2017

Goodbye, EQ2 Wire

stargrace September 9, 2017 0Comment

Fan sites are essential to video games. They draw communities together and they help to create hype for the games we all love and share. They provide players with a ‘space’ out there on the internet, something creative that doesn’t have to constantly be monitored by those who run the games.

I remember Feldon very well even though we’ve never met in person. I served with him a number of years on the SOE community council (is that still a thing?) back when it was SOE and not Daybreak. He has always been incredibly opinionated, and sometimes that didn’t go over too well – but he was always honest and true to himself and his site which I admired in a huge way. I’ve used his site countless times over the years, both when I was a hardcore EQ2 player and just to keep up on things while I was away. He brought honest and informative news to EverQuest 2 players for many MANY years in what can only be considered a thankless job.

Well, not completely thankless. A tough job though, that’s for sure.

I’m incredibly sad to see him shutting his doors after so many years. I think it will be a hard niche to fill as well as he did and I think that Daybreak is worse off for his leaving especially with the demise of sites like ZAM. I do wish him all the best and I completely understand his branching off to pursue other hobbies, we all have them even though video games may encompass a large portion.

So thank you, anyone and everyone who has worked on EQ2Wire. Dellmon, Feldon, and anyone else behind the scenes. Your presence will be greatly missed.

Gaming

Amnesia: Memories

stargrace September 8, 2017 0Comment

A friend told me a few weeks ago that Amnesia: Memories was discounted to $3.99 from the regular price of $32.99 (CAD) and of course in an effort to promote otome games as well as support developers I picked it up.

[Potential spoilers below, stop here if you plan on playing through yourself]

Right now I’m going through the Spade world, which involves myself and a character named Ikkyu. He comes off as quite a playboy, barely paying attention to the main character when he’s in public because of some ‘condition’ he has that causes people to fawn all over him. As the title of the game states, you wake up having amnesia, and not knowing who you are, what you were doing, or what you should be doing. You’ve also got a new little companion by your side (Orion) that only you can see and hear. In an effort of restoring your memories they take you through different moments in your life and you play detective, trying to piece together who you are.

Ikkyu knows something is up but he can’t figure out what. You’re not behaving the same as you normally do. He has this vision of you being incredibly prudish and depending on how you answer certain social situations he’ll call you out on it. As you develop the story line with him he leaves hints that it’s some sort of competition to win you over, and so your initial views of the guy are not very high. After all, who wants to date someone who ignores them when in public and who is just trying to win them over in a game! You also work for an odd cafe as a maid. It’s one of those cafes.

I haven’t gotten very far into things yet, but this is one of the better otome I’ve played, and I’m really taking my time and enjoying the story as well as the artwork. It’s a style that I find pleasing, which isn’t always the case. Bright colours, interesting designs, and a story that I find fascinating is just one of the reasons I suggest picking it up if you haven’t yet. I do hear that one of the story lines is quite disturbing, but I haven’t gotten there yet so I can’t talk about it but I’m already fascinated even if it is completely messed up. We’ll just have to see!

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

Knitting Yarn

Knitting for Me

stargrace September 7, 2017 4Comments

I’ve always wanted to be the type of person who wears scarves like Rory in Gilmore girls. Not just because it’s winter, but also a stylish accessory. Despite this desire, I don’t actually own a single scarf and I decided that should change. Knitting a scarf may seem like a simple thing, but I actually find them to be some of the biggest projects to take on, second only to a blanket. They take FOREVER, they’re often boring so it’s easy to get side tracked, but I can’t deny that once they’re completed they’re beautiful. I made a cable scarf for my MIL a few years ago out of bulky yarn (a faster knit) so why I decided that my second scarf should be done in fingering, I’m not sure.

Pictured above is the scarf I have been working on for myself. It’s knit with Knitpicks chroma yarn which slowly changes colours as you go along. The end effect is beautiful, and it is keeping me interested because I love seeing the colours change. The pattern itself is incredibly simple:

Row 1: [knit, purl], repeat [] to end
Row 2: Slip first stitch purl wise with yarn in front, [knit, purl], repeat [] to end

That’s it. The end result is a beautiful ribbed pattern that makes a SUPER stretchy soft reversible scarf. No, mine isn’t perfect. When I was first starting the pattern I wasn’t convinced I was doing it properly and instead of frogging it back to the start I just carried on, and there’s a dropped stitch that I ignored for 9 rows that I had to pick up and carry through and fix – but the scarf is still beautiful (to me at least), and I can’t wait to finish it. I’m about 40% done knitting it so far. I heard some where that scarves should be as long as you are tall, so I’m aiming for this scarf to be at least five feet long. I imagine I’ll finish it some time in October which will give me plenty of time to get some good use out of it this winter.

That gives me time before Christmas to get some smaller projects done as gifts (more about that another time). I spend a lot of time knitting for other people, and it feels nice to be making something just for me.

Real Life

Changes at MmoQuests

stargrace September 6, 2017 2Comments

In the 11 years that I’ve been writing on this blog I would say about 99% of the posts have been about video games in some way shape or form. I love games, I love the friends I’ve made through gaming and games are large part of my life. That’s not going to change.

The thing is they’re not the only part of my life. I have two other blogs, one for knitting and one for book reviews. Neither site gets very much attention (lets face it, these days I rarely post here as it is) and having multiple blogs for all of my little hobbies is getting… annoying.

I don’t want to change the site name from MmoQuests because I’ve had it for so long now and it would just feel awkward – but I do want to change things up and include more posts that talk about whatever happens to be holding my attention. I’d also like to change up the look of the blog, but that will take some time because I’m pretty particular about what I want (and what I don’t want).

For those who enjoy only reading about the gaming – don’t fear. I’ll add a gaming category along with the individual game categories, and you can subscribe to an RSS of just that. I’ll also be adding a few new categories like knitting, cross stitch, and cooking. I understand that readers may go down because you’re pretty used to me writing about specific things here, but I really feel that my blog should be able to incorporate ALL of me, and not just the side that enjoys video games.

These changes should be seen as good things. It gives me a bigger incentive to write and not feel lost that I don’t have a video game to write about. It expands the audience (hopefully), and broadens topic searches. I’ll be keeping my book review site because I pay for that one, but my knitting site I’ll be taking down and merging into MmoQuests. I haven’t written there since August 2016 and I doubt it will be missed.

If you’re absolutely against me merging non game related topics into MmoQuests let me know, either in comments or by email, and be sure to include why you think it’s a bad idea. I can’t promise I’ll act on your advice, but I will listen to it.

Gaming

Off to Harathi Hinterlands

stargrace September 3, 2017 1Comment

From Lion’s Arch, to Grndarran Fields, to Harathi Hinterlands – which is one of my least favourite zones. I’ve been making my way through the zone and completing hearts and events as I go, but for some reason the place just doesn’t appeal to me at all.

I did get enough mastery points to unlock legendary craft even though I have zero idea what that means. Apparently there are new recipes available, so I need to figure out where the NPC I need to visit is for that. I imagine in one of the cities.

Aside from that I’m still just taking my time and exploring. I’m really excited about mounts with the new expansion, and I’m content to take my time and meander around while we’re waiting for PoF to release. What is everyone else up to in game? Finishing personal stories? Living Seasons? HoT quest lines? Let me know in comments!

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

Goodbye, EQ2 Wire

Amnesia: Memories

Knitting for Me

Changes at MmoQuests

Off to Harathi Hinterlands

You Missed

The Search For Hrada-Oki Bivouac

Personal EVE Economic Update (October)

Expensive Month (preparing for fun)

Locked Out (again)