A lot has happened since my last post, and I’ll give the run down before going into the actual meat of things:

– Returned the Inspiron 1520, and will probably get a Sony Vaio SZ in its place. If that SZ had the keyboard of the CR and the TZ, I think I would love it more than I already do.

– Have been on WoW with Mekare and Orophen lately. We started as Night Elves during our trial, now we’re evil, fruity Blood Elves. We’re pretty. Very pretty. The rest of the Horde? Not so much. But us? We’re pretty.

– Have felt a lot of discontent with FFXI after hearing news that no more new jobs will be announced at the U.S. Fan Fest, and the lameness of the most recent event.

And it brings me to, well, now. A lot of people I’ve known have played other MMOs to take a break from FFXI, but I’ve always some how managed not to do that until now. It feels great but at the same time I’ve found myself in a lot of discontent and frustration towards S-E when news started to spread that there would be no other new jobs for WotG. Which in itself is fine, but I was looking forward to another tank job. Not only that, but introducing more mages doesn’t seem like it would help as most parties are TP burn even at the earlier levels. The TP burn, from what I have discovered after taking a huge step back from the game, is really bugging the hell out of me. I knew it was kind of ‘eh’ for me before, but I’ve found that I really dislike it and how it has changed leveling.

Yeah, I know there were burn parties before and that easy exp means easier time getting to end game and that not all of this is a super bad thing. But you know what? I’m still frustrated. What discourages me a lot from leveling WHM either by myself or with Orophen, is that a lot of times I’m competing against 3 – 8 other WHMs in a two – three level range. That’s nothing new and is normal. The problem lies in the fact that there is no need for all the mages that are seeking because most parties are being formed with a TP burn in mind. Call me old skool, but I like the days when it was three melee and three mages. Then again, I also liked it when people talked about using WSes and MB instead of just spamming WSes left, right, up, down, and side to side.

Don’t get me wrong, its kind of nice that the game is a little more simplified in that regards. I just don’t like all of this TP burn stuff going on, or how parties are being built with SAMs up the wazzu. Nor do I like the kind of positions mages are put in or how I feel my limited time is increasingly wasted when I have to compete against seven other WHMs. The later is probably my fault since I choose to level support jobs (stupid me) and be a casual player (stupid me x 2).

I also hate drop rates on lacy underwear, but that’s because it sucks being in a dungeon with nothing else to do but wonder if that Fomor Paladin or Bard is wearing salvageable underwear or not. Grossed out? So am I. So am I.

I’m probably just nit picking. There is still a lot to like about FFXI, but after the 2H update? I’ve felt this discontent that has sort of just stewed and then overwhelmed me as of late. I’m enjoying WoW, but am probably enjoying it most of all because Mekare and Orophen are with me. I couldn’t hack it by myself, and that is probably why I’ll still play FFXI. I have several friends on FFXI (few but very dear) who are important to me, and I enjoy playing and chatting with them. I also enjoy the FFXI community a lot, even though I find the WoW one to be hilarious as well. ;( Though I’m going to miss Mekare’s Imp a LOT…