Back in the saddle again.

Well I'm back to killing big stuff, but in a new home under a different banner. Thanks to the kind folks of the Equilibrium linkshell over on bismarck for taking this leap of faith!

I have about another week left of this "trial period" that every newcomer to virtually every endgame shell in existence has to go through. I've forgotten what it feels like being the "new guy" and feeling as though your every move is under a microscope. But it's all good as they are a friendly bunch. Moreover it has felt good being able to fight and kill big stuff again. On top of that, it's been nice racking up those synthetic beauties called atmas. Hopefully this is the start of many good things.

Mutual last resort

So it's finally come down to it. It appears that virtually every decent endgame shell on Phoenix within my timezone is stuffed to the gills - unless you're a g-horn BRD or something similar. Though I've made a number of friends here on Phoenix, it appears my time here is at an end.

So, yeah.... Vagrant blue mage {Do you need it?}

Duties, tasks and deeds

No, not the mythic quest where the rat asks you to jump through all sorts of retarded hoops. Speaking of which, good luck to anyone trying to build a mythic now since the new AF3 pieces destroy most salvage gear. The falling price of wootz ingots speaks volumes but I digress.

Since the update has come, I've decided to put the DNC leveling on hold for the time being and focus on my 80+ jobs. Ultimately I'll probably end up with just BLU, SAM and DNC going all the way to 99. The other day it came to me that I do not have a single piece of magian cutlery in progress for my BLU. In light of recent changes to weather/day trials, it was time to stop being gimp and rectify that once and for all. So where to start? Of course a logical step to putting more muscle behind spell damage - a STR path shamshir +1. The part that's going to suck the worst is the flans, especially now since things like the astral candescence in Aht Urhgan will probably be lost forever since Abyssea fever has now firmly taken hold. Hell, it's a miracle if a server even has Fiat Lux these days. Maybe once that's done, I'll try and get my hands on some of that AF3 everyone's buzzing about.

The Typhoon is Benthic!

So SE gives us what is perhaps the next generation of our beloved Cannonball. Its name is Benthic Typhoon. However, SE throws us a curve ball here since it's said to have a 50% AGI mod in lieu of the usual stats we see.

So here is a potential AGI build for said spell. Our inventory's already stretched as it is! Most of this stuff isn't all that hard to get though again I go back to the inventory thing. Between food, meds, tools (if /NIN), and our usual gear. Um... yeah. It's like relic DRGs and Geirskogul (which is also AGI modded) yet I don't see too many DRGs with special gearsets for it.

Dancing for my life?

So apparently this game absolutely SUCKS without people to actually do stuff with (outside of the usual random WG shout groups). So yeah, I actually miss doing endgame stuff 5-6 nights a week. Some people do make honest mistakes not realizing their implications. Of course some mistakes carry much heavier prices than others. Oh well. Live and learn.


For now I'll just focus on plodding through DNC levels then decide what to do once it's at 80 (or whatever the new level cap is should I not get there in time). I may try Reso again (though they'll probably turn me down on account of no mythic or other crazy shit lol). I really don't want to move if I don't have to seeing as the only thing worse than not having people to do stuff with is going somewhere you know absolutely no one. Thus concludes my bored rant for today.

Why'd I even bother?

So about a week ago I decided to roam ye olde Vana'diel once again. This past update did indeed usher in a "brave new world". Apparently it is also one that can fell Absolute Virtue (for the time being). During my absence, Beyond and Volume combined to form Resonance. I left Beyond during the end of June as a result of burnout coupled with some outside factors and didn't know what I wanted out of the game anymore. Once again being an "outsider", I applied to the newly-formed linkshell. A couple days later, I spoke with one of the sacks (who was also a leader in Beyond) and we discussed a number of things, such as the current situation.

Crash test dummy: Eorzea rebooted

So phase 2 of the FFXIV beta has drawn to a close with the third phase to start later this month. In spite of its laundry list of issues (weapon bugs, poor interface and balancing issues), it is still a solid game. So far the only two classes I've explored all that much are lancer and gladiator while dabbling in a bit of pugilist and marauder here and there. I'll share a few points that I feel are worth mentioning after the past couple of weeks.

The good

1. Beautiful landscapes really bring the world to life (this sounds some song-and-dance SE would use).
2. The ability to customize stats and add abilities acquired from leveling different classes is a very nice touch. To an extent this reminds me of RO, where being able to divvy up stats as you saw fit was one of the game's strong points. Of course, if you messed up somewhere and wanted to change things, you had to re-start from level 1 but I digress.
3. The guildleve system, which provides a means of making money and gear via short quests.
4. Ease of transportation thanks to aetherite crystals.
5. A separate physical level for which you can get exp by doing things other than killing monsters (such as mining or crafting).

The bad

1. The concept of equipment decaying with use. Now I realize just what it is they're going for with this here, but still it gets irritating. I shudder at the thought of repairing rare endgame cutlery with super-pricey crafting materials (think imperial wootz used for salvage bodies). I can see this getting very expensive very quickly.
2. Anima, or rather how super slow it recovers itself. Though this could just be from the beta. I know it's to prevent people from zipping around the world so quickly, but you're screwed if it gets too low. It could get problematic for those having to move from one end of the world to another. I can see it now; "Fifty DKP minus for not having enough anima to warp to the dungeon entrance!"

It was somewhat difficult to come up with these without crossing into "it's just beta" territory. Unlike with FFXI however, my anticipation for this is nowhere near "frothing" status. When FFXI was first announced in 2000, I was extremely excited. I hung onto every piece of info I could. As a result though, it fueled very high, if not unrealistic expectations of the game once it finally came here. That also led in part to my not giving it a fair shake in the beginning. Being more mature than I was at 21/22, I look at XIV for what it is -- a brand new game that happens to have the name "Final Fantasy". Yes, it has the familiar elements of its predecessors, but in a fresh new world. This is, for the most part, what keeps me coming back over the years.

Will XIV rise to the same level of grandeur as XI? We shall see in the coming years. I do hope that SE has learned from the many things that worked and didn't work with XI. So far with some of the things in place and those that are planned, it looks that way. Though my cynical side tells me "it's SE - they'll find some way to ruin it."