Beckett MOG and other Rambles
stargrace 
The latest edition of Beckett MOG (Massive Online Gamer) has come out in the states for those who have a subscription (it should be in stores shortly as well in the US and Canada), and with it two of my articles. One was a class guide on the templar and inquisitor, and the other a dungeon guide on Veksar. (Keep in mind both of these articles were written well before the expansion was released). I wanted to add the interview with the developers about TSO, but because LoTR and WoW both also released their expansions at the same time, EQ2 articles took a back seat. It’s not through any fault of Beckett’s after all they’re in the business to make money, and there for the biggest shinies get the most pages. The novelty of writing for a magazine is still there, although it’s natural that I am constantly trying to find ‘more’ that I can do with my writing. I didn’t spend that much time in game yesterday (I know, am I feeling ill?) because I had too many other things to take care of, but I did manage to wander around briefly. I have a new house commission to work on, designing a ‘modern’ house. This isn’t exactly an easy task with the materials given, let alone the fact that this is a fantasy based mmo. There are some exceptionally creative ideas that I can use though, such as dark wood items (like the walls I used in the museum) to create dens and the knight paintings that can be turned around so that their white textured backing can be used. It’s all about the atmosphere.
I didn’t do any of the crafting quests yesterday either, which means I may be slightly behind in those. Today I should be able to obtain the solo quest once more, and max out my faction (finally) on Silhouette, which means she’ll be able to buy some new recipe books. Today I’m going to head to the Moors and work on the quests within the zone so that I can purchase the faction books there as well. The appearance armor located in the Moors is also quite fantastic, I especially like the new lambent type armor. Truth be told, I’m quite happy that I’ve stayed out of TSO for the most part (aside from the crafting bits). It’s a little over a week into the expansion and I’m not bored. Of course this does mean that I don’t know all of the secrets to beating all of the encounters in the instances, and since most use puzzles this may be a hardship for any groups I join – but I’m a fast learner and I’ll pick them up as I go along. I keep meaning to get out there more and the craft tables keep drawing me back.
For those in the states celebrating their thanksgiving, I hope you have an amazing day, and eat some turkey for me!