Some points of advice.

Well, I haven't updated in a couple days, but my home life and work life keeps me pretty busy! But, fear not... I'm still going to do everything I can to continue my success as a Goldsmithy, and record all of my findings and results with the world~ Some quick updates;

• I'm still Rank 11.
  
• I've prepared some advice!
• I've made some findings. (Advice ^)
• I've heard some Rumours. (Within Advice, as well.)
  
• I've prepared an idea of some added content for the Blog.
• My son turns a Year old, today! (Well, by the time I finish this post it'll be Friday, October 8th.) Big Birthday for Saturday. Wheeee~ ^^;!
• Still no Updates on Epiphany...
  
• And, I'm still Rank 11. ;_;

Okay, let's start with...

!Speculation!
I've heard some rumours, regarding Crafting..

1. While conversing with my brother, today, he explained to me that while crafting, if a specific action is successfully completed in succession ( 2+ times in a row) that the results will start beneficially stacking; thus ramping up. He explained to me, "When I use Bold Synthesis paired with my Preserve skill [Maintains a white orb for 3 turns], I'll see results such as; Increase in Quality by 29 [First time], Increase in Quality by 31 [Second time], Increase in Quality by 33 [Third time]." I'm sure he didn't mean that it increases like clockwork by 2 each time, but, he seems to think it has some effect.
2. Also, I did overhear a linkshell member stating that the more successes during the Synthing process, that more successes are likely to happen. I suppose he meant using Standard Synthesis to solidify a success streak, then attempting more risky maneuvers.

Do I believe any of this? To be frank... No. Am I always right..? I'd like to think so, but I very well could be wrong. I don't always buy what I sell, but if you're a hardcore number cruncher, maybe this information is useful to you! ^^; Anyways, just some speculation and rumours, for the time being.

So, now that we've pushed that whole story aside, I can move in to some actual advice, from the Lalafell Gambler, himself!

My advice today is pretty limited, but I think it's great advice (regardless of what discipline!) Use your Levequests, and use them frequently. ..I know, you're already doing that, and good for you! But, I personally believe that a lot of people don't want to either; spend the anima to get around to different cities, do the legwork involved, grab leve's from crowded Adventurer's Guild's, or are just too darn lazy! I just realized (I've known you get rewards, but I had my own Epiphany) that the rewards you get are actually pretty decent! Let's go down the list..

1. Free Ingredients! : Umm.. Not a single bad thing about this. Even if you're rank 10+ and doing level 1 Guildleve's, you're looking at free crafting ingredients. Also, with your increased skill and proficiency in your craft, you handle the materials better; thus allowing a higher Quality (Not High Quality [+1]) item to be made, improving your evaluation, and improving your gil & rank / experience points reward. Think about that, will you!
2. Gil! :Yheey, money~! Shiny things! One day, they'll organize the Market Ward's, and us Goldsmithies will be able to go and find some actual useful items for ourselves! You'll definitely need some barter moneys.
3. Rank / Experience Points! : You're receiving an above-average amount of Rank / Experience points per synth, and even doing your lower-level Levequests, you're higher quality item are yielding more Rank / Experience points per successful synth (Based on final quality.)
4. Rewards! : Gil is cool. So is Experience / Rank Points. Heck, I've even heard that you can get Guild Marks for GLD on the 20+ Leve's. But, the actual reward you get is a Recipe relevant to your trade (In our case, Goldsmithing.) Jot it down, maybe that specific recipe isn't on the Wiki! You can either share it, or keep it to yourself. I won't pass any judgment! But, even better yet.. I noticed I was getting Silver Ingots from my levequests! It's a material that can be used for later on synthesis materials, helping us all out in the long run and saving quite a bit of shiny Gil in the process. Stock pile these supplies if you haven't found a use for them yet... They've got to be good for something, they've just got to!

And, that's pretty much it. Get those Levequests done! Get those materials! Save those Recipes! ..Maybe I'll see you out in the field, and you can teach ME a thing or two! And, on a semi-final note, as mentioned above I still have yet to find any significance with Epiphany. It's probably a Placebo thing, and once somebody has definitively described it, we'll all go, "Oh my... That 'is' wonderful! Now that I know what it does, all of that previous crafting all makes sense now!"

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Oh well. On the absolute final note, I wanted to make some space to wish my good friend Cullen (FFXI: Rasta) who's on deployment with the U.S. Marine Corp., serving his country. Take care, buddy, and stay safe. Miss talking to you~ ^^;

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