So, we own two computers, and sadly both of their usability seems to be fading. The one I can’t even open up facebook very long without it freaking out and going into safe mode. The other won’t even allow me to play longer than 5 minutes without doing the same thing..   So unless I miraculously get a new computer anytime soon (doubtful) then I think I am just out of luck for the time being, and on a forced hiatus..

I’m actually really REALLY tempted to hook up FFXI on the PS2 again and learn to play it there.  Its the game I really want to play anyway. I still love it more than any of the other’s I’ve played ever.. and there isn’t much other option for entertainment at our house.. lol.  No cable, Now practically no computer use, and have cycled through all the books we own that I would read…  I’ll have to see if I can convince my hubby.. lol.

By time I get to log back into Runes, my offline time in my guild will probably be expired and I’ll be kicked.. and there isn’t any way to get a message to any of them… Ah well..

As many things that people complain about FFXI, I still think that they still inspire people to be more respectful, and friendships aren’t expected to be fickle. Linkshells were never as limited, so people weren’t kicked to make room for others, just because they had some down time.

I’ve been really interested in any information I can get about the upcoming FFXIV. I guess I should be glad that it will be a little while before that comes out… will give me time to get my computer situation figured out hopefully.

I am very hopeful for FFXIV in general. If it ends up being like it sounds, I’m going to love it!  I really wish they’d come out with at least mentioning some of the magical jobs..

Been doing a lot of daily’s lately! Mostly have not had a huge amount of time so have been logging in the mornings and doing the one in Ystra Highlands where you deliver the supplies to camp in The Sea of Snow.  3 levels off of it.. for each job.

Just the other day I reached 35 priest / 35 knight. Yay! of course this now means that I need to find a way to acquire the Acient Spirit items from Necropolis of Mirrors so that I can learn my new elite skills.  Blindrage had convinced me a while ago to give up my shield and take up a two-handed sword, so the new Knight elite skill really isn’t going to do me any good, except for giving me the mere ability that will allow me to get the level 40 elite skills when it comes time….   darn..  lol..

Computer has been working horribly. Both our computers actually.. what used to be the good one now consistantly freezes and kicks us out of the game, if not totally forces the computer to reboot. The other one freezes, and then goes into safe mode..  Katella’s died twice,  because of it, and Blindrage once.   ><

I want a new computer… (actually two of them, so Blindrage and I can play together again..)

Kind of sucks, although I think he was starting to get a little board of Runes of Magic. This is what often happens though. Just when I start getting things figured out, and having fun, his interest wanes, and then he doesn’t feel like playing much, and when we do, its frustrating.  Then I’m supposed to not level higher than him, yet he won’t play on his own, so I end up playing his char every once in awhile just so that I’m still ok to play mine once in awhile.

Doubtful that I will be getting a new computer anytime soon though, maybe if we get decent taxes back. If it happens though I want to make sure that it is a good one that will allow me try out FFXIV when it comes out, which by the sounds of it will require a higher end computer.. so… it may be a ways off.. ><

I think that one of the reason I like MMO’s really has a lot to do with the whole social aspect.  I crave it a little I think. I like the interaction (most of the time). Attention I don’t like,  I try and shy away from it most of the time, but I do genuinely like to talk to individuals and get to know people  from all over the place.  My life is pretty busy the way it is, and I don’t get much opportunity to meet new people, living in a relatively small town where I either already know, or know of most of the people around.

The guild I’m in is called “Envy”, and I really like listening and talking to them, they are a super nice bunch.  I’m lagging behind them a bit in levels (but what else is new.. always been a slow leveler.. lol) But they are still friendly and willing to help.

Last night I mentioned in guild that if anyone had some Life crystals that they didn’t need, to let me know.  Once you reach level 25 (was awhile ago for me as I’m now 32 Priest /31 Knight) depending on your job, you would need different kind of crystals that only seem to drop inside the “Forsaken Abbey” instance.  15 of said crystals grant you a certificate which allows you to learn an “Elite Skill”. I was needing to catch up my Priest’s elite skills so was again in need of yet more Life crystals.

I had spent some time alone trying to gather some with on my Knight, but the drop rate isn’t wonderful.  Over the course of 2 weeks nightly, I had only ended up acquiring about 3 crystals that I used on getting my Knight’s Elite skill.

Last night, a few very nice guild members, Kule1, Twizzle, and Teena offered to do a Forsaken Abbey run with me so that I could gather some more. Very nice of them! Ended up getting 4 from that. Another Guild member Ariella had been collecting crystals, but because they are of the new druid elf class, and the game doesn’t have “Elite skills” for that job yet, she couldn’t use them, so offered them to me.  I thanked her, again was very nice of her!

With their generous help, I was able to get my Elite Skills for both Priest and Knight caught up to my current level.  Once I gained my level 25 elite skill, I was then able to get my level 30 elite skill for priest. The level 30  gives my healing a boost, saves me mana, but decreases my magical attack rate.  It also makes me look like this:

In Runes of Magic, they have different wings you can buy for your character to wear. They are more physical looking than my picture above, and you buy them with tokens or diamonds that you purchase using real money, or rubies, which you get for spending diamonds in their store (think of them as change.. lol)

It will be awhile until I could get any of those kind, so it kind of made me laugh to see my new skill generated wings..   good enough for now.. hehe

Few weeks ago Google had done their name in Barcode. They had a link that led you to a site that allowed you to do the same thing.  Meant to post this and the site but got busy, and misplaced it..

Broke down and bought a few diamonds on their 30% off weekend, and Blindrage and I bought a mount each. It was a hard decision weither to buy a couple cheap mounts for a couple characters, or to buy one really cool one. In the end, decided if it actually cost, its better to get something we really liked as opposed to something we didn’t really care for.

For the longest time, I had had my heart set on buying a chocobo… err.. I mean Ostrich.. But at the last second, I saw this purple snow beast, and changed my mind.

Blindrage bought a green dragonfang (something) and then (accidentally) used his remaining diamonds to re-color it.

I used what diamonds I had left to buy a couple clothes racks for my house.  They are basically manniquins that show the armor you put on them.  Freed up some storage for me, and let me keep a couple sets that I really liked as sort of decoration for my house.. I was pleased.. plus now it looks like people are there to greet me when I get home.. lol!

Blindrage is now a level 33 Knight/Priest,  and Katella is a level 32 Priest / 30 Knight.

No rest for the weary… lol

~ FFXIV  news ~

Spent some time yesterday also looking up information on FFXIV.  I’m really excited and really impatient for next year’s release of FFXIV. I’m hoping that SE has made some improvements, so that casual gamers can be a little more successful in its next installations of their franchise.

I’m very interested in the Armory System, sounds very cool to be able to change your “job” on the fly by merely changing your weapon, making your hard learned skills available whenever needed, rather than only when you had a job set as your main skill. I had always thought that some kind of option should have been available, especially when it came to party wipes that occur so far from a mog house or a nomad moogle.

Also interesting to me is the seemingly integrated nature of the crafting system. Only time will tell.

Here are a few links if you are interested in looking it up.

http://www.ffxivblog.com/

http://www.neobahumut.com/boards/index.php?topic=1128.0

http://ffxiv.zam.com/story.html?story=19138

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/more-detail-on-jobs-questing-in-ffxiv

http://www.ffxivcore.com/topic/92-ffxiv-classes-jobs-and-information-revealed-updated/

As I mentioned in my last post,  Our Guild “Envy” had been able to make a castle just the other day. I was in Dragonfang when the announcement came up, so I took a screenshot.

This guild is super nice! People quite friendly and helpful when they can. Very reminiscent of  a couple of Linkshells I had the pleasure to be a part of in FFXI.

Here is a couple group shots we took at the castle…

Here is a view of the castle itself

I bought an Elven Screen and donated it to furnish the castle, since I have one in my house.

Here is a picture not at all related to the post, but I want to share it, just because its cute.. hehe

And here is the newest Knight Pic at level 28

Not newest, but here is one of the most recent pics I got of Katella, I will get an updated one soon.

Through the weekend, I was able to get Katella up to 28 on both Priest and Knight.  I really like the combo, but I’m not so sure of my skills, I still feel really slow when it comes to effectively targeting. I remember it made such a difference when I figured out the targeting macros in FFXI.  Targeting options in RoM at a glance seem kind of limited.  The few useful macro’s I’ve found seem to be more scripting instead of commands.   I miss the commands.. lol!  Wish I had a solid place to look up stuff, although I suppose thats the difference in playing a newer game vs. an established one like FFXI. I hate scouring forums looking for macros, tips, and explanations..  so frustrating.  I’ve been spoiled for life I think by having the FFXIclopedia wiki.. lol.

In RoM, I still haven’t even figured out how to do the runes and tier stuff. The places I’ve found small bits of information, its unfortunately still seems greek to me.

I tagged along to provide extra heals as my priest for  a Necropolis of Mirrors Run last night.  It was fun although it was very laggy, and I sometimes had a hard time keeping up with the group. My computer is getting too old I think..  I did die twice. The first time was because someone inadvertently pulled the entire room and the boss mob. Luckily, I had soul bound (re-raise) on at that point,  but the second time I didn’t..  actually the second time I died, no one could figure out what I died from.. I actually had raised a couple people and there were no mobs, nothing attacking, hit points went from full to nothing, and I just fell over. Was very odd. Luckily didn’t get any debt from it.  Very annoying, but Soul Bond has a half an hour timer on it. Twice now I’ve been in parties where we’ve wiped, and raised myself, then group members, and then didn’t have the option to put it back on.  I miss FFXI reraise.. I’m sure RoM is trying to make it a little difficult still by having that timer, but honestly, even when you could reapply reraise in FFXI pretty quickly, didn’t mean you’d have the mana, or even  get the chance to..  so it works  out. I think they should change it.. lol!  All the regular mobs were 35-39 in Necropolis of Mirrors, so they were all red to me. I was probably still too low really to be in there.

On my knight, I broke down and bought 11 Life Crystals so that I’d have enough to get the level 25 elite skill.  I had been trying to farm them in Forsaken Abbey, and dispite spending a couple hours a night for 2 and a half weeks, I had only gotten 4.

Now I need 15 more Life crystals for the other elite skill.. ><   I may have to break down and buy them later..

Our Guild got a castle the other night. We went up and took a look. It was cool. I’ll post pictures of it later.  We took a group picture there and when I was exploring afterward, I actually fell off the the side..  The castle is in the sky.. lol.. it was a long fall.

Chapter II – The Elven Prophecy has arrived….

Spent the last couple of days trying out a couple new Elven characters I made, Ariya and Kariella.   Kariella was made to give me a chance to try out the new jobs of Warden & Druid. I have to say that I really like what they have done with them!

Warden is a pet/summoning class. I really appreciate that it doesn’t take mp away to have your pet out like it does for summoner in FFXI. I also appreciate that they let you start out with a pretty helpful summon, rather than giving you a weak one like in WoW. I think they did well designing this job, and I am excited to see what will come of it.  Kariella is now a 14 Warden/ 13 Druid.

Druid I really like as well. Its a nice blend of healing and offensive spells.  A little bit like FFXI’s redmage, only with Druid, you aren’t penalized for dabbling a little in both.

The Elven area is beautiful! I got quite a few pictures, and I’ll share a few..

Above: The airship to Varanas

I also got a chance to play Katella’s priest with Blindrage’s Knight and ended up getting to level 27 priest.

I had done the Free -Give away on Katella to get part of the “Golden Warrior” cloth set, and had been wearing that since I didn’t have anything better at the time. I wasn’t happy with how skimpy it was, course Blindrage liked it.. hehe

As luck would have it  though, I was walking through town, and someone random offered me a trade and gave me an Herbalists Robe for 1 Gold! It’s pretty! I like it.. hehe

I paired it with some shoulder guard I had gotten from some quest along the way that I was finally high enough to use, and it looked ok

Then while doing a few more quests in Aslan I got a shoulder guard drop off of something we were fighting, (a Purity Shoulder guard)  and ended up going even better with the Herbalist Robe… funny how even 1 piece of armor in this game changes your look.. hehe.

Here are a few pictures from last week when I was running some other quests with Kauri in the mine in Goblin Village.

And some other places as well..

Little bit has happened, after the last post, we ended up quitting the “Disturbed” Guild, opting for the chance to join (hopefully..  but so far so good) more mature guild called Envy.

Got a few people together and finished out the Bloody Gallery quests with Count Hibara. From that we got the chest piece for the third set of armor. Here is Katella in her full set.

Runes of Magic had a Rare item give away, and Blindrage had recieved the Golden Warrior Chest piece. Here is a picture after he leveled and was able to wear it. He is now level 25 knight.

Kauri pic below..

Went Exploring and Found:

This is a level 30 area it appears, so won’t be here for a little bit.

Also, got lost one day after accidentally hitting the wrong teleport, ended up in some instance where there was lots of treasure boxes, but I didn’t touch them. There were high level boss Mobs just on the other side of them.. lol

Katella is now a level 21 Priest / 21 Knight!

I’ve joined a new guild, the last two died. This one is called “Disturbed” and so far is pretty fun. They talk alot about music, and so far there is only one person I’ve came across that thinks they are “All that and a bucket of chicken” a bit annoying, but I’m able to ignore them for the most part… lol

Went on a Forsaken Abbey run, and inadvertently became part of a group known as the “Trio”.. lol  Kauri (mage/scout), Katella (priest/knight), and Twizzle (mage/priest ~ I think thats the secondary).  (Extremely fun party pictured here.. )

The first run was pretty awesome, we had an pretty smooth time getting up there, finished all the quests on the way up without incident,  but when we got to the End Boss, a witch named Anacalon, things went a little awry.

We died, but it didn’t matter so much, was a total blast! Kind of reminded me of the time in FFXI when Kauri, Kinkykitty, Katella, and Squeekers were able to make it all the way to the 4th level in Promy Holla.. lol!

Last night we went again

waiting on a member to show up in this one…

This time two of the members where much higher (35’s) and oddly enough, the trip up there was more difficult and filled with more death just on the trip up. At one point the other priest, a mage & I started getting attacked, and the Tank & dps didn’t notice and ran off to another room to fight something else,  leaving us there fighting. Then the higher level guy actually yelled at “the priests” for not healing them… ><   I was dead in the other room, and  a mage and the other priest was trying their best to defend themselves against a couple of mobs.  It was dumb, I may be a “noob” but I know enough that the party needs to stay together, and be aware of where party members are..  ah well.  When we finally made it up to Anacalon, this time went alot smoother and I focused only on healing the main tank and sending out a few group heals.  My tactic was to regen and wave armor the tank, and heal or urgent heal as needed. We were glad to finish the quest.. lol!