WTF in Vanadiel - An FFXI Podcast

A revolving door of an ill-fated server. With a comical absence of balance, over customization, a destroyed economy, to a lack of reason to do too much besides a third of the server AFKing in Jeuno. CatsEyeXI had all the promise in theory, but wasn't going to ever live up to it.From mismanagement, to favoritism, instability, ineptitude, dysfunction, upstream issues, or corruption it has no real future besides going further down the hole it dug itself. None of this substance with the server do I really even bother to discuss in this episode. For this is about how I came to the server, and left the server. The amount of stress and dysfunction was off the charts, and it didn't need to be that way.Now there is plenty of blame to go around, and that includes myself, but ultimately a shortage of responsibility from the top and the rifts of enabling one dev to lowkey "carry [take over] the whole server"or respond to if they tested something with how that question "was stifling their creative freedom". It was a choice that would clearly never end well.From multiple offerings to hand over the whole server when stressed by the situation ultimately caused by the owner. To a couple suggestions of completely wiping it out to start over in order to cleanse the server of certain corners it was backed into from past poor choices. CatsEye has all the problems you'd expect of a private server. Be it demanding respect they can't command internally or externally, blaming others for the situation they fostered and failed to solve, absentee admins, and on. There is a long list that adds up over time, and this is but a taste.

 

A minor error that I later correct in the episode, but I use "Head GM" instead of "Senior GM". It isn't really important, but I was misspeaking.

PLEASE NOTE, THERE IS A MINOR CORRECTION BELOW.---It was not one thing, but everything everywhere.  Eventually you come to a point where it isn't even worth associating with it anymore, and this also means ending direct guidance.However, that doesn't change all the many moments along the way. In this episode I will be talking about the folly. From my start into XI Private Servers to laying out the framework for deep and disturbing corruption within the community, malicious misdeeds, and predatory behavior. If two words could sum up private servers it would be moral disengagement.There is so much to touch on, and so much still left unsaid after a soul draining four and a half hours. Even further, there were people I could not reveal or details I avoided speaking to in order to keep certain people off the record or out of it.  So while I expect the typical denial, dismissal, downplaying, deflecting, or malicious responses. The purpose here is to lay the framework and speak to the wrongdoings and malfeasance.So whether it is continuing your misbehavior as a GM across servers, trying to sexually prey upon women in the community, being another peanut in the gallery, or just enabling and encouraging it all as the smug egotistical head of a fleeting FFXI server. Eventually, no amount of denial and deflection is enough to cover for all the dishonesty and harm.That being said, I really don't personally care about anyone covered in the conversation. The purpose here is to point to the many trails of smoke in the sky on the way to a clear array of dumpster fires that apparently just don't exist, or so they say..----Minor correction:It came to my attention after the fact that I mixed up one picture with another. Theres a ton of shit to sift through so it happens. Thus where I refer to a picture with "0 cleavage", it was instead a completely nonsexual image of a rather ordinary outfit that did have cleavage, as is a thing. It was still the person in question that decided to push the conversation that way and decided to talk about their penis, etc.Mixing up the two pictures in no way changes the argument being presented or the pattern of behavior being illustrated.Also, It was [GM]Ah Puch who banned Blossom. In case the nuance matters. It was really just to illustrate more of the same overarching pattern of behavior.

This week we relearn the joys of podcasting, engage in road rage, find out not everyone is entitled to genocide, and spit in the eye of the paper tiger.

Join us on the WTF in Vana'diel Discord for any comments you may have. https://discord.gg/mvbRyf4SAX

You may also email us or leave a sincere comment, and we will (probably) gladly get back to you.

This week we catch up after a break. The Vana'diel Live Stream may be gone, but the chicken is still there. Find out just how much you didn't miss any of this.

Join us on the WTF in Vana'diel Discord for any comments you may have. https://discord.gg/mvbRyf4SAX

You may also email us or leave a sincere comment, and we will (probably) gladly get back to you.

Episode Drinks:Fox - Manzanita SolSpicy - 2020 La Guistiniana - Gavi di Gavi - Lugarara

This week we wear out your lady's Merry New Year uterus with a deep dive into what it even means to make a monthly event engaging. All while blowing the doors off your neighbor's domicile and reaffirming aversion to Reddit.Interview:https://we-are-vanadiel.finalfantasyxi.com/post/?id=741&lang=en

Join us on the WTF in Vana'diel Discord for any comments you may have. https://discord.gg/mvbRyf4SAX

You may also email us or leave a sincere comment, and we will (probably) gladly get back to you.

Episode Drinks:

Brahms - Deer Park waterFox - "Uhm, Samsung" - filtered waterSpicy - Weihenstephaner Vitus - Weizenbock

This week we return for some Lesser Colibri party action, talk about the soccer field in Treasures of Aht Urhgan that never was, and how to best ruin a birthday party.Interview:https://we-are-vanadiel.finalfantasyxi.com/post/?id=730&lang=en

Join us on the WTF in Vana'diel Discord for any comments you may have. https://discord.gg/mvbRyf4SAX

You may also email us or leave a sincere comment, and we will (probably) gladly get back to you.

Episode Drinks:

Fox - "Some coffee with hazelnut" - freshly squeezed via the teet of a live hazelnut, of course.Spicy - 2017 Moving North Pinot Noir

This week we talk about unhealthy work practices that people don't appreciate until interviews a couple decades later, that you can't just remove the labels off of water bottles while posing for a shot, and that Galkas are in fact thick as f|_|ck.

Join us on the WTF in Vana'diel Discord for any comments you may have. https://discord.gg/mvbRyf4SAX

You may also email us or leave a sincere comment, and we will (probably) gladly get back to you.

Episode Drinks:

Fox - Spaghetti and some coffeeSpicy - Zero Gravity Brewing - Oktoberfest

Could it be a Red Mage episode? Along with casual racism solely against white people?! My god, it is a Christmas miracle!

Join us on the WTF in Vana'diel Discord for any comments you may have. https://discord.gg/mvbRyf4SAX

You may also email us or leave a sincere comment, and we will (probably) gladly get back to you.

Episode Drinks:

Fox - Store Brand Cream SodaSpicy Bolero Snort Brewery - There's No Ryeing In Basebull - Rye Lager

Another update is upon us, but this time it has some pizazz. Unlike the return of a certain beer.

Join us on the WTF in Vana'diel Discord for any comments you may have. https://discord.gg/mvbRyf4SAX

You may also email us or leave a sincere comment, and we will (probably) gladly get back to you.

Episode Drinks:

Fox - Elysian Brewery - Dank Dust IPASpicy - Omegang Brewery - Rosetta - Aged Cherry Ale

This week we dive into the coming Master Trial, reinforcing good habits in Vana'diel, and what not to say to young women at work.

Join us on the WTF in Vana'diel Discord for any comments you may have. https://discord.gg/mvbRyf4SAX

You may also email us or leave a sincere comment, and we will (probably) gladly get back to you.

Episode Drinks:

Fox - Unsweetened Iced TeaSpicy -  2017 Glatzer - Carnuntum Prellenkurchen - Blaufränkisch