Fri Jun 1 01:37:22 2007

At 3 o'clock PM, Day of Freedom, 4th of the Month of the Battle
on the Theran calendar Selik perished, never to return.

Race:	arial
Class:	warrior
Level:	36
Alignment:	Neutral
Ethos:	Neutral
Cabal:	NEXUS, Nexus, Seekers of Balance
Age:	23
Hours:	83

Well, first off let me start with an appology to anyone who might have enjoyed having this character around. I wish I could have stuck it out longer, but I just couldn't do it any more. I really liked this race/class/spec combo, and put alot of work into mastering my skills so I could hold my own in pk. And from my perspective, I didn't do too bad, except for one thing, and this one thing is what got me pk'd EVERY time except one. I'm using a satallite internet connection, which is inherently rotten for mudding due to the gaps between packets. This causes around 3/4 of a second lag or more from the time I send the command, until it goes through. While this can make a HUGE difference when playing against people with DSL or the like, this wasn't the only problem. The biggest problem I had, which just made the slow ping rate all the worse, is that we've been having issues with our connection lately that causes long periods of lag (sometimes up to 3 or 4 minutes, during which my character just sits there like a stuffed bird with a big target on his chest that says, "Strike here!") That's the (slightly) less frequent version. What happens most of the time, almost continuously with no break, is that the 3/4 second lag gets increased to 2 or 3 seconds, giving anyone who's fighting me ample time to flee, return, "c sleep Selik" before I have a chance to react. The end result was me getting frustrated at not being able to do what I know I'm capable of doing until I lose my temper and complain about my sluggish mind or frozen mind constantly to anyone who might talk to me at that that time, or over cabal channel (very bad taste, I know).

Consequently, I don't imagine there were too many people who really enjoyed having this guy around and having to listen to him moaning all the time about not being able to move. If there IS anyone who enjoyed having him around, please let me know. I'd like to hear what it was you liked about him. For all the rest who really didn't like him around, I appologise as well for all my complaining. It's so hard to not get frustrated when I'm bored out of my skull and it seems like the only thing to alleviate the boredom right now is CF, then I log in and for the next few hours, spend my time in hiding or become target practice for everyone who might feel the sudden urge to gloat over a corpse.

Ok, now that I've said all that, that'll be the last of my complaining about laggy connections. On to something more productive.

Nexus - This is a really rough cabal to be in right now. Playing a role that requires you to turn on someone just because they're no longer the underdog generally means you don't have too many friends. That wouldn't be such a problem, except that there's almost no one in the cabal either! I'm sure there are more folks on the books (there HAS to be, right?), but they just aren't showing up. Ever since I was inducted, I've spent almost all my time playing this guy, and have only seen the same handful of Nexans log on. Not only that, but IMHO their set of powers is really weak. Don't get me wrong, the bond is pretty sweet, WHEN YOU CAN USE IT. Unfortuntely, until you reach hero ranges, you rarely get to because there's almost no magi or priests around. During my admittedly short time in the cabal, I saw 2 hero invokers, 1 hero shifter (only just met him today), 1 lvl 45 conjie, 1 mid ranked shifter, and 1 lower midranked transmuter who was inducted at the same time as me. So until you can get within reach of hero ranges, you have to run the gauntlet of mid-ranked anti-paladins and imperial shadows without any cabal powers to back you up. At least as an independant neutral you're not required to fight against those evils every time the balance tips. The concept of Nexus has some serious potential, but given the path they're supposed to walk, the drawbacks seem to outweigh the benefits. It would be nice to see the powers offered being just a little more potent, even just a stronger Vanguard or something.

Geren, loved your character. You're doing a great job as leader. You're around frequently, you encourage and work with all the members, and don't make yourself out to be superior to anyone.

Mutsu and Mibblic - didn't really know you two all that well, but I appreciated all the help you guys were willing to give every time I got ganked while trying to regear so that I WOULDN'T get ganked.

Jenjo and Terwin, I wish you two would have been around more often, and stayed around longer. You were the only two mages I could bond with, and without you around, the only useful power I had was vanguard, which isn't much.

Prixia, and Taytum, didn't see you two around much either, OR when you were around, I simply didn't SEE you so didn't know you were there. Consequently didn't get to know you too well either.

Prixia, for what time I did spend with you, I thought you deffinately give your character some personality. That's something frequently lacking in many chars on CF (many of my lesser chars included)


Well, I'm pretty sure I had more to write than this, but it's almsot 3am here right now, and I can't remember what else I wanted to write.

I am kinda curious to see this PBF, but I just spent almost the last 2 years living on a mountain in the jungle, so I have no money at all right now. If there is anyone who liked this char, or is just feeling generous and would like to have this PBF published, please feel free. If not, oh well.

Likewise, I'm also curious to see what the Imms thought of this character. Personally, I think he had the potential to be one of my best, but ended up being one of my worst (mechanics wise because of my connection, and RP wise because of lots of other stuff going on in my life right now). I guess that's it for now.

Aunti Cyth is feeling generous, have a good read!

If you can't get DSL/Cable, even 56k dial-up would be better (latency wise) than what you're describing with satellite. Before I got broadband, I used to only be able to connect at 26.4k baud, and I still had a ping time of around...140ms? Something like that.

You might also look into mobile broadband. Sprint and Verizon both offer it. Think it's around $60/mo for unlimited w/ a 2yr contract. Bandwidth is about like the "slow" version of DSL. No idea about latency, but it can't be any worse than what you have with that satellite connection.

I was alone till level 42. Then got into Nexus, took me like more time to get from 45 to 51 than I could ever imagine. I could only imagine how tough it can be being a Nexus between 30-42.

Everytime I saw a dagger, I thought of you. I had like few dagger on me just for you.

We barely get any IMM-teractions and our powers at times are the weakest, I wish IMMs help out with other stuff. A pat on the back makes people do more than you can imagine (Learnt in Managerial Training). If you call interaction with Zesam a IMM-teraction, then I had few. Remember all the notes I wrote, no response (good or bad).