Demone in the Dunes

Demone's first evening in the Valkurm Dunes was... instructive.

With the exception of a dinner break where we ate pizza and watched his Ren and Stimpy DVDs, Kristofer spent Friday evening running around Vana'diel as Demone, farming for goodies to sell in the auction house. As the night wound down, he started out for the Valkurm Dunes. A higher-level player let him tag along for his first trip. Kristofer logged out and went home after he reached Selbina.

I told K that being a Black Mage meant he probably wouldn't have to wait five or ten minutes to get a party; his job is always in demand. I was correct. Over the course of this evening he was in three different parties, and each of them had asked for him within a few minutes of his putting up his "Seeking Party" flag.

The idea of Demone's trip to the dunes was making me a little nervous. Final Fantasy XI is designed in a way to require team play. Unless you're a Beastmaster, you can't level up without other players. K had been solo for his first eleven levels; would he still enjoy the game after his first party?

He certainly got to see the extremes in players and learned why bitching about Valkurm Dunes is Vana'diel's national sport. A Galka summoner named Cocyte (a member of the SpiritOfLegends linkshell I'm in) held things together in one party and they were raking in the experience fighting lizards; they weren't getting as much as some would like, but it was a good training exercise.

He also got to see the gimped-out wonder that was a Hume thief named Exsoldier, who went into the Dunes with Lv. 1 armor and insisted on having a power-leveler for the party every time and wanted to fight snippers when the party was nowhere near being able to do any damage to them. Demone and the White Mage where the only ones doing real damage. When a White Mage is your second-best damage dealer, you're in a crappy party.

I probably should've advised him to go to the Maze of Shakrami. When he gets his subjob and starts leveling White Mage, that'd be the way to go.

My sister called at one point. We were talking, and in the background I could hear my niece Laura yell "Mom, they're torturing me!" April said "Then call the U.N., dear." Good times.

Fishing

The Fishing Guild is important to my financial future.

Some drunk started screeching and stomping around downstairs at 4 a.m. this morning. "I'm not going to stand for it!" he yelled. "I'll take you on, you sonofabitch!"

I have no idea who he was pissed at and I don't really care, but it seemed silly to try to go back to sleep. Instead I logged into the game and started fishing at the pier in Port Windurst. I had previously been using a Yew Rod and Insect Paste to try and catch Moat Carp (which sell for 4,000 gil a stack at the Auction House), but I wanted to raise my fishing levels. I equipped a Carbon Fishing Rod and gave up my regular bait in favor of a Sabiki Rig. Wow! Suddenly I was pulling Bastore Sardines and Quus two or three at a time! Very nice. They don't sell for as much, but I catch them faster. In thirty minutes I'd raised my fishing level to 6.

While I fished, I chatted with my new linkshell. I'm still new to the idea of a linkshell where the members actually help each other, so I tentatively asked if they could help me out with Windurst Mission 2.2. I have to go into Tahrongi Canyon with a party and kill thirty monsters in an hour. Several members said they'd be glad to help, so I'm going to try to do the mission Sunday or Monday evening.

I decided to level up my Black Mage in Quifum Island last night, but it quickly became clear the party needed my White Mage skills even more. We focused on Clippers (giant crabs) and pugils.

I died three times over the course of the evening. The first two times I was killed by skeletal Wights which wandered into the party and started hacking away. The third time happened because a pugil was taking out the party and I used Benediction. It's a handy skill White Mages get which can heal everyone's hit points back to full, but it's pretty much a death sentence for the White Mage who uses it. Benediction drives monsters into a rage and the pugil came at me and didn't stop until I was dead. It's a handy ability, and I don't mind sacrificing myself to save the party if something just goes wrong through no fault of their own. Shit happens.