Big fish in small ponds

Over the course of the past couple of sessions, I've leveled Ninja from 32 to 36. Almost all parties have been in Garlaige Citadel, with the exception of an all-Japanese party at the Norg zone...(crabs and Ghasts). That was my first party as a returning NIN too, so it was an odd way to get back into the groove, but it went fine.

Garlaige Citadel is nothing like the pit I remember, mostly due to the MPK patch. Links don't raise much alarm anymore, due to despawning. This, combined with the Empress Band, makes for some pretty painless experience points at this level.

I found myself having quite a bit of fun, especially with the beetles, since I could usually Slow/Paralyse/Blind the things before my 6th shadow wore off, making it easier to get the shadows back up when the Utsusemi timer was ready. We killed the bats too quickly to make Ninjutsu worthwhile.

Another thing I've noticed about Garlaige Citadel, though, is the big-fish-in-a-small-pond syndrome. I remember this happening in my early Warrior days too. It's not so much the zone as the level proximity to 37. The people leveling their subjobs, often ones they don't really care for, are at the breaking point and just want to get back to their main jobs...so they seek solace in establishing their superiority, and this leads to a lot of

"well my main job is level xxx...on this character"
"I just spent xxx amount of gil on [uber-equipment]"
"here's how you should play your job correctly [long rambling explanation to us newbies]"
"man does WAR suck or what at this level, lolz [usually subbing NIN and wielding axes]"
"god this place is such a pit, get me out!"

This in combination with actual newer players who are still figuring out hate control, SATA, mob placement & AOE, skillchains, etc., really tempted me to open my mouth and just unleash hell, but I stayed quiet and focussed on my job, since mouthing off would have made me no better than the Big Fish with the Big Mouth already making the party uncomfortable.

But all in all, leveling Ninja wasn't terribly unpleasant, with the exception of the cost...guh. For example, there were no un-bundled stacks nor individual toolbags of Shihei on the Auction House. O_O; So I bit the bullet and got a stack of toolbags (something I've never done). These will last me for awhile, but it still hurt to spend so much on consumables.

I'll need to do more crafting soon, since I'm nearly broke now (again) and nead to gear up to bring my Thief up to par. I really look forward to leveling that job, since it truly looks like fun when I party with other Thieves and the SATA + Viper Bite + [other WS for SC] flows smoothly. And I've got more pulling experience under my belt too, so hopefully that will have cured the old phobia I had of pulling trains and killing the party (I think that one started in the Dunes).