Final Fantasy XI Playdiary
Entry 18 - Farewell NeoGundan
I must apologise for the long gap in between updates. I stopped playing for a while and got very lazy. This entry will hopefully fill in the gaps between the last one and future adventures. It will also be the last entry featuring events before the FFXI Expansion pack was released. I left off with Xylia achieving Rank 5 and obtaining her airship pass which opened up more opportunities for quickly crossing the world of Vanad'iel. After all of this work, I decided to play with the low level advanced jobs that I'd unlocked before participating in a bittersweet event. Here goes...
Some shots of Xylia using the Bard job. Bard is my firm favourite of the five advanced jobs as it is quite tactical and I like supportive jobs. The melody played by my harp differs from that of my pipe so I carry both - each instrument type has an effect on the usefulness of the songs I play. I can also sing songs without an instrument but it seems I am a little tone deaf...
My second favourite advanced job is Dark Knight. I love using the scythe even though it's extremely slow at this level. The second image shows me using one of the exclusive job abilities to increase my offensive skills. Dark knights are great fun as they can use black magic as well as having a great deal of power. Unfortunately they take a lot of damage but that doesn't matter if the enemy is dead quickly :)
Another advanced job - Ranger. This is my least favourite but it has some very useful skills. People who play high levelled Rangers often complain about having to buy ammunition for their bows, crossbows or guns but I had no problems as a newbie. I made my own arrows for free and found it easy to level up (being able to shoot things that couldn't move certainly helped). I seemed to be quite frail as I'd take a lot of damage from magic attacks. Ranger is certainly fun to play as - it just doesn't suit me personally as it requires patience and coordination.
As I was running around walloping small animals to level up, Tigerlily asked if I'd like to join him to hunt for keys for our race equipment quest. I'd done one part of this before (earning my nice red leggings) and was eager to continue, so we set off to Ordelles to torment the beetles that drop the keys. On the way to the beetle area we encountered some tarutaru being molested by a tough jelly monster and stepped in to help them.
What followed was an ordeal lasting several hours as we tried to get the stubborn beetles to drop a key for each of us. At one point a high levelled Ranger came by and frustratingly killed all of them without breaking a sweat (Rangers have an ability to locate monsters of a certain type without being able to see them - we couldn't compete). My key dropped quite quickly but poor Tigerlily had to kill hundreds more to get his. Eventually we were successful and left the cave as fast as we could.
Assorted screenshots showing how hectic battle can get at times. The first was taken in Behemoth's Dominion (a very scary place) when a group of Lost Soul skeletons started attacking a neighbouring group. My party joined in to help them, as did another. So many people fighting for their lives and to help each other is quite a spectable and it wasn't until the last skeleton was about to fall that I dared take a picture. The second shot shows a more controlled hunt in the same area, fighting bats. The third shows me getting some revenge on the Wild Dhalmels that used to kill me when I was weaker. Yes, they are that big compared to me.
After wasting some time in Tahrongi canyon with the Dhalmels, I ran to Windurst to take part in one of the largest gatherings of importers I had seen. The occasion was the official disbanding of my first linkshell - NeoGundan. I was excited that I'd be able to see the people who had given me so much help and support in my time here so I was determined to stay up and participate. I offered my services as a 'teleport taxi' for those who were too far away to reach Windurst in time and as a result missed a lot of great photo opportunities. Fortunately there were plenty. Above are some scenes of the slowly growing crowd in Windurst Woods. A few Japanese players stood nearby to stare at the massing group of blue linkpearls. The founder of NeoGundan, Jonnyram, passed out pearls to other importers outside the group too so that everyone could participate.
The original plan was that there'd be a race from Windurst to Bastok, where the final goodbyes would take place. I was too lazy to participate but as it turned out the plan was changed and we decided to run there as a group without any competitiveness. Here we are gathering for some pictures before setting off. A few people were late and headed to Bastok instead to greet us all for the final celebration.
A stampede of chocobo riders left Windurst and headed through Sarutabaruta towards the ferry to the other continent. It turned out that one very new tarutaru importer was too low level to ride a chocobo, so Jonnyram, Peacemaker and I dismounted to help him. It wouldn't be very fun to be eaten by Yagudo whilst everyone else was miles away by chocobo. After an extremely long run we made it to Mhaura and waited on the pier for the next ferry. I'm surprised the wood could support such an army.
The boat surprisingly managed to sail even with the weight of so many passengers and we headed for Selbina. The bolder members of the linkshell fished for sea monsters to attack.
Upon reaching Konschtat everyone else jumped back onto chocobos and galloped off towards Bastok. Those of us on foot tried in vain to keep up. It was a funny sight.
After an eternity of running the stragglers (including myself) made it to Bastok and the assembled crowd. Since Jonnyram was going on foot too I hadn't missed anything by being late. Everyone was so kind and wished each other well as Jonnyram formally broke the NeoGundan linkshell.
All of the little blue pearls by our names vanished. Those of us who already had pearls for other linkshells equipped them and suddenly the crowd was a rainbow of different groups. It was nice to see everyone putting aside previous bad feelings and getting along, however there was a sense of regret too. With NeoGundan gone there was no longer going to be a single linkshell for the whole import community.
To end on a sillier note, here's a tarutaru I often see around Vanad'iel, finally captured in a screenshot in Jeuno. I love his name.
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Date entered: 23rd June 2003