Random Question Thread VIII: Wait, There's a Sticky?

[Thorny]

That's not my point. I did get that 2nd account from a friend and I was actually using it, but SE obviously can't (or anyways, doesn't even try to) prove that's true.

They can, easily, by asking for registration codes or a notary form or looking at login IP history.

They base this belief on the fact that the same CC is attached to both accounts.

Prove it. My account is on my girlfriend's credit card and has been for a while, mine doesn't support mastercard securecode and it was simpler for us to just have me pay her. A member of my linkshell lives with his girlfriend and I'm pretty sure they also use the same CC, though they didn't live together when they registered accounts so it's entirely seperate info as well.

Also, I'm only trying to have my MAIN account reactivated, the one that has my info on it. That said, SE still refuses to take into account my request only because the CC is linked to both accounts, and the Agent says that it means I'm violating account sharing rule.

Bans of all sorts will be applied to any character that shares a credit card. This doesn't mean sharing the CC is the cause, but for example, in 2006 I sold an account and later got my main banned.. the guy who bought said account had it banned as well because I had paid for it months prior.

So yeah, I'm trying to find the paragraph where it says that's a violation of the ToS, cause afaik, it's just weird.

It's not. You did something sketchy on an account that wasn't yours, but was linked to yours by credit card. You can blame SE for not properly investigating the gil trade, if that's all there really is to it, but you can't blame them for banning both. It's common knowledge that any ban is applied to all characters on a credit card.

[Byrthnoth]

Yep. You weren't breaking the TOS but now you're screwed anyway. Sorry, SE reserves the right to ban you whether or not you're breaking the TOS.... it's in the TOS!

They might give an account or two back if you're annoying enough, but I wouldn't hold my breath. The "Same IP Address" thing is something I always wondered about. My logic goes like this:
SE sends the same game data to two computers in the same household through a router. The router has to have some way to distinguish the destination of the data, so there must be some way SE is differentiating the two streams with the same destination in a way that the router can separate. However, if it is sending it to two instances of FFXI on the same computer, does it need to separate it or could it all be done at your computer? Are you putting your accounts at risk when you dualbox with two windows on the same computer? Before I knew people that did it I assumed they were, but now I've known enough people who did it that I am less sure.

[Thorny]

SE sends the same game data to two computers in the same household through a router. The router has to have some way to distinguish the destination of the data, so there must be some way SE is differentiating the two streams with the same destination in a way that the router can separate. However, if it is sending it to two instances of FFXI on the same computer, does it need to separate it or could it all be done at your computer? Are you putting your accounts at risk when you dualbox with two windows on the same computer? Before I knew people that did it I assumed they were, but now I've known enough people who did it that I am less sure.

Have you ever used a TCP/IP connection on an emulator or other misc program with netplay capability? Once the outgoing connection is established, the stream remains controlled by your computer and router. They can't view your subnet, and even if they actively collected subnet IP data(I don't believe they do, only your internet IP address), you could be running a dual OS and legally play 2 characters on one PC as well. This isn't something to worry about, what I was pointing out was that they store IP data on everyone who's logged on an account.. so if it changes from the same person for 2 years to someone else far away from then on it's a pretty clear cut change of hands. Admittedly, they could have moved, but then the credit card change wouldn't sync up.

[cyc]

I know they reserve the right to ban whenever they want, just trying to annoy them at the moment, if that ends up with having my main account back, that's even better.
Anyways, to answer Thorny, they explicitly said that was the reason they assumed I was account sharing. They didn't even made an investigation of some sort. So there's not much to prove, they told me so. Banning happened for suspected RMT activities, then they refused to help me cause the same CC was attached to both accounts.
I realize my accounts are fucked, but if there's a way to try proving they're wrong in some way, why shouldn't I try? Not like not doing anything would change the fact that they are banned.

[Byrthnoth]

Well, then e-marriage (or e-civil union gender depending) would potentially cause the exact same change as changing IP addresses and credit cards to be the same. There's no way SE can differentiate it from their side. They could just as easily have banned a couple that met through the game.

However, I guess the key point here is that they don't care, and they don't have to definitively prove you were violating the TOS to ban you for it. If you get back on the phone with them, you should claim you shacked up with your friend and started paying for his account with the economy went south. If you have a male friend willing to help you out, it might be a good prop to pass the phone off to him.

[sruon]

I know they reserve the right to ban whenever they want, just trying to annoy them at the moment, if that ends up with having my main account back, that's even better.
Anyways, to answer Thorny, they explicitly said that was the reason they assumed I was account sharing. They didn't even made an investigation of some sort. So there's not much to prove, they told me so. Banning happened for suspected RMT activities, then they refused to help me cause the same CC was attached to both accounts.
I realize my accounts are fucked, but if there's a way to try proving they're wrong in some way, why shouldn't I try? Not like not doing anything would change the fact that they are banned.

SE doesn't give a shit about your accounts, the people who works at the customer center even less.

It happened to me in 06 and there is nothing you can really do.

[Tirrock]

I have a few dancer questions:

-Should I use something other than Avis/Bone +1 before 70? +5 accuracy on bone +1 seems better than a lot of choices to me, but I could be missing something.

-What daggers should I be looking at at 75? Papilio Kirpan is a bit out of my reach, so is Azoth/Behemoth (+1) decent? I also have joyuese and some sword merits, but I've heard that it isn't too useful against anything hard because of it's low skill cap.

-Finally, what should I look for in DNC merits? Haste samba in group 1 seems good, but I'm not sure where the other 5 upgrades would go. On group 2 it seems to me like it'd be a good idea to unlock no foot rise, fan dance, and saber dance, but I'm not sure where to spend the rest of the merits.

[Thorny]

Should I use something other than Avis/Bone +1 before 70? +5 accuracy on bone +1 seems better than a lot of choices to me, but I could be missing something.

Can't tell you there, didn't level it outside AB.

What daggers should I be looking at at 75? Papilio Kirpan is a bit out of my reach, so is Azoth/Behemoth (+1) decent? I also have joyuese and some sword merits, but I've heard that it isn't too useful against anything hard because of it's low skill cap.

As a general rule, if DNC is worth using somewhere you can get away with using a joyeuse. Possible exception is dynamis-xarc/tav, but DNC's usefulness there is questionable anyway if you have other 75s. I would buy a behemoth+1 and stick to that/joyeuse until you can afford an Adder Jambiya or obtain a Cinqedea.

Finally, what should I look for in DNC merits? Haste samba in group 1 seems good, but I'm not sure where the other 5 upgrades would go. On group 2 it seems to me like it'd be a good idea to unlock no foot rise, fan dance, and saber dance, but I'm not sure where to spend the rest of the merits.

Group 1 is 5/5 reverse flourish and 5/5 haste samba, no question.

Group 2 is pretty much up in the air, though in my personal opinion the best configurations are:

5/5 No Foot Rise
3/5 Closed Position
1/5 Fan Dance
1/5 Saber Dance

or

5/5 No Foot Rise
5/5 Saber Dance

Closed position's benefits are marginal, as mobs will spin constantly in any bigger event and you won't severely need the accuracy in merits. It's most useful for soloing. Fan dance is extremely nice as a utility and easily beats 1 level of closed position, while Saber Dance is extremely situational but has drastically increasing returns from more merits in it.

[nyaraa]

Does blu magic skill do anything for physical blue magic?

[Tirrock]

I forgot that reverse flourish was meritable. +15 TP per finishing move is crazy.

What makes Adder Jambiya better than Azoth? I never really got daggers and which ones to pick.

[Shinryuu]

Added effect.

[Feedmenow]

http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/6...itratetest.png
How does this work for comparing hit rate and haste improvements?

X-axis shows the percentage of either hit rate or haste, Y-axis shows the improvement from each percent. I'm having problems with labeling each axis (I know this description is a bit confusing) and setting the Y-axis to percentages instead of the number form it is at now with Graphmatica. If I can't find it then I'll just multiply each formula by 100.

Range of the graph allows the graph to account to the acc floor and haste cap.

[Raen Ryong]

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e5...uracygraph.png

This one I made is a little clearer.

To use:

If you are looking to find a percentage increase from x% accuracy/haste on a y% base, find "y" on the x-axis (Base Stat) and follow it up to the two curves. Compare the two percentages given by adding accuracy/haste: highest wins!

You can also look to the left/right at any given point and check what amount of "base stat" is required for the other stat to equal that increase.

[Isiolia]

I have a few dancer questions:

-Should I use something other than Avis/Bone +1 before 70? +5 accuracy on bone +1 seems better than a lot of choices to me, but I could be missing something.

-What daggers should I be looking at at 75? Papilio Kirpan is a bit out of my reach, so is Azoth/Behemoth (+1) decent? I also have joyuese and some sword merits, but I've heard that it isn't too useful against anything hard because of it's low skill cap.

-Finally, what should I look for in DNC merits? Haste samba in group 1 seems good, but I'm not sure where the other 5 upgrades would go. On group 2 it seems to me like it'd be a good idea to unlock no foot rise, fan dance, and saber dance, but I'm not sure where to spend the rest of the merits.

- Up to you. There are better damage options out there, and with food accuracy isn't usually much of a problem with ACC Bonus II.

- Azoth/Behe+1 or even 2x Behe+1 are fine. Joyeuse is nice for easier stuff, but dual daggers can be preferable if you need the accuracy. Parse n' see I suppose. I found it to mostly be a wash for XP/merit.

- Cat 1 is usually 5/5 Haste Samba and 5/5 Reverse Flourish effect. Cat 2 may depend on what you use DNC for. A commonly used/suggested setup is to unlock Fan and Saber dance, 3/5 NFR, and 5/5 Closed Position, though a lot of that stems from use of DNC. As mentioned, logistics of getting a benefit out of Closed Position can be hard unless you're soloing.
NFR, IMO, makes more sense at 3/5 than 5/5. At 3/5, you just need one Step landed to get 5 Finishing Moves. That's not usually too unreasonable. If you have it at 5/5, using it with any Finishing Moves at all means wasting some.

Really it's a matter of what you find useful for your use of the job though.

Does blu magic skill do anything for physical blue magic?

Functions as ATT.

[Byrthnoth]

Personally, I'm going to use DS Kukri +1 / Avis at 59 and Cermet Kukri +1/Sleight Kukri at 62 (or thereabouts).

.... if I ever leave sea and start soloing DNC again.

[evilpaul]

So I got a Xbox 360 controller and I'm going to be playing on PC. Can somebody tell me how to get the controls as close to a PS2 controller as possible?

The things I haven't managed to get working are:

1) Getting the triggers on the top to do anything.

2) Getting pressing the right analog stick to switch to first person view.

[Zaethi]

Also, I've built an interesting Ddex build to try to maximize crits and haste. My theory is that if I can get 25% crit, then crit damage will make up for low damage of normal dagger attacks. I'm currently parsing my dynamis city runs, since its 4 hours of attacks anyway, to see if this set might increase overall damage vs. a more normal haste/accuracy/str/attack setup.

Interesting. I'm assuming you're normalizing your damage output to # of swings in the end? I'm curious how this would work out only because I'm semi-shafted in the Homam department at present so the line between Acc vs Haste benefit is a bit blurry at the moment.

Depends on the WS. DEX > STR in equal values for every THF weaponskill which isn't Mercy Stroke though, regardless of race. DE and Evis need a balance of all stats (more focus on DEX on Evis), Mandalic Stab throws accuracy out of the window and just gears it for that one hit (only use stacked... basically a latter level Viper Bite) and Shark Bite falls somewhere inbetween these.

Works for me. But that leads me into two related questions related to the crit WSs and the first page of What's Better:

- Why is the C.Belt better than Warwolf for DE? My brief glance at the WS formulas would have thought the increase in fSTR would be better than 1 DEX + 7.5 att.

- Is augmenting MKE with the STR/DEX +4 for WSAcc and crit damage not as useful as the WSAcc +25 trading the DEX for 5 Att? I planned on using it for both WSing and Stringing Pummel, but I'm not so sure at the moment.

[Nightfyre]

Does blu magic skill do anything for physical blue magic?

Every ~9 points of skill will add 2 base damage to physical spells, up to a cap depending on the level of the spell. Notable tiers at 75 are capped skill + AF(+1) body, base + 2-3 merits + AF body + AF2 head, base + 4+ merits + AF body, and base + 7+ merits + AF body + AF2 head.

[test123]

If you reserve your name on a server before merge, your Main char will have to be renamed upon transfer. But have anyone tested what happends if you delete mule then try to take the same name again, will it allow this?

[Soho]

If you reserve your name on a server before merge, your Main char will have to be renamed upon transfer. But have anyone tested what happends if you delete mule then try to take the same name again, will it allow this?

I just had to do that recently. Here's How:
Make the mule on the new server with the name you want to have when you get there. When you go to do the transfer, it gives you the option to transfer every character (including that mule) to any server on a one by one basis (ie. not all characters have to go to the same destination).

So, when you do the transfer, just send your current character to the new server and the one that was holding the name for you to another random server. That will free up the name right as you transfer, so no chance of losing it.