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In the Perfect World, blademasters and wizards (humans) start in the same town taking parallel questlines. So exhub3 and I entered there. Otherwise we would have to quest in our own regions grinding to lvl level 30 before mixing with the other races (barbarians and venomancer (beastfolk) and archers and clerics (elves.)

Since I realized my first build was all together wrong for the world, and Re-rolled… the wizard was 30 lvls ahead. By the time I got to lvl 30 wizard was lvl 60 and scheduled in with a faction’s daily runs…. <<< what it looked like from my 1st person pov [The Practice]

My first combat based mmo. [The Pitch:] He was going to show me how and we would be “Team.” 

The pitch was not the practice.  Rebuild was necessary because of wizards suggestions (about the build (he was not playing) My mistake for listening.)

If he were not here what would I do to learn my build?  Instead of relying on him.

I went to the forums and studied. I found active players who wrote tutorials and asked them questions in-game.   One liked me… He liked the Juxtapose of his ominous blood red name (indicating PKer (player killer) which also happens during TWs (Territory Wars… winning factions collects taxes, in-game economy.) 

XiaoDi was a legend, one of the highest lvld heavy metal heavy weapon blademasters. His faction owned 60% of the map or more most of the time, with only a few other factions big enough to push back. 

Art: Left lower: Snap Shot Chim with “Senpai XiaoDi Legendary Warlord (and Notorious Pker) Slaughterer of Villages, and Ruthless Revenger of the Spectral Order. 🙂  Good morning!! ” I had the full title on a word doc so I could copy paste the greetings in chat box, and would add new feats and titles, yk to see if he is paying attention, switch them out once in while.

Left Upper: Hard to explain “pulling the boss.” 

Some of the bosses in a dungeon stay stationary in a specific room. Others ROAM, and will ambush a squad in the hallways or at another boss’s rooms.

The blademaster is specifically built for this, (to pull) with a leap backwards and double run speed, whereas the barbarian has a provoke roar, which attracts the attention of the monster and agro (aggravates) so that monsters (and every monster in the roar range) will follow and chase.  In this scene the barbarian and blademaster are racing toward the boss they need for Dailies [for higher lvls the rest of the squad would be closer to lvl 90] or FB (final boss) [for lower lvls] Mine at lvl 70… in game economy they get extra experience for squad-ing with lower lvl to fulfill FB.

Lower right: I trained with Rapid Wolf (barbarian.)  Similar play times in our individual real world schedules. Just kept showing up at the same place at the same time looking to squad for the same dailies. Then one day he invited me to hang out on his favorite fence. 

Upper right: (IT was secret. Tell no one.) Secret fence was right outside of FB 39 Gate of Delirium.

We were both too high for the dungeon to be a daily, but high enough to clear with just the two of us. (no clerics…. no wizards for healing) just Warriors and their buff combinations! 😀

Lvl 40 players would ask us to help them with their FB’s and we were on the fast track! 

I ran with that wolf till lvl 89. (one FB away from low bar for TW factions recruitment) He found another game world (sci-fi.) Rapid had been in Perfect World since International servers launched. Ready for a change of scene.

The center bottom: Vivacity, (my cleric….we actually needed one for FB 49 when we started camping there.) 

Vivacity is demonstrating the rest posture or Meditate, (speeds up healing when kneeling. …….Cause they rhyme!) 

I moved her and posed her 20x or more just to get that shot… Up step step down, up turn step down… The sky changes .. I think a day/night cycle is an hour.  So the moon was actually moving. 

Off topic but fun side note…   Some days Rapid Wolf would just want to chat and sit the fence.  He had read much philosophy (I suspect a masters degree worth) and was surprised I knew enough to keep up and participate in a conversation, (Turns out we read all the same comics when younger too) as no one in his real world social spheres cared. He enjoyed the opportunity.  So we would sit on the fence (ignoring the lower lvl players begging for help…  being chased by large 2 headed dire wolf-like creatures that guarded outside the dungeon entrance) philosophizing existentialism watching the newbies get devoured.   🙂   Good times.

Let me wrap up with…

The lesson of the story is Chimiru never had a problem making friends, finding her own guides and teachers, training groups etc… especially when abandoned by the person/people who were >>>in the position in her life to “be there” for her/with her/as Team.  

It’s a kind of resilience – a survival skill that has worked well for me my whole life.  Never get Too dependent.

Assume the intent behind abandoning a “partner” >>> is so that THEY FAIL and quit. Not just the perks and greed of self-advancement, heap in a helping of One Up and gloat-about-it, or deride in other manipulative ways, “I told you .. you would not be good at it.. You would get bored and quit” Insert whatever put down fits the moment.  

[Think I’ve seen this trap before.]

The Goal was to Dis-Courage. 

Ignore the DIS(disrespect) 

and lock in on your Courage.

Find friends and En-Courage each other.

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