2012

From Yak’s Bend to Grooble’s Gulch #GW #GuildWars

stargrace June 14, 2012 0Comment

The learning never stops – today I finally figured out that each map icon that is a shield is actually a mission hub, and if you complete it your shield gains a sword icon – if you complete the mission and the bonus, the shield icon has two swords crossed. An easy reference to figure out what I’ve completed and what I’ve not. Unsurprisingly my previous character has many of these shields revealed on the map, but absolutely none completed. The monk / warrior combination is doing far better. There’s only one mission where I didn’t complete the bonus, although I wish I had (it’s a LOT of experience).

I’m now level 10, and the story has taken me into Grooble’s Gulch, where I’m seeking shelter for the Ascalon refugees (being lead by Prince Rurik still). In the mission previous Prince Rurik sort of went crazy running around and it was really difficult for me to keep up with him. Thankfully he seemed to handle himself just fine (while I lay there dead waiting for Ninga to rez me) and we still completed the mission. I’m having a bit of difficulty with the camera angels, it’s really annoying to keep it centered on my character, but the longer I play the more I get used to it.

I’ve also discovered the joys of identifying gear (and weapons). I’ve broken down a few really nice pieces where you’re able to strip the enchantments from them and use those on other pieces. Then you can eventually strip down the weapon itself and use the base components to craft better gear later on. I had gotten salvage items before, but nothing magical or impressive, so you can imagine my squeals of delight as I was able to remove + dmg from a hammer and apply it to the weapon I was currently using.

Now that I’ve reached level 10 I can begin (once more) working on Eye of the North tapestry collections, although I know this will throw the story out of order it’s still my main ‘goal’ and my primary reason for playing through the game right now.

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

Gaming

Playing Knee-Deep In The Sandbox #WurmOnline

stargrace June 13, 2012 1Comment

Pictured above, is Falkenstein Castle. I’ve managed to place a few flags (which I’m eventually going to dye, but at the moment I don’t have any access to dye components) and the outer walls are completed. Inside, things are moving along nicely. I’ve got a house started – it’s in an H formation, and is 13 tiles in total. This gives me a very nice 2×3 area for a ‘bedroom’ as well as another 2×3 area for crafting. I don’t need a lot of room as it’s just my Fo priest residing at the castle, so not a lot of crafting is going on.

My animal pens only need a few more tiles of enchanted grass and then those will also be taken care of. I’ve had two foals born, neither came with impressive traits, but it’s a start.

My main goal will be finishing the house, this prevents decay and I’m eager to at least add two beds to the building so that my characters can once more gain sleep bonus. Something I haven’t even seen since I took Arysh to Celebration. Along with the finer details of the deed I’m continuing with construction of a road up – Moumix was kind enough to lend a hand today with some surface mining, and the first three tiles can now be traveled by cart, which is a huge deal. I still have a ways to go, but cutting a road out into the stone is pretty neat.

It’s one of the aspects that appeals to me most about Wurm Online. Sure, it’s great to decorate a house in a video game and I’ve seen some amazing ones done over the years – but to decorate an entire plot of land (within the boundaries of the game of course) and to be able to physically adjust the terrain into a shape that you personally find pleasing, is amazing. To be able to take a mountain and level it (if you so choose) or to create an island in the middle of the ocean and then build a house upon it (or an entire city, if you want) these are things that players crave and are rarely given the opportunity to do.

It come with its own set backs, of course. Not even speaking of hardware limitations, but such sandbox play just leaves griefing right open. For example, there’s a player named ‘Oneangrykid’ who has taken to terrorizing the server of Celebration. He stole two large carts from my neighbours who had them hitched but not locked – if a large cart is on-deed and not locked, players can still ride them away. Keep it in mind and LOCK those carts. My neighbours were online when he took the carts, and they were in fact right close by, but because this player had the ability to take the carts, he did. Players tend to learn very quickly that it is not enough to simply purchase a deed to keep your things secure (even on Freedom servers, which are PvE not PvP) but you must lock every door, and make sure every setting on your deed management page is kept up to date. You have to practically interview your allies since there are deed settings for them, as well. Thankfully, I play with a wonderful group of people, and I’ve only had the barest brushes with griefing in game. I intend on keeping it that way.

Meanwhile, construction on Falkenstein Castle continues. My gold door was delivered, and I installed it. It looks amazing. I have another ‘Mad Lady Arysh’ story to post about that particular event, it should be coming later this week.

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

Gaming

Ding! Level 50 Artificer #Vanguard #VGD

stargrace June 13, 2012 2Comments

It took years, and it’s not even the level cap any more, but I finally reached level 50 artificer! The new cap in Vanguard is 55 so this was really just a small milestone and I’m not sure if there’s even anything I can work on or any new quests or gear to help me get to level 55, but I’m still pleased for having made my way there.

On the artificer path this is my mineralogist, I create jewelery, stone weapons and foci, and wooden foci. I also craft house components, most noticeably bricks. The carpentry counter part crafts ships as well as furniture and bows. I have one of each crafter, but it’s been some time since I’ve worked on them to any extent. I am eager to level up my blacksmith next as that character helps provide the rares required to make jewelery, and then my leather worker.

I’ve been having a bit of trouble (as always) trying to figure out how exactly to level my characters to 50-55. Veterans seem to constantly post that the process is ‘easy’ and that leveling is too quick, and that they’re all bored – but I don’t even know what areas I should be in, or what quests I should do, or whether it requires a group 100% of the time or if I can handle things on my own. I suppose I really should dive in a little deeper and find out!

As always if you’d like to find me in game, you can say hello to: Stargrace, Arysh, Faydai, Velours, or Minxes (I also have a baby psionicist I’d like to level up some time, Ishbel who is level 3 and still on the Isle of Dawn). I’ve also stumbled into a great new(ish) wiki site, the telon project. I’ve volunteered to help out because I find a lot of the Vanguard sites these days are out dated, and it’s important to get information about the game to the public, especially with it going free to play.

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

Gaming

How Did I Miss All This?! #GuildWars

stargrace June 12, 2012 4Comments

My newly created Guild Wars Monk / Warrior is climbing through level 8 (a short jump away from 9 at this moment) and I’m having a blast – I realized one very odd thing. Some how, I had climbed to level 15 in Prophecies on my main (3 year old) character without doing a SINGLE mission or primary quest. In fact I didn’t even know they existed. How on earth I managed to do that, I don’t have the slightest idea. When I started working on Eye of the North quests I was impressed by the cut scenes and story – not realizing that Prophecies has a great story and cut scenes too, I had just some how never managed to stumble into any of them.

This time with some guidance and help from Ninga (a 20 Ranger / Monk) and the Guild Wars wiki, I was able to work my way through the Ascalon missions which were incredibly fun. Each mission has bonus stages that you can do (or not, they’re optional) and you earn a lot of extra experience for completing them. I left off last night by helping Prince Rurik save the city of Rin, and before that rescued soldiers who had been taken prisoner by the Charr. They had been captured for two years (some even longer) and of course it was all left up to me to help fix!

I’m trying not to pass by the story in hunting for my Hall of Monuments achievements, and trying to drink everything in all at once. It can be a bit overwhelming and I’m kicking myself for not doing this or getting more involved in the game years ago. Now it feels a bit like I’m rushing – granted there’s absolutely no reason why I HAVE to earn 30 pts in my GW1 HoM, but it’s something I’d really like to do. I love the way games tie together in this way, and I think it’s great motivation to give players something to do while they’re waiting for GW2 to release.

I’m happy with the 4 pts I’ve earned so far, but every point after that would be nice too. We’ll see how it goes. As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Gaming

Picking Up My Second Tapestry #GuildWars #GW

stargrace June 11, 2012 0Comment

In my effort of ‘catching up’ my Hall of Monuments so that I’m ready for Guild Wars 2 I actually discovered a few things. First of all, I apparently picked the worst class combination for PvE ever. The Mesmer / Ranger combination (with Mesmer being my main ‘profession’). I was looking for some builds for this combination and about 99% of the posts I found were all about how this was the worst possible combination ever for PvE and is made for a PvP setting. Great.

I thought about how much effort (long term) I had put into reaching level 15. Not that much, in fact barely a weekend when all is said and done. So I decided to start over with a combination that was more suited to my play style. This time I took the easy road, and made a monk / warrior combination. I absolutely adore the monk, and when I’m playing with my friend Ninga Turtle, I make great use of my heals. When I’m soloing I switch the spec around a bit and stick to being a warrior with mercenary and a few heals. I need to be level 10 before I can do the quest to unlock the Hall of Monuments (again), but at least this time around I’ll know what I’m doing. I also already have 4 points, and they accumulate account wide so it’s not like those will be wasted. Four points unlocks a few pieces of gear according to the calculator.

Since I used my first tapestry from Gwen after visiting the hall for the first time in the wrong monument (not wrong per say, but not the one I wanted to unlock) I decided (before making the new character) that I’d unlock a second one. Thankfully there’s a great Guild Wars Wiki that I made much use of. I decided to work on ‘Northern Allies‘ since it was one of the new quests I had picked up, and after a lengthy quest chain I was rewarded with a lot of experience and the new tapestry, which I used to unlock the miniatures monument.

Of course now I’ll have to do that all over again once the new character reaches 10, but at least I’ll know what to expect. Ninga was also brave enough to run me all the way from my starter city over to Lion’s Arch, so now I can port there. It was quite an adventure, too. Hopefully I’ll get caught up before too long. It’s been neat getting back into the game. I feel a bit more confident at my ‘skill’ and I’m having more fun this round than the first few times I played. One huge enormous bonus to me is the fact that the game has no subscription fee, and during these times I really appreciate that I can pay for the base game and then not have to pay anything extra. Granted, Guild Wars does play much more like a single player game to me than an MMO, but the ability to group with others is there.

I’m looking forward to sharing more of my adventures, as always!

From Yak’s Bend to Grooble’s Gulch #GW #GuildWars

Playing Knee-Deep In The Sandbox #WurmOnline

Ding! Level 50 Artificer #Vanguard #VGD

How Did I Miss All This?! #GuildWars

Picking Up My Second Tapestry #GuildWars #GW

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