Wow, I get the honor of writing an introduction to the column! I feel honored. No, it isn’t because I’ve been a good boy or sent Joe lots of money and gifts. Joe’s taking a little break to recoup due to the starting of a great new school year and other obligations. Since I’m a slacker and didn’t have anything going on this week, I’ll be flying solo this week. Hopefully I’ll be able to maintain some integrity without Joe’s excellent writing backing me up. This week I continue my adventure into Square-Enix’s MMORPG. Look out for inane thoughts and newbie-scent wafting your way! “Nulliar grabs hardhat!”
Week #3:
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I have tasted the sweet nectar of Final Fantasy XI and it is sweet. After some leveling in a two-man party and soloing, I have seen what makes FFXI (and hopefully other MMORPGs) so special. Yes, I got new armor (finally) and yes, I got a new weapon. That, however, isn’t what has now snagged me into the game and has my pulse racing to get back into it again as I write this. It’s what should be the focus for all MMORPGs: the people.
Yes, you do actually meet nice people. I’ve said this before, but I can’t stress it more than now. Upon jumping in, determined to level further, I had someone ask me to party. I had partied once before, but this was better than previous experiences. He was a friendly Warrior that kept the monsters off of me while I, the Red Mage of enfeebling, cast spells to weaken the creatures we hunted. After that, I ran in and hacked at the beast while mixing black magic attacks which did direct damage. Man, this is why I love the “RDM” (Red Mage, in condensed FFXI speak). Not only that, but since I can use Cure (a white magic spell) more effectively now, I was attempting to cure him every chance he went into the red. Helping him during battle, I realized there are really big rewards for going WHM (White Mage), and not just because they are rare and everyone wants you in their party. Nonetheless, we were able to take the monsters at far faster speed than I do soloing (even including the split experience between the two of us). Not only that, but I followed him to an area that I had only stumbled across once and never found again. Of course, that was from a lack of trying. I now level-up there quite frequently.
The next day I found myself soloing, but also becoming part of a very helpful community. You see, there are these goblins that are…how should I put it? Bastards. Yes, these devils will attack you before you attack them, and frequently when you are healing or fighting another monster. While I was healing (after depleting my MP, magic power) with half of my health gone, one of these goblins spawned and began fighting. At this stage in the game, I hadn’t been fighting goblins even at less than 90% health. Nonetheless, there is a nifty* little command that allows you to call for help when under siege by such a monster. Immediately upon calling help, two fellow adventurers pounced on the offending creature and offed him. With thanks exchanged, I felt better about this game than I ever have. After traveling around the same area, I noticed one of the guys that had aided me before as he fought. I noticed his health was chopped down considerably, so like any concerned citizen (and mage hoping to increase his white magic ability) I cast several instances of Cure onto him. I continued to do this, since we continued to fight near each other. I even got the chance to return the goblin-slaying favor when he was attacked while attacking another goblin. In these quests, I was able to level up faster (but still below par to most users) than I have before.
With higher levels comes better armor and weapons. I finally obtained a sword and armor that was available to LVL 1 players, and that was with the aid of yet another generous player. I was able to get new boots and leather body armor for about 600 gil (that’s a lot for me right now) less than just the body armor was at the AH (FFXI-talk for the Auction House), where players sell their “used” gear for normally far higher than the in-town shopkeeps. Thing is, the shopkeeps don’t have EVERYTHING. And all I had to do was ask where I could get armor. Sweet, sweet anti-social player to player interaction. I feel dirty now.
Written By: Chad Phillips
