Tag Archives: ffxi

Blurring the lines between online and off

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In my own little group, I have met three people from the ls:

1. My own boyfriend (duh)
2. Hiroshiko; I grew up with him since he was a wee little ankle biter
3. Reiokyu during Sakura Con 2010

Well, make that four:

4. A friend of Kiln’s who was in my Chinese History class at the University of Washington and whom I remember fondly as the guy who turned in his final paper just minutes after the final had started.

Other than that, I have known players to live close to or around the area, but have never really met any of them. Then in comes Maiev who isn’t even from Ragnarok and whom I have only played briefly with during my brief stint on the Fenrir server. I’ve known the guy mostly due to the fact we are bloggers (go go blogger community!) and at one point we were on BBM and working on FFXIVblog.com together.

Last Saturday we met in downtown Seattle along with Nomnom from the Dalmatica Network. It was fun listening to stories about Ragnarok then and of course now, and then talking about the state of XI as it is now. Its a conversation piece that seems to be prevalent in many circles I am in, but one I will not explore here since its now isn’t really the time. But it made me think of just how much more fun the people I meet online are than those I know offline. It has been a realization I have come to when talking to people I know locally, because although they are great people… they just aren’t as full of super-duper awesome sauce as the more competent players I’ve met on FFXI (cause the dumb ones are just that: dumb). Sure we’re talking bits of code and digital data, but… even so, a lot of people had a lot of passion for what they did. Its always fun to see that passion in people’s eyes and in their intonation when they speak. The good, the bad, and the downright ugly is all there and you can’t help but relate because part of you has also experienced that to some degree.

I guess what doesn’t help me at all is that a lot of my friends in real life are mostly, um, older ladies who have a spouse and kids. Ring on finger? Nope. Carrying a child for nine months and popping them out from between my legs? Most definitely no. Sure its hard talking to others about my gaming life, but… when I actually do talk to these people who understand, its like a whole new world of excitement and joy.

I guess that’s why I can’t seem to be thankful enough that I got TeamDerp on my side and was able to meet Maiev and Nomnom in person. They get that part of you that not many in the “real” world would, and are much easier to be yourself around because, hey, we’re all dorks/geeks/nerds/whatever anyway, right?

Now if only I can think of a cheap way to get the rest of TeamDerp onto the west coast for a convention get together.

Welcome back, Hiroshiko!

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For about a month and a half, TeamDerp just didn’t feel the same without our little servant boy er, kick ball.. no, um… “friend” around. Not that any of us really missed him…

In all seriousness though, we did really miss the guy and we really happy to see his brief return until his internship is over sometime this week. His presence really helped especially during our Ultima run the night he dropped in, and allowed everyone in the party who didn’t already have it to get:

Next week will be interesting once Hiroshiko comes back full time for sure. :D Hopefully we can add another day of events and maybe finish up the stuff we’ve been unable to finish up outside of the TeamDerp nights. Here’s hoping…

Frustrations abound…

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Since I have made my Twitter private for an undisclosed amount of time, some intrepid followers may have noticed my weekly grumblings on the days of Mondays and Tuesdays. It is on these days that I am with another LS doing Abyssea events, of which I had been invited into the LS by my friends who had been in this particular LS for a number of years doing other events with them. It has also been an LS that had helped me get many atma, clears to Shinryu, and a number of goodies I would not have otherwise gotten. Which is why I feel conflicted and utterly pained when I feel like I have to drag my ass and force myself not to complain so much with the turn of events as of late.

For a number of weeks we we will typically see the insides of Altepa or La Theine (it was formerly Misareaux) farming for (or attempting to) Empyrean weapon items. Once in awhile we will go do something else, but… I am so honestly sick of those two zones that I feel like its pulling my teeth to go. It doesn’t help when I feel people are ignoring the memo on farming Tiger King’s Hide out of Gold Pyxis is better than killing that stupid Ansherekh over and over and over again and week after week. But what do we end up doing week after week? Killing that damn tiger in hopes we get the hide to get the pops, to get the KI, and then to get the items needed for someone’s weapon. I honestly wouldn’t mind this if it were more efficient, but its not… and its driving me batty. I guess I just need a change of pace as well. There are other members who could use +2 items or more of it, but we hardly go out to get those items. Even my friend is put off when she is overlooked for getting seals for her Empyrean armor, but feels like she can’t say anything because of the same situation I am in.

Meh! At least me going to the gym to workout has proven to be a good exit out of runs I am starting to find tedious and displeasing. It also gives me fuel to work out intensely once I get there and want to burn off some steam… so, eh? Other than that, it did make me think about what Hiroshiko had said before and why he felt the need to join another LS. I’m wanting to do the same myself, but finding the time for it is what seems to be the most challenging of all… I already have enough on my plate that I either have to do or would rather do because its with great people that I can laugh and have fun with (yes, that’s a shout out to mreh/TeamDerp!). Now if only Hiroshiko and Kimiko would stop acting like they were too good to hang out with us~ ;o; We need more lulz thankyouverymuch!

A Calaera-style Welcoming Party

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Well, probably more of a… “Here, let me show you how I can lower your IQ points by THIS much.” If you are following me on twitter, most likely you have seen how I refer to my LS as #teamderp. That is not just because I have a separate LS named TeamDerp, but because Reiokyu has made claims we can severely lower IQ points if we really go at our hijinks I get tired and just go to the deep end. The sad thing is, I barely remember what I say and I’m pretty sure I will be horrified when someone does tell me the specifics! On the other hand, I do remember laughing! Laughing and lots of fun! I just hope Kimiko and Chakura’s friend decide to come back and not be scared off cause I was undeniably crazy last night.

mreh/TeamDerp has had a wonky time for the past few weeks. Hiroshiko had left for a two month break (the little snot lied about coming back mid June!), people traveled, I had found my hands full of work, and in genera things were a little crazier. Thankfully it picked up again thanks to Rubicon simply voicing what I had been thinking for awhile: we needed to go back into the swing of things. Though we are pretty much a casual LS, we still have our laundry list of things to do that we would like to get done! There are a few of us who still do not have complete +1s on our primary jobs and there are some who want to get more atma. Thursday and Friday was a push towards those goals by getting more Limbus out of the way for fabricated atma, and then going off to Vunkerl Inlet to hunt feet seals. Mekare has now completed her WAR feet, Orophen has his RNG feet completed, Lexshu is now 6/8 on DNC, and (sadly) Rubicon had barely made a dent on his by netting only one or two last night.

To try and make things a little better for the Ragin’ Cajun, we had also made a venture into Dynamis-Bastok late Friday night/early Saturday morning. It was the first time I had gone inside since the update to Dynamis and Rubicon’s first time in there at all! My thoughts on the new version of Dynamis? It was definitely not what I had expected at all! We got the boss within minutes of entering, we were able to get time extends without demolishing an entire zone (just having to deal with nasty pulls and links; something we were dealing with quite frequently in Vunkerl anyway), and even netted some gear and a few coins for people. It also just felt really nice to wander in without having to kill every. single. damn. mob. in existence. I’m looking forward to more ventures into Dynamis with smaller parties and walk away with old but still attractive gear!

Thoughts on FFXIV’s Battle Reform Blueprint

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Just last night S-E posted the Battle Reform Blueprint on their forums, and to be honest… I didn’t really want to click the link. My interest level on XIV had grinded to a halt; something I don’t really like admitting because of how much of a fuss I had made beforehand over the damn game. This is for a number of reasons that mostly point back to CON and my utter hatred for leveling that class as a healer. The recast timers, the problem with elevation (the SLIGHTEST bit of a difference could mean someone won’t get a buff!), and the awkwardness of healing more than one person… it just didn’t really sit well with me. THM seemed more capable as a healer, but didn’t have the spells needed to help put it out on top and required leveling CON.

With that in mind, I was pretty ecstatic when they announced the following:

By major revisions, not only do we mean the tweaking of effects and potency of existing actions – we will work from the ground up to redesign and reassign actions based on clearly identified class roles.

It was clearly the one singular move that I had been wanting; most especially for CON. I know it had the great idea of being either a WHM or a BLM, but it was a confused mess that just didn’t play out as nicely. Maybe I played CON incorrectly, but the troubles I encountered playing as CON in a party setting is one of the reasons I just can’t really feel happy playing as a mage class in XIV. However, a move I knew was coming but not in the way I imagined was the inclusion of jobs.

The job system – that series-defining trademark – will be implemented in FINAL FANTASY XIV (details such as specific jobs TBA). Quests to unlock each job will become available once you have reached a certain rank in the corresponding class.

I can’t help but think I would be playing a weird hybrid of XI and Ragnarok Online at this point. Not that I have anything against the idea of it, but it does make me itch to play RO again. It also makes me wonder how the game will look like with such additions in the game. Probably the only thing I am certain of is that it won’t be as confining as RO; a game that forced you to stay on one track once you made a choice and to create a new character if you wanted to deviate from that choice. It will probably just be more in tune with what XI has in place but instead of having ONE class at a certain rank, you now have to have a certain class at a certain rank to get the job you want. Though… there are going to be problems if they introduce an assassin type job to XIV. Will probably have to try to talk someone else into playing a healer if that ends up happening….

Hidden Trait: Vs.Mandragora DMG+60%

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No, that’s not a real trait. Well, maybe in the minds of Kyoshin, Hiroshiko, and Reiokyu who know my strong desire to one day have a ginormous Mandragora (larger than Chloris mind you) try to destroy the world and me fighting it in amazing glory. Because there is no one else better to rule the world than moi and I ain’t letting no damn onion do it! Unless it wanted to be my pet, then that’s another story!

These numbers don't really exist. It is just a part of your imagination!

The comment about my supposed hidden traits came last night after a fluke which I will stay firm on until the day I die. After all, the mob was DC AND an onion! So of course it would just magically spike up that way! That is going to be my reasoning and excuse for Reiokyu who just laughed with the others when I feebly cried help after I aggroed a mob and didn’t have buffs up after I pulled those numbers out of no where. TT_TT I swear, maybe it was just the whole Friday the 13th vibe because I did damage that I normally wouldn’t do that night.

At any rate, since the merger I’ve seen so many new faces on the server that I have to at times take a double take because there are either names close to people I actually know or knew formerly. One name that had me nearly choking on water was the thought that Cozma had come back. I distinctly remember so many people practically celebrating with delight when they found she was leaving the server so many years ago. To think it was that long ago that I was playing, too!

The numbers itself on Ragnasith is in and of itself phenomenal. It has been such a long time since I have seen the server so full of people that it had brought back many memories of being a lowbie in the crowded areas of Lower Jeuno for the first time and being awestruck at the higher level gear at the time. I had that nostalgic feeling seeing more people in decked out +2s and Level 90 Empyrean weapons and being in the gear that I am in. Though I am only thankful I haven’t been told outright I am a gimp because I know that has happened to a few friends of mine since the merger…

The increase in competition hasn’t affected us so far though, since we were able to get Orophen and Newbus their +1 hand seals, get Lexshu a zone clear, and even fulfill my desire of killing Amarok. Didn’t get the seals I was hoping for, but at least I have the Steaming Cerberus Tongue for when Hiroshiko returns and we can get people in the LS their Atheling Mantles. I just hope I can get the seals before I get 9/9 on Jewel of Ardor from Prophecy…

Oh, and one last bit of news! I am back on TTO! Thanks to the admin (Erik) for getting my details back onto the server! Huzzah!

{Black Mage} {princess} {You can have this.} /slap

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I will feel almost like a hypocrite writing this because I have understandably leveled mostly the “princess” classes since I started playing XI: WHM, BRD, and then BLM as it has been reseated with the advent of Abyssea. However, because I think I usually played as those classes, I never really encountered the whole princess attitude until last night. Maybe I have, but I just don’t remember. I just can’t stop thinking of the Elvaan male BLM cocking his head, snapping his fingers, and swaying his hips with gusto as he demanded chests to be opened for him and wonder… “Why?”

I know BLMs are needed. I know people want the azure, the nukes, and people who can sleep all the mobs that are pulled. My problem is that I don’t get why people need to pull an attitude and feel they are above others when they really aren’t. If you see there is something in a chest and can’t open it, to me that just screams you are stupid and lazy. If you don’t bother going off to solo mobs near the party at level 90, then you are still stupid and lazy. Its like this cancer that is dressed up in pretty clothes and high damage numbers, but is still in the end a cancer that is feeding off of others and inflating an ego that is too large for its own good.

I guess what bugs me the most is that I know if I were there, I wouldn’t be pulling the unnecessary attitude because it just screams bullshit. BLMs aren’t the end all be all of XI. Especially when there are so many others that can fill that space and not pull out the princess wank. In fact, I’d probably take a BLM that wasn’t doing as much damage if they had a better attitude over one that has a piss poor attitude. /rant

Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, I am happy to announce that my BLU is now 90 and that I was able to upgrade my Goetia Gloves to +2.

I feel a bit weird about BLU at the moment. I feel as though I am not doing sufficient amount of damage, and that is attributed to several things that correlate to gear, merits, and possible spell choices. The gear choices I am sure will take some time as BLU isn’t my primary focus in any of my LSes, and that merits and such will come as I get back into the groove of playing that class again. Though a part of me is wondering if maybe I am over thinking things and I am actually doing ok… something I doubt as I can’t help but get a nagging feeling at the back of my head every time I am playing as a BLU. Quad. Cont. for example has numbers flying all over the place with the lowest at 479 and the highest clocking in at 2413… but I can’t complain too much since I was at least dealing the most damage before Reiokyu joined in the fray. So, eh? ._.;

B is for BLM, BLU, and Birthday!

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First of all, thank you to all the kind people that sent in birthday wishes to me when the clock dinged midnight on the 17th! You guys are awesome! Also been really great just getting continual birthday wishes throughout the day, even though I am (sort-of) not really thrilled over the idea of birthdays. Maybe I’m just getting old? Well, that’s not true. Because I do want to be pampered and was saddened when I wasn’t pampered for awhile by the boyfriend! So, yeah. I won’t be celebrating it until next weekend though, because of things that just went on and poor planning. So… yeah. But! Despite that, I think that a good week was had mostly!

I’ve included an image of my BLU because I’ve decided to finally go after spells again. I know. Its been sitting at 85 for awhile now and I have been trying to go after spells for who knows how long. This time, however, I’ve managed to make headway and am now just 28 spells short of knowing all of the current spells out there. Lets hope I can continue this progress and ding 90 before Hiroshiko takes his month and a half long hiatus away from XI! Even though I prefer casting as BLM, I think it will be nice once I get my BLU up to speed and better geared. How? I don’t know. I’m sure it will happen somehow…

Already my BLM is shaping up nicely. Managed to walk away with several things this week that include:

Thanks to the people over at Prophecy and my friends on mreh for helping! Especially for the utterly epic Friday night that was just so omfg worthy that I wish I had recorded it. From us taking on Indrik the sparkly unicorn on a utter whim to Reiokyu zombie fighting it and then Hiroshiko brewing it and then trying to fight Yaguarogui on brew but only to watch in utter lolz fashion as the bloody tiger was healed for 26k HP. THAT WAS AWESOME. Almost beats the backwards self racist talks (I know, it doesn’t make sense does it?) talk going on followed by the revelation that Walruses are damn pervy when they get their ass tapped a little too much.

Waiter, there is a fly in my soup!

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These past few weeks have been pretty crazy busy that I’ve started to think I need to cut back in some areas of my online gaming (primarily XI stuff) to focus on other things. Trying to figure out what to nix, however, is the tricky part since I enjoy all of it… but it needs to be done since I do have other commitments to attend to.

Enough of my woes, however, and onto the meat of things!

Since there are more people in mreh (the XI linkshell name), I’ve been feeling a little overwhelmed as to what to do and how to schedule things and decided to put up a poll. I wanted to cover as many things as possible that people were interested, but also keep in mind that we have other things to do to help a wide scope of my friends.

Sooooo… since the poll was leaning towards XIV earlier in the week, I decided to go ahead and schedule it in for Tuesday. Its been awhile since I had even touched the game and was a bit surprised at some of the changes. I don’t honestly keep up with all the news nowadays, because they aren’t the huge changes in game play and such I am hoping to see at the moment.

There were other changes that were kind of neat and scary at times. Changing the mob size didn’t seem like such a huge thing to me at first, until we had actually gone onto the field saw saw a Fat Dodo and my first response was, “Wow. That’s a fat dodo!”

Its more impressive when you are fighting against Gnats and well… they end up looking more hideous than they did before.

It was most definitely strange going back into Eorzea after the hiatus from the quake and self imposed due to lack of interest or time. Healing is still a pain and totally not fun at all. Then again, neither is playing an Archer solo… I really wanted to just bang my head on something when I switched to my Miqo’te and was unable to play without feeling disgruntled. About what? I wish I knew. Archer probably isn’t my job of choice anymore, but neither is the idea of wielding an axe and getting my kidneys plucked out by Dodos.

On the XI realm of things, I’ve been trying to do what I can to maximize my damage. I guess I have an e-boob (you know, because I don’t have a penis?) problem in that regard but at the same time am too darn lazy to change some things (my macros) or go out and get my staff trial done and over with. My progress on upgrading all my Goetia pieces to +1 is slightly halted in attempt to get other people their +1s as well. Am so far rocking out in my Goetia Petasos and now this little gem:

I had quested most of the seals for this one, since I had found a pretty easy quest to do so. With this quest, I was able to upgrade my Goetia Gloves to +1 and my Mavi Bazubands to +1. Although it was quite frustrating during the runs for my very last seal when I would get nothing BUT bolts, caller’s, or bale seals to be thrown away like trash. Yet the wait and time put into it was well worth it since I was able to push my damage up closer to 4k without Ascetic’s drink. Searing Cape also helped, and I’m cursing myself for having given up the opportunity to lot on it before during the other times it dropped when fighting Turul. Oh well. I have it now and am more than happy to strut around with it.

Oh, and note to self: stop equipping full attack atmas when seal hunting. ;o; Am pulling too much damage off of the MNK…

And we’re back!

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Coming back from the break has been really interesting. I say this because a lot of people around me seemed pretty happy about the break and seemed to question why they were still playing and were kinda eh about the whole idea of it. Which was hard for me to relate to, since I had just come back three months ago from my own hiatus. Sure I know the feeling, but I guess my current feelings were clearly opposite of numerous friends. Not that I was grumbling about the server downtime; more like… itching to go blowing things up to oblivion again. I am especially happy about blowing things up after getting a hold of the Atma of the Minikin Monstrosity.

I did a quick check to see how much more damage I did to buffalo and saw about a 200 dmg increase with Beyond equipped. Working on getting Atma of the Ultimate, but I think it will probably be many weeks until I can finally get a hold of that one. Right now trying hard to get my Goetia set upgraded to +1 by any means necessary. I would like to work on BLU, but its frustrating when you find your character is suffering from a learning disability…

It has been pretty interesting with Chakura making a return to XI, Lord Palom from FFXIV moving from the Fenrir server to the Ragnarok server, and having more fun in a more intimate party vs. a huge and (sometimes) annoying pickup alliance party. I am happy to see others make a return to XI, as well on other servers. The game is very different than when a lot of people left it, and I still find it fun to find the new things here and there since my absence and also sad that there are still people around (and possibly more of them as of late) that just make me want to /facepalm.