New Linkshell

My new linkshell is one of the best linkshells on my server, if not the best. This is the only hybrid linkshell I know off, which is one of the key factors why this linkshell is so successful. The leader of the shell is jp, but unlike my previous ls leader, he makes efforts to communicate with English-speaking people. Since the NM-timer in ffxi is around-the-clock, members across timezones are really important. This shell has more people than my previous shell, which means they have the numbers to do large-scale events, like Einherjar and camping hard-to-find HNM like sandworm and Ixion. The shell does almost everything you can think of in game: Salvage, Einherjar, Sea, Sky, HNM, and ZNM. It is very time-consuming, but the leaders understand when you have more important stuff in the real life like work and family. The linkshell also allows its members to join other shells for other events like salvage and dynamis. You don't have to join every events to feel like you belong in that group. I do enjoy this shell and its members very much, and I can really see myself liking it more in the future.

One reason I love my current linkshell: the ability for me to speak English:







Maybe this is not a big deal for some people, but I have been in a Japanese-only shell for many years, so this was a really nice change for me. There are a lot of cool people in the shell, whether jp or eu or na. I will update more later with more pictures of what my linkshell is doing. Stay tuned.

Six years of Vanadiel

Six years!
Lot of stuff have happened since I last updated, which was July of '07. The biggest change for me was the change of linkshell, and I'll explain why.

There was a time when I was really busy with work. I had to work six to seven days a week with long hours, and could not play ffxi as much as I wanted. When I could log on for a short time, I mainly chatted with friends, and soloed a few exp here and there. I didn't have time to lead my dynamis shell, and didn't have time to join linkshell activities. So my LS leader gave me crap about it even after I explained what I was going through in real life. At the moment I thought he was targeting me, since I was the only non-Japanese player in the shell. But I found out he has already pissed off some of my jp shell members for the same reason. Some of my jp friends were busy with school/exam/work as well, and they could not participate in LS activities as well. So the leader told them off, and they quit the shell eventually.

So for a while I was linkshell-less and free to do whatever I wanted, until one of my shell members sent a /tell to me. He told me he was leaving the shell as well, and asked me if I wanted to join a new shell with him. Knowing my friends will be in the new linkshell, I happily joined.

The new shell turned out to be one of the best linkshells on our server, if not the best. They had a lot more members than my previous shell, they do a lot more LS activities, and I was not the only non-Japanese player anymore. The best thing I loved about this new shell was that the linkshell had a mixture of JP/NA/EU players. I loved being able to speak Japanese and English in the new shell. I get to make new friends, while stayed in touch with some of my best friends in the old shell. It was a win-win situation.

I will talk more about my new linkshell, what they do, and why I love them in the future updates, and hopefully I will be diligent about my updates (yeah, right). See you (the two ppl who read my blog) in the next update.

my JULY update

I have been busy with work (yeah, nothing new there), so i've been putting this off for quite some time. this update was meant for JULY, yes JULY! i got lot of stuff to post about since July, but i think i will finish the JULY update first. /sigh

so the first thing:
1. DM


SE finally made it possible to rechoose some of the rare-ex, one-time gears in the game. and after much consideration (yeah right), i finally gave up my knight's earring.

this is us getting ready for DM

unfortunately, i was too busy to take pictures during the fight, since i was 2boxing. so this is the picture i will have to go with:

the fight was so much easier than i remembered. last time i was pld (hence the knight earring), and this time i came as mnk. i think the hardest part about this was waiting forever at the fountain for clear weather. -_-

2. SKY

we had our last run in the place called Ru'Avitau, you don't know how happy i am knowing i won't be coming back to this hellhole, EVER.

knowing it was our last run, our orange friend was particularly kind to us, dropping neptunal body every time. thx to our manticore friend, everyone that needed/wanted it got a piece. thank you, good friend. we won't be coming back to bother you ever again.



and congratulation to Gradius: the last person in our linkshell to get an osode, and well-deserved, i might add.

farewell sky. it is correct to say that you will not be missed. the only chance of me coming back is probably when i decide to quit and want to take some pictures before i delete my account.


3. Merits

been doing a little merits with ls members and some pickups. pt w/ ls members are always fun, but rare. since most of our times are filled with ls activities, and people busy with their jobs, it is pretty tough to gather people to actually merits for a few hours.





this is where i am with monk. just needs to finish up w/ Counter, and maybe some category 2 merits (don't like any of them to be honest), and i'll be done w/ monk.


4. Limbus

we did some omegas, ultimas, blah blah blah, and this is the only picture worthy of a screenshot.


5. Stuff

so at the end of our sky and limbus runs, these are what i got:


so i look like this now. (stupid homan body just won't drop)


6. Assaults

i don't know like assaults, but i need the points for salvage. thank you SE for another well-thought scheme. since i'm only doing assaults for points, i usually do the ones that give me the most points w/ the least amount of people. (yes, i'm sure everyone knows which one i'm talking about)

SM! All right!!

7. Random Pix

here are some random pictures:








our salvage group has been doing quite well, but there are so many picutres i think i will leave them for next time. so this is (was?) my JULY update, yes, JULY update. hopefully i can finish up my more recent update soon. but everyone knows how procrastination can take you over and convince you there is always tomorrow.

update!

SAMURAI
havn't updated for a while since i needed to work tons of overtime Now that i finally have some time, here is a quick update. so after two weeks of ffxi-less life, i finally pick up my samurai again. and i went from 72-75 in 4 days (i think), thanks to some ls-mates.

and this is what i look like at 75, pretty much the same look as my war and bst.

i really enjoyed pt w/ ls mates. not only are they skilled, well-geared, they are also fun to hang around with. (yup, we're the blue pearled ppl)

and because of the ls pt, we're abled to mess around, and this is what we fought. if you have fought this mob, you know this thing's AOE is a pain, its DoT spells drains your hp at an amazing rate, not to mention he dispels every effect you have on you. (goodbye hq sushi)

sometimes it would cast Utsuemi, and we would get two of them.

these are the highest gekko i've got so far, i think i was 71 or 72?

and not short after i got 75, HELLO STORAGE!!! i think i'll take them out again if i get to use my sam on some HNM scene. (i doubt it though).

all in all, sam was pretty fun, and really powerful too. it's really easy to get hate no matter what type of tanks i had. either SE broke sam with its new abilities, or i just had crappy tanks. now that i am done with samurai. merits, anyone? with the new version update, 20 combat merits are available, right now i have 8 into H2H, 2 into Katana, and 2 into GK. i'm really debating if i should max out katana or GK..... tough choice. suggestion/opinions are welcomed, thank you.

Assault
other than leveling, did some assaults, and this was the first time i did "searat salvation," it was funny seeing all these rats running around, couldn't help but took some pictures:

and shortly after, i got the rank-up quest, and this is a pix i really like, ontop of the lotus lake:

and of course, SERGEANT!!

Salvage
after the version update, salvage is supposed to get easier, with better drop rate. Well, this is what SE did:

SE gives us a treasure chest at the beginning of the salvage. -_-; yes, this made salvage easier, BUT THE DROP RATE STILL SUCKS!!!! no matter cells or items, the drop rate SUCKS!!! nevertheless, with weapon cells at the beginning, the mobs on the first floor are a joke. Last week we did Arrapago Remnants (again), we were able to clear it with just six/seven people.

one of the pretty shots i like, cherry blossom:

and i got these:

Dynamis

Dynamis has been the same, did the usual cities, northlands, DL, blah blah blah.

i think we got like drg/bst/smn/bst on that run? for some reason this cracks me up (the ls chat) :

Misc.

since he begged me to take a picture of him, and he is one of the three people that actually read this blog, here he is with his new armor:

after a typical limbus run, we ran into this NM:

and it dropped the shield.

two samurais waiting for bcg to start:

taru utsusemi:

elvan in an over-sized coat:

well, that is it for now. look forward to doing more assaults to rank up, more salvage to gear up, and more ppl to merits with. Hopefully i will have something to show for next update.