Progress slowed a bit this past week when I fell ill, losing my voice for a couple of days, and taking a concomitant pair of days "off" from FFXI for sleep. WHM is currently at 33 with a healthy buffer, steadily approaching the teleport-enabled 36.
In preparation, I've worked on my reputation in the starter towns, going beyond the requisite level 4 for teleports since the task was quite dull and I wanted to get as much of it completed in one fell swoop as I could. I'm a hero in Windy now (as well as Sandy, of course), and still working on hero status in Bastok (currently level 7).
I've developed a few macro'd "sets" of WHM gear to play around with, rather than going whole hog on the +MP, since this really only benefits me when my MP sits between the base value and the boosted 100% value. Once my MP dips below base, I swap in as much +MND gear as I can afford, which seems to make a barely noticeable difference in Cure potency, but I assume assists in getting enfeebles to "stick" and boosts Bar spells a bit. To Lexxi's delight, I wear several pieces of my RSE, which usually launches her into a series of icescapades jokes.
Quantitative accomplishments and tinkerings aside, I'm encountering a social quandary in FFXI, denoted by the title of my entry. I'm not going to complain about it, but I'll admit that it simultaneously flusters and flatters me; an odd combination of emotions to juggle.
As some of you might have noticed, I have several separate but close circles of friends, and I care about them equally. They're always welcoming, endearing, and special in their own idiosyncracies, dynamics, and goals. I enjoy spending time with these groups, yet sometimes I feel I'm slighting one when favoring another and it becomes difficult to gauge how I'm being perceived by all involved. I don't want to come off as some opportunistic, Machiavellian whore, but I fear this is precisely what I appear to be when I make a decision to "cut over" to another LS for the evening depending upon how much time & energy I have, or what mood I'm in.
I know, most should be so lucky. Again, I'm not going to complain, but I do want to assure the parties involved that I do care about all of you. You're more than an enrichment for me in this game. Without my Vana'diel family, I honestly would have quit FFXI sometime in September of last year, when joyless EXP with strangers and endless solo grinding on crafts and skills were distancing me from the game. I would have missed out on so much if I hadn't been welcomed, almost simultaneously as it turns out, by the Roughnecks and DarkEden. I can't thank you enough.
At the risk of overly extending this entry, I do want to send a /salute to Minusjoker, who decided to quit the game after returning a few nights ago to confirm his feelings and gain a final sense of closure. It was a privilege to game with him. I know he'll continue to be in touch with the Roughneck group through other channels, but he will definitely be missed in Vana'diel. To seal the act, he generously donated his tradeable inventory to the Roughnecks, and gave me his Chivalrous Chain which I'll wear with pride and memory.
Farewell, Minusjoker. I hope you continue to show the same character, humor, and dedication in pursuing your accomplishments in the real world, or future MMOs for that matter. ^_^
7 comments:
I hope all is well and the sickness has passed.
I too have been taking a few days off from FFXI to catch up on sleep. Its been 6 weeks since I've had the company of close friends and another 6 weeks until the next encounter. FFXI took the back seat this weekend.
Having a large friend base is indeed a difficult juggle. In a perfect world we'd all be in the same Linkshell and there would be no social boundaries. Even I, who've been very commited to my chat LS, find myself visiting my friends' or Japanese LS's from time to time.
I think though, that the "stronger" friends tend to stay connected independent of LS. I've had a nice group of friends, whom with no formal LS attached to, we've remained connected for well over a year.
Even the simple "Hello" from time to time can bring a smile to old chums.
The amount of MND that you have to equip to push past the soft caps are quite a bit (I almost say ridiculous) and are usually not worth it. It's not until Cure V (which is uncapped) where MND can push cures up more (MND * 1.5 is part of the formula).
Since access to +enfeebling gear is quite limited in the lower levels MND is the best you can do to push your white magic enfeebles.
From what I know, barspells are based on enhancing magic, not MND. The formula is (Enhancing magic skill/5) + 40.
I hope your laryngitis gets better! And get some more sleep.
Hope you're feeling better soon, if not already! ^^;
Darrett is correct, as usual, about the game mechanics: Enhancing Magic is only affected by skill level. As for Enfeebling, Mind will boost the effect of Slow/Paralyze but it does nothing for accuracy rate so far as anyone can tell. ApplePie did extensive testing of this, so don't expect to see the spells hit more often, but Slow especially gets a nice boost from your high Elvaan Mind! :D I am envious of that stat!
A few of my outside-LS friends jumped servers recently, which is sad in that I'll miss them, but hopefully they'll find whole communities to fit into rather than just having a loose network of people they know. I can empathize with the whole "can't spend enough time with everyone all the time" feeling, but Miguel de Cervantes said it best:
"There's not the least thing can be said or done, but people will talk and find fault."
You do well; you care about the people you work with and have fun with. ^_^ Keep it up!
I'm always committed to throwing a few fun comments towards the male Elvaan RSE. It's especially required when /following one in close proximity >.> lmao!
Us Roughnecks love your company on our shell but each one of us are aware of your other close friends and can be very understanding of your need to spread the love ^^ I'm never offended if you choose to hang with your other friends because I always know /tell is available if I need to chat or blow some steam :P
I'm happy to hear your little girl is doing much better (as well as yourself!) See ya in game :)
Fro...we don't care which shell you're in when you're playing...we love ya regardless^^ We're just happy to see you in-game, and like Xt just said, you're only a /tell away if you're not wearing RNU
:P
You're welcome to drop in anytime, Fro...there's no pressure, no sense of obligation...just a bunch of parent gamers challenging convention and (usually) winning lol^^
As for the RSE...I can tell you from first hand experience that it's only going to get worse -.- lmao. Because Xt takes screenshots...LOTS of screenshots...especially when she's on /follow lol. Then add Norey to the mix >.> /sigh...yeah, it gets worse. At least you have your Elvaan twin next to you to help absorb some of the ballerina/ice capades abuse that's coming!
/hurray
Elvaan Spandex ftw
I hope the little one is feeling even better today^^ Fevers are the scariest and I'm glad it finally broke.../phew I think my crew is finally starting to feel better too...until next week, when the current virus invades my humble abode -.- lol.
Doors open man. ^_^b
Come by, kick off your shoes and have a discussion about alchemy or end-game. Your, to sound cheesy, in the family, no worries. I'm sorry to hear that you aren't doing well..or weren't doing well. I wasn't on either but I still need to update like you XD
Have a great week mate.
Wow at least your LS is more active than mine.
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