2014

Who needs Hair

stargrace November 19, 2014 3 Comments

I didn’t get a whole lot of time to check out the latest Dragon Age yesterday, most of my gaming time being taken up by character creation (of course), but I did play for an hour or so, and the first thing that stood out was “wow, this game is absolutely beautiful”, quickly followed by “wow, my character’s hair is horrible.” – in fact all the female hair choices were particularly horrible (in my opinion).

Pictured above – Blesse. She’s the dwarven archer I created. While I own and have played a few hours of both the previous Dragon Age games, I have not completed either of them. I was unsure of whether or not I wanted to complete them first before moving forward with this one, but in the end I decided I would be fine going on what I already knew. I don’t want to post any of the story or many screenshots because I know a lot of people dislike spoilers, but I will say that the first hour was pretty gripping. There’s a bit of lag when I take a screenshot so in half of them my dwarf looks like she’s got a mouthful of something unpleasant or her eyes are closed, but overall the story is captivating and that’s the more important part.

I picked up the game for PC since I wasn’t sure I wanted to play with a controller. These types of RPG games typically don’t appeal to me on console, I’d rather have mouse access to things like inventory and skills. I doubt I’ll get very far in multiplayer as that is something that has never really appealed to me, but it’s nice to know the option is there if I want it.

Did you pick up the game? What system did you get it for? What are you most looking forward to? Let me know in comments below! As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself.

Gaming

Warlords, Dragons, and Sackboys, Oh my!

stargrace November 18, 2014 1 Comment

Like a lot of my friends lately, I have found myself (most often than not) logging into World of Warcraft since Warlords went live. While I typically enjoy new expansion releases, this one in particular has pulled me in with their combination of cinematics, quests, and of course garrisons. Each day I log in to complete any garrison missions that I have left running over night, and pick up all of my work orders. On my main my garrison buildings include:

T2 grand hall
T2 mine
T2 trading post
T1 fishing hut
T1 tailoring emporium
T1 enchanter’s study
T1 stables

I haven’t been in as much a rush to unlock things because I’ve been leveling up, but I do tend to get distracted by the shinies. I’ve picked up quite a few battle pets, worked on archeology (which is where one of my latest pets came from) and of course have been having a blast just wandering through each zone. One of the things that really appeals to me is just how much stuff is out there randomly in the world. Besides the bonus quests you can wander into, I love that there are clickies scattered about randomly. I never know what I’m going to stumble into, and I love that.

Of course it wouldn’t be enough just to have Warlords launch, two other games that are going to be taking my time include the latest Dragon Age, and of course – Little Big Planet 3. I can’t wait to start playing that on my PS4.

I’ve said it before and I’m sure I’ll say it again, it’s great to be a gamer.

Gaming

Garrisons and all their Goodies

stargrace November 14, 2014 2 Comments

Alright. I know there are going to be a lot of WoW posts from various sites over the next little while, so for those who are not interested in WoW, I apologize. It is one of the (many) games I tend to play, so you’ll have to handle a few posts here and there! Warlords released, and while there have been issues (server issues, bug issues, etc) for me personally things have been relatively smooth – minus the server issues which were of course expected and I don’t mind them.

When I first heard about garrisons I got all excited thinking these were player housing. They’re not. They’re instances where you get to plop down buildings and sure you get to choose what buildings you plop down, and yes they are incredibly useful – but this is not player housing as I have come to know it. There’s no decorating, no creativity. You’re not naming any of your followers, or doing anything to the zone aside from choosing what building is going where. That being said, it IS highly addictive.

If you’re familiar with the Rift minion system then you already know what to expect from followers in garrisons. You earn NPC through PvE quests and through garrison quests (there are other ways but these are the beginning methods) and they’ll randomly take on a quality. The beginning NPC will start at level 90, you get to level them to 100 through garrison quests. You’ll spend a lot of time at the Mission Specialist in the garrison, choosing which follower is going on which mission for the best odds. Unlike Rift where you’re not given a percentage of success right there on the mission, WoW takes all the guess work out of the equation for you.

You send your little ~~minions~~ followers out, and they come back after a pre-determined length of time. Some times they come back with experience, garrison resources (used for upgrades), a fancy item for you, some gold, etc. You get the picture. They level up, and you work on your garrison. You start with an Inn, Barracks, and if you have a crafting specialty chances are you’ll run into a quest that will reward you with plans for your craft (in my case this was engineering). You’ll play some more and wonder how the heck you get to earn more buildings, and how to upgrade the current ones you have.

Thankfully there are loads of guides on this part of the game. One in particular that I have been using is on Icy-Veins, and it explains that in order to upgrade your town hall to T2 you’ll need to complete the quest Bigger is Better. In order to get that quest, you need to complete a majority of the quests in Twilight Glade (Alliance at least). You’ll also need 200 resources and some gold, so keep that in mind. I’m not quite at the point where I’m ready to upgrade to T2 yet, but I’m slowly getting there and I’m quite excited about it. My warlock just reached level 92, and I’m enjoying the ride more than I’m trying to rush.

I have to admit, it’s also very nice to see so many of my friends playing – I know it probably won’t last, but I’m still very happy.

Gaming

6th Annual Gamers Secret Santa

stargrace November 10, 2014 No Comments

It’s that time of year again! Time for the 6th annual gamers secret santa! Have no idea what that is? Well. I’ve been running it for a while now. There was one I ran last year in 2013, the 2012 one, 2011, 2010, and 2009. It has grown each year, and while it’s not the largest celebration out there, it is one I really take a lot of pleasure from. Geeky gifts are sent out all over the world, and if you would like to participate or are interested in what it is all about please read further!

What it is: Those who want to participate are more than welcome to. You can be a gamer, blogger, a member of the game industry, whatever. As long as games are some how a part of your life. I will take names / addresses, and assign everyone a ‘secret’ person to buy a small less than $20 gift for, as well as give them the address required. Send out your gift and wait for one to head your way, and that’s it. Ok, let me explain it a bit better.

What is “Secret Santa?” here’s the definition!

How:

1. Send your full name and mailing address to me at stargrace@mmoquests.com, make sure it comes from a valid email address. If you happen to run a fansite or a blog, please mention which blog you write for (if you want, you don’t have to). It doesn’t matter who you are or how involved in the gaming community you are, anyone can participate. If you’re worried that I have not gotten your email, please contact me on twitter: @stargrace. I will email you back, so make sure to check your trash folders.

2. On December 2nd I will email you back with someone else’ address.

3. The price limit is $20, don’t spend any more than that. Be creative, make something, have it be unique to your culture or your life, if you need suggestions then please don’t hesitate to let me know. Try to keep in mind that we’re all gamers, no matter where we come from.

4. Keep your person a secret! Don’t tell anyone who else you have. If you DO happen to run a fansite or blog, then when you receive your gift write about it and let everyone know.

5. If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to let me know below in comments, or email me.

ALTERNATE METHOD:

If you live in a location where mail is not very practical and you’re worried about it getting lost, I WILL offer a digital gift exchange method for those who request it. If you choose to participate this way here is what I need from you:

Send your full name and the following: The email associated with your steam account, your steam handle, your raptr handle, the email you would like any digital gift sent to.

More Details: I understand that you may not be comfortable with me or one other person having your mailing address, so if you’re not please don’t feel pressured to participate. The idea is to share with one another and realize what a fantastic community we have, not make you feel on edge that you’re going to potentially run into issues.

If you’d like to participate but simply can not afford to no matter what, send me an email and let me know, I will do my best to help you out. I want anyone who’s interested to be able to participate in this event. I think sometimes we forget that these people we all talk to online are not just random pixels, but are actual people on the other end of those computers.

Please keep in mind that only myself, and ONE other person will have your address. It won’t become a mailing list or anything like that. If you’re only comfortable with me having it and no one else then let me know, and I’ll have your gift sent to me and then I’ll send it out to you. Anything to make sure people are comfortable and still able to participate.

YOU HAVE UNTIL DECEMBER 1st TO EMAIL ME YOUR ADDRESS – please take your time to think about whether or not this is something you really want to do. If it is, get me your address by December 2nd so that I can give people some time to get their shopping done. If it’s a little late (the gift, not the address) that’s alright.

If you don’t celebrate Christmas but still want to participate that’s alright too! This isn’t a religious thing. There are some amazing gamers I have met from all over the world, and I think that we have a lot to share with one another.

I think that’s about it. If you can think of something I’ve missed then please let me know and I’ll do my best to answer it. I just wanted to share some of the Christmas joy that’s going to be flying around before too long and figured this would be a fantastic idea for people to experience it with one another.

Gaming

Lets go Swimming!

stargrace November 5, 2014 No Comments

Yesterday it was announced that pools were finally making it into game, a long awaited feature that most expected would go live when Sims 4 released. Unfortunately time doesn’t always work on our side, and the ability to swim or create pools had to be left out. I understand that time is a precious thing, and even though it’s easy to say “well, if all the features are not ready, postpone the release date!” the video game industry doesn’t always work that way. Sometimes you need to release your product no matter what you have ready to go.

Others made comments of disbelief that this was a free update. EA is well known for their nickel and dime routines, especially when it comes to the Sims franchise. I wasn’t surprised that this was a free DLC, after all it is a basic function that should have been released with the base game. Now EA comes off as “the good guys” when they finally release their content. I have no doubt that once the basics get implemented they’ll go back to releasing paid for content.

That being said – I am very happy that pools were added. Of course that means there’s a new way to kill your sims.

There were other bug fixes that were added with this patch, unfortunately the one that turns my screen completely black when I make any purchases in build mode until I change the resolution of the game and then change it back, is not fixed. I’m glad that this glitch has a temporary fix (that I have to do every time I play) because I’m sure there are other glitches out there that are not solved so easily, which may account for why it hasn’t been addressed yet.

Have you created a pool yet? Are your sims now living the high life? Let me know what you think in comments!

Who needs Hair

Warlords, Dragons, and Sackboys, Oh my!

Garrisons and all their Goodies

6th Annual Gamers Secret Santa

Lets go Swimming!

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