Samurai Stunner

(Really fun TP use!)

I logged in still between jobs after last night's soloing on RNG. I was sitting on SAM trying to decide if that's what I wanted to be tonight when I got a blind invite from Sootypaddlefish. I don't often get blind invites on jobs other than WHM so this was a nice surprise. Thus, SAM12 it was, after a bit of loot arranging and gearing up.

Sooty was not the leader - he was PLing, and may have been a friend of Lilphill, the leader. On arrival we got off to a quick start, on crabs and gobs near the beach. At first, even with food, I was having an accuracy problem. This could have been because my GK skill was maybe half of the cap. But it sure gained quickly!

And once I got Tachi: Hobaku, I got a lot more effective. Hobaku is a stun move and I used it against gobs mostly. My timing was pretty good too. Of course, a stunned Bomb Toss just gets retried (usually) but in some cases the gobbie was nearly dead and the stun gave us time to finish him off without harm.

Ultimately, I dinged 15 and had a great time. I think of my DDs SAM is my fave so far. Having a PL along made things fast and easy.

Making Improvements

(Getting my knack back)

Logged in late (7:30ish) after a full day of racing action. That update to follow.

Flagged up on WHM and spent some time relocating to Jeuno. Trying to find a less painful way than a long choco ride or use of Repatriation to get to Ibwam for when I’m not on /BLM. Latest truck was Recall-Pash, short run to the maw, and then a trek through half of the present-day marshlands followed by all of Rolanberry. Hmmm, free but a little time consuming.

But I was able to get to Jeuno and started setting up new Gravity auctions plus some loot dumps. Along the way, got a party request from Tinye and told her I’d be in WG in 5 minutes. After clearing some gobbiebag space I did the job-change dance to get me home, Ib-warped and then got Sanction and another change of clothes. (There’s a lolMithra coming up later – stay tuned!).

As I made my way to the Hall of Passage Tinye asked if I knew what was in store at the planned Caedarva Mire camp. “Imps and Jnuns” I said. She confirmed and I continued my journey, with a brief stall on the platform while trying to remember which portal goes to which zone. I picked right though when Tinye didn’t answer. Someone else wound up in Mount Zayohlm ^^

The party got off to a rough start: Usuke (PLD) was eaten at the Iron Gate. He set off last and was spotted by an Imp we managed to get past. While I went back to raise him, the others got aggro and three deaths later I had my work cut out for me. And once again, I buffed only to lose ‘em all on Level Sync.

But once we settled into a rhythm, we did well. I was much faster on silenas for Usuke, having asked in auto-trans if the two SAMs needed it as well (they didn’t). I got myself silenced a few times either by being in range when trying to apply buffs or when camp creep brought an Imp close to where I and Elkunit (COR) were standing.

The camp we were stuck with was not ideal – with imps wandering either end of the pass we holed up in, we were at risk for aggro. And sure enough we got it. Elk was targeted by either a wandering Imp or a pop. We had a Jnun already and I didn’t see what was happening to him until it was too late. I did start casting while he was alive though /sigh

I also managed to handle a link - Repose actually stuck and it gave the melees enough time to finish the first mob and then the link. I had to call for rest a few times - I hate not having Sublimation. But no major fails on my part. It certainly didn't hurt that we picked up a PL along the way.

With 90, then 45 to go, I let Tinye know I wanted to leave. I asked if I should rep myself and she said to try for a RDM. I actually found one seeking that was willing to sync down. He arrived a little early and then I tagged out.

I'm not sure if I was missing something, but Tinye seemed a little overfond of lol or w. Most every question was responded to with lol, and she was liberal with w's in party chat with the Japanese players.

OK, now for the lolMithra. I was trying to go to bed early because I spent about 10 hours at the airfield for the SCCA Solo event my dad and I went to. It was hot, and racers are expected to work a shift when not racing. Did I mention the heat? So, by 11:30 that night I was spent. I stopped off in Jeuno long enough to try flagging the Wildcat warp there. I couldn't, because I already had it. Oh boy...

Summoning My Patience

(A level closer to retirement)

On logging in I decided to work DRG to 13 since I had the right gear for it. I thought I had a good sword for BLU, the Bee Spatha +1 I sold and rebought for 1k profit, but BLU can't use it. So I guess I'll have to fetch the Sapara from Jesup. DRG it was.

I nearly hit 13 when Stoik, I mean Nethen, asked if I had something near 18 to party with. I listed my list and we settled on me being SMN/WHM with him looking for co-heal support. I finished off 13 and headed back to meet the party at the OP.

After a longish startup we got to it. It wasn't the fastest party, but aside from a semi-wipe we did well. Did I mention I was the cause? I had Ramuh use Shock Strike on our crab but for some reason he smacked a leech instead. There was a bit of teasing at this once I fessed up. I took the time waiting for raises and weakness to fix my avatar macros. I don't know if Vet would approve but at least I can manage each one individually with room for a few pacts each.

I ended the night with one ding. And a bit more appreciation for the job. Now to get the rest of my avatars!

On Saturday I pearled Bumblebie, Stoik's brand new char. He went WHM of all things. Also got Derf's BST test and then left early for pre-race sleep.

Red Mages

(I made a funny)

Got another level on SAM then decided it was time to go shopping. Switched to Jesup and grabbed a Brass armor set and suitable weapons for BLU, DRK, SAM and MNK. I came back to myself and was about to resume SAM’s run when K jumped on.

He asked for assistance on behalf of Dathi for the Magicite mission (pieces in all three zones, PLUS the Davoi one needed two key items from two Quad NMs). They were also planning LB3.

Prep took some time as she ensured all quests were flagged properly. While that was happening, Wiita got on asking for AF NM help in Xarcabard. I had to beg off and he soon had help elsewhere. I actually feel a little bad for him because I’d like to help more but I think my initial impression with PLing him may have led him to believe I don’t have much else to do, or that I’m easy. Nope.

Due to timing, we put LB3 last and got the magicite pieces without too much drama. Until the last one, in Davoi. The second NM for the Crest key item dropped 4 of them. As we chatted, Dathi warped back to Jeuno to convert the drops into yet another key item to enter the magicite chamber.

And then realized none ever went her way. Because I was too busy chatting to pass. /sigh /fume /grovel

She made a hasty return and in the meantime, Kush toyed with the NM once he respawned. He abused that poor quad for like 10 minutes and as soon as Dathi zoned in, K finished him. This time she confirmed her drop and after a tele-Mea, she split. I stayed on with Kush a bit longer. Then I went to watch MJ news with Ape.

Yes, I grew up listening to MJ with my sis. His early stuff is timeless, and say what you will about his present predilections, he was a visionary. Granted, vision-wise, he checked out a decade ago…

While Dathi was warping-and-returning, Kush and I messed around a bit. I won’t repeat everything here, but we had Dathi wondering what was going on. Well, there was some hide and seek, quiet sitting, noisy sitting, and blushing. Apparently a comment I made about K’s AF turned him as red as his chapeau ^^ I think there may be a blush war coming ^~ (that is a winky, right?)

Faithful readers may recall a post some time ago (9/22/08) dealing with me being a playful Mithra and ignoring gender issues relative to me (behind the keys) and me the Mithra. The basic rule is this: I’ll play with anyone who understands the reality of what they’re getting into. As long as we’re all on the same page then I really enjoy roleplaying. I’m deeply invested in Aerin and she’s actually a fair representation of my real personality and character. This is probably why I feel so natural as Aerin. I’m not really role-playing all that much. Certain pronouns just amount to semantics anyway.

Well, that understood, I need to post an addendum, and, like the above, it won’t be directed at any specific person. I need to organize my thoughts on affectionate play – I *am* an affectionate Mithra but there’s the whole married thing. I sometimes hold back where I otherwise wouldn’t out of respect to Ape’s (Jesup’s? lol) feelings. But Aer gets a lot of (I believe) genuine affection and I feel bad I don’t always return it in kind.

I want to balance respect for my wife with appreciation and reciprocation of friendly banter and emoting with my friends.

Grind Grind Grind

Took MNK the rest of the way to 13 and got SAM to 11. Not much else…

Sleep Deprivation

Soloing on MNK prior to Transformers 2. Got to 11, more loot to sell. Gravs finally being undercut – last 3 may have to go at a much-reduced rate

Some genial chat and Ben and Vet discussed leveling BST.

Left for movie at 11, returned at 3:15-ish. Logged in after seeing further deflation on Gravs and adjusted my sales. Also managed to get some free gil selling Absorb-INTs to the Duty-Free.

May be able to speculate on –ton ninjutsu. Stock is mostly empty, is selling regularly and may be good for about 3k profit per! Until deflation hits.

I really feel so much better now that Maat is behind me. I don’t feel so “depressed” any more and I want to level stuff and quest. The obsession is gone and maybe now I can do light and medium-duty stuff on weekdays and heavy partying on weekends to get WHM to 75.

Oh yeah, we saw a movie. Accepting the premise of intelligent, transforming robots (vehicle = shiny, robot = dirty, huh?) my big problem with the movie is the same as with many of these action types. The hero wins through an increasingly-improbable series of coincidences and lucky breaks. I like "popcorn movies" as much as the next Mithra, but come on!

Don't let that opinion lead you to think I didn't have fun - all 5 of us (sleepover friend) had a blast and I thought the fight scenes were suitably choreographed and dramatic. The military cortege returning with bodies from an early skirmish, plus Starscream knocking the American flag off the Brooklyn kinda got to me.

I half expected someone in NY to say, "Seriously? Here? You want to diss America in my city? Bring it!"

Light-Day

Futzed about selling more gravities then soloed the trigger for WHM AF body fight. No help in Jeuno, and 6 people in Eldieme Necropolis ignored me, but I got a bell on kill #10. Finished the night with 2 crafting campaign ops.

Rhelic and I chatted briefly – he went for his WHM Maat fight and saw my name as record holder ^^

Stoik banned?! He started chatting with me using Nethen, a RDM 44. He swears he doesn't know why he got banned, and he didn't get jail first. Must be serious. He's arguing with POL, here's hoping all goes well.

I realized my mistake with Mad – I clicked OK before seeing what he was offering in trade – d’oh!

In other news, Ape and I watched the "big news" episode of Jon & Kate. The completely leaked and expected news that they were separating was teased all show long. But with like 30 seconds to go, they flashed a graphic: "Dissolution of marriage". Now I'm sad.

She's a shrew and he's a tool (IMO), but marriage and parenthood is too important to waste like this. I hope they make better decisions for themselves and for their kids. (But Jon & Kate + 5 was hella funny)

Sunday Sunday Sunday

(...but you'll only need the EDGE~~)

Another two-parter today. Part one was simple because I only had about an hour and a half before we took off for Father’s Day at the Town Center. So I spent some time leveling DRK, 10 to 12. GD was planning a Promy-Holla run for one of the three pieces needed to open Tavnazia. Scheduled for 10 minutes AFTER I had to leave. Nuts!

But as consolation, Ape bought me a Star Wars t-shirt. The main characters are rocking out on some galactic stage. The art style is straight from the Empire poster. Leia’s singing, Luke and Han are shredding lead, Vader’s on bass, Chewie’s pounding the drums and the droids are handling keyboard and synth. And maybe lighting. It is quite possibly the coolest shirt I own.

Dinner was quite good too, pizza for me and the boys and Mexican for Ape, Mom and Dad.

On returning, I finished my Anni Ring charge and ground a little beyond to hit 13. Then the fun began.

Vet (SMN) and Res (BLM) were putting together another Promy assault. They had three others, Madatlis (SMN), Loshilinoi (PLD) and Redhawwk (WAR). I got a slot as WHM. We met in Lower Jeuno (minus Red who was already at the platform) for supplies. Never having done the boss fight I wasn’t sure what to expect. Apparently spending a lot of money is what to expect: several poison pots, ethers and animas (boss enfeeblers).

I was just /sighing at the counter when Res offered a trade. So I bought a stack from him. Then Mad mentioned not wanting to buy a whole stack. I traded 6 his way but he didn’t pay for them. Arrgh. Should’ve set that up first. Later, at the Holla crag, Loshi checked me then started pestering me for one of my Gravities. I basically asked what he was offering and he didn’t put up. Later still, while inside, Red checked me and then asked for a scroll. In shell I said that the next one who asks for a freebie gets “Sorry, no, I need these to make up the 9k Mad ran off with”.

Truth be told, there was a lot of shell chat about the trio of adventurers we had teamed up with. Loshi wasn’t doing much in the way of self-curing despite being on PLD. This would prove to be a problem inside while we faced off against the spire boss, a Wreaker. Who bears more than a passing resemblance to a spider tank droid, especially when it whips out its tongue.

Okay, so cross Mithra venting aside, here’s how the fights went down. The climb to the arena is much as the RDB Dem crawls were, except the last Receptacle is pretty tough. Once in the anteroom, the level cap disappears for some odd reason, but it reasserts itself on actually entering the battlefield. We took the time pre-fight to rest and discuss strategy. As it turns out, animas are used by the team to enfeeble the boss. One causes intimidation, one blocks special moves and one basically causes the top hate-puller to repel the boss.

Ideally, each member brings one each and an order is set up for use. Buffs will overlap but only last 30 seconds so good timing can help. Also, at 25% health, the Wreaker starts spamming sleepga, among other fun treats. The pots come in handy for blocking sleep, and the ethers are for the fact mages will be eating MP.

We wound up fighting twice, because Loshi was taking too much damage and Red couldn’t pull hate off him. Loshi also didn’t try very often to self cure and more than once when I went to throw a C3 on him he’d moved out of range. He wound up flattened and the ensuing wipe took several seconds as the Wreaker worked its way through us. Nobody 2-houred though and I don’t think any animas got used either.

We waited for battlefield ejection (Vet’s death-grunt was surprisingly loud), then I reraised and got to repairing the team. We did get the Wreaker down to about 60% pretty easily but with the mistakes and omissions made it just wasn’t gonna happen. Also, Red D/Ced again and so we had to wait for him to reconnect.

Round Two didn’t go much better, but I got to see anima use in action and try an ether from Vet’s tank. Dang those things take forever to activate and he wasn’t kidding about the massive lockout on casting just after the ether kicks in!

Our loss came again as Loshi died too early and we wiped. But this time there was a twist – Vet said in PM to rest (he was backup heal), and I was just about to anyway seeing a lull in damage. I stayed rested while Loshi began taking damage and Vet did nothing cure-wise. After the wipe I reviewed the log and so did he – it was a mistake.

Oh well, I learned I don’t like these things already, and that, at least in this case, a Tarudin is not a good idea.

P.S. Had a morning chat with Arch about me getting a pearlsack. He was being very sensitive about e and Fhox /smile I accepted and said I'd go with the flow. Later I asked Ape if it was meant for me to bring Stoik back. On my return though Arch said he was trying himself – huh… Stoik to think about it

Looong Day

(Am I 75 Yet?!)

Today was a two-parter, as we had some dinner to eat and people to see. Part One was a pair of Besieged. Hi Vagu! I got some SUs and managed not to get smoked too badly. After Besieged #1, Vet asked if I had the Portal Charm to get past the Three-Mage door. Silly Summoner ^^ We were going to farm there together but between Bs I was bored and set out solo. I actually soloed twice, around RL chores (Power Slot rotors for Shiroma and yard cutting) and Besieged.

By the time I had a test in hand, I also had NINE gravities and 5 rusty daggers. And Gravs are at 10k a pop. Really!

Prior to B-2, I found Vet in AU and traded him. He was very happy! Then after, I had to split.

----------------------

On my return, we gathered together for Arch's DRG AF help and Vet's Carby Mitts. Both are in the Temple of Uggalepih so we spent a bit of time there. Arch, Damu, Vet, Fal, and me. Stoik joined in too (he'd just been asking what I was doing when Damu said they'd been talking too).

Long story short, the AF helm was cake. And having the map really makes maneuvering much easier! Thank you Fhox! The Mitts were a little harder, as the NM Tonberry uses a lot of AoE. I think I said *mrfh* a few times after Astral Flows hit. But we finished it off and Vet got his "oven mitts". I joked I needed to go PLD because of how I've been playing WHM lately, as a gimped PLD / off-tank. They agreed ^^

Then it was flagging time and I soon got an invite from Jushiro for Aydeewa. Crawlers and diremites... Ick. But, I didn't stink up the joint. To be fair, Cyoco the RDM was doing a lot of work too and seemed to have the poisona thing locked in.

Diremites use a slow attack called Filamented Hold that must be Slow II since I can't wipe it with Haste. So I adjusted my tactics - on diremite pulls, I stood near the party. I took damage but when I also got slowed, I could easily switch to Misery, cast Esuna, and go back to Solace.
Apparently Sacrifice is over 63 because otherwise I'd have just used that.

The WHM screwup of the night came during Air Elemental aggro. The party was getting beat down hard and my DualShock was acting up. It kept switching macro pages and/or exiting the bar when I was trying to cast cures or "save MP" and Curaga. Cyoco bit the dust on what was likely our third-to-last pull as we agreed to end at 5am. I think if I'd have been able to get that Curaga off he'd have made it - he pulled hate and was being pummeled and if I'd succeeded I'd almost certainly have stolen enmity. The elemental was nearly dead so a fully-healthy party could've beaten it without me alive.

Overall, I felt like it was a good party and a good way to get back in the pure main-heal groove which I haven't done in ages. I still need to get the whole Sacrifice-Esuna-Misery sequence down, and learn just what Esuna can do. I did have luck removing Poisongas with Esuna under Solace. But I wasted several Esunas by not going Misery first. /sigh

Small XP, Big Gain

I didn't get on until late. We had dinner, dropped off the boys, rented "Bride Wars" while doing a little shopping, and watched it when we got back. I think it was after 1:30am.

Not much was happening and I think only Ben and Vet were on. Ben mentioned soloing in Qufim on BST. I asked if I could jump in for one kill and eventually found him. I think he didn't realize that only kills granting XP count as regime targets for FoV, and we goofed around without sync. But I did get my XP, and just in time as a Wight aggroed in. We zoned it and split up.

I saw Feiht run by and tracked her down for that apology I owed her. We chatted briefly and she confirmed the party chat had gotten a little out of bounds.

Then Ben asked if I'd sync for one more kill because he was out of pets and just wanted to wrap u the page he was on. We di, I left and not much more happened.

I didn't get an invite on my new 71 and soon packed it in.

------------

Thursday was not only awesome because I took care of Maat finally, but because I had a major triumph at work on a coding project I'd been fighting. My code was essentially correct from the start, but problems with my dev server, net services and DB code I was importing were eating up my time. But it's done and checked in and I can relax!

Still an Amateur!

(If only Fhox were here to tease me about it)

On awakening I checked for Kush (nope) and Fhox (nope). Most of the GD regulars were at it again in the past. My plan was to go at Maat ASAP. I had been thinking all day of my strategy and decided if I couldn’t beat him, sleep him! Re-reading Repose strategies suggested I was wrong to cast it without my Light Staff equipped. So I tweaked my “Sleep” macro. Then I checked for Divine Torques, which weren’t in stock last time. There was one, and I grabbed it. I also grabbed another pumpkin and headed up to see Maat. Again. I wondered how soon he buffs, or if he appears in the arena pre-buffed. I was about to find out…

On zoning into Balga’s Dais, I ran straight at him. He began casting something on my approach and I fired my Sleep macro. Or thought I did >< I forgot to target him and he completed his cast – Blink! I recast anyway, hoping my spell would slip between the two shadows and stick, and it did. The old man slept. I cast enfeebs on him and then ran all the way back to the entrance. I buffed with SS, AV and Blink. Then waited for the inevitable.

If any of you are thinking of using my strategy, remember to cast early for Repose 1, and to WIPE THE FREAKING SHADOWS for #2. Because he still had one left which did its job. So now I’m hauling tail back to the main platform with Maat in tow nuking and punching. I hit Flash then Sleep and this time I got a stick.

I ran *back* to the beginning and waited. This time, I popped Divine Seal. As Maat showed up I cast for the final time. This Repose also stuck and before I could do anything else, time ran out. I now have the WHM clear time record, of 5:35. I’ll have to check my one vid to see whom I displaced.

In my elation, I screamed “WOOOOOOOOOT!” in shell and got many grats. And an immediate invite from Damu for an imp party in Caedarva. I asked if a short party was OK and he said it was. Stopping in Jeuno to dump the Vile Elixir and Divine Torque, I made my way to AU and the group.

Maybe I’ve been soloing and skilling too long, but I *still* couldn’t quite handle my business. I was too slow on Silenas and the DNC was curing as fast as I was. I buffed with Barsleepra and remembered Auspice this time. I also hasted Eles (NIN) and Damu (DRK).

And then I realized I’d goofed. Again. 33,999 XP and we’d probably made 5k in that short time. Again dear readers, don’t do what I did… Close out the stupid quest first…

/sigh

I asked Damu to rep me ASAP and he did. He was also very supportive saying I’d done a fine job. Kind, but undeserved words.

Frustrated, I returned to Jeuno and Maat. THIS time, I followed all the steps and got my level limit boost. At least I was able to put my Opo-opo necklace up for sale as well.

Kushiel returned at about this time, and he was leading a party to somewhere to help some adventurers. I asked if he wanted some company and he invited me to join him, Mudneck, Gunrock and Aydil (sp). We met in Lower Jeuno and I tele-d the group to Holla. Well, the group minus Ayd who split to play Starcraft at a friend’s.

And then for some reason the other two took off without us. Or more accurately, Kush didn’t follow them to Davoi. Soon they were out of the party and I never did figure out what happened.

In any case, the two of us chatted and I showed off my macros, including my new /hug. He got a kick out of them and made a O.o worthy comment about another. But it was nice to chill. I made a comment about his Mithra being a red-haired red mage. I left out the part about my elemental weakness to red hair. He asked if that made me a white-haired WHM and we chatted a bit about my start as a RDM and career change to White.

I was trying to explain that I was glad to see him again as this week had been all about friendships. Even with the possibility of Y & A’s return, I was doubting my Vana friendship strength. And GD reaffirmed my faith. Stoik and Kush helped too.

I got some nice screenies of the two of us sitting under a tree near the platform, then he asked if I wanted to see something beautiful. Some 15 minutes later, we’re in one of the ravines that dot La Theine. At the end were some “floating dandelions” plus a aerial cascade of petals. Turned around, the fiery leaves of the treeline colored the distance. I grabbed more screens. And mentioned needing a “Picturesque Vana’diel” guidebook to the great out-of-the-way spots in the world. He expressed interest in hunting down such sites if I was going out screenshotting.

I had to bow out now, as it was approaching midnight and I wanted to spend some time with Ape before bed. But I was jazzed – Maat’s done, I can level again, and I spent quality time with K.

(post post notes) Need an ear scratch and blush macro

More Studying

Went to Gustav for yet another test and was soon joined by the GD contingent – Arch, Dove, Fal and Vet. (I don’t think Res was here but if you were ^^)

After over an hour of slaughtering anything that moved, not one WHM drop – and just one BST test. There wasn’t too much drama but eventually Fal and Vet had to leave and with just three remaining it was slower going. And we had lots of outside company now too. I had to leave also so I bade them well and went AFK to take care of something IRL.

When I came back, I resumed the solo thing with Sufhi’s help. And dang, if it didn’t seem like all the gobs were hitting harder! I had to zone a Shepherd and barely killed an Alchemist. Then I pulled a link and remembered I’m a WHM. I slept the Merc first then the Alch. I deodorized then ran to the zone. The Merc followed when he awoke but soon gave up. I then ran to the Alch who was just waking up himself and resumed the beating. His bomb took me and Sufhi to vapors but he dropped a test! And then Sufhi died! I think she still had Dia going and I was too relieved at surviving myself to cure her quickly enough. She dinged 42 though - /clap

Odd moment of the night courtesy of Abie as somewhere along the way he encountered an NM gob. He was on DNC and having so-so luck (it seemed) so I helped with some cure-support which he appreciated. Then after watching for a bit and satisfied he was in the dance groove, I S/Ied again and sought out one of my targets. I barely got into the upper-left camp when my buffs fell unexpectedly. Turns out I had actually pulled enough hate that the NM gobbie came looking for me, UNCLAIMED! I thought about flash-claiming it then decided that would be rude. Plus Abie ran up and eventually reclaimed. I helped with some more curing and buffs then continued on.

Ended the night in Jeuno and sent some tells to Kush who was bazaaring by a guide stone. I was going to show him some of my special macros but with him AFK it wasn’t gonna happen.

Reflections

I wasn't on Monday but I still had a lot on my mind:

* I owe K an apology for cutting him off slash ignoring him during Maat Fight #3.
* I still want to beat Maat hand-to-hand. I just want to do things my way for once. Okay, that's not honest - I've been playing WHM my way most of time I've been a White Mage. But still.
* I *NEED* to get WHM done soon. This whole stuck-at-70 thing is an albatross 'round my neck. I'm already getting bummed about the impending end of Vana'diel...

Tuesday, IIRC was buy-melee-supplies and head to Round 4. And headed out again. Aaargh!

Placeholder

Fri

Besieged? What else?

Sat

Besieged earlier in the day capped Divine. All that's left is Club, if I want the last 3 points. (offline to do stuff) Back on, went to the Tree to try soloing the last few points. Met Stoik farming Goobbues and asked if he'd help - yes. By the waterfall, work was slow as we had to keep zoning. I died a couple times but with RR, no harm. Later, got Archer up there and had better luck. Got capped and Stoik got some BLU SUs.

Sun

Full day prepping for fight. Shopping, macro work, strategy tweaks. Also setting up recorder. At 7:20 or so entered the arena and got owned again. I screwed up my startup and lost slept TP ><

Went to farm another and got more help: Arch and Fal at first, then Vet and Derf. Took far longer for the third test than other two but eventually got it. On second fight of the night I followed a much better procedure and engaged. It seems I can do my full procedure in 5 minutes, leaving 5 for the fight.

Hexa did about 30% damage. TWICE, with DS, he resisted Repose! And I have cap + 15 macroed in!

Wasn't planning on one more melee but I wonder - hexa, fight to, hexa, wing hexa and holy - would it be enough?

Forgot flash prior to cures, woild have been a lot better I think. MND and ATT macros seem to work well.

Friendships

(...with a little help from my friends)

Tonight didn’t start until well after 9 – both boys were hosting friends for a sleepover so the house was nuts! One boy even lost a tooth to a Cap’n Crunch square. I logged on and Fhox was on already. He said something about a game being cancelled allowing him to play. He also mentioned something about his mom bringing company over which leads me to wonder if Stoik isn’t the only one to misjudge another’s age…

After some more gear and d-box work I met him in lower Jeuno. He wanted to go to Rolanberry [S] for his final Enspell II drop, from Emerald quads. Aryianna met us there and we spent 10 minutes hunting all over for the elusive turtles. Eventually we found one and got busy with the beating. With aggro, a repop and a death wish, we fought four in quick succession requiring all of our MP, Bene from me and a near-death experience with Fhox as he chose to Convert while having a little too much hate.

I wound up doing a lot of tanking especially on the third quad – I almost never lost hate and needed cure support while I kept recasting Stoneskin and throwing out Hexas as fast as I could.

The teamwork was very solid and I enjoyed that romp in the past. Fhox got his final scroll and I got to see Aryi again, who was also on WHM. She needs some club SU work to reach Hexa – maybe we can plan a lower level SU party since my staff is where her club is.

From here Fhox and I returned to Uggalepih and eventually found the coffer in a room full of other adventurers whom we thought were racing us to the spawns. Fhox and I split up then, just after Kushiel got on and asked what I was up to.

The timing was good too – I got the map not 5 minutes after Kush’s first tell. I met him on the Holla crag and he said the help needed was with the Tele-Dem scroll quest. Which involves a ton of back-and-forth running…

Our first stop was Bastok, to flag the quest itself. After running around the city he found the NPC and couldn’t flag – not enough fame. He’d been at the quck-fame thing earlier and hadn’t expected this. While he worked out what else could be done for quick fame, we chatted.

It was actually quite nice, and I got a very nice compliment out of it – he said I had a calming influence and that I was soothing but still fun to be around. This followed from his comment that he forgets I’m not a girl IRL. Awkward as that might sound I simply take it to mean I’m balanced personality-wise. One thing that seems to work for me and Ape is the fact I’m not overly “manly mannish” – I can be sweet and sensitive one minute and then competitive and protective the next. I like working on cars and computers, but don’t mind shopping or quiet dinners.

And, in real life, as in Vana’diel, I strive to be the “soothing healer” sort – I’ve always been the peacemaker and negotiator. If you recall an earlier post, I claim to be an empath. Not full-on mind-reading empathic ability, but certainly, I’m hypersensitive to others’ emotions and so I always seek to keep everyone balanced.

We also worked on some macros – I said I needed something better than the standard /blush and (nonexistent) /hug when it’s time to be affectionate. There’s definitely an ear-scratcher coming up.

As we parted ways I thanked him saying I really needed to see a friendly face this week. This nonsense with Y&A has been bugging me for days now. I feel…betrayed…in some way. Like my friendship with either of them wasn’t valuable enough to warrant at least a good-bye. I don’t expect an explanation, and if the speculation is correct, I wish the two of them well and that they find the answers they seek. But damn… I have never liked it when people leave without at least a good-bye.

Hopefully Fhox will be back on regularly, and with Stoik, Aryi, me and Isa (?) maybe RDB can flourish again. I suggested to Fhox it needs a clear purpose to sustain it whenever key members are out for short periods.

Also, it honestly seems to me with Y&A’s departure, GD has slowed down some. I hope that’s just a faulty reading on my part – I don’t want to see either shell fail.

Grinding Away

Tuesday

Mostly farming and Besieged. Despite no major lag, I almost never saw another living person – mobs only. So I nuked for all I was worth and gained 3 in Divine. Just 5 away now!

Farming has been paying off handsomely. Should be OK wedding-wise whenever I sort that out.

Wednesday

Fhox was back on and we teamed up to get his map coffer in the Tree and then on to the Temple for more maps.

We roamed around for quite awhile and he found the spot he was looking for – a stairwell exit with some Hovertanks nearby. We beat on these for a long time and finally got a key for me. Then we spent about half an hour checking coffer spawns and finally found one. He offered it to me and I declined saying he had his key first.

Before we could find another one for me though, I aggroed in the stairwell room in the back. Fhox chose to Escape us, then said he was going to kill me. I teased back noting he was the one who relocated us ^^

At this time, it was FINALLY time for another Besieged. I thought. I made my way to Al Zahbi and then went AFK for about 40 minutes to spend a little time with Ape. We watched the news and a little Futurama then I bowed out. I had expected the fight to have been well under way but no, I STILL had about 5 minutes to kill.

Tonight’s fight was against the Undead, which includes the Merrow. The adventurer-charming-and-disrobing Medusa snake-people. I got charmed a few times and was dealing with extreme lag as well. At least tonight I could see other players and heal as well as fight.

Despite two deaths and only 30 minutes of battle, I got 2 more Divine, bringing me to within 3. And I wound up only 2.5k TNL. I’d almost forgotten the small but numerous XP bumps from key-farming earlier. Sweet – so when I beat Maat I won’t have to wait long to hit 71 – yay!

Earlier, had a long chat with Stoik. He was asking about RDB and wanting to come back now that there was life in it again. I told him to stop on by. We also discussed the Y&A situation but there wasn’t a lot to say – neither of us knew anything substantial. Later in GD shell chat, Derf brought it up but again, nothing conclusive.

After all my recent sales, I have enough cash to pay for the wedding. So now all I have to do is figure out what to do with an MIA chaperone…

The Hardest-Working PL On Siren?

(This is the 300th post, right?)

Sunday morning I got up early-ish and set to work farming. After maybe an hour, I had one test, 2 Gravities, and *six* rusty daggers. And a stack of bone chips. I made my way to Jeuno and put some stuff up for sale, then went into bazaar mode.

As for Y & A, I sent him a PM. I also chatted with Archer and may or may not have an idea of what happened. Even with what I heard, I'm still a little confused. I hope to get an official answer before I start speculating openly.

While bazaared (not bizarre, that's 24/7) we went shopping with Ape's mom. Still can't find my chosen Father's Day gift, Fallout 3 CE for PS3. Oh well... I'm sure there's something I can find for a gift!

On returning much later Sunday, I checked the chatlog. No sales, but I did have a number of tells from someone called Wiita. I wasn't sure what he wanted but I replied to him. He politely asked if I could PL his party in Qufim. I told him I needed some time to relocate TheAlmighty. I wasn't able to get started with him (now headed to Kazham) until close to 8:30.

Things went pretty well, with the party working on mandies exclusively, save for the odd Gob link. I did my best to handle CC while maintaining PL duties and I must say I did pretty well. No deaths, and only a few panics. Also, only one or two MP warnings.

I told Wiita I needed to go at about 9:30 to help Clone the Younger with his cruise ship model. He was kind enough to get a replacement PL, who was a friend of his IIRC. He asked how much I wanted for the PL and I told him nothing. He was incredulous but appreciative. He explained he had a previous account with many 75's and a K-club that he quit years ago. Now he's back and he said once he got back to 75 territory he'll help me any way I might need.

I don't often PL outside of my friends or shellmates but when I do I see it as my civic duty and my part in making Vana'diel a better place.

L is for Loser

(No, not that "L")

As reported here in the past, my dad and I are racers at heart. Sometimes we even get to race on a track. Today was one of those days! There was an invite-only Mercedes demo at the "European Motorsports Park" about an hour from our house and we had tickets.

They had three events set up: Hot lap ride-alongs with a Mercedes hot-shoe; timed solo laps in smart cars (cars so smart they don't need capital letters); and an off-road mud & sand trek on ATVs and a Merc G-Wagen.

The rain didn't cooperate so the hot laps were shut down about 10 people before our turn. We opted to skip the muddin', and that left the smart cars. Pre-rain we each got two runs. The track record is supposedly 1:01.xx. My best pre-water is 1:09.44. Dad's best? 1:03.98. Are you freaking kidding me?!

After the rain, he still set a quick time. I went backwards. /sigh

We stuck around until the bitter, wet end and lo and behold, my old man got a trophy. A huge 3-foot-plus tall trophy. And a big head to match ^^ Oh well. I still own him on Ocala's go kart track.

Later that night I was so tired all I did was a super-short Besieged. I tried to farm in the Ruins seeing the price and stock on Gravity, but I fell asleep.

Reunions and Separations

I logged in late-ish and almost immediately got a /tell from Isa! We chatted briefly and she said she was ready to get back to work on her RDM74. I offered her any help I could on quests and the like.

Then she told me something…



Yalto and Aleu are leaving FFXI. I have no idea why – Isa just said what she’d been told by Ravenshadow (who? GDer?). I said the only inkling of this I’d had was a comment from one of them about needing to slow down. Nobody in shell seemed to fuss over it so I didn’t think more of it.

Remember back in July, when the whole GD business started? I feel like that all over again. Yalto and Aleu have been constant companions in Vana’diel. Hell, Yalto’s supposed to be chaperoning my wedding and I have yet to hear from him what the status of my app is.

I can find another chaperone, but I hate losing friends. It seems so many have drifted away already: Chucho, Enz and Alima, Phax, Diosa, Kush… I know a lot of this is simply people not playing as much as I do and simply bad timing. But some of these folks really leave.

The next time I see Arch I’m going to ask him what he knows. Failing that, I’ll see if Ravenshadow will shed some light.

And to make the horizon a little darker, FFXIV has been confirmed and will apparently not be an upgrade to 11. When it goes live in a year or so I can expect that Vana’s zones will be ghost towns…

After trying to digest all of this, I gave the taxi-thing a shot but nobody needed a ride. Then I hit KRT again and only managed one kill before those stupid Hati dogs got involved. I double-died too and had to homepoint, knocking about 2,500 off my XP total.

I logged out in disgust, my heart not in adventuring anymore.

The Cloning

(Bonding like Crazy-Glue)

After Tae Kwon Do, Clone the Younger and I grabbed some food and went home. And Ape wasn’t back yet. He asked if we could play FFXI together. After putting him off the last time he asked (I was skilling), I wanted to seize the opportunity. I set him up on Jesup on the big TV and I moved Aerin to the little screen. After some equipment review, Signet and band recharge, Jesup flagged up. I wasn’t too hopeful that a WAR20\MNK01 was going to get far.

How wrong I was! He got three invites in short order. The first was from Mijin in Valkurm. We accepted, but then we had to actually get *to* Valkurm. On foot. We ran through Rolanberry, Pashhow and Konschat (missing the Dem crystal) and zoned into Valk. The total travel time from invite to arrival was close to an hour. We apologized profusely but I think the prospect of a PL was enough to keep us in the hunt.

On arrival, I traded some gear to Jesup that would hopefully help.

Besides Mijin, there was Rambo, Orand, Pschoww, and Dato. The camp started on the ledge and once levels came in, we moved to the beach. At one point, Dato went AFK for several fights and was kicked. Sultana was brought in to rep. When Jesup had to go (30 minutes past bedtime ^^) Dato was brought back in lol. I stayed another hour to make up for the slow arrival.

At the ledge, Rambo died once from a ram’s TP attack. Looked like a one-shot from where I was, and he said it was 153 HP. I felt bad but with me on PL they were occasionally overpulling. Other than that, there were no more deaths.

Hate control was next to impossible as both Mijin and Rambo (and Sultana on her arrival) were nuking like crazy. Orand and Jesup fought for melee hate and I only held hate for less than 50% of the time.

Despite this, and the massive delay, everyone was very appreciative. Pschoww got a blush out of me by saying “Best PL ever!”. Well, I do try ^^ And during the camp change, I changed subs to scholar and that helped a lot with MP and eliminated further downtime.

I enjoyed my time with the group and was happy that things worked out so well for everyone – many many levels dinged. Jesup went from 20 to 22 and now it’s definite – time to level MNK.

The Eyes Have It

(Not quite "Design on a Dime")

After more futzing about with inventory in my new expanded MH, I started researching where the remaining Hecteyes eyes were to be found. I settled on Thousand Eyes in King Ranperre’s Tomb. After getting totally raped by Dire Bats, then reraising, then dying again from a wolf bite, I was losing hope. And experience.

I was able to get into the area with the 5 eye spawns without much more drama. These are supposed to be 60-63 and thankfully I can solo these quite easily on WHM/BLM. On /SCH I might even be able to do two in a row. I wouldn’t get a chance to find out because as I was finishing off the third eye, a skeleton aggroed and I hastily DS-Reposed it, finished the eye (no drop) then warped out.

I went to bed but left my bazaar up hoping my Tactics Manual Endurance and Fire III would sell overnight. They didn’t…

The King Has Returned (Again)

(Where the heck have you been?!)

Monday night was a little rushed. Around dinnertime, I saw on FFXIah that Blessed Pants had sold again at 100k. So I logged in and still couldn’t buy. This is when it dawned on me what was happening. Lovers and/or Huntersite were making 100k pants and putting them up at some late hour (or early – I don’t know where they live). Those sell instantly, leaving the three overpriced pairs in stock. That’s what was confusing me, seeing sales but no inventory moving.

I logged out and spent some quality time with Ape, and very nearly fell asleep before 9pm. I shuffled out to the living room and we watched Bachelor / Jon & Kate, followed by Newlyweds. I logged in using the little TV and found FHOX LOGGED ON! I teased him, asking who he was and what he’d done with my boss. Raki and Kitty were in-shell also ^^

Fhox had missed a lot on his sabbatical: RDM and WHM boosts, Mog Tablet thingy, ACP, and more.

We decided to hit Zitah for some skillup fun. Kitty had to go – she was exhausted from a recent illness and her first day back at work in a week. Apparently she works with kids.

Barely into the zone, Fhox and Raki are going over the new content when Fhox goes AWOL. Turns out Duong was asking Fhox for Ramuh Prime assistance above the Boyahda Tree. So we made our way to Mhaura and Fhox and I flagged up. Raki lacked the fame and bid adieu then.

Fhox and I returned to the Tree, made our way up, and Duong, his two friends, Fhox and I beat on Ramuh. So effective were we that we set the new record for a party of 5! I logged out after a Tele-Dem.

--------

Monday morning I logged in and this time, I was able to get the Pants AND a blue 9-drawer almirah. I didn’t really want the cheaper red one and yellow, green or white just weren’t doing it for me. Blue had been sold out for awhile but thankfully it’s the same price as the other non-red ones if I decide I don’t like it.

And, I must say, I do look quite fetching in my new pants! It’s such a refreshing change since I’ve been stuck in the Disco Pants for close to a YEAR now. But why are they high-waters? I didn’t expect so much boot to show. Guess I need to save up for that next so I match…

When I log in tonight after line dancing, I’ll be spending most of my time fixing up my house. I have WAAAAY too much gear and key items to fit in the old layout. Also, I need to hustle on farming the Hakutaku eyes for the O-Hat trigger. I’d love to have that prior to my Maat fight, and I’d like that to be before my wedding.

YALTO?! What’s the scoop?

P.S. If the wedding is on, I’m gonna have to figure out where to get the dough – the almirah put me under a fair bit. I’ve been tele-whoring some and I may sell Chucho’s BLM gear but I feel bad about resorting to that…

P.P.S. About the time spent in Disco Pants – I got bored just now and searched the ol’ blog. Turns out I’ve had those bell-bottoms on for 16 months. No wonder I’m tired of them.