June 2008

Living Legacy – Rant

stargrace June 3, 2008 12Comments

You’ve been warned, reader. This is a rant, and it’s not that often I do these, so just hang on here.

SOE has recently come up with a marketing ploy to entice old players to come back to their games. It’s well done, too, with lots of shiny. Who doesn’t like shiny? In EQ1, renewing subscribers will get a bunch of items to /claim including 3 pieces of (tradeable) defiant gear, and 1 (tradeable) defiant weapon based on the level and class of the character claiming them. They’ll also get 10 exp potions, and 10 run speed potions, 5 charges of gate to PoK, a bag, and oh yes, two free months of game play. Their account has been reactivated, for free too. EQ2 is going through the same thing, with lots of shiny there, free game play, items to claim.

Wow. It sounds fantastic right? Oh, the new subscribers to EQ1 can also pick up SoF (the latest compilation of expansions) for free when they pay the $15 to activate.

But wait a second, what about those loyal customers, who never left. Or what about those people who subscribed last month, or the month before, still ‘recently’ returning.

Ah, That’s right. We get a pat on the back. We get to partake in the extra 25% exp zones, and maybe farm ourselves a piece of the defiant gear that is dropping world wide.

I suppose on one hand, we should all be thankful that SOE has taken such measures to bring people back to their games. I mean, who could do that other then SOE, what draws people into the game more then shiny. It doesn’t matter if nostalgia has been working to recruit people to the game, that we’ve brought a team of dedicated (fun) people back, and have been writing about it almost none stop.

I know ranting about it doesn’t solve anything, or make anything better, but it was something I had to get off my chest. Don’t get me wrong, either. I am very happy people will come back for at least a short time. I just don’t think they should have to be bribed with shiny in order to do it. Or if they are going to be bribed with shiny at least consider rewarding your loyal customers. I realize there are veteran rewards that long term customers get that short term do not – but in EQ1 they’re very restricted by how long you’ve had your account, and you need to have played for at least a year before you see anything at all. I wish it were like EQ2 where your account was flagged – there for you could claim veteran rewards on every character. But in EQ1 you can only flag 1 character per year. Which means if you were not a guide, or have not played for a huge number of years, you’d better make darn sure you’re going to stick with that character.

Poor alts.

What a Weekend

stargrace June 2, 2008 4Comments

Farmer McClein was having an issue with his fields. Nothing would grow. He’d found a scroll buried there and decided that perhaps reciting from it, would force his crops to sprout up.

That was the basic GM message Norrath heard on Sunday, so myself (as Qutey, for porting) and Kuron headed to Karana (the zone, not the site) to see what was going on. I quickly realized I was going to be way too small to be of any use – the only down side to these EQ1 GM events. I figured I’d stick around and take pictures. Kuron got to be part of the fun, though.

Not even 10 minutes went by before the zone was teaming with people (48 total) and the event was under way. The farmer began to read from his scroll, and suddenly there were crazy giant scarecrows popping up all over his feet, as we felt a tremble beneath us. The details of what happened after that are hazy to me, since I wasn’t actually part of the fighting – but I assume a raid was formed, and scarecrows were squished. In the end, folks got summoned party mugs, the farmers payment for their aid. Loot was also given out as the scarecrows were wielding pretties – including (from what I was told) two BoC – also known as blade  of carnage which used to be super uber (and probably still are).

This is what I missed when I played EQ2. In EQ2 the raids are limited to 24 people. No more, and typically less. There’s no sense of something being ‘bigger’ then you. It’s a matter of WHEN you will kill it. Not IF you will kill it. You can always say ‘we just need more gear, we just need the strat, then we’ll have this down’ in EQ2. In EQ1, some things are just bigger then you and they’re going to hold domain. You’re going to NEED a certain amount of people who ALL know what they’re doing and no amount of gear is going to change the fact that it is a hard fight. You can have the strat handed to you, and it’s still not going to help unless you can coordinate a mass bunch of people. I have so much respect for anyone who does an EQ1 pick up raid (and I’ve been on a few myself). The leaders of those have to deal with SO much it’s astounding.

I miss this sort of raiding.

Aside from the GM event, the weekend was just fantastic. I’m trying to learn the new ‘duo’ and ‘trio’ settings for jewelery and different gems they implemented and how they work – which is slow going. I actually decided to subscribe to allakhazam for 6 months so I could get more detailed information. I don’t mind paying for a service like that when I’m actually using it on a daily basis.

The crafting is coming along, even if it is slowly. I want to work on Kameeko’s trophies for crafting and I’ve been well behind in that. Kuron managed to get his though, and since it’s an evolving item, has been busy leveling it. Lucky.

I also got into an exp group last night where – I was the tank.

That’s right, my jaw just about hit the floor too. Pretty much everyone knows I don’t do the tank thing. At least not well. Last night I dusted off Satia, my (at the time) 45 shadowknight, and along with Lackey (42 magician) and Krann (50 druid) we headed to Dulak Harbor to see what trouble we could get into. It was a great night for coin, and drops. We had a booster pack drop for the group, and while most groups would /random 100 to see who makes out with 45k, I suggested we sell the booster, and split the money three ways. Since everyone in the group is friends with one another, it seemed like a fairly good idea. No longer then 10 minutes had passed with me in trader mode, and what do you know, the booster pack sold. Lackey got a new pair of shoulders, as did I, and Krann’s monk. We had a good split of money by the end since so many gems dropped, and we had fun chattering away in vent while I pulled (and Krann ganked). I don’t think I did too bad tanking, I was good with my taunts, I could typically peel adds off, and even though I was out of mana a whole lot, it didn’t feel like I sucked horribly. Who knows though, my two group mates may think differently.

Couldn’t have asked for a better weekend, or better friends to spend it with.