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Post by lockejv on Oct 13, 2016 9:42:00 GMT -5
Word. Transparency and honesty are key. I've certainly worked much harder for transparent bosses who treat me as a peer versus those that are secretive and condescending. And the latter types were all either fired or demoted (I've worked for the same company for 17 years now).
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Post by lockejv on Oct 12, 2016 16:02:14 GMT -5
Once you know some Sequel a lot of this stuff isn't that difficult, just takes time. I minored in Computer Science and was a web application developer for a few years (utilizing mysql and sql server). Sniffing and decoding the client-server traffic isn't difficult. Reverse engineering a database from scratch to manage it all, and then programming the server to respond to the client in real-time to make the game work is on the higher end of the difficulty spectrum for coding assignments IMO. Having a functional client available certainly helps, but recreating the back-end is impressive.
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Post by lockejv on Oct 12, 2016 12:28:16 GMT -5
Damn, it seems relatively easy to set up. It would be a lot of fun to walk around Vana'diel in god-mode. How did the server source code leak? I can't imagine it was reverse engineered.
edit: after reading some more about the source code (it's on github), it very well could have been reverse engineered. It must have been one hell of a project.
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Post by lockejv on Oct 10, 2016 21:49:32 GMT -5
Private servers look interesting, but I've never tried one. My biggest concern is the stability of the operation - how is the operator paying for the service (hosting)? And couldn't SE put an end to the server by sending a cease and desist to the ISP? If I'm going to invest time in a character on a private server, I guess I'd want some peace of mind it would be around for awhile.
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Post by lockejv on Oct 4, 2016 21:41:42 GMT -5
Bully is a new THF job ability that targets a mob. While active it can cause the mob to be intimated, and the best part is sneak attack works from anywhere on the bullied mob. So SA to the face.
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Post by lockejv on Oct 4, 2016 6:15:24 GMT -5
Aegis was the best relic when I was still playing.
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Post by lockejv on Oct 3, 2016 23:21:46 GMT -5
Ran Limbus to get a crack at Proto-Omega. Leveled Scholar to solo the the Up In Arms BCNM for the Kraken Club. My first mage job over level 30! The BCNM is fun, Kaustra is the most badass move in the entire game (SCH two hour). I never really spent my seals, just one-offs here and there so I had a ton. Ended up going 0/30 on the club, it just wouldn't drop. I started farming currency for THF's relic weapon - the Mandau. I ran every Dynamis area a couple times and decided I liked Valkurm the best. Nightmare Goobs! Was excited to earn my stage 4 relic - the batardeau. Still needed 10,000 byne bills for the Mandau though, long way to go. Not long compared to how it used to be (years). With help from a loan from Justinb, I got my 10,000 byne bill and turned it in. The last Mandau quest was in the Sanctuary of Zitah - Mookies came along to celebrate the moment: My first Mercy Stroke! (relic weapon skill) Fighting Alexander (TOAU quest) & gratuitous relic weapon screen shot. Got a group together to kill Dynamis Lord. Anti-climactic after all that time, but satisfying! Jailer of Love fight - always wanted the Love Torque: Absolute Virtue. The trick was just someone had to use the same two hour less than a couple seconds after he used a two hour in order to nullify it. Was it that hard to figure out? Yes, this actually happened - Jack finally dropped! Probably 80ish kills before it finally happened. Oh, he's a 20-30 minute spawn now which helped. I have some more I'd like to post but that's going to do it for now!
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Post by lockejv on Oct 3, 2016 9:11:24 GMT -5
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Post by lockejv on Oct 3, 2016 8:57:35 GMT -5
I had a blast coming back and finishing the content last year. You actually have to complete all the missions from previous expansions to complete Rhapsodies, so I had to do TOAU and WOTG. I still don't understand why the rewards for finishing those xpacs were so awful. Anyhow, once you get 119 gear and a good set of trusts, you can solo everything you listed (except maybe Abby, I had help from Mookies and trusts were not yet available there). If you are going to come back, you'll want to get some timers going ASAP - abby stones, login points to buy trusts & king pop items, and a few other things - there's a good "return to vanadial" guide on Reddit.
My remaining checklist if I came back would be:
[ ] Maat's Cap (need to beat him with WHM, BLM, RDM, BRD, RNG, DRG, SAM, SMN and BST) [ ] Kraken Club (I went 0/30 soloing the Up in Arms BCNM with my LV 60 Scholar, actually quite fun) [ ] Mandau to 119 (THF Relic, it's at 109) [ ] Cap THF Job Points (long way to go)
The snow picture was a cut scene from a mission, don't remember which one. "Locke" as in Locke Cole from FFVI. JV = my initials.
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Post by lockejv on Oct 1, 2016 1:44:29 GMT -5
70 DNC doesn't get to fight, Maat, but you get to fight Laila. Meet my Dancing Edge. After defeating Nidhogg and Aspid, and leveling MNK, it was time for a Black Belt! After breaking Destroyers it was time for a KRT party! Have some light...Dragon Kick! ...what? Maat didn't hold up to Asuran Fists very well: Rhapsodies of Vana'diel required that you go back and do all the previous content. Lilsette made Wotg somewhat entertaining: Hello Nidhogg! It took quite a few tries for him to finally drop the N. legs. What a bastard. With the N Legs I was finally able to complete the Hecatomb set. The cap and the legs were so much better than any other pieces of gear for Thief weaponskills, and it was so frustrating not being able to camp them. ...January in Buffalo already? Continued working through missions, feeling out Dynamis, and leveled loldrk and grabbed some af... And that's going to do it for tonight, more to come!
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Post by lockejv on Oct 1, 2016 1:03:14 GMT -5
This next screen shot is one of the crazy things about FFXI. While leveling PLD, someone I hadn't seen in game since 2004 recognized my name. It was Illustrious (now Rathens) - the first NA to 75 on Titan (PLD). We happened to both recently come back to the game and ended up in the largest social LS on the server together through the LS finder. We talked about our experience parties in the Jungle and Citadel from 2003, 12+ years ago, like it was just yesterday. We ended up teaming up and went after Dark Spark for our AF that we both needed, and continued to reminisce for hours. Truly a unique gaming experience that I will never forget. Now that I was close to 70 PLD, couldn't go any further without a Joytoy! Getting to Chary was a bigger pain in the ass than getting the drop, took a few hours and 3 spawns IIRC. 70 PLD + Joytoy = time to fight Maat. 500 DMG Vorpal Blade to his face ended that fight pretty quickly! Hit 75 with PLD and decided to level WAR. 37 to 60 with AF quests didn't take too long: Once I hit 70 WAR it was Ridill + Joytoy time. With healing support from trusts I went from 70-75 rather quickly, slaughtering anything that got my path. I don't know if I've ever had so much fun in 15 minutes! Wait... Always wanted a haidate...thanks Byakko! I bought an Osode from someone's bazaar for 10k some time ago...and now it was time to fight Maat with my god gear WAR. Ridill => 2500 DMG Vorpal blade = death. King Behemoth #2: Dropped the D ring for me. Thanks! (Still doesn't make up for Sozu ><)
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Post by lockejv on Oct 1, 2016 0:23:35 GMT -5
Nothing like taking in some good ol LS chat while crafting. The scariest aggro of all...GF Aggro! Tibent helping me out with some Synergy Goldsmithing up to 80! Skillups are much easier now. Anything past 90+ is still a crazy expensive grind though. Ran into Sim while leveling PLD - did not survive the encounter! Found it! PLD AF. I then decided to play as a mithra for a bit (Windower add-on).
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Post by lockejv on Oct 1, 2016 0:01:28 GMT -5
NM competition is non-existent, but some spawns are still ridiculous. King Arthro didn't drop. Might as well use those Bomb Queen pop items that have been sitting in storage for literally 10 years.. (Found it!) Rudra's Storm weaponskill. It would have been a lot of work to quest, but I won the dagger with the ability in the mog bonanza lotto! Never got around to resetting my rancor hate, and have killed...just a few Tonberries. 15,000 dmg grudge! Partying with some old friends...played FFXIV with Kyouto and Lilbit for awhile too. ...what? Soloing Faffy. Kinda sad. He dropped a Ridill on about the 10th kill. AFv3! Otherwise known as Empyrean Armor.
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Post by lockejv on Sept 30, 2016 23:31:57 GMT -5
I reactivated my account in 2014, but didn't play much. Hit the 99 level cap, and screwed around a bit. As always, Mookies helped me gain my footing and showed me around in what is a completely different game.
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Post by lockejv on Sept 30, 2016 23:23:58 GMT -5
(Knife) (Can I have it?)
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