Oh, so that level sync thing

Actually, there's a crapton of topics of events that have occurred throughout the recent weeks. I might as well get down and dirty with them.

Absolute Bullshit and Pandemonium Whatthefuck

As we know by now, SE is planning on changing these monsters (and JoL, which many might scoff at but it is probably related to AV) to make them to be easier/shorter fights. Of course, until the update comes out and we see what is changed to make it an easier battle, kinda no point in talking about what they could do to make it so, especially since I, myself, have not fought any of the two.

On a side note: I've done JoL 5 times total in my entire FFXI career (believe it or not) and I haven't seen AV at all during those 5 times (believe that or not).

So, what we know about the AV we have now in the game, SE claims that it would take 16 some hours to beat it, 10 at the mnimum. Now, a lot of people have gone crazy about this and rightfully so. Me, on the other hand, didn't think too much about it. To me, AV was designed to be something that wasn't meant to be killed easily at all. Like, lets look at the items it can drop:

First, you have Ninurta's Sash, which aside from MNK's Black Belt, would be the best belt in the game. Imagine if AV was to be placed at a difficulty level that is significantly easier. No one is going to want to camp KA, no one would want to do Wyrm KS99, and pretty much, there goes two things that went obsolete there. Granted those options are still there for those that are not in any End Game LSes. Ninurta's Sash would become the benchmark item and dare I say it, it might be easier to obtain than a Swift Belt if AV was made too easy.

And then you have the Mar's Ring, which is the best melee ring in the game for the most part. Compare these two items to some of the stuff that is in the other ZNMs and HNMs and so on and you'd pretty much be saying that AV just has some really overpowered items.

Then you got Futsuno Mitama which, if I knew what activated the latent, could be better than Hagun.

And then there's that +8 Magic Accuracy ranged weapon.

For the most part, this NM has some nice things and to let these items loose would be pretty bad I would say. Like, what if some of the things in Salvage and some of the things in Dynamis Northlands just dropped to you just like that and everyone ended up getting those things? It would make quite a bit of items before it useless, you wouldn't even want to consider trying to get any older equipment. Now granted, yes, there are items out there right now that are pretty useless due to us knowing better or just signficantly better equipment out there.

Personally, if they make AV an easier fight, I would hope that it either has a horrible drop rate or something that makes the fight really difficult but wouldn't force the players to spend all day and night to kill. I want some of those items, that's a definite. I just don't want those items just handed to me on a silver platter because the fight was made easier.

And now we have PW. I totally respect everyone in BtL who gave it a shot and pretty much with their own drive and ambition, took the fight for as long as they could. Without their patience, we might just end up still with no changes on AV or PW. The press just jumped on this thing pretty bad. While I don't think the press forced any sort of pressure on SE, I'm sure SE was more concerned of the fact that the players themselves have made a strong reasoning as to why these two NMs needed to be changed.

It was kinda funny because even among my RL friends, we were joking about this whole PW business because heck, it's all over the news. It's also like a game of telephone where some information just doesn't get through. Personally, I welcome the changes that are going to happen, though I doubt that a finalized plan on how to kill these two things won't come about for awhile.

I will say this though: Vrtra has been ninja'd and I think most consider it as unkillable now. Granted he doesn't drop anything awesome but still...

So, how about that Talisman?

I like collecting stuff. I have all of the FF releases starting from PSone up to now (including GBA and DS), I still have that pendant from Lunar 2: Eternal Blue, and I have an 8-bit figurine of Simon Belmont, colored to his Simon's Quest colors (red/black/white).

Now SE has started a new thing where they sell in-game merchandise. The first item they have for sale is a Tidal Talisman. If one purchases one, one can pick up an in-game item which is kinda nifty. This wouldn't be the first time they've done it since they did release an harpsicord with the Piano Collections.

While I welcome this idea, I do have some problems with it.

1. wtf is a Tidal Talisman? It isn't in the game at all (yet). You couldn't even say it's an FFXI item or an item that represents FFXI. Like, if I bought one and wore it, people who lets say... never heard of this item before but plays FFXI... and they look at me, they're not gonna go "Oh, you play FFXI?! :D :D :D" Like, if you're going to make a collectable item, at least the first one, make it some sort of FFXI trademark item, not something you made up on the spot.

2. The in-game item is very nice... but it's on a 40 hour recast timer.

40 hours? ;_;

Sure, it's a bonus item that comes with the necklace and not the other way around but for what it does, why do we have to wait almost 2 days to reuse it? 24 hours would be nice and considering how long it takes to reach these areas (20 minutes at the very most), maybe even less than 24 hours.

3. I don't live in Europe and I don't live in Alaska or Hawaii but from what I understand:

- Europe doesn't get this deal.
- Alaska/Hawaii have to pay 20 dollars for S&H, the other 48 states + Canada pay around 8.

I mean, that's like half of what you're paying already.

But on another note: Full Resin Shadowlord for 230 USD. I doubt I'll get it but it does look very nice.

Oh and apparently, if you have this on, you teleport people and thus making their lives easier... you'll be "the best from now."

Campaign still not gonna be fixed

Yes, the whole /BRD singing stuff will be fixed... but that just means some of the jobs that actually DO have a hard time getting XP by themselves in Campaign will just simply not have Campaign as an option, thus eliminating whatever interest is left for the person that wants to get some of the things in Campaign but are unable to because they have to spend so much more effort to even equal up to what a melee or any other job that has an easy time in campaign.

Though I could have sworn they said something about fixing that aspect but I didn't see it in the notes. This doesn't really affect me all that much because I have SAM/WAR/PLD to do my campaigning work. However, those that are low level or those that just have a hard time getting those points in for campaign... basically screwed until they get to a higher level or level another job. Yeah, you can potentially build around campaign and I'll be looking for information about that for those jobs that have a hard time doing campaign... but I kinda hope for something that can benefit magic users and make their lives easier.

Oh, so that level sync thing

So yeah, I had a dream once. After doing a bunch of Salvage, I was thinking "Hey, if they ever make another expansion with missions like CoP that are level capped, what they should do is enforce a stat cap but let us keep our equipment and stuff on so it's not a pain in the ass."

Lo' and behold, that dream came true for the most part. Yeah, there's some bad things I can see from it (skill levels being hurt a bit, relentless invites for CoP missions) but there's a bunch of good things from it as well so... Hurrah for SE for making this decision.

And no, no Aegis/Excal PLD is going to party with you.

So how about that Mogknight?

Well, I came back after Vegas and started up fishing again. I'm currently fishing up Shall Shells, both for profit and to skill up on. Oddly enough, there are some good things you can fish up and simply NPC... which I'm sure all the RMT are on that. Unfortunately, they're still all over the place so what can one really do about it? I did have this funny idea where your HP decrease as you keep fishing and you would have to stop and heal yourself. This would also make fishing a bad idea at low levels because your HP would drain pretty fast. Like, this wouldn't kill you but if you were reduced down to 1 HP, you would automatically give up your line.

But, silly idea aside, fishing is probably all I'm gonna be doing for awhile before/after events. I do have a lot of merits and even items to get for BLM but I want a flow of gil going so this is gonna be devoted to that time.

Nothing really changed for my SAM or BLM. SAM is something I don't expect to get anything for the job any time soon. With the exception of Ace's Helm, Hachiryu Haidate, and maybe Askar Body, nothing else I want NM or event wise. BLM, on the other hand, I still have quite a bit of things I want but it will take time and really, I have all the time the world.

To be honest, I want a change of pace and fishing is doing that for me. I love my linkshell and all and as an officer, I make sure things are running smoothly. However, there are just times where I kinda want to just spend time with Lissy or whoever else and just kill random stuff, be it some pop NM or small man sea farming or whatever it may be. I still need those Mufflers or even A Hands so... lets not even start with the fact that I'm lacking stuff like RR Pumps, Uggy Pendant and a multitude of AF1+1s. Like, we have Limbus every Tuesday and optionally every Friday (though Tuesdays are optional, we tend to fill up and usually it ends up being a required limbus due to it being Proto or something). I kinda want to take a Limbus day off and solo an area as best as I can, even though I don't have Gaiters.

I wouldn't want to do it all the time... just once in every great while. I'm happy with the way things are so I wouldn't mind if I never get the chance to do this stuff. Plus, it would kinda help me clear my mind of any ill-thoughts I would have about anyone.

On that note: even though you're doing a bunch of end game stuff, remember that there's a lot to this game that can be seen as a escape to an escape. Sure, you play FFXI to escape from real life... but then you gotta escape from the in-game drama as well... what better way to do it with some fishing, crafting, or some chocobo digging? :3

Well, I tried!