It has come to my attention lately that there has been a few vocal persons who have been complaining about things in LS chat. They have been complaining that they don't get help with things like the Promies, or they have been badmouthing suggested strategies, or they've been rude and hurtful to other players.



First of all, I think that we need to explain to people why certain things like the Promies are no longer regular clan-events. Second of all, I think we need to re-evaluate what this clan offers and, if you expect it to offer something else, then perhaps you should lead up an appropriate event yourself....



Read on for more...

About Promyvion, and other complex Missions

It is true that, for a while in 2005 (nearly 2 months) we were leading up semi-weekly Promyvion events to help people get through them. These were generally successful, but had a number of serious problems:

• #1 : The biggest problem was that people would show up unprepared. Promies are complicated things, and they require a great deal of precision that you don't need elsewhere in the game. They aren't unfairly difficult by any means, but you do have to put effort into preparing for them. Things like farming for Anima are a must if you want to ensure victory against a Promy boss. Too often, people wouldn't have done the few things they needed to do before hand and would show up expecting to be led through Promy without putting forth much effort on their part.
• #2 : People would show up late. This is a problem for every event, really. Some people just don't seem to have the common courtesy to not waste people's time and show up to events in a timely fashion.
• #3 : Many people would not take the Promy ascent seriously. They would goof off, tell jokes, and not pay attention. This invariably led to aggro problems, people going AFK at bad moments, and even total failures of the event.
• #4 : People who needed the Promy boss wouldn't want to participate in the other things you can do in Promy (like ENM battles or map quests). Quite frankly, the biggest reason a person who has already beaten Promy will want to return to a Promy is for the ENM battles. It's very hard to convince people who don't need the Promy boss to help you with it unless you can give them something in return.

Because of these (and other problems) I personal swore off leading Promy events ever again. It was entirely too frustrating to lead them up.



Now, I never forbade anyone else from leading up Promy events. But invariably other people would try to lead these events and find the same frustrations only to give up on leading them up as well.



So, the unspoken policy became "If you want to beat the Promies, then you need to go read the Promy guide, prepare for it, and organize your own runs." Many of us felt this was a reasonable thing to expect since we all did this to beat our own Promies. I personally went on dozens of failed runs before I figured out the strategy for success in these. I then organized my own groups on all but one of my successful runs. I didn't have anyone hold my hand and do all the hard stuff in the mission for me.



So when someone does not help you get through your Promies, it's nothing personal against you. It's just because they have probably already been burned by people who leeched off of them to get done with the Promies. Chances are, if you can show you've prepared (farmed anima, read the guide) they will be more than happy to help you out.

On Strategies

I am someone who does a hell of a lot of research. Seriously, I do a veritable shit load of research. I am something of a research-king. It's part of my job, and it's one of the talents I have.



But the one thing I've learned after all of my researching is that research, in and of itself, is worthless without experimentation.



Thus, I am also an experimentalist. I test every theory out, usually numerous times, before I commit to it. This is why I personally have done easily 50 to 100 Promy runs (I'm in Thersty's ENM static, and we've gone weekly since August 2005). This is why I've taken every opportunity to run into the Aqueducts for sub farming, NM hunting, and Minotaur battles. This is also why I farmed for keys, the map, and other items needed for ZM4 for weeks before I actually even attempted the mission.



What does this mean? This means that I never put forth a strategy I personally haven't researched and experimented with.



So, if you have a problem with my strategy when I suggest that to ensure victory in a Promy battle you need 4-6 full sets of anima, that's fine.



Or, if you have a problem with the strategy I suggest where everyone dies in the 2-5 Mammet battle and then is reraised, fresh to fight the next Mammet, that's fine as well.



All that I ask if you disagree with me is that you research and experiment with it yourself. Please don't get in an arguement with me, or anyone else if you haven't even attempted something yet. If all you have done is research, then you really can't say anything beyond speculation. Please don't argue and be contrary just because you think you know something someone else does not.



And please do not fall back on that same tired old argument that everyone who hasn't tried something uses: "It's how the Japanese do it."



I've got news for you, the game has been out in the states for 3 years now including the betas. I personally have been playing it nearly that long. There are plenty of US players who know just as much about this game as their Japanese counterpart.



The Japanese gamers are not wizards! They don't have superhuman skills that we don't have. All they have over us is they whine a lot less. Seriously... I kid you not. I have a couple of dozen close Japanese player friends (my Japanese is very suspect, my 2 year courses didn't help me much with casual Japanese, so my friends all speak English :-) I've often bounced ideas and things off of them, especially when someone used the "It's how the Japanese do it" argument. Most of the time, I find that these Japanese friends laugh at the suggestions that I personally found silly. Most of the time, they confirm what I already knew.



Bottom line is, I don't care if you disagree with one of my strategies, I'm always open minded to alternative view points and can be convinced if I am wrong on something. But if you disagree with me, you better have some very compelling real experience evidence on the subject... Because I certainly will have it.

About events in general

A lot of people complain because when they need help, they don't instantly have it from the Clan/LS. They pop in LS chat and say they need things like AF keys, or G1 items, or whatever, and are shocked that no one wants to just drop what they are doing to come help them.



Please bear in mind that everyone has their own things they are doing. Chances are, they are going to be busy. So if they can't help you instantly, either be patient, or try again later.



If what you need is complicated and will require a lot of time to complete, post it on this site in the Events Forum. Organize the event yourself. Chances are, you will find other people that need it as well who are willing to help.



The Events Forum is where you should go if you want to lead up any event on your own. It's the best place to communicate and find other people willing to help you out. If it is something that doesn't conflict with other events, or is something that many people may need/want, I will post it on the 2 week calendar that is always at the top of the main site page.

What does this clan offer?

Finally, I'd like to close with exactly what this clan offers.



This clan is hard to describe. We're largely a social clan in that many of us are very good friends. I personally have been playing with a dozen or so of you since 2000 (in different games) and I use my clan as a means to keep in contact with you and play with you.



However, we aren't exclusively social... we do get things done.



We have events scheduled and listed on our 2 week calendar. This calendar is updated pretty much weekly (unless I get too busy with work and things to update it :-) The events are always lead by members within the clan. We don't have any specific event organizers. Basically, if you want an event to occur, then we recommend you try to lead it up.



What this clan does not do (or what most people in it try not to do) is hold people's hands.



Speaking for myself, I very rarely have help with things. I usually have to figure things out on my own, and lead up missions/quests/events that I need. For example, I personally farmed with a group of people for 8+ hours for my subjob quest items 2 years ago. It took me 2 weeks to get my Kazham Airship keys, which I did solo except for the time I was joined by Valsery (who also needed the keys). My Delkfurt tower mission also took 3 months before it was successful. Long story short, I've personally had to work at all my accomplishments, no one held my hand and did them all for me.



So, if you are looking for a clan full of people with every job at 75 who are bored and want to relive their earlier glories vicariously through you but doing all your missions/quests for you, then you may want to look for another clan/LS.



However, if you're affable and willing to put forth the effort to get things done, then you've come to the right place :-)