2011

A Simple Difference of Opinion #EQ2

stargrace July 14, 2011 1Comment

It never fails. I’m sitting in the public channels while going about something in game and I hear the usual conversation of “such and such game sucks” and numerous reasons why. One reason that always seems to come up is “the graphics are too much like a cartoon and that must mean it’s for little kids”.  I’ve never really understood this complaint because it’s an art style, and has nothing to do with game play. You’re not expected to like every single art style out there but why the hatred towards those that do? Why is it so difficult for MMO players in specific to understand and respect a difference in opinion. A lot of people are not fond of the style of art found in Aion – but I wonder if they look at the art style and associate it with a type of game, and thus they’ve already judged what sort of game it is before even giving it a shot. The same goes for any other game out there – like World of Warcraft. Players take one look at the graphics, and go ew mentally in their head. Once you’ve come to that decision it’s really hard to open up and give it another chance. By that same token, there are those out there who do not like the look of EQ2 at all. Of course that’s going to affect your game play and decisions about whether or not to play because guess what, no one wants to spend hours looking at something they just find repugnant as a hobby. Well, maybe a few out there do. Most would rather not.

For those asking, yes I’m still playing on the Antonia Bayle server. I have a whole mess of characters if you want to add to friends: Stargrace, Ellithia, Jacquotte, Minxes, Ishbel, Faralithe, Arysh, Sharatan, Trinetta, Kameeko, Petites, Seduisant, and Seduit. I think that’s all of them.

Thanks to the newly acquired 2nd account from the other half, I’ve got my first 90 weaponsmith. He had leveled the character to 81 but hadn’t progressed any further, so last night I decided (as my bruiser was leveling) to do a few writs, and before I knew it I was 90. That means all I’m missing from my ‘collection’ is a sage and an armorer. Of course it also means I need to keep both accounts open if I want to make use of the other crafter, but that’s not too difficult of a choice for me at least (at this point in time). I am not sure if I will want to keep both accounts open once mercenary release, that’s something I’ll just have to wait and see.

My 9th level 90 managed to level up last night, the bruiser. That gives me 180% xp bonus for having max level characters, something I can take advantage of when the next expansion releases since there’s no increase. Leveling is really easy in EQ2 (at least, I find) and this will come in handy when I create a beastlord, as well as working on my aa points. I’m excited about the bruiser, I’ve never really played one to any great extent and they’re a lot of fun. Plus I’ve gotten some nice pretties for her over the last little while, so she’ll have some gear including a raid weapon.

Thursday! Only one more day until the weekend starts. I hope everyone is having a fantastic week thus far, no matter where you find yourself. Happy gaming! I’ll see you in Norrath (and Telon).

Pondering Progression #EQ2

stargrace July 13, 2011 2Comments

Progression is natural in most MMOs, and it’s no different with EQ2. There’s a progression of levels, be it crafting or adventuring, faction, gear, etc. A lot of people complain about progression along the lines of “what’s the point, it’s just going to be replaced in XYZ months” and to some degree they are correct. It’s still nice to be at your ‘best game’ before that happens though. Or at least that’s what I’ve found.

Guild mates and I headed to Kael and had a lot of fun. We did Iceshard Keep which was pretty easy for just four of us. My scout managed to get herself a new breast piece this morning which was fantastic, and I bought a 2hb weapon for the bruiser before leveling her to 85 – she has five more to go. I have four basic “mains” (this week at least) that I’ve been working on, one for each subclass, the bruiser (fighter), coercer (mage), swashbuckler (scout) and defiler (priest). The rest are just ‘for fun’ that I play around on when I’m bored or need a break. Because EQ2 is the only game I’m playing at the moment I need lots of “other stuff” to keep me interested. Thankfully, I find that easily in game.

A huge thank you to the 2nd person who has donated to MmoQuests (via paypal donation top right hand side) it’s really appreciated. I’ve had the site running for 6 years now and have been happily paying for hosting since I started. They made a suggestion that I feature more player-written books from my library – so I am going to take them up on that and tomorrows post will be one of the player-written books that I’ve got in my collection. I haven’t decided which one yet. If you have a suggestion for which one you’d like to read please feel free to leave it in comments below – I realize not everyone can get to my in-game library to enjoy the books. You can find the list of them under the heading at the top of this site.

While I am having fun in EQ2 I feel a bit odd about it because a lot of my friends are not playing. They’re sort of spread all over between Rift, STO, WoW, and a few other games. Some have given up MMO gaming all together, although I have been enjoying a lot of single player stories as of late. I suppose that’s one thing I really miss about “the old days” when there were fewer choices and I knew where everyone was. On that same note I’m very thankful for social media places like twitter and G+ because it allows me to keep in touch even though none of us are playing the same games any more.

I hope everyone is having a fantastic Wednesday, no matter where you find yourself. Happy gaming!

Great Guild, Great Fun #EQ2

stargrace July 12, 2011 0Comment

Last night was one of those hilarious nights that happen only once every so often and then I end up cherishing it for years to come. My guild mates and I don’t typically use voice chat, but every so often we get the urge and last night was the night. There was myself, Ultann, Wiqd, and Ibeogur and the laughs just didn’t stop. Our humor is completely off the wall and I’d have felt bad if any ‘regular’ people joined into the fray, there’s a reason Torrent Knights is a guild of 7 people rather then any of us joining an “actual” guild after all (we’ve tried that rout, a few times. It never works out).

Most of the later evening was spent in Kael trying to find gems for T2 Ry’Gorr armor that never dropped. I played the swashbuckler in the hopes that I could earn a few more aa (I’m sitting at 232 right now which I think is pretty nice). Yesterday I ended up losing 40 DoV shards thanks to a kitty keyboard attack that stopped production of the item, so I have a petition in to see if there’s any way I can get those back. 40 shards is a lot of dungeons (to me at least).

I’m really anxious to see the upcoming EQ2 changes. I’m eagerly awaiting the fixed itemization for gear 1-70 especially master crafted gear. There’s no reason for leather to have agi when brawlers and druids (the only two leather wearing classes at the moment) don’t use the stat. I’m sure it’s an enormous job to undertake but it’s been broken for far too long now.

As always, happy gaming no matter where you find yourself! I’ll see you in Norrath.

Betraying to Inquisitor #EQ2

stargrace July 11, 2011 1Comment

Petites (pictured left) is my templar – well. WAS my templar. She is now a proud inquisitor, sporting her enervated mythical thanks to guild mates last night who ran cella and research halls. Level 88 (almost 89) this will be my 8th level 90 character. She’s also my level 90 jeweler but more importantly she’s my very first EQ2 character that I created back in 2004. In fact she still has quests on her from early 2005 (screaming mace and another heritage quest) that I’ve never gotten around to completing. Now I keep them in there for nostalgia sake.

The bruiser is level 84, and I also have an 84 coercer, eventually I’ll have each of those to 90 as well I imagine. Last night I boxed with my new 2nd account, and moved a 90 necromancer over to AB so needless to say I have more then enough characters to fill whatever roll I happen to have my heart set on for the day.

The guild is doing great. We’re a small jump from 57, three more levels and we’ll have new bank tabs. We can always use those. It actually feels busy (during the weekends at least) with 6+ of us online, something I’m not used to. I enjoy our twisted sense of humor, and while we’re all typically doing our own things (we are far more of a social guild then anything else) it’s comforting to know friends are around. Plus amenity come in handy.

For those who may not have heard the announcement – EQ2 is going to be offline tomorrow for 7 hours for an update:

Beginning July 12, 2011 at 1:00 a.m. US Pacific Time, we’ll be performing maintenance on all games and services. During this maintenance, our forums, websites and games will also be unavailable. The estimated downtime for the maintenance is 7 hours.

We apologize for this interruption and will resume the affected services as soon as the maintenance is completed.

I wonder if this is to fix gifting (which has been disabled this past week due to heavy exploits) or any of the other numerous bugs that have shown up over the last little while. Two off hand (besides the station cash exploit) is guild halls and multi housing. If a player is inside the guild hall and relinquishes their home from the portal that takes you to your house, it will actually relinquish the guild hall. NOT a good thing. On that same note, if you happen to own multiple homes and transfer to a new server, all of those homes except your last purchase will vanish, along with everything inside of them. This one I know from personal experience as I have been waiting for the return of my home (via petition) since June 25th. No luck yet.

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend, no matter where you found yourself. Happy gaming!

Look Ma- I can Leap, and Glide! #EQ2

stargrace July 10, 2011 3Comments

When leapers and gliders released I decided to hold off because I knew everyone and their dog would be headed to Butcherblock and TT in order to start the quests. Yesterday I figured enough time had passed that I too should quest and join the ranks. The quests were pretty simple. You can obtain your leaper at level 30, the quest starts in Butcherblock Mountains. I really love how this mount works and unlike the glider it is easy to control (yes, I realize they’re working on a fix for the gliders but in the mean time.. watch out). The glider mount begins in Teneberous Tangle, and you can obtain it at level 60+. This mount is a pain to control but it’s also a lot of fun to move around with. You can quite literally glide across entire zones.

With the other half giving up EQ2 for good in order to play Rift, he passed his account on to me. I ended up server moving his 90 shadowknight and sex changing it to a female (as well as obtaining a name change). It feels really weird to have him officially give me his account because he’s been playing since release. After so much time spent in game he says he just doesn’t have the desire to spend that much time playing any more, plus there have been numerous SOE issues that he’s not content with. He’s been playing Rift since release and seems to enjoy it – and I can understand why. For me the game lacks “other” stuff to do – but for a casual player with limited play time, it offers exactly what he’s looking for. I’m now boxing the shadownight along with my alts in order to level them up (the bruiser is level 83, the templar 84) and it’s quite fun. Yesterday myself and Shamah took our alts on a guild raid run, there are 5 in total and it was worth a lot of guild status. We’re closing in on level 57 – and from there just a short jump and skip to 60 and more bank slots. Excited? Yes, yes I am.

Wiqd and his wife recently joined our team of guild mates as well, so we’ve become a guild of a few more which is fantastic. I like growing casually, with friends that I’ve known for a while. We’re still tiny but it’s a lot of fun.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!