November 2008

A Different Type of Gaming

stargrace November 9, 2008 2Comments

It’s been a long time since I dug up those D&D books that an old boyfriend gave me as a gift (pictured above). I think he actually got them 2nd hand from his older brother. I remember looking at them fondly when I first saw them, and then as the newer editions made their way slowly into my friends possessions I remembered being very jealous that I couldn’t afford the fancy books. I used to love gathering with friends (and a lot of snacks) and seeing what adventures we would be getting into. I had the utmost respect for the Dungeon Master, who made us his play-things every weekend in gorey battles for honour. I miss days like that. I never actually used my own books to play, since by the time I started an edition or two had already come out, but I did keep those books tucked away. I still ogle the new hardcover versions at the book store. They remind me of simpler days, even if they weren’t actually so simple. Memories are great things. 

There is a facebook application that I’ve been having a lot of fun getting into, and while I realize that not everyone enjoys using it, this little mini game is amazing. 

It’s called tiny adventures. You create a D&D character, and send them off to roleplay fun. You make dice rolls, get gear, and each ‘stage’ of an adventure takes a bit of time ranging from a few seconds to half an hour or more. You can either leave the application running and the timer will count down until you hit the ‘next stage’ button, or you can leave the application and go do other things, the adventure will play out without you there. 

Adventures consist of anywhere from 5-15+ encounters, with a dice roll deciding each encounter for you as you move along the story. Your class will also dictate whether or not you have a higher or lower chance at winning, some are tailored for clerics using wisdom checks while others are made for other classes, using strength checks or dexterity. 

The stories themselves are very well written, and as you read through each journey it can become slightly addicting. 

You can also look at your friends and their encounters. If they are currently in an encounter when you happen to be on the page and they’re low on health, you can help them by tossing them a heal potion. It’s not really a game per say, but it’s almost as addictive as one especially if you have the longing for good ‘ol roleplay sessions. Not all exciting games are about constant button mashing and wild sounds with action scenes every 10 seconds.

Wandering Through Wizard101

stargrace November 8, 2008 9Comments

Well, she did it again. That’s right, the F word. Ringing through every post loud and clear. 

Fun. What did you think I was going to say? 

Tipa has been talking about Wizard101 for quite some time now, and I never got into it. Why? Am I not a dedicated stalker lemming friend? I just had too much on my plate. I’ve managed to lower that some what and found myself with a whole lot of time to actually game this weekend. I haven’t subscribed to W101, but I may do the “pay as you go” plan, and just pay for zones as I come up to them. I honestly can’t rationalize paying yet another subscription. That’s alright though, because so far the areas I’ve been exploring are FREE. That’s right, I created my account and less then three minutes later was in game and creating my character. My name is Angela Ravendust, and as of right now I’m a level 5 Theurgist, with some training points in storms I believe. That may or may not be an actual school, I’m still on information overload.

Edit: I forgot to mention some where – Tipa is SO uber in W101 that she actually boxes two accounts. There was some talk of her 3-boxing, where we all chuckled and joked nervously – KNOWING that it COULD actually happen with her. /Not Worthy.

 Pictured above is Tipa in the yellow / orange, myself in greens, and Cownose. We were all able to join in on the Nostalgia vent channel along with one of Tipa’s friends (I’m so sorry I’ve already forgotten your name! Remember information overload here). 

I loved doing the Halloween events. I’ve always loved card games, although I’ve never played that many. I played Pokemon (I know, I need to be done away with) and magic the gathering of course. I actually enjoy Legends of Norrath in EQ2 as well. 

We rushed off to do some.. I want to say.. tower.. things.. (yes that’s the technical term) where I spent most of the time accidentally walking backwards and out of the instance. Whoops. Of course me being a healer of sorts, didn’t have any but one single heal card and that was barely enough to keep anyone alive when it came to fighting the big’uns. I had a BLAST though. Almost literally. The spell effects are fun, it’s bright and colourful, the chatting with people sucks since it’s all protected and adding people to friends requires a bit of finesse. Plus Xfire does not recognize the game so I have it loaded on the laptop while I play in full screen (what do you mean you don’t have Xfire? You have friends in multiple games these days, get it so you can keep in touch with everyone no matter what game they play! Add me!) 

I looked at the clock and practically screamed into vent, a good 5 hours had passed (WHERE does the time go when you’re in W101?! That’s the quest I want to do!) and I had forgotten to get my NaNoWriMo portion out of the way. Jumped (quite literally) out of the game, did the dishes, sat down and managed to get to 15,098 words. Little behind where I wanted to be. 

I had a great time gaming, and actually got in some EQ2 time late last night / early this morning – and also got some Little Big Planet in last night / this afternoon. More about those two in the next post, W101 deserved it’s own space.