loldiscoball

I hate stupid people

2007-05-01T04:02:14Z

What is the fascination with Paladins in the 60s and wearing Haubergeon/Byrnie + all sorts of attack gear, and then SUCKING MASSIVELY?

I've had a couple like this in the past few days, but one tonight took the cake.

JP, Rank 10, Reytora (Raytora? One of the two). Haubergeon, all sorts of +attack gear, not a single piece on him that added to vit/hp/def without coincidentally also adding +attack.

The result? Still the lowest damage dealt in the group, and still with a margin of 500+ between him and the person in second to last. And he took more damage than our Dark Knight.

Now, as a Bard, I usually minuet + madrigal, in that order, which means the Paladin, due to the nature of the way songs work, is going to have minuet overwritten with ballad. Which is usually fine - most hate comes from cures, flash, job abilities, etc, with a WS every now and then. Now, the first two are dependent on mana, which is where Ballad comes in. The last just requires doing more than 0 damage and hitting the mob. Now, while paladin damage may be bad before they get to 75 and start killing T-VT en masse, its still more than 0. And if a Paladin is using +def food (This one was using mithkabobs), their acc is going to be lower than regular, so madrigal usually works fine.

Unless, of course, you've decided your paladin is a damage dealer pre-75, and the only reason you're subbing WAR instead of NIN is because you won't get any invites otherwise. Then, if at ANY point in time you have Minuet + Madrigal, instead of Minuet + Ballad, no matter if it's because you're an idiot and ran in range while I was recasting madrigal on the rest of the melee , you must proceed to spam party chat with {Minuet}{Ballad}{Please}, and then when you do not instantly have Ballad within 2 seconds later, start sending me tells with the same content.

If at any point in time any other party member has gained hate because you leak health and hate like a busted faucet, your mana must NOT be used for curing them. This is valuable health regeneration that could be used for you! Flash is, as well, just another useless tool that detracts from your personal cure supply.

Provoke is optional. You certainly don't want to do it after your puller has brought something into camp, be it me with Elegy, or anyone else, for that matter. Letting the mob that attacks REALLY SLOW hit the puller 4 times on average is a great way for things to go. And then, when someone else in the party has drawn hate, it's still not cool to provoke - you might get hit, after all! So wait until it's down to about 80% before even thinking about hitting the voke button.

And when the DRK has JUST LEVELED and not yet learned Spinning Slash, you should yell at him for using Crescent Moon, since, you know, it's not Spinning Slash. {Crescent Moon} {No Thanks} {Spinning Slash} {Can I have it?} does not make him skillup faster, either.

Next off, after being asked to provoke with a {Paladin} {Provoke} {Please} {Bard} {Shield} {No Thanks!}, it is customary to stand there and wait for a mob to pulled, and then disband and warp without warning. It's OK, your Bard will of course keep the mobs babysat while the WHM teleports the other players out.

{/blacklist} {You can have this}

Also: C'mon people, Heraldic Imps are going the way of the dodo. When there is only one unclaimed imp in the entire mire, it isn't that hard to avoid it, even if it is true sight. Have some patience, wait for it to turn the other way, and then run past. Unless you have a distance plugin and know the aggro range, you're just asking for trouble running in front of the thing.

Computer bluescreened, and I have no desire at all to turn it back on and log back in. Gogo net gain of -200 exp in a night!

My week in pictures.

2007-04-23T07:58:40Z

Over the past 7 days, you may have noticed I've spent a lot of time in SSG.

A whole lot.

Something to the tune of 76-80 hours (I lost count, but it's somewhere in that range, +/- 2).

Some of this, was camping Novv.

I got a lot of help from Unwanted in this area, about 5 of my kills. However, my luck is horrible, so it never dropped. Fortunately, I made some friends while down there (Lots, actually), and was able to get a coat.

Araius came out of the closet. Again. And is well on his way to being a serial rapist ;)

But despite some levity, my eyes were still bleeding after looking at the same rock wall for literally days on end. However, after 8+ tod, and 5 times in which I was in the party that killed it, something happened:

Team Greg, as Joe so dubbed us, formed together at roughly 9:40, Central time.

We killed lots of placeholders. The other linkshell camping killed quite a few as well. Seth and Nick visited us during our stay, but didn't stick around for the entire time, due to having class and school, respectively, in the morning.

But we persevered. The other linkshell left. And soon, this happened:

Oh yeah.

However, the night was without incident. We were caught rather unawares when Charybdis spawned.

Then, as we were leaving, our RDM decided to convert + escape. Right next to a water elemental, with very low life. The water3 animation was going off right as we left. I was fairly sure we were going to arrive in Yuhtunga with a dead RDM. However, luck was with us

If I never see Sea Serpent Grotto again, it will be too soon.

How many botters does it take to kill a Charybdis?

2007-04-21T12:58:54Z

Based off that, apparently 11. With multiple deaths.

What's the timer on mobs popping before you're supposed to be able to claim them? Whatever it is, I know it isn't "Before the mob has finished spawning", but if it's only like... Half a second, I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and blame it on JP<->USA delay.

Eventful Day

2007-04-17T04:50:12Z

Finished up getting my WHM to 37

Got up to R10.

Edit: Now that I'm not posting 2 minutes before I pass out, a bit of elaboration.

Also did Genkai 3, with Denniskeith and Jen. Davoi went OK - except for Jen aggroing some random orcs from a different floor, and creating a huge train that got her killed, which was the only real mishap - surprising, since I was the one guiding us through it. Beadeaux went better, with Jen in the lead and zero deaths. A bit of thanks to the JP ninja who trained Ruby Quadav around for a bit to let us get past him. Oztroja went OK, with random guesswork on the lever and passwords actually working out fairly quickly. Got the first password on the third try, and the 2nd and 3rd directly after that with some sheer luck. Jen died again lighting the torch to open the brass door, though. I died after nearly escaping the High Priest at the ???

WHM was fun. Had a fairly decent group going in Garlaige, before it broke up due to a couple of people hitting 37 and not wanting to go on, etc. I was partied with Sassafras, and she was quite excellent and offered to take me along to the jungles to finish up the level. I didn't do much, just Dia II and Banish II, so it was really her just pulling me through the last @1600 or so, but I appreciate it nonetheless.

R10 went really smoothly, considering how I was expecting things to turn out. 9-1 went off flawlessly the first time, and 9-2 we had Volker die the first try, but second one, we went in, and beat the clear record.

Supar Update

2007-04-16T06:53:37Z

Got WHM to 35 over saturday/sunday. Two more to go, and then I am done. Yeay.

Also, up to rank 9. Yeay.

Pictures to follow, largely things that struck me as funny. And if they don't entertain you... Well, your sense of humor sucks. Bastard(s?). Missing one that I could have sworn I took of me accidentally sending some lyrics from November Rain to Joe the Galka rather than Joe the Fream.

Galkakonechi = awesome. Love him, everyone. LOVE HIM.

For the billionth time, LSD does not build up in the spinal column

2007-04-15T06:06:41Z

Or anywhere else. I don't care how many times your friends have told you something to the contrary. Telling me to "Just google it, it's out there" does not make this fact true. After searching over much of google, with multiple search terms and reading through at least two pages on each, all that I can find is further corroborating evidence to my stance.

"Despite many rumors to the contrary, LSD is not stored in the spinal fluid
for months, nor does it remain in any organ,. It is eliminated just like
other drugs, but more slowly. LSD flashbacks do not occur because hidden drug
in the body suddenly reappears. Because the liver degrades LSD slowly, the
drug stays in the body for hours, often 12 or more for a single dose."

The Straight Facts about the Most Used and Abused Drugs written by Cynthia Kuhn, Ph.D.,
Scott
Swartzwelder, Ph.D.., Wilkie Wilson, Ph.D.. of the Duke University Medical
Center, copyright 1998, , WW Norton and company.

http://archives.higheredcenter.org/drughied/0560.html

"About the flashback: as far as is known, lsd is metabolized in your body even
before it starts to work, so there is no residue left that can cause
flash backs."

Posted By: Dave Marsen , Grad student, Neurobiology, electrophysiology , University of Amsterdam
Area of science: Neuroscience

http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/dec2000/976761341.Ns.r.html

"It should also be noted that, as LSD is not retained in the spinal fluid, the cause of LSD "flashbacks" couldn't possibly be the drug leaking from your spine back into your bloodstream."

http://www.streetdrugtruth.com/drugs/lsd.php

"Although the body does store some toxins in fat tissue, and residues of some drugs and toxins can be found in spinal fluid, LSD is not among these. It breaks down entirely within the body in hours, and its metabolites are excreted within days."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_urban_legends#Retention_of_LSD_in_spinal_fluid

Plus plenty of shit on Erowid, which I include last due to the large amount of public disdain for the source.
http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/lsd/lsd_myth1.shtml

So please, can we do away with the retarded myth about LSD and spinal retention for forever?

Update: Person I was arguing with has since done more research, and agrees. <3

O-Hat runs are fun

2007-04-14T23:48:13Z

Jen felt sick last night, so didn't finish up the rank missions. Going to do that tonight.

In other news, I hate agreeing to help friends with pug ohat runs.

For people like Korym who came prepared : Thanks.

For idiots like Cacklingbigfoot and Turoc who sit there with underleveled subs and shitty gear: You don't need an ohat yet. You need to go fucking level your sub and stop wearing gear you got 30 levels ago.

R8

2007-04-13T23:58:27Z

Hit Rank 8 last night, and then killed Ramuh. Going to be redoing 7-2 tonight with Joe, and then head on through to R10.

Had some fun with some hail. Baseball size piece or so decided it was going to crash through my window. Nothing some cardboard and duct tape won't fix. Looked outside while the tornado sirens were going off, noticed the fucking funnel cloud is right above me, rotating. Fun image. I almost pissed myself.

No pictures of anything, was too sleepy last night, forgot to take any.

I'll make sure to get some tonight, though.

Belated Update

2007-04-12T00:12:55Z

Capped 60 sometime on Sunday, after limited playtime over the weekend.

Also got up to Rank 6, with quite a bit of help. <3 everyone in Unwanted.

Didn't play any monday or tuesday. Fell asleep as soon as I got home on Monday (Tired as fuck from working all weekend), and didn't wake up until 4 in the morning on Tuesday. Then, had the usual working in the lab, etc, time for my Cisco shit, so didn't get home until late.

Trying to get up to R8 tonight, since a couple of people in the LS are on 7-2. If things go well, pushing for R10 on Friday. Thursday, I plan on finishing up my 4 remaining runic portals after I get home, and then calling it a night.

Hopefully hit 37 with my WHM over the weekend and get G3 done, and then (Finally) back to level BRD. Going to have to figure in some Novv camp time in there somewhere, though.

Update 2:
On the subject of meat:

No. No further clarification is coming.

Our BM krew. 7-1 and 7-2 tomorrow, and then 8-1 through 9-2 on Friday.

My sleep schedule is fucked.

2007-04-05T13:27:44Z

Got home yesterday, fell asleep, woke up at 3 in the morning.

Daylight Savings Time > Me

Anyway, http://watchin.sakura.ne.jp/ffxi/hakumon/valefor_r.html is pretty fun. All the shouts in whitegate. Thing is, the auto translates come out in Japanese. Normally, not so good, but it's giving me a chance to practice my katakana, and the little bit of hiragana I know.

Back in the swing of things, for a bit

2007-04-04T07:57:12Z

Hit 57 tonight. Also got two more goodies - thanks guys.

Once I hit 60 there's things I have to do before I can go on, though. First and foremost, obviously, is genkai 3. Not that I'm worried about that - it's easy. Then I've got to get myself a Minstrel's Coat. No more siren hair on the NM, so again, shouldn't be that big of a hastle. Also going to want to at least make a big dent into getting my Opo-Opo crown. Besides all of that, I've also got to take WHM to 37. I'm also going to force myself to get 5-1 and 5-2 done with so I can do RoZ, etc. Getting close to when I'll be needing {sky} access.

Probably won't get much time to do anything on the weekend. We're upgrading the network infrastructure over the weekend, so I'll probably be busy friday->sunday. Oh well.

2 down, 3 to go

2007-04-03T06:48:49Z

Thanks to everyone who helped me out with the NMs for the boots, and the coffer/dark spark for the gloves.

Hat is in CN, and legs are in Oztroja. CN is like 20 minutes worth of work, so that's cool. Oz... I haven't done it since Astral rings were found in the coffer, but I hear it's no longer the shitfest that it was.

Donno if I'm even going to bother with the body piece right now. Minstrel's Coat is 11ty billion times better, but two levels higher. I guess I might as well, for completeness sake, or something.

Hopefully get at least CN done when I get home tomorrow night.

Taisaijin

2007-04-02T23:35:56Z

Killed a Taisai at 6:31 Central today. Note to self: Check back in 3 days.

I am a well oiled machine.

2007-04-02T08:31:42Z

Speaks for itself.

I am under assault by alien bugs.

2007-03-30T07:43:03Z

Ding 48, but there is a much more sinister reason behind this post:

There is some sort of mutated crane fly caused by alien science, flying around in my room. My first encounter with it was seeing it carry a rather large clump of dust and lint off into the corner behind my computer. Not being able to really see it, I was like "Whatever", and went back to playing.

However, as the night has worn on, things have made a turn for the worst.

Without it's burden of lint and dust, I have had a clear view at the cruel stinger of a fishhook that is its tail. Besides this weapon of torture, it is indistinguishable from your average crane fly.

But it has attacked me. In brutal assaults, it has flown directly into my face, attempting to hook me. I fear, though, that this is merely a diversion from the real truth of the matter: Much like the facehuggers in Alien, it has planted it's eggs inside me. Soon, I will be no more, just a bloody corpse who died due to alien beings exploding from his stomach.

So long, and farewell. It was nice knowing you.

I think my NPC is propositioning me.

2007-03-30T04:24:47Z

Talking about eating out, and skirts being blown up by the wind, and being wet.

I write this as I sit bored, waiting for a party. Two tanks on in the 44-48 range, and both are partied, so I can't start one, either.

I recieved help from a NIN today.

2007-03-29T07:39:52Z

This time, minus the random {Mijin Gakure]

Thanks Nick.

Also skilled my dagger up to 68 or so from 0 while doing the Boarding Permit quest.

I like Whitegate.

Got to around 2k into 46 last night.

My bard will be two weeks old in around 14 hours after I post this. Happy birthday, me!

Setting myself a goal: At least 55 with G2 done by the 3rd week. If I don't meet it, hit me with sticks. 9 levels, 7 days. I KEEN DO EET.

Well, that sucked

2007-03-27T05:15:04Z

Got goldsmithing up to 11.something. Down about 80k, but have the mats for another 6-7 levels, plus 30k or so worth of stuff on the AH. Not too bad.

Until I tried to do some EXPing. Eticket and I got a group together (Which involved waiting an hour and a half for a tank to log on). Do a quick /sea, no parties in our range in there, and the BST in the zone don't have anything in their comments, so whatever.

We get there, and a couple of BST are wiping out the rumble crawlers.

Now, there's another camp with crawlers and then dragonflies in there, near where the coffers spawn. Not too bad, except for a water elemental that spawns kinda close, and some wespe back behind it. No real problem, if your party is halfway awake.

The problem, however, was that I was told I was going to lead the way. And it'd been 2 years since I'd been to it, and had no map.

Well, we get most of the way there, and I make one wrong turn near the end. No big deal, but sneak/invis needed to be recast. I could do sneak myself, but not invis, and hadn't brought powder with me, since we had planned on the crawler camp near the racetrack.

So, the paladin and I are sitting there stranded, waiting to get invis cast on us, when a soul stinger aggroed.

I sleep it, and Eticket and I log. Not a big deal. Except we log back on, and the PLD has decided to fight it, so hate didn't reset. He dies, I sleep it again, log. Eticket invis's himself, and makes a run for it.

It kills me before I finish logging off, and then goes off and gets him.

Everyone was busy, so we had to homepoint. Had to call the party, too.

Net EXP for the day? -700. Guess I had to have a bump sometime on the road.

Keep on rolling.

2007-03-26T06:58:15Z

45 down, 30 to go.

Had an AWESOME party with some JPs. Ended up with all of them on my friend's list. Had some good times, though I'm fairly sure all of us were at least partially insane. KONNICHIWA BAKA SAKANA

Pops got up me up to Rank 5, which included some fun moments. Such as when he hit the wrong macro and blew himself up with {Mijin Gakure}

Had another fun party tonight. Nothing amazingly special about it, or anything. Just some fun times

Working on goldsmithing now, a bit before I go to sleep. Plan on getting it to at least 6, then it's time for me to hit the sack.

Edit: Screw that. I'll do it tomorrow. 2.1 and counting on GS

The world goes to sleep at 10 CST

2007-03-23T07:32:41Z

Or something like that. Couldn't get a party together when I got home tonight, so just decided to chat with the people in the LS.

Blueshawk helped me fight the NM for the 2nd part of the NPC quest this afternoon, though, so I'm one step closer to getting my Adventuring Fellow.

Nick motivated me to actually put some effort into my Japanese language ability. Not that he goaded me into it, or anything, but sitting there having to look up even simple phrases was getting on my nerves, and at least he knew a couple.

I can write it with the help of my trusty Japanese <-> English dictionary, but the IME does all of the roumaji->kana->kanji for me, so it doesn't really count.

Picked up http://lrnj.com/ and hit it pretty heavy for 30 minutes or so. Got up to 60something katakana. We'll see how many I remember come morning.

http://www.physics.ucla.edu/~grosenth/jwpce.html is the word processor/IME I use. Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done, and done well.

http://www.kicl.info/ is a flashcard game. If you use it, check out the forums to get the updated vocab lists.

http://thejapanesepage.com/ and http://japanese.sabotage.org/ both have great resources as well.

http://pepper.idge.net/japanese/ is the best and most accurate, however.

I need to keep reminding myself Subject->Object->Verb, though. I always seem to forget sentence structure when trying to talk to JP players.

Anyone know any good J<->E dictionary software? I use a hard copy, but it would be nice if had one available on my computer. http://www.freedict.com/onldict/jap.html is ok - but it's all roumaji, and while I'm making progress on my katakana, have yet to even dive back into hiragana, so Japanese -> English is hard for me. http://www.webdico.com/koku/kokutxtg.html is better, but still looking for something more efficient, if possible.

よい運

I yield on stop signs

2007-03-22T05:32:39Z

Ding 37. 38 to go.

Probably won't level any tomorrow. Don't get back until 10:30 or so at night on days when I'm in the lab working on my cert, so playtime is limited on Tuesday and Thursday. Might try to get R5 done, or something. Donno.

It'll have been exactly one week today that I unlocked Bard. Did it around 3pm or something.

The Prophet of Ponies

2007-03-21T04:25:42Z

Spamming Truls with :noes: gets you this awesome title bestowed upon you. Try it sometime.

Went from 29 to 32 with 800exp left until I level today. Not bad, I don't think.

43 to go.

Hit the ground running

2007-03-19T14:20:49Z

Jumped back in to FFXI with the help of some newfound friends.

Started off with a BLM, got it up to 18 fairly quickly, then took my WHM to 30. Unlocked bard, and then got to 29 in 3 days.

Spending most of my time at work mining for money, and while I'm just now about to hit a month of playtime since I started, I've already got Mary's Horn and a Monster Signa, plus a bunch of other gear.

Secret to my success? Lots and lots of muling. Going from 7 AH slots to 28 makes a huge difference in the amount of things you can sell. And idiots being willing to pay tons of money for zinc ore so they can get their Norg fame up.

Gonna have to make some money over the next couple of days, though, down to 380k.