Archive for June, 2007
While Final Fantasy XI was a painful, hard learning curve and quite punishing game, it’s also cause of some of my most favorite memories in MMORPG gaming.
For example, this one instance when I was escorting a linkshell (aka guild) mate to the TaruTaru and Mithra city of Windurst. We had to ride a boat from Selbina to Mhaura. Boat rides in FFXI can be dangerous. Sometimes pirates raid the boat and sometimes a big kraken-like monster decides the passengers are good snacks. Because of these dangers, my linkshell mate and I were hanging out in the hold of the boat. While sitting around talking about nothing in particular, a Samurai comes along and sits next to us. He’s in flashy armor and you can tell he’s a veteran of many battles (aka over level 50). We strike up a conversation while other passengers run outside of the hold to fish off the sides of the boat.
As we’re talking, we hear screams and sounds of battle. Pirates!? Oh no! But lo’ it wasn’t the pirates. It was the kraken-like monster. Huge and menacing. The Samurai looks to us and poses the question, “Want to get blood on your hands?” My reply? Being a gung-ho (level 30-ish) Warrior with a massive axe strapped to my back I said, “You have my axe!” My linkshell mate being a Red Mage offered her healing services even though she was dreadful outmatched (in the teens level) by the beast and potentially couldn’t heal our wounds sufficiently. But we brave few decided to do our best.
We rushed out and saw a few of the passengers engaging the foul beast. Both the Samurai and I rushed in slicing and hacking at the thing. The fighting was furious! The kraken-like beast was surrounded and it seemed it was on the way to ruin.
But a blow from one of its remaining tentacles swiped me off my feet and nearly took me to unconciousness were it not for the healing powers of my linkshell mate and another of the passengers. But after collecting my wits, I scanned the battered deck of the ship and saw many had fallen. Only the Samurai and I were in melee. The Samurai unleashed a series of devastating attacks but fell to the beast’s own barrage. Sensing easy kills it headed for my linkshell mate and the other passenger who healed me. In desperation—we were so close to Mhaura!—I yelled at the beast, “Eh, sushi! Come and get some!” If only I could hold out just long enough, we’d reach the safety of Mhaura and the shallow waters would scare off the beast.
My next thought was how comfy the deck of the ship was as the beast gave chase to the remaining two survivors. But, before it could dine on its hearty meal of fallen passengers, we reached the shallows of Mhaura, driving the monster off.
So what became of us brave few? Did the ship’s crew call for medical aid and try to revive us? No! We were shunt off the boat like sacks of potatoes—our bodies piled high at the docks. This was a message to those new passengers, “Don’t try to be heroes.”
As luck would have it, an experienced White Mage came to the docks and revived us. We recovered from our wounds, nodded to each who fought their best and went on our way.
In my latest reading binge, I’ve picked up Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko. It has a different spin on vampires and werewolves, witches and sorcerers. There are two types of people, normal human beings and the Others, people who have magical powers. The others are split into two different factions, those that follow the Light and those that follow the Darkness. While the basic idea that Light equals good and Darkness equals evil is sound, it’s not that simple. The most simplest way to say it is that those that follow the Light use their magic to help others, while those that follow the Darkness use their magic for themselves.
Both sides are, of course, at war with each other. But now there is a Treaty that’s keeping a peace. To enforce that peace, each side has set up “Watches” to keep an eye on the activites of the other faction. The Light side has the Night Watch while the Dark side has the Day Watch.
Interestingly enough, even normal humans can create a sort of magic called curses. While normally non-lethal, curses by humans can still wreak havoc. Especially a mother’s curse, which is said to be violently potent even if it doesn’t last long. And sometimes, someone who is originally human, but destined to be an Other, can create a particularly nasty curse.
The first book, Night Watch, tells the tale with the perspective of a Night Watch agent, Anton Gorodetsky, recently recruited for field operations from his comfy spot as a computer programmer. Initially a low level magician, his destiny sees him doing great things. Sad things, which involve and affects a woman whose destiny has yet to be fully realized.
Overall, I enjoyed the read a lot. While the formula is familiar, the political intrigues that govern how the Light and Darkness agents behave and operate tends to blur the lines between what is right and what is wrong.
The second book of the Night Watch series titled Day Watch continues with the perspective of a Day Watch agent, the Dark witch Alisa Donnikova.
I was apprehensive to read this book because Alisa was one of the antagonists in the first book and I wanted to continue seeing the exploits of the Night Watch. In the end, I picked it up and am glad I did. Turns out that the entire book doesn’t really follow just her perspective and, surprisingly, I was disappointed in that fact. However, things begin to heat up as an artifact was stolen from the Inquisitors, a group of Light and Dark Others that keeps and eye on the Watches, both Night and Day, to ensure they are not breaking the Treaty and that neither side oversteps the rules to gain an advantage over the other. The sudden appearance of a seemingly powerful Dark Other also makes things more complicated. And lethal.
But, in the end, it appears that love is the greatest deciding factor, for good or ill.
So, recently, I went to LA for a small vacation. Besides bringing my usual gadgets, laptop, cell phone and iPod, I also decided to bring a portable game device. Which did I bring? The Nintendo DS. I left my PSP behind.
Sorta like this “comic”:http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=236 describes.
Now I feel bad.
So, it’s seemingly difficult to surf the web and not come across a blog about the “iPhone”:http://www.apple.com/iphone/. Guess what? Here’s another post about it. 
When I heard about the requirement to purchase a data plan along with the iPhone it didn’t surprise me but I did think “Oh great… that’s where AT&T will scoop up the bucks.” Would only the elite be able to have the iPhone? Or those with easier spending allowances than other folks?
Sorta kinda.
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It’s always amusing to see what I remember and what I don’t. Well, the stuff I don’t remember I can’t really amuse myself with… or something. But anyway! I remember exactly the two video games that got me hooked on role-playing games; they were “Final Fantasy”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy_%28video_game%29 and “Dragon Warrior”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Warrior (aka Dragon Quest).
Were it not for these two titles, I don’t think I would’ve been into role-playing games or even bothered to pick up a fantasy book (“Dragonsong”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey was the first by the way).
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Speaking of remembrance, I read another blog and what happened to that person reminded me of my own experience. The sad experience of losing a loved and cherished pet way before its time.
My parents went with my Aunt to see a litter of puppies that were advertised. They picked up a little black ball of fur, chihuahua and fox terrier mix, and turns out it was the runt of the pack. Yes, he was very cute.
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I’m still adamant about waiting a week or so before using an iPhone. I don’t want to get one, activate it and find out that there’s something wrong with it that software updates won’t be able to fix.
However, actually purchasing one may come sooner than I initially planned. Since people will use iTunes to activate the iPhone, nothing’s really stopping me from buying one and holding onto it, right?
Right.
That’s $600 (4Gigs? That model doesn’t exist for me, 8Gigs all the way baybee!) out of my pocketsies. But… my prrreeeeecccccciiiiioooouuuuussssss…
God, someone hold me.
Hold me back.
