{Connection Speed} {Down}

(Ups and Downs)

September 27-30, 2008

I must apologize to my growing legion (ha!) of faithful readers - I started a new job this week and their system won't allow Blogger. Even at lunch... And I've been busy training and stuff. So, Yalto, I'll do what I can ^^ (Also tonight's Law & Order: SVU is really distracting!)

Saturday was hours of no invites but I did get some crafting done. Later that night we did get a LS party together: Yalto and Aleu, Dark, and Oniraziel, a high-50's WHM new (I think) to the shell. It would have been awkward having two of us in disco pants but I was summoned as RDM instead. And the 6-month gap in playing the job showed... We had some laughs after Yalto got whacked and then Dark had a little rest. There were some more laughs when it was time for "Kanda after Dark".

Sunday was our Amazing Race party so I only got to play early on. I had a very short Dunes party on SCH that left me about 300 short of 23. After that, the LS gang assembled again (plus Archer). We spent a few hours in the Necropolis looking for a scrap of Ancient Papyrus for Yalto's LB1. Things got off to a rough start when I got Yalto killed. Basically, I walked into a room with a Lich (our target), 2 Mummies and a hellhound just outside. The rest of the crew followed in once I started attacking and what I thought was a link was actually just aggro - most (if not all) of them were under 60 and the Lichs definitely aggro those levels. I should have thought ahead before going nutso with the staff.

I hope I was able to make amends by being the puller. I grabbed Lichs as fast as I could from the three main pop areas and never got a link I didn't want. It took a dozen or so, even with Aleu's TH but we finally got the drop and then I had to split for Amazing Race chores.

Yesterday was more crafting, and then an evening of Campaign with Fhox, Isa and Bene. We did 3 fights but the XP was off. I wonder if fighting out of your nation's territory affects the payout.

Tonight was mostly chatter, plus an escort for a generous tele-passenger called Vividemon (sp). I crafted my way to 19.1 and turned in my second item, putting me 9 points away from Novice and the ability to start banking Guild Points. I also put up a stack each of Linen thread and cloth in a bid to get some of my crafting costs back.

Also, I met Phax. I don't know if he reads this but in any case, he gets a hug - we had an interesting intro in LS chat but in the end we did the /friend thing. Basically, he was playing around in shell chat and at first we thought he didn't hear Aleu's earlier {Mithra} {man}. No, he heard - he's just got a good attitude about in-game versus IRL. I think ^^ Time will tell! I look forward to seeing how Dark and Phax liven things up lol! Enz and Alima are off for now - here's hoping they come back soon!

Oh yeah, Yalto and Aleu get hugs and/or cookies for their stalwart defense of my character - they know what I mean. Of course, this might have to wait until Aleu and I are on Springer hehe!

My Week Off - Day 5

(A Fantastic Morning!!)

I didn't have a lot of time today because I was meeting some friends for lunch and then picking both kids up from their respective schools. So after rushing home post-Matt-drop-off, I logged in and flagged up on SCH again. An hour and a half later I gave in and switched to PLD. And got an invite in less than 5 minutes ^^?

(BTW, while waiting, I spent a lot of time playing MySQLGame, and submitting a lolcat to ICHC.)

Today's party was the kind of thing I wish I could bottle up and use when life is getting me down. Mourn led with Joye (are they an item? I dunno) and Highgarden, Sgtsagera and Daichin rounded us out. Mechanically, the party was almost flawless, with me tanking the hell out of our mobs and everyone else skillchaining, bursting or nuking like pros. Sgtsagera was on BST, something I haven't seen in a party more than a few times ever. And it worked really well.

Actually, aside from Daichin on SCH (and his friend Seiratan PLing us a bit), we were a melee-burn. 4 of us weaponskilled regularly and Sgt did once or twice. We never did pull off any level 2's (I don't believe) but it was cool watching all the chain/burst effects.

Drama came from a pair of Wights that either aggroed Mourn on the way back from a pull or just wandered into us, but either way I wound up dead from the Pug we were about to finish off. Screwdriver took me down more than 60% and a hit or two later I was dead. I was honestly too busy trying to figure out the wight angle to consider curing or 2-houring. As I lay dead, Seiratan tried her best to cure and the rest stuck it out, losing only Highgarden. I accepted Sei's raise mid-battle and did what I could healing-wise but avoided battle.

Once patched up, we eventually moved inside and took on mobs for about 20 more minutes prior to my lunch date.

What made this so uplifting as a party was the friendliness, inter-language cooperation (on skills and bursts, etc. as Dai was Japanese and High was German), willingness to work within my time parameters (I was in for over 2 hours, mind) and the fact that I felt genuinely appreciated. I usually feel OK after parties but this lot went out of their way to show appreciation for my performance and regret at my leaving. Mourn friended me and Joye even glomped me ^^

And I must offer sincere thanks to Weezy - I only lost hate a few times, usually after a skillchain. If this keeps up my PLD skills will rival my White Magery! P.S. Move Shield Bash macro next to self-cure - reaction time too slow! I only pulled off one stun the entire morning...

My Week Off - Day 4

(Progress, I guess)

Today I got one invite, on SCH. Back to the Dunes!! The party went pretty well but our hosts Orand and Evela had to leave after maybe 90 minutes. The only drama was from our BLM, Yakuman, who for some reason got gobbie aggro twice, while we were moving camps. Orand grabbed one raise and I grabbed the other.

One thing I did was to put some old crap up for sale, including the Platoon Disc. I offered it for about 25k less than I bought it for, but at this point I didn't care - I need the space and I'm afraid that the Rogetsurin will kill the market.

The other thing was a farming run in the Ruins - One each Answers, Gravity and Dagger.

My Week Off - Day 3

(Lowered Expectations...)

Once again, not a lot of XP action, and PLing using Sufhi in Valkurm failed as well. I'm beginning to wonder if NPCs level sync to your level...

I did get some duo help from Wizbangr and then with his prodding I started building a party. Well, that was a complete disaster. I had two dancers, myself on SMN and a BLU. Plenty of healing support, right? Well, at least one dancer, Fiir, didn't think they should be main-healing and there weren't a lot of waltzes going on. And when one player bailed after about 30 minutes, everyone else unceremoniously jumped ship too, except for Wiz. We stuck it out as a duo for about another hour but I really had to go to lunch.

Wiz was an unbelieveable help and I hope he got the WAR level he was after!

After I got back I got another level on Dancer. It was a much better party that simply ended too soon. So I went to work crafting and I figured out for the cost of about 5,600 bucks, not counting fails, I can synth a stack of Linen Threads that sells for close to 9k. I'm actually not interested in profit here, rather I want to reach 22 without spending any money. And I made it to 15 yesterday! I'm failing a lot less now, so I figure between the thread (19) and the cloths (22) I should be able to get there quickly and cheaply.

My Week Off - Day 2

(Not what I had planned but very nice nonetheless)

Well, after the XP orgy yesterday, I hoped I could keep things moving on other jobs, namely Summoner and Scholar. But after a long period of nonvites, I tried PLing myself using Sufhi as a tank. Whatever level Qufim crabs are, they are far stronger than my little buddy. We both got drilled quickly.

Meanwhile, in shell chat, Raki was looking for some help with capping his Great Axe skill. Realizing I wasn't getting anywhere with partying, I changed to WHM and we headed out to Altepa and then Xarcabard looking for mobs he could take on for some axe boosts. It's long work and I couldn't stay too long because I had to go pay my speeding ticket. So before we wrapped, he asked for another favor: escort to one of the past nations so he can get joined up with one of the armies for Campaign.

This actually took almost two hours and covered a long trek across the past starting from the Konschacht Maw. We went to Pashhow for the recall crystal and then through Vunkerl and on to Gustaberg and finally Bastok. Which is when I found out he wanted to go to Windurst :p

We also did something else...I had met him near Bibiki Bay and he took me on a quick tour of the area and a ride on the Manaclipper before we set off into the past. Sorry for all the screens, but I'm trying to keep the true meaning of adventuring fresh in my heart. This was an awesome ride, Raki! /bow

A Polite Request

(Seriously - please listen!)

In my earlier post I mentioned my objection to the whole "manthra" witch-hunt some people go on. After I wrapped up in Vana'diel I did a bunch of chores at home to catch up after AWA. The whole time, I stewed about it.

I really don't know why, of all the crap plaguing my fave pastime, this issue is the one that gets my cute Mithra nose all out of joint. But it does. Just after I took the "Lazy Kitties" pic, someone said something like "lol 3 Mithras". "Or is it 2 {Mithra} and a manthra?"

Look people - I am a guy in real life. I *play* a female char in a *video game*. Now, don't get me wrong - I'm not pissed because someone might think I'm gay. I don't give a fig what orientation *you* might think I have. My wife knows which way I roll. Even though she joked about me after I mentioned my cosplay plans. She knows the truth, and between her and I that's all that matters on that subject.

Aerin is female in-game. Once again, I'm a dude, she's a chick.

(I'm sorry to all who read this before I finished but you're gonna have to come back now... Tone, I'm looking at you ^^)

OK, to continue, I'm a guy. She's a girl. Still don't see the problem. I know there are lots more Mostly Men Online Role Playing Girls in our MMORPG. In any case, people who really know me online know that I'm a very calm player, not given to extreme swings in emotion. Except sorrow when I let people die as main-healer or tank.

But I'm seeing myself getting angrier and angrier whenever I hear that word. I'm even venting here, when I try to keep this a nice friendly place. I believe I'd never jeopardize my party's well-being and am given to heroic efforts to keep things going. The power over other people's enjoyment is what really has me hooked on MMOs. But dammit, if you want to test my limits, call me a manthra to my face when I'm main-healing or tanking you.

Next thing I have to say on this subject...

I am a guy. If you know that, and many of you do (especially in my LSes), then please don't go all OMGWTFBBQ later on. There are a couple of people who keep playfully emoting at me, and I know they know I'm a married dude. It's cool if you're knowingly messing around or if your guy toon likes my girl toon. No worries, they're little animated adults. And who doesn't like a little attention once in awhile? I don't even mind playing back when I know we're all on the same page.

But the reason I'm posting this here is I really don't want to keep harping on it in-game. In-game, I'm too busy trying to be the best party support I can be to worry about this kind of drama. Maybe more people will realize where I stand on this and either play along nicely or leave it alone.

I'm here to HAVE FUN, and help others HAVE FUN in Vana'diel. It's why I put up with all the cruft to get to that really great party or fun LS event. Or even just the screwing around in chat waiting for Beseiged. I love my friends and I love Vana'diel and I want to keep enjoying it with you.

</rant>

My Week Off - Day 1

(A bittersweet day...)

Today was my first day not reporting to the job I've held for nearly 3 years. I drove past there after dropping my oldest off at school and, while I'd rather e a stay-at-home lottery winner than toil at some job, the place had a lot of great memories. Imagine the best 2-party alliance you've ever been in, where everyone did their jobs and everything was friendly and smooth. It was like that.

That said, I'm using my week off to take care of various chores and car stuff. I also plan to grind hardcore because I don't know what my new work schedule will be. I got two long parties, one on WAR and one on PLD.

The first was in Qufim dining mostly on snips. I started as puller but later I was joined by Aeoros, one of our Dancers. We each called pulls as fast as we could and we hit chain 5 at least once and lower chains over and over. I went from WAR22 to 25 in this group, and mine were the only deaths. I gut Wight aggro and couldn't zone in time. And while weakened I pulled a Glow Bat which somehow flattened me with what in my log appeared to be simultaneous attacks. A very friendly Paladin helped me out.

I was the off-tank this time, something I rarely do. I tried really hard to watch MT Zanza's shadows and voke as needed to allow her to recast. For the most part we had a good rhythm. Well, I think so, I hope she agrees.

The second party was in the tower. XP wasn't as fast but we still had some fun. Weezybaby tried to give me advice which I resented at first because was no one said who was tanking and what the cure strat was (DNC, SCH, BRD) going to be. But after the party broke up I realized some of what he said I used to great effect. I refined my PLD hate-holding (ty Weezy).

This party's only death was Oliphant's when a link I was zoning that Chellina slept wasn't left slept. I saw the lullaby cast and turned back to the party to face my inital gob. The second one killed Oli when the others engaged it despite Chellina's sleep attempts.

Early on, I took a screenie of Aer, Shalashaska and Lelaela sitting in a row.

The next chucklehead that goes on about manthras is getting it in the neck - WTH is everyone's obsession with manthras? Someone made a crack about whether the party was inhabited by a manthra. Do people really believe every Mithra is played by a girl or a perv guy? Can I just play a female char and be male IRL and get on with life?

Anime Weak-end Atlanta

{placeholder}

Need to go in costume next year
Need to go FRIDAY next year
Need some kind of stim-pak so I don't fall asleep at midnight ><

Had fun and Vic M. is as hilarious as ever

OK, This Time I'm *Really* AFK

(OTOH, everyone likes a compliment!)

I was able to get the Nissan's brake rotors swapped out after dinner and done before 8:30. BTW, Pizza Hut's Pasta & Pizza deal is really tasty *nom nom*. At about 8:30 I logged in and flagged up on SCH. I had a pretty long wait, but I passed some of the time by OPing to the Dunes and trading a pearl to RDB's newest member Duhka, at Bene's request. The two of them were working on SJ items when Bene offered Duhka membership.

Eventually though, I did get a final invite, from Undeadcyric. This was an Sync party down to 12, with me as main-heal backing up Firekiss on PLD and the other melees. Ultimately, I was in this party for over two hours and things went very smoothly at the initial gob & lizzy camp. I took a short break when we moved camps for snips. About this time, Fire had to split but was very appreciative for my cure support: "I may be doomed for saying this, but... ^^" She went on to say that in most parties she dies quickly, but in this one hadn't died once. I really did appreciate it, explaining that WHM is my main and passion in Vana'diel.

However, on returning from my break, things got rougher. The snips were far less accommodating than the other mobs and Sen died almost immediately when pulls started. It didn't help that pulls happened while I was AFK. MP ran out regularly and twice I reached for my super-expensive, semi-useless Super Ether (but never actually had to use it). We had one pull where almost everyone was in the red, but we survived.

Later, Aristottle died. Dantanious and I rolled for Raise honors and I won. I think he thinks I lost, but nope. I felt bad about Ari's death even though we were kinda overmatched. I changed into my WHM finery and proposed to Cyric that I stay WHM and PL so he could get his level. However, in returning others were leaving and we broke up.

I took Sen and Aristottle to Dem and packed it in.

*Ding* SCH21, and my last update until Sunday night.

Sorry Fhox, 5-2 will have to wait! But on the bright side, RDB is filling back up! /joy

Next week I need to check in with GD again and see if Yalto and Aleu have made it back on, or at least passed along word of their condition.

Going on a Jet Plane

(I blew it in Promy-Dem...)

September 16-17, 2008

Tuesday I didn't play at all because we had too much to do pet-wise and house-wise.

Wednesday I got in a little after 8:30 and Fhox kicked off a Promy-Dem run for RDB. Fhox, Isa, Kitty, Raki and Bene (Dex) got in on it, although Dex was a late add. I was going to bring Sufhi but now with a full party that was out.

The plan was to get Beryl Memospheres for everyone besides me, since I already had one from soloing with Sufhi last week. We got 3 more over the first and second floors. I also got about 1,500 more XP on DNC and will ding 32 soon. Also also, it looks like any capped activity acts as a Sync party as nost of us had over-30 gear on.

On the first floor, XP was low and after grabbing a Memosphere we went upstairs. XP improved but something I noticed is that Dancing in a party is worse for my TP because mobs die too fast! I was having a hard time staying over 100, and had to solo Wanderers a couple times to rebuild.

The fighting was easy enough with 6 of us, and most of Fhox and Isa's MP went to nukes and enfeebs while I main-healed. Even with a 3x link of a Gorger and two Weepers, we survived.

Dex's Widescan was most helpful and we were working on another Gorger when I died. I had pulled cure-hate and had taken damage but the last two hits that did me in didn't look right. I saw the Gorger's attacks but I never saw a reaction on Aerin (blood spatter/knockback) and my controller didn't shake. Had I realized I was taking the damage I was I'd have fired off my RR scroll I was planning on using later.

I felt really bad because basically I ended the night. Others said they had to go soon anyway but I'm sure we'd have made a little more progress had I not so unceremoniously died. Raki, who'd been AFK at the start of this fight later joked about Dancers not being able to tank. I dunno, I've seen a couple. Hate-hold is a snap once the self-cure-spiral kicks in. It's the EVA and DEF that usually ruin it. The successful DNC tanks are merited though, I think.

I had a blast in this group, especially since Kitty and Raki were so much fun to chat with. And earlier, while messing around with Kitty (Mirror, Mirror SP) we got a new Brigader - Gabrie, a new Taru WHM. I wonder if her name is French-sounding: Gab-ree-ay? I'll have to ask next time I see her.

In other news, we gave Bran's turtle to the neighbors because we can't seem to get the tank right and they're big into aquatic pets. However, Bran is upset now after originally supporting this plan. He was so distraught he made a PB&J for lunch that looked like it had gone through the teleporter in The Fly... We may have to try something else.

And finally, I may not be online again until Sunday or Monday. Tonight (Thursday) is car-repair and prep for the AWA X4 trip. Friday-Sunday I'm on the road, and don't know if I can get wired internet access cheap. I'm going to take TheFunMachine and my little gaming TV just in case I can swing access, but don't be surprised if I'm not on again any time soon.

Oh, almost forgot - since I'm out of this job in two days, I may lose my PhotoShop access. I wonder if The Gimp can cleanly edit my sig .PSD file.

If I don't see any of you before I leave, have a safe weekend all!

Quiet Night

(Nobody likes being stood up)

I logged in around 8:45 with plans to be on for 2 hours leveling something other than WHM. I chose SCH and flagged up and changed clothes. A while later I got an invite from Redpalminferno to a sync party in Qufim. I replied saying I wanted in, then sent another tell asking for confirmation on the campsite. I started running to the Outpost Warper, and hadn't gotten a reply. A second send went ignored. So I tried again: "I'm almost to the {Outpost} {Warp} NPC - do you still need me?" This time the answer came back fast... "Naah it's koo".

><

By now it was after 9 and I really didn't want to be up too late. I flagged down and resumed chatting in RDB. Then at about 9:30 I flipped over to GD. I said my hellos, then said "I'm bored and have to leave in about an hour. PL {Do you need it?} ^^"

Enz jumped up and asked for help on his PLD, currently almost to 13. I agreed and we met up in Konschaht by the crag. This was pretty straightforward PL action. I kept him Hasted and dumped C1's as needed, with C2's for the bigger hits. MP lasted quite awhile, even with the hasting. I only had to rest once, during which I closed up the house and swapped laundry loads. I also brushed my teeth.

Enz and I chatted a bit but mostly we talked about the mob action. Twice we saw Tremor Rams and after some consideration, we decided to go for it. I invited him, attacked and then cast Banish III on the first one to pull. As the spell landed, the ram turned right into a faceful of Light Staff and died. It was almost simultaneous. Enz was impressed and I felt bad that he didn't get to swing at all. I figured he might've gotten a skillup or two since the Ram was IT to him. I told him to loot the drops because I couldn't use any ram parts. He was quite appreciative.

Leveling-wise, most of the mobs we found in the highlands were EM or T and they died quickly. He's in the level range that I was when I realized PLD really does kick butt even soloing. We were thinking about a run into Valkurm but then Oneeye and another soloer shouted about the second Ram. We went for it since nobody else wanted it and this time I slowed down some to let Enz get some licks in. Then I got petrified... Turning away doesn't block breath-based petrification, it seems... I was worried he was gonna pull hate and die before I could cure or re-pull but the ram was close to death by this point and it died without further drama.

By now it was 10:30 and Enz was just shy of dinging again, so I stuck it out for 2 more mobs and then teleported us back to the crag. After congratulating him in shell it was bedtime.

Weekend Update

(I forgot how fast the XP is!)

September 12-14, 2008

I had kind of a slow weekend - no late night partying and sporadic daytime play in between family activities.

On Friday when I got home from work I logged in close to 6 to check on Yalto and Aleu - even with Ike about 2 hours away from landfall they were still on ^^ I joked they had time for a Campaign battle. Other than a brief chat with GD nothing else happened Friday. Mostly because my new work schedule means I'm sleepy much earlier...

Saturday I logged in and jumped right back into Campaign. I'm down to Ribbon 2 but at least I didn't get completely booted from the army. I did two runs of Iron Anvil and two Campaign ops and I ended the session just 1.3k away from 69. The two ops were in Saromugue and XP for both was over 1,400 apiece. Thus, I'm hoping one more run does it.

And later on, it did. I actually pulled down 1,600 total. I really hope the other battlegrounds are similar in terms of difficulty because these three ops felt like campaign of old. Hard-fought but manageable. Sure, I died once or twice, and sure, so did lots of others. But it was a pretty even fight. I even saw a Belfry this time, and a Yag tank, with its War Lynxes. But I didn't die over and over! Yay!

I also took the time to try for another Tactics Pearl and figured I'd combine trips and grab the map while I was leveling Sufhi. I'm pretty sure I had killed max mobs before reaching the ??? for the pearl but I got interrupted during the event. And of course Sufhi pooped out and left before I could clear the area and click again, so no pearl and no NPC XP. With Sufhi gone I had to solo all the way to the third floor. This is where the map is supposed to be. It's not. There are apparently two third floors and I have no idea how to get to the one I want.

Despite plans to play Saturday night, I wound up falling asleep again. I'm getting OLD... Oh, almost forgot. Ape and I wanted to watch SNL for Tina Fey's stint as Sarah Palin. That skit was awesome. Most everything else was as bad as it's been on SNL the last 10 years... Really really bad.

Sunday morning, after a rapid run to McD's for family breakfast, I jumped on again. I was in RDB this time after yesterday afternoon's question from Fhox about leaving. No Boss, I'm not leaving RDB! But my new schedule means I see a lot more GD people and a lot of empty RDB. So if RDB is empty, I'm gonna switch over.

That said, this time it worked out - 6 of us were on and Fhox wanted to get 5-1 for Dark and Raki. And once again, we spent just under an hour getting to the BC and 8 minutes and 40-odd seconds on the fight itself against all those skeletons. Argh!

There was concern about Raki's low level (WAR40) but it never mattered. Bene and Dark were putting out so much damage they held hate pretty solidly. Isa and I did the enfeeb and heal thing and we didn't have too many problems until Taber'quon dropped an AoE taking about 40% of our health. I shoved a Benediction up his bony backside and at full health, we finished beating him (back to) death.

Later Sunday night I got a quick invite from Jonnyboy out to Caedarva Mire on WHM and after an awkward start we quickly racked up monster XP on Imps and Jnun. I still hate Imps. Props to Spookyx on RDM - she dished out Hates *and* Refreshes all around meaning I could keep MP longer. I still had to call for a couple rests when our pally lost hate or unexpected aggro screwed with our strategy.

Everything was rocking until Jonnyboy DCed and never came back. There was some discussion about what to do but ultimately, after a long wait then a fruitless search for reps, we decided to throw in the towel. Which was fine - it was getting late and I had some chores to do anyway. Plus I got over 6k into the level in just over an hour's play!

Quick Notes: For the 5-1 fight, Fhox kept trying to Level Sync us. I never got a good answer out of him but Sync isn't supposed to be usable in capped areas. I think he was trying to find a way in using post-50 gear. But sure enough, on entering the Burning Circle, we lost our Sync icons. I had already switched to 50- gear so I didn't see it immediately, but it looks like caps are also treated as syncs. On finishing up a rest I used my usual macro to stand up and my Staff equipped. I threw on the rest of my main gear set and it all worked. So, basically, you can treat capped areas as sync parties now?

P.S. Brothermist found me - if anyone else finds themselves in here please let me know what you think!

P.P.S. Sunday we verified you *can* fit 4 people, a week's worth of groceries, and some other shopping bags into a Mazda RX-8 ^^

Thoughts and Prayers

(Nervous but hopeful)

After what I've been seeing lately on the news regarding Hurricane Ike, it looks like Texas' low-lying areas are going to get hit hard, with some surge and wind risks further inland. Of course, I hope and pray nobody dies or is injured in these kinds of things, but then I don't normally know people in danger's path.

I'm looking at you Yalto and Aleu - Be safe and see you soon!

Meanwhile, in Vana'diel... The only thing I did was finally get Sufhi to 40. Also, while killing time in SSG I decided to try using up my Grotto chest key but as it turns out the main pop area is behind the silver beastcoin door. Not researching that in advance means I never grabbed one out of storage. I don't know if getting the map to SSG is worth the 750 an extra outpost warp will cost. Maybe I'll save it for the next time Windy controls the Lowlands. But then again I would love to free up the inventory space sooner rather than later.

While looking over alternate items in the AH, I got a PM from Silenthaze asking for a Tele-Dem. I had ignored his shouts because I was busy but he asked nicely in PM. Although the second part of his request threw me. He said my reward for the tele was "lots of love", followed by "legal 2 plz" I took too long decoding that and we zoned.

It was after landing and a "/sea all legal" that I figured out he was trying to get a friend along for the ride. Being the nice Mithra I am I warped, Ib-warped, freewarped and then met up with his friend. Who was kind enough to offer 1k for the tele. Both were very appreciative and I really didn't mind. Tele-Whore {Amateur}, remember? ^^

Tonight is date night but afterwards I plan to do a little housekeeping (moving any whole stacks of seals to Jeuno orb NPC, old gear sales) and Campaign. Then I'm going to hit 69 on WHM.

FFXI Cosplay {Can I have it?}

Once again I'm going to be attending Anime Weekend Atlanta, from the 19th to the 21st. And once again, my Japanese studies have not progressed far enough. And once again, I don't have a costume.

Before I got into FFXI, I had planned to cosplay as Jet Black, from Cowboy Bebop. I had some ideas on the prosthetic arm and the rest of his duds. I was kicking around some facial hair ideas too. And then FFXI consumed me.

Yes, if at all possible, I intend to cosplay as my character. Yes, I know she's a chick, and a cat-chick at that. *NO*, I will NOT be going in RSE. I don't have the figure for that ^^ And besides, crossplaying is going to be weird enough for me as it is. (Please no flames - I have NO problem with cosplay, crossplay and/or furries. I'm just new to it IRL.)

No, my plan is to go in something similar to my current setup: Noble's Tunic + AF pants, feet and hands. Since I won't be cosplaying this year, I'll undoubtedly have different in-game gear next year, so my apparel selections may change to match.

As for the ears and tail I think I have some solid engineering ideas that I might try out. I also have some thoughts on the wig but I doubt I have the skill to pull that off. And my IRL clothcraft skills are nowhere near where they'd need to be to assemble all the armor pieces so I'll probably have to commision them.

The Light Staff should be easy enough and I've been kicking over some ideas on how to "holster" it on my back without having to fudge up the tunic. IOW, I want to be able to wear the staff and have easy access for wielding it, but if I want to ditch it altogether, I don't want anything showing on my back other than the tunic itself.

I've also had some thoughts on the pouch. I think it would be nifty to scale the staff head down a bit and make the "globe" detachable and have other element colors in the pouch. Couldn't be too many of course but maybe 2 would work.

Skin-wise, I have thoughts on that. I don't want to go with body paint/airbrushing for my arms since I don't want to mess up my outfit but I can't go bare-skinned either - I'm too white. I'm thinking velour gloves made of (or dyed) Mithran brown would give a nice effect and be easy enough to put on or take off. Facially though, it's gonna have to be makeup, for the overall tone, the stripes, and the black nose-tip.

Accessories would have to include the earrings, necklace and belt. Finger rings are a maybe, especially if I plan to doff the Healer's Mitts regularly. And speaking of the Mitts, mine would be cheaters: individually-fingered white gloves with a white elastic panel over the backs of the fingers for the mitt look.

I doubt I'll wear the AF "condom hat" because of the wig (also because I hate it), but a crown or pin might do. And the cape would be the last thing added to the ensemble, if at all. But it would be nice to have a good one.

The whole point of blogging all this is to have a starting point for requesting a commission. After I reread this a few times I might change up some of the pieces but once a final set is locked in, I'm going to start my research. And yes, I know this sort of thing is going to cost me a fortune. I am tempted to beef up my real-life sewing skills (currently languishing at 2.3, HA!) and/or borrow a sewing machine.

It doesn't help that my previous girlfriend (the one who introduced me to my wife) was a seamstress and made many of her own clothes and dresses. She even made a very nice prom dress. The idea of crafting stuff you can use is appealing to me, and other than cloth, I'd love to do wood (furniture) and metalwork (automotive).

For anyone who reads this, if you have cosplay experience or know anyone who can help me with this, please hook a Mithran up!

White Mage Party Love Get!

(I'm happy today, oh yes I'm happy today!)

I really hope the buzz on Sync parties doesn't die too soon because in two nights I've gotten quick invites and great XP. From just under 15k into 68, I'm now just over 25k, less than 5k tnl from 69.

I technically had two parties last night but the first, in Wajaom, disbanded almost immediately. The leader was apologetic and I told him not to worry about it. I figured I'd wait in the Near East and see if I could get another invite. Which I did, but for Bhaflau Thickets. Yoyoyoor had a pretty good setup and my job was pretty easy.

And thankfully, we dined on Colibri, synced at 65. The first party, brief as it was, synced down to 61 and tried killing Puks. Why, oh why would they do that... /sigh XP came pretty fast and our BRD Deathblow (great name for that job, BTW) did the chainpull via lullaby hold thing and we hit 4's and 5's.

Between Sanction and Ballads I had a pretty good Refresh thing going, and only had to call for MP rest once. I kept up a solid Haste/Regen cycle that was costing me a bit but the occasional C5 when the pally lost hate really did my MP in. Strangely enough, while I was resting Yoyo kept asking Deathblow to buff me, which he had been the whole night. Apparently Death was AFK so I stuck up for him. When he got back he confirmed he'd been handling things.

When it came time to leave at 9, I advised Yoyo and asked if I should look for a rep. He wanted a SCH rather than WHM and it took some doing to find one at a high enough level. I had to resort to blind invites but got Vyuumahjorluv (sp?) to answer the call. Then, after some previous grousing about the XP, our Japanese paladin Allione decided to bail. While we weren't hitting max XP per kill, the birds were dropping fast and chains were easy. But he wanted to sync down to 64 and for whatever reason we didn't.

All this drama unfolds as Vyu zones in. I felt really bad but then it turns out he knew some of the others and said he was cool with it. The party eventually disbanded and after I declined Drew's D2 everybody warped.

I dumped what little loot I got and said my goodnights, after wishing safe passage for Yalto and Aleu as Ike approaches.

Actually, I missed out on a lot of shell chat, on both groups. Just after I teled back to Aht Urghan for the second party, Fhox and Isa both ask me to Sync party with the shell. And on GD, I missed most of a "your momma fight" between Yalto and Dove. Eventually the whole thing turned into a funny (and hopefully not serious) verbal melee that I couldn't keep up with in combat.

Reflections:

I'm doing OK synced down but I sure do love partying on Colibri. They die easy with few AoE or debuffs to worry over and with a good tank I don't have to keep curing all over the place. Using the spell menu isn't so bad but I may wind up creating a simplified WHM menu and just change the tier numbers for key spells and comment in/out others based on level restriction.

I think Level Sync is going to lead to a lot more XPing all over. One thought I had was this (take notes leaders) - If at all possible, assemble a party where one player is at the target mob's level, and three are 1 level apart below this level. In other words, using a Colibri camp as an example, get 6 people spread like this: any-any-64-63-62-61. Sync to the level 64 player and now you have 3 at 64. Depending on the jobs of the lower players this should work fine.

Now, you can grind the hell out of a specific mob and just keep syncing down as the designee levels. It should be possible to grab nearly optimal XP for like 80 grand worth of XP. Assuming your camp doesn't get overrun this could be a great way to level. And it should work on any syncable level as long as you can find players with the right level spread.

As for Maat, I've been thinking about skillups. I got quite a few last night but I didn't check to see if I was capped before I got the points. I want to find out if skillups can happen as long as your true level isn't capped, in the same way XP is applied to your true bar, not the capped one.

If so, I'm gonna wrangle me a low-level friend to sync me down while I beat on "safe" mobs with my club and shield. I don't have a clue what mob that would be but something with poor accuracy coupled with high def would be nice.

And then there's Campaign. As much as I've complained about the earlier bungling of campaign battles, I haven't had time to revisit the past. I need to though because it was pretty exciting stuff and fairly easy (but slow) XP when parties were unavailable.

This Could Get Interesting

(Still not sure if it was worth the sleep deprivation)

I wasn't able to log in until almost 9, but I flagged up immediately on WHM hoping for any kind of party, Level Sync or otherwise. I got one invite quickly but then the player wrote back saying there was a change of plans.

I decided to take Sufhi out for a bit and about halfway through my first pearl I got another invite, to Qufim. It's probably been close to a year since I White Maged out there so I was nervous about doing a good job. I finished up a set of mobs and warped.

Based on the expectation that I could keep my gear, I made no effort to "re-gear" for the low 20's. Everything worked as descrived in the update but it was obvious lower-level pieces could work *better* in some cases, especially items with stat boosts/effects. Most of my leet WHM stuff was acting as "plain" equipment at 23, where we were synced.

Almost as soon as I joined the party between the lake and the tower, two adventurers had to run - Menelaus was one of them and I wondered if he was off to a LS event with Vagustae.

It took some doing but we eventually got 6 people together and killed stuff. I got just over 3k XP in about an hour and 15 minutes of actual fighting. I lamented that this bested my XP take for the previous 10 days.

Combat was tricky because I had no clue what I could cast and what I couldn't. I resorted to using the Magic menu and looking for non-grayed-out spells. I manually sorted as well to put things in a sensible order. By the time we went into the tower I had a pretty good setup going.

I think I did OK with buffs and cures. Nobody died anyways. And I wasn't the only one feeling awkward playing advanced jobs at beginner levels again ^^ The night's excitement came when our puller Chewtoy warned of a link. He zoned one while we took the other. However, another gob joined in and XP was dropping fast. I pulled out Benecide and thankfully, the gob was close enough to death that the crew put him down before any harm came of it.

Amid the cheers and gj's I shouted "Not on *MY* watch, Gob!" which got some cheers. Then Chewtoy (jokingly) said he could pull more links. I said, "Sure, in about two hours..." Giggle-time ^^

As midnight approached I worked on finding a rep but I couldn't get anyone to come to the tower. Sararose, our leader had already expressed frustration at people's pickiness to "power down". I can sympathize with the reluctantcy - While being able to run around at full power until actually IN the party is great for not dying on the way, the whole "optimal gear" thing is a problem. Technically, I was gear-gimped once I synced.

I warped out as they debated continuing or packing it in. Just before bed I checked on Sufhi. I got another appointment with the Empty, which I'll do after I burn off my last Tactics charge. But she's still 39. I could have sworn the last time I checked she said she was halfway, and tonight she said she had plenty of work to do... And I still can't trade "upgrade 3" gear to Luto for Sufhi's use, despite her AF bond being over 45. Argh.

In RDB I chatted briefly with Raki (killing time and crabs on the boat), Fhox, Isa, Dex and Kitty. But besides some fun with Raki, nobody was talking much. I jumped on GD briefly to see if Yalto or Aleu were on. It looks like Hurricane Ike might have a go at their area so I'm wondering how they're doing.

Now I Know Why They Call It HomeWORK

(Maybe I should get credit too!)

I haven't been on for two days, mostly because of school and homework issues. Not mine, my son's. He skated through Friday and most of Saturday before realizing he had two projects due. And, Open House was last night as well. Ape and I helped him with these things, set up a borrowed printer, got drafting help on one of the tasks, etc.

Neither of us have had much relaxing time these last two nights. And to top it off, I had to wait for the September Extravaganza to DL, which it did after a number of "network busy" errors. I only had a few minutes to poke around, but, other than seeing {Level Sync} in someone's search comment I don't see the difference yet.

Tonight is Y night and I'm debating not going. If I can get home early enough maybe that'll work but I really want some good playtime in. I haven't partied in awhile now and I need a fix! And I'm eager to see how Level Sync works in action.

Screenshot Update Two, and a Complaint

I know, I know, I've been slacking. I promise to try harder!

Sep 1 - Laboring Day Weekend

Aug 23 - Windy Weather

Aug 20 - Calm Before the Storm

Aug 14 - Angular Momentum This is the GreenDeath static update I thought I posted weeks ago.

As for the complaint, Blogspot keeps doing weird things to my posts, especially during editing. I learned the hard way that using the angry face emote >< with links and then editing will cause the editor to gobble up the text between one set of brackets (emote) and the other (link). I think I fixed all previous errors.

It would seem using HTML entities like "&gt;" prevents this, but it sure is a pain to type...

Also, long wall-o-text posts seem to lose paragraph breaks a lot, and in the same places, and not always the whole way through.

Stoic Penance

(Job news outweighs lack of XP)

September 5-7, 2008

I didn't get a lot done this weekend besides a little more Sufhi-time (39 and a half!), a bit of crafting (11.2) and knocking out the second AF bond limit break (cool cutscene).

Saturday, despite being flagged up for well over an hour among two dozen other seekers, I got no invites. Isa was headed off to campaign and I was going to meet her, but by the time I pulled my flag down it was almost bedtime.

About the only interesting thing that happened was PLing Stoik on RDM for a bit. Things went well enough and he got a level. I stuck around a bit longer for him to buffer up and then took off. Surgical asked for a raise then, so I headed his way on my way back to Jeuno. Then Stoik jumps in again...dead. After I grabbed Doc (and warded off a curious gob), I tele'd back to La Theine where he was supposed to be. Since he'd gone AFK and wasn't confirming his status or postion, I told him that if he wasn't dead when I found him, I'd kill him myself!

I really like Stoik and am glad he's still with us despite all he's been through. But I can't shake the feeling that working with him is some form of penance for a sin I can't identify. I don't think I've given him aid once where things went as planned ^^ There is always some cosmic glitch that means a redo of some kind. Stoik, if you're reading this - don't stop asking for help! I'm just diving into one of the universe's great mysteris is all.

I'm not sure I'm going to be on tonight since it's Open House at my son's school and the big "Is this big enough to get more people playing?" update is tonight. I'm honestly really psyched about this one - Level Sync and Campaign fixes are both huge. If they hadn't totally messed up Campaign in the *last* update, I'd have been level 69.9 (not hitting 70 prior to Maat) already. And Level Sync will hopefully mean more parties, period.

I'm not sure if I want to power down WHM, since I think I might be lost at lower levels with fewer spells ready. That, or I'd have to have custom macro bars for the lower levels so I could still be effective and not scrolling through those weak menus for spells. In any case, I do expect Level Sync to be a defining moment in Vana history.

I really hope this isn't a "beginning of the end" kind of thing - meaning, some MMO's on the way to shutdown will juice the rules, drops, XP, etc. in a free-for-all style celebration. I really hope I can stick with this one for another year. Especially if WoW is NOT coming to console, as followup rumors are now suggesting. I'm not ready to {Convert} to PC gameplay!

Also, as hinted at by my mood thingy up there I am supposed to be getting a job offer this week, which is great timing as this job is supposed to be closing down altogether in two.

Payback

(I got to be helpful today!)

I logged in at about 8:15 and jumped right back in to SSG. I used one charge off of each pearl and killed 40 mobs with Sufhi, in about an hour's time. She's now halfway to 39 and in need of a new camp.

I stayed in GD the whole night as I didn't see Fhox or Isa all night. Fhox has been pretty under the weather lately. I could be missing them because of my new schedule, I suppose.

In any case, there was some general GD chat about LB2 and AF quests. I asked if anyone needed anything and at first I didn't have any takers. Then Dark said he wanted to duo his low RDM with Mrs' low mage. I don't think Dark likes the magical life though ^^

Yalto scored some more brownie points - Dark joked about fearing the bill for the PL assist. I may have missed a tell but basically Yalto said I was OK with it because I was nice like that. I joked that I didn't *have* to be nice and he zinged me with "You're too much of a white mage not to be." All I could say was "Damn, he's right..." Aleu lol'ed, but then again she'd been kinda giggly all night :P

In any case, I did PL Dark but I had to leave before Mrs made it out to La Theine. Dark was happy to get a level on RDM, to 8 and I stayed a little longer for him to get a buffer. I think all in all he got just over 2k xp in an hour of PL time. Not too bad that that level - it's just hard to kill things with all your skills capped low.

Also, I got my CafePress package today. I ran out and put the "Got Mana" plate frame on. I picked the "low on mana" version because I usually am in parties, and it's much more obviously a mana bar compared to the "full mana" version which looks too much like a solid blue stripe. I also got a mithra sticker to cover up the horrid "airbags are deadly" warning on my visor.

Yes, I am *that* nuts for FFXI.

And in job-hunt news, I'm supposed to be getting a job offer today. If that works out it'll be great timing because this place closes down in two weeks!

Rockin' the Grotto

(...sigh...)

I barely had any time tonight as I went straight from work to Krystals for dinner with the fam. From there it was Target and "get Ape's car charged after she left the lights on". I'm learning so much about my little RX-8 and its quirks - the battery is underneath a cover guarded by a hot radiator hose and some clips...

So when I finally logged on about 10 after 9, I didn't have a lot of time. I did some quick AH work and then got an OP warp to the Lowlands. I used the Tactics Pearl first, to make sure it worked like I expected it to. 20 kills later Sufhi took off. So I popped the regular Signal Pearl and she came right back. I only had time for 15 more kills but this was enough to put me at least halfway to 38.

This is just too easy! Soon she'll be a high enough level to be useful on WHM in short party or solo situations! I wonder how the new Level Sync system wil deal with NPCs...

I am nearing the end of SSG's usefulness as a Sufhi-spot since she's soon going to be too high a level to guarantee max XP. I need to look for another good bones camp that's easy to get to, maybe something around 45-48.

Final Fantasy Tactics

(Still sick and a little blue too...)

Because it was Y Night, I didn't get a lot of time on. I split my logins into two distinct phases - get Aerin dressed for Prom(y) and arrive at the gate, followed by entering the hall and do the Tactics Pearl quest.

DNC already owns the first floor of Promyvion-Mea but with Sufhi assisting it's even easier. I was able to take out about a dozen Empty mobs then we smashed the Memory Receptacle. I finished the quest on the second floor and got 1,900 of a possible 2,100 XP for Sufhi. I also managed to snag the Beryl Memosphere needed for the map! On returning to Windy and the RP (Hi Yalto!) I got the tactics pearl and then logged out.

Again, if I understand correctly, I could go on a Sufhi-XP bender and have her make 5 runs through SSG for about 20k XP, putting her close to 40. She's already about to ding 37.

I finally saw another Brigader - Isa and I had a brief chat. She took a sabbatical and also does not know where Fhox is. And I spent a few minutes at GD's LS site: greendeath.forumup.com. I got the creeps at the number of Russian/Cyrillic ads I got getting to the site - I hope Forumup is on the up-and-up.

Laboring Day Weekend

(I don't like being sick...)

Thursday after I played Ape kept me up all night with her whole-body version of restless-leg syndrome. Less than 3 hours sleep. And to top it off I'm coming down with a cold. So Friday, I came home from work and went to bed at 9pm and didn't climb out again until well after noon on Saturday.

I logged in a few times Saturday to chat and help Stoik with LB3. We did the Davoi leg and despite a rough patch getting through the Banishing Wall (note: orb use can be interrupted, get a voker to hold hate for a few seconds then run like hell). Both of us died but not at the same time. I was obliterated quickly trying to set the orb. Stoik was trying to figure out what to do when he got aggroed and I decided to test my luck by reraising in the middle of it. I got the orb in and ran through and told Stoik to follow. What I didn't know is that he'd been bound and by the time I figured it out to cure him he was dead.

Neatly enough, one can be tractored through the wall! So that's what I did. Stoik's comment on arrival: "What now, bitches!" I actually expected the orcs to follow but they didn't. After recovering we made it to the crest spot without any further aggro. Except when Stoik aggroed *me* because he never flagged the quest with Maat. I /slapped him for good measure but wasn't really mad. I was more relieved than anything at how smoothly it had gone with just the two of us.

I told him I'd help him later but I had to go on an errand trip. Archer also needed this one so maybe we could team up. Later I spent a little time leveling Sufhi but still no Empty quest.

After dinner and Death Race (really good BTW), I logged in to get a party on WAR. Another Qufim party later and pretty good XP, it was time to go. I'm 1k away from 23 on WAR and about the same from 24 on PLD. I blew another 30-odd grand on stuff...

Sunday was a slow day. Aside from chores in-game I spent most of the time with Aleu and Yalto helping them farm the LB1 key items. We got the bomb coal easily enough but the papyrus drop from the Liches in the Necropolis wasn't as helpful. I even took Aleu downstairs but had no luck. We bailed and gave the long way (entering from Beaucedine) a shot. We ended the night at the Vahzl crystal since it was late by now and Aleu had to work on Labor Day.

Monday was a 1-hour quickie with some chatting and Sufhi work. I finally got the Empty quest so tonight I should have a Tactics pearl to try out. If I understand it correctly, I get 4 runs, usable almost consecutively, which should be able to get Sufhi to 38 if I have the time. Fhox had better get back on or Raka will be playing catch-up for once!

And speaking of Fhox, I barely saw him all weekend. I dropped into RDB several times over the weekend but it was always empty, except for Raki showing up just as I was leaving Saturday night. I did catch Isa last night and she said she'd been off a few days for a break. Fhox must've been too.