Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Around Azeroth- Cataclysm

Some screen shots you haven't seen around yet, different views here and there across Azeroth. I just love the female Goblins, they rock! Enjoy!

Goblin Female... Too cute!
Goblin Racial...Wee!
Greymane Gates.. On the other side!
Transformation!
Gilneas.
Gilneas from above.
Gilneas, inside the city.
Outside Gilneas.
Stormwind.
Stormwind Above.
Stormwind, Wrynn Statue.
Behind Stormwind.
Orgrimmar!
Orgrimmar front and above.
Inside Org.
Thunder Bluff Gates.
A copse in Desolace.
Back view of Lordaeron.
Brill.
Scenery around Brill.
Azshara.
Azshara.
Edge of Blasted Lands.
Westfall!
Westfall!

Everquest- House of Thule Goodies!


Today EQplayers had the Producer's Letter up for the new expansion, House of Thule. Some really interesting information worth checking out. While nothing we didn't really know much of before it's a little more in depth. What really interests me about this expansion is the housing!!

I thought Everquest housing would be more along the lines of the instanced version that EQ2 has. However it was stated that housing will be in neighborhoods! Very cool, I know a lot of players really love this idea. The only game I've had a chance to experience with this type of setting was Dark Age of Camelot, which was  great. So it's exciting, I'm just frothing at the mouth for Everquest housing!

An excerpt from the Producer's Letter:
Player Housing! Housing in HoT will allow players to purchase housing plots in their own new neighborhoods. We will be allowing players to purchase up to two housing plots at launch. Next, different sized houses can be sought to place on each of your plots. Your plots can be in the same neighborhood or in differing neighborhoods. This is a good chance to get with your friends or guildmates and rush to start your own guild neighborhood. However, just like real life, we will not be assisting if an ogre moves into an all gnome neighborhood. So find some ogre spray and teach your kids to travel in pairs.

I suppose we've waited long enough for housing in EQ, some say it's been too long. Better late than never, right?! I think so. I often said, over the last year, if Everquest had housing I'd have to be hard pressed to leave Norrath for other games. Plus SOE has the best housing in MMO games, I'm sure it will be fantastic in Everquest! Pics please!!

I had wanted to wait for the expansion to come out to head back to Norrath but I am thinking we may be heading back 'home' sooner than expected, Dire has been homesick for Norrath lately. Plus this week, a whole week long of bonus xp, very tempting!  I suppose they listened to all the people that had complained about being away for holiday weekends and made sure everyone could benefit at some point- Thanks SOE!

More good things on the horizon, bigger bags, a trophy system, more AAs. Check it out here. Also some awesome preorder goodness here.

See ya in Norrath!

-kaozz

Monday, August 30, 2010

One Reason To Play Goblins!

Goblin Turbo-Trike



Walk the Plank, Putricide!



Lately we've been playing some alts. We made a few on the Alliance, some on the Horde and mostly have been messing around on the Alliance. Just something for a change of pace. The highest of us is around 17 and the lowest 6. My son actually started playing again and made a little Mage.

We're decked out in heirloom glory and it's been fun. Something else to do. I suppose, for me, it's a band-aid on the real problem of boredom. I love WoW, really, I just don't love stretching content to the limits.

So, back to the alts. I made another Druid. Yep, I love the class. I don't know if I will ever level it up very high but it's been fun playng it with my son, as feral, who has surpassed me in levels. Our other friend,  Manatusk made a Lock, Dire made a Hunter. He is the lowest as he plays the least amount of time. I don't know if my son will stick with the game but it's fun for him. In the picture,up top, the undead is his Horde alt. I love the name... haha!

Other than that our guild hasn't really been growing but we've still been raiding ICC on Sundays. We are doing well and finally downed 7/12! If you want the play by play- Lono does a better job elaborating. I actually got to take along the Hunter this time and DPS for a change. I wasn't 'ubersauce' dps but I had fun, doing the best I could with my gear. I actually got three upgrades so I was very happy, and of course the ring upon hitting friendly! So, I guess four upgrades!

We actually downed Putricide as a guild! We were excited, while we did have some pugs, we really did well in a short amount of time! Putricide ended up walking the plank ;)

I'm not feeling so well today so cutting this short! My little Coco has me busy today, she isn't feeling so well either.  I'll leave you with some cute Coco pictures, I now have a sweet Shih Tzu.  Until next time peeps!

My Shih Tzu Coco! Yes, she has a diaper on...

<3


-kaozz  

Saturday, August 28, 2010

W(oW)TV~

Some good videos to watch. If you don't know who Legs, Summergale, Cranius or Nhym are... (well, there's a whole crew of them listed in the videos!), you should! Fantastic videos and some well versed writers and singers. The editing on the videos is simply amazing. Check em' out!







Friday, August 27, 2010

Reflecting On A Year


One year ago today, I wrote my first blog post. I actually found some typos and some really odd wording, I couldn't resist the urge to edit some of that but I mainly left it as it was, in all it's cheesy glory. I noticed my style has changed a bit over this year.

I'm not going to go on about my stats or highlight any posts, instead I thought I'd reflect on the past year briefly. I've made some really great friends, that in itself is the best thing about blogging, to me. I've learned some MMO bloggers are not too friendly and others are wonderful people you never expected to stumble across.

So within my first year I've moved the site, shortened the name a bit and decided to get a domain name for it. I never was into blogging but I did follow several MMO blogs. I loved reading others thoughts on MMO games and following their adventures. I decided, after a few years, to start my own. Hey, I actually stuck with it!!

ECTMMO, what does it stand for? Well, Everquest has always held a special place in my heart and the greatest meeting spot, in my opinion, was the East Commonlands Tunnel- EC Tunnel. It was a great place to hang around and talk to friends, sell or buy items or maybe grab some buffs. When I decided to get my own domain name I decided to go for something shorter but not veer too far off from my initial name.  

At one point I had ads on my site, it was just a big waste of time, gold selling ads popped up too much for my taste. I decided to only write for my own enjoyment. My site has gone through several different looks and finally I tailored it to something I'm happy with as I wanted something unique.

I think the biggest lesson I have learned has been to always write about what I feel like. When you don't write what you feel the passion dies. I may never have a massive reader base but it's steady still. That makes me happy, someone out there likes my rambles!

As far as games go I think I've never been as nomadic as I am now! I play what is fun and I also try to balance things between friends. In today's MMO games good and true friends are diamonds in the rough, treasure them! I've met many awesome people and reunited with old friends this past year. It's been a good year!

I have a wider outlook, I like to hear other peoples opinions, I try to take things in my stride and not rant as much as I feel like sometimes! I did go through a period where I was discouraged, I'm very glad I stuck with it and didn't throw in the towel.

Sometimes people think I am a guy by my name, I suppose it could be seen that way. I'm chaotic in my playing style and thought it a suiting name, one I've used for years though. However I'm not at all male!

So, thank you for taking the time to read, to comment, it makes my day when someone takes the time to! I hope to share many more ideas, adventures and even... rants in the next year!


-kaozz

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Cataclysm Tidbits!

Camel Mounts!

Human look in Worgen character creation!

Cata Raid Instance.

Interesting...
Woof!
Monkey pets please! <3



Wednesday, August 25, 2010

R.I.P. Big

<3

Tonight we lost one of our family pets. My son's pet rat Big passed away and he's heartbroken. I remember him fitting into the palm of my hand as a baby and sleeping in my pockets... may he be in a happy place. He will be deeply missed by us and his brother, Little.

EQ2(X)- Free Play & Free Mounts!


Recently I was thinking- Why bother playing EQ2X when I can just get the same and a bit more for my money on the live servers? Then I got to thinking a bit deeper *pulls out the thinking cap*. I'm mostly going to be playing solo and the class I want to play is a Swashbuckler and I can always log into the server and play this class even if I am not paying a sub, which is a real nice perk. No more missing those holiday events (two a month at least) because I'm subbing to EQ or WoW that month.

I'm still up in the air on it, I worked hard on my Inquisitor and would like to get her those last few levels to 90. Ok maybe not a few but 12 levels to go! I play a lot of games so the FTP aspect when I'm not subbing is really enticing to me. I am having some reservations still though feeling a bit 'nickle and dimed' with this version but maybe I can get past that.

Something to note about the server is you do get housing even if you do the bronze membership! You can still do many quests and if you play anytime soon the  Druid Ring Event is still live with plenty of items to deck out the house with, plus the monthly quests with oodles of items! If it is currently in a zone too high for you to participate in you can always travel to the previous lower zones and still do those.

While the good faction got New Halas as a starting area with lots of goodies there was a revamp for Darklight woods. Gorowyn is still decent but I think Darklight is better now- Some really cool house items just as halas gets and armor upgrades. I also noticed a new plushie (one of those rock 'dudes' outside the Neriak starting area) and a lamp. I am sure there are more but that is as far as I have gotten in that starting area. So, in my honest opinion the best starting areas are New Halas and Darklight Woods currently.

Not only do they have nice starting armor and cool little bonus items they offer mounts. Yes mounts! I am not sure of the speed and they are the basic black and white models. You get them upon completing quest chains as you level in these areas. I'm thinking around level 18 or so, which is easy enough to get. For a new player this is a very nice bonus. The New Halas mount is the New Halasian Courser and the Darklight Woods mount is the Neriak Destrier. Currently there isn't a pic in the link for the New Halas mount but it's the same model for the Neriak mount, only white.

There were some changes with the recent patch, GU57, even if you are a new player some of these things are worth noting. Check out the notes here. Along with the changes EQ2 now comes with a built in quest tracker, it rocks. 

As always, feel free to pop in and say hello or add me to friends, I play (EQ2X) a Wood Elf Swashbuckler, Foxy. See you in Norrath!

-kaozz

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

My Wanderlust Is Starting To Brew...


How often do you get bored with MMO games? I find myself bored again lately, as it always happens. However some games have a higher burnout factor than others, with me. I have lasted much longer with WoW than I had expected to this time around and while I am not looking to leave it at the moment I do need something on the side. I suppose there is a lot that really burns me out in WoW. The community, I end up only playing when my husband or friends are on. Am I really playing for fun then? I 'dunno', if they quit I probably would too. I get sick of the GS game, the mentality that we need to rely on add-ons to tell us everything from -if someone is a decent player, because it really is a skill check (right?), or just to tell us to get out of the fire.

So I've been thinking about options on the side. I actually went silver on EQ2X. I was feelin' the vibe, all happy and in my little cocoon of MMO happiness. Then I tried to use the broker (EQ2's version of the Auction House). I have to be a gold member in order to use it! Well then why the heck am I playing on this server? Why would I pay the same subscription fee and get much less?! I really have enjoyed the time in EQ2X and I'm still playing it but being that restricted really rained on my picnic. Then there is the fact that Dire will not play it.I was considering subbing but really if I do, why not play on the live servers and get more bang for the buck?

So, I was thinking Vanguard. While this game isn't as catered to and sort of left to fend for it's own with the server merges, it still seems like a lot of fun. I also immensely enjoyed my time spent playing the trial. The penalties seem a bit harsh compared to most of today's games. Really, is that such a bad thing? It just might have a more dedicated community at the top, because of this.

I was thinking also of Guild Wars or DDO (which I currently have downloading) but I think the whole instance thing isn't what I need right now. I need a game to explore and wander around. I think I have wanderlust! I am the MMO version of Tasslehof Burrfoot. Well, when it comes to the urge to explore and wander... I don't have a topknot nor do I have the urge to pocket small shiny things!

Dire has mentioned Everquest again. That's always his backup plan. I think the closer to House of Thule, the more I will want to play it. I really want to have my own housing in Everquest. I don't know if I am up for this right now though. While there are so many, many, many... many places to explore I sort of just want something 'questy' with a lot of fluff, at the same time.

Ah, I suppose I'll end up doing something soon. For now I'm just playing WoW some with a little EQ2X on the side. Lately though I don't always play. What do you play on the side when you need some fun adventuring away from the hub-bub?


-kaozz

Monday, August 23, 2010

Stay Tuned...

Another game to sit and wait on... /drool.
Ah another game I am excited about. It looks like 2011 just might be a good year to break up the montony  for the MMO genre. Heard something on it last week, sounded really awesome. Check it out here. Thanks E.M. for the link ;)

Now if I could stop waiting on all these cool games to be released- or more information! Everquest Next, GW2, SWTOR, Mythos, Rift, EQ2: Destiny of Velious, EQ: House of ThuleCataclysm among others! I guess we'll have to stay tuned to hear more about this one.

-kaozz

Parental Guidance



Today is the first day back to school for my son. His last year in Junior High! I spent quite awhile getting him registered this morning, he changed schools this year. The woman registering him told us he had classes that were in outside units wanting to just let him find them himself. Um, where outside? Oh, he can just look around, was the answer. Heck, I'm 32 and I still would have wanted to be shown where the hell they were. I told her this was unacceptable and someone, be it the principal, her, the teacher next door- someone- would show him where to go or I wasn't leaving. Do you understand? 'Yes, mam!'

I suppose you could say I'm sort of an imposing person these days. When I was my sons age, much like him, I was very shy and scared to ask for anything. While he isn't as shy as I was, I understand being shy. I had a rough childhood at times, which made me probably more introverted than most kids. I remember being too shy to ask for things and have my brother ask. To this day I'm making up for lost time on being assertive- ha!

Anyhow, enough about my childhood. I am not a person to take no for an answer if I don't have to. It made me think of being a gaming parent. How? When I mention I have a kid most people are like aww how old is he? When I mention he is in his early teens it's generally thought of oh he's old enough to take care of himself. Just because a kid is old enough to function mostly with out parental guidance doesn't mean I get to be any less of a parent.

When I was a younger gamer I would not even bother raiding, though I wanted to. I did at one point and it was too much a strain and resolved only to do so on weekends or late in the evenings after he was in bed. Even now telling friends 'AFK a min to tell my son goodnight", gets: 'Isn't he like 15?' as a reaction.  14 actually, and that doesn't mean I can't hug him goodnight and make sure he goes off to bed. Trust me, teenagers will try to stay up as late as possible if you don't watch them!

Most of my gaming friends don't have kids. I think I currently have one who has a child and she isn't even gaming much these days. So it's really something that a lot of people don't understand. Sorry guys I need to log to make supper, it has to be done. I have to make sure homework is done. If I didn't I wouldn't feel like a decent human being.

I think the idea of gaming with others, as in raiding and grouping, scares off a lot of gaming parents. People get upset if you have to afk. Me, I afk if my dog needs to go out, my world doesn't stop when I log in. People have a hard time understanding that though. But I'm not one to make people wait around on a regular basis. This most often happens on raids that take several hours. In our current guild the hours picked were not of my choice but I try to make it work.

For years I was a single mom, the only parent my son ever knew. People have different reasons why they do the things as they do. Maybe I'm a little over protective at times, other times his friends think I'm the worlds coolest mom. Let me be a mom as long as I can! Remember we don't always know as much as we think about the people behind our friend's toons.

So next time you're gaming and someone has to tuck the little one in or make sure the kid isn't setting the house on fire- Give them a break! It's a lot of work being a parent, we already get enough sulky answers as it is!

-kaozz

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Blast From The Past


Our last guild run for our new guild went south at a rapid rate. Due to some bad luck we just got some real bad pugs. I was playing my Hunter alt and was top dps which was a bit bad since I had the lowest gear score by far. The people had the capabilities to put out more dps and we just didn't have the dps we needed to pull off the raid. So we decided to just wait to bother with doing a real run until Sunday.

However we still wanted to do something fun so we ended up keying some and doing a MC clear for kicks. It was pretty fun and a few had never been in there. We just took one group of friends and had a fun time. I had not been in there since my days raiding it in 'vanilla' so it was neat going back.

Lately I haven't been playing as much, I've just been busy and playing some other stuff on the side a little. I sometimes need some space from things in WoW as they can be rather tiring. I'm thinking about just sticking with my Druid as my main once again. I wanted to switch over the the Hunter but I'm just thinking about putting her on hold.


Dire has been gearing up his characters decently on his vacation. Today is his last day but he's gone on some real good runs in his time off. I can't stomach as many pugs as he can! He lucked out with his Rogue and ended up getting some really nice upgrades.

Tonight is our weekly ICC run, we will end up pugging five members though. We need to do some more recruiting, it's been going slow. So, wish us luck!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!
-kaozz 

Friday, August 20, 2010

EQ2X, Getting My Feet Wet!


Yesterday, after a bit of delay, EQ2X servers were up and running. There was a lot of complaining that wasn't deserved. Gamers often think developers as Gods who should have everything perfect and instant, but this isn't the case and things happen. I was disappointed that the launch was delayed, I wasn't going to make a big deal over it, all was forgiven and I was happy to log in yesterday!

As a nomadic type of gamer I like to play many games coming and going here and there. While I could just stick with the normal server I think this server could be very beneficial to a player like myself. If I want to take a break but still log in for those holiday events, I oh so love, I can still do so. It's nice also that I can try to get some of my friends to check it out and really they can just jump in and get a feel without any pressure of buying or being on a limited trial.

Some of the things I don't like are the many limitations. Bag limitations, money limitations and race/class limitations. For someone like myself- I already bought the game. I have all expansions yet I still have to buy these races again if I want to play those not listed in the bronze membership or even gold. Even if I pay what is equal to the regular live monthly fee I would still have to buy those, and extra classes. I don't like this deal much, it's not very beneficial to me, I already paid over  $70.00 USD for a collectors edition of the latest expansion, yet I still would have to pay more to unlock what I already bought. This needs to be looked into.

The server is healthy and populated, we shall see how it fares as time goes on. I think it will do well. I plan on going up to a gold membership eventually, just not now. As you can see pictured above I wanted to be a Wood Elf. While the class I wanted was available the race wasn't. I can't justify paying more right now.

I am excited about playing EQ2X, I really adore EQ2 so it is nice being back. My Swashbuckler, Foxy, is level 10 now. I love the class and it's perfect for me while I run afk, every five seconds to run after my puppy girl, to just invis and afk as needed.

I do hope to make some friends while starting over. I really have enjoyed my time back immensely thus far. If you're playing too, look me up!

See you in Norrath!
-kaozz

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

AFK Edition!

Something about that curly tail amuses her!

Dixie had a play date with Gizmo today! Busy, busy... and Dire is on his vacation this week. I will have my hands full for a few days! Pictured above is Gizmo following my brother and Dixie following Gizmo. Most of the time he follows her, but if food is involved... that is his one true love!

EQ2X was put on hold for another day so I was a sad panda! *Crosses fingers* that tomorrow will have things ready to roll! There was an update today for EQ2 which I thought had some really cool things added to it. Quests showing on maps like a quest helper, very awesome and much needed!

Some people have been complaining on the forums but I suppose people will complain about anything! There were a few changes I could understand being upset over though. EQ2 did get a snazzy UI make-over which looks good so far. So, heres to hoping that tomorrow brings the  EQ2X server up!

-kaozz

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Mr. Angry


I've had my hands full with this new little pup and in the process my evenings playing have been cut a bit short. Chasing after little Dixie is a lot of work! I'm still in the process of gearing up my Hunter and it's been going much better. I'm still pretty excited about the guild getting rolling as well.

Mostly I group with my friends these days, not pugging very much at all. I hope to have her ready for ICC this weekend because right now we have enough healers to cover the bases. While I am still enjoying the game I try not to push myself with things that bother me. I don't want to burn out so I try to have fun and overlook those things. I really enjoy playing with my friends.

I haven't played much else lately. I have been wanting to play something on the side for when nobody is on to play with. I did log into Free Realms the other night to mess around for a few and I saw that there is a new little cutie pet- Domo. I named mine Mr.Angry lol. He's pictured at the top. I tend to get bored quickly lately so I haven't played much. I'm sure I'll get back into it once a holiday event comes around.

It looks like tomorrow EQ2X beta starts, which I'm really excited about. This will give me something to do on the side. I hope it is enough to keep me occupied! I really enjoy EQ2 so I will see if it is not too limited for me or if I just need to re-sub. I am curious to see which classes and races will be available to the first tier of this subscription model. More about it tomorrow, if it does in fact go live! 

-kaozz

Monday, August 16, 2010

Walk the Plank!

*Swoon* Vroom Vroom....Vroom!!

Our new guild Walk the Plank is going quite well so far. If you have been following me for awhile then you know how much I wanted a good guild while being friends but getting things done. With our strong leadership, and good mix of great players/members, each one of us, it's really starting out great.

Last night was our first run which we knew we'd have to pug some people as we have not been recruiting yet. I finally worked on a recruiting space on our (lovely) website (thanks Dan!) earlier today and hope to post it up on the realm forums later on. As I was saying, it turned out to be a really awesome run!

We had our very own Screaming Monkey, Lono, leading us (he's really a teddy bear but don't say I told you!) Dire as dps on his Priest, Jervevicious and I healing and we pugged the rest. It really went smooth. Lono is a great leader and we all did our jobs exceptionally well. It's was *Bam* 6/12 done in a very short period of time. It was impressive and fun all around for our first run. While it wasn't all just us, it's good to have a strong foundation to start with.

Currently I am still healing with the Druid but we have enough healers so I hope to bring my Hunter next week. I suppose we shall see how things go then. A great start though, one we are all very happy with.

And Gratz to Dire (on his Priest) on his new Hog!! It's so hawt!!


-kaozz

A Little Distraction!

Dixie going home!
I've been so busy lately! I haven't forgotten about my blog ;) I wanted to post up a little more about the one year mark but I've still got time for that this month! I've just had my hands full but it's been worth it!

Saturday we got a new addition to our family. Her name is Dixie and she is a baby Collie. She is the most precious little thing! So she has been taking up a lot, I do mean a lot, of my time. My son has been a big help with her also though. Right now she is sitting in a chair (on top of blankets and pillows, what a diva) beside him snoozing.

We have wanted a dog for quite some time and were suppose to have Gizmo come live with us when we could have one. I talked our regional manager into waving the pet deposit for compensation of the problems we have had since moving in (which are thankfully all fixed!). But anyhow, Gizmo ended up staying with my mother.*SAD KAOZZ*....

The picture does no justice to his size!
I actually found a Syberian Husky named Yukon that needed a home and I went out to pick him up this weekend. It was a bit of a trip and I had hoped he would be a good fit for us. Lo and Behold that dog was a monster (in size not personality... well he was one playful doggie)! I had no clue those dogs were that big. The owner said he was big, but he was BIG! He was taller than my 14 year old son when he stood on his hind feet. He was simply gorgeous but just too massive a dog for our place.

Long story short, I found out this lady also had full blooded Collie pups and I am a sucker for cute fluffy puppies! So we ended up taking one of those instead because I think our place would have been too small for Yukon and a family or person with more space would be ideal for him. Our Collie, Dixie, is fitting in nicely. She didn't get carsick once on the (longish) trip home and she is just a doll! Everyone loves her, even Gizmo. He is crazy about her! So if I end up getting slack with posts especially on the weekends- you know why!


-kaozz

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