog first started it had the format of "A day in the life," with me posting my daily activities and how I felt about it. This is fine and dandy, but you're eventually going to end up posting the same thing over and over and over. Especially if you manage to stick with the same linkshell for an extended period.

Then it went from what I did everyday to the items I obtained. While I have posted some of the things I've picked up since I started here, I never wanted this to become a blog about shiny items. I remember reading a post which pretty much summed up how I felt about the "look at me" types of blogs. Though I think my disdain for them is more or less because I don't boast very often, and I find little interest in doing so.

Of course, most of this blog has now become a repository for the repressed rage that builds up over the course of my playtime. It's therapeutic in a way. It prevents me from going ballistic on people while also keeping me from destroying my home in a fit of anger. Not saying that I want to hurt anyone I game with, but I will say that I have an extremely active and vivid imagination when it comes to methods of dealing discomfort.

Still, it seems that my thoughts and my desire to blog do come to the occasional impasse. I love blogging and I probably should have started it as soon as I began FFXI. I have plenty of things that I want to talk about, but I wonder how much of it is worth reading. Then again, I used to just sign on to this site and talk about whatever was running through my head at the moment. Perhaps I should stick to less thinking, more typing.

Trailblazing

2010-10-30T23:48:00.001-04:00

http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Ever hear of that site? You might have visited it once or twenty million times in your FFXI lifetime. Good old Wikipedia. It's where everyone goes to find the tried-and-true answers. Once something has been dissected and analyzed, the end results usually find their way to this wonderful website. Scores upon scores of linkshells base their entire strategic existence on the contents of wiki's web pages. Some people refuse to tackle any content until the answer to it has been put online. Quite obviously, wikipedia is a major component in our online world.

As a result, there are some people in FFXI (or any game for that matter) who hold a role of significance above the rest: the pioneers. The ones who figure out the stuff that goes on wiki in the first place. Many days, I try to figure out something enjoyable to do. I usually don't find the answer and end up doing whatever comes to mind, or wait for an event. As always, I am forever frustrated with some portion of Abyssea, but that's usually where I spend my time.

The latest buzz in Abyssea has been figuring out NM weaknesses. You know, the various !! that show above the NM's name after a specific action. There's been a lot of research going into this and each day seems to bring people a bit closer to a definitive solution. As a way of trying to help my LS get into this, I started reading the forums about those weaknesses and the triggers. As I read more and more, I felt myself getting excited. I was intrigued by the unknown, and felt as if I were a part of something bigger. I was silently in the background, working to help find an answer to something that people really want to know.

I couldn't wait to share whatever I learned or read about with everyone else. Even if I had to go back and correct something that I thought was right before, that feeling of discovery kept me motivated. Maybe this is how the others feel? Perhaps they get a rush when they figure something out or discover something new, and that's what keeps them motivated to continue on.

That's where I want to be. Out in front; looking for solutions and trying out new things. Finding those weaknesses and discovering what causes the Caturae to spawn. To be part of the group who discovers NM behavior and patterns. That's where the excitement is. Not just to be the first to get an item, but to find out where that item comes from in the first place.

While it can definitely be frustrating to fight an enemy you know nothing about, I can only imagine how exciting it must be when that same group solidifies their newly formed strategy and comes out with a victory.

Ah, to be a pioneer and blaze my own trail. Dream big, right?

Keeping up with the Joneses

2010-10-21T11:59:00.003-04:00

There's always the pressure of wanting to stay current with things. Not just for the betterment of yourself, but because this game is fueled by elitists who are quick to point out how inferior you are when you don't perform to the perceived minimum standard.

You can usually tell them to go piss off and still manage to enjoy your time.

However, do you ever feel more pressured to keep up with your friends or associates? You know, the ones who generally accept you exactly as you are, regardless of your gear or skill. The ones who don't really care about all that, yet are somehow phenomenally much farther ahead or better geared than you.

Sure, you might wander about town and see someone with a Masamune and wish you had one, but it doesn't bother you. Hell, you might even see someone out there with the very gear you've been dying to have, but you aren't upset because you don't know them. Then you get a tell from one of your friends who tells you they were randomly invited to a group to kill an NM that you've personally been trying to get help with for ages, and you go into a silent rage. Does this ever happen to you?

Obviously, it happens to me or I wouldn't be talking about it. Truthfully, I feel bad for admitting this. Even worse for actually feeling that way. These are my friends, and I should be congratulating them. I do, but there's always that feeling of "wtf?!" in the back of my head. I should be happy that they went off and got the atma from Eccentric Eve and others with just a pickup group. Cheering them on because they got a random invite to a zone boss just for shits and giggles. I am supposed to be thrilled when they get an Abyssea party that lasts for 10 hours non-stop with drops galore and people leveling left and right. I should be super ecstatic when they send me a tell with nothing more than an item name of their latest drop, followed by a large smile.

Maybe I wouldn't feel this way if I were actually a part of that fun when my friends go out and do things. It would be nice to get included on things other than just events. Jealousy and envy are horrible things to have, especially towards the people who are your friends. Considering that though, it's quite possible that I really don't deserve to be included.

After all, a real friend wouldn't be envious, right?

It's not their fault.

2010-10-16T20:28:00.003-04:00

I told you I wasn't happy today. No Abyssea, no stones, and not a hell of a lot that I was really motivated to do. That's how my online day was looking. With the exception of one thing later in the evening: Dynamis - Xarcabard.

That was the only thing I looked forward to the entire day. I did things around the house as I sat online, and headed to zone roughly an hour early. Of course, I took a nap when I got there but that really doesn't matter. So 6pm EST arrives. Time to get ready and kick some ass with the hopes of finding an Etoile Casaque for Dancer so I could be extra freaking sexy. So tired of wearing a damn Scorpion / Raparee Harness all the time. I was sitting across from the trail markings and waiting patiently. A few others were there and even more began to trickle in. Things are looking good.

Of course...something had to happen. It just can't ever be easy.

Another LS shows up. Vana'diel's Finest. An odd name considering their history, but we won't delve into that right now. There is one bit of history to take into consideration, yet it's not directly related to them. Remember that server merge from awhile back? Well, it's been the source of a considerable amount of drama between Cerberus and Hades. The lovely Dynamis Calendar. The subject is old and beaten, but never dead. Hades was very attached to that calendar for the most part, but Cerberus never bothered or seemed to care about it. Now that we have become a part of Cerberus, we're still used to the calendar and try to respect those who decide to follow it.

As I'm sure you can guess, VF is not one of those shells that chose to follow it. So let's jump back to the present. They show up, and we make note of it. Cerberus linkshells are notorious for "zone-jacking," as they call it. Doesn't matter if you see a shell gathering at the markings. If they aren't inside and you're ready to go, then they lose. Calendar reservations and polite requests be damned. You move it or lose it. I think that's a pretty shitty and disrespectful approach, but that is the reality the people here choose to abide by.

Naturally, we lost the zone. The single event that I was looking forward to was gone, and I was pissed. We didn't have everyone ready, and we knew what that shell was going to do. Now, what upset me more than anything wasn't the fact that we lost the zone. It's why we lost it. It wasn't VF's fault; it was ours. This wasn't an event borne out of a spontaneous decision. We knew about this since the beginning of the month. It's on our website. Yet when the time came, we weren't ready. It wasn't some bullshit zone like Dynamis - Bastok, it was Xarcabard. People want gear from that place. You can skip out on damn near every other zone, but Iceland gear is nothing to scoff at. Dynamis Lord is in Xarcabard, relic fragments are there, NMs that can drop crazy money are there, and some of the most desirable AF2 is there. Yeah, yeah, AF3 and all that. Whatever, AF3 is a goddamn nightmare right now.

So what can we do for next time? How can we prepare better? For starters, maybe log out near the markings? Save yourself some headache trying to rush out to the place so we can enter. Just take a few minutes before you leave the night before or whenever, and log out by the markings. Oh, but what about the job you'll use? What if they want you to come as something different? Again, think about it. Every one of us pretty much has one or two jobs that we go as during Dynamis events. So gear up as one, and have the other gearset handy if you have to change. If you get called upon to go switch, use the Field Manual by the markings, and swap your stuff out.

One of the problems we encountered was that we didn't have a particular job when it was time to enter. In all honesty, and this may not be the right thing to say, but that's just too bad. Adapt. Maybe I'm making this all too simple in my head, but just because we're missing a job at that exact moment doesn't mean that we should screw ourselves out of a 4 hour event. We've got to be able to adapt to whatever circumstances we're faced with. We are just shit out of luck otherwise.

These other people will not wait for us to put our pants on and get all dolled up for entry. They don't give a damn if they see us standing right on top of the trail markings. Was their entire LS standing there when they went in? It didn't look like it, but they went with what they had. That's what we've got to do. Jump in and get shit done. The rest of our group will catch up. If they don't catch up, then that's unfortunate for them (myself included).

Now it sounds like I'm blaming my LS for what happened. It was our fault for what happened, so in a sense, that's true. Though I do not fault any single individual. Sure, VF pulled a shitty move, but that shouldn't come as a surprise considering where we are now. They've done it to us multiple times, and they'll keep doing it. Still, my point in all of this is that I think we need a reality check. As of this moment, our only safeguard or method of preparation is basically hoping that another group can't get their shit together before we do. If that's the case, then we might as well fill our schedule with Dynamis - San D'Oria runs, because we will lose the other zones...every. single. time.

Why Not?

2010-10-16T12:12:00.005-04:00

I'm not happy today. At least not right now.

I'm unhappy because I want to party and level Paladin. I'd like to finish Bard as well, then move on to Summoner. However, I can't do that right now. I don't have enough time, and it's no one's fault but my own.

I haven't spent a lot of time doing seal quests and things like of that nature, so those aren't why I'm out of time. It's not due to the two times I spent fighting NMs with my small group of friends either. So how the hell is it that I now have to sit in my Mog House while I wait on stones to recharge?

Partying. The very thing I want to do is the reason why I don't have enough stones to do what I want to do. Conflicting, no? You see, it's not just parties though. There are instances where some people have partied using the same 3 stones since Abyssea came out and they have over 100 stones just sitting in a vault somewhere. So why am I different? Well, it's because I join bullshit parties that have been killing my time.

I'm a nice person, and that's my problem. I'm considerate and always want to give people a chance, even when I know better. I don't want to be "that person" who sees a party that isn't ideally perfect and jumps ship to find something else. You know, the person who says they have to go when someone else leaves and then say they couldn't find a rep. Of course, you do a quick search and find 20 people that could've filled their spot. If I lead a party, I don't want to be that bitchy person who's shouting and yelling while calling people morons because they are doing obviously stupid shit. Such as fighting Murexs who almost always open with a powerful spell and watching our RDM do nothing to silence them as the entire alliance gets struck with Thundaga III on Lightningsday.

So, because I'm so nice and passive...I end up staying with parties that aren't the greatest and watch as my time slowly dwindles down to nothing and then get upset afterwards. I probably wouldn't be able to bitch about half as much as I do now if I honestly just got up and left when I had a bad feeling about an event or party I was in. Quite possible that I wouldn't be as stressed either. Other people do it all the time; why not me too?

Why not just sign off when I'm bored during an event or don't feel like going to a particular zone for whatever reason? Take a hit on attendance and lose a point or two. No big deal really; random drops are random, and I don't have nearly enough points to outbid anyone on the things I actually want anyway. So I'm last to get it no matter how I look at it.

Why not just bail on parties I get invited to when they aren't the best they can be? There's no rule of loyalty to the person who invites you, so why should I have to stay when people don't get their shit together and the group starts to fall apart? Why should I bother explaining my reason for going or waste my time trying to find a replacement when I can see the party is going downhill? Are they going to stand by me if I made a party and things weren't that great? Would they stick around to help improve it? Of course they won't.

So why do I bother? I believe in giving an honest effort, all the way to the end (or as close as I can comfortably get). I go to zones or events that I don't want to do because it can't always be about me. I try to stand by party leaders in Abyssea because it would be absolutely horrible if everyone did nothing but look out for #1 instead of the person next to them.

I do most of what I do because I like to think that I'm doing the right thing. Even if the end result is me sitting in my Mog House, waiting on a damn stone to recharge.

Abyssea Comparison

2010-10-15T09:29:00.008-04:00

I notice that I compare things often. Doesn't matter what I'm doing or thinking about, I find a way to compare it to something else in order to relate to it better. After numerous parties in Abyssea, I found the perfect comparison to it:

Remember Bubblicious? Damn that was good gum. Anyway, a new party is has a lot of vigor and determination but needs to get the rhythm established, just like that gum is flavorful even though it's a little hard to chew at first. After awhile in the party, things start to pickup. Chests drop more frequently and the rewards are better. This is the great time in the party. You're getting that amazing exp and chests are all over the place. Everyone is happy and you've got enough time extensions to make up for the initial investment when you arrived. The gum has softened up, and now that flavor is just everywhere.

Eventually, someone has to go. If this doesn't happen in waves, which it normally does, your party can continue without a noticeable interruption. Your gum is still going strong, and life is good. Time goes on and the flavor starts to wane a bit. People are getting tired or have events to go to. Now you have a choice, discard the gum that still has some potential, or add a bit of sugar to keep the flavor going. Adding sugar to gum does the same thing adding new people to lengthy party does: enhances the flavor with the added risk of ruining the gum.

You have to add sugar sparingly. If you add just a bit from time to time, then the gum will last for good while. Dump a tablespoon of sugar in your mouth, and you can kiss that gum (as well as your teeth) goodbye. Same with adding people in parties. Replace one or two at time while you get their lights built up, and the party can last for what seems like forever. When you reach that point where you're replacing entire parties at once, you stand to lose more than you can gain.

The more I party in Abyssea, the more often I realize that there are times when I really just need to make my own party instead of hoping that someone's established party will have a better turnout. Or in gum terms, I should buy my own damn gum instead of chewing the gum of someone else and hoping the flavor will last.

That really sounded bad. Yuck.

A Method to their Madness

2010-10-11T08:34:00.005-04:00

So I got bored last night and decided to spam a quest for fame in Misareaux Coast. While doing so, I naturally got some seals for a few AF3 pieces. Luckily for me, I'm one of those people that aren't affected so much by the random distribution of seals because I can use nearly all of them. It's more a question of will I bother with them when it's all said and done.

Not everyone is in the same boat as I am though. I notice a lot of people complain about making these quests easier, or increase the drop rate of the seals based on your job, being able to trade them to others, etc. I can imagine the frustration of someone spamming these quests and getting seals for every job except the one they want. That would piss me off too.

While all of those suggestions would be great, what if we're the ones bringing this misery on ourselves? Admittedly, I'm among the first people to call Square-Enix stupid with the things they do, but maybe this isn't one of those things. Well it is, but not in a blatantly obvious way.

Most of these quests are easy. Ridiculously easy. In some cases, it takes more time to actually get to the NPC and activate the quest than it does to complete it. Because these quests are so simple, how much of a reward are we truly entitled to? We already get cruor and fame for virtually nothing, and you can repeat several of these quests too. I checked my fame and am considered the Jewel of Misareaux Coast, yet all I did was repeatedly give a guy some sausage to eat. So when I get some random seals for a job that I don't particularly care about, I can't really bitch about that when everything else I got is taken into consideration.

That still doesn't answer the question of how to obtain the seals we want though. Many people are getting "useless" seals and it frustrates them. Maybe there is another answer, but has little to do with quests. You guessed it; I'm talking about the NMs in the area. Is fighting an NM more difficult than spamming meat delivery quests? I'd imagine so, but think about the rewards. You get experience points, possible gear, atma, key items, AND the chance at seals. Sure, there's always the possibility that seals will drop for a job you don't have or want but, if you take a group with you, maybe someone else can use them.

That method isn't nearly as fast as quest spamming, but it does have greater rewards. On top of that, haven't people realized that Abyssea is a group effort? There's plenty you can do by yourself if you're really that hung up on it, but you simply cannot get everything you want if you do it alone. Maybe you can, but you won't get it quickly from what I've seen. I'm going out on a limb by saying that perhaps SE wants us to realize that as well and look for the more challenging and group-oriented way to obtain these seals. There's always the incredibly high possibility that I'm wrong, but it is something to consider.

Ignorance and Curiosity

2010-10-10T11:50:00.004-04:00

Humans are naturally ignorant. It's just a fact of life that we really don't know much. The things we believe we know today will change in time and we'll be thrown on our heads as we struggle to cope with the new reality presented to us. Due to that ignorance, we're also very curious. We experiment and test new ideas at almost every available opportunity as we attempt to move from ignorance to enlightenment. This can be a very dangerous thing. As the saying goes, "Curiosity killed the cat."

Or in this case, curiosity killed the alliance.

There I was, remembering how to be a Paladin in Abyssea - Misareaux Coast. As much as I've been putting it off, I figured it's high time to get this class caught up with everything else. I'm not so sure this whole "main assist" thing is for me though. As soon as I target an enemy and get ready to do something, it's dead and I sometimes find myself struggling to target the next enemy amidst a crowd of bloodthirsty adventurers so they can smash it. I'm sure there's probably a macro for selecting the nearest enemy, but I've yet to figure that one out. See, there's some ignorance on display. Now to use my curiosity to find the answer...later.

The target for the day was none other than those damn birds, so I got to kiss my food goodbye and say hello to some facial beaking. It took me a minute to get my groove, but I think I did fairly well for the time we were there. I almost got a level and recapped my time, which is a great thing because I'm insanely low on stones. I really should get my fame up and do that damn abyssite quest. As we were fighting along, dropping bird after bird, I noticed something in the distance. Someone had died, but not by one of the birds we had pulled to camp. No, no...this was different. There was an NM in our midst, and I had no idea how it got there.

At first, I thought it was just going to deaggro and go about its way. Yes, that was a stupid thought. I wasn't certain what we were supposed to do. Then I saw it kill another person and I realized it was just going to wander around and peck the alliance to death. So, I did what any other sacrificial idiot would do: I provoked it.

Now the alliance had no choice but to fight. Someone did the call for help so we wouldn't lose the exp chain, so there goes the chance of any groovy rewards from it. What I didn't realize about this NM was that it copies the buffs of whoever it uses a certain TP move, and that other colibri link with this one as well. This should not have been a problem, but no one was sleeping the links and we ended up having a very bad time with this thing.

Needless to say, people were pissed. How the hell did this thing show up and cause a wipe. I figured it was a timed spawn and we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Someone else knew the truth, and that's why he was pissed. Avalerion isn't a timed spawn, it's a pop NM. No one else but people from our alliance were there, but everyone was silent when asked about what happened. Then it happened...

"Oh that's what it was? Lol, I traded the item but didn't think anything was going to happen."

Ignorance and curiosity are a very deadly combination indeed. Our scholar happened to receive the spawn item and just blindly traded it to the nearest ??? he saw because he was curious. Some people said to just get over it and continue, but other people didn't have such a kind reaction to his seemingly innocent action. He tried to say that he's only played for two years and has been to Abyssea a total of four times, with this being his first visit to Misareaux. I want to say something to defend him, but I honestly can't come up with anything. When you are new to an area and by yourself, then feel free to explore and sate your curiosity as much as you like. When you are new and with an entire alliance, well...save the curiosity for later.

An entire alliance, wiped because someone thought it would be funny to randomly trade an NM spawn item in the middle of an exp party without knowing the consequences. Isn't curiosity great?

Maybe I was wrong

2010-10-01T14:15:00.002-04:00

In a recent post, I talked about some of the changes brought about by level sync / Abyssea and the mass shift of opinion from what was then considered "wrong" to now being generally acceptable.

I also said that I don't think they are what is destroying this game. Maybe that's not quite so accurate. Eldephia mentioned earlier that maybe this is Vana'diel's last hurrah (in one of my comments). If so, then it's very possible that Abyssea really is destroying this game. Not to use destroy in the sense of tearing it apart and completely ruining FFXI, but to say that after Abyssea, there won't be anything left that has meaning.

If you think about it, that's exactly what's happening. With most of the prior content, the one thing that kept it from being completely outdated was that even if you got things from the latest expansion, you could still go back to the former content and get something worthwhile. That's not the case now.

Nothing tops the best Abyssean gear. Absolutely nothing. There are forums overflowing with math equations showing how Abyssean items trump everything else out there. If they don't completely make something worthless now, December is right around the corner. Unless SE breathes new life into the items that existed pre-Abyssea, then there is no point at all in that content. The old stuff is still sitting at level 75 and, in just 10 levels, most everything has been deemed worthless or just idle gear now. Because of this, what reason do people have for doing anything other than Abyssea?

Not much from what I can see. The old events are fading out, and that's causing a lot of frustration for people. Some people's whole reason for being was to enjoy these events with other people. As I read the blogs of others, I can see that they are starting to wonder "what's the point" as well. Some people argue that Abyssea can be fun. It can be until you actually want something out of there. Odd as that sounds, I see it more and more. As you want to get things from the zone, the less enjoyment you have while trying to acquire it. You all know how it works; you're against the clock constantly. Sure, you can explore and go have fun if you want to waste your stones, but who really wants to do that?

It just seems that as more time goes on, maybe Abyssea won't be the event that delivers FFXI into a bright new future, but more the event that finally lays Vana'diel to rest. I guess we'll all find out soon enough.

Killing me softly

2010-09-28T09:04:00.007-04:00

Apparently, being offline for a week and not blogging for twice that time means I have the urge to blog like there's no tomorrow. I'd apologize, but if you haven't figured out that I talk a lot by now, then shame on you.

I'm sure you're familiar with the expression, "Kill them with kindness." Well, I just happened to get shot with a bullet of kindness a moment ago and felt like sharing the experience. The funny part is, I don't think the guy even realized he did it.

Last night, we did our first event in the Walk of Echoes. I had been there once before, but I was dead roughly 10 seconds after it started and that sums up the experience. Anyway, our run is moving along nicely when we notice someone outside of our LS shows up. A DNC who probably saw us in the zone and decided to tag along. When he came in, he put up his flag. Chatter from all ends were sudden buzzing with "Who is this guy?", "Anyone know him?", "What does he want?", etc. None of us had a clue. So we instantly deemed him a leech. I don't know if anything was said to him or not, but I suddenly heard a lot of laughter in the vent channel. Apparently he was invited to a party, and then given an unexpected Warp II out of the zone.

Given the following reactions, it seemed like a majority of people approved of what just happened. I don't personally think it was necessary, but my opinion is my own. I mean, that's the mechanics of the battlefield, right? Anyone has the right to be there as long as the participant limit allows it. No group can lay claim to the entire zone if there are still slots open. Granted, it might suck because it's not "LS only", but if people come in and put forth the effort to make a successful run, then so be it. If they come in and act like morons and do shit to screw you up, then kick 'em if you can or deal with it the best way possible. Regardless, it happened and that was that.

Now we move forward to this morning. An hour ago, roughly. I was looking for something to do when I saw a shout for a WotG mission I had already done. I was intending to start on Synergy, but WotG is always more exciting for me. So I send a tell and get accepted their party. It was a Taru WHM who needed the help, but I didn't realize that until I already came to the zone as an RDM. However; something caught my eye as I glanced at the party list. That same dancer from last night was here. I highly doubt he recognized me because I didn't interact with him earlier. I just remembered his name and job.

We get on with the mission and I'm watching his actions while things are underway. Being a dancer myself, I was curious to see how he performed. He was a competent guy, and was very helpful to getting the mission done. When it was all over, I realized he and I were the only ones who had done this before and the others were the ones that needed help. The WHM then traded me some gil as thanks for helping. As much as I appreciate it, the gil wasn't necessary. Granted, I could always use it, but I was there more for the sake of being helpful than anything else. Then she traded him. Without saying a word, he simply shook his head. "Keep your money," he said. I already felt bad over what happened last night, but now I felt worse. Great, he's a genuine good guy. The one who comes to help people just because he can. The WHM insisted that he take the gil, so eventually he did.

Is that why he came in the zone while we were there? Was he there to honestly just help us out? Or maybe he wanted the experience points. It's not like he could lay claim to anything he wanted or outperform an entire alliance on his own. We don't know, and we never will because we didn't give him a chance. Yet, we let two others in on the run because they offered to buy items from us. Interestingly enough, one of them was fighting enemies in areas we asked not to, or he'd attempt to solo. At the end of the run, he didn't even have to pay for what he got because he was deemed a "good guy" and only got one coin.

Of course, I didn't personally do anything to this guy. I really don't have to feel bad but, since it was my group who kicked and him laughed, I am just as responsible as anyone else.

Do you normally work this hard?

2010-09-28T05:24:00.005-04:00

Videogames are supposed to be relaxing; a way to escape the reality of everyday life for a short time. For the most part, they still are. MMOs however, seem to be a completely different animal. So different, that I wonder if they are even a part of the videogame genre. You would think they are at first glance, but now that I have played two for an extended period (2 years), I'm really not quite so sure that I would call this a "game" in the traditional sense.

MMOs require a substantial time investment if you expect to get anywhere in them. You're not really going to enjoy them if you try to do the casual 1-2 hour per day method. You can easily spend that much time just preparing for an event or waiting around for other people to sign on.

In all honesty, MMOs require commitments similar to what you would find at a real job, or even a relationship. Sounds silly until you've actually experienced one. I am still embarrassed at my /playtime, and now I don't even bother looking at it. I have put more time and effort into this "game" than some of my personal relationships. I could probably be married and living the white-picket fence American dream if I focused this much on finding love instead of finding pop items and NMs.

If I wasn't able to say that I have a job, go to the gym, eat healthy, and am able to look at clock and realize it's time to sign off, I'd say that I was addicted to this game. I've already questioned that once before. Perhaps I'm just a functional addict, if there is such a thing. What's funny is that I still haven't figured out why I spend so much time here. I have honestly spent a lot of time trying to understand my reasons for continuing to stay in Vana'diel. A large portion of it was because of my "friends." I put that in quotes because out of every person I associate with in this game, only three out of thousands have ever associated with me on a truly personal level. Of those three, I have only ever met one. While I do have the phone numbers of a few people, we've never actually talked. Most communication is spent via text message or IMs.

Of course, I do take responsibility for some of that distance. Part of it is due to my hesitation to let people in, and another is because that as awesome as some people are in-game, their real-life persona doesn't always match their in-game awesomeness. Selfish as it may be, there are just some people that I prefer to keep a good opinion of. Anyway, the gap between myself and my digital associates is ever expanding. Server transfers, linkshell schedules, sign-on times, and just the reality of life itself can sometimes make those strong bonds begin to wither away. Maybe that would be different if I were a part of a single linkshell for my entire time and became close with the people there, but that didn't happen for me.

Another reason I play is for the story. I can't say it enough: I'm a sucker for a story, even a cheesy one. XI is no different, and I wanted to do every event solely for the story involved. The quest rewards were nice, but I still haven't collected every reward for the events I've done. I'd much rather enjoy the story than worry about an item. Where's the story now though? The only one left is Wings of the Goddess. As hopeful as I was in the beginning for a new tale with Abyssea, that story doesn't seem exist. Well, it does, but it's hardly what I would consider an interesting tale. The despair of the people and struggle for survival I found while exploring has been overshadowed by restrictive time limits and the urge to get the latest must-have items until the next update renders it useless.

With that being said, why bother? I am the first person to admit that this experience has absolutely frustrated the living hell out of me. Reading this blog is a testament to that fact. I have never bitched this much about anything in my entire life, and that is not an exaggeration. Before I had to leave the game for that week while I worked extra, I posted about my frustration with this last update. For the time that I was gone, I still thought about the game. Not a lot, but I still thought about it. Once I came back, what did I do? I spent my time leveling. Almost all of my jobs are 85 now, and for what? I don't expect to actually do anything anymore. My LS is not going to fight Absolute Virtue or the Pandemonium Warden. I'm not going to be a part of the Excellence linkshell, and all the other things that I had once daydreamed about seem to be things that only I am interested in anymore. Sky has been looked at as old content for quite some time, and now with these latest updates, it's pretty much a dead event. Hell, I was surprised that we even did Walk of Echoes last night.

I ask myself time and time again why I still play this. My friends are few and far between, I've read the lore of this game and realized that the content is no longer in alignment with it, and I really don't do as much endgame content now that I'm a high-level player. So why do I continue? What's my reason for putting all of this time and effort into this game? Why did I even start the relic quest, knowing full well that it will take at least another two years and that's if I did nothing but save gil and shout in Whitegate. Why did I just level my jobs again? Well, I do have a reason for that one at least. That new Corsair hat is the sexiest headpiece in existence. I'm not talking about stats or anything like that; I mean pure aesthetics. It's a crime to look this damn sexy. It's no wonder Corsairs have to carry a loaded gun anywhere they travel to.

In all seriousness though, I imagine that everyone who plays this game is just as successful at life as they are in Vana'diel. With all of the effort and time we put into making ourselves great players, surely we put that same drive and determination into our everyday lives? Right?

I most certainly hope so, but my single life is currently giving me the side-eye as I reach for my controller now. Back to gaming I go.

Remember when it wasn't ok?

2010-09-27T23:10:00.007-04:00

The fun part about being an observer is the slight chuckle you get when you see people's attitude change as the ostracized minority soon become the accepted majority.

It's become more and more apparent to me ever since level sync was introduced. However, this isn't solely about that. However; like Level Sync before it, Abyssea has now changed the expectation and behavior of the playerbase. Change is the only constant, and sometimes it's a good thing. Just not this time. I feel that this change is showing how FFXI is losing its luster and players are clinging on to frayed strands of hope as they wait for something better that, quite honestly, might never come.

Of course, I can only comment on what I've experienced, so let's start with the sync changes.

When it was first introduced, everyone loved it. Finally, people could make parties and not have to wait hours and hours for that level 54-56 Paladin to show up so they could go level in Wajoam Woodlands. Now the people who might have actually been new to Vana'diel could actually get parties even if veterans were much higher because they could just scale down if they were so inclined. The best reason, according to the advertisements from SE, were that now we could even hang out with friends who weren't the same level and we could still benefit from it.

That's how it was initially presented to us. Something to help bring people together so others weren't left out, regardless if they are the high levels or those just starting out / over. That's not quite what it became though, was it?

As more people used the sync feature, it was quickly discovered that when people who were higher than the sync target leveled, they didn't gain any combat or magic skills. This wasn't something people took too kindly. Leveling became easier, but with a price. So people began to scoff at those who did nothing but sync their levels all the time.

Then something happened. Those same people who were syncing all day found other camps. Better camps that rivaled the exp gain per hour of the standard camps. It started with the dunes, but quickly spread as people searched for ideal level sync spots. The most publicly effective areas being Qufim Island, Behemoth's Dominion, Altepa Desert, and East Ronfure [S]. Now there was no reason to even leave these areas. Just level until the exp gets low, find a new sync target, and keep going. Remember those people who were scoffing before? Well they wanted in on the fast leveling action too. What about those skills that were falling behind though? What would be done for that?

You guessed it. Skill up parties. Before, if people wanted skill up assistance, they were mocked for staying in a synced party for too long. Not anymore. Now there were several people who were in the same boat, and it wasn't looked down upon as much anymore. Gain all the levels you want, and just head to a skill up party to make things current. Usually people were only a few levels behind, so it wasn't a long process to get things back in order.

Then the biggest level sync discovery of all came along or, as some people say, just became public: Korroloka Tunnel and the Astral Burn. The Summoner population was inadvertently given the best reason to exist. They had Astral Flow, and could use that ability to gain levels exponentially faster than even the best level sync party of the same level. Astral Burns became of subject of huge debates for quite some time. You didn't even need a full party to be successful, and this knowledge was used to create a "burn economy," if you will. People would actually sell the empty party slot to players who wanted some quick levels or merits. It wasn't cheap either; sometimes spots sold for 200k or more.

With all this fast leveling, some people became upset that players were reaching 75 far too fast and weren't really learning to mechanics of the jobs they played. In the beginning, most people seemed to agree with that mindset. As more and more people synced their levels, this mindset gradually changed. Some of those same people can now be found saying things like: "get over it; game mechanics aren't hard." "Any idiot can read wiki and know how to be such-and-such job." Which I find interesting because they are the same ones who were willing to call GMs and scream all day about how these sync people were "destroying the game."

Now let's jump to present day and the alternate realm of Abyssea. It's a leveling opportunity like no other before it. Nothing comes remotely close. Campaign, Fields of Valor, and Level Sync seem like archaic methods of leveling in the face of an Abyssea party. You just can't beat it when everything is going right. Even a bad Abyssea party can still net you more exp than a standard exp party. It so good, that people are basically abandoning traditional methods of gaining exp. When's the last time you saw a message in whitegate asking for a PLD in Bhaflau Thickets? Hell, even the merit parties are a thing of the past now. You can go to any camp in existence and find it more or less deserted, save for people who might be doing Magian Trials.

With Abyssea, you can jump from 30-85 without doing a single thing except opening item chests. The same could be done with Astral Burns, but it took a lot longer and you had to constantly look for a new sync target, which meant that you had to pay the group to keep that party slot open for you. Now, all you have to do is buy keys with Cruor, and you can ride the free exp all the way to 85 with a capped buffer and merits by the time you leave (if the group lasts that long and you can stay awake.)

To hell with gimped skills. No one seems to care anymore. Doesn't even matter if you have no clue what your abilities do. As a matter of fact, nothing matters at all. All the people who were shouting and going on about how this fast leveling is hurting FFXI are nowhere to be found. Well that's not true. They're mostly still here, but they're busy leveling in Abyssea.

I won't say that Abyssea is destroying FFXI. I won't even say that level sync did it. I'm certain that pretty much everyone who has played this game is guilty of using level sync too much or possibly been that key person in a party. That would be unfounded and pretty stupid. I compare Abyssea to that extra dungeon in most RPGs. It's where you can go when you've pretty much done all their is to do in the game. You'll get kick ass gear and be the strongest you've ever been but, when it's all said and done, you'll have nothing to use it on. Unless you consider it a worthwhile endeavor to build up millions of cruor for a 3-minute potion so you can kill NMs easily and post some screenshots about it.

The sad part about that though, is some people actually do find that to be worthwhile.

16 Days

2010-09-27T22:59:00.003-04:00

That's how long it's been since my last post. Fairly obvious if you bother to look at my posting dates.

First and foremost; I've been working more, so that equates to less playtime. Which is a good thing, to be honest. I do enjoy my monies, and money in reality brings more joy than virtual coin. However, the work was only because someone else was on vacation and I'm their backup. Once that ended, I got sick and have been pretty messed up all week. I'm recovering now and hope to be back to 100% in a couple of days.

So that's enough of my reality, and I'm certain you all were wondering where I was. (wishful thinking) Either way, on to some gaming chatter.

...and yes, I'm making this a separate post because my personal updates are special and deserve their own space. :p

You almost did it.

2010-09-11T16:17:00.007-04:00

Oh Square-Enix, why must you do this?

You were so close. Ohhhh, you were so close.

When you first introduced Abyssea, there was much joy to be had by all. Granted, there was equally enough to bitch about as there was to celebrate, but that wasn't entirely on your head. With that update, you had broken a curse that took hold of Vana'diel for a long time. Even longer than I had existed in this world.

Mages were welcome and actually sought out in parties...constantly. Alliances of all types were more than willing to bring anyone and everyone along to level and hopefully enjoy the spoils when all was said and done. You introduced the beginnings of what could be the next epic storyline, just as Wings of the Goddess has done.

Now, this next update bring about even more changes. Newly designed armor that actually makes sense for the most part. (Except Puppetmaster...what the fuck were you on? The only one to sport a jester hat and look cool is Harle, and PUP is nowhere near as cool as she was.) We have three more redesigned zones, more weapons, and so much more potential.

Potential which went right out the goddamned window.

Where's the story with Abyssea? What the hell is going on with these alternate dimensions and cavernous maws popping up all over the place? Are WotG and Abyssea intertwined now? I'm guessing so because, for some reason or another, there's a damn Veridical Conflux involved in one of the WotG quests. How the hell did you guys justify that move? Did Atomos swallow Lilisette and spit her ass out in Abyssea-Vunkerl, forcing her to exp and gain enough cruor to activate a conlfux and warp out?

You make these new zones and dangle the AF3 in our face, but naturally you do so with a catch. You couldn't just make shit simple like you did with the Perle, Teal, or Aurore sets, could you? No, we can't just earn all the cruor we need and buy all the base pieces. Of course not. You had to make it so we can buy some pieces, but the rest comes out of golden chests. Can you people please be consistent? Is it really that damn difficult for you?

Let's talk weapons. For years, you gave these relic holders a feeling of accomplishment once they completed their upgrade line. Not only did they have an awesome weapon, but they had a weaponskill that was completely their own. No one else but a relic wielder could use it. That was the whole point of the journey for those people. Not anymore. Congratulations to everyone, now anybody can use the relic weaponskills, provided you meet the latent requirements. While the latent might be ridiculously narrow and situational, I'm willing to bet that they won't be nearly as difficult to fulfill as the previous relic upgrade quest was. Thanks for tossing a big middle finger to everyone who went through that process.

My favorite of all is design. I'm sure I've already bitched about the whole recycling of zones and whatnot, but that's not my issue this time. I'd say it's fairly obvious that it takes a lot longer to create an entire zone than it does to create a new enemy. With that being said, how about something new now? This is supposed to be the second coming of FFXI, right? So why are you still using old ass character models? You've come up with a few new designs, and that's awesome. You know the sad part about it though? No one bothers with them. When's the last time anyone did a Limule or Clionid party? Other than the first time anyone entered the zone, I'm willing to say that answer is never. Know why? Cause you populated the zone with old shit that everyone already knew how to fight.

You took the challenge away before anyone even realized a challenge was there. Why go fight these new, harder enemies when we've got some beefed up lizards a short distance away? Screw Limules and Weepers, we've got Mandies. Why bother with Wyrms when there are bats? It's no wonder that everyone breezed through the first of these expansions. You gave people the easy way, and naturally they took it. Oh but now, my dear friend, you just opened the Pandora's Box of Easy Street.

Abyssea - Miseraux Coast. EP just told me what he saw and I died inside. Literally, I'm dead. This is just my soul manifesting rage through my computer right now. Of all the enemies that exist in Vana'diel, you just had to do it. I am so angry right now I'm depressed.

Coastal....Colibri.

Why not just hand people levels with the update? Everyone who buys the latest expansion gets an automatic five levels with the download. Could you make this shit any easier? Whoever thought this was a good idea was downright fucking stupid. Ever since the introduction of Colibri, the entire leveling scene has been custom tailored to decimating these birds. Every other camp and enemy type in the world of Vana'diel became completely void as long as there were some Colibri to kill. I don't care how awesome the other enemies were or how pretty a new zone was designed; if Colibri weren't there, then it wasn't worth going to.

For awhile, that mentality was put away. Of course, you just had to go backwards and put these silly ass birds back on the map. I don't know if they cast magic back at you, but it's been confirmed that they're back to eating your food.

Christ, SE...is it always one step forward and seven miles back with you guys?

EDIT: Of course, many people don't care about any of this sort of thing. They just see new shiny shit and are more than happy to chase after it while foaming at the mouths. It's no wonder these free online MMOs do so well. Toss out some new shit every now and then and people never stop playing, no matter how stupid the game might be.

Only in Vana'diel

2010-09-09T16:20:00.003-04:00

I glanced over some of the new items from yesterday's update. A lot of it looks very nice. The +2 armor versions seem to be much better than anything we currently have. So much better, in fact, that it looks as if people are going to need to completely redo all of their armor setups.

All of the weeks, months, and years of effort that some people have put into what they currently have is essentially being made obsolete with items from this update and the last. Hell, even some of the items from last update are already antiquated from yesterday's download.

The overwhelming player response to this?

1. FUCK YEAH!!

2. OMG, Best update ever!

3. Holy shit, I'm going to have to redo everything from scratch. I'm so excited!!

4. Lol, all my shit is outdated now. Man, this is awesome. Go Square-Enix!!

I'm all for progress and I understand that gear eventually has to give way to something better, but really? You'd figure after putting forth all the effort to get the best items, they'd do something to make the best...a bit better. Not make it obsolete in the face of new gear that you will undoubtedly have to go to ridiculous lengths to acquire. Especially since that so-called useless gear took so long to get in the first place.

Personally, this stuff doesn't affect me much. I don't have that awesome gear to begin with. It's just surprising that people are actually excited to more or less start everything over.

Don't just dream the impossible...

2010-09-07T01:02:00.004-04:00

I've been in Vana'diel for nearly two years now. That's a long time. Two years of friendships, arguments, accomplishments, dissapointment, laughter, and so many other things that I've experienced. I have to say that while the time spent here isn't exactly doing much for my actual life, I've enjoyed the time that I spent here.

However, I've become a bit restless over the past few months. There are tons of things that I can do while here, and many that I probably should do. The gobbiebag quests come to mind, as an example. Usually, these get sidetracked due to lack of motivation. Mind you, I'm far from lazy, but if my heart isn't in something then I simply don't bother with it.

I've done a lot in this game. Maybe not everything but, in two years time, I've got a decent resume of accomplishments. Still, there are times when I just feel...well, empty. Today I was in an Abyssea party, and something struck me in a way that's given me the burst I needed to try the hardest thing I've ever imagined.

I'm fairly sure most of you can guess where this is going and are probably thinking that I'm out of my mind. Truth is, I probably am. However, I've been looking for something. A purpose; a reason to be in Vana'diel. The level caps and the new updates truly aren't enough of a reason. Like all new content, we will rush through it within a day or two and then just worry about fine tuning the tactics we discover. Everyone will be scurrying about to find out where AF3 comes from, and those that figure it out first will be selling it at 20 million to the desperate people wanting to be able to claim that they got something before the masses.

I think I will put my focus elsewhere. Of course, I'll still be doing normal things like events and all that, but I have a personal goal now. So, crazy as it sounds for someone like myself, my goal is this:

Yep. The Relic Archery weapon. I know it's going to be hard as hell for me to do this, or even come close. I am forever broke, and making gil is something that royally tries my patience. Worse still, FFXI is in its twighlight years, and there's really no telling if the game will even be around much longer. Even if it is, XIV is coming in a couple of weeks, and while many say they are staying, I have a feeling that several of my friends will move on. With me being on the FailBox / PS3, I will not be able to join them until later next year, if at all.

Thinking of doing this now might seem silly. Is it even worth it to try? That's something I can only answer when it's over. This will take everything I have and more, and I know this. Maybe the quest will burn me out so much that I'll end up quitting FF online for good, and I'll find myself on the list of relic "quitters" at Bluegartr. Then again, perhaps it will invigorate me to do things that I've never thought possible.

The longest journey begins with a single step, and today's the day I start walking.

Today was a good day, but...

2010-09-05T00:31:00.004-04:00

It started off like any normal day. I wake up in Windurst, look around the area, and think of what I want to do. I usually never have an actual plan when I first sign on, but it doesn't take long when I look at my laundry list of things that I can do. It's just a matter of motivation.

I felt like hitting the sandbox for some stress free fun, and since I was currently a Ranger, it was in my best interest to bring Karyn along with me. Not that she's a healer, but probably one of my reliable skillchain partners. Besides, NPCs run out of MP too quickly.

As soon as I arrive, I run into Keyoku, who has been gone for well over a month. Every time we would run into each other there, we'd team up and have a bit of fun. He was actually one of the people who taught me a lot about being a Dancer. So the three of us beat the daylights out of some rabbits and then he had to head out. While I was there, I got a message from Sisen (Epic). This was surprising, mainly because I don't normally recieve "Hello" tells out of the blue from most of my friends.

As it turns out, she had a little proposition for me. Their Salvage static was in a need of one other, and she sought my assistance. First off, I was flattered. I've seen some of the people she hangs with, and they are definitely in top form. I really enjoyed Salvage the few times I went with Dominik. For whatever reason, he stopped going for a bit, but then restarted and took a friend of mine instead. Eh, such is life. Still, this was a chance to possibly get back into Salvage and do something with the mismatch armor I kept thinking about trashing. There was one catch to my joining the group: they wanted a Black Mage.

Yeah...not happening. Well, I didn't personally want to. However, it's Salvage, so I said if they needed a BLM, then I could do it. Of course, I mentioned that it's a personal preference to go as a Scholar instead, if at all possible. I headed to Whitegate and waited for their answer. They said SCH was fine and that made me quite happy. After a short while, we all went inside and got started. The last time I did Bhaflau Remnants (I believe this was zone), we ended up wiping with the Chariot at a rather low percentage. Not so for this run. We went in and kicked ass. I was seriously surprised at how smoothly the run went. The Usu 25's dropped that I needed, but went to another person who had been there longer. Fine by me, because I see the potential of the group and know I'll get mine in time.

We did an assault to get some points for Epic, then we went to Silver Sea Remnants. This one seemed a lot simpler than Bhaflau. We went 1/1 on this fight as well. Unfortunately, nothing notable dropped. Meh, I'm just glad I seem to have found a solid Salvage group. Who knows, maybe I'll be able to get some gear just as it becomes obsolete with the stuff in the new updates. We shall see.

Next stop was Dynamis - San D'Oria. This is taking some getting used to for me with the way my Dyna LS does things. They do a lot of city runs. With me being new, I tend not to voice my opinion about things much. I get inside, a few minutes late due to Salvage, and get to work. Still in a very pleased mood from the Salvage run, I find myself extremely giddy and joking with everyone. I was actually tempted to use my mic in Vent, but decided against it. We had tons of fun during the run. We had a good 20 minutes or so left in the zone after doing what we needed to do, but then went after the Mega Boss for giggles and more coins. The mood for everyone was just really pleasant. I couldn't believe that I involved myself in some conversations that had a sexual tone with the LS. Get your minds out of the gutter, I don't mean cybering. People were talking about lesbians, orgies, and parses. How parses find their way into sexual conversations is beyond me, but this is Final Fantasy after all. Shit doesn't always make sense.

We had payday and everyone got in the welfare line to get our monies. This was my first full month of being with Aristocrats, and I have to say that I was exceptionally pleased. I now understand the reason for the city runs. Man it feels good to be able to buy something at the auction house and not cringe each time I spend more than 5k.

That was going to be the end of the day for me, and like I said, it was a good day. Since I was still wide awake, you now what I had to do next. If you don't know, I had to bother Tidis. About what, you wonder? None other than our favorite Abyssean turtle, Chukwa. Here's where the good day started to become a not-so-good day. Although, not for the reason you may think.

I grab 100 minutes worth of time and get buffed up. Tidis finds a group fighting Chukwa and have it to 54%. Eh, it sucks, but at least we'd have a ToD and could plan accordingly. I catch up to him and watch the group. A few minutes pass, and Chukwa's health bar barely moves. We watch their strategy, and wonder why the hell they are casting for so little damage. Seriously, it was bad even by my standards. Time passes, and they just can't kill this turtle. Tidis and I agreed that we would not attempt to steal it, no matter what. Even if it went unclaimed, we'd only take it if the entire group wiped. We had our dealings with the jackasses of Armada and don't want to follow in their example. So we watch.

A BLM dies...

An RDM falls...

They're raised.

The THF gets stomped on.

Raised.

BLM dies.

This goes on for quite some time, and Chukwa's losing only slivers of health as we watch. I get a 60 minute warning and am puzzled by what's going on. When it was just Tidis, Caldar, and myself, it didn't nearly as long to drop Chukwa to much lower, so why is a group of 2 RDMs, a BLM, and a THF taking so long? Fifty-three minutes later, we realized exactly why. Chukwa was raged, and this group was doing everything they could to keep it claimed and whittle away.

Unlike other NMs, Chukwas rage does not equate to "instant bitch slap of death" to whomever's fighting it. Instead, it just gains a huge resistance but can still be put down if you follow the same tactic as normal. In the hour that we watched, we had many chances to claim and kill it ourselves. We both held true to the agreement. No stealing, no matter what. Granted, I was getting frustrated. I just wanted them to kill the damn thing or completely wipe. That was the problem. With 3/4 of the group being able to raise, someone could always get up and keep the fight going. That's exactly what they did. Around 20%, we noticed some BSTs in the area. Great, now if the group did actually wipe, we'd have to compete with the BSTs as well.

This group ended up fighting the normal turtles in the area. We kept an eye on them, but watched the main group more closely. If opportunity did present itself, we needed to be ready even faster now. One of the BSTs was brought into the main group to help kill. Deep down, I was disappointed because it looked like we wouldn't get a chance to fight, but at least now they'd actually win. Or so I thought.

Around 5%, most of the party wiped except for one RDM. Remember when I said I was a carebear? You would've seen proof of it here. One of the fallen members asked Tidis for a raise. When he told me, I let out a sigh. Yes, we were there to take Chukwa if they failed. They had one person left and there was no way he'd be able to win on his own. If we ignored their request, we'd surely have taken claim, but we'd also be pretty damn rude. It's one thing to watch when they don't ask you to help, but when you see a group that needs help and they flat out ask you for a raise...what can you do? From Dark Arts to Light Arts I go, and I raised them. Will they remember that? I doubt it. Should Tidis and I find ourselves in a similar situation, will they help us the way we helped them? My gut reaction says no, but the optimist within hopes that perhaps they will remember.

With most of them weakened, I volunteer to help them. They couldn't win. They had to know this by now. Chukwa was at 1, maybe 2%. Raged, and 75% of their group was weakened. They didn't respond, and even Tidis offered to help. Just then, we saw another group show up. Fancy a guess?

That's right folks. Armada showed up.

Knowing the other groups situation, I asked them again to invite us. I knew Armada would snatch the fight away the second they had the chance, and I didn't want to give them that moment. We just raised the group that we were hoping would wipe. We watched for over 60 minutes while Chukwa turned yellow time and time again, with us not so much as turning in its direction to steal claim. If you can't see two genuinely honest people in front of you after that, then I don't know what to say. I came flat out and told them, "We will help you. We're not going to steal anything. "

Based on the actions of Armada last time, I knew they wouldn't be as cordial. Sure enough, Chukwa started killing them again, and went unclaimed. I wanted to cast on it so badly and take it. In no time at all, Armada snatched Chukwa and killed it shortly thereafter.

I don't know what burned me up most. The group ignoring my offer to help after we were kind and respectful to them, or the fact that Armada got Chukwa and killed it 1%. More than likely the latter. In truth, they did exactly what I wanted to do. The difference is that I consulted my conscience first and decided against it.

Despite the Abyssea mess of watching a group fight a 20-30 minute lowman NM for over an hour, today was still quite a fun day. I wish I could have more days like this in Vana'diel.

Supply and Demand is a funny thing

2010-08-30T10:25:00.004-04:00

I was very bored yesterday. So bored, in fact, that I started crafting again. I made 36 venom potions to get a 0.1 skill up. I finally stopped, but only because the auction house was out of scorpion claws and farming them puts me to sleep.

After that, I decided to browse to check the price on a few spells. I'm after the 5th tier of spells, namely Protect, and I've been having the most horrible time with casting lots. I swear, I'll cast a 996 on a Dark Ring and a 112 when Protect drops. I could buy it, but we all know that I'm not exactly rolling around in gil.

I also decided to take a look at some other spells. Specifically, Aspir II and Phalanx. It goes without saying that I nearly screamed.

Not even a week ago, Aspir was 5k. Today, it's 90k. I don't remember what Phalanx cost pre-update, but that's now 300k. In perspective, Utsusemi: Ni is 130k. That's right. Phalanx costs more than Utsusemi. I think this should be emphasized because some people may not get it.

Phalanx costs more than Utsusemi: Ni.

Have people lost their damn minds?? This is absolutely ridiculous. Who's even going to use it? Oh that's right, Paladins can now use it. Before you move forward with the "duh" comment, let me ask you this? Who the hell considers Paladins useful?

I say this because if you look around forums for any given time, it's nearly a unanimous consensus that Paladin is a situational tank at best. Personally, when I think of a tank, Paladin is always what comes to mind. However, a vast majority of Vana'diel seems to think otherwise. RDM, SAM, WAR, or anything else seems to be better suited at tanking, while PLD is reserved for BCNMs or other specialized situations.

So if that's the case, why the price jump? Is there any justifiable reason for this? The same can be said for Aspir II. From 5k to nearly 100k in 4 days...and for what? All because Black Mages will be able to use it. These price increases rarely seem based on the actual usefulness of an item. Seriously, think about it. When's the last time you did an event that went wrong and saw this in your chat log:

"Damn...we would've won if only our PLD had Phalanx."

If I had to guess, my answer would be "never." Yet for some reason, this marginally useful spell is 1/3 million gil and rising. I imagine Aspir II will be 200k by the end of the week. At the very least 150k.

Haste and Refresh are sitting at 23 and 50k, respectively...yet they are a hell of lot more useful than Phalanx will ever be. It always amazes me that whenever SE adds a spell, armor, or weapon to a job that could never use it before, the price skyrockets to out of this world amounts, even if it's barely worth using.

You little bitch...

2010-08-26T23:40:00.003-04:00

Tonight was a night where shit was just bound to go wrong. I got lost in sky and, being the only healer, my LS wiped to Mother Globe. They ended up leading me to the pile of bodies and we got things together. Sky finished on a good note by the time everything was said and done though.

So now I'm hanging out in Port Jeuno, when I get a tell from Tidis about "turtle time." I'm always up for some turtle action, so we set out to try our luck. The last few times we did it, we had help. This time, it was just us as the damage dealers, and Caldar came to lend us the power of his treasure hunter.

Naturally, Chukwa's not up when we get there. 20 minutes of running around and still nothing. Eventually, it spawns and we get the claim. Of course we would; no one else was there. Shortly into the fight, we get a visitor. An Elvaan BLM named Skimpy. I'm off in the distance, so I can't see what's going on. Not to mention, I'm focused on trying to kill this damn turtle.

I end up getting closer for some casts, and I catch a bit of the conversation he's having with Tidis. Basically trying to find out what items we're after. Since I already had the bow, the collar was the only item we wanted. Well, Tidis wanted it, and that's why we were there. So when Skimpy finds out about it, he says "bah" and goes on his way. Although, he doesn't leave. Instead, he follows us around.

So it begins. He was waiting for us to mess up so he could get a chance. I'm a carebear, and I realize this. If I saw someone fighting an NM, I'd stick around for a ToD, and if they die I'd raise them if I could and either help them out, or ask if they mind me trying. Yes, I'd really do that. I don't expect anyone else to be like that. What I do expect is that people have the damn decency to wait until we've wiped before attempting to claim an NM that you clearly see us fighting.

Oh no, not this guy. We get this turtle down to 40%, and I run out of MP. I tell Tidis that I'm resting, and for them to maintain hate. Chukwa goes yellow for just a moment, and Skimpy hits it with Sleep II. Now as I understood it, you have to be high enough on the monster's hate list in order to to claim it from someone else. That's how it is in Terrigan or any other place I've seen. If something aggros you and another person tries to hit it, the monster still chases the initial target until the other person does another action to move them higher on the hate list. How the hell Skimpy got it with a Sleep II just boggles my mind.

Regardless of the mechanics, the little fucker took the NM. Go ahead and say the famous "yellow is fair game" bullshit line that so many people like to spout. Yes, yellow is fair game when no one is bothering it. When said enemy goes unclaimed because you're out of range for half a second, then that's not fair game. You know you're trying to steal it; stop hiding behind bullshit technicalities.

You might say that I'm "butthurt" or whatever the hell people say now, but I'm just flat-out pissed. I don't care what kind of "game mechanics" you try to say in order to defend yourselves. What was done was wrong and pretty childish. Skimpy's from Armada, an HNM shell here, if I'm not mistaken. Guess what? Chukwa's not an HNM. It's an NM on a 30 minute timer. Are you really so desperate that you can't wait for 30 minutes while we kill this thing and go about our way? Do you honestly have to lurk around the corner and try to take whatever opportunity you can to take an enemy that you clearly see someone else fighting...and actually winning?

Those are redundant questions, because his actions clearly shout "YES" to every one of them. Luckily for us Skimpy is about as smart as his name implies. He wasn't actually damaging Chukwa. I almost want to say he was attempting to just hold it, because spamming Bio II would never kill it. It wasn't long before he made a mistake and got killed. So we took it right back.

I'm normally a passive person, and I don't like confrontation or the "eye-for-an-eye" way of thinking. However, this wasn't done to just me. If I were there by myself and this shit was pulled, yeah I'd be just as pissed, but I'd just say hell with it and come back later. That wasn't the case. This was done to my friends, and that made this very personal.

Now we're back in the game. Skimp gets up, and now has friends. Tidis takes a look and finds that they are also with Armada. These two were a bit more aggressive with their "bitch tactics" that Skimpy was. Staying right behind Tidis, blocking his path, and just being a general annoyance.

Dizzmal comes out to help, along with Caliburn. Neo and Shaan are heading towards us to give a hand too. I made some mistakes and got myself killed, which caused a domino effect and Chukwa goes unclaimed again. As expected, they took it. On that claim, I was pissed, but not as much as before. We screwed up and they took advantage. Lo and behold, they died again and we took it right back.

Shortly thereafter, I just said fuck it and started casting whatever. Of course I died again, but I wanted to make damn certain that I hit it hard enough that it wouldn't go unclaimed. The rest of the guys took it down and we got another bow.

Perhaps judging an entire linkshell based on the actions of 3 people is harsh, but I'm a believer of guilt by association, or in this case, bitch by association. So to the Armada linkshell (and especially Skimpy), if this is the kind of player behavior that you condone and practice, all I have to say is fuck off, and fuck you.

What I am not.

2010-08-20T20:54:00.002-04:00

This one might seem a bit odd. I'm not ranting, but expressing my opinion this time. Silly as it may seem, this really is relevant to this game. I'm not sure why I'm talking about it now, but I feel like getting it off my chest. Anyway, let's begin.

I am probably too sensitive for my own good at times. There are some things that just really irritate me. Usually, I just say "this is a game" and keep moving but that doesn't always work for me. Sometimes, I tell myself to grow up and do my best not to care. Other times, I wonder if I'm really the one who needs to grow up.

Yeah, I know. What am I QQ'ng about this time, right? Let me stand on my soap box so you can all hear this one loud and clear:

I am not your whore.

You might be wondering: Huh? Well, it's simple. Maybe it's a part of internet speak that I'm just late to realize, but I find that term being used more and more in FFXI than any other online venue I come across. When a person is asked to focus on a single task for an extended duration, and only that task, they become the [insert task] "whore."

Refresh Whore, Ballad Whore, Key Whore, Cure Whore, Provoke Whore, Weaponskill Whore, Fishing Whore, or whatever type of whore you can think of...it's just maddening. I realize we live in a time where people are not as sensitive or concerned with the original meaning of a word, but when did it become cool or acceptable to be considered a whore, regardless of how innocent your intention may be?

I'm sure some of you are rolling your eyes and thinking, "Is she fucking serious?" Yeah, I am actually. I find it extremely pathetic that anyone considers this type of...classification as minor. I just don't see how it's acceptable to anyone. Guys, girls, kids, anyone. I wouldn't even consider this to be permissible in a setting full of adults. FFXI most certainly is not full of adults, so I damn sure don't think this is ok here. When you have teens running around saying they'll be such-and-such whore for whatever, it's a problem.

Sure, we're on the this game to have fun. To not care about what's happening beyond the keyboard and the room we're in. Losing ourselves in a fantasy that stays with us long after we've logged out. At the same time, we are interacting with people and affecting them in ways that we may not even know.

I'd be unrealistic to believe that we will all be kind and respectful to one another. We won't do it in reality, so it would be just a foolish notion to think that we can do it in a game made of anonymous people. I can't speak for how other people react to this. Something tells me that I might be part of only a handful of people to actually give a damn. However, that doesn't matter. I don't like it, and I don't want to be called that.

I will be your refresher, your healer, your key person, or any number of other things you need me to be in this game. What I most certainly will NOT be, under any circumstance, is your whore.

I'm thinking it's time for a screenshot post soon. I need something funny to talk about.

My Thanks to Abyssea

2010-08-16T17:15:00.004-04:00

What's the most overused and utterly annoying word in the FFXI lexicon? I'll give you three guesses. Come on, try it.

"Lol?"

Nah, that's more of an expression. Although, I suppose it could be annoying if you actually heard someone laughing as much as they type "lol" in conversation. Something along the lines of this:

DING!

Oh that's so close. However, that's relative to the user. Some people shout it all the time, while others rarely say it at all.

Give up? Here it is:

{CONGRATULATIONS!}

Dear lord, I want to kill people with this one. Congratulating someone should be done when it's something important. I find that this word is used to cover practically any given situation where something remotely positive happens to someone. The worst part is that it's usually something trivial. The more you congratulate people over trivial dealings, the more they're inclined to tell you about said trivial dealings in order to be congratulated more. It's a never-ending cycle, and it's got to stop.

This doesn't mean that I feel the word is pointless. It isn't. It's actually a very important and meaningful word which should be used when the time calls for it. We don't do that. We congratulate everything. It makes no difference if the event is something that matters or not.

You just unlocked a job? {CONGRATULATIONS!}
You have 12 stacks of keys? {CONGRATULATIONS!}
You reached level 12? {CONGRATULATIONS!}
Holy shit, level 24? {CONGRATULATIONS!}
Your skills are gimp as shit?? {CONGRATULATIONS!}
You randomed a 321? {CONGRATULATIONS!}
You reached level 78 for the 7th time? Dude, {CONGRATULATIONS!}

For the love of all things holy, stop congratulating people over pointless shit. Bring back the significance of praising someone on a job well done or a true accomplishment. Maybe this really gets to me now because of Abyssea parties. Someone levels or gets a merit point roughly every 10 minutes. The amount of congrats that go on in one of those parties is mind-blowing.

I swear, I've never had a reason to want to blacklist an entire alliance. Thanks to Abyssea parties, I've found that reason.

Minor Ramblings

2010-08-16T11:19:00.013-04:00

This past week was pretty interesting. I came to a few realizations about my performance, dealt with some personal matters, and even got a couple of nifty items. Where to begin?

Stop! Turtle time.

Tidis will get that reference. Last week, he mentioned an item he wanted from Abyssea. It's the Creed Collar from Chukwa, and it looks to be pretty nice for pld/war tanking. Maybe more for pld/nin since you have less tools for getting hate. Hell if I know, but he wanted it. On top of that there is a freaking awesome bow to be had, and that got my attention. I never mind helping someone, but it's extra groovy when you can get a reward in the process. So off to Abyssea we go.

We died pretty quickly too. >.>

Our first attempt was just a failure. No other way to put it. Dizzmal came out to help us, but Tidis had a crappy day and his connection kept dying. With him being the only RDM, he was more or less the lynch pin keeping things together. We went as RNG/RDM/BLM, but things just didn't work out. We kept trying and were on the verge of giving up when Dierdren volunteered to help a few days later. The fight went much smoother, save for Dizzmal constantly pissing off Chukwa and getting himself killed. We didn't get the collar, but I went 1/1 on the bow and that made me happy. So now we have to go back and get the collar. Watch another bow drop. I'm calling it now. By the way, those regular turtles are the cutest things. If BST can charm them, I'm definitely leveling that job just to have a turtle pet.

Scholarly Pursuits

I've been finding myself as a Scholar more and more recently. Maybe it's because Stormsurge is just full of freaking win, or perhaps it's my personal goal to do an event and keep Breathem alive in Dynamis the entire time. Regardless, I'm having quite a bit of fun, and it's definitely one of my favorite mage classes next to RDM.

I think other people are enjoying when I'm a Scholar as well. During that Dynamis run with the botched pulls, I even got some tells saying that I was awesome at being a healer. That made me feel pretty good. It's always nice to know that you are appreciated. Everyone could use a pat on the back from time to time. Of course, different people have different ways of showing appreciation, such as Tidis deciding to use me as a mat while he fought a Groundskeeper in sky. He was so thankful that I was there to keep his new Perle from getting dirty.

Pew Pew Power and Jellyfish Troubles

After I got my bow from Chuckie, I obviously had to run out and try it. You get a new toy; you have to play with it. That's just how things work. So I talked to Cal and headed out to Wajoam Woodlands to poke some birds in the brain. For the record, I hate Colibri. I'm trying to build TP and the bastard tickled my TP away...twice in a row. The first few Sidewinders were pretty decent, but then Dierdren came out. She was a bard, and all I can say is HOLY SHIT! Seriously, I had to do a double take. I was in awe at seeing how much better I could do. (Yes, I'm leaving out numbers because it's not that important to know.) We wandered around a bit, testing gear combinations and whatnot to see how much better I could get. It's so awesome to see improvements in your job classes, and I was one happy Ranger.

During a break, we started talking about a few other things, and the topic of inventory space came up. As usual, I don't have any space. One reason's because I've been holding on to organs from Al'Taieu. I had just enough for a couple of gorgets, but damned if I wasn't missing the jelly organs. Turns out that Dier and Cal were more than happy to help out, so we changed jobs and went to play.

Our first fight was a bit rough and we had to logout to keep from wiping. Interestingly enough, it was against the lower level version. We roamed around and found a harder one, and destroyed it. Doesn't make much sense, but we didn't question anything. In no time at all, I had my jelly pieces and all was well in the world. Then we went around to get some shark organs, but that wasn't nearly as simple. Those bastards are selfish. Still, we had lots of fun. I couldn't help but hum the Under the Sea tune while we fought.

An hour or so later, we got what we came for. A bit of shopping after that, and I got my flame gorget. It was my intention to get that and the breeze gorget, but I made a miscalculation. I went back later and got the rest of the organs. Thanks to the economy crashing, I was able to afford a Jupiter Staff and that made a hell of a difference in my ability to solo. So now I have Snow, Flame, and Breeze, which takes care of just about every weaponskill that I use on a consistent basis. Although...I have enough miscellaneous organs to get a Soil Gorget.

With the exception of a jelly organ. Naturally.

A hard choice

2010-08-13T11:33:00.002-04:00

The September version update was recently announced, and I'm certain that many people are eager with anticipation to see what comes next. I'm personally excited for more of the WotG storyline to unfold now that we have the individual city stories resolved. I'm also anxious to see the story behind the Abyssea and if there is any connection between that and WotG since they both share the cavernous maw that has been symbolic with Atomos.

My biggest source of anxiety comes with another arrival due in September: Final Fantasy XIV.

I'd be a fool to completely overlook this, and I'm fairly certain that many others have this on their heads as well. I don't think there is going to be a mass exodus of people from XI to XIV, but I'm certain that the presence of this new arrival will be felt.

In some instances, this is good, but I am on the fence. As I've talked to people more and more, I'm seeing a particular pattern. Those who have played XI for several years or more and are still active have the mindset of not wanting to leave XI. If they do leave, it will not be for XIV, but they will probably just leave altogether.

On another hand, there are people who haven't been here as long, and are very eagerly awaiting the arrival of XIV because they fear that they have missed the boat on XI and are simply too far behind to really enjoy things. I think these will constitute the majority of the people who make the initial switch. These people and the ones who quit FFXI awhile back.

Then you have people like me. I'm not a veteran to Vana'diel, but I also have been around long enough to have memories of "the good old days." Before Fields of Valor and Campaign Battle, when Hagun was 4 million+, and even before Ninjas were granted sneak and invisible. A lot has happened to this place in 2 years, it seems. If I'm not mistaken, I was here before Dancers and Scholars had relic armor and group 2 merits.

I digress. For me, there is still so much to see and explore in this world. At the same time, I want to experience it with those closest to me. A big majority of those people are the ones who have been here for so long. The veterans, if you will. When XIV arrives, what will happen then? If they decide that it's time to leave XI, then what is left here? I don't think this place will be empty by any means, but a world full of strangers has very little difference than an empty one. If I'm going to explore an empty world, I would rather it be one that I am unfamiliar with, and not a world where I find myself constantly wishing for the company of those who were once there with me.

So, I am left with a question that will require an answer very soon. Decisions, decisions. What about you? What have you decided for your FF future?

The fear of Abyssea and Astral Burning

2010-08-12T11:59:00.004-04:00

No, this isn't a OMGIHATESMNBURN post. Personally, I don't care anymore. However, I came across a video while doing some forum browsing and I just had to share it.

To everyone who ever says that powerleveling is harmless, I challenge you to do an event with this gentleman. I can't say anything about his skills in whatever other jobs he has leveled, but I dare you to do anything beyond attempting to kill a rabbit with this guy as your BLM.

Ladies and Gentleman, a 75 BLM with absolutely ZERO magic skills.

Just keep this guy in mind the next time you want to party with someone who's level 80 now and used to be a chest opener in your Abyssea party the day before with that same job.

Childish Antics

2010-08-11T10:01:00.005-04:00

I like having fun. I enjoy being silly and doing stupid things while I'm online. It breaks up the monotony and helps keep people's spirits up. There's usually always a time to have some fun being a harmless delinquent.

Until you get people killed. Then it's not quite as funny.

Now some people don't mind this sort of thing and laugh it off. Unfortunately, I'm not one of those people. I get pissy when I die. Always have and always will. If I fall due to my own stupidity, well I just suck it up and deal with it. When it's because someone decides to try being funny and mpks people, then I have a problem with it. Especially when it happens during events. Obviously, some details are needed. Story time!

Last night was Dynamis-Bastok. Oh how I love the dreary environment of that place. (Extreme sarcasm for those of you that might be new to this blog.) The night wasn't starting off on a great note. I wasn't in the greatest of moods so I got to the zone and sat down. (August 10th is a sensitive day for me; long story). I was all dressed up in my pretty gown, ready to attract the wrath of the necro-pedos that might be lurking around the corner. We had a long wait ahead because I had forgotten that we entered an hour late Saturday. Just before entering, I was asked to change to WHM. Honestly, I don't understand why I'm so against this job class now. Granted, I'm not big on main healing, but I don't have a problem with it as an RDM or even SCH. Just something about doing it as a WHM that makes me cringe. I'm guessing it's because Sumarok's gone and being a WHM has lost its meaning to me.

Anyway, I was given the ok to stay as SCH and just focus on healing the party. No biggie, I've done it many times before. We go in and the run is going well. We got all of the time extensions, killed the mega boss, and were basically doing just great. Very few deaths in the entire alliance. This is how I like Dynamis to be. It's boring as all hell and the last thing you want is to be both bored and frustrated during an event.

So naturally, something had to frustrate me.

Around the 20-25 minutes remaining mark, we started getting really large pulls. I mean really large. Now these things happen, and sometimes it's either accidental or can't be helped. However, when you're doing this shit because you think it's funny and trying to kill us, allow me to be the first to say that I am not amused in the slightest.

Yes, this is me whining and bitching. If you didn't know that I was bitchy before, allow me to introduce myself. Hi, I'm Jacinda. I'm bitchy. Moving on...

This type of stuff is just frustrating as hell to me. First off, you're making my job as a healer / support job more difficult than it should be because now I'm spamming heals all over the goddamn place and taking hate instead of the damage dealers. It throws everything into chaos and makes things generally unpleasant.

To make matters worse, you lose exp in Dynamis. I don't like that. Yeah, it's just exp, but it's MY exp. Until you become the person responsible for recapping my jobs when I die, don't screw around with my exp. I don't care if I get raise 3 or not. Each time I die, that's less time I spend on meriting and more time recapping my buffer.

Finally, Dynamis is about 2 things: gear and coins. Both of these things are completely random, and you never know what you'll get from an enemy. As such, it's important to maximize your time by killing as much as possible, and quickly. Dying gets in the way of that. Dynamis gear helps you improve yourself and coins are either for relic upgrades or for shell payouts. In my case, it's the latter. So it's pretty damn important to get as many coins as possible. Get us killed, and we can't get coins. Less coins = smaller payout. Don't mess with my exp, time, and definitely don't fuck with my monies. Who you are and your standing doesn't matter to me. It's bad etiquette. Go do dumb shit when you're with your buddies and just playing around. Don't pull that when you're doing events.

It's never a wise move to piss off your healers. Some would do well to keep that in mind.

Not a happy healer...

Rule of What??

2010-08-03T01:30:00.004-04:00

Everyone knows I don't like being /checked. Never have and probably never will. It's taken me awhile to finally be able to resist the urge to gear swap at every chance when people look at me, but now I just shrug my shoulders in reality and keep it moving.

Since I'm not swapping my equipment all the time now, it gives people more chances to read my bazaar comments. My latest one is getting quite a bit of attention, and I'm guessing it's because people don't know what it means.

"I'm a huge advocate of the Rule of 5."

The obvious question now is, what the hell is that? First off, it's a personal rule of my own, not to be confused with Lipinski's rule, which explains why you've probably never heard of it. Grab some juice and let's go on a learning adventure of what goes on in my head.

Jacinda's Rule of 5:

The collective thought process of a group of individuals experiences a rapid decline or an unnecessary state of complexity as the number of participants approaches or exceeds the number five.

It's pretty simple and easy to understand. I don't deal with more than five people at any given time when I am out to accomplish a specific goal. When I'm just messing around, I could care less with how many are involved. When the time comes to getting something done; however, five is the limit.

My rule shares some similarities with the law of diminishing returns, except it applies to human behavior and not economics. Also, diminishing returns does not have a fixed value associated with it.

This may seem silly to some of you, but I am a firm believer of it. I've noticed in both reality and in game that when people are working towards goals, it becomes harder and harder to achieve / explain the goals as the number of people involved goes up. You can apply this to practically anything. Forums, gaming, your job, anything where more than one person is needed.

The easiest place to witness this rule in effect is the flow of a conversation. Take two people who are tackling a serious issue as our starting point. You will come up with a fairly engaging debate, but it's usually one opinion vs. another. Add a third person, and you have someone who will challenge the other two parties to come up with the best means of supporting their argument in order to gain the confidence of the third party and win by majority. This third person can also become the source of a completely original idea / presentation, but it can become difficult for their idea to even be considered because they will have to get the initial debaters to abandon or reconsider their own ideas. If a fourth person is brought in, you now have the possibility of either an overwhelming majority win, a stalemate, or yet another source of original ideas.

Eventually, you reach a point where there are too many original ideas at one time, and managing the conversation while both presenting and defending your own point of view becomes increasingly difficult. Bringing in a fifth person is basically an act of desperation. This person will now have to act as a mediator, or "the voice of reason" in order to establish balance and maintain order until an agreeable end to the conversation can be found. Of course, there is a chance that this fifth person will become opinionated and voice their own idea as well. The flow of the conversation is now at a critical limit. Another person, already one of the five, will have to step back and take on the role of the mediator. Adding a sixth person will only make things worse, and so on and so on.

So that's the meaning behind my bazaar comment. You may think it's the world's dumbest idea or the best thing I've ever posted. Whichever side you're on, you're more than welcome to challenge my thought process or agree with it. Just don't do it with more than five people. :p

Children, children...

2010-07-30T22:41:00.007-04:00

I don't know why, but I picked up another magian weapon today. Some days, I don't even bother trying to figure myself out.

Anyway, the trials are fairly simple for this one. Thinking this would be a relaxing way to start my weekend, I got a few kabobs and was on my way to the sandbox. While there, something dawned on me.

People are jackasses.

I've seen some shady behavior there and all around but the jackass gene was in full force today. I was on the receiving end of some of it, but I also just watched others for a bit too. People provoking enemies right as someone else gets to it with their weapon drawn. Casting Dia on enemies that someone has slept. Black mages running around sleeping 4 or 5 enemies just to keep them to themselves. RDMs running past dead people just so they can get claim on lizards, and all sorts of other nonsense. I even saw some MPK action with Killer Johnny.

Then I went to Whitegate. Of cousre, it's relatively quiet there now, but only because people are in Abyssea. Once that dies down a bit, Whitegate will become the same drama-arena it's always been.

Of course, this got me thinking. It's pretty common when someone bitches about FFXI to hear "go back to WoW with all the other kids" or things of that nature. It's been said that the FFXI crowd has a more mature audience overall. If there was a survey done in the past which brought about such a perception, then I'd like to see another one done in present time and check the results.

Based on my overall experiences here, I really don't see the general crowd of Vana'diel as the epitome of maturity. In fact, I see the opposite. Perhaps I started out on the wrong sever, or happened to be unlucky enough to be part of presumably the worst server merge. I am at the point where I would not recommend visiting Vana'diel to anyone who has not already been here. Not because this is a bad place, mind you, but because of the overall attitude / behavior of the population.

Personally, I love Vana'diel. It's beautiful, expansive, and has endless hours of activity. I am both frustrated and enamored with this world. However, I think that my stay is mainly because I was lucky. I ran into a group of wonderful people early on and that helped to solidify my place here, even during my darker periods.

Yet, I'm hesitant to bring in any friends from the outside. I know I personally would not be able to be with them 100%, and would leave them to their own devices from time to time. Sadly, that thought bothers me. I've said it before, but FFXI is not a new-person friendly place.

From the way I hear it, WoW is full of young adults and teens who run rampant through the game and have a very immature disposition. I doubt this is 100% accurate, but it seems to be the general consensus. However, that raises a question. If WoW is the immature gamer's paradise, and FFXI is supposed to be for mature people, then why the hell does such a vast majority of FFXI players seem so childish?

You would expect such behavior in a playpen of toddlers who don't know any better. Has Vana'diel become that playpen? Of course, there are many people who don't fit in the group. I happen to be friends with a lot of them. Still, they are in the very small minority.

But Dude...It's FREE!

2010-07-30T17:07:00.003-04:00

Let's get something straight...Trial of the Magian weapons are NOT FREE!!

The only "free" part about these ordeals are the shitty base weapons that you can grab from that splintery chest by the Magian Moogle. That's it. The rest of the process is the furthest thing from free that can be imagined.

It doesn't matter which version of the weapon you're aiming for. Every one of them costs something. Somewhere along the line, you're going spend something. You're going to use food, potions, reraise items, or something else on your path to create whatever weapon you feel is going to help you in your endeavors. At the very least, you're going to spend a ton of time on these.

I don't know about you all, but time isn't cheap in my world. These weapons take days, if not weeks or more to complete. There are some weapons that can be "done in a day," but even that's a lot of time. If by "a day" you mean a 24 hour stretch, then that's a long ass time to run around chasing various enemies under particular conditions.

I won't say these magian goodies aren't worth the effort, but don't ever try to tell me that these things are "free." Well you can try, but I'll slap you silly if you're within reach.

Elitists...

2010-07-28T22:23:00.006-04:00

I'm warning you now. This is a rant. A vulgar rant. There are curse words. Lots of them. Don't read this and get mad because you're no longer a virgin to vulgarity.

I warned you.

For as long as I can remember, I've always been the modest type. I don't brag, boast, or hold people to super high standards. In gaming, I'm more or less the same way. I believe in giving everyone a chance. We all have to start somewhere, right?

It pains me to say it...God it pains me so much, but I discovered something scary:

I'M AN ELITIST BITCH!!!

Goddamn it people. Seriously. How in the granddaddy fuck do you not understand how some of these events work? Why do you feel that it's up to the alliance to babysit and explain how lights work in Abyssea? Do you not realize there are 400,000 pages of wikipedia and various forum information that breaks this shit down?

I just got out of a party that so far ranks among the worst that I've seen. I'm not even kidding. Granted, I was only there for an hour, but that hour was more than enough to get me to find a replacement and get the hell out.

Some shit just doesn't make sense to me. Understand your damn job, and DO IT! When you have 2 BLMs, 2 RDMs, and a BRD....there is absolutely no fucking reason that the BRD should die due to a lack of sleeps. Same goes for the THF. There's just no excuse. If the lullaby gets resisted, RDMs should be on Gravity, BLMs on Stun. Sleeps in Abyssea should be like sleeps in Dynamis. That shit should be spammed. Every single person with the ability to sleep that enemy should be doing just that. It's not like you'll run out of MP there.

Oh wait, that's not true. You can run out of MP in Abyssea. Know why? Cause stupid fuckers refuse to open the goddamn temporary items chest. How fucking stupid is this? It's a free bonus people! Who cares if you use a key to open it? You get cruor by the assload and you're worrying about using a bit of it on a key? You "lol" and boast about buying every piece of gear there is, but you're hesitant to spend 500 on a key that can open a chest with items for MP, HP, and attack boosts? Really?

Now let's talk about lights. Without going in too deep, the concept of them is pretty straightforward. You want time extensions? Go for the azure light. You want more blue chests? Pearlescent's the way to go. If you don't want big gold chests popping up, how about not using your fucking key on the amber light chests. During the beginning of the party, no less. Fuck amber. Fuck ruby. Fuck anything that isn't helping to get time extensions when you're first starting out.

Goddamn it. Fucking think of what you're doing when you're in that place. We're against the clock and stupidity has no place in an Abyssea alliance. I just don't get it. You people are 75+; is it really that damn difficult for you? Oh shit, wait. Not everyone there is 75+. I don't mean the key-person. I mean the other people who now feel that they have to come in at 55+ and whiff there way to 75 while everyone else does the work. Get the fuck out of my alliance and go do FoV or campaign.

Then there's the questions. There's always the questions. Why do you wait until you are INSIDE the maw to start asking questions? No one gathers fast for these events, so it's not like you don't have time to ask whatever you want to know during the gathering phase. Someone there is going to hold everyone up. It's a requirement. Either they don't have Teleport-Mea, the gate crystal, enough gil for a chocobo, or they lose connection before entry time. One of those four is guaranteed to happen. So avoid being the Abyssean idiot and ask your questions before we start.

/sigh

My name is Jacinda, and apparently I'm an Elitist. I'm sorry Bhinasha.

Looking back while catching up

2010-07-27T13:30:00.022-04:00

(UPDATE: The page is working now! Turns out that it wasn't the CSS at all, but a spacing issue within the Content Editor. I tried to make things easier for me to read and it backfired. >.> )

First, I have to apologize. I really should have put some type of warning or notice about my last post. That must have been the longest entry I've done since this blog was created. For those of you who managed to get through all that and actually comment, you have my thanks. Even I struggled reading it all the way through the second time around.

With that said, on with the pictures! (and a bit of reading)

Looking at the Front Door

Old school rap reference for the win. I made a post awhile back where I questioned how my linkshell was being run. Actually, I expressed my opinion more than anything. At any rate, it lead to rather heated discussion in the comments and has given me something to think about since the. I've said it previously but, I truly like the people there. I do wish that I had the bond with them that is evident among other members, but it just doesn't seem to be happening.

On top of that, there are just so many things that I want to experience while I'm here. Maybe I came to this game too late, but that doesn't change my desire to take part in various events. At the same time, I can't expect them to have the same interests that I do. It would've been great to do all of these things with them, but it's not a realistic expectation. Rather than drag it on, I decided to part ways. I am going to miss them, but hopefully friendship lasts longer than linkshell membership. We'll see.

Dancing with Bugs

Tifachu was working on her Magian weapon and she needed to kill either 400 or 500 Wamoura type enemies. I can't remember which, but I decided to help her out with some Dancer power. For the record, meleeing Wamoura Princes absolutely sucks. Christ, that Heat Shield they have is deadly. I'm sure it's easily managed with a fire resist set, but how many people do you know that carry one around while they're fighting?

Anyway, the group grew from 4 of us to an entire alliance once Firesday hit and the Monks came out in droves. You'd think that would make it easier, but it just turns into enemies spamming TP moves back to back. It's like campaign, only with death penalties. It was pretty fun until somebody accidentally pulled a Wamoura NM which promptly kicked several people's asses due to no one being prepared. Gogo MPK.

Abyssea, Abyssea, A-freaking-byssea.

Who *isn't* doing this? Well, DrJones might not be, but I'm sure I'll see a post about it in time. :p I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with this. Personally, I want to hurry up and get the leveling / meriting portion out of the way so I can really explore the zone and fight some NMs or do quests. There’s actually a lot of really nice gear in Abyssea, and I’m certain I‘ll be ranting about how crappy the drops are once I get started.

As expected, I absolutely love the exp you get there. You simply just can’t beat it. Sure, a one hour merit party will beat an Abyssea party of the same length, but after that...Abyssea just can’t be touched. I’m halfway through with leveling my 75s to 80, and I’m tossing various merits around into all of my jobs as I go. By the time I finish reach the cap, I *should* have all 12 classes fully merited. Better yet, I *will* have it done.

What I hate about Abyssea is the alliance nature and random grouping. It's awesome in a sense but, as I've already expressed, there is idiocy in large groups. Especially when you don't know everyone. Still, I think this can actually work out for the better because you are exposed to so many more people than you normally would be.

Trial of the Magians: Update!

Well, I'm almost as far as I can go with my Kartika path. Athame is more or less dead until I come into a metric assload of gil or find an LS that won't chicken out at the mention of Verthandi's name. I've still got two sets of VNMs left, Feuerunke and Tammuz. Supposedly, these last two are pretty simple. It's just a matter of getting a group for it. Oh, and for the record:

FUCK HOVERING HOTPOT!! /rage

More random stuff

No explanations for the rest of these. Just a few random shots from various events or happenings. As always, thanks for reading and I'll see you in game!

Abyssea and the bitch within

2010-07-22T08:00:00.005-04:00

/sigh

Lately, I've been on an awesome streak with Abyssea. For the past few days, parties have lasted at least 5+ hours, with the most amazing one being a 15+ hour party right after maintenance. Boring as they may sound, I have a hell of a lot of fun in Abyssea. Exp doesn't immediately start out as awesome, and there's a joy to be found when you can get a bunch of relative strangers working together to achieve these phenomenal results.

So why the /sigh, right?

I was in a party yesterday / last night, and the "nice side" of me snapped. By the end of the run, I had already been called a "royal douchebag," a "cunt," and I was also dealing with the belief that the alliance fell apart because of me. Sounds like a story, yes? Well read on.

So there I was; standing around Jeuno as I had just recently hit 78 Scholar. As I said, I was on a roll with Abyssea and I had just finished RDM the night before and couldn't wait for my next run. Instead of waiting to be invited, I was feeling a bit more confident and figured I'd start asking people already inside if I could join.

After scanning Tahrongi, I found a guy that I did a run with the night before. Just so happened that he was a party leader this time. After chatting with him for a bit, he said to come on out. w00tage. I was certain that I'd have level 80 and this would be an awesome run. It was early in the day and I was ready to turn this into another all-nighter.

I arrive on the scene and immediately get to work. I do find that Scholar is a blast when you aren't forced to constantly swap arts all the time, and Abyssea is great for that. Depending on the aura you're attempting to build, the Scholars can stay as a support role or go as all-out offense whenever the alliance needs it.

A short while in, someone has to go. You kind of expect this. What I didn't expect was being asked to find that person's replacement. I was actually the newest arrival to the group, and you want *me* to get a rep? So I start browsing the list of people and search for someone. I had a few friends online, but I didn't want to pull them into a group when I didn't know how it was going to pan out. This turned out to be a good thing because our party was struggling for awhile.

Auras weren't building up fast and time extensions were few and far between. Some people had mentioned that we were sitting at comparatively low exp for quite some time. One of the hardest things I've learned about Abyssea and parties in general is that it's difficult to get a group of strangers to work together. This also becomes a problem due to what I consider Abyssea's only real flaw: all of the strategies for aura building work.

This is a problem because it allows people to become comfortable with whatever way they've been exposed to. You can go into a party and build up your ruby aura from the start if you want, or have mages get the kill and build azure. Of course, the end goal is always exp and time extensions, but when you have so many paths that lead to the same thing, getting a bunch of strangers to see things your way can be daunting. Especially when you start getting people with the "that's not how it works" complex.

News Flash: Yes it does work that way.

The most common way that I see is the pearl > azure path. Build up the frequency of the chest drops, then work on azure to get time extensions. This way, your group has plenty of time in the zone and gives you flexibility to work on other paths without much worry. While this is great, this usually only works with people who already have an abundance of time because building that pearl light seems to be a challenge. Mages nuking at 40% while you have your DD foaming at the mouth with their weaponskills ready just spells trouble for building a light that's based on a regular attack kill.

I'll have to talk more about paths later but, in short, the path you take should be based on the amount of time you have when entering the zone.

So anyway, back to the main story. I find a replacement and they're on the way. Soon after, another person leaves and it's left up to me to get someone else. As more and more people rotate, I end up becoming the alliance recruiter, key holder, and backup strategist. It got to the point where I was getting requests from people not in the zone or affiliated with anyone already in the alliance to join us. What made them think to ask me was anyone's guess. Mind you, I wasn't the alliance leader when this was going on; just a regular party member.

The pace was picking up and our TEs were coming in steadily and exp was rising. I actually got a few /tell compliments for keeping the alliance alive despite the number of people leaving. Admittedly, that felt really good to see on my screen. Now the entire party was actually asking my permission to bring in their friends. I tried to bring in a few friends of my own, so of course I'd let them bring in theirs. At the same time, I was working to maintain job balance. We started becoming light on the mages and I had to start telling some of future newcomers to hold off until I could re-balance the group. I know it's hard to believe when a stranger says that they will look for you when a spot opens but I truly do my best to remember people and call on them as I can.

Time was passing and the exp was great. A few were at the 550+ mark and I hit level 80 and capped exp / merits. Time to make a switch. I head out and start changing to BLM. Yeah, I know. While changing, I'm still getting tells and trying to find replacements for the people who have to go. I get one message from Key saying "Boy, we need you back here." That is never a good thing to see. He mentions that things are ok, but a couple of people died due to lack of sleeps on pulls. So now I'm rushing to get back.

This is where the trouble starts. With so many people being replaced, it's only natural that the alliance aura begin to fade. From my understanding, you normally don't want the new people getting kill shots due to them having a low or nonexistent aura. What happens when the majority of your group is new though, or returning from a trip to spend merits and change jobs?

You guessed it. You have to start over. In the meantime, the paladin who invited me is getting ready to go and now I have to find a tank as well. The exp is still flowing and things are somewhat stable. One of the members suggests a tank and I get in a chat with him. This was probably the most annoying chat I had. I say annoying because when I ask for a certain job, I ask because I *need* that job. He wanted to come as a Ninja when I asked for Paladin. Granted, he was higher as NIN than PLD, but we were up against mandragoras that have a near constant double-attack rate. Shadows just aren't going to last forever. There was one RDM in his party and no bard because the one we had disconnected and never returned. I didn't want to refuse him, but I had to be firm in my request. Eventually, he decided to come as a paladin.

In the meantime, the PLD we had was ready to go....but he asked the group a favor first. There's an NM there that drops a neat little ammo piece he wanted. The enemy was a Mandy, so we hoped it wouldn't break the chain. Some people were against the idea and disbanded the party to keep their exp chain. Our PLD said he could get it later, but that's not how it ended up. They went on to fight and eventually killed it. Of course, this battle meant less time getting actual exp / chests and people's timers were counting down. He ends up leaving and now we're sitting around waiting on a tank to arrive. My stress level was rising.

One of the people that temporarily disbanded was one of our thieves. He comes back in and the PLD arrives as well. Back to the grindstone. We were basically at "level 1" and had to get in gear quickly before time ran out for some of the people. Suddenly, pulls were going very, very slowly. Kill speed was fine, but we weren't getting enemies to camp like before. I also invited Lisa to the party earlier, so I asked if she'd take over pulling because our original puller went afk after returning to the party.

She happened to be THF/DNC at the time, so I said I'd make sure I'd keep her alive until our main puller returned. He did, but things were weird. He wouldn't pull at all. Just engage the enemy and attack. I sent a tell asking him to take over pulling. No response. A couple of people were getting sleepy / had events and asked for replacements. While I was doing that, the new PLD was getting annoyed with the lack of pulls. I send our THF another tell. Again, no response. Now I'm getting ticked. Don't come to the party and then ignore me when I'm being polite and asking you to do something.

I try to send a tell to one of our WHMs that's in the same party and say that if our THF doesn't pull within the next 5 enemies, drop him and I'd get a replacement. However, I wasn't paying attention and the message went straight to party chat. Oops. Well, I didn't want to make a scene but it was too late now. So I said in the chat that I need him to pull and if he's not going to do as I ask then he can find another party. I meant what I said, but damn I felt like a real bitch. I don't want to treat people like kids or be mean in general. That's just not my nature. At the same time, I had an entire alliance of people that were trying to accomplish a goal, and it required everyone to work together.

Still no response. I watched and counted the enemies. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. I then had him removed. The mages and Lisa worked together to bring in some enemies to fight, and I also got an unexpected tell from the leader of one of our member's LS saying something about his members not doing as he asked and then requested to join the alliance. That one blindsided me, but we had room and I could definitely use a puller. Now we're back in action. We've got a puller, dd, and plenty of sleepers / healers. We were getting low on time, but I believed we could pull it off.

Then I get another tell a short while later. From the recently removed thief. Not a mean one, mind you, simply "{Invite to Join Party}". I sat there for a moment. Is he serious? I ask multiple times to help the alliance and don't get a single response, and now I'm being asked to rejoin?? I explained why I removed him, and then I found out exactly why he never responded.

It wasn't him playing. It was his 12-yr old cousin.

We still had a spot, so I asked if this was the original person or the 12-yr old. It was neither. Instead, I was now talking to his fiance. Rather than go on and on, I told her that if she can keep a steady pull going, then it's fine with me. Otherwise, I'd have to say no. People were running out of time and I needed everyone on their "A game." After a short pause, she then responds with something along the lines of me being a royal douchebag and that she'd help enforce my decision not to bring him back in. So she warped out.

Back to the party. We're struggling to build those lights and I can see everyone is really trying to get things going. I kept thinking that we should just stop, but how can you tell a group to give up when you see that they are doing their best to keep moving forward? Then I got another tell from someone in the group asking if they could go change jobs. I told him that wouldn't be a good idea because of our aura strength, and we needed to get things stable before I lost more people or tried to add new ones.

Finally, I decided to cut our losses. I felt so bad for doing it, but I didn't want everyone to lose whatever time they managed to build up. I really thought we'd be able to pull it off, but things just weren't happening the way I had hoped.

As I sat in my Mog House, I get yet another tell. From the original thief, stating what a "cunt I was towards his cousin." And here we go... How the hell was I supposed to know a kid suddenly took over the controls in the middle of an event? Did I get a /tell, a statement in party chat...anything? No I didn't. So we talked for a good while and I found out that he wanted skill ups at first and was upset that he died when he first started the group. We had some sleepers that either missed the sleeps or, like our original bard, got constantly resisted. Eventually, he went to lay down and his cousin took over.

When his fiance was talking to me, he was a few feet away and didn't realize the conversation that was taking place. He was under the impression that I wouldn't invite due to him not pulling. Technically, this is true. However, if she would've said that she could maintain a pull, then I would've let her back in. Since that didn't happen, I made a choice not to bring him back. I hate being mean to people or telling them no in this game, but when I have an alliance depending on my choices, the bitch within apparently wins out.

This is why I really don't like leading parties. >.>

Emotional Journey to the Other Side

2010-07-20T04:03:00.003-04:00

Lately, Abyssea has been all the rage for the residents of Vana'diel. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone *not* actually interested in going there, primarily due to the incredible amounts of exp that can be acquired. Oddly enough, I find this area much more enjoyable than any "lolibri" party imaginable.

So far, this place has everything. Challenging enemies, free-roaming NMs, VNMs, incredible armor (even if a bit uninspired in design), and exp setups that are actually designed for large groups. As one person described it earlier this morning, it's a DDs wet dream party.

After a run today, I had quite a bit of time built up. More than the system would allow me to carry over. So rather than waste it, I decided to wander around the zone and unlock all the confluxes as well as see what I could find out there. Besides stating the obvious NMs and other things that you expect to find, I came across something a bit more poignant: Abyssea's emotional state.

You probably wouldn't notice it when you're with a group because you aren't really paying attention to the area. Sure, the zones are eerily pretty and the music is nice for the whole 30 seconds it takes to arrive at camp. From that point on though, I doubt that anyone really gives a damn about what's really happening around them.

As I wandered Tahrongi Canyon, I made it a point to speak with every NPC I could find. As I said, I had a lot of extra time to stick around. None of us really know what has happened, but it's obvious that the people of Windurst have gone through and are still going through hell.

Apparently, everyone that we run into in the canyon was originally stationed in the city of Windurst, and not just some nomadic campers who got caught in the crossfire. The city was invaded by the Abyssean hordes, and when the Star Sybil realized that they couldn't win, she used a teleportation spell as a last resort to transport the survivors out of the city limits and to someplace safe. Unfortunately, the spell didn't deliver the results she was hoping for.

Everyone was transported, but they were scattered about the canyon in small clusters of survivors. So each group made a small encampment and has been doing their best to survive ever since. As you speak with each person, you can get a sense of desperation in their words. At one camp, there is a young Galka sobbing for one of his kind to return, saying "please come back...don't leave me...alone." Further into the zone you find the Galka in question, and for whatever reason, he is determined to tear down a mountain, stone by stone. He mentions that his body is weak, and the skin from his hands are torn away, but he will not stop.

There is much more to be said about the current state of affairs, but it does make you wonder. Just what the hell happened out there, and what are these creatures after? We have two more expansions to find out. I do hope that SE turns this mysterious introduction into a story as epic as Wings of the Goddess, and not just a quick way to farm XP and get items.

8 > 18

2010-07-12T09:46:00.005-04:00

Two heads are better than one. There is strength in numbers. The more the merrier, etc. etc.

Sayings like these are meant to strengthen the belief that it is always better to have more people when performing tasks. In a lot of cases, this is true. There are just some things that are easier to get through when you don't have to go it alone. Moving, divorce, childbirth, orgies, and other things are better with more people.

In the world of gaming, this still holds true. Usually. Enter Abyssea.

I was hanging out in Port Jeuno because I was bored and wanted something to do. I'm not sure why Jeuno is becoming the hangout for the unoccupied, but that's where I usually find myself. I guess it's because Whitegate has started crashing people and the shout drama is getting stale. Who knows, I spend most of my time in the sandbox anyway.

There was an alliance shout for a farming run that caught my attention. I sent a tell and asked if he wanted a Corsair. I was just in the mood to spin some cards and shoot things in the face. He gladly accepted the request and I went to change. Now, I'm a /RNG kind of Corsair. I don't do that /WHM stuff. No offense to all you COR/WHMs out there but, if anyone expects me to show up to an event wielding a loaded gun and think I'm only going to spin cards and spam cures / erase, you can kiss my ass. I'm there to buff the party and kill shit. That's just how I "roll".

So anyway, I'm geared up and ready to go. We have a full party and then the leader decides to run to Whitegate and grab more people. I'm still fairly new to Abyssea, but it's my understanding that an alliance can clean house in there, and it ends up being better overall for everyone. That works for me, so I just lounged around and watched people running through the zone. The party we aligned with wanted to fight an NM out there first and then use the rest of the time to farm. Admittedly, this concerned me.

Now that we were after an NM instead of just farming, it job assignments started becoming more specific. In a normal party, this isn't so bad. Adjusting the jobs of random people in an alliance; however, is a bit more complex. First, these people want to just get out there, farm the exp, and hopefully get some nifty items. When you start telling them that we're taking time out to kill an NM that has nothing to do with them and they probably won't get any share of the drops, you can imagine that they aren't going to be chomping at the bit to do the fight.

Still, everyone stuck together and decided to go do this to help this other party out. They mentioned a fight strategy and then they said they killed it last time with only 8 people. A fairly simple fight, according to them. So the original party leader mentioned that if they killed it with 8, then we should destroy it with 18.

Famous last goddamn words.

After an hour or so of waiting in Port Jeuno, we take off and get to the maw. As a side note, screw you Square-Enix. What the hell is with the skyrocketing Chocobo rentals? I'll rant about that later though. We get to the maw and not everyone was ready. On top of that, they wanted a White Mage, so we waited a bit longer. More specifically, an hour longer. I love pickup groups.

We finally enter the zone and get started. We find the spawn area and track down the NM. We fight a couple of regular enemies and then someone aggros a mimic. We get to a semi-open area and go over the fight tactic. Things start off smoothly for the first twenty seconds or so.

Shortly after the pull, we get a link. The leader says to pull it away from the babies and move back. Nothing happens. He repeats the instructions. Nothing happens. Someone dies. We get more aggro.

You can guess what's coming, but let me spare you the story details and sum it up with a picture:

Everyone raised and we tried the NM again. We ended up winning, but the THF who was supposed to be our TH person ended up dying during the fight and didn't hit the NM again. So when it was all said and done, we fought it without TH and nothing dropped. I thanked the group, but figured it was time to go. Better to save some of my time for another run than waste the little time I had left.

An interesting thing though. Before we left, one of the members made a statement just after that "we should destroy this NM" comment. His statement was "8 smart people is better than 18 dumbasses."

Statistically speaking and mathematically accurate, more is usually better. In the case of FFXI NM fighting though, 8 is definitely greater than 18. Especially 18 random people.

Where the hell are you?

2010-07-09T13:16:00.004-04:00

Goddamn it. You know what really sucks about having friends that aren't in your linkshell?

You hardly see or do anything with them. At least that's how it is in my case, and it's really starting to bother me. It seems so trivial but I get bored out of my damn mind when I'm alone. I'm tired of the sandbox and I'm sure the raptors and beaks are tired of getting their ass handed to them by me as well.

I want to do things again, but with friends instead of random pickup groups. I'd love to do things with my LS too, but I'm not even going to worry about that anymore. I did my bitching about that situation already. There are days when I feel like "one of them" but most days I just mind my own business and do things myself.

It would be nice if I had awesome relationships with the people here that I consider friends. That doesn't sound right. My relationship with them is fine; it's the time spent that I lack. When I check my friend list, they're off with their LS or whatnot, doing events and all that. So obviously we can't do anything. Otherwise, I'm the one in an event. If we are both free, it's usually late in the evening and I either can't keep myself awake or I have to go to sleep for work in the morning.

This is driving me nuts. Fuck, why does it seem to be so difficult to spend time with the people who actually make this game worth playing? It would be so awesome to have a close group of friends that I did most of my things with. That group of people who have their picture drawn and posted on deviantart or some other forum to show how close they are. Hell, it would give me something else to post about other than the things I personally do. We'd have some silly antics to laugh about and inside jokes; we'd play together so much that we knew each others play styles and could go tackle all sorts of NMs and low-man shit just for the hell of it.

Am I the only one who feels this way? On a server of almost five thousand people and a nearly full friend list, I can't help but feel that most of my in-game time is spent by myself, and it just shouldn't be like this.

A reckless adventure

2010-07-01T09:51:00.005-04:00

Part of me doesn't want to post this because I feel it's boastful but, at the same time, I'm overjoyed at what happened last night and I want to share it.

Yesterday was a day of fun at the sandbox. I pretty much spent my entire afternoon there doing pages since I didn't feel like looking for a party. Near the end of my night, I saw a ranger that was asking if anyone would team up. I figured we'd do a couple of pages and then I'd go to sleep. As luck would have it, Keyoku showed up when we were on the last page. No rest for the weary and all that.

We did a couple of other pages and we were ready to call it quits. Just then, Aydgon (the rng) mentions that Kreutzet is up if any of us wanted the dagger. I'm not at the level to use it yet, but what the hell. I hear some people have horrid luck on the drop rates, so I might as well get started on it now. Being able to use a weapon and not having it is more annoying that getting it early. So the three of us rush out to see if it's claimed.

On the way to the spawn area, I spot two dead people by some Manticores. I felt bad, but none of us could raise and stopping to create a "{Raise}" shout would be inviting someone else to get the claim. We arrived and I noticed another person dead in the middle of the area. This led me to think that they were trying to solo or got caught off guard and died. Now I'm getting nervous. There are people around so I know other people are aware of the NM being available. Off in the distance, I spot three more people, but Kreutzet is just standing there unclaimed. My first thought was that other people had to be on the way and it was basically "now or never." So I threw my chakram and tagged it. Mind you, we had just finished a page and none of us were at full HP/MP. In hindsight, what I did was pretty stupid, and put us all at risk of a wipe. Live and learn I guess.

So there we stood; our BLU with less than 200 mp, RNG with roughly 40% HP and me with about 60% HP and 0 TP or finishing moves. To top it off, I was DNC/SAM, so no shadows and Seigan only works with two-handed weapons. Thankfully, Meditate was up and I used that to at least give myself a small heal. At first, I was going to tank while Key and Ayd did most of the damage. Apparently, Kruetzet had a different plan. No sooner than the fight started, he began with Stormwind spam. This was bad for us all, especially with everyone being so low on health and magic. I tried to keep everyone healed, but the near-constant spam of that move was just a little much to stay with. The next best thing was to have them get out of range and I'd just focus on healing myself while they actually rested.

This fight would have been so much easier if I had used Dancer's damage mitigation ability, but...yeah I don't have that unlocked yet. Shame on me I guess. Add on yet another disadvantage for this fight. Thankfully, I was able to keep up TP with Reverse Flourish and luckily landing all of my steps (thanks to Urd's gift). Key helped me out with a few cures when he could that also gave me an attack increase.

Just so happened that Ayd mentioned he had TH4 (!!) but didn't think he'd make it back in time. We took a chance and had him go switch midway through the fight. Things started getting interesting. I wasn't dodging as much, and I got pretty nervous. More stormwind spam, critical hits, and then that damn Triple Attack move dropped me to less than 100 HP at one point. It was sheer luck that I got a TP cure off and Key had just enough MP to heal me one last time. With the NM at 7%, Ayd zones back into the Cape. To prevent killing it before he arrived, I turned my back and tried to hold it off. Bad idea. Very bad. I'm guessing evasion doesn't work so well when you aren't facing the enemy. I wasn't going to make it that way, so I switched positions and went back to fighting. Checking the map, Ayd was basically one grid away from us now.

Kreutzet's at 2%, Key runs out of MP and I use the last bit of TP to heal as I turn away because it would only take a couple of hits to kill it. I get hit again and now have 117 HP. One strike and it's game over. Ayd appears and tags it with TH4. Key gets a head butt in and I turn to face the NM. It attacks and I get lucky with a parry. I quickly put up Third Eye in the hopes that we can drop this thing before it attacks me again. At that moment it uses Triple Attack and somehow, third eye anticipated it. That's a 3-hit attack...how the hell I avoided it is beyond me. Down goes the NM, and we're rewarded with a bit of exp, a bird feather, and 1/1 on the Sirocco Kukri!!

I'm sure things could have gone much smoother and simpler if we actually prepared, but the fact that we just ran in without a plan and still pulled it off made the fight really exciting and fun. Even without the dagger, I'm still incredibly proud of that fight.

These are the kinds of fights that I love being a part of. ^_^

I fear the Moogles are conspiring against us.

2010-06-30T09:21:00.005-04:00

By now, everyone knows about the magian trials, right? I changed my opinion about it when I took up the task of getting the Athame OAT dagger, which I've yet to complete due to a lack of T3 VNM help, but that's a tale for another time.

Now we have our first upgrade to the Magian paths, and it's got me wondering: Is SE using this as a means to keep people playing longer? Truly, these trials are no simple task. Sure, not every trial is a battle of epic proportions for a very obscure upgrade item, but each one can be a challenge in its own right. On top of that, each weapon has a very long path until you reach the end, and we're only at the first extension of presumably four until we've reach the final tier of trials.

Granted, FFXI is not the first game to come out with an upgrade system for existing equipment, but they do seem to be the current innovators of trivially minuscule upgrades on the path to perceived greatness. One could argue that each upgrade is better than the previous, but I'm fairly certain everyone can agree that each one is not particularly useful.

When this first came out, these trials seemed 100% optional. To an extent, they still are. We aren't being forced to do them. At the same time; however, I'm noticing that the new gear they've introduced doesn't seem to outperform the magian weapons. If so, it's not by much, especially considering the potential to upgrade your weapon with the next update. Take the elemental staves, for instance. When you look at the magian versions, you'll notice that none of them completely outdo the level 51 counterpart. They do in certain aspects, such as Magic Damage +4 or Magic Accuracy +4, but not both. Not even a MD+3/MA+3. This means that you'd have to do a damage path and an accuracy path....for each elemental staff you'd want to replace. Even if you don't have to do this for all eight staves, the simple fact that you should need to do this at all is beyond words.

Seriously, it's bad enough to go through these trials to begin with, so can we at least have a mid-range option for these? Something that is moderately useful, and not just a slap in the face until we reach the end of the current path? We're low on inventory space as is and have to resort to extra characters just to hold our stuff, but now you toss this at us too?

Someone once said that SE has a fair amount of contempt for its players. I think they simply hate us, and enjoy watching the hamsters (us) running on their wheel that we call FFXI.

FFXI: It's not for newbies anymore.

2010-06-29T12:46:00.003-04:00

I was skimming some other blogs when I came across this post. It immediately made me think about how this game is progressing and the direction it's headed. Sure, the latest content is all endgame specific and a lot of people are loving it. However, what about the new people?

Do new people even exist anymore? I don't mean new as in another mule that someone made. I'm talking about a Vana'dielian virgin. Many people think this game is dying and that we shouldn't even worry about new players coming in. Personally, I'm six years late into becoming a resident of Vana'diel. Well, I actually started in 2001, but I played for maybe 10 minutes before dying to something and I didn't come back until 2009. Should I have never signed up since I was immediately behind everyone else from the start?

I don't blame the lack of new people solely on the developers. I think that a good bit of it has to do with the attitudes of existing people too. As a whole, we aren't very welcoming to someone who just arrived. Yes, there are numerous volumes of information on forums on wikipedia for anyone wanting to know just about anything in this game. Yet, I don't think a person can come to love this game and stick around simply by reading a How-To guide on the internet.

FFIV will soon be upon us, but I don't see a mass exodus of players who are going to drop everything and leave FFXI behind. As long as this game is able to run and we keep the servers open, I think that the players should still do their best to not only help the new people that come in, but continue spreading the word about FFXI so that even more people come in. Everyone deserves a chance to love Vana'diel just as we are doing now.

Tranquility Admist Chaos

2010-06-29T11:51:00.004-04:00

Now that people have had a chance to sink their teeth into the new content, I figured I'd say a few things. Right now, the main focus of people seems to be getting their jobs to 80. Every place I go to is full of people trying to rush as fast as possible to reach the cap.

Well, I decided against that.

Not against it in the sense that I won't level my jobs, mind you. Just that I am going to take it easy and do things a bit slower than others. When the level cap first hit, I took at look at all of my jobs and their exp into 75. Some are sitting at 1exp tnl, while others such as Summoner are sitting at < 100 into 75. Yeah, I should probably get on that and at least get a 75 buffer.

As I said before, I like every job that I've leveled. At the same time, I just have not been able to bring myself to forcibly take any of them from 75 to 80. Another reason that I'm going to take my time is due to my current status with my jobs. If you've followed this blog for any length of time, you know my classes require some work. I'm content with that now, and I know I've got some work ahead of me. So I'm not really going to worry about getting jobs to 80 when they still aren't in top form at 75. FFXI is all about the sets, so this new gear isn't going to do much for me until I have acquired the missing pieces to really reap the benefit this new gear provides.

In addition to that is the burn-out factor. I've watched people start wearing themselves thin due to how much they're leveling recently, and I'd rather not add myself to the list of burnt-out players. On top of that, I have 12 75s to go through. So considering it's roughly (45k*4)*12, that's a lot of experience points to plow through. Of course I'm not obligated to level them to 80, but it would be stupid to leave the majority of them at 75.

Finding camps is another turn-off for me. Our server is already crowded since the merge, and now you have every person with a 75 (read, everyone who plays) searching for a camp. Hell, people are actually camping camps now. I just have no interest in trying to fight to find a place to level. Even the sandbox is ridiculously overcrowded now.

So yeah, I think it's time to just take a deep breath and relax. This content isn't going anywhere anytime soon and making 80 hasn't turned anyone into an all-powerful god of war (lame reference, but meh.). There's plenty of time ahead to level.

I actually find it rather peaceful and comforting to approach things like this. Now it's time for a rant. ^_^

Main Love

2010-06-24T13:26:00.008-04:00

I was going to make a few posts about the new content and my thoughts about it all. Then I looked around and noticed 50,000 other blog posts doing exactly that. Suffice to say, I'm sure you all have your impressions of the new stuff without me saying the same things you've probably read elsewhere. With that said, it's time to change the subject.

Something I hear a lot with people who have multiple 75s (or now 80s) is the concept of a "main" job class. My understanding of it is very different from what it means in the realm of FFXI. To me, a main class is the one that you are actively using the majority of the time. More than likely, it's your favorite job. In an LS, I always think of a main job as the one that you would prefer to come to events as. As time has progressed, I realize that's far from the case. A main job has nothing to do with what you attend events as. It's simply a designation for what job you want to assign a lotting priority to.

Obviously, main jobs change as time moves on and you get gear, but your favorite would probably stay the same. I've thought about that, and I haven't figured out what my favorite job is. Granted, I have several that I personally enjoy, but I always run into a conflict with them. The individual joy is usually not in line with the need of the linkshell. This isn't their fault, mind you, but I seem to enjoy classes that are looked at as useless or unnecessary. SAM, RNG, and SCH come to mind, with the most recent addition of DNC. Still, I find myself wanting to find that one class that I'm known for. The job everyone seems as my primary class, despite what I show up to events as. The one that you just fall head over heels for and want to do everything to make it as enjoyable for you as possible.

I find myself thinking about this more and more with this level cap increase. While it's only 5 levels and 160k+ exp (!!!), motivating myself to make that climb is becoming more of a challenge than I initially thought.

What about all of you? Which job do you prefer over all else?

Impressions & Questions - Day 1

2010-06-22T14:18:00.006-04:00

Someone remind me later to do a screenshot post, because I have 30 or so to share.

Before that though, let's talk about this update and my feelings on it. Here we go.

I haven't started WotG yet, and I feel awful. When I first signed on, my goal was to reach Jeuno before it got so congested that people got kicked out of the zone. (ie, the day of the World Merge.) Fortunately, Genkai 6 is ultra simple. Five Kindred Seals is a joke, and three merit points sounds pretty easy when you consider how much time people spend meriting here. So for that, SE, I thank you. They actually made it simple for us to jump right in and get started.

I saw Lisamarie online and in Promyvion-Dem. When I asked what she was doing, she mentioned trying to party. I was capped on DNC exp and figured I'd go hang out with her for a bit. Unfortunately, I don't have a map of Dem and got lost on the first floor. On another embarrassing note, I died on the first floor. Not paying attention to where I was, I ran right into a group of IT++ Wanderers who quickly took me down. Thankfully, I had RR up for some reason. I caught up to the group, but not before taking down a Gorger for a memosphere. Naturally, once I lotted on the item for something that I killed, others started lotting and I lost the item. Meh.

We all started killing some Wanderers for exp, and I was able to not only recap my exp, but take my first step into the new high-level range. Yay 76 Dancer!

After that, we all headed out to Abyssea to see what it will be like. Aesthetically, the zone appears to be in a perpetual sunset. The music is definitely fitting of the zones' appearance. Very calming and eerily soothing. Once you arrive, you are given a 5 minute countdown before you're kicked from the zone. I guess that's to give people who don't have enough of the key item a chance to see the zone and maybe get some items. I'll explain that in a moment.

In the zone, you're not greeted with boundless enemies from the start. You're actually standing in front of decent sized group of NPCs. You have to talk to a Corflux Surveyor, or something like that. You can use your Traverse Stones to gain a Visitant Status, which allows you to stay in Abyssea for 30 minutes per stone. Unfrotunately, you can get one stone every 20 hours. This makes it feel more like an Assault than anything, but I think you may also be allowed to save your stones and get an extended trip. Since this is only day 1, I don't have a lot of information on that yet.

We only saw a handful of enemies, but they are strong and have plenty of new moves. We found two Blue Mage spells, but our BLU in the party was too low to learn them. (Feels weird saying a 75 BLU is too low to learn something.) The enemies we encountered were all fun to fight, and very refreshing to see something new. We found some item chests, but these didn't actually give items. Instead, they gave exp to the party. 200 in one, and 500 in another. That's pretty decent for a random treasure chest drop.

We also ran into an NM rabbit, Mangy-tailed Marvin. I don't know why common sense didn't kick in to leave it alone, but we fought it anyway. It hits damn hard, and it Foot Kicked a PLD from full HP to zero. Whirl Claws was doing 800+, and we had to give up when most of the party was wiped. An interesting thing happened though. I was one of the few in the alliance who didn't die, and somehow it never came back to attack me. I think it went off to chase someone for awhile, but when it returned to where I was, it's color was yellow and it was happily moving along. Guess these NMs have a different system of enmity.

We noticed that not every enemy gave exp either, despite it checking above Too Weak. Again, more information is needed but, after the kill, there is a system message about your body glowing. If you emit a faint glow, no exp is awarded. Stronger "glows" correspond to more exp from the enemy. I'll go back in Abyssea tonight and see what I can find out.

Once that was over, Lisa and some of her party went to sleep, and I went to the sandbox for a bit. While there, I switched to DNC/WAR just to play around. Holy shit, that was fun. I know DNC isn't a notoriously strong job, but being able to bring a Sand Cockatrice to 2-hits before death with a single Darkness Skillchain is something I'm pretty damn proud of. Of course, the sandbox was full of people either leveling, doing Magian stuff, or just being a jackass on the road to "me-firstdom."

While there's still a lot more to explore, I will say that I'm pleased with the direction of things so far. I've been checking BG, and I see a lot of over reactions to the new gear and already calling every piece of gear in existence currently as outclassed and outdated. Nevermind that this new gear is level 80 and not raining from the sky, but you know how people are. Kirin's Osode will be 500k within a month, you heard it here first. It's already 1.2mil on Cerberus, with people saying "Lower the Price ok!"

In other news, this update has brought out a major question for me. What's the future of Epic now? Since my last update about running a linkshell, I haven't really seen a change in how things are being done. Of course we still do events, but with all of this new content, are we going to make a push to get through the existing stuff so we can all move onward, or will this be something we all have to explore for ourselves?

I wonder when the next LS meeting will be. Time to get some questions answered!

A Fluffless Future and a Still-Broken Past

2010-06-21T08:43:00.005-04:00

Sheesh, it feels like forever since I blogged. Yeah I know, I just posted something a few minutes ago. That was a saved post from last week that I had sitting on my computer and never published.

With this update, it looks like we're in for a lot of changes. Higher level caps, new abilities, spells...it looks to shake up the way we've played FFXI for years. That can be a good thing or very bad thing, depending on execution. I see a tons of changes in Wikipedia's future. One thing that I wish for though, isn't necessarily game changing.

It's fluff.

Yeah, the stuff developers put in games that don't really affect gameplay, but make things more enjoyable. I'm dead serious, where the hell are my fluffy updates? The last bit of fluff we got was when Dancers has their thunder stolen with the /danceX emotes. Yeah that's cute and all, but how about a little more? Where's the animation for /slap? Come on, you know that would be hot. Walk right up and bitch-slap someone into a /stagger animation. You could even have /slap1 and /slap2 for an open-handed bitch-slap or backhanded pimp-slap.

Hairstyles. Yes, I said hairstyles. I've been wearing a ponytail for 2 years now, and I want something different. We have costumes that change us into a ghost, pedo-bait, and fleas, but you're telling me we can't get an item that gives us a different hairdo? On that note, some new clothes would be nice. Clothes that could be crafted or bought, mind you. Not some dinner jacket that makes me look like my breasts went on vacation and left me flat-chested.

Now yes, these are fluffy things that would be good in town, but what about gameplay fluff? In particular, I'm referring to character animations with the new weaponskills. Truly, NONE of them look worthwhile, save for Fell Cleave. That shit looks great and makes me want to level Warrior. When I watched the video that was posted, all I could do was sigh. Sure, they might be highly damaging, but then again...it's SE we're talking about. If you've noticed, most people only use the WS right before the quested WS is available. (Tachi: Gekko, Dancing Edge, Penta Thrust, etc.) Still, would it kill SE to give us some awesome character animations during these moves instead of recycling the same crap we've seen for years?

They don't even have to look hard for inspiration. Just go watch any anime with fighting. Over the top and epic moves galore. So what if the WS takes 5 seconds to execute? Make that shit look awesome. Make me excited when I go to kill something. Make me feel like the shit you're adding to my goddamn game matters!! Don't give me a recycled Dragon Kick and call it a Tornado Kick.

/sigh. I just needed to get that out.

On another note, I'm happy about this update...somewhat. However, when is the broken crap going to get fixed? The guide button problem for Xbox users, the black screen of death, beseiged / campaign crashes, NPCs that don't load in town, etc, etc, et-freaking-cetera.

I'm all for adding content and things to keep the game going, but having a stable game is just as important. What do you think?

Rambling

2010-06-17T15:30:00.003-04:00

I could either make five separate blog posts, or just jam it all in one. I'm feeling lazy right now, so one it is.

To start, I haven't been blogging much. Way to state the obvious right? Well I've been really busy at work, and on the days where I'm home and actually can sign on, I just haven't been motivated to do anything. I have the subjobs to finish, but I'm already 40+ on them both, so now I can relax and not really give a damn until the next update. It's not as if I really use /war for anything other than personal enjoyment.

As for events, I haven't seen SoV in what feels like forever. Or NBA for that matter. Stuck at work late on Mondays and I always miss Thursdays. If any of you are reading this, I haven't forgotten you all. Just not enough time to make it with work keeping me pinned to my desk. It should settle down soon though.

Regarding Epic, I haven't been there much either. For the same reasons. I've made it to a couple of events, namely a couple of ZNMs (yes, we switched from SCNM for some reason) and Limbus. We did Dynamis-Bubrimu last week, or should I say it did us? The boss NM must have had sneak/invis up, because no one could find it until it was too late. So we timed out. We got 1 Byne Bill during the entire run. Hopefully this week will be better, and please...can we get some damn iceland runs? If I can get enough gil, I'm going to see if I can start sponsoring runs and just keep us in the icelands / CoP zones. Cities suck, period. I think we have enough sets in Limbus to do Omega / Ultima. Now to just hope enough people can make it, myself included.

Other than that, I can't really say much has happened lately. I do have a few rants that I can go on about, but lately I've been trying to hold back on the bitching. Kind of sad that the only thing I really talk is the stuff that bothers me. Granted, that's why I made this blog, but still. Who knows, maybe I should just let it all out. I tend to feel better after a good rant.

Got Hacked?

2010-06-03T16:47:00.005-04:00

I just saw this on Starcade's blog and thought I'd pass it on. What initially looked like a fake attempt at phishing may very well be real.

Several people have been receiving the following email about a security breach on Square-Enix's side:

Dear valued FINAL FANTASY XI player:

Square Enix is committed to protecting your user information. We have just been alerted to a potential breach of Square Enix’s secure systems from an external source. This may have resulted in the disclosure of a limited number of PlayOnline IDs, passwords and user account data. Please be assured that your credit card data has not been compromised. We are taking this matter very seriously and are conducting a full investigation.

As a precaution we are notifying you of this potential breach and we are resetting your PlayOnline password.

Please contact our Support Center by web chat and obtain a new password that differs from your prior password. Please keep this new password safe and always be on the alert for any “phishing” emails that ask you to disclose personal or financial information.

Support Center
http://support.na.square-enix.com/jump/chat2/

Hours of Operation: Mon-Fri 9:00AM to 6:00PM
*This week only, the Support Center will handle calls for this issue on Saturday June 5, and Sunday June 6.
*Please note that due to a large number of calls, it may take a long time until your call is handled. We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause.

This e-mail has been sent out for your information only. Please do not reply to this e-mail address.

Again, we apologize for this inconvenience and we thank you for your continued support.

The people over at Bluegartr have been going back and forth with Customer Service, and it seems that several accounts have in fact been reset. I definitely suggest that you check your emails, and if you have this...call customer support before you log on.

Cyclones, Squids, and Cleavage

2010-06-03T14:57:00.006-04:00

Just a little update on my monster raising adventures...

First, I'm addicted to Pankration now. Seriously, this stuff is a blast. I should've tried it out back when EP mentioned it so many moons ago, but oh well. I'm in it now and that's what matters.

I'm still working on my little champ, Dark Cyclone. Now that the victory over Yoko's flea has been secured, I've been focusing on ways to make it even better. My eventual goal is to win the matches in the Diablos arena, but that is going to take a bit of time.

My current setup for it is as follows:

Magic Attack +15%
INT +25
Damage Reduction Bonus Lv. 50
Black Mage Scrolls

I'm debating on dropping the Magic Attack and replacing it with some new options, but in the meantime I'm going to get Stoneskin and possibly Phalanx. I want to find a good balance between defense and offense, because it's heavily one-sided at the moment. I've never known elementals to be squishy, but mine unfortunately is. On the plus side, if you don't drop him quickly, he'll whip your ass with a few spells. I'm actually a bit embarrased that my elemental proportionately outdamages me, but hey...you're supposed to surpass your teacher right?

Other than Cyclone, I decided to rasie a couple of other fighters. I happened to find another Magic Attack plate from an ZNM I helped with in Caedarva Mire:

Looks pretty badass, right? Well once again, the Pankration version is never as awesome as the real thing. This guy sucks. I actually think I'll remove the Black Magic spell plate I gave him and just let him run on standard Soulflayer abilities. For some reason, he was doing a lot better when he couldn't cast anything new. It might be wise to hold off on introducing new abilities and whatnot until he's able to survive the battles longer. Of course, he's only level 16, so I don't expect him to be super awesome. It's just sad though when a soulflayer loses to a beetle.

The newest intro to my group of fighters comes in the form of Ru'Aun Gardens Groundskeeper, appropriately named Mighty Machine. This one is showing some real promise right from the start. With STR +25 and Double Attack +15%, it hasn't lost a single match yet. I think I'm going to have some fun with this one, but Cyclone is still my favorite. First loves and all that.

Bah, I want to leave work so I can get back to the arena.

EDIT: On an unrelated note, I finally got my Raparee Harness yesterday. ^_^ Now to just get a pair of Enkidu's Leggings + Etoile Tights and Dancer should be set from a haste perspective. Also, after looking at myself in that armor, I realized that it's not the haste that makes it so desirable.

Removing the blindfold

2010-06-03T01:44:00.004-04:00

I haven't let out a nice rant in awhile, so I think it's time for one. However, this isn't me bitching about something stupid that SE has done, or about failed event. Nah, this is a tad different. It's a rant about me.

I don't know when it happened but, at some point in my Vana'dielian existence, I started carrying a really negative opinion of myself. I look down on everything I do, and make it seem as if everyone else is so much better than I could ever hope to be. It's actually become rather severe, to the point where I won't even change to some of the jobs I've taken to 75 out of fear that I wouldn't be good enough.

I wish I could pinpoint the exact moment when I started this thought process. Mainly so I could slap the shit out of myself and make me realize how stupid it was. Maybe it was all the forum reading at Bluegartr and FFXIAH. It could've been all the shouts in Whitegate about how "gimp" a person is and that they don't belong. Or me watching LS chat and seeing so many people brag about things they have and how high all their stats are. I don't exactly know. However, what I do know is this: it ends now.

I've literally spent almost my entire time here thinking that I'm not good enough. My blog is evidence of that. I put myself down and say I'm gimp even on my own damn blog. I should be talking myself up about how awesome I am and shit like that. Bragging about all the things I've accomplished and the gear I've picked up. Instead, I mention that I'm happy for getting something, and still call myself gimp.

You might wonder why I'm even going on about this. It's pretty simple. I got invited to a Salvage run tonight. That's not something phenomenal on its own, but what happened inside is what opened my eyes. Prior to entry, when people were getting jobs assigned, I assumed I'd be the backup RDM. Sit at the backline and just help the real players do their thing. After all, it's Salvage. This is where the elitist live. The best of the best, the cream of the crop. The best gear in the game can only be obtained here.

Surprisingly, I was asked to come as a Samurai. The only Samurai.

Needless to say, I was scared as hell. I just knew I was going to be the weak link. Something I would do in there would cause the entire run to fail. We wouldn't be able to kill enemies fast enough, or I wouldn't be able to survive, or any of a thousand other reasons in my head that made me think it was a bad idea. We got our group together and went inside. I was nervous that I'd lot the wrong cells, so I grabbed my weapon cell and passed everything else.

At that moment, I was making those negative thoughts a reality. By giving all of the cells to everyone else, I was basically ensuring that I would do poorly. A few minutes later, I pulled my head out of my ass and started lotting. I'm a Sam and it was my job to kill shit. That's exactly what I did. You know what else? I did a damn good job too.

That's been my problem all this time. I'm the reason that I haven't been as good as I could be. I am forever holding myself back, thinking that if I really put forth the effort to improve, I'm going to fail and be the screw up that I think everyone expects me to be. I don't go to merit parties for that very reason. Thinking that I won't have enough MP to keep everyone alive, or that I won't do enough damage as DD and wind up being laughed at on a forum somewhere.

That's just stupid. I have no reason to think that way. I've been taught by some downright fantastic people. Bhinasha, Yoko, Davik, Miliani, EP, Dizzmal, Cal, Jeffil, Brim, Quig, Saren...the list is huge. All this negative bullshit I carry around is a slap in the face to each one of them and completely negates all the things they've done for me.

The point of all this is pretty simple. No more of this "Jaci is gimp" shit. I'm not going to look down on myself for not having what everyone else has. What I have is pretty damn good. Is it the "best" available? Maybe not, but I don't care anymore. I'll get the best in time, and if I don't, then I'll just be the best I can be with what I have.

I have twelve level 75 jobs, and I'm good with each and every one of them. I wish it didn't take me so long to realize that.

Oh, and for those of you who helped feed this negativity that I've been carrying for so long: piss off. I don't need your approval to know that I'm a good player. All I had to do was take off that blindfold, and I can see just how good I really am.

Accept the Inevitable

2010-06-02T09:26:00.004-04:00

Well, it's June. The time is upon us.

Time to find out if Scholars will completely overthrow White Mages. Will Black Mages now have more MP via Convert? Will White Mage become the ultimate taxi-service with regular Teleport, Recall, AND Warp 2? What awaits us in the Walk of Echoes? Are we finally going to see an end to the CoP shouts in Whitegate?

So many questions that need to be answered and fears that should be laid to rest. The truth is, none of know what's about to happen. It's all speculation, except for the vague updates that SE has been feeding to us. All we can do is hope for the best.

In the meantime, it's time for everyone to start leveling those subjobs if you haven't already. I'm not even going to bother trying to find an East Ronfaure [S] party. I imagine that place will be jam-packed day in and day out for the next month or so. Thankfully, I only have two classes to level. Unfortunately, they are two that I really don't want to touch.

Well, Warrior isn't so bad. My only issue is that I'm one of those people who used an axe during my leveling, so I'd probably get funny looks for not using a great axe. I suppose I could always just use FoV and solo my way to 40. Not to mention, I had a weird dream not long ago about this job. I was running around with a great axe, doing Steel Cyclone to various enemies. Why I was dreaming of a job I rarely use is beyond me.

The job I truly want to avoid is Ninja. I don't dislike the job as much as Dark Knight, but I still don't want to level. At first, I was pretty gung-ho about it after I saw this video awhile back. I had even intended to level past 37 and go all the way to 75. Unfortunately, I remember taking a trip to the auction house to buy tools. When I saw the insane price of things such as Kurayami, Hojo, and various other items, I said screw Ninja and left things as they were.

So, if I plan to use a DD job ever again, it looks like I'm going to have to buy those tools after all and get to leveling. Damn you and your level increase, Square-Enix. Damn you to hell.

Unleashing the Monster

2010-06-01T10:08:00.008-04:00

Curiosity is a dangerous thing. Very dangerous. At the same time, it can lead to a lot of fun. Thankfully, fun is exactly what my curiosity brought me this weekend. Story time!

I've been getting into ZNMs lately, and it's pretty interesting so far. For now, I've just been collecting zeni points and helping out with the fights, but it's something new to keep me occupied. Sanraku is a royal pain in the ass with his enemy of choice for pictures, but I guess the rewards at the end of the journey are worth it. Maybe.

Anyway, while getting points with Davik last week, we had a conversation about another purpose for these pictures. Pankration, FFXI's version of Pokemon. Now I'll be honest here: I am not a fan of Pokemon. Not in the least bit. I only know the "I choose you!" phrase because I once had a co-worker run around the office while shouting it whenever she spent hundreds of dollars on a rare card for her kid.

He told me that he had done Pankration for a bit, and thought it was neat. Naturally, I was opposed to the idea, but eventually figured I'd at least give it a shot. Hell, I had nothing else going on other than leveling a new job. Not only that, but winning Pankration gives you Jettons, and I was at 2. Spending Imperial Standing for gold pieces gets costly after awhile.

Just so happened that Sanraku decided to change his tastes to elementals while Davik and I were farming points from Marids. We weren't pleased. So of to Ru'Aun Gardens we go. On the way there, we found a Dark Elemental. Of all the elementals to fight, I think these are the worst. Sleep doesn't stick reliably, they spam Sleepga II on you, and they are a general annoyance to anyone who aggros them.

Sounds like the perfect candidate for a fighter.

We fought it for a bit and got the HP down, then the fun began. I was a Bard, so I had Lullaby on my side for sleeping. Unfortunately, the duration for Lullaby is almost exactly as long as the recast on the Soultrapper 2000 camera. Anyone ever play Fatal Frame, by the way? That's what this camera reminds me of.

We manged to get a couple of pictures in before this thing became a serious problem. Now to figure out how this Pankration crap works. I checked wiki for half a second before I saw the immense amount of information regarding this "game." I said to hell with it and went to my Mog House.

Then curiosity got me. I went to the Colosseum and figured out how to create my fighter. Not as complicated as I thought. After getting my Official Soul Reflector, I registered my Pit Monster for its first match. Two seconds later, it lost its first match. The elemental that nearly kicked my ass a short while before got beat down by a Treant Bulb. I went back to the registration counter and tried again. Another beatdown. Now I'm annoyed.

I kept trying for about 10 matches when I finally threw in the towel. I went to the main counter and started reading all of the information they had to give. I also found out that I didn't have to call my little elemental "Pit Monster" anymore, which was a huge relief for me. After awhile, I realized that I could use the same soul plates that I had been collecting to add skills to my fighter, and not just use them for creating one. So now I'm back in action.

A few additions later and I sent "Celestial Darkness" into the pit. Fail. Things just weren't looking so good for me. Meanwhile, this Taru comes in with an elemental of his own and dominates the arena. A dark elemental casting Thundaga?? What the hell, they don't do that when we're normally fighting. My curiosity has now been piqued. I went to wiki and started reading about the Feral Skills and anything else that could help improve my chances.

I grab my camera with some blank plates and go to work. Not only do I want to improve my "elly", but I have to prove that I can figure this out. A little while later, I come back with Magic Attack, Defense Bonus, and several other plates to add a some spice to my fighter.

Dommi saw me online and decided to come help and hang out as well. I don't know if it was showing off for her or something else, but suddenly my elemental stopped dragging ass and started kicking some instead. Three straight wins and 100 Jettons each! As you can tell, I was excited...and hooked. I stayed in the pit and continued training, only leaving to go to LS events.

Hour after hour, I trained my little elly. I learned about the behaviors and various attack patterns, as well as how to boost it's strength even more. I still ran into several obstacles, but we stayed at it. Working in the pit became more important that going out to level jobs or Nyzul Isle shouts. I still lost more than I won, but I was determined to see this through.

Around level 12 (thought I was higher after all that, huh?), Yoko comes online and mentions that she toyed with Pankration too. Cool. She has Chigoe and Diremite and asked if I wanted to fight. This would be a nice test to see how I did against an actual player. She failed to mention until after the fight that her flea was level 20. That lit the fires within, let me tell you.

Back to wiki I went, and with new determination. My sights were set on kicking that little flea's ass. We trained and trained, and I gave it a new name. The original just didn't sound right, but then I remembered a name of a spell from my time in Istaria. A destructive force of nature that would wreak havoc every time it was cast: Dark Cyclone. Now that sounds more like it.

I had to build Cyclone up to beat that flea. I went out everywhere to get skills. Ro'Maeve, Caedarva Mire, you name it, I went there. I took pictures of every enemy I fought, even snapping shots of other ZNMs and the sky gods during battle. I'm telling you, my little elly was going to beat that damned flea.

The next day, Yoko comes online and asks if I'm ready. I welcomed the challenge, and was ready to see what Cyclone could do. The match starts, and my little guy moves into position.

This was it. Time to see if all that training paid off. He had done fairly well against several enemies in the pit, and we got some massive leveling in. I had no idea if Yoko had done more training or not, and I wasn't taking any chances. Apparently, neither was Cyclone. One Aeroga cast and the match was done. The picture says it all.

I admit, it felt pretty damned good. Not only because I won, but because I literally could see the differences in my fighter since I started. When it's health gets low, it goes on the defensive and recovers. When enemies attempt certain moves, it stuns, sleeps, or gets the hell out of the way. Sometimes I am truly amazed at the intelligence these pankration enemies have. I imagine if they fought this way outside, we would have one hell of a hard fight on our hands.

On top of it all, there is a feeling of pride and accomplishment with this. If your fighter sucks, it's because you did it wrong. But that's ok, because you can change things at any time. You can always take a fighter and retrain or add different skills. It's truly up to you, and when you see those victories, you know it wasn't some random roll of the dice. You made that happen. You took a monster with a blank slate and created a champion.

In a way, Pankration makes me very curious about Blue Mage. There I go again. =/

Assault makes everything better

2010-05-29T09:15:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, we decided to waste an hour or so in Dynamis-Valkurm. I say waste because we were going to farm the zone and didn't kill the Mega Boss. As a result, we didn't get maximum time. Just throws me off a bit at the notion of going to farm a timed zone and not get as much time as possible for farming. Whatever, I'm just thankful that we didn't have to go to Windurst.

As you all know, Dynamis is boring. There's just no way around it. The only time it is remotely entertaining is when you are a tank or if trouble breaks loose. Aside from the action, or lack thereof, the music adds to the boredom. Xarcabard being the only exception, but even that music isn't really much better. It just happens to be different, so that makes it slightly better than the depressing chant dynamis zones are known for.

So I had an idea. Well, my original idea was to mpk everyone. (I tease, but that would've made things interesting.) Instead, I decided to change the music. What I listen to on a normal basis is usually either very relaxing or some type of techno-trance, depending on the mood. Neither of those really fit the dynamis "slay everything that moves" scheme. So what does?

THIS:

Hell yeah. Take that boring ass dynamis zone and turn it into a full-on Assault! Things got even better when Allistor made a mistake during the pull and we had 6 manticores come after us. We didn't stay in the zone for long, and the drops were extra sucky (Nin and Sam belts), but the music was awesome and I didn't get sleepy like I normally do.

Everything ended and I finally went to sleep because I didn't know what else to do at the time. This morning, I took a trip to the sandbox. Just out of curiosity, I played the same tune while slaughtering bunnies and chasing lizards. True enough, the sandbox became an action-packed zone of awesomeness.

Maybe this is a sign that I need to do more assaults, but that music sure as hell does make everything better.

Realigning the Focus

2010-05-25T20:24:00.008-04:00

I've been doing some thinking, yet again.

Remember awhile back when I was talking about being typecast in particular roles and losing the enjoyment of said role as time goes on? I still believe in that thought process, but with a few exceptions. I've also come to realize that while it may be annoying as hell, my hesitation to change a few things isn't doing any good either.

I find that I get bored with jobs rather quickly. Well, bored is a strong word. I enjoy every job I've leveled or I wouldn't have done it. Even White Mage. It's more a matter of frustration when I start to feel that I am not as useful in a particular role. To counter that feeling, I level something different. I don't remember what jobs I had at the time when I first brought this up, but I know it wasn't many. I think I had just recently leveled Paladin. Well, a lot has changed since then.

Currently, I have twelve jobs at 75. At first glance, you'd think that's a great thing right? That's what I initially thought, but not so much now. The reason being is that a job doesn't become immediately useful once you reach the level cap. I knew this from the start, but I always thought that if nothing else, I'd be able to help out in some way. Even if just a small amount.

The problem was that when I leveled a job, I wanted to use it. I was in the mindset of leveling to meet an immediate need without taking into consideration the things required for that job to be truly helpful. You know, have the job available and when you know you're going to be using it, then you work on really bringing out the full potential. I see that now as backwards thinking. Regardless, I now have several classes that are dire need of gear upgrades and merits.

I don't know about you, but twelve jobs has been a very costly thing for me, both in time and gil. While many of them can share gear to an extent, once you really involved with any particular job, there are several pieces that just don't work as well as multi-use items. So what do I do about it? After a lot of thinking and hesitation, I figure the best thing to do is follow Cal's advice and just focus on a few jobs and leave the rest as "toy classes." Now it's a matter of deciding which classes to turn my attention to.

Out of all my available classes, I find myself primarily on 3 for any given endgame event. Samurai, Red Mage, and Paladin. In truth, out of those 3, I'm more of an RDM than anything else. I could go the super extreme route of retiring everything except RDM, but that wouldn't be a wise move at all.

I think the next step will be to sell off my non-ex gear for the other jobs so I'll have both gil to buy better gear and the space to store it. I admit that I don't really want to do this, but my original plan of being helpful doesn't really seem to be helping at all. Maybe this will make things a bit easier. Not to mention, it's a lot less stressful to only worry about 3 jobs as opposed to 12.

The Sound of Music

2010-05-18T21:40:00.005-04:00

Actually, this has nothing to do with music, but it does deal with sound. More specifically, the sound of voices.

I suppose you could say that a voice is similar to music. It can be the most wonderful thing you've heard, or equally annoying. I'm sure no one here is new to Ventrillo. For awhile, I was. I started using it when I was in a Nyzul static. Of course, I never bothered to speak; I simply listened.

Then I left it alone and never bothered again. Until recently. SoV uses Vent quite a bit, and every now and then I sign on and lurk in the channel. Just like with Epic, I rarely say anything in LS chat. You wouldn't peg me for the silent type, especially since I ramble on forever on this blog and while at work.

Moving on. Last night, for whatever reason, I decided to hang out in the SoV channel while most of them went on to do other things. The more that I just sat there and listened to them talk about non-game topics, the more...personal things became. I don't mean personal as far as conversational content, but the overall feeling while I was there. It was relaxing to say the least. I didn't feel odd like I normally do. I still never said anything, but in my room, I was laughing and smiling along with the rest of them.

Well, surprisingly enough, Epic turned on their vent channel tonight as well. So, since I had a good time in SoV's channel, why not try this one? Besides, I've "known" Epic longer, so it should be a fairly simple ordeal. It was as if I never knew them before. This was a great thing, because any impressions that I may have had before were completely cleared. Really, it felt pretty awesome. I was more inclined to chat in the LS, and even made a few jokes. Of course, one joke was about Jesus and chain letters while we were doing an SCNM fight. I guess the NM didn't like the joke, and I found myself on the ground. Quadav take religion seriously, it seems.

Right now, I'm listening to same streaming game music over vent with the LS. It's fairly understood amongst us gamers that we have some similarities. Yet, when you are able to move beyond the keyboard and actually hear the person you spend so many gaming hours with, it's amazing at just how similar we really are.

I might even buy a microphone.

EDIT:

We did the Buried God SCNM tonight, and let's all say HELL YEAH! I got my groovy ranger hat! No sense repeating a post already made, so click that link for the details on EP's blog. Damn, it is the ugliest piece of gear besides the goliard saio. Still, I'm damn glad I got it. Improving my jobs, one piece at a time. ^_^

Weekend Warrior

2010-05-18T16:19:00.011-04:00

Despite the fact that I was sick all weekend, I did manage to get a few things done. Or rather, I participated in a few things. Some of it was fun, while others were pretty frustrating. I'm always frustrated though, so it's nothing new. Anyway, read on:

A Painful Day in the Past

Last week was a pretty awesome week for Cerberus. We actually took over all of the northland zones and unlocked the Fiat Lux BCNM! I think we may have unlocked it once before, but that's not important right now. Naturally, shouts were heard all over the place. So I went to the past to get the campaign operation, but realized my rank wasn't high enough. Off to the battlefield I go.

Contrary to the picture above, I did really well in campaign. Xarcabard [S] is just a pain in the ass place for a campaign battle. I usually go as SAM/DNC or RDM/BLM when I want some good exp, but it looks like DNC/NIN is a solid choice now too. Having Pyrrhic Kleos helps a lot as well. So a few fights in and I was at the highest rank. Most people already had the DD needed, and were searching for a bard. Just so happens I'm a bard, and somehow a few people knew this. I got an invite during a dagger trial and gladly accepted.

I rethought my happiness along the way.

First, taking the Manaclipper in Bibiki Bay sucks. Seriously. I had just arrived to camp an NM when I got my invite. The NPC said 14 minutes for the next boat. I figured that would give me some time to kill a few placeholders and maybe spawn the NM. I set aside 10 minutes to do this and then I'd run back to the dock. Ten minutes later, I reach the dock, only to find that the boat the NPC was talking about was the wrong one. In the meantime, one of the group members tries to take the boat on the other side to reach me, but that one just goes in a circle. While he was on his way, I went back to the NM so we didn't miss each other on boats. That was a mistake, because I didn't realize his route was in a circle until the boat coming to my side had already passed. The end result of this was an hour wasted until I finally go to them. I'm surprised they waited, to be honest. Still, I'm thankful.

Now we get to the fun part: the trip to the throne room. After we all arrive in the castle, I start buffing myself in case I get aggro. They asked for me to go as /whm, and I didn't have any oils / powders on me. So what do I do? Cast sneak of course. Four seconds later, sneak starts wearing. I take a few steps back and recast. Magic aggro. I ran back to the zoneline and lost aggro, but lost the group as well. A few minutes later, I catch up. We get to the maze area with all the doors and whatnot, but someone gets aggro in a bad place. Some ran, some fought. We killed our initial aggro, but then a domino effect of aggro took place and we ended up wiping.

One of the guys was in a really bad spot when he died and had to homepoint. Turns out this was a good thing, because he also had forgot to get a new campaign tag while waiting for me. The rest of us regroup and move forward, while one member stays behind to assist the other when he came back. Once we made it to the BC, I got all of the rules explained to me. Thankfully, I wasn't there to be the sacrificial lamb. I die enough without trying; getting me to kill myself intentionally would be problematic.

We managed to do two runs before my LS event, but both ended in failure. We got really damned close on the second run, but the Shadow Lord decided to spam the HP down move and his shadow clones. We didn't have enough stunning power to handle that, and we lost again. I queued the mission so I can go again, but so far I haven't had any luck with a group.

Operation Pixie Freedom!

It's been a long time coming, but it looks like OPF was a great success! Read this post if you don't know / remember what I'm talking about. Every now and then, I still visit Witchfire Glen and drop off a pixie if I'm ever in possession of one, and it looks like many others have done the same. Pixies are in the present! Maybe this isn't news to anyone other than me, but can it. I'm happy.

I haven't seen them in many areas, but the fact that even one is in present time is a cause for celebration. Keep those pixies alive and free!

More Mercury!

I think I said more than enough the Trial of the Magians in my previous post, but here are some pictures to go with it. It's a good thing I managed to run into a few helpful / courteous people while going through this. At least I'm not the only one in this mess of a quest.

My evil dancer impression while waiting for the Nocuous Weapon to spawn.

I got some Lv38 drg greaves from this. A shame I'm already 75.

Really, there was no point having Karyn. Even at 70, she barely hit them.

Guilty Kindness?

A picture is worth 1000 words. I don't have the picture that I really want to show (passing of an item), but I can at least explain the situation. Before I get started, let it be known that I think the end result was extremely selfless and kind. However, due to the circumstances surrounding the act, I think it would've been difficult to choose any other path.

As you can see, we were doing KS99. I think this was the third run of the night. We were on a winning streak and I think we may have just let ourselves get comfortable and relaxed. Dizz started getting hammered and his HP was low. Unfortunately, there was a fatal delay in healing and even though we semi-recovered, we ultimately lost. Koroki, the orb holder, was less than pleased and everyone felt bad. To end the night on a better feeling than this, we did a final run and made sure everyone had their act together.

When the run was over, the chest contained some pretty decent drops. Of particular interest was a Wyrm Beard. This orb holder, Negaa, didn't have a use for the beard at the moment, so it was decided to let our Monks cast lots on it. Just so happens that Koro was a 75 MNK and needed the item. One of our newest members, Fahzewn, is also a 75 MNK. After it was declared that neither had the beard, they both prepared to lot. Fahz went first with a whopping 900+.

Now here's the situation. It was suggested that it would be a kind motion to allow Koroki to have the beard since his run was...well, ruined. I can understand this to a point but, at the same time, the holder of that beard was to be decided via /random. From that point forward, the only thing that should have mattered was who had the highest number. Instead, it seemed as if the entire shell went silent. Staring at the treasure pool while waiting for Fahz's decision. No pressure, right?

Fahz is a nice guy. He's been really nice since I met him on Hades. Even though he was given an option to keep the item, I don't see him choosing any other option. Such a choice is made even harder when everyone is waiting for you to make a decision and the clock is ticking. I think in such a case, everyone else should have just left the area and let those two decide what will happen. Or, since it was the entire LS that failed to finish the run, that we should all pitch in to do something for Koro to help recoup his loss. Fahz did a great thing in passing the item, and I'm sure that kindness will be returned many times over.

Anyway, there are other things I did, but I didn't take many screenshots. Now I have to get back to the game, as I'm sure people think I'm ignoring them since I'm not answering their tells.

Trial of the Magians: I did it for the mercury

2010-05-15T10:07:00.005-04:00

In an earlier post, I made mention of the Trial of the Magians and how I probably wouldn't be participating in it. Well, I changed my mind, but not for the reason you might think.

Imagine the following conversation...

Moogle: Hi!! Want a cool weapon?
You: Sure
Moogle: Awesome! It's pretty simple. I just need you to do a few things.
You: Naturally. What's the catch?
Moogle: First, pick one of these plain weapons from a crate.
You: Ok, now what?
Moogle: I know it's a crappy weapon and it would take forever to kill anything, but
Moogle: using it to do these few tasks will magnify its power exponentially!
You: Sweet. So what's the task?
Moogle: Oh, it's nothing big. I need you to find a few Notorious Monster and beat
Moogle: them down with this weapon. No worries, the NMs aren't hard for someone
Moogle: like you. Ok, now I need you to fight these guys more than once, just so you
Moogle: get the feel of the weapon. Let's see. How about the Nocuous Weapon first.
You: Sure. Wait. Isn't that like a level 20 monster?
Moogle: Yeah, something like that. See, no problem for you, right?
You: I guess.

You kill the Nocuous Weapon and return to the Moogle...

You: Ok, it's done.
Moogle: Oh, you must have forgotten. I need you to fight it three times.
You: Why three? Is something different supposed to happen?
Moogle: No, but you need to get used to this new weapon. Two more times please.
You: *sigh* Fine.

You camp this NM for a bit longer, killing the placeholders who reward you with nothing because you're too high level and you can't change to a low level job because your weapon is 75 and no one wants to sync to you for several hours just so you get some exp. Finally, the deed is done.

You: Ok, I fought it three times.
Moogle: Outstanding! Let me upgrade that for you. Here goes!

A flash of light blinds you as your weapon is transformed.

Moogle: Whew. Ok, here's your new weapon. ^_^
You: ...
Moogle: It's rather awesome, no?
You: You added some attack to it. I went through all that for this?
Moogle: Oh no, that's just the first stage. You can do a lot more to this weapon!
Moogle: I have a whole list of NMs to fight, items to get, and enemies to slay!
Moogle: Are you ready?

You walk away, disgusted.

**********************

An exaggeration? Not really. I realize that SE is fast running out of fresh ideas; the level cap increase is a good sign that they are digging deep to find something to keep people busy. Same thing goes for FoV augments and the Fey quests. Surely we couldn't have something as simple as deciding which augments we want and then fight an appropriately difficult monster to attain them. Instead, it becomes a time sink due to the fact that the augments are 100% random.

Now we have the magian trials; a task of endurance that requires a ridiculous amount of NM camping, monster killing, and trophy collection. Perhaps it's just me, but does it not annoy anyone else even slightly that you have to be level 75 to camp a level 17 NM? Wouldn't it make sense if these trials were level appropriate? As an example, if we have to camp Black Triple Stars, then let the trial be available to those people in the 25-30 range.

Let's talk about damage. I can't speak on every weapon because I'm certainly not crazy enough to do them all. However, I'll talk about mine. The Athame OAT (occ. attacks twice) dagger. I'm currently on trial 11 and have to kill Hippogryphs. What bothers me about this is my dagger started out as this:

Which then became this:

and is currently this:

With each trial, the enemies I fight are stronger and stronger, so why in the hell is my damage rating getting weaker?? Thankfully, I offhand a stronger weapon, as I'm sure most do. Still, this seems just a tad silly.

Moving beyond the "kill 10,000 enemies which have no bearing on your weapon augments" task, let's get to the really difficult part. The final stage usually requires anothre 1500 various enemy kills, or multiple VNM trophies.

What the hell SE? Did you think about this at all? TEN freaking VNMs? Unless you can solo these, which isn't possible for some, it's going to take a long ass time until you get this amount of items. Especially considering the way VNMs work. You might have to fight 10 or 20 other VNMs before you can fight the one you actually want to fight. So you have to repeat that entire process lord knows how many times. I just don't get it.

Considering my opinion of it, you might wonder why I would choose to subject myself to this torture? Well, as the title suggests...it wasn't for the weapon per se. I'm not in a VNM shell and there's no way in hell to solo Urd / Skuld, and Verthandi is even worse. However, what I am is an Alchemist. Yep, remember when I started leveling that? Well, I went on a spending spree and bought out the Auction House on scorpion claws awhile back. I bought so many that I actually ran out of gil.

Now that I'm level 62, I'm required to make some Venom Potions, which happens to require mercury as a primary ingredient. I could go buy some, but at the time...I was out of gil. Well, I had 20k, but that won't help much. Realizing that a good place to farm mercury would be in Ro'Maeve or Ru'Aun Gardens against pots and other arcana, it dawned on me: One of the weapon trials requires fighting a lot of arcana. Jackpot.

Why not? Kill two birds with one stone, and eventually give me a reason to stop using a Joyuese on jobs with a low sword rating. It all made perfect sense....then.

Hindsight is 20/20 and, after starting this trial, I realized what I did was pretty fucking stupid. I could've just spent a dollar to get a new content ID, transfer all that damned Venom Dust I made out of my delivery box, and get to the money that was waiting for me from all my auction sales. Then I could just buy the damn mercury and be done.

While I do believe this Magian deal is pretty silly, I have to admit being more silly for actually doing it. Especially considering the reason I started it. So the next time you undertake a difficult task for a stupid reason and someone asks you why you did...just say:

"I did it for the mercury."

2 for 1 Milestone!

2010-05-15T03:43:00.003-04:00

First, I'm sick. I'm currently camping some stupid NM that no one ever gave half a damn about until the Trial of the Magians came along. I'm currently 2/3 and then I'll be able to go kill 30,000 pointless enemies. At least I'm guaranteed to get a merit out of it.

In other news, I just noticed that I hit the 100th post on this blog! Go me! I don't know what the hell I've managed to talk about all this time, but it's taken me at least 100 blog posts to do it. I'm pretty impressed with that. I'm sure you are too.

But there is something even more special than 100 posts. This month, Revelations of Insanity had it's 1st anniversary! What started out as something to pass the time has slowly grown into a full-on bitchfest of a blog and you've been with me for every rant. Thanks for that.

So here's to another year of lord knows what, and I hope that you all are here with me next year. Considering the amount of things coming our way in the next few months, I'm more than certain that I'll have at least another 100 things to rant about.

SCNM, Sky, and 74!

2010-05-11T09:09:00.016-04:00

We went back to have more SCNM fun a couple of days ago, and this was a much better run than the last few that I can remember. Surprisingly, we had less people than before. We got through every NM in the area with only major mess up, and managed to build up an entire set for another boss fight. Perhaps we'll go today, but I'm really not certain.

I don't know what was different about this run. Although I had to go as PLD/freakinNin, I enjoyed this trip more than most. Maybe it was the near wipe at Observant Zekko, or the fact that I didn't die when fighting Ra'Dha Scarscute and that damn Dark Knight Quadav. It was just an overall enjoyable night. I can only hope that if we go, that damn RNG helm drops and I'm able to get it. That would be quite sexy, even if that hat itself is fairly ugly.

This was a previous run. Links plus a DRK NM who absorbs damage = not fun.

Miliani's attempt at an MPK was quite successful. ^^

Probably more successful than she wanted...

Pitchy pudding says hi.

EP and I dual tanked the remaining NMs for the rest of the night. ^_^

Last night was a date with Gods for SoV, and that was pretty groovy. I'm guessing Dizzmal decided to teach me a lesson by having me go as PLD/WAR since I don't personally like shadow tanking. Of course, Dierdren had me change from SAM when I was 5 seconds away from the crag. Twenty minutes later, I was ready to go. I swear I need more inventory space.

Anyway, while I'm personally more comfortable overall with /WAR tanking, I can see the merits of /NIN. Especially given the method SoV uses with every DD as /THF. This allows the DDs to control shifts in hate moreso than the tanks, at least from what I saw. Granted, I would provoke just after I saw most of the DDs on my side SATA me, then let the other half do their thing at the other end. Dizz managed to nearly MPK us at Suzaku because he wanted to be greedy and try for one more Atonement when Suzy chainspelled. Good recovery by everyone and it was a nice way to let go of any tension for the rest of the fights.

He wasn't the only one with a silly moment though. During the fight with Seiryu, he warned me about which abilities to hold and when to use them. Well, right when Hundred Fists went off, I got caught up in macro gearswap lag and hit Sentinel too late. No I didn't die, but I didn't pull enough hate in time to save Tidis. Poor guy dropped almost instantly. I'm afraid that death might give SoV one more reason to make Tidis come as RDM to events more instead of PLD. Cause you know, Tidis loves RDM.

I know I was an MP sponge, but the group did an excellent job of keeping me and everyone else alive. The overall drops seemed decent, but I think just about anything with the R/EX tag is decent, so what do I know. So yes, PLD/NIN is useful. I still don't like it.

I have more pictures of the event, but I'm at work and didn't mail them before I left.

If payouts were on the 1st of the month, this would be an official SoV Welfare line.

Now then, about that 74...

I decided to take another shot at Odin. I've done the fight 4 times so far, and only lost once due to some bad luck and some poor casting choices on my end. We were going to do a six member Summoner Burn this time. The last time I used this method with Epic (the person, not the LS), we blew through this with extreme ease. So, naturally, I was confident that we'd be able to do this again.

All I kept saying was I wish Epic was here...

I can understand being nervous when it's your first time going against Odin. You don't know what to expect, and he looks pretty intimidating. However, when every statement you make is countered with a "what if," the nervousness becomes flat-out annoying. You're 75 people; you should have a basic grasp of what to do in a bad situation. There are only so many "what if" occurrences that require a unique response to any given situation. The majority are a combination of common sense and experience. Needless to say, we wiped. Hello 74.

I should start bringing more reraise items to events.

Afterwards, we all said we'd try again. Thankfully, I happened to have another Talisman on me after helping Keyoku farm his earlier. Luck was on my side when I went to get it checked by the Qiqirn, so I got my items and then waited for everyone else to get ready. During this time, I learned a few things about my group.

The one thing that stuck out most was a SMN who mentioned they were astral burned. I do have my opinions on the burning method, but after reading umpteen forums threads about people defending it, I do try not to /rage at anyone who has taken a job all the way to 75 by spending couple of hours in the tunnel.

However...

When you know that you're about to do an event against something like Odin and every member is a key piece to the strategy, don't you think it would be nice to at least get your skills beyond level 12? Now some people will say that SMN magic skill is essentially worthless, but I beg to differ.

Of course our fail wasn't blamed on that. No no, it couldn't have been that. Instead, it was because no one was kiting the Odin Images. Despite the fact that I've done this several times with no kiter, that had to be the reason we failed. So this time, our underleveled SMN changed to RDM and attempted kited the images. Death still ensued, but we managed to pull out a win. One quick trip to the sandbox and it was back to 75 for me. I think this would be a perfect time to get in on some tunnel action and get a nice exp buffer so I don't delevel anymore. >.>

Some Old; Some New

2010-05-05T10:51:00.010-04:00

As I said earlier, it's been a busy week. Between leveling Dancer, dying with Epic, and killing dragons with SoV, I'm surprised that I've been getting enough sleep to go to work each morning. I'll do a recap of what's been going on, and it probably won't be in the correct order. Deal with it.

Sandbox Fun

For those of who either don't know or simply forgot, I refer to Cape Terrigan as the sandbox. Or, as Aneviaul calls it... Valkurm Dunes+1. As much as I don't like to solo, I find this place somewhat relaxing. Well, it was relaxing pre-merge. Now, trying to find a Beach Bunny is almost as difficult as claiming NMs. I won't be surprised if I start seeing people bot-claim regular enemies just to finish FoV pages as time goes on.

Little known secret: You can farm avatars from treasure caskets in Cape Terrigan.

The sandbox is the only place where it's required to get links when pulling.

Back to the Past

Epic's decided to start doing the SCNM battles again, which is kind of cool. Right now, we're in turtle land and we just did a few runs of The Buried God. Hopefully, we can go to Windurst and do that one. I'd love to get a hold of a Failnaught for some SAM/RNG Sidewinder spamming fun. For now though, I just have to hope that I can get Zha'Go's Barbut for Corsair and Ranger.

In the meantime, I've been asked to come to the pre-fights and tank as PLD/NIN. Honestly, I can't stand /nin when I'm a Paladin. I'm want to stand toe-to-toe and do some real battle, not worry about counting shadows and crap like that. Leave that shadow counting shit to the Ninjas.

See, THIS is what I'm talking about. Fighting head to head, lady to turtle. Fun stuff.

This is what happens when I count shadows and lose focus on the fight.

Reduce EXP Loss for the win. I certainly need it.

Random Limbus?

I have to admit that I like the look of the Temenos areas more than Apollyon, but that's because Appolyon and Promyvion have a dull look about them which puts me sleep. If we do Ultima, and I can get enough coins in time, I might have a shot at some Homam legs for Dragoon. That would really be awesome. Still, as fast paced as Limbus is, man do I miss Einherjar.

Beseiged!

This and campaign have to be the two best things to come out of the server merge. We have finally taken over ALL of the zones to unlock the Shadowlord BCNM, AND we have not lost a single Beseiged. Of course, two back to back fights are going on as I type this. Chances are that we'll lose the candy before I get back to the game. I'll think positive though and let you know how that turns out.

In an amazing turn of events, I did not die once! Well, for all 11 minutes that I was there.

Sky Dragons

SoV did Oury Cometh last week, and it was the first time I did the fight outside of CoP. Since all was doing was haste and healing, I really can't give an impression on how it was. One thing I will say, is that it's a long ass fight. Good lord. Either it has a lot of HP or lot of resistance. We also had to wait and only attack it in the air. Since we had to sleep it on the ground, we couldn't put the awesome Dia spell to good use. Still, it was a nice change of pace, and it gets us ready for some Bahamut V2 action! Cloth for a Sha'ir Manteel? I'm definitely interested.

In other news with SoV, we are still kicking ass in Sky. Dizzmal has made mention about putting on the "douche hat," but I think we're at a point where we no longer need to wear it. The LS made their point, and are being respected in Sky. On top of that, Dizz has shown consideration to other groups in there when they want to fight NMs as well. So that's a good thing, because I really don't like confrontation.

Caldar was going nuts in sky, and forced me to keep Phalanx II on him or he'd keep dying.

A Date with the Doctor

Bey and her husband, Frice, needed some help getting caught up on the ToAU expansion. After a few runs in the sandbox, Keyoku and I geared up and went to help out. It had been a long time since I did this fight, but it's the one against some experimental Khimaira and Shantotto basically wipes the floor with its hide. Since there was really no point in worry about DD, I whipped out my pedobear gear and kept the party alive. Mostly. We had a lot of fun, and I can't wait for them to get to the final fight. That music is just the best fight theme ever made.

Anyway, there's more to post, but it's almost a new game day and I've got some DNC exp to solo before Limbus. Someone should make a party and invite me. ; ;

How to run a Linkshell

2010-05-04T12:30:00.003-04:00

I'm in a rut, once again.

I've been in Vana'diel for nearly two years now. I've done my unfortunate share of bouncing from a few shells. Most were social, but there were a couple of event shells that I was a part of. The ones that I left were due to me being gone for a month at one time, and another due to some drama. Not wanting to develop a bad reputation of shell hopping, I found one and have been sticking with that for quite some time.

However, the longer I play, the more things start to bother me. Maybe it's me, so I'm going to ask for your opinion here. Does your LS have a goal? If so, does your LS have a plan, and do you know it? Now, before you answer, this entire post is moot if you have a single-event LS. For the most part, I don't see any real difficulty in planning out something like that. This is for multi-event shells only.

We have a habit of not sticking to a particular event for an extended duration. I am both thankful and annoyed by this. I'm thankful because I get exposed to various things, but then I am frustrated because it's hard to plan out how to upgrade yourself when you don't know what event you're going into. Our Dynamis has gone from twice a week to only Fridays. I'm not a huge fan of the four-hour deathfest that is Dynamis, but it's the only place to get AFv2 and I'm not rich enough to buy gear from other shells. Considering that drop rates are already shitty, cutting that percentage in half doesn't really help matters.

We used to have a fairly set schedule of events. Between Limbus, Dynamis, Einherjar, and whatever extra event we did, my week was pretty full. I was always busy, and knew what to look forward to. I could look at those events and figure out what gear I wanted for whichever job and go from there. It's not the same now. We stopped doing Einherjar after reaching the third tier (which frustrates the hell out of me). We've been doing Apollyon for awhile without a single Omega fight, and are currently doing Temenos. Finally, we've started bouncing back and forth between SCNMs and ZNMs. Well not really. We collected Zeni for a day or so and haven't actually fought a ZNM. Tonight, we're supposed to do one of the SCNM boss fights, but I'm not certain I even want to look at items to lot because I have no clue how long we'll be doing this event. On the other hand, I could just be a "loot whore" and try to take everything I can use simply because of that.

I just wish we had a plan, or that I knew what it is. If we're going to shift events around all the time, then say so. Give some reassurance that we're going back to certain events, and say when. Holding upgrade items or being afraid to lot AF because you don't know if you're ever going to finish the set or get the other upgrade item is very stressful. I ended up joining SoV because my LS just stopped doing sky and showed no interest in going back. Sure enough, it was decided to go back to Sky not long after I was in SoV. This ended up putting me in a bad spot, and had to choose between shells. Thankfully, I was able to come up with a solution since SoV has one run during Epic's "off days." That stress turned out to be a non-issue later, because Epic stopped going to sky not longer after we started again. I was nearly about to leave SoV, and it would've been for absolutely nothing. See my frustration here?

Some people tell me to just leave. That sounds simple in theory, but there are reasons that I stay. First and foremost, I like them. I won't stay somewhere that I don't enjoy being, and I do like the people in the LS. Davik, Epic, Milliani, EP, Squishie, and a few others. Hell, even Brim and his overuse of the " -.- " expression. Another reason is that I don't want to start over. It takes a long ass time to get points and move up in the queue for gear. At the same time, starting over with SoV proved to be a great thing. In the few months of being with them, I've picked up W.hands, Genbu's Shield, and freaking Byakko's Haidate. That's with only being able to make it to half of the events. Can you say hell yeah?

I'm sure I can keep going on and on and on, but I want to sign on and do more leveling before this event. I'd like to get Dancer to 75 and get a new Mythic ws to play around with. Man, those weaponskills are just so pretty. I might even level PUP for Stringing Pummel.

New Attitude

2010-05-04T11:28:00.002-04:00

I've been deciding what to do about my blog lately. Not in the sense of no longer writing; that would just be stupid. Instead, it's more about what to write, the layout, and the title. I find that many days, I force myself not to blog because it's usually just something that I feel like bitching about. Granted, that's most of what I do anyway, but I do exercise some restraint about how much griping I actually do.

Then again, why hold back? It's my blog after all, and if I want to gripe and bitch about something, then I should do it. I guess I don't want to alienate people from reading this if all I do is complain. I do talk about other things, and sometimes I even talk about stuff that makes me all warm and fuzzy. Not hot and bothered, but warm and fuzzy. There is a difference.

The current title, Revelations of Insanity, was thought of when I realized the craziness surrounding my experiences in Vana'diel. Not to mention, it probably also shows that I am personally crazy for noticing this stuff in the first place. After a brief internal shouting battle over events of the past few days, I think I might just change the title to something a bit more fitting, and blending in with the current iverb nomenclature:

iBitch

Catchy, no?

Now for the layout. If someone, i.e. Dizzmal, would get back to me about my graphics request from 5 years ago, I might finally have a custom header to go with a blog design in my head. Of course, I could register at BG and ask them for help too. I just don't like the attitude of the people there. Maybe someone at FFXIAH.com could help as well. I don't know; I just like bugging Dizz about it more.

Anyway, I've got some other stuff to blog about. It's been a pretty interesting week.

A puzzle

2010-04-26T08:10:00.005-04:00

Ok, I've got to put an end to this belief I carry. My self-image in-game is directly tied to how I perform. That should not be the case, but it is. It's become so bad that I filter out everything just to avoid seeing the damage that myself or anyone else is capable of doing so I don't feel as bad. I block out heals, weaponskills, everything. It's quite pathetic, really.

In terms of understanding my jobs, I'm set. I don't claim to be an expert, but I know every single job that I use. I use my abilities and pay attention to what I'm doing. I watch my party and adjust my play style to fit the situation where it's called for. I'm always open to advice and hints on some neat tricks, but I don't consider myself as having a lack of knowledge.

When it comes to gear / merits; however, I am at a loss. For one, I flat out refuse to merit anymore. If my LS invites me (a rare occasion) or a group full of friends, then I will go. Pick up groups and whatnot? Hell no. I need to get over it, but I am deathly afraid of meriting with strangers. Not due to having a bad group, but just my own view of myself and my equipment. Of course, everyone knows this, so it's nothing new. When I do get any merits, it's either accidentally through sky farming, or playing around in the sandbox / campaign battle.

Gear is a work in progress. Quite honestly, I'm in a bit of a quandary about that. People say to set priorities when it comes to upgrading and all that. This is fine and dandy, but I'm not sure which pieces of gear take priority over another. Also, I don't want to be pigeonholed, and that's exactly what will happen. Truth be told, that's the very reason I stopped paying as much attention to BLM, which was my primary reason for even playing this game to begin with.

So where do you start? Obviously, you need money, but how do you go about getting it? I have around 2,000 seals to waste, but I'm hesitant to use them with people I don't know. Then, which BCNM / KSNM has the best seal:gil ratio? Royale Ramble is nice, but then you end up flooding the market with ingots and the price drops. UO is always good, but the chance of winding up with a full load of crap is virtually guaranteed. Of course, everyone wants the 50mil Speed Belt from KS99, but there's a reason that and the Kraken Club cost so damn much.

What's next? Farming. I can't even begin to describe how boring this is for me. Nevermind the low inventory space that I have; just getting the drops is frustrating enough. Doesn't help that I only have Thief at 41, but am I seriously supposed to level a job all the way to 75 just so I can run around and farm materials to sell that I'll use to upgrade other jobs?

Another thing I could try is crafting. This one follows the old "it takes money to make money" saying. So far, I've level Alchemy to 60 and a Smithing to 14 or so. Now, it's my understanding that in order to really be useful as a crafter, you need to take one craft to 100 and every other to 60. I don't know about you, but I just don't have the patience or gil for that endeavor.

Now let's say that I actually go through with one of the above and make it my goal to get X amount of gil to upgrade gear. If I look at really trying to make my jobs useful, any one of them will require well over 15-20 million gil, and this excludes Salvage gear. I do have a Dynamis / Sky LS, and my main LS dabbles in various endgame events (without much consistency for various reasons). However, Dynamis / Sky is the only thing I routinely do, and that's once a week. So you can imagine how long it will take to get relic / sky gear for my jobs. Therefore, the fastest means of acquisition is to buy gear outright. My Dyna shell doesn't do payouts, and my attendance in Sky is so low due to my work schedule that it's basically pointless to worry about the payouts from there. I know I've missed at least two payouts, but whatever.

Disregarding luck on HQ synths and great drops from BCNMs, the amount of time it will take to get this much gil will take at least a year. Now I ask you, does this mean that I should go into some reclusive mode and just farm / craft until I get this amount of money? Is that how people do it? Just go away for months on end and then return as this well geared player? I'm serious here; I really need some type of advice because this is driving me nuts. If I'm actually able to do this, I'll more than likely be bored sick of any jobs I already have by then and switch to a different job, repeating this cycle all over again.

The only job I won't get bored with is Samurai, but everyone and their unborn child is a SAM. Except EP, but he's special. As such, the requirements of what makes an acceptable SAM now are so high that few people ever reach it.

I'm not a bad player. I know this and I've had several people tell me the same. I'm not one of those SAMs who comes to an event wearing gear that has people scrambling to find the "Remove Member" button when they see me, nor am I an incompetent mage who nukes in Lv.10 INT rings while wearing full RSE at 75. Still, I have this perception that I simply have not been able to break.

I know I'm rambling and all, but this has been bugging me for some time now. How do you guys manage it? I'm not the only one with multiple 75's, so I know there has to be a way to do this without losing my mind. I've got to find a way out of this situation. Anyone have some advice?

A Wasted Day

2010-04-19T12:00:00.007-04:00

That's how I want to describe yesterday. Well, it's actually how Aneviaul summed it up for me.

You see, I have this problem. Whenever I level a job, I tend to resort to Wikipedia's Equipment Guide for said job. It's full of handy information and advice for people who don't know exactly what to get. Of course, I could just say to hell with it and buy what I think would work, but due to my self-critical nature, that would just be disastrous. So how is this a problem, you might wonder?

A lot of the gear listed is either HQ (which I usually can't afford), or it's R/EX from some NM with incredible difficulty or extremely shitty drop rate. With that said, I bring you.... Belladonna.

I hate this NM.

The good thing about this lovely creature is that it spawns every 100 minutes. This is nice because you can get plenty of chances to kill it if you pay attention to the time. Unfortunately, this is one of those NMs with craptastic drop rates. Wiki be damned, and to hell with all of you who went 1/1 on this.

I spent all day...and I mean ALL day camping this goddamned flower, or whatever the hell it is. From 6 am to 9 pm, I planted (see what I did there) my ass in West Sarutabaruta and killed plants to pass the time. Every now and then, I'd run out and campaign or do something trivial until it was time for the next spawn. I lost the first claim because the stupid thing spawned on one side of a rock and waltzed right into the range of an RDM on the other side. The rest were all mine; gogo Animated Flourish!

Eventually, Yoko saw me out there and she brought her awesome treasure hunter along. Yoko has been my pocket thief for a long time, and I owe a lot of my gear to her TH. Bella said screw that and refused to give up the goods. We didn't even get a damn crystal.

Yokorye defeats the Belladonna... no drop.
Carinde defeats the Belladonna... no drop.

This went on for hours. I got one claim while Yoko was away and silly me didn't realize I was out of nin tools. Yeah, I died. Changed jobs and ran back as a naked BLM, hoping to claim before anyone arrived. I got the claim, but had no gear on me and not enough MP to really do anything. Guess what? Yeah, homepoint for me. I grabbed some shihei and changed back to Dancer. Got the claim again and killed it. Naturally, no drop. Talk about being pissed off.

Eventually, I saw that the LS was going to take pictures for ZNM, so I'm hoping that we'll get around to doing those. Personally, I only see three things I want from there: a pair of Oracle's Pigaches, the Alkalurops staff, and a pair of Hachiryu Haidate. Of course I want the Hachiryu body as well, but that requires beating Pandemonium Warden. No offense to my LS, but that simply isn't ever going to happen.

Anyway, I left moments before Bell was due to spawn, but I was tired of sitting around and wanted something different. I got a few pictures taken, then everyone decided to take a break. So that was exciting.

As a result, the only thing I had to show for yesterday was a few pictures of a worm in Aydeewa Subterrane and less exp on two jobs.

Finally I just said screw it and went to sleep.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

Yesterday was basically a huge pile of Marid shit. I was getting ready for work this morning and figured I'd go campaign since I'm a few days away from being demoted. I checked my map and saw a battle in West Saruta going on. So off I went, but then I stopped. Come on, you know I had to go look.

Of course, it wasn't up. I started to leave, but I kept getting this feeling. What if I leave and it spawns? What if this is the one? I went back to killing the plants and wasting more time. At least I could only spend an hour there this time. A few people ran through to check. An RDM, a PLD, and this 75 DNC who thought they were slick and used invisible. In case you happen to read this, I saw you.

Ten minutes before it was time to go to work, Bella spawned and I got the claim. After completely wasting the previous day, the damn belt dropped on the first fight of the second day.

Thank you Wikipedia, for giving me yet something else to drive myself crazy over.

Nyzul Isle - Never No More

2010-04-15T11:38:00.008-04:00

Nyzul Isle has been the bane of my end-game existence for as long as I can remember. Usually, it's one of two outcomes when I manage to reach floor 80:

We fight Cerberus and he drops something I don't need... OR

We fight Cerberus and he drops me.

That's usually it. It's a rare moment that the outcome differs from the above. Every now and then, I'll see Hydra appear. Of course, Hydra usually drops a weapon and that's it.

This morning was no different. It was prime time for the Japanese crowd, but I had time to burn and tags to waste, so I gave it another shot. Not to mention, I had capped exp for SAM since that horrid run in with a dragon not long ago. Off we go. I thought our party was pretty decent. We had SAM, SAM, DRG, THF, RDM, and BRD. I was happy with the setup and we went in.

First floor was chariots. At this point in my Nyzul career, I expect every floor to be chariots. We found the first one and stopped. I wasn't certain why we stopped, but we did. Everyone was just waiting for something to happen. I noticed our THF hadn't moved, so I took the initiative and tagged the chariot from a distance. Of course, I got aggro from a birdie but it was slept and we went on. For some reason, we were out of sync on that floor. Between no one sleeping, people not sticking together, or MP issues, I died twice and our DRG died right next to me. We also spent around 10 minutes on 76. Not happy.

I think we made it 78 when we got the 5 minute warning. Once again...not happy. We left the run and I asked who wanted to go for another round. Our DRG left and then our BRD decided to leave too. Cal saw me in the ruins and was hurt that I didn't invite him earlier, so I made sure to send a request his way this time. Few minutes later, I found a 6th and we were set. One tag gone, two to go. I changed jobs and we went in again.

I don't know if we were half-asleep before, but the next run was great. We ran through the floors like we were tearing through Valkurm Dunes. We got to the boss and it was none other than.... HYDRA! Fan-freaking-tastic. I just knew we weren't going to get anything. Everyone has a theory on the way drops work in this game. Let the THF get the last hit on an NM for best drops, or have a poor Taru die as a sacrifice. I have a new one: beat the shit out of the enemy so fast that it doesn't have a chance to hide the loot it was holding. Granted, I was an RDM and I didn't do squat to it outside of enfeebles, but Hydra dropped in mere seconds. When it was over, we still had 10 minutes to go, but I chose to exit instead. Mainly because I was too excited about what just happened. At an approximate cost of 54,250 tokens, say hello to this:

It was either the rock salt or the jacket. Obviously, the salt lost.

I couldn't freaking believe it. I am the master of making Askar or Goliard drop, but today, my luck changed. I think it's because I had Domie cheering me on and Cal in my party. Cal said Denali dropped because he had the power of funk music playing on his iPod. I dry humped his leg in thanks. Who says I'm ungrateful?

I am officially a sexy ass Corsair. Booyah.

Still, I had one tag left and I didn't want to be rude to my party for helping me out. So we went for one more run. This time, we ran into Khim. Cal's silly self decided to skip getting TP from the rampart and just rush in without buffs or the mages resting. Well, that's not entirely true. He did ask first and I told him to go play and have fun. He was giggling like a little kid. Khim fell with little issue and all we got was the Dancer dagger. The awesome part about it is that we had almost 15 minutes left in the run. I have never cleared a FL80 run that fast. So we laughed and decided to keep going. Turn it into a token farming run. Again, we tore through the floors. The force was strong with us today. When it was all said and done, we went from 76-84. We had about 3 minutes left, but decided to just exit and call it a day. We got a nice token reward though.

No drop on the boss, but it still ranks as the best run ever.

There are still items that are useful to me in that place, but I can now travel into Whitegate and honestly not give a damn about having enough tags to do a run when I see FL80 shouts. Time to focus on some real assaults and get that long overdue Captain rank. ^_^