Keeping out of trouble on a typical Friday by doing more artwork.. the full version can be seen on my deviantART site if you’re interested.. the smaller version doesn’t do it justice. It started out as an image of Silhouette (coercer) but I couldn’t figure out what I wanted to do with it so instead it came out as this. Can’t complain I suppose.
(( Hmpfs, seems like I’m not the only one with PvP and PvE on their minds, hehe. Made my post before I’d wandered over to Gestalt Mind.. great write up!)
I’m glad these days that there’s such a selection of games out there. It means I have lots to read. I like the idea of sticking with what I’m playing (which currently is EQ2 and VG) and living vicariously through whoever I happen to be reading about and their adventures. I don’t care too much about the technical bits, nor the drama associated with any of the games but I do care about what people are thinking, how they’re exploring, their thoughts and ideas, opinions. I suppose it all goes hand in hand in one neat little package.
I am obviously not a big personal fan of PvP – and not because I suck at it. I’ve played PvP in WoW before, as well as EQ2. I got the mad ‘zomg die die n00bsauce!’ rush and it was a lot of fun. At the end of that initial rush though I started feeling sort of bad. Lets say I was out questing, and I really wanted to finish the quest. It frustrated me that some random_person_101 would come along and squash me while I was trying to finish the quest. Then you have the campers, griefers, and all that sort of ‘fun’. Then there’s the ‘you have to travel in numbers or you’re going to die instantly’ factor that I experienced. I do play solo a lot of the time. Some times I just want to wander around and do nothing (or diplomacy, or craft) and not have any combat at all.
I also started thinking about the fact that the people I was ‘killing’ (even in a video game) are just that, people. Maybe they had a bad day at work. Maybe they’re escaping their real lives in order to block out some abusive real life issue, maybe they’re jerks because of random_reason_101.
It made me want to PvP even less, because I’d lose that ‘bloodthirst’ that I needed in order to accomplish it to begin with. Now, grouping together to take on an encounter of badies (who are computer generated and there for not ‘real’) I have no issue with. Raiding, I love. I love coming together for a common goal. I love winning (who doesn’t) or even losing with the right people, but when it comes to PvP it’s all about ‘us’ versus ‘them’ where the us and the them are all real people behind the computers and for some reason it just doesn’t sit very well with me. I can’t really explain it any better then that.
When I played WoW I only played on PvP servers – because lets face it as much as people may say it caters to both sides, WoW is a PvP oriented game. I did my fair share there, too. Carebear player? Maybe I am, but to each their own honestly. I enjoy the housing, the quests, crafting, and in Vanguard the diplomacy and affecting the world in little ways. I don’t enjoy knowing that maybe by me smushing some other player in a game, they’re going to be upset (and it happens, I know it’s overreacting, but it happens) and take out their bad mood on some other player and thus the chain goes. Of course the typical remarks follow like they need to take a break and they need to get a life, etc etc. But lets face it, there are some pretty poor losers out there.
I know I know, it’s just a game. Those are just some of the things that run through my mind though, and an explanation on why I personally don’t enjoy PvP. Does it come as any surprise that I don’t enjoy FPS either? Probably not (not that anyone aside from myself even cares why I do or don’t play PvP).
Just some mindless ramblings on a Friday afternoon.. (oh yeah, I don’t like afternoons either. I’m an early morning / late night type of gal).
Didn’t get a chance to game tonight, but I did play some Vanguard earlier in the day and managed to hit level 9 in diplomacy. More about that tomorrow though.
I logged into EQ2 as well today, though just briefly to check sales (which were far and few between, though I can’t exactly complain as I don’t have much for sale). I was contemplating leveling Stargrace (who has been neglected for quite some time now) to 80 and to have her join the other 80’s I have, but the thought of RoK quest grinding just made me log out. Maybe another day.
In the mean time, my latest bit of artwork. It’s titled ‘Reaching Beyond’ and I added a frame and some text to the final version of it, didn’t want it to be any larger then it already is though for this post. It looks way better in it’s original dimensions. If you’re keen on seeing it let me know.
I hope everyone has a fantastic end-of-week no matter where you are.
Lately I’ve been doing a hodgepodge of things, between real life, gaming, and artwork. So here’s a summery of what I’ve been up to:
EverQuest2: I managed to complete the Everfrost charm quests on all of my ‘main’ characters. Thankfully with the update yesterday, there are now two instances of Everfrost up. I was beginning to feel sorry for those who were of the appropriate level to be in Everfrost while they tried to quest – having random level 80’s swoop in and take their encounters. Whether or not this is tied to the double North Qeynos’ also open, I’m not sure. I also decided I did not like Silhouette’s entrance to her home, it looked like a garden mish mash of crud. So I took the entire thing apart early this morning and rebuilt it into a sales display area. I’m still not exactly happy with it (I suck at building display areas) but it will do for now. I’ve got big plans to create a dining / kitchen area with a wall length fish tank in one of the Gorowyn home windows. I like to work in stages though and I need some rares, so it will be a while before I have anything to show. Short term goals are to work up my smaller crafters, maybe get some levels on my templar, or illusionist (poor Stargrace) or my necromancer. We’ll see how that goes though.
Guild Wars: I played for a little bit last night, traveling around the starter area on my elementalist. Since I have one character who’s left the starter area already without completing everything that was offered I decided that this one would stick around until I cleaned out all the quests. I still think for a game that has no monthly subscription it’s got some fantastic graphics. Could just be me though. Since I spend a lot of my time soloing anyhow, I don’t mind the fact that the game is not a ‘true’ mmo. I expect to play more either today or this weekend, depending on my mood.
Life: I’ve been posting on the Beckett MOG forums often, trying to bring a few readers over. I’m the EverQuest2 correspondence, and while it’s not especially difficult work it does take time to do. I’m super excited about Beckett MOG issue 15 which comes out on the 24th of September – should have my articles in it if all goes as planned (there are four of them). I’ve been learning more about DAZ Studio, and taking a small break from it so that I don’t get burned out. I have a request for a fairy I’d like to get done for a friend, but again it depends on my mood. You can’t force creations (which is why art will never be a job for me, because I hate to feel pressured into doing things). I’ve been debating getting ‘Spore’ since it seems to be all anyone is talking about lately. For anyone who has a PS3 and wants to add me to their friends network, my name there is Stargrace, feel free! I’m still back and forth on the WAR debate as well. Chances are I may buy it when it goes live and play for the first month, but no guarantees. I’m thinking of buying a laptop, I’d really like one and I’ve wanted one for a bit now. Then again, there’s also a new zoom camera lens I want badly, 75-300 (the one I currently have is only 14-45) which means there will be a slight gap between my two lens, but it shouldn’t make too much of a difference. The leaves are all starting to change colours here, and hopefully I’ll get out a few more times to snag some shots of it.
Anyhow, sorry for the rambling, some times, it just has to be done! Safe travels no matter what realm you play in.
I know, I felt the shiver too as hell froze over. Looking at my Xfire profile, I had to chuckle. On the weekends I typically have a lot of hours in game and my Xfire profile hovers around 70-89 hours a week. Of course a lot of that time is spent AFK while I do other things, or just chattering while I run other programs. While I’m working on art projects I try (some times unsuccessfully) to close down all other programs, and keep my chat programs to a minimum because I’ll just get distracted and not get anything done.
Anyhow. Since I’ve been spending far more time doing 3D rendering then anything else lately, Xfire dropped from 89 hours to 50. It was at 48 yesterday but I played a little bit last night.
I’ve been having a lot of fun with it (as is obvious by the post) and don’t get me wrong, I’m still in Eq2 as well. In fact today I think I’m going to finally get my miniature replica of the Temple of Life, as well as finish those harvesting quests for guild halls and we’ll see what else comes along. Sorry to those who are not interested in reading about anything aside from my gaming experiences, but I typically do try to keep them at a minimum. If you’re interested in looking at the detail work from the picture above, check out this image here. LOTS of details that you can’t really see in the over all picture (especially since it’s re-sized for this site). Anyhow. Enjoy!
P.S. Yes, Openendge, that one’s for you
stargrace