PLD75! And other random news update

Whee... job #4 done! This brings my lineup to: BLU, DNC, SCH, PLD

Or... Hybrid, Hybrid, Hybrid(kinda) and... tank. Kinda weird for me to level a specialized job!

Breaking it down in order of capabilities:

- BLU(hybrid) - DD, healer, sleeper, enfeebler, tank-capable

- DNC(hybrid) - Healer, low-man tank, support/enfeebler

- SCH(hybrid) - Nuker, Healer, support, sleeper

- PLD - Tank

Going back to my original reasons for leveling PLD, looks like they are still valid! Pretty AF! Oh, and tonight I'm supposed to try out tanking at my first real event (not counting Vanh's WSNM last night). Time to see how different/difficult it is... it's definitely a change from my usual supporting role.

btw: Big thanks to Vanh, Zurar & Karou for helping me unlock Atonement last night. We really went on a little late ^^; Still, that's the fastest I've ever unlocked ANY weapon/WS ^^; Too bad we didn't figure out the math to do both my and Zu's points's in a shorter time... we could have cut down the number of skillchains we needed to do by at least 10 mobs!

I think I'm pretty much geared up as well as I can at the moment with what I have for some tanking. PLD armor looks very heavy, pointy and scary... I'll post a pic up once I take a screenshot or two xD The only thing I can possibly change in the short-term is to redo the ACP fight in order to pick up the fancy white & blue armor that I had wanted... However, doing so would mean that I have to give up my little Dancer tanking piece that I customized, so I'm really on the fence about that ; ; Any suggestions on alternative PLD body pieces?

New RMT!

SE has stepped up their RMT activities with the announcement of the pre-order of the next FFXI add-on. Again, they are offering the option of "pre-ordering" the add-on for $9.99 starting July 5th, but does not include a release date... Pre-ordering software that is delivered online just makes no sense to me unless there is some sort of incentive for doing so like either a discount, or some sort of limited edition toy. I mean, there is no advantage to giving SE your money early... it's not like there is shipping time involved. Once it is released, you can just download and enjoy it at once. Ordering it now would just mean that SE gets to collect interest on your money with no guarantee that they will deliver it in a timely manner.

Well, it's definitely RMT in this case... we all know what these "expansions" involve... hours of unnecessary grinding with stupid random drop conditions with a forgettable storyline that we'll all go buy anyway in order to get the equipment. It's like watching a B-movie or Transformers 2... we know it sucks, but we'll play anyway!

Stats for the new expansion pieces are out... and again, it's the augments that are the most interesting. Tasya pointed me to this one specifically:

- CHR+4, "Waltz" ability delay -2

Now if that -2 means... -2 seconds, that really improves Dancer... Some people say that it doesn't beat the +5% Waltz Potency from Etoile's Tiara (which I'm still missing ; ; ) but I think I'd prefer this over the 5% since it would let you spam Waltzes that much faster. When I'm on DNC, I'm usually either spamming Divine Waltz to get the HP of a party up, or spamming specifically Curing Waltz III to heal someone. I rarely use IV specifically due to the long recast time, and I hesitate to use Healing Waltz for fear of needing to cure someone right afterward. It would bring Curing Waltz III's timer down from 10 seconds to 8 seconds, meaning an overall increase by 20% for HP cured over time.

Of course, if it means just 2%, then it's completely useless... 20% would actually be more useful though... typical SE and their attitude of "it's fun for you to find out" -.-;

For other augments, I'm not sure... possibly the +chr & fast cast option for Utsusemi.

Other news

So... I saw this funny bit of news... Apparently the Chinese government has declared that gold farming is now illegal xD Does this mean that SE's new expansion is illegal in China?

Maybe this explains the sudden discounts people have been seeing with the /tell spam. RMT trying to get rid of their goods before they as squashed by the government? I mean... I'm pretty sure they operate publicly.

I'm not entirely optimistic that this will remove RMT completely... They'll just shift to illegal operations, similar to how the "Do Not Call" list wasn't completely effective. You still had those idiots calling you with robo-callers with the "your car warranty is about to expire" calls -.-

Link to the article is available here: http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/ebusiness/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=218101859