Weekly Boredom Update

So this week, nothing new happened that's worth mentioning. I'm doing the FC Review first, since I'm going to start using my super lazy format.

You can see the FCs here.

Jolt's Pew Pew FC - 300AP
First, a note about this FC: Look here; we actually got the fillers from the 60CP version and had it priced at 300AP. (The Top Prize ratio seems to be the 30CP rates, though.)
Top Prize: new set with amazing stats. The other top prizes are decent, so = 9/10.
Medium Prize: Half-baked stuff that doesn't sell for much, so = 4/10.
Fillers: Roaring Passion flood. <.< So = 5/10.

Overall = 7/10.

(Aaro Note~ : Pearz. Seriously. Delete my comments if you've fixed the problem already; I know you read this. =__=)

(By the way, here's the J-version of the FC.)
Pointy Objects? FC - 600AP
Top Prize: Lots of decent sets, so = 8/10.
Medium Prize: Fail. All those weapons all fail hard. So = 1/10.
Fillers: Actually, incenses, repairs and sequencers aren't bad. I would take them over the medium prize. So = 8/10.

Overall: 6/10.

The J-Server FC can be found here! (Gonna start posting this too, for those that don't check.) It comes out every Thursday.

So, seriously not much random stuff this week...

It has been close to a month since Rho posted the last chapter of her Saga story thing. Go bother and pester her for it, or I'll post my crazy continuations again. (Aaro Note~ : Remember! You can tell her in-game [Rho] or PM her on forums [RhoRho]. Do it now!)

My PVP event has begun. If you are participating, please make the attempts to contact your opponent so you can set-up your match.

Random Fact #1: JonGhost is REALLY pro at DOTA, and is full of pwn. Seriously, that's way too good of a player. D:

Random Fact #2: I fail at S4 Chaser Mode. I tried it today and I fail hard. All I am good for is swords-only death matches. D:

And lastly, from Pearz' Conspiracy Corner:

Notice the two new promos that have been posted? One is the 50% cash-back and the other is the buy-4-get-1-free FC. Now, if you've been following the promo trend, we tend to get our Tier Promo/Raffle/Top Spender on Fridays for the weekend, to push in a bit more sales before the new FCs roll in again. (Incidentally, every time they add new Item Mall stuff, it is Thursday, if you noticed.) So, this time, the promo stops short and ends on Friday, before the weekend, so you might be thinking, "...wtf?!"

Here is the idea; I've seen it happen a couple time before, from Aeria. They are pushing for these promos to make people buy and spend now - and then, come weekend, they'll roll out one super-duper promo that everyone will want to participate in. Why? 'Cause it is the end of the month. They probably have some kinda monthly quota to reach and they haven't reached it. They're bring out these "double up" and basically mediocre promos first, and then they'll finish it with a super promo to get you to spend double your amount, to reach their quotas.

What does this mean? Recharge for 60% bonus cash, and then wait for the super promo to roll out, for the end-of-month special.

Pearz' Prediction of Aeria Content Updates:
Demon Request - Start of October
Next Big patch - December, as the one-year anniversary, as well as the Christmas gift

You guys may or may not recall this post that I made two months back. Notice the Frontier Set is in the January 09 FC, which is way off the time gap we usually get with J-Server's FCs (around one-year gap). Maybe my conspiracies do hold some water after all...

~Pearz

Tribute to Xay (And PVP Update)

So, last night, Xay logged on. For those that don't know him: he was the first one to reach lv92 and is considered the Top PVPer of our time. He has been gone for over a month and briefly returned last night.

After a short chat, he revealed that he (like everyone else) is moving to Aion. He played some random rock-paper-scissors and dice roll games as he handed out all the stuff in his bank. He basically handed out all of his items, and passed the stuff on his back to random nubs and the friends gathered. Personally, I fail at luck and so failed at winning stuff. /anklez A lot of others walked away with a lot of shiny new stuff.

Afterwards, he played one last PVP match...where he reaffirmed how good he still is. Even with a month's absence, in the 1v1 fight between us, there was still a stalemate. This just shows that the new Item Mall gear changes really do only make a small difference. In the end, your skill as a player does define a large factor of how good you are in PVP in Megaten.

So, with this, Xay will be gone from Megaten for good. It'll be a while before another great player makes it as far as he did. I will be down one great rival for good now. ~sigh


Now, a small update about my personal PVP status:

My new Nyralathotep is done~ This makes my second PVP demon:


My first demon being my Loki:


I finally reached 200kBP. This is two-thirds of my way through to Blaze of Ambition. If only I didn't spend any BP, then I would be SOOOO close.


Small fun note: I posted that I couldn't PVP for one day, and so it got flooded with 7-8x Chaos players looking to farm some BP. It's funny how one player can influence all of PVP. Ego Boost +10

~Pearz

I'm Sleepy...

Started this blog post at 5am and finished around 7am - why do I start a post at a time like this is beyond myself. I'm an insomniac?

This is probably the earliest I've ever posted an FC review after the release. If you're wondering why: this is the 2nd time this week that I locked myself out of PVP (that happens when you miss/dc three matches in a row; you get banned from PVP for 24 hours). I am currently locked out for another 16 hours or so, from this post, so you guys can go farm BP all day with me gone.

Remember that we have a new PVP event. You can get the details and sign up here. The emphasis is on fairness regardless of level; hope we get much, much participation.

So, you guys may have noticed the free character ticket on your account. It is courtesy of this event. This event is Pearz-approved. :O

That same day, Xand gave me more blog material. :O Check out this song. If you like it, check out the rest of the series here. It's a short series at the moment, but it is worth it.

It's been 38 Assassin Rooms, and still no Relic. Guess I'm not getting a Daybreaker anytime soon... T_T

The clan decided it would be fun to run around with Deathbringer Axes. This is the result of that:


So fun in the sun read. I'll probably give it more blog time later when I'm less lazy (meaning possibly never).

There was a GM Q&A Event earlier this week. Here is the screen from that:

Alice undetermined. So we won't be getting them for 1 year anniverary I guess.


I'm surprised; the GMs are actually knowledgeable about the content they are adding.



Too bad the GMs (or GSes) don't know about expertise training.


So, I was teamed and couldn't flag to ask for question. Instead, I got people to join me in shop, spamming that I had question. D:


Too bad, no love for me. D:

I tried to /wrists, but:


So, from now on, we in Rain will /anklez; /wristing is old skool.

We have our new wannabe-GS, Ichimokuren. He was sitting around the event, talking about how he could answer every question, pretending to be super helpful... (Remembers Fawkes?) When one falls, another one rises from the ashes. ~~sigh

So, finally, the FC review:
From the Ashes FC - 600AP
Some nice stuff here. New tonfas, new amazing fan, better rates for Phoenix Sets. The fillers are half-decent: 3x incense and balms. All in all, the stuff is decent; the only problem is the 600AP price tag. Like always: is 6 bucks worth the risk of getting junk like Rein du Bijou or Maximillian? 6/10

Synther's Delight FC - 150AP
First and foremost, this FC has nothing to do with synthesizing... It is all smithing stuff. It would be an amazing FC for those looking for smithing stuff. The new Class 5 Clovers are good for making Ogre Thunders for those Survivors. Overall, it's an amazing FC for smithers. 8.5/10

~Pearz

Indi Gets Bored Too Often

So, I'd like to clarify one thing.

In Clan Rain, we have mules. Everybody's a mule - but here's the main mule tree, sans the mules of the mules.



Rho mules just about everyone. Tyrant. >>'

Other news. Let's see if I can stop getting needless clothes. I haz outfits I likes even though it IS a bit slutty.



Anybody want to take bets on how long I'll stick with it?

Aeria Loves Cave

So, here is a version of how the conversations go between Aeria and Cave:

*ring ring*
Cave - Moshi-moshi?
Aeria - Hi, it is Aeria calling AGAIN. We are looking for some changes to the FC AGAIN.
C - *walks away to get their best English-speaking representitive*
Ha-lo A-ri-a. What do iz joo need?
A - In the upcoming FC we would like you to remove the White Rider from the FC.
C - Um... Yes?
A - *speaks slowly, pronouncing each word*
Can...you...take...White...Rider...out...of...FC...?
C - Yes, yes, White Rider...out...FC...desu ka?
A - Yes, thank you.
C - Sayonara.
A - Bai-bai.

The following week: White rider comes out in FC.

A - FML.

I take full credit for the above. Pearz had nothing to do with it. (For the love of chocolate, please stop emoing in clan chat now plzkthnxbai.)

My Nyar Is Done!

Finally done with my Nyarlathotep. Thanks to Lielle and Royce (for helping me with the tri-fuse), Kui, the people I levelled with, and Rho and Pearz for helping me get the plug-in...and...that's it! Demon done~

/camps PVP&Babel again



~Cody

GMs PVPing?

So yesterday, the GMs finally started PVPing. Both Jolt and Xand played on the Chaos team. I was in a total of one match with only Xand, and then that was followed by 3 matches with both Xand and Jolt.



Here's the 2nd match with Jolt + Xand; too much effort to re-encode stuff to add the other match I frapped too. Here is the download link of that video. That file is on normal speed, while the YouTube version has been sped up to 1.75x speed since YouTube limits videos to 10min and one Fate match is 13min. (I also changed the music for the YouTube version, since the sped-up version of my music just sounds weird, whereas the download version keeps the original music that I was listening to at the time. XD)

So, some notes about the PVP matches played:
The first match with just Xand. He got demolished by me that match, which led to Jolt doing a system broadcast about it. (I missed the screenshot or I would soooo post it. T_T)

After this match occurred, it was time for the GM Dungeon Run, and so there was an hour's intermission before the GMs started PVPing again. The main reason I uploaded this match was 'cause you get to see me check out all of Jolt's gear. Note you can see the 5-slot White Fang. <.< Also, note that neither I nor anyone in the video can hurt Jolt, due to Incensing and Lord of Armour (other than Rho, who can Spell Hex). Xand came back with a Resist Melee on his demon (just for me), since he got stomped out so badly that first match. XD( You can see the "resist" over the head when I used my blunt hammer, wherein I swapped weapons to kill him). Small note: For those that don't know, those are not incenses on me during the video. It is the resist buffs that my Loki casts on me.


Some side stuff:


My hammer is finally complete, after roughly 5 weeks and 100-ish Dominions.


For those that have not seen it: we closed our previous PVP event and decided to post a new one here. The emphasis is on fairness regardless of level; hope we get much participation.

~Pearz

Open Letter

This is an Aaro Soapbox Production. There’s a Pearz Post under this; go read that.

As far as forums go, I generally don’t post. I obsessively stalk threads and the entire Megaten forums in general, but that’s another story. I’ve generally not come head-to-head with someone else, so I don’t think I can say I have personal experience with people – mainly, the GSes.

That said, I remember JonGhost from my DOMO days (might be mistaken; the days have started to blur together), and I remember not having antagonistic feelings towards him. He wasn’t great, but he wasn’t bad either. He seemed competent at his job as forum moderator. I’m sure he still is. But this post is really annoying me.

To end a thread with that post, a thread that you’re locking, is quite immature. It shows an abuse of power that you would want to get the last word in – and, yes, when you’re basically flaming what was said before, that is getting the last word in. A true moderator post, in my opinion, would be only the first part, wherein you state the reason for locking the thread. Was there any real reason to get in that extra snipe?

Perhaps it’s unfair of me to criticize his actions, because I am not the moderator. So, fine, let’s forget that. This line is more annoying: “Get out and look at real life a little and you will understand that.” That is pretty much the same attempt at winning an argument as this line: “You’re still a child, and don’t understand the World of Adults.” Not that they’re correlated; my point is that it’s a copout.

Now that my basic problems with JonGhost’s post are over, let’s breathe and move on.

Main Argument: Are GSes regular/normal players?

(This was spurred by this line: “Once again, we can all clearly see that GameSages are REGULAR Players and have no privileges whatsoever,” courtesy of Mahouto.)

According to Merriam-Webster, regular “stresses conformity to a rule” and the synonym “normal”, in turn, “implies lack of deviation from what has been…established as the most usual.”

Most players, ergo “the usual”, do not have contact with GMs. However, the argument has always been that GSes are the same as any other random player, except for the fact that they have frequent contact with GMs. Fine.

However, the argument also was that GSes do not get financially compensated for their role, and so they are volunteers.

Once upon a time, GSes got 2kAP/month and the argument was that AP is not real currency; it’s simply a representation. You know what? There are people who do not understand this concept, so here it is: a $20 bill is not really worth anything. It is a representation of the value based on the GDP of the nation. If I took a $20 bill to another country and they do not know of this currency, then I can say that I have no money. Similarly, AP otherwise is worth nothing. But you took it to an environment where it is recognized – ergo, it is now a representation of the value based on Aeria’s market.

I would also like to point out that getting something on a monthly basis for your work is known as compensation such as a salary; whether you get paid in currency or goods, it is still compensation. Only when you do not get it on a regular basis can it be called a “reward” and you are a “volunteer”.

I hear the AP compensation is no longer in effect. So GSes, once a “paid” employee of Aeria, are now volunteers again. You can be a volunteer without relinquishing your status as a player; that makes sense.

(Edit: It was brought to my attention that it was only speculation that the AP compensation was taken away. I strongly understand it to be true that GSes of Aeria once got 2kAP a month, although it is questionable whether they still get it or not. Either way, the rest of the post will operate under the assumption that GSes are volunteers.)

It was also said by JonGhost: “All players get rewards (raffles, random gifts, get to level X first, etc.).”

How raffles work: You fulfill a qualification (either by buying something, or answering a question, etc, etc) and your ballot is entered into a box. At a later date, one or more ballots will be drawn from the box, and the winner(s) will get the prize. This is said to be fair, because drawing blindly from a box means that, logically, all ballots have an equal chance of winning (unless you were allowed to enter more than once, but that’s beside the point). Yes, this is a reward.

Let us look at the fiasco that happened with the Abyss Cloak and Shadow Voucher. It can be pretty much undisputed that three (3) GSes had the Abyss Cloak straight off the bat (while a raffle was being held), and two (2) GSes had a Shadow Voucher. While I didn’t keep up with the Abyss Cloak, GM Xandamere did admit that the Shadow Vouchers were given to the GSes, as a reward for good work.

Now, the real discussion of this point: For a GS to get what is a promotional item, what is being raffled away, without actually participating in the raffle means that there was another category, “Rewards for GSes”, that was not announced.

If you look here, we learn that CB GSes were given the demon Alice, broken or not, for their help with CB. What about the other CB players? I seem to recall a thread that wanted players to post bugs with detailed reports. There were many that posted extensively, meaning they extensively tested the game, and yet where are their Alices?

Yes, the GSes get rewards – and it annoys people that no one side consistently owns up to this fact, instead hiding it and making excuses until backed up against a wall and almost forced to say the truth. Even now, people staunchly speak of the GSes being just like normal players.

I want the GMs to pick a player out of the game, to randomly give a gift to – like the Abyss Cloak. Oh, but you have raffles for that purpose, to remove the potential bias of the GMs while picking, right? Oh, but the GSes also show up with the Abyss Cloaks, outside of the raffle. Hm.

My ultimate point: GSes are not regular players.

Yes, they play the game and are therefore part of the community. But they are the only players that get consistent rewards – unfortunately, no matter how you coat that, that’s favouritism.

They are volunteers in the sense that they do not have a fixed compensation like before; they get rewards just like many other volunteers outside of Megaten and Aeria. But, compared to other players, the GSes are shown to hold greater favour with the GMs, able to “circumvent”, to an extent, raffles and FCs and whatever else.

In that event, I think all most players are asking for is to be told. It is completely illogical to say the GSes are just like all other players and then show blatant favouritism. It’s even more asinine to say that they worked hard and thus got rewarded and that is fair – others work just as hard but don’t get recognized because of the uneven playing field.

If the GSes are going to get favoured and given random things, there will be community backlash. But that criticism will be taken down considerably if you advertise it to begin with. When GMs show up with 5-slotted COMPs, generally people do not say that that is unfair, because we knew beforehand what was attached to being a GM. So if a GS shows up with a red Phoenix Outfit, for example, on the day of the release (or before), less people will say that it’s unfair, because we will then know beforehand what was attached to being a GS.

Don’t lie and expect no community anger.

This has been an Aaro Soapbox Production.

Disclaimer: This was not an attack on JonGhost. His words, as well as Mahouto’s, inspired this argument. The words spoken by these two individuals were used as a frame of reference to construct this rant, which ultimately veered into a long-existing problem in Megaten.

~Aaro off

Title Too Long So See Below

Real Title: The White Rider wtfz Business...And Random Stuff...Fine, FC Too

FCs come at the end 'cause I hate love doing FC reviews. Best for last, right?

If the letter "s" is missing when you PM me, or in my latest post here (Aaro Note~ : the letter "s" will be in this post, because of magic), it is 'cause it is semi-broken. How a key can be semi-broken is beyond me. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

So, for those not informed, the White Rider was taken out of our FC this week (if you don't keep up with this stuff).

This can be double confirmed here, where you clearly see our same FC except without White Rider. Here is the aftermath of Royce posting White Rider. Notice that, for once, Xand ADMITS they PULLED it from the FC. So, OMIGAWRD dey HAZ CONTROLZ?!

Maybe my farfetched so-called "conspiracies" are not so far off the ball. *pulls papers to be admitted to the looney bin*

So, here is the version of how the conversations go between Aeria and Cave:
*ring ring*
Cave - Moshi-moshi?
Aeria - Hi, it is Aeria calling AGAIN. We are looking for some changes to the FC AGAIN.
C - *walks away to get their best English-speaking representitive*
Ha-lo A-ri-a. What do iz joo need?
A - In the upcoming FC we would like you to remove the White Rider from the FC.
C - Um... Yes?
A - *speaks slowly, pronouncing each word*
Can...you...take...White...Rider...out...of...FC...?
C - Yes, yes, White Rider...out...FC...desu ka?
A - Yes, thank you.
C - Sayonara.
A - Bai-bai.

The following week: White rider comes out in FC.

A - FML.

The events may be exaggerated within my mind, but something of this sort probably happened. Hence why after a poll where the Mini Sucubus Wings, which were never suppose to be in the FC, are randomly added in. (Unless someone can give me a better explanation; I'd love to hear it.)

So, lately, Cody has been all, "OMG, OMG, I'm playing this new game called DOTA. It is SUPER FUN, but I'm still new at this." So Rho and I, who have obviously played before, decide to go play a match with Cody. End match result: other 2 players on our team leave, QQing about how big a feed Cody is, and Rho and I are left to carry useless Cody to win the match.

Long story short: Cody, you fail at DOTA.

I want to bump up Rho's GM Dungeon Run suggestion thread. It was a good idea that's slowly dying. Check it out.

I said I would remind you guys about this, so here it is:




I would consider it mid-August at this point, so where are the demon requests?

If you want to learn about Alice-chan that Luna/Nephrae has...

My PVP event will be closed probably tonight. Rho and I talked about it, and it will be replaced by another event that I will be posting either later tonight or tomorrow.

So on a slightly bigger note before FC reviews, from Xand's comment here, I presume most of you are confused on the reason behind my posts. Rho brushed on it, but I will elaborate a bit. This blog began for the 200kAP Aeria blogging event that got swept under the big TOS rug where Aeria hides everything. I do not hate Aeria and Megaten, in general. If such were the case, I would not even be playing Megaten. I would just be one of those random SB spammers and forum flamers posting flame after flame, at every turn. Eventually, it just turned into what a real blog should be, with me blogging my thoughts on Megaten and Aeria.
As satirical/flaming as my posts may be, they are always at least semi-constructive. I look to inform the rest of the community of issues they may have overlooked. I hope the rest of the community will become more well-informed of the issues that may arise within Megaten, so the players may be more well-informed in their choices, be it build or financial (i.e. AP spending), of investments. I just have a different ideology on how to communicate my thoughts than what Aeria would prefer.


Without further ado, your crappy FC reviews (linking just_here's 'cause he started posting FCs first):

Xand Went 2 Koledge FC - 200AP
Simple: do you really want to risk getting a book on taunt for that small chance of a good book that might raise your expertise 20-30% of a rank (on higher classes) for 200AP? One Textbook really does not get you anywhere, but once you get one of the bad textbooks, they are NEVER going to sell. Sure, if you hit Top Prize, then you're fine - but isn't that true for nearly any FC? 3/10

Dantine's Fashion Fury FC - 600AP
So, this is really not a bad FC. The 600AP price tag is kind of high, but there's some decent rates on the vouchers. We finally have access to the red Spin/Melee Phoenix Set, though I prefer my black one better. XD Some old rares are back, and decent fillers - nothing spectacular. All in all, a decent FC with nothing much to say. 7/10

For my final fun note for you guys, to end my super long post:




~Pearz

Heyy - It's Cody

PEALZ HALP NAO PLZ!



- Cody

Rho Hates Modding

So today, I tried to force a great success on my axe.
However, luck didn't seem to like me today; I forgot to pray to Google this morning.

These are all at 34% mod success:







Cool, right? I thought so, too.

~*+ Rho

Cocks And Turkeys

Looking for a good scandal to gobble up?
Feast on this.

(Aaro Note~ : For some people that don't read comments, Finella has more to add in her blog here.)

I'm not even sure where to start; it's almost not worth commenting on - nor would I (we) have done so even before it got locked for "investigation".

I mean, let's be frank: this blog is, by no means, pro-Aeria. However, we are pro-player. What Xand did was pro-player.

It's always entertaining to point out all the times Aeria and its representatives screw up or try to screw with us (eg. the missing White Rider).

This thread has been nothing but entertaining. Seriously: "What happened afterwards was none of your business." lmao. I'm sorry, but you only say that when you can't admit something; if you make it so obvious, you might as well just admit to it.

Oh, Xand, Xand - you definitely get a slap on the wrist for this one.
Although I personally won't blame you for doing the switch, I doubt that you knew just how rare it was. If you didn't, you should have consulted the GSes; they're actually pretty good for miscellaneous stuff like this. =p

I frankly lost count as to how many Cavern Runs I've done. I started in February, so use that as a reference point. I've yet to see Suzaku - and if I did and I got the earring of the wrong gender, I'd probably snap and try to gnaw the paint off my walls.

Ultimately though, he probably just wanted to help. We don't lynch people for trying to help, even if they made a mistake. We show and deliver consequence, and then we encourage.

So, here's my verdict: I support what you did, Xand.
Professional no-no, but brownie points +10. lolz

No matter how you look at it, putting a gender on the feather was dumb. I choose to be vulgar because it personally offends me. If you want to put a gender on it, make it tradeable. To force an untradeable item onto a player and not let them use it is a giant, "Screw you! Rage uninstall!".

Honestly, the only people who have the right to talk are:

1> Those who already HAVE the feather.
2> Those who want to know if they will be treated the same way.

The damage is done, so there's no reason to switch it back or whatever. I say to give those who already have the feather some kind of compensation for not being given this advantage, if they choose to accept it.

Secondly, anyone in the future who has this problem should get equal treatment. I would be absolutely satisfied with this outcome, and I think anyone else reasonable would be, too.

Rho Flame~ :

1> For those of you who want to get your FC loot's genders changed: I dont care if you're joking, but you're being an idiot. FC loot is tradeable; it already doesn't apply. You have as much right as an able-bodied man fighting a cripple for the handicap parking spot.

2> Suggesting that the GMs went in with them and -spawned- Suzaku is just (quoting Pearz) "lulz". Talk about absolutely zero backing or reasoning...and they say our conspiracies are far-fetched.

3> To some people: we criticize, we don't hate. You're not doing what we're doing. It might feel like it because you have the spotlight right now, but you're just looking for an excuse to rage and that is honestly just sad.

~*+ Rho

Something Like Clan Events

This is random advertising. That is all.

I. The New Box

If you will all look to your left, there is a "new post" box underneath the blog header and clan picture. It was put in because so many people questioned Rho about Chapter 2 of the Saga after she posted Chapter 3; unfortunately, she and Pearz posted at about the same time, so people saw Pearz' post and not hers. (Conspiracy?! If Pearz is involved...) I don't know how many people will actually pay attention to this, but I tried, at least. The box will have the last 3 posts.

II. Pearz' Event

If you will all look here, it's the PVP event. She can take care of her own publicity, I know, so little to none from me. >D

III. Kaitri/Cody's Event With Special Appearance By Xaero

If you will all look here, it's a dungeon-run "event". I figured that if it's held by clannies, then it should be mentioned in the "clan" blog. They prefer posting in the thread beforehand so they know that they have "customers", but you can always get a hold of them in-game too. Good luck~ ^__^

~Aaro off

Super Late (Maybe Early?) FCs And Stuff

So, umm...I realize that FCs come out again in 2 days, so ummm... Yeah... I'll do FCs first, I guess.

Oh Snap! FC - 600AP
Tons of wings in this FC. Reintroduction of the Death and Conviction, so now the prices are dirt cheap. All the wings seem to be selling cheap, too, so presumably rates are high on them. Andras Masks...oh boy, are they ugly; 'nuff said. Guess the consumable extras aren't too bad - useful stuff, at least. The Mini Succubus Wings, I assume, have extremely low rates (more talk about this further down this post), and probably not worth your spammage. Decent wing spam, decent fillers, but crap stuff in between = 5/10.

Duftach FC - 150AP
...this crap again?! Crappy Top Prize, and the fillers are half-baked, at best. Nothing much to say except, "Blehhh..." = 1/10.


Hur hur, fun partz now~

Let's start off on my last post titled "Why Rho Fails". Since so many people came back saying they understood it fully, I wold like to point out that, when I looked back on it, there are two mediocre-sized mistakes that I made (logically) when I failed to take into account some things. Find the errors and you may win a prize. :O (Aaro Note~ : She lies. There is no prize.)

My PVP event here seems to not be taking off. It closes on the 15th. If there's still no movement by then, I will close it since I spent all my Macca since school will be close to starting, and I have no intention of devoting time to this event when that occurs.

Up to 95ish Dominions now, in Week 5. Still no Scales Zodiac. Sighh~~ I started to hunt to make the first Daybreaker on the server, but it's just as big of a letdown as my Dominion Hunting. At least doing the Daybreaker Hunt nets me a lot of exp for my demon (cause I like /wristing all my player exp away).

Since I did a review on Aion a week ago, here is an update on their page. I found it funny 'cause it speaks of "customization"...but all you can customize is your looks. The guy stops after he's like, "You won't be like other warriors," and then jumps to changing armour looks. Customization, to me, means at least some choice in your stats and skills.

Gratz to our new GSes: Tenkido (former GS), Alca (of whom all I know is gunner + active forum-goer), Compact (our first high-level GS that might actually be knowledgeable about the game... OMGIWARDS), and lastly...Sakurawulf (...who is...better candidate than Rho...?! lulz).

As some of you may know, I've been hunting DCMs for the passed couple of days. I succeeded in doing all 90 in 3 days (so I wasn't any slower than Xay or Origin when they did it). Now to work on Athena for anti-melee for god knows why (I mean, who else uses blunt PVP?!).

So, some final notes about the Mini Succubus Wings, of which you may or may not know. I did some digging and got some info about our SUPER RARE Mini Succubus Wings. First off, you can look here.



WOWZERZ. So the GMs weren't pulling our leg when they said the FC didn't have Mini Succubus Wings. IF you translate that page, you will notice that the 60CP FC has every single item our FC has...except the Mini Succubus Wings. Why was the icon added, then? I don't know, so it's obviously some kind of tinkering Aeria told Cave to do.

So you must be thinking that GMs are the shiet atm, until I bring to your attention this post by Xand.
Based on other Fortune Cards with the wings, if they HAD actually been in the Fortune Card, they would have had a very low chance. Probably around 1%-ish.

This is referring to the chances of the Mini Succubus Wings. Here is a translated version of the FIRST TIME the Mini Succubus Wings were introduced. This can even be semi-confirmed here at JWiki, where it states that first time the Mini Succubus Wings were added was with a 30CP card. (Note that the the link beside it is to a news announcement in January 25th.) What you SHOULD be paying attention to is how the list is formatted, of the ORIGINAL FC it was released in. Note how the Mini Succubus Wings WAS NOT even a jackpot prize; it was merely one of the mediocre prizes to be won. How is that a 1ish% chance?

More excuses of why to turn an item that the NA population might want artificially rare to boast (Aaro Note~ : it's "boost", Pearz) sales. Those wings sure are getting higher odds than they should be, as Xand says. What other very common item on J-server will be lied about and then made SUPER RARE? (I envision the new Amp Comps being Top Spender. Sigh~~)

Cave sure controls all the FC stuff, hur hur hur. (Not to mention that Aeria got Cave to "readd" those wings in, so of course they must have no control. D:)

In newest news, Rain now has roughly 20 REAL members. We are almost like a real clan, housing a lot of the decent Law PVPers (Instinct, Xaero, Fuwa, Mikale, Shockwave). Are we better than the self-proclaimed top PVP Clan Lucid yet?

~Pearz

Bridgestone pwnz + Random

This commercial almost killed me.
(That means: Go watch it.)

Rho is currently suffering from an affliction called the Phantom Mouse.

Please, let me explain.

I use a mouse; I loved all my mice. Black ones, silver ones, wireless, laser and ball - you name it. However, recently, I only had one mouse, a silver wireless one.

Long story short: It broke a few days ago.

I have yet been able to go to a hardware/accessory store to purchase a new one - so, for the last few days, when I'm not paying attention, my hand instinctively moves towards the side of my laptop to cup the mouse in my palm. Every time, I am met with a pang of shock and then sadness.

To curb this pain, I have placed my TV remote where my mouse once was; now, when I instinctively move my hand there, it is greeted by a familiar feeling of plastic. The sadness still comes, but in a much smaller dosage.

Clearly, Rho has major issues.
She needs to go buy a new mouse soon before the rest of her sanity slips away.

~*+ Rho

Rho Feels the Need to Flame People

First off, I'd like to remind myself that I didn't get picked for GS. /sadface

Now that's out of the way.
I want to direct your attention to this thread.
Some of you might have been following the events there.
I, personally, stopped a while back - but then wandered back to it yesterday.

I'm not posting this in the thread because this is absolutely none of my business. I just can't swallow my disgust for some people in this world, so I have to rant about it somewhere - and since it's MegaTen related, here is perfect.

I don't belong to Clan Lucid, so: no, I don't know what really happened. I can only judge based on behaviour and the words in the thread.
[This is also my one and only disclaimer.]

The way I put it all together: Naka&Co formed Lucid but ultimately quit, and then, in one way or another, the reins were left in the hands of Lucis.

This caused ruffles in the smooth silk sheet that is clan harmony, apparently due to the stark difference between Lucis and Naka's leadership styles. People left, new people joined.

And we fast-forward to now. Lucis is trying to get a recruitment thread going and, in the process, said some very bold things that made the current Clan Lucid sound like an elitist guild.

It was all relatively low-key until Naka returned from the dead, feeling like he had a right to even open his mouth.
[I'm sure that, by now, you've realized whose side I'm taking.]

Key drama points:
-Naka feels responsible for Lucid still.
-Naka logged on and started kicking people.

So, let's focus on those, shall we?

Once you give something away, IT'S NOT YOURS ANYMORE, and this includes a clan.
The fact of the matter is: Lucid was not disbanded, but instead, it was passed down. Not to mention the fact that Naka quit and moved on to Aion.

Is your (@Naka) life so goddamn boring that you have to go back to a forum of a game you no longer play just to start drama? I don't even know how to begin to tell you how pathetic you are as a person to just log on and start kicking people; apparently, in this America, we have no decency.

I've personally never heard of Lucid prior to Lucis; I ran into Lucis in PvP time and time again. There are times when we get heated up and sound mean to each other, but I can personally vouch that Lucis is a wonderful person.

When I first read your (@Lucis) recruitment thread, I disliked you. It sounded, indeed, like you were picking a fight. However, I realized that English is not your strong suit - and yet, you still stepped boldly forward, apologizing for it and correcting misunderstandings. I have nothing but respect for you.

Fairly spoken, I have never had any personal interactions with Naka and therefore might not have any favourable bias - but what the hell is this:

----[Quoting Naka]----
不在其位不謀其政, 是涉及到儒家所謂「名分」問題。不在其位而謀其政,容易被人認為是「違禮」之舉,有僭越之嫌...這在春秋末年 BC490! 孔子提出維護社會穩定; 抑制百姓「犯上作亂」的观点。My second major in UCLA was Chinese studies so please don't bring your old confucius bs in there, confucius had done more damage to the Chinese society than goods, besides, this is America, we believe in personal freedom and rights to questioning the authority, something you obviously not use to. Can't blame you, tho, after all most of Chinese had yet to get over the influence of Confucianism; therefore, China has yet to turn into democracy but instead still ruled by a autocratic government.
----[Quoting Naka]----

Essentially, you (@Naka) pulled a quote, interpreted it the way you wanted to, stated your education, and then started looking down your nose at an entire civilization with a guise of pity.

My educational background: Programming, Games Design, Entrepreneurial Major. Thus, I can't pretend that I can compete in knowledge with someone with an EAS degree.

However, I will do the favor of translating these words for you.

不在其位而謀其政,容易被人認為是「違禮」之舉
One who does not hold a position in state, yet talks of politics, can easily be considered by some to harbour rebellious intent.

孔子提出維護社會穩定; 抑制百姓「犯上作亂」的观点
This is one of Confucius' methods of controlling the populace; if the peasants don't wish to bring bad attention to themselves, they will follow the doctrine: Leave the affairs of state to those who hold a position in state.

To say that it is because of Confucius' teachings that China is not a democracy is something I can agree with; however, to suggest that because China is not democratic, it is flawed (and therefore Confucius' influence is negative) is absolutely not forgivable.

Every organization of man has its own method of controlling the populace.

Should we hate Catholicism and brand its followers as murderers and liars because of the witch hunts and inquisitions? Hate them for denying proper and complete sex education in their schools? No, this is the way the Catholic people have lived; this is the way they choose to live.

Let's hit a bit closer to home, focusing on America's biggest PR boo-boo: fear tactics. It was rampant ever since its founding days, the specific example being the Second Red Scare, during which time the people were taught to be afraid of things that would not happen and hate anyone/anything associated with communism. Yet, people are lined out the door to be American citizens; it's not because they're masochists.

There is support and opposition to every organization; ultimately, we decide if the said organization is good or evil based on whose subjective eyes we are looking through.

However if you truly believes in freedom, you must accept the freedom of others, tolerate those freedoms, and recognize that those freedoms might not echo your own. Anything short of this simply makes you another hypocrite.

Summary of my long-winded rant:
- Knowledge of culture does not equate to knowledge of politics and/or social science.
- One can be knowledgeable and still ignorant.
- A blind preacher can't read from his text; he can only repeat what he heard.

I will leave four words as my final note to be interpreted in any way.
[小人] [大事]


~*+ Rho

Re-Introduction to Aaro

I've already done an introduction post here, so obviously this is something different. Listen closely now.

I am not a mule.

(This is the only picture Rho would give me, and the three of us weren't free to pose for another one.)

There are three of us: Rho, Pearz and Aaro. We're three different players and three different people; get it right.

I'm very disappointed in you, Xand.

~Aaro off

Mini Succubus Wings?!

So, I took a nap after I got home, and woke up to a 4-page thread on how the new FC failed to have Mini Succubus Wings. Normally, I wouldn't blog again so soon (because I'm lazy), but this thread required immediate attention. Within this thread, Attacker apparently already got his post censorsed deleted, with no response when Kohana posted, asking why. So, the big question is: "What was so bad about it?" Would love if someone had the original post cached to post it.

Here are my 2cents about this issue. (It wasn't posted on the forums 'cause maybe it would be censorsed, and I don't like to hold back on words when posting.)

First off, I would like to remind you all of this poll that was put up last week. Notice how the Mini Succubus Wings were the most liked in that poll. I believe what happened occurred because of that poll. Basically, seeing as how the wings were the most popular, Aeria decided to tell Cave to pull the wings out of the patch they just got. What they didn't know was it was ALREADY in the FCs this week. So Cave kind of pulled the wings out for some future promo the GMs had planned, but didn't realize that the current week's FC already had that Mini Succubus Wings (or maybe they did, but Cave half-assed it and didn't pull it out of the FC, too). The delayed maintenance was probably due to Cave trying to last-minute whip up the changes in the patch that Aeria was requesting.

So, what we really had was the GMs manipulating the FC, based on the poll, but failing 'cause either they or Cave half-assed it. Since the GMs obviously have no control over the FC, there's no way that it's their fault and they surely had no hand in it at all.

What likely happened was that they saw that Cave had screwed up and then decided to make the best of it. Instead of crying over spilled milk, they decided to make the best of the situation - and that is when that promo came out.

I'd like to point out two true facts that Xand mentioned:
1. IF we all play the FC in such a way to be able to get the wings, it is true that we WOULD have more wings than other rares released in FCs like this (i.e. Blue Angel, Phoenix sets, Black Bella, etc.)
2. The Wings for 1.5kAP as a pure Tiered Spender is better than the odds you would normally get opening FCs.

The problem was not so much so the facts but rather how it was delivered. What was covered up as a way to "help" alleviate the problem was just a way to make more money. By instead giving a Tiered Spender, any of the high spenders would have the Wings instantly. The "casual" spenders would instead have to buy an FC twice a day for a week, netting 14 FC buys, which would have been half that buy-out cost. More people would be inclined to test their luck in a limited raffle, yielding a higher profit overall.

If you want to REALLY help alleviate the problem, it doesn't work when you're making more money out of it. As stated in the thread, a full rebate would be a much better way to show you're sorry; definitely better than throwing out a promo that nets you more money. A line from a movie that perfectly suits this situation: "If you're gonna piss on my face, don't tell me it's raining."

I actually caught Bleach deleting the post first (since I was refreshing to get links on posts for this post) - but, luckily, Kohana still had the page open and could save it for me. You can get it here, or just look at this picture:


This was the original idea that Bleach posted, but it was deleted within a couple of minutes. It was a good idea, but why was it deleted? Was it a bad idea to be able to openly discuss if it was good or bad? Normally, I don't like posting PMs, but I failed to see how this was such a big secret. It's more something that they say all the time, anyway.


(Aaro Note~ : Bleach had originally not wanted to present this idea to the public, instead taking it to PM with the GMs [as is the official explanation]. However, he has ultimately reposted here. )

I mean, the FIRST LINE of his post was a clear suggestion. Does really suggesting something SHOW that the GSes ARE JUST PLAYERS? The clear fact that a GS felt the need to even censor a post of a SUGGESTION shows that they really aren't part of the general community. Thus, this shows the CLEAR breakdown that Rho speaks of, of the GS to general player base we see rampant in Megaten.

If you don't understand why Bleach or any GS has posted recently in hot topic stuff: it is a common strategy where only one person speaks, as it creates a unified front of the management. It makes it look like a more solid position and thus just looks better.

I believe Bleach's idea is decent, just a bit rough around the edges (and needs a bit of refining) - but still a solid base idea. The reason it had to be deleted was because in case a GM didn't like it, then no one could see it and go, "WHY NOT? When everyone else likes it..."

So, as I was doing this, YET ANOTHER POST has been deleted. This time, it was Theena's post. Here is the post that was censored:

The censorship seems just as bad as ever. *awaits the locking of thread* Nothing that Xand spoke of seems to have been changed.

Summary:
- Three posts were censored; Attacker, Bleach and Theena's post were outright deleted. My post had the picture removed when I tried to repost Bleach's post.
- Aeria tries to pretend it is helping us with more lies?
- GSes feel the need to not state their opinion, and the gap between the GSes and the general community grows larger.

Gonna sleep soon, probably only to wake up and find the whole thread missing, at this rate.
I'll have another post later, with FC review and such other random rants.
If any other posts get censored that you catch, feel free to add it in; I might not have caught them all. Ninja thread deleting is too fast for me. D: Some forum GS must be having a blast tonight with all the deleting.

Just when I thought Xand was doing better lately...

~Pearz

Why Rho Fails

If you don't get this post, you don't need to; it's pure numbers, which I know a lot of people aren't too good with. To summarize right away: Rho should never, ever challenge me, number-wise.

There is a new post about Aion under this post that I just posted today. You can go read that instead of this. (Aaro Note~ : This would have been a perfect place to wh0re out some publicity for the new "new post" box on the side. Try harder, Pearz~)

Background:
Rho did 40 tries for a test. She wanted to see if the Destruction Magic expertise (shot-based) affected shot as a gun. She used the highest and lowest damages, and then compared to the modifier change of highest and lowest damage over the these 40 shots.

Argument:
Rho did not believe that you could have just taken all 40 tries, done the average damages of them, and then already get to see the difference in damage.

Rho's Claim:
The averages of the 40 shots would be flawed and not be able to show that ~15% difference in such small numbers, because if the numbers were rounded twice, the difference could NOT be seen.

My claim:
The averages of 40 shots would show the difference.

Base Assumption:
Rounded every chance you got: IE 105% (shot-type) x 10 LNG vs not rounding until end
Expertise Modifier +2 Difference

This proof requires 2 parts, with 2 assumptions and the 2 different common rounding methods.

Rounding method 1: rounded DOWN every time a decimal happens (to remove decimals).

Rounding method 2: rounded DOWN 0-0.4, 0.5+ UP


Assumption 1.
Part 1: (rounding twice)
Base 105%

((105% x 10) + 0) * (0.8 - 1)
= 10 * (0.8 - 1)
0.8 = 8
0.81 = 8
0.82 = 8
0.83 = 8
0.84 = 8
0.85 = 8
0.86 = 8
0.87 = 8
0.88 = 8
0.89 = 8
0.9 = 9
0.91 = 9
0.92 = 9
0.93 = 9
0.94 = 9
0.95 = 9
0.96 = 9
0.97 = 9
0.98 = 9
0.99 = 9
1 = 10

Average of 21 tries = ((8x10) + (9x10) +10)/21
= 8.571428571428571


With Modifier
((105% x 10) + 2) * (0.8 - 1)
= (10 + 2) * (0.8 - 1)
= 12 * (0.8 - 1)
0.8 = 9
0.81 = 9
0.82 = 9
0.83 = 9
0.84 = 10
0.85 = 10
0.86 = 10
0.87 = 10
0.88 = 10
0.89 = 10
0.9 = 10
0.91 = 10
0.92 = 11
0.93 = 11
0.94 = 11
0.95 = 11
0.96 = 11
0.97 = 11
0.98 = 11
0.99 = 11
1 = 12

Average of 21 tries = ((9x4) + (10x8) +(11x8) + 12)/21
= (32 + 80 + 88 + 12)/12
= 10.0952380952381


On 21 tries, your average case shows (10.0952380952381-8.571428571428571)/8.571428571428571) = 0.177777777784 % increase in damage


Part 2: (rounding only at the end)
Without Modifier

105*10 = 10.5

10.5 * (0.8-1)
0.8 = 8
0.81 = 8
0.82 = 8
0.83 = 8
0.84 = 8
0.85 = 8
0.86 = 9
0.87 = 9
0.88 = 9
0.89 = 9
0.9 = 9
0.91 = 9
0.92 = 9
0.93 = 9
0.94 = 9
0.95 = 9
0.96 = 10
0.97 = 10
0.98 = 10
0.99 = 10
1 = 10

Average of 21 tries = ((8x6) + (9x10) (10x5))/21
=(48 + 90 + 50)/21
= 8.952380952380952

With Modifier
(105*10) + 2 = 12.5
12.5 * (0.8-1)
0.8 = 10
0.81 = 10
0.82 = 10
0.83 = 10
0.84 = 10
0.85 = 10
0.86 = 10
0.87 = 10
0.88 = 11
0.89 = 11
0.9 = 11
0.91 = 11
0.92 = 11
0.93 = 11
0.94 = 11
0.95 = 11
0.96 = 12
0.97 = 12
0.98 = 12
0.99 = 12
1 = 12

Average of 21 Tries = ((10x8) + (11x8) + (12x5))/21
= (80 + 88 + 60)/21
= 10.85714285714286

On 21 tries, your average case shows (10.85714285714286-8.952380952380952)/8.952380952380952) = 0.2127659574468086 % increase in damage


So, with rounding method 1, you see a 17% change in damage if you round twice, whereas rounding once gives you 21% change. To have reached 10% change in damage or less while rounding twice would require:

(10.0952380952381 - A)/A = 0.1
A = 9.177489177489182
Assuming that you got odds 2nd set of numbers, for ((105% x 10) + 0) * (0.8 - 1) = 9.177489177489182 Average

For 9.177489177489182 to be averaged out, you must roll 192 minimum within the 21 tries. Rolling PURE 9s on 21 tries = 189, and would still require you to have rolled a 10 3 times on 1/20 odds = 0.0125% chance of this happening, not including the odds of pure 9s on everything else.

If we assume the 8.952380952380952 hit average,
(A - 8.952380952380952)/8.952380952380952 = .1
A = 9.847619047619047

For ((105% x 10) + 2) * (0.8 - 1) to reach 9.847619047619047 we need 206.8 MAX. One of the best cases for this would be with highest odds of this occurring would be: (9x11) + (10x5) + (11 x 4) + 12 = 205. This requires 9, which has 4/21 odds to show up 11 times. 4/21 = 0.19% occurring 11 times in 21 tries is 2.75 times odds. So, you take 0.19/19 = 10% chance (take only 75% of change of next /19). Roughly 2.5% chance of this occurring.

So, end consensus: best case you're looking at is 2.5% chance that using averages method will net you something wrong with only a 21-size sample. With your 40-size sample, the odds of this occurring is even LOWER.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Assumption 2.
Part 1: (rounding twice)
Base 105%

((105% x 10) + 0) * (0.8 - 1)
= 10 * (0.8 - 1)
0.8 = 8
0.81 = 8
0.82 = 8
0.83 = 8
0.84 = 8
0.85 = 9
0.86 = 9
0.87 = 9
0.88 = 9
0.89 = 9
0.9 = 9
0.91 = 9
0.92 = 9
0.93 = 9
0.94 = 9
0.95 = 10
0.96 = 10
0.97 = 10
0.98 = 10
0.99 = 10
1 = 10

Average of 21 tries = ((8x5) + (9x10) +(10x6)/21
(40+90+60)/21
= 9.047619047619048


With Modifier
((105% x 10) + 2) * (0.8 - 1)
= (10 + 2) * (0.8 - 1)
= 12 * (0.8 - 1)
0.8 = 10
0.81 = 10
0.82 = 10
0.83 = 10
0.84 = 10
0.85 = 10
0.86 = 10
0.87 = 10
0.88 = 11
0.89 = 11
0.9 = 11
0.91 = 11
0.92 = 11
0.93 = 11
0.94 = 11
0.95 = 11
0.96 = 12
0.97 = 12
0.98 = 12
0.99 = 12
1 = 12

Average of 21 tries = ((10x8) + (11x8) + (12x5))/21
= (80 + 88 + 60)/21
= 10.85714285714286


On 21 tries, your average case shows (10.85714285714286-9.047619047619048)/9.047619047619048) = 0.1999999999999999 % increase in damage


Part 2: (rounding only at the end)
Without Modifier

105*10 = 10.5

10.5 * (0.8-1)
0.8 = 8
0.81 = 9
0.82 = 9
0.83 = 9
0.84 = 9
0.85 = 9
0.86 = 9
0.87 = 9
0.88 = 9
0.89 = 9
0.9 = 9
0.91 = 10
0.92 = 10
0.93 = 10
0.94 = 10
0.95 = 10
0.96 = 10
0.97 = 10
0.98 = 10
0.99 = 10
1 = 11

Average of 21 tries = ((8+ (9x10) (10x9) + 11)/21
=(8 + 90 + 99 + 11)/21
= 9.904761904761905

With Modifier
(105*10) + 2 = 12.5
12.5 * (0.8-1)
0.8 = 10
0.81 = 10
0.82 = 10
0.83 = 10
0.84 = 11
0.85 = 11
0.86 = 11
0.87 = 11
0.88 = 11
0.89 = 11
0.9 = 11
0.91 = 11
0.92 = 12
0.93 = 12
0.94 = 12
0.95 = 12
0.96 = 12
0.97 = 12
0.98 = 12
0.99 = 12
1 = 13

Average of 21 Tries = ((10x4) + (11x8) + (12x8) + 13)/21
= (40 + 88 + 96 + 13)/21
= 11.28571428571429

On 21 tries, your average case shows (11.28571428571429-9.904761904761905)/9.904761904761905) = 0.1394230769230769 % increase in damage


I'm not gonna calculate the odds of that 0.1999999999999 going down to 0.10 or less, 'cause if 0.17 was already only gonna drop down to 10% with 2.5% chance, .19 would be even lower odds.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, end of story: the odds of those 40 shots not showing over 10% difference in damage would be extremely low. Though it's not a perfect win 'cause I also said in clan chat that as you round every step the oscillation gets larger (shown in 2nd assumption for rounding method). It wasn't true for Method 1 'cause no one but programs would use that way of rounding...


~Pearz

My Journey Through Aion

To start off: I was lent an account to try Aion Closed Beta for this previous weekend. So, here's some stats: I played a Templar (tank type?) 'cause I like that shield-sword combo. I spent roughly 13 hours and reached lv14.

So, on Day 1 of my journey, I reached lv6 before quitting. Some monster owned me twice in a row and I was too sad to continue. Day 2: I gave it a second try, reaching lv13. This point is where I was crying in clan chat about how weak I am. Day 3: I got used to it and my Templar seemed to tank better. <.<

Here is a bit more in-depth information. At first when I first started, I felt it was extremely grindy. I was running from Point A to B , killing xx mob - but, as I played it more, I started to enjoy it. Basically, I compare slow grinding with tons of quests to doing Ichi Gold xx amount of times for my level. At least it's a change of pace, and I had my meager amounts of gold waiting for me when I finished my quest. If you look back, the leveling is pretty slow, but at least the scenery changes. Ichi Gold for the millionth time is much more boring. Moreover, they did spend a lot of time on the quests and story. Just 'cause people click blankly through all the quests doesn't mean that the developers didn't spend a lot of effort into the story and progression of quests.

A downside was the flying. Flying was great and all - but you can't really fly outside a town, and maybe during PVP. It seemed like a wasted element, or maybe an only-for-PVP thing. It was something that was seemingly advertised as a big thing and then seemed so small. Another problem I had with the game was customization. The fact that there was no stat points distribution, and all your skills came from books that you can buy with no limit meant zero customization. The only difference between you and the others of your class would be how rich you were and what armors you could afford over the other guy. To me, without the customization aspect, it is really hard to redeem a game so it's worth playing. Another problem I had was that it seemed like the servers were slow. When you were mobbed and running away, mobs could still hit you across the screen and you would get clipped back when you died.

I guess, at the end of the day, it comes down to how decent the PVP is. Considering the lack of any customization at all, I would say it is less fun...

Summary time~
Pros:
- lots of detail in storyline and quests
- grinding seems less grindy with tons of quests

Cons:
- no character customization
- flying is extremely limited
- servers seem to lag
- can't hotkey zoom in/out; must use mouse wheel (affects people like me that are pure touchpad)

I would consider playing it to see how the story goes. Too bad I don't think it's worth the $50 box cost and then a monthly payment to see a story. There's free online manga for that...

~Pearz