2007

Alt-itus Strikes Again

stargrace September 11, 2007 1Comment

Because we all know how I need yet another alt

When I’m feeling slightly down in real life, or when I’m restless in game, anyone who knows me knows my first reaction. Make an alt. If I’m not making an alt to escape things, then I’m playing a lowbie character to get away from the grinding and end game content that just ends up frustrating me. We all go through these moods, so it’s nothing new of course when I decided late last night that I’d create a new character. Just a little lowbie to play from time to time. The urge of course has mostly left me now, but she’s sitting at level 22 and is a whole lot of fun as I contemplate some sort of rp background for the new little Arasai. The fairy races really get the best abilities. I am completely in love with their ability to “float” and in fact forget that the rest of my characters are lacking such skill (though I know a lot of the LoN cloaks reward you with the glide ability, I have not yet managed to snag myself one).

In real life, it’s pouring down rain and I love it. Football season has started (which I don’t love quite as much) and fall is just around the corner. The next two months are the absolute best for me, weather wise at least. Where it’s not quite cold enough for me to wear a winter jacket, but it’s not roasting any more either. In fact the high for today is 15 (59F for those of you in the states) and it’s perfect.

Yesterday was one of those nice in game days where lots of things get done. A huge congratulations to Gothun, who managed to complete not 5.. not 6.. but 7 heritage quests over the past two days. In fact the count probably rose by now. I think it’s standing at like 10. I forgot to add in the extra ones he did last night. Torrent Knights is almost level 23, that’s almost a full guild level in two days. Not bad at all. He’s been doing writs as well (at least for crafting) which is always nice to see. I did the Lost Legends of Lavastorm, a HQ that I’d never completed before (and now realize why.. gawd it’s a long one!) on both Arysh and Stargrace. It was nice to see the guild move up and of course adding to my personal status collection is never a bad thing.

Kilanna and I have been chattering frequently again which I adore. I missed her when she was away on vacation. Alberta hasn’t had much time to play, but I love chattering with her too.

The Festival of Discord starts on the AB server on the 22nd of September, another week long rp event that I am incredibly excited about. If you’ve never been much of an rp’er but wanted to give it a shot, or wanted to take some time to meet some people, this is the event for you. I’ll be attending as many of the events as I can, and if anyone is looking for some company, please don’t hesitate to get a hold of me. Even if you’re from another server and just want to check out what it’s all about. I’ll be doing an in depth write up about the festivities later this week, with more information on the 10 guilds involved in setting it up, as well as useful links for those who wish to get involved.

All about the Goals

stargrace September 10, 2007 2Comments

Congratulations Torrent Knights, who hit level 22 last night.. we’re aiming for 35 by the time RoK comes out..

So my guild has a goal. Well, ok lets be honest here, I have a goal. I’d love to see my little guild Torrent Knights hit 35 before RoK comes out. Should be simple, right? Well, not exactly. The guild is made up of five people. Well, maybe a few more but five constant people. Alts-of-Lader, Cordanim, Gothun, Shadowgeist, and myself. Cordanim’s brother in law is also guilded, as is an alt of Kilanna. I think that’s about it though. In the past, people who were in smaller guilds had a benefit. They received a significant increase to the status they obtained for turn ins. As in, their portion was greater, because it wasn’t split between the over all size of their guild. This was (in some ways) bad though. It meant that guilds restricted the number of people in them until they obtained max level. So the method was changed. Now it’s 10% of your personal status goes towards guild status for each turn in. Seems fair. Except when you only have five or so active people, that’s a LOT of status they’ve got to make up.

So TK has a lofty goal of hitting 35 before RoK comes out. I’d be happy to see 30. Even 25 I suppose. We managed to snag 22 last night, which was great. As you can see by the guild events people are busy finishing up all of those old HQ that they skipped along the way. I actually, in a spurt of geek-ness, drew up a chart with a list of all the HQ in game and a list of my characters and went through them all and marked off which I’d completed on who. Since I have 10 alts it’s a handy thing to have even if it does make me feel like I’ve crossed into a realm of EQ2-nerdness.

Shadowgeist is going to help me out with the DFC HQ’s I’ve got stock piled (even if he doesn’t know it yet) and hopefully by the time I’m done working through the lists of who needs what, TK will be nearing 25. At least that’s my goal. Then if I can grind out some writs, both tradeskill and regular ones, maybe I can boost our way to 30. We don’t have much time though, and I suppose I should have started the grind before now. Oh well, it’ll be fun at least.

GU38 should be hitting live servers shortly. I’m excited about it. Not really sure why, but there are a lot of interesting changes happening. The weapon changes, and “fluff” armor changes, and some changes to Bloodlines, which was an adventure pack.

This weekend I hit Labs with Dasie in hopes for relic plate pants (which of course did not drop), and then I also did LoA with Daise (and switched to Misako half way through). Both raids went smooth and there was only one issue with Gnorb-eye ball guy in LoA. We wiped three times on him and then finally took him down on the fourth pull. Annoying. Those tatter tot things he spawns are a pain when they spawn on the pull along with the first set of adds that you are allowed to AoE down. Didn’t get anything pretty out of either raid, but it was still a lot of fun.

Lunnagirl – Some Amazing Art Work for Eq2

stargrace September 8, 2007 0Comment

This picture belongs to Lunnagirl, she did an amazing job on it, one of my favorites

I decided to take a little time and show case a few members of the EQ2 community. Specifically those who volunteer their talents in some way shape or form, be it as professionals or as a hobby. My first (eye stopping) encounter was from this forum post on EQ2players. Who would have ever guessed there was such amazing work being done by artists. I sent an email to “Lunnagirl” and asked if she wouldn’t mind answering a few questions. So without further hesitation:

1. How long have you been playing EQ2:

I started playing EQ2 about two weeks after the game released.

2. Have you played any other MMO’s and if so what were they:

I played EQ Live for years on the Bristlebane server.

I played City of Heroes until EQ2 came out.

Recently I’ve picked up World of Warcraft which in truth has given me an entirely new and refreshed appreciation for Everquest2.

3. How long have you been adding your own artistic touch to the world of Eq2

From the beginning. I draw everyday and it’s only natural for me to take something I interact with often (erm… dare I say daily?) and do something creative with it.

4. How long does each piece take you to complete (approx)?

It varies from piece to piece. The first ones I did really didn’t take that long. Three to four hours maybe. Some of the later portraits have taken 8 – 10 hours. I got bored with just improving the look of a character in a simple pose. I wanted to challenge myself so I started trying to create a scene, and have the character doing something related to his or her profession in the game.

5. Would you ever consider doing something like (graphic wise) this as a paid job? Or is it just a hobby of yours?

I’m a professional graphic designer, so I do earn a living by doing this sort of thing. The fan art is more of a hobby though.

6. I imagine all works are original pieces (from screen shots and the like), what programs do you work with to finish the product?

When I take on a portrait project I make an appointment with the player and take the screenshots myself. Once I have some good shots I begin to edit them using Adobe PhotoShop.

7. Any advice for people who are interested in getting into turning EQ2 screen shots into artwork?

Take high quality screenshots. It will make the work you do easier from the start.

8. Have you ever had anyone hate the work you’ve done?

Yes. I’ve done portraits over again because the recipient didn’t care for it. I’ve also done work that the recipient loved and I can’t stand. You just try to learn from it and apply those lessons to future projects. It’s the projects I do for myself – that belong to me, if you will – that I hold close and personal. Those are the ones that I tend to get defensive over.

9. How do you find the forum community at EQ2players, supportive of your posts? Lots of interest in your work?

Over all everyone has been very supportive. I really couldn’t ask for anything more. I think artists in general enjoy the positive feedback and encouragement of others. We share something personal and always hope that folks will enjoy our work.

I’ve had quite a lot of interest in my work, many requests from across the servers. I’d love to say I’ve been able to do something for all of them but that’s not the case. There just isn’t enough time and I do enjoy playing the game after all.

10. Do you have a site where people could browse through more of your work?

You can see some of my non EQ related work @ http://lunnagirl.deviantart.com/   There is some nudity involved so Deviant Art requires you to have an account to see mature content.  There is only one screenshot manip there, all the others are digitally drawn with a tablet in photoshop.

Be sure to browse through the forums and get to know people. There’s some amazing and incredibly talented men and women wandering the lands of Norrath. If you’ve met someone that you think should have the spot light shone on them for something they add to the EverQuest community, please feel free to email me with details.

Time for some Change

stargrace September 7, 2007 8Comments

Misako’s entrance, she’s moved to the nut house… Acorn house that is, in Kelethin

I decided it was time for some changes. I’ve learned a few things over the past couple of days. Number one. If you enjoy a class, it does not matter if there is a million of that class around, play it. You’ll have way more fun in game. Don’t give it up just because you think you can fill some other void in the gaming world. Before you know it there will be a million of that other class around too, and then what will you do? Make another character and try to fill that void. It won’t work though. See, that’s what I did with my Dasie. She was a templar. There were LOTS (and still are) of templars around. So I made a fury. Then those were not needed. So I made an illusionist. Then a troubador. Now I have all of these level 70’s and I’m exactly where I was when I started. I betrayed Dasie to an inquisitor for my previous guild, because she would be “needed”. I don’t especially care for the class. Their best class defining skill stifles them so that they can’t heal. I play healers to – you guessed it – heal.

I miss stone skin, and the extra heals that a templar comes with. I miss her hammer pet. I don’t mind giving up some dps for the templar class. I realize that I’ll loose the one piece of relic she still has (pants, sighs. Those are going to be hard to replace!) and all the masters I’ve worked at getting, but with RoK coming in two months, if there was ever a time to betray, now would be it. Spells are all going to get upgrades any how. Don’t play a class simply because it’s in style, needed, or any other reason other then the fact that YOU want to play the class.

So what is the change? Well, I’m going to betray Dasie back to a templar. Friends have donated moonstones to the cause, and I’ve got a 70 sage. I have the templar / inquis set gear. I’ll have to replace her pants. I will be one of a million templars out there, but oh well. I’ll be happier with the character, and that’s what matters.

So what other changes? Well, Misako moved to Kelethin. That’s right, she gave up her (expensive) 5-room house in Freeport, which reminded her too much of the past, and she packed things up and moved to a nut house (or acorn house, for you non-Kelethin folks). The 6-room acorn homes are 2p to purchase, require no guild level, and are 6g a week upkeep. Nice and cheap. The LoN paintings look fantastic against the walls (as pictured above) and as long as I can remind myself that I am NOT a fae, and do NOT have safe fall, I should get along just fine there. I don’t lag in the zone, and I’m closer to everything I need. Misako will have to do some courts faction quests I think though, she could really use call of ro. She could also use her carpet that ports to Shimmering Citadel.

Yes, change is good.

…I swear I Didn’t Steal Batmans Utility Belt…

stargrace September 6, 2007 2Comments

Misako hanging out in Willow Wood.. that belt.. it looks.. familiar..

So when I did Unrest with Misako, I was lucky enough to have her breastplate drop, which was great. I actually declined on everything in the zone, so when the breastplate dropped I figured it was karma heh. Maybe silly of me to think that way but hey it seemed to work. Things in game have been quiet. Had to say goodbye to a good friend of mine. Long story that I don’t want to get into, but it was rough. Is rough.

I highly suggest people read this post here. It practically made me burst into tears after I’d read it. That’s exactly how I see the game, and look at it. Not about what SoE is doing, or who is raiding what, or what zones are next, but about the community. The band of people and friends that I play with. I’m close to them, some more then others. If they were to suddenly leave, I’d worry, and be upset. I’d hope that they were ok. It really brings some things into perspective, and I love the way the article is worded.

Back to game stuff, I’m thinking Faydai will be the next character I get to 70 or start working on gradually. I’m going to quest her way up (with exp turned ON though..) and hopefully I can manage to get her high enough to make use of the master1 charm undead she has. I’ve found a fantastic area to take advantage of the spell, but she needs a few more levels or else the mobs will be breaking every 2 minutes or so. Qutey quested her way to level 27, 27aa, and later today she’ll be a 27 carpenter. I’ve got a few huge rp notes in the works that I’ll hopefully get posted before too long. Some stories I’ve been procrastinating on and want to get them out there.

Also, in a few days time I’ll have my first interview posted on here. Decided to talk to a member of the EQ2 community, so we’ll see how that goes!

One year ago today this was my post. It seems like a really long time ago, and if measured in EQ2 terms, I suppose it is. After all who is even playing after a year on the same Mmo, the numbers seem to decline all the time. This is actually the fourth time I’ve started up a blog, and I only managed to save the last year + current posts. Originally the blog was a method for me to vent about my adventures and exploits in the game. Over time it’s rounded to cover various Mmo’s that I’ve played, and typically comes back to the same things.