On Task (kind of)

We all know I need a plan so I don't stress the hell out while playing this.  The next step is actually making one.  This is where it gets messy, because every class has so many things to do for it.  Simply saying that you're going to "gear up" whichever job is far too vague and could also take months to do.

Naturally, that's exactly what I'm doing because I'm an idiot.

Sometimes, you just have to accept your flaws and keep it moving.  So let's discuss what I'm doing and check my progress.  I figure by telling all three of you that are reading this about what's going on, it will help to keep me focused and maybe even prevent me from losing my mind.  Maybe.

It doesn't exist...

Ah, good old Voidwatch.  Lately, I've been spam-joining groups that I find for Ig-Alima.  Yes, I'm still searching for the ever-elusive Borealis great sword.  The Hoarfrost Blade gets the job done, but I want my shiny death blade.  I've been in the group with Ephexis most of the time, and he always makes an interesting alliance.  Aside from that, the drop rate on this is beyond horrible.  I have seen more Wroth Scythes in this run than all other weapons combined.  Stupid scythe.

Playing with Wyrms

I can only imagine how many lude comments will be made from the above title, but I'll leave that your imagination.  I think I am part of a hopefully dying breed of damage dealers who still don't have the E. Body armor.  Unfortunately, Nidhogg hasn't been to helpful in getting me out of that group.  Instead, he lovingly hands over some scales and other useless nonsense.  Not even a Ridill.  The good news is that once I have it, I can stress myself out over getting the actual cursed armor.  It's good to know what your future holds.  Although it hasn't dropped a damn thing except a load of disappoint for me, Bey was lucky enough to get her first piece of "king's gear," the Dalmatica!

Even though it's old...

With me and my awesome self-esteem issues, I was somewhat thankful when the Empyrean armor came out.  My reasoning?  I never got anything completed in Salvage.  While it sounds like a poor excuse, which it is, it was good to know there was an armor option out there that I finally had access to.  No longer did you have to wear Ares if you wanted to be a damage dealer, or Skadi if you were a thief.  Mages weren't confined to the stigma of being considered pitiful without a Morrigan's Robe.  In a way, it's comforting that some of the "casuals" could finally take part in end game.  Of course, now there are too many casuals who have no clue what the hell they're doing in these types of events, making things harder for many.  I suppose there really isn't a happy medium for this sort of thing.

Anyway, now there is the Level 99 Salvage, commonly referred to as "Neo Salvage."  Adding "Neo" to the name apparently makes it more epic sounding than "Level 99."  As I'm sure you already know, now the original Salvage armor can be augmented to be even more awesome than it was before.  So you know what that means...everyone and thier mother is rushing to get through the original tier.  This also means that I once again have felt the pressure to get this gear.  Well, I don't have a group for it, and since my gear was never really all that awesome originally, it's difficult to convince people to let me in now.  However, Lisamarie and Milhouse have been supportive enough to invite me when they have go in.  It's been an interesting experience, to say the least.  I do want to get better so I don't feel like such a third wheel, but I know that will come in time.

Rush to 100!

Speaking of Neo and remakes, there is also the new Nyzul Isle Uncharted Survey.  Granted, while neither Neo-Salvage or "Neo Nyzul Isle" are actually brand new, they are new as far as I'm concerned.  The Askar, Denali, and Goliard sets have made a triumphant comeback and you can once again see people standing in Port Jeuno with this very pretty armor.  Well, except Goliard.  That was never pretty.  The armor has new names (Phorcys, Thaumus, Nares) and very awesome stats to go with them.  The new Salvage armor can beat out this new gear, but no one is going to look at you in a negative light for showing up with NNI armor.

While the new Salvage is considerably easier than before, that's not the case with NNI.  Square-Enix decided to make this event particularly difficult for the players.  The worst part about NNI is the fact that there are no save points like before.  Now, you have to make it from 1-100 in 30 minutes.  Even with the floor jumps, you are heavily dependent on luck to get you through.  Because of this, players have to bring their A-game every single time.  There truly is no room for screw ups.  Finishing with only seconds to go is far from uncommon.  I've joined a couple of shout groups that went horribly wrong, but luckily Rocko recently invited me to his group and I've been having a lot of fun there.  Hopefully, I can make that a common thing and stick with them.  I'm more or less a standy person at the moment, but it's better than nothing.

Trials, trials, trials

Yeah.  I set myself up for all types of issues with this.  Why I have so many Empyrean trials active is beyond my understanding, but it's what I've done.  So, I'm slowly trying to get through whatever I can when I find the opportunity (and people) to do so.  Bey and Frice have been extremely helpful, and Misiisii / Dierdren have helped out whenever possible as well.  The flavor of the month for now is this Twashtar, since it was the very first Empyrean I ever attempted to complete.  With luck, I'll have my popsicle knife soon.  That would be kind of nifty.

Well, there's more for me to blog about and I have a few more pictures to add, but Swk's on me about going to finish these iron plates. Yes, I'm working on that too. I know....I know.

259.5

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?

The Sound of Music

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. ^_^