DON'T SYNTH OR GRIND YOUR ITEMS JUST YET.

We didn't get the two-week rewards today. They've postponed the two-week rewards and extended them to three-week rewards due to the postponement, but they didn't announce this on the main site.

Firehawke had to find out the hard way.

http://forums.sega.com/showthread.php?t=283038

Innocent Girl did come stateside, though. Boy ... there has never been a mission in PSU that has ever approached the level of Touhou's danmakumania as Innocent Girl. Intricate patterns of turrets that kill you in two shots no matter what level, what difficulty, no matter how much HP you have.

Oh, and no scape dolls allowed for the mission.

Intense, man. Intense.

While I'm kind of sad to see the event end, at the same time the timing couldn't have been better, giving my summer semester kicking off.

I got most of what I wanted to do done. F Gattaca's maxed his Gunmaster levels, Raul DiUragano reached the current level cap as well as starting with and maxing out his levels in Acrofighter, one of my alts made it to Fighmaster as well.

The things I missed out on, well, were out of my control. I didn't get my own Shigga Pakuda board from The Magashi Plan, but I did manage to trade for one with a rare I found in that mission that I didn't need or want. I didn't get a Hit the Counter award like during Maximum Attack G. I wanted to see the dialogue for that, epsecially since the prize and prize giver were both different than MAG's. Hawke's gang hit the counter early on, but they didn't bother to record the happening or screenshot it. :/

I'm relieved, though, that the exchange items from Shred the Darkness are not going to be lost forever. A future update to Maximum Attack G will award Megi-drops and Megispheres every time you complete a run of the post-event version, so that you can continue to work toward and exchange for the items at Clamp Manyel's lab.

A lot better than the random chance of getting Zonspheres as a reward for running The Egg Thieves, I tell you.

Well, Phantasy Star Universe wise, we're now left with one more week before the end of the event. Ironically enough, my summer semester starts the same day the event ends. (Awesome timing, were it not for the fact that this means I'll be drowning in coursework while we get our reward period for the event ... )

As far as Ragnarok Wisdom goes, I'm currently trying to think of a comic to do in place of #400. Something that ties in with my plans.

Depending on how Sunday goes, I might have to skip that and update on Memorial Day.

We've got about two weeks left of Shred the Darkness.

It'll be over on Thursday night of the 28th. Originally the event was supposed to end on the 22nd, but the GMs decided to give another week.

So far, I've gotten a lot of the things I wanted to do--well, done. My off-main, Raul DiUragano, is capped now. Incidentally, he also capped his Acrofighter type license, which I had to switch him to due to the problems of using the borrowed computer to play; its keyboard doesn't like PSU much, and my usual methods of play don't work. The computer also does not recognize my USB gamepad due to a joystick that is also plugged in where I can't disconnect it.

F Gattaca is now a Gunmaster for that reason, too: Trying to play my usual way, strafing with machinegun fire and using single dagger melee skills, just doesn't work on this keyboard. I found that out earlier this year when I was running the Winter Mission Carnival on this borrowed computer. I've finally capped that type license, as well.

On the other hand, Gunmaster and Acrofighter are both fun to play as. I love the attack speed increase!

My current plans for the rest of the event aaaare ...

1) GETTING MY HANDS ON A DAMNED SHIGGA PAKUDA
(... That sounds obscene, come to think of it)

2) Getting my GBR rating up to 40% or better
(It's currently at about 37% ... I need to run more Big Push missions)

3) Trying to cap or nearly-cap my Laser and Grenade PAs
(Hopefully I can do that in the Pannon Pit ...)

4) Getting my fourth alt to Fighmasterhood
(It lacks the required Fighgunner type level to do so.)

I have quite a bit of Promoto weapons, and a lot of the goodies from the event; I want to get a few more, though, but that won't be a problem. Megispheres and Megidrops come very easily. I'm not too sure how many I've even picked up at this point ... Several hundred, I know that much.

Final exams have had me pretty busy. I'm still not done with them yet, either. I've got one or two more to finish. Suffice to say, I've not had any time to work on seeing if I can't revive my desktop, which has been frustrating--I guess I should have expected that college would prevent me from fixing the computer, once it began.

I've made some important discoveries, though. For one thing, my laptop can run 3D Studio MAX, and it can do this from my USB drives. I'd yet figured out how to do that for the desktop once it was rebuilt--but, due to the laptop being even weaker than the desktop's previous setup, there really isn't much I can do with 3DS Max, except some very simple tasks.

Also keeping me busy is Phantasy Star Universe's event, Shred the Darkness. I talked about it earlier, and I've been keeping at it. I'm not sure how much more time is left during the event, but I've been running missions whenever I have a chance to use the one other computer available that can run the game.

The latest (and final) event mission is pretty interesting, in that it has an even more blatant photon art leveling area than the Winter Mission Carnival did; where the Carnival had "Polty Alley" where a bunch of fire SEED-contaminated Polties spawned (and had massive amounts of HP), this event has two "UNKNOWN" areas involving a laser fence boxing the party in ... with a huge amount of Pannons.

But the Pannons do no damage.

Really crazy stuff.

Anyway, that's all from me for now. I really have got to get back into updating this blog!

I've been trying to do runs here and there while working on other things. The laptop is capable of letting my characters stay in a fight, but the frame rate is horrid. Something like 2 to 5 FPS when things get really hot in a fight.

I miss being able to use my desktop computer for this, but at least I won't miss the event now.

Well, aside from one major project and any exams coming up, I've finally cleared all assignments for the remainder of the semester in all my classes--that's right, I actually managed to complete assignments due all the way to the middle of next month. in all my classes! Just in time for Smash the Darkness on PSU.

The last assignment I worked on was a pack of short essays ... I wound up writing a total of 3,200 words. 6_9

Problem is, I don't have much access to a computer that can run PSU well. In fact, I won't get a significant borrowed time until Tuesday ... So I had no other choice but to spend the past few hours doing the following:

#1: Downloading and using a NET Framework cleanup utility Hawke pointed me to on the first of March; at that time, I ran into an error while intalling NET Frameworks that caused the equivalent of a ten-car pileup. Uninstalling everything didn't work, because XP thought I still had NET Framework installed--and kept trying to get me to download updates and patches for NET. The cleanup utility's fixed that, now.

#2: Downloading and installing all the Windows Updates that Windows Update has been begging me to install for the past day or two, excluding the NET Framework patches due to said FUBAR.

#3: Backing up all data on my laptop to the USB Drive, in case something goes wrong when I restart. After the way the Service Pack updates destroyed the original OS install on this laptop, I am way more cautious about these things.

#4: Entering the BIOS after restarting and maxing out allocated memory to the laptop's onboard video card. This was the reason for doing the previous three bits; killing four birds with one well-ricocheted stone.

See, the laptop I'm using has an internal video card tied to the motherboard. It draws system RAM to perform its function. I discovered this after getting the 1 GB RAM upgrade I'd been hoping for; it was drawing 32 MB off of the 1 GB. I ramped it up to 128 MB.

However, it's not had much of an effect on PSU's performance. The game runs, but it's impossible to get it to run well enough to play with more than one other person in a mission. I'd done a test run the day before the event in a full party; F Gattaca is capped, so he didn't miss out on any XP--however, he was only able to tag 20% of the monsters. The party continually left him in the dust, often moving entire "zones" ahead before F Gattaca could catch up.

I might as well have just stayed at the entrance and not play at all. Since I don't want to do that, I think I can safely say that full parties are out of the question.

So, until I get more time on that borrowed computer, I'll likely be capable of only running missions with one other person.

Tomorrow, PSU (the PC/PS2 servers as well as the X-Box 360) servers will be launching the event Smash the Darkness.

A number of PSU vets I know will be returning to the game, and despite my laptop, I'll try and be around for it as well.

Zelse, if you can, contact me on AIM so I can get your partner card for once! D:

Nothing's going to make me feel better about having lost several hundred dollars in computer hardware to Anzac's BMP Converter, but for the past few days I've been trying to come up with methods with which to take care of some impending things.

IF THIS WERE AN RPG, I'D SAY "ETESIA JOINED THE PARTY!"

Yesterday I spent my free time refurbishing an old laptop for my own nefarious purposes. This thing doesn't have much RAM in it, making it of little use for my art projects. It has 128 MB; it can hold a maximum of 1 GB of RAM, but that means ordering special RAM sticks from the manufacturer (HP). I can't just stop by the local base exchange and pick some sticks up--to my chagrin.

Anyway, now at least I have a means of staying in touch with people despite the loss of my desktop computer. There's plenty of reasons why I need this; updating Ragnarok Wisdom, consulting techie friends as I attempt to get my computer working again, and such. The most important thing, however, is that I now have a (mobile) alternative with which to do college work. And since I can hook up my USB drive to this laptop, I'm not cut off from the bulk of my project or college files!

I don't know if I can hold out for some silver lining, though. I'm hoping it's just my PCI Wireless Card that got screwed up by Anzac's BMP Converter, but Firehawke assures me I'm completely screwed--he is confident that the motherboard has taken the hit and that it's irrecoverably damaged it. Several of his techie friends are in agreement, he's told me.

Either way, I do have a plan. I've got an external drive enclosure that I'm going to put my desktop's main drive in, so I can back up the last two weeks of data to the USB drive (and also get it out of the way). Then I'm going to pull out the PCI wireless card, and set up my desktop so that it runs on the old hard drive with XP32 on it.

Hopefully the computer will run at that point. If it doesn't, well ... I'm pulling out all the hard drives and taking it to a shop.

Some people at the Starsiege community--as well as MCM--suggested resetting, reflashing, or hotswapping the motherboard's BIOS. I don't know much about that, but what I HAVE seen tells me it's a pretty risky operation, and I'm not willing to risk screwing up and wrecking any hardware. Maybe that's why Hawke wants me to take it to a shop ...

SO WHAT ELSE HAS ME FEELING A LITTLE BETTER?

Two other things were in the back of my mind and ticking me off about the timing of this whole situation; one, Phantasy Star Universe is wrapping up a small event that included 10% boosts to weapon upgrading and item synthesis. Since I had missed out on those very awards from MAG, I didn't want to let this slip by me.

Anzac's BMP Converter almost ensured that I would despite by intentions. However, I was able to install PSU to my USB drive and then run the game on another computer. I took some of my free time tonight to grind weapons; I actually made my first three perfect 10/10 weapons in PSU tonight.

... They were all B-Rank neutral element Daggacs, but hey, I use those. I'm pretty happy. I also managed to get a whole mess of 5/10s for varying elements. If I can get back on PSU tommorow, I'll be doing even more grinding; I have plenty other weapons I want to try and upgrade.

The other thing that's on my mind--and is concerning me--is the whole deal with the P.E.R.C. contest in City of Heroes. I might try repeating what I've done with PSU and installing City of Heroes to my USB drive, since I KNOW that the finals will happen during my desktop's downtime (but they haven't selected a date yet). The problem is, I don't know if I'll have access to a computer capable of running City of Heroes by the time the finals happen. I guess I can just hope that it takes them a bit before the finals occur, but ...

Anyway, that's what's been going on with me of late. I find it ironic that, after a year of having a great setup, I'm back to square one ...

... To be playing PSU Episode 1's offline mode again, from the start?

The 24th marked the two-year anniversary of PSU's release, stateside. Starting that game over from the beginning is giving me a renewed appreciation for some things we didn't get when AotI came stateside. Namely, voice acting.

PSU's story mode really isn't that bad, but I think you really only get the most out of it if you like talking to people and exploring.

That's the proverb for today, ladies and gentlemen. Or perhaps this is better: "Sow the wind, and reap the whirlwind."

So apparently a #ragnarokwisdom regular who plays Phantasy Star Universe is bored of the game and, saying that "no one logs on PSU any more," was going around last night pulling pranks on the people he knows. As Jasper Wormsworth in Afterlife would comment, "You know what they say about idle hands ..."



For those that don't play PSU, "toilet bombing" is the act of entering another player's room and filling all its open deco spaces with Cosmo Fountains, which are really toilets. PSU-playing people in the Ragnarok Wisdom channel do this to each other occasionally, as well as other kinds of bombings. Though he isn't a #ragnarokwisdom visitor, Firehawke often called himself "an Arch-nemesis of his friends" for his penchant of bombing them with Welcome Arches back when the mission that drops this decor the most was popular.

Alas, Taichi's prank was stopped dead in its tracks. After he spent all that money on toilets to bomb me with, he discovered that my rooms were already maxed out (or nearly maxed) in decoration points!



And one of my rooms is privacy locked as it is, but its decoration spots were filled up anyway. I know he tried, though, because I found evidence of his presence in my visitor logs, and I caught him in two of my rooms (as his main, Yuineko).



Now, I've gone through several bombings before by various people. I figured it was high time to see if I couldn't give a little payback. I soon discovered that Taichi had neglected to lock or even decorate the rooms of his three alts, Nyadia, Yunei, and Shuura.

So I went right to work.

I bought a few toilets ...

And proceeded to fill his alts' rooms with them.

That's 59 toilets in all.

A most flushing counterattack!

Of course ... I did make sure to leave him a few notes on the matter.

Oh, but I wasn't done yet. After all, there was still his main, Yuneiko, to take care of! Of course, he'd actually decorated this room to an extent, so there wasn't going to be a massive toilet bombing. Yet, there was still enough room left over for a couple more toilets.

Sometimes, though, strategic placement of a small number of toilets will vastly outperform a massed attack. Despite the tactics of the day that he preferred, I'm sure Napoleon would agree to that.

As a final service, I directed him to inspect his other rooms.

And what was the cost of this legendary counterattack? Just a mere 42,000 meseta. That would have been a huge sum back in the early days of PSU, but payouts for missions have grown so large, that this much meseta is merely pocket change. Besides! This is the best 42,000 meseta I've ever spent, putting a prankster in his place. Heh heh heh.

I used to post on the PSO World forums until June. After that point, I quietly gave up and left. It wasn't worth it anymore.

( A recap for those who want some background on this. LJ-cutted as it's off topic. )

I've left PSU (for now) simply because I couldn't take the hostility of the player base any longer. I personally have been through enough MMOs to know that things like what happened with PSU are par for the course in MMO Land. Unable to stand the way people were behaving on PSO World, I tried to argue that point, and I gave examples from my own experience, and articles.

No one listened. Instead, I got labeled a PSU fanboy, and people would begin snarking "In before F Gattaca defends PSU to death" when a new anti-Sega thread kicked off.

So here I am, chuckling at the sheer genre blindness of MMO players when I see recent posts there, like this one from Reimus TA (who turned into a real nasty Sega hater):

"After going from FlyFF to PSU and sadly not finding a difference, i can safely say that i am 100% finished with ALL MMORPG's that do NOT originate in America.

FUCK foreign management. The other countries are always going to get the decayed end of the stick with the mold and juicy termites."

As if World of Warcraft isn't without its own issues, am I right? *cough*

Speaking of World of Warcraft ... At #ragnarokwisdom, Nasuke showed me this forum post ...

... ... In his discussion about how badly Funcom's Age of Conan's MMO is doing.

I really am sick of the genre blindness, but what can I do? People like to think that their MMO sucks so bad and is so terrible, that no other company has had the same problems or capacity for such--then run off to the latest MMO (or some different MMO they've heard about) bragging about how much better run it is than the one they hate so much ... only to find that, well, it isn't. You can't tell these people otherwise.

I still play a lot of different MMOs, but I play them because I enjoy the different worlds, different themes, and different gameplay styles. I'm not looking for that perfectly run, trouble-free MMO. That's like searching for the Holy Grail. MMOs are a product, after all--an ongoing product that demands constant upkeep and development ... and no matter their origin or development background (by a big-name company or by a small not-for-profit dev team) problems WILL occur.

Has anyone ever had people they've met in an MMO that they've never been able to contact ever again?

All those years ago back in Ragnarok Online's early betas, there was a person named Akiyama Mokoto that I used to keep in touch with, although it was somewhat touch-and-go because she'd vanish for months. After Closed Beta, I never saw her again nor knew what became of her.

I briefly had contact with her through the old iRO community ro.pak0.com until they shut down--she had some interesting ideas back in the day for things to add to RO--for example, a Kafra class, for players who like helping new players out, as well as "trial classes" that let people try out the abilities of a first class without permanently taking that class--they could go back to Novice and try out a different class and then see if they wanted to make the decision. It would have been a great idea, back when leveling from Novice to First Class took a considerable amount of time.

The same situation with losing contact completely happened later with a Knight named Telena I briefly met on RO, which was two years ago.

Admittedly RO does make it a little difficult to keep in touch with people--it was great that they upgraded the friend system so that it could notify people when friends logged in, but since accounts have nine character slots now and the friend system only keeps track of one ... and the fact that it only has 20 slots for friends ...

It makes me appreciate Phantasy Star Universe's Partner Card system; it works on a per-account basis, meaning you befriend that person's four characters with a card exchange and can visit their rooms. It also shows when they're on, but like what happened with RO originally, it won't notify you if they log in--just if they're on when you check the card list.

One of these days, hopefully, MMOs will at least give friend systems the same features as your standard IM client. I think we really need those nowadays. More often than not, if I don't ask for a way to keep in touch with people outside of a game, I'll never hear from them again.

We have proof that the Parasol Shotgun in Phantasy Star Universe is the ultimate weapon against Sendillians.

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q229/SkittleBoo/narcoleptic-goats.gif

... You get some unintentionally hilarious screenshots of Sonic's appearance at his 17th Birthday party.

I sure hope he was comfortable with his face buried in that girl's backside. "This is the best present evar!"

(And in a two-for-one deal, we get to see multiple examples of internet fad stars in the same screenshot!)

Recently, I can't seem to stay awake more than eight hours or so before falling asleep once more.

I slept through the whole night, then crashed again.

Meanwhile--something I realized to my consternation earlier last week. PSU is now featuring its Wedding-themed lobbies (these are seasonal). That means I can't work on the machinma I had been trying to do until after the seasonal lobbies are gone (Sonic's birthday will likely come right after this), as it requires the 'normal' lobby for Clyez City.

Times like this, I wish Sega allowed us to use a lot of the social commands in Network Mode offline (like emoting and the ability to type). Yeah, there's no practical reason for it, but hey; it'd make machinmas easier to do in certain cases.

Aside from that, I've been taking care of more CLEP matters--and found that with one of the exams I will be taking, I won't know if I've passed it until three months afterwards. That's ... not going to be in time for this semester, which means I can probably forget about getting a degree this Fall even if I CLEP every other class I've got my sights on.

I cross-referenced this with other testing centers in my area and they all said the same thing. Damn.

The other thing I hadn't seen (because it's not mentioned on my college's CLEP testing center site or the College Board's site) is that, after taking a specific CLEP exam, there's a six month period where you cannot retest. Another gotcha, and another reason I really need to make sure I can step up to bat before I CLEP.

So, I've been talking to Sir Hawkeye on PSU today, hanging out in my room with him, Sniff, and an RW fan (Edgeworth/Toastie). Hawkeye recently joined PSU, soon after MAG ended--and as some of you may remember, he's an old school member of the now-defunct Prontera Parish, like Dakki/The Purple Ducky and Karaen and Krotoan and the number of other guys I've managed to keep in touch with since its closure.

10:54:31 Jimm Highwind(20046374)
I was a pretty terrible cook at first,

10:54:34 Jimm Highwind(20046374)
but it was edible.

10:54:44 Aragan(20019099)
Did GOOD EATS change your life?

10:54:54 Aragan(20019099)
Good Eats has made me want to cook serious food

10:54:54 Jimm Highwind(20046374)
More eggs, potato soup.

10:55:11 Jimm Highwind(20046374)
Frozen pizzas.

10:55:18 Aragan(20019099)
Hee.

10:55:18 Jimm Highwind(20046374)
Which I really liked, for some reason.

10:55:29 Aragan(20019099)
Frozen pizzas aren't that bad.

10:55:31 Aragan(20019099)
Digorno's.

10:55:34 Jimm Highwind(20046374)
Love 'em.

10:55:41 Jimm Highwind(20046374)
Even the lousy store brand ones.

10:55:58 Jimm Highwind(20046374)
Wanna make one with beer bread crust someday.

And just then, on AIM ...

(10:55:59 PM) TheogrinHaphand: Hydration is in fact the solution to most situations where an alcoholic beverage has been imbibed. Regardless of the quantity. And it has to be taken BEFORE one's rest.
(10:56:42 PM) AragantheAcolyte: o_o;
(10:56:54 PM) TheogrinHaphand: Although, if insufficient quantities have been imbibed, a doubled amount may suffice in an emergency situation.
(10:57:06 PM) TheogrinHaphand: Additionally, the TEMPERATURE of the liquid matters.
(10:57:27 PM) TheogrinHaphand: While one might imagine that the HOTTER the liquid, the more rapidly it will spread through the body...
(10:57:41 PM) TheogrinHaphand: In fact, the opposite applies.
(10:58:17 PM) TheogrinHaphand: Colder liquids shock the nervous system into action - which any medical doctor will go into spasms at the mention of, pay no attention here - and sober a person infinitely more rapidly.
(10:58:50 PM) TheogrinHaphand: Finally, caffeine is not in fact positive for the sobering of a person, due to the various physiological factors.
(11:00:18 PM) TheogrinHaphand: In short: If you imbibe, drink a large quantity of ice-cold liquid before and after your rest, to mitigate the result of any alcoholic aftereffects.

There is only one explanation for this.

Theogrin is an NSA agent.

Tags: phantasy star universe, silliness

As I mentioned in the latest Ragnarok Wisdom, I have an expy of sorts in PSU--a version of Aragan that tries to replicate the RO Acolyte, from clothes to skill sets--hence Aragan the Acrotecher.

A few days ago, on a whim, I decided to try and see if it was possible to make convincing cosplay of the other five first classes from RO. After a lot of clothes-buying and contemplation, this is what I've come up with. Thing is, PSU's clothes are limited in color variations (though not as much as they used to be in the original game). I tried to either replicate the general shape and appearance of the clothes, or the colors--but I usually had to sacrifice one for the other.

For reference I included the concept art and sprite of each class in question. I didn't bother changing Aragan's hairstyle and color for the purpose of this, since it's just about the clothes. I've shown them to Sniff and Tristan.

http://www.adultimum.net/casta/psucosplay_acolyte.jpg
http://www.adultimum.net/casta/psucosplay_swordman.jpg
http://www.adultimum.net/casta/psucosplay_magician.jpg
http://www.adultimum.net/casta/psucosplay_archer.jpg
http://www.adultimum.net/casta/psucosplay_merchant.jpg
http://www.adultimum.net/casta/psucosplay_thief.jpg

Tristan approved, but Sniff had some reservations on the Swordsman and Magician--and in truth, I do agree with him. I think the only things I really got right were the pants and shoes for both. It's kind of impossible to get the cloak that Magicians wear in PSU.

He's suggested that I try making an expy of the Magician that doesn't have it, instead focusing on replicating the undershirt. As for the Swordsman ... there doesn't seem to be any real options, unless as-of-yet unreleased clothes like the Special Forces Top can come closer (but I doubht it).

What do you guys think?

I've been doing experiments with video editing and combining that with Flash. I have some ideas I'd like to try, but for now I'm taking baby steps by taking silly random stuff and making short animations out of it (like Raul DiUragano pulling a Matrix or F Gattaca demonstrating a weird quirk in PSU).

On the last day of Maximum Attack G in Phantasy Star Universe, me and my friends eschewed running the event entirely and did a world tour of Gurhal.

At one point we paused at Raffon Lakeshore to goof off.

As part of my further expermenting with video editing and combining that with Flash for some of my bigger ideas, I made this out of a small recording I did while we were there:

Introducing ... the Gurhal 3!


(It loops endlessly, by the way.)

One thing I've learned ... trying to get good-quality compression video in a flash movie makes for file sizes that are huge. Like an X-Box.

Well! I found another excuse for a quick art update.

Over at PSO World they refurbished their forums so that it too uses the VBulletin system. Initially I saw that it looked as if they would allow the usage of custom avatars as a function of the new system (like at iRO Wiki). Without really looking into it, I cracked upen my dusty CFC card files and whipped this out today:



... And then when I went to make the former my avatar, I found that they still go by their no-custom-avatars setup. D'OH!

Well, at least I can use the card profile for my profile picture there.

Did I mention DoDonPachi Daioujou's music reminds me heavily of the Neverending Story's movie theme?

I like it.

Even if the SoA GMs announced that they would be postponing the MAG extension (part of the reparations over the Error 065 fiasco), me, Sniff, and the rest of the PSU-playing crew have demonstrated that MMOs are, like all games, supposed to be fun. And you get your dollar's worth if you do.

Great laughs today, and extremely great rares found. We eschewed MAG entirely and, for the last day of the event (possibly), I, Sniff,. and one of our mutual buddies (Metal Sonic to you Videolanders) went on a grand bloody tour of Gurhal.

Sniff was the leader, with midholy photon fortune (1 on a scale of 0 to 3, with 3 meaning the best chance of success at weapon upgrades and best chance of items dropping from enemies).

Can someone explain to me how it is possible that the Gudda Hon (10* S-rank knuckles), Orpad/Guard (S-rank armor add-on that dramatically boosts defense), Crimson Line (A-rank armor), Storm (10* S-rank handgun), and Rikauteri (11* S-rank Longbow) all dropped for us today on our rampage? Seriously. Four S-rank rares. FOUR.

How the hell are we so lucky to get all this in one day?

Tonight's maintenance hopefully finishes off a really nasty FUBAR in Phantasy Star Universe.

For some background ... for some reason, Sega of Europe controls the billing servers for Sega of America's NA PC/PS2 servers. I don't know why this was decided, but I can only guess that there were finanical reasons for this (seeing as Sega of America had to close all of the international PSO servers due to Phantasy Star Universe failing to gain enough international income to keep them alive).

Sega of Europe's control has proven to be problematic. Earlier this year (I forget when) the billing servers crashed due to overheating--it turned out the AC was out in the Sega of Europe offices. This caused major problems for people whose monthly payment plan rebilled during that time--or for anyone trying to purchase new subscriptions. Because the billing servers were down, people could not get into the game despite paying for it. Sega of America's staff were helpless to fix the problem, as Sega of Europe's employees were enjoying an extended break at the time. It was fixed eventually, with the SoA GMs apologizing and explaining the situation.

Something similar to this has happened since the start of Maximum Attack G, on a much more dire scale. It got so bad that, despite having anywhere from 1000~2000 people return to NA PC/PS2 to play it, people got quickly locked out of the game by more Sega of Europe bungling. This time, people who renew or pay for new subscriptions to PSU are recognized as paid by the billing server, but the billing server refuses to communicate with the game servers--and thus the affected people are unable to play the game. The PC/PS2 servers once more became a ghost town--many, many people have been cursing Sega and cynically referring to their membership in the 065 Club (the people locked out of the game recieve an Error 065).

Apparently, with tonight's maintenance, a new billing server will replace the older one and will hopefully end this issue once and for all. Until then, a number of people had their accounts restored to working status (but only if they had notified Sega ahead of time of their issue)--and victims of Error 065 will not be billed this month apparently. I have heard that the GMs are contemplating other forms of compensation but nothing is yet definite.

All I know is, whatever compensation they give, this two-week issue which had taken so many people out of the game is not going to be enough for those affected by it. As the 360 servers are under X-Box Live and therefore escaped this issue, their players are dominating the leaderboards for Maximum Attack G's top 500 scoring players (who will recieve a Spread Needle/G, a PSO weapon, as a prize).

I wasn't affected (my account runs out of time just after MAG ends), but many of my friends were--I'm really dissapointed that this has happened and that it HAD to happen during the one event so many were waiting for, and just after the NA PC/PS2 and 360 player base tried to drum up a grasroots campaign to bring people to PSU since it had gotten such a bad rap from its limited features upon release (not to mention the hackers ruining the game for NA PC/PS2 players a few months after launch) ...

Would've uploaded this earlier this week, but final exams kept me away. And right now I'm dealing with my ISP being SOBs, but I won't get into that.



Some of you remember CAST Away, right? I'm still trying to get that off the ground but more complications've gotten in the way. For now, here's concept art I whipped up before MAG of Codon Alicia, F Gattaca's partner machine (as she looks in CAST Away, anyway).



There's more to Codon Alicia than meets the eye, though--she might appear to be a standard GH440-model partner machine, but the fact her clothing is a completely different color tips off many to the fact that she is, in polite terms, "nonstandard." This might encourage people into thinking she's been illegally modified to become more powerful than your standard partner machine ... but in truth they'd only be right about the illegally modified bit. In many ways, she's quite dysfunctional. This will be explained in the story early on, but there's some hints in the quotes for this pic as to why she is the way she is.



Enjoy!

Maximum Attack G kicked off yesterday and we're already off to a running start on PSU's NA PC/PS2 servers. MAG's arrival brought a lot of people back; after the Winter Event, the only significantly populated server on NA PC/PS2 was Universe 02 with two and a half stars (this is either 500~600 or 200~300 people depending on whether or not a full star means 200 or 100 people.

And yet here I am amusing myself, goofing off with Fraps!

Today was also one of several days the GMs would appear in game and answer any questions the public had. I had a question of my own, so I checked it out. But as everyone knows ... I'm kind of a silly person. Or just weird.

09:18:03 Melchior
Not too much

09:18:17 F Gattaca
Hiya.

09:18:17 Melchior
was there a question or an issue we can help with?

09:18:28 F Gattaca
I did have one, and then I'll scoot off, heh.

09:18:34 Melchior
Fire away, Gattaca :)

(F Gattaca fires his SMG for a few seconds.)

09:18:39 F Gattaca
YEARRRGH

09:18:42 F Gattaca
Oh wait.

09:18:45 F Gattaca
You meant the question.

09:18:46 F Gattaca
Haha.

09:18:52 F Gattaca
Ahem!

It's been a while since I actually updated this blog for things other than Ragnarok Wisdom.

But, I've been pretty busy with one thing or another that I haven't found the time to write up any updates on what I've been doing. I think I oughta do some venting though, so be prepared for a gripfest as much as a situational report.

I've been trying to keep my head above water where college is concerned. So far I think I'm doing alright; I have yet to seriously blunder at any of the exams or assignments since the start of the semester, but I'm worried about the recent Astronomy II exam I took yesterday. I ... uh, was lost on a few of the questions. I've been unable to focus on trying to CLEP classes, which I really need to get around to doing.

Right now I'm busy with trying to finish the April Fool's short I promised I would make for Ragnarok Wisdom. I'm kind of wishing that I went with the initial blank panel comic because this is turning out to be a real pain in the ass to finish. However, I'm committed now; Sniff and the others went out of their way to lend their voices for this thing. I need to finish it.

Gaming wise, no, I have not yet picked up Smash Bros Brawl and it may yet be a while before I can. I've been trying to get back into Phantasy Star Universe to show people I'm not dead, but I've had little time to devote to it; mainly because of the above happenings, but I've also (for a short time) got sucked into trying out some other MMOs (Exteel and Air Rivals/Flysis/Space Cowboy Online). I also need to get back on Ragnarok Online, but I'm not going to do that until I have a clear schedule. Which I don't, yet.

A friend of mine I rarely get to talk to was trying out PSU and I had been wanting to spend more time with 'em, but since getting caught up in college/artwork I've not seen them since. The last time I talked to them was over AIM, on the 21st of March ... so it's been about two weeks. I don't know how to contact them, and they haven't shown up on PSU since. I've been searching for a way to contact them, but I think I've exhausted all the methods available to me.

Admist doing that, I found out something else that's ... gotten me depressed. Something I thought I had gotten over and was able to move on from, but ... I clearly have not. The irony is, the person in question seems to have been able to move on themselves, and took measures that demonstrated this--discovering that in the middle of my looking for a way to contact my PSU-playing friend was unexpected and has put a big funk on my day. Such irony ...

My mouse is broken now, though. It's been broken for at least a week or two, actually--the right mouse button no longer works, thus I've been using my tablet's mouse for a surrogate right mouse button. I've not been using the tablet mouse for much more than that; using the tablet mouse itself is ... awkward to say the least, thus I prefer to have it around in case of emergencies but not for daily use.

So ... that's how things've been going on in my neck of the woods.

I finally finished working on the 7777 hitgift. THIS is what I meant to upload at the end of last year, but given the computer problems that plagued me up into February, I wasn't able to properly finish it. Well, now I have!

(In a hilarious cosmic coincidence, not only did I upload this finished version on Pi Day, but it's also 7:00 PM.)

This hitgift is a whimsical group picture of all the main MMO characters (mainly MMORPG) I've played with up until this point. Well ... most of them are main characters, but they all represent a specific MMO I've played as of the date this was finished. Here's the list:

Aragan: Norman (Perma) Acolyte, Ragnarok Online
Vere "Veregar" Garrett: Atrox Martial Artist, Anarchy Online
Garlicini Ragu: Sauceror, Kingdom of Loathing (yes, it's a webgame, but in my book it qualifies as an MMO)
Gavrian: Travian Gun Fighter, GunZ: The Duel (... ditto!)
F Gattaca: RAcast, Phantasy Star Online (although he's shown here in his PSU form which I've come to prefer)
Raul DiUragano: Beast Fortefighter, Phantasy Star Universe
Relgiac: Human Warrior, World of Warcraft
Chester Keinverne: Terran Captain, Armada Online
Osahar Kneph: Egyptian Citizen, A Tale in the Desert

With each of the characters, I tried to follow the art style of their respective MMORPGs. Hence, Aragan is drawn in Myung-Jin Lee's style, Garlicini Ragu is drawn like Jick's stick figures, and so forth.

The entire thing was rendered in Flash (like the 5555 hitgift) and not only pushed the limits of my computer's former setup, but put a toll on my computer's rebuilt and upgraded setup as well. Heck, the thing looked like a bloody topographical map in outline mode!

Hope you guys enjoy it!

ALSO!

My hit counter is approaching 10,000 page views. Again, if anyone gets the 10k mark, show me a picture of it. Contact me on my LJ, on the RW forums, or through dA's private messaging. Heck, e-mail or IM me if you know how to find me that way. Like with the 5555 hitgift, I'll do a picture for you (within reasonable limits)!

Recently on my deviantART gallery someone posted a comment on the PSO-World contest entry I made last year for the AotI Launch Party.

As in the author's comments, I noted that one of those people in the picture are a shout-out cameo to a certain webcomic that I was introduced to and enjoyed from the get-go.

The guy in question guessed correctly that it was Arvamas from The Dreamland Chronicles.

(I recommend this comic wholeheartedly! If you haven't read it, take some time to check out the series from the start. This guy's storytelling and 3D modeling skills are awesome!)

As you can see by the comments ... I didn't realize that the guy in question is actually the author of The Dreamland Chronicles. Not until he replied back and I noticed both his sig and his name--and subsequently his own gallery.

I kinda feel like I just shoved my foot into my mouth at supersonic speeds. That might partially be from the shock of having a big-name comic author talking to me as much as the embarrasment of ... well, what I said in reply to him while oblivious to his identity.

It's funny too, because earlier this week I found out that the voice of Novvy the Novice (and awesome voice actor) Lucien Dodge hung out with Mookie (the author of Dominic Deegan at a recent convention.

Wait, it is a leap year, right?

I find it hilarious that Sega chose today to add Rykros to Phantasy Star Universe's NA PC/PS2 and the 360 servers.

Consider that Rykros is basically homage to Ryucross/Ryukross/Rycross of Phantasy Star IV, which only appeared once every (insert correct amount of years) here.

And, for us international types (or X-Box 360 owners), Rykros was added to the game on a day that only comes around every few years or so.

I SMELL SYMBOLISM!

... or that could just be the megid turrets. Eww.

I've been messing around with Fraps again--you might remember that "GDI knows how to roll wit it" looping clip I made a few years ago.

Well, an accidental recording in Fraps produced this.

Enjoy? :D?

You guys know that PSO World AotI Launch Party art contest?

The one that I entered with this particular artwork for the humor category?

I won first place! This is an awesome Christmas present!

Aside from a certain fangirl's creative interpretation of my previous post (D:), it seems everyone has a different opinion on that F Gattaca fashion thread I posted at PSO-World.

Admittedly it's a pretty hard decision. I might just wind up buying only the RAcas Torso when it's available online and be done with it ... not sure.

In other news, it's definitely the last week of 1-UP cup bonuses. Initially there was talk there'd be a fourth week due to a six-hour rollback caused by a major goof, but it seems Sega of America has something better planned. Not sure what it is.

Either way, THIS time around I'm wrapping up much of what I planned to do synthing wise. I'm making a lot of people rich.

The three S-Rank melee boards, I think, I won't synth. I'll probably just synth one. I probably should have just not inserted them all into my PM a few weeks ago, but I can't undo that choice.

After I finish synthing what I can I'm going out hunting for funds and more materials.

Okay, as I mentioned earlier, I spent a few days playing PSU: Ambition of the Illuminus in an attempt to gain access to certain fashion features months before we'll get them online, so I can plan ahead without wasting a ton of meseta at the Lumilass makeover store at Clyez City.

I came up with at least a dozen or so variants.

You can read about my fashion delimma here. If you have a PSO World account, feel free to comment on the thread. If not, lemme know what you think would look best by commenting on this here entry.

Thanks, guys!

... so that I could have access to the PSO RAcast and HUcast parts.

See, before the 1-UP bonuses end this Thursday, I wanted to be able to experiment with future options before continuing further with CAST Away--after all, a flat zero fee on makeovers is hard to pass up.

Although right now I still have to gather meseta in AotI offline just so I can fully experiment. Ironic, isn't it?

As for the AotI offline mode itself, it's both great and dissapointing. Here's a few pluses and minuses ...

+ While it's not like Episode 1, there ARE NPCs to talk to in the cities now (compared to Network Mode and PSU's Extra Mode). You can learn some interesting tidbits about life in Gurhal this way, and it helps drive home some of the events that take place during Episode 2. However, no one you meet in the cities actually dies as a result of those events, at least, their fates probably won't be known until one starts playing Episode 3. Just a heads up for people.
+ AotI's Offline Mode blends PSU's Extra Mode with the way Network Mode works. Free Missions are now set up just like those in Network Mode, with C/B/A/S difficulty ranks; the only thing missing are the outposts and lobbies in between missions (ALL of a planet or colony's missions launch from the initial flyer base). If you recruit party members for your free mission runs, they'll reward you with prizes for clearing the mission perfectly (S-rank eval), just like in PSU Extra Mode.
+ You can get the partner cards of Ethan Waber, Fullyen Curtz, and Alfort Tylor by completing the Episode 2 missions.
+ Speaking of that, as you complete Episode 2 missions, much content gets unlocked for offline play, just like the free missions did in Episode 1. However, THIS time around, you'll eventually have access to most--if not all--the clothing and parts in the game by the time you beat Episode 2. At least, it sure seems like it.
+ 11* weapons and items are both buyable and findable as you clear the latter few chapters, including weapons I think are still not available online, such as the 11* saber Blackheart. Good luck finding a retail store that sells one of THOSE online!
+ Once you clear Episode 2 chapters, there are a few things you can do in the game offline that, at AotI's launch (and even right now), are not yet available online. For example, fighting the Mother Brain. Or the White Dragon whose name I can't spell correctly.
+ The Episode 2 missions are a bit meaner. They appear to've thrown a few curveballs to people who've played it prior to AotI's release via PSU's Online Story Missions--mostly in the form of new types of traps as seen online that can, if you're not prepared, seriously endanger you.

The only bad things I've noticed with AotI offline is ...

- There's no voice acting for dialogue. None at all. The Japanese version of AotI had its voice actors lend their voices for even normal text, not cutscenes like in Episode 1. Apparently this is because Sega of America can't afford to pay voice actors that much ... the fact they're having to close down all the PSO servers is telling. They can't keep this up financially, and that is disturbing ... and puts a damper on the enjoyment I get out of running through the game offline.
- This was expected and anticipated, but there's really not that much that's refurbished for the Episode 2 story missions. Episode 1 in PSU was a full 60-hour RPG for me ... I managed to breeze through Episode 2 in maybe 10-12 hours. Of course, I didn't actually complete Episode 2 on all three difficulties yet (just C), but I don't think I'll get any extra rewards for doing so.

Anyway, it's back to raising meseta for me!

Phantasy Star Online (PSO, not Phantasy Star Universe) is now abandonware outside of Japan--unless you have an X-Box.

While the Japanese PSO:BB servers are still going strong, PSU siphoned off all of the userbase that played on the international PSO:BB servers, and so Sega of America is finally putting it out of its misery. From what I've heard, the PSO:BB servers were in a state of disrepair for a long, long time.

Given the way SoA's GMs have let slip their dealings with Sonic Team, it would seem that PSO:BB's international servers were mostly in ST's hands, who left them to rot after a time. I've heard that, ever since the hacking plague on the Dreamcast version of PSO v1, Sonic Team's impression of international users is less than respectful and only half-heartedly supports their international releases of Phantasy Star MMOs. At least, until PSU.

SoA's GMs have a LOT more control over PSU's servers, as it would seem. Unlike PSO:BB, on PSU they've been able to take control of hackers, perform rollbacks (when needed--so far only once), regular maintenace, and compensate people who've been disadvantaged by hackings or server outages (we got that bonus week, after all).

Either way, if you guys want to read the news, look here: PSO:BB Official Community Site

It's kind of sad to see this happen, but PSO:BB was badly neglected as it is. I personally think PSO:BB could've stayed legitimately available to everyone if they did something like merge licenses, so that when you pay for a GUARDIANS license (PSU subscription) you either also get a Hunters' license (PSO:BB subscription) or pay a few dollars more for both at once.

No word has been given on whether or not the X-Box version of PSO will remain playable, but it appears that since it is under the purview of Microsoft's X-Box Live service, THAT version will continue for as long as Microsoft supports the original X-Box Live.

However, that still means no one will be able to legitimately play Episodes 3 (exclusive to C.A.R.D. Revolution) and 4 (exclusive to Blue Burst) anymore.

Of course, I'm well aware of the other alternatives ... Well before this announcement I've heard that people have kept the older, abandoned versions of PSO alive by developing servers for them. There's one guy in particular who heads this development and--in general--refuses to develop server software for versions of PSO until they are rendered abandonware by Sega. Said person actively plays Phantasy Star Universe legitimately, and I've actually SEEN him running around.

You'll note I avoided saying "pserv" or "private server" or "pirate server" in that paragraph. All three words/phrases mean the same to me--pirating the game when the company is still developing/supporting it, which only harms the company AND the game that the pirating users claim to love.

However, when the company officially abandons the game and/or the company dissolves (in the case of VIE and Subspace) ... user-run servers are the only way to keep such a game alive. In cases like this, it's more of a moral gray area to me. It's technically a legal gray area too; rights to abandoned software are usually owned by someone, but whether or not the owners will care enough to sue (or threaten to sue) abandonware servers and users depends on the owner. For example, I mentioned Subspace--no one has come looking to sue the circle of programmers that developed the Continuum rebuild of Subspace, or individual servers. However, the programmers of a few Commodore 64 games requested Lemon 64 to remove their ROMs (or it might have been a threat of law suit), which prompted the site to remove all the ROMs they had at the time.

Anyway ... it looks like abandonware is the only way to go from here on out, unless Sega actually answers the demand people have made to see PSO ported to the DS and Wii. Come January I might poke around on the offical PSO:BB servers for one last hurrah, though.

On top of that, we got borked today. Well, some of us did.

As I didn't spend most of today on PSU, I didn't catch the bad end of it, but apparently the SOA GMs had a mishap. A debug mission was accidentally made publically available somewhere in one of the mission terminals. Before they could do something about, people began spamming the mission. This particular mission was a test concerning rare enemies, thus you can imagine why people went spamming it--nothing but rare drops as far as the eye can see.

The GMs tried to excise the illegit rares but aparrently it couldn't be done, and were forced to roll back all the servers to the start of today, just after the weekly maintenace period. As a result, a lot of people who didn't abuse the debug mission wound up losing their progress or any rare items they found/bought/synthed.

I've stayed off PSU today even after the servers went back up, just in case there were other problems. The PC/PS2 servers took longer to restore, apparently, due to another problem that cropped up and required fixing.

About the only thing I did today on PSU was check out the Habirao Forbidden District mission set, which is a new addition. Boy, let me tell you, that place is awesome. It reminds me strongly of the Myst series, and has the same feel about it that PSO's Forest does ... in a mushroomy Neudaizy way.

Like I said earlier, I didn't want to take any chances with the 1-UP bonuses, and went on a synthing/grinding spree. I'm still going on said spree, but the next batch of items won't be finished synthing until after midnight.

Hopefully it's true that the PC/PS2 servers are getting that extra week of 1-UP bonuses, though. While I did manage to get a lot of what I wanted to do done, there's still so much more I wanted to accomplish. I'd love to have the extra week. (The extra week of bonuses was originally for the 360 users, because of flubups with X-Box Live ... but the PSU official site seems to imply that the added week is for everyone.)

However, I'm pretty happy regardless, because not only have I been able to grind that Muzzlefevic to 3/10 (and an Uransara wand to 3/10 for Aragan), but ...

I HAVE MY OWN PET PARROT!

Now watch as people visit my room and teach PSU Victoreet nasty things. :(

Through great cost and time, I got Aragan's Partner Machine up to level 100, making her the last of the four pure synthing PMs I've managed.

Just one problem ...

I'm gonna need Catilium, and lots of it, to actually synth the weapons I've got my eyes on.

The solution is to run the Agata RELICS mission "The Holy Ground" at S2-rank, but so far I've not found any.

I hope I can find enough to synth these weapons before maintenance tommorow night.

... and I've been napping throughout the day. I've been left THAT tired by it. I was pulling an allnighter to do some more studying for the Sociology final after fumbling around for my synposis pamphlet to look at my chances.

Going into that exam, I wasn't really sure whether or not I could just wing it and get a decent grade. I gave it my all on the other exams and did the research projects for extra credit. From my own calculations, I already had a C (or a low B) without even taking the final, depending on how my professor took things into account.

After taking the final I talked to the professor about it and found that I could've waked away from the course with an 82 if I didn't take the final at all!

In fact, all I needed to do on the final was make a very low grade to get an A. Kinda reminds me of the situation with College Algebra earlier this year, except Sociology has been more interesting and far easier on my brain. Hopefully this time around I'll GET that A instead of massively fumbling, if for no other reason than that I'd like to've made the drive to the campus worth it.

With that out of the way, I turn my attention to CLEP and PSU. ... hey, if you combine the two, you get CLEPSU. I have no idea why that cracks me up, but it does. CLEP-SUUUUUU!!!

Anyway.

I found out that a local bookstore carries the official CLEP guide. I went ahead and picked it up, seeing as I need more information on what to expect and how to study than what is available on College Board's website. So far I've not been dissapointed, and I hope to at least CLEP one class over winter break.

Of PSU, I've continued my desperate attempt to raise the last of the four Partner Machines my characters have (one each, as each character comes with one and you can only have four characters). With the revelation that we'll be able to use EX Devices to change the PM's model line entirely, I went ahead and started work on a pure striking model, as I already raised a pure armor, ranged, and TECH PM for my other three characters.

I'm almost done; she's now level 90 out of 100, and if I can find or buy 40 more weapons to shove down her throat, she can be trusted to synth melee weapons. Wednesday, especially, is looking to be a pure synthing/grinding session, as I will be buying up or hunting down all the materials I need to synth the various S-Rank weapons and armor I found during the 1-UP Cup. I should've done this earlier, when we had all the time in the world, but the synth bonus from the 1-UP Cup ends Thursday night.

Speaking of endings, I think the results of PSOW's AotI Launch Party Art Contest will be available by 11:59 PM CST. That'll be 1:59 PM for me, right when Dominic Deegan updates if I'm not mistaken.

I'm hoping I place in the top three for Humor.

1) Got the Christmas tree put up. Whoo.

2) Studied for the Sociology final exam tommorow.

3) Got permission from the PSOW mods to put my artwork up on sites outside of PSOW.

4) Proceeded to do just that.

Now you guys can see just what I was up to earlier last week!

All that's left to do now art-wise, Ragnarok Wisdom comics nonwithstanding, is to do the art meme Spinny tagged me for and hopefully the 7777 hit gift.

I think I'll be finding out within the next few days how I fared with that contest on PSO World.

I don't expect to place well--there's a lot of competition, and some rather funny ones. Most--including mine--are of rather poor quality graphically, but they did say for the users of PSO-World to judge on how funny it is, not how good it looks--that's for the other category (which I didn't enter).

Meanwhile, I've been enjoying what little time I have to goof off on PSU until I need to work on Ragnarok Wisdom, then study for the last final exam of the semester.

Right now, PSU wise, I'm trying to build up a pure Striking partner machine before we lose our 1-UP Cup rewards. However, the way things are going, I'm probably going to need to just shell out several million meseta to finish her in a timely manner.

My current strategy is to run one of the new AotI missions, Sakura Blast, on C difficulty. Not only does this help get F Gattaca level his Killer Shot photon art, and help his own partner machine--Codon Alicia--get back up to full battle strength, but I can find Durandal Replicas and Pallasches that way, both sabers that work good as PM food--the former moreso than the latter. With the money I find and earn on those missions, I've been buying whatever Durandal Replicas others are selling for under 15000 meseta, and supplementing that with Tears of Light--a high-grade candy that helps PMs boost their Striking stat.

It's slow going though.

Speaking of that, back to Neudaiz I go!

I FINALLY FOUND A MUZZLEFEVER BOARD!

After spending some time debating on what to do with it--make the Kubara variant (which has a lower success rate) or make the normal GRM version--I polled people on PSOW and immediate friends.

The verdict was: Make the Muzzlefevic (Kubara variant).

Currently, with the 1-UP bonuses, a Muzzlefever as a 96% chance of successful synthing. The Muzzlefevic has a 91% chance.

Since most people seem to go after the Muzzlefever--and the Muzzlefevic has more PP--I decided to follow the verdict.

Thankfully, it worked. I have my Muzzlefevic!

I can always buy the Muzzlefever later, assuming I collect enough Meseta ... or I can find another board before next Thursday rolls around.

WHOO!

So tonight was marked by a fretful attempt to hastily finish an entry into PSO-World's Ambition of the Illuminus launch party art contest. I only had time for a crappy two-shade color comic, but since the entries are judged on humor I hope it was presented well enough to make it work.

The computer decided to hit the dirt after I submitted the entry around 10:48 CST (it was due at 10:59 CST, which is the deadline). I've had some fun trying to get the computer back up and running again.

I also noticed that I accidentally uploaded an older version of the pic and quickly tried to replace it, but they might have already taken up entries.

Damn it. RO Comic Contest all over again.

Anyway, I'm hoping that I at least place somewhere in the ranking. I just want an inflatable Partner Machine.

I picked up AotI today, after a bout of last-minute Thanksgiving shopping (had to tie up some loose ends). Originally I was going to wait to play it until I had leveled all of my Photon Arts on PSU to level 30 ... but after seeing I was about to hit level 101 (156 XP away!) I decided it'd be better if I started AotI and got my 101st level in the expansion, since 100 was symbolically the end of PSU.

So I'm gonna do that in a sec.

I also need to think about what I'm gonna do for Ragnarok Wisdom tommorow, with Thanksgiving and all. At the same time, I'm seriously considering altering the third panel of this week's comic because, well, people are confused over what the punchline is. Or they just don't get it at all.

Meanwhile ... Speaking of Thanksgiving ... There's something frightening about seeing a line of cars backed up all the way out of a Wal-Mart Supercenter, over a highway overpass, and down a highway ramp.

I'm glad I didn't go to Wal-Mart.

... All my time on PSU.

I'm not sure how I did. I guess I'll find out. I fell asleep and dozed off the night when I should have been forming notes, but thankfully I was able to get some study time in through the morning and ... to my surprise, I had adequately covered the material enough that I could make an attempt at every question on the test as well as the bonus essay.

I hope I did alright.

Tonight, however, this ... well, this sums up everything that happened:



The Rappies wanted revenge for the mass slaughter they endured during the 1-UP Cup. They decided to take it all out on me.

I felt like Link after teasing the Cuckoos too much.

Well, sort of.

However, a lot of things that will be in AotI have been retroactively patched into the original game. Some of this stuff must have been in the game from the start, but it doesn't seem so for others. It's a question of how much PSU was designed to take input from the server rather than hardcoded into the game, I guess.

Still, the best thing is that EXP gains have been retooled so that a curve-like boost is present in lower level enemies up to 100, giving the lowest leveled characters a little help in getting up to what will now be the halfway point of the overall game.

The Just Attack and Counter system is also now in the original game--that means that being a fighter-type character won't be nearly as boring anymore. The JA system--along with the ability for people to regain melee weapon PP (like SP or MP in other games) through normal attacks adds variety and purpose to pretty much anything a fighter can do rather than mash the Photon Art attack button. Combat becomes a much more purposable thing, where timed hints count more than how fast you can mash go on the keyboard/controller, as Strong Bad would say.

Type caps have been increased to 15 except for the basics, and stats for the races, genders, and types have been retooled; basics used to be balanced against the Advanced, Expert, and Experimental types, now they're not--even before considering the type cap increase.

of course, there's always the wall-banging ... I was too naive.

I thought that people geniunely and eagerly were awaiting all this. Turns out ... the very first day the AotI changes hit the servers, people start complaining that PSU is now "easy mode."

IN DROVES.

Gee, didn't we already go through this when the "death penalty" was softened so that it wasn't imperative to use scape dolls (auto-reviving items) to prevent a loss in mission rank?

It was enough that I asked Wild Weasel (mod at DMZX) to assist me in constructing this animated GIF for use in such head-numbing moments:

Here's my results:

F Gattaca: Completed A, B, C
Raul DiUragano: Completed A, B, C
Aragan: Completed C
(Joke alt): Completed C

All four got Songs for Death (grenade launcher) and Rappy Suits.

Aragan couldn't complete B. Couldn't find the parties for it.

However, as far as levels go ...

F Gattaca went from 92 to 100.
Raul DiUragano went from 45 to 71.
Aragan went from 22 to 35.
And the joke alt went from 14 to 19.

As far as Aragan and the joke alt goes, I wish I could have leveled them more, but ... I kept falling asleep. I could have had some extra time if I didn't keep DOING that. Aragan is still a long ways off from donning the Rabol Rappy armor, which takes 93 DFP (he has 61 DFP).

Didn't get the rares I really wanted (damn you Muzzlefever!), got some I had on the bottom of my wish list, and a lot I didn't really even think about. Did get pretty much all the Halloween-specific goodies.

Got over 600+ screenshots of Clyez Linear Line's pristine form, as seen in the VR mission, for use in CAST Away!, and also managed to get a handful of people who were available for Floader riding pics.

I'm gonna miss the 1-UP Cup--the rares, the EXP boost, and most importantly, the Floaders. Despite being promised vehicles in ads for the game, PSU and AoI do not use them online (and the Floader hoverbikes and Striker hovertanks are only used once each in PSU's Story Mode, along with Lungas, a sort of choboco/pecopeco analogue). I really wish there were permanent Floader racing missions and the like.

After midnight last night, Raul got to level 70, so my goal is complete for him.

Throughout today I found out that the B-rank level requirement is 30, so I got Aragan up to that level thoroughout the day. He's level 32 as of right now. I don't think he'll make it to level 55 before tommorow's maintenance, but I can try!

Also, has anyone ever gotten the feeling like they're getting punched in the lower left abdomen before? It's been happening to me randomly throughout today.

If someone offers for you to try "organic coffee," don't do it.

I've been paying for it all day today with every embarrasing gastro-intestinal condition you can imagine. For the sake of not giving too much information I'll leave you to imagine the specifics.

In other news, I got the chance to preorder Phantasy Star Universe: Ambitions of the Illuminus today. It'll arrive in the store November 21st. I'll be happy to pick it up.

Meanwhile, I've gotten to level 69 as Raul in PSU. I'm close to 70, yet oh so far away ... I won't make it by midnight but I hope to have it within the next few hours, available parties permitting.

I'm just hoping that group I keep mentioning hasn't further leveled to the point I'll be chasing after them the whole damned rest of the way. I've been told they've been focusing on their alts; after Raul's mission is complete, I should probably work on leveling Aragan so that he can use the Rabol Rappy armor, since he'd look best with the whole rappy motif.

I'm kind of reminded of this strip from Order of the Stick.

My leveling spree with Raul got cut short by, well, life, heh.

Although the main thing that annoyed me was forgetting that there was another Astronomy paper was due today. One is due each week, but prior to my birthday, I cleared them out of the way up to whatever point was necessary so that I could focus on my personal projects or whatever task was at hand rather than struggle to finish them.

Thus, I spent a few hours madly trying to finish a paper due that described Mars, its geographical features, its atmosphere, and the history of the planet's development and how the atmosphere came to be the way it is now.

Astronomy is an interesting topic to me and I'm eager to learn this information, but since I forgot about the assignment until quite practically when it was due (hopefully it's only "late" after midnight--I turned it in around 11:00 PM). I was able to crank out enough pages to cover the topic--hopefully I actually did cover the topic to an extent I get the grade I need on it.

Still, though, I learned some important basic facts about Mars and why it is the way it is, and how that would shape terraforming efforts on such a planet--and, importantly, why plate tectonics are necessary to keep Earth habitable, even though they are the cause of earthquakes, tidal waves, volcanoes and other disasters that make us wish we could just still the Earth's internal activity.

I mean, finding out that Earth will eventually become like Mars as the interior cools down is kind of a relevation to me.

Crossposted from elsewhere.

According to some on PSU, apparently so. It's left me WTFing at the whole thing.

Since I hit the cap, I've been working on getting my off-main Raul DiUragano up to the level of a certain group of people I know, but it's been hard.

For a past few days, one person (whom I won't name) was exceptionally passive-aggressive about this point. He knew I my frustration with the behavior of people on Uni 02 during this week of 1-Up (when it comes to A-rank runs, good luck finding randoms who will take people under level 90). For example, his accusing me after the G Colony mission week ended that I was "always with 90+s" as a not-so-subtle accusation of not only elitism, but hypocracy.

Uh ... what? As you can guess, that really pissed me off. In fact, anything like this tends to piss me off, people jumping the gun in an eager attempt to catch me in the act of hypocracy when it's baseless--no matter what and where it is. Like that one guy a few days who claimed I abuse the SMG glitch just because I said I use a lot of B-rank SMGs.

Here's some random screenshots of my leveling splurge during the G Colony week and just prior, as F Gattaca. Does this look like the hallmark of a "90+ elitist" to you?

And that's certainly not the extent of the range of levels I partied with during my run, since I don't screenshot every party I'm in. However, I--rather indignantly--let this guy know that I ran with whomever and whoever could do the A-rank missions. Not "elitist 90+ only parties" like he's been accusing me of.

His response?

"Whatever, dude, you're the one who had the elitist attitude last week."

His whole accusation of elitism hinged on one e-mail from me when I was in a party headed up by Trinitaria; he asked if I was in a run and I replied that it was a high level one too (because the others were all 90+ at the time). Ironically, right before I joined one switched out for a lower level alt. Yet, it seems no amount of facts can get through to people like this.

Since I couldn't get through to this blockhead, I've decided to not give him the opportunity to harry me again on PSU. Put him on a bus to Blacklistville.

Has anyone else ever had to put up with crap from obnoxious jerks like this?