November 2009

Do you have a favorite way to get around?

stargrace November 17, 2009 7Comments

Most MMOs have modes of transportation, if not through personal mounts then at least through some other means. EQ2 has had both forms of transportation (plus a few extra) for quite some time now, and every so often a new graphic pops up. For TSO it was the dire bear, RoK was the worg, and so on. They even took it one step further, and you can right click many of the mounts in your inventory and turn them into house items, adding a collection to your home or guild hall. Want to build a stable and show off your collection? Now you can. Especially since you’re probably only actually using one (or two) of the mounts that you’ll gain over the years.

So which is your favorite? Are you one of those players who simply goes by speed (faster = better) or do you have to actually enjoy the graphic of your mount (since you can’t hide them)? Is it more important to you to look fashionable as you meander from zone to zone, or could you care less? Do your bards (who are famous for having their speed buffs) have mounts too or do you just rely on their own skills?

Pictured above is Petites, my halfling templar, proudly riding her unicorn. It’s not the fastest mount out there, but doesn’t she just look fantastic riding it?! The little halo over her head is from a LoN loot card that I managed to win when LoN first came out and she wears it well if I do say so myself!

A lot of my characters own mounts, and I don’t go for what’s fastest (even if I could afford them!) but I do care about what they look like. Maybe that’s odd, but it matters. I don’t need to get to a portion of a zone at the speed of light, it’s all about looking good while I do it!

So, what about everyone else out there, what sort of mounts entice you?

Making time to Game

stargrace November 16, 2009 2Comments

Some times it’s hard to find time to get everyone together in game, especially since we’re all busy with life and whatever it happens to be throwing our way. As such, I pretty much spent no time in game this weekend. It was refreshing, not because I don’t enjoy games, I do, but because I play games all day during the week for work – it was just nice NOT to be playing games on the weekend. Instead I went and visited my folks (who live about 45m south of me), went out and did groceries, headed to a fantastic Santa Claus parade that lasted a few hours, and bought a new LCD TV for the living room that’s just really nice. I even managed to play some Fable 2 on the Xbox which is something that barely happens because – you guessed it – I’m playing MMOs.

When I did manage to catch a few minutes in EQ2 I was planning out what I wanted to work on. Did I want to hunt down achievements, or concentrate on completing aa and letting those achievements come naturally. Who would be next to gear out, what instances did I want to complete. That sort of stuff. Ellithia (the mystic) is as geared as she’s going to get except for a few jewelery / ranged item bits. She’s fully mastered, has her mythical, and is wearing T4. There’s not a lot left I can do on her aside from finishing off her aa (she’s got three to go). Then I figure I’ll work on Stargrace, who can use some gear upgrades (she’s wearing a combination of T4 and T1 at the moment, as three T3 patterns sit in my inventory) and could also stand to finish off her aa. Next? I’m not really sure, but I’ve been thinking about my swashbuckler who is on my 2nd account. She has a few pieces of T2, most of her masters, has NOT completed her fabled epic yet, let alone the mythical version. She was working on that before I transferred her from Oasis to Antonia Bayle. Sounds like a good project to me.

I also have a few crafters I’d like to complete, Goudia (the trobuador alchemist) has been 80 for a number of months now and I’ve never completed her crafting epic. No real reason for that aside from the fact that I’ve done it so many times already I just wasn’t in the mood.

So as anyone can see, there are LOTS of things I COULD be doing in game. Now I just need to find the time to do it.

A Month in Screen Shots

stargrace November 15, 2009 0Comment

I am constantly taking screen shots in game – I mean, so many that I have folders upon folders of screen shots over my last 10 years of gaming. I’ve decided to add a new feature once a month that will include a month of my EQ2 experiences in screen shots, since there are a lot of shots that never make it to this web site. So, here’s the month of October.

The guild of Torrent Knights decided to band together for an evening and complete old raid zones that we had either never been to, or missed the achievement for. It required a lot of traveling, and I’ve always loved the view of the Oracle Tower in Antonica.

The Festival of Discord on the Antonia Bayle server was a huge success, and the decorations were superb. Thank you everyone involved! I had a blast roleplaying as Stargrace.

Nights of the Dead took place, lots of haunted houses and vampires. I loved that we managed to obtain the smokey mirrors to craft this year.

The rat race took place, hosted by the Community Team, I didn’t partake in the actual race, but I did cheer from the side lines and kept those guides and other people busy with my pillow throwing antics. A great time was had by all.

Looking forward to posting Novembers screen shots next month!

Saturday Book of the Day

stargrace November 14, 2009 1Comment

(( Every Saturday I try to post one of the books from my collection in the Norrathian Museum I have on the Antonia Bayle server. If you’re interested in donating a book to my library please feel free to mail Ellithia in game (I’ll even send you a blank book if you’re creating from another server) and if you’d like to visit the museum yourself, please feel free. It’s located in North Freeport, at the magical housing in the mage tower. There are over 100 player written books in my collection so far, and I plan on adding as many as I can. ))

The Path To Decay Part 1 – By Kikiriki

Meeka never knew what hit her.
The young mother screeched as claws shredded her flesh, and the flesh of her children.  The band of Kerran Brigands was ruthless, laughing and snarling the entire time as they tore a limb off here, ate some flesh there. The screams were horrendous, and most likely enough to keep even the bravest souls within their hovels.

With the last of the mother Ratonga’s strength she threw the tiny golden-furred pup she had been clutching, the runt of her large litter, under a merchant’s stall. The small ratling just barely rolled under it before the Kerra fixed their gaze upon Meeka.

“Lives!” she just managed to cry before another Kerra took her head from her shoulders.

When the cat men had finished their grisly meal they quickly made their escape, leaving the tiny child to fend for herself.

The next morning the Militia found the bloody scene. Partially eaten Ratonga bits, both mother and child, scattered as far as the eye could see in bloody smears of gore. A Tier’Dal guard poked Meeka’s remains with a steel boot.

“Mother and her offspring. Attacked by Kerra, judging by the footprints. I suppose we’ll be the ones to clean it up,” he snarled to his ogre companion with barely veiled disgust.

“I think we should report it.” grumbled the looming ogre, scratching is head.

The elf scoffed, “As though anyone would come forward with information about this! Are you mad? I certainly have no desire to complete worthless paperwork over this. Just…get a bucket of seawater and wash it away.”

From the ground by the guards’ feet, the little golden-furred Ratonga sneezed in high pitch. The Dark Elf immediately noticed the noise, his long ears perked, and bent low under the stall to investigate.

“Well. What do you know? They missed one…” he grinned wickedly as he roughly grabbed  the little female by the scruff of her neck. She squealed, but made no move to fight back. The Ratonga was so light that even the Dark Elf could hold her up in front of his face. His crimson eyes studied her with avarice. “A new thrall… my children could use a new plaything I think. Last I heard, the old one died horribly. This one will be a suitable replacement.”

The ogre grunted.

“Ya ain’t s’posed to take slaves on duty, Dartar. Cap’n said. Ya know what happened last time.”

Narrowing his eyes to slits, the Teir’Dal glared at the little pup. After some hesitation, he shoved the tiny creature under an arm.

“Fine. I’ll look for any surviving relatives… Uguut, get that bucket of seawater and see to this mess.” The elf paused as he glanced to the bloody mess ecompassing the street and walls before him, “…Better yet, use a barrel of seawater instead.”

“You got it.”

With that business attended to, Dartar walked through Temple Street with the golden-furred child under an arm. He searched about through the bustling rats, seeing if any of them were female. He stopped several Ratonga, held the child by the scruff, and asked if they knew her name or her mothers. For a while it seemed Dartar would end up with a thrall for his children at the end of the day. Surely the Lieutenant would allow him to keep the unclaimed rat. However, that end was not to be, as one elderly female Ratonga with a gray muzzle and patchy coat recognized the little pup.

“Meeka’s pup… Hers name is Kikiriki, dear… How dids you comes to have her in yours care?” the elder asked with a mostly toothless smile. She only remembered Kikiriki’s name because of how truly small the child was.

“What is left of her family is smeared by the merchants stalls by the gate.”

The elderly female’s warm expression shattered into horror.

“….she is the onlys one lefts?”

The guard was quite amused at the old Ratonga’s reaction.

“Thrown under a stall as it were. But enough of that. Has she any other benefactors?” Dartar grumbled.

“Nones… the poors dear is all alones in the worlds.”

The elf grinned darkly.

“Then I shall take her.”

The old woman’s horror replaced itself with anger, “Now justs a minutes, sirs… You can’ts just claims a child likes that!”

“Tell me, old one, who would care? No one can lay claim to her as you’ve just said.”

“Oh, I sures can. Give her heres!” she replied to the elf, and without permission grabbed the pup from him and cuddled her protectively, “I’lls care for hers.”

Dartar grumbled as the elder kept her gaze on him while turning her body, and therefore the child, away from him. Now he’d have to find another thrall for his children to play with. Slaves weren’t terribly cheap, either. Thinking further, the guard realized that this would give him a perfect excuse to raid Antonica again. The little pup soon left his mind.

“See that you do, Citizen.”

With that, Dartar nodded once, and walked off to find his ogre companion. Tonight, there would be a hunt.

The elder Ratonga, Shursha, quickly shuffled off to her meager hovel, Kikiriki bundled protectively in her arms. Once inside, she lay the child on her tattered bed and covered her with a mended blanket. Soon after, she began patting her back now and then, humming a soft and relaxing tune. In her spry days, the elder had been a bard.

“Supposes the works of a mothers is never dones, is its love? …My poors child,” soothed Shursha.

For small Kikiriki, the following years would be tumultuous indeed.

Reinstalling Games, and Pre-Order Thoughts

stargrace November 13, 2009 6Comments

The last two days have resulted in very little game time, although I knew that would be the case. I finally took the plunge and upgraded my beta version of Windows 7 to the full version of ultimate. This meant that once again I spent two days reinstalling everything to the computer. Along with that, I decided to reformat two of my three drives, and then organized what was going on them. It was really about time and I feel great having a computer that’s organized and tidy. After a few years everything I’ve put on it was starting to add up. It also gave me the chance to get rid of all of the games that I’m not playing, or played once, or thought about playing, downloaded, and then left them in their folders. I took care of the main games: the Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons and Dragons Unlimited, EverQuest, EverQuestII, Vanguard, Wizard 101, Sims 3Torchlight, Dragon Age, Aion, and Guild Wars. The rest will have to be added as I get to them.

The screen shot is that healer charm that I finally managed to get from Kurns. The mana is quite low on it, but I enjoy the rest of the stats and the clicky can be used every four minutes or so which really comes in handy. Especially on fights in Kurns where you’re casting cures constantly. In fact I’m pretty sure I spend more time curing in TSO then anything else. I’m really hoping Sentinel’s Fate will not be more of the same.

Speaking of which, the pre-orders started yesterday. The retail version allows you into the expansion a week early – something that I’m not personally keen on. I don’t think I’m going to bother pre-ordering, I don’t mind waiting a week to experience the content. Of course that means that I’m going to be moaning and complaining when the time actually comes, but that’s alright. I imagine that raid guilds and other hard core guilds may actually require their guild mates to pre-order retail, so that they can be ‘first’ in line to experience those things. Especially since there’s an extra 10 levels added to the game on top of all of those raid zones.

We’ll just have to see!