2010

Reaching 60 in World of Warcraft (finally)

This weekend was pretty productive when it came to MMOs, and I had a great time which is always an added bonus. It started off with me doing some dungeon runs in world of warcraft on my priest. I’ve been pretty eager to reach level 60 (for obvious reasons) but even before that I was trying to inch my way to 58 so that I could finally experience some new zones and all of this fantastic gear I kept hearing about. Dungeons are pretty stressful to me, even though I’ve been playing healers for quite some time. I have no idea why, I don’t find myself stressing nearly so much in EQ2, and I’m not sure why I care so much in games about how well I’m doing. I mean, it’s supposed to be a game, right?

Dire Maul was relaxed and easy, but then I headed to another zone (pictured above) and while the group started out wonderful (seemingly) with a rogue who was pointing us in ‘all the right places’ the truth of the matter is that they were there for one particular kill. So they lead us to that kill (ignoring the vast majority of the zone) and when their item didn’t drop they bailed on the group. None of us had been there before and the experience quickly turned frustrating. We stuck with it and managed to complete the zone after a few mishaps, but it was still a sour experience for me personally. I’m still trying to find my ‘niche’ as a healer, it’s difficult when the groups are so much different then what I’m used to. in EQ2, things are orderly, and I have a lot of group heals for the times when they are not. In WoW I don’t have nearly the same affect with my group heals, and it seems like everyone is constantly running off on their own and pulling mobs towards the group. So instead of a group with one tank, I have four tanks to keep healed at the same time, and while normally I’m a fairly good judge on my tank and I can ‘tell’ almost like a 6th sense when I need to cast a heal in order to prevent a death, in WoW I find that a lot harder to judge. I’m sure it will come with time, and maybe I’m being too hard on myself, but I pride myself on playing my characters very well, and having people die in a group (be it their fault or mine) is not something I enjoy.

After two instance runs myself and Manos (troll warrior) were ready to head to that magical portal that would take us to better gear upgrades – and more levels. I was excited. Sure, burning crusade is an old expansion now, but I have never stepped into the zone, despite having owned it for a few years.

Well, they certainly weren’t kidding about the gear upgrades. It was great. Everything was an upgrade. In a few hours we both managed to inch our way to level 60 – my highest level character in all my years of playing.

Of course WoW wasn’t the only game I played this weekend, and I’ll make sure to post about those other experiences in my next post this morning. It was still a fantastic milestone for me to reach, and I’m quite happy about it. Now I just need to work on my tailoring and enchanting, earn some more cash for mounts (I decided to dual spec the priest in a dps and heal spec, so I’m quite broke) and I’ll be set.

I hope everyone else had a fantastic weekend no matter where they found themselves, and happy gaming!

Book of the Day – Darkness Comes by Zanadi

(( Every weekend I like to post one of the books I have in my Norrathian Library on the Antonia Bayle server for others to read who may not be able to visit in person – you can donate to my library by sending a book to Ellithia, or if you’re from another server I will gladly donate a blank book to you so that you can send it back to me. The library itself is located in North Freeport at the mage tower (bottom floor) under the magical housing. Please feel free to stop by! ))

Darkness Comes – By Zanadi
book 1

The sunset was beautiful this night with the warm reds and oranges. The breeze blew just right stirring the warm air. On a hill sat a young looking woman in a faded blue cotton dress. Her dark brown hair pushed back behind Ayr’dal ears.She was picture perfect, smooth skin just tan enough to proudly show her ruddy red markings. She brushed her hand gently through the lush grass she was sitting in. A warm smile creased her face as a man quietly approached her from behind, settling himself beside her.

“Hello my love.” Her voice was a sweet as honey. She leaned over, resting her head upon him. He grinned back at her, encasing her tiny hand in his.

“What brings you out here dearest? You are a long ways from the wagons.”

“Oh aye but I wanted to see the sunset. Beautiful isn’t it?”

He looked right at her totally ignoring the hues that crested the land. “Yes, she is.”

She looked over at him and her smile grew. There was no place she’d rather be than content within his arms. She always had found it funny how opposite they were. She preferred the night while he preferred the day.

He hated to break the moment but something weighted heavy on his mind. “Maynace, someone came by the house looking for you today.” Gone was the light hearted feel to his words, replaced by something more serious.
“Hrm? I wasn’t expecting anyone. Who was it?”
“It was Tishnar. Nace, the old man isn’t going to give up.”

Her face fell and she sighed. “He means no harm Ryac.”
“That is what you say. You do not see his eyes. The old necromancer wants you for his own. I told him to leave.”
She sat up and turned to look at him. “You didn’t.”
“I did. I’ll not having him bothering you.”

They settled back down together their hands intertwined. It was the perfect moment as the last of the sunset faded. Darkness began to creep over the land. One may have thought it from the absence of the suns but as it creeped over the hill and along the land the cold came with it. As it touched each blade of grass, it wilted. Each flower succumb to the absence of light dropping it’s beautiful petals and dying. The darkness here had a purpose.
Maynace…

Slowly it killed everything in it’s path, creeping along the ground. Maynace and Ryac stood in disbelief as it called out to her.

Maynace…

“She’s not yours necro!” Ryac screamed out to the dark nothing as he grabbed her hand and then they were running. They ran and ran until their lungs burned and Maynace thought she’d collapse. Yet still the darkness followed behind them leaving a trail of death in it’s wake.

They ran for what seemed like hours but in truth was more of mere minutes as the darkness licked at their feet. A branch pulled up before them catching Ryac’s foot. He went down hard with a thump.

“Ryac!” She screamed and grabbed at him, pulling for all she was worth.
“Run Nace! Do not stop!”
“I won’t leave you!”
“GO!”

She looked back at the darkness. It would be on them in seconds. “Never forget I love you Maynace. Never. Live for me.”

She was still holding his hand as the dark nothing creeped up his legs and over his body. It tickled at her fingers as she screamed forcing her to release him. She watched horrified as his body decayed and died before her eyes. He was still calling her name as his jaw fell from his rotting corpse.

“Ryac!”  There was no time to stop to weep and once again she was running. The darkness called out to her again.

Maynace…

“You won’t have me! Never!” She screamed as she ran. A high pitch shrill filled the black of night. The nothing surged forward surrounding her tired worn feet.

“NEVER!”

But it held her fast in place, tripping her to the ground. She gasped as it first crept over her legs to her hips. Her dress rotted and fell apart. She clawed at the ground to pull herself away, kicking until her legs became dust. Panic screamed in her eyes. Slowly it made it’s way up her body until it consumed her. As it took in her innocence it stops. A saddness replaces the cold and in an instant the darkness is gone.

What 2009 Meant for Me

Just a very quick post that I’m post dating to the 9th (even though today is the 15th) because I saw I had a blank spot on the calendar. Sneaky? Sure maybe but it’s my site so that’s what I get to do!

2009 was pretty impressive for me personally, especially in relation to work and games (since my work relates directly to games). Despite the fact that I spent a good 7 months of it sick and bedridden, I still think it was an alright year. I’m hoping that 2010 will be even more impressive. Here are a few things that really stand out in my mind about 2009, and memories that I’ll never forget.

– February 2009, I was informed that I would be heading to San Diego for a day to interview the good folks at SOE. I had about two weeks to prepare for the trip, including getting my passport, and it was probably the most hectic thing I’ve ever done in my entire life. It included 1 day flying, 1 day interviewing, and 1 day flying home (I do live on the other side of NA after all). It was also the most amazing thing I’ve ever done (to date). It was a very surreal experience to speak with developers of EQ, EQ2, and Vanguard, and I received an exceptionally warm welcome by the EQ2 community team. As my first ‘on site’ interview, it was not something I will ever forget.

– Sadly I caught the midori virus while I was there *snickers* and it stuck with me for a few months. I went through some pretty painful health issues, and it lasted until October. Not a happy camper, I had great support from my friends, and did my best, continued my work for Beckett although most of that was from my bed.

– Fall 2009 I received an unexpected phone call from Eric Bloom of Blue Oyster Cult. He was playing wizard 101, and wanted some game tips, and I learned about what a huge gamer he is. He talked about all sorts of things from World of Warcraft, EQ2, Wizard 101, and I have to admit one of the funniest comments from him was ‘I don’t have to explain to you who I am, right?’ when he was talking about how some times he lacked time to game, due to other press obligations. It was neat to finally realize that hey, everyone plays video games.

– Year long I continued to grow in terms of work, I went from writing 1-3 articles per issue to writing 6-7 on a steady basis. I also got a promotion, and now handle web news and all of my own PR when it comes to the games I cover. I think I’ve learned a lot, and still have a long way to go. I managed to make a blog post almost every single day on MmoQuests.com which is something I’m really happy about.

I’ve learned a lot about myself. I’ve learned even more about MMOs and even about players. I’ve met a wonderful community that I continue to hold close to me (granted I can’t really hold anyone close on Twitter) and I like that I managed to keep my values and morals in tact when it comes to writing about video games. I’ve kept a (mostly) positive attitude in everything I write, and I hope to continue that through 2010, whether it’s boring or not, it’s who I am.

I’m excited about what 2010 will bring, and I hope everyone else is too!

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself.

Choices in MMOs

I was running out of ideas on what to post this morning (it’s been “one of those” weeks) – and didn’t want to break the three year streak of posting on a daily basis, so thankfully Calthine over on twitter suggested I ‘blog about too many choices in MMOs’. Something I hadn’t really thought of a whole lot.

As much as I love to game (and trust me, I game a lot) there comes a time when I really don’t want to have to think. I don’t want a huge selection of choices on where to go and what to do. Some times I just want to pop into a game and simply play. MMOs are not exactly the type of games that offer this I’ve discovered. If I want that sort of game play (and it doesn’t happen often, but it does happen) I typically pick up a console game. RPGs offer a great selection of ‘follow the story’ where I feel as though I’m progressing, but I don’t have to worry about who I’m playing or what I’m doing.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying I want LESS choice in my MMOs, I certainly don’t. I’m just saying that some times, having that much choice simply doesn’t appeal to me. Some times I have no idea who I want to play. What server I want to play on, whether I want to quest, adventure, mentor, craft, collect shinies, or any other huge selection of things in EQ2. Some days even figuring out what game to play is a chore in itself. It’s nice that there are SO many games out there, and so much selection, but in times of confusion, or when all you want is something comforting, it can create a headache.

Am I the only person who gets like this? Do we develop gaming ‘habits’ where we log into our favorite MMO with no indication of what to do and simply sit around and log off a few hours later having done nothing ‘productive’ at all out of habit? If I logged into a PC game or a console game I know with a pretty clear mind what I’m going to be doing in any particular game. Again I’m not saying it’s bad, but it makes me think even more about the different types of gaming out there, and how a lot of us are simply not satisfied with one method.

I have no idea if this is what Calthine had in mind when she offered the suggestion, but at least I got a post out of it today (grins). Happy gaming no matter where you find yourself, and I’ll see you in Norrath.

Ellithia’s Estate – Creative Housing

Pictured above is the stats for my Norrathian Museum – I couldn’t help but laugh yesterday as I looked at the placed items – only 428 items register as part of the house count but there are really 712 items in the house already. With a limit of 700 that count. Basically what this says is all of my books (thankfully) don’t count towards my house limit, and by the time all is said and done, I will have over 1,000 items in my 700 item home. I’m excited about this, I’ve never had so many items before.

It was important to me to finish off the Champion of Bayle quest (beginning in Qeynos Harbor in the Inn) and the Champion of Lucan D’Lere quest (beginning in West Freeport under the crushed citadel) so that I could not only gain the titles, but have two new house items (the Soulfire replica and Claymore replica) to add to the museum. I’ve also gotten the frozen sword that comes from the Heroic Frostfell instance, and added that.

I don’t want my museum to become TOO crowded. Despite the fact that there are over 700 items within the home, I think I’ve done a fairly good job at spacing them. Pretty soon it will be time for me to start working on another home for a different character, and leave the museum to random ‘updates’ like adding books to the library, or a painting here and there. There’s still some display cases that could use items down in the basement, but aside from that, it’s a pretty good representation of “norrath” – or so I feel.

There are a few limited items that I wish I had not of lost over the years, so that I could add them. One would have to be the miniature griffin statue that we received for helping build the griffin towers a few years ago. I had one and lost it in one of my server transfers, at the time I thought nothing of it. Now that a few years have gone by I really wish I had it. There are a few other items like that, not that I can remember them currently.

I enjoy being able to look through a home that I’ve created and decorated and see my play history. I like that a piece of me in game tells a story, and that I can look through it and see five years of game play put into various corners. It’s a little creative outlet for me, and I’m very thankful that EQ2 has this feature. I wish more games had their players involved to such a degree. I don’t know what I’ll do when Sentinel’s Fate comes out, and with it a whole collection of new house items. I’ll just have to start over in a new house I suppose! Too bad we can’t own ‘country homes’ or something, so we can own more then one house per character – that would be a neat idea. Who wouldn’t want to escape to Maj’Dul to get away from the hustle and bustle of Freeport or Qeynos!

Thursday! Almost Friday, and almost the weekend. Have a great day no matter where you find yourself, and I’ll see you in Norrath.

Nomadic Gamer