Campaign Battle: Who needs xp parties anymore?

After getting a map and making it to the past’s version of Windurst Waters, I did the easy quests to join up with Windurst’s Campaign faction: the Cobra Unit. A few minutes later I headed out to West Sarutabaruta, where the outpost will be in 20 years. In the past, there’s a large tower and an npc that’ll sign you up to take part in Campaign battles. Basically, you stand around waiting for the music to change. Once it does, you talk to the npc again and get some allied tags which remind me a lot of those tags you need in order to use the Runic Portals in Aht Urhgan. A few minutes after the music changes, the beastmen will arrive. Being Windurst, you mostly fight Yagudos.


Each wave has a leader, and there are three that will piss everyone off more than the rest. Kazaan the Peerless gets first mention because his aoe move blows through all 3 shadows from Utsusemi and hits me for between 1800 and 2000 damage every time, leaving me eating grass and cursing at the monitor. Here’s a screenshot of everyone at the Campaign Battle swarming him.


Vaa Oozu the Redolent is second, as I’ve only seen him show up in Meriphataud Mountains [S]. Vaa Oozu’s one of the few bad things about Campaign battles in Meriphataud Mountains [S]. He is apparently a beastmaster, and will summon a scorpion to attack whoever is currently holding hate. As he’s monk, he swings twice and takes down two shadows, leaving me open for his scorpion to swing once, taking the last shadow, then use Death Scissors. Death Scissors is one of those moves I’d like to see work as well for the Blue Mages I pt with as it does for the scorpions. It averages 1900 damage each time, and I think Vaa Oozu’s buddies have fed me that just about ten times since I started taking part in these battles. The third and final Yagudo nm you should watch out for is Dee Xalmo the Grim. He’s a monk type that seems to have a permanent en-Doom effect on all his attacks. For everyone that’s never been Doomed on FFXI, let me tell you how it works. Dee Xalmo hits you. You have 10 seconds to remove Doom (if you can, I don’t know if it’s possible.). After 10 seconds, you die. As he gets closer to dying himself he activates Hundred Fists, meaning a lot of people die in domino-like succession. SE finally decided to do something smart and not have any kind of xp penalty if you die during a Campaign battle, so you don’t have to worry about losing levels. If they’d only do that for “normal” xp parties….

Back to the Past: The Map Will Show You the Way

Sitting around lfg gets boring pretty quick, so I decided to give Vana’diel’s past another try. My first attempt ended when I circled Fort Karugo Narugo for an hour before I got frustrated and warped back to Aht Urhgan. By now other people had already discovered there was a quest to get the map of the Fort that stymied me completely. Armed with that knowledge, getting the map was incredibly easy. I’ve looked up the quests for the maps of Grauberg and Vunkerl (Venkurl? One of those.) Inlet, and I can say the Fort quest is much easier for non-75s like me. After getting the map, running to Sarutabaruta is a breeze. Right after I got into the area, I got attacked by a goblin. It was annoying and killing me at the same time as I fought it. Luckily one of the new monsters, a pixie, floated by and cured me. They aren’t aggressive and actually help players out, so they are now my favorite type of monster. Here’s a picture of me with my little pixie friend.


After reaching Windurst Waters, I did a couple quests so I can now fight in the campaign battles. While I’m pretty sure you have to be lvl 75 to be an effective dd there, it’s nice to know that pretty much anyone can go fight. I’m looking forward to when the other Windurstians in The Greatest Linkshell Ever can fight by my side. When I say “by my side” I actually mean in front of me. Kyrek’s around 75 war now, and Kyss and Cold are still super fast leveling robots so they should be sporting Maat’s Caps by the end of next week.

2 ½ Years Later: Rank 6 {|All right!|}

Rank is fairly meaningless to me. I don’t have any jobs lvled up enough to do “endgame” so I don’t fucking care about going to Sky or the Dynamis areas. I’m sure Sky is nice and Dynamis is fun, but until I have any actual reason to see those places, I don’t need them. Here’s a picture of me getting the last magicite I needed to get rank 5. The date on that is June 28, 2005.


I only got to 5 for the free airship pass, and I had no interest in getting past that. Then I started leveling Samurai. The AF quests for the job all take place in Norg, one of the hardest towns to get to if you don’t know how to buy 1 silent oil (maybe 2 if you get lost) and take every right turn on the way. You have to go through the Sea Serpent Grotto to get to Norg, which is full of aggressive monsters that will kill any lvl 30 players heading there for the first time. None of them have ears apparently, so you can Sneak past them all and get to Norg without dying. I hit 51 with sam recently, and the AF quests are looming. Faced with multiple trips to Norg and finding various NPCs, I asked the Greatest Linkshell Ever for help getting to rank 6. This would finish the original FFXI storyline and allow me to get a map of Norg on my next visit there. Another ls member, a rdm named Jerred also wanted Rank 6. His being from Bastok meant he would actually know what the hell was going on during the conversations between the Shadow Lord and Zeid. I’m from Windurst, so all that Galka drama doesn’t means shit to me. Coldwind and Cyaan volunteered immediately to help me and Jerred out, further proving why they’re among the more respected ls members. Bassetto came along to help as well, as we could help him get a part of his whm AF on the way. We needed a sixth person, and Roninhiroishi agreed to come along. He’s about the only Elvaan character I don’t want to /point at when I see him and /shout “Douche!”. I will probably further explain my dislike of the Elvaan people later. Before we could fight the Shadow Lord, we had to clear out some Skeleton NM in Fei’Yin. Bass’s AF fight was also there, which is probably one of the main reasons Bass came along, and I agree with that reasoning. After waiting a while for everyone to get ready, we headed to Fei’Yin.


We headed to the ??? spot Bass needed, only to find a 3-man pt already fighting the NM. Rather than wait 15 minutes to spawn it later, we formed an alliance to fight the NM, Altedour I Tavnazia. It was already pretty weak when we joined in, so it died pretty quick. It drops two items that whms need, so Bass got one and the other guy got one. After a quick rest, Bass spawned it again and we fought him again.

It wasn’t a particularly hard fight, but I did manage to get hate from Coldwind right as my shadows went down and the NM did Dimensional Death. Having taken some –aga spell a few seconds earlier, getting popped for 800 killed me. The NM died a few seconds later and I got revived, but dying still sucks ass. With that out of the way, we headed to the Qu’Bia Arena to fight the Skeleton NM, Archlich Taber’quoan. The fight is lvl capped at 50, so I got to use my Luisant set for extra ass-kicking. The fight starts off easy enough, against the one stupid skeleton.


Eventually, the skeleton will begin summoning minions to fight. I ignored these completely as Cold, Cy, Ron and I decimated the NM. I got hate from Cold again, and the NM began concentrating on me. I figured if the NM wants to just fight me, I’d give him a good reason to. So I activated Mighty Strikes and we finished the Archlich off quickly.


With that finished, I headed back to Windurst to talk to the Star Sibyl. She said the Shadow Lord was returning, but Windurst couldn’t do anything officially because it would piss off the Yagudo. Why Windurst wants peace with those stupid birds I’ll never know. So, unofficially, the Star Sibyl asks that the Shadow Lord’s return be prevented. Which means the mission is pretty much a commando assassination. (“Assassination” has ass in it twice…..) So I rejoined the party and headed through Xarcabard’s strange lights from beneath the ground to Castle Zvahl.


Everything in Castle Zvahl is aggressive to me, so I had to keep Sneak and Invisible up at all times. Which sucked.


After following Cold and getting kind of lost a few times, we came to the Throne Room.


Amazingly, nobody died at all on the way to the Throne Room despite all the high-lvl beastmen that guarded the way. Finally we saw the door of destiny. Again, I’m sure it would be much more interesting if I was from Bastok.


After a “Nyah-ha-ha, I’m the evil Shadow Lord!” cutscene that also involved Zeid for some reason, the fight was about to begin.


The fight itself was fairly anti-climactic with Cold, Cy and Ron all high leveled. We crushed that stupid bastard. My lvl 64 war/nin even got hate away from Cold’s 75 pld for a couple seconds, which I see as an even greater victory than the one over the Shadow Lord.


Lion shows up for some reason once the Shadow Lord was defeated. Damn Bastok, they get most of the story. After thanking everyone that helped out, I headed back to Windurst. A cutscene later I got to hear that Rank Up sound again for the first time in literal years. Rank 6 was mine, and the map of Norg awaits.

Exploring the past isn’t nearly as cool as people say when your lvl 64

I recently got the Wings of the Goddess expansion, like most of FFXI populace did. I like the ability to journey to the past through these Cavernous Maws, but the same thing that was wrong with Treasures of Aht Urhgan is wrong with this one: It’s intended for higher-leveled adventurers.



I’m just guessing, but parties in the 50’s could actually be able to find a couple spots to camp and get pretty good xp just in Batallia, Rolanberry and Sauromugue. As it was, I was keeping Sneak and Invisible up in the very long walk from Batallia to Sauromugue. Not having access to Jeuno sucks ass. My character being Windurstian, I immediately wanted to head to my home city to see how things looked. Turns out, a few things are different in the past. Tahrongi Canyon is blocked off which forces you to head through Fort Karugo Narugo. The Fort is one of the new zones in the game, and without a map it’s very easy to become lost. Too easy, I say. I got lost and wandered around for over an hour before I got fed up and warped away. For now I’ll go back to leveling Samurai, which I just hit 50 with. The past can wait.

Who are the People in Your Neighborhood?: Party Like a Rock Star (What the hell does that mean, anyway?)

Bahamut is home to a diverse group of people. The longer and longer I’ve played here, the more I’ve come to realize that nearly all of them suck. Severely. There are some though, that have managed to prove themselves not as stupid or annoying as the rest. Most, if not all, of these people belong to the MoogleArmy linkshell like me. This time, I talk with one of the more helpful members of the MoogleArmy linkshell, Houzukimaru. As always, questions will be in BOLD. All responses are unedited and will appear in ITALICS. Any additional comments by me will be in parentheses ( ).

How long have you been playing FFXI?
Houzukimaru: Well hyo,yuki and me started playing around American release, but we quit shortly after. I still can't get over the fact that yuki was a Mithra. A year later I joined back up but on titan server, that didn't last to longer either. Eventually hyo started playing again and got me to signed up again.

How did you choose your character’s name?
Houzukimaru: Its not very original, I got from an anime.(Anime? He's right, that isn't very original.) Mostly to mirror hyourin name (which should have been hyourinmaru). But Ever since, I kinda got used to being called Houzu, which is pronounced hoe-zoo (Hoe-zoo? Sounds like the trailer park a few blocks down the road from me.) and not Howzu.(I've been saying it like the word "who'se")

Why did you choose to make your character a hume?
Houzukimaru: Oddly enough I was originally I was an elvaan.(Elvaan? BOOOO!) This time I wanted a job that would be good at everything, not that it really matters what race you are for a job anyways. But since I went on to lvl melee,mage and tank jobs. I think I made the right choice.

I usually see you playing as a SAM or PLD. What other jobs do you enjoy playing?
Houzukimaru: SAM and PLD are my bread and butter. lately though I have playing alot on smn and bst I recommend them both. BST is kinda painful though.

Which do you like less: Rabao or San d’Oria?
Houzukimaru: jeez, thats not a fair question.(Yes it is.) umm, I guess rabao. Cause at least sandy has some purpose as a starter city. But the only thing I see anyone do in rabao is to job change to warp out. So essentially we just go there to leave, which is pretty sad. If SE were to change rabao into just the nomad moogle. No one would care or notice.

Which do you like more: Bastok or Kazham?
Houzukimaru: eh, Kazham. Hot Mithra running around... whats not to love?

Have you killed Roc yet and gotten the title “Roc Star”? I saw on the boards a while back you wanted that title.
Houzukimaru: Unfortunately the one time I had the chance to go kill him I didn't go. Quickswipe told me he was up But since we were both 60ish and with no way to kill it I thought he was being crazy. But the next time I checked him he had the "roc star" title. (Now we know: Never doubt Quickswipe. I myself would like the title "Bye-Bye, Taisai".)

Are there any linkshell members you really dislike?
Houzukimaru: Ummm yeah but they tend to leave. Elov, amiyumi, hmmm.. actually anyone who leaves us I consider a turncoat.

Are there any members you like more than the others?
Houzukimaru: Ron without a doubt.

What would you like to see SE add to the game?
Houzukimaru: A little more creativity added to the character creation. Maybe another race or something like that. Nothing major though.

What would you like to see them change or just remove?
Houzukimaru: I dunno if changing anything would really help. If every time you logged into the game it gave you free ice cream and a bow job, People would still complain.(Some players are lactose intolerant, I guess.)

If you could be any ingame monster, what would you be? Why?
Houzukimaru: The Robber crab that agros you at the worst possible moment in kuftal tunnel.(Yeah, I love those guys.)

When you leave FFXI forever, what do you want people to remember about you?
Houzukimaru: The guy who made those movies that no one ever got around to watching. :D

Next week: The recently returned Quickswipe.

Who are the People in Your Neighborhood? Part 5: Kiris, Kyrek and….KABOOM

The Bahamut server is home to a very diverse group of people. Nearly all of them suck. Severely. There are some though, that have managed to prove themselves not as stupid or annoying as the rest. Most, if not all, of these people belong to the MoogleArmy linkshell like me. This week, I get to talk with not one, not two, but three of the most entertaining linkshell members. As always, questions will be in BOLD. All responses are unedited and will appear in ITALICS. Any additional comments by me will be in parentheses ( ).

How long have you been playing FFXI?

Kyrek: I began playing around New Years Eve ’04. So around 3 years now
KABOOM: Since NA release
Kiris: I've been playing the game on and off ever since the beta, but I've had this current character for at least a couple of years, I believe.

Why did you choose to make your character the race you did?

Kyrek: I choose taru because they were the best at mage jobs, but after a while I just fell in love with the race ^^
KABOOM: I was orginally a hume 3 times, but after my last hume, i decided to be a taru because they looked cute and mischevious
Kiris: I wanted a fun-loving character, the only other race that would fit that was mithra, but I wanted to relate to my character, so I went with a hume male.

How did you choose your character’s name?

Kyrek: i asked kir over the phone "i wonder what name i should use" then he responds Kyrek
KABOOM: I was drunk with 2 friends, and we originally were going to pick Mightymouse(oh god ) But then my friend blurted out Kaboom and we stuck with it. People think my name is from the orange stain cleaner but it wasn't taken from that. My name came to be by shear stupidity.
Kiris: I'm not exactly sure how I originally thought of the name, but I used it for other things as well.

I used to see Boom as a BRD, Kyrek WHM and Kiris RDM. What other jobs do you enjoy playing as?

Kyrek: I Enjoy WAR, BLM, and SAM
KABOOM: I personally enjoyed Nin because geared it well i had no problems holding at early 40s. I also loved Ranger i usually pick archery in any MMORPG but funding it was a problem for me since i didnt have WW leveled.
Kiris: I'd love to play as thief, I don't even really like red mage, but figure I should get it to 75 now anyways, considering I've played so long I should at least have one 75 job...

Which do you like less: Kazham or San d’Oria?

Kyrek: Now that’s a tough one, but I’d have to go with San d’ Oria, Kazham has better BGM and a nicer layout in my opinion
KABOOM: Sandy..bunch of snoob fags.
Kiris: San d'Oria.

Which do you like more: Windurst or Jeuno?

Kyrek: 100% Windurst, Best nation ever
KABOOM: Windy, tho when i get lost it pisses me off
Kiris: Windurst, though I feel noble in Jeuno. ;)

How was the (non-racist) KKK created?

Kyrek: Me Kaboom and Kiris were just hanging out clamming when Boomy noticed our first letters were all K’s
KABOOM: We were just being retarded in Bibiki trying to clam money for mad gilz. But we ended up losing money, i lost about 5k. And i usually do my cherry blossom pose, and if people cant tell it's sarcasm they are retarded. And we just made up our sayings from the pose. Our goal it to become known to the whole Server.
Kiris: I'm not really sure, to be honest. We were just fooling around and we became an epic trio.

Are there any linkshell members you really dislike?

Kyrek: There is no one in Ma I dislike *coughzitronneph*
KABOOM: Yes, since everyone is always to afraid to name names i will: Asphe thinks he knows it all and is most of the time wrong, and that's about all.
Kiris: Not anyone in particular, but I hate when people say that no one is helping them, Moogle Army is the most helpful LS I've ever been in, the people who say that seem spoiled and usually quit anyways.

Are there any linkshell members you like more than the rest?

Kyrek: There are a few
KABOOM: Jean, Houz, Cold, Ky, Kir, Lar, Mikeh, Chriseh, Omael (sorry if im missing some people)
Kiris: My real life friends and Boomy, but I like most of the members, they're very helpful and are quite entertaining. :)

What would you like to see SE add to the game?

Kyrek: For whm to be able to us Banish IV and Holy II in game
KABOOM: Able to pick up tarus. i think it would be fricking awesome to pick one up and just place him in the middle of the jungle, lost... ;D
Kiris: Deep down, I always want new places and ways to explore, can't wait for WotG.

What would you like to see SE change or just remove completely?

Kyrek: Crawlers nest!
KABOOM: Idiots. And RMTers.
Kiris: I would love SE to change the support job system, in the past games you were able to select abilities and traits of different jobs the character had leveled, I think it would solve the cookie-cutter problem in the game, though it's obviously too late now to change that system.

If you could be any ingame monster, what would you be?

Kyrek: One that isn’t ugly as fuck =/
KABOOM: A black mandy so i could mug people
Kiris: Fenrir Prime. He's my favorite summon in the series.

When you leave FFXI forever, what do you want people to remember about you?

Kyrek: That I was a very helpful person and, that I was the best whm on the server(still working to that) ^^
KABOOM: Honestly just to be remembered would be nice but i would like to be remembered for trying to make everyone laugh, i knew i was a bitch before but i've tried to cut down.
Kiris: That I played the game because I grew to love the game itself. People say they only play for other people or something, almost like they're forcing themselves to play everyday. Though I enjoy being with other people, and I am glad I met them, the challenge of the game is why I play.


Next Time: Houzukimaru.

I Hate (Almost) Everyone

As the three of you that read this blog know, I’m currently leveling Samurai. Got it up to 40 and did my AF weapon quest with Aricelia and Houzukimaru’s help. Thank you again, both of you. So, I’m lfp in Jeuno, hoping maybe to hit 41 when I get a /tell from someone named Rocca, asking if I want to party. “Of course I do”, was my reply. {|Crawler’s Nest|} and some coordinates is the answer to that. I don’t have the map to the Nest, never bothered to do the ungodly long quest for it. Most parties are in a few spots, and I can usually wander around until I find them. Well, not this time. This time, I get to wander around with Sneak and Invis up for half a fucking hour, while the only response to my /tells for directions are fucking coordinates. I ask for an escort to camp, and get no reply. After finding the Treasure Coffer and seeing a Warrior open it up for his AF headpiece, I decided it was time to leave. As my warp scroll was activating, I got to thinking. With the exception of a few linkshell members that I have never xp partied with and will probably never will xp party with, I don’t think there’s a single person in the game I like or have any respect for at all.

Here’s a nice link of xp spots everyone should read, even if they know most of them already: http://campsitarus.blogspot.com

Just Check My Gear, Dimwit and Some Parties Are Just Better.

Last night I got an invite from a person named Sakaki. I thought it was odd that they kept asking me all these questions about my gear and food. By “odd”, I mean it was starting to piss me off pretty damn bad. If you’re going to ask me a million fucking questions, just find me in Jeuno and /check me. I’m not sure why anyone gets offended when people /check them to see what gear they have. I want to see what people use at 75, and I wanted know what that crazy purple jacket Cold had on was. Turns out, it was a Pahluwan Kazagand. I think SE just jumbles letters together to name half the gear ingame. If anyone can post a comment on what the hell that gibberish is supposed to mean, I’d appreciate it.



Anyway, this Sakaki person told me to head to Aht Urhgan. As I’ve set my home point in Jeuno and have only heard rumors of a taru that will warp you back to that lag-ridden shithole, I had to ask Sakaki where we were headed. They answered Yhoator Jungle, right near the crystal, and if I could get a teleport out there we’d just meet up. I thought that was a little odd, as most parties at 37-39 head to Crawler’s Nest. Pretty much everyone that’s reading this knows how god-awful that place is. It’s where most people learn to hate pullers that pull links, as most parties will be fighting Worker Crawlers. Well, guess what? There are a handful of Worker Crawlers (around 7-9) right around the Teleport-Yhoat crystal, and that’s just enough for a good party to xp off of for a long time. As the party teleported in and invited me, I noticed there were only four of us. Sakaki (Bard), Masago (Paladin), Spicytuna (Warrior), and me. There was also a whm taru named Bubbles, who would be our pl. Right from the first crawler, I knew this party would be a good one. The four of us were taking IT mobs down faster than most 6-man parties I’d been in. I teleported to Yhoator at level 37, and had to leave after hitting 39. (Stupid job, I should just fire everyone else and give myself a couple months off…..)



I still can’t use Berserk without nearly getting killed, but this party could almost keep hate off me the two times I actually did use it. If Samurai keeps being this much fun, I may never go back to warrior. That’s probably a lie, though.

Turns out, it’s easier to just sell stuff than actually camp Ochimusha Kote NM

Leveling SAM is more fun than I thought it would be. Unfortunately, one of the most important pieces of equipment for a Samurai is the Ochiudo’s Kote. Mee Deggi the Punisher, a Yagudo NM in Castle Oztroja used to drop Ochiudo’s Kote. Then gilsellers decided to camp him all day, every day. SE decided to fix this problem by changing what Mee Deggi drops from Ochiudo’s Kote to Ochimusha Kote. They do the the exact same thing, but the Ochimusha are rare/ex and therefore unsellable. I went to camp this NM a couple weeks back. As it only spawns every 1 to 4 hours (possibly longer, I don’t know), and the room he spawns in is still fairly crowded with competition, it was not easy task. I’ll admit I got lucky the first time I went to camp him, as he spawned not ten minutes after I arrived. Here’s a nice pic of me locked in mortal combat with the stupid bastard.



As is the way things often go with me, he did not drop the Kote. I got a pair of Impact Knuckles instead. All that gets you is 2k on the auction house. It got time for me to sleep, so I warped back to Jeuno, swearing to camp this bird until I got my Kote. I returned to the Castle the next day. After nearly two hours of watching people I think are stupid gilsellers that haven’t figured out the rare/ex thing yet kill yagudos, Mee Deggi spawns again. I brought a great axe with me, but the fight still took about the same amount of time.



Of course, I didn’t get the Kote. More Impact Knuckles for me. I didn’t warp back this time, so I’d be in the castle when I logged on next. The next night, he didn’t spawn for the entire 3 hours I was online, leaving me to sit on a platform and reconsider my current course of action.



I was much more interested in leveling Samurai than warrior at the moment, so I decided to sell the warrior gear I’d bought that I couldn’t use yet. Hauberk, Exorcist Hose, and sadly my Assault Earring all were sold so I could just buy the Ochiudo’s Kote from the auction house. While it is comforting to know that I will never ever have a need for new hand armor, it’s pretty fucking lame it cost so much to get.

Who are the People in Your Neighborhood? Part 4: Aricelia

The Bahamut server is home to a very diverse group of people. Nearly all of them suck. Severely. There are some though, that have managed to prove themselves not as stupid or annoying as the rest. Most, if not all, of these people belong to the MoogleArmy linkshell like me. This week, I get to talk with another of the few Mithras I’ve been assured is an actual female human. As always, questions will be in BOLD. All responses are unedited and will appear in ITALICS. Any additional comments by me will be in parentheses ( ).


How long have you been playing FFXI?

Little over a year, I started August 1st, 2006.

Why did you choose to make your character a Mithra?

Well, I prefer to play female characters, and the choices were a limited for me. Humes are too plain for me, elvaan way too gangly, and taru too cute. I usually joke that I wish I made a taru, but I have no regrets on making a mithra.(Gangly means "Fucking ugly")

How did you choose your character's name?

It was the name of a character I had elsewhere, but I won't say where because people would laugh. :'((I'm betting Animal Crossing.)

I usually see you playing as DRK, or now as WHM. Is there another job that you enjoy?

There are a few jobs I'm quit fond of. I had a fun time leveling SAM 1-37 especially. But BRD is my current interest.

Which do you like less: Norg or Kazham?

Norg. It's just so damn far away. Plus pirates and ninja were not meant to live together in peace.

Which do you like more: Bastok or San d’Oria?

Oh c'mon, everyone knows they're both horrible. But, I'd have to say San d'Oria. It's not as.. dirty, as Bastok is.(That's the first time anyone picked Fag d'Oria. Interesting...)

Many people in the linkshell think you’re a bitch most of the time. Are you an actual bitch, or do you just have a low threshold for stupid shit, like I do?

Just a low threshold for stupidity. Say something stupid, and I will call you out on your bullshit. There are enough idiots irl as is.

You own a Hecatomb harness and a full set of DRK AF2. Has it actually improved your DRKnicity, is it just cool to look at, or both?

Both, of course. But the hecatomb harness has definitely helped me out, as have my relic hands (and make me look completely bad ass).

You were talking about leveling Bard recently. Any ideas as to why there aren’t many Mithra Bards?

Well, considering females make up a good percentage of the BRD player base, and how most mithra are guys irl.. that probably has something to do with it.

Are there any linkshell members that you just fucking hate?

Oh, of course. I won't name names, but they know who they are.(Nobody ever names names.)

Are there any members that you like more than the rest?

Yes, the people that help me keep my sanity. Bass, Bermy, Houz, Hyo, Jean, Lar, Kyss, GoA, Dae and of course you Omael. :D

What would you like SE to add to the game?

More customization with character creation.

What would you like to see them change or just remove?

When you lose targeting when you change gear, that still drives me nuts.

If you could be any ingame monster, what would you be? Why?

Goobbue. They just look so damn lazy, like all they're meant to do is stand around and slap around anyone stupid enough to get close to them.

When you leave FFXI forever, what do you want people to remember about you?

I want to be remembered as "that one bitchy drk that hassled people for no reason."

Next: I don’t really know, so I’ll just pick someone eventually. Here's a nice picture of Aricelia and me to tide you over until then.

No More Ninja……….EVER!!

A couple weeks ago in the evening I logged onto FF with the idea of leveling bst. Until you hit 35, bst levels kinda slow and I got bored. The moogle wasn’t done spinning as I changed my main job to ninja and someone was already inviting me to a party. As my ninja was 36 and I only wanted to level it to 37, I grabbed my ninja gear and headed out. The party was actually very well organized, and I hit 37 in a little less than an hour. When I first showed up at camp, I told them I was leaving as soon as I hit 37, but they must not have heard me. Once my scroll of Utsusemi: Ni was used, I warped the hell out of there. I got a few /tells expressing their confusion and anger at my sudden departure, so I reiterated that I was leaving at 37, and pulling that beetle was a bad idea since I was the only tank. My career as a ninja is over and done with, so now I will need to decide between thief and samurai whenever I get bored with beastmaster and warrior. Samurai is fun but I don’t like the dearth of DD’s that this game has, resulting in me sitting in Jeuno of Kazham with my lfg flag up for hours. I’ve only gotten thief to 15, so that would mean a return to the Dunes. While that would be a huge deterrent to most, I actually like trying to help people figure out the best way to perform their role in the party. If it means taking the entire group back to Bastok to buy some gear and maps, that’s fine with me. I like running through Konschtat Highlands, and my original character was from Bastok, so the city has nothing but good memories for me. I learned a long time ago that most people are in a rush to level as quickly as possible, so they don’t know how to earn decent gil yet. I usually take the opportunity to tell people the best spots (Zegham Hill) and mobs to farm (bees) that will give them a fair amount of gil for the levels they are. If they happen to be San d’Orian, I’ve even offered to pay so they could change allegiance to Bastok. So far, I’ve had seven people accept the offer and join a non-gay country.

The Dunes: Fun, Fun, Fun in the Sun, Sun, Sun

I started leveling samurai again. It’s pretty sweet, but people want you to use thf as a subjob once you get past 30. As my thf was only level 15, I had to return to the Valkurm Dunes. Most people get into their first xp parties in the Dunes. The vast majority of those people are fucking morons who will someday pass me in level. I’m not so much mad that they pass me lvl-wise, I’m more upset that the smarter people will invite them in a desperate race to 75 (37 for subjobs). The XBOX 360 is responsible for this newest gaggle of gimpy-equipped morons to overrun what is actually a pretty nice looking area. Warriors using swords and no shields. Warriors using swords, for that matter. One warrior was using a club, for fuck’s sake and actually got mad when I booted his ass out of the party. Dark Knights in leather armor using whatever scythe that is right before the lvl 10 one you get from Bastok CP. Idiots that can’t check the party list and see that the party leader (me) is the thf and has already said they’d be pulling. Then these morons run off and voke a pugil, which kills them pretty goddamn fast. That should’ve been a disaster if not for the PL that came with the gimpy retard warrior. My party had 5 people in it for most of the time, and we never needed to heal. The one time we had 6 was the actual disaster. I got a /tell from another thf that they needed an invite and would bring along a pl. I said fine, thinking two pls would be awesome. Once again, my thinking was wrong. The second pl was /anon, and while the first pl was resting to get mp back, the second pl told us to pull. Turns out, the second pl dies four hits after gaining hate and delevels to level 20. It suddenly dawned on me that the second pl was only level 21. WHO THE FUCK BRINGS A LVL 21 PL TO A PARTY?! Turns out, it was a douchebag named Kuirin or Kuiruin or Kiruin (one of those, anyway). As the pugil did me a favor and killed him after his pl, it made it very easy to kick him from the party. A few minutes later I got a /tell from him blaming the brd for pulling too soon and that I was going to get /blacklisted. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve been blacklisted. As I can’t speak to him, hopefully I’ll never see this idiot again either. So for once, it actually felt pretty good. Here’s a screenshot of me and the Bard, who looks just like me.


Too bad I've only seen the blond version of this face on Kaboom's old character.

Gear by Omael

As a few of you know, I like letting people borrow my kick-ass gear when I’m not using it (which is surprisingly often). Recently, I saw that Amiyumi was leveling warrior. She was about to hit 45, so I told her she could borrow the Luisant gear I currently had. As the body and legs are 800k each, I only have the helm, gloves and boots, which would still be a massive upgrade over just about everything else. When she got to 45 and headed to Jeuno to pick the luisant stuff up, I got to /check her and see what gear she had. I can’t say I was surprised, as Ami was a 75 black mage, but I was a little disappointed. I’ve seen, and partied with, warriors with worse gear than that, but I hold my linkshell mates to a higher standard (which is probably unfair). So, I’m letting her borrow much more than my luisant stuff. She now wields my two Woodsman’s Rings, Jaguar Mantle, Royal Squire’s Breeches, and two Combat Caster’s Axe +1. When she gets to 60, I will also let her use my Potent Belt and Chivalrous Chain if she needs them. If I can ever remember to do it, I’ll have to ask her to put Gear by Omael in her bazaar comment. The only thing that bothered me about letting her borrow all this stuff is that, between thanks she said something about thinking I didn’t like her. I don’t know where she got that idea.

Sometimes I Wonder Why I Even Bother Trying Anymore

What the hell happened? – Stream of Consciousness 1

My ongoing series of interviews with linkshell members has brought something to my attention; FFXI doesn’t piss me off nearly as much as it used to. Sure, I can’t seem to get any Assault missions done, or even get past rank 5. That doesn’t really bother me, though I guess it should. I’ve been rank 5 for over two years, but I’m still not at the level range where having Sky access becomes necessary. I don’t give much of a fuck about competing with some gil-seller bitches for some stupid NM in Sky, or about “endgame” in general. I think I’ll concentrate on SE’s twisted sense of humor and work towards an Optical Hat. Of course something that fugly would have good stats. SE enjoys watching its customers parade about in the least impressive-looking gear. It would be really fucking hard to make hairpins visible, wouldn’t it? I’d actually enjoy having a little bug wing on my head whenever I’m wearing my emperor’s hairpin. That would be fucking sweet. Maybe around Christmas or something when I get closer to 70 I’ll start bothering the MoogleArmy for help with getting past rank 5. Speaking of MoogleArmy, I think a lot of my more laid-back attitude is their fault. More and more of the aggravating dumbfucks have been driven out. I suppose I owe Katsumoto and Aricelia some thanks for that. Without the intolerance and occasional rudeness they bring to the linkshell, there’s a good possibility that the MoogleArmy would’ve been overrun with morons by now. I’ve been a part of a linkshell with too many stupid fucks and not enough good people to know what happens shortly after the idiot : not idiot ratio becomes unbalanced too far in the idiot direction. When Cyaan quit about a week ago, he told me how he was sitting right next to Jedimasta and me when I gave Jedi my Haubergeon. I honestly don’t even remember him being there. He remembered me though, and that still strikes me. In Kyssandra’s blog, she revealed that she’s actually been a guy all along. I can’t really say I’m surprised as I assume everyone that plays a female character is a guy (or desperately wants to not be). I am surprised that he’s been able to pull this ruse off throughout his entire time in FFXI, as Skype has become a popular way for some of the linkshell to talk to each other. I find things like that or teamspeak, etc. take away from the anonymity of online gaming so I don’t bother with them. Anything worth saying to me can be typed, and anything you can’t type I don’t want to hear. Fuck, most of what people type I wouldn’t want to hear out loud anyway.




Where the fuck is my shadow?

Getting the Fransisca in 50 Words or Less

Zi’Tah looks cool. I need map of Tree. MoogleArmy, assemble! Waiting sucks. There it is! Kyssandra deals Aquarius massive damage! Aquarius hits hard, Kyssandra down. Rampage sucks against this thing. Larien and Aricelia down as well. Fight gets desperate. Cold and Houz finish the job. Mine! Jean shows up late….

Who are the People in Your Neighborhood? Part 3: Jengaa

The Bahamut server is home to a very diverse group of people. Nearly all of them suck. Severely. There are some though, that have managed to prove themselves not as stupid or annoying as the rest. Most, if not all, of these people belong to the MoogleArmy linkshell like me. This week, I have a conversation with one of the handful of Elvaan that aren’t completely stupid, Jeangallo. As always, questions will be in BOLD. All responses are unedited and will appear in ITALICS. Any additional comments by me will be in parentheses ( ).

How long have you been playing FFXI?

I started playing around the NA pc release. I started the game with my good friend Mogwae.

Why did you choose to make your character a female Elvaan?

Truthfully I was pretty high and drunk. I got lost in windy for about 3 hours before I figured out how to get out to sarutabaruta. I promptly died at that point. I don't really remember picking my character model. (That does explain why anyone would want an Elvaan character.)

How did you choose your character's name?

It was an amalgam of my friends name jessie and galloway, with a bit of a change to make it less retarded.

I usually see you playing as a RDM or a DRK. Other than them, is there another job that you enjoy?

I've started to level my blm again and I really enjoy it. I wanted to level a DD job and DRK seemed fun until I realized I was an elvaan... So I decided since BLM was 37 already why not take it a bit farther.

Which do you like less: Norg or Rabao?

Now that I have my Joyeuse and the Western Altepa OP, it doesn't matter either way.

Which do you like more: Windurst or San d'Oria?

I started in Windurst and I'll die there. Imo the best city because of the easy access to the Whitegate warp taru, a MH exit that goes straight to the Jeuno airship and uh dancey tarus.(Fuck Fag d'Oria, Windurst rules.)

You and I both appreciate a finely-furnished Mog House. What is your favorite piece of furniture and why?

I don't really have a favorite, I try to make my MH as feng shui as possible. I do really like my wall hangings. The Windy flag for obvious reasons and the painting I got for the New Years event. At the moment I think my most favorite furnishing would be the Beverage Barrel that I don't have yet.

Are there any linkshell members that you just fucking hate?

I hate people that don't buy cheap decent gear that you should get the moment you hit that level. Oh and joos.

Are there any members that you like more than the rest, other than Larien?

I think the people I hang out with the most are Coldwind, Vitrolant, OMGwae, Houzie, Bermont, Jedimasta, and uh Aricelia. But I think that Jeanwind is ftw.

What would you like SE to add to the game?

Individual ring fingers. I want 10 Bomb Queen rings and a lvl 5 gobbie. (That would be pretty cool. Acc ring prices would skyrocket, though.)

What would you like to see them change or just remove?

BLU's... Fucking Jackasses.

If you could be any ingame monster, what would you be? Why?

What's that mob that looks like a vagina?

How the hell did you get the nickname "Jengaa", anyway?

Once I wanted to farm white steel for the ugg. pendant pop item. I convinced a handful of people to come help me. After we zoned into Pso'Xa I came upon a treasure chest. It wasn't a treasure chest, I died but got out alive. Unfortunately Reza didn't. So I organized a rescue party. We died. So I organized a rescue party for the rescue party. Needless to say after the rescue party for the rescue party for the rescue party for Reza died, there was no one else left in MA to rescue us. So I guess Lar calls me that because I'm the idiot that always pulls the block from the bottom and I get people killed.

When you leave FFXI forever, what do you want people to remember about you?

I made Birdhair cry once.


Next week: She’s a Mithra whm and supposed pokemon master. I also have heard rumors that she’s an actual she, unlike the majority of Mithras. I have a chat with Larien. I’ll find out if Pankration can be the pokemon of FFXI. I certainly hope so, as watching Fafnir and Behemoth fight sounds pretty fucking cool. Also, being able to say “I beat someone with my Cock(atrice)” makes it pretty good already.

Tales from the Long-Long Ago: The Origin of Gearliness.

Gear Whore’s connotation is too negative, so I’ve decided to refer to myself as Gearly. Jedimasta’s also very gearly. Gearliness is next to godliness, as I often say (but never out loud). Having the best gear has always been a goal of mine since I first started FFXI on the Fenrir server. I wasn’t Omael at the time, and I very quickly learned how important good gear was when I arrived at the Dunes as a level 13 Red Mage. I had just spent all my conquest points on those Legionnaire’s Mittens and most of my gil on a new sword. I felt pretty good about myself. Then I got to the Dunes. My first party was with a Tarutaru Black Mage wearing two astral rings. The little bastard would cast spells for the entire fight, while I would run through MP like shit through a goose. We got to talking, and he told me how INT and MND were the most important stats for a Red Mage while in a party. Being an ignorant noob at the time, I had no idea those stats made much of a difference. While using a sword did help the party kill lizards a little faster, getting a wand that increased both INT and MND would be a good idea to use when I was in a party, since all my enfeebling spells would be a little better. After a couple hours, my party got attacked by a goblin and died. I went back to my home point in Bastok and headed straight for the auction house. There I found a wand that added INT and MND, as well as making it harder for my spells to be interrupted. I fucking hated it when that happened, so the wand was instantly declared awesome. It couldn’t hit monsters very hard, but I still carried my sword around for that. After killing a few hundred bees to make some Gil, I took a look at the “spells” section of the auction house. I saw Bio on the list. I didn’t have that, and the Tarutaru black mage told me to make sure I get that one, since it’s a good spell. I bought it and learned it on my way back to my mog house. When I checked my delivery box to get my beehive chip money, I found a Saintly Ring and an Eremite’s Ring from the black mage! I sent the Taru a few /tells to let the person know I would gladly pay for them, but they told me no. The next time I went out to the Dunes, I did notice my Cures were a little better when I used the rings and wand. I also found out that monsters don’t like having Bio cast on them. Ultimately, though, I stopped leveling Red Mage around level 30. I envisioned the en-spells making weapons deal all of their damage as that element, not just adding on a shitty 3 or 4 points. My original goal was a Samurai/Red Mage, as they didn’t have my favorite job from FFV, Sorcerer (or Mystic Knight depending on who you ask). Turns out instead of being very cool like I had hoped, it sucked very ass. I then unlocked Beastmaster and took it pretty far, but those days are for another blog entry.

Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood? Part 2: A Coldwind’s a-comin’.

The Bahamut server is home to a very diverse group of people. Nearly all of them suck. Severely. There are some though, that have managed to prove themselves not as stupid or annoying as the rest. The majority of these people belong to the MoogleArmy linkshell like me. This week, I attempt to see what’s really going on in the mind of MoogleArmy’s most helpful member, Coldwind. He’s a master THF, and a high-caliber PLD. He’s also friendlier than just about everyone. As with Kyssandra, questions will be in BOLD. All responses are unedited and will appear in ITALICS. Any additional comments by me will be in parentheses.


How long have you been playing FFXI?

I have been playing FFXI since NA release. Played for a while and quit, then I came back and quit, had that yo-yo effect going. But when with the release of the Xbox 360 version I said to myself: "Now is the perfect time to come back to the game and get a job to 75". Now I have two lv 75 jobs and working on my third.(Show-off...)

What made you choose Galka as the race for your character?

Well, Tarutaru were too cute, Mithras are woman and I don't like playing female characters, Elvaan were too creepy with their long necks and Hume were too bland for me because they aren't great at anything stat wise. Galka caught my attention from the get go, the loveable big guy, big hp boost because I wanted to be a monk or paladin at the time.

How did you choose your character’s name?

I like the cold weather, which is weird coming from a person that lives in a tropical island, goes with the theme that the Galkas get slave names in Bastok too.

Which job do you enjoy the most?

The Paladin job. Protecting others is my job.

According to your blog (which should be required reading for the rest of MA), you were originally from Bastok but now call Windurst home. Why did you pick Windurst? Do you hate San d’Oria as much as I do, or is Windurst simply the lesser of two evils?

I picked Windurst because is a beautiful place to hang out. Also you can warp around to get to places, which is neat. San d'Oria is such a boring place, I go there as little as possible.

Which do you like more: Rabao or Kazham? Why?

Kazham because is near a jungle, when you have to party there the zone is very close and the auction house is linked to Windurst, the greatest nation.

Which do you like less: Jeuno or Aht Urhgan Whitegate? Why?

I like Aht Urhgan less, its cool that its such a small zone but the lag is terrible.

I’ve noticed that you leveled Beastmaster to 40 very quickly (getting close to 50, too.). Almost too quickly, in fact. Are you from the same race of super-leveling mutant/robots Kyss is?

Lol. The super-leveling mutat/robots will take over the world soon enough.(I knew it!!) I enjoy the Beastmaster job a lot, the advantage of the job is I don't have to wait for a party invite I can do it all by myself. Been able to do that instead on waiting on others to get exp is why I've been flying through levels.(Again, show-off....)

You don’t have to name names (it would be funny if you did), but are there any linkshell members you really, really don’t like?

I can't say I don't like anyone, but I can't recall the names at the moment (most have gone already).

Are there any linkshell members you like more than the rest?

There are a lot of members I like in the linkshell, the one that stands out is Jeangallo. With Jean there is always something crazy to do. Doesn't matter if we win or we lose horribly is always fun.

What would you like to see added or changed in FFXI?

More exp zones for meripo, right now those places are always crowded. A nomad moogle in Selbina/Mhaura. More love for the Paladins, Thief and of course Beastmaster.(A tweak on PLDs that finally makes nin tanks obsolete would be nice. My last two pts had nin tanks and they couldn't hold hate worth a shit.)

What would you like to see taken out? Why?

Exp loss when you die, because my Paladin don't get much party invites to get it back.

If you could be any kind of ingame monster, which would you be and why?

Super high level chigoe, a very annoying monster that hits people hard and very fast, would like to see a bunch of dead bodies around me.(I haven't had the pleasure of fighting a chigoe yet, but the idea of a zone of corpses is appealing.)

I’ve noticed that you don’t seem to get upset or pissed off at anything that happens ingame. How do you manage that?

I always have fun no matter what happens in the game. It has to be something really bad or annoying to get me very upset.(I will be watching the ls chat very carefully for the day that happens.)

When you decide to leave FFXI forever, what do you want people to remember about you?

I would like to be remembered as a person who had a lot of fun helping others in everything I could.


Next week: He’s unpredictable(according to Cold, anyway)! He’s a RDM! He's marrying Larien ingame! He’s a…female Elvaan?! I attempt to unravel the mystery of the only female Elvaan I can actually recognize at first glance, Jeangallo!

Why do Beastmaster and Bard have to wear the faggiest gear in the game?

Every job in FFXI gets to wear armor that adds bonuses to the stats important to them. For the most part, that armor looks pretty good. There are, of course, two exceptions; Beastmaster and Bard. As Charisma is their most important stat, SE has decided to curse them with some of the fruitiest, most effete gear in the game. Flower necklaces, hippie-colored ribbons, rings with intimidating names like “Hope” and “Loyalty”. What belt do they get to wear when they hit 40? If the Beastmaster wants his charms to land, and if the bard doesn’t want to be gimp, they get to wear corsettes. That’s right, fucking corsettes. It gets even better for beastmasters, because they’ll get to use a Darksteel Codpiece when they reach level 50. I don’t see anything attracting more monsters than dark black crotch armor. God knows they need something to aim for when they’re fighting you. Bard gear has always been an enigma to me, as the few I’ve ever partied with had a very large variety of gear, and I’m not sure exactly what they need other than Charisma. Nobody notices if their gear is crappy though, as even the shittiest Bard can reduce a party’s downtime and thus are treated like fucking royalty. For the most part, they want to boss everyone around so the melees don’t get Ballad cast on them. I wish I could remember that bard’s name that I partied with in the Quicksand Caves long, long ago. Not having my 0 mp recover faster is so much more important than if we have to rest every other battle so the stupid Red Mage can get his mp back. Why there was a Red Mage main healing at that level with a Paladin tank, I’ll never know.

Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood? Part 1 of Many.

The Bahamut server is home to a very diverse group of people. Nearly all of them suck. Severely. There are some though, that have managed to prove themselves not as stupid or annoying as the rest. The majority of these people belong to the MoogleArmy linkshell like me. A few belong to various endgame linkshells, but I forgive them. Over the next few weeks and months, I’ll work my way through the ranks of MoogleArmy members with a series of interviews. Some of the questions may repeat, because I'm not keeping track of what I'm asking. There’s no better place to start than with the top. She’s the rock-solid foundation of the MoogleArmy. When she speaks the entire linkshells shuts the fuck up and listens. For the most part, anyway. The Tarutaru extraordinaire Kyssandra. (As I don't have a program to capture the text box, I just used the MA website mail system to send the questionnaire. Questions will be in BOLD. Her responses are unedited and will appear in ITALICS. Any additional comments by me will be in parentheses.)

So, how long have you been playing FFXI?

I've been playing off and on since around the ps2 release which was close to Summer 2004. So I guess that makes it about 3 years now.

From what I’ve seen, you use mainly mage jobs. Not counting Beastmaster, have you ever leveled a melee job? Which ones and how far?

I did level mnk(9), war(18), and nin to 37 but that was just to compliment my mage jobs. As for leveling a melee job just to have one, I did try thf once.. got it to 3.. or maybe that was 2 then got bored.

How did you choose your character’s name?

Kyssandra was the name of a npc guild leader in a text based MUD (look it up) called DragonRealms. I used the name for my character in EverQuest Online Adventures which carried over to FFXI when we all moved here as a group.

What helped you choose Windurst, the greatest of the three starting countries, as your home country?

First looking at the 3 nation choices I was immediately drawn to Windurst. I liked everything from the music to the outdoor nature theme, it seemed the most fun.

Which do you like more: Bastok or San d’Oria? Why?

Bastok, not that Bastok is anything special but Elvaan tend to be on the arrogant side, it's never a pleasant experience being in Sandy.

Which do you like less: Mhaura or Selbina? Why?

Well lets compare their negative uses. Mhaura has that annoyingly long boat ride to Aht Urghan. Selbina has that annoyingly long Crawler's Nest map quest. Mhaura also has a prime fight which you need lvl 6 fame for, that can be annoying. But Selbina.. is next to dunes.. Selbina wins.

You don’t have to name names, or /point at me, but is there any player(s) that you absolutely despise?

Oh of course there are people I really dislike, though I exercise probably more restraint than most people notice when it comes to them.

Is there any MoogleArmy member you like a little more than the others? *winkwink*

Well that would be you Omael =p.(YES!) I actually like all members who are regulars. (NOOOOO!) By regulars I mean they're on a lot, they talk, they help out, and this is their only LS (excluding endgame). As far as who I like more than others, I do believe in the concept of reciprocity, you get out of a LS what you put into it. There are members who clearly put in a lot more effort than some in the LS, and as a result those people are much more likely to get help when they're in need.

What would you like to see added to FFXI the most? (It can be anything.)

One thing I really dislike about FFXI when compared to other mmorpgs is the way end game works. How some of the hardest HNMs in the game drop complete crap compared to easier HNMs that spawn 21-24 hours. I'd love to see FFXI create a new end game system where the rewards increase in proportion to the difficulty of the battles.

What would you like taken out or changed?

I'd really like to see a bigger xp penalty for people who die for stupid reasons.

If you could be any kind of ingame monster, what would you pick and why?

I'd like to be a lvl 8 besieged HNM. I'd only have to work and make my appearance every few days for no more than an hour. And you get to kill complete idiots, because only a dumbass would go after one of those HNMs thinking they could kill it. (I don't know what that is, but I'll assume it's something strong.)

You and I were in a party in Garlaige on August 10th of 2007 where you were a bard. I was a ninja, and we were maybe 2 levels apart. This wasn’t even a month ago. Now you are getting your Artifact Armor. There were rumors being spread in the linkshell recently that you were some sort of super-leveling mutant or super-leveling robot. Are you a super-leveling mutant, a super-leveling robot, some unholy combination of the two or something entirely different?

lmao. When I set a goal for myself, I usually go after it full force. Of course a lot of it is thanks to having this great linkshell full of awesome members willing to come help me in a moments notice. But as for leveling, I just can't level "every now and then", I level whore and no I'm not a super-leveling mutant or robot -_-.(That's exactly what a super-leveling mutant/robot would say...)

When you decide to leave FFXI forever, what do you want people to remember about you?

I just want people to remember I'm the leader of MoogleArmy and that I contributed in some way to their FFXI experience. And I hope that this LS, that many people call home, continues to live on even after I'm gone.(I'd give MoogleArmy about two months if/when Kyss quits forever before it falls apart.)

Next time: I attempt to expose the dark side (if there is one) of the friendliest, most helpful Galka you ever did meet, Coldwind! Could a heart of pure evil lurk within the depths of that snazzy jacket? And just what is Houzukimaru looking at?

Promyvion: Karmic payback or Stupid Bullshit?

Long ago, in November of 2005, I attempted to beat one of the new Promyvion areas added by the second FFXI expansion. It was a short effort, as our douche bag Ranger warped out after telling us his mommy was kicking him off the computer. Stupid bastard didn’t even own the computer he was on. I don’t know if he’s in this screenshot, but here’s one from that attempt anyway.



Nearly a year later in August of 2006, I attempted one of the Promyvion areas again. Take a look at the screenshot and tell me if you recognize anyone. That’s right; you’re seeing Coldwind and Jedimasta before they were famous. Well, we got all the way to the burning circle fight at the end and died. I decided that it would be a long, long time before I tried one of them again.



Exactly one year and twelve days later: It’s the night of August 20, 2007, and Amiyumi is asking if anyone wants to try a Promyvion. I was bored and agreed. Soon, I would learn that it was a horrible decision. Both of my previous Promyvion attempts were at Dem, so I was hoping maybe Mea would be easier. As I often am about fights, I was very very wrong. We made it to the burning circle fight with little incident, only to be trashed twice before I had to head off to get some sleep. We got the NM down to about 15% hp, but as with most things on FFXI, that was more than enough to kill us all easily.



Now, as some of the linkshell knows, I use mules to make the majority of my money for me. It isn’t very fast since elementals ores can be a bitch to grow, but after four or five months I’ll have a couple million gil to spend on gear and gimpy linkshell mates. After this Promyvion experience, I wonder if this isn’t SE’s way to get back at me for having found a way to make money that doesn't involve fighting the RMTs for NMs. As the Promyvion areas are level capped, I cannot simply buy my way though them. I gladly would if I could, though. I suspect SE knows this, and will never see fit to allow me access to the Tavnazian Archipelago.

Tungi {| Found it! |}

Long ago, before I was overwhelmed by the stupidity of those that shared FFXI with me, I reached level 60 as a warrior/ninja. At that time, I learned of an axe called the Tungi. Hidden deep within the Quicksand Caves and guarded by a faggy Antican that was rumored to bite people on the genitals, the axe was said to contain hidden effects that made the rare/ex item worth the quest. You see, they couldn’t just let you fight the stupid fucking Antican and have him drop the axe. That would be too fucking easy. Instead, you must scurry about the Quicksand Caves in search of a ??? placed on the ground. The ??? was called the Antican Tag, which the homosexual Antican was said to be looking for. Why they can’t just let the Antican pop every couple of hours, I don’t know. What he wanted the tag for, I think it best not to ask. The time I spent wandering about the Caves with no map added up to several days, with no Antican Tag ever found by the time I quit the game. After my return to FFXI, I resumed my search for the tag. As things rare/ex often go with me, I found the tag after only a few hours of searching, but remain unsure whether or not to resume leveling warrior/ninja. With it in my possession, I was ready to kill the goddamn Antican and claim my shiny new Tungi. Or so I thought. Before I quit, the leader of the linkshell I belong to and I attempted to kill the Antican ourselves. We had to fight a few other monsters along the way and made the mistake of bringing the Antican out before she had fully regained her magic points. The Antican killed us both, luckily sparing our genitals. This time, I decided to ask for more help. I asked the entire linkshell to help. Most of them were busy with parties and such, so they could not. Coldwind and Jeangallo where nowhere to be found, but I’m pretty sure they would’ve come out. I don’t mind that, but I would’ve been severely pissed if they were all sitting in town with their thumbs up their asses. Fortunately for me, three brave souls answered the call; Arrmin, a Red Mage I’ve never met before; Larien, one of the few people on my list of trustworthy; and Jedimasta, the Warrior/Ninja that once used my gear to achieve glory. The four of us all traveled through the sands of the Altepa Desert until we reached the entrance to the Quicksand Caves. Goddamn Anticans everywhere, but they could not match the might of everyone but me. Eventually, we found the spot where the Antican could be spawned by trading the Antican Tag away. Immediately after the trade, the Antican pounced, attempting to molest the four of us. This time, with more than just a 75 White Mage with me, the Antican fell! As he died, he dropped the Tungi I so desired as well as about ten different ores. I myself had never seen so much ore drop from one stupid enemy, but that was unimportant. The Tungi was mine! Jedimasta advised me to use it and a Darksteel Axe +1 the next time I want to party as war/nin. As my off-hand weapon is the Bloodsword I don’t think I’ll bother with the +1 Axe. Here’s a picture I took after I got the Tungi. I’m not sure where Arrmin ran off to, but he's not in this one.

Sharing is Caring….and The Omael Quest (echo)

Loaning people gear that I’m not currently using has always been something I’ve been willing to do. People rarely ask me though, which I attribute to my own fairly cantankerous nature. Several months back an up-and-coming war/nin named Jedimasta was desperately in need of a Haubergeon. Go look what it is up if you don’t know, the blog won’t be going anywhere. Here’s a picture of me wearing one with my NPC in Eldieme Necropolis:


Anyway, Jedi needed a Hauby or he’d be a gimp. Gimps are the bane of FFXI, and anyone that gets to level 60 with gimp gear needs to be shot. Scratch that. Anyone that gets to level 40 with gimp gear needs to be shot. Myself, I was tired of trying to level war/nin on about two hours of playtime each night, so I told Jedi he could have my Haubergeon and Assault Earring. I don’t remember if I said to borrow or keep. A couple weeks later, I quit the game. When I returned earlier this year, I learned that not only did Jedi still have my Haubergeon and Assault Earring, but he had leveled all the way to 75. I admit to being surprised, but I learned long ago that I was a slow leveler compared to the rest of the linkshell I belong to. Soon after I returned, one of the linkshell members named Quickswipe was leveling thief. I ran into her (as Quickswipe is a Mithra, I will refer to the character as “her”.) in Jeuno and got to see what gear she was using. It was good, but not great. I offered to let her use my Leaping Boots for a while, provided that they are returned. After a while, Quickswipe stopped leveling thief and retuned the boots. I was intrigued at the idea of using my wealth to accumulate enough favors with linkshell members that my Beastmaster af quests would be a cakewalk. I have since decided to lend my gear out to linkshell members I deem trustworthy enough, in return for future help with af coffers and whatnot. There is a physical list of people on a sheet of printer paper next to my computer that I am willing to loan my better gear to, which I make changes to over time. Recently, I’ve begun to entertain the idea of resuming my war/nin career. My mule plantation has paid off nicely, and allowed me to buy the gear my war/nin would need, except for a Haubergeon, Assault Earring and scroll of Utsusemi: Ni. Lo and behold, I spoke with Jedi and he returned my old gear! Jedi was going to buy a Hauberk for himself anyway and had better earrings than the assault, so he didn’t need my old stuff anymore. Some time later (maybe two days), I learn that Kyrek is leveling war/nin and is also in need of a Haubergeon. I was still on the fence about leveling the job again, so I didn’t want to let him borrow mine. I thought for a few minutes of a way to help this Tarutaru, since he was another member of the linkshell that seemed fairly entertaining and learned (that’s pronounced “lurnid”, not “lurnd”). He was already borrowing one of my Woodsman’s Rings and my Garrulous Ring, and as he hadn’t sold them yet I knew helping him would be a good idea. Kyrek is also a level 75 white mage, and knowing one of those is also a good idea. He was talking about getting a Damascus ingot from some NM and getting a blacksmith to make him a Haubergeon. The linkshell was talking about World of Warcraft at the time, and I was struck with inspiration; a quest as stupid and asinine as those that populate what I consider the faggiest shitpile of an OnlineRPG. The Omael Quest (echo), I call it. It was simple, yet epic. Incredibly stupid, yet incredibly great (that’s great meaning important; highly significant or consequential). Basically, it was what every quest in World of Warcraft was; a fucking fetch quest. Thus, I spoke unto Kyrek: “Bring unto me a Scroll of Utsusemi: Ni and 1 Red Terrapin, Kyrek of Windurst, and the Haubergeon of Ungimptitude shall be yours.” I don’t think Kyrek quite believed me at first, but I was and still am entirely serious. I then bought a Haubergeon and stole it away in my Mog House, where it still waits for its diminutive yet powerful owner to claim it. The overly-dramatic wordage there is to reflect World of Warcraft’s in-game dialogue. I have been asked a few times about wanting the single Red Terrapin. The turtle is symbolic. If it were World of Warcraft I would’ve wanted 30 Red Terrapins, 20 Elshimo Newts, and 25 Gold Lobsters. I have no interest in getting that much worthless crap traded to me. Perhaps, in a few months, another desperate linkshell member will mention needing a Haubergeon or some other high-priced piece of gear that I can buy for them, and then trade for something I actually need. A second Omael Quest....