Someone is trying to end it all right now in Vana'diel...

This has not been a pleasant last several days, neither in Riverside, CA (102-105-108-106-105-108), nor in Vana'diel, where a recent spate of hackings may have made it even hotter there.

A number of players have reported in, basically, every conceivable FFXI forum (BG, TTTO, Alla, etc.) that a number of characters have been hacked, stripped, and, effectively, sold off.

(Now, you can make the joke all you want about that my gear sucks so bad that no one wants it, blah blah bullshit bullshit...)

But several things are very very clear here:

First, this is a very organized operation trying to get lots of gil for characters which they know will be effectively frozen and deleted in fairly short order. In this manner: It's RMT, taken to the next level.

It's clearly not surprising, therefore, to come out and say something:

Square-Enix' unwillingness (or inability!) to properly police RMT has empowered someone to the point where a hostile takeover of Final Fantasy XI (and as many relevant computers whereon it is played) is taking place.

Someone is trying to end Final Fantasy XI. It is clear that someone, in seizing functional control of whatever characters and gil, as and when they choose, is basically declaring themselves kings of FFXI, and there ain't a damned thing Square-Enix is willing to do about it, nor us able to do about it.

Insofar as that is true, it's clear that someone is saying that this is no longer Square-Enix' game.

I partially blame Square-Enix for this, because I think they set the table for something ominous quite some time ago, and then chose to basically ignore the signs (of just about everything) until, now, it's quite clearly too late.

Now you have an outfit which is basically able to grab the POL passwords of just about anyone they choose, even if by only keylogging the mess (and even then, maybe not even through just POL means), and, going from there, locking out your account, and, whichever characters they could get into, strip the characters blind, sell the stuff for insane prices, and then get the character banned or just hand it back...

It's clear that this is a hostile takeover - the question is, is it RMT basically telling Square-Enix who's boss, or is it Square-Enix actively driving players off the game...

The one argument I've heard is that Square-Enix is trying to drive players off XI for when XIV comes out.

That argument can't hold water, because it makes no sense! Why would anyone so completely fucked over by Square-Enix on XI want two seconds of XIV??

I said it before, and will say it again: Square-Enix is only keeping XI alive (especially in North America) to fund XIV. FFXI is dead.

Now someone is trying to disintegrate the corpse.

So how did THIS week go??

Well, other than the jackass that sent my poor roommate into a rage Wednesday:

PLD 40, BRD 18 (just because)...

Level 4 Angon Merit.

2 failed Nyzul runs, a failed Moogle Kupo d'Etat Mithra run, etc.

Not much else.

That is all.

(until I get the energy to extend my "Square-Enix doesn't give a fuck about you." comments...)

Storm clouds on the horizon with Square-Enix...

Well, last night, as I was doing some light Bard levelling (just something to do...), I decided to head over to BluGartr for the general amount of cheese that they tend to have over there.

What I got, instead, was two more examples that real storm clouds appear to be on the horizon.

First, the one several other TTTO posters have already begun to comment on.

If you're an American player, and you've had:

-- a very recent change to your credit card information (or a new account on the game, say the last two months or so)

-- problems with your credit card stuff with Square-Enix

-- or your card is about to expire

AND

-- that your card that was on file with Square-Enix is not 3-D Secure Enabled with Visa or Mastercard

That card is no longer on file, effective immediately! You have until September 1 to get a 3-D Secure Enabled card on file, or you are done with Final Fantasy XI until you do.

They're sending e-mails to as many players as they can find who qualify, and you've seen several comments if you've been reading recent TTTO posts.

Let's make several things clear:

-- There is MASSIVE credit-card fraud going on with respect to Square-Enix right now, and I'd almost wish there would be some people who would come out and just say how much Square-Enix is getting absolutely fucked up the ass by credit-card fraud. It's probably the other reason (with the proposal that they wish to codify themselves with the Japanese gaming standards on such matters) that they are doing this.

-- It is clear that they are probably going through a significant re-examination of the present player-base -- which will lead up to my central point of all of this (which will either be posted in this post or in one immediately forthcoming).

-- Square-Enix made clear (in their last set of financial findings -- at least the ones which were posted to JP Button quite some time ago) that they are looking far past FFXI, especially in a financial sense.

I'll get to more thoughts on that when I give the second thing I found.

To utterly no one's surprise who has read my blog, there are now reports that, in fact, there have been accounts with the Security Token which have been compromised, locked out of POL, and stripped of most, if not all, relevant stuff within about 5 minutes.

They're not clear if it's simply a keylogger or if someone (probably RMT, since actual hacking of MMO accounts is, by most belief, non-prosecute-able) has actually been able to jump in on the Security Token technology itself, but it's clear that RMT and the people around them are probably about as ahead of the game as that "university" in Jamaica with the sprinters and the drug-testers.

(Side point: If ANYBODY believes Usain Bolt is clean, I've got swampland in Omaha, NE to sell you...)

It is more and more clear that people, intent on destroying FFXI's experience for as many people as possible by compromising and stealing accounts, are winning the destruction of FFXI on the player side. If, as one poster said, it is essentially to the point of "If they want to fuck you up, they will, and there's nothing you can really do about it...", then you aren't playing for yourself anymore -- you're playing for the RMT scum, if they see you as relevant enough to their profit margin to fuck your account up.

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Of course, this all gets to a central thesis I've been talking about for quite some time.

Does anyone STILL want to believe that Final Fantasy XI is not, as an official going concern, dead??

Because I'm going to tell you one thing:

People are bitching (and rightly so) that Square-Enix' customer service and policies are completely foreign to any company who wants to retain the present customer base.

I've asked the question before on this blog, and will do so again:

What if Square-Enix DOES NOT WANT the present customer base?

Has anyone else really thought of the real possibility that Square-Enix has so little trust or regard for the present player base (especially that in America), that they want rid of it as much as they can before they basically wash their hands of FFXI to put FFXIV out as a completely new MMO experience with a completely new (and, probably, largely Japanese-centric) player base??

They don't trust you.

They don't want anything but your money to bridge them to FFXIV.

And it's time we just admit that that's the case.

They see you (correctly) as a bunch of cheating little whiners.

Another week toward the abyss...

And that's about how I truly feel about things...

First, the FFXI stuff:

Wednesday Dynamis: Couldn't attend -- person heading roommate's projects had a tornado slam through town, and had to make sure everything was upright, including his cat. So the roommate had to take over on an emergency basis.

Sunday Dynamis (8/16): The heck if I can remember now. Just got through one today. Probably Bastok, with the win.

New project is levelling PLD to a manageable level. 37 now, about 38.

Also doing some light zeni farming for not much particular reason.

---

Someone has to tell me why I continue to bother, since it's clear that the world has gone God-damned insane!

Every time I walk out of the apartment now, I really feel there's a chance I am not coming back. More and more, people just going off on each other, more and more malfeasance everywhere you look, and then everything you once believed in is going to shit in a shingle.

And just when you think you've seen everything, Khan Noonian Favre is a Viqueen.

Bite my entire ass, you sanctimonious fucker, Brett.

*sigh*

Another thing I've suspected: Someone screwing with the lot system??

Especially as I began to take a look in to Dynamis and end-game, I began to see how important the lot system is to advancing in end-game.

And I've always had a suspicion that someone is hacking the lots for them or against everyone else...

Tonight, I have been witness to one of the weirdest things I've ever seen: 8 Campaign spoils in the lot pool. I get NO LOTS OVER 400.

The odds of that actually happening in real life?? .065%

That is one chance in over 1500.

Quickie: The Speed Gamers are at it again

Decided to separate this from my latest rant, which I know will get flamed, and perhaps deleted by Giggle (err, Google).

www.thespeedgamers.com

Raising money this weekend for an Earth Day charity, playing Mega Man, in all it's variants.

About 1 day and 2 hours into a 3-day event, and they are a little more than a third of the way to their $7,000 goal.

This week has legitimately felt like a month...

Oh, where do I begin? Why not with the FFXI stuff, then I'll rant and rave on a week which nearly was the death of me...

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Going to get DNC 66 tonight, pending need of helping of roommate.

BLM 20, PLD 31, maybe 32.

Sunday Dynamis: Snow. No win, for some odd reason -- we usually win at Snow.

Wednesday Dynamis: Sandy. No win either.

Hopefully the summer's end soon will bring us some more luck.

ACP Final: 0/1. Moogle Kupo d'Etat Mithra Fight: 0/2.

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And then we get to Real Life, which made even FFXI a real grind this week. I have said numerous times that many more weeks like some my friend has had will be the end of my friend.

I had one of those weeks too.

Sunday, my roommate became part-owner of her online project that the roomie has been working on. Congratulations.

Monday, she almost lost her roommate (me).

Went out to get some groceries for the roommate.

Decide to go out for supper, witness one robbery at the restaurant about 2 miles from here in Riverside. This was about the third such event I witnessed within 2 miles of my apartment in the last 2 weeks.

#4 was me, at apparent gunpoint.

I won't even dignify what I might think of the guy, since I basically blasted someone for generalizing all of them into such derogatory manners, but this guy basically was prepared to kill the next person who didn't give him money.

After replacing my roommate's money (and calling the cops), it got me to thinking: Have we completely lost our fucking minds?

What I found out on Thursday confirmed it once and for all...

I used to be a fan of the NFL. I used to be a big sports fan -- sports getting me through a three-month stretch of anxiety attacks and other sicknesses which made the last part of my junior year an utter blur in high school.

Then, I began to notice three very simple things:

1) The level of play was deteriorating to the point the games were unwatchable.

2) The level of conduct was deteriorating to the point the players were unwatchable.

3) The league's integrity was deteriorating to the point the sport IS unwatchable.

Thursday, the fucking idiots reinstated Dog Killer -- Ron Mexico -- whatever the fuck you want to call that piece of shit, and the Iggles signed that fucker.

Fuck the Eagles. Fuck the National Mafia Felon League. Fuck the rigged games, the criminals all over the place, the sport itself, etc. Fuck Roger Goodell, "Commissioner G".

People are so glad to see him get a second chance. This motherfucker should never have gotten a FIRST chance!

Believe me, if I won the lottery, I would pay to see Mr. Mexico crippled or worse before he goes and finishes what obviously has been his destiny since he started dogfighting at about age eight. And I think we all know what that is.

This ghetto-banging, gang-loving, More Hardcore Than Thou culture has to stop. I'm sicking of watching commercials and seeing brands telling us to Be Tough, with No Excuses, and That's G.

Fuck being "G". Fuck Ghetto. Fuck Gangsta. Fuck all that it brought into our culture and all that it sucked out of it!!

It's to the point that I can't enjoy anything in life without thinking I should've killed someone by now for the fucking "street cred", which seems to be more important than anything in life.

I see it in FFXI with all the goddamned cheating.

I see it in all sports with the steroids, rigged games, criminality, enablers in the leagues, and what have you. 'Cause we all know what would happen if someone actually cleaned up the NFL from the point it is now:

"With the first pick in the 20XX NFL Draft, the Detroit Lions select (insert player's name here), University of Wisconsin-River Falls..."

I see it in robbed anime. BTW, there's a person about 15 miles from me that wants to fight. He'll get it, on my time.

And we're all supposed to "Shut up and enjoy the show." Whether it's the rigged American Idol, the National Mafia League, FFXI, anime, or whatever.

I can't. I can't, in good conscience. You don't want me living in that world.

Of course, given that we are probably one or two more good swipes from TS(literally)HTF, I begin to wonder if it's even going to matter anymore.

Well, this week is over, and a bit of a hit or miss one...

*groan*

I just mean it, *groan*...

Let's see, Campaign in the Northlands is going to shit, my roommate has a very somber anniversary tomorrow...

and now Fed Ex wants to join in on the goddamned package smashing bullshit!!!!!

Now they have decided, in their infinite wisdom *snork*, that my friend isn't entitled to ship through them EITHER. They literally sat on one of her boxes, or so it appeared, and the store which sent it is not pleased.

So little pleased that (pending availability and the like), they might actually come from Costa Mesa to Riverside (and, really, Fed Ex, it takes you two days to ship something which we could take on the bus and get point-to-point in a fucking hour and a half????) to see the damage and replace the shipment themselves!!!

(To which they would probably ensure a future customer in my roommate, who would probably just use the aforementioned busses to do a full-day trip out there to get what she wants from that company.)

Needless to say, I AM NOT FUCKING AMUSED!!!

My roommate is trying to hold things together on a very tough weekend for her, and another shipping company has to shit all over her business and property. I will not be held responsible if my roommate is pushed one nerve too far.

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*sigh* Again...

Well, to get to FFXI stuff:

Sunday: Bastok win. 10 Bynes for me. No Wootz, but I do think I got an AF of some kind (maybe MNK), but the memory is a little fuzzy.

Wednesday: Jeuno win -- a bit sloppy, per our normalcy. Kiana was back for his first Wednesday in a while, and I declared for the first Big Money.

Only five of them dropped!!! I got one, the second declaration got one, and three more went to free lot.

Anyhoo... Then, got a Molydenum Ingot from a Campaign drop in the Northlands, so I decided to abandon the Grand Greedalox Bank and just become a Grand Greedalox! WOO HOO!!

Last couple of days got a bit sloppy out there, so I've been off a lot more than on.

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Noticed a BUNCH of people doing gaming marathons this weekend for Child's Play.

The Returners, for Final Fantasy

Save Point, doing ALL of FF7 -- all the sidequests, etc.

Another group is over a week now on getting 2 characters to level 80 in WoW using only 3 players.

And I've seen a couple more...

None have raised a ton of money like The Speed Gamers did, but... check em out

The Returners continue where The Speed Gamers left off...

Tomorrow, it begins anew...

I must admit, at the first, I thought this was simply a copycat venture of the recent $50,000+ effort by The Speed Gamers, but another charity gaming group (which has had several previous efforts) named The Returners is doing another Final Fantasy marathon (this time in canonical order, skipping XI and X-2) starting tomorrow afternoon and going through the 11th.

Their charity is ChildPlay. Their website, http://returnersgaming.blogspot.com/

They never learn, do they...

It's clear that we have more problems with the good old Hiding Brigade in Campaign...

And the Union System has made it even more desireable for them to do so.

Here's an example of the aggravation:

I'm in Beaucedine (S), and a wave or two comes in (starts with the Voids, then the Gigas, then Raguielle and his crew, and then all Hell breaks loose with the Shadowwings, two Yagudo groups, and I don't even have a clue what else showed up almost a 50-minute continuous battle afterward...).

Needless to say it was another round of "Let's 'hide the sausage' for our own benefit!" that created this as one continuous raid which made it impossible for those of us who -- I don't know -- have a life outside of FFXI to even think they will be able to finish the battle, lot the spoils, and then get out, even though we gave ourselves almost a solid hour before we had to leave.

You fuckers can't do anything in this game that won't be to the detriment of everyone else, can you?

And now, the Gardening nerf...

Well, they had another All Worlds Maintenance today, and it's not like we didn't eventually see a change in Gardening due to RMT coming, and they didn't disappoint...

From the update notes:

- The amount of items that can be gathered from each gardening attempt are limited to 1 for any characters that were created less than 90 days previous.

Hmmm...

I still have to wonder why they are still even doing the 14-day free trials at this point... One has to eventually wonder what the next abuse is going to be from RMT.

As for this one, I want a recount of the actual number of players on the game two weeks from now. I expect it to be nowhere close to the 2.35 M they claimed back in April.

Quick weekly update...

Oh *groan* -- neither I nor my roomie are morning people and I have Dynamis in 30 minutes...

Speaking of, here's the weekly update...

Got only one L2 Dragoon Merit, as I've been helping the roommate some more. Surprised to find out they only extended two more MEDALS, and not two more RANKS -- so the top Campaign Medal right now is the second medal...

Finally got to the Mithra fight in Kupo d'Etat, but haven't done it yet.

5 more floors on my Nyzul Isle...

Tele-Whore Bank at 115,000

Sunday Dynamis: Windy win.

Wednesday Dynamis: Sandy win. Reserved the first Big Money drop, without success.