The Grumpy Paladin

This makes server #3 for me.

I was originally on Carbuncle, with the name Roric. But then I transferred to Hades and lost my name. True story. Now I’m on Cerberus, still as Talint.

Talint and Roric are both names swiped from other video games! Bonus points if you can figure out which.

The wonderfully narcissistic nature of a blog allows me to talk about myself from time to time (if not, y’know, all the time). With the revelations of raised level caps and server mergers, I guess it’s time to fess up something I’ve known for almost a year know, and take an unusual step away from being Talint, grumpy paladin extraordinaire of holding grudges, burning bridges, and all around obnoxiousness, and instead talk about me, Matt, the real life author of said character.

Talint’s shelf life is about to expire.

Unless things go horribly, terribly wrong, I’m beginning a new life in a few months. One where I simply won’t have the time, energy, dedication or focus to play an intensive MMO like FFXI anymore. It’s going to be great; the pursuit of a dream I have long hoped for has actually begun to materialize. I’d be remiss to say if part of it wasn’t thanks to Final Fantasy XI.

I had hoped that, in the few months before this happens, to slow down my game a lot, write about things I had kept my mouth shut about, and eventually fade into oblivion. With the server merging announcement, as well as the announcement of raising the level cap to 99 over the course of the next year, plus all three add-on scenarios, that simply just won’t be the case.

Talint currently has four jobs at level 75: Paladin, Warrior, Dancer, and Ranger. I don’t know how much about potential EXP required, but I imagine it’s going to be a lot, even if implemented in increments. As it stands, I will probably only be around for the first level raise to 80. That means leveling at least four subjobs (WHM, RDM, NIN, SAM), as well as those main jobs. This doesn’t even cover the new gear or the new content that’s going to make themselves available with the new level cap. I wish they did this earlier.

If I decide to focus on just one job, then it means abandoning goals that I wanted to end with: Procure a Heca Cap, procure Homam feet, and finish up Ares Body. If I only take WAR, I can forego Ares Body and Homam feet. If I only take PLD, then I could forego Heca Cap. I doubt DNC is going to get better any time soon, even with a raised level cap. RNG is a great, fun job that I’ve been enjoying over the last few months, but it’s not the best job to only have at 80.

This could be said of any of the jobs, really. FFXI evolved into a game where having more than one job was required, so you could attend any event to fulfill any role as needed. Now, players are going to go crazy trying to get the EXP necessary to level up as they see fit.

So, maybe it’s time to retire, a bit earlier than planned. If I was younger and still had all the time in the world, I’d be all over this announcement. As it stands, though, it just looks daunting at best. It’s something I just won’t be able to participate in.