As the end of this year approaches, it's time for me to review the results of my resolutions:
1. Resolution: Weigh 165-170lbs by 2011.
When I initially stated my weight was 195lbs, I found out a short while later my scale was broken. I was actually about 210. While I didn't hit the goals I initially set out to hit (165-170lbs, lose 30lbs), I came close. I'm checking in between 185-190 now, which means I lost 20-25lbs over the course of this year.
Admittedly, my weight loss wasn't at the forefront of my thoughts throughout most of the year and I lost a good chunk of that before March. The good news here is that I made enough minor changes to know I can maintain the weight loss it would seem. If 2011 works out the same as 2010 did, I'll hit my goal of 165-170lbs.
2. Resolution: Database Programming. Learn it. Love it.
Yeah this one didn't go as easily as I thought. Buying and reading books on this subject just put me to sleep most of the time. I wouldn't call myself an expert on the subject at hand just yet, but I made some in-rows.
Learning it: Yes.
Loving it: No.
3. Resolution: Debt under control enough to re-establish my own independence.
This resolution revolved mostly around trimming 3 people off my debtors list. I succeeded in doing this and then some. Now I have just one debtor and that one will take a few more years to pay off.
4. Resolution: Girlfriend moved to KY by the end of July 2010.
Didn't work out. She insists on finding a job before she moves and I'm insisting she won't find one until she's actually here. She's got some other legit concerns as well like medical insurance, etc.
She's actually self-imposed a deadline of July 2011 to move down here now.
5. Resolution: Improve my credit score by 50-100 points.
Great how fast credit can get destroyed but how long it takes to build. Despite having 0 new negative entries and clearing off a few others in 2010, my credit score went up a whole 12 points.
The whole goddamn system is a sham.
6. Resolution: Level at least 2 more jobs to 75 in 2010.
I stated BLM would be my next job to 75. I also wrote that blog post before SE announced they would be lifting the level cap to 99 and before they released Abyssea.
Abyssea changed the way jobs are leveled and pretty much everything about FFXI. While I did get bard up to end-game level (currently sits at 87), I didn't level BLM. However, I don't fret that too much given I can take BLM from 40-90 in a matter of 2-3 XP parties in Abyssea.
Anyway, I got to most of my goals for 2010 or a good chunk of the way there. I would expect to have similar goals for 2011, but I haven't given much thought to it. Eventually, I'll make a 2011 resolutions entry.
In the mean time, hope everyone had a great 2010 and can look forward to an even better 2011.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Thursday, December 9, 2010
New DRG Stuff from Dec. Update
Got DRG to 90 last night and had a chance to fiddle around with the new stuff SE gave us. Didn't do any in depth testing, but...
Breath Commands
- Both of the breath moves are actual pet commands and not stances as some had speculated.
- Neither breath appears to be gimped. All of the same factors apply that would normally apply when triggering these breaths normally.
- This basically means I have to start carrying around my Wyvern HP+ set even when I'm subbing SAM.
- They do not share a timer.
- You cannot target other players with Restoring Breath.
These additions are huge for DRG and a bit of a god-send for mages who hate that DRGs are such MP sponges. Being able to cure myself for a huge amount once every minute will likely help ease up MP consumption rates and make DRG a lot more effective from a soloing/duoing standpoint. Smiting Breath is useful not only just for damage output potential, but for manually hitting up magic bursts if the wyvern is smart enough to use the correct breath.
Dragon Breaker
Admittedly, I only used this once last night on Cuelebre. However, the reductions it caused were very noticeable. Looked like the effect lasted approximately 3 minutes as well. Again though, I was just eyeballing that and didn't pay super close attention to it.
AF3 Body + Hands
Shit those things are smexy. The full set is probably one of the best sets of armor I've seen in this game. I was impressed with the original pictures that were shown on the Heroes of Abyssea microsite, but those were on a Hume. On an Elvaan, there's a lot more to see. Screenshots soon to follow hopefully...
And...hopefully getting the +1 or +2 versions of it aren't all that difficult.
Lv.90 Gungnir
So after reducing the relic trials to basically nothing...(really? 80% reductions?), I learned what the requirements were for getting the Lv.90 version of my relic.
For the record, I went into acquiring this particular piece of knowledge with a little bit of hope given how much they had reduced the previous trials, but part of me also had a sense of dread considering just how much time I actually wasted trying to get to this point anyway.
The trial is....
Kill Dagourmarche 5 times.
Don't remember him?
Yeah he would be this guy.
So...after enduring the bullshit that was:
1500 Geirskogul uses on Amorphs.
2000 Geirskogul killshots on Lizards.
2000 Geirskogul killshots on Arcana
2000 Geirskogul killshots on Vermin.
2000 Geirskogul killshots on Aquans.
Then getting no-lube sodomized by their 80% reductions on the trials...
Now I have to trudge into Dynamis-Beaucedine a minimum of 5 times, run all the way up to Nue's tower (anyone who's ever popped attestation NMs know what a bitch this actually is), then kill said NM 5 times.
Nevermind the 500k entry fee (x 5).
Or the 72 hour cool down...
At least it's not 2000 killshots again.
The part about this that bothers me isn't really the trial itself, it's just what the pattern seems to establish. If I have to go kill this NM 5 times, I suspect Lv.95 Gungnir will require me to go kill Gungnir itself 5 times.
Which leaves killing DL or something else Dynamis-related 5 times for the Lv.99 version.
Obviously, SE could throw a curve ball and just change it to something different, but I somewhat doubt it. SE hasn't been very creative in the trials for relics (or mythics for that matter).
Good thing is, it means Rustnarok will be completed and I'll have a buddy to take these down with.
Breath Commands
- Both of the breath moves are actual pet commands and not stances as some had speculated.
- Neither breath appears to be gimped. All of the same factors apply that would normally apply when triggering these breaths normally.
- This basically means I have to start carrying around my Wyvern HP+ set even when I'm subbing SAM.
- They do not share a timer.
- You cannot target other players with Restoring Breath.
These additions are huge for DRG and a bit of a god-send for mages who hate that DRGs are such MP sponges. Being able to cure myself for a huge amount once every minute will likely help ease up MP consumption rates and make DRG a lot more effective from a soloing/duoing standpoint. Smiting Breath is useful not only just for damage output potential, but for manually hitting up magic bursts if the wyvern is smart enough to use the correct breath.
Dragon Breaker
Admittedly, I only used this once last night on Cuelebre. However, the reductions it caused were very noticeable. Looked like the effect lasted approximately 3 minutes as well. Again though, I was just eyeballing that and didn't pay super close attention to it.
AF3 Body + Hands
Shit those things are smexy. The full set is probably one of the best sets of armor I've seen in this game. I was impressed with the original pictures that were shown on the Heroes of Abyssea microsite, but those were on a Hume. On an Elvaan, there's a lot more to see. Screenshots soon to follow hopefully...
And...hopefully getting the +1 or +2 versions of it aren't all that difficult.
Lv.90 Gungnir
So after reducing the relic trials to basically nothing...(really? 80% reductions?), I learned what the requirements were for getting the Lv.90 version of my relic.
For the record, I went into acquiring this particular piece of knowledge with a little bit of hope given how much they had reduced the previous trials, but part of me also had a sense of dread considering just how much time I actually wasted trying to get to this point anyway.
The trial is....
Kill Dagourmarche 5 times.
Don't remember him?
Yeah he would be this guy.
So...after enduring the bullshit that was:
1500 Geirskogul uses on Amorphs.
2000 Geirskogul killshots on Lizards.
2000 Geirskogul killshots on Arcana
2000 Geirskogul killshots on Vermin.
2000 Geirskogul killshots on Aquans.
Then getting no-lube sodomized by their 80% reductions on the trials...
Now I have to trudge into Dynamis-Beaucedine a minimum of 5 times, run all the way up to Nue's tower (anyone who's ever popped attestation NMs know what a bitch this actually is), then kill said NM 5 times.
Nevermind the 500k entry fee (x 5).
Or the 72 hour cool down...
At least it's not 2000 killshots again.
The part about this that bothers me isn't really the trial itself, it's just what the pattern seems to establish. If I have to go kill this NM 5 times, I suspect Lv.95 Gungnir will require me to go kill Gungnir itself 5 times.
Which leaves killing DL or something else Dynamis-related 5 times for the Lv.99 version.
Obviously, SE could throw a curve ball and just change it to something different, but I somewhat doubt it. SE hasn't been very creative in the trials for relics (or mythics for that matter).
Good thing is, it means Rustnarok will be completed and I'll have a buddy to take these down with.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Level 90 DRG...Some Other Random Sh*t Too.
We interrupt this long, blog writing hiatus to shoot out a few quick blurbs on the new JAs they've announced for the Dec. update.
Most notably...DRG.
My first reaction to seeing these was FUCK YES!~
You see, I've been wanting a way to manually control the wyvern in the same way a SMN or BST or PUP could control their pets. As it stands right now, the only thing I can do as far as pet commands go are Call, Dismiss and Spirit Link. Obviously I can trigger other things the wyvern does depending which sub I have, but a way to send a wyvern in to attack or to call it back ("pet pulling") would be awesome. I've never understood why SE didn't implement this.
After the initial euphoria wore off, the questions started coming to mind about those breath abilities, namely Restoring Breath. Smiting Breath is blatantly obvious. There's not much you can do with it aside from potentially telling your wyvern to go nuke a target you're not currently engaged to.
Can Restoring Breath be used on other party members in the same manner a cure spell or a waltz would?
Is Restoring Breath influenced in the same manner as Healing Breath? Meaning, load up on Wyvern HP+ gear and boost it?
Will Deep Breathing work with it as well?
All of that will be answered when I hit 90 obviously, but it's at least fun to think about for now. So many possibilities, but, as is the case with any pet...
...the pet has to be alive.
Lv.85 Gungnir
It's getting harder and harder for me to find my way through these trials that SE puts in for relic holders. I knocked out about 250 of the objectives a couple weeks after Scars came out, but then I just had zero motivation to take it further.
With the previous 4 trials, I basically had to piss myself off completely before I was motivated to do them. Then I'd just hunker down for a week or so and pray I didn't Whiffskogul too much.
This particular trial was easier than the rest (except the first one, where I didn't have to land killshots, just use the WS itself). I just couldn't find the motivation at first, then I couldn't find the time. The trip up to Girlfriend's parents afforded me some time to work on this.
It actually afforded me more time than I thought it would.
I now have Lv.85 Gungnir just in time to be slapped with the next trial that will probably consist of 2500 kill shots on plantoids.
"Sh*t My Dad Says"
For the drive to Maine for Thanksgiving, I picked this book up on CD. Some seriously funny shit in there that damn near caused me to wreck a couple times from laughing. It's $10. Go to B&N or Borders or Amazon and get it.
Paraphrasing some of the more memorable quotes:
"Son, you're 4 years old. It's time to shit in the toilet. This isn't one of those negotiation things where we go back and forth. This ends with you shitting in the toilet."
"First thing about driving is that a car has 5 gears. What's that smell? Ok, first thing before that first thing: if you fart in a parked car, that makes you an asshole."
For those of you that don't know, this book basically started cause of a twitter account. Said twitter account can be found here:
http://twitter.com/shitmydadsays
It's been spun off into a TV show I have yet to watch as well.
One Ring To Ru...Yeah No.
"Engagement rings are pointless. Indians gave cows...Oh sorry, congrats on proposing. We good now? Can I finish my indian story?"
I figure another quote from "Sh* My Dad Says" is appropriate for this section...
I got Girlfriend the engagement ring she and her family have hounded me about since they initially met me.
Now I need to figure out how to stall the wedding for nearly 3 years like I did the ring...
Anyway...back to my hiatus...
Most notably...DRG.
Dragon Breaker (DRG Lv.87 Ability Delay: 10 min. Effect Duration: 3 min.)
Lowers accuracy, evasion, magic accuracy, magic evasion, and TP gain for dragons.
Smiting Breath (DRG Lv.90 Ability Delay: 1 min.)
Orders the wyvern to attack with its breath.
Restoring Breath (DRG Lv.90 Ability Delay: 1 min.)
Orders the wyvern to heal with its breath.
My first reaction to seeing these was FUCK YES!~
You see, I've been wanting a way to manually control the wyvern in the same way a SMN or BST or PUP could control their pets. As it stands right now, the only thing I can do as far as pet commands go are Call, Dismiss and Spirit Link. Obviously I can trigger other things the wyvern does depending which sub I have, but a way to send a wyvern in to attack or to call it back ("pet pulling") would be awesome. I've never understood why SE didn't implement this.
After the initial euphoria wore off, the questions started coming to mind about those breath abilities, namely Restoring Breath. Smiting Breath is blatantly obvious. There's not much you can do with it aside from potentially telling your wyvern to go nuke a target you're not currently engaged to.
Can Restoring Breath be used on other party members in the same manner a cure spell or a waltz would?
Is Restoring Breath influenced in the same manner as Healing Breath? Meaning, load up on Wyvern HP+ gear and boost it?
Will Deep Breathing work with it as well?
All of that will be answered when I hit 90 obviously, but it's at least fun to think about for now. So many possibilities, but, as is the case with any pet...
...the pet has to be alive.
Lv.85 Gungnir
It's getting harder and harder for me to find my way through these trials that SE puts in for relic holders. I knocked out about 250 of the objectives a couple weeks after Scars came out, but then I just had zero motivation to take it further.
With the previous 4 trials, I basically had to piss myself off completely before I was motivated to do them. Then I'd just hunker down for a week or so and pray I didn't Whiffskogul too much.
This particular trial was easier than the rest (except the first one, where I didn't have to land killshots, just use the WS itself). I just couldn't find the motivation at first, then I couldn't find the time. The trip up to Girlfriend's parents afforded me some time to work on this.
It actually afforded me more time than I thought it would.
I now have Lv.85 Gungnir just in time to be slapped with the next trial that will probably consist of 2500 kill shots on plantoids.
"Sh*t My Dad Says"
For the drive to Maine for Thanksgiving, I picked this book up on CD. Some seriously funny shit in there that damn near caused me to wreck a couple times from laughing. It's $10. Go to B&N or Borders or Amazon and get it.
Paraphrasing some of the more memorable quotes:
"Son, you're 4 years old. It's time to shit in the toilet. This isn't one of those negotiation things where we go back and forth. This ends with you shitting in the toilet."
"First thing about driving is that a car has 5 gears. What's that smell? Ok, first thing before that first thing: if you fart in a parked car, that makes you an asshole."
For those of you that don't know, this book basically started cause of a twitter account. Said twitter account can be found here:
http://twitter.com/shitmydadsays
It's been spun off into a TV show I have yet to watch as well.
One Ring To Ru...Yeah No.
"Engagement rings are pointless. Indians gave cows...Oh sorry, congrats on proposing. We good now? Can I finish my indian story?"
I figure another quote from "Sh* My Dad Says" is appropriate for this section...
I got Girlfriend the engagement ring she and her family have hounded me about since they initially met me.
Now I need to figure out how to stall the wedding for nearly 3 years like I did the ring...
Anyway...back to my hiatus...
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Gungnir vs. Ryunohige vs. Rhongomiant
Actually, it's just a post about the super weapons in general.
Been seeing a lot of debate over which one is better than the other and not just limited to the Polearms themselves. Great Katana, Scythe, Great Axe, etc seem to be under scrutiny as well.
The part that's been bugging me is that some will simply dismiss one of these weapons as a waste. Don't get me wrong, some are (i.e. Claustrum...), but to simply dismiss one of them because it gets beaten in a parse under certain circumstances is just completely stupid.
People have their reasons for upgrading these things. Most of the time, it revolves around wanting to be the best they can be. Other times, it's handed to them via linkshell contribution (an Aegis or Gjallarhorn for example) because of the undeniable impact they have on the team itself.
I'm of the opinion SE designed relics to be the best weapons in the game. When Mythics were released, I formed the opinion that SE intended for them to be in the same class as relics, just in a different manner. Initially, when the Empyrean Weapons were released, I was irritated at SE's wanting to put these in the same class as Relic/Mythics and seemingly making them far easier to obtain. Obviously that last part has been debunked, so now I'm of the opinion all 3 weapons are in the same class.
Which is better?
Who knows really. There aren't enough of them out there that can actually be parsed together consistently enough to see, but I'd be willing to bet each one would win about the same number of times. While it's fun to present cases based on numbers, etc, most people presenting said cases aren't presenting numbers that are different enough to really justify it.
A good example is a BG thread debating Ryunohige vs. Gungnir (continues into page 8).
There's a lot of math on display in that thread. First, the facts outside of the obvious stats:
Gungnir:
1. 2.5x damage proc (not a high %, probably around 5%).
2. Double Light capability.
3. Higher fSTR cap.
Ryunohige:
1. Can maintain near constant aftermath effect. (100TP Increases accuracy, 200TP Increases Attack, 300TP Occasionally attacks twice (~45%?))
2. "Augments Jump" either forces the crit on Jump or increases it's Acc.
I look at the facts there and immediately think of everything that a weapon's base damage and your level of accuracy affect. It's a lot of stuff. Gungnir's got it beat statistically in every category. Base damage is 6-7% higher. It's got a full time, built in Acc+30.
Mythic aftermath effects do not stack. While having 3 different options at your disposal based on what you're fighting is pretty handy, it takes some serious timing if you want to max your Acc potential. Even launching a Drakesbane with 190TP is going to have it coming up short in the Acc dept. against Gungnir. It's highly doubtful anyone would intentionally launch Drakesbane in the 200-299 range to get the Att+ effect, but even then, if they did, you're probably locked into some form of Acc food and the Gungnir DRG is probably wolfing down Carbonara or Yellow Curry Buns.
Having a full 3 minutes of a rather insane Double Attack rate though is where Ryunohige is going to make up a lot of ground and, in the right hands, possibly even surpass a Gungnir.
But, we're back to the facts. With the inclusion of Spirit/Soul Jump now along with Sekkanoki and Conserve TP, odds are, that Ryunohige DRG is going to waste a lot of TP trying to keep that Double Attack aftermath active. Obviously, having an atma like Eccentric Eve's active is going to mean a lot of fights START with that DA aftermath active, but it doesn't necessarily mean it will remain that way. You also have to look at timing.
Say you have a pretty standard 5 hit build starting from 0 TP and you swing every 3 seconds. In a 3 minute period of time, you will have thrown out a minimum of 60 swings. If every 5 swings is essentially a WS you can use, then you've effectively landed 12 weapon skills in a perfect world.
But the world isn't perfect.
At some point a Ryunohige DRG wanting to maintain that DA Aftermath is going to have to build up 300TP. Without Eve's atma, said DRG is looking at having to swing 12-15 times. If they're smart, use meditate and jumps (all of which the Gungnir DRG obviously has too...), then you effectively halve that number. Either way, that Gungnir DRG is going should be able to launch 2-3 more Drakesbanes in the time it took you to store that 300 TP.
Factoring a 45% Double Attack rate into the equation halves it further if it actually kicks in.
(Which is one thing Byrn seems to miss in his arguments...a Relic DRG can actually use Drakesbane too...)
So which would win? Honestly it's probably a wash.
But the point is, they aren't wasting money or time or resources by upgrading one over the other.
My biased opinion though is that Gungnir would win most of the time, but not by a lot and since both weapons essentially cost the same, I don't really give a shit.
Rhongomiant though...remains to be seen. :)
Been seeing a lot of debate over which one is better than the other and not just limited to the Polearms themselves. Great Katana, Scythe, Great Axe, etc seem to be under scrutiny as well.
The part that's been bugging me is that some will simply dismiss one of these weapons as a waste. Don't get me wrong, some are (i.e. Claustrum...), but to simply dismiss one of them because it gets beaten in a parse under certain circumstances is just completely stupid.
People have their reasons for upgrading these things. Most of the time, it revolves around wanting to be the best they can be. Other times, it's handed to them via linkshell contribution (an Aegis or Gjallarhorn for example) because of the undeniable impact they have on the team itself.
I'm of the opinion SE designed relics to be the best weapons in the game. When Mythics were released, I formed the opinion that SE intended for them to be in the same class as relics, just in a different manner. Initially, when the Empyrean Weapons were released, I was irritated at SE's wanting to put these in the same class as Relic/Mythics and seemingly making them far easier to obtain. Obviously that last part has been debunked, so now I'm of the opinion all 3 weapons are in the same class.
Which is better?
Who knows really. There aren't enough of them out there that can actually be parsed together consistently enough to see, but I'd be willing to bet each one would win about the same number of times. While it's fun to present cases based on numbers, etc, most people presenting said cases aren't presenting numbers that are different enough to really justify it.
A good example is a BG thread debating Ryunohige vs. Gungnir (continues into page 8).
There's a lot of math on display in that thread. First, the facts outside of the obvious stats:
Gungnir:
1. 2.5x damage proc (not a high %, probably around 5%).
2. Double Light capability.
3. Higher fSTR cap.
Ryunohige:
1. Can maintain near constant aftermath effect. (100TP Increases accuracy, 200TP Increases Attack, 300TP Occasionally attacks twice (~45%?))
2. "Augments Jump" either forces the crit on Jump or increases it's Acc.
I look at the facts there and immediately think of everything that a weapon's base damage and your level of accuracy affect. It's a lot of stuff. Gungnir's got it beat statistically in every category. Base damage is 6-7% higher. It's got a full time, built in Acc+30.
Mythic aftermath effects do not stack. While having 3 different options at your disposal based on what you're fighting is pretty handy, it takes some serious timing if you want to max your Acc potential. Even launching a Drakesbane with 190TP is going to have it coming up short in the Acc dept. against Gungnir. It's highly doubtful anyone would intentionally launch Drakesbane in the 200-299 range to get the Att+ effect, but even then, if they did, you're probably locked into some form of Acc food and the Gungnir DRG is probably wolfing down Carbonara or Yellow Curry Buns.
Having a full 3 minutes of a rather insane Double Attack rate though is where Ryunohige is going to make up a lot of ground and, in the right hands, possibly even surpass a Gungnir.
But, we're back to the facts. With the inclusion of Spirit/Soul Jump now along with Sekkanoki and Conserve TP, odds are, that Ryunohige DRG is going to waste a lot of TP trying to keep that Double Attack aftermath active. Obviously, having an atma like Eccentric Eve's active is going to mean a lot of fights START with that DA aftermath active, but it doesn't necessarily mean it will remain that way. You also have to look at timing.
Say you have a pretty standard 5 hit build starting from 0 TP and you swing every 3 seconds. In a 3 minute period of time, you will have thrown out a minimum of 60 swings. If every 5 swings is essentially a WS you can use, then you've effectively landed 12 weapon skills in a perfect world.
But the world isn't perfect.
At some point a Ryunohige DRG wanting to maintain that DA Aftermath is going to have to build up 300TP. Without Eve's atma, said DRG is looking at having to swing 12-15 times. If they're smart, use meditate and jumps (all of which the Gungnir DRG obviously has too...), then you effectively halve that number. Either way, that Gungnir DRG is going should be able to launch 2-3 more Drakesbanes in the time it took you to store that 300 TP.
Factoring a 45% Double Attack rate into the equation halves it further if it actually kicks in.
(Which is one thing Byrn seems to miss in his arguments...a Relic DRG can actually use Drakesbane too...)
So which would win? Honestly it's probably a wash.
But the point is, they aren't wasting money or time or resources by upgrading one over the other.
My biased opinion though is that Gungnir would win most of the time, but not by a lot and since both weapons essentially cost the same, I don't really give a shit.
Rhongomiant though...remains to be seen. :)
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Loot Whore Qtipus
I've been on an incredible run of luck lately in terms of item acquisition...
Einherjar
Loot Whore mode started 2 Odins ago where I picked up:
To understand how I got all 3 of those items in one run, you have to understand our bidding system. The only item I won outright in terms of bids was the E.Body. The other two items had myself and a couple others placing minimum bids of 4. Normally when someone places bids like that, they kind of want an item, but are willing to lot it out with other people. W.Body and Hofud both saw me win the subsequent lots, which is highly unusual for my level of luck at times.
And before Kreoss chimes in about a golden horseshoe shoved up my ass as it relates to my luck, I need to point out the vast majority of my luck is centered around crafting. I don't really consider most of that luck so much as persistence. The only "lucky" craft I believe I've ever had was a pair of Unicorn Leggings +1 back when they sold for 20 mil. Since then, I've been squarely in the center of the odds. My current 0/72 streak on cursed cap+1 is a good example of that. :)
ANYWAY!
E.Body was naturally turned into this:
I got the Crimson Scale Mail as well, but didn't really care enough about it to take a picture. However, I do need to thank Alaistair for making it for me.
Dynamis
AF2 from Dynamis has been mostly irrelevant for a very long time. There are some niche pieces that can be used for various sets and a few that are full time (BLU Body, RDM Hat come to mind), but for the most part, the rest of it is junk compared to what you can get in the slots now.
Since it's introduction though, I've wanted Wyrm Mail +1. Haste on any body piece is rare to find, or likely was until the introduction of the AF3 bodies. If you go by the standard of Acc > Haste > everything else, then you already know I'm at or near the Acc cap on pretty much everything I fight. So the only thing that's really been left has been for me to tweak out things with haste gear.
At any rate, we've not had much luck in Tav runs as it relates to body pieces. We've picked up a few BST-1, WAR-1 and "new" job-1 bodies but nothing really substantial until the last Tav run. With the level cap increasing, Tav is becoming increasingly easier to deal with. Before, taking on clusters was pretty much just a "grab your ass, put your head between your knees and pray" type of endeavor. While they still pack a punch if they blow up, they aren't all out devastating like they used to be 10 levels before. This pretty much lent itself to my simple dynamis philosoph of "more kills = more drops".
We finally had a breakthrough.
Kimille was the one that wanted that forever and it would have completed her RDM AF2+1 set. Unfortunately, she wasn't at the run for reasons related to baby, moving, remodeling, etc, so Rudithina picked it up. I dunno if anyone's tested it, but from what I can tell, there's not a huge gain in terms of stats. It's not like the AF2+1 hat where MND+3 gets added to it, but still, it's a rare drop and it's a whitebox for a piece that a lot of RDMs use.
About 1 kill after that...
Can pretty much see in that picture how I felt after seeing that. Holy shit what a relief. Everyone's got that one item they tend to obsess over. I felt like leaving the run right then and turning in all the stuff for it, but I waited until after the run was over then sat at my PC staring at Sagheera trying to fast forward time a week or figure out a way to hack SE's servers and speed their clocks up.
Anyway, I picked this up this past Sunday:
And this has found it's way into my TP build. Next things on my list at this point are a Bullwhip/Goading Belt (haven't decided which...), AF3+1/2 Hat and Feet and a Lancer's cape. Just with the +1 versions of the AF3, the cap and the goading belt, I will have added 6% to my TP build while not sacrificing much in the way of ACC at all. (+2 from body, +1 from hat, +1 from feet, +1 from back, +1 from belt). That would put my TP build at 23% haste. Bullwhip belt obviously puts me at cap, but I have some slight reservations about how much damage I'd be taking. Getting +2 Hat and Feet would pretty much put me at cap w/o having to worry about the amount of damage I'd take, but there's part of me that wants the Bullwhip belt and the AF3+2 just so I can full time in Ares Body (unless AF3 body is just insanely better).
Anyway, I'm sure I'm not the first on the server with a full DRG AF2+1 set, but I'm glad I finished it.
Abyssea
Abyssea is rather...odd. I love it to death, but I really dislike having to figure out how to handle drops given a lot of the high demand items can be obtained by sending in low man teams to deal with, so it's almost a waste of points trying to control it that way. It's also a waste of time trying to kill these things for anything other than atma purposes during a normal LS event.
With that said, I did some experimentation last night. I grabbed Drakus, Kaelis, Kaylea, Mav and Theora and we ran around to kill a few NMs. Chasmic Hornet, Khalamari, Gangly Green(?) and Bakka were at the top of the lists. The set up was DRG/WHM, BLU/NIN x2, THF/NIN, RDM/BLM, and BLM/Beard. Hornet got killed twice and I picked up:
This made me very happy. I had semi-bad luck with this drop, having killed the hornet at least a dozen times during the course of normal LS events. Was rather convenient for us to kill this since it was often on the way to a gigas pop we were farming and it dropped a semi-decent piece of abyssite to the puller. I knew I'd get it eventually, I just didn't expect it in this fashion.
Short while later, we found ourselves in Highlands looking for the other 3 NMs. Bakka was being taken down by a group of BSTs, so no go on that. Khalamari was up and was an easy kill, especially since Raiden Thrust terrorized it and we pretty much knocked 2/3 of it's life off while it was frozen. Mantle Pierce didn't even hit me that hard, just 600 damage. Killing it netted me this:
Although I have to say I didn't mean to lot that. I have a bit of mixed emotion about this hat. I want cursed cap+1, which essentially gives better modifiers, just no attack and w/o the acc penalty. I tend to think this helm, for non-relic users, isn't going to be as powerful as they think. But yeah, I lotted it accidentally over Mav's 80 point lot and I didn't realize I did until I saw the screenshot above. It was no big deal though, we'll kill it again very soon and get Mav this hat.
Anyway, I'm expecting an insanely unlucky thing to happen at some point soon. Not sure what, but it's completely rare for me to go on streaks like this. Part of me thinks I'm already suffering the bad luck just from the simple fact no one's found the quest to give DRG head seals yet. Most have a suspicion, but nothing confirmed. Just the NMs that drop it that aren't all that much of a pain, just requires more than one person. :)
Einherjar
Loot Whore mode started 2 Odins ago where I picked up:
To understand how I got all 3 of those items in one run, you have to understand our bidding system. The only item I won outright in terms of bids was the E.Body. The other two items had myself and a couple others placing minimum bids of 4. Normally when someone places bids like that, they kind of want an item, but are willing to lot it out with other people. W.Body and Hofud both saw me win the subsequent lots, which is highly unusual for my level of luck at times.
And before Kreoss chimes in about a golden horseshoe shoved up my ass as it relates to my luck, I need to point out the vast majority of my luck is centered around crafting. I don't really consider most of that luck so much as persistence. The only "lucky" craft I believe I've ever had was a pair of Unicorn Leggings +1 back when they sold for 20 mil. Since then, I've been squarely in the center of the odds. My current 0/72 streak on cursed cap+1 is a good example of that. :)
ANYWAY!
E.Body was naturally turned into this:
I got the Crimson Scale Mail as well, but didn't really care enough about it to take a picture. However, I do need to thank Alaistair for making it for me.
Dynamis
AF2 from Dynamis has been mostly irrelevant for a very long time. There are some niche pieces that can be used for various sets and a few that are full time (BLU Body, RDM Hat come to mind), but for the most part, the rest of it is junk compared to what you can get in the slots now.
Since it's introduction though, I've wanted Wyrm Mail +1. Haste on any body piece is rare to find, or likely was until the introduction of the AF3 bodies. If you go by the standard of Acc > Haste > everything else, then you already know I'm at or near the Acc cap on pretty much everything I fight. So the only thing that's really been left has been for me to tweak out things with haste gear.
At any rate, we've not had much luck in Tav runs as it relates to body pieces. We've picked up a few BST-1, WAR-1 and "new" job-1 bodies but nothing really substantial until the last Tav run. With the level cap increasing, Tav is becoming increasingly easier to deal with. Before, taking on clusters was pretty much just a "grab your ass, put your head between your knees and pray" type of endeavor. While they still pack a punch if they blow up, they aren't all out devastating like they used to be 10 levels before. This pretty much lent itself to my simple dynamis philosoph of "more kills = more drops".
We finally had a breakthrough.
Kimille was the one that wanted that forever and it would have completed her RDM AF2+1 set. Unfortunately, she wasn't at the run for reasons related to baby, moving, remodeling, etc, so Rudithina picked it up. I dunno if anyone's tested it, but from what I can tell, there's not a huge gain in terms of stats. It's not like the AF2+1 hat where MND+3 gets added to it, but still, it's a rare drop and it's a whitebox for a piece that a lot of RDMs use.
About 1 kill after that...
Can pretty much see in that picture how I felt after seeing that. Holy shit what a relief. Everyone's got that one item they tend to obsess over. I felt like leaving the run right then and turning in all the stuff for it, but I waited until after the run was over then sat at my PC staring at Sagheera trying to fast forward time a week or figure out a way to hack SE's servers and speed their clocks up.
Anyway, I picked this up this past Sunday:
And this has found it's way into my TP build. Next things on my list at this point are a Bullwhip/Goading Belt (haven't decided which...), AF3+1/2 Hat and Feet and a Lancer's cape. Just with the +1 versions of the AF3, the cap and the goading belt, I will have added 6% to my TP build while not sacrificing much in the way of ACC at all. (+2 from body, +1 from hat, +1 from feet, +1 from back, +1 from belt). That would put my TP build at 23% haste. Bullwhip belt obviously puts me at cap, but I have some slight reservations about how much damage I'd be taking. Getting +2 Hat and Feet would pretty much put me at cap w/o having to worry about the amount of damage I'd take, but there's part of me that wants the Bullwhip belt and the AF3+2 just so I can full time in Ares Body (unless AF3 body is just insanely better).
Anyway, I'm sure I'm not the first on the server with a full DRG AF2+1 set, but I'm glad I finished it.
Abyssea
Abyssea is rather...odd. I love it to death, but I really dislike having to figure out how to handle drops given a lot of the high demand items can be obtained by sending in low man teams to deal with, so it's almost a waste of points trying to control it that way. It's also a waste of time trying to kill these things for anything other than atma purposes during a normal LS event.
With that said, I did some experimentation last night. I grabbed Drakus, Kaelis, Kaylea, Mav and Theora and we ran around to kill a few NMs. Chasmic Hornet, Khalamari, Gangly Green(?) and Bakka were at the top of the lists. The set up was DRG/WHM, BLU/NIN x2, THF/NIN, RDM/BLM, and BLM/Beard. Hornet got killed twice and I picked up:
This made me very happy. I had semi-bad luck with this drop, having killed the hornet at least a dozen times during the course of normal LS events. Was rather convenient for us to kill this since it was often on the way to a gigas pop we were farming and it dropped a semi-decent piece of abyssite to the puller. I knew I'd get it eventually, I just didn't expect it in this fashion.
Short while later, we found ourselves in Highlands looking for the other 3 NMs. Bakka was being taken down by a group of BSTs, so no go on that. Khalamari was up and was an easy kill, especially since Raiden Thrust terrorized it and we pretty much knocked 2/3 of it's life off while it was frozen. Mantle Pierce didn't even hit me that hard, just 600 damage. Killing it netted me this:
Although I have to say I didn't mean to lot that. I have a bit of mixed emotion about this hat. I want cursed cap+1, which essentially gives better modifiers, just no attack and w/o the acc penalty. I tend to think this helm, for non-relic users, isn't going to be as powerful as they think. But yeah, I lotted it accidentally over Mav's 80 point lot and I didn't realize I did until I saw the screenshot above. It was no big deal though, we'll kill it again very soon and get Mav this hat.
Anyway, I'm expecting an insanely unlucky thing to happen at some point soon. Not sure what, but it's completely rare for me to go on streaks like this. Part of me thinks I'm already suffering the bad luck just from the simple fact no one's found the quest to give DRG head seals yet. Most have a suspicion, but nothing confirmed. Just the NMs that drop it that aren't all that much of a pain, just requires more than one person. :)
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Shitty Computer Techs Part 2
At this point, I'm rather enraged. Nothing ever goes right with this software. Essentially, I knew how to check and verify the validity of that error that popped up, but I didn't have the expertise or the tools to really fix it. This was especially true since any modification to the SQL backend required a tool only the Xactware techs could use.
So I went to check and sure enough, "xm8_shared" didn't exist. In it's place?
"xm8_shared1"
Worst thing is, I couldn't connect to it at all via the SQL command console. Only thing I could really hope at this point was that the Xactimate backup actually backed that up.
I ended up calling the Xactware techs and spending the next 4 hours on the phone with one who seemed to know how to handle SQL databases with ease. He webex'd into the server and verified the xm8_shared database actually still existed and fortunately, it did. Now the question became how to get it corrected. Changing the XML files that point the client software to the database location didn't work. Recreating the database didn't work. Uninstalling SQL server and reinstalling it didn't work. It was pretty obvious something was there cockblocking the client software from seeing that database.
Eventually, we got the software to work, albeit patchwork. When they'd open it up, it'd still give them an error, but hitting retry or cancel would let them access their data. At that point in the day, that was good enough. They could work and it meant the Xactware tech and I had a chance to step away and think about what we could be missing that's causing that error.
So we basically button up all our work and I go back to finish setting up what started all of this crap to begin with...that Blackberry app. Come to find out, most of it had already set up, I just needed to verify it was working, which it was, so thankfully I didn't have to spend more than another 10 minutes on that.
Tuesday of next week rolls around and I'm still poring over Xactware support docs trying to figure out what could have happened. I get a text from my favorite employee/successful woman stating:
"can't upload estimates, got some due. xact tech says it's a network hardware issue."
Man was I annoyed.
I replied with: "give the xactware tech this case no. and tell him he's an idiot."
How in the hell can one say it's a network issue when clearly everything else on the network is running fine? Internet's fine. Their accounting software is running fine. Their printers are all working fine. Hell, even their remote web workplace was running fine. To further that point, how the hell was said tech webex'd into her damn workstation if the network wasn't fine? Wouldn't you think if there were some sort of network hardware issue something else wouldn't be working as well?
"he says he can't ping the server"
... . . . ."what's his name?"
"devin"
"click start, click run, type 'cmd', type 'ping 192.168.1.2'. does it say 'request timed...' or 'reply from...'?
"reply from..."
"now type "ping 'servername'"
"reply from..."
"tell him to call me."
"ok, but be nice."
"no."
So "Devin" calls me and he sounds pretty much like I expected. Like a complete and total f***ing moron. How the hell did this guy get hired? I could only surmise that he was exceptional at reading flow charts and not thinking, which seemed to fit the bill for most of the level 1 Xactware techs. Anyway...
"Forgive me for saying this, but how can you screw up a simple ping command?"
"What do you mean?"
"You told her you couldn't ping the server and I just walked her through the process via text and pinged it by it's DNS name and it's IP address with successful responses."
"It wasn't replying when I tried it."
"Can you spell ping?"
At this point, I was remoted into the workstation he was remoted into. I told him to duplicate what he did.
ping 19216812
/facepalm
"Does your period work?"
"Yes"
"Ok, you missed about 3 of them in that command."
"Oh."
"Send me to a better tech. I don't want you touch the shit here anymore."
Then I called SCPSW back and told her he was a complete fuck up and to be expecting a call from a different tech, hopefully the one I had been dealing with the previous Friday.
Later that afternoon, I got another text from her stating they had band-aided the problem, but they needed me to talk to them ASAP. I called them up, got the same tech I had from before and was informed that I would most likely need to uninstall and reinstall Xactimate completely from the network along with SQL server before that error would go away.
That didn't sit too well with me. The next day I was going to have to actually be able to do something on that scale was the upcoming Friday, which was 3 days out. That or go burn the midnight oil and pull an all-nighter. So before getting off the phone, I double checked to make sure they were mostly functional and they were. So I scheduled them for Friday and at the very least, it gave them a heads up on how to plan that day as it related to Xactimate.
Thursday rolls around and apparently, another issue has come up and SCPSW has taken it upon herself to talk to the Xactimate techs again before asking me.
On a mostly un-related note, I should probably rethink how I train people in the art of asking for technical support. I probably need to add "If I tell you shit's broken and it will be fixed on X day, don't try to get it fixed sooner or have anyone else screw with it until it's fixed..."
Common sense? Maybe...
Anyway, she managed to get "Devin" again.
"'devin' says we can't open a profile cause of network hardware issues"
/snap
"And you believe him?"
"I don't know..."
"I do. Tell him to fuck off and go shove his head through a monitor."
"That's not nice."
"I'm not in a nice mood when it comes to this issue. Last thing I need is some sort of imbecilic, training wheels wearing, flow chart reading idiot getting in there and making things worse. Tell him to escalate you and to never answer a call from your login again."
"Ok."
About 20 minutes later, I get another phone call from her. This time I'm on 3-way with her and...Devin.
Big. Big. Mistake.
"Hello?"
"Yes, I'm here."
"Oh Hi. I just wanted to say there's definitely some sort of network har...."
"If you say those 3 words again, so help me I will come to your facility and get you fired. Use your goddamn head pal, not your flow chart."
"It can't be anything else if I can't talk to the server."
"Really? Everything BUT your application is talking to the server. Your application was talking to the server before we uninstalled the workstation off that laptop to set up the blackberry app base. Don't give me this shit about network hardware. So unless you can tell me everything the uninstall process does, which was the point the issue was created, stop wasting my f***ing time with your flow chart bullshit."
"I don't know then sir."
"Awesome, a non-flow chart answer. Did you check the firewall? Did it maybe do something to that?"
"Yes, the firewall is off."
"Off? There were exceptions written for SQL and Xactware. Did you turn it off?"
"Yes."
"Are you in the server right now?"
"No."
"What about DNS entries, have you tried changing the XML file's pointer to the server's IP address instead of it's name or running the ipconfig /flushdns command?"
"I can try that now."
Few seconds later...
"Didn't work."
"Ok we'll just proceed as planned tomorrow. You're just going to have to call your insurance carriers and either fax them a copy of your work or tell them it will be there before close tomorrow."
Not satisfied this guy was capable of actually checking those things and somewhat pissed off at myself that I didn't think of the server's firewall sooner, I made a beeline for the nearest computer so I could check for myself.
Normally, when a program uninstalls, it's not going to modify firewall entries on ANOTHER computer. Maybe on it's own if necessary, but not on a different computer. When I had initially set this server up about a year ago, the firewall cost me about 2 hours of time. I had incorrectly assumed that the SQL Server 64-bit installation package would write it's own firewall entries/exceptions, but it didn't.
Knowing the Xactimate installation process was already a piece of shit, I didn't want to leave anything to chance at this point. Upon logging in, I see...
The server firewall is on.
(Good)
The exceptions for SQL and Xactimate commands were missing.
(Bad)
How in the hell did that happen. "Devin" has proved his idiocy yet again by essentially lying about the server firewall and Xactware's developers have some explaining to do. Well they might. I could have been that "Devin" was in there screwing around with the server. I turned the firewall off and magically...
...that error and all their communication issues disappeared. Fucking imagine that. So I write up the exceptions again and their problems are fixed. I wasn't altogether pleased with myself, but relieved at that point that I wasn't going to have to spend an entire day monkeying around with this software again.
At least until I got a call from the owner about 2 hours later...
"Hey we can't find this new profile we signed up for."
"Name?"
"It's for Nationwide."
"And they're on 27.1?"
"No, 27.0"
"Sonofa...Xactware support strikes again."
"What do you mean?"
"They told me when I installed 27.1 that it was just a service pack and no dual license version of it would be necessary. You should have the chat log in your email."
"This mean we're seeing you tomorrow anyway?"
"Yep, just shouldn't be an all day thing..."
To round things up:
- An online chat rep didn't have a clue about the disappearing text issue.
- An online chat rep lied about the need for a dual license version.
- An online chat rep didn't have a clue about "No version selected."
- The Blackberry app installation apparently screws with server firewall settings (not completely verified).
- The rep named "Steve" knows his shit.
- The rep named "Devin" needs to find another profession.
- The rep named "Jonah" needs to learn how to back up all data.
And this is all before I install the dual license version of version 27, which fortunately was a blank database because they haven't done any work with the one, single, insurance company that's still using it. Even then, there were still unnecessary hassles that could have been prevented if the Xactware techs were competent and the developers actually tried to install their software on stuff other than their own machines before releasing it to the public.
And as usual, all force-fed shitcakes have the icing that appears after the initial taste of shit subsides. That icing?
On my way home last Friday, text from the franchise owner where I live...
"Hey, we need 27.1 and blackberry app set up."
...
Cue the Castle Crashers them. I'm out.
So I went to check and sure enough, "xm8_shared" didn't exist. In it's place?
"xm8_shared1"
Worst thing is, I couldn't connect to it at all via the SQL command console. Only thing I could really hope at this point was that the Xactimate backup actually backed that up.
I ended up calling the Xactware techs and spending the next 4 hours on the phone with one who seemed to know how to handle SQL databases with ease. He webex'd into the server and verified the xm8_shared database actually still existed and fortunately, it did. Now the question became how to get it corrected. Changing the XML files that point the client software to the database location didn't work. Recreating the database didn't work. Uninstalling SQL server and reinstalling it didn't work. It was pretty obvious something was there cockblocking the client software from seeing that database.
Eventually, we got the software to work, albeit patchwork. When they'd open it up, it'd still give them an error, but hitting retry or cancel would let them access their data. At that point in the day, that was good enough. They could work and it meant the Xactware tech and I had a chance to step away and think about what we could be missing that's causing that error.
So we basically button up all our work and I go back to finish setting up what started all of this crap to begin with...that Blackberry app. Come to find out, most of it had already set up, I just needed to verify it was working, which it was, so thankfully I didn't have to spend more than another 10 minutes on that.
Tuesday of next week rolls around and I'm still poring over Xactware support docs trying to figure out what could have happened. I get a text from my favorite employee/successful woman stating:
"can't upload estimates, got some due. xact tech says it's a network hardware issue."
Man was I annoyed.
I replied with: "give the xactware tech this case no. and tell him he's an idiot."
How in the hell can one say it's a network issue when clearly everything else on the network is running fine? Internet's fine. Their accounting software is running fine. Their printers are all working fine. Hell, even their remote web workplace was running fine. To further that point, how the hell was said tech webex'd into her damn workstation if the network wasn't fine? Wouldn't you think if there were some sort of network hardware issue something else wouldn't be working as well?
"he says he can't ping the server"
... . . . ."what's his name?"
"devin"
"click start, click run, type 'cmd', type 'ping 192.168.1.2'. does it say 'request timed...' or 'reply from...'?
"reply from..."
"now type "ping 'servername'"
"reply from..."
"tell him to call me."
"ok, but be nice."
"no."
So "Devin" calls me and he sounds pretty much like I expected. Like a complete and total f***ing moron. How the hell did this guy get hired? I could only surmise that he was exceptional at reading flow charts and not thinking, which seemed to fit the bill for most of the level 1 Xactware techs. Anyway...
"Forgive me for saying this, but how can you screw up a simple ping command?"
"What do you mean?"
"You told her you couldn't ping the server and I just walked her through the process via text and pinged it by it's DNS name and it's IP address with successful responses."
"It wasn't replying when I tried it."
"Can you spell ping?"
At this point, I was remoted into the workstation he was remoted into. I told him to duplicate what he did.
ping 19216812
/facepalm
"Does your period work?"
"Yes"
"Ok, you missed about 3 of them in that command."
"Oh."
"Send me to a better tech. I don't want you touch the shit here anymore."
Then I called SCPSW back and told her he was a complete fuck up and to be expecting a call from a different tech, hopefully the one I had been dealing with the previous Friday.
Later that afternoon, I got another text from her stating they had band-aided the problem, but they needed me to talk to them ASAP. I called them up, got the same tech I had from before and was informed that I would most likely need to uninstall and reinstall Xactimate completely from the network along with SQL server before that error would go away.
That didn't sit too well with me. The next day I was going to have to actually be able to do something on that scale was the upcoming Friday, which was 3 days out. That or go burn the midnight oil and pull an all-nighter. So before getting off the phone, I double checked to make sure they were mostly functional and they were. So I scheduled them for Friday and at the very least, it gave them a heads up on how to plan that day as it related to Xactimate.
Thursday rolls around and apparently, another issue has come up and SCPSW has taken it upon herself to talk to the Xactimate techs again before asking me.
On a mostly un-related note, I should probably rethink how I train people in the art of asking for technical support. I probably need to add "If I tell you shit's broken and it will be fixed on X day, don't try to get it fixed sooner or have anyone else screw with it until it's fixed..."
Common sense? Maybe...
Anyway, she managed to get "Devin" again.
"'devin' says we can't open a profile cause of network hardware issues"
/snap
"And you believe him?"
"I don't know..."
"I do. Tell him to fuck off and go shove his head through a monitor."
"That's not nice."
"I'm not in a nice mood when it comes to this issue. Last thing I need is some sort of imbecilic, training wheels wearing, flow chart reading idiot getting in there and making things worse. Tell him to escalate you and to never answer a call from your login again."
"Ok."
About 20 minutes later, I get another phone call from her. This time I'm on 3-way with her and...Devin.
Big. Big. Mistake.
"Hello?"
"Yes, I'm here."
"Oh Hi. I just wanted to say there's definitely some sort of network har...."
"If you say those 3 words again, so help me I will come to your facility and get you fired. Use your goddamn head pal, not your flow chart."
"It can't be anything else if I can't talk to the server."
"Really? Everything BUT your application is talking to the server. Your application was talking to the server before we uninstalled the workstation off that laptop to set up the blackberry app base. Don't give me this shit about network hardware. So unless you can tell me everything the uninstall process does, which was the point the issue was created, stop wasting my f***ing time with your flow chart bullshit."
"I don't know then sir."
"Awesome, a non-flow chart answer. Did you check the firewall? Did it maybe do something to that?"
"Yes, the firewall is off."
"Off? There were exceptions written for SQL and Xactware. Did you turn it off?"
"Yes."
"Are you in the server right now?"
"No."
"What about DNS entries, have you tried changing the XML file's pointer to the server's IP address instead of it's name or running the ipconfig /flushdns command?"
"I can try that now."
Few seconds later...
"Didn't work."
"Ok we'll just proceed as planned tomorrow. You're just going to have to call your insurance carriers and either fax them a copy of your work or tell them it will be there before close tomorrow."
Not satisfied this guy was capable of actually checking those things and somewhat pissed off at myself that I didn't think of the server's firewall sooner, I made a beeline for the nearest computer so I could check for myself.
Normally, when a program uninstalls, it's not going to modify firewall entries on ANOTHER computer. Maybe on it's own if necessary, but not on a different computer. When I had initially set this server up about a year ago, the firewall cost me about 2 hours of time. I had incorrectly assumed that the SQL Server 64-bit installation package would write it's own firewall entries/exceptions, but it didn't.
Knowing the Xactimate installation process was already a piece of shit, I didn't want to leave anything to chance at this point. Upon logging in, I see...
The server firewall is on.
(Good)
The exceptions for SQL and Xactimate commands were missing.
(Bad)
How in the hell did that happen. "Devin" has proved his idiocy yet again by essentially lying about the server firewall and Xactware's developers have some explaining to do. Well they might. I could have been that "Devin" was in there screwing around with the server. I turned the firewall off and magically...
...that error and all their communication issues disappeared. Fucking imagine that. So I write up the exceptions again and their problems are fixed. I wasn't altogether pleased with myself, but relieved at that point that I wasn't going to have to spend an entire day monkeying around with this software again.
At least until I got a call from the owner about 2 hours later...
"Hey we can't find this new profile we signed up for."
"Name?"
"It's for Nationwide."
"And they're on 27.1?"
"No, 27.0"
"Sonofa...Xactware support strikes again."
"What do you mean?"
"They told me when I installed 27.1 that it was just a service pack and no dual license version of it would be necessary. You should have the chat log in your email."
"This mean we're seeing you tomorrow anyway?"
"Yep, just shouldn't be an all day thing..."
To round things up:
- An online chat rep didn't have a clue about the disappearing text issue.
- An online chat rep lied about the need for a dual license version.
- An online chat rep didn't have a clue about "No version selected."
- The Blackberry app installation apparently screws with server firewall settings (not completely verified).
- The rep named "Steve" knows his shit.
- The rep named "Devin" needs to find another profession.
- The rep named "Jonah" needs to learn how to back up all data.
And this is all before I install the dual license version of version 27, which fortunately was a blank database because they haven't done any work with the one, single, insurance company that's still using it. Even then, there were still unnecessary hassles that could have been prevented if the Xactware techs were competent and the developers actually tried to install their software on stuff other than their own machines before releasing it to the public.
And as usual, all force-fed shitcakes have the icing that appears after the initial taste of shit subsides. That icing?
On my way home last Friday, text from the franchise owner where I live...
"Hey, we need 27.1 and blackberry app set up."
...
Cue the Castle Crashers them. I'm out.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Shitty Computer Techs Part 1
Sorry for lack of updates lately. This post would be partially why.
Most of you know, I "work" as an independent contractor for a company here in town. I'm contracted out through my computer repair business that I've been running for the past 10ish years. Over the years, I've built up a clientele that's generally sustained me during my best and worst periods as a business owner.
A few of my clients happen to be franchise owners all working under a nationwide network of insurance repair/restoration specialists. Basically, the company you pay insurance to, contracts out companies like these to do the work. Each of these insurance companies generally require estimates to be written in a piece of software called Xactimate.
Most people will sing the praises of said software. It does what it's supposed to for the end user.
For the techs installing it and, to an extent, supporting it, not so much.
Xactware is the publisher of Xactimate. My first install of Xactimate came back in 2001. That install was easy since this franchise hadn't used it at all and we didn't have to worry about data. Pretty much every update since has sucked major shit.
And not just major shit.
Shit through a coffee straw for at least 10 hours a day.
This is further compounded by their approach to technical support. Before I get into that though, there's more to explain.
Basically, the Xactimate software operates in profiles. Each profile is basically the insurance companies the particular business wants to deal with. State Farm, for example, has their own set of price lists to build estimates with along with a number of other guidelines. All of that is different for someone like Allstate or USAA or Metlife.
The single biggest issue is that when one insurance company starts accepting the standard for a particular version of Xactimate, then the business itself has to carry licenses for multiple versions of Xactimate until the rest of the insurance carriers catch up. This costs extra $$ each month to the tune of at least $50 per user license you want to "upgrade" to a multi-license.
Nevermind the fact the Xactware techs could just make some goddamn software that's backwards compatible. Or at the very least, give them the option to "Save As..." in an earlier version's format. Nope...probably affects their bottom line way too much.
There's also fault with the insurance companies mandating X version of Xactimate or we won't do business with you. Pretty much every other business model I deal with will accept information at least 3 versions old. Quickbooks comes to mind with their internet banking/support/end of life model. You got a version over 3 years old, sorry, no support for you. To me that's fair enough. To top it all off, it's not even a complete number change for versions. Quickbooks at least goes by year for example. Quickbooks 2008, 2009, 2010, etc. Xactimate? 25.0, 25.1, 25.4, 25.5, 27.0... and NONE of them are backwards compatible. So if State Farm says "25.5 only!", it doesn't matter if you're on 25.1 or 25.4, you have to upgrade if you want State Farm reps to do business with you.
That, my friends, is complete and utter bullshit.
So anyway, back to the Xactimate portion of this story. When they release a new version, I cringe. It's never just a simple upgrade. There's always something more complicated involved. Usually I have to uninstall a version that won't be used anymore or I have to uninstall the client software completely and reinstall it.
The version I installed for my customers in late May/early June was version 27.0. Oddly enough, the install went smoother than I had expected. Shortly after the install though was when the problems started to surface. Across all 3 of these franchises and one completely separate insurance repair business that uses said software, they were having issues with "disappearing text".
..ok.
The first I heard of it was when the owner of the franchise in Elizabethtown called me and told me about it. She was irritated that they were having to save their progress essentially every minute or two in order to avoid losing work. She had already done what I had trained her to do prior to calling me. She had spoken with the Xactware reps to see if this was a common issue. The Xactware reps told her:
"It's a Keyboard/Mouse driver issue."
She says that to me and, I admittedly gave it some thought as long as it was an isolated incident. While researching it further, I got it out of her that it was happening on 6 of her other workstations.
The local franchise had it happening on 2 of their workstations.
The Owensboro franchise had it happening on 1 of theirs.
The independent company out of Morgantown had it happening on 1 of his.
So quick math:
10 workstations having this problem across a 4 city area.
7 different sets of keyboards and mice across 2 different interfaces (PS2 and USB).
A generic Keyboard/Mouse driver that hasn't changed in at least a decade.
...and the Xactware rep stood by his Keyboard/Mouse driver issue claim.
So I jumped through his hoops and some of my own. I tested out every possibility from a malware infection, to uninstalling/reinstalling everything completely from one of the smaller franchises to even all out wiping a workstation exhibiting the symptoms and reloading everything, including Windows, from scratch to no avail.
Now I'm convinced it's a bug in the software or some sort of simple setting. After getting nowhere with the Xactware reps, I pretty much just told the franchise owners to just save frequently and wait for the next patch and that if it got too maddening, keep hounding Xactware about it until they fix it.
This brings us to earlier this month. Version 27.1 is now out. During the course of any upgrade, I'll get online with a rep and ask for shit to look out for. Am I going to have to uninstall a previous version? Will they need to activate their license key for the new version? Will we need to install a "D" (for dual license) version of the previous one in case some insurance companies aren't up to the latest version yet? The answers to those questions were No, Yes, No respectively. He even said "this is just a service pack, not a complete upgrade".
I also brought up the disappearing text issue again and my confidence in their support staff dropped further when he sent me a link to a support bulletin that had nothing to do with text disappearing. Matter of fact, it didn't even use the words "text" or "disappearing". It was related to a database issue where estimates would get their names changed.
So I pretty much rescinded to the fact that I was in for a long day. I did the backup before the upgrade and started it. The initial part went smoothly, converting all of their data over to the new version, etc. The subsequent workstation upgrades sucked. The installer kept giving me an error at the point where you select which version to install (27.1...). The error?
"No version selected."
...there's a green check next to 27.1.
"No version selected."
...gotta be fucking kidding me.
So back to the Xactware reps I go. His response?
"You need to rename the Xactimate27 folder located in the Application Data and Program Files directories to something like "Xactimate27Old".
Ok really? WTF does that actually have to do with an installer not being able to recognize a f***ing checkbox?
I put him on "hold" while I followed his instructions. Not believing a damn word of them, I RDP'd into another workstation to test my own theory out while doing his instructions on the actual workstation I was at.
Renaming Directories? Fail. Same error.
Uninstalling/Reinstalling? Win.
Despite seeing this with my own eyes, the Xactware rep said it wasn't necessary to do that. I pretty much cut him off after that and just went about the task I was assigned. The installations on the rest of the computers went smoothly and just when I thought I was going to get out of there relatively quick...
"HEY THERE'S A NEW BLACKBERRY APP I WANT YOU TO SET UP BEFORE YOU GO!"
Ugh...
So I go look at this app. This app looks useful and time saving for writing estimates. Unfortunately, they have to do the following to get it to work:
1. Set up a local install of Xactimate 27.1 on a dedicated machine.
2. Buy an entirely new license key. Note: This is not the same as a client access license to even access the data. This is just the key to install the software and identify your account on the Xactware servers.
3. Buy/modify an existing license.
Ugh^10.
Mostly because I knew explaining this to her was going to be an entirely pointless endeavor, but she'd hound me for the answers to "Why?" anyway.
Although I do have to say it was rather entertaining watching the look on her face when she realized her laptop was going to end up being the guinea pig for this. So...
...I uninstalled the network versions of Xactimate off said laptop. Then as I'm getting ready to install the version she needs to sync up with the app, I start getting people asking why they can't get into Xactimate. I go to a workstation and try to open the software.
"Unable to connect. The database 'xm8_shared' doesn't exist."
...oh fuck/shit/piss/goddammit?
Most of you know, I "work" as an independent contractor for a company here in town. I'm contracted out through my computer repair business that I've been running for the past 10ish years. Over the years, I've built up a clientele that's generally sustained me during my best and worst periods as a business owner.
A few of my clients happen to be franchise owners all working under a nationwide network of insurance repair/restoration specialists. Basically, the company you pay insurance to, contracts out companies like these to do the work. Each of these insurance companies generally require estimates to be written in a piece of software called Xactimate.
Most people will sing the praises of said software. It does what it's supposed to for the end user.
For the techs installing it and, to an extent, supporting it, not so much.
Xactware is the publisher of Xactimate. My first install of Xactimate came back in 2001. That install was easy since this franchise hadn't used it at all and we didn't have to worry about data. Pretty much every update since has sucked major shit.
And not just major shit.
Shit through a coffee straw for at least 10 hours a day.
This is further compounded by their approach to technical support. Before I get into that though, there's more to explain.
Basically, the Xactimate software operates in profiles. Each profile is basically the insurance companies the particular business wants to deal with. State Farm, for example, has their own set of price lists to build estimates with along with a number of other guidelines. All of that is different for someone like Allstate or USAA or Metlife.
The single biggest issue is that when one insurance company starts accepting the standard for a particular version of Xactimate, then the business itself has to carry licenses for multiple versions of Xactimate until the rest of the insurance carriers catch up. This costs extra $$ each month to the tune of at least $50 per user license you want to "upgrade" to a multi-license.
Nevermind the fact the Xactware techs could just make some goddamn software that's backwards compatible. Or at the very least, give them the option to "Save As..." in an earlier version's format. Nope...probably affects their bottom line way too much.
There's also fault with the insurance companies mandating X version of Xactimate or we won't do business with you. Pretty much every other business model I deal with will accept information at least 3 versions old. Quickbooks comes to mind with their internet banking/support/end of life model. You got a version over 3 years old, sorry, no support for you. To me that's fair enough. To top it all off, it's not even a complete number change for versions. Quickbooks at least goes by year for example. Quickbooks 2008, 2009, 2010, etc. Xactimate? 25.0, 25.1, 25.4, 25.5, 27.0... and NONE of them are backwards compatible. So if State Farm says "25.5 only!", it doesn't matter if you're on 25.1 or 25.4, you have to upgrade if you want State Farm reps to do business with you.
That, my friends, is complete and utter bullshit.
So anyway, back to the Xactimate portion of this story. When they release a new version, I cringe. It's never just a simple upgrade. There's always something more complicated involved. Usually I have to uninstall a version that won't be used anymore or I have to uninstall the client software completely and reinstall it.
The version I installed for my customers in late May/early June was version 27.0. Oddly enough, the install went smoother than I had expected. Shortly after the install though was when the problems started to surface. Across all 3 of these franchises and one completely separate insurance repair business that uses said software, they were having issues with "disappearing text".
..ok.
The first I heard of it was when the owner of the franchise in Elizabethtown called me and told me about it. She was irritated that they were having to save their progress essentially every minute or two in order to avoid losing work. She had already done what I had trained her to do prior to calling me. She had spoken with the Xactware reps to see if this was a common issue. The Xactware reps told her:
"It's a Keyboard/Mouse driver issue."
She says that to me and, I admittedly gave it some thought as long as it was an isolated incident. While researching it further, I got it out of her that it was happening on 6 of her other workstations.
The local franchise had it happening on 2 of their workstations.
The Owensboro franchise had it happening on 1 of theirs.
The independent company out of Morgantown had it happening on 1 of his.
So quick math:
10 workstations having this problem across a 4 city area.
7 different sets of keyboards and mice across 2 different interfaces (PS2 and USB).
A generic Keyboard/Mouse driver that hasn't changed in at least a decade.
...and the Xactware rep stood by his Keyboard/Mouse driver issue claim.
So I jumped through his hoops and some of my own. I tested out every possibility from a malware infection, to uninstalling/reinstalling everything completely from one of the smaller franchises to even all out wiping a workstation exhibiting the symptoms and reloading everything, including Windows, from scratch to no avail.
Now I'm convinced it's a bug in the software or some sort of simple setting. After getting nowhere with the Xactware reps, I pretty much just told the franchise owners to just save frequently and wait for the next patch and that if it got too maddening, keep hounding Xactware about it until they fix it.
This brings us to earlier this month. Version 27.1 is now out. During the course of any upgrade, I'll get online with a rep and ask for shit to look out for. Am I going to have to uninstall a previous version? Will they need to activate their license key for the new version? Will we need to install a "D" (for dual license) version of the previous one in case some insurance companies aren't up to the latest version yet? The answers to those questions were No, Yes, No respectively. He even said "this is just a service pack, not a complete upgrade".
I also brought up the disappearing text issue again and my confidence in their support staff dropped further when he sent me a link to a support bulletin that had nothing to do with text disappearing. Matter of fact, it didn't even use the words "text" or "disappearing". It was related to a database issue where estimates would get their names changed.
So I pretty much rescinded to the fact that I was in for a long day. I did the backup before the upgrade and started it. The initial part went smoothly, converting all of their data over to the new version, etc. The subsequent workstation upgrades sucked. The installer kept giving me an error at the point where you select which version to install (27.1...). The error?
"No version selected."
...there's a green check next to 27.1.
"No version selected."
...gotta be fucking kidding me.
So back to the Xactware reps I go. His response?
"You need to rename the Xactimate27 folder located in the Application Data and Program Files directories to something like "Xactimate27Old".
Ok really? WTF does that actually have to do with an installer not being able to recognize a f***ing checkbox?
I put him on "hold" while I followed his instructions. Not believing a damn word of them, I RDP'd into another workstation to test my own theory out while doing his instructions on the actual workstation I was at.
Renaming Directories? Fail. Same error.
Uninstalling/Reinstalling? Win.
Despite seeing this with my own eyes, the Xactware rep said it wasn't necessary to do that. I pretty much cut him off after that and just went about the task I was assigned. The installations on the rest of the computers went smoothly and just when I thought I was going to get out of there relatively quick...
"HEY THERE'S A NEW BLACKBERRY APP I WANT YOU TO SET UP BEFORE YOU GO!"
Ugh...
So I go look at this app. This app looks useful and time saving for writing estimates. Unfortunately, they have to do the following to get it to work:
1. Set up a local install of Xactimate 27.1 on a dedicated machine.
2. Buy an entirely new license key. Note: This is not the same as a client access license to even access the data. This is just the key to install the software and identify your account on the Xactware servers.
3. Buy/modify an existing license.
Ugh^10.
Mostly because I knew explaining this to her was going to be an entirely pointless endeavor, but she'd hound me for the answers to "Why?" anyway.
Although I do have to say it was rather entertaining watching the look on her face when she realized her laptop was going to end up being the guinea pig for this. So...
...I uninstalled the network versions of Xactimate off said laptop. Then as I'm getting ready to install the version she needs to sync up with the app, I start getting people asking why they can't get into Xactimate. I go to a workstation and try to open the software.
"Unable to connect. The database 'xm8_shared' doesn't exist."
...oh fuck/shit/piss/goddammit?
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
New Jumps
Just a quick blurb to point out...
The tweak to Spirit Jump and the addition of Soul Jump essentially gives me 100TP instantly.
Dragoon is broken.
That is all. :)
The tweak to Spirit Jump and the addition of Soul Jump essentially gives me 100TP instantly.
Dragoon is broken.
That is all. :)
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Obsidian Site Down...
Obsidian's website is hosted on a server in or near Dallas. For those of you that don't know...
...that's been the tale of the tape the past couple days. That line isn't moving east or west at all, it's moving north. So far, estimates are that it's dropped 6-15" of rain in the Dallas area. It's name is Tropical Depression Hermine...
Guessing the company that hosts it lost power long enough to drain the battery backups.
That or the webserver is sitting under water.
Time will tell... :)
In the meantime, for those of you wondering, yes we canceled dynamis today. Likely too many people going to be caught up in download congestion hell for us to get it started on time with a reasonable amount of people.
...that's been the tale of the tape the past couple days. That line isn't moving east or west at all, it's moving north. So far, estimates are that it's dropped 6-15" of rain in the Dallas area. It's name is Tropical Depression Hermine...
Guessing the company that hosts it lost power long enough to drain the battery backups.
That or the webserver is sitting under water.
Time will tell... :)
In the meantime, for those of you wondering, yes we canceled dynamis today. Likely too many people going to be caught up in download congestion hell for us to get it started on time with a reasonable amount of people.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
