Return to Vana'diel

"Return to Vana'diel" has moved

2005-12-21T11:12:00.000+01:00

I've decided to move this blog to another blog service. From now on I will post about my character's adventures at shinjiru.wordpress.com! All the older post are already transferred to the new blog.
I hope you'll continue to follow Shinjiru's return to Vana'diel at the new blog! See ya there!

Qufim again

2005-12-19T07:28:00.000+01:00

After spending some time in Windurst I returned again to Qufim Island. Using a chocobo I got there from Windurst in much shorter time than I was used too. At first I was in my usual party with Mouskouri, Ascyr, Zaxxon and Bulway but when this party split up I had to look for a party of my own. After some minutes I found a NIN and a SMN to join me. And some time after that we had a full-fledged party of six members. Everything went fine until half of the party was killed by a pugil. It seems one of the melee fighters forgot to provoke and so our main healer and almost everyone else was killed.

Although I died that day I managed to get enough experience to level up to BLM 24. Now it's time to work my subjob up to level 15 or higher. And after that I am finally ready to level Black Mage to the magic 30th level. Summoner here I come ^_^ !!!

Chocobo license

2005-12-17T16:07:00.000+01:00

Yesterday evening and this morning and early afternoon I joined my friends Ascyr, Bulway, Zaxxon and Mouskouri in the area around Jeuno to hunt Goblins, Qadavs and beetles. There were several level ups and we did several successful skillchains and some nice magic bursts. We had great fun and I finally reached level 22 as a black mage.

This afternoon I did the chocobo quest and then used my newly acquired chocobo license to rent a chocobo and travel back to Windurst.

Forum Avatars

2005-12-14T11:02:00.000+01:00

This morning I created a new forum avatar. Using the FFXI Model Viewer and the JASC Animation Studio I created an animated forum avatar based on my FFXI character. You can create your own avatar by following this steps:

Download and install the FFXI Model Viewer
Install a program for making animated GIFs (like Microsoft GIF Animator or JASC Animation Studio)
Start the FFXI model viewer and setup the character or NPC of your choice
Choose the animation of your choice
Use F11 to copy the selected animation frame to the clipboard
Use a program like IrfanView to change the image size and save the frame as image
Repeat steps 5 to 6 until you have saved all frames as single images
Read all images into your favorite animation program
Fine tune your animation
Save animation as animated GIF
Done!

Here's my new avatar:

Jeuno ... at last!

2005-12-12T13:33:00.000+01:00

Yesterday Ascyr, Bulway, Zaxxon, Mouskouri and I went back to the Valkurm Dunes. Although we had no WHM as main healer, nobody died and I finally managed to reach level 20 with my Black Mage. Wahoo!!!
After some hours of killing Snippers, Pugils, Leeches and Goblins, the party disbanded and Ascyr, Mouskouri and Zaxxon escorted me to Jeuno. Always in fear of being attacked by some malevolent Tiger or a goblin we sneaked through Jugner and Batallia to finally reach Jeuno. Wow, what a sight to behold!
In Jeuno I took a rent-a-room and after that Ascyr showed me around. My next plan is to finally do the chocobo quest and then we head on to Qufim.

Old friends

2005-12-05T07:40:00.000+01:00

Yesterday when I continued levelling MNK I saw that Zaxxon and Mouskouri were online. They are both people I know from real life and when I first started playing FFXI after the European release, especially Mouskouri helped me several times. I still remember when she and some other linkshell members helped me get a magicked skull. They both have stopped playing quite some time now but now they are back!

Later that day Ascyr, Bulway, Zaxxon, Mouskouri and I formed a level 10 party, travelled to the Dandruf Wadi to do some hunting there. It was the first time I used TeamSpeak to communicate with my party. Being able to talk instead of typing everything you need to say makes things much easier. It was also the first time I was the main healer of the party. We died several times (ouch) but had great fun nevertheless and almost everyone made two levels during that day.

Some progress

2005-10-30T16:01:00.000+01:00

Today my friend Ascyr helped me to reach WAR level 9. He is a mid-level WHM and so we did some power-levelling. I also tried out one of those new XP+ items (empress band), so I was able to get up to 160xp per kill.

Shortly after reaching level 9 we returned to San D'Oria where I sold my old bronze armor and changed my main job to MNK. MNK makes a good subjob for WAR, so it's the next logical step to level up MNK until I am ready to go to the Dunes again.

Back!

2005-10-29T21:16:00.000+02:00

After not being able to play FFIX for about three weeks I am finally back. Today Shinjiru reached level 6 in his warrior job, sold several crystals at the auction house and finally reached fame level 2 in San d'Oria. Not bad!

It's been a while

2005-10-04T08:08:00.000+02:00

Yes, I know, it's been a while since I've made the last post. But fear not, I am not going to quit FFXI. I was just occupied with other things, so that I've been on vacation from Vana'Diel for a short time. I hope I'll find some free time this week to continue improving Shinjiru's warrior skills. So stay tuned!

It's time for WAR

2005-09-27T07:32:00.000+02:00

With the help of Amyntas I was able to reach level 10 with my white mage job as planned. Although my initial plans were to level Red Mage to level 10 after that I switched to Warrior as Main Job. Armed with a bronze sword and some bronze armor Shinjiru went out to West Ronfaure for some hunting! Playing a warrior is much different from being a black or white mage and at that time it was a welcome change.
At the end of that session, Shinjiru had reached level 5 and had made enough money to buy a new armor.
During the last week I was occupied with other things, so I hadn't played Final Fantasy XI. My plans for the future are to do some levelling with WAR and perhaps MNK and THF before moving on to the Dunes once more.

San D'Oria and West Ronfaure

2005-09-13T03:20:00.000+02:00

Before I left San D'Oria, Angies had to show me her Ninja Artifact Armor. And I have to admit it really looks great, especially on her. Check out that screenshot to the right if you want to have a look at Angies' NIN AF armor. She also gave me some advice on what jobs I should level. After that she returned to the Residential Area to go to sleep. Sleep well, my friend!
Although it was already past midnight I decided to level WHM for some time before going to bed. So I went to the Mog House, put my equipment into the mog safe and equipped the level 1 armor I bought when I started playing FFXI. Then I went to the Magic Shop in Port San D'Oria to buy some white magic scrolls.
After that I went out into the forests of West Ronfaure and did some more hunting...

There and back again

2005-09-13T03:03:00.000+02:00

When I finally found a party for the Valkurm Dunes today, our leader suggested to go to the Korroloka Tunnel instead. So we left the Dunes and went to the Bastok Mines and from there we entered Korroloka Tunnel. Although I have been to Bastok before, it was my first trip to these tunnels.
There we hunted Worms. And we killed a lot of them. Almost without resting in between we killed dozens of worms and made quite some experience within a short time. When some of our party members had to leave, we decided to return to the Dunes and do some hunting there. I still needed the Damselfly worm for the subjob quest, so we camped at Whitebone Sands.
At first we killed some Snippers, but we soon found out that we could manage Pugils and even Ghouls. Once I got 268 xp for one kill! While we were hunting Pugils for experience, our puller looked for Damselflies, too. And so I finally got my damselfly worm.
Shortly after that another party member had to go and the party disbanded. In the meantime I had already fulfilled the subjob quest in Selbina and I was ready to level another job.
So our party leader Angies escorted me to San D'Oria where I decided to change to WHM for main job and BLM for sub job. With this combination I can use black magic to nuke and white magic to keep me alive.
Equipped with appropriate gear and some white magic scrolls I left San D'Oria to adventure in West Ronfaure. ^^
At the end of this session I finally was able to choose a subjob and I had levelled BLM from level 16 to 19. I think this was a very productive day!

Fun in the Dunes

2005-09-04T20:07:00.000+02:00

Yeah, yeah. Last time I said I "hate the Dunes" and now I write about having fun there. With a good party even the levelling treadmill aka Valkurm Dunes can be great fun. As I probably said before a good party is like a clockwork with every player knowing his or her part and acting accordingly. Today I saw some nice Skill Chains and even managed to get some Mana Bursts.
Shinjiru is now level 16 and I hope I will be able to get my subjob next weekend. Stay tuned!

Valkurm Blues

2005-08-28T21:05:00.000+02:00

In a way I hate the Valkurm Dunes. This morning I started looking for a good party. I was lucky to find a party after just a few minutes of waiting and we immediately started killing Hill Lizards. We made fast progress and finally moved to another area to hunt for Snippers and then Damselflies. But then things started to go wrong. One member of our party was constantly killed and people started leaving. At the end I managed to get to level 13, but only 500 xp from level 14, our party disbanded and I wasn't able to find another party.
That's the problem with the Dunes: when you have found a good party you will have great fun and make some progress, but without a party you are amidst a whole bunch of monsters much too tough for you alone.
And waiting for another party invite is not my idea of fun. Let's hope I will find a good party next time I play. And when I've finally reached level 18 to 20, I will say "goodbye" to the Valkurm Dunes and level my subjob.

With the help of my friends

2005-08-28T11:41:00.000+02:00

It's good to be part of a great linkshell. Yesterday I was sitting at the gates to Selbina. Shinjiru's level was still 9 and no party wanted to invite me. So Amyntas offered me to power-level me back to level 10 and provide me with some starting equipment. So we travelled to the Konschtat Highlands where I killed a huge wasp while Amyntas was casting Cure on me. I got enough experience points to level up to level 10 again and we headed for Bastok to get some needful things at the AH.
Equipped with a pair of onyx earrings and a pair of eremite rings, I was ready to go and warped back to the Valkurm Dunes (Scroll of Instant Warp is your friend ^_^).
Soon after that I was invited by a party consisting mainly of Japanese players. I had some trouble explaining to them that I don't understand any Japanese but after that we started hunting Hill Lizards. It was a great party. In rather short time I reached level 11 and several members of our party were able to level up, too. The party disbanded when several players had to leave, but we had great fun.
In addition to the experience I got a bunch of fire crystals that I can sell on my next trip to Bastok!

From Windurst to Selbina

2005-08-25T00:21:00.000+02:00

Today I finally reached level 10 and I started my trip to the Valkurm Dunes. But on my way through East Sarutabaruta I was attacked by a Goblin, killed and deleveled. So I went back to Windurst and acquired a Royal Footman's Tunic with the help of my good friend Ascyr. Equipped with better armor and renewed confidence I crossed Sarutabaruta and the Tahrongi Canyon with no problems. I even leveled up to level 10 again.
At the Buburimu Peninsula I had to avoid Incredible Tough Goblins. The first half dozen goblins were evaded with ease but only a few seconds before I reached the safety of the outpost I was killed. Bummer!
But luck was on my side. A nice white mage appeared just a few seconds after my death and resurrected me, so I could set my homepoint at the outpost and then continue my voyage. Luckily I made it to Mhaura without a scratch. Wow! I was just a few minutes away from my first ocean voyage. Eagerly I bought me a ticket and ran to the docks, waiting for the ship.
The sea voyage was a great adventure for me. As soon as possible I headed for the deck to have a look at the beautiful blue sea, then I hid myself in the bridge to make sure that no monster, pirate or something worse could harm my poor little tarutaru black mage.
After a trip of 13 minutes I finally reached Selbina. My plans are now to get back to level 10 as soon as possible and then find a party to level up and get the items needed for the subjob quest. Wish me luck!

Server issues

2005-08-21T14:14:00.000+02:00

Today I was kicked from the Final Fantasy XI servers several times and the official website was down during that periods, too. So I decided not to play FFXI today, instead I will waste my time with one of my PS2 or XBOX games. ^_^
I hope everything will be fine after the scheduled maintenance tomorrow.

"Meeting again"

2005-08-16T08:53:00.000+02:00

Some time ago I found a short but great flash movie about Final Fantasy XI. It's the story of a group of adventures that form a linkshell together. Especially the end is very touching.
Check it out!

Horutoto Ruins

2005-08-15T07:02:00.000+02:00

This weekend I entered the Horutoto Ruins for the first time. Shinjiru was finally powerful enough to kill the Goblins roaming the ruins. Having finally reached 8th level and equipped with a greataru looking tunic I fulfilled my first Mission for Windurst. After that I did some more hunting and crystal farming (I am going to be rich ^_^). At the end of my sunday playing session, Shinjiru reached level 9. When everything goes as planned I will be able to leave the Windurst area behind for some time and try my luck in the Valkurm Dunes next weekend.
During my hunting session in East and West Sarutabaruta I also encountered many nice people willing to help people in need. Several times I was saved from certain death by some passing white mage. That's the great thing about Final Fantasy: its community. IMHO the FFXI players are much more helpful than players in other MMORPGs. If you have a question that needs answering or you need some help with some difficult quests, there's always someone willing to help you out.

Crystal Farming

2005-08-11T06:45:00.000+02:00

It's always nice when you can combine two good things - like leveling up and crystal farming. Yesterday Shinjiru went hunting bumblebees, goblin thugs, mandragoras and other low-level monsters in order to get some experience to level up to level 7 (Yeah, I finally made it) and to collect some crystals to sell them at the AH. I noticed that it makes much more sense to kill a bunch of those easy opponents like carrion crows and mandragoras instead of attacking mobs that are a decent challenge - especially if you are a level 6 tarutaru black mage!
In the end I managed to level up, learn bind and sell fire, earth and water crystals worth several thousands of gil. In my humble opinion it was a good day!

Maintenance day

2005-08-08T07:14:00.000+02:00

Today, starting at 15:00 GMT the Final Fantasy servers are undergoing maintenance. The servers will be available again after 9:00 GMT today. That means no FFXI for me today.
But that gives me much needed time to either check out some websites with strategies and tips for black mages or write some articles for my other blog.

New friends

2005-08-07T23:20:00.000+02:00

Today Shinjiru was introduced into the linkshell Aradorn. My former characters were also members of that linkshell and several people even remembered me. Being part of a LS is a great help for any FFXI player, since there are often dozens of people willing to help you out if you have questions, need a member for you party or someone to craft something for you. Aradorn is a very friendly community and several members have helped me out in the past.
While I was hunting Bumblebees and Tiny Mandragoras just outside Windurst, my real life friend and fellow Aradorn member Ascyr told me of another LS he joined some months ago. The Star Onion Brigade is a rather new LS that consists currently of European players only. Since I liked the idea of a EU only linkshell and I since the LS's name is just great I decided to join them too.
The BLM on the screenshot - just to the right of Shinjirou - is Arcanis, a fellow member of the Star Onion Brigade. He's also an experienced summoner and he was nice enough to show me the art of summoning in action.
We met just outside Windurst Woods after he had changed his main job to SMN, where he summoned several avatars. The following screenshots were made at this event:

The mystic avatars are very impressive and I think I should try to become a SMN myself when Shinjiru reaches level 30 in BLM...

Black or White

2005-08-06T21:24:00.000+02:00

Playing a low level WHM is really hard work. It's a chore to kill even the puniest monsters. Being able to cure is fine and all but my poor Shinjiru kept dying.
So I had a stroll to my mog house and changed to BLM!
In just a few minutes I advanced to level 3! Currently Shinhiru is on a quest to get a nice new hat...
UPDATE: As you can see on that screenshot to the right, I finally got my hands onto that nice Windshear hat. Now Shinjiru looks like a real black mage!

Shinjiru arrives at Windurst

2005-08-04T09:49:00.000+02:00

This morning the update was finally completed, so I could create my new character. At first I thought about playing an Elvaan but I finally settled for a tarutaru instead.
My new character looks exactly like the one on that screenshot in my profile section and is called "Shinjiru" which means "to believe, to believe in, to place trust in" in Japanese. I think this is the perfect name for a tarutaru white mage.

Almost there

2005-08-03T22:55:00.000+02:00

After coming home from work I started installing Final Fantasy XI and the PlayOnline Viewer. The installation itself was done in a few minutes but the online update is still running and will probably take all night...

Vana'diel LiveCam

2005-08-03T10:56:00.000+02:00

Ever wondered what is happening in Vana'diel right now? Have a look:

You can also check out the live video stream!

Welcome!

2005-08-03T07:14:00.000+02:00

Return to Vana'diel is a blog about my return to Final Fantasy XI. I started playing this MMORPG shortly after the US release, quit approximately 2 months later and started playing again at the beginning of this year, left again and now I decided to return to Vana'diel.
Even when you get bored by Final Fantasy XI, you always miss what you've left behind and sometimes you come back. This time I want to share my experiences with everyone who's interested in Final Fantasy XI.
Currently I am still waiting for my copy of Chains of Promathia to arrive. As soon as possible I will reinstall the game, login and create a new character...
Expect to read more as soon as my new character sees the light of day!