Reeks of desperation.

Ok, come on, this is just pathetic. Have the RMT really gotten this desperate? I mean they aren't even trying anymore. Back in the day, the RMT operations were intricate, well crafted and even innovative. Today, they can't even get the game right. I mean, come on, Gold? Realms? Come on guys, lets put some effort into this, at least get the freaking game right...

Anyway, lets see, what to go over today. Well, I guess the first thing is that Absolute Virtue still isn't dead. And if it wasn't killed this weekend then that likely means that it isn't going to be killed. Here's the problem. The video SE released didn't make a bit of difference in the key places that have to be fixed in order to defeat AV. Manafont Meteor can not be dealt with at any time. It is a one-hit kill of an alliance, and unless a definite, repeatable way to prevent it from happening is discovered, AV is unbeatable. Repeatable Benediction is another definitive killer, and we haven't even gotten that far yet. This AV video could have every clue we could ever need to beat AV, but it is like discovering an Egyptian burial hall before the discovering the Rosetta Stone. We know there is information there, and we know that it is important, but we have no way to interpret it. We have no context for what we need to be doing, for how we need to be approaching this and most importantly for how we should use this information. We don't need more hieroglyphics, we need some kind of way to translate this information from what we see into something we can understand and use. We can sit and try to discover this bit by bit, but we will be here forever without some kind of context. The next person to interview SE, be it NA, JP or EU, has a responsibility to ask them directly how we are supposed to use this information and how it is supposed to help us. Even if it ruins their reputation and relationship with SE, they must not let this pass any longer. We need direct answers, because at this point, Absolute Virtue even more of a mystery than it was before, and at some point SE is being irresponsible and inconsiderate to its player base. If they want to have us figure it out, that is fine, but we need fucking context, not hints and clues that mean nothing without it.

Am I as frustrated as everyone else? Definitely, and I am SE's number one apologist. This is just fucking ridiculous. Someone needs to break into SE's offices and look at the mob coding for AV.

In other news, some interesting happenings in Salvage as always. First things first, Saturday morning we did a SSR run with LAC as our goal. And it finally dropped something we needed: The Bodb's cuffs went to Crlmsonking after Eternalpain passed them to her. She went right out and got her stack of Bloodwood Lumber and handed them in, so the very next morning she had a brand to pair of Morrigan's Cuffs. We still have a ton of people that can use both the Bodb's Cuffs and Ea's Brais from LAC. On Sunday night we did a Bhaflau farming run. Mad Bomber was up, so we were able to do the first, second and third floor Ramparts, and shockingly enough we didn't see one god damned NM for the entire run. The bees now haunt my dreams. How I lust for my Usukane Sune-ate... well, at least we have 4 completed pieces now, and I think things might improve a little more because I have been invited to do some runs with Blaize and Espera's group, and they are probably one of the best Salvage LS's on the server. I am going to do two runs a week with them I believe. Probably on Saturday and Tuesday night, so that means either reworking the Tuesday night run that I currently do with Versus or removing it from the schedule altogether. I am leaning toward the later because I think it will help everyone conserve on their Assault points, and it will let me learn from the other group on how I can make our runs better. Let me say this, while I think our Salvage group is pretty darn good at this point, we still have a lot to learn. There are three things that we could really learn from Blaize and Espera's group. First, lotting on cells and knowing who is more important and less important for gear without being told what to lot. Second, knowing what to do and where to go in each zone. We have been doing many of these zones over and over and we are still having problems with people just standing around waiting for instructions or going the wrong way. Third, taking instructions on the fly. There are times when a lot of time can be saved by splitting the group to do two things at once, but being able to pick up on-the-fly instruction is key to this. That being said, our group does have a very good perspective on some aspects that the other group does not do. We do a lot more MNK pulling and Counterstance tanking on multiple mobs on the the first and second floors where Counterstance is devastating to the mobs. Not only does this focus damage in one place, but it puts damage and hate on mobs that are still yellow to protect the mages. Sleeping multiple mobs runs risks, especially in a situation with low HP, MP and few that can use magic. It's all a learning experience, and I am willing to learn.

All that being said, my experience with the other group was fun and exciting. They move very quickly, and I was a bit afraid about not passing fast enough (a couple of times I was a bit slow but it wasn't that bad) and since I was the new guy I got to lot last on cells which was fine by me. I didn't get a legs cell at all, and since none dropped during the Bhaflau run we did last night, that made two full runs without pants (it's chilly in the Remnants LOL)! Anyway, they do kill faster than we do in general, for two reasons I think. They just run into rooms and kill everything fast with no hesitation and they engage mobs first then pop cells. Their goal for the run was to do the NMs on the first floor, both on the second floor, the third floor one that drops cells, the sixth floor which pops after killing 4 previous NMs (or in the case of Jakko popping it) and then the Boss, Battleclad Chariot. All went pretty well, and they adapted an idea I heard previously for popping the NM on the first floor. They cleared a wing, leaving only one person who hasn't used any cells, as soon as the Don Poroggo is dead, everyone but that one person with no cells logs out, counts to ten, then logs back in. This will pop the Poroggo Madame on the first floor without having to waste time without cells. The first floor Madame got a couple of Frog Choruses off (I hadn't set my filters correctly so I missed it when it used it on someone else in the other party) but we dealt with it and moved on. The second floor was cleared very quickly, and the parties were split to deal with the NM and spawn Jakko to be able to zone up fast. The third floor was just a kill fest, and the fourth and fifth floors were basically skipped. On the sixth floor, I got off a Shoulder Tackle to stun the only Frog Chorus the Madame tried to use so at least I felt useful for that. LOL We then cleared the floor, and I definitely learned how to pull this floor effectively. Essentially, there is a Chariot that when engaged will spawn a bunch of other Archaic Gear and Gears. They pulled the Chariot into one of the side rooms, then split four people off to deal with the Chariot and the other 6 people killed the two Gears that link to it and then pull the rest of the room. Very fast and effective. The boss fight was actually a bit anti-climatic in that I just got to stand there absorbing damage. LOL It was down pretty quickly, and with effective positioning, Shell 5, as much HP gear as I had on me, and a Chakra, I didn't even have to pull back until it was dead. It was fun, and I am happy to go again and learn more. :)

Ok, enough about Salvage. LOL Lets talk about my jobs for a minute, because I just wasted a ton of Ancient Beastcoins on a Charger Mantle and I'm proud.
Now, you could say this was a huge waste of gil, because I could have sold the coins, but I share my coins in Omoi and we don't sell them. At least not yet, maybe after I finally get my NIN AF+1 hands we will start selling them to help fund Omoi's Gungnir. Anyway, the point is that I have it for my MNK now which is pretty cool, and moves me one step closer to my perfect MNK build. My MNK was basically built for Salvage as is, with Penance and Invigorate capped as I believe those are the best for Salvage. Now, I will not use the Charger Mantle for Salvage, because I use my Cerberus Mantle there for the enmity along with Olibanum Sachet instead of Tiphia Sting just because the HP loss just isn't worth the gain to me. Now that my MNK is done merit-wise, I have been finishing up SAM and I will soon be done with that too. I am at 4 saved merit points, needing one more for Meditate level 5. Then its just nine more until I have everything I need for SAM.

It's time to go home, so the quick wrap up.

Don't think too many head up the Range anymore if this is up: No drop. Saw this in Campaign: I have no idea why there is a Cactaur running around allied with the Windurst side. Potpressure got Scholar to 75 in a party with me. He is the first person I know personally that has Scholar to 75. Congrats! ^.^/ Finally, I think this pic was pretty cool looking, besides the fact that everyone is in a cool battle stance, the Aern is miscolored from Potty's Noctohelix and it caused this sweet Negative Aern look. More on completing SAM and MNK tomorrow.