Good news first: Liz and I both have codes now, as does the guy who'll be running the Linkshell. This is good! I won't be able to play for a few days, as I'll be out of town, but it's a start.

Now, the bad news: Figaro is overcrowded, to the point of not always showing up on the list when creating a character. I'd say to just stick it out and hope it clears up for release, but APPARENTLY, a large contingent of Japanese players more or less "decided" that Figaro was gonna be where they focused their efforts, in an attempt to all wind up on one server. Loyalties to FF6 run deep, it seems... and they did sort of have it first. *laughs*

So I'm left picking a new server, and all of the original 10 are at 3 stars already, which indicates overcrowding. Accordingly, we're now going to focus on Palamecia. The other three were Bodhum, Rabanastre, and Melmond. Bodhum's from FFXIII, so meh. Rabanastre is from XII, but I never spent enough time with it to get an attachment... that said, it's pretty popular, and a lot of people liked it, so I get the feeling it's gonna fill up soon. I'd go with Melmond, but the name sounds dumb, and it was kind of a shithole in FF1. *laughs* Palamecia is from FFII, which was never domestically released, and I figure we have a better chance of getting everyone together there.

Not sure yet what the plans are for full release... kinda thinking we can put it to a vote with everyone who gets into the Open Beta linkshell, but that's where it is for now.

Also - the person who will be running the LS will be Ayasu Lemieux. That's who to look to for your pearl... and remember to start in Gridania.

See you in-game, guys!

Ssssoooooo.... apparently, the server names have changed from Closed Beta to Open Beta. So instead of villian names, we now have Capital cities of the various different games, one from each game. After looking over the list... I still gotta stick with FF6, yo. So rather than Kefka, we're gonna be setting up shop on FIGARO. 'Cause it was a bad-ass castle that went all desert-submarine. All I'm sayin'. Wutai was a close second, but Yuffie pisses me off, and I just can't get past it.

Just a heads-up.

So, sadly, the FFXIV beta has been "postponed" for god knows how long while the fix bugs, but I'm going to take this opportunity to prepare everyone so we can all play together (when I get to play, of course!)

As you know, we often like to set up a guild/linkshell/whatever with RL readers, and this time will be no exception. Though, this time, I'm going to be passing the duty of linkshell management to someone OTHER than myself, since I just don't have the time to manage that kind of thing. Regardless, to be a part of this group, we all need to be on the same server. (Yes, I realize this is open beta, but it behooves you to start on the same server you intend to play on long-term, since your Open Beta name will be reserved for you in retail release.) Thankfully, you do NOT have to deal with the friendpass system or whatever insanity it was that FFXI had in place - you can just start wherever you want to start. After having looked at the listing of server names, I think it's pretty clear where we need to wind up: on the KEFKA server. Aw. Yeah.

Some might wonder why Kefka, and not Sephiroth. Here's the main thing with Sephiroth. Was he an awesome villian? Undoubtedly. But despite the fact that he was willing to sacrifice the planet for his own goals, he had a pretty good reason for doing so: He found out that he was an abomination, and the entire world was pretty much his enemy. You could SORT of identify with him "F**k me? No, F**k YOU." A badass, to be certain, but part of me felt that he was more or less just misunderstood. You kinda liked the guy... even though he killed Aeris.

Kefka, though? Kefka was f***ing INSANE. Bat-shit crazy. "I'ma wear clown makeup out in public, and poison an entire city's water supply just so we can overtake the castle! BWAAAA-HAHAHAHA!" And then, when you're up in the floating continent, he boots the emperor off of it, and starts pushing the mystic statues around willy-nilly, RESHAPING THE ENTIRE WORLD, killing perhaps millions of people and making himself a god in the process. Does he stop there? Shit no! Every now and again he sends down a beam of light to smite any who don't do as he pleases!

Does he do all this because of some percieved injustice? Does he do this because he has some sort of emo mommy issues? No, he does it because he's a fucking LUNATIC, and that, right there, is why Kefka is the GREATEST FINAL FANTASY VILLAIN OF ALL TIME.

OF ALL TIME!

And that, dear reader, is why we need to honor that crazy-ass sonofabitch and set up shop on Kefka. That is all. :)