Farming with Little Sister

She takes my hand and leads me along paths I would not have dared explore alone. --Maya V. Patel

On the keyboard of life, always keep one finger on the escape key. --DILBERT'S RULES OF ORDER

I'm sure there are better farmers and more exciting experiences out there in the land than what I have been doing lately. But how often do you get farm with your sister?

Now Auronte isn't really my little sister--my personal joke between the two of us since we've known each other for so long, and we're so much alike. But we haven't spent too much time doing much of anything, and we decided to go farming.

"Old McKitty had a faram...Witha Quadav Here and a Orc there..."

There are many places and things to farm, but for whatever reason I can't fathom at the moment, I wanted to go as ninja, and so we decided to play in the beginning lands of Palalalalalmore Mines (@.@ I can't spell it without the auto translator). I've been having a lotta fun there; the Quadav Backplates almost always sell, and they drop various items worth a few gil. We wondered in and took no prisoners. We even managed to grab the Boneeater NM twice--cute little paladin that drops "Braveheart" Greate Sword (er..not for us though)--but the place lost its appeal fairly quickly.

We then went to Ghelshiba Outpost. The outpost has slightly different drops, but still kinda nifty when you go through enough of them. Before too long we got one NM--accidently, which is the best way to get a NM--that was attacking Auronte while she was taking down a group of normal mobs. Fighting weak NM is really funny. The second one we found 2-hour'd on us on the first hit.

At that point it got rather late, but we did have enough fun. I've often wondered how long it would take to kill 1 million beastmen... at 9 gil per... hmmm.

I often wonder what is the definition of fun. Fun to me is being able to look at the clock, and a few "seconds" later look at it again and see that four hours have past. And without chemical enhancement. This little trip didn't earn us much of anything, but I really enjoyed it. The whole time I spend online is dedicated to meeting and enjoying all the people I've met.

Wanting to be Wanted

I always wanted to be somebody. If I made it, it's half because I was game enough to take a lot of punishment along the way and half because there were a lot of people who cared enough to help me. Althea Gibson (1927 - )

There was a dream I had about wearing red warrior armor. Wasn't a special dream, but I always liked the look of it. Very "warrior princess" if you ask me. And a very bright red, very pretty looking. (Yeah, I know, but bright colors attract me since I can actually see them.. being mostly color blind).

So why am I leveling the most expensive demanding job I have ever had? Ninja? Oy vey.. good question. Cause... I can't seem to get parties.

The whole question of what job gets invites and what job doesn't seems to be up to how many people are floating at that level. At this time, as a WAR/NIN I hardly ever getting invites, and when I did, it was by people expecting me to tank...as a warrior. And when I looked into it, the times that I was seeking, there really weren't any tanks to be had, let alone other important support jobs. So I was stuck doing what I was doing--running about killing ep's for low xp--or leveling another job. And if WAR can't get an invite, DRK most certainly would not. SO, I bit the bullet..and a huge price tag...and leveled ninja.

Don't get me wrong... ninja is fun enough. It's just that I have yet another job where I am expected to have a billion gil and unlimited resources to obtain ninja tools and what not. And I'm expected to use a ton of tools every minute of every experience point party. I have to say, Paladin was much less pressure. But for a ninja to keep hate, she has to pretty much do as much damage as possible and make the monster upset. I really missed the days of the early white mage when everyone wanted one. Even as a paladin up to a point, I was always wanted to fill in the essential tank spot. Yet when you are the "everybody" job, its very difficult to get people to take interest in you.

I know there are about 1000 dark knights and dragoons who will read this and start swearing at me. I understand. But I think its a question of finding a group of people in the similar level, and ride with them. Thats why I frequently had parties with the same people for a while until my level gap became too much. It was a very easy prospect getting my Dark Knight to level 40, but there was a large group of people who were, like me, on the trip to the next level. Maybe its just a question of finding the right people at the right time. And now is just not the right time, I suspect.

Still.. who doesn't want to be wanted by someone. Otherwise, what use would there be for a dog?

Dealing with Angry People

“The difference between mad people and sane people . . . is that sane people have variety when they talk-story. Mad people have only one story that they talk over and over.” Maxine Hong Kingston quotes (Chinese born American Writer First-generation Chinese American writer, b.1940)

I'll admit one thing today as a preamble to this post: I am a coward. I knew this when I started playing this game, and I knew it when I started meeting newer and stranger people along the way. Heck, I knew it when I first was yelled at by a total psycho out of the blue because I the two stacks of shihei I put in the AH for 8k sold for 15k. This is why I protect myself from A-Z every day in every way while I am online. I do not want to leave myself open to people's attentions. Heck.. people's.. attention..has the potential to scare me to death.

Now what happens when I am faced with an agry person? Hide? Run? Eat tuna?

I like to think of one of my favorite quotes from the movie "Ghost Busters"

Dr. Peter Venkman: I don't have to take this abuse from you, I've got hundreds of people dying to abuse me.

For the most part, I'm a pretty small blip on any single person's radar. So if a person is mad at me, they will probably forget about me as soon as I am out of sight, then out of mind. Its almost cosmic how it works.


I remember one occasion when I was helping out someone with their red mage hat, when the doll was spawned and we started fighting. This was a fight that my friend Goshi and I had duo'd a few times. We start, and Goshi's new friend, a paladin, starts taking hate like crazy. I was trying everything I could to keep her alive--even used Benediction. But she refused to stop and let Goshi tank the mob. And she died... and Goshi & I killed the mob without any trouble--even with me as having next to no MP. This woman blaimed me. Even after I did everything I could do, and even begging her to "stop provoking" so that Goshi could keep hate. She even got her boyfriend to come out and send me tells about how much of an idiot I was. Quite frankly, I just blacklisted the both (I don't have to listen to that sorta thing) and thought nothing else about it. Until the three of us ended up in the same shell...and...they completly forgot all about who I was and what had happened. Trust me; I did nothing to remind either of them about it.

Another occasion was when I was in Bastok leveling my crafts every day when almost every single day I was bugged by the same person for a teleport. Every day I was crafting and seeking at the same time, and my home point was in a central spot so I could get to xp parties the easist way--something that just everyone does. However, none of that mattered to this one person, who simply decided that I was a bad person and proceeded to yell at me in tells about such. What else was there to do but blacklist and move on. However, later, we found ourselves in the same XP party and this time, it could not be avoided and I told the leader I couldn't participate--which got him kicked instead of me. I'm sure that endeared me to him even more.


Sometimes, I wish I had the vaudville option... get mad, pull out the squirting flowers at 20 paces. Competitive "pull my finger" contests. Something disgusting, shocking and makes everyone forget what they were angry about in the first place. Life is too short, and friendships are too dear to worry so much about such things. I remember one person who I had constant arguments with, when finally she and I had a meeting of the minds...and became friends. My other friends were all shocked by the change. But it can happen. Don't be suprised if I come up with "wanna borrow my squirting flower?" if you find yourself mad at me.

If we shadows have offended,

Think but this, and all is mended,

Gentles, do not reprehend:

If you pardon we will mend.

Give me your hands, if we be friends,

And Darlene shall restore amends.

Kitty Rasberry

"Victory goes to the player who makes the next-to-last mistake." - Chessmaster Savielly Grigorievitch Tartakower (1887-1956)

"Don't be so humble - you are not that great." - Golda Meir (1898-1978) to a visiting diplomat

Many people have often commented at my ability to the notions of the absurd. As someone who spends so much time emotional and emotionally swinging as often as I do, it is a sort of self defense mechanism to find those things in life that make me laugh the most. And, well, its just plain fun.

So what do I find the most funny? Quite honestly, the situations I find the most deserving of a kitty rasberry are the ones that would get me into the most trouble. Formal Pomp and Circumstances, so to speak. Situations that take themselves so seriously that people are afraid to step out of line, or say something wrong. I've often thought that if I were to ever get married, I would be the one to wear the tuxido and I would make my husband wear the dress. Then I would hire at least one photographer to take the pictures of people as they arrive... maybe sell poloroids.

Well, I'm not going to say that every solumn situation is vulnerable to my mental jokings; but even at some of the funerals I have been at really needed to have someone tell an amusing story about the departed (then again, I think funerals are just plain mean to the surviving; give me a dixiland funeral any day). But there is something about people taking themselves so seriously that causes the fur in the back of my neck to rise and every movement about me into small fuzzy mice just begging to be chased.

Well, just think about my favorite saying... "Meyaou." If you are in a situation that makes you so scared that you'll make a mistake, you will constantly be nervous and stiff until you actually make that mistake. Why not just make you're first mistake..on purpose. Then, after the embarassment and fustration is over, you're past the fear. So "meyaou out loud" a bit for me. See what happens. This is the same idea.

I suppose another case is how serious some people take xp parties. Everyone MUST have the magic weapons or armor and everyone MUST keep the machine going without fail. I know from experience that seeing how high a chain you can get can be fun. But I also know how annoying and stressful making the chace can be. My last party against imps was amazing, reaching chain 43, however, we were the only ones in the area. Reaching the next monster was nothing, and they all were obligingly squishy.

But why can't XP parties be fun? My favorite joke from a Japanese party was to cry out "ATSUIIIIII" ("hoooooooot") and "Neko te akai desu nya" ("my paw is red") when fighting those radioactive crawlers. Little jokes like that can make people at least smile, or maybe just enjoy the experience a little bit. "I'm a level 75 fuzzy/kitten" was always my favorite, especially when among lower leveled people who were discouraged by braggards.

I propose that everyone should take a moment to make a little sub games out of the normal and ordinary. Create a new rhyme out of the new chain. Call the new monster a name, "Okay mamook James! Take that you fiend!" And whats most... have fun.

Saving Private Kitty

Accomplishing the impossible means only that the boss will add it to your regular duties. ~Doug Larson

Many people quit looking for work when they find a job. ~Author Unknown


There will be a lot to say about meriting; I mean, special abilities that are always with you? No matter what level you are? Oh yea! Let me at it! But there's even more to be said about just having fun. And one way I love to change things up is by leveling a new job. Yet what job to choose?

Corsair is a very attractive thought. I love the idea of a pink AF armor (although, elvaan males in the Corsair AF look like drag queens) and the job abilities/spells are just amazing. When I first unlocked the job, I took it from 1 to 7 in an hour. And the 2 hour.. I can't say how neat it was to use Invincible twice in a couple seconds.

Samurai is a very neat looking job. In my CoP group there were three people with high level samurai, and I saw first hand how much damage and fun they have. The whole magic "Poof, I have 300% tp" is just.. yummy. But mine is only 14 right now, and that might be a bit discouraging to go through the whole leveling grind.

Now Dark I've heard so many horror stories, yet when I leveled mine to 40, it was relativly easy. I was often called to "first 'voke" that got me killed many times, but for the most part I had an easy time finding parties and XP. And I had the funnest time running about killing living weapons as DRK/NIN. Intimidating arcana is sooo fun! The only problem is my basic hate of all things 2 handed. But people expect certain things of people. And the more I level, the harder I'm sure it will get.

Now Warrior is the unversal job; no matter how high I get, there will always be room for one. And I think the AF gear is cute too! There is just something about using two axes and takin names (usually the ones floating over the heads of the mobs). I can really see myself being a Warrior and just hammering around everywhere I go.

And of course... Ninja... I love tanking as a paladin, and... I think I could love ninja if and only if.. I can actually figure out how people do it. I've tried time after time to count shadows and get myself in a position of "no damage" but for the life of me, I can't figure it out. And try to tell this to people when you're out to just goof off. "What? Nobody solo's anymore!" I don't believe I could afford the price tag either, which is more the pitty. It seems like soooo much fun.

Well.. whatever I do, all I know is I will have fun with it. Because as jobs go.. playing a game is the best one.

Endings And Beginnings

I've mentioned before how hard it is for me to deal with denouement, and the last mission of the CoP expansion is no exception. I realize there are crossovers and additional options in the whole thing... like killing Bahemut after doing the Divine Might. But I really do not believe I will ever do those things. Looking back, I can't help but wonder at how I actually got this far in the first place.

I remember having to go back and do Ouryu again because we didn't have enough black mages to do it right, and thinking.. this will take forever.

And the time we took on the three Mithran Sin Hunters... oy vey... thought we would never beat that one. We've all died so much that we no longer have a good buffer. But it was worth it.

But thanks to excellent leadership on Windaria's part, and pure skill on the group's part, and just plain blind luck in some cases... we now have a chance to anguish over which ring we get or not get.

I think there is a lot to be said about the group as a whole made the whole thing possible, but I can't help but think that we succeeded because we had the right people at the right time. I then think about the times that I really goofed. Like at the end, when we needed me to do a suicide pull in this "Guantlet." The trap was similar to the room full of swinging axes, but instead, there are four magic pots that only agro you if and only if they see you. And they are all spinning. The first person to make it across would stand at the door and let people out, while the one with the most defense... me... would stand there and be pulverized. Unfortunatly for the others, I ended up standing much too close to the others, and immediately after I died...they saw them. And they died. Gavult. But they forgave me much like when I showed up for the last fight before sea as a PLD/WHM. I really can't say enough good things about that.

Well, my next stop will probably be to level a new job, or to play around with a new option. Maybe a few rounds of meriting to cap it off.

Sea Sonnets

This will be a very picture heavy post. My group has done it. We made it to Sea. We had an amazing group, we all put 100% into the whole thing and we have made it. There were more than a few close calls.. some that were really funny. A couple fights were literally decided by simple things like Counter or Shield Bash.

One very embarassing deal was going into the last BCNM before Sea as a PLD/WHM, and not figuring it out until I tried to Provoke the wayward Samurai.

Now that we made it to Sea, we played around a bit and discovered the wonderful inhabitents. The.. sharks... that fly around underground remind me terribly of the Chiggers in the new areas. You can see them comming, but you can't even target them until they pop up and agro you.

Still, we had Miisha and Duffdeliveryguy (the weird and creepy monk who's helped me out a lot before) come along and help us out with the next 2 missions. We first went to the four towers and managed to accidently.. spawn.. 3 NM that killed off a few of our members. But before long, we had the useful teleport safehold ring (something we coulda used before).

The next stop was the very strange maze that we have to walk through. In a few places we have to escort these very very strang people (how many times have I used the word "strange"?) in order to open these doors. But we had a very good group and the whole process was successfull.

Once we're done with these BCNM's, I'm gonna be very eager to take a short break from a lot of this. I know that SE wanted to make this as a "challenge" but I think they went way overboard. The game should never be so hard as to demoralize people to the point that they have no desire to continue. I know people tell me how wonderful Sea is; but I need to rediscover the fun first.. and then I'll go back.

Lithium Laced Tuna

Can we have a cartoon cat to look after?
-- Gregory Mark
The happiness of a [woman] in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of [her] passions.
-- Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809 - 1892)

We continue yet again in the path to the big bad battle to sea. It was a very interesting yet.. fustrating run. I often wonder why they do these things. There is one tower that consisted of 16 doors that if you check the door, a NM pops and then there might be yet another mob on the other side to try to kill you. Kill, rest, move, random agro. Fun stuff. And the end... we click on a door and get a simple cutscene. Yeeesh. We even got a snoll blow up on us (stupid stun macro).

Later we continued the whole process by visiting another tower to speak with Fenir; a fun little tower with one way doors and drops and many goblins and bats. In fact, one goblin came so close that one of our group cast invisible in front of a magic pot. Thankfully, she took one for the team and just died since the rest of us were in Cut Scenes and couldn't act.

From there, we ended up into the Movopolis to do a ENM that went very well. Which I think made the next step even worse: The 3 Mithran Sin Hunters. Do not believe this to be a pushover, because we managed to wipe 3 times before we won. The idea is almost as if we had a level 70 Ballista and were only allowed to go in as level 50 jobs. It was amazing how fast they would skillchain me and whip out end game weapon skills. However, a good man came out on bonds of friendship with one of our memebers and played the blackmage. And we won.

All wins and losses aside it is amazing how much a little or big loss affects our ability to perform. It makes me think of loosing a very small screw in shag carpeting: You pick it up only to drop it over and over again. Almost like the way people describe golf, the worse you do the worse you get.

In the past days, I've made more than a few mistakes because of the fear of making a mistake. I have hedged my participation based upon the fact that my friends need me and I will answer the call. Which means.. I really am afraid of failing them. But they've been supportive and understanding, which means the world to me. Even last night with the Mithran hunters and failures, we all stuck together and managed to get the win.

Lithium Laced Tuna... yea.. I definatly need something.

Dealing with Denouement

How many ages hence Shall this our lofty scene be acted over In states unborn and accents yet unknown!
Julius Caesar, Act III, Sc. I

Some people can deal with excitement very well. Some people absolutly thrive with adrenal rushes and excell and exceed. Some people actually watch nascar to see cars drive in circles.

Me... not so much.

I'm not saying I never do anything exciting. As often as I have complained about cannon parties, I still have joined them on a regular basis. I do BCNM's, hunt dangerous NM and do staggering Missions on a regular basis. I'm just saying.. they make me wanna hug my fuzzymice.

Hehe.. let me just describe my normal life. Normal for me involves a process that includes regular cycling of imbalanced neural transmitters in my brain with lots of wonderful side effects. This includes anxiety, random paranoia, frequent crying fits and many other things. The emotions and reactions I go through in these exciting conditions are just all too familiar.

Don't get me wrong; I still will always do them. There is just this period of time after each event that I do not deal with very well. I call it the Denouement (de-n-um-wa) after the theatre term for the period of a story that happens after the climax of the story. I calm down, frequently depression sets in. And I often miss the excitement. Most of the time, I'm rather pensive and grumpy.

Let me call this as a universal apology to people who have to deal with me at these times. It has nothing to do with people involved; its just my normal me. I don't deal with Denouement very well.

I have had to deal with this whole thing very fequently lately. I am with a group of people running the Chains of Promethia missions lead by Windaria, and I have been continually amazed at how fast and well we have been doing. I give credit to the people we have invited along, but more importantly, I give credit to Windaria for leading us so well. We've just finished the last Promy after hearing so many horror stories about it and we made it with only one death. After the first three promys, I could hardly believe how well we did. And unfortunatly, after each of these fights, I find myself in a pensive and low energy mood.

In spite of everything, I will probably keep going and doing the things that cause me such stress. But I don't mind. It will be worth it.

Test For Echo

I have spent a lotta time as of late working on the CoP missions. But I have in the mean time been able to reach most of my immediate goals, namely, my lv75 TriFecta--PLD,WHM,RDM.

This doesn't mean I've given up on other things. My next goal has been all about getting some of these new toys, like Chivelry and Devotion. I joined a few parties and earned enough merits to get the first and I'm only 25 more Lesser Pink Birdies (I can never remember how to spell those) away from Devotion. Chivelry has proven to be a fun little deal and I just know I will like Devotion. The other little spells like Phalanx or Protect V will come on its own time... however... I'm in no real hurry.

One thing in this level grind that I find interesting is the concept of a "Cannon Party." Now I completly understand the idea; and I completly believe that they can work and people get buku amounts of xp from them. What people constantly misunderstand from me is...I just can not take them for longer than an hour or so before I start to go completly waky. It's all a question of stress... these are all things that require attention constantly without fail... and are very unforgiving about mistakes. The most successful one I ever participated in was one in which we reached chain 52 or so when the 3 fighters were paralyzed and one person died. It only took a few seconds to happen. Thankfully, I wasn't the main healer on that one...lol..

Of course, there are these Cannon Wanna Be parties that I often find myself in, where they expect me as a RDM/WHM to be able to sleep as many monsters as effectivly as completly as a bard. Even as a RDM/BLM, there is no way I could sleepaga as effectivly as corresponding bard spells. And of course, when things start waking up and start to get very upset at the person who cast sleep in the first place, I wonder why I am there at that time.

Yet thats not the only deficincy that I keep seeing. Killing things really fast is a wonderful thing, but when it takes so long to generate all that TP, and maybe only one person has Provoke... hate control becomes non existent. Mobs wonder all over, every second becomes an urgent problem and everyone becomes stressed and jittery. The most fustrating thing I've ever had happen was being forced to sleep two mobs, cure a few people who nearly died, still remember to haste one person and get yelled at for not casting refresh.

I know, I know, its not as if every cannon party is bad; but thats the same with any party. I just find that I can have fun in a normal party with my good friends for three to five hours; conversely, I can only tolerate an hour or two of a cannon party. There can be no confusion on this wise...its a matter of enjoyment. I still want to have enjoyment in this game; otherwise, its a huge time sink.

On a side note, I would like to conduct a test for echo. For anyone who have read this or anything on my blog, I encourage you to post a comment. You don't need an account, but you do have to type in the words just to ensure you're not really a robot.

Thank you.