RPG Progress Report

[pierrot]

I started with RDM, since that's what I started with back at release, and managed to get to level 25 before heading to bed.

I started with THF (and pretty much always played THF, exclusively, aside from leveling sub jobs), and it probably took me six months or more of regular play to reach level 25 back in 2004/05.

I know it was an extremely party dependent class, at least in those days, but I'd say they streamlined things a bit--.

[ElkinFencer10]

I started Trails of Cold Steel II earlier this afternoon. I loved the shit out of the first one but have held off on the second one so I didn't double up my torture waiting for the third one to release in Japan and then get localized.

[Segata]

I need to finish the first so I can open my sealed copy of II.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I started Trails of Cold Steel II earlier this afternoon. I loved the shit out of the first one but have held off on the second one so I didn't double up my torture waiting for the third one to release in Japan and then get localized.

By "first one" you meant this, right?

[Segata]

I started Trails of Cold Steel II earlier this afternoon. I loved the shit out of the first one but have held off on the second one so I didn't double up my torture waiting for the third one to release in Japan and then get localized.

By "first one" you meant this, right?

Joking or not. He did specify Trails of Cold Steel. Also Dragon Slayer is one of the most convoluted series just in terms of releases and spinoffs. Falcom really onluy has 2 IPs. Ys and every spinoff and variation of Dragon Slayer series.

Also Bone. I know someone who rivals you in Falcom fanboyishness. He is your equal for Falcom love.

[isiolia]

I started with THF (and pretty much always played THF, exclusively, aside from leveling sub jobs), and it probably took me six months or more of regular play to reach level 25 back in 2004/05.

I know it was an extremely party dependent class, at least in those days, but I'd say they streamlined things a bit--.

Pretty much every job was party dependent then, except perhaps BST - some could solo well enough, but not at a decent enough rate to make it an appealing way to XP (the party XP rate was atrocious too in most cases, but we didn't know better). You'd hit maybe the mid teens or so and it'd just be crap, so you'd flag up. I didn't play THF much at that time - I got it to 15 for subbing Treasure Hunter, which is where it sat for the longest time. I've played it for farming since then, but never for group stuff.

I was fairly slow on RDM as well, but that was more like 9-10 months to 75. Taking a lot of time out to farm or do various things. Subsequent jobs were faster and faster, and eventually I just wound up leeching XP between characters.

XP is comparably very fast now, as is travel as there are overlapping teleport systems. Plus, you can just summon NPCs to party with, so, there's a lot less idling or taking breaks from XP to farm so your gear/spells are up to snuff. Trusts don't care. I've taken some time to farm things - RSE, Peacock Amulet (Argus is 1-2 hours now, not 21-24), and a couple others so far. However, a lot more is just not readily available...nor is it really that important in the grand scheme. I mean, I enjoy tuning gear sets and such, but there just isn't the variety until much later.

Quite a lot of other things are the same as they ever were, just often with bonuses to alleviate them a bit. Still, it means there's a massive, massive checklist of things to do...which I might just end up not wanting to bother with.
Many of the more recent (and more drastic) bonuses are tied to doing the final story mission set, which requires progressing in the older missions first. Really can't just skip everything, and it's relatively slower going at first.

Anyway, left off earlier at 50RDM and 28DNC (for sub), also unlocked SCH to level for subbing. I'll probably hit up limit break(s) next and go for rank 3 since that'll let me do the next set of Rhapsodies missions.

[ElkinFencer10]

I started Trails of Cold Steel II earlier this afternoon. I loved the shit out of the first one but have held off on the second one so I didn't double up my torture waiting for the third one to release in Japan and then get localized.

By "first one" you meant this, right?

Haha, I do want to get and play that, though due to price, I may end up having to go Super Famicom for it, but I meant the "first one" in the Trails of Cold Steel sub-series.

[pierrot]

I was fairly slow on RDM as well, but that was more like 9-10 months to 75. Taking a lot of time out to farm or do various things. Subsequent jobs were faster and faster, and eventually I just wound up leeching XP between characters.

I was on Remora (which I think was always a pretty low population server), and was in an LS early on that was of the "social" variety. It was usually a bit of a pain to group up with people in that LS. Also, I remember the disparity in skill levels at the time being pretty determinant of party survival. It was tough being a THF in those days. I remember hearing about THFs being dropped from parties if they showed up in less than perfect equipment. I spent a lot of time back then trying to min/max for SAnTA damage, so that I could keep up gaudy numbers that wouldn't get me booted. The economy then was nuts, though, and I was pretty inefficient with farming. After about two years, I had gotten to about level 56 or 57, when most of the people I knew started jumping ship to WoW, and I couldn't get through LB3, or I was afraid to try. I picked it back up when I was studying abroad in Japan, and those Japanese parties were like well oiled machines, but I ended up stuck at level 60, so I stopped playing again after a number of months. I played it kind of sporadically, later, and got to 75 from Campaign in South San d'Oria , I think. Last I played I had gotten to 90, when that was still the cap, but couldn't get any of the Abyssea relic armor. I think I got the Peacock Amulet, after they changed Argus' spawn, also. Did they change it to EX, too?

I always liked FFXI, but I couldn't really play it very efficiently. It was made to reflect bonds, and "the group"--staples of Japanese culture--and I'm too much of a loner. Good players made that game look artful, though.

Did you play RDM as a healer, when you started? I think I recall it being really tough for RDMs to do much support, etc in the early days. Subbing NIN or WAR was like a death sentence in the court of FFXI public opinion, if memory serves.

Haha, I do want to get and play that, though due to price, I may end up having to go Super Famicom for it[...].

That's a really bad idea. I wouldn't recommend it.

[noiseredux]

Diablo III, level 40, Act IV. Love this game.

[pierrot]

Final Fantasy XI

Dammit, you've got me looking at my old FFXIAH account--. Looks like I never added my character again, after Remora was merged into Leviathan. I didn't think I had needed to change my character name until then, but I guess I must have had to change it after one of the times I restored my account. I still kept up with the ridiculous number of shitty armor sets I had going, though:

Evasion
TP
SA
TA
WS
Haste

Do they still require the Token for logging in? Mine is long dead, and I really have no--or so I thought, but apparently it still has some life left in it--. I will be cursing you if you've made me get back into FFXI, sir.