Bitcoins and the Value of Currency

If you've chanced upon the news today, you might have read something about how a company named Mt. Gox, an outfit based in Japan specializing in the exchange of Bitcoins, is going bankrupt.  Apparently, over $300 million worth of Bitcoins were stolen from the company over the past several years.  If you're scratching your head just reading this, that's normal.  I've barely heard of Bitcoins too before reading the news today.  So I looked it up.  Apparently, Bitcoins are virtual currency.

 

Yeah, that's it.  Virtual currency.  It acts the same way as most other currencies.  You go to an exchange (like the aforementioned Mt. Gox) and purchase using another currency any amount of Bitcoins you desire.  You can then spend those coins on a handful of organizations who accept these things for goods and services.  Also like any other currencies, the price for Bitcoins float according to speculation and demand.  Things were going pretty well for Bitcoins until today's headlines.  They were even going to put automated kiosks in the Vancouver areas so people can freely buy the coins.  But, by now, you're probably not exactly chomping at the bit to get some.  Never mind Mt. Gox.  Who would ever buy a currency that isn't backed by anything except maybe a handful of online retailers and currency speculators?

 

You'd be surprised.  In fact, there are other currencies not back by much of anything.  Want me to show you?  Okay.  Take out your wallet.  Look inside.  What do you see?  That's right, those $20 notes (polymer, if you are lucky) aren't backed by anything either.  Now you're probably saying that's not true. They are supported by the government.  And yes, that would be accurate.  Through monetary and other policies, goverments can control (barely) the value of the dollar.  However, the note isn't isn't backed by anything.  Nothing solid.  Did you know that money used to be linked to precious metals like gold or silver?  It wasn't very long ago (just in the last century, in fact) that you can literally exchange a dollar for a certain amount of gold or silver.  Not any more.  Now, whenever you work those over time hours to get those hard earned cash, there's not much to keep them floating other than a hope and a prayer.  And belief, of course.

 

Growing up in our Canadian society, it's easy to assume that paper currency has value.  Afterall, millions upon millions of people wake up and do this every day.  The either earn it or spend it, and this happens billions of times.  But other than belief of value, there isn't much else to back up the dollar.  This reminds me of a blog I wrote a long time ago on Gamespot in which I questioned the value of limited edition copies of video games that come with codes for downloadable content.  It's one thing to issue a collector's edition like Bravely Default's, where everything is tangible (a set of cards, an art book, a sound track and a collector's packaging) but it's questionable the value of editions typically issued by EA.  For instance, the Dragon Age collectors came with a tine box, a cloth map, and a slew of codes for various DLCs.  I wonder whether or not a 'collector's' edition should include things like DLCs.  Afterall, if it's not a physical object, what's there to collect?  The same goes for avatar items (whether it's Microsoft or Sony).  A real shirt I can understand, but a digital shirt with some designer logo on it I don't.  Not really.  Clearly, there are people paying for these things, and I think if you were to ask any of these folks (myself included) whether or not they see value in their digital purchases the answer would be yes. 

 

Which is why I'm not really surprised… well, not MUCH surprised… when I hear that at it's height, a single Bitcoin was being traded at over $1000.  Yeah, pretty insane, right?  But, given how much we associate value to other virtual goods, or paper money, it really isn't surprising.  Even after the Mt. Gox news, Bitcoins are still trading at $500 the last I heard.  Yeah, it got slashed by half, but half a grand is still nothing to sneeze at. 

 

Either way, you're probably thinking that Bitcoins are a lousy idea.  Virtual currency is untested.  It just doesn't feel safe, espeically after this Mt. Gox episode.  Sure, collector's edition DLCs and avatar items might not be 'real', but anyone see the value in a few extra levels, a few additional weapons, or even a virtual shirt with a virtual designer logo.  But a virtual currency?  Indeed, in its current state, Bitcoins are something only a trader or a speculator could love.  But what if I were to tell you that you're already engaging in a form of transaction very much like Bitcoins?  And likely, you've done so very recently.

 

Ever bought a gift certificate?

 

It's really not so different.  You give up some money in exchange for a medium (in this case, a card) worth the same amount.  Then you use the card to redeem for goods and services.  Unlike Bitcoins, the effect is much safer.  You know for sure, after giving up the money, that noone can steal it from you so long as you, or the person you give it to, holds on to the card.  You are also certain that, done correctly, the exchange of goods and services will work every time.  This is why I actually think Bitcoins are a good idea.  Imagine a world wide 'gift certificate' where you put in some money and you can redeem it for anything anywhere in the world.  In fact, proponents of Bitcoins say this very thing.  It's the most cost efficient way to transfer money because it's all peer to peer.  You don't have to go through a bank or credit card company to do so, and so your fees are minimal.  They just need to shape up the execution, make things safer and offer more stability.  Of course, the big difference here is that Bitcoins are designed to fluctuate in value, depending on the market conditions, while putting $20 into a gift card guarentees you $20 worth of goods.

 

With one exception.  Every shop on Steam?  The charge in USD.  Every bought a Steam Wallet card?  They take Canadian.  Buy a $50 Steam card and you get to use it for exactly $50 on Steam.  I'll let you make the connection.

Tales from a Tank: There's no Such thing as a Bad Party

This might be my last Tales of a Tank entry for a while, so I'll cap off this trilogy on a positive note.  Since I started playing Final Fantasy XIV AAR, I make regular stops on the game's message boards.  Mostly, I just want to keep up to date on other people's experiences and maybe learn something for myself.  Most times, the topics are what you would expect, but sometimes, there will be negative topics.  Things like Tank/DPS/Healer's stink type of topics.  Basically, a lot of horror stories.  I never understood this because for the longest time, I have only been in one bad group.  Surely not the world ending crisis some people make it out to be.  Granted, later on, as the dungeons get tougher, the wheat gets sorted from the chaff but all in all, there are faaaaaar more good groups than there are bad.  Which leads me to say…  there's no such thing as a bad group, only bad group dynamics.

 

To see what I mean from a Tank's perspective, I'd like to share with you something I heard from the top salesman of a sporting goods company.  He told me once, that what makes a professional athlete different from a mere athlete is the ability to compensate.  Whatever conditions are there out in the field, a true pro would use everything in his or her skillset to compensate for the negatives and lean on the positives.  And so it is with tanking.  A lot of these so called bad groups are simply a lack of compensation between one party member to another.  Tanking is hard, yes, but not because of the tools you are given.  In fact, what you are given as a Paladin or a Warrior is more than enough to do your job with.  The rest is all about how you use them.

 

I ran a dungeon once with a Black Mage who complemented me because I can hold aggro while he went on an AOE spree.  AOE stands for Area of Effect, and denotes skills which affect a wide area, and thus, can target multiple enemies.  Using AOEs present a danger to lesser tanks because it's possible to pull aggro away from the tank and onto yourself.  A good tank, however, can compensate for this with their own AOE moves (such as Flash or Overpower).  If a black mage or an archer or a healer spams AOE, simply use your own more often.  In fact, if you use Flash or Overpower at just the right intervals, the crazy AOE spamming DPS cannot, I repeat, cannot, take aggro away from you.  Ever.  I know because I did this.  The opposite is true also.  I was with a group involving two black mages.  I was healing and my buddy C-Rox was tank.  The mages put all the enemies to sleep except for one.  It was literally the most boring dungeon run of all time, as there was no way we'd ever die, but at the same time, the tank doesn't have to AOE as often, and can focus on dealing damage (such as it is). 

 

Though a tank has all the moves necessary to compensate for all sorts of situations, it's important for healers and DPS to realize that they aren't miracle workers.  Compensation works both ways.  If you find that the tank has trouble holding onto multiple targets, then stop doing your AOEs.  For healers, just try to focus on cure rather than cure 2 and for god's sake, don't use Medica if you don't have to.  The DPS can compensate for weaker tanks the same way a strong tank can compensate for all sorts of play styles.  Also, please try not to hit enemies out of order.  Always damage the tank's target.  When a tank is focused on one target, there isn't a hope in hell of anyone pulling that target away (believe me, I tried).  That said, tanks can even compensate for this, somewhat.  I notice that it takes a long time to pull out of order enemies away from a good tank (I know because I often hit enemies out of order if the tank doesn't mark them first).  Even if the tank isn't focused on that target, it still takes 2 or 3 combo cycles to transfer aggro on to you.  That's good news for small mistakes.  Even so, the tank can compensate for this by giving the target of the offending party member a quick savage blade or a skull splitter.  This can be hard to do in the middle of a hectic fight, however.  One of my favorite tactics when tanking just two enemies is to use (as Paladin) Fight or Flight (increase damage), then hit one enemy with fast blade/savage blade combo and then the second enemy with rage of halone, then repeat.  I find that no matter who hits what this tactic lets you keep aggro and do wicked damage.

 

This is why I say there are no bad groups, only bad group dynamics.  Confict usually occurs when someone is too set in their ways.  I've seen so many different fighting styles while doing dungeons but have almost always manage to complete the instance.  There really isn't much right or wrong in the game, just what works.  While a smooth group works best, a lacking group can also be successful provided that party members adjust their tactics accordingly.  Of course, not every problem can be solved in this way.  If someone is a jerk, there's not much you can do.  If someone doesn't know their role, all you can do is educate them.  But if you want to talk game mechanics, there's very, very little (outside of outright sabotage) to trip up a party where at least half the people know what they are doing.

 

So maybe, the next time you are in a 'bad group', the best thing to do isn't to rage quit or call people names, but rather, think about what it is you can do differently to make things work better.  Easier said than done, I know, but it can be done.

Tales from a Tank: The Dungeon of Make or Break

Brayflox's Longstop.  I read a message board post on this FF14 dungeon once, and would like to paraphrase it here: 

 

Brayflox's Longstop is a make or break dungeon for Tanks and Healers.  If you manage to complete the dungeon doing either of the two and you still want to tank or heal, then you know you are meant for the role.

 

The dungeon itself isn't very hard.  The killer is the surprisingly difficult last boss fight against a poison dragon.  The Tank has to do all the planning and strategizing, while the healer has the unenviable task of keeping players alive through the dragon's vicious poison attacks.  The fight brakes down as follows.  The dragon occationally spits poison breath in a straight line.  It can be dodged, but it comes out fast and can be difficult to do so.  The tank pretty much always have to dodge this.  During the second part of the fight, the dragon starts lobbing poison puddles at random players.  If the dragon itself is standing on a part of the puddle it heals.  Again, it's up to the tank to pull it out of the puddle into a clean area.  The darn thing heals FAST, so it's imperitive this be done.  You cannot hope to damage it more than the rate it's healing.  As you can see, it's a very tall order for the tank.  I, myself, have managed to complete the stage with both classes but not without a couple of huge set backs.

 

The first time we fought this beast, my buddie C-Rox (who is a tanking prodigy) was doing the honors.  We had no issues.  On our second run, we switced it up, and he healed while I tanked.  Also no issues but right after the fight, C-Rox says to me:  you have to dodge the breath!  Back then, I had no idea the dragon's breath was so devestating.  It can easily take off 2/3 to 3/4 of a tank's health.  In all honesty, I tried dodging it, but even when I was clearly out of the attack area, I kept getting hit.  After a few times, I simply gave up and stopped dodging.  Miraculously, C-Rox managed to heal me through all that!  When I was literally putting myself in harm's way!  Turns out he's also a healing prodigy.

 

Not being the kinda person to just give up, I wanted to see if I can actually dodge better.  This time, I didn't go with C-Rox.  Big mistake.  Turns out I couldn’t dodge afterall.  Every time I tried to move out of the way, I would get hit, even though I'm clearly not anywhere near the danger zone.  Sometimes, when I run especially far it would work, but 90% of the time, I'd get hit.  This time, the healer couldn't keep up, and we wiped and we wiped and we wiped until the time ran out and everyone went home.  Everyone was very understanding in the group, so there was that but things were about to get worse.  Being a total fool, I went straight back into Brayflox.  The same thing happened.  Wipe, wipe, wipe…. and we beat it!  BUT!  I was dead.  For about the third of the fight, it was the lancer doing the tanking. 

 

The awkward conversation which ensued went as follows:

 

Lancer:  Ha ha, I was the tank and I never even tanked before.  All because the tank can't dodge.

Me:  I did dogded, but even if I do I still got hit.  How do you do it?

Lancer:  Learn to strafe!

Me:  How?  You mean like just move right off to the side?  I did that, but it doesn't work.  (Strafing is the act of locking on and moving, but I didn't know it at the time.  You can still dodge perfectly well without it.)

Lancer:  Then react faster!

 

And with that, I was broken.

 

It was time for some soul searching.  This means hitting the Interweb.  Turns out that I'm not the only one having issues with dodging smelly dragon breath.  This particular attack is especially hard to avoid.  What's worse, if you are lagging online, it's even more difficult to dodge.  That was my way out.  In truth, I have had bad lag for weeks now, every time I play.  For the most part, it's managable.  But it's still not good enough.  If it's lag, I had to PROVE it's lag.  And that means finding some way to speed up the connection.  I've always suspected that the wireless modem we're using isn't up to par.  So the best way to test out the theory would be to connect my PS3 to the modem via wire.  This didn't prove to be overly difficult.  Just needed a very long wire.  With that, I was set.

 

The next time I got the chance, I asked C-Rox to heal Brayflox for me again while I tank, promising him that this time, the breath will be dodged.  Lo and behold, I did!  All except for the very last breath attack before the dragon fell.  I will always remember what he said to me after.  "9/10 dodges is better than 0/10."  And with that, I am vindicated.  It was lag all along.

 

Since then, I have witness more than my share of tanks and healers broken by this notorious dungeon.  Twice have I seen healers unable to keep up with the damage, and twice I have seen tanks fall victim to the same dastardly attack which nearly broke me.  To all the tanks out there who have had the crap beaten out of you:  don't give up.  By hook or by crook you will beat this boss.  Just stay calm, watch the patterns, pull when you have to, and use your buffs wisely.  One way or another, I guarentee you will make it.  You've all made it this far.  There is a great tank within you.  Do not fear, and do not give up.

 

Victory will be your's.