Starting Again...

I guess I kinda left this thing a little too long and, now, have decided to start over -- this time, as a Final Fantasy XI blog.

My name is Michael, and (for now -- and I'll explain that in about my third post) I play on the Asura server of Final Fantasy XI as Starcade. I didn't start right away, and had a LONG lay-off from the game as my computer access was limited due to funds.

I purchased a laptop about 18 months ago, and got back into the game hardcore. Once my living arrangements stabilized, I've been playing quite a bit.

Right now (as of Thanksgiving Day, the re-launch of the Dark Renegade's Musings), I have one level 75 (Beastmaster), and three more jobs on the 55 range (Dancer at 57, Red Mage at 55, and Dragoon at 54). I'm levelling all three of those, as I'll explain in another post -- but I have two rants to go on first before I really get to anything more on myself.

I like to solo -- and part of it is that I don't trust a lot of the other players (and I'll get into that in the two rants that I will go on).

I don't expect everyone to agree with me nor that I will make that many friends. I do not have a high opinion of a lot of the players whom I've seen (and read about) in recent weeks and months. But, as I told my linkshell in exasperation when I finally decided to take on BST to level up a job to 75, I like this game and play it and pay for it because it's _Final Fantasy_. There's a certain thing about it (and it does translate to this game, in it's own way) that actually does some very good things.

But, before I get to the rants (separate posts), let me give some thank yous:

-- The Vanadiel Podcast Alliance and RadioXI.com. They are not only an entertaining bunch of shows, but they give a lot of information about the game and the FFXI community.

-- The Tarutaru Times Online. The motivation to blog my thoughts on Final Fantasy XI. (Also, the place where I found the subject matter for my first non-introductory post.) Read some of the blogs referenced here. They definitely have some good thoughts.

-- Square-Enix. I had my concerns about the economic future (RL economy) of FFXI, but it really sounds as if Squeenix is trying to weather the storm and keep Vanadiel going.

Anyway, I have rants to get on to -- so, on with the asbestos suit and out with the flame-thrower...