Virtual downward spiral
Ever since I've started working again, I've had (gasp!) less time for FFXI. I've fallen into routine, where Mondays and Thursdays I'm doing Limbus, Mondays and Fridays I'm doing Assault. Tuesdays I play Magic, so that only leaves Wednesday during the week, which I've been usually spending fishing for moat carp. I tried doing the bulk of my other stuff on the weekends, but it's hard -- there's so many more people on then, because they're all in my situation. Leveling PLD has been very hit or miss on the weekends, I can sit for hours waiting for an invite, or sometimes I get one before I even put my invite flag up. And I'm done leveling it for a while, got to 70 and have to take a break, because of the part that's getting me depressed:
I currently have 98,000 gil. Later this evening, after Limbus, I will have 48,000 gil, which means I won't have enough for the next Limbus unless I make gil somehow. As people in linkshell chat may know, I've often complained that I can't ever find something to do to make gil. I'm not lying. I can't find it. I've tried crafting, but I chose cooking (mistake). I've tried fishing, but I'm at the point where I can't easily skill further without a Lu Shang's fishing rod (hence the moat carp). I've tried camping NMs, but I rarely get the claim, and it's not worth the stress to stare at empty space for two hours then blink and see the NM with a purple name, claimed by the guy who just got there five minutes ago. I've thought about gardening, but I'm just not on regularly enough. I've tried farming everything from silk thread to buffalo hides, and I get horrible drops. Last night I tried killing buffalo, and I was there for two hours... after what it cost to pay for the outpost warp to get out to Ule(tab) Range, what I ended up getting barely made me break even. Breaking even in two hours of work when I only have three or four the entire evening? WOW, SIGN ME UP.
Way in the past, I used to get gil from selling crystals I got when leveling on my mule, as well as all of the random crap I'd get. Because of the way the economy has been changing recently (deflation and more high-level players) and the monsters that people have been meriting on, Wind and Dark crystals aren't worth it anymore. Fire crystals aren't worth much, either. Pretty much the only crystals left that are worth anything are Light, and it's nigh-impossible to farm those. Also, because of the deflation, selling anything is tough, because the price keeps going down, and I keep getting undercut.
Based on my forays into all of these, I've come to the conclusion that I will never make the amount of gil I'd need by myself (at least until I get fishing moving again). I'd need the help of others, which is hard to coordinate with the small amount of time I'm online each night.
Not so far in the past, I was in an HNMLS, and by participating in its activities, I would get a constant stream of gil that was usually enough to pay for the things I needed. Now, with a job, I'm not sure I'd have the time for an HNMLS, not that any seem to want me.
Not too long ago, I became one of the Black Mages who would do KS30 mercenary runs for the linkshell, where we would take a percentage of the high-value items that dropped, with most of the proceeds going to the orb supplier. While this was very infrequent and not so good as a reliable source of income (it was very spurty, sometimes we'd only get one money item in 20 runs), it was still something. Since one of the four of us recently quit, the other three of us haven't gotten around to either choosing a new fourth (although I think they had someone in mind) or just actually getting around to doing the dang thing.
Technically, I was in an agreement with two other people that we'd keep doing BS40 runs until we each got a peacock charm. We got one early on, but then we kept trying and trying and trying for the other two, but we haven't done it yet. I haven't given up hope, though. The problem is actually getting all three of us to choose a time and get our level 40 gear and go do it. (That and one of us ran out of beastmen's seals... it wasn't me...)
I've basically come to the conclusion that I have to start selling my Ancient Beastcoins in bazaar. On paper, it seems like a good idea, each run costs 50,000 gil to enter, and coins seem to be in people's bazaars for around 70,000. Since we get anywhere from 3-5 coins each on a typical run, I'd still be getting ahead. The problem is that I hate relying on bazaars for profit, as some times I'll just end up sitting there for days without anyone buying anything.
Now I understand why people buy gil. I'd never do that, of course.
I also understand how people can become disallusioned with the game and leave. We've had a recent trend of drama in the linkshell (though it's more inter-linkshell, not intra-linkshell), that doesn't make me happy.
I currently have 98,000 gil. Later this evening, after Limbus, I will have 48,000 gil, which means I won't have enough for the next Limbus unless I make gil somehow. As people in linkshell chat may know, I've often complained that I can't ever find something to do to make gil. I'm not lying. I can't find it. I've tried crafting, but I chose cooking (mistake). I've tried fishing, but I'm at the point where I can't easily skill further without a Lu Shang's fishing rod (hence the moat carp). I've tried camping NMs, but I rarely get the claim, and it's not worth the stress to stare at empty space for two hours then blink and see the NM with a purple name, claimed by the guy who just got there five minutes ago. I've thought about gardening, but I'm just not on regularly enough. I've tried farming everything from silk thread to buffalo hides, and I get horrible drops. Last night I tried killing buffalo, and I was there for two hours... after what it cost to pay for the outpost warp to get out to Ule(tab) Range, what I ended up getting barely made me break even. Breaking even in two hours of work when I only have three or four the entire evening? WOW, SIGN ME UP.
Way in the past, I used to get gil from selling crystals I got when leveling on my mule, as well as all of the random crap I'd get. Because of the way the economy has been changing recently (deflation and more high-level players) and the monsters that people have been meriting on, Wind and Dark crystals aren't worth it anymore. Fire crystals aren't worth much, either. Pretty much the only crystals left that are worth anything are Light, and it's nigh-impossible to farm those. Also, because of the deflation, selling anything is tough, because the price keeps going down, and I keep getting undercut.
Based on my forays into all of these, I've come to the conclusion that I will never make the amount of gil I'd need by myself (at least until I get fishing moving again). I'd need the help of others, which is hard to coordinate with the small amount of time I'm online each night.
Not so far in the past, I was in an HNMLS, and by participating in its activities, I would get a constant stream of gil that was usually enough to pay for the things I needed. Now, with a job, I'm not sure I'd have the time for an HNMLS, not that any seem to want me.
Not too long ago, I became one of the Black Mages who would do KS30 mercenary runs for the linkshell, where we would take a percentage of the high-value items that dropped, with most of the proceeds going to the orb supplier. While this was very infrequent and not so good as a reliable source of income (it was very spurty, sometimes we'd only get one money item in 20 runs), it was still something. Since one of the four of us recently quit, the other three of us haven't gotten around to either choosing a new fourth (although I think they had someone in mind) or just actually getting around to doing the dang thing.
Technically, I was in an agreement with two other people that we'd keep doing BS40 runs until we each got a peacock charm. We got one early on, but then we kept trying and trying and trying for the other two, but we haven't done it yet. I haven't given up hope, though. The problem is actually getting all three of us to choose a time and get our level 40 gear and go do it. (That and one of us ran out of beastmen's seals... it wasn't me...)
I've basically come to the conclusion that I have to start selling my Ancient Beastcoins in bazaar. On paper, it seems like a good idea, each run costs 50,000 gil to enter, and coins seem to be in people's bazaars for around 70,000. Since we get anywhere from 3-5 coins each on a typical run, I'd still be getting ahead. The problem is that I hate relying on bazaars for profit, as some times I'll just end up sitting there for days without anyone buying anything.
Now I understand why people buy gil. I'd never do that, of course.
I also understand how people can become disallusioned with the game and leave. We've had a recent trend of drama in the linkshell (though it's more inter-linkshell, not intra-linkshell), that doesn't make me happy.