Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Over under sideways down...

SE updates, poorly managed, super-congested and just plain past capacity. It took me an hour to get a connection to the server to download the update that wouldn’t “bump” me. Yes, that was just to connect. The download took a bit over 9 hours, and I have a hi-speed cable business connection at my house. I think that SE just hires like 3 people to work a telegraph to load people up with the updates. I mean really? You just took half your servers off-line a couple months ago. Retask them and daisy-chain to the servers that are left to accommodate the load from the update. SE even had the nerve to post (after the fact) that there was a problem logging in to get the update, but that it was all good now. Yes, after 98% of your player base has made their download one WOULD expect that the update would be easier to get for those still needing. Jack-asses…

As mentioned in my last post, it is my intention to finish red mage to 49 before doing beast or bard to 85, that still holds true. Thursday I soloed the remainder of the way to 30, but mostly I spent my time reading up on the new content as the information became available (there is still a lot to get posted). I really didn’t accomplish much.

Friday was Dynamis, we ended up in Bastok getting a needed win for a member. I also got a repeated invite to GreatBigSea, another social LS that one of my Dynamis buddies is in and this time I accepted it. SK has been hard to get things happening in lately because there really haven’t been that many on so despite my loyalty to SK I have to accommodate MY to-do list too, and more bodies make that easier to do. For example, finding a party to level my red mage with, Abyssea (on a more regular basis), missions and the like; I know my friend is one of the more accomplished players you will encounter. Just don’t get between her and a pile of cheese…

In any event, as has become usual lately very few of us showed up on time. There actually are penalties for tardiness and no-shows but we haven’t been keeping things up to date on the eligibility board so noone is aware they have BEEN penalized. Maybe leaders are handling that stuff privately, I just don’t know. Well, despite it only being 2 days after update we had several people already at level 85. As you might imagine, the run got much easier. Good thing, since we fucked up the timed nuke and could have all died easy. We ended up getting win fairly easy. Wasn’t a great night for the LS in terms of NEEDED relic, think 11 pieces dropped and 9 got floored.

Started my Saturday on bard. SK had an Abyssea run planned but it was in a zone I haven’t done before. I decided to go in early that morning to get my time capped and to get all the confluxes. Luckily, it doesn’t take much time to get the cruor for maps and the like so I’m able to use the map (in comparison with the map on wiki) to get around and get all confluxes. Had some close shaves running past the agro mobs and their respective NMs but I have both skill andthat day luck and managed to avoid getting any agro. Did have one very tense moment though at the last turning to the last conflux as a group was fighting the boss NM right in the bottleneck I needed to sneak through. I wasn’t part of their group in any way but the boss was able to do an AoE attack that damn near killed me (about 1200 of my 1305 HP went up in smoke). Didn’t realize Abyssea was like the old days where AoE could affect anyone so I took absolutely no precautions there. I wonder… if I had just dropped in a finale or requiem, could I have gotten my win?

Saturday-despite my words above-I managed to get a duo with my bud Chrispy with a power level at level 19 on my red mage. Well, we both picked up 3 levels (think Chrispy was almost 3) before we had to split for Abyssea. I thought this was either an XP run or a crest farming run (needed item for the 81 limit break quest is 5 kindred quests) but I was wrong. We were actually farming “azure abyssite of celerity” which are a bit weird. The idea is to get more time in abyssea by getting stones quicker. There are other boost items too. In any event, only the person who pulls the item is eligible to get it (presumably if the puller dies in the fight the 2nd and so on person is eligible but I’m not sure). Well even the tougher mobs are only a 7% drop rate. Still, in I think 150 minutes or so we got the item for 7 of us? We’re going back for the few who missed it soon and no doubt for the people who couldn’t be bothered to come unless there was something in it for them.

Sunday I started out clearing out a bunch of inventory (mostly level 25-ish gear as I was now level 33 and in full RSE [race-specific equipment] or other level 30-ish stuff). After that it was time to go shopping and raiding mules. I sent all the gear and spells I’m going to need until 49 that I had from my mules and then ran around buying the rest, took about 75 minutes since I had to go to Selbina and Jeuno. After my running, I switched back to red mage and managed to get a party. That took me to 35 on my red mage. I was told the whereabouts of the Warhorse Hoofprint and that's been dangling for some time so I finally went and got it; I'm now a "Superior Private". I logged to watch some football at that point (Go Pack!) and didn’t come back for hours. When I did, I found that I’d finally uncapped sword and so I need now to XP off EM to 35. I had no luck however, so I think I’m going to have to do Toughs with my NPC once I get the chance. However, soloing took too long so I logged leading me to…

Monday, Dynamis day, and a pile of no-shows, again! We had 12, that’s it. Well, that killed off any real chance at a Dynamis zone so we ended up in Abyssea, doing the same key item I did Saturday, but with more level 85’s in the mix. Only 11 of us ended up going, and 4 of us had the item, we just went to help. I think we picked up 4 or 5 of them in the time I was there. I started out as escort for the newer people who didn’t have the fluxes necessary to warp closer to camp since it was fresh in my mind from doing it on Saturday morning. Poor Creaper, it was his very 1st time in Abyssea so he wasn’t able to do much of anything before he ran out of time. I did manage to get the last of my crests for 81 limit break, and 2 of the 3 merits I need (I already have 1, so 1 more will do it). I finally called it a night as I was starving. Tonight should be back to the red mage…

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