'Taint My Job

I do not propose to write an ode to dejection, but to brag as lustily as [kitty] in the morning, standing on [her] roost, if only to wake my neighbors up.

Thoreau, in Walden...with liberties...

This weekend... had a theme. A common theme that seems to only happen to me. "'Taint my job."

There's a general idea that in a party, you have a tank who holds the attention of the monster, a healer to cure damage, and a refresher to help keep things going longer until you have to rest. This is the way I learned to party; a good way to chain and keep things going on and on. The tank keeps hate, the mob sits still, and people don't get random damage, only one person has to get cured...just a nice setup. There are obvious variations on the theme--some I just don't agree with because they turn parties into "work" instead of "fun"--but the idea is that someone will heal the people who take damage.

Seems like the parties I get into never heard of this idea.

Between all the parties where I am having fun, doing great, and even once in a while save the day, I find a party that just fustrates me. The party with the white mage who will not cast Stona even after spamming "Petrified" over and over. There's the countless times I'm allowed to goto below 40% HP on mobs who can do damage equal to 60% of my HP on a regular basis. And then there are times...when nobody can determine...who's job it is...to keep the tank alive. "'Taint my job".. ""Taint my job"...

Maybe I'm just silly. Maybe I'm in parties that don't like me. Why join a party where the black mage says he'll keep me alive only to see him use up all his MP on Antient Magic and let me die twice. Why join a party where the white mage insults you rather than cast poisona on you so you can rest for MP. Or why join a party with a bard who refuses to tell you when she is casting Mage Ballad or refuses to stand next to the melee's because "She Might Get Silenced"? And the best one, why join a party where the white mage has a random connection and may stop curing anyone at any moment? Of course, the last one was funny enough since I doubt they cared since I was keeping hate very well--the lack of cures never affected them.

This just perpetuates a whole hosts of problems. As a white mage or red mage, I really hated the whole "{insert spell}" spam I would always get. As a white mage, it usually was said after I had already cast it. As a red mage...well...red mages get lots of demands and it usually a case of "i'm getting to it" when they ask. (In one case, I completly forgot to cast refresh on a dark knight.. yeesh.. was my face red..). I do not want to be one of these people, but I'm seeing as little choice. "Someone cure the paladin" is becoming quite to voice these days. As much as "Bio'd" or "Silenced" or whatever. I think, however, that I will not have much choice in the long run.

Yet, there are those people I can count upon. And of course, my NPC, Raka. hehe.. of course, she does have a tendancy to silence beetles and stand still when Ants are casting Flood on me. But on the whole, if I am doing any sort of activity that requires paralyna or stona, I invite her along. This past weekend, I finally did the last level break quest--and unfortuantly the last quest period--bringing her level limit to 65. It was kinda cute too--she was making me a present, that turned out to be a "Homemade Salad." 10 MP for 30 min. The funny part about it is that I've often thought that my personal real life salad habbit may have interfered with my feline instincts. So, I think I'll hold onto this bugger and chase it, pounce on it, let it run away and then finally, when its no longer running...eat it.

"Every BODY! Every BODY! Every BODY wants to be a cat!"
--Aristocats, Disney movie