May 2012

Spring in #WurmOnline

Ah, spring in Wurm Online where the fog rolls in thicker than oatmeal. Pictured above is my poor corbita, actually moored at that exact moment because the fog was so thick I couldn’t see the shore and I had absolutely no idea where I was going. I think at the time I was just trying to get back home with a boat load of items.

I love the fact that Wurm has seasons, and I enjoy that these seasons are on their own schedule, and won’t always match the RL seasons. I get enough snow in the winter (actually, this year I didn’t, but that’s neither here nor there) and it’s great to have a bit of ‘winter’ when it’s summer and I’m melting in the living room.

Very few games have dynamic weather systems such as the one Wurm makes use of, there are massive storms that roll through, you’ll see the sky darkening and clouds move in. It’s great.

Along with these awesome weather patterns are harvests specific to the time of year it is. Olives just passed, and I’m eager for it to be maple season once again. Olive oil is used to make compasses, and maple sap can be boiled to make maple syrup. From there you can use the syrup in a number of recipes. Lemons, apples, and cherries all have their own harvest times, as well as grapes and a number of other plants with healing properties. It’s just one more complex level added to the game, and one I simply can’t get enough of.

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

Playing With Friends #Diablo3

While most of my twitter feed was filled with angry players upset over the Diablo 3 errors that kept cropping up, I was having a different sort of experience. I like the fact that you need to be logged in to play, and I love the fact that my friends can jump into the game no matter where I am. I love the ease that this can be done with – although it did catch me a bit off guard to see Tipa suddenly appear in my instance I quickly figured out there’s a setting in options -> social that allows your bnet friends to jump into your instances from their main menu.

My witch doctor is level 9, exploring crypts, killing wives who have turned evil. I absolutely love this class, it suits all my particular ‘wishes’ such as ranged attacks (or closer if I switch them out), pets, casting. An amazing voice over that I can’t get enough of when I listen to the story line.

Tipa, Shadowgeist, and I wandered around for the better part of an hour, me with my ghoulish dogs and Tipa with her bow of awesomeness. Every time her machine gun like sounds went off and there was a bright flare of light I secretly giggled. It was fun.

That’s what games are all about, aren’t they? Fun?

I did eventually get kicked out with the 3007 error, but unlike those I see who are incredibly upset, I’ll just wait for it to get fixed. Patiently. I still had a great time playing with friends.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

No #Error37 Here! #Diablo3

For once I’m actually not playing much Wurm Online today, or any other of my ‘usual’ games – I’ve been playing Diablo 3, even though it was not a game I actually intended on playing. I purchased it for my husband by signing up for a year of WoW and since it’s tied to my bnet account I figured I would download it and give it a try.

A few hours later, and me and my witchdoctor are having a blast exploring dungeons and blowing things up with (mostly) ranged attacks.

I know you can play with others, but aside from friends who are just as curious about the lore / story as I am I’d rather not. I am not interested in rushing through maps so much as I’m interested in exploring and listening to the voice overs (which are very well done). The graphics are impressive for the type of game it is, and it’s been running flawlessly for me since I installed it this morning. Looking forward to playing more!

If you want to add me, my battletag is: stargrace#1783

Yeah, I Still Play That “Other” Game Too #WorldofWarcraft #WurmOnline

When I tell people in other games that I still play (and enjoy) World of Warcraft, they seem to look at me in a different light, a negative one, at that. Suddenly I’ve lost some online points with them. Trying to explain why I continue to play has been my new challenge, and the one point I keep coming back to is that sometimes, I like not having to think.

While my heart is forever drawn to those complex sandbox games like EVE and Wurm Online, there are days when I don’t want to have to do anything that requires any thought process what so ever. Where I want simple fun and the quicker I can get it, the better. WoW fills this desire perfectly. I can queue for a raid or a dungeon and be happily killing mobs in no-time. I can quietly harvest, craft, or work on achievements. If I’m in the mood for pvp it’s even simpler, and it’s a lot of fun (personal opinion of course).

I think it’s important to play different games, especially if you work in the gaming industry. You don’t want to become so involved that you shut your mind down to other methods of gameplay. You also don’t want to play your game of choice so much that you become bored with it – having other options eases this slightly.

So even though I work mainly with Wurm Online, and yes, it is by far my ‘game of choice’ and has been for quite some time now (as is evident on this blog) I do continue to play other games, and will probably continue to do so as long as I game at all. Because I’m not looking to get heavily vested in another game I tend to swerve away from the more time invested ones that everyone else is talking about these days, but I’m sure I’ll pop in eventually.

Video games are supposed to be fun. As soon as they’re not, it’s time to stop playing them. As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

One of Those Weeks #WurmOnline

When it rains, it pours, and wow does it ever rain here these days. So for those who have not heard, Wurm Online was hit with a virus this week, and as a result we’re moving our forums / web page / wiki. The game is safe to play, so that’s a bonus at least. There is a temporary blog set up at Tumblr for more information, as well as updates on the wurm web page. You can also join us in IRC on the #wurm channel, irc.rizon.net port 6667.

The sad thing is the wiki is almost essential to play Wurm Online, and without it things are going to be difficult. Hopefully everything is back up and running before too long, and I’m also hoping that players bond together during the rough patches and help one another out.

It’s been a long week.

On a completely unrelated note, Sunday is Mothers Day here in Canada (and a few other places) so make sure to let yours know how important she is to you!