Sunday, November 12, 2006

On script. Off script. Ding 75!

Off script: I had to euthanize one of my cats yesterday. Her name was Soda and she was 9 years old; she began losing massive amounts of weight recently and we eventually discovered that she had suffered a renal failure and was diabetic. After several weeks of subcutaneous fluid injections, she was still in a downward spiral, and clearly suffering. So, being the 'Dad', I was tasked with bringing poor Soda on her fateful drive to the vet.

Out of respect, I requested to be there during the procedure. I whispered to her and caressed her cheek as her life peacefully left her body in a matter of a few heartbeats. I was a mess afterwards and could barely make the drive home.

On script: Several people in the group that did the O-hat run agreed to go for a ZM4 run last night, starting at 9PM PDT. I logged on at the appointed time and waited about a half-hour for the group to form and warp to Yhoat. All went smoothly until we entered the Temple of Uggalepih.

Off script: I'm of the opinion that missions in this game are truly scripted events. You go from point A to B in a coordinated fashion, communicating along the way to stay on script and reach the curtain call. Ad libbing leads to disaster, and there was a lot of ad libbing on this mission. Since I didn't have a pearl, I suspect much of this was happening in the /linkshell channel unbeknownst to me.

On script: The party wandered all over the first map, for reasons I couldn't quite guess, since we needed 1 lantern for our group and should have been targetting Maledictors on an entirely different map. They were randomly killing bees and looking for Tonberry Rattles. Again, not sure why. Were we killing time and waiting for someone? 1 member of the group (the one who also needed ZM4) and myself followed the group on its silent meandering path until it, by chance as it turns out, encountered the zone line at K-3. He and I both zoned into the jungle, and rezoned into the Decimation WSNM map to look for Maledictors, assuming the rest of the group was on its way.

Apparently they were busy killing random Cutters and popping some NM for a katana (?). So I eventually died, and my partner in crime narrowly escaped to the zoneline.


Ironically, we were treated as the ad-libbers, and I apologized without really knowing why.

Off script: I'd obviously had a long day. I was tired, and no longer certain of my best judgement. In such situations, I assume the blame when SNAFUs like this occur, try to learn from the mistakes, and trudge forward. I must, however, confess that I was angry. The anger was awkward and conflicted... these were the same people who helped me with the O-hat the night before. I couldn't possibly harbor resentment. What did settle into me though, was nagging doubt.

On script: Once raised and re-grouped, we decided to head to Den of Rancor to get the lantern drop. Almost as soon as we hit the zone line, the group had split in 3. One group to the east of the first room at H-6, and another splitting off to the west (there were only 2 of them...what they could accomplish as a duo was beyond me). The third consisted of one guy who wandered away from the first group, on his own, toward the 'A' entrance to the next floor. He died to bat aggro almost immediately, group 2 kept doing...whatever, and group 1 basically idled while the leader looked for Imprecators.

We eventually got the Unlit Lantern to drop, immediately after the leader announced that someone had already opened the gate to the Sacrificial Chamber (I thought he was looking for Imprecators, but must have decided to check the gate during the down time between pops, again unbeknownst to practically anyone else).

We entered the BC and narrowly completed the fight after a nasty Astral Flow at the tail end of the battle.


It was a wonderful CS, and I took my time reading it ^_^. I can't wait to see how the storyline unfolds.

Three of us stayed together after the mission and decided to merit/exp. Since I was 4k TNL, I couldn't pass this up, even though it was getting late. The leader formed a party and we headed out to the Mamool Ja staging point, which was only hosting a couple of other parties. Since I hadn't tried my hat yet, I went for a meat build to test things out. Ahem... Apparently this will really work better in Caedarva. The evasion on the Mamool Ja was still just a bit too high for a sushi-less diet. My performance improved once I switched back to the Sushi build.


I eventually hit the big 75 in this party, and kept going until I was roughly 6.5k into the level before the party disbanded.

Off script: After playing this game for approximately 2 and a half years, I'm elated to have finally hit this milestone. Exhausted, but elated ^_^. It's just too bad that it had to happen with such a cloud hanging over me, but that's the way of life I suppose.

I'm sure Soda was cheering me on in the way she usually did. Quietly walking across the keyboard.

6 comments:

Darrett said...

Congratulations on 75! It's a milestone. Especially on a weapon/armor heavy job like WAR. I'm sure Soda was definitely cheering you on.

ZM4 is a pain. ZM5 is a pain for all the travelling you have to do. After that it's not so bad (at least up to sky access).

Jowy said...

I hit 75 yesterday too!
CONGRATULATIONS CONGRATULATIONS CONGRATULATIONS CONGRATULATIONS CONGRATULATIONS CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

And now, let's rock!!!

Boa Valenwood said...

Aww... I'm sure Soda had a very eventful life. It's hard losing family members like that, you seem to be handling it very well.

Oh, and congrats on 75. :)

Anonymous said...

I had tears in my eyes reading about Soda. I'm sorry for your loss. :-(

Congratulations on 75. Now you get the fun of merit points and what to spend them on!

Anonymous said...

Gratz on 75 and ZM4 I guess I should have come You wouldn't have died I could have had a lamp with me and just opened it for you guys ; ;

We can Merit or Cap off your WAR sometime now too ^^ I can see If Young or Gilzz Wants some merits too and you can tell your LS you merit with Ridill/Relic GA WAR or BB MNK haha Hope to do it soon ^^

I'm sorry to hear about your kitty ; ; poor Soda But now she can play with my kitty in the big sand box in the sky ; ; I miss my Chi she went mimi too after about 10 years =(

Faulsey said...

Uber late congratulations for level 75.

I know how it feels to have a dear pet put down, though, fortunetly for me, I wasn't present when it happened. My dog, who was about 14 years old (And I was 12 at the time, so I grew up with my dog.) had to be put down, he wasn't able to control his bowels, his legs were very weak and he didn't recognize anyone. A couple years before then, when I got home from school, he'd greet me by jumping up with his paws on my shoulders. By the time he was put down, he just barked at me - he didn't remember who I was :( I remember coming back from school that day, and not having my dog there, who'd been with me since I was a baby, and I ended up crying. It was like a part of me was gone. It at least made me feel better to know he'd had a good home - he'd been abandoned at a train station a few months before my parents got him from the rescue home.