The more I do a task the better I should expect to be at it. Whether it's splitting logs or public speaking, I should expect improvement, no matter how miniscule the achievement. As more than a decade has passed since I first picked up an MMO game, I'd like to think I've gotten better at this. Truth, however, is rarely what we wish it to be.

I'd like to thank everyone who has sent me a note or responded to my articles. I try to make it all mean the same good or bad, but the truth of the matter is I'm just glad somebody is reading them. I've gotten a few heads up about playing together, so if you're interested I play on the USA - east server under billows usually on realm five.

Every time I start a MMO, I want it to be the last one I ever play. What I mean is, I hope that this game is everything that I want in an MMO. On some level I know it can't happen like that but I want this game to be the kind of game that I'll play for years. One of the challenges anyone faces when playing an MMO is that wall when leveling slows down, the loot is hard to find, and the areas start to blend together. It's a tricky time for any MMO player. It's that cut off point from where you start finding out that some of your friends or guild/clan members have stopped playing much or even quit all together. Of the eleven people in my original clan, I seem to be only person who still plays regularly. Really there are only two options when this happens: to end it or to strive on, because leaving for a time doesn't really work at all. So to combat this, I decided to do a three day marathon of Jade Dynasty. And this is how it went:

Day One:

First things first, I want pet gear. I can't seem to find any of the good stuff but I'll find it sooner or later. I decided to get my pet the rest of the way to sixty. Oddly enough it was easy and faster to level up in Skysong rather than Billows. I haven't done the math yet but there appears to be no real purpose to level up in harder areas the experience seems to be the same or near enough. True Ettarre don't get any exp from Skysong but this is all for my plant pet Dryadling. I also haven't quite got the hang of using talismans on my armor and weapons yet. Jade allows you to tinker with that but you can break your equipment pretty easily and you either have to wait a day to get another set from Tanis Ka or you have to buy them and their fairly expensive. There's something inherently satisfying to going back to places that used to give you trouble and trouncing mobs. There's a feeling of accomplishment both because I just ganked some little sub boss mob and the fact that I can kill mobs here without thought of dying.

Day Two:

So yeah first things first, let's get some pet gear (smile). Yeah, yeah I said that yesterday but I didn't find anything. I'd look through the forums but it's such a pain. For some reason Jade Dynasty has the slowest, most annoying webpage ever for their forum. I fully realize it might be that I have a barely average laptop to make use with but frankly I don't think so. I mean seriously it's pretty bad, it's like the page is running one frame per second. Anyhow, I've been looking to do any and all pet quests I can find in Sunstream. I managed to get my pet up to level 62 today, which is nice for three reasons: In Jade Dynasty the pet can help raise your DoT just like in any other game however, that's not all pets are good for. Pets can also give you Fusion and Esperate. Fusion is when a Pet combines with you and raises your defense and resistances. Esperate combines a pet with your esper and raises your attack stats that way. All that really means is that for the ten or so hours I spent, I gained a lot of options. While it would have been nice to gain a level or two along the way for Ettarre, it was a huge jump for Dryadling.

Day Three:

So, um... pet gear. So apparently all you have to do for pet gear is buy the generic gear from the pet tamer Totto in Sunstream and it randomly chooses stats for you. Thank you, Jade Dynasty wiki. That's a bit odd but at long last my search for pet gear is over. Frankly, it was rather anticlimactic. Being that I was done with my plant pet I decided to get a new pet. There are three ways to get pets in Jade Dynasty: You can buy them from the cash shop at 10 bucks a pop, you can buy them at Pet Tamer Totto at 120 gold a pop or at level 45, you can do a short three minute quest and get a random choice between a wolf and a frog pet. Three guesses which one I chose and the first two don't count. The quest Free Lunch can be received from Pet Tamer Totto at level 45. I've had it for a while but I've been keeping myself busy with mostly the high exp quests so I just didn't get around to it. After four tries I finally got the wolf, so beware that the wolf seems to be the rare pet for that quest and you might have to complete it a few times. My pet wolf is my next side project, though I think I'll spread that out time wise instead of squeezing it all into a few days.