2014

WurmOffline

stargrace February 19, 2014 2Comments

February 19, 2014 by Rolf

Since we do not know how, when or under which circumstances our current hosting company want to bring our servers back online we are working on retrieving the data from those servers and put on the new planned hosting. We have the new hosting prepared but it will take a while to set it up.

The game will not be back online within the next 8 hours but we’ll do our best to keep going until they are. We’ll know more at around 20.00 hrs CET today.

I can’t even imagine what the WurmOnline team must be going through with this. Their servers were taken offline by their host due to a DDOS attack yesterday, and it sounds like the greatest issues are not actually with that attack but with their hosts reaction to the attack (which they’re entitled to, but it still isn’t much fun). The host is responsible for not only WurmOnline but other contracts which were also brought down with the DDOS, which is why this has escalated.

The worst part of this is that they pushed 1.2 live yesterday and it is an amazing update. I had a chance to play it for a while until the DDOS attack and it is one of the best updates the game has ever had. It’s a game changing patch that I think a lot of players are really going to love and it will help to bring in more players, too. It is just a shame that some cruel person had to go and ruin that for everyone else.

Hopefully things get back up and running soon.

Gaming

Pet Battles, Crafting, and Leveling – Oh My!

stargrace February 17, 2014 0Comment

The collection grows. I’m now up to 321 unique pets in my world of warcraft collection. I’ve slowly been working through the overland zones hunting down the ones I’m missing. I managed to get my terrible turnip to 25 which means I don’t have to worry about accidently one shotting lower level pets that I’m trying to capture (he has an attack that basically wounds but doesn’t kill) which is always a big fear of mine.

I’ve gone back to working on some factions – The Anglers and Nate. I want his hat. I also managed to get my warlock to level 90 (finally) making her the fourth. My horde deathknight hit level 72, and I did more thinking about which character I want to level to 90 when pre-orders go live for the next expansion. I am thinking a hunter, but I’d really prefer two characters (one horde, one alliance) so if they open up the ability to pay for a level 90 character I’ll probably take advantage of it. I know, many people are of the opinion that paying for a level 90 is a horrible idea but I’ve already done the leveling game so many times now, and what I enjoy is not having to worry about whether or not I am level 90 in order to play the aspects of the game that I enjoy. No matter how ‘easy’ leveling is, 90 is a large number and can be daunting, especially if you already have multiple characters already there. Playing through the same content (or even playing through different content in the hopes of leveling) can be tedious.

I’ve also been spending some time working on my crafting, trying to earn money (though I ended up spending quite a bit on the warlock, she needed to be able to fly in Pandaria zones) – alts are expensive! I did get her most of the 496 gear she needs but she’s missing a trinket, a weapon, a second ring, those types of things. I do still have an 85 druid that I would love to get to 90, but I’m not sure if I want to play the leveling game once again so soon. I’m sure I’ll make a go at it sooner or later.

There’s still so much for me to do in game. I find it surprising and fantastic. Normally I would have stopped playing by now, having run out of content. I think I’ve finally found a great balance of games to play and things to do at a pace that keeps me interested.

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

Gaming

Sand, Sand Everywhere..

stargrace February 14, 2014 0Comment

Wow. Some people have created some truly amazing things in EverQuest Next Landmark so far. Me? I still have an empty plot of land with a few craft machines tossed about. Last night I decided it was time to create the line and paint tools, things I have been saving up to craft for some time. I didn’t want to collect the Elemental Cobalt required for the next tier forge, so I borrowed one from a neighbour and happily made my tools. Afterward I had enough supplies to create a cobalt pick – which of course ended up being slow even with my crafting bracelets on. That’s just the sort of luck I have.

Next will be to watch a few tutorials and try to understand how these new tools work. That, and collect a lot of sand and dirt. I turned most of mine into bags of gems and ore last night, then realized that I wanted to build with these supplies and I should have kept them on hand (and then paint them in a different material later on). Thankfully those supplies are abundant and I shouldn’t have too much issues finding more. Especially since I live smack dab in a giant desert.

The game is slowly getting updates now that some of the major bugs have been squashed (bugs like being unable to build on your claim, voxels vanishing, trees and boulders growing on claims that couldn’t be removed). There has been talk of the combat system, and new materials have been added as of yesterdays update. I’m still not spending a great deal of time in-game because I know it is alpha and thus it will be wiped and then there’s beta where it will also be wiped, but I am enjoying myself quite a bit and I’ve been narrowing down what I would like to eventually build. Whether I’ll manage to pull it off or not has yet to be seen.

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

Gaming

What Update 1.2 Means for Wurm Online Players

stargrace February 11, 2014 1Comment

The countdown to update 1.2 has begun, and with it a lengthy list of what is coming. Honestly, this is a game changing patch for Wurm Online, and I couldn’t be more excited. The largest of the changes is the newly revamped crafting interface. This one thing is going to be huge. Notice that you can queue actions for creating items which is something we could never do before. The interface (as pictured above) is neat and tidy and easy to understand. No more right clicking and having to scroll through a gigantic list to find out what you want to craft. Out of everything coming with this update it is probably one of the least talked about but biggest impacting items.

Wagons and ship carriers are going to be neat, because they’ll allow players to move larger items and objects – something we always have a hard time with. Wagons will use four mounts to pull, the previous ‘large cart’ only allowed for two. Along the same path, crates will be added which allow for greater bulk transportation – these will basically replace rafts, which are very limited.

The second largest point to the update in my opinion would have to be the drag and drop function. Normally when you pick items up out of a pile you need to place them in your inventory first, and then into a cart. Players will be able to drag these items directly from the pile, into the cart (and vice versa). You won’t need that extra step of loading everything into your inventory first. Wrists everywhere rejoiced at the news.

In game maps are also huge news, but keep in mind they are not meant to replace the player maintained maps that show locations of actual deeds. They’re basically rough maps for new players to make use of. You can make annotations to the map, and then share those with your village, or an alliance.

This update has really focused on making the game friendlier to players. There’s a village recruitment board that will allow players to port to the village one time so they don’t have to walk. A new invite command to let you invite players to your village from anywhere on the server. A new book of wisdom for in-game help topics, and more.

There’s also a bunch of new graphic updates going live which is always good to see. It keeps things feeling fresh and it shows just how much passion and dedication is given to this game. I haven’t been this excited since 1.0 and multistory was added. It is certainly exciting times for players.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Gaming

Harvesting, Harvesting, Harvesting in Landmark

stargrace February 10, 2014 1Comment

I’m still playing a lot of Landmark alpha, but I find creating the developer tools you use a bit frustrating. I’m used to harvesting, you have to harvest wood and stone in Wurm Online (along with dirt) to build so it’s not like I’m doing something new but it just seems to bother me. I think it’s because not only do you need to harvest to craft the harvesting tools, the crafting machines, and the developer tools, but you need harvests to build too (ie: you want a stone building, you need stone). It’s a LOT of resources to work through. I don’t play for any more than an hour or so at a time these days and almost all of that time has been spent harvesting so I can craft yet another item I need before I can work on my claim. For example right now I’m working my way towards the line tool.

I love how open SOE has been with their latest products. The forums are open for anyone to read, NDA has been down since the first week, and developers are having open and frank discussions with people on social media. It’s important, and really neat to see how it progresses because it’s so very different compared to how we all know SOE.

I hope to get building on my claim this week, although for that to happen I would have to settle on just one idea to go forward with. So far I have a few that I’m interested in building. I suppose I’ll just have to narrow it down once I get that line tool made! Oh, and watch some tutorials, I really want to watch a few of those too.

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

WurmOffline

Pet Battles, Crafting, and Leveling – Oh My!

Sand, Sand Everywhere..

What Update 1.2 Means for Wurm Online Players

Harvesting, Harvesting, Harvesting in Landmark

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