Six avatars and one NM dragon: No waiting! (FFXI)

[thistlechaser]

Zzzzzzzz. What a long but exciting night! A LS group ran around and did all six of the "basic" Summoner avatars in one night. We beat all of them, set the record on 2? 3? of them, and had zero deaths! The fights were actually mostly a joke, I only took damage in two of them (and one was just 5 HP of damage!). Hee. The only "hard" part of the fights was getting to the BCs.

Too tired to write much. I picked up three of the avatars but I still have to get the other three. I feel pretty darned guilty over this process, since getting them was nothing but a cakewalk to me (and I don't even want/need them) and level 20 SMNs (people who actually need the avatars) go through hell trying to get them.

I'm seriously and highly doubting I'll ever level the job, but I decided to get the avatars instead of items because... I should. :P Just so that I'll have them. (Plus none of the items were things I need ever/yet.)

Tons of screenshots! For the first time I'm going to break them down into two sections: Those anyone should be able to enjoy and those only for non-players.

Screenshots for anyone and everyone:

Biast! A big, ugly dragon! We spotted him while running to the last avatar battle. This was actually the most fun fight of the whole night. :) It was extra amusing because I was tired and kept reading "Biast" as "Beanie". I thought she was somehow hitting me! Hee.



We let our favorite DRG have the helm, and man did it look good on him! None of the screenshots I took of you showed it off well, Yun. Sorry!

*drool* This would so be my new desktop image if I could have gotten it without the text. How's that for atmosphere and mood? (Taken in the CS after turning in the fork.)

*cries happy tears* So pretty! So moody! To me, there's no reason for me to play a MMORPG if it's not sexy to look at (as well as other things). This is the "battlefield" were we fought.

Pretty crystal (and RDM!) -- the crystal you had to click to get in. So pretty!

Another battlefield shot! Pretty, pretty!

Did I mention the mood these places have? Check out that sky!

Non-player screenshots: I know a few of you are interested in the game's avatars. It was too late for me to pick up all of mine (let alone actually change jobs and summon them), but I took some shots of them in the CSs so you could see what they look like.

Ifrit: He's cool, eh hot! He's one of my favorites. Look-wise, anyway. I really don't know much about the abilities of any of these.

Leviathan: Seems boring, but kind of pretty.

Titan: ...his expression says it all... Hates him, oh yess we do. He wears a thong. He has a big butt. Enough said. ><

Ramuh: I like him a lot, he might be my favorite one. I think he's kind of sexy, but everyone laughs at me when I say that. ><

Shiva: I'd tell her to put some pants on so that she doesn't catch a cold, but she's kinda made of ice... I don't like her (or the not-pictured Garuda) much at all.

Oh, and one last thing. I may never do that scent-clearing quest, because having the mithra of Kazham react to me like this just tickles me so much:

It's so IC for Thistle to be treated that way! Heehee.

Man, that's a lot of screenshots. Zzzz. Bed now. TGIF... eh, tomorrow.

Comments

[gbeans.livejournal.com]

[grins] I'm glad you had fun (or so it sounds like ^^ ) I took all the avatars my first time around even though I didn't intend (at the time) to level SMN at all. Now I want to level it to at least 37, though I'm still pretty bad at it :x

I first did these fights when I was a lvl 60ish? maybe 62? MNK. I died in every fight ^^; They were *much* more challenging. Both an advantage and disadvantage of being a highbie, eh? ^^;

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you had fun (or so it sounds like ^^ )

Yep! It was fun doing things as a LS group!

I took all the avatars my first time around even though I didn't intend (at the time) to level SMN at all.

Yeah, that's why I took them. You never know what might change! (I always said that RDM would be my death warp job, that I'd never level it even past 1...)

I first did these fights when I was a lvl 60ish? maybe 62? MNK. I died in every fight ^^; They were *much* more challenging.

I'm very, very glad you didn't die last night! Very glad!

[gbeans.livejournal.com]

Yeah, then Nif would have had to tank and show me now it's done :| lolMNK

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Bah. We couldn't have let Nif tank! He's too little! Tarus should be nice and, um, magely, and stay home and cook and clean!

;)

[barahir-ffxi.livejournal.com]

Wow... not only have I needed all avatars for some time now but I've begged at least three times to get help getting a Patroclous' Helm... Sometimes I have no fucking clue what I play this game for...

[yshyn.livejournal.com]

Right there with you on the wanting avatars for a long time. -.-

I spent the evening looking at the fucking awful prices of everything on the server, and now I'm just feeling too depressed to play. So... yeah. -.-

Round 2 of "Let's be honest"

[gbeans.livejournal.com]

I know you're having a shitty day, and there's a 100% chance you'll take what I'm saying the wrong way, but let's look at some things honestly:

1) The party was already full. The only person who could be rotated out who didn't need the avatar was, um, me. Would you have felt up to tanking them? 'Cause Nif didn't need them either, but he was already being rotated out for people who did.

2) The event started at a HORRIBLE hour for you. That wasn't planned that way to exclude you, but timezones are a bitch ._.; It went from 1am - 5am your time. I know that you give up sleep a lot to be with us, but I wouldn't want to ask that of you during the week :/ I'd *much* rather plan another run for you so that you could enjoy the expeirence rather than spend all the time thinking about how tired you are.

3) You have the avatars already o.O A staggering achievement considering how difficult those fights are. Everyone who went waited almost 70 levels to get what you already have.

4) We want to do more runs and we already discussed doing more *with you* to get you Whispers for a Moon Bauble or if you just want weapons or something :) Again, my preference is to do it at a time that isn't pissing all over your time zone.

5) As I said to Bara, don't begrudge others for their victory. They earned it. You want to go too and that's good, I love tanking the Avatars. We'll go, but don't ruin others experience by being sour, it doesn't endear you.

Re: Round 2 of "Let's be honest"

[yshyn.livejournal.com]

*sighs* Beanie, I don't begrudge anyone anything. In my comment I said that I wanted avatars too and that I was depressed over the server economy.

When did I say that anyone should have made room for me to do things? People want to go and do things, they're free to do them. I was a little stunned, and maybe that meant I didn't phrase things properly, because I'd been talking to people recently about how much I wanted to do the prime avatars and I hadn't even heard a whisper about this. For a horrible, sick moment I thought it had been hidden from me. I know it wasn't, but I felt like I'd been kicked for a second. I wasn't offered anything, it was never mentioned, but in my weak ever-so-human way I wondered what I'd done wrong.

Because... it's just that something similar to this has happened before and I was just gutted at the time. Nothing to do with you or anyone here; things happened behind my back and I heard about it later. Probably why I reacted so sharply.

To be perfectly honest with you, I was more pissed over the current trends in prices than anything else. Sorry if that was unclear in my comment, and sorry to have apparently offended you. I'll keep out of it from now on. >.>

Re: Round 2 of "Let's be honest"

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

and I hadn't even heard a whisper about this

The first thing I heard about it was the day before. :P

=\

[niffy.livejournal.com]

Sorry, Bara. T_T We had a full party for most of the fights, and the helmet was a complete surprise (we have the ToD, though). We'll be going again, though. A lot of the people who went last night need to do them again for whispers.

Re: =\

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeah, sorry Bara. The dragon part was totally unplanned, we just stumbled over him.

Re: =\

[barahir-ffxi.livejournal.com]

It's no biggie guys... Seriously...

I knew I should have posted something earlier about that coming accross wrong. Now I've gone and pissed Beanie off.

And actaully, i didin't realize I didn't add a congratualtions until i just went and reread just now.

It was tough for my group to get around to 2 in one night with their busy schedules... all 6 is awesome!!! Con{galka}lations to all of you...

Re: =\

[gbeans.livejournal.com]

I'm not pissed ^^; I just want everyone to be happy. I was so pleased by all we accomplished last night. You're right in saying that it's rare to get so much done and have such a complete pwnage victory. I want to do it again. I want to take more people. And I don't want there to be any hard feelings or bitterment 'cause someone got something before another person did. That happens so much in this game, and I fall victim to it too. It drives me absolutely nuts when I see lil punk MNKs who suck ass telling me that they already have a Black Belt 'cause their HNM LS gave it to them. They're only leveling MNK 'cause of that. (Someone told me that again just this morning, in fact...) But, I also know that my day will come if I'm patient and keep trying my best. I'll still be the better *player* even if they have the items I want :x

I'm not trying to be mean, but let's be honest...

[gbeans.livejournal.com]

And I'll probably be slapped silly for this, but 59 is still a hair low for Prime Avatars IMO ._.; I like people to have a high enough level that they can hit the mob and have a reasonable chance of surviving Astral Flow if they get hit with it. I usually decline taking people who are 62ish or below (60 is as low as I'm willing to go, and that's with extreme hesitation). It's really nothing personal, but the voice of experience talking. I did them at 60-62 and died EVERY GODDAMN TIME. I'd rather curb the deaths if at all possible. And I don't want to do it for someone. On the other paw, how long have others waited? Yosa and Thistle got them all for the first time last night. Are you going to begrudge them that victory? ._.; If you want Summons there are always solo-battles...

As for the Helm, that was complete chance. Again, I'm going to get smacked for this, but it's also the truth: If you want something you have to camp it. You have to figure out when the mob died and then you have to get people there to try to kill it for you. I've spend many, many, many hours on my tail waiting for NMs to pop that I wanted. Sometimes just to watch others kill them 'cause it was popped at an hour when I was the only one awake. That's the pissy thing about this game. Awesome stuff should all be poppable NMs IMO. We've already done the "hard" part, Bara. We know when it died. And since it died at a time that's reasonable for most of the shell, we should be able to get people out there to kill it if we go sit out there and wait for it. Don't piss on Yun's good luck 'cause you weren't there. It's not going to endear you to anyone, I promise .-.

Re: I'm not trying to be mean, but let's be honest...

[barahir-ffxi.livejournal.com]

Woah... OK... I'm thinking my comments were taken a tad out of comtext.

I would never begrudge Yun anything. He's an awesome guy and a friend... I truly look at those of us that play DRG seriously as a close nit group. I'm VERY happy he got that helm...

I will say though that had there been any response to any of my requests for help on getting the helm... I most definitely woudl have done as much prep/leg work as I could for everyone... I really appreciate you guys. I appreciate all you've done to get where you are. I'd like to think that I've been able to help out sometimes in my own insignificant way. I don't like being "that guy" so I would never ask any of you to run out and risk your lives without some preparation. When I asked there was no interest, so I dropped it...

As for the avatars... I fought 3 primes already, I died once... It's no biggie...

I'm sorry Beans... I didn't mean to get you all riled up...

Re: I'm not trying to be mean, but let's be honest...

[gbeans.livejournal.com]

We're your shell, Bara. If we're not already tied up, we just need to know when to be there and we'll try. As I said, we already got the time of death (around 8:23pm pacific) and it's a 21 hour respawn. We weren't expecting to kill it either except Ead mentioned that it was up and we were able to get out there fast to do it. That's not always the case, but sometimes things work out nicely. Heh, the very first thing people said after we killed it was "Where's Bara?" 'cause the Helm dropped. You weren't online, but three other /sea all Bara were :x

As for the avatars... I fought 3 primes already, I died once... It's no biggie...

It's a "biggie" to me :| If you want to go with other groups or find another tank before you're ready, that's fine. But I stand by what I said. I don't want deaths, just a fun fight.

Re: I'm not trying to be mean, but let's be honest...

[barahir-ffxi.livejournal.com]

Hehe... That's so funny that Ead found him.

He had said shadow dragon was up earlier in the night and I had told him to kill it for me and let me know if Biast popped... ^^

Re: I'm not trying to be mean, but let's be honest...

[gbeans.livejournal.com]

Yeah, he was having crappy luck finding Dark Eles last night, poor guy x.X I was too for that matter. I was out in Pso'Jxa for a few hours and it only turned Dark for about 2 minutes *once* during the entire time I was there x.x; Just wasn't the night for hunting Dark. I'm surprised Biast even came out to play since it'd been Ice Ice Ice Ice Ice so much x.x

Re: I'm not trying to be mean, but let's be honest...

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Wow, I leave my desk for lunch and my LJ explodes. o.o Thanks for replying to everyone and keeping people calm (and correcting people when needed), Beanie. :)

Re: I'm not trying to be mean, but let's be honest...

[gbeans.livejournal.com]

You needed something to read at work. I know how bored you get, you've read my fics for crying out loud...

Re: I'm not trying to be mean, but let's be honest...

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I do! So you should write more fics to keep me entertained! FFXI fics!

Re: I'm not trying to be mean, but let's be honest...

[philia.livejournal.com]

I'd actually killed the shadow dragon going to Beaucadine Glacier to look for dark weather; by the time I came back from zoning there to SD's area, Biast was up. @_@ From what I've been told, he's a 10 second pop after SD's been killed, if it's his time, so I probably popped him and completely didn't notice because I'd ran away. ._.

But, like Beanie and Nif said, we have a ToD, so at least now we have a better idea of getting one for you. :3

Re: I'm not trying to be mean, but let's be honest...

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

From what I've been told, he's a 10 second pop after SD's been killed, if it's his time, so I probably popped him and completely didn't notice because I'd ran away. ._.

I'm glad you weren't eaten in the process. :P

Re: I'm not trying to be mean, but let's be honest...

[gbeans.livejournal.com]

That is a bit remarkable o.O; It's an aggressive mob. It's even more remarkable that no one else found it first and smashed it o.o;

Re: I'm not trying to be mean, but let's be honest...

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

There had been another group gathering to try. While Nif and I were delayed near the telepoint (trying to get Ead formed in) people were gathering. Some WHM asked me/us how many people we had, but we ignored her and ran off.

Re: I'm not trying to be mean, but let's be honest...

[philia.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Even from my end, there was a RNG in the area watching it; I was so glad you guys managed to get there first and fighting in such a quick time. @_@ I'd been killing SD for so long, I really didn't expect him to show. c_c

Re: I'm not trying to be mean, but let's be honest...

[niffy.livejournal.com]

S'okay, I don't think anyone's riled up. x3

I think we just need a better way to keep tabs on who needs what. :/

[barahir-ffxi.livejournal.com]

Yun pointed out that I should come back and read this post as someone who doesn't know me... Having done that, I appreciate all of you who lightly and in your own way, pointed out that I am a whiney little bitch." ^^

You guys rock and pulled off amazing things yet again... I'm proud to be in the same LS with you and hope to have some of the same luck soon...

I am very sorry to anyone that was hurt by what I said. I would never intentionally do that to you. I hope you know that.

[gbeans.livejournal.com]

[gives Bara a cookie] [Gives Na~ some wyvern feed] :3

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I am very sorry to anyone that was hurt by what I said. I would never intentionally do that to you. I hope you know that.

And speaking of which, I meant to comment on this this morning as soon as I got into work, but it's been crazy here and it slipped my mind:

When I said "We let our favorite DRG have the helm" in the original post I hope you (and Cy!) don't think I was serious about it. I was exhausted last night and was attemping to be silly/funny/make Yun feel good. I did not in the least want to make you or Cy feel bad! I like you all!

Wanna go knock boots and I'll show you how much I like you, too? :P

[kamalloy.livejournal.com]

No worries. ^_^ I wasn't offended at all. (I mean, we all know you like me best. ;p)

And while we're all being apologetic, Bara, I was just being silly last night with the bearded humes comment. Your character model is very nice-looking. ^_~

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I wasn't offended at all. (I mean, we all know you like me best. ;p)

Well duh! You're the only one with the girl-parts!

[kamalloy.livejournal.com]

I misread that as "girl-pants" at first. Considering how !pants my DRG AF is... yeah. That's going to make staring at certain parts rather easy. ;p

[barahir-ffxi.livejournal.com]

Oh good god... I am not Barahir the sensitive man witht he fragile feelings!!! If we can't joke with each other who can we joke with?

And since you're reconsidering bearded humes, got any other zones where you need a tour? ~_^

[kamalloy.livejournal.com]

Well, we still have an NM in Lufaise that needs taking care of. ^_~ Though tonight I may be running around Boyahda Tree and Kuftal in search of coffers. Must get more purple! ^_^_v

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Well, we still have an NM in Lufaise that needs taking care of.

You don't mean that crab, do you? I can nearly solo that.

[kamalloy.livejournal.com]

Actually, it's the orc (orcs?) for the Bitter Past quest, although I need the crab, too.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I don't know anything about the orc, but I could help with the crab sometime if you wanted.

[kamalloy.livejournal.com]

*checks somepage.com*

Yeah. A Bitter Past is a pair of Orcs by the lake in Lufaise. Supposedly soloable at level 60. The Call of the Sea is the crab one in Misareaux. (Yes, I tried several times to hit Tab to complete it. I wish that worked out of game. ;p)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Oh, okay. Those sound do-able! Poke me sometime, if I'm not seeking I'll probably be able to come out!

[barahir-ffxi.livejournal.com]

Heh... Thistle you goof... I didn't give that a second thought...

Wanna go knock boots and I'll show you how much I like you, too?

Wow... My boots are getting a little dirty. How nice an offer for you to clean them for me. You MUST like me a lot... ~_^

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Wow... My boots are getting a little dirty. How nice an offer for you to clean them for me. You MUST like me a lot... ~_^

c.c You're not being helpful!

PS: *smooch!*

:D

[gbeans.livejournal.com]

You could try throwing a boot at Thistle :| Might not want the boot back afterwards, so use some rusty leggings you fish up or something...