Every Day we Role Play
stargrace Very sorry if this offends anyone, but I just had to share.. NSFW!
July 2009
No Place Like Home
I apologize in advance for this not-quite-all-gaming blog post, but it does happen from time to time (the joys of this being my personal rant place). I did game yesterday (of course) but I didn’t really do anything of significance. My woodworker inched her way to level 30, which is great. My sage inched her way (sans vitality or bonus, painful!) to level 35 – and I marveled over the fact that on Antonia Bayle there were only three T8 loams for sale for 2p each. We’re talking common loams here not those rare silicate loams. Not sure why they were all suddenly bought up unless perhaps people are preparing for the extra 10 levels they’ll need to obtain in February and stock piling. Grinding writs it wouldn’t be too difficult to do T8 for 10 levels since harvests will be rare for a time in T9.
Speaking of harvesting, I was a little amused to find that the harvest bots in guild halls can now harvest imbue materials. These are used for the crafting epics, and the smoldering ones are pretty pricey on the broker. I need to help level my guild up a few levels so we can get our bots back, as we’re still too low quite yet to purchase them. It will come with time.
Tomorrow evening I’ll be leaving the city of Ottawa and heading to Russell, which is about 25-30 minutes south of Ottawa. It is a small community, with its own township, and I’ll be spending a few days at my parents place. They in turn are headed to Tennessee on their motorcycle for a week – or at least that’s the direction they’re headed, whether or not they actually get that far is still to be seen. I think it’s neat that my parents can just head out like that with no real plan. Anyhow, I as much as I love this city I need to get away for a few days and I think the country air will do me wonders. I have deadlines for work coming up on the 14th of August so this is slightly before the mad rush begins. I haven’t gotten out a great deal lately since I spent so much time sick (and I’m still recuperating over that ordeal) and I have a feeling that the simple fact of ‘being home’ will do wonders for me. I’m incredibly excited about it, there’s plenty to take pictures of, wild life everywhere (my folks have raccoons and birds and squirrels etc that come to their back deck) a comfortable gazebo out back with lights and seating to relax and read in. I’ll be taking my laptop simply to check up on emails and twitters and I haven’t decided if I’ll blog yet, I probably will not. Expect lots of pictures to show up on ShutterCal though, I need to fill in my blank days.
Monday is a holiday here in Canada (Civic Holiday) but I’ll be coming back Sunday morning (I need to get groceries before the stores all close) so I still have two days of relaxation back in my own house before the hustle and bustle begins. It’s certainly been an interesting year.
Back to the game bits, I also played a little WoW yesterday, running a lowbie instance with a friend to work up my shamans skills, and then we did the graveyard instance of Scarlet Monastery. It was a lot of fun, and I inched my way to level 34. I don’t own a mount yet but apparently in patch 3.2 (due out in August?) mounts will be a LOT cheaper – so I’ve been holding off. Since I don’t dedicate too much time to playing I don’t have a great deal of coin, not to mention all of the alts. Ah those expensive alts. Maybe I’ll run a few more lower level dungeons just to find greens to sell. We’ll see.
In the mean time, MmoQuests may be quiet for a few days but at least it’s because I’m taking a nice relaxing break feeding squirrels and not because I’m in bed sick. I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend, and happy gaming no matter where you are!
Safe travels!
Careful, there’s a REAL girl playing!
I have to share this story, and hopefully no one from my group reads it – if they do I hope they take it with the same sense of humor that I approached the subject from.
Last night I decided to join a random pick up group that was headed to Anchor of Bazzul. I don’t typically join these groups, I have a steady bunch of friends who play and I prefer to play with them. Nothing against pugs really, I just know my guild mates play styles. From time to time no one is around, or I want to meet some new people. I sent a tell when I saw the group advertising for Anchor and was on my way to Moors in no time.
They (the group leader) requested that everyone join group voice – something I am also typically opposed to, especially for such an easy zone. The tank ended up being Ultann from my own guild though I didn’t know that before hand. The group set out and as we zoned into AoB I heard the conversation change slightly.
Three group members (all male) were discussing roleplayers, and how they had nothing but horrible experiences with these people. They were talking about roleplayers as a whole, and had nothing at all good to say. Their comments were amusing to me (being quite an avid roleplayer) and so after a few minutes I spoke up, and said mid conversation, “you know, not all roleplayers act that way.”
*** Edit ***
Ah, I forgot to mention one key point –
I was not the only one defending the roleplayers, one of the three was also mentioning how he enjoyed roleplay, which is why I took the rout of “why did the conversation suddenly stop” – two were going on about how horrid their experiences were, and one was saying he liked to roleplay but found it difficult etc. *goes to edit* too much stuff going on today to get all my opinions out in text!
So in other words – if they were not afraid of offending the one guy who claimed he was a roleplayer and enjoyed it – why would they be afraid of offending me.
It was all I said. The conversation stopped dead in its tracks, no one said a word. I wondered if I had offended someone. Dead air for a few minutes while the awkward silence carried on.
Then someone said, “that must have been Ellithia, right? Because it was just three males talking and then all of the sudden this hot female voice spoke up,” – he sounded surprised that an actual real live girl spoke up in voice chat.
I laughed, and said yes it was me, though I then joked around saying it was Ultann and he was simply roleplaying. The subject was completely dropped and no one spoke about the roleplay issue again which sort of disappointed me because I’m always eager for a good debate. I hate when people generalize ALL gamers into one category, and it’s a good discussion.
I couldn’t help but wonder what I had said that had pursued them to drop the topic. Was it the fact that I disagreed with them or the fact that I had breasts? Maybe a combination of the two? Whatever it was the topic did a complete 180 and moved on to other things.
It was one of the most amusing groups I had ever been a part of, and the first time I had evoked that sort of reaction simply by talking into voice chat. I’m sure they’ve been in groups with female gamers before, and I’m sure they’ve spoken to them before too but for some reason they decided right then and there that the conversation should stop. Maybe it was because I was the only healer and they were afraid I’d throw some sort of fit and stop healing them, I have no idea, or maybe they were worried their opinions would offend my delicate mind (hah!) but it made me chuckle none the less.
Maybe I need to get a voice modulator so I can pretend to be a guy and have some worthy discussions in voice, hehe.
Hotfix Notes: 7.29.2009
Fan Faire Feedback Update
At the most recent Fan Faire, many of you presented us with a ton of useful feedback. We’ve tried to address many of your great ideas and suggestions in the below changes. Thanks to everyone who attended and provided feedback and to those of you who provide feedback through all the other channels!
GENERAL
- There is now a flight post from the Bellywhumper camp out to the Dragon’s Rest Shallows for easier access to the Order of Rime camp.
- Those who have achieved some faction with the Order of Rime can now use the Order’s warbirds to travel back and forth from Fens of Nathsar to Jarsath Wastes.
- A Call of Rime bauble is now available from Melimy Yolta, in the Fens of Nathsar Rime camp!
- Non-charged mounts can now be stabled in your home! Just examine your whistle, drum, or carpet to place the item in your home. Examine the stabled mount again when you want to ride your mount once more!
- Guild hall harvesting minions now also harvest imbue materials.
- Boomba now offers a much wider selection of pickles.
- Player-written books will now be editable when transferring to another server.
- Players now have a personal torch that does not clutter their hands. Use ALT+L to light your way.
- Guild mail can now be sent to specific ranks. Click the to button on the send window and select which ranks you wish to spam . .. Err mail.
- Added an indicator (white star) on the target window. This should only show up if the NPC gives AA experience and not show up if you’ve collected it.
ITEMS
- The Firiona Vie Statue now has 100 status reduction.
- Collection items from The Shadow Odyssey dungeons have now been added to the Collection Burynai.
LAVASTORM
- Najena’s elevator in Lavastorm can no longer change directions while traveling to a new floor.
MOORS OF YKESHA
- A mysterious new stranger has appeared in the Moors of Ykesha. Rogues and predators may visit him to exchange their hybrid shard armor for class shard armor.
MUNZOK’S MATERIAL BASTION
- During the final Munzok fight, Munzok’s various adds should no longer cast any spells players can cure. Cures can be focused on spells and effects cast by Munzok himself.
NEKTROPOS CASTLE
- The Swine Lord should spawn a bit more frequently in Nektropos Castle.
VOICE
- The voice system has been upgraded to correct a number of disconnection issues.
QUESTS
- Hallmark quests can now be deleted from your quest journal. Note: Hallmark quests have never counted towards your quest limit, so deleting them will not make room for additional quests.
- If you have the right Rime faction to get a quest from Rantiri Skelbre, Kraytoc Killingfrost, Kellaen Mednevn or Kyena the Eastern Lord, but you do not have the Rime illusion on, they will now tell you that they must recognize you in order to proceed.
- If you meet the requirements for Rime quests in other zones Bragek Joll, Thress Kivatei, and Pylemea Stoerki will now tell you to travel to another zone to get a quest from specific NPCs.
- The quests “Kill ’em All” in Fallen Gate can now be obtained by players above level 25.
- The quest “The Summoning” in Nektulos Forest can now be obtained by players above level 37.
- The quest “Trinkets of the Dead” in Nektropos Castle can now be completed.
- Billy in Nektropos Castle should be a bit easier to find for the heritage quest “A Missing Mask”. He can now be hailed by clicking on him instead of having to use the ‘H’ key
- The quest “Bag of Parts” in Baubleshire can now be completed at any level.
- The Shady Swashbuckler in Nektulos Forest can now obtain Berik, Sword of Thunder for those who have already completed the quest.
Recruit a Friend, and Totem Quests
My Tauren shaman, in World of Warcraft. That’s right, I still play (from time to time) while devoting most of my game time to EQ2. There are a few other games I continue to play when the mood strikes me but yesterday I decided I’d play WoW. I’ve actually played since release, picking up the game a few months after I got hooked on EQ2. My highest character is level 50 (actually I have a few characters sitting at 50) so even though this game is considered one of the easier ones out there I’ve never made it to end game (which is fine by me).
I recruited a friend to the game with me at the same time, so we’re both enjoying the experience bonus, and for every two levels his characters gain he can grant one level to a character of mine. I decided randomly yesterday to create a shaman, and via recruit a friend she went from 1-33 in a few seconds. People standing around asked if we were hacking, it was amusing.
While skills are easily worked up, and spells easy to purchase – that meant that I’d missed every single one of the totem quests in order to cast my class defining spells. I spent the majority of the afternoon once I’d geared myself up working on those quests which make you run ALL OVER the dang place. Since I was leveled via recruit a friend I didn’t even have any flight paths, so I had to walk. Thank goodness for the ghost wolf form! I didn’t bother purchasing a mount yet, because I have multiple characters around this level and only so much coin on this server.
I know it’s not difficult to make coin, I just haven’t gotten around to it though.
The bright colours (while cartoonish to some) I enjoy a great deal, as well as the comic feeling of the game. It’s a nice break from what I play as my main game of choice, and the fact that it’s new to me is also a bonus. I’ve played EQ2 extensively for almost five years now, I know it in and out, I know which zones to go and pretty much every single quest. I’ve obtained more shards on each account then one should ever obtain – and while I LOVE the game (and I truly do, if anything this site attests to that) I do need a break every now and again.
It was a nice quiet simple day. I did my totem quests and then decided to call it a night, I popped into EQ2 and checked sales, and did an instance (that I’ll talk about more later because it just amused me). All in all, a pretty good day gaming!
Friday night I’ll be leaving to my parents place for a few days for a little rest and relaxation (much needed) and while I will have my laptop with me (plus my Mom has a gaming machine) I plan on spending most of it taking pictures and reading out in the gazebo. I am very eager to get away from the city for a few days, and I’m really looking forward to this short mini vacation.
Safe travels!