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November 12th, 2009

valeforoverdark

02:59 pm - So SE.. Since you are feeling so generous With the recent with some cool job changes, shit-ton of new NM's that drops some pretty sweet gears, how about take it up a notch and do another increase in Merit caps? These days, merit parties are rarer and rarer, especially for someone who's not in a LS full of people to party with. I think upping the merit cap would really get more people back into it. Plus.. Having to remove merits to add into something else in the same category really is getting old.. First to go was my Axe merits in favor for Great Katana, yeah ok. I understand since the two-handed update few years back completely changed the Damage Dealer's game. But now, I've fallen in love with meriting on Dragoon, I've decided to cap Polearm.. but the only option to go about that is to drop my beloved Katana merits, which I value dearly for solo play. I've resisted in doing this when I was tempted to do it when I was leveling Drg to 75, but now, after a lot of reading, in order deal consistent damage capping polearm merits is a must. So.. Goodbye my good (katana skill) friend.. If SE ever decide to raise the cap again, I might see you again! On a side note, I can't seem to find a good WS equipment replacement for both hands and feet slot for Heca mitts and feet. Which makes me regret passing on these items all these years when I was with Nudawn. Now I gotta find myself a sky LS to see about grinding these 2 piece out. For now, the +12 atk mitts and Amir Boots will tie me over for my WS setup for Drg. Current Mood: annoyed

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November 10th, 2009

linaaa

05:23 pm - The big november update. So when is the emergency maint to fix my carby mitts? Kinda disappointed in the ffxi testing team lol. D:

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tarublm

08:16 pm Sums up my reroll experience on Cleric.  This was just one angle.  There were bots on all sides of me along Fall Road in Morheim.  Not to mention this was taken at around 3-4AM PST server time, and it's even worse at peak hours - nevermind the real players there too.  This wasn't even a good EXP spot yet still infested. Grinded to 25%, logged off in disgust.  Other thing that disgusts me:  I dispelled/healed people in a random skirmish at Fall Road.  I get 0 credit for any of the kills because I'm not grouped with anyone that did and I was too focused on supporting 7-8 people vs 9-10 Elyos than trying to land a stupid dot on them for AP.  Great system.

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November 9th, 2009

tkeichan

12:40 pm - Reliving the Past: Sky Long after Lhexh has gone, I've been a hermit; things weren't the same without Lhexh. Without a "partner in crime", sometimes I've lost interest in doing interesting things. Fortunately, Terek came along, and after realizing the RDM solo ability that we both had, we started duoing many NM's. Although many of these NM's are also beaten by solo RDM's, many of them take a ridiculous amount of time to defeat. I will probably focus my LJ mostly on these duo activities from now on since most of my playtime is going to be spent duoing with Terek. Re-Living in Sky has been an interesting experience me the past few weeks. In the past, we've always brought parties of 6+ to Sky in order to kill for triggers. Because of this, we can never really gauge how strong these NM's are. Years ago, we were amazed if you can kill Mother Globe with 5 people. Today, it is possible to kill it with 2 RDM's. In the past, we thought Faust needed a blood tank, but now it is easily soloable by RDM. On and on is this list just because we haven't really truly experimented. Now however, I believe that there are only two NM's that can not be easily duoed by 2 RDM's. Those are Byakko and Kirin. We will probably experiment on Byakko at a later date, and we know that Kirin can not be duoed. My goal in the next few posts is to describe and compile these RDM/NIN strategies of Sky. Not to say that these strategies are things that we have come up with: they are simply strategies that we wish to compile and be helpful to fellow RDM's that may stumble on these guides. Triggers/Gods. Coming soon: Soloing/Duoing: Faust Despot Ullikumi Mother Globe Suzaku Seiryuu Genbu Steam Cleaner Zipcana Brigandish Blade Olla Pot

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tkeichan

12:29 pm - Modius Veritas: Absolute Virtue "Modus Veritas After a helix spell is cast on a target, a predetermined period of time must elapse before Modus Veritas can be used effectively. Furthermore, certain Notorious Monsters will now demonstrate resistance to the effects of Modus Veritas." Boooo. I guess we can release this picture then: Quickpost this image to Myspace, Digg, Facebook, and others!

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November 6th, 2009

tkeichan

01:05 pm - Synergy System Synergy System: First Impression: Multiple man synthesis is a very interesting concept. Perhaps if SE made some of those recipes only available to 100-crafters, there could be a some profit in this. Crafting has been an under-represented activity in FFXI: you spend millions to level a craft and many times, you don't make much of a profit because everyone is constantly undercutting each other. With this new system, this might re-encourage people to get 100 crafts, but also give groups of people with high level craft to produce some items that no one else could have done themselves. As with all aspects of FFXI, it seems that the things that make this game difficult are situations when people must work in a team. Adding a situation where you can't just "go and synth" something would probably increase the demand and lower the supply of these items. (It would have been more interesting if there was a "limit" on how many times you could do this per day-- Although I bet many people would hate me for saying that!) On the main-page of FFXI, it feels as if "Synergy" will be some sort of new craft skill. "Synergy skill determines your ability to safely handle synergy furnaces, and can be raised by applying synergy techniques used to manipulate elemental concentration levels inside the furnace. Proficiency in these techniques, too, can be raised to a degree corresponding to your synergy skill level. We recommend all players prioritize improving their skill, because when it comes to synergy, experience is synonymous with safety." This would be an interesting thing... You need to increase your skill level to be better at Synergy? Is it a physical TRAIT(ie. Alchemy Skill)? Or is it just that the more you do it, the better you get at it (ie. Utsusemi). What I'm thinking is the first thought, that it will be a physical trait.. But wait.... "7) Operate the furnace. Throughout the course of synergy, players must keep a close eye on the balance of elemental concentration, internal pressure, the build-up of impurities, and furnace durability. Seamless teamwork and timely application of synergy techniques is the key to success." This leads me to think that this Synergy system will be similar to the fishing system. You know how the fishing rod goes right and left when a fish/monster bites? I think that the furnace will get hot cold and you'd have to move a lever to keep it in balance. Or.. It can be as simple as putting all the ingredients into the furnace and make it pop out a weapon. Who knows! This is all speculation!

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valeforoverdark

08:43 am - Rewarding Job to play So with some down time before the Ranger job adjustment update I thought I try to level Blue Mage some more, if anything at least to 37 for Drg subjob. At first I thought leveling Blu was going to be a daunting task, as there was so many spells you have to learn as you progress in level, I didn't think I would like it since I'm so used to the usual exp grind. But as it turned out, Blu is by far one of my favorite jobs to exp on. For starters, the aspect of farming spells is actually really fun. It's SE's way for forcing players to fight monsters where you normally wouldn't if you were exping on another job. It also forces players to go into zones where they normally wouldn't. I also love the decision aspect to Blu in terms of setting spells. Not only you have to decide which spells works best in the situation/camp you are in, you also have to consider the Stat and Job trait bonus a certain combination of spells set together will provide. This is very unique since pretty much all the mage or dd jobs I've leveled so far pretty much all have something in common. Last but not least, I love seeing the message "You have learn XYZ spell!" in my chat log! It is a very satisfying thing in this game. Almost better than seeing skill ups and almost as good as seeing skill level ups. I'm enjoying exping this job so much right now that I might consider rearranging my exp plans. I was planning on finishing Rng to 75, follow by THF and WHM at the same time. Now I'm thinking I should just finish Rng after the update, and then move to Blu. Some other goals which still needs attention: - Need to save up for Zahak's Mail for Drg, I'm about half way there, and can't wait to get it since I've been really enjoying meriting on Drg at Bird camp, I decided to cap my merits for it. - Still working on Parry skill up. Currently at 256, so still a ways to go. But ever since I broke the 250 barrier, I seem to be getting them more frequently in Dynamis. I was really hoping to have this capped before Maat's Cap or Fishing.. - I also need to spend more time in Whitegate, as it seems to be the only place to find event Linkshells for Einherjar/Salvage/Nyzule. I'm still interested in doing all 3, I have a couple shells I read about in mind, but so far, I haven't been able to track down the Sacks on the game yet, so no idea if the timezone will even work out. Current Mood: amused

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November 5th, 2009

futureperfectxx

02:10 pm - Finished Only took me 45 hours!!!www Current Mood: productive Current Music: Claire Voyant || Lustre

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November 4th, 2009

valeforoverdark

10:06 pm - BLM Legs Got Another piece of AF which I've been after since I got BLM to 75.. years and years ago.. 3/5 Blm, I'm running out of storage! Need to aim to complete some sets soon to free up some space. Current Mood: excited

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futureperfectxx

09:49 pm - Pwetty :3

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tkeichan

05:22 pm - Not that it matters anyway! Just about 6 years ago when I started to play this game, I was pressed upon a very hard dilemma. In every game I've ever played, I played the archer. From the Ragnarok days, to Baldur's gate, Neverwinter Nights, and so on, I have always idolized the archer. It really matches the personality I had; when I was younger, I used to want to be a drug-researcher, a pharmacologist. I felt the pharmacologist was the noble of jobs because they were the people who did a brunt of the work. Without the pharmacologists, doctors wouldn't be able to prescribe drugs, and disease would ensue. With that in mind, I liked that ranger; it fit that personality perfectly. I would be "behind the main lines". I would be dealing my damage indirectly. When I was in orchestra, I always wanted to play the cello instead of the violin. Maybe it was also that I was a coward, not really willing to face things directly, but that might also be a testament to my Asian background, which I detest at times. So back to 6 years ago- after Ragnarok Online, I swore that I'd never play another MMO again, only to be sucked into FFXI by Simozene and Faranim, one of my best friends, during the day of the release. Long gone- they've been gone for almost 2 years now, I'm left with the care of their characters. That day, I had to chose a race. 1. Galka: They look ugly. period. 2. Taru: I don't want to a midget, and I didn't like mage jobs because of MP restrictions 3. Hume: Jack of all trades, but who wants to be "ok" at everything? I want to be the BEST at something- and that's archery. 4. Elvaan: Low Dex and Low Agi? That's a recipe for a bad job for archer. 5. Mithra: High Agi, High Dex- this seems like the ideal job for an Archer. However.. Mithras is a female race only unfortunately. But also unfortunately for me, Mithra, at the time, sounded like the best race for an archer. This interesting dilemma resulted in decision between playing a girl, or being the best at what I do. I chose the latter, never wanting to be "second" at anything I do. I was out to be the best archer Vana'diel has ever seen. And if you havn't noticed the context of this post already, /slap! So the game started, and I started my own LS with my best friends, Faranim and Simozene. Along the way, I've met very interesting people along the way, Lhexh then being my best friend in game for as long as I remember. Originally, I kept this little secret within my little LS called Strength of Lunacy (named after a Magic card) so everyone knew. Everyone I used to play with knew this secret, and the people who didn't know were not in the LS! Of course, I never really didn't know there was such a huge social structure in this game, and being in the LS BeyondTheLimitation, people back then used to try to do ANYTHING to defame your LS if you were at the top. Bottom line is, if you pull Fafnir, people are going to say bad things about your LS. It's a very childish way to behave, and I'm glad I'm not in the HNM scene anymore. It's the quiet life, people take you for who you are and not for the rank or ability of your LS. I figured now, it is time that I gave up this silly joke. However, I would never admit I used this "gender change" to my own advantage. My closest friends always knew for who I was. I wasn't looking to be hit on, nor was I going to hit on anyone else to achieve to the top. Lhexh knew from day 1 so I never "manipulated" LS lotting orders. I only did this to prevent people from calling me an manthra, and to do this, I pulled it really far. To tell you how far I pulled this, I'll tell you a story. "Truth goes to this: never trust a mithra that he's a she or she's a she even IF you met that person in person. " It was around 2004, and BtL decided to get together at Coneticon, an anime convention in Connecticut. Amongst the people who went were Asukka, Ryuryushiro (I think?), Sylphet, Rukenshin, and Rabidmonkey. All of these people I haven't played with for such a long time (Probably only about a year). So I decided to join this anime convention too. I went with my sister, Faranim, Simozene, and two of my sister's friends. My sister, being understanding and all that, was role playing "me". So all throughout the car-ride, I told my sister everything I knew about FFXI so she would be able to hold a decent conversation about FFXIism. At the time, the thing to talk about was Kirin, which few LSs were able to kill at that point, and I swear, she was soooo authentic when she met Ruk, Syl, Asuka, Ryu and Rabid. Anyhow, from then on, I had these 5 people "swear" to their heart, that they met the real Keichan, and Keichan, was really a girl. So now I think about it, the only thing that prevented me from just saying that I'm a guy is the fact that I hated being called a guy who plays a girl. The only reason why I wanted to play mithra was the fact that it was the strongest archer job. (We know that is not true now, so don't flame me for that!). I'm amazed that people seemed to care so much if I was a girl or a guy. Kudos for Damion for sticking to his hatred for so long despite the fact that... does it even matter what gender you play in a game? This guy would have been a great stalker; he probably spent more time trying to "uncover" the fact that I'm a guy than the I myself had put to maintaining a girl image. Seriously, he probably spent years on his computer digging through the internet to match that single person in the world that has the same birthday as me... Also that had a name with similarities of "Kei which happened to be my chinese middle name, also the fact that I love piano music. His only "lead" was from this taru, whose name I don't remember-- he was a bard, I forget, and I tend to want to forget!, who I kicked out of my original LS for destructive behavior(who knew I was not a girl). No one believed him anyway because he was such a jerk, but since Damion hated me, he'll take whatever reason it takes. Now 6 years from the start, I'm finally finishing my dream of being the best, being 20 jades away from stage 4 yoichinoyumi. However, I've grown out of this joke, as most of my LS know anyway. I've realized it years ago that it didn't matter if I was a guy who played a girl character, but there were some other reasons why I did it. #1. Lhexh: Lhexh was my best friend in game and he thought it was "quality entertainment". #2. Damion: I think it was awesome that he was able to stalk me so much. That's kinda flattering. (No I'm not gay! This is not a coming out of the closet speech!) Also, I wanted to see how far he could go. I was waiting for the day he'd knock on my door and say "I found you Keichan!" I also enjoyed the fact that no one believed him. Not that I really hated the guy, but I hate the guy for hating me. So any means of making his life suffer just made me a little happy inside. /sadistic. (damn he was such a stalker, I think he got me down to first name/last name without me ever releasing that information to anyone-- and I know no one I knew told him!). Honestly, I was getting a bit tired with keeping up with the joke. Lhexh is gone, Damion is gone, and I'm honestly tired changing "GF" to "BF". (some people would have noticed that I made that mess up a couple of times lol). I lost many opportunities to hang out with my best FFXI friends, Ruk, Syl, Asu for the longest time just to keep this secret alive and it simply wasn't worth it. If I could go back and re-live it again, I'd totally go party with you guys at Conneticon. I lost my opportunity to meet a lot of people, and I think it would have been really fun. Sorry for the people I was close to that I hadn't told yet! That was my regret, all the fun I missed out on, and at this point, I didn't want to keep that going as a lifelong trend. See you guys in game!

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tarublm

04:29 pm I freaking hate Beluslan.  And Morheim.  Though I hate Beluslan more. I can point my camera a random direction and get at least 3-4 bots in the frame.  The low 30's areas are hopeless.  Between dealing with bots and rifts, these zones are massive lose on Ariel.

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November 2nd, 2009

frdrizzt

04:21 pm - 98 weaving Only 100 more levels to go! (assuming that 99-100 is as bad as 1-99)

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November 1st, 2009

valeforoverdark

08:32 pm - Dynamis Static Joining a none shouted Dynamis LS is probably the best decision I've made on this game in a long time. Even though tonight's piece is not an OMG piece from Dynamis, but none the less, its a piece I've been after for a long, long time. Pretty much ever since I had rdm to 75, I've been commenting this piece whenever I did Sand'Oria. It speaks volumes about how a committed small group could get done in Dynamis without needing more than one alliance of players. I think since the last month, I've accumulated more AF's than the last 2 years combined doing with Shouted LS on Wednesday, and NDA on Sunday (which is a combo of ND members and shouted). I do hope the Static could get just a few more members, so we can start doing the Dreamworld's with more success, and maybe eventually attempt Dynamis-Tavnazia. 3 down, 2 more to go! Prior to today, I was able to knock out Drakesbane WS quest, and man I sure love it. I will be doing some meriting in the next couple nights for Drg, and Eticket gave me some good pointers on how to spend the points on. Thanks Et~ Current Mood: cheerful

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