Anywho, it’s /afk for now, time to deal with RL…

Yaaaaaaaaaaaay…

Oh, btw, there’s a new Eye on the Community posted up on the official Aion website.  The focal topic, naturally, revolves around the Aion Vision trailer.  I just found out last week that I know someone who’s related to someone who works at PlayNC (or NCsoft… not too sure).  Unfortunately, nothing in that trailer is anywhere close to being released just yet.  Mayhaps the environmental/graphical upgrade, but I wouldn’t hold my breath regarding the rest of the teased content.  The game just came out peoples, no expansion just yet, heheh.  [ Eye on Community - Source ]

Who the hell are they tryin’ to kid, this problem’s nothing new.  Right off the bat they were aware of the phising attempts an’ instead of taking responsibility and handling their shit they contribute to the spam with a lil’ disclaimer notice…  Only their spam isn’t limited to the chat log.

Upgrading security…  That’s all good an’ well, but you’re not even addressing the source of the problem.  The root of the problem is the bots in-game that are trying to lure players into their tarps!  Yeah that’s right, tarps!  FFS, if just one GM would sit in Elysea on our server (Ariel) and observe the LFG chat they would see, at least, 2-3 phising and kinah-selling players within a minute.  Walk through Sanctum at any given time an’ you’ll see at least a couple of kinah-selling advertisements parked on bazaar outside the Broker.  Ban those players (who’re in clear violation of the T&A) an’ guess what, you just took active steps in resolving a problem.

I don’t know how they handle their business, but with bazaars advertising for websites and me having to /block a bitch every 10 minutes, it’s obvious they’re not paying enough attention to what’s going on in-game.  An’ honestly, wouldn’t you figure that’s one of the prime locations to pay attention to?  I mean, that’s where your player base is, your active subscribers who’re paying to play the game.

Anywho, they won me over the first time they did a mass ban an’ I actually noticed the difference logging into Heiron and seeing absolutely no botting activity.  Now that I’m leveling out there again, I’ve seen about 5 bots wandering around.  Not nearly as bad as before.  An’ the chat log, holy crap, I remember not long after launch you couldn’t even read public chat…  It was impossible with the rapid kinah spamming macros being fired.  So, yes, they have been doing a good job, imho.  But as for this whole security situation…  I’ve never had an account problem in all my days of mmo-gaming.  I just never did anything that would compromise my account, simple as that.  Working on the security of their website isn’t goin’ to do jack to combat against the phising sites an’ keyloggers.  Get to the root of the problem, already!

Website Security Concerns (Tamat)

Update: More information on the subject and how NCsoft is taking action.  More >>

So today was the last day of the last double xp weekend and I think I did a pretty good job with my leveling though I know I could have gotten more levels if I applied myself even more but then I would’ve been sitting at the compy all day and that’s not really healthy and I’m trying to live a healthier life now and it’s going pretty gewd so far so I want to keep that up but then I also wanna level and get to at least 40 as soon as possible that way I can start doing stuff with the legion like sleeping and pew pewing but then I also have to farm and grind and get money because the economy in Aion is just like the crappy economy IRL that sucks and is inflated and Magical Accuracy Manastones actually cost a lot more than I thought they did because I kinda got them confused with Magical Resistance Manastones and they’re still dirt cheap but not the accuracy stones they’re really expensive and one big reason for that is because there’s scarcity and the supply of Magical Accuracy Manastones is very limited in the market at this time which is why they cost so much and isn’t that funny how scarcity is spelled just like StarCity which is a legion on our server the only difference is there’s a “T” where the first “C” is and I’m not really sure why I’m typing this way because it’s passed 3:00 in the morning and Maiden’s going to be pissed when she finds out I was up this late again which I can easily hide by not typing it in this blog that she reads every now and then but by the time she gets around to reading this a couple of days would have already gone by so she can’t really punish me for it but oh crap this’ going to be one hell of a wall of text which a lot of people aren’t going to read but if you are reading this then bwahahahaha I just wasted a portion of a minute of your day but holy crap I can’t believe double xp weekends are officially over!  … Boo.

DOUBLE XP WEEKEND IS OVER!!!

It’s over!  Gone again!  Back to relying on Lodas Amulets for that, what, 20% of xp boost.  Ah well, I think we’ve still got one more double xp weekend coming up.  Hopefully you guys took advantage of the one that just passed by.  I grinded Friday an’ Saturday, taking a break today for a good reason…  Maiden’s back from her Aion hiatus!  That’s right, woke me up this morning, kicked me out of the house an’ wouldn’t unlock the door if I didn’t have an Aion timecard in my inventory hand when I got back.

She managed to get caught up today with her Chanter, Iraja.  She went on her first ever Nochsana Training Camp run!  Got ourselves keyed for FT earlier tonight, so we’ll be knocking on her door an’ demanding her loots for days to come.  … I swear, I friggin’ hate Kromede!  I’ve never, NEVER, seen her drop a weapon.  I’ve only ever seen one yellow drop, an’ that was off of Lava Gat-whatever.  Anyway…

We’re in our third month now of playing Aion an’ so far the game’s exceeded my expectations.  If I didn’t think the game was fun enough to warrant the playtime I would’ve quit by now.  NCsoft is doing a pretty good job with maintaining the game, through my perspective at least.  Any inquiries I’ve had were answered, most within the same business day even.  That also includes the Aionus user channel they’ve got setup on youtube.  The customer service has been exceptionally good in my experience.

An’ with recent mass bans, NCsoft’s shown more active participation in purging the game of bots than I’ve ever seen in any of their other games.  Heading out into Heiron after the first massive ban hammer was dropped was truly an amazing experience, lmao, the zone was so friggin’ empty.  It was beautiful!  Their actions had some very obvious and direct results in-game.  Unfortunately, I’ve been seeing bots leveling gaining experience via their botting again.  They’ve already breached into the mid-level zones, don’t know about the higher levels ’cause I’m lv31 again.  But, I actually feel pretty confident they’ll do something about it before it gets outta hand like before.

The stability of the game client itself has improved substantially, too.  I still remember being afraid to spread my wings coming out of Eltnen Fortress…  The number of deaths that resulted from disconnects during flight…  Oh man, it was ugly!

The community on Ariel isn’t much different than other mmo servers.  The longer the game’s been out the more elitists and egos that surface.  Iraja an’ I were fortunate enough to find a great bunch of people to game with, an’ we intend to stick with them.  Though, tbh, we’re more associated with UnWanted than Wanted at this point, lmao!  There are too many unfamiliar names in Wanted, an’ the roster has changed so much.  Anywho…

Domestic Aion is still very young, so naturally there’s still a lot of work to be done.  There’s a lot of room for improvement, an’ from what NCsoft’s showcased in the Aion 3.0 trailer they’ve still got big plans in store for the community.  It seems, right now, we’ve only got the bare-bone basics of the package.  Hopefully the new features being implemented next month will add a bit of enjoyment for those who’re already growing bored and wary of the grind.

As for me, I’m still having a blast!

Part 1

/yawn

Siori stretched her arms wide, feeling the relaxing sensation flow through her muscles.  “That was a great nap!”, she contently commented as she hopped off the massive boulder.

She landed gracefully, her feet sinking into the soft sands as it absorbed the impact of her fall.  Siori had to take a second to allow her eyes to adjust to the bright sunlight that bathed the beach of the Cantas Coast.  While stretching her legs, Siori’s gaze settled upon the ruins of a vessel parked upon the shore.  The ship was of decent make, good enough to house a hearty crew and perfectly capable of transporting large, heavy cargo.  Was.  It would still be considered a mighty fine ship, capable of taking on the sea, if not for the missing hull and the smoking, charred wood.

The wrecked ship was populated by the notorious lepharist syndicate.  Siori knew little of their organization sans the rats she occasionally found lurking about the outer walls of the Verteron Citadel.  That is until she was commissioned to infiltrate the lepharist nest within that very ship.

Having successfully infiltrated the ship, Siori was able to provide an accurate and detailed report regarding the lepharist activities.  Soon after, Siori joined an assault squad dispatched from Verteron Citdael in destroying the lepharists and the ship, thus putting an end to the nefarious organization’s activities on Cantas Coast.

A smug grin crept across Siori’s face as she stood up and turned around, facing away from the charred ship.  To her surprise, Siori turned to meet face to face with an unexpected visitor.  “Ah!” exclaimed the startled Siori, “Grandpa!”

Just as Siori realized the leader of her legion, her grandfather, was standing before her, a random stranger passed by with an awe-inspired look about him, “Y-you’re Sousuke Madruk, leader of the Kindred Knights!”

Sousuke Madruk, a seasoned and benevolent Templar, leader of one of the most respected legions of Elysea, the Kindred Knights.  Though his face possessed the marks and age of a veteran war soldier, benevolence, righteousness and kindness continue to shine true through his eyes.  “Forgive me,” Madruk apologized to the stranger, “We’re in a hurry.”

As Madruk’s statement came to a close a portal had just opened behind him.  A flash of blinding light forced Siori’s eyes shut for a moment.  As her tinted vision began to subside her sights focused upon another familiar face.  “Rikter… what’s going on?” Siori asked her childhood friend and colleague.

Rikter possessed a friendly, and playful, demeanor.  Though only one year her senior, Rikter’s knowledge of the magical arts was far more advanced than Siori’s.  “We’re gonna go pick a fight!” Rikter joked with a conceited smile.

Madruk jumped through the portal without hesitation.  It was clear wherever they were going they were to make haste.  Before she could say anything else, Rikter grabbed Siori by the wrist and pulled her through the portal.  Once again, Siori’s vision was blinded by a white light and her body, for a split second, felt as if gravity had relinquished its hold upon her.  Then gravity made its hasty, and sudden, return and as a gift acquainted Siori with an unforgiving wooden floor.  *Thud*

“Ouch!” Siori exclaimed as she lay upon the floor.

“Hahaha, gotta work on that landing, Siori.” Rikter teased as he helped Siori to her feet.

As the throbbing pain began to fade the ambience of battle grew louder.  “Where are we?”, Siori asked as she looked around.

“We’re aboard the Steel Rake.” Madruk answered.

Part 2

“The Steel Rake!?” Siori shouted in disbelief, “What are we-what am I doing here!?”

“You’re part of the Kindred Knights, aren’t you?” Rikter questioned.

“I’m also a lowbie class 21 Sorcerer, smartass!”

Siori’s sight frantically shifted from one confrontation to the other.  The entire legion was engaged in combat with the enemy!  Madruk unsheathed his sword and raised his shield.  “Brief her on the situation, Rikter.” He ordered as he charged into the ensuing battle.

“These stinkin’ pirates have Solorius.  They kidnapped him an’ we’re here to get him back!  Simple as that.”

Siori stood without a word for a moment.  “Solorius is real!?”

“Of course he’s real!” Rikter confirmed as he opened his spellbook, “Who do you think gave me this spellbook for Solorius last year?”

Rikter held his opened book in front of Siori so she could see the name scribbled upon the inside of the cover.  From, Solorius

Though Siori’s life experiences up until this point suggested otherwise, Solorius, if not someone very important, certainly must be aboard the ship if the Kindred Knights were assaulting.  Before she could contemplate any further, a Steel Rake Lookout came charging towards Siori and Rikter.  Rikter reacted swiftly, the visible manifestation of mana emanated from his limbs as he shot out a roots spell.  Nature’s roots shot up through planks beneath the lookout’s feet, twisting and gripping onto its legs they enveloped the ship native and rooted him into place.

Siori wasted little time.  Within her open palm she harnessed her magical power and within seconds swirling flames erupted and engulfed her arm.  The flames danced about, reflected within Siori’s eyes as she locked her sights and shot at the lookout.  The fireball hurled and collided into the lookout’s face, sending him flying back several feet before crashing to the ground with a resounding thud!

Though content with having dealt the killing shot, Siori was well aware that she stood no chance against these savages one-on-one.  She stayed close by Rikter’s side, battling alongside the rest of their legion members.  The flames of battle roared loud and the smoke billowed into the vast blue sky above.  The Steel Rake was massive, but the forces of the Kindred Knights were well organized and managed to sweep through the area in good time.

“Where’re they hiding him!?” Rikter grumbled as a pirate charged him!

The deviant came within a foot’s reach of Rikter, but Rikter did not flinch.  Just before the pirate’s blade could touch Rikter the pirate’s body erupted into flames, causing him to thrash and flail about before violently falling to the ground.  “Gotta love Erosion.” Rikter said with a smile.

“There he is!” shouted a voice.

Siori and Rikter turned to find the leader of the Steel Rake approaching, with him a bound, fat man dressed in red.  The elder looking man was round with rosy cheeks, a fat schnauze, and sported the full, authentic Solorius attire.  There could be no doubt, this was the real Solorius.

“Rikter.” Madruk instructed, “Set the plan into motion.”

“Aye boss!”

Rikter charged through the Steel Rake forces, toward their boss.  The other members of the legion participated in clearing the path.  Upon approaching the main boss, Rikter’s mad dash came to a screeching halt.  Cupping his hands in front of his chest, Rikter summoned forth a bright light, illuminating within the void between his palms.  “Defensive positions!” Madruk ordered, and within moments the legion had formed a circle around Rikter.

Siori stood close to her grandfather, bewildered and confused.  “Grandpa, wants going on!?”

“Oh, only the biggest ass-whooping of the year, child.” Madruk stated as a mischievous grin grew across his old face.

Just then a portal opened within the legion’s defensive circle.  “Clear the path, people.” Madruk instructed as he took a couple steps back.

Having cleared the area of the opposition, the only thing standing between the Kindred Knights and Solorius was the boss.  With their current situation victory was assured, yet no one made a move.  The entire legion stood at the rear of Rikter’s newly summoned portal, awaiting something.  Before Siori could ask that something emerged from the shining portal.

Big, rotund, and full of rage, Mrs. Solorius came storming out of the portal.  Her curly locks bounced with each reverberating stomp, her heaving bosom clearly indicated the storm raging within like a mad bull blowing steam through its nostrils.  Her lips moved ever so slightly as she mumbled, cursing beneath her breath.  She was armed with a mighty wooden rolling pin which she compulsively repeated to slam into her palm.  The sound of her flip flops approaching grew louder causing the boss to retract a bit, but before he could issue a warning BAAAM!!!!

With a thundering swing, Mrs. Solorius struck the boss with her wooden rolling pin.  The force of the impact snapped and shattered the dough rolling tool into numerous splinters and shards of wood that flew in all directions.  The motionless body of the boss lay upon the floor at Mrs. Solorius’ feet.  Reaching into her apron, Mrs. Solorius unpocketed a chunk of coal and, after mumbling something, dropped the coal onto the fallen bosses’ head, where it bounced off and settled upon the cold, wooden floor.

Grabbing Solorius by the ropes which bound him, Mrs. Solorius dragged the, usually jolly, man back towards the portal.  “Thank you Madruk, you and your legion can expect some big presents this year.” She stated as she took one step into the portal from whence she came.

With one mighty tug, Mrs. Solorius pulled Solorius through the portal.  Solorius let out a miserable groan as his rear was dragged across the rocky edges of the portal gates.  “Oh hush up you big, plump, softy!” Mrs. Solorius voice faded as the portal dissipated and vanished.

…

“Mission accomplished!” Madruk claimed victoriously, the entire legion cheered as he raised his sword high.

As the rest of the legion cheered and readied itself for evacuation, Siori stood in place completely dumbfounded by the events which had just unfolded.  “Siori, your face looks as vacant as an Elim’s.  What’s up?” Rikter joking inquired.

“She just, totally, one-shotted that boss with a dough roller…” Siori said, staring at the downed boss.

“Yep, everyone knows anything coming from Mrs. Solorius’ kitchen is epic and full of win.  Hmm….” Rikter knelt down next to the fallen boss, “An’ so is this necklace.  Score!”

The End

Anywho, I hope you guys enjoy it!  Hope you’re all having a Merry Christmas!

What pisses me off the most is the song was the toughest part of the video making, lmao!  Ah hell, at least I got a decent video out of this ordeal.  If the video gets disqualified, at this point, I don’t know whether or not I’ll take a shot at a second attempt.

[edit] K, so apparently I didn’t read all the rules.  Finding the link with the complete guidelines, I stumbled upon this lil’ tidbit:

The use of copyrighted material or trade marks NOT owned by the Sponsors or yourself is STRICTLY PROHIBITED. Your submission must not infringe any patent, copyright, trademark or other intellectual property right, or any privacy, publicity or publishing rights of any third party, or be libelous, obscene or otherwise contrary to law.

An’ the approved videos featuring Christmas songs NOT owned by the sponsors or video makers were accepted… how?  Why?  Figures, this’ what happens when I actually decide to take part in a contest.  =P