As mentioned in the previous post, i'm engaged to be married (in-game) to LeonMagnus, but we're having trouble getting a date down. We applied for the 1'st of January, and the calendar said we'd have a 100% chance of being accepted, but we were still declined. I don't think we've reapplied since then (i'm not sure, because our chaperone has to apply for us), and even if we do, getting a time down for whatever day we select will be a challenge due to my obligations in the real world, assuming we're even approved for the selected day.

Another problem is that Leon has begun to play World of Warcraft, and has inevitably become loyal to it (inevitable because he's a huge fan of the Warcraft universe). Unlike most fans of FFXI, i have nothing against World of Warcraft, and believe both games are excellent, but for different reasons. However, i make it a point not to play more than one MMORPG at a time, so despite Leon's coaxing, i've had to turn him down on switching to World of Warcraft. We still talk almost nightly, online and on the phone, play Warcraft III maps, etc, but i think our future on FFXI isn't looking too good. That's fine, as long as i remain in contact with him, but even if he doesn't continue to play, i'd like to at least attempt to go through with the wedding...

As for other recent events, i'm finally level 50, which means that i now have double attack, thanks to my Warrior support job. A Dark Knight + two consecutive blows + high dexterity + frequent criticals = instant death. I think i'd prefer to keep Warrior as a sub job over Thief, since Warrior promises a much steadier flow of damage, but FFXI is overrun with elitists (in the english-speaking community) that intimidate people by not allowing them into experience parties if they don't have specific job combinations. Warrior is generally accepted, but some are rude enough to kick people out of parties if they don't have Thief subbed after level 60. Thief offers some vicious critical strike abilities that are wonderful for one-shot hits, but it lacks a strength bonus, an attack-boosting ability that lasts for more than one hit, and its completely lacking in double attack. Its main benefit is the accuracy bonus, but in higher levels, accuracy isn't as much of a problem for Dark Knights... So in the end, i've deicded to stick with Warrior as my support job, even if it costs me a few parties. I'd rather associate with players that are more open-minded anyway...

Enough rambling. Time for coffee and clothcraft...

Well, first and foremost, i'm getting married (in-game, of course), to a very kind, intelligent, and handsome young man named LeonMagnus (in game... of course...). I also know this young man in real life, but for the sake of protecting his privacy, i'll refer to him simply as Magnus or Leon.

Leon is an Elvaan, and is allied with San d'Oria, whereas i'm a Hume allied with Windurst. If we were the sort to roleplay, then that would set us at odds. Fortunately, neither of us are that obsessive. I honestly wasn't intending to get into a relationship of that sort with anyone, and i'm still sort of in a form of shell-shock from the whole thing, so we're taking it slow (thank God).

We're trying to set a date for the wedding, but that isn't exactly easy with FFXI. You can't just go to a special NPC in a certain location, scroll through a bunch of text, and then *poof*,  you're married. With this game, you make it into a scheduled special event, with attendees, party favors, a ceremony, a reception, wedding dress, engraved rings, the works. And you have to pay a handsome fee of gil to do so, but that's a minor issue in comparison to actually reserving a time slot for your desired date. To apply for a wedding,  you have to ask a friend (and it can't be the bride or groom themselves) to be your chaperone, and to submit the application for you. The application specifies a certain day, and certain times during the day that are acceptable, as well as a desired location that you choose from a set of locations (or you can request a special location that isn't from a pre-selected group, but this lowers your chances of being accepted for that day). You also choose the style of your wedding, that is modeled after the attitudes of one of the three major nations (Windurst, San d'Oria, or Bastok), choose how you want your rings to be engraved, how many people can come, etc... And far more people apply for weddings in-game than you would think. The chances of getting the exact date and time you want are under 10%, since literally thousands of people are shooting for those exact dates and times as well... In other words, you have to be flexable.

We're shooting for a date in early December, but even that seems iffy... In the meantime, i'd better get to work on clothcraft, if i plan on adding any special surprises for our guests during the reception.

Hm... a Dark Knight in a white wedding dress, making my vows by swearing on my raven scythe... i'll have to post a picture of that.

Reize and i finally got around to finishing the Ninjitsu scroll quests a couple of days ago, which was an endeavor that took all night (from gathering the Yagudo necklaces to the trip to the hotsprings to gather the last scroll). However, poor Reize fell asleep at the docks in San D'oria (en route to Jeuno to auction off the scrolls), so i travelled to Jeuno on my own, then promptly went to bed myself. Reize awoke the next day and put the scrolls on auction for us... When all is said and done, we'll each have over 400,000 gil. That should get me my Valkyrie's Mask, and i'm sure Reize will make good use of his earnings in his latest job pursuit (Beastmaster).

I'll probably regret selling off all of my Ninjitsu scrolls when i get Dark Knight into the higher levels, since it makes a nice support job for solo battles and ballista. But, i have an ally in the shadows that would be more than willing to hand over her Ninjitsu scrolls to me, since her focus is that of the way of the mage. We shall see...

As an aside, i finally obtained Absorb-Dex, and got it relatively cheaply for 210,000 gil (the going price on Titan is usually closer to 300,000). This happened a few weeks ago, but i never bothered to make a note of it on the day it had happened. I'm lazy that way.

I just recently checked my crop of wild onions from the vegetable seeds i planted a few days ago... I was expecting a much higher yield, say about a stack of wild onions or so per plant, but ended up harvesting 2-4 wild onions per plant. The outcome was better after i waited until the appropriate elemental alignment corresponding to the day of the week, but i was still expecting more.

At first, the lower yield caused me to become skeptic about the worth of gardening, but now that i think about it, its still a worthwhile investment. By investing about 7,000 gil on seeds and crystals, i can earn about 400% profit. If i plant seeds on the appropriate days, fertalize them on the appropriate days, and harvest at the best time possible, i can get at least 4 wild onions per plant. That's a total of 48 wild onions for every stack of vegetable seeds i plant (four stacks of wild onions, in other words), and a stack of wild onions can sell for approximately 8,000-10,000 gil. So, the 7,000 gil i initially invest in seeds and crystals turns into about 32,000-40,000 gil. The only problem with gardening is that it takes a lot of time and patience... You have to check your plants at least once a day, and time your feedings and harvests to match the proper day of the week. But, to someone like myself, that's a somewhat enjoyable task... Not sure why, but i like coordinating actions and setting up strategies that don't involve other people.

At some point i'll have to try planting tree cuttings... A hefty investment, but the pay off is well worth the effort.

Recently, i've decided to take up gardening as a full-time hobby, as something to do between farming trips. Lately i've been adding up my upcoming expenses as a Dark Knight, which are beginning to pile up to quite a tidy sum. For a magic-using profession, we're inexpensive, but i'm beginning to think that as a melee class, we cost just as much, if not more than, most other melee classes, simply due to the accuracy boosting equipment that's needed in higher levels. Its a good thing that scythes are so inexpensive... For now, i'm set on weaponry and armor until level 48 or so, due to the generosity of my Paladin friend, Blindside. He's letting me borrow his Brigandine and Life Belt until he reaches a high level with Beastmaster... Accessories are posing a bit of a problem, though.

Here's the list of equipment i'll be needing in the near future. I'm sure i'm overlooking something...:

1 ) Absorb-DEX (still don't have it... the ninja scroll endeavor has been put on hold until next month to earn the gil for it). Cost: approximately 270,000 gil

2 ) Sniper's Ring +1 (two of them). These will set me back the most... 3,700,000 gil each.

3 ) Royal Knight's body armor. This isn't entirely necessary, but its worth having until reaching the appropriate level for Haubergeon... There's also the Luisant Hauberk that you can obtain at level 45, but it costs over 6,000,000 gil due to its rarity. So yeah, i'll stick to the Royal Knight's body armor, which usually goes for about 80,000 gil.

4 ) San d'Orian Subligar. I despise wearing subligars, but this piece of equipment adds +7 to my attack... Usually priced around 100,000-120,000 gil.

5 ) Haubergeon body armor. An absolute  necessity for any Dark Knight level 59 or above, and a very nice luxury for any melee class capable of wearing such a heavy piece, such as Warriors. Usually priced within the range of 1.3 million to 1.5 million gil.

6 ) I don't know all of the exact names for the rest of the armor and accessories i need, but there are earrings that give +5 attack, which i'm guessing are worth at least 1,000,000 gil each, and for the +1 version of those earrings, they probably cost just as much or more than Sniper's Rings +1.

7 ) There's also the issue of the Life Belt that i'll eventually need to return to Blindside, and then replace. Life Belts are a level 48 piece of equipment, but remain useful throughout most of the later levels of a Dark Knight's career. Fortunately, they're pretty cheap for the stat boost they give (+10 accuracy), and usually go for about 100,000 gil.

8 ) Hauberk +1 (body armor). The equipment that most Dark Knights are satisfied to keep as their final piece of body armor. There's also the legendary Armada Hauberk, but due to the difficulty and vast expense involved with creating the Armada Hauberk, none exist on the Titan server (or on any other server, for that matter). So, even though i do intend on pursuing Armada Hauberk upon reaching level 75 and maxing out my crafting skills, i'll stick to the standard Hauberk +1 for now... That usually goes for about 6,500,000 gil at the most.

9 ) Valkyrie's Mask. Headgear that adds +7 attack, as well as dexterity, if i remember correctly. This one i'll need rather soon... I'm currently level 41, and can equip it at level 43. The price can vary quite a bit, so i'll just round up and say its about 500,000 gil.

So, altogether, i'm looking at a total cost of about 14,750,000 gil at the least, and 20,500,000 gil at the most (if i round up, and i'm still leaving things out, i'm sure). Surprisingly, that is pretty cheap compared to some classes. Luckily, most other adventurers are forgiving if your equipment isn't up to par the moment you reach the appropriate level to equip it. Everyone is always struggling to meet the gil requirements for their armor, and there are very few easy methods in which to acquire large amounts of gil within a short period of time. Hopefully gardening will be good to me...

Recently, i've had a lot of things going on that i could post about, but don't, due in part to the fact that some of the said events are too personal to put on a public web log. Hence, i haven't had much to post about... Therefore, i've decided that from this point onward, this log will only chronicle events within FFXI, and not events within my personal life. I'll probably break my own policy and post about real life every now and then, but not about personal events within my life. And thus, the chronicles begin:

Awhile ago, Reize (a male Elvaan that specializes in Warrior) and i made an arrangement, a deal, if you will, in order for the both of us to earn some much-needed gil, and to obtain rare scrolls for our respective professions. Reize needs Utsusemi: ichi, while i'm in desperate need of Absorb-DEX. Utsusemi: ichi is a relatively easy scroll to obtain... Farm for Yagudo Bead Necklaces, hand them over to the perpetually underhanded Nanaa Mihgo of Windurst Woods, and she puts in a good word for you with the thieves and pirates of Norg, allowing you to gain access to Utsusemi: ichi through a Norg-related quest. This is all a bit time-consuming, but worthwhile, since having a good reputation in Norg allows you to obtain other ninjitsu scrolls through various quests.

Since Reize specializes in Warrior, the way of the Ninja will become a necessity to him in later levels, while i myself will most likely only dabble in the path of ninjitsu long after i have fulfilled my path as a Dark Knight. And so,  Reize and i will be combining our strengths in order to complete the various quests of Norg, and since Reize has already sold his scroll of Utsusemi: ichi, i'll be giving him mine. In exchange, he gives me a modest sum of gil (in comparison to the normal price for Utsusemi), and we sell the rest of the ninjitsu scrolls while splitting the profits. With the proceeds, i can finally purchase Absorb-DEX, a spell that is normally obtainable only by level 75 adventurers, due to the difficulty level of the notorious monster that carries it, which, in turn, makes it quite expensive at the auction house.

Reize seems to find this to be a fair trade of services and gil, and we both end up getting what we need, so i have no complaints. However, i can't help but wonder if i'm getting the better end of the deal, which leaves me with a slight sense of guilt...

Happy now? ::points to image next to title:: Now i'll have to find ways to abuse the remote linking...

Well, this post isn't going to be all that exciting. Probably because i'm not a very exciting person. Ah well. Down to business...

Trying to decide on an avatar for Reize's message board, as well as for use on this journal. I'm too lazy at the moment to sketch an avatar, so i used the FFXI model viewer to take screenshots. I'll wait for feed-back before posting anything. Oh, and the host of my site is a clod that won't allow even the web master of the site to use remote linking, so i'll have to figure out a way around that as well. Here are the avatars...:

Avatar #1

Avatar#2

Told you this was an action-packed post. Excitement abounds. And now, fade to black...