A/N: Reminder that this is something I've built off a Tumblr prompt, so I didn't pick the original classes for AGSZC.
The Shinra server turned out to be a much better experience, not the least of which being the lack of his brothers and their nosy, bloodthirsty guild. General chat was generally interesting and at least not boring or obnoxious, and there always seemed to be someone willing to group for quests - reasonably competent someones, for the most part, which was a delightful realization. Of course there were idiots, but wherever there were people there would be idiots, so Genesis wasn't terribly upset with things staying true to life.
On his way in from town, he did run across what had to be a relatively new knight having some clear issues jumping up a set of narrow ledges on a cliffside to reach a prime patch of crafting material, however. Genesis stayed put, watching from nearby and trying to decide if he felt more pity or amusement. The body type on the knights just did not lend itself to the simple physics of the act, and he decided it would be better to send a whisper and try to be helpful. Kinder than just standing there, certainly.
[Whisper] Firagan: You need a hand with that, knight?
The poor idiot fell right off the meager progress he'd made at the ping. There was a long pause before he replied.
[Whisper] Valerian: Honestly I'm about ready to give up on it. There's got to be other areas to harvest from. But thanks.
Oh now he just felt bad about it.
[Whisper] Firagan: No, really I don't mind. Can't say I expected to see a knight harvesting herbs but if that's your thing by all means. Let me.
Genesis maneuvered his toon over, angling himself carefully up. But with a knight who had agriculture, named after an herb, he just had to ask…
[Whisper] Firagan: So, alchemy?
[Whisper] Valerian: Struck me as interesting. And I can't heal myself otherwise so it's practical.
[Whisper] Firagan: So it wasn't a play on the name?
He took a moment to harvest the clump of herbs, hopping back down to initiate a trade.
[Whisper] Valerian: No, trying to manage myself. I'm not the best. How much are these selling for? You did the work.
Genesis snorted at the thought of trying to hunt down the prices, or that someone would knew - maybe someone who was more into crafting than he was would, perhaps.
[Whisper] Firagan: Consider it on the house, I'm far too lazy to look it up. It wasn't bad for me.
[Whisper] Valerian: Are you sure? That's very nice, thank you.
Well lo and behold, a polite gardener-knight. That was almost cute.
[Whisper] Firagan: I try to limit the devouring of souls to my enemies and you seem like a nice guy who could use a break. Jumping is not for everyone.
[Whisper] Valerian: Yeah it's not something I do well on here. I appreciate the help, Firagan!
[Whisper] Firagan: Absolutely. Have a good run.
He offered an elaborate bow, got a cheery wave in return - that really looked just a bit ridiculous on the body type of the male knight, but that wasn't his call and it was an utterly fantastic character model otherwise - and headed off to see if he couldn't find some interesting trouble to get into in town.
The bar was probably one of his favorite non-action locations in the game. There was always lively chat there, including half-assed roleplay and it was just a good place to go find someone to group up with. It was also apparently where the possibly most extroverted knight in existence loved to start his sessions.
Wolfe's toon rolled through the doors, leaving them flapping, and promptly did a cheesy little dance and flip.
[General] Wolfe: HEY SHINRA! You miss me?
[General] Infodump: Always, Wolfe. You're the light of our lives.
That was apparently cue for some more dancing, up on a table that the rogue in question was sitting at, which made Genesis snicker. He moved his toon over to a vendor to sell some gear he'd outgrown and the extra loot he'd gathered so far, wanting to see about some upgrades before getting back into the area he'd been working his way through. A snatch of chat caught his eye, though, and he scrolled through to see what was going on.
[General] Wolfe: So I figured if I could get a big enough group together we totally ought to go after something massive. We could start a little smaller to warm up but I'd love to just crash through some bosses.
[General] Infodump: I'm good for that, I've got a few hours to blow before I have to do anything. See about a group.
[Shout] Wolfe: YO SHINRA WHO WANTS TO BEAT SOME MONSTER ASS WITH ME?
[General] Infodump: You don't actually have to do caps when you /shout
[General] Wolfe: But it feels so much more authentic!
[General] Bigred: Hey I've got a group I've got already, 1 tank, 3 assorted dps. We're good to roll out.
[General] Wolfe: Awesome! Classes?
[General] Bigred: Lilciss, Tsuperior and I are rogues, Shaded is a knight.
[General] Wolfe: Epic, I'll grab you four right off.
[General] Wolfe: You guys have to leave your group first.
[General] Tsuperior: We're good to go. You're at the inn?
[General] Wolfe: Oh yeah!
[Shout] Wolfe: ANYONE WANTING IN ON THIS BEATDOWN COME TO THE INN!
Genesis shook his head, amused by the sheer enthusiasm Wolfe had. Well… it sounded like something he might enjoy. Why not?
Two hours into the "epic boss beatdown" and Genesis had to say that he would be citing the Shinra server - possibly by name - in his review as an example of a good time. Bigred and Wolfe were running an absolute circus of about eighteen people that was just barely organized but god, it was fun. They wiped twice on the first boss before they hit their stride, and at least one person ragequit, but he suspected another was just having connection issues since they'd warned ahead of time they were lagging. And given there had been some amusing moments of very odd movement of their mount, he believed it.
Thankfully, between his lovely beast of a machine and some good wifi, there was not going to be any lagging for him.
It felt a little like it, though, as people petered off and they waited to try and fill in gaps.
[Ops] Bigred: Looks like we need some more fodder. You wanna get in /shout again, Wolfe? My boy Crackshot will be on in a couple hours but he's got some work first.
[Ops] Wolfe: Yeah can do.
[Shout] Wolfe: HEY SHINRA! WE NEED MORE PEOPLE FOR OUR EPIC BOSS BEATDOWN. PST ME OR BIGRED TO JOIN!
[Ops] Infodump: Really man, the caps. No.
[Ops] Wolfe: I do it for authenticity.
[Ops] Infodump: You do it because you're loud and obnoxious.
[Ops] Wolfe: Lies and slander!
There was a certain feel, in Genesis' personal opinion, when you had players that knew each other. Whether or not Wolfe and Infodump had ever met in the flesh, he had a feeling they'd "known each other" long enough to count. Maybe even through Gaiaforsaken itself, gods knew this sort of nonsense had a way of bringing people together if you lasted long enough.
[Ops] Bigred: We could use another tank and some heals, way too many pure dps for this guy.
[Ops] Tsuperior: We need a debuff and teamspeak if we're going to take the last pair on your list. Those aren't casual raids.
Looking at the list and doing a little cross check told Genesis that was a bit of an understatement. Clearly Wolfe liked his targets like he liked his teams - big and unruly. It looked like something good to try, just… later on, perhaps. And maybe in a few more levels so he could pull his weight.
[Ops] Firagan: And probably a lot more time. I'd be good for setting up a raid to do later though.
[Ops] Wolfe: Alright that's fair I guess. It was fun though! Anyone sets something else up give me a call, yeah? I'll be on a while.
[Ops] Bigred: Yeah, listed you. Maybe later tonight I'll see if anybody else gets on.
[Ops] Infodump: Should probably break for food anyway. Don't know where you're at but it's dinner time here.
[Ops] Firagan: Same. Had a good run, look me up when you get another group together later.
It sounded like fun.
