April 2008

Neat Freak

stargrace April 25, 2008 1Comment

One thing that always astounds me when I return to a game – is how much crud I have kicking around in various bags and banks. At one time or another I’m sure the order in which I’d placed these items made some sort of sense to me. But three years later, that is not the case. I had bits and pieces strewn about, parts of keys that I’d long since forgotten (which I deleted as well, since most areas have been removed of their key requirements) and crafting supplies in every nook and cranny.

So I took a few hours yesterday (yes, in the end it took that long) to organize the bags of one character. I still have three more that I need to go through. This was the main one though, my over all crafter (and enchanter) Kameeko.

I still have bits and pieces of her enchanter epic (1.0) in one bag, having never managed to get the piece I needed from Plane of Fear. There are pelts of all shapes and sizes, patterns, metals, gems, tools, and I had a backpack full of very old gear (mostly from Plane of Mischief which is my most favorite zone in the entire game) and just… everything. My druid’s bags are filled with foraged items and food bits, she’ll probably be next. Then there’s my shaman and all of her alchemist / potions which are everywhere. The rogue has poisons (being a master crafter way back in the day) and they all have quest bits and pieces of things strewn about.

I’m not exactly a neat freak, but in game especially I do like to know where everything is, how I can get to it easily, and what it’s used for. It does me no good if I open my bags and have to search for 10 minutes for an item – only to find out I don’t have it at all. Or for me to go spending money on an item that I’ve had stashed away for years. I actually enjoy organizing these bags too, it’s fun looking over all the stuff I’ve accumulated, looking it up online to see what it’s for. Humming and hawing over key pieces and whether I keep them for the memories or toss them aside since access is not required.

Tonight is the second night of “Nostalgia the guild” and I believe we’re going to Kurn’s Castle. It may not be implimented in EQ2 yet (maybe it is, I have been playing slightly but I’m behind on the updates) but it should be a lot of fun. The imposing tower resides in both games, and they both send shivers up my spine every time I approach.  I managed to get my LDoN stone yesterday. Handy to use at the Magus’ as well since they port you to the camps – and there’s a magus in the guild lobby. My necro and cleric are both sitting at 15, with the cleric sure to get some levels tonight. Looking forward to seeing everyone there (except Cordanim – happy birthday hon have a great night out!).

It’s always about the crafting

stargrace April 23, 2008 0Comment

It doesn’t matter what game I play, I’m always heavily involved in the crafting. In WoW the crafting was simple and easy, but there were unique recipes you could quest for and gather materials for. I liked that aspect of it even if I didn’t actually enjoy the crafting process itself. In Vanguard, crafting is taken to a whole new level and it’s exceptionally complicated and requires dusts and powders and there’s so much to it. It was a game unto itself. In EverQuestII crafting is a timed event that you have to constantly be present for, and while the risk is not as bad as EQ1 or VG, it’s still there. In EQ1 I’ve been trying to get back into the crafting. There’s a few significant differences between EQ1 crafting and EQ2. In EQ2 you’re limited to one craft per character. In EQ1 you’re not limited at all so long as you get the aa’s required to add more. I’m not sure if the numbers have changed – but the way it used to work was you could reach 200 in any (all) crafts, and then ONE of those, you could get to 300. You could also get your “masters” item from it. If you wanted more then one trade at master level, you’d have to sink aa’s into it.

You could also use aa’s to purchase things like a reduced failure rate. Great when you’re working on those augments (which I did). You can also reclaim items from a failed combine, something unheard of in most games. Once you failed, that was it.

When I left EQ1 three years ago my crafting character was Kameeko. She had:

• 267 Jeweler (Master)
• 200 Research (apparently the cap on this has moved to 300 for everyone)
• 200 Brewing
• 200 Fletching (arrows)
• 195 Baking
• 182 Blacksmithing
• 174 Fishing (I don’t even remember how to fish now)
• 187 Pottery
• 164 Tailor

I worked really hard on my crafting, and was proud of what I’d accomplished. When omens of war was introduced and augments became more common, along with the skill of crafting and upgrading augments, I thrived. I used to sell a LOT of them using materials me and my beastlord friend would farm. Seems like ages ago.

Anyhow, getting back into crafting has been complicated and difficult, but it’s slowly coming back. Especially due to great sites like EQTraders. I used the site way back when and still find it’s one of the best out there. It may not always be 100% up to date, but for what I need at the moment it works perfectly.

I’ve been selling some old crap that I’ve had stored on my other characters for some time now. Sales are not exactly frantic, but I made 16,000p over the past week or so. That’s more then enough to get by for now with general things like crafting. I’m slowly starting to remember what all the stuff is that’s in my banks, specifically the 3-4 backpacks I had filled with patterns (for the DoN cultural gear) that my enchanter was hording. I still have a long way to go, but it’s been a lot of fun.

Yesterday my baby Drakkin made herself four new pieces of armor though I did fail the combines a few times too. She made a pair of boots, a helm, legs, and a wrist piece. At level 15 I can equip them and add the augments to them too. I had Kameeko make those as Ishbel is not quite big enough to do it. They require a special quest to get recipes for symbols. Anyone can make symbols for anyone else, though the gear is race restricted. So long as Ishbel can make her own gear, Kameeko can supply the augments. DoN cultural crafted gear has three augment slots, which is one of the main reasons I like it. LDoN drops augments (last I remember at least) at lower levels. There’s also a quest for an augment in Crescent Reach around level 30 or so. Ah, so much to remember, so much to do! It’s great to be back.

I’d have loved to quest for some gear, like others in the Nostalgia bunch seem to be doing, but alas, Drakkin don’t have armor quests. Not that I could see at least. The DoN cultural armor is not the best out there, so I’ll still be in the running for upgrades at least (especially since not all slots are covered) which is a big factor – but at least I won’t be trying to heal the group in rags, either.