February 2012

Lets Talk ProSiebenSat.1 #EQ2 #SOE

(Comic is curtsy of @CheesePirate, and was censored from the EQ2 forums) I was really hoping I wouldn’t have to speak up on my blog about this situation, because I dislike posting negativity, and it’s rare that I do. However. I’m also not one to just sit down and let things pass by when I feel that there is something that can be done. For those who are unaware, here is the situation:

– SOE announced a deal with a company called ProSiebenSat.1 that would affect eight Europe-based SOE games. With this deal comes region locking. US players will no longer be able to access EU servers and those EU players who currently have US characters will be grandfathered in, but not future EU players. This deal carries over into future SOE titles, like EQNext, and PlanetSide 2 (for me personally, it means I can no longer access my Splitpaw characters. There’s a huge list of other consequences here).

– ProSiebenSat.1 are known for their shoddy customer service, and they’re also known for publishing the personal details of customers which is in violation of EU and German privacy laws.

– MANY people spoke up on the forums about this situation, and were banned for “excessive negativity”.

Feedback was requested, but the deal has already gone through (6 weeks ago).

A player even called ProSiebenSat.1 to try to get some answers since SOE has been very reluctant to say anything on the matter. They (ProSiebenSat.1) said “EU Customers will regret being considered US customers” because of all the events and marketplace items they have planned for the EU servers. In fact, it looks like the EU servers will have absolutely nothing in common with the US servers once this deal is implemented in full.

 

Perhaps things are not all doom and gloom, and this deal really is a GOOD thing. I fail to see it, personally. Region locks are NEVER a good thing, especially from my perspective where I play EU hours and live in Canada. In a day where games like Rift are trying so hard to allow players to stay together (free weekly server transfers, no region locking) it seems outrageous. It’s especially bad for games that have already been established. Put yourself in the position of the US military personnel who has been gaming on a EU server and now that they’re finally home, are unable to play with their friends because they must move to a US server, no longer having access. One of the major reasons any of us play these games are to be able to play with our friends, no matter where they’re from. To be able to meet people from all over the world, form bonds and learn from one another. Restrictions such as these do nothing but separate players, and having (what sounds like) completely different rule sets on US/EU servers makes me wonder  for the future of our EU friends.

It has been said time and time again – companies listen to nothing but MONEY. If you disagree with this and the future of SOE games, PLEASE consider cancelling your accounts. SPEAK with your wallets. That is the ONE sure way to get your opinion across in a way that will make the higher ups listen.

(As a side note, I hold no blame to the community team of SOE nor the developers, I know this decision was not something that they personally made, but came from higher ups). 

Building a Keep #WurmOnline

With a little creativity in WurmOnline, players can create some interesting structures. My primary deed is a country cottage. There’s cobblestone paths, a little beach, a waterfront that’s got some trees and very little “build up” on the area. I have rows of gardens and fruit trees, and I’ve planted a lot of maple on the deed because they look fantastic. A little stone pen at the back for some horses and dogs that I’m currently breeding. In other words, the area isn’t that fancy and that’s quite intentional.

My neighbour to the East has decided to move on from Wurm, and they’ve left me their deed. I picked up the papers with Stargrace (my alt) and now own a property called “Fippy’s Keep” – which fits in well with the EQ1 motif that our little group has going on. The property doesn’t have much to it at the moment, two buildings, and three large fields. Half of a stone wall was built when I acquired it and I’ve decided to carry on with the idea that it will eventually become a keep. Yesterday I managed to complete one of the walls entirely, which took a lot of bricks. Trees, too. There are six gates to the deed, four of them face west (two of those lead to animal pens) one to the south, and one east.

Eventually I’d like to surround the entire deed with these walls, and from there continue to build inside. I haven’t quite decided how I want to go about this yet, the deed is an odd size, 13 by 41. The number of stone bricks that would take to cover the entire deed would be a huge amount. Each wall takes 20 bricks and there’s always a lot of failures. So I haven’t quite decided what I want to actually DO with the deed yet but at least I have some rough ideas.

I’ll be sure to keep posting my progress here, I’m anxious to see how it turns out!

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself.

How To Make Money in WurmOnline #WurmOnline

The number one question I hear throughout any given day (besides how do I make a mallet)  is ‘how do I make money’. There’s only one get rich quick answer and that’s to buy your coins from the shop. Every other method of making money in WurmOnline requires skills, patience, or a lot of time. Still, there are ways so I thought I’d write about them.

1. Purchase in-game currency from the shop. The prices are reasonable and honestly if you’re going to go with a premium subscription (which I suggest) you could pay $10 EU a month, and have 5 silver every month to spend. Personally speaking, this is what I do for each of my accounts. I’ll be blunt, aside from my deed upkeep (1s 40c a month) I don’t have much need to purchase anything else. I spend the extra money to help support the economy in-game, I think it’s an important thing to do.

2. Advertise that you’re looking for work. This is (imo) the second easiest way to make money in Wurm. You need to advertise though. You can post on the forums that you’re currently looking for work, talk in kchat (also known as Freedom, if the tab is closed just /shout). There are typically people looking to hire. The tasks will be incredibly boring, it will be things like making bricks, and loading frying pans. If you’re lucky they’ll offer you a comfortable place on their deed for you to stay, maybe even some meals and or tools depending on what you’re going to be doing.

3. Sell high QL items to other players. This method of making money takes a LOT of work. You need to have high skills, maybe even a priest so you can enchant items. You’ll need to have an established deed or at least access to one. You’ll need to have a premium account so you can imp (improve) items. However, once you’ve reached this point it can be VERY rewarding. Players are always looking for things like tools, rope, boats, meditation rugs, armor, weapons, and other fancy items. Again advertising on the forums and in channels would give you a better audience, loading a merchant up within easy access is also important.

4. Sell in bulk. This one is a bit tricky. Players are almost always looking to buy dirt. Most want it transported to their deed and pay a handsome amount for it. You’ll need a boat to transport (in most cases) or at least a cart, and a lot of dirt. People who are making islands or doing a lot of terraforming are always interested in this. Again it’s about advertising and PATIENCE. Just because someone doesn’t snap up your offer the second you make it, doesn’t mean there’s no interest.

5. Purchase a trader (50 silver) and work the market. This method is the most complicated and one I wouldn’t attempt unless you’re ready to really get invested in the game. You’ll need a trader (note, this is different from a merchant) and you’ll need to keep them stocked with items that you sell as well as purchase from them in order to give them a good selling ratio. When the king gives out his funds your trader will acquire some, you sell items back to him for coin and ta da, money. Except it’s really not as simple as that. Number one if the trader is public others can use him and obtain any coin he has. Number two it’s really a math game, keeping his sell ratio up so he receives a generous cut. It’s time consuming, and you really ought to know what you’re doing. Plus there’s the fact that it costs 50 silver to purchase, and that’s not exactly chump change.

There are of course other ways to make money in-game, creative ways that you can think of to take advantage of. Why not offer your services as a home decorator, or a deed constructor. Why not purchase old deeds and fix them up then re-sell them for a bit of profit. In WurmOnline time = money, and the more time you invest, the greater the profit.

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself.

Pulling Me Back In #EVEOnline

There have been a few changes since I last played EVE, and I haven’t really kept up to date with any of them (it’s just the way I am, I rarely keep up with any of the game ‘news’ out there). Of course some changes were unavoidable to notice, like the graphics that have been updated. As soon as I pulled out of the corp hangar I noticed the skies have changed. They’re far more richly detailed, and have a lot of depth to them. It was beautiful.

Even though it’s been a while since I logged in, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I had been working on finishing up a new fit for my dominix, my mission running ship. My plan was still saved in EVEMon, so I loaded that up to see what skills I wanted to add to the queue next. After that it was time to check on my PI, set the new programs running and make sure the locations still had room for new produce. I’ll have to pick up the cargo some time this week and ship it out to Jita.

I had some jobs on the go when I stopped playing as well. My copy job completed, I now have a nice selection of hammerhead blueprints. I’ll turn those into hammerhead II blueprints (hopefully), and then produce hammerhead II’s. My research agents have been neglected as well, and I have to go pick up some datacores from them.

From there it’s mission running. Working on my factions so that I can work with better datacore agents and buy nifty faction items. I have been contemplating signing on with a new corp, there are some that are offering a signing bonus to haulers, and it would put my Orca to great use. I’ve never really been part of a large corp before and I’m still trying to decide if it’s something I’d like to try, or if I’m better suited to continue in the smaller corp that I’ve been apart of since I started playing EVE. I did try to give another corp a try, but that didn’t end too well, as they sent me threatening letters when I died, implying that if I were to fly where I shouldn’t they may even simply fire on me so that others could not. Really not a place I wanted to be.

In any case, it’s no surprise that my attention has turned back to EVE at the same time that I’m fully engrossed with Wurm. Last night I was mining in both games, and while they’re at completely different ends of the spectrum, the end result was the same. In Wurm I use a pickaxe to harvest ore to use for items, and in EVE I use a ship with guns to perform the same actions and end up with the same results, ore used to make other items. I’m looking forward to getting back into mission runs, and outfitting the dominix. It’s been a while.

As always, happy gaming no matter where you find yourself!

 

 

Down Goes Kyklops, Loincloth and All #WurmOnline

The Kyklops finally fell! It was a great time had by many, and even though I didn’t get a title for my participation (there is a chance I may still get it, the organizers have emailed Rolf about this) I still had a great time. There were 106 people who showed up to the event, which is incredibly large for such a tiny sandbox MMO. The fight took 30 minutes, and there were people gathered hours before hand on the docks of Tristan. A huge thank you once again to the hosts of the event, and those who donated prizes.