Oh EQ2, what a fickle beast you are. I took a break from the game for a little while, playing Rift and WoW along with some other games (like Glitch and LotRO) which is pretty common for me. Everyone needs a break after all. Now with Nights of the Dead upon us I’ve returned, and the first thing I’ve started doing (aside from the Beastlord prelude quests) is decorating the much neglected guild hall. I’ve spent a couple hundred plat in furniture, even with a level 90 carpenter, mostly for those city festival items that I can only seem to find at particular times of the year. I built a stage with a small private members only room in behind it, along with a large bar (you can barley make out the end of it in the screen shot above) along with a library, and in another section I built a large pool with some chairs for relaxing. Upstairs I’d like to create some sort of forest, and downstairs core members each have their own room to decorate so I’ll have to work on that eventually. Ibeogur has been busy at work re-designing the crafting area. I was uninspired when it came to that section but it DOES need some work, so he decided to take over.
I’m once more faced with the decision of who to play. I have so many EQ2 characters that this is always a daunting task and I still haven’t completely decided. I typically play three ‘main’ characters:
- 90 defiler
- 90 swashbuckler
- 90 bruiser
These days I feel very little motivation to play the swashbuckler because she has max aa and is fairly well geared according to my play style. Her and the defiler also have all of their master spells and have for some time now (one of the few benefits of the level cap remaining at 90 for so long). I could work on achievements, but without earning some form of character progression (a la alternate advancement) it feels pointless. There is supposedly an expansion coming in November, but it feels incredibly odd that there has been so little said about it. I know this expansion is more of a ‘bug fix’ and the implementation of Beastlords then anything else, but EQ1 has had their beta going on for a month now already and also releases in November (forgive me if I’m off with dates here, it happens). On a side note, I’m very excited about the EQ1 expansion.
It seems like quite a lull before awesomeness follows, Skyrim is out in November, the sims 3 pets is out in a few days (I know, not exactly everyone’s cup of tea, but I am excited) SWTOR is out in December and a handful of other much anticipated games. So for now, we wait.
Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!
I’m just about to log in to start on the Nights of the Dead stuff. Mrs Bhagpuss has been doing it while I was at work and she’s clocked up several discoveries, which is always nice.
I am absolutely stoked about the Age of Discovery expansion. On paper it looks like the best EQ2 expansion since…well, probably ever. Mercenaries were the single best addition I ever saw to any MMO when they landed in EQ1. They pretty much added half a dozen or more expansions of content for us that we owned but had never seen. I don’t think the effect will be quite so dramatic in EQ2 but even so I am expecting to do a LOT of stuff with my mercs.
Beastlords means leveling another character, which I rarely need an excuse to do. I’m really looking forward to combining the Beastlord with mercenaries and leveling in a totally new way, though.
Then there’s the make-your-own-dungeon feature, which sounds absolutely mindblowing. I can see Mrs Bhagpuss losing six months just on that alone. I’m a hundred times more excited about an expansion of this kind than the usual routine of a couple of new outdoor zones and a dozen dungeons I’ll never even step into.
EQ2 is one of the games that really make it hard for me to like them. I want to like it, I really do; it has so many cool things. But I stopped playing after GU61 because it felt so horribly, horribly botched. Mind you, my highest character is a level 78-or-82-I-can’t-even-remember swashbuckler, so I haven’t even seen Velious yet.
It’s just that SOE seems to actively try and discourage their player base, and I’m not sure how much of that negligence I can take, even for a game I like that much. Maybe I”ll come back when they have their next inevitable “come back and play for free for 20 days” offer, and when Rift grows stale. I’m still in a weird in-between status in that game. The mechanics, I like, but the world hasn’t clicked with me yet.