#I'm also still pretty new to this guild so even though everyone has been quite nice so far

[champion-of-aurene]

Just did my first ever raid today!! :D Joined a training run with my gf that my guild was running for Wing 1 and it was a ton of fun! My gf enjoyed it as well and said that it was more fun and less rough than the WoW raids she did years ago, which was positive to hear ^^ The story that followed the raid was also pretty interesting and now I'm quite curious to continue it with Wing 2 sometime c:

I've honestly been pretty nervous about trying raiding even though I've been wanting to for quite a while but overall I'd say this was a good first experience! My only real complaints were that it was hard to figure out the right balance between the discord voice chat and the in-game voiced dialogue (I love the dialogue in this game so I wanted to be able to hear it) to be able to hear both of them well enough, and also there were a couple parts between bosses that I felt we went through a bit faster than I would've liked since I was hoping to explore a little more during the run, but I was at least able to explore after the raid and it thankfully felt like it would still make sense story-wise for my character/commander to explore/investigate mostly after the raid rather than only during. I might ask my guild if we can go a little slower during the between boss sections if we do raid training for other wings (if I can muster the courage to ask), but overall my guild was great to run with and I'm really happy I was able to join ^^

[fitgothgirl]

Hiii look at me making a post! Haven't been super talkative here lately and hardly ever share my workout pics. Here's the one I just finished - I've never seen the t-rex before?? Fuck yeah. 🦖

Things are going pretty well. Since October I've still been successfully slowly cutting back on weed. I'm at the point now where I'm smoking a bowl per evening, if that. I have it locked up in my kSafe until 8pm each day. Soon I'll be updating the rule to 10pm, and after that I'll start smoking every other day, and so on. Me from six months ago smoking all day everyday would not believe I'm at this point! I'm proud. 😁 January 15th is the day I start my official break, two weeks before we leave for Costa Rica, so I'll be sure I won't be withdrawing by then. And when we come back I'm going to keep the break going to hit 8 weeks. Not quitting weed forever but I don't want to come back to the all day everyday shit... Not even daily either. Sounds crazy to me, probably sounds normal to most others though I'm sure lol.

Weight loss has slowed a bit but that's expected now that I'm smaller and I'm like a friggen solitary pound above having a normal BMI lol. Also ever since daylight savings ended, things have been harder to do and I've been feeling more blah. Story of everyone's life I'm sure... So considering all that, I'm still doing really well! No guilt or bad feelings about slowing weight loss or slightly less frequent workouts; no need to rush. At this point I've lost 29lbs/13.2kg total, 19lbs/8.6kg of which have been since late July.

I've also noticed visible muscle! The way my shoulder meets my trap when I flex is more defined, I have more biceps, I can often see my quads, my calf muscle has become an obstacle while shaving lol, etc. Loving it. 💪🏼

An NSV includes wearing more of my women's t-shirts; 95% of my t-shirts are men's shirts (band shirts and Blackcraft lol) since they're more comfy and I often don't like how women's t-shirts fit (depending on how they're cut; women's clothes have zero consistency). But I do have some women's t-shirts and I'm wearing them more again since they fit much better and I'm more confident (my skyrocketing confidence is another NSV!). And another NSV is needing a new belt, and soon here I'm going to need new pants! 😅

Therapy has been helping with all this too of course; I love my therapist. 🖤 She keeps things in perspective and makes sure to hype me up about how awesome I'm doing and tell me to be proud of myself. And since I'm doing so well, she makes sure that I give myself grace when I'm feeling more in a lull. Since things have been harder since DST, I've gotten a bit down or at least worried that I don't want to go back to how I was (health-wise, weed-wise, etc.), but we had a good pep talk yesterday. I'm not even regressing, just slowed down a bit. But who doesn't slow down this time of year...

Anyway, not sure what else to update since it's been a while lol. Had friendsgiving on Thanksgiving weekend, went to Vegas for my bf's work Christmas party a couple weekends ago... Last concert was Psyclon Nine in mid-November (pretty sure that's where I got a cold that emerged a few days later... Either that or an Addams Family musical we went to the next night. But all better now!). And I can't believe I'm saying this but I don't think we have another concert planned until ✝️✝️✝️ (Crosses) in friggen March. So uncharacteristic for us lol. I'm sure we can find something if we want, or I've also been wanting to hit up a Death Guild since it's been a minute for that too. Nothing else too crazy going on, our calendar's been a bit quieter than it has been in years past. But it's kinda nice haha. 😅

[slothgirl91]

Reasons why you maybe shouldn't play Final Fantasy: A New Empire...

FFXV might just be the most hated game on the internet. A quick scroll through of Reddit is all it takes to realise that this game makes a lot of people really, really mad.

And even though I am an OG 2017 player who really enjoys this game, I can understand the criticism. Hell, I even agree with most of it!

This game is not for everyone.

In fact, I think certain people should avoid this game altogether.

So here's my list of reasons why you maybe shouldn't play Final Fantasy: A New Empire.

1. You have an addictive personality or have previously struggled with gaming addiction.

FFXV is - quite literally - designed to appeal to people with addictive personalities. This isn't me spouting some whacky conspiracy theory, it is well-established fact that this is what these kinds of games are built on.

There is no limit to the amount of time you can spend playing FFXV. There is always something to do, someone to chat with, and it is easy to lose hours upon hours each day playing it.

Furthermore, it is pretty much a requirement to log into this game at least twice daily in order to progress quickly and protect your hero from being captured. This does ease off at higher levels, but for the first few months, the time commitment can be quite intensive.

If you have an addictive personality, or if you've struggled with gaming addiction before, then my recommendation would be to stay away.

2. You've had issues with impulsive or reckless spending in the past.

FFXV is a freemium game. This means it is available as a F2P, but a lot of the premium content requires in-game purchases.

This paid content is a constant temptation while playing. The ads for available packs-for-purchase pop up every time you open the app. Furthermore, you will also often see your guildmates discussing which packs they are going to buy next in the guild chat.

If you have struggled with impulsive or reckless spending in the past, then I would be wary of downloading this game. I have seen a lot of players accidentally spending more than they can afford in this game. And I'm not just talking about a couple of dollars here and there - I'm talking thousands of dollars (see above point re: addiction).

I am someone who does struggle with impulsive spending occasionally, but what I do with FFXV is I set myself a monthly budget and I stick to it. For my last few years of playing, that budget has been $10. Set a spending amount you can afford/won't regret and stick to it no matter what.

If you're finding yourself constantly tempted to go over your budget, then maybe it is time to consider uninstalling the game.

3. If the idea of being attacked constantly upsets you.

FFXV is a war game, so it should go without saying that your empire is going to get attacked. A lot.

But in all the years I have played this game, one constant remains: there are always a whole bunch of players who get really, really upset after being attacked.

Maybe they are only at level 20 and they are raging because a big level 60 attacked them and they think that's bullying. Maybe every week they spend a huge amount of resources training up their troops, only to have the same player come in and kill all those troops every time. Maybe someone tile hit them or stole their monster.

Being a little bit disgruntled over these kinds of occurrences is fine, but if this kind of stuff is going to genuinely sour your mood then this just isn't the game for you.

At the more extreme end, I've seen players send death threats to other players over stuff like this. At the less-extreme-but-still-dangerous end, I've seen guild mates get so mad that they spend hundreds of dollars on packs just to get someone back. Sometimes, this is money that those players really couldn't afford to spend.

So basically, long story short, if you don't think you're capable of enjoying the chaos of a war game, then don't download a war game.

4. If your mental health is in a vulnerable place right now.

Similar to my above point, there is a lot of toxicity in FFXV - and not everyone is going to be in a good enough place mentally to handle it.

Basically, every FFXV realm contains these two types of players:

The realm bullies

The realm whingers

The bullies are the players who drop thousands of dollars into the game and spend most of their time going around and attacking other players - and these players are usually much smaller than they are.

And for every realm bully, there are at least a dozen realm whingers. These are the people who let these attacks get to them and take out their anger in the universal realm chat.

The whingers will swear, they'll rant, they'll say incredibly offensive things - it's a lot. Basically, sometimes the Realm Chat is fun, and other times it is really, really toxic.

Both the bullies and the whingers can - understandably - be quite taxing on your mental health, especially if it isn't in a great place. During 2020, I was feeling more vulnerable than usual so I made the decision to step away from the game for a few months until I was in a better place - and this is something that I would recommend every player be mindful of.

No game is worth putting you in a shitty mood in real life. Always ask yourself if a game is bringing you joy or stress - and if a game is causing more stress than joy, then maybe it's time to move on.

Conclusion

FFXV can be a really fun game if you are the kind of person who loves the chaos of it all. It is action-packed and there's always something going down in terms of attacks and alliances and guild wars. Furthermore, forming bonds with your guild mates and chatting and helping each other out is arguably the best part of the game.

But, at the end of the day, it is still a war game - and one that is built around encouraging you to spend a lot of time and money. Proceed with caution and look after yourself!

[ren-c-leyn]

It's might get loud Friday! (That doesn't mean anything, don't bother about it)

Please rate the characters of the shackles of time on their general noisiness, thanks.

Good to hear from you as always, sleepy friend, be it a loud Friday or a quiet Saturday ^^

The rankings from noisiest to quietest, along with a number scale -

Loudest - Merle, hands down, no debate. Her voice is always just a little too loud for the situation, you can hear her footsteps echoing down the halls before you see her, even when she doesn't seem to be doing much she does it all in a way that is just a little louder than she probably meant it to be, and it only gets louder when she gets excited or is sleep deprived. It takes a good deal of concentration for her to be quiet and sneaky, but even then subtly isn't her strong suite. Noise levels 9/10.

Bramble - Between having hooves, being super high energy and excitable, having a voice that carries, and not having any reason to learn how to be stealthy, the adorable Quest Keeper tends to be noisy. She's a notch below Merle only because she doesn't cause as much noise by doing things, like she can close a book quietly while Merle kind of snaps them closed, kind of thing. Noise levels 8/10

Emlyn - Emlyn's in a fairly noisy profession. The banging of metal, crackling of the forge, multiple people moving about, she has to be loud to make herself heard. Outside of the forge, I think she's a bit quieter but still relatively loud compared to most people, particularly when she's laughing at a good joke. Is very precise in her movements, if a bit rough, so she's quieter than Merle in that regard but still a bit noisy. Noise level 7/10

Zephyr - He's quite lively and loves to talk and make merry. I also imagine there's been several nights where he's stood up on a table to get everyone's attention while he's retold the embarrassing tales of either his and Glenn's misadventures and weird moments on their quests, or someone else's. He talks at normal volumes though and does things at a normal volume and is perfectly capable of being stealthy if he has to be. Noise level 6/10

Glenn - Same noise rating as his partner, a 6/10. While he talks a bit less, his voice is just a bit louder, and he's rougher in his movements which causes some more background noise around him. He's also capable of being silent when he needs too.

Wyndulin - He's actually a hard one to rate, because if you have him by himself, I don't imagine you'd know he's there. The man walks silently and is very quiet while moving things around. Put him in a room of guild members and he's either happily chatting and laughing with them or grumpily giving lectures on safety precautions, reckless behaviors, guild codes, and/or equipment maintenance. I also imagine normally he talks at about average volume, but can soften his voice to where it's barely heard by other elves or shout loud enough to startle a dragon. So I'm leveling his score out to a 5/10 and am just setting him here in the middle for now, with the caveat that it depends on the situation and he can flip from on extreme to the other if needed and absolutely has and will do so again.

Arlen - Does things quietly and walks softly, but gets louder when he's excited about something. I imagine it's the same for him talking. He enjoys getting to know new people and listening to them, but if he gets onto a subject he's passionate about he will not stop talking. He also isn't exactly the most graceful of elves, so if you add in the occasional slip ups and falls, I'll put him at a general 4.5 or 5/10 for general noise levels.

Cassandra - The guild mom with the habit of sneaking up on people is pretty low on our current cast's noise rankings. She'll happily talk and laugh with you, but her voice is naturally soft and she has to make herself speak up to get over the crowd's ambience at times. Moves silently, does things quietly, but can absolutely make herself heard when she wants to be. Noise rating 4/10, 8/10 when angry.

Cherrenth - To everyone but Arlen, Cherrenth is pretty quiet. He doesn't vocalize a whole lot, mostly just questions Arlen's life choices through their telepathic bond. Aside from the occasional his and growl, he isn't really heard much. Riding around on Arlen's shoulders like a cat or a ferret all the time also helps reduce his ambient noise. General noise rating 2/10, unless you're Arlen in which case it's a solid 7.

Quietest, to probably no one's surprise, - Night. She grew up in a world where one stray sound could get herself and everyone around her killed. She was trained to walk in a way that produces the least sound possible, breaths in a way that's hard to hear, and only speaks when it's absolutely necessary, and even then when she speaks it's all a very soft monotone that could easily be lost in background noise. It's all things that became instinct to her, she doesn't even purposely do most of it at this point she just does. Noise levels 0.5/10, if that.

Thanks for stopping by ^^ I hope you have a lovely day/evening.