Worked on a signature tonight for Woof, hopefully he likes it. Decided to post the one I made for Shadowgeist as well. I’m working on one for Gothun which is a bit more difficult because he has no preferences at all as to what he wants. I’m still learning the ins and outs of photoshop, and have very little patience when I get to a hard part. Eventually with time though I’m hoping to improve.
Playing on a role play preferred server is a great thing. The population is high, the people are friendly. However, it does have a few draw backs. On Antonia Bayle I’d say that 70% of the raiding that takes place is through alliances. Not always a bad thing, but it certainly has some draw backs. People are comfortable in their little guilds, also not a bad thing. I’ve been a part of quite a few alliances on the server, and it can work, but over the last little while the alliance I’ve been in has pointed out all the reasons why they can also be frustrating.
Loyalty. There’s such a lack of loyalty to one another and to the “core” alliance group that it can become more of an issue then intended. Lets take last night for example. The alliance I raid with had scheduled MMIS (Mistmoore Inner Sanctum) for Monday. For some reason the main tank of said alliance, and one of the core healers, decided to go tank and heal for another raid guild in MMIS, and didn’t take into consideration the fact that 20+ other people had signed up for this raid for Monday. When I approached the tank about it, he basically shrugged, and said that they’d just move the raid to accommodate him having gone last night. He’s not an alliance leader, just another member, and didn’t talk to other members at all about this, just assumed that for him, it would be done. Of course I was fuming.
Attendance. People can pick and choose which raids they attend (for whatever reasons they have in mind, be it loot, or timing for that matter) and there’s no consequence for the actions. A great example of this is when an old KoS (Kingdom Of Sky) raid was scheduled and 12 people showed up (the “core” of this alliance, who pretty much attend every raid as scheduled, raids are four days a week) and completed the zone. The next week, on the exact same day, a Chel’Drak raid was scheduled, and 30 people showed up. You could think this is merely a coincidence and people simply were not around the previous week, but it’s not so. It happens all the time. Schedule a raid for a zone that the alliance can handle with quite a bit of ease, and where the loot is a significant upgrade, and people come out in droves. But schedule a zone where the alliance is still learning the encounters (such as the final fight in MMIS or Emerald Halls) and suddenly we’re struggling to put people together. You can’t prevent this from happening, because it is simply an alliance. If you push too hard for people to show up, they’ll simply move on, as their main interest is not raiding.
I’m all for smaller guilds, and the significant perks they come with (since I belong to my own guild myself) but I some times wish those who are in raid alliances out there would take into consideration the other 23 people who sign up and who enjoy raids, but don’t want to leave their families and friends in another guild. Alliances are looking for the same thing that full raid guilds are looking for. They’re looking for knowledgeable people who understand their class. Who work and strive for excellence in whatever means they can, and who are steady. Reliable. It is just as frustrating for an alliance raid leader to fill in the blank spots of a raid without knowing who is going to show up as it is for the every day raid guild. They want people to sign up, to show up on time, and all that good stuff. The only difference in fact is what happens when you’re not raiding. You still should come prepared. Know as much about the zone as possible. Just because the raid is tagged as “alliance” doesn’t suddenly give people the right to dumb it down.
I know there are exceptionally successful alliances out there on servers, there are some on AB who are taking down all EoF (Echoes of Faydwer) content aside from perhaps the throne room and avatars. They can work beautifully — but last night and the past few weeks have just not been what I want out of any alliance and were only a constant reminder of how they can go wrong.
How many times, Arysh wondered, had the people of Freeport passed by the stones unaware. She knelt to the ground and dropped the flowers she carried as gentle tears trickled down her smooth cheeks, not ashamed in the least bit. This was after all, where her mother was buried. She sniffed back a sigh and tried to wipe the tears as best she could to no avail. Every day the people of Freeport walked by the statues and monuments with no idea what they represented, or who. They never gave anything a second glance. Too busy on their way to some store, or to shop for poisons and other personal items. It was the way Freeport worked, and most argued that this method was just fine. Arysh, however, thought differently. Even before she considered moving to Qeynos she thought differently. It wasn’t that the druid was soft, by any means. The dark elf was fiercely protective of those closer to her and even those she was not.
She sat herself down in the dirt, and spread the flowers along the base of the monument. She knew that it had probably been erected for some other reason besides the personal one that it held to her. After all Lucan D’Lere was not exactly a rising hero empathetic to the needs and concerns of his people, not enough to want to place a solo statue in his city at least. The reasons didn’t matter though. The fact that it was there was enough for Arysh.
The druid found herself day dreaming of her life over the past few years, since she found herself without family. She had moved to Qeynos, lost a few loved ones along the way, betrayed not only Tunare but also the Burning Prince in trying to find herself. And what had it gotten her? Nothing. She was just as alone as she was at the starting of the journey. Her own fault though as over time she had pushed everyone away from her.
Left with nothing but the memories of those she once cared for, she slowly stood and braced herself to face another day.
I’ve been talking to one of my good inquisitor friends here on Antonia Bayle, about the cleric aa tree (that includes both templars and inquisitors) and they happened to mention to me that they’ve been trying out the strength line instead of the typical spread. I had to admit, I hadn’t given it a lot of thought, especially since I don’t get to play my templar nearly as often as I’d like. So I decided to take their advice, and see what it was all about.
I haven’t gotten to actually play around with it yet, but the end skill is shown above, and just by the sounds of it makes it seem exceptionally worth while, especially for EoF content where things are stifling quite often. The resists to interruptions seem pretty helpful as well. When RoK releases there will be another 20 aa that I can dedicate to the tree, and then maybe I’ll go back to my crit heals. I don’t notice an enormous change in my heals by dropping the crits, and I’d much rather have an immunity or a skill that has an exceptional effect (as long as it works).
I had a lot of fun today playing in the lower levels, managed to get my brigand six levels. That’s right. Six. She went from 26 to 32, and then I spent a bunch of time (and some coin of course) outfitting her and getting items like adornments for her. It was a lot of fun. I also decided I’ll probably betray her to a swashbuckler. Don’t ask why, it’s just one of those things. I’m looking forward to it though. It’s nice to know that the lower levels in the game still interest me, and I can still have fun running through them. I did spend most of my time in Fallen Gate, and got a few pretties along the way. Made it all worth while. Even if I am out of vitality completely now.
Cleared Freethinkers Hideout and Clockwork earlier this week, tonight is Chel’Drak which is a raid I always look forward to (depending on our raid force, we really need the perfect blend in order to take down those class adds). FTH again later this week, and Mistmoore Inner Sanctum on Saturday (I think, I may be off on the dates, not exactly looking at the calendar). My thoughts go out to all of those affected by the fires in the states, hope everyone is safe and sound.
All you’ll end up with is paper cuts anyhow. I found this text amusing as I was running through my SoD statues, not for the second time, but the third time. Second time this week. I decided that my mystic, Misako, should also move up the ranks in her SoD completion. Arysh (warden) is on the named in the castle. Misako, is just at the Kaladim part, but at least she’s done her statues. I figured Unrest would be the most difficult one to obtain, but thankfully I wiggled my way into a group and completed it. I can honestly say after completing SoD on one character, and attempting to complete it on two others, that I hate SoD. I think I’ve been working on it enough lately to warrant that comment.
My thoughts are with those in the states who are dealing with brush fires right now, hope everyone is safe and moved out of the area, that’s one thing I love about where I live. There are no hurricanes, no tornados, no brush fires, no avalanches, or any other natural phenomenon *knocks on wood*. I know I’ve been slacking with the posts the past few days, but there’s nothing really to update about. I haven’t been working on quests aside from SoD, though I am going to do some carpenter crafting on Cordanim’s character while he’s gone to France. House items are always a good thing.
Speaking of house items, I completed my LoN collection (finally) with the painting of the Three Warriors. I traded a booster pack for it, but it was well worth it. I also managed to get the burning fists, a red aura that surrounds your hands. The problem now is who to claim it on as I have plenty who would look fairly spiffy wearing that. For now it sits unclaimed.
I’m wondering what changes are incoming with RoK. Wondering if people will be satisfied with it, what guilds will shift, and what characters I’ll eventually end up playing. I suppose I’m one of those people who just want to play a needed class, and who doesn’t place enough emphasis on playing what they want to play. If I had my choice just out of the blue, of playing any character at all that I wanted to play, I’d probably just stick with my warden. There are just so many wardens out there, that it’s difficult to secure myself a spot anywhere.
So what do I do. Continue to play her and hope that eventually I’ll manage to wiggle my way into what I want (raids with close friends), play the pick up game like I’ve been doing for over a year now, or give in, and play one of my other level 70’s who’s more “needed”. It’s actually more of a dilemma then one may think. I love my warden, I’m great at the class, I worked really hard on her for both house items and general quested do-dads. But there are so many druids out there. The chances of me actually managing to land some place to play her, are pretty slim. I adore their ports, and the class it just a lot of fun. So, that begs the question, what’s more important. Playing a class I love, but having to deal with never really being “end game”, or settling for second best, and playing a class I’m fine with playing, but don’t adore it as much as I adore the druid.
Sighs.
stargrace