I Love This Show

[The Break-Up]
It's always unusual to come back to an MMO after an extend "break" (as some may call it). It's a lot like having a monotonous relationship. When I last left off, I was still in college and I was doing the "same 'ol, same 'ol" things in game. The routine was really nothing more than Chocobo Digging day in and day out. Those closest to me know how much time I invested in that. At the time, it was the most fun I could possibly have, but it did draw me into a rut.

The allure of World of Warcraft drew my attention for awhile, and being a self-proclaimed MMO connoisseur, I wanted to try it at least once before casting my judgment. It drew me in good! I'm still interested in it, but my WoW days are on temporary hold until the new expansion.

[The Make-Up]
Anyways, back to FFXI. It's very much the same "old world," but at the same time there's something new about it. Not playing for two years really changes the perspective I've had for the game. It's a lot like seeing an old friend after an extended amount of time away. It's the same person, but there's a different aura.

And, I guess, that's where my current excitement comes in. It's the same game I liked playing, but there are new things to try that never existed before. At the same time, it's also like starting over from scratch (and this is where the excitement comes in) because I'm not exposed to the "same 'ol, same 'ol."

[The Thank You]
Thanks Malar for not obliterating my character while I was gone. You could have very well trashed everything, sold all my gear, broke my bank, and basically "left me for dead." You didn't. I had stuff to come back to, and I'm grateful.

And there's a special Thank You to my roommate (Catsby) for getting me interested in FFXI again. I guess there'll be some people that say "Why would you come back," but when I'm sitting in my apartment staring at the same websites for 4 hours straight (4chan), I think I could at least play a game to kill the time.

[The Rebeginning]
So the story begins again. I'm a Samurai! Since I started I've gone from 26 (where I left it long long ago) to 48. I finally got WAR to 37 and I'm ready to rock and roll. The Chocodigging has subsided for now, and mostly because there isn't as strong of a need for me as there was long long ago.

I dusted off the ol' PS2 controller and plugged it in. This PC never had my cheap Playstation 2 to USB converter attached before, so I had to install that from Sanyo's website (they make more than rice cookers!). The installation for FFXI didn't take any longer than three hours.

And ... the CHOCOBO DIGGING BEGINS AGAIN.

The choices are endless! (From Vitamins ... one of my "buddies")

From my Main Site: New Spec. New Strategy.

I've decided to take on the mace spec. for the first time. I did a couple of battlegrounds yesterday, and while the damage was on-par with my sword, losing the burst is somewhat noticeable ...

More thoughts on EricReplied.

Contrary to the previous post, I've actually been playing WoW. The fact that Arena and PvP in WoW is so addicting is why I feel that I should stick with that game. As long as I stay away from raiding (god, I tried that agian recently: bad idea), I'm gold.

I decided that I want to start taking some steps to chronicle what I do in WoW. My main goal is to get the PvP community active in our server and bracket: Eredar/Vindication. I'm hoping to feature two things: PvP strategy/commentary and good UI/macro mods for WoW.

The latter is something I've always wished existed. You can find alot of this information buried in forums, but it's never really easy to find.



So to anyone who ever followed me on my ventures here, thanks for reading and I hope I see you on EricReplied!

Link: www.ericreplied.com

Thoughts? It plays like the original RO combined with some elements of WoW and FFXI. You can jump and swim.

Similarities to WoW:
• The jumping, I admit, feels a little odd because they try to emulate gravity (lol pun).
• The ability to use WASD for controls.
• The quests make leveling nicely easier while helping me find my way around.

Similarities to FFXI:
• Graphics feel alot like FFXI in terms of feel. Really though, the graphics are three or four notches above FFXI.
• The battle system is turned based, and you can interject with attacks. (Kinda like the original RO).
• Cute characters.

Similiarties to the old RO:
• The feel.
• The character designs.
• Focus on killing mobs for leveling up.
• The simple maps.
• The great music.

Things I found to be enticing:
• No lag ... yet.
• Great graphical improvements.
• Plenty of character creation options.
• Pre-existing Fanbase.
• There are no Jellopies or Poring (yet).

lol, I'm playing WoW again.

Sorry, Kevin. You saw it coming.