With my failed attempt at getting a Venomous Claw yesterday, it was time to look at how I would raise the funds needed to pay for my Weskit. The standby answer would be to find an HNMLS. In fact, Wadian (the person) even gave me a pearl to his HNMLS, although I don't think I'll join.
The problem with HNM-ing is that politics and drama are rife, and the last thing I want is to make some enemies. Some people feel differently, and are very liberal with their use of the almighty /blacklist, but I am not one of these people. It saddens me to have to /blacklist somebody, and as such, my own blacklist has a grand total of zero names, just because nobody has annoyed me enough to warrant addition. Actually, that's not quite true. Two people have cut it close, and one actually made it onto the blacklist, but I removed him a few months ago. But I digress.
Politics are rife, and being involved in Wadian's HNMLS would just make things worse. For one, Wadian's a gil-seller. That already makes people prejudiced against not only him, but against everybody that's associated with him. As such, while I do have many people in Wadian (the LS) with whom I am on friendly terms with (some even on my friends list), the whole LS is generally scorned upon by the rest of the community, labeling them as a bunch of...I don't know what to call them, but the fact that they are generally not liked by the rest of the playing community should suffice. While it may be true that there are a bunch of asses in Wadian, I don't know the people in the LS to make that justification and I suspect that label is coming from mostly one bad experience, amplified by the Wadian association. Those of us who have managed to make it this far without buying gil certainly despite those who liberally flash the credit card, and to be friendly with those who sell the gil itself is akin to committing social suicide. Like I said, some could care less- I'm just not one of those.
If I were to accept Wadian's invitation and join his LS, I would basically shut myself off from not only all other HNMLS'es that might want me, but also from all future HNMLS'es that will probably not want me due to a prior affiliation with Wadian, and I feel that that is too much of a sacrifice to make. While yes, I'd like my Weskit, there are many things I place above it, and this is just one of those.
Just for fun, I decided to watch a Serket fight. I looked at Wadian's /lsmes, which displayed (among other things), Serket's spawn window, and headed down to the Garlaige Citadel. Since I was still doubtful about things, I went with the TrueRune linkpearl equipped as a affirmative sign that I was going down neutrally. Some people didn't take very kindly to that, telling me to equip the Wadian pearl, and saying it was impossible to stay neutral for these things. Already, the politics are getting to me. /sigh
Wadian eventually claimed, and killed Serket. Railston was right in saying that they're pretty good at what they do, although in Gluey's terms, they literally Zerg'ed Serket, bringing down at least twelve people to try and get the claim as opposed to the three that other HNMLS'es had. It seems that the challenge in HNM'ing is no longer in killing, but just getting the claim. For the record, I almost died as a casual observer, with Serket's AoE stun that knocked through my Stoneskin and still dealt 400 damage, and has a ridiculous range, not to mention his Poisonga which deals 20 damage a tick. Ouch. >_<
It wasn't a total loss though. I ended up watching a Serket fight, got to speak with Zeretul, who then invited me to his sky LS, called Equilibrium, and even got to unofficially help out CoolReturnsX. Given the experience however, I don't think I'd like to participate in {earth}-based HNM fights, sticking with just {sky}. As I have just said, I have an invitation to join Equilibrium, and even have the pearl, but I'm also awaiting an offer from BBQGold.
...
I really wish all this didn't have to happen. I'm in full agreement with what Pingpong said over on the Killing Ifrit forums, that "if you [have] any RL friends on this server or a close group of people you lvled with, I highly recommend sticking with them to the end of the game and not all end up going to different Linkshells for the sake if being in an HNMLS." It'd be great to HNM together with people I know online, unfortunately, they are all scattered amongst the various HNMLS'es out there. I briefly considered starting up an HNMLS of my own (and even have a name for it: {Run away!} ^^), and could invite in all my friends, and TrueRune "graduates" per se. However, reality soon hit me. All the people I'd want to invite already have an HNMLS of their own, and they'd have to deal with the backlash of changing HNMLS'es. In addition, there are conflicts amongst my circle of friends; while they are friends with me, they certainly won't get along if I put them together, and as a result, the LS would flounder.
Anyway, here's how I stand: earth HNMs are pretty much on a {Thanks for the offer, but I'll have to pass.} basis, and I have yet to affiliate myself with a {sky} LS. Once I hear back from BBQGold, I'll decide. I've spoken to several people about this, and have heard both good and bad things about Equilibrium and BBQ, and for now, it feels like Equilibrium is more suited towards my ideals and philosophies. On the other hand, I have many good friends in BBQ, and it'd be nice to experience the endgame together.
No comments:
Post a Comment