I officially hate Apple ~.~

For the record, I've been using Macs since I was a kid. I currently own 3 Macs and one iPhone, and since OS X was released I've been using Macs regularly and WAS an advocate of Apple hardware and software until very recently.

My experiences with Apple hardware and software over the last year have convinced me that Apple is no longer about quality, but is now just pure hype and marketing.

What changed my mind? Simple... Apple products are unreliable.

I don't know when this happened... sometime between the change from PowerPC to Intel processors, something went wrong with Apple's QA department. Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) is the only operating system that I've seen that can go from working perfectly fine on one day to having weird malfunctions for absolutely no reason at all.

Cases I've experienced so far:

- Mac Mini suddenly deciding that it will not display 1920x1080. I have a Mac Mini hooked up to my HDTV acting as my PVR. Using EyeTV hardware & software, it worked just fine as a media PC, turning on automatically to record shows, playing back late. That's ALL I used it for. Most of the time it sits idle. Then one day, it prompts me to install some Apple software updates... looks harmless enough, just some security patches. After a simple reboot, I discover that it will not display in 1080p, just a semi-functional 1080i -.- Major wtf. There's nothing in their release notes about changing display drivers, and a Google search shows tons of other people with the same issue, on Apple forums and elsewhere, with no solution at all from Apple's technicians. Talking to the Genius Bar shows me nothing but barely trained (but polite) monkeys who tell me that this was never a supported option and that I am to be blamed for even thinking that it could do 1080p. I must be lying. Wasted 8 hours before I found a really, REALLY obscure post somewhere on page 10 of Google Search results that suggested trying an off-the-wall display changer software... which worked, though I had to buy this 3rd party driver.

- Today my Macbook Pro suddenly decided that it no longer liked it's sound card and stopped playing sounds at all. It's not a hardware problem, the hardware works just fine since I'm able to reboot into Windows and use the sound. System Profiler shows that it's there, and I haven't changed anything at all in Mac OS X. I booted it up yesterday, checked mail, then shut it down. Booting it up today shows me... no fucking sound. There is no "restore" function, no way of reinstalling drivers, and calling up Apple support leads me to go through the same debugging steps I did before (yes, please do it again... please let me give you the exact steps you have to do even though you just told me what I'm about to say word for fucking word). Escalating it up two levels of support gives me to a genius who says "well, I'm out of ideas... reinstall the OS." In ANY other operating system, you'd be able to pinpoint the problem and if necessary, reinstall the specific driver. Oh, and his genius advise lead to a system that is unbootable in Mac OS X so now I have to do a full wipe and reinstall. I just hope their so-called "Time Machine" actually works as that's what I've been relying on for data -.-;

So... I assert that Apple products are shiny, pretty to look at and play with, but simply fail on you for no apparent reason with NO reasonable way of fixing it. In any other computer, you'd be able to fix it or use it as you see fit. Apple stuff is so locked up and inflexible that you don't even need to sneeze for it to break. Either Apple will break it for you, or it'll break for absolutely no reason whatsoever. The iPhone is so stupid locked up that Jailbreaking it is the only way to make it as useful and customizable as the average Windows Mobile phone.

I also assert that this is a recent development. I have a Powerbook G4 that I purchased when it was first released in 2003 which is still functioning perfectly even after 6 years. It's running 10.4, and has been pretty much rock solid except for it's HDD failing, a hardware failure that is understandable. Everything that I have running Intel processors, and 10.5 has had some sort of completely unexplained, out of the blue failure that results in hours of wasted time and absolutely no help from Apple support.

And before you say that I'm just a dumb girl who doesn't know computers, I'll have to say that my early career is in IT. I've been using computers since I was a kid, been using the Internet since before the WWW, and know more operating systems than most people can name! I can take a crippled Windows or any Unix-based system and repair it. Mac OS X is just that crappy.

/wrist

So... even now, my stupid Macbook is getting it's OS reinstalled. I'm looking immediately into buying a high-end, gaming capable but still quiet desktop computer running Windows, and will be getting rid of all Apple crap in my life in the next few months. Definitely not upgrading my iPhone, and am keeping a close eye out on that new Droid phone coming out next week. If anyone has any suggestions on the best graphics card/motherboard/quiet case, do let me know.

The melee code

Rooks said something funny during Saturday's Dynamis-Tavnasia about asking the only 4 DDs we had with us to "break the melee code" and stop dying. Funny part is that I finally understand why people like to play DDs so much.

I've caught up on so much stuff on Hulu... this season's Family Guy, Simpsons, American Dad and Dollhouse. Add to that Conan & Leno and I pretty much a ton of stuff that I can watch while I'm exping or DDing or whatever on DRG! Best part is that even when I'm spending most of my time watching TV, I'm still doing my job completely as a DD! Jump, Jump, WS... Jump, WS... etc. etc.

I guess the melee code involves putting out as much damage as possible. Dying is, of course, a side effect of the WHM/RDM/DNC/BLU/BRD/SMN not curing or the PLD not tanking properly! xD

(Of course, I'm completely joking... I... think... maybe DDing also involves getting a lobotomy)

Meanwhile, other updates:

Dragoon

DRG56 now, in exclusively LS parties... I thought that I'd catch a bug and try to finish DRG to 75 in any party no matter what, but so far the desire hasn't hit me. I had time on Saturday to go party, but I decided that cleaning my room and re-organizing my closet had a higher priority! Of course, having Zurar setup fairly regular exp parties also helps, so DRG is making steady progress to 75. With some luck, I might be DRG75 by Thanksgiving!

3/5 on DRG AF right now, with thanks to Zurar for helping me poke the NM on the hard to get to island in Battalia Downs, as well as Tasya for helping escort me to the coffer in Ifrit's Cauldron. Still need to get the key & coffer in the Boyada Tree, poke Dark Spark and fight a NM in the ugly temple to finish the full AF set. I'm not sure what people are complaining about for DRG AF... So far the pieces seem quite useful to macro in!

On Sunday afternoon, we were in Ifrit's Cauldron poking bombs for Bomb Queen pops as well as farming a coffer key for me... I was half asleep during the whole run, but I'm under the impression we also poked a few NMs, including one that triple-attack WS'ed me with one shot and dropped some weird Gae Bolg polearm :o Not sure how good it is, but it joins my polearm collection which includes a Narval, the Nyzul WS polearm and hopefully a Love Halberd soon :o

At DRG56, I'm nearing the point where I'm finishing off my gear set and can sell the low level gear. I'm pretty much set for gear from now till 75, and have my polearms lined up except for one I'll use at level 75 xD Hopefully I'll finish this job soon so I can sell or put away the lowbie gear.

Other random stuff

Last night I picked up some other random things... after ZNMs, Tasya organized the Bomb Queen run that she's been threatening me with for the last few months. Like the Joyeuse, this is another thing Tasya dragged me out to go farm the pop items for (by telling me I could get my coffer key for DRG!) then organized the people to go get it done. The fight was surprisingly easy... I was under the impression that it required a full alliance of people with tons of death, but a simple party of 6 managed to get it done xD Big thanks to Fuuji, Weaponx and Vengence for coming to help us xD

I'm still not 100% sure what to do with the Bomb Queen Ring... +75 HP is crazy nice, but the -75 fire resistance scares me since I'm not sure what that would mean with a single Firaga III xD Still... that much extra HP should push me to about 1500 HP on PLD... I'm close to that on BLU/NIN already :o

Oh ya... also picked up Aurum hands since nobody wanted it. Might be funny to get more Aurum pieces and run around in it sometime xD With random gear pieces, I'm starting to run low on storage again so I'm starting to throw out random quest items that I picked up but have no intention of doing, or the random AF+1 pieces that I have in storage... threw out WHM last night, and I think I still have BST, BRD, SAM & RDM pair sitting around.

Other random non-XI stuff

So... Fry's had a sale on the PSP Go last weekend ($50 savings! $249 BEFORE savings... tricky ad. Nearly missed it). It's Fry's, so I figure that if I didn't like it, I'd just return it...

So far, I'm liking the hardware... it's small, and with the docking cradle, easy to pick up and put down to recharge. Downloaded a bunch of demos for it, though I haven't really started playing it yet. I like how there are no carts or UMDs to change when you change games, and that you can just download games using the on-board UI. However, I don't like that the games I actually want to BUY aren't available. I've been curious about that Dissidia game for a while and was planning on buying it... but... it's not available on PSN ~.~

Other games are available, but it's still a limited subset of everything on the PSP. I still have about 20ish days before I have to decide whether I want to keep this or not... hopefully Dissidia will come out by then, or else it'll probably go back to Fry's.

/wrist

3 days back in FFXI and I'm no longer feeling any desire to login... Bad week? Or is it an indication of the state of FFXI?

Let's see... what's the current status?

Monday: ZNMs

On the surface, this event *seems* to be doing okay... we're killing stuff, getting loot and people aren't dying too often. We have almost a full alliance these days, even though there are a couple of supermules hiding among them, and we have mostly regular attendance by a core group of regular people.

The bigger issue with ZNMs is the getting the zeni & pop items. In the past, when someone signed up to get a pop item, you could rely on them to get it and have it ready. More recently, people have been slacking on picking up the pop items, meaning that we have to go back multiple times to the same mob, spending extra time on travel instead of killing stuff.

And... truthfully, I don't blame people. We've been relying on the same people to do the bulk of the zeni contribution over the last few months. They're always the ones who step up to the plate to pick up the challenge, and certain other people never volunteer, or are incredibly unreliable in getting pop items or even showing up. Of course, we take that into account whenever we hand items out, but at the end of the day, it does mean that there are people out there who are still getting items without contributing as much compared to other people.

I'm pretty sure the top contributors are burnt out of farming zeni by now... and it does show. Take me for example. I've basically burnt out on farming zeni and stopped popping mobs. I've stopped for at least the last two months, barely holding onto enough zeni to pop something in an emergency, and of course, islet access. Even then, I'm #2 on the amount of zeni spent (which include well over 100 hours of photo taking and turning plates in) even with the break. Our #1 person (Fuuji) has spent over 2x our #3 person.

I'm not sure what the solution to this is... it's not fair to expect new people to pick up the bulk of the farming, and zeni farming is such a time consuming, inventory hassle that just the thought of going out to farm more zeni sends me running with fear.

Tuesday: Boredom and emptiness

After sea on Tuesday, I found that there was... nobody on... at all. Nobody doing anything, nobody on LS, no exp parties, or anything going on. Pretty depressing actually. Was hoping to get some exp, or something going, but... that's impossible if nobody is actually in FFXI.

Is it the end of FFXI? Or is this just the Aion effect? I really doubt it's the later since nobody in AP has gone to Aion that I know of. At least on Tues I totally caught up with all the TV I missed...

Wednesday: Dynamis

Not sure what was going on in Dynamis... I didn't think that I was *that* squishy on PLD. Started out fine on bosses, and on Efts... It wasn't until we started getting multi-mob pulls against beastmen that I started going down... and quickly too. Can't get cures off due to spell interruption, even with my new Valor legs, and mobs killing me as soon as they woke up. Of course, it doesn't help that I only had one Tav taco on me since I forgot to stock up after the last event. Still, in almost every case I had Phalanx, Stoneskin and Blink up so I really shouldn't have died that quickly... Am I just out of practice?

I know I'm seemingly missing my Invincible instinct... Could have used it a lot earlier in the night on the 1st multi-mob pull, which would have prevented the first death. I'm usually better at it...

Wednesday: Limbus

Mmm... another SW fail... I don't know what to say about this one... Really doesn't help when everyone runs around trying to sac pull (impossible with alliance hate) or running away from sleepers (so that the mob can kill you, then gang up on the sleeper) Basically we were dead even before we begun.

Attendance is down to just BARELY a party. And that's with Alt coming in super-late. If not for Slemp forgetting soap, we would have gone in with 5 only. I'm not sure we can still do Omega if attendance stays at this level... Also, Slemp says that he's actively in Aion (and was trying to convince us to go join him) so... well...

Ya... XI does seem to be a dying game.

Thursday: We shall see...

So... tonight... nothing scheduled... I wonder if there'll be anything to do in FFXI? Kinda hoping to level DRG... but... are there still people around to exp? Before I left, I was hot on going to get my DRG AF pieces... right now I'm not too sure I want to bother with it... I guess I'll eventually do it to get the pieces and another outfit, but...

Maybe I'll go play with my 360 >.>

Back & refreshed

Whee... I'm back... mostly. Still completely jetlagged, still tired from basically running around on my feet nearly constantly except for short periods of sleep, but I'm mentally refreshed and wide awake xD

Let's see... first up, impressions...

Manhattan/New York

Wow... this city is... smelly x.x; I think that every time I stepped into the subway I started to hold my breath... I was surprised at how dirty it is compared to other large cities that I've been to.

Had quite a bit of fun! Hit all the tourist sites, Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, natural history museum, etc. Managed to get to Central park too, which is completely alive and crowded with people. Caught Wicked while I was out there too.

Crazy crowded city... never sleeps... just what I felt like what a city should be like... staying out till midnight isn't an issue and there are always tons of people around. I love the cheap little street stalls where you can pick up really yummy food at any time!

Washington/D.C.

So... the capitol of the greatest nation on the planet... right? At least that's what the advertising says... I was surprised at how quickly D.C. shuts down in the evening, and how quiet it becomes at night. Ironically, it was in D.C. which I actually felt vulnerable and in danger. NYC always has people around, so I never felt that I was in danger of being mugged or worse... in D.C., everything shuts down so early that I often found myself walking down completely deserted streets as early as 6:30pm... just blocks away from government buildings.

I didn't like D.C. as much simply cos... well, there wasn't anything to do after 5:30pm! The Smithsonian museums shut down, and the government builds shut down even before that. Many restaurants were also shutting down, and the ones that stayed open were completely full with reservations. I guess I should have researched this aspect a little better.

Still... managed to do all the touristy things... White House, Capitol buildings, Library of Congress, as well as most of the Smithsonian museums and all the big memorials/monuments, so I feel like I've explored D.C. enough :)

Overall

Lucked out with weather... the few times it did rain happened to be the days which I was indoors for the whole time so I barely got wet at all. I think my decision to come during the off-season was still the right one even though D.C. shut down early compared to summer. There were simply very few lines or tourists around, so moving from attraction to attraction was really fast.

Now the bigger question... could I live in either place? Well, I never got comfortable in D.C. It felt like... a dead city no matter where I was. Not much in commerce, just pure government... I guess I should have expected that. I just didn't expect that there would be absolutely nothing else out there ~.~ NYC on the other hand might be possible... I like running around on the subway system (even though it stinks) and being able to go from one side of the city to the other without bothering with a car. I liked the pace of the city, that it never shuts down, and that there seemed to be so much to do in so many industries. I guess the only thing that I'd hesitate over would be cost of living... It's even worse there compared to where I currently am... though not by THAT much x.x; However, it is still on my list of possible places to move to... would be fun for at least a few years!

Reflection

The weird part about being on the east coast was being ahead of everyone I talk to as opposed to my usual being a couple of hours behind. That, and being alone, gave me a lot of time to think and reflect, so I have a few answers to my questions in the last post...

- I'm not happy with a slow-pace. I think in my whole career I've never been doing less than two full-time things at the same time... either two jobs, job + school of some sort. School is over... time to pick up the pace (unless I want to go for a doctorate o.o)

- My risk tolerance isn't high enough to jump head first into funding my own startup. I like my toys and having the money to make impulse purchases or have a nice expensive meal. I don't want to run out of money on a crazy idea. However, I wouldn't mind using other people's money! So... unless I come up with a killer idea for angels, it's either low-budget, or free/part-time startups for me!

- House-wise... I don't like being tied down... currently, this is the longest I've actually stayed in one area... normally I move around a lot more often xD Buying a house would tie me down and limit my options... plus I'd actually have to be responsible for fixing things instead of just harassing my landlord

- Linked to housing... location wise, I really want to go back to some sort of large city. Living in the suburbs is okay I guess... but I'd really rather be somewhere where I can stay out late and be able to get home without driving x.x;

- Career path... well, after doing a lot more reflecting, I'm definitely going to stay in technology... most likely moving more towards consumer-oriented things instead of B2B. Definitely going to have to move further into product management, though I'll probably stay away from marketing.

- Company wise... I decided that there is no way I can work for a company where I second-guess the executives, or believe that I can do a better job compared to them. Companies without a vision, or any company without a good leader is not one I can stand behind

- What about MMO commitments?

So... this is an interesting topic... I brought a computer along with me and was able to login to FFXI at any time during this vacation. I even had some evenings where I was done early and could have easily made events (especially being on EST). I just never felt the urge to do so. I found myself watching more TV with the news (imagine that!), Jay Leno and Conan xD

I still do not feel the urge to log back in to do things... I guess I'll still be coming to events, but since I've managed to delegate some of the work behind the scenes to other people, I'm hoping that they'll continue helping me there and give me a little slack so that I can take care of other things (thanks Zurar & Tasya!)

I'm pretty deep in XI still... the welcome back I got last night during ZNMs did make me feel welcome, even though I was still half-asleep and jetlagged. I'm not sure I'd want to start another MMO at all even when Star Wars is released... I'm now behind on TV, and significantly behind on other games (though I did catch up on anime & movies... Virgin America is awesome! xD) But I'm still going to look into reclaiming more of my own time from FFXI to use in other activities, including fun things like... well, console gaming xD

And finally... the big one... it's time to start up the career search task. I've been relaxing for the last 6 months since school ended... time to get back up and push even further ahead! With some luck, that would mean that I'd end up with an even more extended break from XI. The last time I decided to change my life direction I ended up quitting FFXI for quite some time... (and threw away a decently-equipped RDM75 back then) This time, less extreme measures... hopefully ;)

Alright! Enough about me... next posts will be back about FFXI and gaming!

Vacation starts in < 24 hours

Whee... almost time for [taking a break]. Some months ago I decided that I really needed a break from RL. This is actually one of the weirder vacations I'm taking because:

1. It's not attached to some other event... I don't remember the last time I took a vacation that wasn't an add-on to something... relative's graduation, someone's wedding, school activity or an add-on to a work trip

2. I'm going alone instead of either a) meeting up with someone, or b) bringing someone with me and having to coordinate everything together, compromise on places to go, etc.

3. It's mostly unplanned. My previous vacations had virtually every single hour planned, or at least every day, with tickets pre-purchased and everything down from the exact schedule for every train, backup routes, traffic, physical maps, GPS, all prepared and planned for. This time, all I have planned are my plane rides, hotels and one Broadway ticket xD

So... why so unplanned? Well, for once I wanted to take a vacation that wasn't... stressful... Strangely, in the past, when I did vacations it was all along the lines of getting things done instead of actually relaxing. I always had a goal of things to see, things to do, etc. This time I just want to take some time on my own, spend it in a strange town, get to see the town and just relax a bit.

Partly, I'm also looking at what to do next in my life. I'm at an interesting crossroads where I can finally make some moves that aren't constrained by my environment. I'm out of grad school, finally, FINALLY done with 90% of that bloody pain called the US INS which severely constrained my movements both in terms of location and career. (I'm still stuck to staying in the US for the next 4 years unless I want to give up the right to stay here, but at least the US is a lot larger compared to staying at one job/city)

In many ways, this is more of a time for me to be alone to reflect. In my usual day/life, I have virtually every hour of my life scheduled right now... wake up, work, lunch, get home, FFXI event, TV, sleep... weekends add in my 2nd job + time at the pool/gym, with the occasional side social or professional event that isn't regularly scheduled. That's one reason why I've been trying to cut down on FFXI events and hand things off to other people. It's taking too much time. (Ironically, DRG50 now... that's going faster than I thought it would thanks to Zurar being on break).

With so much going on, I haven't really had time to think about myself even though I'm out of school. I really should be considering my next career steps, what I want next in life and more. Among the things I'm hoping to reflect on are:

- What sort of field/career path do I want to change to? How can I change given my current background/knowledge/connections? What else am I good at that I can change to easily?

- Do I want to step things up for something even more high-paced with high rewards down the line? Am I comfortable with my current level? Or do I want to take a step back and move out of hi-tech/hi-stress and to something more basic and simple?

- What's my risk tolerance? I have the training, knowledge and connections to launch a startup... but is that something I'd want to do or be happy doing? And of course, where am I going to come up with the idea?

- Do I want to keep my MMO commitments at the current level? Or cut back even further? FFXI is a big time drain... do I even want to look at the next MMO?

- How do I want to manage my investments? Time to get back into the market? Or should I be looking more into passive income streams?

- Where do I want to live for the next 5-10 years? In this area? Move out to another place?

- Is it time to buy a house? What are the market conditions? Do I want to be tied down like that?

Going to New York for this vacation wasn't by accident... I'm also going there to see what it is like and to determine if it would be somewhere that I'd like to stay for a while. I grew up in large cities and I always felt more at home with using public transportation instead of having to drive everywhere. Of course, being a tourist is a definite bonus!

So yes, next week is very much "me" time. Hopefully I've passed on the various event site information to the right people so FFXI events can continue as normal. Traveling alone will give me lots of time to think and reflect. I'm also considering whether I want to update my blog during that time, though it would be entirely off-topic, non-gaming posts and may include pictures, or musings from my journal. Any interest from people out there?

Funny SE news

Wow... not sure how, but there is a lot of funny SE news today!.

RMT activities

First up, the obvious... Chocobo Chicks went on sale today. More details at http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/topics/special/090917.html and you can buy it fro the SE Online Store at http://ssl.square-enix-shop.com/usa/category.php?cat=9

The 3rd mini-expansion has a new trailer: Shantotto Ascension Trailer

Doesn't tell you much about it... expect more fetch quest, rare/ex drops again. Sadly, they did not include any information on what item you will be RMTing this time.

Interestingly, the trailer says that this will go on sale in October, but it also says that the expansion will go live with the next version update, which is scheduled for November... Another case of SE trying to get your money before delivering product.

Again, pure electronic product, no incentive to pre-order. Don't give SE your money before they earn it.

FFXIV footage

With the Tokyo Game Show currently going on, SE released yet another trailer for FFXIV... lots of FMV, which isn't really impressive as we've known that SE is good at CG and has been good for at least the last 10 years. No gameplay footage (or at least, I didn't notice anything) and the text overlay seems... generic... I don't feel any large story or plot behind what's going on here.

SE: "Next Gaming Innovation will be Billing

I'm... really... not sure what to say about this... The next big innovation is... BILLING! Forget gameplay, forget plot, having fun, cinematics, hardware, controls... the next big innovation is how the hell we are going to charge our customers money, money, money!

Considering how SE can't even stabilize their billing system for FFXI... I'd recommend that they first get the fundamentals of billing fixed before they talk about innovation. You know... credit card, charge credit card ONCE for the product purchased, once a month?

And yes... innovation in billing ~.~ So they want to come up with all sorts of innovative ways to get money from people... not to make interesting or compelling games. I guess XI is where they are being innovative, charging $9.99 per quest, charging another $9.99 for storage.

Who knows... maybe FFXIV will have micropayments! Can you imagine? $2.00 for a chocobo ride, $5.00 for airship? Telebots can charge $1.00 for a Teleport-Holla! RMT would love it!

I guess Microsoft is wasting their time with Project Natal. Billing is where the future of gaming is!

Random stuff + FFXI quotes

So, I wouldn't say it was a boring week last week... but nothing too much happened. Here are some highlights, followed by random musings and ending with some fun FFXI quotes! (Hopefully no quotes as incriminating as a certain penguin-lover)

First up... various things about FFXI

- Big thanks to Rooks & Tasya for helping me craft the materials for my Etoile Tights +1 upgrade. Also, big thanks to Vanh for helping me with the last of the materials for this, and to Zurar & Teia for helping me farm the memories. I spent about 5 hours in Promy-Mea just killing random mobs over and over and over and over again to farm the necessary memories so that Rooks could help me craft anima. And even after all that I still didn't have enough. If not for Vanh finding some fleeting memories, I might still be in there... Got my Etoile Tights +1 yesterday morning at long last. Too bad nobody ever makes Smooth Velvet, or else it would have been a lot smoother x.x;;

- DRG33 now, though I went from 30-31 in Promy, and 31-33 in a Maze level-sync party, so my polearm skill is slightly out of date. I was also able to reclaim one piece of inventory since I can now use my Peacock Charm and sold my Spike Necklace back to the AH. Slow leveling as usual for this side job

- Sunday afternoon "gil farming" events seem to be doing alright... Did two ENMs this time, the one in boneyard gully, and the one at the top of the mountain. Both are a bloody pain to set up, requiring at least 40-45 minutes of just running around before we enter the fight. Both are also really short fights, though we've been having issues with the hagun fight, always aggroing the non-NMs and having to kill them. As usual, no gil from ENMs, but at least ISNMs gave us two Khroma ore this time around. Brought me to about 1/4 of the way towards a Roundel Earring :)

This week it looks like it's business as usual... nothing special in XI. I really should take some time to finish my sword merits. Just need 4 more merit poitns to finish the last two upgrades, then I'm done with that and can go back to concentrating on HP upgrades.

Random other stuff

Here's some random other fun stuff xD

Aion Online has started

Remember this? At least one person who reads this blog has expressed interest in Aion Online. Well, looks like the "early-start" has started up and it's the usual launch chaos... long lines to get on, all lowbie mobs/quest mobs are wiped out, and people crowded everywhere. The game doesn't officially launch until tomorrow, so I guess the servers are going to get even more crowded soon.

I was still considering picking this up even as recently as last week... But I just can't do it... from what I've seen, it's a very pretty MMO, great graphics, but from what I've read, it's seems to be a WoW clone with more grinding. The trailer/intro movie that they put up last week didn't do much to inspire interest in the background/lore of the game either. It sounds like some random fanfic that someone wrote and didn't connect me with the characters or universe. Didn't see any interesting game mechanics, lore or even characters to distinguish this from WoW.

Still have higher hopes for Star Wars...

Other games

Kuraikaze, Vanh and Ghiren have been gushing with praises for the new Batman game, Batman: Arkham Asylum. I downloaded the demo on Sunday and tried it out... seems like fun, though I'm not very good at the sneaking-around type games xD Still... it seems to be doing very well with over 2.5M copies shipped, so it might be something I pick up...

Halo ODST comes out tomorrow... which is another big reason why I'm hesitating picking up Batman, and dismissed Aion. Reviews seem to indicate that it is an okay game, which is good cos I pre-ordered it xD Mindless entertainment should be fun for a while~

SE Gaming News

Picked up two bits of interesting gaming news recently:

1. Reportedly, Square Enix recieves 86.6% of its sales from Japan. This is a side note in an article about Koei, but this certainly explains a lot. Why bother spending effort in other regions when you can get almost 90% of your sales and revenue by focusing on one country? I wouldn't bother supporting NA/EU customers either. It wouldn't really hurt the bottom line, and getting rid of them as customers would allow them to cut support costs and probably raise the % profit

2. In a recent interview, FFXI developers revealed that they still have around a YEAR to go before the story for Wings of the Goddess will be completed. This means... it'll be three years since WotG was released before they complete the storyline. Seems to me like a blatant grab at keeping people subscribing until they release XIV.

3. New RMT! Chocobo Chick! OMG Cute! And cheap too at $16! AND comes with an in-game version... Would prefer a plushie, but this is cute enough xD Goes on sale on the 24th!

Ascy's Random Stuff

Some other random stuff... I'm taking a vacation in October, so I'll be pretty much dropping from events for a while.

TV season is starting up! Heroes starts tonight with a 2-hour season premier! Mmmm... I guess... ZNMs... can... do.. without me... right?

Also, I hear that handegg season is starting up too. I guess some people will be watching that? I really hate how it pre-empts other shows though -.-

Finishing off... random FFXI quotes & pics!

Tasya: have you ever thought of how weird it is that we change gear so much?
Tasya: it's like fighting in a locker room where everybody is an exhibitionist on meth