*Insert Witty Title*

As previously noted, I suck at updating this. It's OK though, because I'm gonna stop lying saying that I am. I update once a week...sorry o.O

"How have you been?" You ask...? Here is my status and a few adventures since we've last chatted.

I lost to Maat, again. It went as poor as the first run, so I've assessed the problems, and am confident the Third time will be the charm. Gonna wait till level 70 though.

Exodusamphi came back! My best in-game brotha came back from the dead, and we've been knockin out things left and right. He gets me to do things I normally wouldn't do on my own (Like level subjobs), and we are always gettin into somethin.

Now for the adventurous part...

Last night, Akichu asked if anyone wanted to do the Assault "Golden Salvage". I have been DYING to do this, but I wanted to wait for Exo to recieve my ToAU disk in the mail so we could complete these together. Well, last night he was MIA, so I said screw it, I wanna try this NOW.

The legendary Xean also decided to partake in this luxurious adventure with us. We got our permits, our gear, and we were ready to go!... or maybe not. Xean didn't have Iltursi Astoll Staging Point. No big deal, we'll hoof it there first, and I'll use Exo's character to get there since he needed that one too.

What ensued was one of the funniest runs I have yet to partake in. We aggrod, we aggrod, and we aggrod some more. Imps must hate us, and I'm not the most qualified leader (I run past the Imp safe, but leave the others too far behind...) in the world. At one point, I ate the dirt (Sorry Exo, you got a R3 though ^^) and Lamia No.19 popped up, and then went away.

"WTFunk was that!?" we exclaimed. So I looked it up. Spawns when someone dies in that area. Thats pretty neato. We decide to pop it again, and Aki and Xean can try and kill it... I failed to read the part where it has 2 skeleton pets, and a party wipe ensues. We regroup and finish our quest to what I have deemed "The worst possible area for a staging point, EVAR!"

So now, 2 hours later, we make our way to the Assault mission. It was alot of fun, and I managed to die 3 times in 3 runs, but it was a cake win regardless. Xean's TH- didn't even affect us for once, as he found the chest twice, the last time being in about 45 seconds. The Assault was a blast, and a nice change of pace from the regular level grinding and crap. I see myself being an Assault whore some day, I really enjoy things like that.

Thats all for now, take care.

Maat: 1 - Timmy: 0

That about describes my night...

This is gonna sound so emo, but I'm really depressed about this right now.

I prepared, and then I prepared, and then I prepared some more.

I read strategies, like 20 of them. I found one that I felt comfortable with. I made a whole new macro set. I slept to 100, used Blink band, ate Carbona and Au Lait, Boosted to full Chi-blast, and Dodge/Focus/Hundred Fists, Weapon Skill.

Maat uses Hundred Fists

Tim eats the ground

I'd post pics, but I don't really feel like it. Maat is an Asshole.

You'd think I'd update more...

...since I have had TERRIBLE luck with party invites lately. 67-72 have to be the dead levels. because I don't even see that many people my level around anymore. They either rush to 75, or quit. It's good though, because I have accomplished alot of stuff in the last week that was way more fun than level grinding...

A) Did CoP 2-3 with a pickup group.

This started out really fun, and ended terribly. To start, we get in the Aquaducts. We sneak around all stealth like, adrenaline pumping, and get to the Minotaur. I'm pumped up, because these are the kind of things I really love about this game. Right before the area where this devil beast is, our WHM gets aggro and dies, with no Reraise. He decides to HP while we wait. They tell me "Don't go too close, this thing has a long distance draw-in range".

::Tim runs in front of the tunnel all stealthy::

DRAW IN BISH!

Great, now were there with no WHM, fighting this battle that I've heard so many horror stories about. I was on PLD at the time, and somehow...we won! In fact, we didn't just win, we kicked its ass. "Whats so hard about this?" I say to myself as we wait for the WHM to come back.

WHM comes back, we kill it again easily, and are off to the top of the place I will now refer to as "Satan's colon". We find some fomors, kill them, and not only do they drop our Bronze Key, but also the Pices subligar! Something I have wanted for AGES. I win the lot, and am extremely happy at this point, but things would change...

One member had to leave, so we went with 5 to the top. After the hellacious climb, we get to the room with a crapload of fomors in it and....take the wrong f'n bookshelf. Dead end. Drop down, time to try again. "Great" I say, but things haven't been bad so far, so I guess a little more running wont kill me. Wrrrrong! 2 hours later, we are still keyless, have wiped countless times, and my temper was through the roof. FINALLY, we got a key drop, and traveled back to the top, and successfully completed "Satan's colon".

I run back to Lolbastok, to get my Parade Harness, just in time to use it for a 50 cap BCNM. I hunt down the items, with a little help from the LS (Thanks Ali). Now I look uber in my Yellow harness thingy. Actually its horribly ugly, and will probably sit in my MH forever, but its still exciting.

B) I got my Shaded Spectacles!

After turning in thousands and thousands of gil worth of GP items, I finally got my specs. This was an exciting moment, because it was my first GP item I've ever gotten. I also came to the realization that I don't really like Goldsmithing, and it doesn't seem like there is any real profit in it for a long long time. Oh well, its still a nice thing to say I have.

C) Having 2 characters is even more awesome than I thought.

I've been slowly working on Exo's mule, who was a 69 Woodworker. The beauty is, WW is so much cheaper than GS, I feel like I'm cheating almost. 40k for a stack of synths? I was spending 40k on ONE synth in gold. I know its gonna get tougher after 72, but for now its alot of fun.

D) BCNM's and ISNM's galore.

Xean, Zera, and myself did our BC50, and got a few decent drops. I think I can afford a SH right now, but I'm not sure if I even want it anymore. Temple Cyclas is pretty nice and I'm not sure if 5 ACC is worth 1.2 million gil at this point. Theres some Assault armor at level 72 that I really want, but its 20,000 points and thats gonna be tough. Still...theres so many other things I could buy that would be nice, and not 1.2 million gil...ahh decisions decisions...

We also attempted our first ISNM, with the mocking Colibri. First run...was a disaster. Khajit lost hate for a sec, and Zer ate dirt, leading to our demise pretty early. It didn't help that this damn thing spammed its charm move like there was no tomorrow. Runs 2 and 3 were much better and to be honest, were really easy. Our drops on run 2 were crappy, but run 3 we got good stuff...till Zera disbanded the party and lost it all!!! Lolnub. I didn't care about the drops, I was more intrested in the experience, and that led me to think that this thing could potentially be a nice money maker for myself and some LS mates, and was also alot of fun. Its something original, its an adventure, and its fun. Those are the things I'm trying to introduce the LS to, to break the occasional monotony of your typical Coffers, Genkais, and all that jazz. Don't get me wrong, I love helping with all of these things, but sometimes ya just need a little changeup, and thats what I'm hoping to help everybody with.

E) ENM static. Went beautifully. Got some earrings and 9k exp. Always fun. This is us running from a MASSIVE train. You can't see much of it, but believe me, it was big and long. (Get your mind out of the gutter!)

I think thats all for today because its late and my wrists are burning. Thanks for reading :)

Two is better than one (Most of the time)

Once upon a time, and by that I mean 4 months ago, a good friend of mine with a character named "Exodusamphi" decided it was time to bid this game adieu. Originally, he was going to liquidate his character and give me the stuff, but realizing how long of a process this would be, he simply gave me the ID and PW. I changed the billing info, took some useful gear off him, and never really used the character again.

I had always wanted to set up two computers to "Dual-box" our toons, but my lack of RL funds put a damper on this task.

As I sat in Whitegate, seeking, bored out of my mind, someone in the LS mentioned opening two windower boxes at the same time. Hmmmm. I re-activate Exo and try it, and it works! Me and Exo are finally one, and that one is me!

Our first adventure was to Bhalfu Thickets, to see what I can now solo with my 2 toons. We fight a lesser colibri, which conned DC to me, and destroyed its ass! So we move on to an Attercop, pulverized! Things are getting fun now. I heal to full, and prepare to take on an Amerant. As I approach the giant Marboro type mob, I thought to myself "Self, remember the ones outside of Crawlers Nest? They said Easy Prey, but they were far from easy..." Screw it, I'm already engaged. I'd say that we got pummeled, but that would be an understatement. Tim dies and Exo runs, surprsingly making it to the Al Zhabi Zoneline. I go to his MH, only to realize he, like I, had no mage jobs leveled. So I recieve a raise from Alianne, and am off on my next adventure.

I consolidated all of our items together. Exo holds the gear, I hold the junk. Its a nice little system I developed, but if he ever comes back, we're gonna have a hell of a time figuring out whos stuff is whos.

Now as you can see from my list on the side, I need a NIN sub, as well as a WHM sub eventually. Bored from seeking, I decide to level BLM so I can eventually do WHM. After 3 deaths & HP's, I say "Hay, Exo has a 20 RDM, I can PL myself!". Exo makes his way to Gustaberg as a 62 War/20 Rdm haha. I am the proud new owner of a 9 Blm :)

I might update twice today, because as I typed this, some cool stuff happened to me in-game.

Sometimes, you just have a great day!

Disclaimer: I fail at images. Please click them...

Today, was one of those days in FFXI that you just long for. I didn't accomplish anything huge, I didn't get a rare piece of armor, and I didn't win the FFXI lottery, but the things I had were far more precious.

It started with me getting a party in Mount Zwhatever. Monk is not the most exciting job to level, so while I was punching away at crawler, after crawler, after crawler, I macro'd up this beauty...

Sometimes, I just entertain myself. After hitting 66, I left the party because I was bored, and prepared for the ENM static that was scheduled to start at 11:00. Keyword: SCHEDULED

After preparing, and finding reps for the no-shows, we were on our way up the good ol' (See: Annoying as hell) Crag of Holla. This place sucks aaaasss. The graveyard maze on the 2nd level is so utterly frustrating, I just wanted to cry....So I freaked Xean instead...

Naturally...he died...

We had 2 sucessful runs, and they were both packed with laughs, as usual. After all of this excitement, I was tired, but Arimis signed on and said he and his female counterpart Sabene had just dinged 50, and were starting the dreaded G1. A 66 Monk isn't a ton of help, but I figured we could go bash some Exorays and try to get a mold.

We fight 2 Exo's, and this happens...

2 more Exo's, and THIS happens.

4 Exo's, 2 molds. It was great, thanks to Ari's TH2. After that, we all had our NPC's out still, so we decided to go ruin some peoples leveling sessions by beating up some Worker Crawlers. It was alot of fun, running rampant through the Nest having no idea where we were goin, like the good ol' days.

Best day in a lonnnng time ^^

The race is on!

After farming for the last 2 days without any party invites, I finally joined a group this afternoon. Having the whole day off, I jumped at the chance to gain ANY exp I could get. I started at 5k to 64, and made my way to Al Zhabi. We decided to party in the Thickets on Colibri (My least favorite mob in this whole damn game, stealing my food is NOT cool...), and things started off very well... Until I realized that for the second time in three days, I forgot to change my sub from /thf to /war...dumbass. I warp back, change it, and proceed with the partying. 8 hours and 40k exp later, I now sit at level 65 with an 8k buffer. Not bad for a days work.

I still gotta catch up to Knightblade, cuz hes been smokin me like a crack pipe lately. Him previously having gear that I had to farm for doesn't help, and I still have to beat Maat, which he can skip. Both of us need Scorpion Harnesses still (Cuz we're teh no0bzorz), but other than that I'm pretty satisfied with the current setup I have.

Also, 65 technically means I can enter Dynamis for the first time, though I'll probably wait till I'm at 70+, because from what I hear 65 Melee jobs aren't worth a shit. I'm really excited to finally have a chance to do this with all of my LS friends, instead of a gear-hungry drama-queen group that I don't know. I'm sure they'll be supportive of my noobness and teach me the way everything should be done.

I'm starting to get burned out on EXPing, but my LS mates make it fun to talk while I'm partying, because we all know Monk isn't the most exciting job to level. Evanai's character was hacked and she was forced to change her name for some reason....but it led to a hillarious prank she pulled on her in-game hubby Sirivalin, who subsequently was pissed that his wedding ring had the wrong name on it now. I didn't get a screenshot of that, because my awesome internet d/c'd me right after, but lets just say I was in tears I was laughing so hard.

In the final hours, I was playing around with my LS macros (If you're in my LS, I'm sure you would recognize the Snowman, the Cow, the "LOL" and the "WIN", or my least favorite, and Xeans favorite, the "NOOB"). Zera then made some sort of JP face that led to some more tear=jerking laugher...

(Edit: Dammit I thought I had a picture, but i guess not ; ;)

I don't know how I'd survive without these guys and gals...they are what keep me motivated and more importantly, make this game fun.