February 2008

Moving on Up

stargrace February 17, 2008 1Comment

The disciple hit 19 last night, after working on the most annoying quest I’ve ever worked on. Growlius and I were sent to some mines in Misthaven to collect belts from locals, apparently Misthaven had a shortage and if we didn’t agree to this pants everywhere would drop. After killing well over 200 miners, and both of us needing 3 more belts, they suddenly decided to stop dropping. Ok, it wasn’t suddenly at all, nothing is sudden after spending a few hours there diligently working away at the quest. We only needed 15 total. This quest sucked. It’s the first time I’ve actually grown so frustrated with a quest that I finally just gave up. We gated out and maybe we’ll work on it another time. We both got a full level of experience in there, and when you’re only getting .5% a kill that’s just sad.

We also managed to finish the URT chest and leg pieces, so I’m no longer sporting an ugly green breast piece, but a dark purple one. At least it matches my legs. I got a few crafting levels and did some quest in Halgarad that rewarded me with 3 T2 rares. I did this quest on 3 of my crafters, since I could easily gate home and just walk one chunk over. I needed those rares in my first quest for a red item (much like an epic item) which I was ecstatic to get. Sure, it’s a crafting item, but red is red (the only gear higher is purple, much like mythical and there’s only anniversary gifts that are purple).

I couldn’t find the patch notes myself, but apparently people are exceptionally upset over GU4 that’s supposedly up at the end of this month. What I heard over the course of yesterday made me worry for the game. Number one, they’re adding helm graphics. Well, that’s great but very few people are going to walk around wearing helmets. We don’t use them in EQII, they’re not used in WoW, if anything there’s options to turn them off, not mmo’s creating options to turn them on. In direct response to the public getting helmets- they’ve decided to lower the amount of facial combinations you can make. At release, Vanguard boasted one of the most unique character customizations out there, and they had it. Everything from the arch of the eyebrow to the puffiness of the cheeks and the size of the breasts. In order to cut down the work getting helms in was, they’re removing a bunch of the customization. Bad move.

They’re also adding the MUCH anticipated flying mounts. Everyone who’s been playing Vanguard talks about these items, they want them probably more then anything else I have heard about. There are supposedly two being added. One will end in a raid, and the second one is raid only (as in, it can be obtained in a raid only). Now, realize that all my information is second hand from channels and I’m not sure how much actually holds any water, but that just doesn’t sound right. Have they not learned anything from EQII who has both group versions and raid versions of pretty much all their main quest lines now?

Vanguard works like EQ in the fact that content does not trivialize. Sure you won’t get experience any more, there’s a threshold for that, but if you want to go to the ant mine and take down the queen at level 50 (and gank it from a bunch of lowbies who worked really hard to get to that spot) then you’re more then welcome to, and loot the item that comes from the mob, and sell it on the broker or decon the item into a rare resource. Of course plenty of people spend their time farming and hanging out in known named locations specifically for this. So the next update is doing two things. Number one, named (boss) loot will be BoP (bind on pickup) ALL named loot, that is. Secondly, you’ll be unable to decon boss loot.

Hmms. Not exactly a bad change, but it’s the start of a slippery slope. Vanguard’s the closest thing to EQ out there (in game play, not in the way the world looks) and a majority of the people I have come across play VG straight from EQ. If they start changing things too much or continue to head down the slippery slope, they’ll loose those people (and I’ll have to spend even more time then I do now listening about how great EQ was. I KNOW how great it was, I was there!).

They are also changing the way people get dusts. I wasn’t sure of the particulars but it had crafters in a huge huff. Enough so that Silius himself (a crafting dev I imagine, his name is on the mythical craft bags we can claim) stepped into the channel to ask what people were saying. Something about them being mob drop or raid drop only if they were rare I think, instead of being able to decon them (to decon something is just like to transmute, you have the chance to decon for resources, or dust, and have a chance to fail. There’s no skill involved though, and anyone can do it with a vendor sold kit).

Those were the changes I heard most about. Again I haven’t actually seen a list, so I didn’t get to hear about anything GOOD that’s changing to Vanguard. Except the character models are apparently going to be changed in skeleton so that they’re easier to render. When they get that make over VG was promised I’ve no idea.

I’m still having plenty of fun, guild’s going strong, and there’s been absolutely no drama. We have our steady 5-15 people on nightly and I can’t stress enough how great it is to play with them. Even if we’re not a raiding guild. I’m still having a blast, which is important.

Progress is progress is progress.. or something

stargrace February 14, 2008 0Comment

Yesterday I spent most of my game time crafting, which was a nice relaxing way to spend the day. I managed to get from level 1 to 11. I also managed to do a few quests along the way, upgrading some gear which was wonderful. Today I wanted to get the continental quests done, however Vanguard is down for a four hour patch. Apparently they found some ‘bugs’ that needed to get squished asap. Fine by me.

The guild is busy getting ready for the sloop races on the first of march, and I decided I needed a new forum signature for their forums. I don’t spend a whole lot of time chattering but I do every so often. One of the guild members was in an accident and got some hot cinders into his eye so he’s been getting well wishes from everyone. I can’t imagine how painful that would be.

I printed out the complete pdf file of crafter quests (12 pages) and have been glancing through them from time to time to make sure I do the ones that I’m of level to do. Lots of great rewards to be had there. Of course it would help if I didn’t keep getting sidetracked by diplomacy which happens far too often. I’ll be traveling to some outpost, a 15 minute run if that. Find a harvest node, or find a diplomacy quest along the way and suddenly the trip takes an hour and a half and I still haven’t made it there yet. Ah such fun.

Speaking of which I almost stuck up my second buff in Khal today, just before servers came down. With more presence you earn more faction towards the city levers. I had about 80 or so presence with crafters, so it worked out well. It moved me from “newcomer” to “known” which is great. I made a few of the blacksmith diplomacy items as well, which is far nicer then any of the quested gear I’ve gotten thus far. I could use another diplomacy bag (or two, or three) and I have to remember to keep sorting my gear so that I don’t get items that just give stats I already have on the same piece of gear (like the three pairs of pants I had that gave +soldier presence, I kept the highest one and sold the rest).

Other then crafting and diplomacy, game’s been quiet. Hopefully it’s back up and running soon. Everyone enjoy their Valentine’s Day today (I’m still excited about heading to Toronto for mine on the 23rd) and hope it’s filled with love and smooches!

Airborn, and my first civic diplomacy buff!

stargrace February 13, 2008 0Comment

Yes, it’s raining in Kojan, and it’s also night time, or dusk, or something like that, equally dark so that the images are hard to make out. I’m not sure why I always seem to take screen shots in the rain. Anyhow, I needed a quick and easy way to get off of the island my guild hall is located on, and I happened to notice there was a flying mount vendor close by. You can pay 10 silver and ride a flying mount for 10 minutes. I’m flying at 266% run speed which is a nice fast pace to get from one end of the continent to the other (Martok docks, where I could port some place more sane). Flying mounts are amazing. I didn’t enjoy the actual ride of the reindeer they added at Christmas, but the Pegasus is amazing. The ride is smooth and the wings glide and it’s lots of fun to soar in the sky. 10 silver is still a lot of money to me though, so I don’t think I’ll be using this method too often.

The screen shot above is of a diplomacy buff that I actually did, all by myself. I was quite proud, it’s the first city wide buff I’ve ever attempted to do. I was looking for ways to raise my clergy presence since I was stuck in a quest, and I only needed 5 more presence. So I headed to the high elf city (ironic since I play a dark elf) and did some parle battles with the clerics located inside. I found a room of them actually, it was great, made putting the buff up much easier. I can only move the city levers by 1 point right now, so that means I moved the lever 40 points. Yes, it was a lot of parles (40) in order to get there, but I did end up walking away with a whole lot of evidence to turn in for items. Plus I hit level 10 in diplomacy, which was great.

I’ve also managed to pick up a few (three per craft) recipes that crafters get to make diplomacy gear. Another quest required I have 50 presence with arcana (which I did not, 50 is a lot to me at this level still) so I had my artificer make a jade choker, which gives +31 to that presence (and 2 others) and combined with the gear I already had, managed to finish off that quest.

There’s a diplomacy site, but it seems some what out of date, still using skill levels instead of basic levels (when Vanguard first came out diplomacy used skill, like 150, instead of just saying level 3). There’s also no clear walk through like “Diplomacy, 1-50 from A to B” which would be helpful. To tell me where to go to continue raising my diplomacy. As it is now, when I adventure to outposts and the like I just randomly start engaging in parle with people to get my experience. As well as doing the few quest chains I stumble across.

Which reminds me, I finished the Informant’s Valise quest given by Raisoor the Navigator, which gave me a 30 slot diplomacy bag. It’s already completely filled with scraps of paper and diplomacy outfits, but I’d been storing all of that in my 12 slot adventure bags, so I’m exceptionally happy to have it.

The disciple hit level 15 (and part way through) last night playing with Growlius, who hit level 16 dreadknight. Next we’re starting on the URT quests. The guild is busy getting wood and recipes together to make sloops, as we’re having a sloop race on the first of March. I think I’ll just watch that one, I’d probably end up crashing into land knowing me and killing innocent bystanders. Today, working on my crafting, trying to get the leatherworker up during the day before I adventure at night. Crafting is.. slow. Rewarding though.

One thing I’d love to see more mmo’s implement as far as crafting is concerned is work orders. Yes, EQII does have WO’s however. In Vanguard when you do a WO you have a choice to use your own raw supplies, or to use theirs. You always supply the utilities (fuel) but you don’t have to use your own raw materials if you don’t want to. You get a bonus of progress if you do use your own, but this way your harvested materials are used simply for items you’ll actually make / use / sell, and you can make it all the way to 50 without harvesting anything at all (which is also suggested). It’s a great way to level.

Hopefully things are going well with everyone else, too. Tomorrow is Valentine’s day and of course Vanguard has their heart shaped items spread throughout various cities that you can claim for your own home, no quests this year though. Which reminds me, I’ll have to add more parts to my house shortly I think, either that, or at least deposit some more money for rent.

Oh, and completely unrelated, jango rocks. Especially since Pandora started blocking me due to the Canadian IP. I know it’s only a matter of time before this one blocks me too, but in the mean time I’m enjoying it.

Ever Seen a Spider Wearing Shoes?

stargrace February 12, 2008 2Comments

One thing adventurers in every mmo have always asked themselves, or a comment that has always come up from time to time, is WHERE the mobs end up getting their items from. How does a cat end up with a battle axe, where did that bear get the dress from, etc. So yesterday when I was wandering around on the disciple (who is now by far my most favorite class might I add) and came across a huge disgusting black spider- who I smushed, of course, and got these shoes from him pictured above, I just had to laugh at the description at the bottom.

Last night Safe Haven had a guild meeting which started a bit late but was fun none the less, we had 14 people join us all in the guild hall, crammed upstairs as it were, and went over the future of the guild. Events and the like. We’ve decided that a sloop race is in order, and people will be getting together to help build sloops for one another and harvest material for it. We’re also going to have a craft fair some time to explain to people how crafting works, and perhaps make general gear upgrades for people who need it. Not sure how that one is going to go yet as the majority of our crafters are still quite small, but hey whatever works.

At level 14 my disciple got feign death, which I can not stress enough about what an amazing skill that is. Being a healer with feign death, and having the dps that I have, is just a very nice thing, and yesterday I put it to good use. There was this crazy wizard. Well, he wasn’t always crazy. He sits way out on an island and his tower is in ruins due to some freaky accident. He sent his love to some caves and time went by and she never returned, so he assumed she’s dead. He created (or tried to at least) a device to wipe his memories of her but it went horribly wrong (of course). So he sends you (random adventurer) off to the same caves to find out what happened to Elise.

He doesn’t give you any more hints then that, and these caves are huge with level 10-14 three dot (small group) mobs. I can kill them (as can most people) just fine, but it would take a lot of work to check the entire cave. Hey, he never said I had to KILL anything in there. So I spent an hour lost in the caves searching for this woman who I assume was just gobbled up by one of these beasties that roam the halls. Oh yes. Feign death is fun.

In diplomacy I sort of got stuck (what else is new). I need to figure out if there’s another way to get presence besides gear. I need 50 presence to speak with a few people for the next portions of my quests, and I’m shy by about 30 or so. I don’t want to have to buy gear- because the quests themselves reward me with gear. Seems like a little bit of a waste of money. I’ll have to check out the diplomacy site and read up on it some. I also really want to find out where I can get a diplomacy bag. SoE was stingy on their anniversary rewards and only lets you claim one item per account, so of course my item is on my bloodmage. Damn it. They could have at least let us have 3 per account, some how I doubt having a bag for diplomacy, adventuring, or crafting is going to ruin the economy of Telon or what not.

Oh, if anyone is stopping in Vanguard by the way, look for Ishbel. I’m still hoping they fix cross game tells with Vanguard to expand across the rest of the SoE title games, but for now I’m not holding my breath.

Pfts, Who Needs Bodies Anyway

stargrace February 11, 2008 1Comment

After playing my psionicist for some time, I decided that I actually missed healing, That, or I suffered suddenly from sever alt-itus, which is always a possibility in my case. I had tried the shaman and not enjoyed it, I’ve played a cleric and also not enjoyed it. I love my bloodmage but they’re too high level to adventure with my friends- so all that was left was a disciple. Which I’ve actually never tried before.

A disciple is a cross between a monk and a healer. Most of their moves either create Jin, or use Jin. If you do a combination of moves, you perform an instant heal that costs no energy, which is always nice. Most of your attacks use endurance, and you can wear bladed staffs and other monk-type things. Fistwraps and the like.

I decided to go with dark elf, because I actually like how they look in game. However, out of all the starter cities, as far as quests go (minus diplomacy quests which I’ll get into more later) I think they also lack the most. It always seems to take me twice as long to level my dark elf to any particular level then it does any other character of mine. Which is why I’ll move her to Thestra now that she’s level 10.

As far as diplomacy goes, I got hit by the bug and I got hit bad. I loved it. I spent most of my time yesterday split between taking care of my other half who’s exceptionally sick right now, and doing diplomacy in between adventuring. One quest line made me crack up laughing I just couldn’t help it.

It began with a long series of assassinations of which I was no part of I swear. Well, ok maybe just a little part of. After I’d taken care of a bunch of people (hiring others to do it, in true dark elf form) my teacher informed me I had ‘a loose end’ and I needed to take care of her too before she started talking. No problem, what was one more.

Her: Shew, about time you got here, is everyone else dead?

Me: Yes, everyone’s dead.

Her: Here, change before the guards find us, I brought us shirts!

Me: Oh good, I brought assassins!

Her: Dead.

I hit level 7 in diplomacy and managed to get some gear, not enough to progress my quests any further though, they require a lot of presence. I haven’t quite figured out how to get presence without gear yet, but I’m working on it. I did also get a yellow outfitter recipe, which is apparently to make your own player crafted cards, interesting.

So I’ll be moving the dark elf out of her Qalia home and over to Thestra (thank goodness for recall to house, so I don’t have to walk it) and attempting the quests there instead. When Vanguard first released you almost never wanted to play a dark elf – they were KoS to everyone out there, and had to grind LOTS of faction work. If you take pride in your character enough that it doesn’t bother you to work faction then it was great, here was a race to do that with, and everyone understood the sacrifices you’d made. However, with GU3 they removed the KoS portion to races in player areas. So dark elves, gnomes, goblins and the like are no longer KoS in other starter areas (or other towns at all, I can walk into Leth Nurae just fine, the high elf city). That’s actually one change I wish had not been implemented. It’s part of ‘making the game easier’ for people that I like to stay away from and thus far Vanguard has done a pretty good job. Tweaks here and there though, of course. There’s also talk of them removing the starter towns completely- you’ll start on an island much like you do in Qeynos and Freeport for EQII and then migrate to a town afterwards, they’ll bump up the starter towns to 5+ instead of 1-5, or so rumor says. Not looking forward to that at all, though I do understand their reasoning. If you play a dark elf and your friend decides to be a vulmane for example, you start on different continents. Not only that you start at opposite ends of those continents so there’s pretty much 0 chance of brand new people playing together unless you 1. Have someone in game who can show you the way 2. Start out as the same race. 3. Plot out the whole travel first before hand with online maps such as the ones you can find here. Is it possible? Sure of course it is, it’s just unlikely.

I’d rather not see an ‘island’ like in EverQuestII (who have migrated past that to include Neriak, Kelethin, and Gorowyn) but I can see how it would be pleasing to some customers.