Ainx, Part 2

During my escapades in Blackrock Spire, I became acquainted with several fellows whom I deemed to be "on the level." Since my friends from FFXI almost all started flaking, I went ahead and joined a new guild called... Silvermoon Crusaders. In its early stages, SMC was pretty cool. I have fond memories of Lexia and Innovindil, though I hazily remember some drama happening between us after I had parted ways. I didn't stay in SMC too long, because they were not interested in raiding which was the next big thing on my radar. My priest hit level 60, which at the time was max level, and I geared up in UBRS and Dire Maul - a new dungeon released just about the time raiding was getting popular. Shortly after becoming somewhat raid-ready, I left SMC and joined IMB which stood for I'M Bored.

Molten Core with IMB	Onyxia with IMB

IMB was led by a fellow named Latent. While I don't exactly remember how the guild was structured, this was the first guild that I stepped into Molten core with. Through the next few months we cleared Molten Core all through to Ragnaros, the final boss. We spent a month on Ragnaros, but just as we were ready to down him, Latent straight up quit. He took the guild website down, took the forums down and disbanded the guild in the game. Itada was now guildless, though, for just a day. From the ashes of IMB rose Tempest of which I was one of the founding members (as in, I signed the charter)! Other charter members were Luwingo, Maw, Devoid, Naakt, Oni and some others I no longer remember. To inaugurate Tempest's creation, we went into Molten Core and 1-shot Ragnaros. The joy of killing him was quite possibly the biggest and most exhilarating experience I have ever had in World of Warcraft. With Tempest, I cleared Zul'Gurub, went on to clear Blackwing Lair and finally break into Ahn'Qiraj. Not much to say there other than we had an excellent run. I learned a lot about raiding, about being a priest in a raid and about how awful melee classes were in raids. From time to time I would bring Medea in to raid if there were too many healers online and not enough DPS, but only if I absolutely had to!

Ragnaros down! Tempest.	Nefarian down! Tempest.

Throughout my journey with Itada, I made friends on Horde side with some of the folks in Temporary Insanity, the leading Horde guild on Kilrogg. I leveled up a mage named Lem and played with TI's alt crew in Zul'Gurub.

End, Part 2

Ainx, Part 1

Though Ainx the Warrior's journey began in late 2005, my history with MMOs goes a couple years back. I initially started with MMOs in late 2003 when Final Fantasy XI came out. As it was my first MMO, I had no clue what to expect and there was no standard to relate to. I played FFXI for about a year. There was a lot to do in that game. I vividly remember my first run to Jeuno on my Thief with no subjob. I remember having to zone Goblin Leechers in Selbina, some idiot calling /help on Kirin and completing my Zilart missions. Though I started with a Thief, I actually played a Ranger and later a Ninja - both funded by my level 65 Thf/Whm camping Castle Oztroja's Astral Ring coffers. I remember doing Dynamis and forming a raid group for Sky with a very rudimentary DKP system. This awakening experience came to a close shortly after Chains of Promathia came out. During CoP, I was already playing World of Warcraft closed beta and spending time learning the ropes of that game. CoP wasn't really even finished, as we beat all the missions up to a point where the plot just dropped off a cliff only to be added in later (after I had already quit).

Pneumatic THF/WHM, Oztroja coffer hunting	Pneumatic RNG/NIN, slaying Kirin

On November 23, 2004 I stood outside Gamestop awaiting the midnight release of what was to become the next several years of my life. Box in hand, I rushed back home to install and start playing. Having already had a small amount of experience from the beta, I wanted to jump in and experience the whole game. My first character was Medea, a human rogue. I chose the name, because, well, I like how it sounds, and I thought a tragic Greek character would fit a rogue well (especially since there was poison involved). Several of my friends from FFXI also swapped to WoW and we decided to roll on the server Kilrogg. Later I found out that some of my real life friends were also playing on Kilrogg and we created a guild called Zenmetsu (jp: annihilation). Upon reaching level 60 and completing a few of the instances, I found out there was an even bigger dungeon called Blackrock Spire which allowed up to 40 people inside! Blackrock Spire was divided into Upper and Lower sections, with Upper being locked unless one of the group members had a special ring obtained through a quest which would open the gate. I found my way into a few of these LBRS and UBRS runs on my rogue, but quickly realized that playing a melee class such as a rogue would be detrimental to my enjoyment of WoW. For those uninitiated, melee-range classes in vanilla WoW were basically shafted on a lot of encounters due to stupid amounts of incoming damage (this trend continued into expansion packs unfortunately). I also learned that healers were in great demand and almost always guaranteed spots in raids. I promptly logged out to the character creation screen and shortly after Itada the Priest was born.

Pneumatic the Paladin, WoW Beta	Medea the Rogue, my first character

End, Part 1

MMO Rant

Ever since quitting World of Warcraft over a year ago, I always ask myself this; Will I ever be able to play MMOs again? I had a fantastic time leveling, raiding and even the little bit of PvP I did was pretty fun. In retrospect, WoW was a time well spent. But now...

I've been playing Rift over the past few weeks. To those uninitiated, Rift is an MMO much like WoW - in fact basically the same thing, just different world and prettier graphics. I leveled to 50 on a warrior, I ran some dungeons, closed a few rifts, got some achievements... and today I raided for the first time. Few of you that know about my WoW raiding history likely also know that I have a very short temper. The raid I participated in was absolutely awful. We killed what we set out to kill but it took us 5x as long as it would take my old guild, Still Life.

Unfortunately, raiding is the end game of every game. To get to the pinnacle of awesomeness, you gotta raid, because that's where all the best gear is. This is true for every MMO, not just Rift or WoW. You raid, you are the best. But this past week I actually came to a realization that hardcore MMO players actually have no life no matter how much they claim they do. When I raided with Conquest and Still Life and we did 20 hours a week every week or more during progression, I literally had no life. After content was put on farm (meaning we got so good at it, we would ace it every week), we'd raid two maybe three days tops, but then we would be logging on anyway to do other stuff like run daily dungeons, do daily quests, play the AH, PvP, etc... you don't just log off and do other stuff with your life, because you would fall behind in the game. Hell, when I raided with CQ, I was basically sleeping, raiding and working with food done on the fly. Fortunately I had a job where I got to move around a bit so I didn't become a lardass like the stereotypical MMOer.

In retrospect, those were good days. Not a care in the world, just raid. But as I grew up and got older, I suddenly found that I had a lot of other things to do. I found and befriended the mythical creatures known as women, I went back to school and suddenly was drowning in pointless homework, and I started being proactive about my career and my future. This leaves little time for MMOs. Even now, as I have some time to burn, I keep thinking that my time would be better spent elsewhere.

All in all, I think I'm done here. I can't raid, because I'm intolerant of idiots, and without raiding, I can't be the best, so I should just stop playing MMOs altogether. Diablo III, where art thou...

How I Facebook

I've had this discussion with several people before. The result of every discussion is that there are different ways to use the same service. Neither are inherently bad, but some can be worse than others. More on that as I share with you how I use Facebook, and why.

1. Profile
I fill out my profile with relevant information. Facebook's publishing settings are actually not terrible. Now, you can choose each part of your profile to be visible to various levels of friends, to lists, to the public, or to nobody at all. For example, if you're single, but you are building an interest in someone and wish to not display your relationship status, you can make just that part of your profile invisible. Alternatively, if you are in a relationship and want the world to know, you can make it public.

I'm of the opinion that if you add someone to your friends list, you genuinely care about them enough to let them know details about your life. So, if I add someone to my friends list, I'm alright with them knowing everything that's in my profile. Also, people only know as much as you tell them. If you don't fill out your work history, then they won't know where you worked before. Really, you're in control of your information.

Fields like Religion, Political Affiliation, Education and favorite sports, music and movies are all voluntary. I think that sometimes it may be a good idea to leave those blank. After all, when you meet someone new, it gives you something to talk about. This can be a double-edged sword though. More on that below, in the Friends section.

2. Friends
At the time of this writing, I have 78 friends. I've been a member since before Facebook went public in September of 2006. If you recall, Facebook was open to various universities first, before it went public. I've never had more than 100 friends... I don't even think I've had more than 80. I had a MySpace account before Facebook and most of my friends from MySpace moved over, so I added them. However, over time, I stopped talking to some of those friends and we drifted apart. I removed them from Facebook.

I remove people from my Friends list when I don't talk to them, or when they don't talk to me. If we have nothing in common, when we don't talk, then we're not friends. When you have 500 friends but realistically chat with only 10 of them and see 5 or 6 of those 10 in real life several times a month, what does that say about you? Why do you have 500 "friends"? Do you know that's a security risk?

How is it a security risk, you ask. If you fill out your profile with information you only want to share with your friends, and then one of those 500 friends gets hacked (and people do get hacked, all the time), they have access to your information. Then, your pictures appear in local ads in Ching Chang province in China, or on anti-American posters in Pyongyang, NK. Or your data is sold to telemarketers. If you have your cellphone posted in your profile and have your various emails visible to your friends, you are risking all that to telemarketers. But... hiding it from everyone? What's the point of putting it there then? What about your network e-mails? You can't remove those or you lose network affiliation.

Facebook profiles get compromised all the time. Unless you have all your 500 friends separated into lists and each list has its specific permissions set for various areas of your profile, you are at risk of being exposed. Sorry, that's just how it is.

Besides, what's the point in having so many friends? I never understood it. You meet someone at a bar, and immediately share your FB information. Say you're a guy and you met a girl, and now instead of exchanging numbers, you both whip out your smartphones and add each other to Facebook in hopes of getting laid. Is that it? Have we fallen this far?

3. Status Updates
Harsh language warning. Honestly, I know you love music, but fucking stop with the youtube links. Sometimes people will sign on Facebook and post every single youtube song they listen to over the past hour on their profile. Then, my Newsfeed is flooded with their music. The worst is when it's several people doing it at once, because they just happen to be in the mood to spam Facebook with Offspring or Pink Floyd. Seriously, I love both Offspring and Pink Floyd, but please, if I wanted to know what kind of music you listen to, I'd look at your profile. Or even better, get Spotify. Stop fucking spamming my Newsfeed with youtube. The worst part of this is that I don't want to block you, because you're my friend (because I friended you) and I care about what you have to say. If you spam my feed with youtube links though, I will block you entirely.

I care about how you feel, but please expand a little bit more on the circumstances of your mood instead of just posting "today sucks". Try this: Today sucks, because I woke up with a hang over and drove my car into the ditch outside of the adult store I was heading to to purchase a whip for tonight's festivities. This tells us a lot more about your circumstances and I'm sure some of us can identify with some or all aspects of your situation. That said, I'm guilty of being vague sometimes too. I'm working on it.

4. Photos
Your baby/cat/puppy/hamster is cute. I actually do care to see them, but not every single fucking day. Really. Stop that.

Instead, post pictures from trips (and label them). Post pictures from events. Post pictures of you... and your significant other. Or just pictures of you. Post pictures of interesting things you see around the city. Post videos that you record of cool stuff! Seriously, people don't post enough videos (not youtube, jerks).

Don't re-post shit from other sites on Facebook. If you really have to share something, post a link to it. That's what internet is all about. Perhaps if you post a link to a Reddit article, someone will go there, read it, and then peruse the site and discover a wealth of information they have never even imagined existed.

5. Conclusion
Don't be an attention whore. Share responsibly. Be aware of privacy issues. Don't spam my Newsfeed. Thank you.

Livability Ratings Are Rubbish!

For this blog post, I consulted three people in three different countries about their standard of living; expenses, income and overall livability in their cities. The cities which I'm going to compare are Seattle, Vancouver and Warsaw.

You can pour over livability studies all you want, but the reality of the situation is that every person is in a different life situation and opinions are often skewed depending on what part of the city people may live in. The Economist's 2011 Livability rankings puts Vancouver, BC on top of the pile of cities all over the world. No single US city even made the top 25. The Economist says "Vancouver (Canada) sits at the top of the Economist Intelligence Unit's Global Liveability Ranking, a position that can only have been cemented by the successful hosting of the 2010 winter Olympics and Paralympics, which provided a boost to the infrastructure, and culture and environment categories." This is pretty funny to me, because I only know one person who was truly proud of the Olympics hosted there in 2010 and not a single person who thought the cost was worth it.

The Economist's Livability Rating is based on 30 unique factors divided into a few categories: stability; healthcare; culture and environment; education; and infrastructure. Vancouver scored better than every other city on the list. How? Granted, this rating was calculated before the riots earlier this year and the impending teacher strikes, so stability might have escaped relatively unscathed. I'm not sure how healthcare in Vancouver compares to healthcare in Seattle for instance (but I hope to find out soon through conversation with a health professional there). I've never had any healthcare issues here in America, even though people bitch about this system non-stop. This is probably, because I'm young still! Vancouver's culture is definitely varied, but I don't know if that's good or bad. I can see both sides of the coin. Environment? Well, there's pollution everywhere. Vancouver is a fairly heavy industrial port city. Education, sure, Vancouver's got that covered for the most part. As far as infrastructure, though, I think that's Vancouver's bigger flaw. There is only one freeway which is constantly under construction. Traffic can be pretty atrocious during rush hour and the Skytrain doesn't transfer enough volume to be considered efficient. Biking? Forget about it, unless you have a death wish.

Additionally, when the Economist looked at Vancouver, they must have looked at Vancouver proper and not the surrounding suburbs. Sure, maybe if you can afford living downtown Vancouver, it's a pretty awesome experience - especially if you work there. But what if you live in Surrey, Delta or Richmond? Not exactly the epitome of fine living, is it? If the rating were to include the city and its suburbs, would Vancouver still fare as well as it does on the charts?

Let's leave Vancouver alone, and examine its Northwest cousin, Seattle. Here, I believe the story is reversed. Seattle proper is a dump, no argument. Sure, it's nice to visit every now and then - maybe hit a pub or enjoy the nightlife, but to live there? Hell no. Seattle is dirty, dangerous, roads suck and transportation is awful. However... once you exit Seattle and make your way across Lake Washington either by I-90 or I-520, you will find rich neighborhoods left and right with clean, maintained streets, parks, manicured lawns and modern buildings. Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Sammamish and Woodinville are a complete inverse of Seattle (which is also reflected by price of property). A lot of the "niceness" on this side of the lake is thanks to giant contributions from Microsoft and Boeing. Redmond is basically owned by Microsoft.

So we have Vancouver, where Vancouver proper (and North) is great to live in, but the suburbs not so much. Then, we have Seattle proper which is terrible, and the Eastside which is terrific. Now, let's take a look at Warsaw.

Warsaw is a bustling city with mostly post-war and few modern buildings. There are no "suburbs" like we have in America and Canada. You either live in Warsaw, or you live in the boonies outside of Warsaw and it takes you an hour to get downtown, because the traffic is always awful. Granted, Warsaw's public transportation is amazing compared to both Vancouver and Seattle. However, apartments in Warsaw are for the most part tiny, parking spots are basically nonexistent and roads are absolutely terrible. There are no freeways, but there are several highway stretches downtown without lights. Real quick on the size of apartments... an average apartment in Warsaw is somewhere between 36-42 meters squared for a studio (that is a living room, kitchen and bathroom). 36 meters squared is 324 square feet, roughly. That's less than half of what I live in, and even twice 324 sq ft would be too little to fit all my stuff. Can you imagine living in 324 square feet? With your significant other? I can't (although I've seen it and it can work). We are so spoiled in North America, it's ridiculous. Oh, I should just throw this out there too while I'm at it; in Kentucky you can get a 3 bedroom apartment, 1300sq ft, for approximately what I pay for my 769sq ft apartment here. And that's still America!

But if you don't need to go downtown Warsaw and can, say, work from home... you can live in one of the rich neighborhoods outside the city where houses are so big (and much sturdier) that they make American architecture look like child's play. Standard of living there goes up dramatically. Once you no longer have to deal with Warsaw proper and can afford to live outside the city, you are living like a boss.

The moral of the story is: ratings don't mean shit. Vancouver may be #1, but if you live in Whalley, you're definitely not part of said rating. Seattle may not even be on the list, but I bet Redmond and Kirkland (and maybe Bellevue) would definitely find a spot near the top. I don't even know if Warsaw was on the plus list (doubt it), but again, suburbs have you living like a king if you can afford it.

I will always be looking to live in the best place possible. For me, that's where jobs are. I am fortunate enough to work at a company which is also located in one of the richest cities in the state (maybe even country? $66,300 median income in this county). Not sure where I could go to up my standard of living. Where do you want to go?