EQ

Living Legacy – Rant

stargrace June 3, 2008 12Comments

You’ve been warned, reader. This is a rant, and it’s not that often I do these, so just hang on here.

SOE has recently come up with a marketing ploy to entice old players to come back to their games. It’s well done, too, with lots of shiny. Who doesn’t like shiny? In EQ1, renewing subscribers will get a bunch of items to /claim including 3 pieces of (tradeable) defiant gear, and 1 (tradeable) defiant weapon based on the level and class of the character claiming them. They’ll also get 10 exp potions, and 10 run speed potions, 5 charges of gate to PoK, a bag, and oh yes, two free months of game play. Their account has been reactivated, for free too. EQ2 is going through the same thing, with lots of shiny there, free game play, items to claim.

Wow. It sounds fantastic right? Oh, the new subscribers to EQ1 can also pick up SoF (the latest compilation of expansions) for free when they pay the $15 to activate.

But wait a second, what about those loyal customers, who never left. Or what about those people who subscribed last month, or the month before, still ‘recently’ returning.

Ah, That’s right. We get a pat on the back. We get to partake in the extra 25% exp zones, and maybe farm ourselves a piece of the defiant gear that is dropping world wide.

I suppose on one hand, we should all be thankful that SOE has taken such measures to bring people back to their games. I mean, who could do that other then SOE, what draws people into the game more then shiny. It doesn’t matter if nostalgia has been working to recruit people to the game, that we’ve brought a team of dedicated (fun) people back, and have been writing about it almost none stop.

I know ranting about it doesn’t solve anything, or make anything better, but it was something I had to get off my chest. Don’t get me wrong, either. I am very happy people will come back for at least a short time. I just don’t think they should have to be bribed with shiny in order to do it. Or if they are going to be bribed with shiny at least consider rewarding your loyal customers. I realize there are veteran rewards that long term customers get that short term do not – but in EQ1 they’re very restricted by how long you’ve had your account, and you need to have played for at least a year before you see anything at all. I wish it were like EQ2 where your account was flagged – there for you could claim veteran rewards on every character. But in EQ1 you can only flag 1 character per year. Which means if you were not a guide, or have not played for a huge number of years, you’d better make darn sure you’re going to stick with that character.

Poor alts.

What a Weekend

stargrace June 2, 2008 4Comments

Farmer McClein was having an issue with his fields. Nothing would grow. He’d found a scroll buried there and decided that perhaps reciting from it, would force his crops to sprout up.

That was the basic GM message Norrath heard on Sunday, so myself (as Qutey, for porting) and Kuron headed to Karana (the zone, not the site) to see what was going on. I quickly realized I was going to be way too small to be of any use – the only down side to these EQ1 GM events. I figured I’d stick around and take pictures. Kuron got to be part of the fun, though.

Not even 10 minutes went by before the zone was teaming with people (48 total) and the event was under way. The farmer began to read from his scroll, and suddenly there were crazy giant scarecrows popping up all over his feet, as we felt a tremble beneath us. The details of what happened after that are hazy to me, since I wasn’t actually part of the fighting – but I assume a raid was formed, and scarecrows were squished. In the end, folks got summoned party mugs, the farmers payment for their aid. Loot was also given out as the scarecrows were wielding pretties – including (from what I was told) two BoC – also known as blade  of carnage which used to be super uber (and probably still are).

This is what I missed when I played EQ2. In EQ2 the raids are limited to 24 people. No more, and typically less. There’s no sense of something being ‘bigger’ then you. It’s a matter of WHEN you will kill it. Not IF you will kill it. You can always say ‘we just need more gear, we just need the strat, then we’ll have this down’ in EQ2. In EQ1, some things are just bigger then you and they’re going to hold domain. You’re going to NEED a certain amount of people who ALL know what they’re doing and no amount of gear is going to change the fact that it is a hard fight. You can have the strat handed to you, and it’s still not going to help unless you can coordinate a mass bunch of people. I have so much respect for anyone who does an EQ1 pick up raid (and I’ve been on a few myself). The leaders of those have to deal with SO much it’s astounding.

I miss this sort of raiding.

Aside from the GM event, the weekend was just fantastic. I’m trying to learn the new ‘duo’ and ‘trio’ settings for jewelery and different gems they implemented and how they work – which is slow going. I actually decided to subscribe to allakhazam for 6 months so I could get more detailed information. I don’t mind paying for a service like that when I’m actually using it on a daily basis.

The crafting is coming along, even if it is slowly. I want to work on Kameeko’s trophies for crafting and I’ve been well behind in that. Kuron managed to get his though, and since it’s an evolving item, has been busy leveling it. Lucky.

I also got into an exp group last night where – I was the tank.

That’s right, my jaw just about hit the floor too. Pretty much everyone knows I don’t do the tank thing. At least not well. Last night I dusted off Satia, my (at the time) 45 shadowknight, and along with Lackey (42 magician) and Krann (50 druid) we headed to Dulak Harbor to see what trouble we could get into. It was a great night for coin, and drops. We had a booster pack drop for the group, and while most groups would /random 100 to see who makes out with 45k, I suggested we sell the booster, and split the money three ways. Since everyone in the group is friends with one another, it seemed like a fairly good idea. No longer then 10 minutes had passed with me in trader mode, and what do you know, the booster pack sold. Lackey got a new pair of shoulders, as did I, and Krann’s monk. We had a good split of money by the end since so many gems dropped, and we had fun chattering away in vent while I pulled (and Krann ganked). I don’t think I did too bad tanking, I was good with my taunts, I could typically peel adds off, and even though I was out of mana a whole lot, it didn’t feel like I sucked horribly. Who knows though, my two group mates may think differently.

Couldn’t have asked for a better weekend, or better friends to spend it with.

More LDoN’s Bite the Dust

stargrace May 31, 2008 0Comment

Last night was another weekly get together of Nostalgia. It was one of those nights where I wish everyone would show up, but alas that was not the case. Missing two wizards, a shaman, a beastlord, and who knows what else. I was on Dainty, but just not feeling it. However, once the groups got started, things went better. Our first run was just an easy, and due to level ranges – it was gray to me, and when not gray, it was green. Hrms.

We blew through that, Tipa sitting out until more people logged in. Next run we split into two groups, and my group decided to take on a difficult mission.

I forgot how some times, they really are difficult.

We were this close to finishing it on time and if it were not for the fact that it took us almost an hour to find our groove, we’d have had it. Alas we failed, and decided to get a normal to follow it up. The night ended with a few levels but not too many, some defiant gear (I think one piece of chain) and some augments. It was an ok night, but I am really looking forward to the future ones. They consist of going to Dulak and possibly Skyshrine. Two zones I loved hanging out in. We’re basically trying to get to 51, so those who want to play more can switch to aa experience and play, and we won’t feel as though we’re out leveling anyone else.

Afterwards, Kuron, Lackey, and myself headed to Lower Guk. Lackey needed some bags, and Kuron needed to.. stretch his wings. Not exactly how I want to remember the dwarf warrior but to each their own, eh. We sat around in the assassins room for an hour or two before calling it a night, the bag-dropping fiend (whose name eludes me right now) did not make an appearance. Ishbel did manage to hit 41 and almost 42 there though.

Wait a second, Ishbel, the healer? That’s right. After discussing it some with Tipa, I switched my Nostalgia main back to the cleric. I enjoy the rogue but I love the cleric. I love healing. Once that was decided, it was time to work on gear, and levels. I hunted Stone Hive with Kuron for defiant gear, and after some time went to Dulak with Rogbog for some exp. We just duo’d the entrance and before I knew it I was level 45 – the cap for this week. The pulls were nice and easy, and I barely ran below 80% mana. Ah yes, I love playing a cleric.

When not stretching his wings, Kuron can be found in Dulak – getting stuck in invisible walls. Having to petition to get out of them, managing to wiggle his way out, some how, and getting stuck again later. Personally? It’s all the honey he has stuck in his beard from Stone Hive, causing him to stick to the walls. All those honeyblaster ladies just can’t keep their hands off of him.

A few more defiant pieces dropped, as well as some augments. I of course need to shop for new spells, but that wasn’t the end of the fun, oh no. I farmed Dulak with Invis, my rogue, along with Kuron, in the hopes of more defiant. A REALLY nice pair of boots dropped, I of course lost the roll on those. Congrats Rogbog. Afterwards, Woosao wanted to get some experience, so I logged into Minxe, my 36 necromancer. We ran around Stone Hive together and before I could blink he’d leveled to 40, and me to 41. More spells to buy.

Yes, I’m having a blast in EQ1. Who needs any of those new fancy games when you have fantastic friends, and old world fun.

What is it..

stargrace May 30, 2008 2Comments

I’m not sure what it is exactly, but it looks pretty cool. Hard to tell, but his eyes actually don’t line up at all, as though he’s got some horrible deformities under that helm. It’s wonderful the various things you see while you’re standing around the bazaar (or guild lobby, for that matter).

As an experiment, and from listening to Tipa talk about her shrouded experience, I decided to try it out myself. I took Kameeko, the 68 enchanter, and shrouded her down to level 15, a bear warrior (I want to be like Urtog).

I know shrouding her down to 30-40 would probably be a better level range, but for now, this works. After 1.5 hours of hanging out in Paludal Caverns, with mobs that were mostly red and yellow, I gated back to PoK to revert to my ‘normal’ self, and gained 3% regular exp, and 59% of a level through my shroud form (hoping to unlock the wolf one next).

Not bad. Next I’m going to switch all that to aa experience, and perhaps up the level of the shroud, to see what a difference it makes. I had a level 50 druid trailing with me for heals and buffs. I imagine I can go to stone hive with much the same set up and kill there. The closer to your natural level you are (I assume) the more experience you gain while shrouded. Rogbog came along as well, and gained a level and a half from the shroud experience, leveling from 37-38.

Two of the new ‘defiant’ pieces also dropped. For those who haven’t heard, these are random bits of gear that SOE accidentally threw into live yesterday. The stats are FAR superior to pretty much everything out there. They work by tier, and are amazing. I wasn’t sure what was going on with them, so I poked around the eqplayer forums, and discovered a few devs speaking up about this incident. They admitted they were not meant to go live yesterday, and that they WILL be nerfed in the future, so people shouldn’t count on them having the stats they have now.

Good thing. I found a level 26-40 chain helm that has +spell dmg, some sort of sight buff (for those who don’t see well) +20-16 to various stats, and I didn’t have to do any real work to get it aside from killing bixie in stone hive (which was pretty boring). I prefer my crafted stuff that I worked so hard to make. I hope to see this fixed, alas it probably won’t be until next week some time.

Tonight is Nostalgia night, we’re headed to Everfrost LDoN. I’m fairly certain I’ll be playing Dainty (call it a hunch) it should be interesting, to say the least. Maybe this time I’ll remember to take screen shots.

When Tinkering Goes Dreadfully Wrong

stargrace May 28, 2008 1Comment

For the past two days, this has been the new look to the magus in the guild lobby. The model is called a “Girplan” (I believe.. I may have gotten it wrong after all) and if memory serves, came out with Gates of Discord. Or at least, I remember fighting a whole lot of these guys for someone’s epic in a discord zone. I think they look sort of cute. Still curious how it ended up that way though. Maybe project illusion can be cast on npc (an enchanter aa) or a bored GM was wandering around. In any case, it was something I noticed as I headed to the guild hall, and couldn’t help giggling over.