2015

Missions, Missions, and more Missions

stargrace March 13, 2015 0Comment

I’m making pretty good use out of my Tengu, running missions to earn faction. Right now I’m at 4.86 standing with Douvolle Laboratories, and I need to raise it to 5 in order to work with the research agent I have my eye on.

Meanwhile, I’ve got 5.37 standing with CreoDron, and I need a standing of 7 in order to work with an R&D agent over that way. I know I’ll get there eventually, but it does mean that a lot of my game time is taken up by running missions. I’ve been doing security ones because they’re quite fun and a lot faster than doing the mining missions that I used to run. Plus I get a lot of loot from the wrecks of ships. Now that I have my trusty mobile tractor unit tucked away in my inventory hold, salvaging ships is much easier. I decided to keep my fit with 5 missile launchers + 1 salvager, I know I can carry around another item that will let me swap out that salvager so I can use 6 launchers while in space, but for now the cargo hold doesn’t have a lot of room and I can’t be bothered, I’m getting along just fine with my current make up.

Meanwhile the 2nd account is flying a hulk and working on training some mining crystals. The Orca & Hulk combination is a nice steady one that rarely gives me any issues. Still I prefer to spend more of my time blowing things up with missiles than I do mining, these days.

Fly safe!

Gaming

Finding the Right Mod

stargrace March 11, 2015 0Comment

I love minecraft, but I love minecraft even more with mods. There are two mod launchers I use, one is the ever popular Feed The Beast, and the second one is the TechnicLauncher. Both have an enormous selection of mod packs that you can choose from. I was using Blightfall on the TechnicLauncher, but after a pretty frustrating weekend decided to try out The Dark Trilogy on Feed the Beast. Blightfall had a great quest system and it was a lot of fun but it was also a very challenging Mod, too challenging for me. The entire world was covered in taint, and some of my favourite things to do are explore and build. I felt that this mod really limited my ability to do those things.

The Dark Trilogy has three tiers of mods. There’s technology, magic, and nature. Each tier is as complex or simple as you want it to be. There’s one mod called MrCrayfish’s Furniture Mod that is a LOT of fun, and lets you create furniture such as couches, televisions, a computer, and even a fridge. So far I’ve made a bird bath but not much else. There have also been some changes to my favourite mods, such as Chisel (which is now Chisel 2). Twilight Forest is also included in the bundle, which I’m really looking forward to playing with. First I have to create a portal, which I believe requires a diamond. Needless to say I don’t have any diamonds yet.

I did have fun exploring though. I found the above volcano, and at the time it wasn’t spewing out lava. I noticed there was a lava spawner on the top and it said it was harvestable. SO I decided to hit it a few times with my shovel, and then giant balls of lava started shooting out of it. Never seen my character run and jump so quickly before, teehee. I didn’t want to get burned alive.

I do have a nice base set up, so I should be able to start creating some neat items soon. I did notice there’s almost 9 pages of different food I can make, everything from butter chicken to cherry cheesecake. It may not have a quest journal, but going through the achievement panel will often tell you what mods are available and gives you a sense of progression as you complete them.

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

Gaming

Wandering through Frostfang Sea

stargrace March 8, 2015 0Comment

I noticed Tipa was wandering around Norrath this morning, so I decided why not, it has been a few months since I have peeked in (ok, a few years) why not see what’s up.

Unfortunately, like many games, EQ2 does a poor job of welcoming a stranger back. Aside from the Brewday festival I didn’t have the slightest indication of where I left off, what I was supposed to be doing, where to go, or .. anything. My characters are level 95, and I know the cap now is 100 but I don’t know how to access any of the new zones or even where they are. So I logged in one character after the other. Checked their broker. Checked their research scroll status. Logged in my second account. I’ve been a member all this time so I claimed my station cash and browsed through the store. Twiddled my thumbs. Watched chat channels.

Eventually I decided I would make a new character. A troubador. I named the ratonga after one of my older characters, Goudia (a play on the cheese) and found myself in Frostfang Sea. After completing a handful of quests my little troubador was level 5 – and doing swell.

Channels were populated with players, and there were even a few newly created characters wandering around the zone with me which is always nice to see. Still, I couldn’t help but wish I knew what direction to take my level 95 characters. It just felt like too much of a struggle to get back into things. Instead I would have more fun mentoring down and doing older content, wandering nostalgically from zone to zone, dreaming about the days that were.

Gaming

Trying to get Better

stargrace March 7, 2015 0Comment

In any game I play, I like to know that I am playing my character well. I like to find the optimal builds, wear the right combination of gear, hit the keys in the right order. For some people, that’s just not fun and I can completely understand it, but that’s how I have fun, and I work at it. It would be nice if people could understand that how I decide to play the game has no baring on how they play the game, and that we can each enjoy things our own way.

I’ve been working on my priest as of late, in specific her shadow spec. For some reason I find it very difficult to break through the 12-13k dps range, though I can’t seem to figure out if it’s due to gear or due to my rotation. Right now she’s at 644 ilevel, which isn’t that high. I haven’t had the patience to go blood farming, so only one piece of gear has been upgraded. Plus I know she’s using the cheaper gems and enchants. Still, I want to be better and continue to strive for it.

I haven’t managed to level another character to 100 yet besides my priests. I have a few sitting at level 92 (mostly for garrison reasons) but mindlessly grinding has never been my forte. Probably the reason my pet battle building is also still only level 2, and my fishing shack. I’m hoping to work on both of those over the weekend.

Meanwhile I’m also trying to complete the final two raids that I haven’t participated in yet. That includes Slagworks, and The Black Forge. Unfortunately RNG absolutely hates me, so my chances of actually walking away with loot have been slim to none. I know eventually I’ll reach a point where it all just comes together, other shadow priests are pulling in some insane numbers. For myself, so far, it has been a struggle.

As always, happy gaming this weekend! No matter where you find yourself.

Gaming

Sims 4 Legacy Family – Day 2

stargrace March 4, 2015 0Comment

Playing a Sims 4 legacy family is a pretty humbling experience. In the screenshot above you can see how Elizabeth started out, a single room with a bathtub, toilet, a cot, some pizza she ordered since she can’t cook, and her penguin TV (which she’s still using). She has the childish trait, so she requires high amount of ‘fun’ in order to keep her mood up, and lets face it, fun isn’t free in this world.

Eventually the story progresses. It’s no longer about Elizabeth, but about her children, and providing for them. She managed to fit all of their beds into the house, and can cook them homemade meals, but they have to eat outside. Instead of upgrading her own items she also purchased them an activity table, so they can do arts and crafts. Her entire world becomes about her children and providing for them, so that they can have the best future possible. “J” comes over often to visit with the kids, but continues to turn down Elizabeth whenever she proposes (I think it might be the 8th time or so now).

By the time the kids are on the brink of turning into teenagers, the house is looking a bit better. While both children are in bed, Elizabeth spends hours (and hours) outside, collecting rocks, flowers, and fruit in order to sell them at a local market for pennies. She has taken to breeding exotic frogs in her inventory for a bit of extra cash. She was able to scrape and pinch enough coin to purchase a second hand computer – this is a big deal, it means she can work from home, and do paper work. Of course now in her current position (assistant to the manager) she requires logic, so she spends a lot of time at the library. The children’s room used to be covered with their artwork, but she had to sell all but one picture in order to afford payment for their rent. Because they live on such a giant plot of land (even though it’s mostly empty) they have incredibly high taxes.

Elizabeth is about to age up, and it’s important she see that her children grow up well. When she’s no longer around they’ll be responsible for keeping the family line going. Both kids are B students, and they’ll have to keep working at things. The best thing that has happened to the family recently was a $1000 that Elizabeth got for staying loyal to her work. Even if her loyalty was out of fear. They’re not the most wealthy family out there, but they have lots of love and laughs. That’s what matters.

Missions, Missions, and more Missions

Finding the Right Mod

Wandering through Frostfang Sea

Trying to get Better

Sims 4 Legacy Family – Day 2

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The Search For Hrada-Oki Bivouac

Personal EVE Economic Update (October)

Expensive Month (preparing for fun)

Locked Out (again)