2011

The Trouble with April Fools #EverQuest #EQ

stargrace April 2, 2011 1Comment

Yesterday was April Fools, and EverQuest wasn’t about to be left behind. You may remember these cute fluffy bunnies (although they now have updated models) from the Velious era prank – but if you were not around at that time, well. NPC, mobs, and players had the chance to magically transform into these fuzzy critters as they adventured (and hung around in zones) throughout the day yesterday. While it wasn’t a big surprise (EverQuest and EverQuest II are known for pulling ‘pranks’ on this day) it was not exactly met by robust cheers in channels.

See, when a quest npc happens to be transformed into a bunny they no longer respond to player hails. This left a LOT of very angry players. Had those players calmed down for a few minutes and asked, or used /motd, they would have discovered that there is a simple work around to hail the quest mobs. You could /say Dark_bunny (the name of your NPC) proceed (or whatever your quest trigger text is) and they would have answered back appropriately. I didn’t let the trick stop me from completing my Feerrott tasks (and obtaining yet another trophy) and my enchanter also hit level 89 along the way – I had her visit the bunny who was giving out the spell task and made a macro to obtain the quest.

Again, people were incredibly angry. Some threatened to close their accounts, others said that they didn’t pay for this event so they did not want it in game. Honestly, I think that while it was poorly implemented, it wasn’t a bad idea – and with the 205 SOE layoffs casting a shadow on the games we play I was thankful they still did anything at all. For one day things were hectic and I doubt very much that those players calling for firings have ever done their job perfectly 100% of the time either.

This doesn’t exactly excuse the fact that it was poorly implemented and probably could have (should have) been removed early – but I still don’t understand why for this one day players were calling for blood (almost literally, and in some cases they were calling for bunny blood quite literally).

I also spent some time broadcasting Dragons Dragons Dragons last night – thank you those who tuned in! I’ll be doing more livestreams in the future of whatever game I happen to be playing at the time. Hoping to get some Vanguard in there before too long actually.

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

Livestreaming EverQuest DDD (6pm EST) #EverQuest

stargrace April 1, 2011 1Comment

Yesterday after some discussion on twitter I decided that I would attempt to Livestream some of my game playing – in specific my exploration in EverQuest. Above you can find a link to one of the broadcasts I did where I camped for my enchanter 1.0 piece in City of Mist and then headed to Plane of Fear. It was a pretty boring camp but thanks to some good friends keeping me company in the Livestream channel I seemed to come up with plenty to talk about.

Today I’ve decided to share one of the anniversary tasks with viewers, Dragons, Dragons, Dragons. This task sends players back in time to defeat the dragons of Norrath, starting with Vox and Nagafen and working your way up. If you’re interested in RSVP’ing so you get a reminder you can check out my livestream channel – there are also two other quick broadcasts I did to test out the equipment. Last night I had intentions of broadcasting some Vanguard, but then I got carried away with crafting in EverQuest so that sort of fell through. I do plan on broadcasting more games that I’m playing although I can’t guarantee that I’ll actually speak during all of them there will at least be some wonderful in-game music to listen to.

I hope this along with my youtube videos gives a little indication of why I love the games I play. They’re simply fun.

Happy gaming no matter where you find yourself! I’ll see you in Norrath (and Telon, and anywhere else I wander).

Thoughts on House of Thule #EQ

stargrace March 29, 2011 0Comment

If you believe everything you hear on channels, House of Thule has been met with mixed reviews. Personally I really love this expansion but it’s because of a few key components that not everyone appreciates. Number one after having taken a long  break from the game I found it very easy to get relatively caught up as long as I was level 80+ due to the mote gear vendor. While not everyone returning will know this – there is a vendor in the Feerrott who sells ‘mote gear’ and basically using a new currency (dream motes) will allow you to purchase gear in tiers. Earning reputation will unlock higher levels of mote gear, and this currency (like all currency) can be purchased from players selling in the bazaar. Or you can earn it from doing tasks and missions. Because it’s the current currency, there’s a lot of it for sale and it’s much cheaper to use mote gear for the first little while then it is to purchase gear from the bazaar. Mote gear was a HUGE upgrade over my fabled planar gear and the gossamer stuff I was wearing so I was only too happy to find this vendor.

Spells in HoT level 86+ rank II are actually obtained by means of a quest much like they were in Gates of Discord with rune turn ins. The system has also been improved slightly. Number one you can pick and choose which spells you want to obtain instead of having to get them in order and number two the items used to obtain these spells are all tradeable between players and you can sell them / buy them in the bazaar (while the spells themselves are no trade). Another method of allowing returning players an easier time of catching up. While I am sad to see that spells are not dropping from mobs in this expansion it IS nice to know that I’m not missing any of them (unless I chose to raid and obtain Rk III spells).

The basics of the expansion are quite simple. There are a number of tasks you must do for progression (T1-T4) and in order to request these tasks you’ll have a number of quests to do for a number of NPC. The quests are quite lengthy but incredibly worth it. You earn not only experience and the ability to request the tasks on your own, but there are also trophies that are rewards (as well as achievements) that can be placed in your home and grant extra buffs to players (if you’ve got your trophies running, they use the tribute system). Last night I finished off the series in House of Thule itself, and gained a trophy that allows me to raise my max str. as well as my actual str. While not incredibly useful to my enchanter it’s just one of many trophies and I look forward to obtaining the rest of them. Plus these trophies are house items – and hey who doesn’t love a good house item.

If it were not for the fact that I am a returning player I am not sure if I’d enjoy the expansion as much as I am. Of course the housing would have me transfixed (how could it not) but the progression may be too ‘easy’ if I were on par with everyone else. As it is I have less then 300 aa (lots of players have over 5,000 now) and since I’ve returned I’ve leveled not only my necromancer to 90, but the enchanter to 87, and a boxed bard to 76. On that same note if everything were incredibly difficult I wouldn’t necessarily have stuck around either, so perhaps this is a good compromise. That’s also not saying that everything is easy, it’s certainly not. Tier 4 is incredibly difficult, and a lot of the missions you request have little quirks that make them even harder. Thankfully I’ve been playing with a few friends who make all of this much easier and a LOT more fun.

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