Guild Wars

Lets Play Some Guild Wars

More Halloween fun! Since everyone seems to be peeking into Guild Wars I decided to spend a little time there myself. It’s always been one of those ‘I wish I played it more’ games, I’ve owned Prophecies for two years and never meandered very far (also came with Eye of the North). I decided to pick up Faction, as well as Nightfall, and continue on with my Mesmer/Ranger who had just finished the ‘everything is happy’ section of her adventures and delved into the ‘Ack Charr everywhere’ portion. One thing I really enjoy about Guild Wars is that the ‘level’ game is basically non existent. Silhouette Reveur (as my character is called) sits at level 9 (after my adventures today) and it doesn’t really mean anything. There is no mad rush for me to get anywhere, and I’m not waiting for the game to begin.

I did have quite the adventure. I had to make it to Lion’s Arch to visit a costume NPC so that I could sport my new Halloween costume (pictured above). Of course I was no where near there, in fact I’m pretty sure I was as far away as I could possibly be, over in Ascalon. I teamed up with Ninga Turtle – a friend of mine who was playing his 20 Ranger/Monk character. We grabbed a few henchmen (Ok, he grabbed them because I don’t think I can yet, or at least I have no idea how) and off we went by foot. It took a few hours and many failed attempts (we didn’t have henchmen at the start) but eventually we made it to Lion’s Arch which is all decorated for the Holiday. Spending the evening in game this way fed into my explorer itch very well, and I even got a level out of it (not to mention a lot of gear and craft supplies). Since there’s no subscription fee for Guild Wars I never feel ‘obligated’ to play – but with Guild Wars 2 on the (eventual) way maybe I’ll find more time to explore this version.

Anyone else meandering their way through and exploring? Feel free to add me to friends if you’d like.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Why so Much Emphasis?

After reading a number of early morning blog posts left over in my RSS reader from yesterday, I found myself wondering: Why do gamers put so much emphasis in what we and others are playing. Especially others. Why do we even care? Every day I read a post from one or more authors that includes some sort of semi derogatory remark condoning a group of players simply because of how they choose to spend their time. Or, to be more precise, where they choose to spend their time.

There are those who have made up their minds that everyone who plays a free to play game must be a certain ‘class’ of gamer. How dare they actually enjoy ‘the grind’ that comes with a lot of these games. Don’t they know that in the long run they’ll pay more for their “free” game then some people will pay for their monthly subscription?! Then there are the WoW gamers. Don’t even get me started on these people. I have heard everything from how close minded they are to how stupid they must be, simply because of where they choose to spend their time. It’s as though we as gamers have moved into certain categories and stereotypes not based on who we are, but because of where we play.You ask a fellow blogger their game of choice and suddenly your opinion of them shifts slightly.

So I ask again – why does this aspect of a person even matter. Why are we so keen to judge someone based on a persons decision to spend their free time where they wish. I have even heard people go so far as to say they do not like a particular person because they play certain games that they are not fond of. Really? Are we so shallow that we are now making character judgements based on video games?

I simply don’t understand it.

In my opinion it doesn’t matter where you play, so long as you have fun. In fact voicing my opinion about any other ‘type’ of gamer is a moot point because when it comes to how others are spending their time – my opinion doesn’t matter! It’s their time, their money, and what I think of the matter is completely irrelevant. I refuse to classify a person based on whether they’re playing EQ2, EQ, VG, LotRo, WoW, WAR, DDO, Darkfall, Wizard101, Runes of Magic, EVE, Alganon, Fallen Earth, Lineage II, Allods, Champions, STO, Free Realms, Aion, FFXIV, SWG, Guild Wars, AoC, or any other game.

Go play, and enjoy. Don’t like it? Move on and find something you DO enjoy. It’s a game. They’re supposed to be fun. There are SO many games out there and despite what others would say about them all cloning one another there are always unique factors to each and every game – you may be surprised at what you end up playing and enjoying. I implore gamers to make their own decisions about what they like and don’t like, and refuse to be classified into a category of gamer simply because of where they spend their time.

Hodgepodge

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.

Who Ordered Extra Crispy?

Pitney has some issues. Actually, Pitney has a lot of issues. I stumbled across this npc in.. I believe Lakeside County. It’s a quaint little village and wild birds seem to roam around. There’s a field not too far, and it’s been infested with worm. Not just your average worm either, oh no. That would be too easy, lay down a little pest control and you’d be set.

These worms are the people eating sort. They probably chomped on a few of the roaming birds too. I could see a chicken or a small wolf being dinner. Anyhow, Pitney has worm problems to start. So you adventure around taking care of the issue. Looking for materials to lure out the Queen worm. That’s exactly what you want to do after all, right? The little people eating worms are just not enough. Anyhow, you eventually get lead (by Pitney himself) over to the Queen worm, and hopefully don’t get smashed to bits as you take her out. The field is filled with all sorts of other critters, wolves and smaller worms. Having an AoE or two helps take things out fairly fast (or a partner in game to play with, which is my option).

After you take care of the worm incident, Pitney mentions that his prized bird has flown the coop. Or he’s been stolen, or lost, something along those lines. He wants to send YOU (brave adventurer that you are) into the catacombs, to rescue his rare bird.

Oh boy!

So off I went to Ashford Abbey (I love the traveling in guild wars, very easy — but how come when I travel me and my group mate have to disband? Every time it gets more and more annoying, is there a way around this?) I went, to go to the catacombs.

I’ve been spending a lot of time in this little zone. Spiders, and animated skeletons and other little gooey bits of fun hang out there. A lot of the necromancer quest stuff is in there. I’d already been there once to light some ritual candles and again for some other necromancer stuff. I am an elementalist with a secondary profession of necromancer, and my partner in crime (from time to time) a warrior, also with a necromancer secondary profession.

Anyhow. We meandered our way through the catacombs, had a few close calls. Oh, how do you revive if your group member forgot to swap in their revive spell? The only method I could find was to open the map and port back to town. That does not really sound right to me. Eventually, we came to a ritual room, and there in the center, was Pitney’s rare bird.

Smushed. A little pile of legs and feathers on the floor. That’s what the screen shot is showing though I’m standing in front of what’s left of him (or it). Great. So now after all that hard work I had to go back to Pitney and tell him that his rare bird (after already dealing with worms) was dead, used in some sort of necromantic scheme.

That’s right, it was me, I was feeling hungry after all that adventuring..

I think I’m sitting at level four now. Maybe part way through it. I did a few other quests, including lugging a huge honeycomb over a bridge for someone. I had to make sure I moved slowly, so that the bees could keep up. Good thing my skin is almost like plastic (oh that reminds me, I turned off the ambiance setting or whatever it was that caused my skin to glow as though I had just eaten a candle.. much better now).

Still having lots of fun with the game, for once not worried at all about the level grind – and just listening to everyone’s stories. It’s great!

Tipa’s Fault… Again.

I have been following Tipa’s adventures through guild wars for the past little while. They sounded interesting. All of the comments made it sound double interesting (wait, does that even make sense? Sure, lets just say it does). Not one to be left behind, I decided, hey, why not. A game with no monthly subscription fee that sounds like I’d enjoy it. Even if there are a bunch of expansions (addons?) that I don’t have. Taking a trip to EBGames almost made me cry. The first store, had all of their PC games all smushed on this little rickety rack, mashed boxes that looked like they were on their last legs. No guild wars there amongst the causalities. I headed to the mall, with a better EBGames. There’s not exactly a lot of places around here to buy games any more. I suppose I could have checked out wal-mart, but the prices are typically poor there.

So I headed to the next EBGames and there on the shelf was a copy of guild wars, platinum edition. Did I research things first before purchasing? Nope. I’m sure I could have searched online for the exact game Tipa (and others) are playing, but decided why not, $40 later (it apparently comes with an expansion called Eye of the North?) I decided I needed a new hard drive too.

Now, I’ve had an 80 gig hard drive for….. ever. I’ve never had anything bigger before. Now I’m sitting with a 320 gig hard drive wondering what the heck I am going to do with all that room. . . . No doubt I can think of something. I moved EQ2/EQ1/VG/WoW/Guild wars all over to the new drive, freeing up 50 gigs in the old drive which will just house all of my art work and photoshop and what not. The new one can have the games.

Anyhow, where was I. Ah, yes. Installed guild wars, created an account. Went through the character customization and had a lot of fun with that. I start with just the six basic classes, warrior, ranger, mesmer, monk, elementalist, and necromancer. Decided my first character would be an elementalist, and I just wandered around getting my footing, rebinding key commands so that 8624 on the numberpad moved me around (that’s right, I don’t use those ‘other’ keys, or mouse move), tried to figure out how to get rid of the UI for screen shots (failed at that) and a few other odds and ends.

I managed to grab some quests – I think I may have even hit level 2 and chose a second profession of ranger… at least, I think it was a ranger. By that time I was feeling slightly overwhelmed and some how I managed to skip every quest in the beginner tutorial area and instantly zone into two years after the fact…

Woopsie

So I deleted Stargrace Reveur 1.0 and created Minxes Reveur 1.0, a ranger mesmer. Picked up quests, picked up more quests.. something about rebels and over throwing a king and questioning some of his loyal members. I think. By that time I had a headache in full throttle and it was time to log off for now.

Gotta say, it’s a whole lot of fun so far. I grouped up for a good portion of things, did a mission before it booted me out into the 2 years after portion at level two. Decided I don’t like brown bears and they don’t like me. I slaughtered a whole field of them looking for a little scrap of fur to take to someone who gave me an axe in return.

I haven’t figured out if there’s skills to work up yet, I don’t know a lick about specs, where to put points (I gained I think five when I leveled or something?) but I’m still having fun. I love the fact that playing is free, it’s basically an online RPG that I can casually play when I’m not feeling like much else. We’ll see where it goes from here.

Nomadic Gamer