2017

Choya are Adorable

stargrace September 24, 2017 0Comment

Choya are the CUTEST things I have ever seen.

Yesterday I mentioned that I was having some stability issues that caused me to lose a bunch of progress (an entire instance worth) and it put me in enough of a mood that I decided to just log out for a little bit. My time is pretty limited so I can only play when the little guy is down for a nap twice a day (and even then he tends to wake up after an hour) so if I can’t get something completed within that time I usually have to abandon it. I had just gotten the final boss down to the 10% mark when I was dropped back to Crystal Oasis. I do plan on going back there today some time, but it wasn’t a nice experience.

A few of my friends have been working towards their bunny mount – it looks so awesome! I still need one more point in my raptor before I can go for that one, but I know I’ll get there eventually. On one hand having so little time to play is a great way to make sure the content stretches out a little bit, but on the other hand I want to experience all the things! The story has really captivated me this time around, probably because I’m actually paying attention and it doesn’t hurt that the voice overs are fantastic.

Honestly, I think ArenaNet has done an amazing job (from what I have experienced so far) and should be proud of themselves. Sure, there have been some issues, but they’ve been working all weekend at making game play smooth for everyone, and they’ve been addressing the issues as they crop up. I remember from my days at Carbine / NCSOFT just how stressful a game release is and just how much work goes into something like that. Experiencing it first hand takes away a lot of the bitterness I might otherwise feel at having issues crop up. They happen, and I know the company is on it. How long it takes to solve is not something anyone can control.

I haven’t had time to play anything else, though I am eager to get back to Cook, Serve, Delicious – as well as Divinity Original Sin 2. Isn’t it a great time to be a gamer? So many fantastic releases this year.

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

I’ve been Mounted! (Er, I’ve got my Mount?)

stargrace September 23, 2017 0Comment

The release of PoF went pretty smooth – initially. I love their method of releasing an expansion, which doesn’t include any downtime other than logging out so you can patch a new build. I think this is a feature that a lot of gamers forget about, especially since some other AAA titles still have 8+ hours of downtime on expansion days. One more win for ArenaNet.

I logged in with my Asura Guardian and began the story – as you can see by the screenshot above she received her first mount, an awesome raptor. Don’t forget you can dye your mount so even though it may look like everyone else there’s at least a tiny bit of individuality. I wonder how long before we start seeing skins for them in the gem store.

I don’t want to give the story away, so I’ll keep things fairly brief and generic.

This expansion is absolutely beautiful. I mean Guild Wars 2 always looks pretty fantastic to me, but this one is over the top. Maybe it’s because after looking at nothing but plants for a few months I’m just happy to be back in civilization, but the setting is just amazing. The voice acting has been top notch, and I’m fully invested in my story.

Now, that doesn’t mean everything is perfect. It’s not. Today (Saturday) there seem to be quite a few instances of people dropping during important instances fights (I was doing The Sacrificed and dropped during the boss fight, it spit me out into Crystal Oasis and now I have to do the entire story again) and a lot of other technical issues that people are having, including map completion not offering rewards. So no, things are not perfect – but it’s OK, no one is expecting perfection. I know players just want to get in game, and when things prevent them from doing that, or cause lost progress, well, the not so nice side comes out.

Anyway. I’m having a blast. I don’t get a lot of time to play because I’m limited to times my son is asleep, but I’ve done some progression and I’m content to take my time. If you’ve been looking to get back into the world, now is a great time.

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

Just One More Sleep!

stargrace September 21, 2017 0Comment

Just one more sleep and we’ll finally be able to play GW2’s latest expansion – and hopefully unlock some mounts. One thing I’m really excited about is map completion – with mounts. Not just in the new zones, but in all of the old zones that I haven’t finished yet. I do have 65% map completion, but this should help me out a bit by making it go faster and being a little more fun. Of course it doesn’t help me complete heart missions any faster, but that’s alright.

Pictured above, my adorable asura guardian with her awesome backpack. Isn’t she completely threatening and cute all at once? I think so.

I completed dailies today but didn’t get a chance to do much more than that before I had to get back to real life things. Still, at least it was a bit of progress. I also spent almost all of the gold I had left buying recipes that I didn’t own. For some reason the completionist in me wants to own ALL THE THINGS. I also started on living story 2 – yes, I’m that far behind.

I completed my main story and living story one was auto completed (although I was playing for most of that) and I haven’t actually done any content since then. When HoT released I flip flopped between both of my accounts and really got no progress done on either of them, and then the difficulty level of HoT just left me with little reason to log in any more.

Nothing has changed in that regard, Auric Basin is still just smashing me to the ground, but in the meantime there’s still things I can work on, and that’s fine for now. We’ll see how PoF goes tomorrow. I’m wishing ArenaNet a nice smooth launch – and I’m looking forward to the hype, and seeing all the excited players in game.

With my left over gems (after buying season 2 unlocks) I purchased the storage increase item that lets you add 250 to your stacks (of 250 by default). I hoard all the things, and it’s REALLY nice to have a bit more wiggle room. What I’ll actually use these supplies for (or IF I’ll actually use these supplies) I have no idea, but I like knowing they’re there.

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

Preparing for PoF

stargrace September 20, 2017 1Comment

I managed to find a little time to get back into Guild Wars 2 over the past couple of days and I’ve been trying to figure out who I wanted to play (and what account) when PoF went live. I know, I’ve waffled back and forth a bunch of times, sending all of my crafting supplies from one character to another – but I have FINALLY settled (for now). We’ll see how long it lasts.

Because my original characters had so much completed and were already 5 years old, I decided to put my second account on hold – even though that account has a deluxe version of PoF, and my “old” account does not (just couldn’t afford the upgrade). I have 4 level 80 characters, and a level 65 slacker. On my other account I have 9 characters, with the ability to have a total of 16 – but honestly, why do I need that many. I don’t. Plus on my “old” account I have a hall of monuments, with points into it. That’s missing completely from my second account.

So the first decision I made was stick with my old main account. Easy. Next I wanted to decide who to play going forward in PoF. Yes, I realize I’ll probably end up playing everyone, and bouncing around some too – but for the release I’d like to (try) to stick with one character. Two of my favourite classes to play are my mesmer and my guardian.

I played both over the course of the day and honestly, the classes are both just so fun for me. I have a good build on each, and I’m comfortable. What it came down to was something pretty silly, but hey to each their own. My guardian is an Asura, and I LOVE small races. I love the asura. My mesmer, is a human, and while humans are cute and adorable, they’re not asura.

So I settled on playing my asura guardian, Velours.

Will I stick with it? Who knows, my decisions change day to day, but I felt pretty good about the choice.

I also learned today that there are housing instances. What?! How did I not know this. I had enough laurels to purchase the candy corn house item that will give me some candy corn every day (harvestable). With halloween upcoming, I figured why not. I also purchased some gauntlets that look fantastic, dripping magma and smoking because baby, I am one HOT asura.

I had enough airship parts to pick up one of the miniatures from Verdant Brink, now that I have FINALLY unlocked the beginning of the frog language. Have I mentioned yet that I’m not a fan of HoT? Well, I’m not. I’ve completed Verdant Brink and the beginning of Auric Basin, and that is it. I get stomped on so hard in Auric Basin that I can’t get anything done, and I just can’t progress. Nor do I have any idea where to go or what I’m doing.

I’m hoping that things will be different in PoF, but we’ll just have to see.

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