August 2012

A Skritt of My Own #GW2 #GuildWars2

It’s a little hard to tell in this screen shot, but last night I came across the cutest quest I have ever done in all the years I’ve been gaming. Yes, it was that cute. I had to pick up a little unconscious skritt from the ground, and carry him to safety. Skritt are odd rodent type creatures, and my little Asura was hefting him around her little ears flopping all over the place as she sprinted to safety. It was so cute I just wanted to do that quest over and over again. The skirtt dangled from my arms and I knew right then and there I had to call him George. I’d squeeze him and love him forever, too.

I’m currently sitting at level 22, my cooking is 80 as well as my jewelry making, and things are going well. I’m having fun discovering vistas and exploring. Most of the time I’m auto leveled lower than my basic level because I’m higher than the zone area I’m exploring in, and when I see people who are 2-3 levels below the appropriate level I wonder what it is they’re not doing because I didn’t even leave the starter area (1-15) until I was almost 20.

I freely admit, I’m smitten. The game certainly isn’t perfect – absolutely no game is. But as I said on twitter, it IS perfect for me.

One of the things I love the most is just how detailed the world is. You can spend hours looking through a city at all the little nooks and crannies, exploring the finer details. There’s things to look at and see everywhere. If you’re only doing the quests and not taking the time to notice that as you run through the plants they rustle, or that as you leave a pool of water your screen splashes with droplets, then you’re missing some of the key things (imo).

I am (of course) still playing WoW, and I do still plan on keeping up with EVE (I haven’t done much of either lately, new shiny and what not) but since GW2 is subscription free (and not just some weird varied free to play model) I am only too happy to keep it in my active game roster. The marketplace was finally up for most of yesterday, though the auction house still was not. The only thing in-game that is sold in the market that I don’t find nearly enough of in the game world, are the chest keys. Potions and all the rest I’ve been getting as I complete achievements, but I have a good selection of locked chests sitting in my bank until I decide to take the plunge and purchase some keys so I can unlock them all. I’ve only gotten one key in-game.

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

It’s Combat Wombat Time #GW2 #GuildWars2

Yes, that’s my Asura decked out in the pink swim suit.

So much awesomeness has been going on with the head start of Guild Wars 2 that I haven’t even had time to write about it until now, but I’m forcing myself to. First of all, despite numerous people having a rocky start to the game, mine was almost the complete opposite.  I had one disconnect issue when I created my 5th character, but aside from that I’ve had 0 lag, and 0 issues (aside from the game wide ones like the auction house and store being down). I am confident in saying that GW2 will be one of my main ‘homes’ for quite some time, the game just caters to every single aspect of an MMO that I adore.

I joined Combat Wombat on the Sanctum of Rall, most of the people in the guild are people I’ve “known” in an online manor for quite some time, but have never really been given the opportunity to group with or talk with before. That, and I’ve always been too shy. I decided to throw caution to the wind and the first thing I did was start to get to know my online friends better, participating in guild events and vent. I’m so happy I did, it was one of the best decisions I could have made.

Game stuff aside (which pretty much everyone will be talking about) I had so much fun last night and during launch that I surprised even myself. Last night Combat Wombat hosted their first guild event, which included a pool party at the top of the diving board in Lion’s Arch. I REALLY have to give it to the developers, they did an AMAZING job giving players some roleplay features. If you stand at the top of the diving board you’ll notice a little footstool at the far end. Upon it are a pair of goggles. Put them on for hours and hours of laughs. Add a few dances to the mix, most of them by Sylvari and one very active Asura, and you’ve got a recipe for squeals of delight.

Once we had danced until we just couldn’t dance any more (some of us quite literally, as we hit the rocks below the diving board by mistake) we decided to take on a hidden jumping puzzle that is located in Lion’s Arch (there’s another one in the Asura starter zone, FYI). If I thought the diving board was fun, wow, that was nothing compared to this. It was an incredible time, following guild mates from location to location, working our way through this puzzle. There was one part where I was shuddering in the dark, because guess what, the lights literally do go out, and all of the Sylvari decided to turn on their glow features to try to light our way. It was hilarious. Also, no, it didn’t work very well. Thought counts! Our reward at the end was a chest of (pretty useless) goodies, and an achievement for having made the trip.

The game is great, there’s no question about it, but it’s really this group of people I’ve found myself playing with who make it an unforgettable experience. Thank you all.

Meet The Girls: Ellithia #WoW #WorldofWarcraft

If I had a main in World of Warcraft, this would be her. Ellithia is my discipline priest, off spec flutters between holy and shadow depending on my mood. Discipline is great for single target big heals (ie: 5 man dungeons) and I use holy for raids (AoE heals). Shadow I use just when I’m out questing on my own though I am thinking of giving it up and having two heal specs instead.

Her professions are tailoring and enchanting, which is pretty typical for a priest because they are independent of one another and priests wear cloth. I’ve managed to max out all her other professions, and I have the most achievements on this character.  Even finished archaeology which took forever (but was also a lot of fun). Over 50 mounts, 95 pets, it’s the character I’m most ‘proud’ of and have put the most work into. I also spend a lot of time PvPing on this character, despite what a lot of people think, I do enjoy this aspect of WoW and always have. I’m even good at it.

Ellithia has a pretty boring background story. Both of her parents are hard working citizens of Stormwind City, and Ellithia was able to make the choice to become a priest on her own without any pressure. Her mother and father both love her with all of their hearts, and have never judged her or made her feel like less of a person. In fact they are incredibly proud of their daughter and all she has accomplished. Ellithia had a younger sister who was killed in a very unfortunate accident involving a cauldron of molten lava, but her family doesn’t speak about it. Her picture is kept on the mantle, where the family can see her every day.

Ellithia spends most of her days with her best friend Toargo, who is a dwarven warrior from Ironforge. They’ve been friends for a number of years now, and often fight the evils of Azeroth together, their latest conquests have taken them right before Deathwing where they of course emerged victorious.

Meet The Girls: Minxes #WoW #WorldofWarcraft

Ah yes, my little warlock. The class that was completely over powered in the last expansion (Wrath of the Lich King) and that I have struggled so much with in Cataclysm. My main spec is Affliction (dots), and my off spec is demonology. I have a hard time parsing well on the warlock this expansion, it takes a lot of work unlike my other DPS classes. A lot of it is also related to how many mobs are in an encounter, and how long that encounter lasts. Quick fights are not the best of situations as I don’t exactly have a lot of burst damage, multi targets work well though.

Minxes is a gnome, and her professions include engineering (goblin) and mining. I love playing shorter races, and the gnome is just a handful of fun. In MOP warlocks go through a LOT of changes, it’s like playing an entire new class, so that should be interesting to learn. I played around with it some in the beta, but didn’t want to get too familiar, after all part of the fun of a new expansion is having to explore and learn about all the changes.

Minxes comes from a family of 40 – that is to say she lived and was raised at an orphanage, and she was constantly fighting and bickering with anyone who wouldn’t let her get her way. She pretty much (literally) climbed her way to the top, she would be the one standing on top of the roof waving around your most precious doll in order to get you to do her chores. She’s never mean for the sake of being mean, it’s more like she’s mischievous and being a gnome, that’s never going to end well.

She was always warned against the spells of the warlock, which is exactly why she became one. How dare someone tell her she shouldn’t or can’t do anything! That’s not the way she operates. Her best friend includes all of her minions, and she has very little patience for anyone else. At least they do what she says, even if while talking back on occasion.

Meet The Girls: Arysh #WoW #WorldofWarcraft

Arysh is my Dwarven Shaman, enhancement (melee dps) for the most part, restoration (healer) as her off spec. Playing a melee shaman is a LOT of fun, although you’ll hear it referred to as easy mode quite often because it’s a lot of casting unleash elements. Unlike Velours I’ve never had much luck when it comes to playing Arysh. She does have the two BiS (best in slot) raid finder weapons but it was not exactly luck that I won them. See they’re flagged as shaman / rogue only, and there were no rogues in the raid nor were there any shaman dps besides myself. There were some healers, but I have a role bonus. Aside from the awesome weapons she has two pieces of LFRaid set gear, and the rest is valor / twilight instance stuff that I’ve picked up.

Arysh works on jewel crafting and inscription, which may seem like an odd combination but I have other characters who are able to provide her with the materials required (like the paladin, who provides herbs).

Her story is quite simple. She was found left in a room at the local Inn of Ironforge. She has no idea who her parents were or why they left her but to be honest she never spends any time thinking about that. She’s constantly energetic and upbeat, and doesn’t regret a single moment in her life. She was raised by the Innkeeper and his wife who had 6 children, and her upbringing was filled with love, laughter, and a whole lot of noise. She spent a lot of time in the Mystic Ward of Ironforge, and when she was in her late teens she began developing her skills as a shaman. She’s one of the most loyal people you’ll ever meet, and one of the first people who will rush out to battle swinging her axes to defend a scored friend.

Nomadic Gamer