Oh, someone pissed my dear roommate off tonight...

More "going into business for ourselves" shit...

Promotes event as one for the online "Relay For Life" effort, but then breaks every rule in the book and tries to undercut just about everyone to promote THEIR Internet project, putting my friend in the middle.

Listen, you con-artist shits: My friend lost the soulmate she loved to CANCER -- one of the few things that keeps her from snapping is working for the day no one else has to!!!

Pissed off?? I don't know who is worse: Her for having to be put in the middle of this because of her friends and her RFL team -- or ME because it's just another example that we seem to enjoy doing the Social Limbo...

"How low can you go?"

Quite an interesting week...

Dare I say, a little TOO interesting... Roommate has had to deal with some issues with the Net project, most appear resolved for the moment (except for one guy who's trying to bilk the project's Relay for Life team for money to take part in a charity portion of said project -- c'mon, who do you think you are???)...

To tell you how brave some assholes are, two things in RL:

1) Last night, out to get some groceries, when some jackass decides to drive by in his truck and yell "GET A TOUPEE!!!"

Fuck -- you -- and -- the -- horse -- who -- rode -- in -- on -- you.

I know I'm going bald with the ol' sunroof, but, frankly, I'd rather be Stone Cold Steve Austin (at least in the hair dept.) than waste money on a toupee.

2) Speaking of wasting money, someone tried to force me to do it last night.

When I got back from the other little misadventure, I was toodling around the Net as an adjunct to playing FFXI (get to that update in a moment)...

When all of a sudden, up pops this window for "Antivirus Soft"...

Has anyone heard of the concept of ransomware?

If not, let me tell you about it, because the shitheads are getting real insidious about it.

"Antivirus Soft" basically states your computer has been infected with viruses, basically on everything you would want to do on the Internet, so it forces all stuff closed.

Except for one -- teensy -- problem...

The only infection is "Antivirus Soft" itself, and the group behind this piece of shit is holding your computer ransom (you can't access the Web, once the startup process has gone far enough for the infection to take hold after login -- you can't access any Task Manager to try to stop it, etc.) until you pay THEM money (real money) to remove it!!!

Well, fortunately, I was able to grab a browser before the shit hit the fan again, and thanks to the good people at bleepingcomputer.com (and, yes, that's the real name of the site), they gave me the information on how to remove it... (Basically, get a better anti-malware thing than you have with Windows, and use it in Safe Mode with Networking...).

Needless to say, I was not pleased. I don't even know where I got the malware -- I accessed no websites I normally don't (though the roommate has reported infection through no less than an ad on ESPN.com in the past!!)...

With that, let's get in-game:

MNK 65 (my fifth Dynamis-eligible job)

SAM 56 (probably soon to be my sixth)

No further progress on CoP...

First Limbus run Friday night, as we 4-manned Temenos West to the final floor -- then the leader got brave and we all died.

WotG missions and quests finally got progress -- now on Betrayal at Beaucedine.

As of now, about 75K to full (75-)Merit DNC.

That's about it for now.

You want to know why this shit makes me so upset?

Let's take a RL example of all this, and I'll explain why all the stuff going on with the cheaters and frauds all over FFXI makes me so upset...

----

Last week, we had yet another shining example of the shitheads at United Package Smashers, breaking a $300 computer case/cooler of my roommate's which she ordered because of some red tape.

Thing comes, the "feet" of the case are literally smashed, and the thing is basically declared a total loss before we even take it out of the plastic.

So, we send it back Monday.

That night, my friend's workplace had a long-time harasser pulling the same -- damn -- shit he's been pulling for years now, trying to get in my friend's workplace to harass her and basically destroy the place. David/Quard -- FUCK OFF!

Tuesday, my criminal trial. Dismissed for lack of prosecution -- the pig who wrote the ticket never showed up. They never had a case anyway.

Tuesday night, the old sound card of my roommate goes. She had a replacement, but it just needed to be set just right so my friend could continue her work.

Wednesday, my Dynamis, cut short by an emergency shift for the roommate at the back end -- and SEVEN people being late up to 45-60 minutes on the front end. AND Veratos and his shit, and I'm still waiting on the GM for that, bitch.

Thursday, we got the next round from United Package Smashers.

We are now seeking criminal recourse, taking UPS to court in the style of Doug Llewllyn before at least one of us takes the law into our own hands.

I have the approximation of a package in my room because we're both sick of looking at it. One side of the box completely fell apart as she was opening it. It appears as if a knife has been taken to two parts of the "seams" between the sides and the bottom and top to weaken the box. One side has had part of the labelling destroyed, and part of that same side appears to have been keyed.

One side is completely compressed in, and, needless to say, it appears as if the contents are a total loss, the bottom of the case (as one example) bent at least a third of an inch. The case is irreparably broken and a total loss. Newegg will have to eat another $300 due to these bitches, and the order has been cancelled, since United Package Shitheads will never allow another package to my roommate without destroying it.

The DA of the county where the shipping center is has been notified. This is SIX times this summer, and we are now both convinced that someone searches out my roommate's packages in the UPS Center in Vernon, California and deliberately destroys them.

-----

So why did I just write all of this?

Because most of the shit that I wrote which had nothing to do with Vana'diel has roots in the stuff which I've been posting about FFXI.

What these people do in the game:

a) does not happen in a vacuum

and b) gives a great indication of who these little shits think they are.

I mean, they're literally been chasing people off of FFXI left, right, and up the center -- an afternoon on Leviathan now appears to have under 1,000 players on it at one time.

(Prime Time US Friday night -- about 1,350 right now (8:24 PM EDT).)

And the more they can damage other people's livelihoods and all that, it's even MORE win for these shitheads than simply their own advancement.

Just like the pigs, just like UPS, just like David...

This keeps up much longer, and people are not going to like the results -- except for those who want rid of us...

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.

----

*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.

-----

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

Another week down, and, well...

... a bit less play-time, as I postulated last week, due to my friend's surgery and her recovery. Get well soon (more for her sanity and the hard work she's doing next week -- Second Life's Relay for Life is next weekend for the American Cancer Society -- SL has raised over $180,000 already, and is goaling for a quarter million)...

As for me:

WHM 37-38 (First three Teleport spells quested for, doing the next two quests tonight-tomorrow (both require a Japanese Midnight delay) -- Starcade's Tele-Taxi should open for business next week!),

Windy Fame 9 (now maximum Fame in all four cities),

working on both RDM 64 (in Besieged) and DNC 66 (through Elite Training NM fights),

Sunday Dynamis: Bastok. Ran out of time due to slower pulls. Got a wootz and the DNC AF2 (3/5 DNC now).

Wednesday Dynamis: Sandy. Ran out of time due to extreme low-man. Had to leave to help roommate during lots. Only 1 AF2 dropped in the entire run (and we were getting close to Mega Boss) -- and that was BLU!

RL stuff clearing up some. We'll see how that impacts my time in Vana'diel going forward.

====

I think the biggest story is that it sounds like they are RMT-banning low-level or trial-account gardeners.

Why not just get rid of the trial accounts completely??

I mean, let's face it -- FFXI is already dead, and Square-Enix's relations with the player base all but prove it, as I said earlier. I have every indication that Square-Enix is probably going for the more mainstream (read: WoW) crowd, and both me and my roommate have already decided to pass on FFXIV completely. (Especially that we both believe it'll be about two months from release before the cheating fucktards rip the living crap out of the game, just as they've done, more and more, to XI.)

But why continue to recruit players to XI, when it would actually be better to let XI go (quickly!!) and concentrate your efforts on a new playerbase (especially here in North America) for XIV??

Finishing the weekly update, more packages smashed, and insults can be the sincerest form of flattery...

Well, I did get the chance to do some more this week (didn't think I'd be able to, as of the last post):

WHM 32 (might get 33 tonight)

Couple of more runes with the MMM...

----

My roommate has one nerve left, and if the illegal fireworks don't do it in tonight, UPS might.

The company decided to ship out a second order for the one package which UPS damaged (worse than we thought at first).

The second package was intentionally damaged. One of the sides was basically bashed out. It looked like the package had been directly kicked on the package label. Everything in the replacement shipment -- damaged.

So, next week isn't going to be pretty either. Hoping the replacement for the monitor comes in OK. And then we have to try to cut United Package Smashers out of the loop while we consider suing them.

----

And then there's this little ditty, as a follow-up to the earlier post on Feiwong and his fucking idiocy.

I want you to listen to BluGartr forums' Astarael from about a week and a half ago:

"Yeah, that guy isn't really much of a shining example. If feiwong is the extreme example of RMT idiocy (which I 100% agree he is), then this guy is the outspoken anti-RMT equivalent. I mean really, he says anyone in an endgame shell can't be there without "some degree of illegal, unethical, or immoral activity (or more than one of the above).", and he implies anyone with a relic had to RMT, and says outright anyone with 4 or more did.

Could be being epic-whoooshed, but isn't he just doing the same thing as Feiwong, and calling RMT on anything he can't achieve?"

http://www.bluegartrls.com/forum/75936-batsu-aka-feiwong-siren-3.html

First post on the page.

Nice try.

I could start to say that this guy is paying me a compliment, but then I see what he actually is trying to say here, and I have to say that there are a couple of inconsistencies.

I've already addressed the italicized statement: Take one look at the conduct of a lot of the endgame linkshells, with their bots and their Windower crap and all that stuff, and I would say my statement probably has been proven correct.

Also, view the recent JP Button NA players survey, where the players who use Windower illegally surveyed 3 times as many players as those who use the legal Windowed Mode.

The facts don't lie. The statement stands.

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

I do have grave question as to how many relic-holders RMT, because of the sheer amount of time, energy, and work which go into gaining a relic.

But, yes, the player who got 4 relics (and then got banned 1/22/09) had to do some form of RMT and duping and God knows what else...

Because, as surveyed, the amount of time he would've had to have been in Dynamis just to attain the amount of Ancient Currency required makes this feat impossible in the 6 1/2 years the game has been going on.

Don't believe me?? Check out FFXIAH's take on the subject of how much it would cost you to obtain the required amount of Ancient Currency.

Using a low-end estimate, the cost of a relic would be somewhere in the area of 128-180 million gil.

If you want to tell me the guy who had four relics got them legitimately, I will laugh in your face.

Doubly, since we know he cheated his ass off and got banned in January.

You damned right I am calling him RMT.

But the last statement that Astarael made got me thinking: He's accusing me of screaming "RMT!" at anything I cannot achieve.

Given the number of relic-seeking players who probably are RMT, I can see why says this to discredit me. (And to say I'm no better than Feiwong, who basically calls "RMT" to anyone who doesn't suck his dick.)

That I would say that is not true. The problem is that I openly _DO_ wonder how many of the relics are legitimate (and I'd guess far fewer than most would). But the fact is that I call things as I see them. After a lot of what I have heard and seen as conduct within the game, there are parts of same I want no fucking part of.

But it's not "I don't have it" = "I think you're RMT if you do".

It's "The vast majority of end-gamers cheat their fucking asses off" which makes me question whether there's more RMT involved than most might care to admit.

Deimos: Again, I would assume that the only correct conclusion is YOUR conclusion, right??

Moron.

And Feiwong's still apparently at his shit... With how many bought/stolen characters, I have no clue.

Might as well do the update now, because I don't know when I might get the chance for the foreseeable...

I usually do a weekly update come about Saturday or Sunday, but -- between the July 4 weekend and a lot of other shit -- I decided to do it now.

31 WHM, and going to try to increase that as applicable.

Finally got 65 DNC.

Sunday Dynamis: Ice -- last one before our leader takes three runs off for the holiday and for his classes. Killed 11 NM's (about our running average) and got 1 AF drop. Blech.

Wednesday Dynamis: Tried to low-man a Jeuno. Ouch. Funny story: Free lotted a MNK AF for myself, and checked to make sure I had the space. I had one space left in my inventory.

Just before that, I win a 1-Byne which ran on the same drop. Congratulations to Teraphim, the owner of a new MNK AF.

Eek.

====

And it's been that kind of week RL too. My friend's surgery physically appeared to go decently.

Trying to get my friend through the next 1-6 weeks (it'll take 6 to heal the tendons -- but the right hand is completely splinted and mummified until we see the surgeon again in 1-2 weeks) without the functional use of her right hand (not even to type) is going to be the hard part.

So my playtime will be continued to be reduced.

My roommate works on Internet projects. Frankly, about the only real "joy" my friend gets due to a great loss in her life about a year ago.

It's all these goddamned frustrations that she has to deal with (griefers on the Net, shitheads outside, California deteriorating so she doesn't know when the riots might start, my court date on Tuesday versus an agent provocateur piece-of-shit excuse for a cop in this town, etc. and so forth and so on) which make her not want to wake up again.

As I keep telling her, it's the same stuff I talk about here. The same frustrations, anger, etc. and so forth.

The problem is, it's easy for doctors to say all this stuff about doing things one-handed and the like. The only problem is that one has to go through with it.

(FWIW, I just typed that last sentence one-handed. Good luck to my friend on it.)

I love my friend as a friend, and will help her as required - and a lot more will be required. The problem being: How much more does she have to put up with?

So, if you try to party with me, and I'm even more adamant about "(I'm sorry.) (I'm playing solo right now.)", please understand.

============

Various odds and sods from the TTTO:

-- An interview came across with the designers of the two Ultimate Monsters in the game: Pandemonium Warden and Absolute Virtue. (Several posts on the subject.) And they basically DID originally intend for PW to be a multiple-alliance fight and that some would be able to go back to town and change up as conditions permit.

If I'm a legal entity looking to limit the play on MMO's on the basis of negligent conduct on the part of their creators, I'd take a look at this. As I said during the controversy on the 18-hour PW attempt, it's too fucking long.

Of course, should this be surprising, coming from a country where there is an actual name for the addiction to MMORPG's, and, additionally, occasional stories about people dying at their computer because they just - can't - get - away.

This degree of irresponsible behavior will finish Square-Enix, if it's not addressed.

And then, of course, their testing appears to assume maxed-out equipment, including relics and mythics... *rolls eyes*

--

Does FFXI promote healthy or harmful competition? (http://katarzynafromcerberus.blogspot.com/2009/07/does-ffxi-promote-healthy-or-harmful.html)

Do I really need to answer that question??

Really??

I mean, the absolute requirement of a bot to do much of the ultra-level stuff is addressed in the article.

The fact is that Square-Enix needs to demand the same things it says it demands:

-- No bots or third-party software, which my roommate clearly agrees with me is infrastructurally disrupting the game.

-- Their own words asking that we not forget our jobs, school, friends, family, etc. (See above on PW/AV.)

-- Some degree of cooperation between groups of people. (By this, I am talking the likes of small groups ninjaring Dynamis (or individuals ninjaring lots) for amusement and "profit".)

--

More on these and others another time, as more ideas permit. I've got a roommate recovering from surgery to look after, at least as much as she'll let me.

The Craziest RL Week In Ages

WHM 28-29, not much else level-wise.

Sunday Dynamis: Overslept it -- see last week's.

Wednesday Dynamis: With our leader in class, we put together a Sandy run, and win it. I get complements for how I ran the lots.

----

I'd have gotten more done in-game this week, but it seems as if the rest of the world wishes me homeless and my roommate dead, for some damned sick reason.

On top of what it seems almost every icon of our age dropping dead...

Monday: Roommate receives shipment from UPS. Roommate already sees that the boxes have been literally squashed, in some form, with holes in them on top of it. Shipment is 3/4 destroyed. Complaint has already been filed with the Better Business Bureau against UPS. Replacement from the company she got the order from should be forthcoming, as is some strong invective for a company my roommate has had previous problems with (UPS)!

Thursday: Receives new monitor, shipped from Federal Express. Damned glad she got a backup to replace the LCD we had to return: FedEx DROPPED THE DAMN THING AND DESTROYED IT! Replacement forthcoming this week.

Friday: Griefers at Net project. Roommate gets injured (requiring an overnight trip to the ER and minor surgery on Monday -- and lots of help from me!) in the frustration!

Saturday: While getting a prescription for said injury, roommate appeared, at first, to have a epithet thrown toward her. My friend is not happy about epithets of that kind.

Saturday night: Extent of damage is chronicled from Monday.

Look, Real Life: I care for my damned roommate, but enough is ENOUGH is _ENOUGH_! My friend has enough to deal with with her projects, charity work, and her own feelings not to have them stomped, kicked, gouged, scratched, etc. for some people's entertainment.

I mean, people are going to come after me, but for some of what I've done RL, I have deserved it, a little.

MY FRIEND HAS NOT! CUT THE CRAP!

A relatively interesting week...

Sunday Dynamis: Snow. Win. Nice.

Wednesday: Looked like I was going to be able to do the whole thing (shift switch for my roommate's project), and then, the moment I get home, my roommate's monitor is on it's death-bed. For the third week in a row, a last-minute errand cuts me off of Wednesday Dynamis. Unlike our first attempt, this monitor is working like a charm for my roommate.

I make it up to Kiana by briefly helping him skill up in The Boyahda Tree last night.

For the humor-impaired:

1) If you think that, if that happens this Wednesday, that I won't do it again, please read the Note to Players that you cursor past trying to get in the game (what I call the "Get a Life" message). My roommate is that damned important to me, and, if something needs to be done, it needs to be done.

2) If you don't like that, kiss my ass.

42 NIN, NIN AF1 -- thought those were daggers (they're katanas!), just short of 63 RDM...

2 DRG L1 Merits and retaking my highest Campaign medal after almost losing the second-highest one because I basically had not Campaigned since about the release of ACP.

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

Several different odds and sods, the first being something that is really pissing me off RL:

President Uncle Tom Obama, BITE MY FUCKING ASS AND STOP LYING TO US. Too many people invested their last hope in your ass for you to spit all over them and treat them like stepping stones. Equality for all or equality for none!!

(We all know how that's going to work out, especially as California goes BK in about two months.)

Back to FFXI:

Elitesttothemax (more an explanation of Kimiko's post, rather than flaming you): The joke is not funny. The reason the joke is not funny is because we see it all the fucking time in Vana'diel. You aren't worth anything in this game, to most of the "elites" -- most of whom cheat their asses off -- if you don't do exactly as the original post you made tried to parody.

That elitism would be a joke if the parody actually wasn't the modus operandi of much of the elite FFXI cheater-base.

The intent of the joke is there -- the problem is that there are too many people in FFXI (*cough*BluGartr*cough*) whose sole job is to do exactly what you do to feel superior to all the gimps out there.

As I said before, I EARNED my gear. I didn't steal it from Square-Enix.

Phishing warning: Happens from time to time, but you do begin to wonder if the people involved are trying to skim the credit card information, or the prize gear or whatever...

They're saying they are planning to go after the websites and the like. OK, but do the RMT bullshit too. One has to wonder if they're involved in this as well. The Dispose-a-Character RMT Tell Bullshit continues unabated -- JAIL THESE FUCKERS RL!

This (Upcoming) Week: Leviathan becomes the 4th FFXI server to reach 2000 Besieged wins. I take 63 RDM. Perhaps 65 DNC.

Update, and we now have at least one answer to the long list...

Not much this week, though I did get NIN to 37 so I could get /NIN and Ni on my endgame stuff.

Sunday Dynamis:  Did not go.  Took a few days in Anaheim to give my roommate some peace.  (And, dear God, does she need it.  Tuesday is the moment of truth for many of the people my friend works with in California...)

Wednesday Dynamis:  Windurst.  Lost.  Someone agged the Death House and we never recovered.  Sac pull failed and I was the first one they ate trying to get back to where we could try for the win.

NIN 37, not much else.

===

As I say, on occasion, I will visit BG to do some scouting for stuff to send to the STF.

I go there today, and I find the following:

http://www.bluegartrls.com/forum/75273-lm-17-banned-perma-hardcore-exp-qufim-island.html

Ladies and gentlemen, the hyper-XP Astral Flow system for SMN is illegal AND bannable, when it monopolizes a zone other players are trying to play!

The ruling was, effectively, zone monopolization.

For those who do not know, a common tactic to get characters to 75 very quickly is, once SMN is accessed, using Astral Flow and the Blood Pacts on massive groups of monsters pulled to one AoE area so that no one else has, really, any access to the mobs in those areas as long as the hyper-SMNs wish to power through at 15-20-moreK an hour.

Being a hardcore XPer to the point that no one else can play the zone has been a ban ever since "zone monopolization" was declared illegal.  So forgive me while I have negative amounts of sympathy for you.  Bye-bye...  Go join the RMT fucker scum, as far as I am concerned.

I think this was one that we had on the long list after the January 22 bannings.

Oh, and Sonomaa:  Perhaps Square-Enix never intended people to level _that_ quickly!  Perhaps things like Fields of Valor and Campaign are the only reasoned alternatives on the table.

Mistress Stowastiq:  It's not legal if it creates a monopolization situation.  This is why one can now easily say that the whole hyper-XP system which has been built to PL SMNs is illegal and bannable for zone monopolization.  If an action creates a monopolization situation, the action is not legal, even if the action, in and of itself, would be outside of that.

---

ROTFLMAO!!!!  I didn't even see this the first time...

If you read the posts on BluGartr, you see little "titles" for each poster (Melee Summoner, Salvage Bans, etc.).

The player who got his ass banned for zone monopolization -- his title??  Starcade.

*bow*

---

Actually, stabmegently, I think SMN burning was exactly what he got banned for.  He used that (and apparently other) means to monopolize the zone to the point the other players complained, and, by the rules, out came the banhammer.

To the banned:  The whole game is subject to Square-Enix' interpretation, and I'm glad to see they're cracking down on the SMN mega-burners.

One less fucktard in Vana'diel.  We hope...

A couple strong highlights in a rather boring week...

Didn't get to play as much as I might otherwise like, but when I find out my friend helped raise almost $2,000 in an online Relay for Life event (HUZZAH!), I know that, when my friend is working, it's time for me to get out of the way.

As for what I was doing when I was in people's way in Vana'diel this week:

NIN 33 -- and a big highlight Thursday night as my ACP Level 30 Key drew the big prize:  Utsusemi: Ni -- and that's 450,000 gil I won't have to spend in about 3 levels.

I probably am about to lose my highest Campaign medal, but, until they get the next tier going or such, of what worth, really, is it??

Dynamis:  Wednesday:  Didn't go, didn't find out where or how it went.

Sunday:  Snow (Beaucedine).  Win.  And the BST drop as well, uncontested.  So now I have both my 75 jobs already scored in Snow, and I think DNC too.

This week?  Not sure.  Might actually take a trip, might not...

Another week in Vana'diel finished...

And for my 100th post (including a few from a previous iteration of the blog):

31 NIN (goaling for 37 and Ni), about 80K in updated gear in a hole in my gear that I haven't filled in a while, and, really, not much else level-wise (working, between ACP runs, on my dagger skill to help NIN, THF, and DNC).

Sunday: Snow (Beaucedine). Won. A few drops. Nuttin for me.

Wednesday: Jeuno. Had to leave before it got too interesting. Sounds like we were going to get a win. Nuttin for me.

========

And I didn't play as much as I'd probably like later in the week. Thursday and Friday, just a little tired of it.

Saturday afternoon, our fucking apartment-mates in the complex decided to fuck up the entire complex -- AGAIN. This happens about once every other week.

We live in a complex which was probably built in about 1950 or something. Without going into too much detail, there are circuit breakers for the different apartments (and, for the larger ones -- including mine and my roommate's -- several) if the power should ever be compromised.

These fucking dickheads decide that, when their power goes out, fuck the entire complex, we're just going to flip EVERY GODDAMNED SWITCH IN THE PLACE!!! Including ours, EVEN THOUGH OURS ARE CLEARLY MARKED.

Oh, fuck that at least two apartments damn near lost $2,000 computer systems apiece -- my roommate being one of them!! (The other was an apartment on the other side of the complex, NOWHERE NEAR the same breakers -- the fuckers just decide to fuck everybody by flipping every switch.)

This gets much worse (or my roommate loses her computer), I'm going to live on the streets again, because you don't fuck over someone who has absolutely nothing to lose, and the only person waiting for that person is now waiting in the next life.

Police raids in the area of my apartment complex to run out ne'er-do-wells have become at least a nightly occurrence. THIS IS NOT A FUCKING SLUM HOTEL. (And that doesn't even count the $200 ticket I've got for this bitch pig deciding he wanted to be smugger-than-thou and shoot his mouth off while I continue to make ends meet without having to rob a bank or something. He's lucky I'm not doing 3-5 right now... They probably are going to have to incarcerate me at the hearing for the ticket. So if I disappear for quite a while shortly after the 1st of July...)

I have to put up with so much shit to even help my friend pay her rent, knowing that, someday, one of us is going postal. It's the same goddamned thug-first attitude which has sunk endgame in FFXI (Kimiko did an outstanding piece on this -- "This is not advanced." (http://www.staronion.com/kimiko/?p=1091)). It's the same goddamned thug attitude which bullies use to psychologically drive their victims psychotic.

(And it's now been clinically established as such too.)

When I get the occasional interruption on FFXI (which will happen), I'm more worried someone out in the complex is fucking around. If it's just a bork in the wireless -- no harm, no foul. You should see some of our Dynamis runs with people disconnecting.

But, keep it up world, and the cops better bring the guns out on at least one of us, if not both.

I can see I'm not the only person aggravated about the Internet...

Too many more of these goddamn pigs, and you probably won't have to worry about me being around.

I see enough of this fucking shit in FFXI, and my roommate and friend really doesn't need the aggravation.

My roommate was on an online carnival for a cancer charity she works for and supports (please help support the Relay for Life), and, several hours ago, a bunch of little motherfucking children decided they wanted to disrupt the event.

Griefers.

And they ran off before they could get banned and ran right back onto the area to disrupt things further the moment the admins of the area left.

Now, why do I mention this?

First, if you ever see my name in the evening news (again) for getting myself arrested for bloodying some faces, please be not surprised. Hell, I came thisclose to having a major incident at an anime convention two years ago (ever heard of the poem "A Day Late and a Gun Short of a Shooting Rampage?" That was me about Memorial Day 2007 in San Jose, CA).

Second, I see so much of this shit in FFXI (the incident above was NOT in FFXI) that I'm about to lose what little remaining restraint I've had the last several years.

If some of these idiots want real grief, they'll get it -- from me or someone else.

I'm sick and tired of a bunch of fuckwad little children who basically feel they are above everything. Sabotage, griefing, me-first, ninjar-ing lots, botting, cheating, duping, the RMT fuckwads on that one website -- another one today...

I mean, what, you guys want to be "G" or "hardcore" or that...

Trust me, you don't know "hardcore".

Spend a year in Riker's Island and then get back to me about fucking "hardcore".

Lose your soulmate to cancer and then get back to me about fucking "hardcore".

Try to carry on with a lot of you little boys and girls out there (who know who you are) and then get back to me about fucking "hardcore"...

I don't know if you want to descend into the ghetto culture or whatever the fuck you want, but, trust me -- you are descending into a place (and this is talking simply economics here, not to mention the "Mad Max" which is coming soon to the entire culture) from which you will not return. You really want it that bad? It'll cost you everything.

Wake up and smell the coffee, children, and get right.

You know, I'm legitimately shocked I'm not banned from FFXI yet for the contents of my blog. I sense that won't be the case much longer...

A frustrating, yet fruitful Sunday...

Oh, man.... Another rigged Super Bowl, more BS for my roommate to deal with...

And I almost screwed someone out of a million gil (in our Dynamis LS, you are still declared "on AF" even if you lose the bid for the right to lot AF, else I would've won a Jadeshell (You can't lot on "Big Money" in our LS if you are "on AF", hence, a bid of any kind on AF disqualifies you from Big Money, even if the bid loses... Hmmm...)... Boy, that was a day... I'll have to talk to Kiana on that one, sounds counter-intuitive, though I understand the reasoning. (People were bidding just to screw each other out of points.)

But, we did win both Dynamis-Windurst (1/1, 2 deaths) AND Fire in the Hole (1/2 on that one). So onward with WotG Bastok stuff.

===

And I also had a long talk with my roommate. She may special-guest on this blog soon, as we talked about some of the issues I've raised here on the Salvage-dupers. She agrees with some, disagrees with others, but not necessarily in a way most of you might hope.

No promises, but you may see a special-guest blog post in the near future. MAY see one...

What is with all the extortion with respect to high-tech?

OK, an advisory first:

This isn't going to be a straight FFXI post.  I'm including it here because I do not have another blog at this time, and also because I do think there are some things which are somewhat relevant to FFXI in this, but not as bad as the experiences I will outline below.

All I will say is that my friend is not that happy to begin with (and, if she doesn't get the UPS shipment with the bulk of her computer upgrade within a few hours, she's really going to get pissed -- oh, by the way, to UPS:  She knows the package is in our hometown.  Get it to her.  NOW.  She knows some of the crap you guys pull too, and this is sensitive stuff.  Get it to her in pristine condition, or else...)

Anyway, with that computer upgrade, she decided to take me shopping (because she also wanted to get me my Christmas and birthday presents (more on that in a bit)).  She decided to take the plunge and purchase a monitor-capable HDTV (her eventual goal being to hook both her computer and her PS2 to the HDTV -- otherwise, she'd simply have gotten a monitor, but she needs something larger because of her eyesight).

So, off to Worst Buy we went.  After picking out my birthday and Christmas presents, we got to the HDTV section, and my friend was very meticulous in picking out a potential set.  She knows what she's doing (she does her own computer building, and knows far more on that end than I do), and is very picky that, especially if it's going to be that superior to a standard setup, she wants her blacks to be black, not a washed-out gray like her original choice of brand turned out to be presented as on display.

So, she picks one out, takes it home, and finds it to be an utter -- piece -- of -- crap.

No, seriously.  She tries to hook it up, and basically has conceded that her OLD monitor is so much better that she's going to get older models and have the one she has refurbished.

What I seriously think they're trying to do is extortion:  To get any kind of a quality picture, the HDTV is basically only a piece of hardware which absolutely must be professionally installed with professional wiring, cabling, etc. -- that the stuff provided with the set isn't even worth being provided, but is just false wiring between points A and B.

This is unacceptable because the store basically is known, for the price level of the HDTV's which she was looking at, to charge the entire price of the TV for professional installation.  Seriously.  I saw a $350 TV that, if you wanted the pro installation, would run you ANOTHER $350!!

Without that, it's clear that they are selling you (and knowingly so) a piece of crap that's worth, essentially, nothing.  At minimum, you'd have to fork over another $200 or so for the wiring, and that's if you didn't need the labor...

Extortion.  Freaking extortion.

I don't know precisely what the problem was (my motto when she has serious stuff to do is to get out of the way), but let's just say that is going back as soon as UPS decides to get off it's asses and get my friend's computer upgrade (or most of it) to her.  As in NOW, people...

Of course, there's one other bugaboo:  There may be a 14% restocking fee on the unit when she does.  She's about one more problem with this kind of stuff from contacting consumer groups about this crap.  It really looks as if there was material mis-representation as to the nature of how these things work (in my read, that several hundred more dollars would have to be outlaid to get anything of the quality vis-a-vis what they show in-store), and the fact that the restocking fee might not even apply to these particular things in the first place, at least according to the receipt.

So that's got my friend agitated even beyond all this UPS crap.

As if that was the only problem we ran into that night...

I had decided to get a copy of GTA IV for the PC for my Christmas present (and, after I realized that the Ouran High School Host Club DVD volume 2 would not be out until later in the week, decided to get a Rumblepad 2 for my birthday -- Ouran v. 2 will have to wait until about Feb. 1.), and found the last copy out in the Worst Buy (was on sale at $10 off).

Took it home, installed it on the computer, and got a nasty surprise:

The game will NOT run at all on anything below a video card which is recognized to run DirectX 9.

But wait:  That wasn't really the surprise.

You see, I ran the DirectX diagnostic, and found that I was running DirectX 10.  (It may even be a requirement for Vista...)

I understand that I don't have all the spec-outs which might be required to make these new-fangled games work, but it really sounds to me as if that:  If you don't have several hundred dollars every six months to upgrade your computer (or your television) to the stuff the game manufacturers demand for the titles you want, you're not good enough for them.

I mean, let's go back to the television for a second with respect to a PS3.  I can forget about ever doing Final Fantasy XIII or beyond now.  Because it's not enough to get just the PS3.  All indications are that getting the PS3 pretty much demands a new HDTV, and I already lined out what that demands.

Is it that we are all supposed to die if we can't make a freaking six-figure income for you bastards??

You're essentially making an entry-level PS3 a $1000 investment!!!

And, with this crap, it sounds like Rockstar, which has no hesitation on it's Social Club to advertise certain video card companies, is going to demand that, unless you get the video card and audio card and the like that they are all but advertising (read:  that they choose to recognize as sufficient), then you are f*cked with respect to GTA IV.

Here's a hint, Rockstar:  That's extortion.  I can handle having a little less performance (which see a Besieged on my laptop).

What I can't handle is that basically you're telling people on desktops to spend hundreds of dollars they probably never intended to spend (nor do they have) on new cards, and people like me on laptops to spend thousands on a new gaming laptop.

No.  F*cking -- no.  I'm not going to buy a Fata1ity laptop just to satisfy your sorry asses.  Patch it so that some of us who like our gear and don't have the money to upgrade at this time do so.

Otherwise, you'll be called out on the extortion the same way the HDTV bastards are.

Another rough week...

Started out with such promise too... And my friend got the most wonderful Christmas present I can think imagineable -- and then her glasses broke and I had to talk her off the ledge again. *dammit -- can't the world just lay the fuck off my friend for several millenia now??? PLEASE??*

Well, not much play this week:

Both Dynamis days didn't go off. They did Dynamis-Beaucedine on Sunday, and Wednesday, everyone was nestled with visions of sugarplums.

Then, I get in league with a couple of dicks in Moblin Maze Mongers, and then promptly get my Dynamis LS leader killed in another maze. *dammit again*

At that point, I took a couple days off FF11 and played some FF12.

Now, some promy runs and a double Besieged tonight, and hopefully a lot of rest for a weary friend.

Not a good week, sadly...

And next week probably isn't going to be much better.  Jury Duty (though with a wireless connection -- FFXI at the courthouse??  :) ), Holiday Burnout (can someone please tell both me and my roommate when the holiday season is over?  Seriously, the way we're going, we might not make it!), and all the other stuff has kinda drowned out FFXI.

But, here's how the week went:

Sunday:  Part of Dynamis-Windurst.  Not a bad run -- not sure if they won or not, but had to leave before my friend's broadcast.  Promy animas were dead on the Auction House all week until they finally appeared to clean out today.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday:  Haven't had three so blah days in a long while.  First MMM run:  Bleh.  Basically cycled Fields of Valor-Xarcabard to 61 Dancer (and eventually 60 Dragoon).

Wednesday Dynamis:  People need to show up on time.  Period.  We're lucky we're not losing zones to RMT or something with how late we get.  Not enough DD = no chance at Bastok.  Sunday might just be an attendance day (and, if it isn't, it's probably Dynamis-Xarcabard anyway).  Probably taking a week off to get more people on the Dynamis LS.

Thursday:  Another online idiot sends my friend to the edge for the sixth time in three weeks (as if the Post Office isn't fucking around enough).  If this shit don't stop, someone is going to get f-ed up seriously.  And if these punks online want to take that as a threat from me, go right the fuck ahead.

I've had it.  I've had enough of watching this world get taken over by a bunch of fucking punks who would more likely punch a homeless man on a bench (and that's happened to me too!!) than help anybody.  It's all about being more bad-ass than anybody.

Straight outta Rikers, punks.  Straight outta Rikers.  You don't want none.  I've taken far worse than any of you.  And it's only by the grace of God I'm still here to help my friend.

There's a reason I call anything talking about my friend's experience (or mine) which bring us both to the breaking point "Those Who Fight Further".  It's getting there.  And, if they keep pushing, and I ever get into that space that I was in on Memorial Day of 2007 (don't ask), pray I still have something to lose, like I did then.

Friday:  Group of 5 runs at MMM.  I win 2 runes in my Lootbox.  Woo hoo...

Saturday:  A Besieged gets me close to 57 Red Mage.  Farming in the Promies.

Next week:  God only knows...

Well, at least the update went smoothly... (or did it??)

Before I begin...  (Warning:  There will be foul language in this post.)

I don't know who the rat-fuckers are at the local post office, but either this shit stops, or I'm looking for a new place to live.

About two weeks ago, I used one of my rewards programs to "purchase" a decent set of headphones for the computer I use.  (I have them on right now.)  But the package was clearly damaged (and marked as such) by the United States Postal Service en route.  Fortunately, the outer box was far too big for the actual shipment, and the headphones came OK.  The box that it was shipped in, however, looks like someone kicked it with a steel-toed boot.

But that's nothing compared to the crap my roommate has been through this month (and that's over and above the grieving the holiday season causes her).

First, as I remarked earlier in this blog, her check (when it clearly says on the envelope to send it on the third) came on the fourth, as if the postal dorks decided they wanted to send it whenever they damned well felt like it!

Then, there's a small matter of an order that my friend had sent from New York (it's not that important as to what it is, as she has had various other orders either damaged or basically outright destroyed by the USPS).  That order was scanned "Received" by the USPS on December the 10th.  (She got the shipping number when she contacted the company she ordered from.)

My friend has not received it, and probably will not receive it -- she is out over $60 on an order that she now has to replace.  All this while she's trying to save money to go to Puerto Rico in February!!!

Needless to say, too much more of this, and my roommate will have had it.  If that happens, I wish to go on public record to say that I will not be held responsible for what happens, because I don't even want to think about what's going to happen if my friend finally loses it for good.  I love my friend as a friend, but she can only be expected to take so God-damned much.  My friend only has a very small sliver of life left in her, and I don't want the rest to go now.  She still has that trip to take in February, which means everything to her right now.

Formal complaints have been filed with the post office (one for the package, several more for the attitudes of the people she's had to deal with!), but neither of us expects that to go very far.  My friend got word this morning that, with the company she orders from, apparently there have been quite the number of complaints similar to this with the shipping of these orders through the USPS, which has led us to but one conclusion:

We know that the USPS is laying off workers due to the economy.  We're beginning to get the very sick impression that the United States Postal Service is full of people who are stealing whatever they damned well feel like from people's mail, and damaging whatever they don't feel like stealing.  I'd suggest anyone shipping Christmas presents find another way to ship it, or track your packages very damned carefully.

(And now we both have to wonder what's going to happen with next month's checks for my friend...  If she doesn't go to Puerto Rico, for whatever reason, I'm done here, because she's done -- period.  This shit stops.)

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

Had to get that off my chest, because apparently the update didn't go so well...

I had actually begun this to actually say the update had gone smoothly.  It was not that large of an update, and Moblin Maze Mongers was in the game for about 2 1/2 hours.

The actual physical update of what they put in the game this morning went OK.

From there, complete cluster....

Basically, this is how it works:

-- You go to Lower Jeuno, to Muckvix' Junk Shop (some may know this as the location of the Gobbiebag expansion quests) and talk to the Moblin Goldagrik.  He will give you a rundamentary Tabula, a Maze Voucher, and two Runes.

You can only do one maze every 24 hours, real time.

-- You then use the Voucher on the Tabula to mark the Tabula.  At that point, you place runes on the Tabula to set up the parameters of the maze.

-- Once satisfied, you walk over to the Chocobo Stables (in Lower Jeuno), and trade the tabula to the shopfront.  At that point, you will be asked to confirm the tabula, and pay a construction fee (in my case, 100 gil).

-- At that point, request for entry is considered, and might take a while if a lot of people are trying it out.

-- Once inside, you have 30 minutes to set up and complete any and all objectives to win a treasure chest with XP, maybe some items, and Moblin Marbles (used to buy runes, Tabulae, music sets, what have you...).  You can talk to one Moblin to buy some support items (if you set the rune for _that_) and to set what music you will use in the maze.

-- Talking to the other Moblin there starts the maze itself, and, from there...

-- I died rather quickly, because Square Enix, though it says it wants to allow solo play in the mazes, doesn't want people to solo in this game, so everything in the maze was about five levels above what I sent in there (luckily, I changed my mind at the last moment and sent my level 18 Ninja rather than my level 58 Dragoon).

-- ... because you can and will lose XP in the maze if you die.

That was bad enough.  What made it worse was what I saw about 30 minutes afterward, after I Home Pointed, changed to Dragoon, and went to Fields of Valor-Xarcabard (again):

A system message.

Moblin Maze Mongers has been suspended due to technical difficulties.  See the Information for more details.

What the Hell is this???  You've had a year to get this ready, you've already delayed the release once.  It's clear this thing still appears buggy as all get-out.

I know we're impatient, but at least give us a timeline, for God's sake...

Sorry, been a long day already.  Hopefully Dynamis will go a little better tonight...

Some thoughts about FanFest...

First, a memo to the US Postal Service, Southern California Division:

When it clearly says on the envelope to deliver my roommate's check on the 3rd, that does not mean the check is sent to our post office at our zip code here at that point. It means it's in our box on the 3rd!!

Thank you for your consideration.

With that out of the way, some thoughts on the event Saturday:

-- First, I will be making a post of my thoughts on FanFest, and keeping up with the different blogs as the event goes along (at least minus a break for my roommate to do an event online mid-afternoon). All of the FFXI Premiere Sites probably will have live blogs on the event, but you can also come here to see what I think, should you care. (Of course, this might not be a continuous update if the TaruTaru Online stuff ends up making a new post for every update I make. That would *not* be pretty.)

-- Second, someone still has to try to explain to me why tickets literally sold out within 12 hours (if not within about 3) for this year's show, and I could still walk up and get a ticket for last year the night before. (Not everyone who was there in line to do that could, mind you, but I had waited about two hours in line to do it, plus the length of time it took them to get through us.) If the new venue in Hollywood is _that much_ smaller, then tell us. I'm not saying Square Enix is pulling one on us, but it's just odd.

-- And now, my predictions for the event. (I'd call them some particular name I heard on the radio, but Mike and Mike would send Golic to squish me. :) )

1) There will be, right away, one BIG announcement that everyone will have waited a long time for (not counting anything already said at VanaFest in Japan). Last year, it was Windowed Mode. (And if you don't believe me, download the Day 1 Limit Breaking News from Limit Break Radio's coverage of last year's event -- iTunes would probably be best, but I'm sure it can also be found at limitbreakradio.com. Listen for the ovation when it becomes clear exactly what they had put in the "Live Vana'diel" section of their official site on the screen in front.) I think this would have to be even bigger than the new avatar_s_ they promised us. Exactly what? I don't have that much of a clue as of writing, but I'm sure that it would be something very obvious.

2) About the new avatar_s_: Either we'll see at least one of them in the December update (which _should be_ next Monday or so), or else someone's going to ask pointedly at this year's dev panel and the like.

3) I would expect the Special Task Force, as I said before, to take a much more active role -- I would expect a first set of announcements as to how, exactly, they might wish to combat the Salvage exploits of the last several months, the RMT POL message spam, and other problems under their purview.

4) Dancer Lvl 2 Merits? Probably increasing the amount of healing done by waltzes or the intensity of effects of Sambas or something to that effect.

If I come up with any more, I'll edit this post. I'm sure I'll come up with more Predictions Sure to...

*Mike Golic runs into the room to squish me!*

See you later!! *runs*

Last night was my last night on Asura.

Game over, Asura. Game – over.

After another Besieged loss, some introspection, and a check on my December finances. I finally made the move.

Here's the account of my last material night on Asura.

We were about to go into a double-header Besieged. Maximum force level (a rarity for Asura, the last four months), Undead first, then Trolls.

About ten minutes before the Besieged, real life takes precedence. My friend and roommate (who is about on her last nerve with the entire planet, and no blame to her for it – with three people dead due to Black Friday, frenemies thinking they (or the NFL – I'm a sports fan, but sick of the corruption garbage) are more important than her grief over the loss of the one person who has loved her in the last number of years, and all that crap which has been imposed on her this year...) basically was being undercut and harassed by people in a simulated club that she is the assistant manager of over the last several weeks. She cares about this very deeply and works very hard there. And when she gets angry, she's worse than me, and not only is that saying something, but I don't want to see her like that. So she gets precedence over even a FFXI Besieged at that point.

Friday's event, she had been harassed, to the detriment of the entire club, by an idiot who basically thought it nice to basically (in pro wrestling terms) “go into business for himself”. He's more important than anyone else, and no one is taking the ultimate actions to get rid of this bastard. Basically, it's either people like that, or her. She can't take this anymore.

What does this have to do with Final Fantasy XI, Besieged, and Asura?

The same damn stuff happens there too.

Once I get my friend settled down enough that I can rejoin the game full-time, the Undead Besieged has been going for about 20 minutes. And, sure enough, party requests and all this garbage are going full-tilt. And my blacklist is filling quickly – I must've put 12 people on there tonight.

I'm also keeping the people abreast, in shouts, of the status of the generals. About 20 minutes after I rejoined, even with Wizard's Drink and a Convert, I run out of MP and rest just as I had told the people that Mihli was 100% health.

2 minutes later, Mihli falls.

15 seconds after that, Zazarg follows her.

Basically, at this point, people are STILL trying to recruit for parties, and the whole thing just begins to degenerate. Especially after about 3-5 minutes, Najelith bites the dust. It is now apparent that the Undead who can even one-shot the Serpent Generals themselves are doing so!

I shout to try to find out the last general's location (Rughadjeen), but, before I can buff up and run there, he's gone too.

Hall of Binding opens, and it's a tense 15 minutes to keep the lamiae and the like from taking the Astral Candescence. Basically, Lamiae #2 and 3 basically are having their way with us, but none of the Undead basically have the idea to just turn around, grab the Astral Candescence, and win the Besieged.

People were basically still trying to zerg (overwhelm) the damn Nemean Lion while the Hall of Binding was open. It was clear that a host of players didn't give two damns about keeping the Astral Candescence, and I let them have it for it.

We actually do “win” that Besieged, if you can call that winning – they did retreat.

Problem is: 2nd half of the doubleheader, Trolls. No generals left, Hall of Binding open, we are toast.

Finally, when it became clear we were completely toast, I lost it and basically asked how many of these players had basically cheated their way to all their Salvage gear.

15 minutes after the Trolls entered, they had the Astral Candescence, for the 49th loss of Besieged for Asura, the most (or 2nd most, depending on updates) of any server.

And the venom was flying. I got several very inflammatory tells from one player, and told him, less than politely, to go screw himself as a sanctimonious... Got a couple players to support me raising Hell, but I had finally had enough.

Well, anyway... At that point, I had to leave for some other real-life issues... But this is all the same thing. Everyone's into business for themselves – no regard, of any kind, for the greater good. Whether it's the simulated club my friend busts her ass for, the Wal-Mart where shoppers murdered this 34 year-old overnight stocker because they just had to have their fucking TV for $40 or whatever..., or this server's Besieged “tactics”, it's clear this is not an uncommon thing. I know I'm not perfect, but, for the dear love of God, at least try!!!

After I logged off, I had some time to think. Wait a minute... If my check gets direct-deposited today... At that point, I ran the numbers, and realized that all I had to do was wait for the check to get direct-deposited, and do some research on the World Transfer Service.

The only reason I had stayed on Asura this long was that I could not afford, because of tight funds, to leave. This month, I finally had enough wiggle to do it.

So... As of a little after 4 AM Pacific Daylight Time this Saturday, November 29, 2008 – I am no longer Starcade on Asura – I'm Starcade on Leviathan.

We'll see how it goes. I hope it goes well.