Wow... That was... underwhelming.

Took me longer to download the updates than to complete Rhapsodies I.

I have two songs to describe Rhapsodies I:

"This song...  is pretty damn short."

and

"This is your birthday song...
 It isn't very long..."

I think it's clear that when XI becomes an MMMRPG, the whole thing is basically going mobile.

The new area and battle system is _OK_, but there just isn't enough meat and potatoes to it.

As for the storyline, interesting but not nearly up to even Adoulin standards, much less 2.55.

Be interesting to see if I even THINK of resubbing, barring circumstances.

Hey Draylo, SHUT THE FUCK UP...

You want a great example of why Final Fantasy XI is a dead shell of itself there only to make a few extra bucks for Square-Enix now?

Here's the latest missives from the elitist fuck camp, in response to a Matsui article in the Official Forums...

After a fairly peaceful first page, the fun begins with this post by Olor on page 2:

"Mules are only usable in place of real players in serious content because of 3rd party programs. Frankly, it's part of the "not taking" people problem. The problem boils down to people being selfish though. SE shouldn't let people blatantly brag about cheating with zero consequences, it's certainly doing nothing to help the game. Yeah if the only way to get content done is to use 3rd party programs and have 2 accounts it does nothing to attract and keep new players playing. It's toxic."


That's the idea, Olor.  There's nothing more nor less to say about it.

What these people have been saying is that bots and illegal play are the only realistic manner in which the game ever has been remotely playable.  Without them, there is not only no player-base, but no game.

"I recognize that banning everyone who uses 3rd party tools at this point would annihilate the playerbase - and I know my viewpoints on them are not popular, but there needs to be some action taken so that it doesn't devolve further into "no 3rd party tools? No invite" than it already has."

This is one of the main reasons I don't complain about the current soloable state of Final Fantasy XI.  Because, barring that, you can't play this game without being a Draylo or a Thornyy or some other RMT/3PP piece of shit who needs to get belted up side the face.

"Or they need to just link to windower from the official website and make it clear that in order to play competitively you'll need to use it. The status quo, where spellcast and other 3rd party tools that automate gear changes are officially against the rules but people feel comfortable enough breaking the rules to all but brag they are using it on the official forum... it's not sustainable. Those tools are a big part of what's dividing the playerbase. "



Again, it's a question of what the player-base actually is:  Is it a bunch of cheating pieces of shit who are sustaining a game which needs to be shut down as a legal fraud, or is it a bunch of people who are trying to fight this shit and, because of economic reality, is hamstrung because the game is being built for the cheaters, and perhaps by them as well.

--

As one might expect, Draylo came to town with it:

"Don't speak for me you idiot. Alliance content opens up more challenging fights by design, compared to 6 man (legion was 10x harder than Delve 2.0 at release.) Alliance content lets you include MORE jobs and people to play with. With the current delve it actually penalizes you for bringing anything more than what is necessary to win (three people lol.) Any new person you add that might need to clear the zone for KI or just to have fun is adding 68k HP.... The drops are the exact same as if you went with three people and you have to share all of it. It's hardly me asking for EXCLUSIVE content just because I wanna be special, its asking for fairness. Divine Might was a perfect system but SE didn't follow through."

Here's your "fairness", you piece of shit...

If you believe the way you play the game and the illegal tools you use are that necessary for the game, then you get banned from the game any player who does not use them.  Period.

And, because you are a fucking moron, you don't realize you have the means by which to make that charge.

There is no "fairness" under a system which rewards outright criminal behavior.  It doesn't matter what the system is...

Criminal behavior begets criminal behavior, Draylo.  You and Thornyy, personally, might want to keep that in mind in the near future.

"You sound like a gimp idiot who detests windower and "cheaterz" because you aren't a good player. Nowhere in my posts have I stated I two box or that I cheat, I simply said that you can "trio it with mules". That is hardly saying anything. For your information you don't need "cheatz" to two box, most of the jobs in this game are extremely easy to play like BRD where you cast 4 songs and afk."

You admit it in this paragraph, you fucking jackass...

Being a "good player", in your opinion (and you've made a career on FFXI doing this), requires Windower.

Anyone who, through gear of legal type or illegal type, is not optimized is a "gimp idiot" who "[isn't] a good player".

"So they should remove all the lore and quest from the game because some person quit for FFXIV and is now coming back because that game is boring? Do you know why its boring? EVERYTHING is handed to you, the quests right now are exactly as you say, go to Point A, then B, then get reward. They aren't hard to do, and certainly aren't "time consuming" they take like 10~20 minutes per job or AF quest. The game is more accessible now than it ever has been, you can get to any area incredibly easy."

Why not, if they're going to allow you to have everything in the damn thing handed to you because you have illegal tools and they either won't or can't do anything about it?

This game ain't big enough for you and me, and one of us needs to have serious legal action taken against us for our conduct with respect to Final Fantasy XI, Draylo.

Trust me, Draylo, with your mouth, I can make my half of that happen real good and quick.

As usual, they're fucking clueless...

The GM's and the BluGartr fucks.

Basically, let me give you my latest GM call:

"When the fuck are you guys going to do your jobs and ban the Windower/3PP scum? Since I seem to be the problem, ban me if you must."

To BG: Hint: An LM-17 is what this game needs from me right now.

Fuck Final Fantasy XI.

And after XIII-2, off to the shitlist you go, Square-Enix -- right next to that other set of cheater-enablers at Wizards of the Coast.

It's sad to see that Square-Enix has accomplished exactly nothing...

I was very excited for this game.

The last time I had any real excitement for FFXI was about 15 months ago, on the night of VanaFest 2010 in Japan.

And now, the BluGartr folks are taking over the Official Forums they openly slam as a joke.

I said it on Tuesday, and it goes double now. I have prepared remarks, unfit for the Forums, for Square-Enix.

I do have to question, though, whether Square-Enix actually gives enough of a rat's ass not to be sued. I've said, quite often, here that I would openly consider suing Square-Enix for fraud, if I had standing to do so.

A 2010 Federal case (Mayer vs. Belichick, New England Patriots, & NFL), if applied to contracts like the Terms of Service, would indicate that not only does Square-Enix have no obligation to uphold fair play, but they can actually abrogate their own Terms of Service at any elective point they choose.

(Thank you, by the way, to Brian Tuohy's The Fix is In website.)

I assume you are all aware of the Spygate scandal surrounding the NFL and the New England Patriots' (fraudulent) dynasty of the last decade. Mr. Mayer is a New York Jets season ticket holder and a lawyer. He sued after learning of the illegal tapings of Jets practices, which led to revelations that similar actions had been done before the Super Bowl win of the Patriots over the St. Louis Rams (only one of the most suspicious events ever held in the history of American sport!).

He sued on behalf of all New York Jets season ticket holders.

Page 4 of the ruling (go to the section of the linked page on the Spygate scandal and he has a link to the PDF ruling) covers a fact I've long been looking for sports fans to sue about with respect to many major sports. In fact, I directly made reference to this with respect to Major League Baseball's steroid scandal.

"3. Plaintiffs contend that in purchasing tickets to the New York Jets that, as a matter of contract, the tickets imply that each game will be played in accordance with NFL rules and regulations, as well as all applicable state and Federal laws."

How simple is that not to understand? The claim is that, by purchasing a ticket, there's an expectation that the game be adjudicated according to the rules of the game and the laws of the land. Simple, right?

Well, I assert that, by paying my $12.95 that, as a matter of contract, acceptance of that payment implies that Final Fantasy XI will be played in accordance to the Terms of Service and relevant rules and regulations, as well as all applicable state and Federal laws.

Just as simple, right?

So where do we go wrong?

The NFL dismissed the claim, and so did the original District Court, effectively that the person did not have neither standing nor:

"a claim on which relief may be granted. (Page 11)"

Basically, the District Court ruled that the fan had no standing nor claim against the NFL, even that the claims of illegal taping, etc. are admitted true!

Again, from Cornell Law through Karl Denninger through USLegal.com:

"Fraud is generally defined in the law as an intentional misrepresentation of material existing fact made by one person to another with knowledge of its falsity and for the purpose of inducing the other person to act, and upon which the other person relies with resulting injury or damage. Fraud may also be made by an omission or purposeful failure to state material facts, which nondisclosure makes other statements misleading."

So if the Court then decides that the fan has no standing nor claim to sue, what they are then saying is that the league can allow the Cheat-riots to cheat like Hell and that, even with that knowledge, the fan then has no expectation that the game is to be played even within the boundaries of Federal and State law?

That's exactly what the appellate court ruled!

Even with the known admissions and the penalties from the league, the Court ruled that the lawyer had no standing to sue, because he had no claim, because he -- even with the admissions, to restate! -- did not satisfy that "the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged." (Page 11, right at the bottom)

Page 12 goes on to say that he did not suffer an "actionable injury (or, in other words, a legally protected right or interest)", and that "we ultimately conclude that Mayer failed to set forth a legally cognizable right, interest, or injury here", and on that basis, his claim was denied.

In fact, the only recourse the Court leaves them is to speak out against the league and the Patriots and to boycott the NFL. (Directly stated on the second-to-last page)

------------

As I've said: For over two years, I've considered filing a small-claims legal action against Square-Enix. This case appears to be precedent which would indicate that Square-Enix has no legal obligation whatsoever to uphold the Terms of Service -- of any kind!!!

If that's the case, then, similarly, the only recourse left would be to boycott and speak out against the company!

If that's the case, then Square-Enix needs to remove me from FFXI, tout suite.

OK, I think I've read everything now...

I know I've said (and, technically, still believe) that the only way to get rid of RMT is to jail RMT.

Well, what if the RMT is already in jail and being enforced through the government?

That is a charge being made in a recent article in the mobile Guardian out of the UK.

Basically, what is being charged is that the prison bosses (the wardens) in prisons throughout China, but mainly in the Northeastern part of the country, the RMT gamers you come into contact with might well be Chinese prisoners, playing the game (sometimes in 12-hour forced shifts -- kind of brings a new meaning to the term "hard labor"!!) to raise black-market money for the wardens.

If this is the case, and Square-Enix has no real "in" to China, then their claims to ownership of the material in their game are legally null and void unless they can cease all access to China, and especially to their prison camps -- which appear to be black-market cesspools for RMT activity across the MMO multiverse.

If Square-Enix actually black-letter owns everything in the game, as their Terms of Service state and I do believe they should enforce, they basically are up against the Chinese government themselves.

Wouldn't be the first company financially raided by China...

By request: Someone gets a blasted clue with respect to RMT...

I guess I forgot to post this one some time back, but I guess I might as well do it now, as I have the blog up.

Credit to Tohihroyu/Cuddleslave, the resident Galka Stalker ( :) ) of Leviathan, for pointing this one out...

She saw this post on the FFXIAH forums:

EGS (EgamingSupply) was the major FFXI RMT site, with it's CEO in jail (has been for quite sometime now) it was bound to shut down for unpayed fees and such. It went down on the 3rd and has been.

Now that's what I'm motherfucking talking about!!!

You aren't going to get rid of these operations without SHUTTING THEM DOWN.

Not that I think Square-Enix had much of anything to do with this (they have a playerbase level to uphold, after all -- and I'm stopping just short of the belief (which many players do have) that Square-Enix gets a cut of RMT profits)), but this is the ONLY way to rid the game of RMT.

THE.

ONLY.

WAY.

A Message for those running FFXI...

I guess that confrontation with Mrbeansman finally drew the attention of enough admins, as I've drawn a 72-hour forum ban as of last night's forum maintenance.

(Oh, and, by the way, Mrbeansman, I'll take you up on your offer if I can find you. Couldn't find a general idea of where you live )

Let me put it this simply, Square-Enix: If the piece of shit that the official forums (and most of the players on FFXI) is what you really want out of FFXI, then please do these shitheads a favor and ban me from the game and remove my account.

You have basically watched as, in less than two months, your grand vision of official forums on FFXI has turned into only slightly more civilized bunch of savages than the BluGartr cheating pieces of shit. The only reason you haven't seen the forums completely turn into BluGartr is because of the fact that they haven't gotten brave or arrogant enough to tell you how much gil they've bought or sold or how many accounts they've turned over.

You are literally watching as these players basically announce that the only remedy for kill-stealing and the like is: "Suck less."

Well, my only remedy for that is to tell them: "Fuck off".

You have openly and freely created a "game" in which little cheating trolls have their run of the place. Nothing has basically changed from the time in which a bunch of little cheating shitheads, upon seeing another player get a claim on a desired monster, would openly attempt to overload the connection and force the player with claim to disconnect so they could steal the claim AND the kill.

You have openly and freely created a "game" in which little cheating trolls basically take open pleasure in denying the other players in the game access to content, except at THEIR leisure. You have given these little pieces of shit control over who can enjoy what content when. I thought that kind of conduct was supposed to be illegal, Square-Enix.

I guess not. Trolling, griefing, and content monopolization are not only legal in FFXI, they appear to be the order of the day.

It's almost as if I have come up with the prototypical 2011 Final Fantasy XI player. He's a high-level admitted troll with a lot of friends and more than a bit of influence in the game.

His name is Juxtaposition. The little troll who's taken over Limit Break Radio and taken a decent running joke, ran it into the ground, made a career out of it, and basically has turned LBR into little more than insomnia relief.

But that's a sidebar. The fact is, Square-Enix, I've been banned from basically everything this supposed "community" offers.

From posting to the Wiki...

From basically every forum in existence (at least one without ever posting there or trying to!!)...

From posting this blog to the TTTO (the only person, to my knowledge, so banned)...

There's only one answer, and it has to be in-game as well as everything else FFXI -- and you can expect to have the forum admins and community team who post there get a nice message from me to this effect once the 72-hour ban ends:

Deal with the cheating shitheads or deal with me. And if it's me that has to go, your game is a fraud and I will continue to expose it as such.

I only play this game to shit on the cheaters. That's it. The playerbase has made the game so worthless that RMT has lost much of their interest in the game.

(And that, by the by, is the reason you've cut the number of servers in half over the last 18 months.)

So the update has come and gone for May 9...

And I can't say I'm the World's Happiest Camper with most of it...

Voidwatch:

Tried once, and died miserably to the worm because the status of when you are in a Voidwatch Operation Battle is the same as a Confrontation in some other mechanisms (Fields of Valor Elite Regimens, some WotG fights, etc.) -- hence, it wiped my pet and it hits like a truck.

Don't like that it sounds like it's bringing some of the Abyssea stuff over here. Hopefully, once we learn some more on this, it'll improve.

Grounds of Valor/Revamped (High-Level) Monster Placement:

Gee, they really don't want low-level players in the dungeon areas anymore. Once you go up the spout in Dangruf Wadi, you're in 90-land now, Toto! Wasn't paying attention, and a 90 goblin ate me for lunch.

Be interesting to see the benefits you get from continuous GoV work, but gotta get a rhythm going on that.

Neo-Dynamis:

YE-OUCH!!!

Someone's trying to kill Dynamis.

I can understand lowering the drop rate on singles.

But effectively eradicating it entirely??? 45 minutes in Bastok Monday night, just completed 70 minutes in Xarcabard. ZERO coins.

That said, if they can balance the drop rates, the action is soloable for a careful 90, and there are some other changes as well:

• Killing a pet's master kills the pet.
• If all on a monster's hate list dies, the monster despawns effectively immediately.
• Beastmen and Xarcabard demons link with each other, but NOT with Statues or Eyes.
• The 2-hr can be really quick. Watch out on the summoners!! (Learned that night 1.)
• Regular mobs can now be snuck and invised against -- no more True Sight and Sound.
  

Actually did have a decent run in Xarcabard. One time extension gave me a total of 70 minutes in there, and I killed the WHM demon NM and got a pop item drop. Got 3 AF2 in Xarcabard, and 2 I could use (RDM and MNK -- BLU was the other.) MNK now 5/5 AF2.

If they get the coin rates balanced, this could be a godsend. Until they DO....

Protip to Square-Enix: Coins are what make people money and get them to come back. Most of the AF2 gear is either gotten a couple times over, obsoleted by AF3, or both.

Adventuring Fellows:

I really need to break out Sharlene some day. She's hot. :)

Abyssea:

I thought they ninja-nerfed the drop rates on Pursuer's Wings just before the update.

I do like the knowledge on lights -- each light has a 0-255 strength list. /heal - ing shows you that along with your time left.

And the NPCs coming to the home nations?? Let's just say I finally moved my home point back to Bastok! :)

Battlefields/KCNMs:

Haven't tried any, but will take the Inventory Space +6 from finally getting to trade all those buggers in! :)

Other administrivia:

Got my Prishe statue. She's now pointing at nothing in particular. All hail Prishe fan-service.

Working on Axe WSNM points after finishing Staff, Polearm, and Dagger. Club next, then some Shinryu soloing.

Ninth Vana'versary:

Ring is different, now a 9000 point bonus limit, 12 hours to use it up, 10 charges.

Another Dinner Jacket uselessness, sounds like. Early indications: Looks cool, though.

Mog Bonanza:

A number of changes, mostly to Empyrean stuff and rescaling the game to Abyssea. A number of items have been removed, as well, as a result. This is mostly about changes to additions to level changes.

Rank 5: No changes. Mostly battlefield entries and statues.

Rank 4: A number of changes.

• Joyeuse has been reduced from Level 3 to Level 4. And there was a time that was one of the most sought-after things in the game!
• Same with Valhalla Helm, Yinyang Robe and Nocturnus Helm.
• Carbuncle's Pole and Redeyes added to the list.
• Most of the craftables removed from all levels, except for HNM stuff/Black Belt stuff (Behemoth Tongue, etc.) here.
  
• Bahamut V.2 "Wyrmking Descends" Orb added.
• Also downgraded: Kupon B -- Beaucedine Dynamis AF2 armor -- Rank 3 to Rank 4.
• Also added: Kupon S. Win this, and you can pick any one job of your choice and gain all the necessary seals (but the seals only -- still gotta buy the rest and farm the feet!) to upgrade any one job's AF3 to a full +1 set. This is cool. And doing this at Rank 4 keeps things from getting too far out of hand. That's for later!

Rank 3: Gil breakdown for the top three tiers is the same. Downgrades already listed, plus the following...

• The Great Sword "Nightfall" from the Fiat Lux BC (remember that obsolete situation?) has been added. Aneiro, if he didn't get it before, really might want that one!
• Nocturnus Mail has also, as the Helm, been dropped one Rank, from Rank 2 to Rank 3.
• Byakko's Haidate, elite body-piece, downgraded one Rank, from Rank 2 to Rank 3.
• King Arthro's Velocious Belt (Haste +6%) also similarly downgraded from 2 to 3.
• The Synergy item Galley Kitchen has been added for that chef who needs everything.
  
• Level 4 Sarameya ZNM drop Hachiryu Haidate downgraded one Rank, from Rank 2 to Rank 3. Anyone still doing ZNM's at all?
  
• Roundel Ring (Oztroja (S) SCNM drop) has been added. Great curing piece!
  
• The Nomad Moogle Rod (an exclusive item to Japanese events) has been put at this level. But you can't give the Moogle Pies to yourself, and, unless they vastly upgrade the "gift" you can give, why the Hell is this a Rank 3???
• Odin drop: Valhalla Breastplate downgraded to Rank 3 from Rank 2. Which see Abyssea obsoleting a lot of other things, like Einherjar.
• The Elite Salvage gear: Ares' Cuirass, Skadi's Curie, Usukane Haramaki, Morrigan's Robe... Downgraded to Rank 3 from Rank 1! Talk about an admission as to the obsolete nature of Salvage!

Rank 2: Downgrades already listed, plus:

• Tier 4 ZNM Tinnin staff drop, Alkalurops, downgraded one rank, from Rank 1 to Rank 2.
• Dynamis Lord drops Shadow Ring and Shadow Mantle both downgraded one rank, from Rank 1 to Rank 2. And if Dynamis isn't fixed tout suite, it could be completely obsolete.
  
• Shinryu drops Twilight Mail and Twilight Cloak added.
• Jailer of Love "drop" Novio Earring downgraded the same one rank. Rank 1 to Rank 2.
• Ebisu quest items stay up at this level, as does the Pandemonium Key (for those suckers who want to try Pandemonium Warden).
• There's an item called a Cat's Eye, which is a jewel, which has been added in the May 9 update, added to this tier. Apparently, the .dat people (got this from FFXIAH) have said that it will automatically complete the alexandrite leg of any Mythic weapon. But you do not get the alexandrite you've spent back.
• The most interesting addition, though, to this tier, is the Kupon EA. Now, of course, you can conclude that this is not a preview of the Peyton Hillis Madden 12, but this has to do with Empyrean Armor. Like the Kupon S, you select a job. But with the Kupon EA, you receive ALL FIVE AF3 +2 PIECES COMPLETED from that job! WOW!!!!

Rank 1: Most of the items have been changed, as a number of the other items got downgraded from previous versions of the Mog Bonanza. With the gil, you get the choice of, for the Grand Prizes:

• Kupon A: For an AV drop. (As in the previous Mog Bonanza.)
• Kupon P: Pandemonium Warden drop. (As in the previous Mog Bonanza.)
• The Ridill, the Kraken Club, the Defending Ring, and the Ebisu Fishing Rod are also at this level, as before.
• Kupon EW is a slight change from previous Mog Bonanzas. It grants a fully completed (to this point) Empyrean Weapon of your choice. A winner of a Kupon EW would get a more completed weapon than a Kupon E winner did before, but it's the same concept. The list of trial completions is on the website linked above.
• Two mega-additions from the Nomad Mog Bonanza from Vana'Fest 2010: Kupon RW and MW. I don't think I need to say much more than the Relic or Mythic of your choice, respectively!
• Two new Grand Prizes have been added to the gear set. The Ochain (effectively the upgraded Aegis), and the Daurdabla (basically the best stringed instrument in the game). Not known if these two items will be level 85 or level 90 -- my guess is the latter.
• Three final Grand Prizes have been added for the person in need of lots of cash that even the gil prize might not satisfy: Each Dynamis nation's TEN THOUSAND-PIECE (the one you would normally have to collect to gain the final part of your Relic Weapon). Let's put it this way, the gil prize is usually about 100,000,000 gil. The Sandy and Windy ones of these could be worth, at pre-Neo prices, 120-150,000,000 gil!

So salivate over all that. Sales begin near the end of the month and the numbers come out mid-July.

My choices:

Rank 5: A statue I do not have.
Rank 4: The seal set, job unknown.
Rank 3: Tough call, though I no longer see equating Xarcabard Dynamis drops to the same level as elite Salvage gear.
Rank 2: The AF3 +2 completed set, obviously. Job becomes a real pain to decide at that juncture!
Rank 1: OH DEAR GOD... Call me if I win, after I am revived.

And the forums are turning out predictably... Tons of BluGartr-level cheating bullshit...

I can see where this probably ends -- another trip to jail...

This is beginning to appear awfully 1996-1997 to me.

The official FFXI forums have been reduced to an utter BluGartr level cheater-friendly farce!

Complete with open trolling and griefing (one locked thread which called for Square-Enix to buy and incorporate the cheating fuck-tards with Windower was directly done to troll me into the forum).

Needless to say, it succeeded, because the frank matter is: It's either them or me, and either Square-Enix is going to have to make that decision soon.

A couple of posters on the forum actually get it: Any "threat" is effectively global, Karbuncle. If you're the type of players most of the players on the forum are, you don't want me associating with the younger people, Fiarlia.

Because the threat isn't just or necessarily a matter of bopping someone in the face -- the "threat" is a function that I will not participate in acceptance of a social situation which effectively requires you to either cheat or submit.

I've gone through this before. I used to play a game called Magic: The Gathering. I decided to take part in the Judge Program because I truly felt that, basically, every player was a cheating bastard who needed someone to finally say "NO!"

Well, that lasted one tournament. A Pro Tour Qualifier where the Head Judge openly accused me afterward of trying to kill competitive Magic in my hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Diplomacy toward cheating only breeds more cheating, sir. I believed it nearly 15 years ago, and doubly so now.

(Oh, by the way, that tournament featured a couple of prominent Chicago-area Magic players who refused to take part in a Professional Tour event that weekend which they felt only accepted one particular deck archetype. Several weeks later, it was learned that the players were banned from competitive Magic for manipulating the ratings system through suspicious tournament reports. And, if I had to make a guess, the Head Judge of that PTQ may have been involved too.)

After a couple more years of this, I finally had enough and no longer play nor follow Magic: The Cheating.

When profit requires cheating, it's either them or me.

On top of this, has there been a bigger bunch of fucking whiners in history than some of these cheating (or, at minimum, enabling such) types on these boards??

*sigh*

Catching up Starcade...

Well, we are less than seven hours from the restart, and I'm about to get a nap before the game restarts.

Before I do, a quick update on where Starcade stands...

Six jobs are level 90.

DRG (fully capped and merited), DNC (fully capped and merited), SAM (fully capped and merited), BST (fully capped and merited -- all hail the Power Sheep!), RDM (not capped, but fully merited), and MNK (my first job in the game, my 6th to 90, neither capped nor merited).

WHM got to 77 -- just got my Raise III in a BCNM before the stoppage. NIN is 50-ish, others getting there.

Dynamis: Lengendary is still going, though for how long after the Dynamis changes, I dunno. Got my polearm to level 2, and now working on the 16 100-Bynes to get it to level 3 (farming for gil, mostly Abyssea pops like the Orobon Cheekmeat and Pursuer Wings). We got our Xarcabard win, finally, so we're branching out a bit. Next run is supposed to be Windurst. Only win I do not have is Tavnazia.

Abyssea: Shit-ton of DD atmas (have Razed Ruins, Voracious Violet, and many others). Have all zone bosses, Caturae, and the Discernment Abyssite and Crimson Traverser Stone. The only win I don't have is The Wyrm God himself.

AF3: No +2's. +1's abound, including four on DRG and three on DNC -- but I still don't have the base feet for DNC, even though I've had the eight seals for quite some time!

Wings: Got stuck on the last Bastok mission, so got Sandy a fair way up until I got stalled on a mission that needs help there! So haven't gotten to the end of that.

ToAU: Does anyone do that any more?

Zilart: On Apocalypse Nigh.

So that's a quickie update. Off to bed.

This blog is soon to be removed from the TTTO by it's founder...

Frankly, he should've done it 18 months ago.

Got the message from him tonight that he wants to hear from me first, that he doesn't like the threatening tone here.

Frankly, my mere presence in XI has been same. I see the types of people who play this game, and, frankly, cannot live and let live.

As was basically stated the first time they wanted me yanked, I want to destroy the "community", because it serves no one but the cheaters, the RMT, and a Square-Enix which I must question whether they fulfill the minimum required not to have the entire enterprise declared fraudulent.

This game serves no one but the little shithead griefers who have turned the Internet into such a malicious mess that I am certain I will either be dead or in prison in the next 18 months.

It is sad, really, but it is clear that the player-base has made it's material decision. May they take the final step and have me removed from XI.

While you have some extra time today...

A couple of charity notes...

-- A periodic reminder on the Speed Gamers' month-long effort to raise awareness for the campaign to get ACT Today a $250,000 Pepsi Refresh grant for it's efforts in helping parents of autistic children.

The effort is in 15th place, so there is a significant amount to make up to get up toward the historical gardens effort in Ohio and the Hip Hop Academy who are leading the effort (the top 2 of that tier win $250,000 for their charity each).

Most nights throughout the month, you can watch nightly streams of Zelda games to help them raise awareness of the effort.

-- A rare fully-midweek marathon by Zeldathon.com to raise money for the National Children's Advocacy Center. $1,000 is the goal, and they're about halfway there. It's scheduled for 72 hours or so, and they're about 2 days in.

So, a couple things to look at while you are waiting for them to finish the physical server maintenance, defragging, what have you...

If people wonder why I get pissed, it's nights like tonight which should answer your question...

OK, we just finish a decent, though not great, run on Abyssea-Konschtat with Dreamer.

MMM shout group goes up -- specifically asking for 75+'s, for a Bird Killer maze.

We're wiped within four, because the BRD can't bother to recast because his first attempt got We-sisted... WAAAAAAAAH...

They don't even know how to do MMM - and, given their level of incompetence, either bought or Astral Burned the shit to 72-76.

They didn't even have the basics of the basics down with respect to anything...

We either got sabotaged or griefed, and I don't take kindly to that shit. Neither does the person who put the group together.

Vashielx and Hellbunny, fuck your asses. Your incompetence is fucking scary.

Well, Wednesday appears to be "Get a Life" holiday for Square-Enix...

All-Worlds Maintenance on the physical server machines.

8 AM - 5 PM PDT Wednesday.

So all you people who need to go outside...

(*mumbles* and all those who think I do...)

The vast majority of FFXI players are nothing but a bunch of whores.

Said it, there it is, meant it.

What finally made me come to the realization of it was more Campaign bullshit.

Consecutive Campaign battles -- one in Meriphataud and one in Rolanberry. There to help win a few battles and get a buffer for my 77 DRG (/DNC because I can't count on these whore shitheads to heal anyone but themselves) for Abyssea later this afternoon.

Both have Belfrys up, and people are openly being encouraged to extend the battles needlessly by letting them spawn infinitely.

WHO THE FUCK DO YOU FUCKING WHORES THINK YOU ARE??

The point of a Campaign battle is to WIN it.

Without that, there should be no rewards whatsoever.

Extending battles like that takes away resources which can be used in the rest of the Crystal War -- but, as we well know, the player-base would rather turn Vana'diel into an Abyssean nightmare, as long as they had all the cool leet gear to rule alongside the Beastmen.

Arrogant, fucking whores -- that basically describes the vast majority of the FFXI playerbase.

If it isn't that, it's bot-lotting, hacking the game, Besieged bullshit, claim-lots, etc. and so forth and so on.

More charity notes -- if I can come up with some XI material, you'll see it later.

*groan* What a week... (RL crap.) Couple of vid-gaming charity notes this "Independence" Day weekend. (More like, in this country, independence from your brains...)

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The Speed Gamers' "Summer of Zelda" effort does not appear to be getting off to a very good start.

Let me explain it for those TTTO-types who didn't see the original post I made.

This is not a donation marathon this time, but streams on most nights of the month of July where the Speed Gamers will be playing Zelda games -- with perhaps some others mixed in -- to raise awareness for ACT Today's participation in the "Pepsi Refresh" program.

The "Pepsi Refresh" program is a grant-fundraiser which Pepsi is doing where, every month, they grant money to worthy organizations.

Those grants are determined by votes from the public, who can go to their website and vote on the ideas they consider the best.

ACT Today is in the top tier, for $250,000. Only the top two get the money per month.

ACT Today stands 15th.

2nd place (in the $250,000 tier) right now is a historical gardens motif for an Ohio charity.

#1?? Hip Hop Academy.

WTF?

People like ACT Today have to try to scrape for money and people are voting for a Hip Hop Academy to get people into the music industry???

Pardon me while I *V O M I T*.

Why not just go all the way and make it a Gangsta Academy?

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Also, Extra Lives is doing another Pokemon marathon. This time, it's for "Free the Children".

UStream stream here.

The playerbase continues to show it's ignorance...

Got this gem from Jud a few days back, and had been meaning to write about it:

"Chin continues to do more good for this game and community than you could even possibly comprehend."

Face it... You defraud players like me, you're a piece of shit in my book, and so is her "employer", (and that is why I call them) Pet Food Cheater.

But it got me to thinking about FFXI and all the other stuff going on therein, and I decided to come up with some analogous (and, frankly, if you believe Jud, equally true!) statements, and to show you why I believe those statements to be equally true.

#1:

"The creator of (Windower/App/NASA/other illegal third party software) continues to do more good for this game and community than you could even possibly comprehend."

Let's get right down to brass tacks here.

First, there are things in this game you cannot take part in without illegal software, and, as long as Square-Enix continues to fraudulently look the other way, that's not going to change.

Without claim bots, you basically are shut out of HNMLS's.

Without Windower, there are mobs that it is claimed you cannot kill (like those who do actions precisely on certain percentages of life totals which will kill the alliance -- PW's final form being one example).

Without other illegal bots, you basically are shut out of the weekly Kupofried's Ring quests, etc.

But we're all supposed to accept this, right?

Bullshit. BUT: If what Jud said is right, these illegal applications would be some of the most important peieces of code in the game, because the game, to many, cannot be played without them.

Which see the jackass who said that if we didn't play with Windower, we could enjoy our $1,000 PS2, because that is what we are playing with if we don't cheat our fucking asses off.

#2:

"The Astral Burners and other 'griefers' continue to do more good for this game and community than you could even possibly comprehend."

This should actually be even easier. In the day and age where the game does not even begin, now, until you hit at least level 75, anything to allow players to level faster is encouraged...

(And, in the day and age where the little Internet pigs basically run roughshod over everyone else, if it stops another player from doing the same, the victory to the AB party/etc. is double!)

So exploits and using those exploits to cockblock other players is actually _good for the game_ in the eyes of a lot of these people.

In fact, if I had a dollar for every person who said that the Salvage banned should never have been touched, I'd have a year's worth of membership fees and then some.

#3:

"RMT continues to do more good for this game and community than you could even possibly comprehend."

I cannot understand how anyone chooses to pat cheaters on the back, then turn around and condemn RMT.

Here's the thing: If you allow players to abrogate the Terms of Service without penalty, you basically are then giving up any right of ownership to the content therein, if you are Square-Enix.

RMT, sickeningly, provides a valuable service to more than a few players in this game -- not unlike the Astral Burn illegal bullshit.

And it provides it to the players in both directions -- buying material, and selling material.

RMT, in fact, offers players the opportunity to advance their characters faster -- the only reason, probably, it not being allowed is that Square-Enix at least puts down on paper their assertion of ownership of their content.

They put a lot of other things down on paper that they fraudulently have no intention of ever enforcing, too.

Anyone who believes the likes of Chinchilla still contribute to this game have to conclude that RMT does so as well -- both to the players in the game who use it, and to the players who, ostensibly, are getting out and want to sell their characters for an ROI.

---

These are just three examples I came up with.

There's a take-home point here.

If the social aspect of Final Fantasy XI is as important as many players indicate it to be, the Terms of Service are null and void, and the only people who can really act to remove players should be the player base themselves.

And I see the GM's are in fine form...

Walk of Echoes post Dyna today...

Went in, got wiped, and got the message that all party members had fallen in battle, and that we would be removed in 3 minutes and 514000 seconds.

As GM Bublex later put it, that's almost a year, apparently.

But it's what he suggested we do after I told him we had all seen the same message -- after I had asked many of the players who were there...

He wants us to do File Checks, thinking it might be the files being corrupted...

Eh????

Another nice deflection by the GM Force...

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Quickie update:

No Dynamis either Sunday (Father's Day) or Wednesday (Dreamer did Abyssea instead).

DRG now to 76, DNC to 77.

Two things which don't completely negate the goodness, but temper it a little...

-- Presto (the DNC 77 ability which makes two levels of step effect in one shot for an extra finishing move) shares the same timer with Steps. So not only are you expending two rounds of time for the three finishing moves and two levels (one less than if you did two steps), but you don't have long not to have lose the effect whatsoever.

-- Spiritual Jump and Jump work in the same manner.

Doesn't make them suck, mind you...

Part Deux: I might just have finally gotten banned from the game tonight...

And you know what?? That'll just show Square-Enix' true colors.

Had another run-in with ghetto trash on the game tonight. Biggysmallz from Crenshaw, LA... )He gave me his address. He'll regret that one day... That's two for The List.)

(At least that's his claim. Watch, it's probably Adam the bitch.)

But he's not the one who's going to get me banned.

He's just the hoarding bitch who got me to basically call him (and he admitted as such to me) a "hoarding asshole".

That got Angelskiss (more like "Angels' Bitch"!!) involved.

You see, Angelskiss, I'm a threat to all of you. When I told you that you better hope they ban me from the game -- if you want to take that as a personal threat, so be it.

My very presence in Vana'diel is a threat, to one degree or another. My very presence is infringing on your enjoyment of FFXI, because I'm not going to accept your degree of bullshit.

So you better hope they ban me. I said it to you personally, and I say it here now, generally, to the cheaters who have overrun this game.

I'm done respecting the rank-and-file players, in any real capacity.

I was done with that shit when ChinCheater and the other cheaters got banned almost 18 months ago.

And I fully expect, 18 months from now: I'm in prison or dead.

I have no place in your Vana'diel. None.

You would not want me to act in the same way as you would.