I am Jack's complete lack of surprise

Woke up this morning (i have about 1 hour til i need to leave for work and only about 6 hours til i need to leave for the airport for my ski trip this weekend... and i still haven't packed yet!) and saw that this was posted to the HellsBells forums last night:

==============================================
Author: Rob
Title: HB Officer
Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 12:49 am
Post Subject: Einherjar Discontinued
Message:
Effective 1/28/09, we will no longer be running Einherjar due to lack of interest. Points will be frozen until a decent member base is formed that would like to continue with HellsBells Einherjar.
==============================================

Bummer.
I was hoping to start making more time for this now that I got my haidate, but it appears I'm too late. But I did see this coming. Up until a couple weeks ago HB's Einherjar runs were free to attend and then they decided to start charging people 5k gil (or more if necessary numbers didn't show up) because apparently it hadn't become a self-sufficient event and was just leeching off of the HB Dynamis bank account. Some of the people that I noticed that showed up to these events had sub-par gear so it didn't surprise me that they were too cheap to toss in a measley 5k for a run, so I'm sure even fewer and fewer people were showing up to the runs.

oh wellz. It was fun while it lasted I guess. I had only made it to a handful of events, but I guess it was still a good experience just for the fact that it was something different from the monotony that is sky farming.

I think I'd still be interested in attending runs, but a major problem for me is that I can't come on Wednesday nights before their Dynamis runs. I'm pretty much busy every Wednesday night until 9 or 10pm EST... and that's gonna be the way it is for about 80% of the calendar year. ; ;

Maybe if they changed-up the schedule more people would be willing and able to attend?

Close your mouth, please, Michael. We are not a codfish.

The past several days since I've become a very happy camper (got my haidate) some randomness has occurred that really doesn't need to be remarked upon... but I might anyways since I don't really have anything else to speak of. /shrug

I've been pretty happy with how this LS has progressed. Back when Treu told me about a group of his friends "that were quickly pwning {sky}", he had the patience and decency to blitz me, and a few others, through our ZMs so we could get sky access. At that time, I was a pretty stressed-out gamer cuz I REALLY wanted to join this group and quickly attain various pieces of "god gear" (Kirin's Set pieces, abjurations, etc...) that would help pimp out my MNK. Back then, it was clear to me that I would need this gear as a stepping-stone to be an effective member of our future Salvage group and obtain my long-term goal of "full Usu".

I was stressed-out primarily because I was constantly worried that these guys would all get their gear quickly and then disband the LS (or move on to {sea} or something) before I got the gear I really wanted/needed. Especially in December when it kind of seemed like people were getting their gear and then leaving right away. And when it seemed like Sush was getting fed-up with keeping track of attendance and drops and points and all that administrative nonsense that is necessary to make sure everyone is getting what they've earned. That's when I decided to take some of the burden upon myself and created my LolFail Tracking spreadsheet. Creating the spreadsheet and actually maintaining it adds even MORE stress to my gaming-life (do any of you really understand how much of an effort it is to try to keep track of who's participating and who's leeching and who's just flat-out passed-out at their keyboard...?) but it has apparently become well-worth it because the LS is now BOOMING again.

People are getting the gear they want. We are selling pieces like hotcakes. Hell, we've even had plenty of items just drop and lost because noone wants them anymore! Just this past month we've dropped A Legs, A Head, E Feet, Suzaku's Scythe, D Hands, Seiryu's Sword, M Hands... we even had 2 D Hands drop off of a single Suzaku and both were abandoned. Yeah yeah, some of this gear really isn't worth it, but it's just awesome how we used to have a waiting list for some of this gear (and how we had buyers for some of it)... and yet we still just drop it cuz everyone that wants/needs it already has it. There's even gear that drops and people are just taking it because they MIGHT want to eventually level a job that could use it.

Obviously we still have waiting lists for the more prestigious items (W Legs, D Body, N Body, Osode, Haidate, etc...) so we're not going to be giving up on {sky} anytime soon. Plus we still seem to be making some decent gil just selling these items now.

So yeah. I'm in good spirits... despite not getting an Osode for myself yet. :-P

Kirin was apparently all hopped-up on crack last night... and sold all of his gear drops to pay for his fix. We got up to his room and another LS was there fighting him and it just seemed to take FOREVER for him to die. (We actually thought that these guys were just n00bs and didn't know what they were doing.) After about 45 minutes of us watching them (and I have no idea how long they were up there fighting before we got there) they take him down.... and get NOTHING. Well, I think they said they got an ingot to drop. But that's it. Then comes out turn... and we wipe to Kirin. {/sigh} Well, actually, it wasn't really that Kirin was putting the smackdown on us; it was more because one of our WHMs 2-houred before he/she was supposed to and then we started dropping like flies. Oh wellz. Our 2nd Kirin run proved a little more successful, but still only resulted in getting W Legs for Xzavier ('bout damn time X!) and NOTHING else. Stupid coked-out, broke-assed Kirin.

Other than that though, nothing really worth mentioning.

I guess people are starting to visit the spreadsheet more often now. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. But whateva. At least they know everything is logged and they can correct any mistakes we .. er... _I_ have made. (Thanks again Mars! If you hadn't said anything, we might have missed out on the point for that one Suzy kill.)

In conclusion (cuz I REALLY gotta get some lunch and get some work done today) I'm astonished and really happy that this LS is still going strong. Yeah, it may seem like we're constantly making adjustments to the rules, but we're just trying to make it fair to everyone and make sure everyone gets what they want and need while making sure that they've earned it.

And now for something completely different...

I don't like to talk about RL stuff in here, but I kinda felt the need to tell y'all briefly about my day so far today:

2:00 AM - I obtain Byakko's Haidate. And there was much rejoicing. (yaaaaaay)
3:00 AM - I decide to log off, but first have to say {Thank you} to multiple people, answer a few LS points questions, take a few screen shots and then write my previous blog post.
3:30 AM - I log off and go to bed.
5:00 AM - I wake up and forcefully projectile vomit (out both my nose and mouth) for approximately 30 minutes for no apparent reason other than perhaps my body was rejecting the Coke I drank earlier in the evening because it didn't have its usual companion ingredient of "a fifth of Jack Daniels".
5:30 AM - Jump in the shower and be sloppy about trying to clear my nose and throat.
6:00 AM - I brush my teeth and then pass back out in bed, trying to watch last night's episode of Smallville, failing miserably not even 2 minutes after hitting "Play".
7:30 AM - My alarm goes off and I wake up in time for work, feeling surprisingly refreshed despite only getting approximately 3 hours of sleep.
9:00 AM - I arrive at work and yet I don't have the usual disdain I have grown accustomed to over the past decade.
11:00 AM - My manager walks by my desk and says these exact words: "Dude, it's 11:00, your eyes are open, you're sitting up... it's good but it's crazy." (Yes, those exact words. So, he's shocked that I'm awake. Typically I apparently look like hell every morning after our {sky} runs. lol)
11:30 AM - Lunch
1:00 PM - I get back to my desk and realize I am still not very tired.

So... I guess what I've learned from today is: owning Byakko's Haidate gives you a hidden effect of Enhances "Resist Sleep" effect or something in Real Life. :-D

Or I guess it's more likely that the act of "puking my guts out" was purging the remaining angst and animosity I had towards the game in being unfair in my desired Byakko drops and now, today, I just feel hella better because I'm not stressed-out anymore.

Byakko's Haidate dropped for me! Byakko has given me his blessing.
Lux has been apparently permanently banned!! SE decides get back on my better side again.
It has finally warmed up a little bit outside and the Day Star is even out today here in Cleveland!!! Mother Nature is smiling upon me once again.
The conspiracy has been recognized, informed upon and dissolved. Time to move on.

But to get back to the game: Apparently Lux was only supposed to be temporarily banned but is now permanently banned. This actually does not surprise me in the slightest given his history of being a "people person". I'm willing to bet large sums of money that he called up SE, asked to have his account restored, they said "ok, in a couple days" and he responded with something along the lines of "WTF, Are you IDIOTS?!? You should ban me for ETERNITY!! You should ban all of my relatives, neighbors and anyone I have ever talked to in my entire life!!! You're all friggin morons and should be dragged out into the street and shot!!!!!" To which a message is sent out immediately to [GM] Dave's queue to "initiate project perma-Jormy"...

It's peanut butter jelly time!

Peanut butter jelly time!
Peanut butter jelly time!
Peanut butter jelly time!
Peanut butter jelly, peanut butter jelly, peanut butter jelly and a baseball bat...

Heyyyoooooooooooooo!!!!
Yoooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!
Waaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

(can you tell i'm excited?)

I finally got my Byakko's Haidate. ^^



The 1st Byakko we killed tonight still wouldn't drop it... but it finally dropped for me on the 2nd one. So, I is a happy camper.

Sheesh, I think I took the point-lead for haidate like 4 or 5 weeks ago and I'm just getting it tonight. Craziness. But whateva. Now all I have to say is: SCREW YOU LolFail!!! I never liked any of you and now I can finally go my own way now that I got all the gear I want from sk.... oh wait.... I still wand a few more Dryadic and Aquarian Abjurations.... heh heh... um... Forget what I said. I'm still cool wit y'all. I was just playin. Ya know.... I KEEEED I KEEEED! eh heh. eh heh. heh. mmmmm....

Well, that was the 1 piece that I DEFINITELY wanted/needed from sky, but as I said, I'll still be going up there for quite a while. (If anything, just for the gil payouts.) At least from now on though, I won't push-off RL stuff just so I can make it home in time for {sky} just in case they decide to do a Byakko!!! lol Man, the past couple weeks has completely drained me because of worrying about missing a run and worrying over someone passing me again in points. It now feels like a huge burden has been lifted from my shoulders. "R O L A I D S" (Now that's how I spell relief!)

A few other drops also came tonight: Treu got ANOTHER set of W Legs, but this time they were for Screamin. Aguaa also picked up some D Legs... for Jaugax... and a D Body for himself. Man, craziness tonight. People are gearing up... no, PIMPING up their MULES and yet, noone wanted to be on the waitlist tonight for W Legs on our 2nd Kirin run. WTF mate? Some people just have some screwed up priorities I guess.

In other news: Kyrja is a single female, that (obviously) plays ffxi, knows how to cook (well, at least "knows how to cook chicken better than her mother"), doesn't mind if her man frequents strip clubs... and yet still thinks she's gonna have a rough time finding a husband. Sush and I both jumped on that one with Sush shouting "MARRY ME! QUICK, Before Khrone asks you!!!" rofl!

I was also noticing a few other people's gear tonight. Cephas and Kyrja seem to be the only ones (at least that I've seen) that have any Askar gear. And a few other people are a LOT better geared than I expected them to be, judging by the way they sometimes act/play. (But I'm not naming names cuz I know y'all are reading this now! Thanks Sush! :-P lol)

But yeah... since people are starting to pass on gear, I'm wondering if we are reaching the point where we all just about have the gear we want and we should probably try moving this group off into something else, like sea. Hulc is apparently back and wants to start up a sea group and a Salvage group, so I'm definitely gonna try to jump in on that action. Although, I still have 2 more ToAU Mission fights and basically ALL of CoP to do before I can participate. DOH! But as I said, I can now ease-off of sky a bit and start going after other stuff: get Promyvion - Dem done, merit a bunch more, start crankin out assaults, maybe level SAM and SNM a lil more so I can be a little more versatile, etc...

Oh, and finally, apparently Lux got banned earlier today. Whoa, and I just noticed Boogers is on the ban list too! Hm. Wonder what they did. Lux could have just pissed someone off now that he's off his meds or whatever (lol) and Boogers always seemed like a nice guy. Eh. I guess most of these bannings usually have to do with gil buyers... but what do I know? /shrug

OMFG! Minidragon of Bismark was permanently banned!!!
And fellow NineInchNinjas member Doomcrack was also (temporarily) banned!
Jackyl of Garuda - temporary ban.
Dude, these were the 3 guys that were beating out Stan on the AH website rankings. Un-cool, bros. It looks like a LOT of relic weapons have now been removed from various servers and even 2 mythic weapons! (Hell, Minidragon himself had like 6 relics and a Maat's Cap!)

Aight. Enough for now. Gotta get my typical 3 or 4 hours of sleep before I gotta get up for work in the morning. /sigh

I'm only paranoid because they want me dead

So my conspiracy theory is still in full-effect.

It's as if there are LS members, SE, Mother Nature and Byakko himself (yes, I'm counting him as a separate entity from both SE and Mother Nature) all are trying their hardest to prevent me from getting my Byakko's Haidate. {/sigh}

It's been about 4 or 5 weeks since I took first place in line for haidate and random shit keeps happening to prevent me from actually getting it. First there was people screwing up their jobs (or just Byakko deciding to not give me any love) which caused us to wipe to Byakko. Then came Christmas/New Years time where the LS decided to take a break for one week (and then I was out in Vegas the following week) so some people did a bunch of outside farming and overtook me. The week we come back, we do 5 Byakko's, 1 was a failure, and only 2 haidate drop which go to the guys who overtook me. And then there's this week where we only get 2 Byakko's done, which results in only 1 haidate to drop but it goes to a buyer. We still apparently have like 3 popsets out there somewhere but people keep leaving early, or not getting online a night that we plan on killing a Byakkko, or DCing because of the horrible weather lately (On a side-note: it is currently -9 degrees here in Cleveland, Ohio and yet it's 45 degrees in Anchorage, Alaska. Oh, and apparently they might hit record highs today in Los Angeles, California today too.)

...

Well, I now have like 230 LS points or something and the next person behind me that even MAY want haidate (cuz everyone else already has it) is like 80 points behind. So, now I KNOW I'm in the clear and noone is gonna overtake me in points. (Well, unless someone decides to be a dick about it and go buy 2 full Kirin popsets or something.) Yesterday I was actually considering something crazy. Like, if 2 or 3 people did not show up last night and I knew we were going to be doing a Kirin and then a Byakko, I would try to lot on both Osode and Haidate. Even after the 70 point drop from Osode, I'd STILL be in the lead for Haidate by a fair margin... but that's just crazy talk; I don't really wanna push my luck.

I just REALLY want my haidate. pleaseohpleaseohplease...

After that, Osode, Dryadic Abjurations, Aquarian Abjurations, etc... that's all just icing on the cake. And I should easily be able to pick all of that stuff up just cuz I'll be sticking around with this LS for a long time, strictly for the weekly cash payouts. This week we made over 8mil from sales and random gil drops. Altho this will probably be split among 25-30 people, it'll still be worth it in the long-run to have this constant flow of gil. Well, I'll be sticking around also cuz I kinda like helping out some of the n00bs; I feel like I'm finally giving back to make up for all the help that Treu, Disdain, Hybrid, etc... have given me over the past year and a half. Altho giving directions thru {sky} while trying to farm for water AND take attendance is kinda difficult. lol

Well, on a bright note: at least Treubond and Hybridkiller have been getting gear outta this LS. Apparently they have had HORRIBLE luck with their other sky LSs in the past. Treu managed to pick up a couple items this week (N Feet and D Head) and Hybrid got his Haidate and W Legs (which promptly became Blood Cuisses, rather than the typical Crimson Cuisses) within the past week or so.

Hopefully next week fortune will shine upon me and I'll be able to start pickin up my desired gear as well. ... And hell, I might even go BUY a damn Byakko popset or two if I have to! :D

Powerthirst

Hey, do you wanna feel so MP-er-ific? Try Powerthirst. MP drinks for Taru who need gratuitous amounts of MP. With all new flavors like SHOCKOLATE! Chocolate MP, it’s like adding chocolate to an electrical storm. Sound the alarm, you’re gonna have uncomfortable amounts of MP.

What’s that? You want strawberry? Well how about RAWBERRY!? Made with lightning, REAL LIGHTNING! Summoning ( AHHHH! ). You’ll be good at it. It’s a magic drink for Taru. Taragic. These aren't your typical Galka puns, these are mana puns. Turbopuns.

Science, MP, science, MP, electrolyes, turbolytes, powerlytes, yagudo acolytes, more lights than your tiny legless body has room for. You’ll be so fast, mother nature will be like, "Sloooooowwww dooowwwwnn." And you'll be like, "Fuck you!" and kick her in the face with your W legs.

You'll have so much MP, MP ( AHHHH! ) just casting all the time. Power casting, power enfeebling, power enhancing, power sweeping, power dating, power eating, power laughing, power spawning babies. You’ll have so many babies! 400 babies!!!

Give Shockolate to your babies and they’ll be good at soloing RDM/PUP. Make your babies cast abnormally fast. They’ll cast as much as Niyah. People will watch them casting and think they’re Niyah. They’ll cast as fast as Niyah, in a party with other Taru, and it’ll be a tie, and they’ll get deported back to Winduuuurrrrrst.

Hey, go with the sure thing. Don’t gamble on your MP (snake eyes!). Try Powerthirst, the MP that will make you ( AHHHH! ) enhance ( AHHHH! ).

It's going to be easy... like peeling a turtle.

The past couple nights haven't been bad at all. LolSky has killed a bunch more gods and gotten some really nice drops. Last night, after Hybrid got his Haidate, we still had another Byakko to do and I was next in line already! ... But, again, no luck for me. Haidate didn't drop... and then later that night when Xzavier came back online I realized he's still ahead of me so, oh wellz. That's twice I've been up for the next haidate drop and it just didn't come.

We actually wiped to the 2nd Kirin we did last night. I guess it was the fault of a couple of our newer guys (WHM? BRD? COR?), but I'm glad noone seemed overly-pissed about it. I'm not exactly sure what went wrong actually, other than "we didn't kill Kirin fast enough". lol

Since I got back from my little winter break/vacation I haven't really been able to concentrate much at work. My head keeps floating back to ffxi (yeah yeah, "so what's new?") and what I can do OUTSIDE of the game to make it better for us IN game. For example: I've been reading up a bunch more on the capabilities of Google Docs and for a while I was actually considering basically re-writing the entire DKP site using Google Spreadsheets as the database and Google Forms and Gadgets as the interface. lol After looking a little harder at the FreeDKP site though, I reconsidered and now think I'll just make suggestions to them to enhance their app a bit.

I also updated my LolFail Tracking Google spreasheet. I added in a Stats tab which is just a copy-and-paste of the Stats page from the DKP. I then used VLOOKUP() to grab the point values from that new page. This will make it a TON easier for me to update those point values. I can just copy-and-paste and then switch back to the Waiting List and maybe do a little reordering and that's it. I used to have to look up each individual name separately and update the values, and I would frequently overlook a name or two or might have a typo here and there... It's all good now though. :)

Now if only I could find some time to do a little extra sky farming to bump me into the lead... oh, and maybe find some time for some sleep too. lol (of the past 3 nights, I haven't gotten any more than 3 hours of sleep per night. no naps either!)

Oh, and after sky last night, Hybrid asked if I still need a Swift Belt (which I do). So I guess me, him, Treu and Screamin will need to look into planning a Swift Belt run sometime in the near future, cuz I think we all need it. But then again, I can't do that til I beat PM4-2 so I can get into the zone. /sigh

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

Wondrous spectacles abound!
SEE: HellsBells (aaaaalllllllllmost) clear another Tier III Einherjar!
SEE: HellsBells completely clear Dynamis - Bastok!
SEE: HellsBells get 30 (yes, THIRTY!) AFv2 drops in a single run!
SEE: Everyone and their mother get BLM AFv2 Legs!
SEE: Hitler on ice! (Wait... that's from somewhere else....)
SEE: LolFail get back-to-back Dios... and then 3 more!
SEE: Khrone get no love... /cry

Yes, 'twas a spectacular evening to be back and gaming. For everyone else but me. Well, I guess I still got participation points for everything. /shrug

HellsBells - Einherjar:
Summary: Wing III - Brunhilde's Chamber went off fairly well. No major mishaps. But we just plain ran out of time at the end. We had the boss down to around 50% when our lamps wore. Another minute or two and we would have had it.
Optimist: A little more experience doing Einherjar runs. An extra LS participation point.
Pessimist: Didn't get the clear, which means I think we need to do this one again before we can do an Odin. (meh. I still need a Wing I and Wing II feather anyways.)

HellsBells - Dynamis:
Summary: Dynamis - Bastok was unlike any other dynamis run I have ever done. I honestly think we cleared the whole zone with about 30 seconds left before timing out.
Optimist: 30 AFv2, a 100 currency piece, and 16 ores dropped. Not too shabby. Notable drops: 7 BLM, 4 SAM, 4 THF. And I got an extra LS participation point. And several gil items too.
Pessimist: None of that AFv2 went to me. What was crazy was, plenty of the freedrops managed to go to the same 2 or 3 people all evening. I woulda liked some of the action on those 4 SAM hands or 2 MNK feet... but whateva.

LolFail - Sky:
Summary: Sky farming was apparently very successful. Supposedly we picked up 5 dios, 2 waters, and a bunch of season stones.
Optimist: More pop-items means more gods means more points and more likelihood I'll be getting my god-gear sooner. And I got a bunch of LS participation points. (a few of us did some outside farming afterwards.)
Pessimist: While I was away on vacation (spent several days around New Years Eve in Las Vegas) a couple people overtook me and I am no longer in 1st place for Byakko's Haidate. As a a matter of fact, I'm down to 5th in line now. /sigh

SEE: Khrone put the barrel of a gun in his mouth....