What is it about level 75?

What is it about level 75?

What is it that makes perfectly normal, intelligent, scrupulous ffxi players and turns them into power-hungry, irresponsible, self-seeking r-tards...?

Now don't get me wrong, there are a lot of wonderful level 75's out there. Thousands of them. Grats to you those who have the sense to keep your composure and your humility about you after achieving the highest level in the game. Humility enough to actually be prepared going into quest/missions/HNM's/assault/etc. Enough to know that your 75-ness isn't enough to save you from the dangers of Vanadi'el. Enough to know that there are still a LOT of IT's out there, not to mention 's that will kick your noggin' all the way back to noobville. Enough to know to actually do some research BEFORE you step outside those overcrowded Whitegate walls.

Oh you know what i'm talking about. You see a level 75 player run by, loaded with killer gear, see rank 10, and automatically assume they're smart. Oh yes, they might be...but it never ceases to amaze me how many people automatically turn off their brain once they hit level 75. They forget to bring sneak oils and powders, get lost in zones where lost people's life expectancy is very low, go on missions without knowing what the heck the objective is, forget the key item, forget to do the prerequisites... the list goes on and on.

I guess this wouldn't be so bad if the consequences of ill-preparation weren't so high in endgame. Thousands of exp. loss on each death without raise III isn't a great proposition. It's bad enough to die... but causing your entire alliance or more to die AND lose AND have to re-farm a key item and such just makes people crabby.

I think a lot of the mis-planning and mis-communication can be solved with good leadership, but c'mon... the leader shouldn't have to hold your hand. Every player should be proactive and get their prereq's/key items/ solo issues settled before trying to get a party together. When i want to get a particular item/mission i try to solo everything humanly possible up to the point where i need the help. Most likely a bc-fight or something where i need healing. Then the 'helpers' only have to spend a minimal amount of time and effort, and the risk is reduced because i'll be prepping them on the particulars of whatever's going on.

The good thing about that is that you also become a terrific candidate for start-up parties for boss-fights. Most start-up groups aren't going to want to spend the time to get one person through the previous mission, or get them farmed up. It takes long enough to get together 18 people who don't suck, let alone having to babysit half the group.

The great thing about this game is that if you get a group of people together who know what they're doing and are willing to work together, you can do some spectacular things. On the flip side, one or a few in the group who don't care/are irresponsible, can ruin it... making a long day of preparation go to waste...

...hmmm....

...sounds like real life doesn't it?


=P

Why I need family

This time of year is probably painful for a lot of people. I must admit, we live in a world full of brokenness. Broken promises, broken relationships, and broken dreams. For many, the word "family" probably solicits a reaction much akin to listening to people arguing over sky lotting rules, or a Aunt Helga's 40-weight fruitcake.
Our memory is strong, unfortunately much more so for the things that have gone wrong than right. It's a dreadful fact, proven with statistical solemnity. When no other than Jesus Christ healed ten lepers, only two returned to give thanks...the other eight still had it locked down on how they were sick and not how they got healed.
So....i totally understand when there is fear, distrust, misgiving, and general mockery about the family and what it should be. So many of us come from a history of hurt, especially from those around us who "should" understand. Yes, a father "should" know to provide for and protect his family and not abuse them. Yes a mother "should" know to teach and nurture her children, and put them before her own agenda and needs. It hurts way more from those who "should" know better...it really does... makes you want to go out and go nuts, watch out for number one, indulge yourself in every possible hedonism that you hope might drown out the pain....and the fear that we really are alone in this world. Heck, that's why a lot of us play this darn game >.< *raises hand
The thing that i think about however, is that little nagging moogle reminding me the simple fact that i need to give him more imperial bronze pieces...
...wait sorry
... no that the bottom line is that i need people. There, i said it lol.

I NEED PEOPLE!!!!

No matter how much i want to believe that i can do without them, time and time again the history shows that, without the support, input, and guidance of others... i fail. I mean.... i fail... big time. I'm not too proud to admit it. There are things i have been struggling to overcome for YEARS on my own. I'm like Barry in 'the Bee Movie' trying to get out of that closed window: " This time! this time! this time! this time! this time!" =/
*pant *pant... ow

It's amazing how no matter how hard i try, there is no way i can see everything, no way i can cover all my bases, no way that i can remember everything that i'm supposed to do in a day... not to mention in my life. I am so imperfect, i can see defeat and deftly snatch it out of the jaws of victory.
I do believe there is one difference between my life and insanity. I know because i know... that i need help, (i need cookies also but that's a different story) and i ask for it. I welcome it, i crave it. I may not always understand the help that comes my way. I might not always like (read: hardly) when i'm shown to be in the wrong. (ok... NEVER) but i know i can't live without it.
So appreciate those close to you this time of year. I really do believe that our lives are filled with doors...doors to our future, doors to our past, doors to blessing... and those in our family are holding many of those keys... Make a choice to keep it fresh, keep it humble, and keep it thankful. You never know, the least likely person could speak a well-timed and seasoned word into your life, and release a world of awesomeness. It could be that strung-out, drunk lush aunt you try to avoid at parties, it could be that father figure who you see once a decade. It could even be that irritating 'lil snot that calls themselves your brother or sister. Be open, you'll be surprised...
...and you might get those cookies sooner than you think...

Z-Man vs. the NM's part 'un

So...I found some time off from the christmas cookie factory to attempt to get a brown belt for my starting char...

/slap

...what did i say? (interpretation: Ya i wanted to push myself over the edge by camping a bunch of NM's...hopefully ill have enough brain cells left to remember to breathe and use the toilet)

oh ya... the NM's

So i start off doing those rams outside of the dunes for the purple belt quest. (i don't know how the japanese came up with purple... nothing in japanese culture is purple to my knowledge ... besides the stupid belt)
Sounds easy enough, sub /rng for widescan, head to Konschtat Highlands and find those 2 rams that spawn big and ugly... i fool myself to belive that i'll get a chance at super-big-and-ugly (Steelfleech Baldrich) but ya i'm susceptible to dillusion...
Anyhow, i'm going along... killing the rams every 11-12 minutes... i'm having fun right? =/
I'm feeling good about my chances... even stop to chat w/a random noob. Then, out of the blue, a flash of silver and red! It must be a missile of some sort... or some sort of stealth fighter flying below the radar floor... or some kind of WoTG data floating around...
...or a taru pld....ya i saw through his clever disguise... hiding /anon among the saplings...
AAAACCKKK!!! and he's killing the rams!
I hate competition for mobs camping an NM... not that i camp NM's often. It's just that the idea of spending hours of time in one location with potentially nothing to show for it doesn't seem like the brightest proposition to me. In fact, i'd rather chew off my left arm or play 'tip the Jormungond.'
So i'm competing for every mob, using everything in my power to keep that taru off my overstuffed fluffy flea-bitten bits of hope that i might actually spawn and claim this NM.
Then i come out with a ingenious plan! Thank the Lord for braincells! I open my lazy cyber mouth and /talk...and what do you know? Through the miracle of technology (and auto-translate) i find out he's just a ...
...omg i feel karakulish... (cept w/out the fleas)
i've been a rebel w/out a cause... and worse...causing this poor guy to waste time farming. I offer to give him the skins that i've been just dumping... =/ but he's already filled his inventory...

/gah...

ranks up there w/the time i was lfp 4 hours.... anon.... >.< Anyway...got the NM's, got the belt, got the /slap.... ....now about those brown belt NM's....

Why I "Adopt-A-N00b"

Oftentimes, my ls'mates are quite dissatisfied with the amount of time i devote to helping random newbie players. It's quite an obsession of mine and i feel obligated to share some insight into the subject.
Yes, it does take time away from what i need to do to put myself into a good position to help the ls.
Yes, it does take wayyyy more patience than i have at any point in my day.
Yes, i do donate money to 'random' causes. =/

Of all the things to love about this game, one is that there is absolutely no way that anyone is getting anything done in a timely fashion without some help.
/calls for help!!!

Most people don't have the intestinal fortitude to solo things regularly in this game (read: commit suicide...just hand over the katana) and for most things it's impossible. It's also impossible without some kind of comprehensive compendium provided by SE to know where the heck things are or wtf you need to do to finish things! I mean c'mon!?
Here's a common quest storyline: "1) Find random person 2)Figure out what they want {cause they don't tell you} 3)Figure out where the heck to get it 4) Wander around the entire world of ffxi to find one stupid ??? in the middle of nowhere most likely in an area so dangerous you must be sneak/invis'd at all times or face a grisly end 5) touch that ??? to spawn the most haneous NM or NM(s) you've ever encounterd which were designed to be defeated by an entire alliance of characters your level, to which you have no idea they're particular strenghts/weaknesses are or even what in the heck kind of monster it is.

So, if you finally get to #5, in which case you either are 1)Extremely lucky 2)Extremely dumb or 3) a career Beastmaster, you will find ultimately that you can't finish the mission/quest anyway and you might as well go back to making cookies in crawler shapes and watching "The View."

Now the common person doesn't know that a world of excitement and fun is waiting behind unlocking that next quest/mission or getting that rare/ex item... but we DO! We know... cause we've been there and spent 2 weeks trying to get one thing, dying many horrible deaths, wasting all that gil you bought from IGN, and generally reducing yourself to a sloppy pool of Oil Spill... 'cept w/out Fluid Spread... well, in some cases w/...

So, have a heart! I know you see 'em... lvl 21 whm's wearing a robe and a spike neclace... i see you snickering at that Rdm w/the spent RR earring, that war that's just not connecting w/his Holly Pole... don't forget the guy who was shouting 'How to put the ninja tools in the toolbag?"

They're n00bs, they can't help it...spend some time...get to know 'em... they might be the best friend that you've found in a while...they might need that little push to be a great player...

...or they could be pyro...

/meh take a chance...

Steel Cyclone!!!

Well, i finally got it. ^^ my uber weaponskill. At least i hope it makes me uber. Much thanks to Cheeky/Gatsa/Cupapa (my npc)... and a random Galka NIN who... well... i ended up tanking 2/3 the fight as war/nin... how the heck...?

tytytytytytyty!!!! sososososososososo much! I have that off my chest i can focus on other aspects of my game. Dontcha hate that? One thing, or a bunch of things... just there... gloating at you saying "you haven't gotten me yet!" argh!

It's hard work being conciencious about anything. I guess that's why there are only a few people who are able to/choose to be excellent in this life. I bet the same people who can manage the few things in their life on a daily basis become the next Warren Buffet's, Bill Gate's, and Micheal Dell's. It's a struggle to overcome our natural affinity for chaos and wrangle in our actions and emotions to fit standards. Oh, say what you will about freedom and free-form, but the proof is in the pudding. People who are successful by and large are those who divorce themselves from the 'natural world' of disorder and 'bring into captivity' those things into a manageable form.

Have i been able to do that for my own life? No way. 27 years of doing it one way isn't going to turn around immediately. >.< It's ludacris to believe it so. Years of conditioning to 'this is the way it is' whether because someone told you, or because your situation told you, can't be erased so quickly. Here's to trying! Here's to : Let's figure it out together! Here's to the One who gives us the extra chances to do so!

Merry Christmas??? =/

It's that time of year... again... woot?

*sigh

please let me know when it's the middle of January, when all the retardation of the so-called holidays are over! lol well, that's my flesh talking...and yes, this time of year makes me very very very uncomfortable. VERY VERY! All of the shopping, and planning, and getting together with people you dislike to varying degrees. It's all so... soo.... :3

Y'no what though? i do believe to a certain extent... as much as i dislike the way i feel at this time, that this is good for me.

/slap

What did i say?
oh...well let me try to explain (read: try not to feel as dumb)
This time is about basically one thing: others...
It's a very simple, but very difficult thing to grasp, especially for us who live in the modern world where everything is focused on tantalizing our senses, which is another way of the world/media/etc. telling us that we are number one. Not only in a good sense, but that what we feel and want is more important than anything else. Hey its the best way to sell something if you can convince people that they 'need' it. Anyway, this business of 'others' (and not the zombies who took over your family members, your dog, and aunt suzie) is so foriegn, so 'out-there' to us...it makes us very uncomfortable. i mean... i don't see the point in the months of planning, prodigious amounts of money spent, and the heartache, effort, and many times, disappointment put into making Christmas Christmas.

When God sent down his son to this earth, (which incidentally no one who really knows belives was Dec. 24 wtf?) it was the ultimate sacrifice, the epitome of giving. It wasn't for God's direct benefit, but for yours and mine. Yes, yes, God does benefit when we get to heaven, cause he gets his family back, but really? It's for us. =) We can live, move, breathe,and have super-abundance because HE chose to give.

Giving ain't easy, and if it is... you prolly aren't giving something dear/close or something that you gave your life/breath/and being for. The hardest part is thinking, yes i can see the smoke already! It is! To get to know someone intimately, know their wants/dreams/desires and to go the extra mile to make that person feel special in an original, unique way is HARD!
Give me a choice and i'd rather give you 50 bucks rather than plan a special evening where i spent 10. It's the time/money factor... and creating an atmosphere in which someone can be comfortable, safe, and feel special takes a hella lot of time! Incidentally its the only thing we all have the same amount of! which suggests why it don't take money to be happy. (i'm particularly happy about that one)
The reason I love to give money because i have an understanding of what getting that money meat to me. It meant staying up all night watching over other people's parents and grandparents... it meant running up that burning hillside when i was too tired to breathe...it meant months of preparation to get where i am today...it means being ready every day i go to work to meet my maker...


So... what man?

/think

So... relish the moment! See how what you're giving has an effect on the people around you. Have a vision for what it may mean in the future.... most importantly, when you feel like giving up, like its just too much to bear, like you just want to take care of YOU!.... remember that HE loves you, and before you gave, HE gave, and everything that you go through, HE knows, HE feels... because HE's your father... and i hear he gives free cheerio's to cool ppl...

Let the arguing begin!

Ok...so I'm headed to sky today... woot awesome! all right! congrats!
well... i sure hope so. Just like in life, invariably there will be fighting, arguing, greed, idiocy, and general mayhem. I hope not, but... i know much better than that. Nevertheless... i head up to Tu'Lia fully prepared, fully equipped, knowing that i'm gonna have to bail someone out somewhere... (75 noob: 'can i borrow your RR item?) i mean... wtf? i used to wonder when people said things like: "well, we can't do it because we have to find 18 people who don't suck..." i'm confused? If you're able to get a job to lvl 75, is it possible to suck? After all my hard work, grinding, trial-and-error, farming endlessly, begging people to '?' researching every possible situation and outcome. After studying tactics, walk-throughs, interviewing people who have gone before, can u really suck after all of that?

...errr....
ya
>.<

Maybe i'll show up in vir subligar ...
...and btw can i borrow your RR item?

The first post!!!

Ok...a few days/weeks/months down the road i'll probably want to burn this post...but i've got to do it! lol
First off, i totally, and i mean totally, don't know what i'm doing... i mean...what i know about blogs consist of reading them, laughing, and poking fun at the writer. Except instead of that last part, insert (wish i could be them)... so! Here i am. I'm supposed to say something... something deep, insightful, and brilliant. Awe people with my wit and imagination...
Awe...who am i kidding! LOL

What i can promise you is this, I am me...if you can be you, i can be me...and i am me... all the time... except when i'm trying to be you... which i inevitably fail...then go back to being ... me. (..and then there was that time w/the puppet...but i digress) {ok time(s)...but don't push it!}

I may be wrong, i may be offensive, i may stink! (however unlikely) but i promise that anything that i write here is totally real. I'll post a lot of stuff in game...like how i'm trying to write this while not dying horribly trying break my ws latent on robber crabs (damn STD's...they really do rob u!) ...and a lot of stuff from real life... lessons, struggles, painfully real pictures of paradise (my home) mwahahahaha!


ok...it isn't a crab...but this pic is cool u gotta admit...

I may even throw some current events, sports, and "religious" topics in here... i mean to be controversial when i am...cause... i'm me ^^ so everyone who is easily offended can make like a shepherd (and GTFlockO)

wwwwwwwwwwwwwww...(mistake trying to sit up by pressing 'forward' >.< ... hush you've done it before too!)

Hope we have lots of fun together because... i will! = )