Nomadic Gamer

October 2010

Gaming

Skirmishes, A Home, and Levels

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Exciting times with my gaming lately. Not only does WoW have a large update due in today, but so does EQ2, and House of Thule goes live for EQ. Thankfully while all three of these games are down for maintenance, I can still dive into LotRo to get my ‘fix’ (that was sarcasm there folks).

I spent most of yesterday playing, having a VIP account until the end of February. Toargo also has a VIP account until December, so we haven’t had to purchase any content yet. Not that it has stopped me from ogling the store, especially those cosmetic items. I’m a sucker for a pretty dress/hat/backpack. As I mentioned yesterday I did purchase the riding skill (which is 75% off) for my four characters for 48 turbine points. I find almost everything in the store is really well priced except maybe the shared bank slots item and I can understand why that one is so pricey. I enjoy the way the store is set up, and I’m confident I’ll be making a few more purchases over time. I wish I had picked up a life time account when they were available.

In game my Minstrel went from 29 to most of the way through 31 – sure I had accumulated a lot of rest experience but the bulk came from doing skirmishes. I had never done these before, always being slightly out of reach level wise. When the game went Free-To-Play a bunch of options that used to unlock at 35 (riding, skirmishes) lowered in level to 20. To be honest I didn’t have the faintest idea what these were about. I was pleasantly surprised when I did the tutorial, and then even more so when Toargo and I decided to team up and complete the newer ones as a duo. Apparently these skirmishes work almost like daily quests, the first time you complete them (each day?) you earn a good chunk of experience. We completed all that were open to us and racked up tokens and other goodies. I upgraded a few pieces of gear as well as my soldier. I own three of them now. The default warrior that everyone starts out with (which I did not upgrade), then I also purchased a sage for when Toargo (who plays a guardian and has a herbalist soldier) is around, and a protector for myself when I’m out soloing. I haven’t actually tried the protector yet, and it’s lacking a lot of skills, but I’m interested in seeing how I do. The first time through I used the sage and had her tank due to damage agro, and just healed through it.

You can purchase a whole lot of ‘stuff’ with skirmish tokens. There’s gear, potions, cosmetic items, skills and traits for your soldier, a huge selection of NPC selling level based items. The more players involved in your skirmish the better the items for sale. For example the classic skirmishes require you to be in a full fellowship, and reward some outstanding looking gear (to me at least) for my level. Problem is I rarely see anyone from CoW (Casualties of War, my Kinship) on these days, and well. We all know how much I just LOVE to PUG.

I also bought my first ever LotRO home. I could never afford one previously and I couldn’t afford a 7g one (maybe some time in the future) but I had enough saved up to purchase a 1g home and a few furnishings for it. My favorite feature is that I had saved a door mouse house item from when I first created my characters, and finally got to place it. I was tickled pink when I noticed a little grey mouse running out from the hole in the wall to nibble on some cheese I had placed. I purchased a home in Bree-Land, which is just fantastic looking. I live at 8 Chestnut Street, in the neighbourhood of Ellham. While housing is not as customizable as other games I have played (EQ,EQ2,VG) at least it exists and it is absolutely beautiful. My home over looks the entire lot, and there’s a guild hall next door. It’s backed by rocks and I planted a few trees outside. I love how I have a mailbox.

I’m excited to see where my travels take me next. I was afraid when the game went F2P that the community would suffer, but so far the community has persevered and aside from channels being a little ‘spammy’ with conversation, it seems like Landroval at least has upheld it’s role play aura.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Gaming

It’s a Goat, of Course

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I picked up a few 60 day time cards for LoTRo just before it went F2P for half price (of course now the price has gone back up) and I’m really glad I did. This gives me VIP access until February some time, as well as monthly turbine points. Including the ones I had already accumulated, I’m up to 2500 or so and today I made my first purchase. Sure, I know I could quest for the riding skill, but I was eager to use my dusky nimblefoot goat – so I purchased it for a whole 48 turbine points. Since I don’t have to buy a mount to use, I think it was well worth it.

The goat came from pre-ordering Mirkwood, and my 29 Minstrel is the first character who is able to ride it. I like how it’s not a typical horse mount, the basket on the end bounces as I ride, and the lantern sways. It’s a great deal faster then my starter pony, and I’m really happy with my first purchase.

It’s been a little while since I’ve delved into the world of Middle-Earth and I barely remember how to play. I have four characters (each are crafters) which is more then enough for me. I may decide to go play one of the lower level characters I’ve got to get re-familiar with the areas. Pictured above is Lysthia (on the Landroval server if you want to say hello) who is an expert Armourer (that means she does prospecting, metalsmithing, and tailoring).

As always I love the way this game looks and am eager to see where my adventures take me. I may even try a skirmish or two since they lowered the level requirements.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

P.S. Sorry for the lackluster post, but it’s thanksgiving day and I’m stuffed with turkey. Om nom nom.

Gaming

Why so Much Emphasis?

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After reading a number of early morning blog posts left over in my RSS reader from yesterday, I found myself wondering: Why do gamers put so much emphasis in what we and others are playing. Especially others. Why do we even care? Every day I read a post from one or more authors that includes some sort of semi derogatory remark condoning a group of players simply because of how they choose to spend their time. Or, to be more precise, where they choose to spend their time.

There are those who have made up their minds that everyone who plays a free to play game must be a certain ‘class’ of gamer. How dare they actually enjoy ‘the grind’ that comes with a lot of these games. Don’t they know that in the long run they’ll pay more for their “free” game then some people will pay for their monthly subscription?! Then there are the WoW gamers. Don’t even get me started on these people. I have heard everything from how close minded they are to how stupid they must be, simply because of where they choose to spend their time. It’s as though we as gamers have moved into certain categories and stereotypes not based on who we are, but because of where we play.You ask a fellow blogger their game of choice and suddenly your opinion of them shifts slightly.

So I ask again – why does this aspect of a person even matter. Why are we so keen to judge someone based on a persons decision to spend their free time where they wish. I have even heard people go so far as to say they do not like a particular person because they play certain games that they are not fond of. Really? Are we so shallow that we are now making character judgements based on video games?

I simply don’t understand it.

In my opinion it doesn’t matter where you play, so long as you have fun. In fact voicing my opinion about any other ‘type’ of gamer is a moot point because when it comes to how others are spending their time – my opinion doesn’t matter! It’s their time, their money, and what I think of the matter is completely irrelevant. I refuse to classify a person based on whether they’re playing EQ2, EQ, VG, LotRo, WoW, WAR, DDO, Darkfall, Wizard101, Runes of Magic, EVE, Alganon, Fallen Earth, Lineage II, Allods, Champions, STO, Free Realms, Aion, FFXIV, SWG, Guild Wars, AoC, or any other game.

Go play, and enjoy. Don’t like it? Move on and find something you DO enjoy. It’s a game. They’re supposed to be fun. There are SO many games out there and despite what others would say about them all cloning one another there are always unique factors to each and every game – you may be surprised at what you end up playing and enjoying. I implore gamers to make their own decisions about what they like and don’t like, and refuse to be classified into a category of gamer simply because of where they spend their time.

Gaming

Giving Players Things To Do

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I feel that it’s essential for games to offer players something else to do – some mindless goal to work towards so that they’re not constantly doing the same thing all of the time. Other wise they’ll complete that one goal they set out to do, and then stop playing your game. Out of all of the games I’ve played over the years I still feel that no game does this better then the original EverQuest. The Alternate Advancement path was one of the greatest things, giving raiders and casual players alike goals to work towards. Now, you may say to me “But Stephanie! What about those new players who don’t HAVE thousands of points to spend, isn’t it hard for them to catch up?!” – No. The less aa you have, the faster you’ll earn them. The curve is not quite so far out of reach even if you are a new player.

These little points are small ways for players to customize their characters, connect with them, and feel more ‘unique’ compared to their friends and the masses. Of course EQ is not the only game with these (EQ2 has aa, WoW has their talents, WAR has a similar set up, LotRO has their method even). I still feel strongly that EQ is the best example of this. There are literally thousands of possibilities for players to chose from. A player who has dedicated a year or two to their character will not have the same achievements as someone who has just reached level 55 – or someone who has been playing for 10 years.

House of Thule has hundreds of new achievements for players to work towards. The level cap is going up by 5, and in the mean time there is a bonus granted to players who have a lower amount of achievements at the moment. It’s not a perfect set up, but it at least shows some consideration to ‘new’ players (I put emphasis on new because I’m not really sure that EQ is bringing in truly new players as opposed to returning players).

I’m excited, does it show?

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Gaming

House of Thule – Housing Basics

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Alright, there are a lot of really neat things coming out with EQ’s newest expansion “House of Thule” so I thought that since the NDA has been lifted, I’d make some posts about the basics. I’m going to start out with housing because it’s one of the largest (to me) changes and one that also may be the most confusing.

Houses serve a few purposes. Number one, you can use them for player storage, and number two, you can use them for social interactions (like guild meetings) and just plain fun like decorating.

The basic facts:

  • Very affordable, the largest house (three rooms) is 10k plat and a few thousand for smaller homes.
  • Upkeep can be paid through various means, all sorts of different currencies.
  • There is a housing UI where you can manage the items inside of your house, and the bonuses that trophies will give you
  • You can do a plot search, for empty plots or plots of your friends.
  • You can do a neighbourhood search, to see how many plots are taken and who has a plot where (in case you want to purchase one close to a guild mate).
  • There is a GIGANTIC selection of items to purchase for your home, including pets that you can place outside and action figures you can place inside that come with lore and old school music.
  • You can hang up weapons, you can place tradeskill stations, and you can craft furniture.

The neighbourhoods can be found at the back of the Guild Lobby, down a little hill behind an elaborate gate. You can search for which neighbourhood you’d like to go to from there. Once you’ve made your selection you’ll zone into the actual neighbourhood. Each house has a physical representation within the neighbourhood, as well as pads for teleportation within the zone, merchants for purchasing homes and furniture, craft stations, and a bank. Your first step may be to either pick out a house (there’s an NPC who says specifically they sell large houses or small) and they come in a very large choice of designs. After that you’ll want to check for an empty lot. You can do this again at an NPC near the entrance (thankfully these zones also come with maps).

Once you’ve found and made your way to an empty lot it’s simply a matter of standing within the giant square of land (it’s fenced off with a little stone wall for each section) and pick up the house on your curser and then drop it in the square of land. If it’s green that means you can place it. You can move it and rotate it to your liking using the place item commands.

Entering the home itself requires zoning, so it’s not exactly like Vanguard’s open neighbourhoods but it’s pretty close – something I am REALLY happy about. Each home is a physical building that players can see (as pictured above) rather then just a random door they enter (a la EQ2). The method of moving items around takes a little getting used to. They use the alt control and shift keys and the scroll wheel of the mouse to re-size and rotate. There are different ‘modes’ of placing items, one of them includes a collision mode. This leaves players with a LOT of control over their designs,  and I’m really interested to see what players come up with. Of course, we are limited to how many items can be placed within each home, and with so many options it may be hard to select.

I haven’t gotten a chance to check out what sort of bonuses the trophies give yet (mostly because I don’t actually OWN any trophies) but once House of Thule goes live October 12th I should be able to claim one from my collector’s edition of the game and report back on it.

With all of the new games constantly coming out, some times it’s nice to get excited about something so basic.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

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