Maiev and Otak by Petisu!

To Heavensward

Long time no write! I meant to write a bit more but have been busy. I’ve got a lot of experience to share playing “just” healers role and a separate toon “just” DPS role. I’ll add later.

Anyway, I’ve been so stoked by the FFXIV Heavensward Trailer OST and dug hard! I finally found it and made it more beautiful :) (it had other sound track blend in, took awhile to polish the end part).

The storyline of FFXIV is so amazing! Just as good as Game of Thrones! See you in Heavensward!

Download: (10.3MB, 320kbps)
FFXIV – Heavensward Trailer OST (No Sound Effects) :)

Live Listen:
[audio:http://www.staronion.com/maiev/download/FFXIV – Heavensward Trailer OST (No Sound Effects).mp3]

YouTube with Trailer:

I have no idea which piece or where this music is, found it but pretty damn nice :3

Live Listen:
[audio:http://www.staronion.com/maiev/download/~ad64a8e.mp3]

The post FFXIV Heavensward Trailer OST appeared first on the StarOnion - FFXI Fenrir to FFXIV Excalibur.

Maiev and Otak in FFXIV v1!

The Debate to Play or Not!

For one thing, I would have never thought I’d continue writing this blog. I honestly thought my MMO Legacy would end in FFXI, with a Kraken Club equipped.

I was going through the same debate that went through with BG Russta – a long time FFXI elite player. Anyone that play FFXI since release, were probably people who had lots of time on their hand (eg. College, basement dwellers). That was in 2003 so fast forward 11 years, most of those MMO players would be entering their 30’s where life greets them with other responsibility like employment or other commitment.

Kudos to Russta because he gave it a try! To be honest, I had a lot more time when I stop paying fo FFXI. However, I was still playing games. FFXI blinded me from many awesome games. I had time to enjoy Portal, Team Fortress, Dead Space, League of Legends, Zelda (actually finish Twilight Princess), some NDS game and hell even break out FFIX and enjoyed it. I realize how much of an addict I was with MMO. But if I were to go back 11 years in time, I would have done the same.

How Fleurette Luluya felt about old v1 Ul’dah!

What kept me starting FFXIV?

The single most important factor that kept me from starting was.. I felt betrayed in FFXIV v1. It was such a letdown; a bad dream. There was so much hype and as soon as I start playing, I felt this game had no future. I also played WoW and with 2 MMO under my belt, I know what is fun and what is just cash grab. Your wallet is the best voting power for the game. I ended up quitting at lv16 Marauder in v1. I couldn’t take it. I stop paying.

I had so much hope, even got together with some bloggers to write FFXIV. The game made everything fell apart and into shambles.

As much as I hated most of v1, I did like some part of it.. like the nicer graphics. :) For those that really play v1, I’m sure they miss those epic obtaining AF moment, almost felt like Lv50 limit break Ancient Papyrus days.

Here’s what Fleurette Luluya felt about v1 and v2 :)
[audio:http://www.staronion.com/maiev/nfblog/wp-content/uploads/chamostuff_i_can_see_uldah.mp3]
Author: chamostuff Tumblr

Otak wanted to play FFXIV!

Fast Forward to FFXIV v2 ARR

When ARR released, I was pretty determined not to play. Being naturally competitive, missing the get-go date was devastating but that’s what I wanted, but I thought that was all that it took for me to not play.

However, as time went by, friends kept pounding me to play. Friends that used to be e-friends. These are people that I met in RL, with a face and with hugs. I wasn’t going to play until Otak decided :) that was enough to move me and subscribe. I started playing on December 25! Since then, I have to again, agree with Russta. I liked the game.

Coming from FFXIV v1, it was a big change. But those change weren’t all that hard to adopt because.. it literally felt like World of Warcraft. It was like, riding a bike. You touched it, you already have a feel where everything are. I knew where keys should go or what each function does. It was a comforting feeling. The learning curve wasn’t sleep, it was mostly “vocabulary” like iLvl, LL, MT, Turn 1 etc…”

Maiev and Calaera meetup in FFXVI!

For the Social Experience

To me, FFXIV was also about staying connected with gamer friends. I’ve got a few RL friends in my town that also plays. It was good for a common topic. It was also something that I missed in League of Legends. If one thing I missed during this non-MMO days, all the games I play was short, non-community based and was fill with trolls. This was more apparent in League of Legends. When you are the failing team, you just fail because someone then likes to troll and feed. FFXI for one thing, gave you accountability. You not only have to manage your virtual life, but with 1 name, you also have to manage your reputation. You don’t really have that in Team Fortress or League of Legends. You troll, report and never see each other again.

Finding Time

The last barrier that I had to overcome was, the time I am going to spend. After playing for a couple of months. I have to honestly say, this game can be played by a casual player. Working as an Enterprise IT Admin, I have quite a lot of work and responsibility. However, you can’t work 24/7 and since I’m managing my time very well, I end up with quite a lot of time at night. I can manage to squeeze an hour into games. It’s a stress relief for me and to relax and button smash in Crystal Tower.

I’m only spending 1-2hrs per day on this. Some evenings I don’t even play. Just go home and sleep so I obviously got time to spare.

With me getting back to FFXIV, of course I had to continue this blog. It was too epic not to continue! See you next entry because… Maiev Taru Lala is back! Hell ya baby.

If you are a casual player thinking of starting FFXIV. Here’s a few pointer.

• If you are a Final Fantasy player and not really into MMO. Put it this way, you can complete the whole mission/storyline in 40-60 days. I did it in 40 and that’s casual. Casual meaning.. if I do not have bonus Exp, I do not play. If you want the storyline, just pay for 2 months, complete the mission then quit. I know some friends who did exactly that.
• Limit yourself 1 job/class. Not only you don’t need to learn other jobs and gearing n’th amount of other jobs, the weekly limit allows you to really.. gear 1 class type only without much effort. The effort of gearing a second job/class grows exponentially.
• You’re already late, so don’t worry about being 1337. There are over 2m players, being the top 5 percentile is nearly impossible.. unless of course, you are not a casual player. Accept that fact and you’re okay to casual.

Credit: Front page SS by Palmo Violet

Oh yea… not to mention. So much entertainment vids of FFXIV LOL

Reminds me of good old WoW days lol.

I’ll leave these links in .. videos that makes you re-evaluate FFXIV.

• Top 10 Reason to play ARR
• Eorzea continue from v1
• FFXIV Launch Trailer for v2

The post Lets play FFXIV! appeared first on the StarOnion - FFXI Fenrir to FFXIV Excalibur.

Otak & Mai in New Zealand by lurazeda!

the StarOnion is a Christmas Blog!

Lets see.. my last post was 2012 Christmas, 2011 Christmas and 2010 Christmas! I think we get it, its a Christmas blog LOL :). I know, Otak and Mai still reminisce about FFXI a lot. We really like this game, just that it turned a little too old and ran out of steam for the most part… well more like me. Otak still wants to play haha. Guys like me just can’t take errr.. a decade old graphics :( Too spoiled by Zelda Skyward Sword (LOL), I mean… Dead Space 3.

Oh, Otak and Mai also started playing Portal 2 lulz… was on sale awhile earlier so we bought it :) some nice fun for sure!~

Otak Mai was Born! Dec 25 2013 in XIV!!

FFXIV & Gaming

I know most of you would ask if we will ever start FFXIV. So far all talk no action. (I had to change this post) because LOL, I am actually subscribed and just waiting for Otak to create a character. I do try odd things… but getting torn from FFXIV v1 was definitely a big part but giving things a 2nd try is also part of me I guess :)

Here we are though. It needed a lot of convincing for sure. We’ve finally both started XIV-ing. We are on Excalibur. When you see my name, you will know it is me :)

I know, I wish I can play on multiple servers… and play with everybody and everything is in one world. Thank you though :( for wanting to take us into your family. We’ve decided to be on Excalibur instead since many friends are on this server and we felt this is the place where we can have both a nice experience and enjoy casual play.

Considering last time I play FFXI since the day it release (Oct 22, 2003, I still have receipt) LOL… I think those are my hardcore days. This time, I will read ALL cinematic texts and literally do it casually LOL.

I need your support! In not making this hardcore mode LOL. I have RL friends on other servers who are so hardcore.. I had to avoid that. Else we’d be bringing laptops over to my place and exp-ing all day.

BUT, I am hoping to just do it casually :) debating if I should continue using this blog though :) it’d be epic, 2 MMO all on one lol :)

Portal 2 for Mai & Otak

Christmas Card 2013 & RL

Omg 6th year doing it! Obviously this year I slack off a ton! :) Just been way too busy :) Getting harder to find time.. It’s December 17 and I’m still writing lol :< 10 years ago all I had in life was FFXI :) I go home, write a few post on bluegartr, hop onto FFXI and start camping HNM for 9 hours (Genbu, Behemoth then Fafnir LOL). Now life's gotten so much busier. Well... partly because of heavy work and partly because so much stuff going on in life and you now have to make time up somewhere. Lets put it this way, I can use some organization in using my time more efficiently. Too bad most of them usually goes to napping LOL (or my latest favorite activity - board gaming) hehehe! Oh, I actually recently logged onto FFXI using that free return to Vana'diel.. yea its empty :( Windower 4 is beautiful though :D! Anyway, this year is simply a picture of us in New Zealand :) drawn by Otak. Yes, we went there and did some crazy things as you see in your card :) We saw a lot more and had a good time. We also went to NYC as well and walked around museums and Manhattan etc... we had fun and generally, spending time together not just in TaruTaru form, but in RL form LOL :) If you read it this far, yea we're both thinking of FFXIV :) once we find time availability :) Though I have to say we are looking for casual play this time :) hence I kinda stop playing when it comes out. That way I'm purposely falling behind :) I had my taste of end-game FFXI and I think I achieved a lot in FFXI. I don't need to taste that again :) I'll let others do it. I hope you like our simple cards! See you again next year and of course, thanks for leaving a comment and reading it so far :)

The post Miss Mai and Mr Otak’s Card – 2013 appeared first on the StarOnion - FFXI Fenrir to FFXIV Excalibur.

Tazo FFXI and Teemo in LoL by lurazeda!

Christmas Again

So!!!! Hello everyone! Thanks for taking the time to drop by :) I love Christmas Cards :) as much as I’m a techie and like “digital” stuff, I still like… paper for Christmas :) Again, if you don’t feel like reading my wall of text/update, feel free to TELEPORT right below!

So… a year went by so quickly that it’s time to make Christmas Cards again :) Many stuff has changed etc… but in regards to Mai and Otak, yes we are doing great, better than ever :)! Which I’ll tell you below!!!!

We didn’t do an April Fools.. since we didn’t had any good idea! Didn’t make any progress with FFXI of course… but I will keep this “ancient” blog up :) I love this little blog :) too much sweat and blood on this thing lol!

But oh man.. one year for two post… I’m seriously failing in blogging :< lol!

FF9’s Touchy Moment!

Gaming

So this year’s gaming… I tried Diablo III, that was a huge disappointment! Good thing I did not buy the collector’s edition :) I haven’t really play other things except for PC games. I did play a few other games like.. Portal 2, Team Fortress 2, Elder Scroll V Skyrim, I FINISH Twilight Princess 1 week after Skyward Sword is out (oh yea, I do need to finish that LOL.. not even 1st dungeon). I play FF9 this year on my BlackBerry Playbook emulator :), almost finishing FF7! Other than that, all my time spent on playing League of Legends!!!! I’m a pure support player :) like RDM… you know lol! I always think I’ve got all the support thing thought out… all the little detail.. like opportunity cost etc :)

Come join Mai in LoL. When you signup an account with this link, I’ll know :) http://signup.leagueoflegends.com/?ref=4e556180c8ecb224550861

In regards to FF7 and FF9. After playing them back to back, I do think FF9 have a better story :) It’s so sweet especially the ending. But since FF7 is the first “3d” rpg, I think it got a better hype :) I also took the time to take “screenshot” throughout the FF7/FF9 journey :) Feel free to view them in my Final Fantasy VII or Final Fantasy IX gallery!

Common, how do you not say FF9 is better! Well, here’s the spoiler! The FF9 ending. Start form around 16:45 in that video :) Best part is… 28:45! So touchy :3

FFXIV? Well we’re really waiting to see how 2.0 rolls out. We’re both quite disappointed in many ways that.. it doesn’t seem right to continue/invest time into that game. Monthly fee is not a lot, but it does adds up :) and we want to make sure we’re really getting happiness from playing it. 50 bucks buys a LOT of cool skin in LoL, and I compare that “happiness” with the ones I get from FFXIV. If I don’t get something equivalent, then its hard to devote time into a game that doesn’t bring you any “utility”!

Writing Christmas Cards and Spectate!

Christmas Card 2012

My 5th year doing Christmas Cards :) Perks for being Mai gaming buddy :) Well, not really perks since I’m not giving you all free starbucks card!!! But you know… just something special :) to remind you gaming is awesome :) Gaming friends is just 100% a lot cooler!!!!

If you missed my previous ones or never gotten previous ones, here’s what they look like :)

• 2011 Christmas Card
• 2010 Christmas Card
• 2008 Christmas Card
• 2006 Christmas Card

I’d post looks of the card, but maybe once most people got it :) to keep the surprises for everyone :D!

Artwork by Petisu/Aaagh!

You know :) since I’ve done it for SO MANY YEARS!!!! One would have to invent better ways to write 60 cards :) :) without consuming my life :) So I’m sure once you received my cards, you’d understand why I did what I did LOL :) :)!!!!!! Though.. fuk me :( the damn cards was like $180 total lol…

This year’s card.. have 3 versions. Since there is a minimum of 10 cards to print, I can’t really personalize each one like I did before :( However, this year’s design was done by your fellow artist friend :) including!

• aaagh
• arisutan
• kim-mariet
• lurazeda
• wickedz

I’m sure you’d break out laughing once you see how I accelerate my Christmas Card process, do feel free to post pictures of it :) I always love seeing those!

I know some of you peeps still play FFXI! By all means make a comment below so fellow Fenrir/Mai Friends would be able to read and see who’s all playing what :) :) a simple way to stay connected guys :) :)!!!!!

I’d pick someone who I bought artwork from / got gifted artwork for a 30 dollar prize :) not sure who haha. Random pick from Mai FFXI/XIV artwork gallery maybe :D

Mai&Otak’s Finland 2012 Vacation!

RL

Mai and Otak been doing awesome :) you might get a card with our faces on it… depends! :D There you have it :D! We’re still traveling and having fun :) We went to visit a few places but this time, we went to Sweden, Finland and Estonia and I don’t know any FFXI buddies that lives there so I didn’t really get to see any FFXI people this year :( maybe during Christmas when I goto NYC :) We’ll see :)

Otherwise, life is good, work is good! Everything is going great :) :) Though, remember to stay in touch :)

Can always simply twitter me :) http://www.twitter.com/maiev or http://www.twitter.com/karla :) Don’t worry, I try not to be boring and I don’t bite!

Merry Christmas :) Remember to also leave your game that you’re playing and the character name / whatever information needed for me/other FFXi players to add you :)

Btw, all my envelope is just taped :) if you feel cheap and wanna return me a card, simply shove in what you want in there, seal it with water this time instead of tape and cross out your own address, as if it was “wrong/undeliverable address/wrong person/doesn’t exist” and dump it back into the mailbox :) though no guarantee it works! It’d be interesting to try :) :) mail should return to me LOL!!! Plz someone try :D!

Replying also consent that you want another one next year :) my list got too big :< I guess those that can't read and leave messages and leave a comment here didnt care much so no cards!

The post Mai & Otak Chrismas Card 2012 appeared first on the StarOnion - FFXI Fenrir to FFXIV Excalibur.

Christmas Card – 17 Versions

Quick Blurbs

Hello everyone =) Thanks for dropping by :) I want to track from year to year who actually gets it so even if you hehe, decided not to read the wall of text, just leave me a message/comment by teleporting right below!

Oh, Mai is also thinking of hosting a contest of drawing lovely Mai & Otak :) Details below as well.

(Please no tweet/emails :P its easier for me to pull up a post and check comment ONE YEAR FROM NOW! :D!) I looked at comments haha, of who actually got it and make sure you get one this year :D!

Btw! If you missed out on this year Mai & Otak’s errr.. April Fools, be sure to check it out LOL! The comment is super entertaining =) LOL THANKS FOR PLAYING :D :D :D!

AND, during this year, I’ve COMPLETELY tagged ALL my screenshot :P with characters, like Facebook tagging :D! You might find yourself on my screenshot/chatlog/alliance member :D!

Christmas Card delivery! Mailman was mad!

Mai & Otak’s Christmas Card 2011

It’s been Mai’s 4th year doing Christmas Card to my gamer friends. I don’t even make them for my RL friends (if they don’t play games!). Gamer friends is just a lot cooler right? :) You are all a big part of who I am and :) I wanted to say even if I don’t see or ever met you before, you’re still important to Mai :)

The mailman was SO MAD delivering my cards… he had to breakout his trolleys :3 instead of putting it in his bags. He was like WTF is all these LOL :D! well 17 versions. 5 card per box.. that’s about right… lol Actually… it was delivered to Istari :D then Istari routed it back to Canada for me :D!

Here’s my previous 2. I think I skipped a year… maybe not. Somebody plz confirm xD! LOL

• Christmas Card 2010
• Christmas Card 2008

If you got hehe my previous one, zomg line em up for a picture and post under comment :O! They were so uniquely crafted for you that I no longer know what’s inside or outside ;; if only I can keep one for myself ;; but haha a pic would make me feel warm :D! Especially those that says THEY FRAMED IT (lol) Now that needs a PIC! *ahem Wicked/Jayashaya*

Anyway! You might get any of the 17 versions :) they come in various quantity ;) VARIOUS SIZES (like even ones that are like… 2cm high :D LOL) I just randomly select one out of the bucket :) Though I hehe, do try to personalize it =) not just Joy and Happy type stuff…. lolz. If you’ve drawn Mai a Kiriban/Commission/Gift of some sort, then I’ve sent you the one with your artwork as the front =)

This year’s Christmas Card is based on Otak’s FFXI fanbook design (she’s even got a few more of the fanbook if you wanna buy :-) ). Essentially, it’s a mini one :) But the art inside isn’t Otak’s artwork, but artwork from TONS of various artists :) All the artwork is about Mai and Otak :) spreading our Taru love throughout the Christmas =) I really love this card, its like a feature gallery, but everybody gets a paper copy of it :D!

All the Kiriban’s, commissions or gifts made after Nov 2010 was put into this year’s Christmas Card and due to limited space, I’ve made 17 versions of the Christmas Card =) With arts from artist including (alphabetical order).

Since I wasn’t able to include Blackash’ wonderful Christmas-Themed drawing in my Christmas Card, I’ve included here for everyone’s viewing pleasure =)

Dryopae, Petisu and Mai on Snow Day – by Blackash

• aaagh
• ainiwaffles
• blackash
• cactuar
• cynthea83
• demachic
• dhkite
• eiffelart
• ivloongoddess83
• lovelydagger
• mirroredsky
• neosorcerer
• priestessofpie
• rinielenika
• shiyu-chan
• sorasha
• vinhnyu
• witheringmoon
• xmireille-chanx

You can find the details of individual art pieces here, including link to the artist =)

Art… brings me a lot of happiness. It brings me more happiness than going out buying new pairs of shoes or clothes =) That’s just how much I love them :D! Loving art for me.. is a lifestyle :3 So I thought it’d be a nice time to share Mai & Otak’s love by sharing with everyone the artwork creations from various artists!

We stopped playing FFXI but still hops on from time to time for chats and giggles. We wish FFXIV was the way it’s suppose to be but it kinda dropped the balls. Lets hope XIV 2.0 will fix everything =)

The card is on its way to various places around the Globe, from Netherlands, Australia, Japan and United States =) I sent out the furthest one first and the closer one later :)

I hope you all enjoy Mai cards =) Iffff, you also have my previous one or kept it haha, I’d love to see them lined up :D! Take a pic and posted as comments below! I’ve never made or left one for myself ;; so :( sometimes I don’t even remember what it was ;;

Mai’s Cards – DIY

Oh, if you ever wonder how Mai create those Polaroid of your artwork/pictures etc, I actually use this machine :D! The paper is around $1.50 per piece.

For the cards, Mai used Picaboo. I used some other printing companies but I found Picaboo’s UI is very nice, easy to use. I pre-edit everything in Photoshop, import it to Picaboo and bam its done. They have various promotion. There’s always a promotion. The best one I’ve seen is 40% off order + free shipping. But those are like off-periods like.. June.. when nobody needs cards lol.

The card you are getting is either 100gsm (2.49/card) or 130gsm (2.99/card). If you draw Mai something, you have the thinner one since I can do low orders like 5 copies. The thick ones are 130gsm and they are in quantities of 10 increment.

If you happen to use Picabbo =) feel free to use the referral link so I get $10 :D Even if you print a single card, I’m happy xD! You can also ask Ainiwaffles, Blackash, PriestessOfPie :) they also used Picaboo before. :D! Let me know if you do use the link =) I’ll be sure to send you back a card next year LOL D:!

Also, these cards requires oil-based pen to write on. You can use… ball pen but they look not that great. Some cards I try to be fancy and used a silver… obviously it was a fail…

Mai /provoke Otak :3 – Switzerland

RL Mai and Otak

Many ask while I do address check of how’s life and love life. They are both going very well =) Otak and Mai went to Europe together and travel around Germany, Switzerland and Italy. Unfortunately we didn’t have the time to visit Jowah from Italy, Aaagh from Spain, Veronique from Belgium or Calaelen from Germany. We’ll try our bestest to get some FFXI nerd meetup in the future :)

We’ll probably take another Europe trip :D this time to Northern Europe. Now that we got a hang of Europe’s rail system, its easier to navigate around :) We’ve gotten a ton of Europe Exp now :D! Hopefully we’d get at least Lv37 in Europe Navigation skillz :D!

Daggy, Recheche, Mai and Aene – San Francisco

Visiting FFXI Friends

Mai also travelled to NYC to meet Tsunade, Chidorii, Special, Eleira, Sibe and Xariana =) we had a blast nerding out with other FFXI people :) In fact, we’ve gotten closer everytime. FFXI meetup are best times ever ;) I enjoy every meet up xD

Mai also went to San Francisco this year and met up with Daggy, Cheche, Aene and Keiffa. Mai also took a trip to Vancouver to meet up with Jtaru/YarlyRagnarok and Calaera.

There’s one common thing I found in every one of these meetup. We had SO SO SO SO SO much to talk about, that we NEVER had enough time to finish any of the conversation we started. The old school, the drama, BOTS!! (lol), events, HNM, gear and all the old-school LOL chat just gets more fun and… never on Earth I left these meetup with time to spare. Everyone I met was super awesome, very social able and just have endless amount of stuff to talk about :3 I enjoy every moment I had with them.

Kennen and Teemo Snuggle – LoL Fanart by Rinielenika

Current Games!

With smaller and smaller free time available, I’ve started playing League of Legends =) (haha I gifted everyone I know in FFXI who plays League of Legends… some riot points card!). I’m also in the Diablo 3 Beta and plays Skyrim. It’s quite a lot on my plate but these are the games I currently play :) Go find me there :D!

Battle.Net Diablo 3 Real ID Account: maiev at StarOnionDotCom / BattleTag: Maiev
League of Legends (LoL) Summoner ID: Maiev
Zelda Skyward Sword on Wii *lol I just finished Twilight Princess*
Skyrim
Occasional Team Fortress 2 (Steam: maievfenrir)
Simcity 3000 Unlimited (lol)

If you hehe, really wanna play d3, give me a shout and hehe maybe we could work something out :)

No, I don’t play Microsoft Flight Simulators!

I’m new to this LoL thing so… no where a Pro, still learning =) So come and play :D! The picture you see on the right was drawn by Rinielenika from Fenrir. They look like Taru’s but they are call Yordle in League of Legends (LoL). Rinielenika, Mai and Tazo is a huge fan of Yordles :D!

League of Legends is really noob-friendly, and you play with people that’s equivalent to your level :)_ If you play with Mai, drop me a line :)

If you don’t have an account :) Use this referral link. I could see your progress, level and accounts ;) (and maybe, even get $10 Riot points card! I send everyone I know who plays LoL a $10 Riot Points card this year!)

[Signup for League of Legends.]

Connecting with Mai

With I dunno what I’m doing it with my gaming life :x I dunno how to keep in touch with all you awesome people. So all I can say is follow Mai twitter xD! No worries if you don’t have twitter :) can always add me on aim: maievfenrir or email me maiev @ [mydomain].

I hope to stay in touch with everyone of you =) I miss you all :3

If you wish to return a card etc and need my address. Again, leave a message below and I’ll email you my address. You can also find my return address behind the envelope that came with the card. =) Except the cards that I wrote for YOUR kids :P since my return address on the cards that I wrote for your kids is…

Santa Claus
North Pole
H0H 0H0
Canada

…. which doesn’t really goto me… LOL so yea in that case, leave me a comment and I’ll reply with addy :)

OR…if you want to be hehe, cheap :D you can take my envelope, cross out my address infront as if it was mis-delivered and it’d bounce back to me LOL.. ok, you did not hear this one from me :D

Shayx’ Christmas Card

Mai and Otak’s Artwork Contest

So Mai is thinking of.. meh, its getting more rare and rare to see Final Fantasy XI artwork :3 of Tarus. So I thought maybe I can throw out a contest :) just draw Mai and Otak in any way or form and I could perhaps do something like this.

5 Entries or more to have this contest and…

5 Entries + : Winner gets a $50 usd prepaid gift card + a 16×20 print of their winning artwork, sent to their home =)
If entries passes 15: Winner gets $80 prepaid gift card + 16×20 print of their artwork. Runner up gets $50. I thought about offering commissions, but with gift cards, you can buy whatever commission you like or fuel more art supplies.

And entries would be used to create a 12 month calendar =) for 2013 LOL (yes, Mai is thinking that far)!

Regardless, a random contestant will be drawn out of a hat and get a 3 month DA sub.

Lemme know if anyone would be interested =) I’ll then iron out the details and post it on DA. If you leave a comment, I’d have your email so I’ll email you the details =)

[Self Note]: People that received their cards in 2011: Shaya, keiffa
http://chocopiesforever.tumblr.com/tagged/mai-karla-ffxi

The post Mai & Otak’s Christmas Card 2011 =) appeared first on the StarOnion - FFXI Fenrir to FFXIV Excalibur.

Otak’s Gift to Mai!

We’re getting Married!!

http://ffxiv.lalafella.com (Wedding Website)

Jeffrey & Karla (or Otak & Mai), finally reach the exp cap in our relationship! We’ve decided to go beat maat up and break the final tier of our Limit Break, exp to 75 and Merit!

I mean, we’re in so much love, can’t you just tell from the artwork she gave to me for my RL Birthday? :)

OMG Getting Married! /brag to Real-Life friends!

Anyway! I’m so excited to let everyone know that we’d be hosting our real wedding in Final Fantasy XIV (yes, the game). No, we didn’t do it through the Wedding Program like the one from Final Fantasy XI, it’d be just self organized wedding!

It’d be the wedding where both RL friends and e-friends come together and celebrate omg :O!

If you read this, you are already invited to our wedding!

Jeff & Karla’s Avatar in FFXI/FFXIV

For the details of our Final Fantasy XIV wedding, please visit

http://ffxiv.lalafella.com <-- Wedding Website! For RSVP, simply leave a comment on this post! It's super simple! Once you leave a comment (with the correct email), we'd be sending you further details in regards to our wedding! If for some odd reason you cannot post comment below, simply email RSVP to rsvp at staronion dot com! Hope to see you on 1st Sun of the 2nd Umbral Moon, 2012! <3 Jeff & Karla

Happy April Fools!

The post Otak and Mai getting Married! appeared first on the StarOnion - FFXI Fenrir to FFXIV Excalibur.

Maiev and Otak’s 2010 Christmas Cards!

Holy, this blog is alive!

I haven’t posted for 9 months. Yes, swamped with various tasks :< but finally done with most of them, including writing my Christmas Cards! I've made 5 version of this card. The front is all the same :) An art piece drawn by Otak name “Let it Snow Let it Snow!” It was a Christmas drawing prepared one year ago lolz! Of course, the Taru you see infront is Mai and Otak :)

4 Versions are BIG! The last version is tiny ones :P Hay! Doesn’t mean you’re less important if you get the small one! :D

Inside is… personalized! You’ll have to get yours to find out :) I wrote it in red! Don’t take it wrong! I did it purely for festivities! Also, red is a lucky color! Maybe I’d win the Mog Bonanza for writing cards!

Infront of the cards, is Otak’s 2010 Christmas present for Mai :D All those little dolls :D She knew I didn’t buy those little Shantotto FFXI taru set, so she made me Otak and Mai :D! <3 Anyway! The cards are already on its way to various places around the globe. Some went to JP, some went to Europe, but most of them are just going to United States =) of course, one is heading to Hong Kong (I wonder who '.')! Just want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas =) & and Happy New Year! I'd be doing some traveling so by the time most of you get your card, I won't actually be here to see your reaction, but you can always leave a comment that I would be able to check on random computer terminals =) I'd love to read all those comments ;D! One last thing! Sorry if I missed you :< I went through like 2k comments on my blog to ensure I didn’t miss anyone ‘~” or I try :O! There’s always another chance! I love to do cards (though it takes a hella a lot of time!) so don’t you worry!

Merry Christmas!

On the side: The Christmas 2008 Cards =) Nekeed Taru :D

The post Got your Christmas Cards yet? =) appeared first on the StarOnion - FFXI Fenrir to FFXIV Excalibur.

Distant Worlds in Toronto!

Distant Worlds 2010

Yes, it’s almost been 3 weeks lolz! I should have done this long ago! So basically… 3 weeks ago I went to Distant Worlds (duh!). I went with Tazo and five other friends. We ate at the nearby Marche then just cross the street to the concert :D! I suddenly had a craving of that night’s performance, so I’ve decided to really finish the typing for this post :D!

The concert was at Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, which was also the same hall where Play! A Video-game Symphony performed their pieces back in 2006!

Distant Worlds seating, the $3x, the $6x, the $10x and the Nobuo Uematsu price $13x. I took the $6x along with my friends, but hell I’d take the Nobuo Uematsu price $13x if only… I had a friend who’s also willing to dish out that price :D

Upon entering, I saw the souvenir store! I’d buy the shirt but meh, I ended up just grabbing two Distant Worlds CD’s as a sign of support!~ Here’s the list of songs on those disks :)

After taking my seat, I looked around for DS. 4 years ago, all the nerds took out their NDS and use Pictochat! However, the same type of nerds wern’t here anymore :( But then I guess Video Game Symphony contains a lot more Nintendo-based music, so it was normal for them to own a DS. Whereas, FF fans don’t necessary own a DS.. since if anything, we dump all our time on XI and XIV lolz.

Btw, Nobuo Uematsu was sitting over here!

Orchestrated by the Kitchener/Waterloo Symphony, they were also the one which performed the Play Symphony – an outstanding group of musicians :D!

Below is the entire first half of the performance! (I’ll comment below)

Let’s Re-live the party :)

1. FF VIII – Liberi Fatali
2. FF Series – Victory Theme
3. FF X – To Zanarkand
4. FF VIII – Don’t be Afraid
5. FF VII – Aerith’s Theme
6. FF I to III – Assorted Melody
7. FF V – Dear Friends
8. FF IV – Vamo alla Flamenco
9. FF VII – JENOVA
10. FF XI – Ronfaure
11. FF V – Clash on the Big Bridge

Quick Comment for 1st half:

I loved the victory surprises lolz, FF X theme was so touchy :D, Aerith, it’s great, but I remember the Play Syphony did it better, at least the visual was synchronized with the music. The FF I to III melody was nice, and so is dear friends. Vamo all Flamenco was VERY NICE :D, I LOVED THIS SONG :D!, Jenova (again, having went to Play, it was alright). Ronfaure… the MUSIC was nice, the graphics that went with it… didn’t quite fit lolz.

— Intermission (where I found Yuna, but not Nobuo Uematsu with no success lolz! —

1. FF VII – Bombing Mission
2. FF VIII – Fisherman’s Horizon
3. FF XI – Memoro de la Stono
4. FF XIII – Fabula Nova Crystallis
5. FF XIII – Blinded by Light
6. FF XIV – Navigator’s Glory
7. FF XIV – Primal Judgement
8. FF XIV – Swing de Chocobo
9. FF VI – Opera – Maria and Draco
10. FF VI -Terra’s Theme
11. FF VII – One-Winged Angel

Quick Comment for 2nd half:

Bombing mission was awesome… Fisherman’s Horizon was… GOOD, but nothing beats Memoro de la Stono. Lets just put it this way, having play the story as well, you feel a little attached to the music. But you can obviously hear a lot of people don’t play XI, the clap was significantly less when they finish the piece. Fabula Nova… was okay to me. Blinded by Light was… um… I guess I didn’t play the story, hard to comment. Then we have XIV’s Navigator’s Glory (Limsa Lominsa Theme) which was awesome :D (I got bored of the one in XIV :<). Primal Judgement was um... the performance was good :D but I wish they performed like the... FFXIV theme music :D! Of course, Swing de Chocobo was a good addition :D. MY FAVORITE :D is the Maria and Draco's Opera performance :O! When they roll in the Terra's Theme with Credits, I really thought it was over (thinking.. how could they not have One-Winged Angel). and yep, rolled in One Winged Angel, and you'd see the conductor dragging on Nobuo to the Orchestra and sing along LOL

General Comment

Not having the program sucks. Play! Symphony had them for sale… for like $8. I’d buy it :). I actually like those stuff >.> too bad it’s

I’d give it maybe 95/100 :D The 5 points is probably some wrong-usage of cut scene to the music. Some was very nice, which even bought humor. However, some could have been better, especially XI, VII Aerith’s Theme, XIV, V’s Dear Friends. The musical performance, just the music was stunning :O especially how it was live.

Knowing FF XIV wasn’t doing too great, they didn’t really go a great deal into promoting it, keeping Distant Worlds “Distant Worlds”, and not XIV Distant Worlds.

Having went to Play! Symphony a few years ago, I’d like this one more due to personal preference and love with FF series and Nobuo Uematsu’s music. Everything was very fluid, and I have to encourage everyone to goto the next one :D! (They just need to do more promotion, because I found out a few of my friends would have went, if only they KNEW about it – -“).

I really enjoyed it! OMG I even wanna goto the next one >.> in Chicago lolz (It’s close to me!)

Digital Download of FF XIV Twilight over Thanalan, Beneath Bloodied Banners

In case you didn’t catch it, it’s only a dollar to get the latest performance of XIV pieces directly from FF Distant World’s website. Download away!

The post FF Distant Worlds 2010 Toronto appeared first on the StarOnion - FFXI Fenrir to FFXIV Excalibur.

FFXIVBlog Version 2 - a Final Fantasy XIV Fansite

It was a very fun fansite to maintain while it lasted. It sparked a few fansites of their own after FFXIVBlog is no longer maintained so I’m quite happy :) I worked with quite a few fantastic people which I later on met them in real life :) FFXIVBlog was truly an amazing experience :) Now with crapware :< The site was born as soon as Final Fantasy XIV was announced (code name, Raptor). I was a hardcore Final Fantasy XI player and... due to dated graphics, many of my friends have since departed to other MMO while XIV was being made. Final Fantasy XIV was supposingly to be the gaming platform where my Final Fantasy Xi friends unite and play as a linkshell. Unfortunately due to some... bad planning in Square-Enix part, the game was not as successful as it should have been and had since then made many of my friends as well as myself, to lose interest of the game. I really really wanted it to be good but unfortunately, no matter how hard I try, it falls in almost every aspect of the game. I just can't ask myself to spend my precious after-work time figuring out how things work.

FFXIVBlog Staff

FFXIVBlog Staff - Final Fantasy XIV Fansite

The original team consists of

• Maiev
• Xariana
• Calaera
• Orophen
• Strawberrie (which hehe, didn’t really showed up due to RL stuff)

It then expanded :O to quite some size :O Orophen was truly a designer, just makes things work :) he makes beautiful things for sure :) and the rest of the team was just worrying about content. We had a few bumps but was enjoyable and fun.

We grew to some huge size :P

During this time, we would just have sleep-less night where we’d hunt for information. Now due to us not being you know.. IGN style, its rather hard to get fresh information. We had FFXIVCore and Eorzeapedia :) being the premier site, so naturally they would just get info and we just kinda… repost from them :)

It was fun, we got to know a few peeps on the way and pretty much enjoy the process. We were so excited in just about any info that gets leaked, and even got into beta. However, once we do have access to beta, my view towards FFXIV significantly changed.

Beta of FFXIV

Maiev and Otak - FFXI TaruTaru's

I took a trip, came back early for XIV launch and bam, the release was same as beta. That just made me jaws dropped, of how Square-Enix release a half-cooked game. Even coming from Final Fantasy XI (which is quite notorious for its difficulty to play as is), I find FFXIV rather hard to pickup… and that is when I realize, other than graphics, the game has nothing to offer, and that is also when the blog breaks apart.

I couldn’t do it anymore… when the people who works on the fansite loses its fan… then fan and site really just breaks apart :x I just couldn’t find anything positive to write, so I rather not write at all.

Maiev and Otak both wanted it to be good. We were drolling over our TaruTaru’s and was hoping we could adventure in FFXIV together.. well that never happened :< and we stayed as TaruTaru's!

FFXIV as of Today

Nosebleed Lalafell - by Lurazeda

Lemme advertise her online existance!

• http://zantetsuken.net (Calaera & Orophen’s FFXIV Fansite and Podcast)
• http://unimaginative.me (Calaera’s Personal Blog)

Calaera from Final Fantasy XIV

My 2c of FFXIV, to go back or not

I personally, even with the whole FFXIV welcome back or legacy member campaign, it wasn’t enough to get me to give it a try. There are many options out there BUT the important part is, I don’t play anymore so for anyone who is wondering, it is best to TRY IT OUT, then to give it an answer. I didn’t try nor play it recently so I can’t tell you if its good or not. Now everybody in FFXIV always tells you its good (just like a real-estate agent always tells you its good time to buy a house!). But nothing and no one gives a better opinion than you personally trying it. At this point, its either a hit or a miss. You either fell in love with it, or you give up and go play Diablo III.

However, if you can’t decide, tune into Sequence Break XIV – a Final Fantasy XIV Podcast :) I love the host and everyone there, and I pretty much crack up listening to it, even without playing the game. It provides me a good summary of how the game is improving as well as a SUMMARY OF THE FORUMS!!! :D without reading it ;)

I’ll be drolling over more Final Fantasy Xi artwork :O Commission more FFXI artwork from Petisu! (she’s good!!!!) and talk FFXI :O! until something attracts my attention :D

To Calaera & Orophen

Dear Calaera,

Sorry I let you down on FFXIVBlog. Thank you for everything Calaera & Orophen! I wish you all the best with Zantetsuken.net and TeamDerp :) I shall poke you when I’m near Seattle =) I really enjoyed hanging out with you :D (shhh Orophen!)

Best,
Maiev

PS: Orophen can read this too!

TaruTaru Maiev FFXi by Wickedz

The post Regarding FFXIVBlog appeared first on the StarOnion - FFXI Fenrir to FFXIV Excalibur.

Maiev’s Lv99 Excitement by LovelyDagger

Limit Break Radio Ep51

Before I continue, Daggy felt my excitement for Lv99, and drew a Maiev with the Lv99 taru underwear. ROFL :D Please enjoy!

Nope, I didn’t take part of it if that’s what you’re wondering lol, but I did get a chance to listen under the Starbreakers status of the live recording of Episode 51 of Limit Break Radio (I think… I’ve listen to 45, 48 and 51). Starbreakers are the people who gets to listen as LBR performs the live recording. In this episode, ringthree was the guest for this discussion. He writes the infamous ringthree blog under blogspot ;)

Anyway, this episode was actually talking about the XI updates from VanaFest 2010, which I wanted to write about anyway. Having played WoW and FFXI and experience both end-game and expansion leeps, I’ve definitely got a few inputs in regards to the VanaFest announcement, and some thought of this overall Lv99 thing.

Lv99

Level 99 cap raise was definitely the biggest catch of the whole VanaFest 2010. Having played FFXI since 2003, they made it very clear back then the level cap will remain at 75. Over the years, content was developed around the fact that the leveling cap will be Lv75. To satisfying the craving for Exp, Squeenix developed a merit system to accommodate players who just loves to grind. I have to say I was pretty good in grinding in all of the jobs I played. I solo on Blue Mage in the early days, I’ve play RDM in different stages of FFXI such as healing RDM for KRT, performing skillchain in Sky Statue Party in 2004, walk around parties doing weapons at sky, I’ve also exp-ed @ Uleguerand Range etc… goes on and on. I was pretty convinced that Squeenix planned to develop content around the Lv75 system.

As time goes on, Squeenix released more merits, tier2 merits as well as new JA’s. A very predictable move and update from SE. But predictability doesn’t bring excitement! Then in 2010, Squeenix decided to throw a curve-ball and announce Lv99… they did say that they will make each job unique and is aware of it etc… and introduce new stuff etc.

Now lets think of Lv99. First of all, we all know that a lot of stuff in Vanadiel will need to be adjusted. Is it SE’s plan to make this a solo game now? It does sounds fun to solo Byakko, but problem is… it drops Lv75 gear. So in that case, equipment definitely needs an adjustment… to at least make these content more worthwhile than just soloing it. Is it going to scale like Level Sync? We don’t know as of this point but.. it sounds like a possibility. If equipment doesn’t scale, then it’s really just a one-time fun. Once you’ve done it, it gets boring, like killing a Bumblebee.

Story Telling – Old School FFXI!! by Rinielenika.

We all know jobs will be broken (as mentioned in LBR Ep51 as well).

If SE does decide to make adjustment, that is a lot of adjustment around Vanadiel. Are they simply going to scale up all mobs by adding +24? Equipment will probably need to be scaled up by 33% as well in terms of strength. You also can’t simply add 24 level to all mobs. Then we won’t have Lv1 mobs. That’s a lot of issues to think about before the June update. This is all assuming SE will scale up all equipment and mobs (which IMO, is an okay idea).

Another method they could approach this is… Lv99 cap is only to the new areas. I mean afterall, an expansion is also announced among all these update. So while you are in old content, stuff will remain Lv75. Once you exit the area, you will have access to the new cap of Lv99. This will not only save development time (since… they need to code the new expansion as well), but it takes a lot of the issues out of rebalancing and rescaling. This also keeps all the existing equipment on par and preserve its value, as well as preserving the old content for play. I mean, as an old school player, I still enjoy the old days where we have Summoner in Tank Party during Fafnir, calling out Garuda for blinks and tanking it with Paladin. Now there is no fun and glory of killing Fafnir, with all these merit points and Lv99 soon… it makes Fafnir a joke.

Last method… I hope not is really, recreate all the equipment for Lv75 to 99. One important thing to note is the level cap is raise in stages, with 3 month gap inbetween, so they could potentially recreate all gear. This is kinda similar to the WoW model, which is something I wouldn’t like. But with this model, it encourages new player (provided they know about it), into joining, since it seems like everyone is starting on the same ground (with all your old gear as garbage). But then again, the game is 7 years old for US (8 for JP), it would be pretty hard to get new players (also mentioned in LBR Ep51). It’s got out-dated graphics and still not too friendly for a newbie. With FFXIV around, I doubt their objective is to bring in new players.

A Business Perspective of Lv99

I’d like to think all this from another perspective, a business perspective of this announcement. Lets keep one important fact in mind. SE makes a lot from FFXI, from me and you. More than many other FF series due to the fact that other FF series can be pirated. We’ve almost paid over 1k for each player that play since 2003. That’s a lot of money. Times that by a peak of 100k subscriber (Lets say an average of 30k per month). That’s pretty good cash at one point just from subscription. This doesn’t even take into account the initial cost of the game, any expansion that you bought. Remember that announcement of “most character created”? That was coupled with Mog Bonanza. Everybody was creating extra mules to increase the chance of winning at least a Rank 4 item. To SE, it was great money, extra income. Instead of 12.95 per month, if everyone created 9 extra mules, that’s kinda like increasing the average monthly fee to 13.75 etc… (spreading the average cost over a year). Then you have the teleport body from buying The Star Onions (which was okay, if you wanted the product anyway). To me, it seems like Squeenix was doing a lot of these for cash. They know we are addicted to digital achievements, and is abusing it by offering it to us, indirectly =P. RMT indirectly.

Little Economics

Afterall, Squeenix is not a charity, but a business. They are here to satisfy their shareholders just like any other business. Buying a combo in McDonald always seems like a better deal than buying them separately because, its all part of the conspiracy to get you to spend the “maximum amount” of money that you are willing to pay.

Lets say McD Burgers cost 3 dollars, Fries is 2 bucks, Drink is 1 dollar. Buying them are 6 bucks separately. But a combo maybe cost 5.50. You might like fries and Burger (3 for burger, 2 for fries, costing you 5 bucks), but don’t really need a drink because you got water. But hay, it’s “only” 50c more for a drink. It’s a good deal. Lets say it only cost them 10% of the selling price to make. Well if you didn’t buy a drink… Burger is (3 dollar – 30c cost to make = 2.7 profit), 2 for fries – 0.20 = 1.80, Coke is 1 dollar – 10c = 0.90. Originally if you just bought burger, they would only be making 2.7 from Burger + 20c from Fries = 2.90 from you. But if the combo of costing 50c less works, they still make 2.90 + (coke is 1 dollar – 10c to make – 50c discount = 40c profit). They make 3.30 from you! They didn’t make as much, but the end point is, they still make more from you.

Maiev of DuckHUNT – by Aene

This is exactly what I think about when I think of SE’s action taken from this. By spreading it out, not only it gives them time to do adjustment, but you now spread your fun of leveling again throughout the 3 updates. That is 9 extra months of subscription per player. In LBR Ep51, they were discussing the 10 dollar addon. Immediately this model came to mind. It’s harder to sell 30 dollar expansion vs 10 dollar addon. It sounds cheaper but hay look at the end of the day, you still bought all 3, costing you 30. With a little sweet robe that you get after the addon, it creates an even more temptation to buy it. Since it’s Rare/Ex, it doesn’t even have an effect on game balance as much (well.. the Robe does replace a few equipment…. but not entirely). Add-on sold like this also provides them a chance to fix anything wrong with the previous add-on. (Though, the quest are still pretty crap). They were for sure testing out delivery method. One thing though was it was re-named as an addon, so unlike an expansion, the quality and expectation is just isn’t the same. At the end of the day, SE can always say this is an “addon”, not an expansion. Add-on, like browsers, are adding “additional” features. Not really expanding. It’s completely optional, and its what SE is doing IMO. Another method to sell an expansion, but with an excuse saying that …. hay quality doesn’t have to be up to par since its simply just an “add-on”.

So the way I see Lv99 is, by throwing out a curveball and… not announcing that much of a detail, it leaves it up to the players to do guess work. For those that got nothing to do before (like me, completely maxed out merit + jobs that I like), it gives me and a lot of other adventurers a reason to start leveling subs out of 37 to 49 to accommodate the new subjob at Lv99. This all comes down to squeezing the maximum amount of money you are willing to pay from a dead game (well, declining population). Now it all seems interesting, you are more willingly to pay that 12.95 versus before… it was just a dead game.

All for Profit?

Ringthree and Aniero all have different opinions on it. Ringthree think it could have been a little earlier. While Aniero think it’s done with the perfect timing. Me? I think its perfect as well. Lets go back a little bit! When ToAU was released, the game was still pretty alive. We often get lagsieged. Salvage and Dynamis was still packed. During that time, the Burning Crusade was also released. I was drawn into it, questing on my Blood Elf hunter while I was waiting for Salvage entry. But one thing that was sure was… the game was still lively.

Squeenix shareholders was probably okay, but not happy that they weren’t getting MORE players. Well, if you can’t get more players, then squeeze more out of the existing ones. WORLD TRANSFER opened, now that was a cash grab, definitely a good way to satisfy shareholders by changing ONE VARIBLE LOL (SERVER ID 9 to SERVER ID 7, thanks for cash XD)! Time pass by and Wings of the Goddess came out. Squeenix finally satisfy the casual gamer group by developing campaign, where people with little time to play (obviously not enough to get an exp time), to do something productive. Campaign was often busy and it definitely kept the casual player in check. One thing that I think a lot of us neglect is the amount of casual players. Remember that a lot of people have a RL obligation, and have a busy life. Hence they do not have all the time in this world to play. Therefore, it was very important to provide a source of good entertainment for the time that they have after a working day. End-game players is just a small portion of the FFXI community. A lot of people place once of twice a week, come in to socialize, to craft a little. You rarely see them but SE does. As much as it matters, a nerd and a casual both pays 12.95. It’s easier to satisfy casual players, and they are probably the bigger group (judging from Squeenix’ statistics counter every year). It’s more wise for SE to focus on casual more than the hardcore players.

With a slight decline with population over time, Campaign provide the perfect solution in keeping players happy by providing self-paced virtual achievements! It is something both the casual and the elitist can participate. You don’t need a party anymore. The add-on was timed okay. The content was generally crappy and slowly (as per LBR discussion), but I honestly think the… development was pressured by the upper management to grab more cash. Grabbing every single penny that they cane make from you.

With FFXI getting older and content getting crappier and more slowly, the population significantly declined. The server merge was a great hint. With shareholders saying “Hay, FFXIV isn’t ready, so its probably time to Squeeze more out of FFXI”! They had to come up with another idea…. ah ha! Lets throw the players something they always wanted!

• Odin and Alexander AVATAR (Which players was begging for years)
• Lv Cap Increase!

Instantly, we stirred up a heated discussion of the possibilities of Lv99, as well as the fun. SE did it, they got a lot of people pumped up again, revive some old character and started playing again. It’s also a good way to minimize the impact or negative aspect of a server merge . Players reactivated to enjoy the new content (yay more subscription!), but the most important part of all this was, they are taking out servers, which lowers the overall maintenance and operating cost, bandwidth and electricity. The savings are all profit! We all just look at the Lv99 possibilities and forgot all about the impact of a server merge. That reminds me of… China. Cheap shoes and TV’s makes us all forget about human rights and the June 4th, 1989 incident in China… lol)

Lv99 made FFXI like FFXI-X2 LOL!

Name Change is such a lame sauce.

Now with all the server merge, not everyone are satisfy with it. Some people lost names, some people probably felt like the new home isn’t that great. I mean if SE really wanted to do it right, they would have locked name creation on the same day as announcement as well as providing people a CHOICE of where they want to go. I mean yea, I could see why they didn’t want to offer that choice. They can ensure that the server merge are paired with servers with similar economy and conditions, as well as ensure that the population are well balanced. To ensure you aren’t merging 2 medium server. 1 medium + 1 small and not 1 medium + 1 medium size servers. So if you don’t like…well WORLD TRANSFER :) 25 bucks to change a VARIABLE hahaha! MONEY!

Don’t get me wrong, the server merge actually worked out. Otak is on Quetz, my 2nd Alt was in Midgard, SE decided to merge Quetz and Midgard =P Totally no complaint there! LOLZ (Saved me 25 bucks actually!)

However, there are side effects to this server merge. Some felt like they lost a home and quit. Some assumed that their gear is going to go to crap, so without a 2nd thought, already unsubscribed (I know at least 4 people around me that did it), but at the same time, I know 2 people at least who came back for this. So overall, I think it’s a gain. Even if SE don’t gain or lose subscription, at least they are keeping the ones that are still subscribing, to continue subscribing with the new level cap stuff :)

I believe Squeenix at this point, is all about the money. I can’t help myself but think that at this point, its not even about the game anymore. I do see the fun, but most importantly the profit from it. They need it for infrastructure for FFXIV, and this is a perfect time to get it. FFXIV isn’t even ready so there’s going to be time where they need the cash. FF13 is being sold, but it’s also not enough since people are selling it as they finish the game (I mean, its the most sold game in the 2nd hand market…). Therefore, I believe a lot of the move Squeenix now is about profit, more on the profit than the players and the fun. Generating the cash to prepare for FFXIV launch.

WoW Model

One thing that I always like about FFXI was…. no matter how long you quit or take a break for, when you subscribe again, you feel instantly back to the game. Your equipment is a little obsolute, but isn’t enough for you to spend like a few weeks to re-gear. The old content more or less are still around and… most importantly, the friends that you used to play with are mostly still around since… unlike WoW, your friend might now play on their Alt’s and other class… and you probably don’t know their name anymore.

WoW’s model has always been increasing the level cap and high rate of equipment replacement. It was clearly known that gear gets replaced one after another after each update. As more instances and raid opens, the new year replaces the old. It is a model the adopted, and it worked.

It was always unique to me until… FFXI announce Lv99. This brought my attention to the WoW model. Is Squeenix really trying to take what’s successful in WoW and try to implement it into FFXI? Take some portion of it if not all? I highly doubt but in a way, you got to learn from the best as well. Squeenix had a first-mover advantage, being 1 year ahead of WoW, they had the chance to grab a lot of subscribers but they fail to do so, and many quit to play WoW instead. But those that stayed FFXI, enjoyed FFXI and they enjoy it because of what it was…

Overtime, there were various features that was similar to WoW. Instances was one bit, set bonus was another. Campaign system was kinda like WoW’s casual exp system and now you have level cap increase. It maybe just so that its kinda similar. I doubt Squeenix was actually copying other games’ mechanism, but then at the same time… it worked for them. Maybe that’s exactly what we need.

WoW continues to climb in terms of subscription. The game continues to market itself despite its only a single platform, and with dated graphics. One thing that was obvious to me as a player who plays both FFXI and WoW is, WoW developer listens in while FFXI developer doesn’t. Last check, we only get automated replies when we send in suggestion. Whereas Blizzard, we could see Blue Post (aka Blizzard Poster) acknowledging ideas etc. Blizzard’s Blue Post may never get to the development, but to a player, its always nice to see that they care about their customers. SE never provided this type of customer care. Look at the hacking spree 2 years ago. It took them ages to develop counter measures. Powerless GM that can’t really do anything other than getting you un-stuck and banning people for walking faster than normal when you walk over the pond over at Caedarva Mire.

WoW continues to develop content that is catered to the players. A PvP system that rewards exp, more BG, random instance to recycle old content and rewarding more heroic badges. Whereas SE keeps going backwards… enhancing the NPC system that is so unusable. A chocobo race where you aren’t the person racing, but betting lol. Mobs that is unbeatable and when it is, it gets patched because it wasn’t the way it was “intended” to kill.

Midnight Excursion – by PriestessOfPie

Mai Thoughts

At the end of the day, I think Squeenix’ move of increasing the level cap is certainly a good move, but a move IMO that is motivated by the money than the players (in my perspective!!!!). It was a move that satisfy both ends, the business end as well as the players. It was also a move to cover the negative impact of server merge. It was a real perfect smart move. It’s not a bad thing and we got to understand…. like any other companies, they are motivated by profits as well. I think everyone is happy, both SE and the players. It gives the players a reason to subscribe and gives SE a longer life-span of the game. Lets just hope SE doesn’t screw up the Lv99 upgrade. Okay? lolz

Last but not least, I wanted to say thank you for the Birthday wishes and presents :) especially from Otak ^^, Priestessofpie and Fireal lolz :) Otak’s present is {secret} but I could share PoP’s present ;) The artwork on the right is drawn by Lyali of Titan (aka PriestessOfPie / PoP).

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One thing I wanted to do, was leave with good terms and with a positive impact. I think I left quite a lot… on Google lolz :D There was many stuff I wanted to do back then, like speaking on podcasts of the stuff I like to play, my expertise, sharing the “old-school” experience. But I think I’ve done most of them.

I’m slowly reblogging my old-school days by simply indexing all screenshots (including drama ones lol, like the FFXI Fenrir WikiLeaks lulz) and someday write a passage and hopefully those old Fenrir people would drop by someday :D and remember their good/terrible times in XI lolz!

Go take a look =) You might be in it!

To finish, I found this nice niffy tool on Google about search on and figure I’d make a video out of how Mai made a difference in XI via this blog :) I really hope I did lolz…

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It’s been awhile. I know, busy busy! So for those that do complain I haven’t been writing enough (I mean… common, my writing is terrible :x), you better let me know you read it by leaving a comment. lulz (which I doubt anyone would, ahem Jackblck!). I wonder how many people even check this anymore lolz!

Regardless, lets get on with some updates.

the StarOnion Website Revolution!

the StarOnion Version 5

If you haven’t already notice, I’ve reshaped Mai blog. The attractive banner is of course, done by Karla/Otak/Lurazeda (Mai girlfriend, yes I am not gay with Istari). I hope it is a lot pleasing to read (and hopefully, win the Kaeko eye-candy award again). Of course, stuff on the StarOnion is never friendly to 56k and I hope you know that by now.

One thing that took a lot of my time is by far the way I’ve decided to use the “tagging” system. Instead of tagging what I’m writing (which is what category / search is for), I’ve used it to tag players. If you exist in my writing even for a brief second, in a screenshot or video, you will be tagged. Yes, I went through all my 600 posts and tag everyone. If I miss you, just leave a comment and I’ll add you back in =) And yes, I did play with a lot of players it seems. My tag list is like amazingly long, but you’ll have fun scrolling them. You might even recognize a few names =)

There are still minor improvements, such as implementing RSS Email subscription etc, I’ll slowly get on with those.

This time around, I’ve implemented a flickr. I will be uploading all my screenshot that I’ve taken to that account. Feel free to browse my old-school screenshot. They are quite enjoyable to click around :D classic alliance for Mission 2-3 lolz! I might even have shouts when people were selling “Raise” back in Kazham/Yhotar Jungle.

When in doubt, use the search located at the top right corner. It searches everything =)

I know :( it could still be better, but then meh, I didn’t major in computer science lolz! This is just Mai hobby! :D

PS: Navigating this version should be same as before, I kept a lot of things unchanged :D for the most part.

Twitter Kills Blogs!

I honestly think the recent hype of Twitter just kills blogs.. hands down. I mean those that used to blog a lot like Kimiko Furball, Calaera, Etain, now just completely stop, hell even Otak stop = =. They didn’t quit, they just don’t write due to twitter (their twitter: Kimiko Furball, Calaera, Etain, Otak). As you see, they obviously still play FFXI (half and half for Etain ._.). Well can’t blame Twitter for being so accessible. You can tweet literally anywhere (maybe through payphones soon). Even those that don’t have smart phone can tweet via text messages. You could probably tweet while in shower soon via voice yelling to your neighbors. I believe Twitter activity and Blog activity are inversely proportional. =) Sucks for FFXI blog community but meh :x!

I vote for TaruTaruTweets-Online.net soon!

Otak’s Taru Figurine Collection

TaruTaru Trading Arts/Figurine

Its now on the market for real. I know Otak got it >.> /jealous. It actually looks pretty awesome :D Here’s some pics (Source)

• TaruTaru Collection – 9 Figurine Box Set
• Lay them out nicely! Group Picture!
• Lets Open a Box! Oww, bad AA TaruTaru!
• Lets assemble it!
• Completed AA Taru Assembly!
• Star Sybil TaruTaru Figurine assembled!
• Shantotto TaruTaru Figurine assembled as well!
• Group picture time!

Now that’s the cool stuff. Now the emo part is, you can’t tell which figurine is inside that box. They cost roughly 10 bucks USD per figurine. They also come in a box of 9 (like this), but lol people who buy that also have a chance of not getting all 5. So lol… But then, its how Square Enix deals with figurine collection so… I guess welcome to figurine collection.

I’d say the best idea is to buy it with a friend, and try to mix/match the missing pieces.

Yes ^^; FFXI-ing, I’ll update it with SS at another time!

Interesting Things!

Just click on related video if you like it, you’d find a couple more ;)

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Maiev of Fenrir by Rinielenika

I don’t know if it will be live when you look at it, but live to me!

Rinielenika is another artist I met on Fenrir. Rini’s BF is Ditsy, a taru so naturally loves drawing taru. Tonight, she’s bored out of her mind and start drawing, started off drawing random taru titties :x lolz

Anyway, below is the livestream. I hope it will be live when you watch it!

[Dead Link]

Oh btw, happy new year! Serious FFXI post coming up (Cuz I am playing a lot more now!)

So yea, the lineart was drawn by Rini, but then it was posted on Rini’s DeviantArt for other’s to color. A few took the challenge, including PoP. Since PoP recorded it (and I watched it live), here’s the EMBED of her artwork :D

Updated: Another version colored by PriestessOfPie =)

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Lalafella in FFXIV ZOMG! Adorable!

Seasons Greetings!

Happy Holidays :) Got a little bit of time to drop a message! Just to let everyone know I’m still alive! In fact, I’m even playing FFXI! Just look at my big fat shopping list lol!

So regardless, I hope you’re Christmas is going good as well! Yes, Mai xmas card of course its… still in the making. I’ll call this Happy Belated Christmas Card lol! (Sadly, probably the last one before ffxi completely dies out or no one plays with FFXIV just around the corner)

Well did play a few games of Heroes of Newerth before going out for Turkey dinner! Anyway, may all your wishes come true!

Btw: The FFXIV Theme music is so good, been playing it almost all day! Check it out XD
[audio:http://www.ffxivblog.com/download/ffxiv_new_theme_music_ffxivblog.mp3]

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Maiev by Otak – Drawn IRL, no tracing!

Returned!

So I was away for a full month. No I didn’t went to play Aion or WoW, or hell even FFXI, but I did use this time not only to finally go visit my parents, but to also meet a ton of Mai FFXI friends.

Meeting FFXI friends was perhaps the most exciting activity IMO in Mai life. You see, people you met in school were your friends because you guys hang out for so long. But you might be friends simply because they seem like a nice person, see them a lot so they became friends, hopefully some of them will have similar interest. However, I find that FFXI friends are different… because at the end of the day, we are all gamers, interested with gaming/FFXI, as well as enjoy playing video games to chillax at the end of the day! (I mean if you don’t play FFXI long enough, I would not have known you to begin with!).

People I’ve Met (Included ones on this trip)

I’ve met a ton of people. Every single one of them turned out very good and became close friends. Lets see…

• May, 2006 – Eeto
• July, 2006 – Cus, SohJai, SohMui, Hkshady
• Sept, 2006 – Bubian
• Aug, 2007 – Shamu
• Jan, 2008 – Arcrist
• Aug, 2008 – Aene, Draci, Cloudstah, Keiffa
• Jan, 2009 – Shaya, Farkee
• Oct, 2009 – Xariana, Tsunade, Chidorii, Eleira, Sibe, Otak

Pretty long list huh. These are all just self-organized gathering. None are FFXI-based gathering (eg. Fanfest). We were just that close.

I think for being a big nerd, you tend to just able to strike a conversation so easily. I never get bored. I use my laptop/screenshot to break the ice, and after that I’d be able to carry out a normal conversation with them! Anyway, so lets showtime of who I met in the past month!

NYC to meet more Fenrir people!

FFXI Gathering Round 5!

I’ve finally was able to meet Sibe, the latest leader of DuckHUNT. Yes, ever since I had RL stuff to deal with, I’ve gave the throne away. It’s almost a year and… wow I can’t believe how much more free time I had. Though I do miss playing, but I’m still quite burned out so lets keep regening (I do login casually though!).

So while being away, Sibe was the dude that kept the linkshell running, nice and shiny =) Though we might fight in-game, IRL its all cool. Though I hate meeting LS people in a way, they all try to get me drunk >.> I guess its time for revenge IRL.

I’ve also met Xariana, one of the bestest RDM in Omen LS (HNMLS of Fenrir). Though I might have second thought about Female players, after meeting a few, I… don’t as much anymore. There are pretty serious female players out there, though most don’t give a shit. But Xariana was definitely someone serious in that HNMLS. I really enjoy meeting people who I HNM with, people that I spent countless hours around the clock to achieve something in-game LOL. Too bad all we got was some digital data of 01000100101010101 LOL!

Then I’ve met Tsunade/Chidorii/Eleira. They were pretty damn cool people IRL. They also play WoW and DotA with me, real smart and competitive player. It was also fun to meet people who are similar in a way, loves to win and be competitive :D, who would take the extra step to research and stay on top of everyone! We already had Chain 300 within a week of ToAU release. Raping Mamool’s and Puk’s like nothing, and making a killing selling Imp. Gold Pieces for people and their LOL 5% HAT!

Good times, though I think they need to work on their RL Drinking Skills. I know Asian’s drinking skills is like E (Caps at 200), but still, need to exp them rofl! Lets continue.

I’ve also claimed Otak! (Wutz That?)

What we were hoping to see IRL!!

Though I must say I do connect with FFXI people quite nicely. I’ve never imagined that I’ve claimed a girlfriend within FFXI (especially how I don’t even play as much anymore or better yet – little to none). Believe it or not, I claimed Otak (a male taru LOL) who isn’t even on Mai server lol! Yes, I might have 1-2 person who I really liked, but Otak was a little different :D. Yes, I flew half way around the globe to /check Otak out, saw it being “Impossible to Gauge” as well as “Perfect Match” (Not even Even Match) so I went to /claim Otak. She plays on Quetzquotal.

One might ask… holy moly how do you even know each other? Well remember I enjoy/like art a lot? That’s how it all started, getting a commission from Otak. I didn’t know Otak was a girl IRL, until I started harassing Otak with so many commission changes. I also bought a FFXI fanbook from her, and yea all these connected the dot. I found Mai RL NM in Mai life!

Pic on right: A girl that plays a boy taru, and a boy that plays girl taru. I can see a boy as girl taru, but girl that plays a boy? Not taking advantage of being a girl in MMO? That’s rare! Creek F Clomps was 200k, but 2m for boys! Jeez girl taru ftw!

Despite all the talk and chat, one thing I can never be sure was.. if Otak’s Male Taru means Otak’s a dude or a girl IRL. I gave her a call, she was like “okay” in meeting up (after I’ve arrived in HK). Crossed Mai finger hoping Otak’s a real chick (she was probably thinking, this better be a guy and not a female). We met in one of the most public place on Earth. She said it was for ease of locating a FFXI person, but I think it’s for safety =P Thank god after we met, she didn’t say {English} {Go Away!} and she was a REAL GIRL OMG!

We met a few more times, if Lv1-50 is friendship, and Lv50+ is relationship, we went from Lv1-50 pretty quick. I then did my Limit Break quest with her IRL :D completed :D! and went on! I had a lucky Critical Strike :D I didn’t know how but my Lv 1 GF skills was able to beat Limit Break quest :D. Too bad Mai 1337 269 Parrying Skills wasn’t any use, pity.

Maiev and Otak IRL =) Recording our FFXI Duets

So yea, the rest of Mai trip was exping with Otak IRL. Like FFXI, Lv50+ isn’t easy. It does take a lot more Exp to gain 1 level. Its okay though, we enjoy “Impossible to Gauge” stuff! But at the very least, we work very well together :) It’s like one of those Exp party that you don’t want to disband. It’s what it feels like with Otak, you just don’t ever want to disband.

Maybe someday we’d release our “FFXI Duet”. We played a few songs (Recollection, Mhaura) and recorded it with a MAC! (Yes, recording with a Mac makes the song sound better!). Haven’t exp my Violin skills for 8 years, jeez I was glad it was even making proper sound. Well… Otak was great with her Piano skills, she kept it level. Whereas me… I deleveled my Violin skills after my Violin got stolen… since 8 years ago lol. The picture on the right is us in a Piano room doing our recording =)

Here, let me use the stamp too made by priestessofpie. Though she uses to express her love with her art, I guess I’m using to express my love :)

FFXI to RL Relationship

Throughout Mai FFXI career, I’ve always heard about relationship that started from MMORPG. Hell I’ve even heard linkshell memeber getting together in a relationship. Too bad TV shows always make it look like a weirdo, especially in the Chinese culture. Regardless, I’m in one, and I think it’s just perfectly fine. I can’t even imagine finding someone with so many similar in interest, if it wasn’t through FFXI.

I guess I need to update my LBR App now, I can even talk about FFXI and Relationship! Jeez… talking about being a nerd, I think I’m definitely up there. Though, I think those guys are too busy. Anyway!

FFXI been a real rewarding adventure; in-game and IRL. If I didn’t play this game, numerous things wouldn’t be the way it is now. However, even if I was able to repick my path, I’d pick to play FFXI. This game was a positive impact to Mai life, and I wouldn’t have picked it any other way.

PS: I’ve taken myself off TTTO, since its rather not too FFXI anymore. So just follow via RSS or Mai Twitter if you’re still interested =) Though I do plan to keep it somewhat gaming related, if not FFXI. (No, doesn’t mean Aion or WoW!)

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