I know there are issues with the images on my site – thanks to imageshack for that one. I’ve fixed the ones for today’s posts, and am leaving the others in case imageshack manages to get back up and running before too long. If they don’t by the end of today I’ll work on fixing the rest of the images. Sorry!
For those who may not know (and I bet there are a lot of you) Beckett MOG (Massive Online Gamer) is a magazine that comes out once every 2 months and is filled with all sorts of mmo goodies. For issue 15 (which is set to hit stores on the 24th I believe – but if you have a subscription you would have already gotten it) there were some new writers that the blogger community may recognize.
One of which was none other then Tipa, who I am of course always in awe of. You can find her article on the SOE Fan Faire in this issue – so be sure to buy it!
Along with Tipa’s words of wisdom are some articles that I was lucky enough to write for Beckett – including a Veeshan’s Peek dungeon guide, a class guide on EQ2 bards, an exclusive interview about guildhalls, and one on the EQ2 and EQ1 expansions being released. These are my first publications ever and yes, I will admit right now I am shamelessly plugging them and hope readers may even subscribe to Beckett eager for the next issues. Arrogant? No way, I had a LOT of fun writing these, and I’m just a little bit giddy to see my name in print. You’ve got to realize, that I’m a pretty small time person, I don’t consider my site one of the ‘top ones’ out there at all. So this is a huge accomplishment for me and I can only hope that it leads to more writing opportunities.
So what are you waiting for? Go pick up issue #15 of Beckett MOG, and read up on all the goodies in there. A huge thank you to Kasul also for scanning in each one of the pictures for me since my copy here in Canada will be a while getting here. Also in this issue is a FREE EQ2 house item (and one for WAR too, if the EQ2 one doesn’t sway you) limited editions so go go go…
Wow, I almost felt dirty writing that whole post, but I’m honestly too excited to care.
Edit: As a side note that I wanted to mention – it is honestly thanks to every single other blogger out there that I write as much as I do. It’s inspiration from those around me that contributes more then anyone will ever know, so thank you!
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.
stargrace