Complete Nonsense

I've decided to take an indefinite break; possibly and likely permanent.

There's a lot of reasons both in-game and in RL that have contributed to this, but it boils down to stress.  I've told myself time and again that I play FFXI for stress relief as a hobby.  But when I finally took a step back and really looked at it, it caused me as much stress as anything in RL could cause.  And for the amount of time I put into it, I wasn't getting anything out of it.

I had already accomplished 99% of the goals I had set out to do when I started playing the game, and then some.  Proving people wrong about DRG when the whole lolDRG stigma was prevalent, running/helping run several successful linkshells, and making long-time friends that I know will last outside of the sphere of the FFXI were the positive notes.

But the negatives in-game have just become too much to ignore.  Besides the tons of hours I put into helping run a fledgeling end-game shell, and the continuous lack of appreciation, I simple have run out of things to do that I'm excited about in the game.  So, what then do I leave the game with, left to do?

Finish some WOTG missions I frankly don't give a crap about for some stupid flag.
Obtain a few random marginal upgrades in equipment for my DRG, such as Aurum/Ares' Cuirass, Hecatomb Subligar/Ares' Flanchard, and possibly a Speed Belt (Not so marginal, but not so trivial either).
Get a few things that I've always wanted for PLD, such as Hauteclaire.

None of which really are worth it to me anymore as far as the effort and time I've put into the game the last year or so.  Between the failure that was being a sack for TT and EDI, and the incredible amount of work needed to make sure Beyond didn't end up that way, I just simply got caught up in it and never got to evaluate if it was worth it.

It's not.

So thus, I made a decision today, and cancelled the content IDs for Rhealana and Munei.

I've always said that FFXI is my first and will be my last MMO.  I was not kidding; I will not be taking up another one.

So I'll see you guys out there in the ether, somewhere, maybe.

Kinda strange going from being the only Gungnir on a server, to a server with probably.. 5-6?

So, I took up cooking as a craft a few weeks after NA PC release.  It's been a love/hate relationship ever since, and I've many a times considered just delevelling it to 60 so I could take a 'better' craft to 100.

With many of the recent recipes SE has added however, they've made cooking decent again as a slow but steady moneymaker.  So.. after all these years,



Not a big deal to others, esp since this is the easiest craft to take to 100.. but it's a big milestone for me.

Went to Northstar-at-Tahoe last weekend, for my annual downhill mountain biking trip.  Decided to rent a freeride bike this time, versus using my Iron Horse Hollowpoint Expert.  Riding that thing compared to my Hollowpoint was the difference between night and day!  It reminded me of my old Psyclewerks bike, before it was stolen from our apartment patio two weeks before we moved into our new house.

So, after Tahoe, I was 'rehooked' into mountain biking.  My wife and brother-in-law were looking for some beater commuter bikes to ride to the BART station for work, so I started trolling craigslist.  I found two really nice bikes for $80 and under, and while I was trolling CL I found a nice little gem:  Someone was selling a very good condition Intense Tazer frame with a Marzocchi Z1CR fork.

Now, for the uninitiate:   Intense was a small "boutique" mountain bike company back in the 90s that completely dominated the downhill/dual slalom scene for several years.  Several pros, even though they were under contract to ride for COMPETING companies, would even have an Intense frame painted and logo'd to match the companies they rode for so that they could ride what was considered the best frames on the market.

Back then, it was a 'Holy Grail' type of bike for me; I wanted one.. but an Intense frame, since it was completely hand-built, cost well over $1500.  On a college student budget, that was out of the question for me.

Now, more than ten years later.... an innocuous Craigslist posting, a trip to San Francisco, a week's worth of nightly wrenching in the garage and countless trips to local bike shops for parts..........



I can't wait to hit the trails with it! :D

For those that care:

small Intense Tazer frame
  Fox Vanilla R coil rear shock
  frame set for slack head angle and long travel (4.5")
Marzocchi Z1 CR fork
Easton EA30 midrise bar
Bontrager Earl DH stem
Hayes HFX Mag hydraulic disc brakes
Shimano Deore XT drivetrain
Shimano Deore XT cranks with 44T and 22T chainrings removed
E.Thirteen bashguard
Mavic X 3.1 UST tubeless rims
Hutchinson Python UST tubeless tires
Easton EC70 carbon fiber seatpost
Selle Italia Fokus carbon composite/kevlar seat

...and some bling with
Salsa gold-anodized Flip-Off skewers
Lizard Skinz Peaty lock-on grips

Most of the parts were on my Iron Horse Hollowpoint, or just sitting in my garage leftover from my hardcore biking days.  I'll probably look for some tubless UST tires that are wider than the Pythons eventually, but for now they'll do.

So.  Yeah.  Lv.75 THF today.  Career THFs everywhere probably just groaned.