Shulula of Asura

I recently found out that on Windows XP, 20% of your bandwidth is reserved for update downloads. When you're not downloading a Microsoft update, that 20% goes to waste. Now you can reclaim it in 3 steps.

STEP 1: Go to Start > Run > Then type: gpedit.msc
Now CLick o.k. And you should see the Group Policy Editor Window open.

STEP 2: Go To - Local Computer Policy > Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Network > QOS Packet Scheduler > Limit Reservable Bandwidth

STEP 3: Double click on Limit Reservable Bandwidth. Click Properties > Enable Reservable Bandwidth > Input "0" > Click OK

Enjoy.

The past week I received and email from SE saying that FFXIV beta is opening soon. Beta testing offers a huge opportunity to those who are set on playing a particular game. Some things will change for sure but the the large structure/design of the game will not change. I played part of Aion's beta after I got banned from FFXI. Prior to that I played NC Soft's Lineage 2 and recognized many of the features of the game from there. I remember when I started playing FFXI at a time when there was so little documentation on what to do and where to go.

One of my fondest memories was the crazy story of parties getting 200xp from crabs in the Dunes. That was fantastic compared to my 85xp from the crabs near Sandy and only a few people I knew at that time had even taken the trip down there. Not to mention we had no maps to guide us, on the the kind adventurer who was returning after days of partying. Those were great days of exploring a new world. And the bonds built while exploring a new world are hard to duplicate.

Unfortunately most of the games are laid out for new players without much mystery. This is one area that SE has done well with their games, MMO and otherwise. At times its frustrating, but look at how many people are still intrigued by Treasure Hunter or other other aspects of the game. That mystery is what creates a long game life. I'm not saying this is the only way to keep people involved, but it seems to be lost on many of the newer MMOs.

What where your fondest memories of MMOs? What really makes a good game? Is frustration really a bad thing? 

I haven't posted here in a while because I've been busy with a couple other projects. After FFXI I tried playing a bit of EvE and WoW. I had an old EvE account from a year ago so I reactivated it and started a PVP character. I also created an alt specializing in mining, manufacture and research. Here's a nice video from the creators of eve, CCP, describing the "essense" of the game.




I also found this player created video. The creator contacted CCP to ask if they could use the test server for some clips. CCP liked what they were doing so much, they allowed them to create the video using their hardware and voice actors. The story is based on fiction written by CCP. Since the game isn't linear like regular MMOs, they provide a storyline through fiction instead of missions.




I also tried playing some WoW, but it doesn't interest me as much. I have a Druid character at level 20 (of 80). WoW is nice in that you can level up running missions and fighting solo. I can see the attraction for someone brand new to the idea of an MMO. They lead you from NPC to NPC in your progression. They even mark NPCs you should talk to, or want to talk to you. Maybe it changes once you get much higher but there is a lot of hand holding.

I've also been reading about some of the change in FFXI and the upcoming FFXIV. I'm not sure why SE wants to keep the same cross platform strategy. They will have the same problems with hardware limitations that they had with FFXI and the PS2. I'd be more interested if it was PC/Mac/Linux only and leave the consoles alone.

So I called the information center on Monday and they told me I was perma banned. I had come to terms with it after I saw all those post on BG about the LM-17, but still held out hope that it might be termporary. So that's the end of Shulula.

I can say that I had fun playing FFXI, but took it way to serious at times. The last couple months I was mostly without an LS and focused on the WoTG missions, Nyzul Isle and leveling RNG and RDM. RNG was quite fun, but got banned at 54, one level before sidewinder and e-bow. RDM was at 65 and doing pretty well. I don't see why some RDM don't want to main heal. Seriously you can can put in another DD or support job if main heal and drop the WHM or SCH. 

I still have Fifi, and will keep that account active for a while, but as of right now I don't plan on playing FFXI any longer. I'll keep the journal up for a bit, but wont be updating it.

Thank you to all those who have read. 

On Thursday I saw all these post on BG about people getting banned. I thought it was the usual round of RMT bans, but this post had 50k views in a very short time. As you know it was from the bug in SE code that blurred the lines between party/ally and outside groups. I quickly logged into my account and saw the same vague LM-17 message. Shortly after that Comcast went down so I had no phone, internet or cable. I still haven't bothered to check to see if mine is temp or perm, so I'll just wait to see tomorrow.

During that time w/o service I came to terms with the whole thing. Of course this is SE's game and they can do as they want, and we as players have no recorse. Whether its temporary or permanent, I know my perception of the company has not so much changed, but been cemented. SE has a horrible history of customer relations. Thank god they can write a good story because if you treat your customers the way they do, you'd be out of business quickly. There is basically no direct communication with they company and the player base. And not until recently have there even been any customer surveys. When have they asked you what you'd like to change in the game? And forget the fanfests and interviews... they just ignore questions or feed you the same line of crap about PS2 limitations and game balance.

On the other hand, it seems that the JP audience gets quite the treatment. Recently a poster on BG found a published book of FFXI items that included hidden effects. He graciously translated the text for the English audience and we found out quite a  bit of information. I've spent some time on this blog doing testing on Treasure Hunter. We've repeatedly asked SE simple questions about a job trait for one of the original jobs to no avail. Why is it that its so hard to get a straight answer from the company? Or why do they want to keep game mechanics hidden from their users?

Lets talk about this dupe bug in salvage. Its actually a bit more than just a dupe bug. After we started working with it, we asked the question if this is really a bug or if this is how the system was supposed to behave. I know it sounds crazy that we'd think SE would program a way to triplicate items, but at the time, the only place we thought it worked was salvage. And Salvage itself was a vague activity with many "tricks." 

Some of the "tricks" in Salvage included.

• How to pop certain NMs (Aspid, Frogs, Ramparts)
• How to duplicate cells (trade cells to slot and get back 2x as many)
• How to weaken bosses (kill all gears w/o aggro to weaken boss)
• How to spawn gate NMs (we were working on this but still unknown)

None of this was documented by the company. Instead it was the user base that tested and published information through BG, Wiki and Blogs. I can understand the excitement of discovering how things work and sharing it with the community. That's what has kept many players online and allowed sites like wiki and BG to flourish. However, it seems backwards that they ban people for exploits of game mechanics, but don't want to give any information on game mechanics.

The actual "bug"
One day we go in with 2 alliances, but before we can pop the first chest we decide to re-arrange some people. We move one guy into the main ally then pop the chest. I was in the main ally with 6 as a MNK and saw everyone lot their items. I made sure to pass whatever I didn't need, but the items stayed in the treasure pool. A few of the cells were designated for the one person in the second ally. We kept telling him to lot his cells and he said he already had them. Eventually we found out that he got 1 of each cell in the starting chest, plus we got 1 of each cell for our party. 

We didn't understand what happened, and shortly after this I took a break from the game to get married and go on my honeymoon. When I returned they had a solid grasp on what happened. It turns out that the bug blurred the line between party/ally and outside group. If you perform certain actions, you can see the party chat of a person outside of your alliance. On top of that, you can cast party only magic (like refresh) on those outside of your party. AoE spells like Diamondhide and Ballad also hit anyone in range, in party or out. The most famous result is that you get separate loot pools for each party.

Bug?
With all the unknowns of the zone, and the silence by SE about anything having to do with their game, we started to question if this was a bug or a design. Salvage was notorious for low drop rates (some as low as 1% with some reporting 0/200+) and this basically fixed most of that issue. It didn't allow you to force a mob to drop anything, but when it did, you were able to share it with 3 people. Some of the other mechanics were also interesting because they allowed you to have a party behavior with an ally of people.

What made me realize that this was not a design is when I heard reports of people using this to duplicate Sandworm drops. Sandworm has some very valuable AH-able items that people were selling to fund all sorts of things, including relics/mythics. Obviously SE had lifted the same code into their new instanced zones. Like I said, there was already a "legit" way to duplicate items in salvage using the slot NMs.

Community Response
At first there were very few groups who knew about this bug. Maybe 2-3 other Salvage groups were using it. Then it started spreading and you saw some groups being created with the sole purpose of duping and selling drops. The word started spreading form Asura to other Servers and you see some groups saying "we have become very efficient at unlocking salvage bodies."

Although some knew, there seemed to be a tacit agreement to keep it hush hush.  People started using it for Salvage, Nyzul Isle, Sandworm, Ashu Talif, Assaults... you name it. I heard that people reported this to SE several times with no result (big surprise there). Finally someone sold this exploit to a site that pays (and sells) this sort of information. No doubt SE must have an account, and they quickly patched the bug.

Once the patch hit, there was a long thread on BG where people were trying to find out what this bug was. Some people gloated and others called names. I'm sure many players felt left out, or betrayed by SE. No response or communication from the company outside of their short maintenance note (as usual). Then BAM! you're banned. 

SE Response
Personally I feel that SE really dropped the ball on this one. This is where they could have taken the lead and engaged their community. Instead they retreated into their tower to deal "justice" and refuse to answer any questions. "Take what we give you and shut up!" 

When I ask why people play the game, the response I get over and over is the community. Well I feel like the FFXI community took a big hit with this one. Sure the game will go on, but I don't know if you'll see the same level of involvement or testing that we've enjoyed this far. 

If you just want to grind away at a game, there are plenty to choose from. Many of which reward much quicker and give you a better interface. SE could have opened a forum to discuss this issue. The issue being bugs and debugging the game. If there is no incentive to report bugs, or no way to do so quickly and efficiently, people won't do it. Shit I'd be scared to report a bug just to have a GM jail or ban you for using it in the first place.