Long Rant I: Shit, RMT won.

I have two long rants to type tonight, and neither of them are particularly pleasant.

The first concerns something that Cuddleslave has been keeping an eye on for me since my expulsion from FFXI:

RMT has won.

There is no polite way to say it other than this: RMT will dictate the future of online gaming, in that whatever future online gaming has, RMT will either control it or be on board with it.

I point to three very disparate sources to indicate how far this has gone in the last several years (the first two sent to me by Cuddleslave), and to indicate the level of disgust I have with online gaming in general.

First, a recent survey (crossposted to RMT-friendly FFXIAH.com) indicates that about a third of all gamers have spent real money on virtual content from another gamer or from a third-party site. About half of the same survey bought virtual currency as well, though this might include currencies for supposedly “free-to-play” games that you will suck at until you pay (and through the nose!!) for any real content (such as Farmville, Pangya, etc. and so forth and so on!).

In most cases other than the F2P's, this appears to be blatantly illegal conduct on both parties (since FFXI has supposedly banned the practice, I even have called for criminal actions on both buyer and seller on the charges of theft, under California laws). The problem has become that such a significant number of people have decided that buying currency, items, or characters is the only way to go that gaming companies are left to effectively subjugate whatever ownership rights they would otherwise claim to their content – since many of these are foreign entities (and, it appears, at least several appear to have ties to the Chinese government!!) or actually enforcing their rules would mean the end of their game.

(Evidence for the latter: Square-Enix never revealed the number of characters in Final Fantasy XI on the 2011 Vana'diel Census. If the number of servers being cut to about 1/3 of what they were the last Census is any indication, my guess is probably somewhere in the 500-750K range, rather than the 2M+ they claimed (*cough*halfofwhichwasRMT*cough*) in the last Census.)

But, as one person (Hevans from Ragnarok) put it in the FFXIAH.com forum:

“think you kind of answered your own question. the "pay to play" format is changing to "pay to play well".”

Basically, you pay for the product, then you (in subscription models) pay your subscription.

Then you abjectly HAVE TO pay to stay up to date (Great example: You are not even playing FFXI anymore if you do not play Abyssea. Whatever you are playing, it's not FFXI.).

And now, legally or otherwise, to the game company or to some illegal shady piece-of-shit operation in China, you basically have to pay to advance your character to a reasonable pace, especially if the concept of low-level play is essentially obsolete (which see: FFXI!).

So you cannot afford to play FFXI without being up to date on the expansions, security token for the satchel, and then probably more money to illegal outfits to ensure that you can get your character to where the game even begins (which is level 90 and about to be 95 the next major update!).

That makes me sick.

Why? Because basically it becomes about to the ilk of professional/high-level Magic the Gathering. Without a network of players or a lot of money, you – are – FUCKED. No polite way to put it.

(So much so that one person actually responded on the official forums to a player considering returning that he should only return if he has people to play with. A solo player has no business returning to FFXI.)

And this plays right into the little thuglets like BG and God knows what else. They know they have you by the balls, because they know that if you try to play fairly, then the social impact of the playerbase will effectively exclude you from any meaningful play, because you will never reach the point where they will accept you. So then, you either have to accept being inferior and suck dick for everything you can get (pay for ??? opportunities, etc. and so forth), or not be a part of the game at all!

I don't trust these fuckers. I'll get more into that in the second rant. But how am I supposed to play with a bunch of shitheads who basically walk around like they own the place? (Small spoiler of the second rant: … because it's that they effectively DO own the place!!!)

And how am I expected to uphold the rules if it's clear that the rules only have meaning to allow the players who are such arrogant little fucks to do this? It's almost as if Square-Enix themselves sponsors BG and it's players!

But back to RMT: What this has done is it legalizes it AND abrogates the black-letter law of the land in Vana'diel: That Square-Enix would own everything and you would have no rights to subvert that ownership.

If you're playing under the concept that Square-Enix owns everything and that the rules mean something, you are being defrauded and you have no recourse against Square-Enix whatsoever. (See the Spygate lawsuit and the Leong lawsuit, mentioned earlier in this blog.)

RMT buys you gil, some think it buys you time, but it buys you probably the most important thing that you can have in a social MMO: Status. Because you can basically build a character that people are going to want to play with a lot faster through these manipulations rather than doing the work for yourself. And an increasing part of the game does not give two rat's asses about actually knowing how to play: Which see the number of characters who either have every job at level 90 or every job they could conceptually ever need as such (thanks to Abyssea).

And hence, it impacts every player in the game – whether or not they take advantage of this!

The second thing Cuddleslave showed me was a thread on the Japanese official FFXI forums where some people have finally summarily had enough and are going to (if I read the rough Google translations correctly) out RMT players.

Understanding that the greater number of prevalent players use illegal content and RMT, they decided to go vigilante on them and begin to report them.

I hate to state this this openly: You're about five fucking years too late, Japan!!

If I heard it once while I was playing, I heard it a thousand times: Without illegal content and RMT, there is no FFXI. And it appears as if Square-Enix has seen fit to agree with this stance, saying one thing publicly and then doing quite another!

One of the classic moments of Vanafest 2009 was when Sage Sundi, in his Japanese Special Task Force report, did a “Star Wars” style scroll of literally hundreds and thousands of names of accounts who were banned.

Though “naming shame” is one of the greatest penalties Japanese culture can give, it hasn't slowed the RMT processes, which makes me wonder why vigilante justice like this wasn't implemented five years ago!

Some comments, from the rough translations:

Micktlll:

“There, the words "incompetent management is unable to satisfy even the collective enforcement of contract violations". Hence, "there are many in the game that the offender has been left unchecked and without disposition" means what? This "authorized" but many users are very much a travesty, and this "has been allowed by a tacit" It is quite irresponsible and attitudes and conventions that.”

What I think he was trying to say is that, through the repeat offenders and complete lack of enforcement of illegal content to “gain advantage and annoy players in doing so” was the result of incompetent management which cannot enforce the rules of any kind. This leaves many players able to commit these acts without penalty, effectively nullifying the ToS.

If that's what is saying, he's right and that's what I've been saying for years. The problem is, there are enough people who do this that, if they were successfully banned, the standing opinion is that FFXI would be forced to shut down.

Well, it is quite irresponsible, then, in both attitude and convention, for Square-Enix to continue FFXI under those conditions!

In a later post, Micktlll continues, in rough translation:

“If you're going out of the question. Meaning if it were not for the user to provide the terms and conditions.”

And this is where the concept of fraud enters play, because the playerbase has subjugated that, and stated openly that there would be no FFXI otherwise!! In their eyes, they believe they have the right to not only dictate what the laws are for their play, but also who gets to play what, where, and under what conditions.

Frankly, they own your FFXI experience.

Basically, Micktlll claims that the situation has been made a double-contract: One set of rules for one set of players, another for another. Almost like the World of Warcraft situation where players sponsored by gaming websites are subject to no rules whatsoever as long as Blizzard is being paid by said sites.

Probability that is going on in FFXI: 99+%.

Zetsurin of Bismarck apparently has told Micktlll the same argument we've heard on the English side a bazillion times. That Square-Enix made such a flawed game that the players have the right to shit all over the rules:

(rough translation)

“Hey, it'll Antalya, is set like a trick to the game, I had not been made out in the manual it?
After those operations that can not be perceived by the terms such violations, even in the game affect the way I heard no. There is no responsibility in the operation. This game does not even claim to have sold a healthy item is absent at all the user tools. So you brought the law does not apply. Was sorry (laughs).”

Basically, this person (I'll reserve calling him a shithead until I am clear that this is what he has said, but if he has said it, he's a cheating shithead who needs a beatdown!) says that the game cannot be feasibly played without Windower and illegal tools.

If that is what you said: Fuck you. You disgrace your family.

If it's not, then ignore what I just said.

Part Three: Diablo III and the RMT Auction House

But, as I said at the first of this long rant, it appears that not only has RMT won the day, but that it appears that RMT will control the future of online gaming.

This is true not only through the prevalence of purchased materials, but now has gone in to the creation of one of the new online mega-games: The Diablo III Auction House, which is going to have not only an in-game currency side, but an RMT side as well.

Also, as part of “quality control” (*cough**hack* PLEASE!!!!), the game can only be played as an online entity.

I'll tell you right now. I'll give it three months, and one of two things is going to happen to Diablo III:

Either:

• The entire RMT model will completely fail, and might well take Diablo III with it!!

• or anyone who basically plays Diablo III with any degree of seriousness will be forced to take part in RMT, and probably be playing the game with the sole purpose of making real-life money from it!

Basically, RMT will determine the success or failure of Diablo III. Even as long-awaited as Diablo III has been, Blizzard has come to the conclusion (and they will pay for it badly, at some point, probably through some degree of legal liability due to hackers and account compromisation!) that the number of people buying the game is not enough. They will need a constant revenue stream to keep the game going, and the only real way to do that? R – M – T.

You are going to have a bunch of little thuglet shitheads basically running all over the place to ruin everyone else's experience – and get paid to do so!!

It's bad enough when the money to do it (like some of the BG RMT shitheads) is illegal and under-the-table. It's a thousand times worse when not only is it brought above table, but it may well be the means by which Blizzard survives doing Diablo III into the long term!

This is a horrific idea, and yet you know that there are going to be people, in this real-life economy, with fewer and fewer options but to get into this kind of stuff.

And that's going to cost Blizzard dearly. Will I at least get Diablo III? Am I going to be around that long for when Blizzard finally releases the game?? Hell, I'm not sure I'm going to make Final Fantasy XIII-2 next January!

And part of that is the next long rant I'm going to do: The whole concept of what we've become as a culture, especially online: What's Yours is Mine!

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.)

Ides of March IV

Some corrections and thoughts as we head into the sixth day without FFXI:

On my Twitter, I noted a forum post which reported that Square-Enix had donated 100,000,000 yen to the relief effort.

This number was correct. My math, of the current exchange rate, was not. I added a zero to the dollar conversion. The number (at 80 yen/$) is $1,250,000 -- the rate is fluctuating wildly, as a massive "prop up the dollar" motif has pumped several yen per dollar back into the rate since.

Second, about four hours ago this morning, Square-Enix announced that the games were going to be down at least two additional days, with the next update probably coming on Tuesday, March 22.

Don't hold your breath: A supposed localization person with Square-Enix who works on and plays FFXI reported the following on his Twitter... YMMV:

feyuey its chaotic around the office....i'll provide updates when i can...but i don't expect anything until mid april or later....#ffxi #ffxiv

Third (and related to the second): A respectful disagreement (though a strong one) with Aneiro. Yesterday, he and his cohorts put together a quick-turnaround Limit Breaking News 19 (which is now at the top of the website -- but may not be for long. With no XI or XIV, LBR is trying to get content out quickly, so the second half of the GFFD may be out soon.)

After about 10-15 minutes on the Japan situation and the suspension of the games, they went in to some of the reported changes in the now-May version update. None of that, except for my feelings on how bad Dynamis is about to get cockblocked, is a disagreement.

My disagreement comes right at the end of the show, and I'm probably one of the people Aneiro is talking about.

Disclaimer: Nothing I say here is to indicate that the servers being put back up as soon as humanly and humanitarily possible is not the intention and desire of Square-Enix.

However, I cannot, at this time, agree with Aneiro with the clarity and strength he states it that the servers are, categorically, going to return.

Why?

Because I think we are all (both here and in Japan) getting bullshitted on the severity of the nuclear and electric situation in Japan to a serious level.

I question not that Aneiro has received news that is far more optimistic than anything I've read (my jaw dropped at the apparent inconsistencies with some of his reports and some of mine -- and I've been everywhere from BBC World Service to Reuters to various blogs and message boards that I can stomach).

What I've been reading (and this is now from Yahoo! this morning) indicates that they are going to have to entomb Fukushima Daiichi, Chernobyl-style. This appears to indicate that the reports of a full containment rupture appear to be true, and that not only is the plant dead, but the chances are that it will, at best without rather immediate action (if it isn't doing so already), go China Syndrome.

My understanding is that the Fukushima plants provided a double-digit percentage of all of Japan's power. There is now talk that it could be weeks to months before the daily battles to prevent an apocalyptic meltdown which could take out a large swath of land near the plant end.

Some of the statements made by the Japanese press indicate that they are on to that the government is trying to tap-dance around the severity of the situation. Even with the honorable nature of most Japanese culture, it is clear that nerves are fraying. Japan finally raised their belief on the damage on a seven-point scale of nuclear disasters to a Level 5, though most people believe it's been a Level 6 (only surpassed by Chernobyl) for most of the last week! Many reporters are very out of character in their blasting of the present situation.

Here's the thing: The power conservation efforts which have required the game shutdown are going to go on for quite a while, I am sure. I am almost certain that, even if the game is brought up, it will no longer be a 24-7 operation.

This doesn't have to go on forever for Square-Enix to be forced to permanently terminate FFXI and (ESPECIALLY) FFXIV (which is still, for all material purpose, in a gamma test situation).

The Square-Enix MMO division is not in very good shape before the earthquake took place. Now, they are not going to be able to get revenue for not only the entire outage, but probably (as a goodwill gesture to the players) one entire billing period thereafter.

The question that everyone who wishes to take a position on whether the servers will return is the following: Can the power situation be restored feasibly before the servers are down for such a period of time that it is no longer worth it for Square-Enix to restore them?

I'm not as sure as Aneiro is.

The Ides of March Part III

Today, I hope the "LET'S GET THE SERVERS BACK UP!" idiots got a nice dose of reality, on two fronts.

#1, it now absolutely appears that Fukushima #1 appears not only to be a total loss, but headed to catastrophic meltdown. I know there will be people who will throw their hands up at what probably will be an apocalyptic hypothesis for Japan, but the continuing rising of levels to the point that the workers can't even work there, the remaining (and hugely brave -- and almost certainly dead) last fifty people working to try to prevent an absolute meltdown at the plant.

Aftershocks continue, to complicate things even further.

As many have said, one has to wonder what Japan did to piss the deities off.

#2, we actually got a rather surprising announcement from the Dev Team at Square-Enix early this morning.

Quoting from the Dev Tracker Square-Enix provides on the official forums:

Rolling blackouts and restrictions on public transportation have been implemented across eastern Japan as part of the earthquake and tsunami disaster relief effort. Consequently, we have chosen to delay the upcoming major version update initially planned for mid-April.

While the new release date has been provisionally revised to May, we are unable to provide a detailed schedule at this point in time. The previously announced world merger will likewise be postponed.

We would like to express our apologies to our players, and will do our utmost to keep you abreast of the latest developments. Thank you for your continued understanding in this difficult time.

Put straight:

We were about a month out from the version update when the Earthquake hit. Please remember that this probably involved testing the new features, etc. -- and the testing is done on one of the servers (which they obviously had to shut down the test server, Atomos, as well).

More and more, it appears that any restart will probably coincide with May's ninth anniversary event, if at all.

This probably means you can forget about FFXI for at least the rest of the month of March, and, depending on the timetable (and circumstances in Japan), probably a degree of April as well.

We are probably now looking at at least a 2-6 week delay in FFXI/FFXIV services, and restarting them at all starting becoming less and less of a chance pretty quickly as the time begins to recede to and past that 6-week threshold.

In closing, and to give you an idea of perspective on the situation, I turn you to one of the people whom I have had strong disagreements with:

Limit Break Radio's Aneiro was working on post-production on the first half of "The Great Final Fantasy Debate" (which I listened to live) when the announcement of the servers going down hit.

So, even tired and losing his voice, he felt the need to append to the beginning a very prescient and poignant three and a half minutes that I think you all need to listen to.

Even if you don't get the (very hilarious - with all the barbs and the like) first part of the GFFD, go to LimitBreakRadio.com and click on the player and listen, at the least, to the first three and a half minutes. Over "Distant Worlds", he gives some badly needed perspective here, especially to the trolls and jackalopes who feel the need to make demands of a badly crippled company and nation (Japan) at this point.

When I put a "Pray for Japan" tag on these posts, I kid not.

The Ides of March I

OK, I thought I was never going to use this blog again.

No, not because TTTO removed me (and rightfully so!), but just because I really felt that I would not be able to have a feasible discussion on the merits of FFXI without possible criminal repercussions.

The reason I'm doing this first post is to kind of get out in some degree of public (through the Twitter and the like) some of my feelings on the earthquake, the damage, and the effect on Japan and on the future of FFXI...

... if there is one.

I know people don't like hearing that. For God's sake, I've already seen people flame me for it.

Simply put, you aren't getting my agreement on this one.

I know what some say to try to downplay this situation.

This is a situation which cannot be downplayed. Period. End of story.

And anyone (and there have been many) who have said "Pearl Harbor! USA! I'm an American patriot!!" are fucking scum and deserve to have the crap kicked out of them.

And yes, that was actually done by some jackass who vandalized the Wikipedia page reporting on the quake.

There are several towns near Sendai that are GONE. Finito. Kaput. Gone.

Don't believe me? Watch the video. There's a chilling Australian comparison on their Australian Broadcasting Network site of "before and after" pictures, with entire towns (or major parts thereof) just -- plain -- wiped -- off -- the -- fucking -- map.

To all of you insensitive American-gamer (and not all American gamers have come out and said this -- but the predominance of the "GET THE SERVERS BACK UP!! BLARGH!!" jackalopes have been US-based) types who think only of yourselves (and, as I expected, this was far more than just in-game content, as I said repeatedly here), a fucking reality check:

1) The quake was so powerful, the entire main island of Japan is now eight feet closer to the United States.

2) The quake was so powerful, the Earth's axis has been moved by four inches, speeding the rotation of the Earth by a measurable amount (nothing you'll notice, but a measurable amount nonetheless).

3) There is a significant portion of the coastline near the epicenter which the Pacific Ocean has now taken. The coastline by Sendai has been changed.

And please note: In none of this have I said about the real issue which could be terminal for literally hundreds of thousands over there...

We've got a nuclear power plant, the Fukushima if I'm spelling that correctly (and the #1 plant within there), which is almost certainly going to completely melt down at least a couple of the damaged reactors.

Japan greatly relies, because of its lack of natural resources, on nuclear power. Over and above the radiation danger to the Japanese (especially near Tokyo, if the winds head that direction, as they had in the last couple of days before a front came through and started sending the air over Sendai to the Pacific), the fact is that the infrastructure is first-degree FUCKED.

Who knows if they will ever be able to regain enough integrity in that or other plants downed by the quake to get sufficient power to the Japanese before a humanitarian nightmare hits the table (even worse so than now!). The Japanese are a proud people, yes...

And that is to say nothing of what happens if -- and I truly, watching the news and catching up on everything, believe it's a matter of WHEN -- Fukushima #1 goes ka-blooey.

And yet we've got a bunch of little fucking children (no surprise on XI) wondering why the game has to go down and demanding Square-Enix restore the servers.

I wish to say publicly:

I stand in full support of Square-Enix' decision to terminate play, as a statement of the social responsibility it has to the people of Japan to conserve energy in this terrible crisis. Anyone who disagrees with that is an idiot.

Point One: As of about 10 AM their time Wednesday, the fifth day after the 9.0 quake (and they are still getting 6.0+ aftershocks all around where the mega-thrust occurred), 2 million are without power, a half a million are in shelters, and the temperatures are about zero degrees Celsius -- freezing.

THIS GAME IS NOT GETTING BACK UP IN A WEEK FROM THE TERMINATION. It would be irresponsible (and that's saying a lot more in Japan than it would in the U$A -- an example of that in my second post) for Square-Enix to do so.

Point Two: If what is happening at Fukushima #1 is as bad (or, given the veil of some silence over this, much worse) than what is feared, that plant is going thermonuke, and a large portion of that area is about to become uninhabitable.

And then you get the radiation, and is Japan going to be able to ever physically recover from this?

Point Three: There are rolling blackouts (which is probably what forced Square-Enix' hand -- it was stunning to me (though I must admit a small short-sightedness) in that I didn't realize what kind of miracle it was that we got 48 hours of the game before Square-Enix declared stoppage) in most, if not all, of Japan!

Initial word (and this is probably without nearly the information on the devastation we have now) was trickling out that the probable timeframe of the blackouts might be the end of NEXT month!

How would you like a reopening to coincide with the ninth anniversary of the game??

This is why I actually put "The End" as one of my tags to this. I used to put that out for times that I was being warned (or being GMed) for my own conduct -- but this is different.

If it starts getting past the first of May or so, how much longer could Square-Enix go and feasibly restart XI (or especially XIV, which is still effectively in gamma test) at all?

My honest opinion: That quake might've finished Square-Enix' MMO division. We won't know until we get a decent idea of how much they can rebuild in a short period of time.

But see above -- this is a resource-poor nation which has relied on nuclear power to sustain a population of 130,000,000 or so on islands which total about the size of my home state of California!

So any fucking jackass who's more concerned about his six level-90 jobs or his initial work on a Gungnir or what AF3 +1 he still needs just needs to JUST SHUT UP.

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

Rant over -- on this.

So, what can be done?

I know I'm not the richest person in the world -- I scrimp and struggle to eat, keep a roof over my head, and occasionally be able to provide people with peace and quiet and me some R&R by going places from time to time.

But the humanitarian efforts need money. So

Yahoo! has a page of "where to donate" efforts going up.

Being an anime and gaming fan (especially of streaming marathons), a number of events have already been put into motion:

1. Stephanie Sheh is putting together a We Heart Japan event to raise funds on Thursday, March 17, at Meltdown Comics on Sunset Blvd. in Los Angeles. Screenings, an art auction, and a number of autograph signings are scheduled.
2. The One Piece podcast, through Global Giving, is doing a 24-hour anime industry podcast to help raise $25,000 for relief efforts, as "Anime Fans Give Back to Japan". For Facebookers, there is a donation-matching program for up to $5,000 in donations -- see the podcast site for details and some of the guests scheduled. The marathon is scheduled for 6 PM EDT this Saturday night (the 19th) through the same time on Sunday (the 20th).
3. A smaller scale anime/manga blogger event can be found here -- Anime and Manga Bloggers for Japan. Every dollar helps. Doctors Without Borders and Shelterbox get that money.
   
4. As a measure of how much we have to set our differences aside, the official Anime Expo podcast, AX Live, is doing an extended podcast Thursday night (possibly from the above event?) to raise funds.
5. Anime conventions, probably throughout this anime season, are going to be doing fundraisers. Check your local anime convention.
6. The Australian IGN crew is doing a 24-hour gaming stream for fundraising, focussing on 24 Japanese video games which have touched us. Their stream will start at 3 PM PDT on Thrusday for 24 hours. The Australian Red Cross relief efforts are the beneficiaries here.

Yes, I got all that from Anime News Network -- they don't like it, they can kiss my entire rotund behind.

Anyhoo, I have another post I want to do on a different subject -- a word of warning to any FFXI people on several different ISPs. You may want to very quickly relocate.

Beware the Ides of March indeed. Part II to come.

ON EDIT: They just evacuated the workers from Fukushima #1. The radiation has become too much for them to even do minimal efforts. Pray for Japan. It's about to get ugly, at least by current view.

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.

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.

Let's see if this shithead Veratos on Leviathan has any guts...

Might finally be getting at least a temp banhammer today...

Went off on a shithead on Leviathan who seems to want to make Campaign into their own private little playground.

About 7:45 AM PDT or so, I'm in Bastok Markets, in battle (because the jackalopes can't be bothered to actually keep any of the other zones -- all of which we held just two weeks ago (see previous blog gripe)). We're down to basically Di'Dha Adamantfist, or however it's spelled.

So, what happens?? We start getting players running around to deliberately extend the battle, either kiting the big guy or just moving enough to send most players behind it into Diamond Shell Hit-For-0 mode.

So, I tell them to cut it out -- then I call them the assholes they are.

Then this shithead Veratos wants to start on me -- same goddamn idiocy as the Asura Disease on Besieged. He gets both barrels, and says he's going to report me. I /tell him I've already been warned on this kind of stuff, so the next one is probably at least a temp ban.

And, you know what, if Square-Enix wants to let these little shithead jackalopes continue to run over their game, they better ban me from FFXI before I decide to take this well beyond the keyboard.

I said last month, when I got my official warning, that I will NOT respect these players. If Square-Enix wants to see that and decide that they want their money to finance FFXIV more than a respectable game, THEN THEY DO NOT WANT ME ON FFXI -- EVER. I will not respect this player-base. I refuse to. Categorically.

And they certainly will not want me on FFXIV...

You see, it's this simple: My very presence on this game, to them, is (though funny) abusive to them and their goals for FFXI. And I will not stop until banned, period.

Being banned will establish that Square-Enix has no desire to actually make a fair or equitable game, and that will be exposed to outside media.

I mean, is there any secret why the TTTO has been littered, in recent months, with high-profile players departing the game, simply because it's no longer worth it to continue??

I mean, listen to this missive from BluGartr, if you need to know the attitudes which piss me off and make this game essentially unplayable (with a might Fuck You to Fenux):

Just pull mobs far away and solo them. You get more EXP that way and it doesn't really matter is beastmen win or not. Problem is FFXI players are stupid as fuck and campaign is where you interact with them the most. It's probably one of the only events where you do something in mass quantity that doesn't require an LS. That's why everyone's gimp. And we fucking love it.

Again, Fuck You Fenux.

Again, these events are supposed to be cooperative events. But people like you and Veratos have no expectation of such and no real regard for whether the whole WotG side of affairs fails.

I can't play in that environment. That reminds me of the guy who I physically shoved many years ago in an arcade because he just had to put in token after token just so he could beat me.

Oh, he got beat, all right...

I mean, I fully understand why SE is ripping as many resources from XI as quickly as they can to get XIV up to replace it: Most of the American players don't give a shit except for their own entertainment.

But I, unlike most, will not go quietly. If they want that kind of environment, they need me banned -- to-day.

To that end:

Well, it's been an hour and a half, and not even a note from a GM. I'm waiting, asshole....

The first step toward being banned has now been taken...

Oh, you didn't like that, so you GMed me on the 19th, eh??

Yeah, I got the warning (but only a warning) -- abusive language (though was that to the other players or the GM that I finally vented off on the zillionth RMT tell that I received), and GM Pieschti got an earful!!!

Let me warn YOU, Square-Enix:

You will have to ban me from FFXI, eventually. It's that good and goddamned simple. In fact, as I've said before, you probably should've done it already.

I WILL NOT RESPECT PLAYERS WHO DECIDE THEY WANT TO RUN OVER THIS DAMN GAME.

You are asking me to give more than I know they are worth, between the RMT scum who should be taken to prison and the shitheads who basically have run over this game.

If you have a problem with that, you have the same problem with me that Chairtwo does.

What, you only want my $12.95 a month? Is that all you want from me, and you are, in no way, obligated to clean up this game??

If I'm only $12.95 a month to you, guys, then end it now and be done with it.

And then be prepared to be embarrassed publicly. I'll expose this game as the fraud it is.