2013

Back on Argent Dawn #WoW

WoWScrnShot_112913_101654A number of my friends have decided to wander back to World of Warcraft for a while, there’s no telling how long it may last but I decided to join them for at least a month and see how it goes. I’ve been playing WoW for just as long as I have played EQ2, but I tend to take much more frequent breaks because I typically find the content and community lacking. Now it seems like a good portion of my friends all play on Argent Dawn, and this could be the temptation I need to keep me playing for longer than a month straight.

I last played March of this year, so things have changed. My ilevel is well below the current acceptance, and there are many scenario I’ve never completed before (or even seen before). In other words there is LOTS to do. My first course of action (I believe) is to head to the Timeless Isle. I’ll see where I go from there.

I have also missed the pet battles, and lets be honest, playing Hearthstone does install me with a bit of nostalgia. With BlizzCon out of the way and juicy details about the next expansion being released, it just brought about the feeling that maybe I should play again for a while. We’ll just have to see how long it lasts.

For those looking to meet up, please feel free to add me to your friends list, my battletag is Stargrace#1783

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

It’s Autumn Steam Sale Time

saleLast year I didn’t buy much in the way of steam sales, for whatever reason. I suppose I owned most of the games I wanted and nothing really appealed to me. This year I have tried to be much better about purchasing games when they go on sale, and realizing that I don’t NEED to pick up that game the day it comes out.

This year there have been lots of games I want, and most of them are indie games still in alpha which surprises me. I have really been looking forward to the steam sales, and I’ve already added a few games to my collection that were on my wishlist. What have I picked up so far?

Gone Home – 75% off. One look at the key features makes this game an easy purchase for me, especially since it was only $5.

  • A Personal Story: created by veterans of the BioShock series and the writer behind Minerva’s Den, Gone Home offers the rich, nuanced details of one family’s struggles to deal with uncertainty, heartache, and change.
  • An Immersive Place: return to the 1990s by visiting a home where every detail has been carefully recreated, and the sounds of a rainstorm outside wrap you in the experience.
  • No Combat, No Puzzles: Gone Home is a nonviolent and puzzle-free experience, inviting you to play at your own pace without getting attacked, stuck, or frustrated. This house wants you to explore it.
  • Fully Interactive Investigation: discover what’s happened to the Greenbriars by examining a house full of the family’s personal possessions, and the notes and letters they’ve left behind. Use your powers of observation to piece together a story that unfolds as you explore.

Deponia – 80% off. This isn’t a game for everyone, with crude jokes and off colour humor, but I absolutely love the art style.

  • Unique comic style with hand-drawn HD resolution 2D graphics
  • Bizarre characters and wacky humor
  • Challenging puzzles and hours of dialogue
  • Unique universe in the tradition of Douglas Adams (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy), Terry Pratchett (Discworld) and Matt Groening (The Simpsons, Futurama)
  • From the creators of the award-winning games Edna & Harvey: The Breakout, Edna & Harvey: Harvey’s New Eyes and The Whispered World

Chaos on Deponia – 50% off. A sequel to the above.

Civilization V: Brave New World – 50% off. The latest expansion, which I’ve been waiting to pick up for some time now. I love playing Civilization, it’s relaxing and calm and fun, a great way for me to wind down.

I’m still waiting for some games on my wishlist to go on sale at a larger discount, games like Craft the World, Castle Story, The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim: Dragonborn, Long Live the Queen, Gnomoria, and Ittle Dew. In the mean time, I’m very happy with what I’ve picked up so far.

I hope all of my American friends have a very happy thanksgiving today, I celebrated mine last month here in Canada, but I’ll be enjoying a nice relaxing afternoon watching football and I hope everyone has a great day, no matter where they find themselves.

Legacy Family 2.0 Moving On Up #TS3 #TheSims3

Screenshot-445BBIt has been a while since I posted about my adventures in Sims 3, but I am still playing. I started my legacy family over some time ago because I had (inadvertently) broken a bunch of (self imposed) rules like moving lots (and entire towns in my case). I don’t mind starting over but it did take some time to get my family back to the point where there was more to life than simply finding flowers to be able to afford another wall to the house.

Blesse and Jack (the elder she eventually married) gave birth to a baby boy named – Teddygirl. An interesting story behind this name, I happened to be streaming my legacy family on Twitch for the Extra Life benefit when my sim went into labor. Those who were watching shouted out whether they thought the baby would be a boy or a girl, and I named the child after the first person to guess correctly. Congratulations again, Teddygirl, although this baby boy may have a rough time when he heads to school.

Jack is in the military and makes a pretty good salary since he’s almost ready for retirement. Blesse is a school teacher, not very far into her career. I’ve managed to build a modest home for the family along with a basement (after todays session) that includes their first washer and dryer. They own a very ancient television and an exercise machine (mostly for Jack).

They also have a pet kitten, Mushi, who just turned into an adult. I’m excited about Teddygirl aging up so that there are more interactions besides ‘eat, sleep, and poop.’ I purchased him a really awesome UFO tree house and a swing set that he’s too young to make use of yet (although certain adult activities can be done in the tree house, and adults can also use the swing sets).

Hopefully Teddygirl can find himself a nice lady to settle down with, and progress the legacy forward. We’ll just have to see!

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

Bridges Coming to Wurm Online (oh my) #WurmOnline

1468576_687064091312662_1291102745_nI still play on Exodus with Stargrace and Faralithe, and I still have Blesse over on Pristine although that account is currently inactive (just too expensive to keep everyone premium). Today I took a rare sailboat that was donated to me by Yetian (who is staying at my deed while we wait to see if Pristine ever joins the rest of the server clusters ) over to Deliverance to check on my merchant at Puzzle Plaza. I had almost 5 silver waiting on my merchant, so I decided to brave the walk and head from the south coast to the market. Not too bad of a walk, I do have 75 fight skill, but I am also not wearing any armor at the moment, so things tend to hurt (it’s on my list).

Anyhow, the real excitement came when I saw that the developers have been working on new bridges for the game. Above is one of three models they’ve posted so far, the stone one. I do think that their rope and wood bridges also look fantastic, but if you want to see those ones you’ll have to check them out yourself, you can find pictures on facebook, twitter, and the forums (and my G+ profile if you happen to use that). I’m eager to see what people do with these bridges. Will they span servers connecting people together? Will they at least span oceans, and islands? It opens up so much travel potential – of course a lot of that depends on the state of decay and how quickly these bridges may fall apart. Hopefully people using them will do their bit to help repair.

There are also some new torches in the works that are supposed to be ideal for lighting dark areas – like the inside of mines. I’m also excited about this, even with lights my mine is incredibly dark, and some characters rarely ever see the light of day because of all the mining they do.

I managed to finish off a house project that I had started some time ago. I grabbed a bunch of clay on my way home from Deliverance (I haven’t bothered to find out where there is clay close to me on Exodus) and after completing the last 7 remaining walls (20 mortar and 20 bricks each wall) I was able to add the roof. I’m debating adding a second floor but I usually prefer single story homes. We’ll see how adventurous I get.

Aside from that life in Wurm (lately) has been pretty quiet. Until I outfit myself with a bit more armor I haven’t been wandering far from home or exploring. I’m hoping to change that a bit this week perhaps, first I’ll have to stockpile some food and drink and a bandage or two.

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

Did You Know? #EQ2 #EverQuest2

EQ2_000285Pictured above, the inside of my awesome cabin that I mentioned from yesterday. The drapes actually work (they open and close) which was one of the coolest items that the SOE team could have released. They’re made by carpenters, although there are also drapes you can purchase from the station cash store.

I learned something new yesterday!

Ever since Tears of Veeshan went live, I have been avoiding the black globes in the sky. It turns out, these have the chance to be shinies! Now there are two types. One is a large easy to see black globe with lightning coming off of it. These can be one of three things. A speed boost, a speed debuff, OR a shiny. Then there are other smaller very difficult to see in the sky black shards that look like tiny little lightning clouds, or cracks. These are always shinies, and there are a few collections hidden within them so chances are you’ll get a random one.

I had no idea!

I spent yesterday working on a few things. I added crit chance adornments to both my swashbuckler and my fury, and then I proceeded to complete advanced solo dungeons for etyma. I’m still saving up for the blue gem recipe, and I’m getting close to being able to afford it.

I also bought my second piece of SLR gear (selling loot rights). There was a dagger up for sale that I really wanted, and since I have been sitting on a bit of cash for some time now I decided to just go for it. I paid 2,000 plat for the dagger and couldn’t be more pleased. It’s rare that I purchase items that expensive for my characters, but in this case I think it was worth it.

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

Nomadic Gamer