Tinkerfest and Parties
stargrace 
This weekend was the start of Tinkerfest (and also the SOE Block Party) and other random bits of goodness that remind us that these are summer months meant for fun. Tinkerfest is a holiday that involves gnomes, and of course, tinkering. It is a holiday that came off as being no more then a marketing ploy by the gnomes, with very few quests (and none of them exceptionally difficult) and a merchant who would offer to sell you items in return for cogs that were spread throughout three zones.
While these cogs respawn on a fairly frequent basis, trying to hunt them down in a mass of 40+ people in a very small area was annoying and not much fun at all. I can’t remember the number of times I had my toes stepped on by greedy cog-hunters so in the end I decided to purchase my cogs off of the broker and have Kasul create house items with them for me. There is also a shiny collection quest, and since the pieces re-spawn so fast they are going for dirt cheap. I didn’t want to even try to fight off the harvesters for those purple shiny bits, so I also purchased those.
I did the one repeatable quest that rewards you with a nifty tinkered mug – and then left the party, having more then enough of my fill for one holiday. While the house items are VERY neat, and it’s always great to add to the over all quest count, it was so crowded in Steamfont, Baubleshire, and Temple street that it made the event not much fun.
If you haven’t checked out the party yet you have until August 3rd, maybe by then it will have calmed down some. Antonia Bayle was an absolute mad house, another server I checked was a little calmer until later on in the day. I appreciate the work that goes into making holidays like these, but there just wasn’t enough substance to want me to deal with the crowds. Much like real life holidays I suppose.
Kasul and Wpus finished off their flowing black robe heritage quests yesterday night which was great. The guild is inching through level 37 (not bad since we were level 30 when we transferred over) and we’re well on our way to 40 – new amenity and new bank slots will be a welcome change. We need some writ givers and a fuel merchant something fierce. It will be nice to be able to do writs within the hall and take advantage of the depot box we have.
I finally got into the new Kurns Tower in Fens of Nathsar with my illusionist yesterday. I was a little worried because when I went on the tour of the zone with Kiara it hurt us pretty fierce, even though I had an amazing time. Yesterday I had nothing to worry about though and we made short work of the zone – two void shards being our reward (which is great because I didn’t think we’d get any shards for our work). I believe I managed to get one semi-upgrade and on a related note my illusionist is no longer wearing RoK treasured gear which is a big bonus for me. I haven’t worked on the character in a very long time and she was well behind in gear, something I’ve been trying to rectify.
Aside from that it was a quiet weekend, I managed to gain a few levels on my baby sage (remember I deleted that level 80 sage I had) and before too long I should be able to make my own player made books, which would be fantastic. Sitting at level 26 the sage still has a ways to go before she hits 50, but it’s a start.
I hope everyone has a fantastic Monday, and had a great weekend no matter what world you found yourself in! Happy gaming, and I’ll see you in Norrath!