Motivation Lost

Hitting level 65 on DRK now feels like an impossible task, let alone 75. When I come home from work, the NAs are asleep or going off to school/work. The JPs would start forming their EXP PTs and I, stuck in the middle, end up idling at Lower Jeuno. By the way, and I learnt NA isn’t North American. It means Non-Asian. [8|]


So I went to level up a few crafts. Took fishing to 11, clothcraft to 22, alchemy to 20. If only the stuff I crafted from these skill up sessions sell, I have made some profit. [:D]


On my last EXP session, I ended up with 1200 to next level. My paladin tank logged out without a word when I asked if he could stay a little longer till I level. Oh well. [:|]


Later that day I managed to get another Crawler’s Nest escort party going. Evasama, Triston, Ladyrikku and me. I felt bad being the only person to benefit from this easy quest. Ladyrikku failed when Olavia (the NPC we’re supposed to protect), took a sudden turn and aggroed 2 lizards and a bee. [X(]


Obtained the Miratete’s Memoirs scroll, the reward for this quest. Just using it gives your current main job some experience points. With luck, I received 12xx experience points and attained level 62. But I expect to delevel on my next exp session or whatever crazy stuff I decide to do.


I had an interesting JP party last night, all thanks to a JP friend of a fellow Doom member. Note I was not levelling my dark knight job but my black mage. The JP monk expressed worry when he noticed my warrior friend’s english TP macro. But our JP friend, Pim, explained that we’re Singaporeans. To my surprise, she seemed glad. We had casual conversations and laughs, and she even asked us questions in english.


Sigh…

Malaysia

Going back to Malaysia next weekend for a few days. My purpose there is to renew my Malaysian Identification Card. Like I said before, I dread travelling out of Singapore. Having to go to places where there’s no internet connection or places I have difficulty moving around. Call me insecure but I’d prefer laziness. And without an internet connection, I’m as free as a bird without wings. (T-T )


Anyways, since it’s going back to my relative’s place, it won’t be as bad as going to Paris or Hong Kong for work. The only things I dread are the 7 hours long bus rides and the awkwardness of seeing playmates I haven’t met in years. But the latter shouldn’t be too much of a problem once the ice gets broken. [:|]


I could use this chance to enjoy some sun, taking afternoon walks and the crowded “Pasar Malam” (Night Market in Malay) at the field opposite my relative’s home. Every Saturday, people drive in in trucks and vans all carrying groceries and food. They set up their stalls on the open field. By 6pm, it’s bustling with lots of activity. It’s the only chance the people in the neighbourhood can shop for groceries without having to travel too far out.


Leaving on 31st March, be back on 4th April. I’ll be bringing along my Nintendo DS and a novel, Farenheit 451, which I never seem to have time to read. I’ve been playing FFXI all the way to 1am before I sleep, making me feel extra sleepy in the morning. [X|]


By the way, I bought one of Kokia’s album Trip Trip. All I can say is it’s good stuff, worth my S$19.90. And no copy-control crap! [>)]

More accuracy!

Kept my mining gear and went on seek for some EXP PTs. During the weekdays, I
ended up levelling Alchemy. On weekends, I went on a total of 3 EXP sessions.
First one was great. 4500 exp an hour. could’ve been better but our Ranger had
to leave an hour after the PT started because of linkshell issues. I
did a search later to find him in Behemoth’s Dominion, as a level 75 Ninja. King
Behemoth spawned I guess.


Next one sucked. This little taru monk formed an average PT and we were
headed for Valley of Sorrow. Where Velociraptors and Perytons lurk. I was made
the puller, no one else had a ninja subjob for utsusemi. I ended up reaching
back to camp with less than 50% health half the time and died once when the
raptor continuously critical-hit me. At first he invited a level 63 Paladin. Too
high! We had 100+ exp each kill.


Then I supposed he asked the paladin to leave. And he brought in a level 58
Paladin. Too low! He couldn’t tank the Peryton well and ended up saying he wants
to leave soon.


After this second EXP PT, I’ve decided to keep 2 different types of sushi.
Bream sushi, the cheapest I can find, which still gives +15% accuracy and Sole
Sushi, the most expensive NQ sushi that gives +6 Strength and the usual +15%
accuracy. The cheap one for those lousy exp PTs and the expensive one to use in
good PTs.


Also went on a skill up PT at Kuftal Tunnel. Reached 200 skill in Great Sword
and learned Sickle Moon. I’m gonna need a Sniper Ring should I have to use Great
Sword in an EXP PT to close Distortion. I also claimed Amemet! Not knowing it’s
a low HNM, in other words it’s too tough for my PT, I all of 4 members
of my PT killed. [X|]


And to summarize what I’ve learnt over the weekend, I need an Amemet Mantle
+1! Currently 1~1.2 million gil. I figured I need it’s help to do at least 100+
per swing in EXP PTs. As of my last EXP PT, I’m doing 80~120. In my
own words, higher strength raises damage cap, example: 130
instead of 120, and higher Attack increases minimum damage, example: 90 instead
of 80.

Planning for a fourth machine

I’m sick of my webserver machine. The problems I mentioned previously did not
go away and I’m far too lazy to diagnose it. So fuck it, might as
well build a new one to end all problems.


Planning stage. I want a small and quiet one. So I guess I’m going SFF (Small
Form Factor). The Shuttle-brand SFFs have an appealing look. But I have not
decided on a specific model/make. This will have to wait till I next visit Sim
Lim Square.


CPU, definitely Athlon64. Something that operates with low power yet high
performance. Users report having it running at 36 degrees celcius but they are
using stock HSFs. If I’m not wrong, I have to use the built in HSF in a SFF
chasis. Speed? Anything above 2000+ just to keep it cheap. Cool n Quiet feature
of Athlon64 CPUs is another good reason to get it. During idle, it downclocks to
about 1GHz and reduces power consumption. Less heat as a result. And if your
fans dynamically adjust their speeds according to CPU temperatures, they will
also spin slower and thus, run more quietly.


Rams, don’t think I need to look for any specific brand. And considering
they’re very cheap nowadays, I’ll be going for 2 sticks of 512MB.


Harddisks, prefereably 3, but I’m ok with 2. Since this will be a webserver,
I’m looking to having mirror raid for redundancy. If 1 dies, my data
is still safe on the other. Perhaps 2 80GB bricks. 8MB cache, 7200RPM, SATA! I
just love the small, easy to unplug, SATA cables. And yes, a quiet one. Still
need research to find out which brand/model. If there’s space for a third one,
it will be used for storing my anime videos.


Graphics, a cheap ATI 9600PRO will do. Or even cheaper acceptable ones.
I may want to watch DVDs and animes on this. I’m still against onboard graphics
because of a horrible experience I once had with Intel’s onboard graphics.


Sound, onboard sound will be fine. I’m sure most SFFs have onboard LAN and
sound device.


DVD writers are cheap now. But I don’t know if I should get one or just wait
till Blu-Ray and HD-DVD ends their battle.


And I want to get rid of the 17″ CRT monitor. Mentioned before, it has blur
text. Renders images too dark. Coding on a 17″ LCD with 1280*1024 resolution is
my reason for getting one. Not to mention saving SGD$10 on my monthly
electricity bill is also a plus. Budgetting SGD$300 for one.


Now all I need is a little more determination to do some research. Damn my
lazy ass…

Haubergeon!

After spending almost a whole day of mining last Saturday, I was
able to meet my target of earning 500K a week and now I have 2 million gil!
[X)]


Second million!


Now that I’ve hit 2 million gil of savings, why not level my black
mage job a little? Something to get my mind off the tunnels of Zeruhn. Putting
my winamp in an endless loop of Kotoko’s Hane album, Kokia’s Utaga Chikara and
Origa’s <album name forgotten>, I transferred over my black mage equipment
from my mule and began looking for a party. As I expected, I got an invite
within 5 minutes. [:|]


Halfway through Evasama dropped by to give my party a bit of
powerlevelling. Ladyrikku, who just reached level 69 not long, came to sell me
her Haubergeon. The price of Haubergeon on the Auction House fluctuates between
1,850,000~1,950,000. With a bit of bargain, we agreed on 1,800,000gil~ [XD]


Rest of Sunday involved visiting Stone Monuments with Evasama for
that Selbina quest, camping Stary Mary which we gave up in the end, attempted to
pop Goblin Archaeologist twice. At the first try, as we were waiting for the
next vanaday to come, 2 Japanese players came along and popped it despite the 4
of us (Joachim and Ladyrikku), standing near the spawn point. I guess because we
had quite a few high levels trade items to the spawn point, the Goblin NM turned
out to be too difficult for those 2 Japanese players. They teleported away in
the midst of the fight, almost dying.


On the second try, we traded the items and went away to camp Stray
Mary while waiting for the next vanaday. When the next day came, we went back to
the teleport crag to find the spawn point gone. Oh well… [:(]


And finally, here’s a few screenshots of me in my new armor! I
swear this thing gives ass-shaking skill +10. My ass shaking when
running looks so much more obvious when wearing it! [X|]


Haubergeon Front View
Front View



Back View


And according to the prices on IGE, an infamous evil gilselling
company, this Haubergeon would have a value of 80 US dollars. [8|]