July 2015

Terraria 1.3

stargrace July 3, 2015 0Comment

OK, so it has been some time since I last wrote about Terraria but an enormous update was made to the game just last week, and I figured it was time to check things out. Of course I’m very glad I did, and I’ve been spending the majority of my vacation so far digging tunnels and building rooms for NPC to live. It’s not quite up to the standards of my previous home, but it’s getting there slowly.

One thing that was added, was expert mode. Which is what I’m playing on. In it mobs are harder and loot is plentiful – if you can get to it, at least. Right now I’m still in the early ‘collecting supplies’ stage, though I am sporting a nice set of new gear and some gold tools. One other new thing added is mounts. They look awesome. I haven’t actually gotten one in game yet (I imagine they’re quite hard to obtain) but the best mount by far would have to be the one that lets you roam around mining as you drive. There’s a video for it here that just looks fantastic.

What else was added?

Mac & Linux versions are slated to release this July
800 new items
New events
New mini-biomes
Expert game mode
Achievements
Lots of unknown stuff with no details given (like new bosses)

There are new minions / pets that can be summoned, you can catch critters with nets and place them in a terrarium, or maybe you want to use them as bait for fishing – that’s right, there’s fishing. There’s new light sources, new wings, trophies, a new liquid, a new hook, a new block, new information display for accessories. There’s new minecart variants, and a whole slew of new characters including a crimson bunny, cultist, granite elemental, dripper, and celestial towers.

Of course, that’s not all. You’ll want to read the notes to see the complete list. Me? I’m headed back underground.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Gaming

A Deed is Never Done

stargrace July 2, 2015 4Comments

I haven’t started any bridges yet, but I’ve been contemplating creating one across the little harbor my deed is settled against. Maybe some sort of welcoming guard towers along the front with a bridge that spans between them. I haven’t quite decided yet. What I did decide, was that entirely too much of my deed was taken up by water, and when you pay for each tile of land that you own, well. There’s only a few solutions. What I decided to do was use some of the dirt I had collected from the mountain side and begin filling in the harbor. It’s an area of approximately 5×7, so it’s quite a large spot. I haven’t decided what I’ll do with the newly terraformed location yet, it’s not like I need any more buildings, pens, or farm space, but I’m sure I’ll come up with something.

I also decided to re-expand the deed slightly, raising the monthly cost to just under 3 silver. This brings my guard tower back on-deed, as well as a large portion of my mine and my grape orchard. It wasn’t essential that these things be on-deed, but it does make keeping it all repaired a bit easier.

I also spent the better part of one gaming session cutting down wayward trees and turning a large portion to lawn so that more wayward trees couldn’t grow. The reason for this is not because I don’t enjoy trees, but because those threes tend to block the view of the deed, and I wanted it to stand out a bit more. Since I have a dedicated tree farm off to the side it’s not essential that I have any extras, plus the top tier of my place is loaded with maple trees (my favourite type in-game).

I’m still undecided as to what skills I want to raise on my main character. My priest is pretty simple. I finally raised channeling to 60, and I’m working on Soul Depth. Animal husbandry, farming, hot food cooking, all the usual priest skills. On my main I’m debating between jewelry and going back to weapon smithing which is just the slowest skill in the entire world to level up. It’s one of those skills where you want to be doing something else as you work on it (like watching TV) and only work on it when you have sleep bonus. Even then, you’ll be lucky to raise it any significant amount. The more I think about it, the more that’s the skill I think I’ll end up going with. Now I just need to find something on netflix or hulu to watch so I don’t fall asleep from boredom.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Gaming

Ragefire – Leveling Continues

stargrace July 1, 2015 0Comment

I haven’t written about it much (well, I haven’t written about anything much this summer to be honest) but I am still playing on the EverQuest progression server, Ragefire. My magician is now level 17, along with my druid. I’ve been camping Dervish out in South Ro along with Kasul playing his shaman. The place is dangerous. There’s a mixture of dark blue mobs mixed with some white, a handful of yellow, and then the reds (usually Orc Warriors, and the odd Sand Giant that wanders by). The zones are still really packed with players, and I use the /pick function as often as I can to swap to quieter instances. There’s a large number of players who are now at the level cap, but I’m not in any rush.

We did have a poll option to see if we’d like Kunark to come out earlier than normal, which I did vote in favour of. I think it offers players a larger range of zones to explore and will help spread the population out even further. Of course one day I’d like to see myself in a raid but because of the population issue I’m not expecting to be able to help out for quite some time. I’ve been contemplating creating (yet another) alt in the meantime, but I suppose I should at least reach 50 on one pair of characters first. I know there are better (ie: faster) camps out there, but I”m content to sit and wait on three spawns in a relatively safe location.

There has been a lot of chatter in all of the channels I join when I log in, but not a lot of that chatter is centered around groups or camp checks. This is one of the biggest differences I’ve seen between playing back when I first started, and playing now. Now it’s only to easy for people to box multiple accounts, or to have already established groups. I suppose it was a bit foolish to think that things would be exactly as they were 10 years ago, but a part of me had hoped.

Between leveling I’m working up my tradeskills. Earning skill points is a slow process, but one I find incredibly valuable. I haven’t been selling anything I’ve created yet, but I do enjoy having a fine selection of foods and drinks to choose from. I did also create myself a set of gear, and while it offers nothing in terms of actual stats, it does offer AC, which is very important.

Playing a magician is quite easy. There’s so many of them around. The only time I really have any concerns is when a roaming mob (or two, or three) has wandered into my camp, and then I get flustered and forgot to watch the health of my pet and before I know it I’ve been taken out by a named I wasn’t even aware of. It’s exciting times, and I’m glad to be a part of it.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Terraria 1.3

A Deed is Never Done

Ragefire – Leveling Continues

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