Ask and Ye Shall Receive

As requested, one picture of Maholm getting his fish-catching on:















Fishing is a lot more fun in this game when you've got a friend angling as well. That way you can chat with your buddy while sending out casts.

Of course, that can be a bit of a waste when you realize that you could be out kicking butt in the wilderness. And just so you don't think Chuck spends all his time mucking around with fishing, here he is laying the wood to a very unfortunate Rock Lizard:

Gone Fishing

I just wanted to share a few pictures (that's right, I figured out how) of Bronco and Maholm fishing; and of Maholm's new fishing gear. Here is a pic of Bronco fishing with Maholm in some sort of green moat in the mining district of Bastok. I'm not sure if I would want to eat the fish out of there, but so far it has been the best place to catch fish in Bastok for me. I wanted to take a picture of both of us fishing but when you are fishing you cannot use the menu to select anything, let alone take a picture. Jeff had wanted to post a picture of Bronco fishing but he couldn't take a picture of himself so he asked me to. He also took a picture of Maholm fishing but I don't have it right now. Maybe he will post it later. Or maybe we can do something crazy and have a 3rd person take a picture of us both fishing. Stay tuned for that exciting update.

Here is a picture of the new fishing gear I picked up at the auction house the other day. I started leveling up Maholm as a white mage (for when I complete my subjob quest) and I discovered that I didn't have any level one clothes that a white mage can wear. I went to buy some at the auction house in Bastok but there was nothing available for cheap and not much to choose from at all. It turns out that I sold all of my level one clothes that you start the game with to free up inventory space in my mog house. I ended up buying this fishing shirt (which gives a +1 to your fihing skill) for 7000 gil and these fishing hose (which I think are really fishing tights) which also give a +1 for another 7000. So I spent 14k on some new threads so I could lay down the law on some level 1 hugh hornets. Now that I have some sweet fishing swag I can work on getting my fishing skill above 1/100.

DING

Level Up!!! That's right, I'm now a level 18 Red Mage.

Welcome Maholm

Hello all, my name is Chuck (or should I say the bucket) and I'm going to be playing FFXI with Jeff and helping out with this blog. Mainly I'm going to be playing a mmorpg and occasionally dropping by to discuss my progress on this blog. I'm actually playing FFXI right now as I'm writing this post; I'm grinding out a few levels in the Konscgtat Highlands. I'm currently a level 17 Red Mage and I trying to get to level 18 so I can complete the subjob quest and begin working on my subjob. I should be there within the hour, but I still need the third item for the quest which is a Magicked Skull. Does anyone have a spare?

Let me first warn you all that I'm not a scientist. I don't want any bad press for miss-representing myself as one with the sciences. I'm just a friend of the scientist who runs this blog and of the scientists that have "gone wild" in Europe. However, I will do my best to uphold the scientist mantle that has been placed upon me and add some scientific insights into the mmorpg of FFXI.

And finally, let me apologize for not posting earlier this week. I wanted to include a picture from the game in my first post but I still have not figured out how to get the in-game pictures from my 360 to my computer. As you can see, I decided to post without a picture but I'll do my best to have a picture ready for my next post. I'm sure that Jeff knows how. With that I'm going to end this introductory post focus on getting to level 18.

The Dynamic Duo

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but I'm back with big news. The Bucket has made the leap to FFXI, so we can all welcome Bastok's newest hero, Maholm!

To commemorate this occasion, we took a picture together. And to commemorate the hilarity of Maholm's bronze armor set/S&M outfit, TUFF insisted that I use this picture. For those with sensitive eyes...I'M SORRY:

I also gave the Bucket author rights on this page, so hopefully he'll take a monent to introduce Maholm to the blogging community. Welcome to the game!

Lord of the Flies

And here's another common foe in the Dunes, the Damselfly:















Damselflies are pretty important to new players, because they drop a key item required for the "subjob" quest. When you hit level 18, you can participate in a quest to prove yourself worthy of having a subjob. It's a bit complicated, but a subjob is like an added boost that allows you to have some of the abilities of a second job, creating an opportunity to customize your character. For example, a normal Warrior can't use any magic. But if Bronco the Warrior picks White Mage as a subjob, then he gains the ability to cast some basic Cure spells and the like.

However, that's a pretty poor combination, since Warrior will always be pretty crappy at magic. It's generally better to pick a subjob that compliments your main job, rather than something completely different. I like to use a Monk subjob for Bronco, because it adds a lot of health and attack power, as well as some handy abilities for a front-line fighter like Counter and Boost.

In other news, I hit level 30 this weekend and opened up a few advanced jobs - Paladin, Beastmaster, and Dark Knight. Unfortunately the Bucket is having a bit of trouble getting set up to play (Damn you Play Online!), but I'm confident he'll get it worked out eventually!

He Who Controls the Spice Controls the Universe

I'm still focusing on gaining experience for the steady climb to level 30. Sometimes I join up with groups, but lately I've been doing a lot of soloing in Valkrum Dunes. Grouping is fun, but it can take a while to get your party together. Solo play is more slow and steady, and it gives the added bonus that you can work on Fields of Valor training.

In most areas, there are these Field Training books with various pages, each with a different training regime. For example, you might need to defeat 5 worms and 3 hornets. If you succeed, you get an experience bonus, cash, and special tabs that can be used to gain temporary beneficial effects.

In the Dunes, I often slug it out with sheep like this one:















It may seem ridiculous to battle a sheep (even a Brutal Sheep like this one), but these guys can be surprisingly tough customers. They have a lot of health, they can headbutt you pretty hard, and they even have a special ability that can put you to sleep. Maybe by forcing you to count it?

A Noble Steed

I am now Chocobo enabled. It's coming in handy, because I can now cruise between Jeuno (my current base of operations) and the Dunes (where I'm leveling) without sneaking my way through the tough areas in between.

Speaking of Jeuno, I bought a bunch of new equipment from the auction house there, including a sweet Battleaxe +1 and a couple pieces of Beetle Armor. I also completed Mission 2-2 for Bastok and knocked out a couple quests that had really been giving me trouble. I'm currently a level 27 Warrior, so I just need to grind through three more levels and I can start doing the Advanced Job quests. Then, I'll start over again at one, but this time with the help of the Bucket!

Tastes Like Chicken

If you've played Final Fantasy (fill in Roman numeral here) before, then you know what this is:














And if you haven't, then the convenient label shows it's a Chocobo. They're large, flightless birds that take the place of horses in Final Fantasy games.

Once you hit level 20, you can participate in a quest that will net you a Chocobo Lisence, which allows you to rent Chocobos and ride them between locations. Not only is riding a lot faster than walking, but it's also safer because monsters won't attack you as long as you're on a Chocobo.

Everything is spaced out pretty far apart in this game, and the normal walking speed is excrutiatingly slow. So I can't emphasize enough how hard I'm working on that Chocobo Lisence quest right now!

United We Stand!

TUFF was out of town this holiday weekend so I should have done a lot more posting about FFXI, but I was busy...playing FFXI. I can see why people get hooked on these games, since there's so much gameplay to explore. In fact, I never have a problem finding something to do...my problem is choosing from the many things I want to do.


Anyway, Bronco made some major strides this weekend. The big news is that I headed out to the widely reviled Dunes to join a party for some monster killing/experience farming. Most people dread working in the Dunes because there are a lot of new players (like me!) messing up groups with their noobishness. Or noobosity. Or whatever. Given that I'm not what you'd call a "people person" to begin with, I didn't have high hopes.


As it turned out, I had an ABSOLUTE BLAST in the Dunes. Maybe I was just lucky, or maybe I was too wet behind the ears to notice that our groups weren't operating at max efficiency, but every party I joined kicked major butt. I gained a ton of levels (I'm up to lv 21 in Warrior) and I had some interesting conversations with fellow players.















What really surprised me was how nice everyone was...the experienced players were going out of their way to bring the noobs like me up to speed without being overbearing or bossy at all. One player even took an extra half hour to help me get a couple items I needed for the subjob quest, which I couldn't have come close to doing without assistance (Thanks Angeliner!).


There's still a time and place for solo play, but I find myself gravitating more to groups now. Working with other people makes me that much more excited for when The Bucket joins up in a couple weeks!

Bronco the Warrior or Martha Stewart?

Welcome to the wonderful world of crafts...it's a good thing. Actually, it's an expensive, time-consuming thing. The crystals that you can earn by defeating monsters aren't just good for fertilizing your plants. They can also be used in conjunction with various raw materials to make items, a process called crafting. There are nine different crafts in FFXI, each with its own pros and cons. Fortunately you don't need to choose one (at least not for a long time), as you can dabble in any or all of them.

In most games, crafting is a great way to make money. In FFXI, you can make money crafting but usually not until well into the game. This is one of those activities where you invest millions to make millions. As such, it's pretty inadvisable to try doing them all at once...better to concentrate on getting better in one or two.















In this picture, I'm using a fire crystal to fuse some copper and tin ore together, creating a bronze bar. Most people use furnaces and other special equipment for this kind of thing, but apparently I can do it in mid-air with my bare hands. Magic!

For those curious about my gardening results, my first crop was a bunch of corn (which I immediately turned into Roasted Corn using Cooking craft) and my second crop was a truckload of potatoes. Not too shabby for a beginner!

How Does My Garden Grow?

If you get a little tired of quests and missions in FFXI, there are a number of side activities to which you can turn. One of my favorites is gardening. But before you can start, you'll need to gather a few supplies. First, you have to set up your home base with one or more flowerpots. As I noted last time, plants grow better if they aren't sitting on the floor. So it's a good idea to get some kind of flat surface to hold your pots...I went with a nice workbench which gives the additional benefit of more storage space.

Then you need some seeds. Sure, you can buy these from a vendor or the Auction House, but I prefer the old fashioned method of wandering through the countryside butchering plant monsters. There's one last item that's optional but definitely advised...remember those crystals I was talking about from a few posts ago? The ones that monsters drop when you have Signet active? Well, halfway through the growing process you can feed your plant a crystal, which will affect what kind of "crop" you get at the end. I put crop in quotes because you can get some strange items from plants...things like worms, rocks, and even additional crystals.

It's a lot to collect, but the end results can definitely be worth the effort. Not only can you score some useful (and valuable) items, but blooming flowers really spruce up your room!

Home is Where the Moogle Is

Welcome to Casa de Bronco, my little getaway from a busy schedule of slaying monsters and participating in epic grocery-delivery quests.














I admit it's a bit snug (I like to think of it as cozy), but with 30,000 characters living on the Cerberus server, we can't all be kicking back in mansions! If you look front and center, you can see my Moogle buddy. I call him Jeeves, since he reminds me of a butler. Jeeves looks after the place while I'm gone, stores my excess stuff, receives deliveries, and tends to any household chores. He's also in charge of job changes, so any time I want to switch he's the guy to see.

Behind him is my fireplace, which came with the place. Apparently Jeeves keeps it going 24/7 regardless of weather or season. I'll have to talk to him about fuel consumption and household expenses.


Over to the left, you can just see the edge of my workbench, the first piece of furniture I bought for my house. Okay, house seems like an exaggeration...my room is really more accurate. Why a workbench? So my flowerpots don't have to sit on the floor, of course! Don't worry if you're still confused...all will be explained in my next post.


In other news, Bronco is up to level 13 as a warrior. I've also done enough missions for Bastok to earn a promotion to Rank 2. I'm starting to make a bit of a name for myself around town too, as my reputation has increased. Shopkeepers are giving me better rates, and I've opened some more interesting quests. I guess hunting down ingredients for Salimah's cooking paid off!

Shooting Through the Walls of Heartache...Bang Bang!

Unlike most MMORPGs, FFXI allows you to switch your character class any time you return to your home base. Thus, you can try out any or all of the jobs without losing your progress in the game. In fact, it's encouraged to work on more than one of your jobs because eventually you get the ability to have a "subjob", and the more work you put into your secondary job, the stronger you'll be overall.

That's why I've decided to give Monk a break for a while and work on gaining some levels in Warrior. The two jobs pair well because they rely on front line physical attacks. While I lose all my kung-fu moves while rocking Warrior, I make up for it with better armor (including pants...no more drafts!), a shield, and a giant axe. I'm already up to level 11 in Warrior...check me out!

Mission Impossible...Well, Improbable Anyway

Last post I talked about quests, the delivery boy's path to fame and fortune. In addition to quests, FFXI also allows you to undertake "Missions" for your chosen country. No, this doesn't involve spreading word of your religion to the masses. Actually, missions are just like quests, except that they advance the local military or political efforts, they comprise the "plot" of FFXI, and they rarely involve groceries. Most of them actually center on the struggles of the allied races against the Beastmen (aka, the BAD GUYS).

This is all established before the game even starts with a fancy FMV (yay Square!) in which Beastmen sack a human settlement and kill a lot of innocent people. You know, just in case you're not bright enough to figure out which side you're supposed to be rooting for in all this. Hint: not the rabid, horned creatures that carry axes the size of an outboard motor.

The highlight for me so far was the second mission for my country (Bastok), in which I got to meet this guy:















If you've never played a Final Fantasy game before, there's almost always a guy named "Cid", he'll be some kind of engineer, and he'll be at least a little odd, if not batshit insane.

Cid wanted me to go test the pH of some water at a nearby series of springs. Seriously. He gave me a little pH testing apparatus (now with patented color changing technology!) and everything. I guess he's trying to figure out why the Beastmen are so crazy right now...maybe he suspects acid rain?

Whatever, Cid is awesome...

Can You Do Me a Quick Favor?

The life of a budding adventurer can be pretty dangerous, what with all the risk taking, monster slaying, and such. Still, it's surprising how often the local populace gets their big chance to request a favor from me, the dashing and uber-powerful hero, only to squander it by asking me to perform some menial task. These tasks, which the game calls "quests" in a hilarious attempt to make common chores sound heroic, can be shockingly trivial. Take this woman for instance:

She had quite a dilemma on her hands, one that needed my immediate attention. You see, she's cooking a meal and she's missing an ingredient to complete the dish. That's right, she needs me to go get some groceries. Let's just say that I wasn't bragging about my successful delivery in the tavern later that evening.

I've also been asked to perform such astounding feats as delivering a wife's message to her husband (something about what did he want her to cook after work), bringing flint stones to help restart a family's kitchen fire, and collecting stamps in a child's book. Why do I put up with this crap? Well, the rewards can be pretty substantial. As an example, the woman above pays top dollar for fairly common ingredients, and armor doesn't come cheap. Completing quests also helps you earn fame and good will around town, which results in lower prices from the merchants and access to higher level quests.


It's just good to remember that in FFXI, you start on the bottom of the ladder and work your way up one rung at a time.

I'm Kind of a Big Deal...People Know Me

If you're based in Bastok like I am, then here's one dude that you should definitely get to know:















He's one of the guards that stands near the city gates, and it's pretty important to talk to him every time you're about to head out. He'll cast a spell called "Signet" on you that has a bunch of totally sweet benefits, including:

1. Dodging more attacks from enemies
2. Earning conquest points for every monster you defeat, which can be spent on equipment
3. Earning points for your home nation, which increases your sphere of influence around the world
4. Best of all, enemies will drop elemental crystals, which can be used for crafting or traded in for straight CASH

That's a lot of benefits for absolutely no cost whatsoever. There's really no excuse not to constantly use Signet, especially for new players who will inevitably be hurting for cash.

So that's my tip to all the beginners out there (like me)...find the guard for your nation that gives Signet and use it!

Getting My Zapp Brannigan On

Has my reputation preceded me, or was I too fast for it?

Rachel, who will henceforth be known in this blog as The Ultimate Final Fantasy (or TUFF for short), noticed a striking resemblance between Bronco and a certain Futurama character.

I'll let you be the judge:

Death By Goblin

If you want to be successful at FFXI, you'll need to master the concept of aggression, or "aggro" as it's often known for short. You see, some monsters are pretty relaxed...they don't attack until you start messing with them. As an example, see that Huge Hornet from a couple posts ago. You can stand right next to one and it will go right on peacefully coexisting...at least until you punch it in the face.

But what about a Goblin?





















As you can see, I'm just minding my own buisness yet this Goblin Thug is about to stab me in the stomach. It seems a little extreme until you realize that the beast races (of which the Goblins are one) are at war with the free peoples of FFXI. In his eyes, a knife in the gullet is an appropriate fate for an ugly Hume like me. Most of the beast races "aggro" to sight, meaning if they can see you, they'll attack you. It's an important thing to remember, unless you don't mind being surrounded by several stab-happy midgets.

Keen eyed readers will also notice that I'm not wearing any pants. As I mentioned in the Monk post, we abhor weapons and armor. Apparently we get tougher as our clothes get skimpier, so I can only assume that strippers would make the toughest Monks in all the land. All I know is that I traded in my pants for something called a Bronze Subligar, which increased my defense at the expense of a distinct breeze around the nether regions. I'd better stick to warmer climates until I find some better insulation.

I Know Kung-Fu

In FFXI, you can choose from a wide range of "jobs", which is just a euphemism for character classes. So you're selecting Warrior or White Mage, not Auto Mechanic or Massage Therapist (that would be a very different kind of game).

I decided to start as a Monk. You'd think that would mean a life of quiet, religious reflection. In the world of video games, that actually means I'm a whirlwind of violent death. Apparently Monks also believe that swords and armor are for sissies, choosing instead to use scraps of cloth and bare fists in combat. Need proof?

















In this shot, I'm about to drop a nasty karate chop/overhand punch hybrid on a very large hornet, which the designers have cleverly named "Huge Hornet". I hope that didn't take them long. Truth be told I'm not a big fan of stinging insects, so it was pretty satisfying to pummel a large number of these to death. In addition to experience points, killing Huge Hornets can net you pots of honey (yum!), wind crystals (sparkly!), and insect wings (I would want this...why?).

During my first play session, I jumped to level seven (they come fast at the start) and started a collection of random items. I also did some tasks for a town guard in Bastok, and he seemed pretty pleased with my progress. It's good to know that my genocidal efforts against the local insect population are appreciated.

Introducing Our Next Contender

There's a new hero in town:
















Name: Bronco
Race: Hume

Job: Monk

Allegiance: The Republic of Bastok
Hometown: Bastok
Sever: Cerberus (The original dog from Hell!)

I apologize for the picture here...I'm still getting used to the camera controls and screenshot functions. Bronco can do all kinds of interesting actions, emotes, and poses. Yet I've decided to introduce him with a far away shot in which he's standing like a statue, staring vacantly forward. And somehow the lighting and distance makes it look like he doesn't have a nose. I assure you that he does.

All in all, it looks a little like he accidentally wandered into a tourist's photo and is annoyed at the situation.

Anyhoo, most of those stats I listed for Bronco probably won't make a lot of sense to anyone who doesn't play FFXI. Don't worry...all will become clear over the next few posts.

Samsonite...I was way off

Uh, make that more like four to five hours for installation. I was a bit bleary-eyed while creating my character last night (or should I say, early this morning). Hopefully I won't log in today and realize that I accidentally made a blind chimpanzee.

Given the hour, I didn't accomplish much in my first session beyond watching the opening cinimatic and wandering confusedly around my home city. Tonight is going to be a different story.

FFXI: The Pre Post

After a long wait, Final Fantasy XI is finally here and currently installing on my 360. Let me say, this process is not for the feint of heart. Between setting up PlayOnline (the client FFXI uses) and downloading the game, you're looking at around two hours of setup even before you get to start creating a character or anything like that.

In the interim, Rachel suggested that I use my first blog entry to mention a few things that have me jazzed up to play this game. Here are three:

1. Deep character creation - Yeah, I'm one of those weirdos that likes to agonize over character stats in RPGs and tactical strategy games. FFXI has one of the deepest character building systems in the industry. Match made in heaven? We'll soon find out.

2. It's from Square! - Final Fantasy games are just...good. I've played a ton of them, dating back to the original on the NES, and I've never walked away dissatisfied. Square is known for making games with a ton of polish and keen attention to detail, and rumor has it that FFXI is no exception.

3. It's Bucket Time - So we have an online game where I can wander the land kicking the crap out of monsters while teaming up with my buddy Chuck? I'm sold!

And in the interest of fairness, here's two things that make me a bit wary:

1. Other players - Okay, I realize that it's a bit ironic to complain about other players in an online game, but I have a low threshold for dealing with retards. Supposedly FFXI has a higher quality user base than some of the other big MMORPGs (coughWOWcough), but we'll see.

2. The install size - SEVEN GIGS?!?! Is this thing going to run Final Fantasy or a chess competition against Deep Blue?! I actually had to delete a few things on my hard drive to make room, and I'm not overly pleased one game is hijacking most of my memory. Oh well...hopefully it'll be worth it.

That's all for now, but stay tuned for a description of my first character.

Bronco

P.S. Most of these updates won't be this long!