This changed for me last night, when I was once again reminded of why I choose to play this game with such strange, prolonged, piecemeal obsession.
When I eventually do quit, the particulars of my EXP, or crafting, or even fishing sessions will fade with time, but a few things will stand out in memory (yeah, despite the senility). First are the random acts of senseless kindess from virtual strangers; moments that you don't want to waste by forgetting them or hording what you've been given. Second are the simple pleasures of sharing good times with old friends. These tied together for me last night.
The veteran members of CatastrophyCrafters had previously gone Ose-camping together a couple of weeks ago, while I was busily LFG and fishing. I'd felt guilty for not joining them at the time. At the end of the evening I regretted choosing EXP over hanging out with friends, realizing that the only reason why I wanted to EXP was to attend things like these in the first place. So when I discovered they were giving it another go last night, I didn't make the same mistake twice.
Ziedrich was 0/20 on his Assault Jerkin. That's right, 0/20, and it was time for this thing to drop. I wasn't even sure they had the time of death, but it was fun nonetheless to just hang out
with the old group, kill random stuff, and discover new things such as the fact that Applebee's delivers ribs at 2am... and that Ose likes to pop when the tank happens to be AFK.I got the first provoke, which felt good for some reason, kinda like when I voked Serket. It means nothing really, but there's something about being the one to claim a camped NM. Weaz came back before things got too out of hand and we steadily hacked away at the cat in the safety of a tunnel.
It died, and I was fortunate to watch Ziedrich finally get that Assault Jerkin. We all cheered and congratulated him profusely and eventually warped back home a happy linkshell. It was definitely good to see the gang in action again.
Speaking of which, I had the fortune of partying with a pair of old friends last night. These were two people that selflessly helped me with the Papyrus drop for my Limit Break 1 quest, when all other people I had supposedly 'befriended' in the game were too busy to take the time to even try to schedule a date in the Eldieme Necropolis with me. Squidy and Looney did this as near total strangers, and weren't even skilling anything up... just killing undead for hours to help me out with the drop.
I never forgot this and made it a point to return the favor to another stranger down the line, since I couldn't hope to really do anything directly for either of them at the time, other than offer my gratitude.
So when the EXP-party leader snagged Squidy last night (as WHM) for our Mount Zhayolm session, I looked up Looney on a whim and sure enough... there he was again as RNG 67 with his flag up. It was time to reunite some people.
The party went well, and I don't think I need to get into the details of EXP per hour, hate
control, damage over time; stuff that won't matter to me or anyone else within a day of posting this. Suffice it to say, I had the priviledge of partying with two of the coolest people I know on the server, and we had a good time. Squidy's snapshot storage was full so I promised to post a picture of both of them. It turns out neither of them had partied together in a long long time.Looney, in his usual fashion, decided to help Squidy and me at the end
of the EXP party by showing me the way to the staging point, and Squidy the way to the ??? for his map. We were so exhausted we barely had the energy to type by the time we logged out (around 3:30 AM my time). But I'd like to think we all logged out happy.
4 comments:
It was 0/23 :P At least, that's what he said it was once or twice. :P
I'll need to congratulate Zied when I see him.
You know how wierd it is seeing LS mates in screenshots on a blog?
But isn't it odd how people who helped you way back when appear out of the blue some night? I ran into someone who did LB1 with me, which would have been october last year, and he had quit at some point. Last month, he saw me in jeuno, and we ended up talking for a bit. Thats more than I can say about some ex-LS members.
I partied with someone who had been in one of my LS in January, and she hadn't the foggiest who I was >.<;
Good Lord. 0/23...
I wouldn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Well he's 1/24 now, I guess ^_^
It was actually weird to see Weaz and Zied 'face-to-face' so to speak. I think it's been over a year since I've seen them anyplace other than LS-chat.
I'll track you down someday too, Faulsey. Then you'll see your pic on someone else's FFXI blog and the space-time continuum will proceed to collapse around you.
XD
LOL. I'm awaiting the pics of Faulsey. Glad you reunited with some old friends.
Note to self: Avoid Frohike.
I like the space time continuum as it is, thanks.
Post a Comment