This happened a few days ago, but before I vanish into the black hole of my pending vacation, I wanted to post about it.
My wife and I were farming in the Sanctuary of Zi'Tah, when she sudden gasps. I look at her screen, and she's targetting and clicking on a Mog Tablet. We both absolutely freak out! She was so excited, giggling like a little girl. She headed for Jeuno to collect her reward.
I decided, for the hell of it, to head to Ro'Maeve. I began searching as she reached the moogle in the Gardens to pick up her ring, as well as getting a Noble's Bed. I didn't hold a lot of hope of finding one, so, I turned and headed for the zone when I saw a sparkle in front of me.
I targetted it, and up pops Mog Tablet on the screen, I click, the tablet spins up from the point and flies off. We were both yelling and happy at the unexpected EXP windfall! And right before our vacation together!
So, it is possible to get these rings, you just have to be in the right place at the right time.
Showing posts with label FFXI. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FFXI. Show all posts
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
Pawk's Next Job to 75 is...
...going to be SCH!
O.K., this post is a bit premature. I'm still 74 as of this post, but considering I have only half of a level to go, it's going to happen very soon.
Aside from that, the only recent ding was my birthday yesterday. I was going to post about that, but I decided not to.
O.K., this post is a bit premature. I'm still 74 as of this post, but considering I have only half of a level to go, it's going to happen very soon.
Aside from that, the only recent ding was my birthday yesterday. I was going to post about that, but I decided not to.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Gee... I forgot to make some posts...
Well, I recently reviewed my blog, and realized how much information I have missed entering over the intervening months of my absence of posting.
I can't say I am the best at blogging, I have this massive tendency to wander away from posting unless I see the blog every day, as I did when I used to raid with the Argonauts and my blog was still a part of GuildPortal.
So, I suppose the best way to start would be with the ending of TeamFail, or the sort of ending.
Seminole, the linkshell holder, left the game for a while. Sparkplug moved to Vegas, and Emeryk started frequenting other shells. Sukoti quit. Most of the others have drifted away, since the LS lacked a guiding force. It's now another empty shell in my collection.
With TeamFail empty, I moved full-time into Coast2Coast. The linkshell is not quite the one I need in terms on online times. Sadly, most of the big events are PST. However, as seems to be my lot in this game, I've made close friends with some of the GMT crowd that inhabits the shell during those quiet hours in the morning EST. This will be the second close-knit group of friends I'll have had the pleasure of knowing, the first being Pulsy, Mojava, Moftzu, and utterly cute couple of Phanty and Brero. A part of me really wants to enquire what my old close friends from Europe have in the way of linkshells, because combining these old knowledgeable souls from my past could really help the new gen of friends I have.
Jiriki, Fireballhikari, Leeka and Draiko are all close friends, and appear to have been for some time. I'm closest to Jiri and Fire, since we wind up dragging each other into adventures, very much like I used to do with Pulsy and the gang.
It does make the shell more cozy to have such nice people, although it's a far cry from the wild and raucus comments in TeamFail. I have to say, Coast2Coast come closest to the communal feel of OrderOfTheTaru. It makes me miss my leadership role there, and my old friends from it.
As for my in-game progress, I still have not merited my BST, or purchased all the uber gear I want for it. In the end, I made the decision that placing so much money and effort into a job I originally chose for fun and relaxation was a wasted effort. I would never be able to do the damage I desired as BST. And I would just be lolBST in comparison to Arce, just feeding Gods TP to kill our tanks with.
So I turned to level SAM, reaching 58, but found invites drying up as I approached 60. Bored of soloing SAM slowly, I tried to find a way to get THF to 75. In the end, after a couple short parties and a lot of Campaign, I clawed my way to 69. Frustrated, I abandoned THF for now. It helped that I begged an LS member to join their party as a replacement twice and they rejected me.
During all this, I've finally begun completing some of the many undone things for Pawk. Thanks to Shin, Arce, Jeheritt, Wesleydimple, and Fireballhikari, I now own the dunce cap of accuracy known as the Optical Hat. And thanks to Zalim, Kagenoshi, Ionian, Avatarend, and Ellenzar, I am now a Private Second Class Mercenary and have begun moving through CoP missions together as a sort of static. I don't want to call it a static and jinx it, but we meet every other Sunday when I'm off work to clear missions towards the ultimate goal of Sea access.
The part that makes me ill though is leaving behind Bratia and Anyka. I wanted them to come with me on these missions, but I know Bratia doesn't have the same level of interest in Sea. I don't know about Anyka's interest in Sea, or if she even knows really what Sea access implies. End game is not something I've really talked with her about, aside from mentions of Dynamis and Sky events. Eventually I'll just have to straight out ask her about it. For now, she's level 70, and has defeated Maat. Her cooking is 99, far outstripping any craft I've done.
Beyond that, I've been leveling with Bratia, oddly her WHM is slowly approaching level 50 WHM, and her MNK has now made it to 70. My previous post covers my other major activity on the game so far.
I'll try to post more often from here on out. I doubt that will hold true, but who knows!
I can't say I am the best at blogging, I have this massive tendency to wander away from posting unless I see the blog every day, as I did when I used to raid with the Argonauts and my blog was still a part of GuildPortal.
So, I suppose the best way to start would be with the ending of TeamFail, or the sort of ending.
Seminole, the linkshell holder, left the game for a while. Sparkplug moved to Vegas, and Emeryk started frequenting other shells. Sukoti quit. Most of the others have drifted away, since the LS lacked a guiding force. It's now another empty shell in my collection.
With TeamFail empty, I moved full-time into Coast2Coast. The linkshell is not quite the one I need in terms on online times. Sadly, most of the big events are PST. However, as seems to be my lot in this game, I've made close friends with some of the GMT crowd that inhabits the shell during those quiet hours in the morning EST. This will be the second close-knit group of friends I'll have had the pleasure of knowing, the first being Pulsy, Mojava, Moftzu, and utterly cute couple of Phanty and Brero. A part of me really wants to enquire what my old close friends from Europe have in the way of linkshells, because combining these old knowledgeable souls from my past could really help the new gen of friends I have.
Jiriki, Fireballhikari, Leeka and Draiko are all close friends, and appear to have been for some time. I'm closest to Jiri and Fire, since we wind up dragging each other into adventures, very much like I used to do with Pulsy and the gang.
It does make the shell more cozy to have such nice people, although it's a far cry from the wild and raucus comments in TeamFail. I have to say, Coast2Coast come closest to the communal feel of OrderOfTheTaru. It makes me miss my leadership role there, and my old friends from it.
As for my in-game progress, I still have not merited my BST, or purchased all the uber gear I want for it. In the end, I made the decision that placing so much money and effort into a job I originally chose for fun and relaxation was a wasted effort. I would never be able to do the damage I desired as BST. And I would just be lolBST in comparison to Arce, just feeding Gods TP to kill our tanks with.
So I turned to level SAM, reaching 58, but found invites drying up as I approached 60. Bored of soloing SAM slowly, I tried to find a way to get THF to 75. In the end, after a couple short parties and a lot of Campaign, I clawed my way to 69. Frustrated, I abandoned THF for now. It helped that I begged an LS member to join their party as a replacement twice and they rejected me.
During all this, I've finally begun completing some of the many undone things for Pawk. Thanks to Shin, Arce, Jeheritt, Wesleydimple, and Fireballhikari, I now own the dunce cap of accuracy known as the Optical Hat. And thanks to Zalim, Kagenoshi, Ionian, Avatarend, and Ellenzar, I am now a Private Second Class Mercenary and have begun moving through CoP missions together as a sort of static. I don't want to call it a static and jinx it, but we meet every other Sunday when I'm off work to clear missions towards the ultimate goal of Sea access.
The part that makes me ill though is leaving behind Bratia and Anyka. I wanted them to come with me on these missions, but I know Bratia doesn't have the same level of interest in Sea. I don't know about Anyka's interest in Sea, or if she even knows really what Sea access implies. End game is not something I've really talked with her about, aside from mentions of Dynamis and Sky events. Eventually I'll just have to straight out ask her about it. For now, she's level 70, and has defeated Maat. Her cooking is 99, far outstripping any craft I've done.
Beyond that, I've been leveling with Bratia, oddly her WHM is slowly approaching level 50 WHM, and her MNK has now made it to 70. My previous post covers my other major activity on the game so far.
I'll try to post more often from here on out. I doubt that will hold true, but who knows!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Gettin' me sum book lernin'
So I'm a mage again.
I know, you're shocked. By you, I mean the fictitious you that reads this blog on any form of regular basis.
In recent months I've been spending time leveling THF (acheiving 69), SAM (reaching 58), and farming for the eventual equipment that I will "need" for endgame. However, SCH has slowly but surely taken over more and more of my time. I can't help it, the job is fascinating to me.
I started leveling SCH pre-Level Sync as a healer for one of Bratia's melee jobs. I can't recall which, to be honest. I found the job to be more or less a gimped WHM. However, as time went on, I duo'd it with my wife's BLM, and solo'd it as well. I began to see the possibilities of the job.
This morning, I hit 55, and I am wishing this job was available 5 years ago when I started. For those unfamiliar with the job, it's similar to RDM in that it borrows the spells from White and Black Magic schools already in existance. Two places where it deviates are what makes the job so unique, and sometimes frustrating.
The first is that it lacks many of the standard debuffs and buffs. This means no Paralyze or Slow, no Haste or Refresh, and no AoE spells of either school. They do receive Protect/Shell up to tier 4, as well as status removals (more on that in a minute), but instead they receive unique buffs and debuffs.
You see, SCH is the answer for the cries of adding a Geomancer to the game. Geomancers, in previous incarnations, used the elements around them to cause damage and status effects. Since they did not want to replace WHM or RDM with unique debuffs replicating the effects of the standard spells, they instead gave SCHs Helixes and Storms.
Helixes are a DoT effect that weakens a mob to an element. Storms create a localized weather effect on a friendly player, activating any latent weather effect equipment they are wearing.
To be honest, I have not seen too much effect in relation to these abilities. I've yet to level into my first Helix, and the Storms don't do much for me yet, since I lack the Elemental Obis and since the spell to guarantee effectiveness of a storm, Klimaform, is not really that useful yet.
No, the power comes from the second difference: The reliance on the Grimoire of Magic.
That's the conceit of how SCH works. They use their book of magic to cast their spells. But, that's not all it does. The book can be used to enhance the spells they cast. Here's where SCH gets interesting. They can turn many single target spells into AoE spells, lower the cost of spells, reduce their cast and recast times, or increase the power of their spells.
These effects can also be stacked, as well as combined with other job abilities like Divine Seal and Elemental Seal.
Yea, it's pretty damned awesome. It's even more so when you add into that the ability of these effects to be applied to spells reserved for self-targetting (Stoneskin and Phalanx most notably).
It has honestly left me torn as to how to proceed with gearing up for endgame. Do I save for all the awesome melee gear I'll want for SAM & THF, or do I leave behind meleeing for now to refocus on mage gear once again? It will be a question to face as my small fortune slowly creeps near 1 million gil...
I know, you're shocked. By you, I mean the fictitious you that reads this blog on any form of regular basis.
In recent months I've been spending time leveling THF (acheiving 69), SAM (reaching 58), and farming for the eventual equipment that I will "need" for endgame. However, SCH has slowly but surely taken over more and more of my time. I can't help it, the job is fascinating to me.
I started leveling SCH pre-Level Sync as a healer for one of Bratia's melee jobs. I can't recall which, to be honest. I found the job to be more or less a gimped WHM. However, as time went on, I duo'd it with my wife's BLM, and solo'd it as well. I began to see the possibilities of the job.
This morning, I hit 55, and I am wishing this job was available 5 years ago when I started. For those unfamiliar with the job, it's similar to RDM in that it borrows the spells from White and Black Magic schools already in existance. Two places where it deviates are what makes the job so unique, and sometimes frustrating.
The first is that it lacks many of the standard debuffs and buffs. This means no Paralyze or Slow, no Haste or Refresh, and no AoE spells of either school. They do receive Protect/Shell up to tier 4, as well as status removals (more on that in a minute), but instead they receive unique buffs and debuffs.
You see, SCH is the answer for the cries of adding a Geomancer to the game. Geomancers, in previous incarnations, used the elements around them to cause damage and status effects. Since they did not want to replace WHM or RDM with unique debuffs replicating the effects of the standard spells, they instead gave SCHs Helixes and Storms.
Helixes are a DoT effect that weakens a mob to an element. Storms create a localized weather effect on a friendly player, activating any latent weather effect equipment they are wearing.
To be honest, I have not seen too much effect in relation to these abilities. I've yet to level into my first Helix, and the Storms don't do much for me yet, since I lack the Elemental Obis and since the spell to guarantee effectiveness of a storm, Klimaform, is not really that useful yet.
No, the power comes from the second difference: The reliance on the Grimoire of Magic.
That's the conceit of how SCH works. They use their book of magic to cast their spells. But, that's not all it does. The book can be used to enhance the spells they cast. Here's where SCH gets interesting. They can turn many single target spells into AoE spells, lower the cost of spells, reduce their cast and recast times, or increase the power of their spells.
These effects can also be stacked, as well as combined with other job abilities like Divine Seal and Elemental Seal.
Yea, it's pretty damned awesome. It's even more so when you add into that the ability of these effects to be applied to spells reserved for self-targetting (Stoneskin and Phalanx most notably).
It has honestly left me torn as to how to proceed with gearing up for endgame. Do I save for all the awesome melee gear I'll want for SAM & THF, or do I leave behind meleeing for now to refocus on mage gear once again? It will be a question to face as my small fortune slowly creeps near 1 million gil...
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Memories - The Rough Cut
So I was digging through some old DVDs I burned, and found a collection of early videos I thought I had lost. I compiled some into a video and posted it on YouTube.
Since there is some stories behind the videos, I figured I'd post about it here, and link it in the description.
The first part is the very first recording I ever made. It lagged me so much that I had to stop recording and adjust my settings on FRAPs.
The second recording was a group of my old friends as lowbies just being silly on the Selbina ferry.
The third is my first and last party in the Dunes. In one party, Bratia and I went from I think level 12 to 20. Raexn, my old THF friend, was puller in the party, it was when we first met!
The next is a random fishing expedition, just tossed that in. Notice the lack of hunters and the mini game.
The following clip was the original LS I joined with, RPGElite, and the leader, Dstln, was leaving ; ; Miss those guys.
The Halloween parade comes next, it was such a totally random thing. I started walking down Lower Jeuno with Bratia on follow. And people started following us. Soon we had this huge parade going.
The last video segment is when my static completed GK3. Not such a big accomplishment these days, but we did it as a static, all 6 of us. It was rough, being too low to kill the NMs. And this was pre-despawn days, so if you caught aggro, it trained to the zone.
Funniest part was Ohtar misunderstood where to go, and wound up on the stairs, missing the ??? completely. We had to rescue him from up there, slowly tractoring him down while dodging mobs.
Ahh... the memories...
Since there is some stories behind the videos, I figured I'd post about it here, and link it in the description.
The first part is the very first recording I ever made. It lagged me so much that I had to stop recording and adjust my settings on FRAPs.
The second recording was a group of my old friends as lowbies just being silly on the Selbina ferry.
The third is my first and last party in the Dunes. In one party, Bratia and I went from I think level 12 to 20. Raexn, my old THF friend, was puller in the party, it was when we first met!
The next is a random fishing expedition, just tossed that in. Notice the lack of hunters and the mini game.
The following clip was the original LS I joined with, RPGElite, and the leader, Dstln, was leaving ; ; Miss those guys.
The Halloween parade comes next, it was such a totally random thing. I started walking down Lower Jeuno with Bratia on follow. And people started following us. Soon we had this huge parade going.
The last video segment is when my static completed GK3. Not such a big accomplishment these days, but we did it as a static, all 6 of us. It was rough, being too low to kill the NMs. And this was pre-despawn days, so if you caught aggro, it trained to the zone.
Funniest part was Ohtar misunderstood where to go, and wound up on the stairs, missing the ??? completely. We had to rescue him from up there, slowly tractoring him down while dodging mobs.
Ahh... the memories...
Friday, October 17, 2008
Even longer time, no blog!
Wow.
Yea, totally forgot about this blog. Not like I have another or anything.
I just tend to play games more than I blog.
Shut up, so do you, you're just here because there's maintenance probably.
Anyway, time for more catch-up!
Finally got Beastmaster to level 75. Don't even ask how long it took. But now I use it to own NMs left and right. Got to love the ability to do stuff solo on a social-based co-operative game.
So, once I dinged 75... Kinda felt lost as to what to do. Didn't feel like meriting, mainly because it would mean avoiding what I need to do, which is get money in game to pimp out BST so it can replace my BLM in sky events...
...
Yea, I know, lolBST. In Sky. Shut it. Last night I saved our claim on Despot. Everyone was dying in our little 6-man group. I held it off long enough for Ara to get back up and hold it after it killed me. lolBST THAT!
Back to what to do after BST. I decided to level something else.
I know, you're shocked. Stunned. Pawk avoiding farming? And meriting? Impossible!
... So now my SMN is 42...
I got my Haku eyes as well, so now I have pop items for two NMs I'll never get to kill! Kidding. When Shin gets back I'm so totally doing that mob. I will beg him to go. I will sell my first born to him in exchange.
I picked up the expensive ingame item too: The Tidal Talisman. Look, a picture!
Expensive, yes. Cool, undoubtedly. And that pearl is not WoA, mainly because I am no longer active in WoA. A friend broke off and made a new shell, TeamFail. I know, name is SO appropriate. It's the rudest linkshell on the server I swear. We're so awful to each other. But all in good fun. I still haven't hung out much in C2C, but then I tend to play when both shells are not there. Like normally now.
I so hope you appreciate me taking time off my busy day to come here.
I could be farming... or meriting or...
Maybe I'll go for a walk instead.
...
Yea, that made me laugh too.
Protectron is going well. This week on, week off thing, it pretty much rules. Oh, and to mr. anon who is from there, Hi! No idea how you got here either. Not like it would be hard to figure out which person I am there. Just ask people if they play Final Fantasy XI.
It was the same at Dell too. I was alone as a FFXI player there, same will be true for there.
So, there you have it. In a nutshell I guess. Maybe I'll post here more often now.
...
Yea, no... we both know I'll be back in like a month with another of this long-ass posts. See you then!
Yea, totally forgot about this blog. Not like I have another or anything.
I just tend to play games more than I blog.
Shut up, so do you, you're just here because there's maintenance probably.
Anyway, time for more catch-up!
Finally got Beastmaster to level 75. Don't even ask how long it took. But now I use it to own NMs left and right. Got to love the ability to do stuff solo on a social-based co-operative game.
So, once I dinged 75... Kinda felt lost as to what to do. Didn't feel like meriting, mainly because it would mean avoiding what I need to do, which is get money in game to pimp out BST so it can replace my BLM in sky events...
...
Yea, I know, lolBST. In Sky. Shut it. Last night I saved our claim on Despot. Everyone was dying in our little 6-man group. I held it off long enough for Ara to get back up and hold it after it killed me. lolBST THAT!
Back to what to do after BST. I decided to level something else.
I know, you're shocked. Stunned. Pawk avoiding farming? And meriting? Impossible!
... So now my SMN is 42...
I got my Haku eyes as well, so now I have pop items for two NMs I'll never get to kill! Kidding. When Shin gets back I'm so totally doing that mob. I will beg him to go. I will sell my first born to him in exchange.
I picked up the expensive ingame item too: The Tidal Talisman. Look, a picture!
Expensive, yes. Cool, undoubtedly. And that pearl is not WoA, mainly because I am no longer active in WoA. A friend broke off and made a new shell, TeamFail. I know, name is SO appropriate. It's the rudest linkshell on the server I swear. We're so awful to each other. But all in good fun. I still haven't hung out much in C2C, but then I tend to play when both shells are not there. Like normally now.
I so hope you appreciate me taking time off my busy day to come here.
I could be farming... or meriting or...
Maybe I'll go for a walk instead.
...
Yea, that made me laugh too.
Protectron is going well. This week on, week off thing, it pretty much rules. Oh, and to mr. anon who is from there, Hi! No idea how you got here either. Not like it would be hard to figure out which person I am there. Just ask people if they play Final Fantasy XI.
It was the same at Dell too. I was alone as a FFXI player there, same will be true for there.
So, there you have it. In a nutshell I guess. Maybe I'll post here more often now.
...
Yea, no... we both know I'll be back in like a month with another of this long-ass posts. See you then!
Friday, July 25, 2008
Long time no blog!
Wow, lots of stuff happened so fast, and although no one reads this, I figured I'd update it anyway in case I'm famous someday and they need records of how awesome I am.
Ahem.
Anyway, on June 27th I was walked out of Dell with the rest of my remaining collegues in the XPS queue. The last day, which was actually the 26th as the 27th we simply returned to get our walking papers, was a half day with a catered party. Lone Star Restaurant provided some awesome fajitas for the farewell.
Well, now I had a lot of time to do stuff on FF! Oh, yea, and apply to jobs. Yea, definitely apply to jobs. I'll come back to that.
For Final Fantasy, I joined a new shell for events, Coast2Coast, run by a buddy from WhatTheHell, Shinyiu. Shin's a great guy, and the shell is fun when he, or my other buddies I've met through other shells, are on. Most of the time I sort of feel on the outside of the group since I'm new. So I spend more time in WoA than C2C for chatting, and what not.
C2C is highly active, and I and Bratia got swept up in it, completing up to 8-2 in rank missions and 3-5 in CoP. We also helped out as many people as we could, and I got to try to kite Chardy (failing miserably) so that we could claim for an LS member in need of a JoyToy.
Meanwhile, BST finally got some major loving, and crept up to 71. I also finally completed the AF for it and for NIN.
So, back to my job situation. On my little holiday, I was hired by Protectron, a large security/alarm company in Canada. I'll be moving into a tech support role there as soon as training is done.
So life, as it stands now, is VERY good!
Ahem.
Anyway, on June 27th I was walked out of Dell with the rest of my remaining collegues in the XPS queue. The last day, which was actually the 26th as the 27th we simply returned to get our walking papers, was a half day with a catered party. Lone Star Restaurant provided some awesome fajitas for the farewell.
Well, now I had a lot of time to do stuff on FF! Oh, yea, and apply to jobs. Yea, definitely apply to jobs. I'll come back to that.
For Final Fantasy, I joined a new shell for events, Coast2Coast, run by a buddy from WhatTheHell, Shinyiu. Shin's a great guy, and the shell is fun when he, or my other buddies I've met through other shells, are on. Most of the time I sort of feel on the outside of the group since I'm new. So I spend more time in WoA than C2C for chatting, and what not.
C2C is highly active, and I and Bratia got swept up in it, completing up to 8-2 in rank missions and 3-5 in CoP. We also helped out as many people as we could, and I got to try to kite Chardy (failing miserably) so that we could claim for an LS member in need of a JoyToy.
Meanwhile, BST finally got some major loving, and crept up to 71. I also finally completed the AF for it and for NIN.
So, back to my job situation. On my little holiday, I was hired by Protectron, a large security/alarm company in Canada. I'll be moving into a tech support role there as soon as training is done.
So life, as it stands now, is VERY good!
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Awaiting the update
As the time grows near for the next version update of Final Fantasy XI, I can't help but wonder what the new changes will do for the game.
The moogle in Selbina is obvious: No more raise shouts. With so many people having leveled other jobs, you're bound to get someone in your party with raise on a sub job at the very least. That alone will eliminate the Dunes as I once knew it.
When I started, the dunes were the leveling area, no exceptions. Trains could stop everyone from leveling for a half an hour or more as people zoned in and drew the train back to everyone again. Parties were plentiful and awful. And the only way home was to walk.
Now players are on easy street, and I'm not mad about that. I'm disappointed they won't get the same experience I did. It made for some hilarious memories. However, the game should have been like this from the start. Often, the game feels like punishment, not a game. You'd spend hours trying to level and wind up losing experience points.
So why, then, are people still powerleveling? Still baffles me with all the ease of use of the dunes now that people even need powerleveling...
As for the new job abilities, I really don't see much in them except for PLD. The BRD ability is interesting I guess, but MNK sticking to just kicks? Huh? Who came up with that idea?
Were MNKs in forums all over saying, "My arms are getting tired, I want to just kick stuff!" Or, "Let me sacrifice my ability to attack up to three times to just kick at a mob instead." Granted, it looks cool when you kick but... still what the hell?!?
As for Campaign, totally disinterested in it. The long waits make it hard to keep my medals. Why they changed it, I have no idea. It was fine the way it was. Campaign was my favorite thing to do because it didn't take hours to find yourself in a heated battle. The EXP was a nice bonus, but not at all why I went. Now you sit for hours and wait at one location, or jump place to place trying to get into a battle. So I'm really not interested in higher medals.
The new merit additions are interesting as well, I guess. I don't merit much so... meh.
It will be interesting regardless.
The moogle in Selbina is obvious: No more raise shouts. With so many people having leveled other jobs, you're bound to get someone in your party with raise on a sub job at the very least. That alone will eliminate the Dunes as I once knew it.
When I started, the dunes were the leveling area, no exceptions. Trains could stop everyone from leveling for a half an hour or more as people zoned in and drew the train back to everyone again. Parties were plentiful and awful. And the only way home was to walk.
Now players are on easy street, and I'm not mad about that. I'm disappointed they won't get the same experience I did. It made for some hilarious memories. However, the game should have been like this from the start. Often, the game feels like punishment, not a game. You'd spend hours trying to level and wind up losing experience points.
So why, then, are people still powerleveling? Still baffles me with all the ease of use of the dunes now that people even need powerleveling...
As for the new job abilities, I really don't see much in them except for PLD. The BRD ability is interesting I guess, but MNK sticking to just kicks? Huh? Who came up with that idea?
Were MNKs in forums all over saying, "My arms are getting tired, I want to just kick stuff!" Or, "Let me sacrifice my ability to attack up to three times to just kick at a mob instead." Granted, it looks cool when you kick but... still what the hell?!?
As for Campaign, totally disinterested in it. The long waits make it hard to keep my medals. Why they changed it, I have no idea. It was fine the way it was. Campaign was my favorite thing to do because it didn't take hours to find yourself in a heated battle. The EXP was a nice bonus, but not at all why I went. Now you sit for hours and wait at one location, or jump place to place trying to get into a battle. So I'm really not interested in higher medals.
The new merit additions are interesting as well, I guess. I don't merit much so... meh.
It will be interesting regardless.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Irony
Defined as a combination of circumstances or a result that is the opposite of what is or might be expected or considered appropriate.
As in me bitching about people asking for help, then asking and receiving help myself.
Big thanks to Caylst and my baby Bratia for coming to assist me with BST and NIN AF runs!
Real life rant to follow about other stuff.
As in me bitching about people asking for help, then asking and receiving help myself.
Big thanks to Caylst and my baby Bratia for coming to assist me with BST and NIN AF runs!
Real life rant to follow about other stuff.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Asking for help
In a game like Final Fantasy XI, you need help.
Not of the psychological type. Well, maybe that, eventually. But not usually.
No, you need help to do quests/mission/farming items or spells. The game is so designed in order to build a sense of community and comradery. We're all supposed to be one big happy multilingual family.
In practical applications, nice people become the bitch of greedy people. Much like in real life.
I cannot count the number of times I have seen people go to extreme lengths to help people, only to have trouble getting help themselves or being completely screwed by the person they are helping.
Now some might be wondering "Why Pawk, what makes you make such a bitter post?"
Quite frankly, it has nothing to do with something that happened to me personally in recent history. It has happened before, frequently. I did run a linkshell of my own, if I never mentioned it. And as the shell owner I regularly got screwed over helping people. It would normally work like this:
- n00b joins shell
- n00b asks for help
- I help
- n00b thanks me
- n00b ditches shell, never seen again
Now that I didn't mind. Helping newbies to the shell can result in long term friendships and valuable shell members. However not everyone cares to be loyal to a shell that helps them. But again, this hasn't happened to me in a while.
No, what makes me upset this time is seeing it happen to nice people I know. This almost upsets me more that it happening to me. I mean, if someone is nice enough to help, try to return the favor.
Not of the psychological type. Well, maybe that, eventually. But not usually.
No, you need help to do quests/mission/farming items or spells. The game is so designed in order to build a sense of community and comradery. We're all supposed to be one big happy multilingual family.
In practical applications, nice people become the bitch of greedy people. Much like in real life.
I cannot count the number of times I have seen people go to extreme lengths to help people, only to have trouble getting help themselves or being completely screwed by the person they are helping.
Now some might be wondering "Why Pawk, what makes you make such a bitter post?"
Quite frankly, it has nothing to do with something that happened to me personally in recent history. It has happened before, frequently. I did run a linkshell of my own, if I never mentioned it. And as the shell owner I regularly got screwed over helping people. It would normally work like this:
- n00b joins shell
- n00b asks for help
- I help
- n00b thanks me
- n00b ditches shell, never seen again
Now that I didn't mind. Helping newbies to the shell can result in long term friendships and valuable shell members. However not everyone cares to be loyal to a shell that helps them. But again, this hasn't happened to me in a while.
No, what makes me upset this time is seeing it happen to nice people I know. This almost upsets me more that it happening to me. I mean, if someone is nice enough to help, try to return the favor.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Dancer rawks my sawks
So my wife and I decided to blow off some steam Sunday, forget my impending joblessness and just play our game.
For those unfamiliar with Massive Multiplayer Online games... This entire blog is just jibberish to you for the most part. Seriously, it is. I talk so much about this genre of gaming here that if you don't play, this blog is just so much nonsense.
For those familiar with the games, you know that class balance is this mythical creature on the line of a unicorn. No game has class balance. There's always some class that just makes a mockery of all the game's rules, that's just so broken there's no fixing it without killing the job and/or game.
Dancer is that job for Final Fantasy XI. More or less.
For those unfamiliar with Massive Multiplayer Online games... This entire blog is just jibberish to you for the most part. Seriously, it is. I talk so much about this genre of gaming here that if you don't play, this blog is just so much nonsense.
For those familiar with the games, you know that class balance is this mythical creature on the line of a unicorn. No game has class balance. There's always some class that just makes a mockery of all the game's rules, that's just so broken there's no fixing it without killing the job and/or game.
Dancer is that job for Final Fantasy XI. More or less.
Friday, March 21, 2008
The Continuing Adventures of Pocketshop??
Ok, I'll admit it, I've been neglectful of Pawkeshup recently. But let me settle up why right here.
Pocketshop was originally intended as a farming mule. Basically I planned on getting THF to 15 and farming around Gustaberg for money for Pawkeshup. This way I could keep her relatively clear of the immense item clutter I have and put her to good use. I already had a gardening mule (Cepago) who had been pressed into service growing tons of plants. I figured that eventually I'd do the same for a mule to craft as well, leaving Pawkeshup the glorious position of just leveling.
Well, the trick of farming is that you need space to farm. Plus my gear has continue to grow as time as gone on. I have a ton of weapons and armor scattered over my mules. Literally an arsenal of some degree, covering levels 1-65 in several jobs, mostly through versatile multi-job pieces. So I decided to go about expanding her space a bit.
When Aht Urgan came around, I had this great idea to get her access to there so I could get a mog locker. Pawkeshup, at the time, was getting plenty of imperial standing points from BLM burn parties and soloing, as well as the occasional RDM party. However, that turned out to be quite a great deal harder than I had expected it to be. See, to get access to the mog locker, you need to deliver supplies to an outpost. Sounds easy... until you realize that all the routes to the outposts are lined with deadly monsters. I chose one I thought, lacking any spell-casting ability, I could reach. I got a stack of powder and a stack of oil, and headed out.
So after I homepointed... I decided that I would need to make a decision. Did I want to keep chasing after more space for Pocketshop or forget it? I decided to pursue some added melee levels in hopes of getting strong enough to outrun the bad guys. I tried leveling whm on her, but it's painful after playing a Tarutaru with tons of mana.
But I continued to level in hopes of gutting out a run to an outpost. And then along comes Dancer. Dancer, a melee job that gets to cure itself and sneak and invis itself. And so I set to work at getting level 30 for Pocket to gain access to Dancer to allow me to go further with her.
Finally, after a while of intermittent leveling and a very kind power level from Anyka, Pocket made 30. And the next time I got on, I got Dancer as my first advanced job. Currently at 7, I'm gunning to get it to 30 as well. Partly so that I have all my skills and a healthy buffer to keep them, and partly so that I can do other quests.
To be honest, it's refreshing to have a character to mess around on who I can just leave geared to level whenever I want to. So as long as that's fun, Pocket will keep on leveling.
Pocketshop was originally intended as a farming mule. Basically I planned on getting THF to 15 and farming around Gustaberg for money for Pawkeshup. This way I could keep her relatively clear of the immense item clutter I have and put her to good use. I already had a gardening mule (Cepago) who had been pressed into service growing tons of plants. I figured that eventually I'd do the same for a mule to craft as well, leaving Pawkeshup the glorious position of just leveling.
Well, the trick of farming is that you need space to farm. Plus my gear has continue to grow as time as gone on. I have a ton of weapons and armor scattered over my mules. Literally an arsenal of some degree, covering levels 1-65 in several jobs, mostly through versatile multi-job pieces. So I decided to go about expanding her space a bit.
When Aht Urgan came around, I had this great idea to get her access to there so I could get a mog locker. Pawkeshup, at the time, was getting plenty of imperial standing points from BLM burn parties and soloing, as well as the occasional RDM party. However, that turned out to be quite a great deal harder than I had expected it to be. See, to get access to the mog locker, you need to deliver supplies to an outpost. Sounds easy... until you realize that all the routes to the outposts are lined with deadly monsters. I chose one I thought, lacking any spell-casting ability, I could reach. I got a stack of powder and a stack of oil, and headed out.
So after I homepointed... I decided that I would need to make a decision. Did I want to keep chasing after more space for Pocketshop or forget it? I decided to pursue some added melee levels in hopes of getting strong enough to outrun the bad guys. I tried leveling whm on her, but it's painful after playing a Tarutaru with tons of mana.
But I continued to level in hopes of gutting out a run to an outpost. And then along comes Dancer. Dancer, a melee job that gets to cure itself and sneak and invis itself. And so I set to work at getting level 30 for Pocket to gain access to Dancer to allow me to go further with her.
Finally, after a while of intermittent leveling and a very kind power level from Anyka, Pocket made 30. And the next time I got on, I got Dancer as my first advanced job. Currently at 7, I'm gunning to get it to 30 as well. Partly so that I have all my skills and a healthy buffer to keep them, and partly so that I can do other quests.
To be honest, it's refreshing to have a character to mess around on who I can just leave geared to level whenever I want to. So as long as that's fun, Pocket will keep on leveling.
Monday, March 17, 2008
dancin'... Dancin'... DANCIN'!
So I've decided on a new project. Now I dunno how many people have seen this site, but basically it was made by a guy in the game development industry that one day up and quit his job, then filmed himself dancing around the world.
Also, as you may or may not know, we can now dance in Final Fantasy XI.
I have decided to combine the two and make a new video for the first time in forever. I will film "Pawkeshup: Dancing Around Vana'Diel".
When it's ready, expect a post here.
Also, as you may or may not know, we can now dance in Final Fantasy XI.
I have decided to combine the two and make a new video for the first time in forever. I will film "Pawkeshup: Dancing Around Vana'Diel".
When it's ready, expect a post here.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Why my blog's not pretty
A comment was made to me by Hamburglar, a friend from FFXI. He says my blog is boring because it lacks pictures and stuff. Well, he doesn't have a blog and he's a loser and he smells funny.
More seriously, I normally don't have access to the files I need when I blog, and when I do have access to them, I have no interest in spending the time to chop them up. However, I have been considering making an FFXI-based comic using screen shots and model viewer images. I know, it's been done, but I miss creative projects. Videos take too long to edit on my current machine. Or the software is bloated. Plus I really want Adobe Premiere. I want more creative tools. I feel so... trapped... by the lack of certain options like the ability to transform objects, or manipulate and transition videos in more unique ways.
I have never tried to make a comic, though the process fascinates me. I am craving some kind of creative outlet for the stories and images in my head, this might be a perfect opportunity.
Also I have a sick sense of humor, which should make it fun win or lose!
More seriously, I normally don't have access to the files I need when I blog, and when I do have access to them, I have no interest in spending the time to chop them up. However, I have been considering making an FFXI-based comic using screen shots and model viewer images. I know, it's been done, but I miss creative projects. Videos take too long to edit on my current machine. Or the software is bloated. Plus I really want Adobe Premiere. I want more creative tools. I feel so... trapped... by the lack of certain options like the ability to transform objects, or manipulate and transition videos in more unique ways.
I have never tried to make a comic, though the process fascinates me. I am craving some kind of creative outlet for the stories and images in my head, this might be a perfect opportunity.
Also I have a sick sense of humor, which should make it fun win or lose!
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
So I finally bit the bullet...
Compliments of my stupid sense of humor, I had to make the previous post. I wanted to do it the day of, but I forgot before I took the tower apart to post it, and then I was too busy bitching about my new card.
Yes, bitching about it. It was the only video card I could find quickly enough to satisfy my desire to keep playing, and it was at the same place I got my new PSU from. It's a nVidia 6800 clone, made by a company I've never heard of before. I think it's 256MB of ram is shared, it behaves that way. I lag hard whenever there's a lot of visual information (IE if anyone fires off a weapon skill or if I go into a larger area with a lot of movement in the environment). Coming from my ATI Radeon 9800, this is a painful drop in performance. I've had to lower my resolution to tolerate the performance issues.
On the plus side, Christmas is coming early for me. My wife has conceded to get me a new gaming rig. I've opted for a notebook over a new desktop, only because she has me on a bit of a budget for the unit. Not that I care, the notebook will be loaded. This will be my new notebook.
Yes, it's a Dell. I've said before on my linkshell, I work there. I know I could go elsewhere for a notebook, but to be honest, I know what's going inside this one. I also know what kind of support to expect from my own company. And it doesn't hurt that I get a discount.
I won't go into huge details, for fear that this will seem like an advertisement for Dell Computers if I do, but I've had the opportunity to play on one of these here at work. It's fast, bloody gorgeous, and reasonably priced. Alienware comes in a little cheaper for their similar unit, but this one comes factory over-clocked. Besides, the difference is literally only a couple hundred dollars. And I am almost certain that it boils down to the warranty offers I'm choosing.
Regardless, I like the system, I want the system, I will have the system. And once I get it, expect me to praise (or bemoan) its performance.
Oh, and I will not be getting Vista. PlayOnline and Vista still do not play nice. My step-daughter, known on the game as Anyka, is having a world of issues on her computer at the moment. About two weeks or so back, for no apparent reason, it started to deliver static-like shocks to her, and freezing when it did so. Since it, too, is from Dell (a 9400, back when we really didn't have a true gaming notebook), she contacted them and they wanted to exchange the unit for safety issues.
Her new machine arrived with Vista. And promptly caused poor framerates, and refused to recognize any expansions.
So I contacted my company and, without using any internal/job-centric influence (ie I acted like a customer and didn't try to ply them with "I work for you guys, do the following"), got them to replace the unit, again, with an XP-compatible unit.
Don't get me wrong, Vista is actually a really decent OS, better than XP for a lot of stuff. I also like that it prevents lazy mixed code being put in games and software, which ultimately causes instability. But for gaming, it's not so hot yet, it needs more tweaks so we can gain more performance.
Yes, bitching about it. It was the only video card I could find quickly enough to satisfy my desire to keep playing, and it was at the same place I got my new PSU from. It's a nVidia 6800 clone, made by a company I've never heard of before. I think it's 256MB of ram is shared, it behaves that way. I lag hard whenever there's a lot of visual information (IE if anyone fires off a weapon skill or if I go into a larger area with a lot of movement in the environment). Coming from my ATI Radeon 9800, this is a painful drop in performance. I've had to lower my resolution to tolerate the performance issues.
On the plus side, Christmas is coming early for me. My wife has conceded to get me a new gaming rig. I've opted for a notebook over a new desktop, only because she has me on a bit of a budget for the unit. Not that I care, the notebook will be loaded. This will be my new notebook.
Yes, it's a Dell. I've said before on my linkshell, I work there. I know I could go elsewhere for a notebook, but to be honest, I know what's going inside this one. I also know what kind of support to expect from my own company. And it doesn't hurt that I get a discount.
I won't go into huge details, for fear that this will seem like an advertisement for Dell Computers if I do, but I've had the opportunity to play on one of these here at work. It's fast, bloody gorgeous, and reasonably priced. Alienware comes in a little cheaper for their similar unit, but this one comes factory over-clocked. Besides, the difference is literally only a couple hundred dollars. And I am almost certain that it boils down to the warranty offers I'm choosing.
Regardless, I like the system, I want the system, I will have the system. And once I get it, expect me to praise (or bemoan) its performance.
Oh, and I will not be getting Vista. PlayOnline and Vista still do not play nice. My step-daughter, known on the game as Anyka, is having a world of issues on her computer at the moment. About two weeks or so back, for no apparent reason, it started to deliver static-like shocks to her, and freezing when it did so. Since it, too, is from Dell (a 9400, back when we really didn't have a true gaming notebook), she contacted them and they wanted to exchange the unit for safety issues.
Her new machine arrived with Vista. And promptly caused poor framerates, and refused to recognize any expansions.
So I contacted my company and, without using any internal/job-centric influence (ie I acted like a customer and didn't try to ply them with "I work for you guys, do the following"), got them to replace the unit, again, with an XP-compatible unit.
Don't get me wrong, Vista is actually a really decent OS, better than XP for a lot of stuff. I also like that it prevents lazy mixed code being put in games and software, which ultimately causes instability. But for gaming, it's not so hot yet, it needs more tweaks so we can gain more performance.
Emergency Maintenance (Nov. 27)
Emergency Maintenance (Nov. 27)
Due a hardware failure, Pawkeshup's computer will be offline for maintenance to correct the issue.
Thank you for your patience and cooperation
[Date & Time]
Nov. 27, 2007 from 9:00 to 10:00 (EST)
* Maintenance completion time may be subject to change.
[Affected Services]
PlayOnline
Final Fantasy XI
Tetra Master
[Details]
- Replacement of Power Supply Unit to prepare for video upgrade
- Install of video card to correct corrupted video issues
Due a hardware failure, Pawkeshup's computer will be offline for maintenance to correct the issue.
Thank you for your patience and cooperation
[Date & Time]
Nov. 27, 2007 from 9:00 to 10:00 (EST)
* Maintenance completion time may be subject to change.
[Affected Services]
PlayOnline
Final Fantasy XI
Tetra Master
[Details]
- Replacement of Power Supply Unit to prepare for video upgrade
- Install of video card to correct corrupted video issues
Sunday, November 25, 2007
[Insert 70's/80's Dancer song reference here]
So, at long last, I got to dance. After openly bashing and being against the job when I learned of it... I actually liked it.
What? Oh...
Ok. I ACTUALLY LIKED IT! THERE ARE YOU HAPPY?!?!
The job is very fun. As a tarutaru, you look extremely cute doing your first dance, the Drain Samba. And then you find out what it does. And then you scream, and your mind runs nuts with the possibilities. Here's how it works:
I hit the mob long enough to gain at least 10 Tactical Points, then dance my Samba. As long as I remain hitting that mob, anyone else in my party that hits it drains HP too! That's just crazy! I really enjoyed stabbing the mobs, it was quite fun.
What was not fun was the fact that my video card finally decided it had enough FFXI. Some of you may have seen on my YouTube page this video about when the first "warning" that my card was failing occurred. Well, now it's less of a warning and more of a too late, your card is hosed kind of event. No, my character is not on acid. That's what happened. I added the music post production, my last video card broken video was so boring without something else added.
So I determined how to connect my XBox 360 to my monitor till I can find parts.
What? Oh...
Ok. I ACTUALLY LIKED IT! THERE ARE YOU HAPPY?!?!
The job is very fun. As a tarutaru, you look extremely cute doing your first dance, the Drain Samba. And then you find out what it does. And then you scream, and your mind runs nuts with the possibilities. Here's how it works:
I hit the mob long enough to gain at least 10 Tactical Points, then dance my Samba. As long as I remain hitting that mob, anyone else in my party that hits it drains HP too! That's just crazy! I really enjoyed stabbing the mobs, it was quite fun.
What was not fun was the fact that my video card finally decided it had enough FFXI. Some of you may have seen on my YouTube page this video about when the first "warning" that my card was failing occurred. Well, now it's less of a warning and more of a too late, your card is hosed kind of event. No, my character is not on acid. That's what happened. I added the music post production, my last video card broken video was so boring without something else added.
So I determined how to connect my XBox 360 to my monitor till I can find parts.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Issues of the Badness
Wings of the Goddess hasn't started out well for me. First, the PC edition was delayed (I still do not have it), then there were the updates and issues, then the registration server goes down when I managed to get copies for the XBox 360 and PS2.
But today, I got my first look at it. I haven't had time to sit down with it, but I did unlock both new jobs and got to run through the original zones spattered with a few new enemies. The mandies that follow you for no readily apparent reason is really hilarious. I intend on gathering them all from a zone, and going AFK/Bazaar next to the Cavernous Maw when I have something to sell.
Beyond that, I've been reading web comics. I have a fairly long list of ones I read on a regular basis. And every so often I find some gems I missed.
One of my favorites is Irregular Webcomics, a comic using shots of Legos and a copious amounts of nerd humor. It updates daily, and has never failed to make me laugh. Through his site, I discovered a now ended gem called DM of the Rings. It's a webcomic that shows what it's like to try to run a role-playing campaign with a table top game... if the players were running through The Lord of the Rings without ever knowing about it.
Part of me is inspired to do some form of FFXI web-based comic using the software mentioned in it. I enjoy doing stuff like that, as evidenced by my love for making YouTube videos. However, video editing is really time consuming, both in the creation and editing, and even in the rendering. I still have to do my Tribute to Hamburglar video.
I might see about bisecting this blog into a webcomic and a blog. It might be more interesting for all those people who come to read it. All... um....
Maybe I'll skip it and level Scholar instead.
But today, I got my first look at it. I haven't had time to sit down with it, but I did unlock both new jobs and got to run through the original zones spattered with a few new enemies. The mandies that follow you for no readily apparent reason is really hilarious. I intend on gathering them all from a zone, and going AFK/Bazaar next to the Cavernous Maw when I have something to sell.
Beyond that, I've been reading web comics. I have a fairly long list of ones I read on a regular basis. And every so often I find some gems I missed.
One of my favorites is Irregular Webcomics, a comic using shots of Legos and a copious amounts of nerd humor. It updates daily, and has never failed to make me laugh. Through his site, I discovered a now ended gem called DM of the Rings. It's a webcomic that shows what it's like to try to run a role-playing campaign with a table top game... if the players were running through The Lord of the Rings without ever knowing about it.
Part of me is inspired to do some form of FFXI web-based comic using the software mentioned in it. I enjoy doing stuff like that, as evidenced by my love for making YouTube videos. However, video editing is really time consuming, both in the creation and editing, and even in the rendering. I still have to do my Tribute to Hamburglar video.
I might see about bisecting this blog into a webcomic and a blog. It might be more interesting for all those people who come to read it. All... um....
Maybe I'll skip it and level Scholar instead.
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