2017

Flying (again)

stargrace May 25, 2017 0Comment

I knew I had a PLEX sitting around, and decided that it was time to make use of it. EVE has been calling my name for a little while, and I’m usually pretty good at resisting the siren call – but not this time. This time I wanted to play.

PLEX has changed some (I think in March is when it started?) Instead of it being a single PLEX they have measurements like a type of currency. A month of game time is no longer 1 PLEX, but is 500 PLEX. You can purchase different amounts and use them for not only game time, but for character and account functions. You can sell small or large amounts for ISK just like before, and the value of PLEX has changed because of this. If you were to purchase 1 month of PLEX from the CPP store, it would cost approximately $25 USD (you can purchase 110 PLEX increments for $4.99). Meanwhile my subscription only costs $9.99.

Anyway, I logged in and actually remembered what I was up to for once. There were a few items for me to claim, and I had been working on faction in order to fix my standing with an R&D agent. I’m still sitting at -2.1 but it’s a start. I don’t know what I did to mess the faction up, I must have been working on missions that had me attacking them. Anyway, it’s something I can fix at least. I also checked in on my planetary colonies (I believe it used to be called Planetary Interaction, or PI) and set those working again. I joined the help channel to watch a little bit of chit chat flow back and forth and to pick up little tidbits of knowledge. There’s still so much about the game that I don’t know.

I flew L1 missions for most of the afternoon, taking my time, enjoying the views. Not great rewards, especially flying them in a Tengu, but it’s a start. As I work my faction up I’ll be able to access the more difficult missions and get some better rewards. Once I fix my faction I intend on going back to producing drones to sell at JITA. I haven’t done any mining yet (aside from the little bit that a mission had me doing) but I’m looking forward to some relaxing time hanging out in my hulk (or whatever other ship I decide to take out that day).

Speaking of ships, I need to figure out what I want to fly (build, collect) next. I have about 15 ships, which isn’t that many. I know a few new ones have been added since I played last, and I’m wondering what I need to be able to try them out. I guess I’ll have to research a bit!

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

Gaming

If You Had all the Time in the World

stargrace May 24, 2017 1Comment

If you had all the time in the world to play video games – what would you play? Would you spend the majority of your time in just one game at a time, slowly accomplishing whatever goals you had set out for yourself before moving on, or would you bounce around from game to game, following whatever whims you had for the day?

Do you think your gaming habits would be any different than they are now?

These are the sorts of things I think about when I can’t actually play a game. I have been what I call a ‘nomadic gamer’ for quite some time. I don’t really settle, I bounce around between a few games. Most of them are my ‘tried tested and true’ games. Games I’ve played for years now, and who feel like a comfortable sweater I’m putting on. Those games are familiar, EQ2. EQ. WoW. EVE Online. Wurm Unlimited (or Online). Sims of any form. Banished. RimWorld (a newer addition, but still an addition). Then there are a handful of games that I’d like to get a chance to play that take a back seat to my old favourites. Overwatch falls into that category, as does pretty much 80% of my steam library that I’ve never touched (thank you HumbleBundle).

Gaming is a way for me to relax, and while I enjoy learning and exploring new worlds I find greater comfort in wandering through worlds I’m already familiar with (or at least titles and developers I’m familiar with). Civilization, Tropico, etc. These games are ones I’ve played in various forms over the years, and they’ve helped me through some pretty dark times.

Trying to find a balance of what I WANT to play vs. What I have time to play is a delicate act. The more limited my time is, the more I want to just curl up with that familiar sweater instead of trying to stretch a new one to be as comfortable. Sure, it can be done, and I know exactly which sweaters will end up just as comfortable as my old ones, but it takes time to get there – and time is precious. A cliche, but true. That’s why I end up lusting over a whole slew of games but actually playing very few different ones over the years. Yes, I do try new games – but a lot of my ‘free’ time is spent in familiar worlds that are a simple comfort to hang out in.

Enough musing for one day, it’s time to play some games!

Gaming

RimWorld – Star Wars

stargrace May 23, 2017 0Comment

One of my favourite content creators (they made the Cthulhu mods currently available in the Steam Workshop for RimWorld) published some new mods last week, and wow are they a TON of fun. There are three in total, Star Wars Factions, Lightsabers, and The Force. It adds a bunch of new game play and if you’re a fan of RimWorld and haven’t played around with mods yet (or even if you have) I highly recommend giving it a try. Honestly, there’s no reason NOT to play this game with mods. There is a huge library of some fantastic ones out there and every time I watch a stream on Twitch of someone playing without mods it hurts my heart a little bit. The game is fantastic, but the community of modders is what really makes this game shine.

So far only one of my colonists can use the force. They’re a level 32 Jedi, and I’ve maxed out a lot of the skills available. One of the things I’ve learned to do (which is cheesing the game, but come on it’s fun so what does it matter) is to use the force on trader muffalo’s. You can check their gear out on the gear tab and pick one that has a few items that you could make use of (or sell for a large amount of cash later). Normally if you attack a trader you’ll get a faction hit but if you use the force to make the muffalo go crazy the traders will attack their own muffalo and kill it – leaving behind all of the goodies, and leaving you without a faction hit.

Since I use a lot of other end game mods I collected a fair amount of nice items from the slain muffalo and sold them back to traders who were traveling through space (I have a mod for that, too).

I haven’t tried lightsabers yet, but I’m excited about making some.

Have your own favourite RimWorld mods? Let me know in comments!

Gaming

Free Overwatch Weekend? Don’t Mind if I Do!

stargrace May 22, 2017 0Comment

I’ve never played Overwatch before.

Big surprise, right? I mean I obviously write about nothing except these types of games! Hah. OK So maybe it’s not really a surprise, but the fact that I’ve *never* tried the game is a bit of a surprise to myself, because I like to give pretty much any game out there a bit of a go (the one hard exception being horror games).

When I heard about the Overwatch weekend coming up, I admit, I got pretty excited. I’ve been wanting to try the game for a while now. I watch streamers playing it on Twitch and it looks fun. The characters appeal to me. The community, not so much. I’m a fan of blizzard games, and I’ve already got BNet, so I’m hoping this free weekend will give me a taste of the game and maybe I’ll end up enjoying myself so much that I save up for a copy of it. I could even try to save up some of my in-game gold to pay for a part of it. I don’t have a LOT of gold saved up, but I’ve got enough for a token or two.

Have you given the game a try before? What are your thoughts? Will you be trying it out along side me on the free weekend? Let me know in comments! If you’re looking to add me to your BNet friends list, you can find me there as Stargrace#1783.

Gaming

EQ2 and a Free Level 100 Character

stargrace May 21, 2017 0Comment

Every so often I still get the urge to log into EQ2 and poke around, even though I really don’t have a lot of time to play the game (ie: I don’t have enough time to get a group together to do things). I heard that Daybreak was giving away a ‘free’ level 100 character for people who logged in before May 22nd, so I eagerly patched my launcher – only to have it crash with an error 10x in a row. I took to the forums and found that a lot of others had the same issue. So I waited it out.

Saturday I was able to log in without any issues, and in my /claim window I was granted my level 100 character boost. Now most of my characters are already level 100 because right after my Son was born I had a lot of free time on my hands while he was sleeping the days away (not so much these days). I only had two characters out of my collection who were not already level 100. A dirge, and an inquisitor. I decided I would boost up the dirge.

I have incredibly fond memories of EQ2 as anyone who has been reading this blog for the past (almost) 11 years knows – but things have changed over the years. I’ve changed. The game has changed. How the game is played is changed. I return, but never to the same extent as I did back then. It’s just not possible. It’s not a bad thing either, it’s just how things are. I miss how things used to be, too. I miss raiding. I miss the community. I remember it all with fondness though and I don’t “blame” the game for changing because I think that it’s 1. completely natural for things to change over time and 2. completely necessary. Plus like I mentioned above, it’s not just the game that has changed, I’ve changed too. What I want out of a game has changed. What I can give into a game has changed. I find it a bit of a fascinating rabbit hole to dive down and think about, really.

Anyway. It was good to log in, I’m glad I boosted my character, and yes, almost immediately after I logged out. My station access is probably up before too long and I just can’t justify paying for another year of the game when my time is so limited. I feel the same about my World of Warcraft subscription which is also set to expire before too long. Of course if anyone would like to nudge a donation my way I’d keep them active (lol) – can’t blame a gal for trying! Speaking of subscriptions, EVE Online has once again been calling my name. There’s a game that I absolutely adore that doesn’t require a whole lot from me if I choose to play it that way (invention, mining, running missions, etc). Something to think about in any case.

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

Flying (again)

If You Had all the Time in the World

RimWorld – Star Wars

Free Overwatch Weekend? Don’t Mind if I Do!

EQ2 and a Free Level 100 Character

You Missed

Expensive Month (preparing for fun)

Locked Out (again)

What’s Going on?

EVE September (personal) Economy Update