Pass It On
So ... yeah, I've been back on Final Fantasy again...
Recent accomplishments have included a Named Mob kill for a quest, getting through some Wings of the Goddess 'Past Wars' quests and surviving my Paladin flag quest. Taru PLD; there are worse things ... but one thing at a time.
I've had this one quest sitting in my 'Current Quests' list almost as long as I've had the game; it involves going into the Maze of Shakrami and getting a 'burnite shell'. Not that I'd never been to the Maze before - I needed to go there for my Rank 3, and again for part of the Dragoon flag quest awhile back - but when I got the quest at first, I was way too low-level for the place and then there was just never the time. Also, I had done some reading and worked out that you have to kill a Named Mob that I was in no way powerful enough to deal with. And so the quest just sat. Until the other day, when I read up again, figured that yes, I was now high-level enough to solo the bastard (Ichorous Ire, to you lot - a Slime, which is basically a lump of blackcurrant gelatin with attitude) and nothing else in the Maze would touch me, so off I went. No aggro anywhere, which is always a bonus, and then boom; I found the spawn point for the mob and off we went. It was going really well until Stoneskin wore and suddenly I was getting hit an awful lot and not getting off nearly as many spells as I needed - these things are strong against melee attacks but weak to magic, and all my spells were getting interrupted because the bastard thing kept hitting me. Still, I managed to kill the thing off and still have my HP only in the yellow, which is a bonus. I think my high-evasion gear helped there. Anyway, one Maze quest down; now I just have to go farm giant scorpions in that hole for another quest and I may well be done with the Maze for the duration. That'd be nice.
Still bored, and with party invites sucking, I thought it was time to explore a bit more of the Wings of the Goddess expansion pack. Another quest I have wanted to get over with for awhile was getting my map of Fort Karugo-Narugo, a stronghold of Ago which I think is supposed to approximate Tahrongi Canyon and finally make it to Windurst Waters of Ago so I could hand in my green recommendation letter and maybe someday take part in campaign battles. So off I went, with the time-tested method of "Sneak ... Invisible ... RUN LIKE THE SPRINGY TARU WIND!" firmly in mind. This went well enough, all things considered, though some of the critters in the area are nasty and wouldn't you know it, I ended up in Fort Karugo-Narugo in the middle of a freakin' campaign battle. In the end, this worked out okay for me, because it meant that most of the Yagudo were off somewhere and all I had to worry about dodging was the other stuff. I don't know if it all aggroed but I did NOT want to find out the hard way. That said, I hit Sarutabaruta with few problems and made it to Windurst of Ago. The place was a mess, but I did eventually manage to find the commander-person I was supposed to find and got asked to go right back out again. To seal cracks in tower doors with heavy-duty putty. This didn't seem onerous at the time, except when I headed out ... another campaign battle was in progress. This one? Right in my path. Well, to be fair, part of that was my fault; I got the wrong tower and spent a little while looking for the appropriate door in a tower that didn't really have one. Still, I got to watch a campaign battle in progress and let me tell you, it looks so cool. I can't wait 'til I'm high level enough for that. I watched a few NMs go down, then headed off to puttying detail. That done, I was a proud member of the Cobras, a mercenary team fighting for the Alliance. And so I went on a resupply mission. What they were going to do with one damn sprig of marjoram I have no idea, but apparently it was important. So instead of doing everything the hard way, I did it the easy way - set my homepoint in Windurst of Ago, pootled out to the nearest Cavernous Maw, went through it to nice, low-level Windurst of Today, hit the Auction House, bought one sprig of fresh marjoram, warped back ... and got Alliance credits and things. Some of those credits went towards renting my first Crystal War chocobo. They have armour it is so fucking cool! So anyway, that was Ago. I should go back, really. Apparently a lot of people do levelling parties in East Ronfaure of Ago and I should probably get the Ronfaure Maw open.
Not today, though. Today I spent enough time in San d'Oria, thanks. See, one of the things I really want to do is unlock all the jobs, even if I don't like them all and never really intend to play them. So today, I went to unlock Paladin. It seemed one of the easiest of the lot I have left, mostly involving a bit running around, and only Sneak and Invisible in one spot. See, first was a matter of buying a Revival Tree Root at the AH. Then I had to go to Ordelle's Caves ... which is like the Maze of Shakrami, only off La Theine Plateau instead of Tahrongi Canyon. In short, mid-level area where nothing touched me. Instead, I got a little lost and basically wandered the entire bunch of caves before I found the waterfall and worked out how to get the bits I needed. Then I just got the hell gone and finished that bit of the quest. Then I had to run around San d'Oria pestering NPCs, followed by a trip to Davoi, which is where the Orcs live. (If you've ever heard me bitch about Castle FeatheryDeath? It's like that, with Orcs.) I had to look up how to access it and blow 3k gil on a map, but once that was done, I hit the zone, Sneak, Invisible, and I was off. And I have to tell you, I HATE DAVOI. WITH THE FURY OF A THOUSAND BURNING SUNS. Orcs everywhere, hanging out in packs, you trip over lizards every time you turn around, and the section I needed to get to, you have to run around the entire damn area until you find access to the stream, which you then have to wade through, singing "Tiptoe Through The Pugils", which are big prehistoric-looking fish that are far less lovely than tulips, let me tell you. Still, I managed to get through all that without Sneak or Invisible wearing at an inopportune moment, and I got to where I was going. TO FIND A BIG-ARSED NM STANDING RIGHT IN MY WAY. I had to drop Invisible to be able to get the key item I was there for, so I did so and hoped like hell the NM wouldn't aggro. It didn't, and I Warped the hell out of there in a BIG HURRY.
Then I went back to Windurst, juggled my inventory spaces a bit, collected some low-level gear and went off to level Paladin. Two Fields of Valour training missions and eight levels later, I could finally shed the stupid Santa coat and hat that serves as my lvl 1 armour at the moment and put on something less stupid. I may never pick up Paladin again but at least it's unlocked. I hate the little question marks you get when changing jobs and seeing which ones you haven't unlocked yet. Now all that's left is Dark Knight, Blue Mage, Puppetmaster and Corsair, if memory serves. Dark Knight will probably be next, as all that requires is a level 1 Warrior and a lot of silent oil and prism powder for Sneak and Invisible respectively. And not getting lost in Palborough Mines again...
In other news, things are going well with the HIPPIEcast. I learn something new every week and the_blonde_one put me onto a neat track from a bunch called 'Sicko' (how it's pronounced, anyway, though I can't now remember all the l33t involved) that will serve perfectly for an intro track for the next HIPPIE novel when it goes to podcast. So I asked the band and they (he? I think it's a one-man electronica act) said it was fine, and then I got asked if I could provide further details of the project because the label want to include this in their newsletter. I'm gonna be in someone's newsletter! Go unexpected publicity!
Seriously, any publicity is good at this point. I want people to hear this, but there are only so many places that I can say things. I am not everywhere. I am not Kilroy 2.0. So it's down to people who've heard or read it, and who think it's worth passing around to spread the word. It's retweets (many and often) and blog mentions and nudges towards the site and ... you know, word of mouth. So if you like it, and think others might ... please pass it on.
Besides which, if enough people talk about it, and enough people hit the site because of it, I might actually get people to buy the book when it comes out, or even a little notice for the tip jar so I can maybe get the mic/pop shield set-up I so desperately need. Seriously, trying to edit out the breath noises of a chronic sinusitis sufferer? It's not easy. I'll get it eventually, but the sooner the better, and I can't afford it right now. I really should just label the thing "Get the Author Some Decent Equipment Fund".
Recent accomplishments have included a Named Mob kill for a quest, getting through some Wings of the Goddess 'Past Wars' quests and surviving my Paladin flag quest. Taru PLD; there are worse things ... but one thing at a time.
I've had this one quest sitting in my 'Current Quests' list almost as long as I've had the game; it involves going into the Maze of Shakrami and getting a 'burnite shell'. Not that I'd never been to the Maze before - I needed to go there for my Rank 3, and again for part of the Dragoon flag quest awhile back - but when I got the quest at first, I was way too low-level for the place and then there was just never the time. Also, I had done some reading and worked out that you have to kill a Named Mob that I was in no way powerful enough to deal with. And so the quest just sat. Until the other day, when I read up again, figured that yes, I was now high-level enough to solo the bastard (Ichorous Ire, to you lot - a Slime, which is basically a lump of blackcurrant gelatin with attitude) and nothing else in the Maze would touch me, so off I went. No aggro anywhere, which is always a bonus, and then boom; I found the spawn point for the mob and off we went. It was going really well until Stoneskin wore and suddenly I was getting hit an awful lot and not getting off nearly as many spells as I needed - these things are strong against melee attacks but weak to magic, and all my spells were getting interrupted because the bastard thing kept hitting me. Still, I managed to kill the thing off and still have my HP only in the yellow, which is a bonus. I think my high-evasion gear helped there. Anyway, one Maze quest down; now I just have to go farm giant scorpions in that hole for another quest and I may well be done with the Maze for the duration. That'd be nice.
Still bored, and with party invites sucking, I thought it was time to explore a bit more of the Wings of the Goddess expansion pack. Another quest I have wanted to get over with for awhile was getting my map of Fort Karugo-Narugo, a stronghold of Ago which I think is supposed to approximate Tahrongi Canyon and finally make it to Windurst Waters of Ago so I could hand in my green recommendation letter and maybe someday take part in campaign battles. So off I went, with the time-tested method of "Sneak ... Invisible ... RUN LIKE THE SPRINGY TARU WIND!" firmly in mind. This went well enough, all things considered, though some of the critters in the area are nasty and wouldn't you know it, I ended up in Fort Karugo-Narugo in the middle of a freakin' campaign battle. In the end, this worked out okay for me, because it meant that most of the Yagudo were off somewhere and all I had to worry about dodging was the other stuff. I don't know if it all aggroed but I did NOT want to find out the hard way. That said, I hit Sarutabaruta with few problems and made it to Windurst of Ago. The place was a mess, but I did eventually manage to find the commander-person I was supposed to find and got asked to go right back out again. To seal cracks in tower doors with heavy-duty putty. This didn't seem onerous at the time, except when I headed out ... another campaign battle was in progress. This one? Right in my path. Well, to be fair, part of that was my fault; I got the wrong tower and spent a little while looking for the appropriate door in a tower that didn't really have one. Still, I got to watch a campaign battle in progress and let me tell you, it looks so cool. I can't wait 'til I'm high level enough for that. I watched a few NMs go down, then headed off to puttying detail. That done, I was a proud member of the Cobras, a mercenary team fighting for the Alliance. And so I went on a resupply mission. What they were going to do with one damn sprig of marjoram I have no idea, but apparently it was important. So instead of doing everything the hard way, I did it the easy way - set my homepoint in Windurst of Ago, pootled out to the nearest Cavernous Maw, went through it to nice, low-level Windurst of Today, hit the Auction House, bought one sprig of fresh marjoram, warped back ... and got Alliance credits and things. Some of those credits went towards renting my first Crystal War chocobo. They have armour it is so fucking cool! So anyway, that was Ago. I should go back, really. Apparently a lot of people do levelling parties in East Ronfaure of Ago and I should probably get the Ronfaure Maw open.
Not today, though. Today I spent enough time in San d'Oria, thanks. See, one of the things I really want to do is unlock all the jobs, even if I don't like them all and never really intend to play them. So today, I went to unlock Paladin. It seemed one of the easiest of the lot I have left, mostly involving a bit running around, and only Sneak and Invisible in one spot. See, first was a matter of buying a Revival Tree Root at the AH. Then I had to go to Ordelle's Caves ... which is like the Maze of Shakrami, only off La Theine Plateau instead of Tahrongi Canyon. In short, mid-level area where nothing touched me. Instead, I got a little lost and basically wandered the entire bunch of caves before I found the waterfall and worked out how to get the bits I needed. Then I just got the hell gone and finished that bit of the quest. Then I had to run around San d'Oria pestering NPCs, followed by a trip to Davoi, which is where the Orcs live. (If you've ever heard me bitch about Castle FeatheryDeath? It's like that, with Orcs.) I had to look up how to access it and blow 3k gil on a map, but once that was done, I hit the zone, Sneak, Invisible, and I was off. And I have to tell you, I HATE DAVOI. WITH THE FURY OF A THOUSAND BURNING SUNS. Orcs everywhere, hanging out in packs, you trip over lizards every time you turn around, and the section I needed to get to, you have to run around the entire damn area until you find access to the stream, which you then have to wade through, singing "Tiptoe Through The Pugils", which are big prehistoric-looking fish that are far less lovely than tulips, let me tell you. Still, I managed to get through all that without Sneak or Invisible wearing at an inopportune moment, and I got to where I was going. TO FIND A BIG-ARSED NM STANDING RIGHT IN MY WAY. I had to drop Invisible to be able to get the key item I was there for, so I did so and hoped like hell the NM wouldn't aggro. It didn't, and I Warped the hell out of there in a BIG HURRY.
Then I went back to Windurst, juggled my inventory spaces a bit, collected some low-level gear and went off to level Paladin. Two Fields of Valour training missions and eight levels later, I could finally shed the stupid Santa coat and hat that serves as my lvl 1 armour at the moment and put on something less stupid. I may never pick up Paladin again but at least it's unlocked. I hate the little question marks you get when changing jobs and seeing which ones you haven't unlocked yet. Now all that's left is Dark Knight, Blue Mage, Puppetmaster and Corsair, if memory serves. Dark Knight will probably be next, as all that requires is a level 1 Warrior and a lot of silent oil and prism powder for Sneak and Invisible respectively. And not getting lost in Palborough Mines again...
In other news, things are going well with the HIPPIEcast. I learn something new every week and the_blonde_one put me onto a neat track from a bunch called 'Sicko' (how it's pronounced, anyway, though I can't now remember all the l33t involved) that will serve perfectly for an intro track for the next HIPPIE novel when it goes to podcast. So I asked the band and they (he? I think it's a one-man electronica act) said it was fine, and then I got asked if I could provide further details of the project because the label want to include this in their newsletter. I'm gonna be in someone's newsletter! Go unexpected publicity!
Seriously, any publicity is good at this point. I want people to hear this, but there are only so many places that I can say things. I am not everywhere. I am not Kilroy 2.0. So it's down to people who've heard or read it, and who think it's worth passing around to spread the word. It's retweets (many and often) and blog mentions and nudges towards the site and ... you know, word of mouth. So if you like it, and think others might ... please pass it on.
Besides which, if enough people talk about it, and enough people hit the site because of it, I might actually get people to buy the book when it comes out, or even a little notice for the tip jar so I can maybe get the mic/pop shield set-up I so desperately need. Seriously, trying to edit out the breath noises of a chronic sinusitis sufferer? It's not easy. I'll get it eventually, but the sooner the better, and I can't afford it right now. I really should just label the thing "Get the Author Some Decent Equipment Fund".