2015

The Road to Level 100

stargrace December 7, 2015 0Comment

Originally I had planned on playing my defiler, Stargrace, on the Antonia Bayle server. Of course I never follow plans and instead I played the illusionist, Seduit, that I have over on Maj’Dul. She was level 95 and I hadn’t even set foot into Altar of Malice (let alone the latest expansion) so I began with that. Questing was slow. Really slow. I can understand why people prefer to group elsewhere. Over the course of the weekend I did manage to level to 97, so that’s nice but I’m not sure if I have the patience to continue on with that method. I’ve been debating grinding out the levels in another zone (skyshrine comes to mind, though I understand that place is typically still packed) or maybe just going through older content. Thankfully there are options.

I also reached 98 provisioner by completing the Altar of Malice quest chain. I was contemplating grinding writs to reach 100 but decided against it because I don’t have a lot of spare resources right now. Doing the daily and weekly crafting quests should bump me to 100 before long.

Last but not least I started this character down the harvesting quest chain from the Isle of Mara. I’ve collected food items from the starter zones, antonica, and now I’m headed to Nektulos Forest and Thundering Steppes. It’s quite relaxing to be able to sit back and harvest, though I am eager to get it completed. I’ve been going through the giant list of tradeskill quests I want to get completed, it’s really amazing to see how many there are in the game when you’re looking at them in list format.

I don’t know anyone on Maj’Dul these days, but I continue to listen in on channels and I am enjoying the current population. Long term I hope to hit 100, continue to work on gear and spells, and maybe even be able to participate in a raid or two if I can find a guild that accepts alliances. I’m in a guild on my own and I don’t want to leave it because it compliments my play style, but I do like to participate in raids and other events. We’ll just have to see.

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

The 3+1 Guild

stargrace December 5, 2015 2Comments

The year was 2008. The server was Kithicor. I transferred there on a whim and I met some of the most amazing people I’ve ever known. Unfortunately the rest of the server was not kind. In 2009 we made the decision to transfer to Antonia Bayle and we packed up our homes and most of the guild hall, leaving one character behind to keep it safe for us. We set up a memorial for others to visit for as long as they could. On top of each tomb was a player written book describing our adventures and what we had done on the server as an incredibly small team.

Today I went returned to check in for the first time since we left. I didn’t even remember that we left the memorial. I’m still friends with everyone from the 3+1 guild. I’m the only one who still plays EQ2, but that’s OK because we have ties that run deeper than the game even if it is the game that brought us together.

I owe a lot in my life to video games. Everything from friends I have made to jobs I have held. I can honestly say that without EverQuest 2 I wouldn’t be the person I am today. I think that’s pretty amazing.

When in Doubt – Craft!

stargrace December 4, 2015 0Comment

I had done it. I had made the decision to return to Norrath – not a huge commitment because my account has station access until July to begin with, I just hadn’t been actively playing. I don’t mind, it’s just a way for me to show my support to developers but I’m glad I made the decision to try to actually make use of it instead of subscribing to yet another game (that I would lose interest in after a few months, as I always do). My adventure level main is only 96, and there’s two expansions worth of stuff I am behind on. For some reason the level cap on guilds is 115 when the level cap on characters is 100.. Edit: I have no idea what the cap is for guilds if there even is any. I saw guilds at 120+ last night… Odd.

No matter how confused I am when I return to a game, one thing that rarely ever changes is crafting. It’s an old friend that I can start questing with right away, and returning to EQ2 was no different. I promptly got a a message in game about where to go and what to do and who needed my help. Perfect. I was already level 100, having completed the Altar of Malice craft chain during my last brief visit, so I was able to dive into the latest expansion right away. Before long I was running through the halls of Maldura and flying through Thalumbra (over and over again) playing games of talk to X npc then talk to Y npc then craft X item and deliver it to XY npc. Sure, it’s not exciting, but the lore and story at each npc is quite entertaining, and I did get a really nice piece of gear. Two, in fact. One crafter piece and one adventure piece that I can’t wear yet. I’m calling that motivation.

Once I completed the main chain I decided to work on the weekly tasks which you can snag all at once if you want, or space them out. Learning my way around the areas was frustrating. There’s always that one quest icon that you just can’t seem to reach, and of course I died to a few things. Guards before I managed to get faction, a cliff I thought was passable, etc.

Now that those are done, it’s time to settle down and do a bit of leveling. My goal (har) is to be 97 by the time this post goes live on December 4th at 6am. Right now I’m 83% into level 96, so I’m pretty confident that I can do that. I know a lot of people like to just grind out experience in Skyshrine or another contested dungeon zone, but I imagine I will quest my way as far as I can so that I can get gear upgrades and hopefully progress some story lines.

It’s nice to be back, comfortable. I’m not quite “there” yet and I won’t feel like I am until I’m at least level 100 and know my way around things again, but it’s not completely out of my realm of possibility at least. I also took advantage of the free server transfers and moved two characters. I put an illusionist over on Maj’dul, and a ranger wandered over to Halls of Fate. If it turns out I don’t enjoy Antonia Bayle, or I want a break from things for a bit, or I want to visit friends, well, I have options. Options are always good.

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

Lets Talk about Fan Sites

stargrace December 3, 2015 1Comment

Earlier this week I mentioned that I had started playing EQ2 again on a whim (that’s how it starts). I decided to dust off my 96 defiler and work on some older quests. I never completed the previous expansion (Altar of Malice) and while I did cave and buy their newest expansion (Terrors of Thalumbra) I wasn’t quite ready to dive back into things. The point of this rambling being that I’ve missed a lot of changes over the years and had no idea where to start. Video games do a bad job at telling you what has changed since last you played. Sure, you could try to go to their web site and find a list of all the patch notes, but it’s not going to explain things in depth because patch notes are meant for people who are actively playing, and it’s a lot of information to take in at once. Places that do present to you the changes in a fantastic way are typically fan sites.

I love fan sites. I think they are the bread and butter of any game, and the communities that surround them are amazing. They can include any professional or non-professional site that is run by – you guessed it, a fan. One of my favourites for EQ2 happens to be EQ2wire which includes the latest changes along with author commentary. I don’t always agree, but I don’t always have to. The site itself is good, the owners work hard at it and have a passion that shows through. My absolute favourite part of their ‘Wire Network’ though is of course the u.eq2wire.com portion. This lets me take an in-depth look at my characters, the quests they’ve completed, what major quest chains I have yet to begin, what gear I’m wearing, adornments, and basically everything that I could ever want to know – and what’s even better is that I can search for other characters. Something I’ve done in the past when I was curious about a specific build someone may have been using.

I think it’s important to show these types of sites that you support them, that you enjoy what they do. All too often you start using a site only to have the creator take it down for xyz reason, and then those resources are lost forever. Vanguard was a fantastic example of this happening and it was always sad when a fan site vanished.

Other EQ2 sites I absolutely love and use any time I’m playing include:

• EQ2Traders
• EQ2Furniture 
• EQ2 Wiki

Of course there are a few blogs here and there that still talk about EQ2 as well, like my friend Bhagpuss. I used to really enjoy ZAM as well, but the network has since let go of all my favourite people which sucks because they were amazing and passionate. Don’t forget to support that small fan site that you use, even if it’s just a little notice to the authors that you appreciate their work. It does make a difference.

Inflation

stargrace December 2, 2015 0Comment

Some people really like managing money, even in video games. Me? I worry enough about money concerns in my day to day life, when it comes to video games keeping track of what I can afford and what I have to hold back on is something I rarely devote any time to. As games age of course inflation happens. People who have been around for a while earn more money, quest rewards are greater, etc.

The economy was already pretty established when I started playing EverQuest, but since I started EverQuest 2 when it released I was able to keep up with the economy changes pretty well. Until I took my breaks, of course. Yesterday when I was leveling up my brand new zerker I was watching an action going on – and the bids were over 30,000 plat for a single item. There’s one major reason that stands out for me as one of the causes for this increase. Loyalty tokens used to reward 75p for 5 tokens, and a subscriber would get 2 tokens every day if they completed the daily objectives. That reward has been changed to 500 plat, in itself not an enormous change since it affects everyone – but the 12 year veteran reward, well that’s 375 tokens. That’s a lot of plat if you decide to spend your tokens on coin bags.

It’s no surprise that I’m seeing things for sale on the broker for hundreds of thousands of plat.

It’s comfortable to be back in EQ2. I’m even debating picking up their latest expansion even though I haven’t completed the previous one yet. Then of course there’s the decision of who to play. My current characters include (feel free to friend):

• Stargrace – 96 defiler / 100 tailor
• Milay – 10 berserker
• Minxes – 91 ranger / 95 armorer
• Petites – 95 inquisitor / 95 jeweler
• Jacquotte – 95 swashbuckler / 95 weaponsmith
• Arysh – 91 warden / 95 woodworker
• Seduit – 95 illusionist / 95 provisioner
• Ellithia – 95 dirge / 95 alchemist
• Ishbel – 95 coercer / 95 carpenter
• Seduisant – 95 shadowknight / 95 sage

All located on the Antonia Bayle server. I’m debating between the dirge, coercer, shadowknight, and defiler because those are my preferred classes, but I’m much more likely to just play whoever interests me in the heat of the moment. On that note, I managed to ding the guild 79, too. That’s a huge accomplishment considering I’m the only one active in the guild, and we were only ever a guild of three people to begin with. Took some time, of course, but I’m still really glad.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!