August 2013

Relaxation? Secret of the Magic Crystal

stargrace August 30, 2013 1 Comment

Meet Lyndsey. My unicorn. Yep. Sometimes when I’m looking for peace and quiet I turn into one of THOSE gamers. Sure you can laugh all you want and you can think I am “less” of a gamer because of it but the truth of the matter is it doesn’t bug me. I play what I like and whether or not you like it doesn’t affect my gameplay.

I was gifted this game on steam as a gag gift, but I decided what the heck, why not actually play it. OK so the fact that it qualifies as one of steam’s ‘trading card games’ may have played into it slightly, but still.

You’re given a single horse to start out with. You can do some very small quests and enter tournaments with the creature, who wins coins that you can use to upgrade their home. Eventually, you can expand and purchase more horses, and then breed them and have a happy little stable full of ponies.

There’s also maintenance and care, you have to feed and water the horses. They can get sick, you’re able to use a recipe book and combine various herbs to create medicine. You have to pay coin to unlock recipes though so that means grinding out the small quests you’re granted, and competing in tournaments, playing on your horses strengths. I’ve earned a few trophies so far, and have them displaying proudly in my stable.

Is this game going to win any awards? No, of course not, but it IS cute, and relaxing, and very simple to play for a few minutes here and there. The tournaments you enter are quite simple. An arrow will show up over the horses head and you hit the direction key just as it starts spinning. Hit it too soon and you’ll be docked points. You want a perfect score.

The game would be more fun if players were introduced to horse breeding earlier on in the game (imo) but for a gag gift? I have no complaints.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself.

Gaming

Lets Play: Farming Simulator 2013

stargrace August 29, 2013 No Comments

Do you have a game you play when you’re looking to relax? What qualities does it have? For me, I tend to wander over to games that don’t involve a lot of combat. One of those games just happens to be Farming Simulator 2013. You can laugh all you want, but this is an incredibly relaxing game.

The basics are simple, you own a farm. You’re expected to try to make money from this farm. You can do that a number of ways. You can grow crops and sell them, or you can have animals – but basically you want crops because then you get to drive around awesome looking tractors. The UI is incredibly sparse, which is good when you’re just trying to relax.

I know, I know. Who on earth would want to play a farming simulator game. I had a great time with it though. I managed to climb aboard a tractor, take care of a wheat field, and then move that wheat into a little transport tractor. There are even missions you can complete for some extra money, like wandering over to your neighbours place to help them out.

The biggest surprise (to me) was that the game is absolutely beautiful. Sometimes it’s just very nice to step back from what you’re ‘usually’ doing, and try something new. You may even be surprised!

Gaming

What Are We Playing? #MMORPG

stargrace August 28, 2013 3 Comments

I would really like to request a do-over for this week (and even last weekend). Instead of dwelling on all of the negativity that is currently all over my gaming streams lately, I’m going to just do a brief post on what I’m playing these days.

FFXIV – Usually in the morning and daytime hours, I’ve been trying to level up a White Mage. My little falafel is great entertainment. I really like the animation the characters do when they jump. I suppose it’s a bit silly of me, but I can not help but squee as I run around. You can find me on Diabolos as Blesse Reveur.

Wurm Online – I recently purchased a new deed on the Pristine server, and have been working on trying to find iron somewhere on my deed. No luck yet but as with everything in Wurm, I am patient. I also started a house, and have a little garden going. I’m hoping that as soon as I find iron things can start moving forward, I can’t wait to show off some before and after pictures. I also still own a deed on Exodus, I’ve been creating a farm there to tend, and I found a chicken which I named Henry (get it, hen? chicken?) who has been eating most of my grain (hence the farm).

The Sims 3 – My legacy family relocated to Isla Paradiso, and I’m having a lot of fun with the change of location. Ginger is now a teenager, and even got a part time job as a receptionist at a spa. Bob is still alive, it appears that my sims live well beyond what I had banked on.

Guild Wars 2 – I’ve taken a break from it this week because I needed something lower key, more relaxing. Rushing all over to do Clockwork Chaos was causing me some stress in game. I DID manage to work my armorer to 400 skill, it was one of three crafts that I did not have at 400 yet. The two remaining are weaponsmith and leatherworker. Those are next on my list. I also logged in for the one year anniversary reward. I instantly leveled up an alt to 20 and thought it was a nice gesture.

Vanguard – Yep, still playing Vanguard and still one of my favorite games. I’ve been taking things slow and working on diplomacy, which is very relaxing. Also one of my favorite things about Vanguard (and probably one of the least explored by the general population). I’ve also been crafting, now that my mineralogist is 55 it’s time to level up the next class. I’m not sure which one yet, I’ve got one of everything (of course I do). Suggestions?

So those are the games I’m playing, more often than not. I’ve taken a little break from Civilization V, but am still enjoying the game quite a bit. I just don’t have enough hours in a day!

What game do you find yourself playing these days? Let me know in comments!

Gaming

Nomadic Shores – A Deed on Pristine #WurmOnline

stargrace August 26, 2013 No Comments

One of my favorite things to do in Wurm Online is scope out new places to set up a home It’s almost like a bad habit, since it does cost money to set up a deed (you need deed forms, and they cost 10s) and you have to be premium. This weekend I was annoyed with the FFXIV down time (yes, after having JUST posted about how I was not annoyed) and I was feeling quite snarky, so I decided what I needed was some relaxation and absolutely no game is as relaxing for me as Wurm Online.

Blesse is my Pristine hub character. That means she can’t travel to the main servers, but can travel between Pristine and Release. I haven’t played her in a very long time, having a steady place already on Exodus, but I was feeling that wanderlust that comes every so often, especially with a map I’m not familiar with.

Blesse had already packed up all of her belongings into the rowboat that she has long ago, so it was just a matter of sailing around until I found a suitable location. This sounds easier than it really is. Most of the coast of Pristine is covered by sheer cliffs. The rest is occupied by other players. I didn’t HAVE to settle on the coast, but that is prime real estate. I thought I had found a little outlook for a potential home but instead it ended up being a land covered with wolves and mountain lions. I can handle a few of those but the character is still quite new, so I wasn’t ready to take on more than one at a time. Plus I had nothing to heal myself with so I continued on sporting one medium wound that wouldn’t heal.

Eventually, I found it. The perfect spot. There were a small handful of unmoored boats gathered around a tiny little flat spot of land right against the mountainside. I sailed back to Blossom because I had not purchased that deed form I needed, and sailed back, eager to set down roots.

Nomadic Shores is the name of my new little abode. It’s small, which is exactly what I was looking for. Most of the deed is mountain so I can have an extensive mine. There’s iron and zinc in there, and I’m not sure what else. I rummaged around foraging and botanizing to get enough items to start a small farm. Planted some corn and wemp as well as cotton. Due to the location of the deed a horse is really not required, but I can always put one out in the field if I want. I’d like the house to be made of stone and that requires clay – which I actually have on-deed but it’s in the water so I’m looking to raise it out. I am not sure yet if I’ll make the house more than one level, but I think two levels may be nice. We’ll just have to see.

It feels refreshing to be building a nice little deed again in uncharted territory. I can’t wait to see what else I find (besides the greenish trolls that live behind me. I can hear someones spirit templar freaking out over them).

Gaming

Playing a Game of Down Time #FFXIV

stargrace August 24, 2013 2 Comments

I know, FFXIV is getting a pretty bad rap lately due to their (numerous) issues. I was able to log in for an hour or so this morning, but the rest of the day has been filled with ’emergency patches’ and updates. There are many reasons for any of this happening but overall it’s annoying for people who expected an extra three days of gameplay for pre-ordering.

It doesn’t really bug me.

I played the game enough through the beta phases to realize that I really enjoy it. I liked the simplicity of it, and the comfort that in every aspect it is a ‘traditional’ MMO with a few non traditional aspects thrown in. I’m unfamiliar with the world and I like that because it gives me a reason to learn about it. Patience is not one of my strong suits but instead of getting annoyed and bothered by the fact that every time I try to log in it seems the game is down for a few hours I’m just shrugging my shoulders. I know it will still be there down the road and I’ll still be interested in playing. Of course that calm could also just be due to the fact that I’ve been sick most of the day with the flu and I can’t comfortably play while laying down on my couch.

When I did get a chance to play I was switching my little falafel Blesse over to a Conjurer (yes, I call the Lalafell’s falafel’s). I played as a pugilist through most of beta but quickly decided that I wanted to take up my traditional MMO role, which is a healer. So I’ll be going 30 Conjurer 15 Arcanist and ending up as a White Mage by the end of it all. I’ve also spent quite a bit of time working on my crafting classes, which I quite enjoy. It’s calming and a fun little mini game that I’m used to from other MMOs.

Even with all of the issues I haven’t been swayed off of the game at all, which is a big deal to me and bodes well. I find it much better than 1.0 where I could barely figure out combat and crafting was a whole other story.

If you’re playing, you can friend Blesse Reveur on the Diabolos server and please feel free to say hello! As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself.

Relaxation? Secret of the Magic Crystal

Lets Play: Farming Simulator 2013

What Are We Playing? #MMORPG

Nomadic Shores – A Deed on Pristine #WurmOnline

Playing a Game of Down Time #FFXIV

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