Saturday: Video Game Roundup

I’m not playing nearly as many games at once as I used to play, but I still manage to keep pretty busy. I decided to do a weekly roundup of the games I’m playing with a little bit of a blurb about each one. I don’t really know anyone who plays only one game these days – so if you do, let me know! I’ve always been envious of those who were able to commit to just one game at a time. First up!

WildStar

My alt leveling has been put on hold while a friend of mine returns to the game. Right now they’re making their way through Whitevale and I’ve been having a blast mentoring them. I’ve found soldier holdouts that I missed when I was passing through along with other collectibles. I’ve mentioned this a few times now, but I’m very happy that WildStar has a mentor system, and I think all games (I’m looking at you WoW) need this sort of system. It encourages me to play with friends and motivates me to explore zones I’ve already been through. I always found it sad when games give you zero reason to revisit an area after the developers put all that work into it. When a new expansion releases if you travel to the older zones they’re always empty. It just seems like a waste.

Diablo 3

Not exactly an MMO, but I’ve been playing this on the PS4 (my PSN is Stargrace if you’re looking to add me) and I’m having a lot of fun. Unlike on the PC, my hand never gets sore from holding the controller buttons down while I attack. I purchased the game some time ago but today was the first day I actually spent any time playing. I’m level 20 now, and I also had a mailbox full of legendary items for me to open. One really neat thing about Diablo 3 is that when you’re playing it you’ll occasionally get items to drop that get sent to your friends. They’re great ways to motivate them to log in! I had to be level 11 before I could wear the items but once I did mobs just melted away. I’m still trying to get a hang of the controls, but I’m not doing too bad. Since I haven’t actually completed the game on the PS4 before, I can’t play at a very high difficulty, but I’m hoping to ‘beat’ the base game and unlock the other modes. One thing that frustrates me is that this game is not cross platform, so even though I can play on the PC and on the PS4, my accounts don’t really interact together and my PC characters don’t show up on my PS4 or vice versa. I wish it were more like FFXIV in that regard.

EQ2

I heard that crafting writs won’t be fixed until Tuesday and that has slowed my progression down a bit. My coercer is still sitting at level 28, and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get 29 today or not. I think I’ll attempt it, but I’m taking a much more casual approach now, so we’ll see how it goes. I did manage to level up a few of my other alts to 10 since there’s no writs to do, but I’ll hold off before getting them above 15. I may take them to Halas to do the crafting quest chain that’s available there (it gives a nice selection of rares, and the ability to purchase the 10-19 advanced books). I’m still having fun playing, and that’s what really matters.

Wurm Online

I’ve been logging my priests in to get their max allotment of prayers each day, but I haven’t done a lot else besides that lately. My Najho priests are just over 42 skill, and it’s not until 70 skill that they’ll really open up as a priest. Then I’ll be able to cast strongwall along with genesis, two skills I’m really eager for. Once I’m able to strongwall I can fix the mine that I broke over at my main deed. I ended up mining straight and creating a drop shaft instead of mining up. An easy fix, once I get the proper faith to be able to cast the spell. I’ve also been working on my animal husbandry and breeding horses / sheep / cows / bison. I’m trying to get a few 5 speeds, but since my skill is only 50 at this time (on both Stargrace and Maivis, my Vynora priest) I typically end up with 4 speeds + one extra useless trait. I know it takes time, and I have the patience to see it through.

Other

Besides the big names at the top, I’ve also spent some time playing Tropico 5 on steam (I’m Stargrace there, too, if you want to add me). The humor just fits with my mood perfectly, and it’s very relaxed and casual. I’ve also spent some time playing Terraria, working on my home and building up a supply of components for future projects. I think I would still rather play Minecraft but since I reformatted my machine not too long ago I also forgot to save my Minecraft world, along with the castle I had built, and that really deterred me from starting all over again. I’ll probably create another world before too long just because the game is so dang fun.

That’s it! Those are the games I’m currently playing and what I’ve been up to. I hope everyone is having an amazing weekend so far, and that you find yourself with at least a little time to play a game or two that you adore. As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!