(no subject)

[thistlechaser]

I've been having so many "IC" (in character) FFXI dreams lately! It's so cool to actually "be" Thistle, to wear his AF, swing his scythe with skill, cast spells, to see other FFXI people, etc! :D

This dream featured PvP, darned MNKs, and while it lead up to sex luckily stopped before it happened.



The setting was a college or some school-type place. To earn your dinner, you had to challenge someone to a one-on-one fight and win it (so 50% of the people got no dinner each night). I had never yet gone to bed hungry; not only did I win every night, the fights were easy. Boring, even.

So when a new guy (Galka MNK) arrived in time for the dinner-challenges, I picked him. I didn't seriously think he could beat me, but I figured he might be more of a challenge and thus interesting.

(In the dream-reality, your number of HP was affected by your body size. Since I'm a small hume I had fewer than hume norm. He was a large Galka, so he had what seemed like an impossible number of HP.)

We engaged, and I tried opening with a spell. He grabbed me, tossed his shoulder, and I landed flat on my back on the mat. My casting was interrupted. Fight one was over. (Landing flat on your back meant the fight (round) was over -- you could keep starting new fights with the same person till you were out of HP, the fight/round system was just for tracking stuff.)

Second fight I tried casting again, but he interrupted it the same way. No one had ever man-handled me so easily, so I was rather shocked at this! But I jumped right up and tried again.

Third fight had somewhat better results... for a moment. I cast bind (which was a stun-fast cast for some reason, much faster than whatever I had been casting before), then ran off far enough to bio II and poison II him. I grinned as we both watched his HP slowly fall. But then, once both spells wore off, he chakra'ed back to 100% HP. My shoulders slumped.

Casting wasn't working, so I tried SA+TA'ing him. Same exact results -- he grabbed me and threw me down before I could connect. I tried a number of things, including 2hr'ing, but he just kept throwing me. (Dream-me hadn't noticed at the time, only looking back on it now do I see that he never used the 'attack' command. He never once threw a punch at me, just kept reacting to my attacks. He was just that sure of things. :/ )

Finally, after throwing me down again, he followed me down to the mat. He didn't exactly pin me (he wasn't touching me), but he was as close to me as you could get without touching. I wouldn't be able to squirm or struggle to get up without making contact, so I stayed very still. He shifted his weight onto one elbow to free up an arm, and touched a single finger to my bare throat. (For lord knows what reason, I was fighting in my AF. The body piece has a very low collar, then above it is just bare throat.) There wasn't anything I could do! He could have choked me or pinned me down or probably just snapped my neck, so I lifted my chin in a sort of "you win, I submit" sort of way. That made him grin and his eyes brighten. He was excited by this and I was highly embarrassed to find that I was as well. Even more embarrassed when he reached down to confirm that.

Then he stood up and waited for me to try my next move. Darned guy was smiling and confident, his eyes bright as he watched me. Casting hadn't worked, my special abilities hadn't worked, there was only one thing left I could try. I checked my TP, but was only at about 50% (though this was "real" and not on a computer, TP, HP, etc were still displayed in corners). A few more fights trying nothing special, and eventually I had TP. It was time for my suicide move.

I SE+LR+guillotine'ed. While I finally (finally!) made his HP move (he lost about 10%), it took my HP down about 90%. Even though he hadn't punched me once yet this whole time, I knew just one or two hits from him would take me to 0. He moved in close to me (it'd be "in your face" close, except my face barely came up to his mid-chest) and asked if I was ready to give up. I hate giving up, I hate losing, but it was a hopeless fight and I had to acknowledge that. I nodded.

The Galka tossed me over his shoulder (as in carrying me! My face to his back and my butt leading the way! Me! In my wonderful DRK AF!) and carried me back to his place. There he set me down and told me to "get out of all that metal". It was only as I was taking my AF off that I noticed that he hadn't even been wearing armor at all. He stood against my best attacks wearing street clothing!

Luckily the dream ended as I was still getting undressed and noticing his lack of armor, because Galka are scary and I don't want to picture what would have happened next. :P

Comments

[kriatyrr.livejournal.com]

Oh, that is priceless. I'm laughing uncontrollably over here.

♥

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Horrible, isn't it? :D

[kriatyrr.livejournal.com]

I don't even know what a galka is, so.. I dunno.

BTW, I just downloaded the FFXI benchmark. My Lorelai (750MHz) scores 642 on the low res and 624 on the hi-res. I'm so tempted to install a windows OS on Matsuri (my 1.7GHz unless my memory has betrayed me), but I intended her to be my linux box..

I need to build a new computer anyway.. one with silence in mind. I think Lorelai helps my insomnia rule my life. She's too loud.

I have a bunch of FFXI questions, if you don't mind..?

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

These are Galka (http://big.freett.com/howtokeepswf/yk_galka01.jpg), they're a race you can play if you like. Biiiig folks. They don't reproduce biologically (supposedly through reincarnation), but most people consider them males. They're really big and even their happy /emotes look like they're angry/mad, but mostly it's how big they are compred to humes that tends to make me blink.

Yay FFXI_OK computer! And go ahead with whatever questions you like. :)

[kriatyrr.livejournal.com]

I'm going through character ideas, and I'm thinking maybe a knight-like character. So I have lots of questions about chocobos.

Actually I don't really know where to start. How does one acquire a chocobo? Does your character's size (or weight?) matter much? Could a Galka ride a chocobo? Can you ride a chocobo into battle, or will it flee in panic? If you have a female chocobo, will it lay eggs? Or are chocobos sold as steeds spayed/neutered so you can't start breeding your own? Are chocobos even for sale? Do they have any kind of personality, or are they all carbon copies of each other behaviour-wise? Can you name your chocobo?

How does one "reproduce through reincarnation" exactly? >_>

I could've sworn I had a bunch of non-chocobo questions as well.

How many hours a day do you play on average? Do you consider yourself addicted?

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately no one can own chocobos (yet, that might change in the future). Once you reach a certain level (15, I think it is) you can do an easy quest to get a "chocobo license" which will allow you to rent (for a small fee) a chocobo at any city's stables. You get it for a short time (15 or 30 minutes, depending on your level). When you get where you're going you dismount and it runs off (back to the stables, eaten by a monster, wherever). Or if you run out of time it drops you off and then runs away. They're all copies, no personalities or different stats or anything.

There isn't a "knight" job. Closest would be paladin (they wear white and protect folks). Dark Knights have 'knight' in their name, but they're not very knightly at all.

How does one "reproduce through reincarnation" exactly?

I don't know, and I won't ever ask. Some things are best not being known. :P

How many hours a day do you play on average? Do you consider yourself addicted?

All of them? :P Basically if I'm not working or sleeping, I'm logged in to the game. But, especially lately, I'm not playing it much. I just use it as a way to chat with all my friends there. Addicted? I couldn't answer that. Whenever I get into something on the net, I put all my free time into it. Maybe I'm always addicted then, but I don't think so.

[kriatyrr.livejournal.com]

Aw, was afraid of that.
But a rented chocobo has no trouble carrying a huge Galka?

Paladin really isn't my style (assuming they are anything similar to D&D paladins)..

I want to have a sidekick. Can I have some sort of creature (no matter how useless) follow me around and stuff?

Installing win2k on Matsuri now. For a while there I was worried I had gotten the specs wrong and she was just a 1.2 or 1.4, but she is indeed a 1.7GHz. Haven't used her much, so I'm not that familiar with her.

Ah, the part that takes the longest in character creation: the name. Restrictions? (length, weird symbols, whatever)

From what I gather, there are a lot of Japanese players, and an auto-translator feature with a few common phrases.. but will I be able to write in japanese using the european version of the game? (okay, you might not be able to answer that one.. but it's a worry I have, not being able to write it even when I know enough to write some basic phrases)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

But a rented chocobo has no trouble carrying a huge Galka?

Galka get big birds, and Taru (little tiny folks) get mini-chocobos, but they all run the same speed and are otherwise the same. :)

Paladin really isn't my style (assuming they are anything similar to D&D paladins)..

I'm not really sure what they're like in D&D. In FFXI, they're the ultra-defense job. In a party role, it's their job to keep the mob hating them, so that others in the party don't get hurt. It's a challenging and very useful job -- and not too easy to play, either!

I want to have a sidekick. Can I have some sort of creature (no matter how useless) follow me around and stuff?

Yes and no and sort of. You can't have anything like that early on. The basic jobs (the ones you can pick from in the beginning) have no pets. Three of the advance jobs (once you can play after you have some job at 30 and do a quest to unlock the job) can have pets. Dragoons have the most pet-like pet. Beast Masters charm wild monsters to be pets, but those pets either die fast or turn on the BST. Summoners summon spirit thingies, but the spirits eat MP to stay out, so as soon as the SMN loses all their MP, the spirit vanishes.

None of those pets can be kept out in a city.

There's a new quest they just added, to get a "fellowship NPC". A "PC" "pet" who will help you for about 15 battles a day. (It's a NPC who is one of the PC races and a PC job and acts sort of like a PC.)

Ah, the part that takes the longest in character creation: the name. Restrictions? (length, weird symbols, whatever)

Um, I think it's 15 characters? 16? They can be pretty long, BUT you don't want a long one. Sometimes in abilities or magic someone might need to type your name, so being Joebobthewhiteknight could get you dead. :P Names can only be letters, all lowercase excet the first one (which is always upper). It's nice not seeing Death749817430174 running around!

From what I gather, there are a lot of Japanese players, and an auto-translator feature with a few common phrases.. but will I be able to write in japanese using the european version of the game?

I use the NA version, but I'd bet a lot of money that you would not be able to use the ... kana? Is that what they're called? Those little symbol things. BUT, that being said, there is a program out there that will let you do that (a version of the Windower). It is very much against the TOS, but tons of people use it.

By the way, poke me before you create your character so I can get you a world pass. With that you can get onto the same server as me, so I could answer questions and stuff for you there. :)

[kriatyrr.livejournal.com]

In FFXI, they're the ultra-defense job. In a party role, it's their job to keep the mob hating them, so that others in the party don't get hurt. It's a challenging and very useful job -- and not too easy to play, either!

Doesn't sound too bad - I'm rather fond of the Guardian archetype. I think it'd be cool to team up with a physically weak character, like a Summoner (assuming they are weak), and keep them alive while they dish out the damage to the enemy. But parties are generally larger than that?

How are white mages? I tend to play healer-types a lot, perhaps because they are always needed. Are they totally useless if silenced/out of MP? How is MP recovered?
Oh, and dragoons! Can they jump insanely high? I've always loved Dragoons, and I think I could do my Guardian thing as one.

Um, I think it's 15 characters? 16? They can be pretty long, BUT you don't want a long one. Sometimes in abilities or magic someone might need to type your name, so being Joebobthewhiteknight could get you dead. :P Names can only be letters, all lowercase excet the first one (which is always upper). It's nice not seeing Death749817430174 running around!

I'd have thought there was an autocomplete function for names, tab or something, like in most IRC clients.
Are "all the good names taken" or can you have the same name as someone else? I can probably find an unique one if I have to (Though I'm not going to go with Kriatyrr - people just can't spell it. XD)

Which server are you on? Need to know if I have to choose - I do have another friend who plays, but he seems to be far more addicted and enjoying it less than you do, so I think I'd rather be in the same world as you. On the other hand, he and I are much closer and he'd probably be able to help me out more in the beginning.. You're off gallivanting with your higher level friends, and I don't want to be a burden anyway.

Did some googling around for info on the language input thing. Most say the only way to write japanese is through not-so-legal means, but one poster implied it's possible to copy and paste, so.. here's for hoping.

Haven't decided if I want to play a male or a female character. I tend to play female because I don't quite grasp the male mind and don't think I'd play a realistic male.. are there any differences between the genders I should know of? Will people hit on me if I play female? :P

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I think it'd be cool to team up with a physically weak character, like a Summoner (assuming they are weak), and keep them alive while they dish out the damage to the enemy. But parties are generally larger than that?

SMNs (summoners) have the fewest HP in the game, I believe. Of all the mages, they're the least good to let get hit. And yeah, parties are usually 6 people total. You can do it with fewer (at least at low levels), but 6 is the best.

How are white mages? I tend to play healer-types a lot, perhaps because they are always needed. Are they totally useless if silenced/out of MP? How is MP recovered?
Oh, and dragoons! Can they jump insanely high? I've always loved Dragoons, and I think I could do my Guardian thing as one.

WHMs (white mages) can wear some armor and use hammers, so they're not useless without MP, but you really want them to have MP because healing is what they do. :) They (or anyone) can recover MP (or HP) by "sitting" (use the * key on your number pad).

DRGs (dragoons) have three kinds of jump. Jump, Super Jump, and eh, High Jump (I think that last one is right).

But the cool thing about FFXI is that you don't have to pick just one job! You can level ALL of them! Play DRG for an hour or two, then go back to town and change into a WHM and level that. Nothing is set in stone!

I'd have thought there was an autocomplete function for names, tab or something, like in most IRC clients.

That'd rock, but nope. Nothing like that.

Are "all the good names taken" or can you have the same name as someone else?

You can have the same name as someone on a different server, but not on the same server. Um, I'd say that the good names are probably not all taken, but it depends what you mean by "good". The game was already running for a couple years and I got Thistle, my first choice!

Which server are you on?

I'm on Midgar! Eh, or whatever the longer version of the name is, Midgarsonnomer or whatever. It's the only Midgar-one. :) Whichever server you choose is cool with me! I don't mind helping, but it'd be good to play with a close friend, too.

Most say the only way to write japanese is through not-so-legal means, but one poster implied it's possible to copy and paste, so.. here's for hoping.

Yeah, it'd be against the TOS ("illegal"). I know of no copying and pasting into the game, so that'd be a new one!

Haven't decided if I want to play a male or a female character. I tend to play female because I don't quite grasp the male mind and don't think I'd play a realistic male.. are there any differences between the genders I should know of? Will people hit on me if I play female? :P

There's no difference in stats between the two, just how you look. There's also almost no IC, so you don't have to worry about getting into the character's head. :) And yes, as much of the game's population is made up of teenage boys, you'd likely get hit on as a girl. :/

[kriatyrr.livejournal.com]

(these posts are getting long)


Yeah, it'd be against the TOS ("illegal"). I know of no copying and pasting into the game, so that'd be a new one!

I forgot one can't just alt-tab out of the game normally. So copy and pasting would still require the use of a not entirely legal tool to play the game in a window. :/
Since I have multiple computers, I could still use one to play and one to keep tabs on the rest of the internet, except that Matsuri didn't score high enough on the benchmark either.

So my dreams have yet again been shattered and I'm forced to cope with my life sucking using far less immersive games.

I wanted to roam the world, do heroic stuff, simple stuff, ride chocobos, get excited over a new piece of equipment, etc.

Maybe the next time I power down Lorelai, I will slip her video card into Matsuri. I posted both computers' benchmark results in my journal.

But my aetherspoon says that the video cards are about equal. Lorelai's just has more ram, and she has more ram in general too. We've come to the conclusion that Matsuri's motherboard may be damaged (onboard sound not working, how my previous linux installation got all messed up, other issues).. I got it, the CPU and the video card as a hand-me-down after my (ex-)boss's son upgraded his computer.

Without playing a galka, can I design my character so that one cannot tell his or her gender easily? Can a male character wear dresses and skirts and such? Can a small-breasted female dress like a male and pass for one?

Oh! Does your appearance change when you change jobs?
How long have you been playing?

I talked to my other FFXI-playing friend. He's on Alexander. He also told me that there's a certain prejudice against some jobs (like dragoon) as being "weak" when they really aren't. I've never gotten any such vibe from your posts, could this be a server thing?

Choice quote from our conversation on IRC: (Chaos_Knight is my ffxi-playing friend, xenodias. aetherspoon is very critical of me playing the game, because others have succumbed to addiction like our friend.)

<Chaos_Knight> My first time playing, it took nearly a month to reach level 20. Gets easier once you reach a high level and have easier access to making gil but it takes a long time initially
<aetherspoon> a month of playing how many hours per day though?
<Chaos_Knight> Uh...I refrain from answering that question. >_>

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Aww, sorry to hear about the computer!

Without playing a galka, can I design my character so that one cannot tell his or her gender easily?

There is no way. Females are very female in this world. Annoyingly so. Say both males and females can wear Armor Piece X. On a male, it would look like a normal pair of pants. On a female, it would come up to her knees and leave all of her upper/inner thigh bare. This is really, really obvious. Females have a hard time finding something that doesn't display their breasts or inner thighs. Some races (Mithra, the catgirls) have bare asses in addition to breasts and inner thighs. The same exact armor, when on a male, will cover everything.

Oh! Does your appearance change when you change jobs?

Not based on your job, but each job needs its own armor, so when you change jobs you'll have to change armor and thus look different.

How long have you been playing?

Ummm. Almost a year and a half now? The Easter that just passed woud have been a year. So about a year and five months?

He also told me that there's a certain prejudice against some jobs (like dragoon) as being "weak" when they really aren't. I've never gotten any such vibe from your posts, could this be a server thing?

Heh. That comes down to my mantra on the game: "People are stupid." There are some jobs (dragoon, thief, monk) that have a harder time getting parties than others, but it is for one reason and one reason only: People are stupid. They think that some jobs are better than others, but it's the player who makes the job good or bad! Most jobs are basically equal, and if one is found to be weaker or stronger than another, then S-E will adjust things in an update.

Dragoons have amazing abilities, monks have endless HP and power, and thieves can do a ton of damage with their special abilities, but people are stupid and judge things based on rumor instead of facts or experience.

Chaos_Knight is correct in saying that things take time. FFXI is not a finite game. You can't sit down and play it for a month and "beat" it. There isn't an end to the game, and nothing is easy. But that's a good thing! What is "easy" worth? If something is handed to you on a plate, how do you feel about it?

FFXI takes time and effort, but the rewards make it worth it. The rewards and the people. :) (Eh, not the stupid people, your friends you'll make.)

[loneguardian.livejournal.com]

*dies laughing* Galkasmut. Ew ew ew. Nevermind they don't have a gender, but -still-. Ewwwww~!

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I'm sure that in my dream he had a gender. A scary gender! Heeheehee.

[linmayu.livejournal.com]

There, you admitted it! You *do* love galka!! :3

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

No no no no no! They're big and scary and they could pick me up like that and I'd never ever ever do that! /panic {Run away!}