2010

Old Haunts

stargrace April 18, 2010 1Comment

This weekend was spent in both EQ2 and EVE (my two favorite games as of late) and I had a blast. I’m still playing on multiple servers in EQ2 which is a little daunting but so far I seem to be doing alright. Even more confusing is that I play in three different guilds. Thankfully I run two of the three, so there’s not too much confusion. I took my mystic out to work on achievements, when SOE added these I was really excited. I admit it, I love working towards mindless goals that have no real purpose. They’re exciting to me, and give me one more “thing” to do on my characters.

The inquisitor and the coercer on Antonia Bayle both inched their way to level 85 – another step closer to having my 5th level 90 adventurer. The crafters have been taking a back seat as I work on crafting on Antonia Bayle, since neither of the characters I have there craft. One is an armorer and the other a carpenter. Or at least that’s the plan. We’ll see how it goes. The lofty goal of having 12 levle 90 adventurers and crafters is not exactly that far out of reach, which I find amusing. It’s not that leveling is difficult or that it takes a lot of time. In fact I’d say leveling from 81-90 is quite simple and quick especially if you have a group. Most of my leveling has been doing while visiting older zones. Yesterday I meandered with a friend through the Kingdom of Sky zones that I had never been to before (on the coercer). These included Halls of Fate, The Nest, Vaults, and Den of the Devourer. Blackscale will have to wait for another time, as I’m really not a fan of the one encounter where you have to spawn the named. Those were enough to grant me a level, and I was quite pleased.

Hopefully everyone else had an amazing weekend as well. Let me know what you’re up to in comments below!

Happy gaming, and I’ll see you in Norrath.

Ding 87 Coercer, and Other Goodies

stargrace April 17, 2010 1Comment

While most people are probably spending their time in Sundered Frontier or any number of other Sentinel’s Fate zones I’ve been wandering through older zones with one of my close friends, exploring content that this specific character had never done before. Yesterday we mentored down to 70 and 75 and headed first to Blackscale Sepulcher for the achievement, then to Sanctum of the Scaleborn (which was absolutely packed) and finally to Palace of the Awakened. Along the way I finished off the dungeon achievements for Kingdom of Sky which netted me a nice set of appearance gear. It looks like plate, which is nice since some times I get tired of the cloth look of the coercer.

In those zones the coercer climbed to level 87, which leaves a LOT of Sentinel’s Fate for me to do once I’m finally 90. I’m excited about this prospect. Since I’m playing on Antonia Bayle I have very little money and I can’t exactly afford to gear out the character (she was stripped down to nothing aside from her epic, so I very literally am starting from scratch). I purchased a few expert spells from someone who had a nice selection of coercer spells listed (15p50g which is a fairly good deal with the rares themselves are going for 14-15p each). My gear is absolutely horrid, but I’m hoping that once I hit level 90 I can work on that slowly.

I’ve been having an absolutely amazing time playing the coercer, and remembering why I love this class to begin with. I’ve always tried to play “what was needed” more then what I enjoyed, and this is a pleasant reminder that I really should just stick with what I enjoy.

Hopefully level 90 is not that far off, and then I’ll have more adventures to talk about instead of the oldschool grind that I’ve been doing. We’ll just have to see.

Happy gaming, and I’ll see you in Norrath!

DFC and other Instances

stargrace April 16, 2010 1Comment

Yesterday was one of those ‘if it can go wrong, it will go wrong’ days. It was a round of bad news followed by incredibly bad news followed by holy *bleep* please just let it be Friday. Thankfully, now it is. A new day is always a good thing. I attempted to burrow my head into game for the evening and just relax and forget everything that had gone on during the day. For the most part it worked. While some may argue that using video games as a way to ‘escape’ reality may be bad, I think as long as nothing is suffering (ie: you’re not actually neglecting real life) stepping away in order to cope better by being more relaxed, is a very good thing. There are lots of methods to relax after all.

My inquisitor lacks alternate advancement as I mentioned yesterday, being level 83 and only having 68 of them. My good friend asked if I’d like to do some of the lower level instances to gain some aa and they’d loot all of the items to be able to transmute. Of course I said yes and by the time everything was done I was sitting at 81 aa and I also managed to ding level 84. That’s right, I obtained an entire level doing zones like Ruins of Varsoon, Nektulos Castle, and Deathfist Citadel. We even completed the training is a shield Heritage Quest for a little extra fun, the first one my inquisitor has ever completed (slacker that I am).

It was a very relaxing evening, and exactly what I needed. As you can see above lots of chests dropped which enabled both of us to feel at least slightly productive even though we were doing much lower level content. Plus now that I’m nearing 100 aa I don’t feel quite as bad. My next goal is to inch my way towards 90 so that I can actually wear some proper gear and not be quite as horrible as I am right now. We’ll just have to see how that goes.

On a completely unrelated note, I am so very sorry to see Alan “Brenlo” Crosby leave Sony Online Entertainment. I met him last March when I flew down to San Diego, and he’s one of the most passionate people I saw within the community. I wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

Happy gaming, and I’ll see you in Norrath

Inquisitor Finishes Fabled Epic

stargrace April 15, 2010 2Comments

As I mentioned last week, I started playing on two servers once again. More to watch over the guild on Antonia Bayle so that it didn’t befall any more mishaps then anything else. I have a (now) 83 inquisitor over there named Stargrace. The last few days have been spent off and on trying to complete the fabled epic, and thanks to Ibeogur I managed to get it done. The inquisitor is a class I attempted to play once by betraying my templar but at the time I decided it wasn’t for me. I typically prefer “pure” healers, and playing a healer who is expected to DPS just doesn’t mesh. This time around I’m having a lot of fun with it, even though the character lacks a LOT of gear and spells. Even worse then all of that she lacks achievements, sitting at a grand total of 70 after yesterday. At level 83 this is incredibly painful.

Again it gives me a goal to work towards and something to accomplish in game on top of what I’m already pursuing. I like having goals and objectives like this, it keeps me inspired to play and motivated. I’ve always been big on motivation and inspiration as anyone who knows me is aware of.

Oh, the biggest news I suppose would be that my T1 guild hall on Oasis is almost complete. There’s one more room to finish that I am hoping Kasul and I can turn into a forest garden, but after a LOT of work this week on it, the remainder of the hall is done. I have to say, I think the hall has the best library I’ve ever seen before, and a fantastic aquarium. I’m eager to create a carpenter on Antonia Bayle (since I have no characters there) so that I can begin the process anew. Speaking of which, the inquisitor has no harvesting skills. That’s going to have to change.

I hope everyone else is enjoying their time in game, no matter where you find yourself. Happy gaming, and I’ll see you in Norrath!

Great Friends, Great Stories

stargrace April 14, 2010 2Comments

Yesterday I celebrated my 29th birthday, and it was probably the best birthday I remember having in a very long time. Aside from the fantastic gifts from those closest to me (hugs) I also got a very unique gift from someone who understands my love of stories and roleplay – and especially gaming. He set up an elaborate story in game using zones like Nektulos Forest and Shimmering Citadel, and items like his house to move the story along. It was incredibly well done, and I had a blast playing through it.

The story was quite simple, my friend had gone missing. Supposedly kidnapped by a vampire and he left little hints and clues on how I could prevent worse fate from happening. I was given hints on where he was, and he had created a whole cast of characters to aid me on my adventure. My favorite would have to be Udoo – the ratonga pictured above. Absentminded and quite the little talker, it was hard to get him to focus on the task at hand, which was creating a potion for me to revert the apparent vampirism.

It took a few hours but eventually I discovered what had gone on, and even though it was almost 2am and I was (literally) falling asleep at my desk I had an incredible time playing through the scenario. I love presents like that, they create memories that I’ll be able to treasure and it was a really awesome way to involve my passion for gaming.

There’s a bunch more details I’d love to post here, but it’s one of those dorky “you just had to be there” moments.

Happy gaming, and thank you for all of the birthday wishes!