Astara's other other cage

Christmas Crafts

2008-07-17T12:19:00.001+10:00

Here you go!!

Christmas Craft Projects and Patterns

Still alive.

2007-11-28T14:07:00.001+11:00

Believe it or not, I am still alive. Will resume updates once I get my damn WoTG expansion in the post.

BluRay Sky Event!! Pics Onry (Miss you Xamer) ;-;

2007-06-30T16:24:00.000+10:00

Samurai Merits --> gogo Shikikoyo!

2007-06-30T16:19:00.000+10:00

SO recently at sky (see next post) it became abundantly clear my usefulness was strictly limited to TP whoring my weapon skills. I decided that I would undertake the unlocking of my re-ex merit ability Skikoyo which allows me to share all TP above 100 with any other alliance member which is quite sexy!!

It's amazing how this simple ability has everyone profusely thanking you for your generous donation of 200TP every few minutes! Well, who am I to say no to all this lavish adoration? XD

GOGO capped Meditate merits next (currently lvl 3) which will cap Meditate at every 2:30 mins down from a solid 3:00!

Ok so forget the Belt -- Look at my sexy panties!! 0-0

2007-06-30T16:16:00.000+10:00

Ok ok so the SWift belt run bit the proverbial cheese it's true! BUT unbeknownst to me that pretty Fomor armour the Cancer Subligar dropped and thannkfully fell into my treasure pool. Which is greata s they are lvl 50+ SAM onry!
Personally I think Asta looks dashing!! Any takers for a Spring catwalk?? NO? O Rly .. >.>

That darn elusive Swift Belt

2007-06-30T16:00:00.000+10:00

The other day (no I don't go by Earth days anymore it seems >.>) I was about to log off when I see a pick up party shouting for a Swift Belt run and being in need of this piece for my SAM haste setup I joined in. Sure, why not, right?

So after all 8 members had collected their Fomor Codex's and gathered at Sacrarium it was 2 hours later (orz #1). We heade din only to find at least 3 of the people had never explored the dungeon and had no idea of any of the routes or the mobs inside (orz #2!)

So we headed to the first stop (Hume room ftw) and murdered upwards of 50 Fomors for maximum hate in order to spawn the NM (orz #3!!). We then proceeded to pop the first NM. Overall it was a good fight, NM dropped quick and voila a Swift Belt drops (which has apparently a droprate of just under 30%). Inly minute sinto the second fight SE decides to be a smart ass and started an emergency maintenance and we were forced out of the game for 2 solid hours before we could return (orz #4!!!).

Thankfully all of the members returned as POL went live and we continued the run. Four hours after we had killed the 1st NM we were 5/5 for belts (OMG!!!) and it was finally my turn! YAY! ... WRONG!

So I pop the NM and we proceeded to be raped by a mass link courtesy of the deluded RDM who assumed that max hate meant "Hey Fomors, let's have tea!...what? KILL ME!? HUH!?!?"....*splat* -.- I would have lol'd...if I hadn't just wasted 6 hours and 120k! (orz #5!!!!)

So after 3 more attempts we were 7/9 (yes thats right!!!) and the group wanted to get mine so I bought a spare Codex off another member for another 150k and we tried again. This time it didnt drop again (7/10.... 30% my ass!)...so I wasnt the happiest Taru down 9 hours of my life and - 200k+ in Gil (orz #6!!!!!)

What's that? Another attempt next week?... I think not good Sir. You are surely mistaken.

Maltha o Maltha, where for art thou?

2007-06-30T15:53:00.000+10:00

Acquiring Blue Magic was the focus of my FFXI time earlier this month and while venturing through the Inner horutoto ruins and happened upon the new FFXI addition NM Maltha. Maltha drops the Range ronry bodypiece the Trailer's Tunica, so being BLU30 I thought I'd give it a shot.... dun-dun. Biggish mistake . Aye.

Death ensued yep yep. XD

Maltha 2 / Astara 0

Lament of the fallen Ninja

2007-06-11T16:48:00.000+10:00

As many of you are aware Isakitty (aka Isadora, aka Simon, aka Yuuemi, aka Purutaru) has decided to leave Final Fantasy XI and join his bro in WoW. Although typically a reserved and hidden character (taking the ninja persona tot he extreme!), he is one of the most generous and caring players most of us will ever meet.

As many of you are aware Isakitty (aka Isadora, aka Simon, aka Yuuemi, aka Purutaru) has decided to leave Final Fantasy XI and join his bro in WoW. Although typically a reserved and hidden character (taking the ninja persona tot he extreme!), he is one of the most generous and caring players most of us will ever meet.

Through being there before the majority of us even began taking our first tentative steps in Vana'Diel, he graciously took the leas within TheStoneCutters linkshell and guided us noobs through every facet of the game. I know that his presence is what kept us together for so long and allowed us all to be as successful as we are.

Anyway without being sappy and clichéd, we will miss you, I will miss you Isadora. Best of luck in WoW and be safe. Please stay in touch. The time you invested will never be a waste if you remember the better times you shared.Peace out Ninjakitty.

--- See you back in Vana'Diel soon! :P (NO-ONE can escape the crack!!)
-- Astara and Isadora = Samurai + Ninja tandem smackdown!

-- Long ago there was a place where a select few would gather and share their adventures: may you all find your way home once more. T.S.C forever!

Einherjar goes live - A new linkshell for me!

2007-06-06T18:10:00.000+10:00

Today was the release of the June update (aka massive update!) and the new massive battlefield Einherjar. I decided to get the pre-requisite cutscene in Nashmau and hopefully see if I could be invited to a random pickup party as there was once again no members bar me online in the Bluray linkshell.

After receiving the cutscene I noticed a large linkshell gathering for their first attempt with Einherjar and I politely mentioned I was eager to participate. A fellow Samurai by the name of Rivanar invited me to come along for the one run.

We gathered together in earnest and headed to the Nyzul Isle gate and proceeded toe nter the battlefield which was basically 1 big room with 20 bats and a buffalo NM in the middle. THIS>>>SHIT>>>>WAS>>>>CRAZY!! (*7-7)

In Einherjar when you attack a mob of a family, EVERY other mob in the entire zone of that family links (distance apart is irrelevant!) and the hate is on every alliance member not just the one who pulled. So when we had the summoner pull one bat all 20 proceeded to slap the shit out of us!

Within 2 minutes all 36 members were dead. squished. raped!

We re-raised and tried again but were once again raped before a single bat could be destroyed. This battlefield is tough, and it seems Brd + Blm zergs are once again the best way to win -.-;;;;

After the max. 30 minute timer was up we left and apparently the leader was happy with me they decided to make me a full member of the PlanetMook social shell and MODE HNMLS. 2 LS invites in 2 days! woooo! I will be busy indeed!

-- Astara

First Sky run with BluRay

2007-06-06T18:07:00.001+10:00

Rose Garden ahoy!

2007-06-06T18:00:00.001+10:00

Last night before Blurays sky run I had an hour to kill and took up an offer to attempt Ifrit Prime and on the way happened across the fabled Rose Garden which drops the even rarer Vivians Ring! So after a quick somepage spam I found it was entirely solable and went at it! Hacking it down a few JP players who were watching it (I assume they must have gone afk as it spawned) threw obscenities at me!Unfortunately no drop, but alas it was good fun to come across this random NM!

-- Astara

Bluray linkshell and Bugbear Matman go!

2007-06-06T17:28:00.000+10:00

Yesterday I was exping on Blu (currently 27 gogo!) when Psymonk gave me a poke in Jeuno. We got to speaking and I mentioned was looking for a linkshell now that I had quit RFTD as they moved their event times to 4am AEST...which was nasty.

He mentioned he was in Isa's old linkshell BluRay and was willing to take me in if I was keen as they operate mostly in JP prime which suited me perfectly. Orinion (ghost from the past!! O_O;;;) pearled me up and I was introduced to the shell which were very welcoming. Babypooh mentioned that there was a Rutter Sabotens run during the night and of course I was up for that since its the best WS boots for Samurai.

We met up along with Orinion and Nanami and headed out to camp the tanks for the pop. We collected three Air tanks and proceeded to pop the NM Bugbear Matman. After three attempts we had ZERO drops of any sort....-.-;;;

There goes 3 hours and what a welcome to the shell ^^;

Thanks Psy!

-- Astara

Astara - 100 Days in Vana'Diel

2007-06-01T21:18:00.000+10:00

Today was the day Astara has officially been within Vana'Diel for 100 Earth days. That means I have spent almost100 Full days behind Astara and guiding him through his adventures. I have done no afk bazaaring so thinking back on the raw amount of time I have played this game now is pretty intense.

I remember almost exactly 2 years to the day (will be June 6th) when I gave in to my temptation and spent an entire day running around Sydney trying to find a copy of FFXI. I had to drive over 150KM to find the last remaining copy being sold at a Dick Smith store in Sydney!! Since then I have never looked back and have always valued the time I could afford to play my favorite game of all time.

The experiences have been massively diverse in every way:- The friends, the events, the adventures, the ups, the downs -- it's all been so truly worthwhile! Here's to another massive 2 years of adventure and fun!

Without the friends that made this journey what it is, who took the time to share with me their knowledge, their experiences, and their enthusiasm, I would have left so long ago. Thankyou to them!

-- Astara

Blue Mage begins...

2007-05-28T21:20:00.000+10:00

Starting Blue Mage was very exciting as the jobs play style is completely unique! You master abilities used exclusively by enemies and use them as your own. However, unlike every other job available, leveling is not as quick or as linear because as well as leveling you need to collect the skills from enemies from right around the world. On top of this you must ensure your Blue Magic skill is always capped otherwise the chance of acquiring spells is drastically reduced to almost nil!It has definitely been a long week and it has taken me 6 days to just get the first 20 levels of spells! But I have enjoyed every bit. I have a good felling that this may end up being another job to 75 for me if all things go well.

Stay tuned!

FINAL FANTASY XI 5th Anniversary Fan Event

2007-05-28T20:52:00.000+10:00

Do you remember...?

Do you remember the first time you stepped into the world of Vana'diel?
The never-ending sky opening up before you?
The sense of pride and accomplishment after completing your very first mission?
The wind whipping through your hair as you rode across vast plains and scorching deserts?
And the companions with whom you shared those memories?

How many tales have been woven?
How many destinies fulfilled?
How many memories etched into the annals of history, like stars, ever lighting the heavens?

----------------------------------------------------------------

On May 16th, 2007, FINAL FANTASY XI enters its fifth year of service.

This year the rewards were perhaps the best ever with the addition of the highly awaited Anniversary Ring which has amazing exp stats. that provies an additional 30k exp all up providing me the perfect opportunity to start leveling a brand new job.

Since I decided to rejoin Final fantasy XI I decided that jumping straight back into endgame activities was only going to aggravate the situation. So instead I decided that semi-retiring Samurai Astara to focus on leveling Blue Mage would be a good idea to revisit the parts of the game that I had always enjoyed the most -- mastering new jobs and skills.

Below is a screenie of my adventuring details to date which I found quite interesting! Over 500 deaths! all that wasted exp.../shudder!

Chat Frequency: 124758 (Sooo...I speak alot, eh?)
Conversations With NPCs: 19934
Parties Joined: 863
Alliances Joined: 73 (Severely highlighting my lack of endgame participation)
Battles Fought: 18981
Number of Times KO'd: 502
Enemies Defeated: 8522
GM Calls Made: 2 (Guess I'm not such a big whiner after all >.>)

Astara's retirement -- DENIED!

2007-05-24T14:37:00.000+10:00

Well as you will be aware, recently I decided to leave Final Fantasy XI to pursue a job that is supposed to lead me into a career. I sold off all my mule gear that I had acquired over the past 2 years and even prepped Astara for a sale on Ebay.

However, last week while sitting around with my partner Chris I realised no matter how busy I can get with RL stuff, there is always time to chill out and log in and catch up with Vana'Diel and the inhabitants that I have grown to love!

Playing Final Fantasy has always been an escape. A way to ignore the stresses of everyday life, close the blinds, close my bedroom door, and immerse myself completely in this other reality. But the realization I had was that FFXI is not so much another reality, because it is in fact simply an extension of this one, and there is no reason to feel ashamed for the time I put into it.

So with that-- I'm back -- Astara is back. So I will start with taking it slow. I plan on stock-piling some gil for when I fully return. I have also found passion in starting to level Blue Mage. I may consider joining a HNMLS again soon, but only if events are undertaken in JP prime.

Thanks for reading guys, you are all very special too me.

== Astara

CoP Complete! Congratulations to all!! 15/4/07

2007-04-20T00:43:00.001+10:00

What began in early October of 2006 has resulted in a culmination of massive effort and budding friendships being cemented into history as the OnebyOne linkshell of Shiva successfully completed the quests involved on April 15th 2007. Narnia and Syano created the shell after completing their Promyvion mission together and soon the shell was filled with eager adventurers seeking the answers to the mysteries of Promathia and access to the sacred Sea!

With the help of many friends along the way, the shell consisted of a few good friends who complimented each other and made the dedication to get together often weekly to help each other realize their goals. The group ventured through many difficult battles and tiring adventures across the globe and the rewards and experiences gained were truly memorable. Long after we have all bowed out of this game, I truly believe these memories will serve as a reminder to the fun times we had and that this site will live on as testament to our effort. These memories will show us that although it truly is a game, it really is so much more than that. It’s an example of random strangers coming together and making the commitment to see an adventure through time after time.

Thank you Narnia so much for your continued enthusiasm and leadership. Without you there would never have been a linkshell like OBOS, and your communication skills kept us together over our continuous breaks :P. Syano, Grimwald, Kylidon, Odjaru, Shintaro, Astara, Avhienda, and so so many more to this we owe the rewards and praise to you.

So what is the future for OnebyOne Shiva? There is always more adventure in the world for us to discover. There will always be a battle we can fight. We shall always be in demand! Only time shall tell… *cough ToAU missions cough* hahah

SEE YOU ALL AGAIN SOOOOON!

And so it was over...We saved Vana'Diel!

2007-04-20T00:41:00.002+10:00

The battle was over. Promathia was dead. OneByOne of Shiva was victorious. The world tour of Vana'Diel was the final task remaining in our quest. We ventured the world to farewell our commrades one by one and were treated to perhaps the best cs in the game!! (meeeee-teeeeee-ooooor ftw!! XD)

The final cutscene of Chains of Promathia is the only song in the game which has lyrics. To complete the final mission of this long journey offers us this truly unique reward. Through this moment we reflect on the deeds that were done, the enemies faced, but most importantly-- The friends that helped guide us to this victory. To those who helped us on our jouney, to the ones we left behind, we tribute this success to you....

Seas invite in the evening sun
to light the somber abyss.
Clouds dance up with the heavens' stars,
chanting an air of joyous bliss.

Water fades back from blue to jade,
guiding young rainbows high.
Flowers bloom into red and whites,
quenching our hearts when they run dry.

Angels chained by a beast locked in slumber.
Sin washed away by the swift flow of time.

I may know the answers.
Journeys over snow and sand.
What twist in fate has brought us
to tread upon this land?

Blessed by light and the burden of shadow.
Souls abide to an endless desire.

I may know the answers,
though one question I still hear.
What twist in fate has brought us
to roads that run so near?

Distant worlds together.
Miracles from realms beyond.
The lifelight burns inside me
to sing to you this song.
To sing with you this song.
To sing to you your song.

Congratulations everyone. Your rewards were truly deserved.
-- Astara.

CoP Mission 8.4: Piccies.

2007-04-20T00:41:00.001+10:00

The souls of the emptiness return to the MOthercrystal as Selh' looks on. Awww a pretty shot of a random Taru....
Prishe is re-born mortal as her Magicite is used to destroy Promathia, sacrificing her immortality for the sake of the world!
The mothercrystal saved!

CoP Mission 8.4: Dawn. The end.

2007-04-20T00:40:00.001+10:00

So we ventured for our first and last time into the fabled Empyreal Paradox for the fight that we had anticipated since we first began this game years ago for most of us. The cutscene distracted us for a good few minutes and when most of us had only just entered the BCNM, impatient Prishe and Selh' decided to launch a solo attack on Promathia so we headed into the fight practically unprepared. Within minutes we were struggling big time. Being melee heavy we were absolutely destroyed by Promathia's relentless Meteor and Comet AOE attacks that hit consistently for 600+ damage every minute.

Yet we struggled through and eventually managed to wipe Promathia's first form to the ground as Prishe practically tanked for us. Unfortunately we were forced to wipe as most of us did not consider the final bout being one by a hapless NPC as we lay on our backs. With a little more preperation we went in and proceeded to almost wipe again (or so I hear as I was booted by my ISP for 80% of the second round -- and yes Avhienda, my screams caused avalanches as far away as Canada!!!) to Promathia's incessent attacks as some of us were regretting not coming with a mage or ranged job.

However after a short fight it was done... Promathia was no more!!!! To our shock and amazement Altana herself graced us with her presence and proceeeded to return the whisper of the souls we had all once lost over time and calmed her celestial husband Promathia. We were children of both heaven and hell, mother and father, creater and destroyer.

The Final Confontaion: Dawn of the final day.

2007-04-20T00:39:00.000+10:00

So once Promathia had risen he escaped and flew off (toilet maybe >.>) and we were forced to escape the Garden and track him down to confront him and take him out!

Prishe headed off the search and the gassyQuasilumin's (I got it see!!) became all Village of The Damned on our asses (I never trusted them!!) and were happy thier 'KIng' was home once more. So we headed back to the Garden to confront Promathia for the final battle for the Chains of Promathia seriesn feeling both jubilation yet saddened as the realisation that all of our efforts over the previous six months were finally coming to a head. We were at the end.

As anticipated the cutscenes were amazing. The battlefield was stunning! Fighting 'above' Vana'Diel was an excellent touch. Prishe and Selh' did not dissapoint either...

MIssion 8.3 Images of interest! (yes - I've gone mad with pics!)

2007-04-20T00:38:00.000+10:00

Nag'molada raises hell incarnate to forsake Vana'Diel and all its inhabitants (inluding us!! 'Oh no he didn't!!'Promathia awakes....VERY hungry! Random side note >>> FFXI Pikmin would rock!!!Promathia finding his feet ... hey it has been like forever!Promathia gets the shits with OBO!

EEEP! ... Awww look how cute the widdle Promathia is!!

CoP Mission 8.3 - When Angels Fall (Part 2)

2007-04-20T00:37:00.000+10:00

So when we had completed the perpetually dull climb up the Garden towers we made it to the Pot BCNM which was always said to be horribly difficult. As we were waiting and prepping a group was already attempting it and strangely the BCNM door did not load and I could see right into thier room and inevitably thier hilarious demise....twice ! XD IT certainly brought a smile back to my grumpy and tired face.

So soon it was our turn and needless to say ----------> OBOShiva KICKED POT ASS!! Gogo the 1/1 Kings! The method we took was flawless and we completed the BCNM in a crazed frenzy of damage and gore tot he diamy of the team before us who was still 0/3!!

After the fight we took the last steps into the Kings Chamber where our NPC companions had been drawn to by the mindless utterings of Promathia and his fruitless promises for glory. Needless to say the ensuing drama was completely amazinga nd unexpected as Promathia himself was brought back into Vana'Diel by the mislead and horrendoulsy overzealous Nag'molada!!!

CoP Mission 8.3 - When Angels Fall

2007-04-20T00:35:00.000+10:00

After three extended weeks of delay my Chains of Promathia static finally met up for the final round of missions of Chains of Promathia. We set foot into the The Garden of Ru'Hmet as a group for the first time and I must say I was a little sad that there was not a single tree in sight! Instead there were a multitude of crazy-eyed pots lurking in every corridor waiitng to devour and zap (go figure >.>) careless wanderers (or tired-ass leaders like me! /blush) .

So the first step was to scale the five race towers to retrieve the 'light' that was stolen from each of us the moment we first reached sea those short weeks ago. At first we were keen to acquire the map from approaching the 10 randomly scattered Qusi...Quasi...err blobs. After almost wiping again and again an old friend was enlisted to save our sorry asses ... gogo Avhienda ftw!!

So after literally hours we finally made it to the pots of doooom!

Keeper of Dreams awaknes too thee

2007-02-19T20:04:00.000+11:00

Last night I was setting my alarm for bed in preparation for my first ever Kirin run with my godly HNMLS ‘RosesForTheDead’, I see a shout ring out from Whitegate urgently seeking a Samurai for the Diabolos Prime fight! Naturally as I am currently undertaking leveling Summoner as my main job I was crazy excited about finally completing my Avatar magic list with the addition of Diabolos to my collection!

I hastily jumped at the chance and was ecstatic to be accepted. The party was 5/6 and so I made the 6/6 and within minutes (after me spending an entire Ethiopian economy on meds) we were headed to the Shrouded Maw for the fated fight.
I must admit I was highly dubious of our chances as I had heard nothing but horror filled screams of the difficulty this fight entails. So we buffed up to full TP and we headed in with the following setup:

75 RDM/DRK
75 BLM/SMN
75 SAM/WAR
75 DRK/NIN
72 WAR/NIN
71 SMN/WHM

So we all jump in and get drawn in immediately and as soon as the Warrior had provoked it was game on! I managed to spam out 5 ws in under 15 seconds for a total of 4312 damage!!! With Diabolos having approx 9k HP I was stoked to have ‘almost’ wiped the floor with him all by myself!!! We had completely destroyed Diabolos within 30 seconds and he only cast Noctoshield the entire fight – that’s right NO 2hr and NO sleepga!! :D

Im soooo happy to be 1/1 on him and now have officially capped off my Avatar collection! Ah god bless random pick-up parties that break the game!!!

Kirin tea party in the sky...

2007-02-19T19:40:00.000+11:00

This morning I met up with the HNMLS for my very first Kirin adventure! The fight was rather entertaining as myself and Zorc were designated the linkshell melee leaders….. /panic /panic /death

It basically involved him and myself composing the opening light skillchains for each Summoned pop by Kirin and instructing the tanks where to position themselves as we spammed the death! After minimal wipes the gods were destroyed one after another and finally only Kirin was left and we quickly proceeded to tear him a new one!!

Drops were decent with an Osode, a Pole and an O. Ignot dropping to the Linkshell community chest. All in all it was a great first attempt and I thoroughly enjoyed it and cant wait till I own my own Osode…soon my precious…soooooon.

CoP Chapter 5 completed!

2007-02-19T18:31:00.000+11:00

Once again another flawless victory upon victory for the all glorious OneByOne static!! With assistance from two new comrades, we managed to destroy the mangy Mithran Sin Hunters and reign supreme and followed through with a faultless attack on the abhorrent Snoll Tzar!
As we geared up and headed out to the plane of the Mithran trackers, one anxious member was emanating his anxiety upon us like a creeping chill growing ever stronger. However, the strong will and determination of the hardened group was too great to be wavered by fear and apprehension. Through preparation and wit the group confronted the Mithran Trackers and annihilated them using the skill and prowess of the godly Tarutaru Summoners and their ethereal beasts!
After this absolute victory the group progressed onto the true foe of this chapter in time – Snoll Tzar. Residing in its frozen fissure we approached with burning desire to conquer it true! Victory was assured as we managed to serve its behind to it in a mere minute of veracious rampaging bloodshed.
From this victory the spirits and comradery was thick in the air as we rejoiced and paid tribute to the forsaken Prishe. What will Chapter 6 bring, what fate lies in wait for those seeking the ever eternal path to sea….? Stay tuned as our adventurers sink, ever deeper, into the cold, dark abyss of the unknown.

Kummy + Astara :-:-: Kindred Tarus

2007-02-04T23:17:00.000+11:00

This post is dedicated to Kummy. The widdle brunette taru who in recent weeks has taken me under his wing and guided me through many exciting, scary and memorable moments. From Dynamis, to sky, to crazy death-induced coffer sprees ...he's becoming one of my most favourite players! and before it gets sappy and lame, peace!

Dynamis Jeuno first attempt!

2007-02-04T22:54:00.000+11:00

Last week I took my first steps into Dynamis- Jeuno with RFTD and overall it was pretty exciting still! We originally were scheduled to attempt Windy but the turnout failed to impress it seems so we opted for the lighter run.

It was pretty uneventful in terms of drops but it was great fun further getting to know the members a bit better with the help of my good friend Kummy.

However perhpas the most noteworthy development was my loss of exp buffer after falling at least 5x and de-levelling to 74!! :P The first time since I dinged 75 over a year ago!

On Thursday I attended my very first sky event and had Kummy escort me through the zones to get me up to speed :P <3 <3 <3 After that we spent over 4 hours camping Ulli with very little success, although I made real good friends with a gilseller who asked for my email so we could be pen-friends after we spent over an hour chatting about Australia and his lil boy (whos 4!)(*._.).......God love em :P!

Xamerkapsy >>> Tele-Mal~asi~a onry!

2007-01-31T18:49:00.000+11:00

Spank me Tuesday and call me Charlie our lil Xamer has all growned up and has hauled ass to somewhere called "Kuala Lumpur" aka Koala Lumper....? no.... right

So anyway one can only hope he lives a little, gets a tan already (>;>)b *shakes fist*, and dosent get deported for playing with the cute 'lady' on the corner of his hotel!

Naturally we demand many cheap knock-off Nike goods etc....so saddle up pack-horse!!! Other than that, be safe, have fun and see you home soon!!

Astara's shark dive Extreme!!! /panic

2007-01-27T19:10:00.000+11:00

Yesterday I had one of the greatest days in a very very long time! The entire Australia Day was just amazing!! Chris bought me a Shark Dive voucher for my birthday in December and we finally found a day we both had off and could enjoy and what better day than Australia Day!?

We spent the morning having lunch in the inner city befor ehopping ona ferry to Manly for the Shark Dive ( see this linky for the web details and an awesome short clip that will give you an idea of what I did! >>> http://sharkdive.oceanworld.com.au/)

All up the dive took about 3 hours and was the most memorable thing I have ever done!! I was swimming right there with a dozen Grey Nurse sharks, 3m Sting Rays and massive turtles! I even got to touch them all as they skimmed overhead and one shark even bumped right up against me!! I loved it so much I cant wait until next month when I get to undertake my official qualificationn dives that makes me an internationally recognised diver! woooot!

Zilart Mission 12~ Knocking on heavens door now!

2007-01-27T19:01:00.000+11:00

After completing all the cutscenses before mission 12 we headed to West Altepa Desert with Neikolaas as summoner to help out. We found it with little drama and continued on to whack a pota round the room until it decided to KO me for fun! (*._.) After the fight I headed back to The Hall of the Gods where I laid the keystone in the gate and made way for the very first time into Sky!!! Taking my very first baby steps into Sky was amazing. The Ru'Anne Gardens were much mor eimpressive than I imagined and within minutes was entirely lost!! I managed to make my way back to the zone and with very little exploration left it for now until someone could give me the tour :P

Zilart Mission 8 ~ so close too sky i can feel it!

2007-01-27T18:46:00.000+11:00

After months of silently dreaming of completing ZMs so that I could finally access sky I was invited to upgrade my HNMls membership to a full memeber with all access/points/lotting privliges due to the good word of my friends Kummy and Revon.

However, the only condition was that I obtain sky within 7 days to be accepted! I immeditealy began seeking assiatnce in Aht Urgan and thankfully Isadora was the first to reply to help and it wasn't long before we, and Sophus and some noobish thief were heading to Qufim for the BCNM! After waiting for the noobish thf to reach the spire and me having to rescue him ><;;; We ended up completely destroying the NM!! I was so happy that I was just one NM away from victory and thankfully Isa agreed to wait around for me to complete the mission 9-11 cutscenes before taking on the pot of doom!

Cop Mission 5-1 ~ Promyvion Vazhl GO!~

2007-01-27T18:29:00.000+11:00

Once we had entered the Promyvion it was a matter of replaying exactly what we had undertaken so many missions ago in mission 2. Instead of four levels thought here were 5 and instead of 'easy' mobs each enemy was significantly harder! plus on floors 3-5 we had to kill an NM which was in essence 'the ghost of promyions past'. At each web of recollection we had to re-fight the mea, dem and holla prommy bosses of olde before we could move up the spire!! Talk about a massive ask! It was basically the 3 original prommies all in one and instead of making them slightly easier...they were harder still!

However, once we had destroyed the final ghost prommy NM we made it into the spire and rested up for our BCNM....which consisted of, you guessed it -- fighting ALL THREE prommy NMs at once in the same arena!!!

As always we kicked ass after our traditional dry run of doom! :D

Cop Mission 5-1 ~ Enduring Tumult of War

2007-01-27T18:16:00.000+11:00

On the previous Monday morning my CoP static headed to Fei Yen to complete Missions 5-1 and 5-2. AT the begginning we had to fight a nasty Golem who had an aouto-regen that equated to 100hp/tick!! I was a bit worried however we completely decimated it within seconds and continued our trip into the bowels of Proyvion-Vahzl!
From there we were treated to a very length cs (as all CoP ones are!!) and found out some very juicy information regarding the mysterious 'boy' and Prishe!

This is just a cute pic of three Mandys on Puronguo Isle I saw...so cute! XD

Dynamis is goooooooo....kinda (*._.)

2007-01-21T17:50:00.000+11:00

So today I started my 'end game' career with my first ever Dynamis-San d'oria run with the Rosesforthedead Dynamis LS. We met at 6am and got straight into the battlefield. However, unaware that I was the only one out of 50 people who attended who needed the win the team decided to go for max time and get as many drops as possible. After 3 full hours I had to run to make it to work on time so although this wa smy first official run, it was not officially completed :S
Ah well, Theres always next weekend and I will be sure to make it known I need the win every week :P gogo AF2!!

~~Edited to add pics 27/01/07

Chains of Promathia: Chapter 4 -- Complete!

2007-01-16T21:28:00.000+11:00

With help from 2 new friends Havian and Celyme we were able to undertake the mission with very few troubles....except for my 30 minute intermission as "Mr. fix it-cable man" decided to cut my phone line for repairs without warning leaving the team dooomed-- well a tincy bit worried anyways (*._.)

Luckily Narnia and Syano had already farmed the two Coral Crest keys necessary for unlocking the ah..locked door in Sacrarium. So with these precious tools in hand we ventured ever deeper into the fabled dungeons commonly likened to the depths of hell by many a weary adventurer. While avoiding the wrath of the evil 'Taurs we came across the King of the realm ... Keremet himself.
With a bolt unseen, Narnia threw her might against the evil Corse and hurried back into the safety of the entrance tunnel to his chamber where lying in wait was a group of elite fighters and mages ready to quash his dreams of Sarutab...err World Domination!!

The battle was draining and in the peak of the ferocity the evil Corse turned the band of friends against one another, turning our newly found comrade Celyme against me leading me to fall upon my blade in the ultimate sacrifice. The quick actions of the few among us, namely Syano and Odjaru, ensured we would not give in to the evil ones wishes. And so he fell and we rejoiced.Alas, the battle was merely half way through for we saw the face of our true enemy, the old and wise NM Old Professor Mariselle and his two demonic pupils. What a treacherous fiend he was indeed. With crafty teleportation and sleepga attacks he proved a worthy adversary for the skilled OnebyOne team. However, with tight team skills he stood no chance and he was quickly dispatched where we claimed our reward and headed back to Tavnazia to continue our paths to Sea....onebyone.

Xamer + Asta duo = Shadowlord incarnate!

2007-01-16T21:23:00.000+11:00

After recently joining the EU HNMLS dynamis group RosesForTheDead I was invited to apply for thier main LS, but without sky I didnt want to risk rejection. Luckily for me Xamer was keen to help me acquire the very last crystal I needed for ZM5 from Yuhtunga Jungle via Ifrit's Hellhole!

After I dinged 57 Smn we gathered at the jungle and traveresed our way through the eery and problematic Cauldron. It was pretty fun, even the agro death from the nasty puppy the Shadow Dragon!

Thankyou Xamer!!!!!!!! As always, Team Xamasta > all!

Dynamis/ HNM LS obtained at last! :3

2007-01-12T18:33:00.000+11:00

Today While seeking an exp party I ran into a friend from so far back I barely remembered them. We were good friends when I was a noobie Samurai in Crawlers Nest about a year ago. Kummy is now a BLM75 and we got to chatting about everything thats past and I made mention of the fact I am keen to find a decent HNMLS that can take on a keen Samurai without sky/sea. He told me to apply to his LS "Roses for the dead" which tackles Dyanmis bi-weekly and Kirin every week as well as other weekly events. They have a strict sea/sky requirement but if I was able to impress the other sackholders in the Dynamis/Kirin arena I would be bumped up the list of entrants.

They meet in EU primetime which is great also so that means I can attend all events at my preferred time without having to get up early or very late! Here's hoping I have all my AF2 in no time! :P

V8 charged Summoner!

2007-01-12T18:11:00.000+11:00

After joining an exp. party last night as Summoner 53 I ended up playing right up until 3:30am and only managed lvl 54 before the party called it quits for the night. Today I woke up at the horrible hour of 1pm to the wrath of the mother who demanded I start getting a 'real' job asap :P

After flicking through my daily job update emails I decided to have a go at the ToAU missions I have been stuck on trying to solo the Amerats for the elusive Vial of Joly's Acid for mission 12: The Royal Puppeteer. After roughly 7 attempts today finally yielded me the drop! Hello ToAU13! ......NM can I have it? =P

On the ship to the NPC in Nashmau a nifty looking NM Proteus spawned and I asked the other ppl on the boat to help out whacking its ass!...as you can see, we did...what? we did!!!

After completying the last step I decided to continue the progress of Smn and ended up getting a party near immediately for KRT. I hit 55 pretty quick and decided to give Carby's newest ability Meteor a spin! and OMFG it owns!!! Oh Carby, how I love thee! Here's hoping 75 comes soon enough.

A summoner's education

2007-01-08T15:46:00.000+11:00

Today I decided to snap myself out of this nasty rut I had sunk into by being self-indulgent by sleeping in till late and playing FFXI...as per usual.

I decided to tie up some open Smn AF hunts and completed the AF feet and decided to finish the Hands in SSG. While I was farming the coffer key Neikolass from FU decided to come along and lend a hand! After about an hour we finally got drop and it took another hour for us to get the coffer claim! All in all was great fun and I was able to meet alot of the newer FU members.

Lost in the void...

2007-01-07T17:15:00.000+11:00

Belated hello's to everyone.

So you may, or may not have noticed my absence in recent weeks from both Astara and his flesh-riddled puppet Tim. In the past few weeks I spent a few solid hours with POL to help rectify the issue with the Aussie server congestion issues and allowed them to 'use me' as thier connection troubleshooter which was kinda fun as we ran through a large series of network tests for which I recieved a very nice thankyou email from thier Head of Technical Support.

It turns out they had no idea that many people were having connection issues. However it appears that the Taiwan earthquake had very little to do with the troubles, however thier latest update apparently included some 'unmentionables' a.k.a RMT/hacking prevention tools included that inadvertantly blocked or limted the ports that POL could access and hence the lack of connection. What still remains a mystery (or was for eyes only) is why it was mostly Oceanian/Asian-pacific network connections that were blocked.

Anyway after a while I was able to manually re-open my ports and BAM! FF was live once more.

...However...Since then I have probably seen Astara for no more than 15 minutes in the past 3 weeks. It seems I may have come to a simple crossroads of sorts and am once again debating whether to bow out of FF now or soldier on with the hope that somewhere soon in the future I will find a reason to keep plugging hours into it. What used to keep me coming back was the reliable conversations and happy /emotes that I would recieve from friends. In the past 6 months there has been a considerable drop in the number of people I speak too. I find myself logging in, staring at Moogle and logging out just as quickly...

It's really quite sad.....Hmmm. Indecision.

Taiwan earthquake = Goodbye Astara!

2006-12-29T21:31:00.000+11:00

On Boxing day Taiwan had a massive undersea earthquake that severed 98% of the cables between the Asia-Pacific route. The past 3 days Ive been completely blocked from connecting to POL but have managed to make it to the select character screen before the connection stalled and since then the program has yet to make it past the first stage of logging in.

I contacted POL and they informed me that the ISP provider that connects Australia to the FF servers has been lost and it will take upto 4-6 weeks before any substantial connection is re-established. It looks like myself and according to this post >>> http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/forum.html?forum=10;mid=116738308210605002;num=22;page=1 many other Aussie players will be having a forced summer vacation from FFXI!

This article sums it up!
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/12/29/asia/AS_GEN_Asia_Disconnected.php

/orz....see you all again soon. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Fenrir Mine!!!!!!!!

2006-12-12T16:22:00.000+11:00

What a damn fantastically lucky morning! I logged in and immeditaely i saw a shout for a Fenrir party which was already at 4/6. So I sent a tell to Lilwoody letting them know I was free and keen. After about 30 mins of finding a White mage we headed off to the fountain only to learn that in all of the pick-up party none of us had ever attempted Fenrir and the leader had no battle plan at all... with 3 of the members only able to speak JP we were highly dubious of our chances for success. So I suggested we just attempt a dry run and likely wipe to get an idea of his fighting style.

So we buffed, entered, and proceeded to wipe the floor with his mange-ridden ass! :D :D :D

I was so happy that I managed to land the final blow and bolted to windy to finalise the win! Fenrir = mine forever! Thanks to Lilwoody, Belld, Meally, Garc, Bandith. Our setup was Samurai, Paladin, Bard, White Mage, Red Mage and Summoner.
Now I can finally continue with Summoner to 75!!! I would love to kill him again for the Ancient's Key as well as his lovely stone :P Any takers?

Fenrir Mine!!!!!!!!

2006-12-12T15:27:00.000+11:00

Happy 25th Birthday Chrissy!!!

2006-12-10T16:39:00.000+11:00

Hello hello! Yes I'm not dead after all!

What a week! Started my posiiton at the Australian Museum in Hyde Park, in Sydney's city centre and it turne dout to be very boring indeed =p They had me compiling random data on random species to classify and catalogue them individually. Hoping next week will prove more exciting and may actually get dirty or my hands wet!

Here's a linky to the faculty I am in for those interested >>>

http://www.austmus.gov.au/fishes/index.cfm

Anyway, enough about me, Chris my partner in crime turned 25 this week and we celebrated by visiting the Moonlight Cinema in Centennial Park in Bondi and I also bought him a voucher for a tandem Hang-gliding session but unfortunately the wind hadn't come to the party so we were forced to postpone and leave Chris to stew in his panic!!! :D

So I 'might' make it back in game sometime this weekend but it looks dubious as now we're hitting peak shopping time I'm being asked to work a lot more (working 50+ hours next week o.o) but drop me a line if you wanna say hi! Peace!!

CoP 4-2 Ouryu fight Success!

2006-12-04T18:37:00.000+11:00

A stupendously, outrageously, and immeasurably fantastic effort was witnessed today as Shiva’s number 1 CoP static linkshell took down the lord of the sky Ouryu in only two attempts (though first doesn’t ever count **go-go-dryruns**). After initial hiccups, the team entered ready to whoop ass! It was hairy on many occasions and at times was within a hair of dooooom.
At the very end it came down to a stunning stroke of faith and a pinch of luck as Garuda blasted the portly Wyrm right out of the arena! With just Odjaru standing with a slither of health it was truly a victory from above and beyond!!

Sea...youre getting oh so closer....!!! *searches out that oh-so-hot lil Bikini*

2006-11-30T14:43:00.000+11:00

So there its is, the Flag I salute! What a fantastic run from Rank 1 over a year ago to its final completion. It feels really good to have witnessed the final mission CS and see how it tie sin with the opening movie and CS. Thankyou to everyone who helped me through these past few days, especially Kazaroth, Askpee, Budmaster, Brakan (gogo 69!!!), and Akakami!! I love you guys! and yes I cant wait until we conquer Bastok Rank 10 next! CHEER CHEER CHEER!

PLUS WOOOOOT we broke the record for Rank 10 BCNM clear time! Haxxed! Thats Tarutau power for ya! Peace Out! xoxo Astara (aka Star Sybil's 'Shining Star')

2006-11-30T14:29:00.000+11:00

So on the final mission we were forced to face the evil Cardians and ban thier wicked ways at the Full Moon Fountain. The fight itself was amazingly simple and I must admit I was slightly pertubed that for a final Mission it was all over so soon ;-; However, once we had beaten the BCNm, many cool things ensued, and I shall not go into details for the sake of those still to complete. So for now all you have are some non-revealing pretty piccies! Enjoy!

Hall of the Gods roundtrip!

2006-11-30T14:18:00.000+11:00

On the way through Rank 9 we had to make a visit to Ro`Maeve yet again and I realised that I had never been into the Hall of The Gods. The place wa sfantastic and only instills my desire to reach Sky soon! Gogo Xamer and Asta TEAM A!
However once we reached the Hall it was in fact neccesary to visit anyway to acquire the Ancient Verse. The spooky CS with the extinct species was quite interesting!

Ranke me Up!

2006-11-30T14:08:00.000+11:00

So we had to harvest Goobues in order to acquire thier ...humus >.>
A few times we were also agro'd by the nasty Korrigans which one dropped the rare 4-leaf Korrigan bud and dropped to one of the party members, Askpee I believe, which I soon after found out they sold on AH for upwards of 200k ><;;;

2006-11-30T13:58:00.000+11:00

Rank me up!

2006-11-30T12:56:00.000+11:00

So following on from the previous rank missions the night before we continued onwards with completing Rank 8 which was amazing fun!! We had to fight some nasty cardians in the Sarutabaruta ruins and then make our way to The Sanctuary of Zitah. All in all was great fun!!

Pretty Moogle Rods

2006-11-30T12:43:00.000+11:00

Was recently in Al Zahbi when I ran across someone who had both of the Fan Festival Moogle Rods...They looked awesome, and the present giving stat looks fun! Wants one!

Wow what a day! Part IV

2006-11-28T00:54:00.000+11:00

It was such a rush and after bouts of applause and praise I was feeling pretty spiffy with myself =^.^=…..until we had to try for the third and final time. After the Black mage’s sleepga and silence were massively resisted, we were subdued by the onslaught of Blizzaga III followed immediately by Aeroga III and Thundaga III…needless to say…we fell hard and fast! The worst part was I had 300 TP and he was down to 12% HP….karma truly is a bitch! Thankfully our Blm had 2 ls buddies on hand to venture out to save us, although it was VERY close to the 60min limit! Yep, that's me with mere mins left to raise.

After this 2 of the members were completely buggered as it put us back almost 2 hours and we all decided to call it a night and continue tomorrow till rank 10!

Wow what a day! Part III

2006-11-28T00:46:00.000+11:00

BEST FIGHT EVER! Was just so much fun, had to agro all 3 of his comrades and the nasty Dirty-Handed Gochakzuk! It went really well and he fell! We had to wait for next re-spawn to get 2 more wands but unfortunately he managed to get off Blizzaga III which wiped four of the party members out with over 1000 damage!!

Me and the Ninja survived and I busted out the Meikyo Shisui and was able to solo Light Skillchain (Yes Xam, it actually hit for once! ^^) on his ass to totally pwn him!!!!! SAMURAI HAX FTW!!!

Wow what a day! Part II Piccies

2006-11-28T00:41:00.000+11:00

Just some more piccies of the CS in Ro' Meave...notice the lil guy in the rags....striking resemblence to PuPu from FFVIII!! Very cute!

Wow what a day! Part II Piccies

2006-11-28T00:37:00.000+11:00

Whats cooking doll face? :D

Wow what a day! Part II

2006-11-28T00:33:00.000+11:00

Later today after lunch I sought out a Merits party and after about an hour, and of course only mere moments before Besieged I get an invite. Turns out the party consisted of 3 samurai’s, a ninja and 2 bards.

The party was fantastic! We parsed at about 8k limit points per hour and worked together real well. All up I earnt over 18k limit points and unlocked my very first merit!! >>>> ‘Stote Tp Increase’

After we had disbanded however I got a tell almost straight away asking if I could help with Windy missions 8-10 all in a row with a group already started!! (see picky above) I jumped at the offer! The party were already at Davoi at the NM and were more than happy to wait for me to do all the pre-req’s in Windy and Ro~Maeve! So I made way there and we ventured into the house of the Big Bad Wol….er Orc :s

Wow what a day! Part I

2006-11-28T00:32:00.000+11:00

Today I logged in at about 11am and was immediately asked to join a party in Garbage Sh*tadel and I gladly accepted which I stayed with right up until level 37 went DING! :D So now I am officially set for merits and any other events that need some extra whacking power.

Last night I had a very interesting sleep. apparently I slept-walked in my room after dreaming that my window was made out of a pillow I dreamt that I had to close the window in order to prevent bats from coming in (or something >.>). I woke up and found my pillows on the other side of the room and my window locked shut. I am one who must always sleep with my window wide open, so when I noticed the window locked shut the dream smacked back into my memory a million miles an hour and I was hugely disorientated…and just a lil freaked out.

I put it down to lack of sleep, too much FFXI making my imagination go crazy! ^^;;;;

Mission 7-2 : Team A = Tarutaru Power Strike!

2006-11-27T12:04:00.000+11:00

So after I had helped out Xamer we move donto the Windy mission. First stop: Altepa for OP home.....until I realised (post xamer OP) that I was yet to complete this run, and had inadvertantly set my homepoint...for 4000g!!! gah!

So after Xam-xam came back to save me we got the mission orders and headed to tele-yhoat where *someone* decided to make friends with the entire Yuhtunga Jungle, indeed scaring the heeby-jeebers out of the poor noobettess on the way.

and finally we made it to the Temple of ugly-mugs and attempted the NM, but got agro before we had time to max out mp and Tp which led to us escaping with him at 30%! But we tried again and...whooped...his...ass! and thank god he never got off Everyone's Rancor!

Was super dooper fun times!!!

Be-gone evil Lich!

2006-11-27T11:55:00.000+11:00

YAY go soloable NMs! Now I have Summoner to 53 I'm well into getting the AF and need the Toraimarai Canal access so Ive had to start the cute widdle Keruto's Rhinostery quests in order to get it directly from Windy! So I Had to take on the wickedly fiendish Lich C. magnus and his nasty AM's.... luckily with just a few quick ws's he was down!

However...as I was zoning out I asssumed the little skele buddys would think twice about agro'ing me....I was wrong, very wrong! However, Win> Loss = Yay!

Minotaur of doom!

2006-11-27T11:48:00.000+11:00

Last night I popped on to undertake Windy mission 7-2 for rank 8 with Xamer, but he needed help on the CoP 2-3 mission in the Aqeuducts to fight the Minotaur. So I decided to come along to help out, it was good fun!

I actually had forgotten 90% of this mission already and couldn't understand why none of it was coming back too me, until I realised once we had killed the Minotaur, we had a thief use his skills on the door and therefore bypassed the entire Key hunt expedition that Xam's group did next.

All in all was nice going back because it really shows how far you've come and has made me even more determined to get to sea! Congrats again Xamer! See you soon in a sea near you!

Warrior Powah!

2006-11-27T11:39:00.000+11:00

I've been working on getting Warrior to 37 for the past week now and as of this morning Ive gone 10 levels from 26-36! So with just one more level to go, and currently in an exp party fingers crossed I will ding 37 today.This will mean tonight I can merit until either

1) My fingers drop off,
2) Chris disowns me, or..
3) I max out ALL merits! HAX! :D

But in all seriousness I can't wait to max my GK and Crit. skills and leave the lowbie levels alone for a very long time. That is all. Good day.

Long time no see.

2006-11-22T18:31:00.000+11:00

It's been such a long time since I posted. Since last time alot has happened. The greatest point is that I officially completed my exams on the November 15th. and have been pretty much been lyinga round and sleeping in till lunchtime and getting to bed at about 3am each morning! :D

Plus Chris and I have become completely hooked on this Foxtel show called "Most Haunted' which is so amazing!!!

With all this extra time I've managed to get back into the swing of in-game fun and have gained 52 Summoner and am working on getting Warrior to 37 so I can spam merits this summer. I will keep you posted on how things go and look forward to catching up with you all in-game for fun soon!!!!!

Team A > Garuda! = Winnnnnn!

2006-11-07T22:24:00.000+11:00

So last night I was pondering my summoner options for when I finish up uni in a week and am starting to get quite impatient by the fact that I am lvl 48 with no Fenrir. So I asked Xam-xam to help me duo Garuda so that I would have all six Whispers neccesary for my yummy Moon Bauble.
We both gathered together late last night and made our way to the arena after both completing the weekly choco run :P....Unfortunatey after we had made it all the way to the protocrystal soooomeone forgot thier tuning fork *coughsillywhmcough* :D

We went in and even with baraero the bitch managed to wipe the floor with poor Xamer, which led to a not so glorious wipe of me with a nasty Wind Slap to the face!
Alas, we tried again and she went down! Take that you green...thing >.>!! :D
Fenrir/ Diabolos..... look out cos im'a coming for you next!

Success! 3-5 Darkness Named: Completed!

2006-11-06T12:50:00.000+11:00

Hooray! Diabolos is dead sangout through the halls of Pso'xja this morning!! After what seemed to be the perfect start to the gathering this morning, it fell apart, but eventually was saved. Everyone had farmed thier chips and recieved thier Pso'xja passes from the tenshodo as requested and we even had acquired a new tank by the name of Torgar (or something) who had not only Ninja levelled, but paladin also and was on 3-5 as well.

However, Just as we were teleporting to Vahzl we get a /tell from him saying he wasn't coming due to some lame reason -.-....Big suprise was 15 mins later he was sitting in Lower Jeuno seeking...as a lvl 33 Ninja!!! like...seriously...wtf >.>

After an hour of spamming for assistance, a Ninja in need of 3-5 responded and accepted to help out with the mission. So once again we packed up and headed off to the fight! After me rambling off the strategy for the fight I was nervous, as I was the only one who could stun his AOE attacks. I configured my chat filters so that I could only see Diabolos's special attacks, and in actuality had blocked it entirely and we went in...got Nightmare right off the bat, and Ranger spammed barrage and died instantly, and needless to say, we fell like flies.
Soooo after working that embarresing dry-run out of our systems we tried again, and OMG we kicked his ass! Im saying, all up only 200 +/- damage was taken by our party the ENTIRE fight and I successfully stunned all five attempts by Diabolos at using Nightmare!!!! I was so proud that when we had him at 30% I realised none of us had used our 2 hours so I gave the order! After just one Aerial Blast...he was history! Goodbye chapter 3, hello Oruyu!!!!

Assault ~ Worms squish good!

2006-11-02T00:25:00.000+11:00

So after today's rediculously draining events (i.e read last post) I was delighted when xamerkapsy sent me an IM asking if I wanted to join in an assault on the wormies (Leoujaulm Sanctum or something). It was good fun and included numerous YC ls members such as Psymonk, and of course our very own Xamer!!!

We attempted it three times, all successes and I was lucky enough to be the one who made the mad dash to the chesta nd release point! Each reward was only junk including >> a white rock, a copper ring, and a flower no-one on earth could pronounce!

It was a great distraction from my RL stress and I was very grateful that Psy and Xamer would think of me to join in. So thanks heaps Xamer, I was thorugjly impressed! I hope we can do again ^^

Tim flys off the handle...

2006-11-02T00:14:00.000+11:00

Today was perhaps the worst day I've had this semester to date. At 9am, exhausted and well and truly over University, I dragged myself to campus to collect a progress report I had submitted last week and to discuss it with my professor. When I arrived I was rudely bombarded with insults and criticism re: the report which lead to an all-out argument with my professor.

Basically she argued that the report was rubbish and didn't cover the basics of what she wanted, to which i retorted with the fact that she never gave me an outline, nor advised the class of ANY details to whats he expected and we were all left to our own devices. Naturally, with literally 12 other reports due in the past fortnight, this was not my best effort. But being already exhausted and over the highly unprofessional and lax 'teaching skill's of my professor I lost it and accused her of numerous, yet highly accurate, and plausible reasons as to why many other students had made formal complaints about her to the high chancellor of students.

Needless to say this didn't go down well, as apparently no-one else had had the balls to tell her what was going on behind her back and was obviously caught off-gaurd by my outburst. Basically the past 4 years she has been the least supportive, useful, or even remotely educated person we've all come across and knowing this was my final week I felt I should let her know...albeit the fact she still needs to mark my final project report worth over 60% of my final grade >.>

Hopefully my honest reaction will have inspired some respect from her, otherwise I think I may be in for a rude shock when the grades roll in. Either way I'm glad I stood up for myself and the faculty, as its my belief that Universities should be the pinnacle of education where the elite of scientific fields teach thier wisdom to yearning students...and not for slackers who ride in on the coat-tails of other wealthy professors.

Pso'xja part II

2006-11-02T00:10:00.000+11:00

Thankfully, there in a zap was Xamer-medic to save the day with his newly acquired, fan-dangled RB3!!!!! I was uber happy finally getting to see Xamer in his newly acquired Walhara Turban *cough-MuhammadShi'hadturban-cough*

Once Timmy-ru was all rested we decided to whoop ass...just because we can! WE managed to kick thier asses and acquired a 'blue bangle' or some item for an apparently useless quest in jeuno >.> GOGO TEAM A!!!!!

Pso'xja chip quest/ map quest

2006-11-02T00:03:00.000+11:00

Last night I finally reached CoP 3-5 and this quest required me to visit Pso'xja in the Northlands to obtain a coloured chip from the Diremites (the evil spider thingys)... While I was there I decided I would likely need the map for the mission later this week so decided to complete that while I was there because the key dropping mobs were all very easy kills.

After only about 3 kills (gogo /thf sub) I got the chest key to drop and decided to go chest hunting as wella s Diremite scouting further into the uncapped areas. Unfortunately...in my haste...I came across a very happy looking '???' and decided "Question marks can't hurt me!".....WRONG /slap!! -.-

Little did I know I had tripped a NM duo pop for a quest that had me take on 2 wicked dolls who liked to use invincible at will and had me (for the second time in 2 days if youre playing along at home) caught off-gaurd with a very angry NM! I had them both down to about 4 and 20% respectively, but unfortunately w/out my /whm sub I was doomed!!!

Aurora Borealis ~ The Northern Lights

2006-11-01T23:54:00.000+11:00

Tonight (Tuesday) on my way to Tavnazia I witnessed my very first Aurora weather in Qufim island in my game history. Was a beautiful site to behold and I was thoroughly thrilled to see it now that I had only just upgraded all of the minimum graphic configurations to thier highest settings.

Just as I reached the tower I ran into, as fas as I can recall, my very 1st Light Elemental that I had ever fought. I proceeeded to kick its ass and scored myself numerous cluters of light crytals. To which Xamer happily informed me were currently selling for 10k+!! So all up, what an excellent suprise for a perfect action packed day! aaahhhh...the beauty.....

'The Climb' piccies for your viewing pleasure.

2006-11-01T23:47:00.000+11:00

** The climb begins (In actuality the path up is a maze of pathways only as wide as your body, so 1 step in the wrong direction means falling the entire way down!) You only have 1 earth hour to reach the Cradle of Rebirth at the summit before your key item shatters rendering you lame and completely noobish for eternity....**

**Me making the slow ascent to victory, I refused to follow a guide and was determined to find the path up through the labyrinth....I followed the guide within 10 minutes -.-**

*Success!! A pretty CS and I was done!**

**What a view....soaring Wedge-tailed Eagles circling just out of reach, the distint cries of a chick in a nest nearby followed by a mother returning the call....actually in my suprise, well worth the insanity!**

Satan's Peak...the once in a lifetime event!

2006-11-01T23:40:00.000+11:00

So that night I continued the mission to Diabolos and started cop 3-3...the quest of Tor Mountain. Basically it involved me hunting down an ugly ass antlion NM and having to whoop its ass while keeping it bound to stop it from running back to its burrow...from where it would regain 100% of its HP immediately -.- EVIL.

...After firing off my Meikyo Shisui i ripped 90% of its HP off and I was very happy with myself...and then just as fast I had ripped his heart out, he ran back to his hole and was...you guessed it, back to 100% hp =.=

So i dragged his ass as far as I could away from the nest and bound him and continued to rip him a new one. He fell, I /joy'd and then claimed my key item....in preperation for the devilishly evil climb of Mount Tor........

Overgrown Ivy: I meet my match :o

2006-11-01T23:32:00.000+11:00

So for a certain CoP mission (3-2 i believe) I had to venture into Carpenters Landing an dtake on a nasty testosterone packed, fugly Malboro on steroids....

Silly me in my haste decided that checking the guide before approaching the NPC guy was a waste of time, and alas, BANG!!! spwans the NM who immediately uses Hundred Fists on my unprepped ass! I had no food, no buffs, no gear :P needless to say I fell hard and I fell fast :D

In a high state of embarresment i HP'd all the way back to Jeuno with my tail between my stumpy legs and decided maybe undertaking the cop missions solo when i hadnt slept in over 28 hours wasnt s uch a crash hot idea as only that morning had I undertaken the 2-5 static and had yet to even rest my head as I was far too excited about getting asap to 3-5!!!

Later that night another CoP static friend (Narnia) sent me a /tell asking me to come along to help her out as she was 75THF and was scared she would not handle the Hundred Fists attack.....WE kncoke dit flat in under 20 seconds :3 just enought ime for me to solo renkei a light skillchain! HAX ftw!

CoP Mission 3-1: The beginning...

2006-11-01T23:07:00.000+11:00

So this week saw me as I mentioned eaarlier pass CoP 2-5 and allow me to move on to the chapter 3 missions. I must say the missions were far more in-depth than I could have ever imagined. All up it must have taken me about 7 hours of runninga rounf, going through cs and just completeing all the mini-quests was intense and well worth all the effort thus far.

I bow to thee: Xamertaru --==75 White mage==--

2006-10-31T21:58:00.000+11:00

Today my closest and most beloved Final fanatsy fiend...err...friend attained the pinnacle of achievement by reaching the long-awaited 75!!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!

I can't wait to grind out all those merits with you Xamer and finally etch ourselves a place in decent end-game orientated ls that deserves out quirky and awesome skills! I can't think of anyone who has dedicated more time, advice and support to everyone in game and out and who is more deserving.

Kudos! Kudos! Kudos!

Success! 2-5 Ancient Vows: Completed!

2006-10-30T15:24:00.000+11:00

ALL RIGHT~!~!~!

So after a VERY shaky start I can officially announce that I have passed 2-5 and am now upto 3-5 "Darkness Named" aka Diabolos fight :D

After not being able to sleep all last night I finally resigned myself to the fact that sleep just wasn't on the cards for me due to my excitement. So At 1am I started up FF and decided to do the Choco exp quest while I waite duntil 3am for the static to log in. But at about 2:30am I relaised daylight savings had ended the same day it had begun for us and instead of it being 3am...it was now a 5am gathering time Y.Y Unfortunately our designated Ninja (Froce>> must now die) did not even show up!! GRR >:D time wasters

So as 5am rolled around so did the other members. Unfortunately we were 7/6 with a spare *terrible* RDM and we headed off into riverine to farm 2 scales after tracking down a spare Ninja(and wasting 3 hours!). Unfortunately we must have farmed for upwards of an hour with no drops and we were well and truly pissed by then, add onto that about 3 total wipes from constant linking/agro from the true sight Hippos.

Eventually we made it to the Monarch Linn and proceeded in with very little planning...which led to the only wipe of the day (things looking better). We re-evaluated our kiting directions and we tried again. IT WAS VERY CLOSE! As the first one dropped the other Smn (Odjaru) surrendered his to the melee as he attempted Astral Flow. Unfortunately almost as soon as the second was at 50% I was Thundaga'd and picked off leaving a very angry hungry untamed mammet to take care of. By the time the second was felled myself and a Rng were down and out still, thank god for the speedy Whm who got me back up and into the fight so I could Astral Flow us to victory!

So next Monday is Diabolos! Wish me luck xo!!!!

P:S >> here are some non-spoiler piccies for you to enjoy!

Summoning Magic hits 100!

2006-10-30T05:38:00.000+11:00

Tiny achievment today ^^

Was awaiting static formation in Riverine and decided to cast Carbuncle for Healing Ruby and voila... I ding 100 for summoning skill. I was pretty happy, albeit my lvl cap @ 47 is actually 144 >.> Can only hope with the recent patch I hit cap soon enough and continue to max it out.

Currently accessing Riverine for 2-5 fight...wish me luck xo

2006-10-27T12:35:00.000+10:00

In an effort to power Warrior to 37 Ive been seeking invites all week with very little action (seems to be a MASSIVE lack of tanks in the 20's atm) and have started seeing exp quests as a fast alternative. So for the past 2 weeks I have undertaken the Sandy <> Bastok choco quest for the Dragon Chronicles and decided to solo the Crawlers Nest escort quest for the elusive memoirs.....After about attempt #8 I finally won last night!! weee! Pretty happy with my score too!

So this coupled with the approx. 700 xp I got from the choco quest means I should be taking in an extra 2000+ exp/week towards my less enjoyable jobs :P

2006-10-26T21:50:00.000+10:00

2006-10-26T21:44:00.000+10:00

Just a few more sexy CoP 2-5 piccies!!

2006-10-26T21:40:00.000+10:00

Perhaps the most exciting thing however since my last post was my recent addition to a CoP static named OnebyOne headed by Narnia. I was sought out by Shintaro last week as he knew I had SMN beyond 40 and asked if I was keen to progress, to which I gave an estatic "OMFGYESPRZZZZ!!!"

So we set a time to attempt 2-5 which was Sunday 2pm est US, or 4am Monday morning for me @.@.....However, my determinantion to finally get Diabolos and sea pushed me on. So like clockwork we all gathered together in jeuno at 4am and headed to Tavnazia. It took us approximately an hour to get ready and make our way to the displacement entrance to Riverine site #A01.

We progressed through the zone and luckily collected 2 Dragon Scales on the first 2 dragons we encountered! :D From there it was a simple "follow-the-leader" to the entrance of the arena and there we prepared to meet our biggest mission challenge thus far. The setup was Smn/whm (me), Whm/Blm (Syano), Rng/Nin (Narnia), Rng/NIn (Shintaro), Nin/War (Tiaarin) and Rdm/Whm (Arwin). We basically attempted about 5 times before calling it quits for the day >.>

We came very close 3 of those times killing 1 of the Mammets early on, however our method was for me to kite and Arwin (the Rdm/whm) kiting the second one with Bind > gravity > running like hell! while the third was hit with the melee. However, she admitted (after the 2nd wipe -.-) that she had never kited before and couldnt handle it as her darkness skill was way below the cap and therefore gravity/bind rarely stuck!

After initial furious and heated complaints between the rest of us in /tells we decided to try again with the method of one of the Rangers assisting her kite by gaining hate when her HP was dipping, and the resulting cures would regain hate onto her allowing her to continue kiting. However, the RDM decided this meant she could be slack and just stand still and melee which led to another wipe. As soon as she fell I would have to kite 2 mammets which unfortunately wouldnt last long as Carby was falling faster then I could recast.

We re-scheduled until the same time next week for round 2. However, as I logged in at 4am Narnia announced 2 of the members had RL arrangements and we would re-schedule to Monday morning of the Oct. 30th....thus also allowing time for the RDM to be dropped in replace for another SMN.

2006-10-26T13:20:00.000+10:00

So this week saw the Harvest Festival kick in to full swing with a quite exciting storyline this time around I might add. Unlike the last event where it was simply trading endless sweets to the now highly probably obese ghasts and ghouls, you actually ahd to follow 'evil' witches around the starting cities in an effort to discover why they are trapped in limbo.

The rewards, as usual were quite meager, but the Coven Hat was still a nifty addition to my friday night clubbing ensemble :P

The past prizes were still around and insanely easy to acquire so I passed them over and decided to make a few $$ while afk and was suprised to find I sold the $12000 of treats I bought for just over $70000 by jacking the prices in my bazaar for a few hours while i waited for the CoP static!!! Overall, im a happy widdle ghoul!!

2006-10-26T13:17:00.000+10:00

This week I finally took the time and started the motions of getting Vivid saddled up for riding. I found the dirty hankerchief ont he longest walk after mnay attempts on the lower runs and eventually took her out for her first run!

She was overall pretty slow but i wasnt shocked as her Strength and endurance were quite low at this point (currently she has 'a bit deficient' for both! :D)

2006-10-26T13:12:00.000+10:00

Last week I was bored of the dunes exp grind and after Isa mentioning a quest he was doing in Gobby HQ I decided I'd come say Hi, alas he was gone by the time I arrived so I decided to introduce good ol' Hagun to the faces of some Gobblish friends r(',')r in an attempt to acquire the Movalopolos map, one of the evry last I still need to acquire.

However, on the way out of nowhere I see an unusual site, the lowly NM Maighdean Uaine and thought what the hell and gave it a whack..

Thankfully it wasn't a total waste of a Kasha and I scored me a wicked new accesory to flash to all the dunes dustmites :P

Except, the map was never found as of course the darn chest was in an impossibly hard location, so with my nw bling-bling I headed back to the dunes to whoop some lizzy ass!!!

2006-10-26T13:03:00.000+10:00

So although I promised an update, the ever increasing Uni load has taken its toll this past 3 weeks and I havent had a chance. So this will be a massive update!!

Lately I've been considering meriting like mad to get Samurai maxxed ot in Gkt. and Str as well as gain the newer JA's like Overwhelm. Alas, all I ahve for sub is THF37 and never took War beyond 19. So I decided it was about time I made myself more useful (and inturn more appealing to parties) by taking War to 37.

However, I have no sub for War which meant me grinding Ninja to 18. So alas I finally started the grind to the dunes...

I finally got to 18 in about 5 days and am now currently trying to exp War (currently 22) as the invites are VERY slow in this lvl range atm, and doing a search of Qufim Island I noticed that 24/40 ppl in the zone were blatant gilsellers with very simlar names, and 1 group even had NO subjobs -.-....

However, as Xam knows I recieved an invite from one of these gilseller parties last week, which I didnt realise until all fo them had the same linkshell...and the penny finally dropped when out of nowhere w ehad 4...yes 4 PLs! Y.Y

So its all GOGO War atm and will be until I hit 37, from where I will most likely take Nin > 37 also as it seems to be the latest trend in ToAU missions/quests.

2006-10-20T21:42:00.000+10:00

2006-10-20T21:38:00.000+10:00

Well it's been an incredibly long week....

This week saw me undertake and complete numerous reports which would have sent anyone nuts. Thankfully for me, knowing the end is just around the corner I soldiered on and made it through intact..more or less :s

Stay tuned for more info this week when I have time!

2006-10-13T13:42:00.000+10:00

2006-10-11T14:07:00.000+10:00

With officially 35 days until I am pens down on my degree I have been swamped with final semester reports, seminars, projects, interviews and the relentless dread of exam study. With graduation not until April, I wil have to wait until then to be deemed Mr. Timothy James Martin Bsc.

Still quite a scary thought to relaise the last four years of back-breaking labour (which I reluctantly paid to endure) and mind-numbing (which comes free with the package deal!) study is finally climaxing to me becoming qualified to get a 'real' respectable job outside of retail. I must admit, however, knowing that in just 1 mere month I'll be free to sleep in till whenever, lie on the beaches of god-knows-where, save monies to disappear... will all become all to real. The set routine of classes, laboratories, tutorials and field trips will all come to an end. Which in all reality will be for the very first time since I started school 16 very long years ago.

To have a degree in anything is a huge accomplishment everyone keeps telling me, but too me i'm very blessed that what I studied, is something that's very true too my heart. To those who don't know what I studied: I completed a Bachelor of Science - Double Major Sustainable Resource Management and Marine Biology degree at The University of Newcastle in NSW Australia (2002-2006).

Living in the dry, arid and relentless heat of the South Australian outback for the majority of my childhood fostered an enormous fascination for the sea and all its complex inhabitants and interactions with the terrestrial environments we know. So being accepted into this degree was more "OMG what fun!" then anything else.

... but so it ends... with me having NO idea where I'm headed. Only knowing that in 2 months time I start my volunteer work at The Australian Museum in the inner Sydney city working in the actual specimen identification and sorting laboratories and will hopefully acquire a full time paid position. Working at the museum will also expose me to the current studies being undertaken both at home and abroad and will allow me to build a solid network with all the respectable international marine scientists. This will allow many more oppurtunitues for career progression and interntaional travel!

So I just wanted to let you know how I'm going, both RL friends/family as well as my extended FF family. I hope you are all well,a nd I'm expecting many fun times (many drunken frolicks) once my final exam concludes at 3:55 pm of November 15th!!!

Cheers, Tim.

P.S: here's the link to my university site >> http://www.newcastle.edu.au/
or, more specifically my campus on the Central Coast >> http://www.ccc.newcastle.edu.au

2006-10-06T17:26:00.000+10:00

In preperation to levelling warrior as my second sub for samurai end-game I realised I had no subjob for warrior to take to 37...which meant getting ninja to 18+....eek.

I had to undergo the Tonko and Utsusemi quests in Sea Serpent grotto today and met a very friendly Sahagin who gave me directions...

TO MY DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!.................or not >.> (75SAM FTW!!!!1111)

So over the past few days ive levelled it to 10 finally and have parked Asta in the dunes for what will be undoubtably living hell and unbarable torture as I try to make the progress of lvl 10-18!

Wish me luck!

2006-10-06T12:58:00.000+10:00

Well Helllllooooooo!!!

Last night Chris and I went to the Panic! @ The Disco concert in Sydney which went off! It was a totally sold out gig at the massive Hordern pavillion at Fox studios! We actually got there waaay early (like 3pm) even thought he show didnt officially start till 9:30pm that night.

So we decided to go see a movie >>> "The Devil Wears Prada" with Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway (spl?) and it was FANTASTIC!!!! The best movie i've seen this year!

Essays are going....slow >.> but I shall see you all again real soon!

2006-10-03T15:46:00.000+10:00

Just wanted to post this pic of me and my partner Chris since I havent had any photos available of him and I together. This one was taken a while back but is still my favourite by far~!

Love you Chrissy!

2006-10-03T13:16:00.000+10:00

Just wanted to share this pic I just took in the jungle during double fire weather...the pic just dosent do it justice! The sky would go so red and the entire zone was fire red and occasionally red lightning dashed the sky hitting in the distance. was awe inspiring! Best weather effects ever!

2006-10-03T13:11:00.000+10:00

Last Wednesday Xamer and I were bored and I was whining about how I was still a BCNM virgin busting to spend my 300+ seals! So we decided what the hell, lets try the BCNM20: Shooting fish!

We geared up as Summoner duo and headed to the burning circle and entered! Was VERY easy and we won w/out a problem! Managed a pretty average score with a nice Mannequin head to start my collection off on the road to building my very own!! :D

Thanks heaps Xam!!!

2006-10-03T13:04:00.000+10:00

Just a quick update for the past few days that ive missed....

Poor Vivid got sick after being exhibited to the public and was injured ><; I hope this dosent affect her too much and I fed her some grass and she was fine again the next day too finally win her third competition against the three NPC guys and thier chocobo!

2006-09-29T23:04:00.000+10:00

Aahh there is nothing more relaxing...and so serene...than fishing under the twinkle of the Northern Star.

WINNNER!!!111111111111111

Out of 5 races...finally...a win!! GOGOVIVID!

2006-09-28T23:45:00.000+10:00

Today was a pretty sad day for me... I officially retired my gardening mules due to the high RL cost and was very sad to log them out for the very last time considering all they did for me and how much I put into them. Its amazing how much I truly grew atattched to them, but have retained 3 for use. Maybe one day when I can afford them I will remake them and garden like mad once again. Goodbye mules....

~~It's time now to turn off the light

This has been such a beautiful night

We have served you a lot of delights

And some really wonderful sights

My friend, this is the end

So long and see you soon again

Bye bye, kissing you hi

Someday we will be back together

Goodbye to the circus

We hope you enjoyed the show

Now it's nearly at the end

But it will be back, you know

It will be back, you know

It will be back, you know~~

2006-09-28T23:05:00.000+10:00

Today I finally got back into perhaps my favourite thing to do in-game...Fishing :D

Having my good friend isadora there was great!! I cant wait to get my legendary Lu Shang's...will be a dream! Though im still only at 1600 fish so far...must get 10k o.o

But its the journey not the rewards that matters...Stay tuned.

Kweh~!