2016

EverQuest Next: Cancelled..

stargrace March 11, 2016 6Comments

The announcement didn’t come as a surprise, but that didn’t mean we weren’t still sad to hear it. Daybreak finally told us what we all had in the back of our minds, that EverQuest Next was not going to be a thing:

To Our Daybreak Community,

I’m writing today to let you know that, after much review and consideration, Daybreak is discontinuing development of EverQuest Next.

For the past 20 years EverQuest has been a labor of love. What started as a deep passion of ours, as game creators, grew into a much larger passion shared by you, millions of players and Daybreakers alike. Watching EverQuest’s ability to entertain and bring people together has inspired and humbled us. It’s shaped our culture and has emboldened us to take aggressive risks with our game ideas and products. When we decided to create the next chapter in the EverQuest journey, we didn’t aim low. We set out to make something revolutionary.

For those familiar with the internals of game development, you know that cancellations are a reality we must face from time to time. Inherent to the creative process are dreaming big, pushing hard and being brutally honest with where you land. In the case of EverQuest Next, we accomplished incredible feats that astonished industry insiders. Unfortunately, as we put together the pieces, we found that it wasn’t fun. We know you have high standards when it comes to Norrath and we do too. In final review, we had to face the fact that EverQuest Nextwould not meet the expectations we – and all of you – have for the worlds of Norrath.

The future of the EverQuest franchise as a whole is important to us here at Daybreak.EverQuest in all its forms is near and dear to our hearts. EverQuest and EverQuest II are going strong. Rest assured that our passion to grow the world of EverQuest remains undiminished.

Yours truly,

Russell Shanks
President, Daybreak Games

I’ve been a huge fan of the EverQuest franchise for years now. EQ1 was my first MMO. EQ2 quickly followed, and I ‘met’ some folks who would become my absolute best friends. I played steadily for many years before finally throwing in the towel, but that didn’t come easily for me. There are still days when I find myself missing both EQ and EQ2 and so I wander around remembering “the way things were”. Of course everyone is quick to remind us that you can never go back, and that times have changed and games have changed with those times (as have we, the gamers), but I still wander the old dungeons, reminiscing.

What comes next? Well, Landmark is apparently launching this spring, though what the final version will look like I have no idea. It feels like the end of an era but lets be honest here that era faded long before this announcement came out.

Over all I’m just saddened by the announcement. What more can we do except play the games we love, for as long as we are able to love them, and take our precious memories with us when we leave.

Gaming

Black Desert Online: No Idea What I’m Doing..

stargrace March 11, 2016 1Comment

A handful of my friends have taken to playing Black Desert Online lately, and I was feeling a bit left out. I don’t normally fall into a hype category these days, and I tend to game to my own beat, so I had barely heard anything about this game until it released (aside from the amazing character creator. Everyone was talking about that). I didn’t know if I wanted to buy the game right away but I was graciously given a 7 day code so I could check things out. I made a spunky sorcerer and headed out into the world (which is absolutely beautiful, but unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably already know this).

One thing I’ve heard over and over about this game is that it’s got a steep learning curve. The game barely holds your hand at all and you’re left fending for yourself when it comes to learning the mechanics. Combat is by far the most simple of these mechanics, and I’ve been told it also plays a very small role in the overall game play. The quests I picked up were your typical ‘kill 10 rats’ variety, and then I was left to my own devices, wandering around talking to a whole lot of NPC in a small village where I had absolutely no idea what I was doing or why I could rent gear from them. Still, part of the charm of Black Desert Online is discovering and figuring out these systems and how they’re supposed to work. Before I knew it I had reached level 10 and I honestly couldn’t tell you what I had done to reach it aside from a few combat quests.

I enjoy figuring out games like this and I like learning about their systems. Sure, there are days when I want a themepark MMO and I’ll happily plunk away in World of Warcraft with no thought what so ever, but then there are the days where I want a little complexity. I’ve only got a couple of days left on my 7 day trial, and I’ll have to decide if I think the game is worth buying full price, or if I should wait until it potentially goes on sale or I have a bit more funds to cover it. There’s no monthly fee (that I’m aware of) but there is an in-game shop that uses real money, something else to be mindful of.

In the meantime I’ve been reading up on blog posts from friends to see their impressions of things. Bhagpuss has been playing, and so has Scopique, and Alysianah from Mystic Worlds. While the overall decision as to whether I want to continue playing or not will rest with me, it’s always great to read about other adventures.

Are you playing? Enjoying it? Have some advice to give? Let me know in comments. As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself.

Gaming

Stardew Valley? Of course!

stargrace March 3, 2016 0Comment

Like a lot of my friends, I bought Stardew Valley when it released with high hopes that it would be what I was looking for (a PC version of Harvest Moon with a few extras thrown in) and then I was pleasantly surprised when it ended up being even better than I had hoped. Right now my little character is only in the mid-summer months, but already I’ve had fun exploring the mine, collecting bundles for the community center, meeting towns folks, and yes, even fishing.

Fishing was difficult for me at first. The wording on the mini game was a bit misleading, and I had problems keeping the green moving bar under the fish. Once I went up a level, it got much easier. I hear better tools and more levels will help out even more. For the past three days I’ve been trying to catch a Sardine for a quest, but they keep evading me, even though I caught one on the very first try when I got my rod (I of course sold that fish, I needed funds for a chicken coop). The game has a lot of character, and that’s what really appeals to me. I named my chicken, and then grew fearful as it was accidentally left out in the rain one day. You start making relationships with the townsfolks, and counting on them to be there when you want to talk to them.

Of course there are the usual frustrations. I’m convinced the calendar day changes right when I need a specific shop so that it’s closed, and the first day I played run was off by default so it took me hours to get anywhere. Still, these are items I don’t mind living with – and I can’t wait to see what happens next on my little farm.

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

Knitting Yarn

Knitting Progress

stargrace February 25, 2016 0Comment

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Tom Thumb Spinning Wheel

February has been a pretty nice month as far as fiber crafts go. I have spun about 1/2 of my corriedale on a top whorl drop spindle, dyed the other half, and added more fiber to my slowly growing collection. I also managed to pick up an amazing deal on a Tom Thump spinning wheel. Very little is actually known about these wheels it turns out – but that’s the joy of spinning, wheels may look different, but they all have the same basic parts, that change depending on the type of spinning / wheel they are created for.

In the case of the Tom Thumb, it can be set up for scotch or double drive tension. It’s a single treadle, with a built in lazy kate. Mine came with three bobbins, the flyer and the flyer whorl, and is intact with the maidens, but it is missing a few smaller pieces that I can hopefully replicate. It’s missing the threading hook, and the knob for scotch tension. It’s also missing a pin out of the footman to keep the arm attached to the drive wheel, but that’s an easy fix with a split pin and some washers. The bottom of the wheel is signed “Tom Thumb – Handmade from New Zealand Kauri” and it’s an exceptionally sturdy wheel. I wish I could learn more about it, but as I said I’ve only found one single article that mentions the wheel here. A nice lady was selling it on Kijiji in my area, and I’m glad I picked it up. Once I get it fixed and in working order (basically attaching the footman properly) I’ll be learning to spin the rest of my corriedale, and I’m pretty excited about that.

This month has been a bit slow in terms of finished projects. I did complete my knit-a-long afghan square, it was double seed stitch and a pleasure to knit. I also finally completed the rainbow socks that I had begun in January. I really need to learn to knit two-at-a-time so that I don’t procrastinate quite so much. I’ve been working away on my entrelac scarf, which I may turn into a cowl, I finished my antler hat, and I’ve also been working on the lace shawl mystery kal that I’ve had on-going for some time. I hope to finish that up before too long, I’m just getting to the lace portions. I know I haven’t been as ‘active’ with my knitting as I was in January, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I’ve been learning a lot, spinning a lot (which I really enjoy), learning to dye yarn and all of the rest. I call that some great progress!

Gaming

The continuing appeal of superhero gaming

stargrace February 24, 2016 0Comment

Despite the fact that the gaming world has provided us with many legendary characters such as Mario and Lara Croft, it has also repeatedly drawn a great deal of inspiration from comic book creations.

So whether it’s the latest next-gen console release, or even a slot machine game, here’s a look at how superheroes have infiltrated our gaming domain.

Marvel Comics have been with us for many years, but it’s only recently that it’s become a major source of inspiration for the gaming world. From the early Spiderman titles for the Amiga in 1982, to the updates for the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 at the turn of the century, it was clear that the comic book template of brightly-coloured athletic characters held great potential for console gaming.

The X-Men series also revelled in the comic book gaming options, with many titles such as X-Men: Destiny and Wolverine being closely tied to their related movie blockbusters to deliver the company a massive amount of cross-promotional appeal.

But in terms of popularity, the DC Comics creation, Batman, is hard to beat. The character has already appeared in a huge range of titles culminating in last year’s critically-acclaimed Arkham Knight for the PS4 and Xbox One.

And given the creative potential of differing gaming platforms, we’ve also seen the Caped Crusader turning up in a few unlikely places. These have included a series of Lego Batman releases, as well as the Dark Knight Rises slots game that features alongside a massive range of online slot machines at the Betway site that includes many other user-friendly casino games.

The Lego franchise also released their Marvel Super Heroes game that featured an entire universe of Marvel stars battling through a range of different environments and utilizing their own special powers.

And although Superman managed to make an appearance in the Lego Batman games, he hasn’t managed to make such a successful impression on the 21st century gaming environment. 2006’s Superman Returns suffered from widespread negative reviews, whereas Superman: The New Adventures for the Nintendo 64 is often quoted as being one of the worst games ever made.

However, 2011’s Marvel Vs Capcom 3 managed to provide a great meeting of comic book worlds that served to show the fun that could be had when pitting the likes of Ryu against Deadpool.

And with our superheroes showing the ability to find new terrain in the realms of slot machines and Lego games, it seems as though these comic book characters will be with us for a long time to come.

EverQuest Next: Cancelled..

Black Desert Online: No Idea What I’m Doing..

Stardew Valley? Of course!

Knitting Progress

The continuing appeal of superhero gaming

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