February 2010

Sentinel’s Fate NDA Drops

Of course by now we’ve all heard the news that the NDA for Sentinel’s Fate has dropped – and with it comes a flood of excitement as we learn about all the goodies headed our way. I had the privilege to partake on a tour With Kiara and Timetravelling mid January, and we had a blast!

I’m looking forward to posting more information about the expansion as the days get closer to the live release – and I’ve also got a preview in the next Beckett MOG Issue #24 that hits stores at the end of March, so be on the look out for that (There are also articles on Wizard 101, Fallen Earth, and Aion that I’ve written in that issue).

I have to say one of the very basic things that appeals to me right from the get go is the absolutely astounding graphics in this expansion. I’m more excited about those then all of the level cap increases, dungeons, battlegrounds, stat revamps, and crafting additions combined.

What about everyone else?

Lets Talk Dungeons

Everyone has their favorite dungeon, just like we all have our favorite zone. Maybe it’s that zone we’ve done a million times looking for an elusive piece of gear, or maybe it’s a zone that dropped everything we’ve ever wanted. For me personally, it’s zones that challenge the group – and also look amazing. Of course, I have to be with the right group of people to enjoy these places. I rarely PUG, not because I don’t enjoy meeting new people (I do) but mostly because I dislike it when others tell me how to do my job (who barely know what my ‘job’ is) or when I seem to get stuck with a group of people who have no idea what they’re doing so I end up dying 10 times on the first pull while they blame the healer (me).

I have really bad luck with dungeons, I always have. My saying is that if I didn’t have bad luck, I’d have no luck at all. That healer shield that supposedly drops from Obelisk of Ahkzul? I’ve never seen it. I’ve ran that zone so many times I couldn’t begin to count, and that shield has evaded me every single time. It has overloaded heals on it, which is why I want it. Have wanted it, for over a year now.

The charm that drops in Kurn’s Tower is another one of those ‘never dropping’ items – though I do have that one on my mystic. It refuses to drop for any other healer of mine. Don’t even get me started on those charms in the Jarsath Wastes EA.

What about everyone else? Have a favorite dungeon story you’d like to share? Have you also been doing them over and over searching for that last piece of gear that will make your character complete?

Let me know below!

Happy 3rd Anniversary Vanguard

January 30th marked the 3rd anniversary of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. For those who are playing the game or perhaps have an active account (I realize some may be active with station access but not actually playing currently) you’ll want to make sure you jump into game and head to NT, Aghram, or Tower Galan and speak with a Telon Historian for a bag of goodies (pictured to the right). I logged in all seven of my characters in order to claim them – for one reason. See that Special Anniversary Bag listed There? Well. It’s 36 slots of pure awesomeness, with stats on top of it. Unlike the special bag that came from the first anniversary this one is able to be claimed on every character so long as you log in and find yourself that Historian.

There were also events in game – including a Ustream event. The downside is that this was only on the test server, which I didn’t have patched. VG is large enough on its own without me patching the extra server right now. I would have never made it in time either. *sighs* With only four servers in the game to begin with I can see why having one ‘local’ server may have been the best bet, but I would have still rather seen the event moved to the live servers. Show players who may not have been ‘in the know’ what is going on with their game. That’s right, people DO still play!

I wish I had unlimited time to play unlimited games. Vanguard has always been really high on my list of games I adore, but I just can’t devote as much time to it as I’d like. I still belong to my very active guild, and I still own my home that I built from scratch. I’m not THAT far from the current level cap of 55 (I’m sitting at 44 on my Bloodmage) and I’m a level 50 crafter. I haven’t touched diplomacy as much as I’d like (my highest level diplomat is still only 10 or so) and there are so many places in the world of Telon I’ve yet to explore fully. That’s one thing Vanguard really has going for it. It’s an entire world, and it FEELS like a world.

Happy 3rd Anniversary Vanguard – and whether the road is rocky or not, I’m hoping for many more.

Nomadic Gamer