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PHANTASY STAR ONLINE MARATHON =--
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August 03-04, 2002 | US/Ariel:10-15 =--
> Previously, we've hosted at least six PSO Marathons (PSOM) with Shinforce
and GTC members, plus numerous guests. They are all from 6 pm-6 am
(Eastern) -- 12 hours of extended mayhem in the "Realm". I had high
hopes for this latest PSOM, even though the "Realm's" population is comparatively
low (400-600 people nightly on US ships). As a matter of fact, it's
not unusual to see more people on Ariel 10 than Ariel 01! Anyway,
there were lots of would-be Heroes on this time...
> Right off the bat, Lord Van and BLUE HEAVEN helped begin the quest for
a hero's honor. Alef / ESCAFLOWNE, Starless, and ANGELBABE joined shortly
thereafter. I decided to try something new, and possibly more challenging.
In a "game of chance", I acquired some sweet v.1 armor (4x SPIRIT GARMENT
4 slot and 4x Divinity Barrier) and some well named v.2 s-rank weapons
(4x SHINOBI TWIN +99 and 3x STARLESS MECHGUNS +99). I proposed we
wear this armor and wield these weapons while adventuring in the Mines
Area. BLUE switched to SHERRI for this new format because he wanted
to use the "Force". So Starless SHERRI and me set out for the Mines
and proceeded to kick ass. ANGELBABE joined and we explained the
format so she gladly changed clothes for us (LOL). Thanks to the
power of two Forces' Zalure and the ATP to spare of ANGELBABE and myself,
the labyrinth to Vol Opt Ver.2 was a seemingly quick jaunt. Next,
we served up red lobster a plenty! A blast, it was...
> By this time, I had received word that Witchblade was waiting in the
lobby, so I departed to join her. A few moments later, Sawanoguchi
joined our game only to mysteriously disappear! As it turned out
he just dc'd, then decided to join Starless, because BLUE HEAVEN and ANGELBABE
were going to do c-mode. Meanwhile, Jocelyn told me that Spirit 3
had joined her game, and that all she needed now was Cloud and SLICER to
complete the "perfect team"! (-_- Somewhere in this time-frame,
Cloud and chillwizard ended up in the same game with some more guests.
> I later found out that Cloud was apparently responsible for RSOD'ing
one of chillwizard's cohorts. This was not possible, I explained.
1) Cloud is a GTC member. 2) Cloud probably doesn't know how to do
that. 3) Cloud doesn't know where his Xploder is, and is too lazy
to find/use it. 4) Cloud has never (to my knowledge) done anything
like this, nor gone online with codes. At any rate, I offered to
replace any items that may have been lost through this unfortunate occurrence.
The offer was eventually discarded by chillwizard. So getting back
to my game...
> Witchblade and me played through Forest in search of the legendary Sil
Dragon, who is supposedly capable of freezing one's body to the core with
a single breath! We made it there and defeated the ice dragon (no
surprise)... Unfortunately, Witchblade disappeared too! I later
found out she had to dc and go entertain some hacker friends in order to
keep them away from our "tame" festivities. What a shame... (x_X
> I went up to the lobby and noticed that we had reached "SF Marathon V"
by now, which meant we had as many as five games going at once! Wow!
This was cool... I had hoped to attain 3-5 games -- and happen, it
did. At one point I was mailing BLUE and making the point that every
time someone leaves, we get a new arrival almost instantly. This
was cool, and added to the excitement of the event, because you never knew
who would show up next -- you just knew someone would!
> Most of the games we made were left open to the public for the simple
reason that we wanted friends, allies, and potential friends to have full
access to the PSOM. I know this also allows hackers in, but thankfully
we had no trouble from them. This is probably because they're all
on Miranda and Oberon. (-_- I did, however, meet one new friend that
is rather interesting. Her name is "Lexinne", and she's a Lv200 HUnewearl.
Of course our first impression of a Lv200 character joining an open game
is negative. However, we quickly discovered that Lexinne was at least
an apparent "newbie". She got lost a few times and was seemingly
intrigued by my SACRED CLOTH armor, so I gave a spare to her as a gesture
of friendship. She asked if I needed any "more powerful" weapons,
and I explained that I have access to anything. It was rather evident
she was wielding 180% weapons, probably because of her newbie status.
I wasn't bothered by it, and it seemed no one else cared either, even though
she readily hacked down Mines Machines with one swipe of that ELYSION!
(-_- We had fun and we knew she did as well, because she kept noting
how nice we all were to be with. This is what makes PSO fun, my friends...
> Still later in the night, Alis and PALADIN came on and Alef offered to
join them. This was after I supplied Alef with some mats, armor,
shield, and a replacement weapon (lost to dc). She needed the defense
boost badly, since even Claws could kill her in a single non critical hit!
LMAO. Meanwhile, Lord Van was battling and hanging with a long lost
friend. BLUE and I were in a game when yet another new arrival appeared.
None other than the Sage of Chaos, (Ranger) SLICER!
> SLICER spoke of his friend, EGO-BOT the ranger android, being on so I
told him to invite this "lost soul" to our party. When EGO finally
arrived, we predictably joked, "Leggo my Eggo". (-_- I soon concluded
that SLICER didn't eat his wheaties this day because many times he was
flat on his back, throughout the Ruins Area. I joked to BLUE that
SLICER spends more time on his back than a "lady of the night". Heheh...
Both SLICER and EGO mysteriously left the "Realm" after we defeated the
Dark One... (x_X
> Well, the end of the latest Marathon was coming fast. Everyone
knew it was the best we've had to date. BLUE decided to help someone
with c-mode, while Alef's game was full, so I switched to Seductress and
messed around in the Mines. I found an unexpected SPECIAL there.
It was a blade that came from an enemy (I think from a Sinow Blue), so
I thought, this can't be an ELYSION (found in boxes). Upon tekking
it, I was surprised to see that I had found a SOUL BANISH!! Wow!
Speaking of rares, here's what I found this night: SOUL BANISH, TWINKLE
STAR, RED HANDGUN (55% Machine), 5x SUMMIT MOON, and an ANCIENT SABER.
I also acquired a RED DAGGER, which BLUE found in our game, then discarded.
Not bad, but I had envisioned getting another RED SWORD. I need to
play Seductress (Greennill) more... (-.-
> Alis and Starless said their "goodnights", and that left Alef and Lord
Van alone. The last game consisted of those two, BLUE and Seductress
(me). We had surpassed 6 am, and Dark Falz was almost in our grasp.
BLUE said he was going to bed, but my wife proclaimed, "he can't leave
now -- not after 12 hours of PSO!!" That was enough to pump him up
and reconnect without certain unnecessary codes. We made it to DF
and everyone was dying... LOL... a sure sign of fatigue and/or being somewhat
inebriated. Heck, I even died once at DF -- unheard of!!! LMAO.
It was 6:30 am; DF was dead; we completed our mission... PSO Marathon
of 8/3/02 was a resounding success!
> Thanks to all that attended. If I forgot to mention someone (I'm
sorry), just let me know and I'll edit this article. Some notable
no-shows were Lucero (on vacation), Kiki (no idea), Squall (couldn't get
HL?), and BAMBIE (busy battling on Miranda). Remember two things:
"You're not the only Hero", and "May the Force be with you... Always!"
(-_-
Good
Gaming,
~Shinobi
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