Saturday, October 30, 2010

Happy Halloween!

                            Trick-or-treat! Happy Halloween!


                                      

Thursday, October 28, 2010

The F2P Quest Continues


This week I saw that Champions Online is going F2P. I wonder what will next? I'm interested in checking it out again and playing it a bit on the side with the F2P option. However, I wonder if it will follow into the footsteps of EQ2X and LoTRO where you still hit many walls, being more of a freemium than F2P. With those unlocking things requires funding on a constant basis instead of just having a game where people buy what they want and that is it. Me personally- I'm much more open to spending on a cash shop and sticking with a game if I am not feeling forced to do so in order to play.

I've tried out a few more recently and just had a brief look at them to see if they feel like something I'd like to play. I'm also downloading Runes of magic again to check out the player housing which I've never had a chance to check out.

Vindictus has been really interesting and kept us busy when we decide to play something. Yesterday the new character Evie was released with the launch out of beta. I've switched to this one and it's pretty fun. She can dish out some heals and some nice damage. The game is fast paced and it makes grouping easy, very similar to WoW's LFD system.


My only problems is that, more often than not, it seems the higher you get the harder the dungeons get, requiring a group. I like to mess around alone a lot or just with the husband and son so I don't know if it is the game for me. For now I'm sticking with it because it is a solid game and Dire just loves it. My son is even logging in playing on a regular basis also.

I like to roam around in an open world a little more and I've been enjoying Free Realms for this, especially the Spooktacular event. But.. Some other games I've tried might prove to be decent, I'm giving them a shot too. Just a brief first impression of them.

Atlantica, this game is different than most MMO games I've played. It's purely turn based. You have mercenaries which you take into battle with you. I liked the combat, while the graphics were so so, the classes were also decent. I don't know if I like the style of play but it is a promising game.

4Story, I like this game a lot. You start out with a basic tutorial that walks you along and you're helped along where you understand the basics of the game. It starts you out in more of a dream where you're 80, which is cool, then you wake up in reality as a noobie. I won't write this one off, it's cute and has some fun classes. Combat isn't bad either. 

Alganon. This game, I hear all too often, looks like WoW. It really does. Except the characters are a bit more crude. It's got potential I suppose. It's pretty fluid but some of the beginning quests are redundant having you run to more NPCs than you should have to. The free version only lets you play to level 30, not very interesting. I doubt I mess with it again combining all of this.

So that's about all I've been up to. I haven't logged into EQ2 recently, I miss it but just taking a subscription break for now. I'm on the quest for a great F2P MMO and currently Vindictus is the champion, let's see if it holds up against some other titles!




-kaozz

Monday, October 25, 2010

F2P Fun


Lately we've been playing F2P games. We let our subscriptions lapse as we have been busy. I suppose we miss our games still. I can always play EQ2X some, which I might later on this week. It's not been bad and we get to try some new things.We're just taking a break from the grind and playing here and there. It wouldn't be worth it, right now, to have subs going.

When I decided to try Vindictus my husband and son took an interest too. Dire has past me in levels already. He spent a bit on Sunday evening playing and he really enjoy it a lot. I am wanting to do more once the caster class comes out on the 27th. My son asked if I'd play it with him, which I was surprised about, because he isn't that big into many F2P games. It's been quite fun and we like it a lot so far. I don't know how long we'll stick with it but for now it's going pretty good. Dire keeps asking me if it is going to stay FTP, he likes it so much.

Besides that I've been doing the Spooktacular events in Free Realms. If anything can pull me back into this game it's the awesome holiday events. They are a lot of fun and this year they added in a few new quests as well as Team Vampire and Team Werewolf. Very cute and so Twilight. Sadly, screen shots and video are not working, (I hear they will for Mac but not PC), so all the cool screens I thought I had are not there. Grrr... *Morphs into a Werewolf and Howls.. *

Anyhow. When I'm tired and just want to mess around this game is perfect, I can mess around and do whatever without any pressure. It's fun and lighthearted all around. Nobody bothers me.

So, that's about all we've been doing. Checking out some other things this past week. I plan on trying some other FTP games and giving them a go.

On a closing note I hear Blizzcon was less than Cataclysmic, this year. I don't understand why they didn't hold onto some Cataclysm information for this. Everything is already out there and nothing really left to talk about. I feel for them, I think it was poor decisions this time around. Oh well, maybe next year they will think a bit ahead.

Safe adventures peeps!
-kaozz

Friday, October 22, 2010

Vindictus Vid

I wanted to show a little bit of Vindictus off today. Some of the town, all decorated in Halloween galore! Being the Halloween junkie I am, I decided to add a fitting song for the season. Hope you enjoy it, just goofing off killing some mobs mostly for your viewing enjoyment!




-kaozz

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Vindictus



I've been so busy lately! Just wanted to post up some cool screens of Vindictus- character creation. I've not gotten too far. More later this week, once I get some time to play it further in. It looks great though, actually it's really badass looking.





Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Harvestmath (LoTRO)


Today was the kick off for Harvestmath in LoTRO. I haven't logged in for awhile and this was a nice little event to pop in for. Right off the bat I grabbed a timed quest which had me run around drinking beer, from inn to inn. I wasn't too happy being made to run all over on my first quest but I ended up getting a nice reward, a title. So, I suppose all that travel was worth it.

I'm still very fresh to LoTRO so it took me a bit to actually find the festival. It's located at the Party Tree. The what..? Head to The Shire, it's the tree right up near Hobbiton. I found another festival located in Breeland  also but I was interested in checking out Bilbo's haunted cellar.Which was well worth checking in for. It was awesomely creepy and fun!

I really enjoyed the cellar quests and you could tell that the instance was done with much  care as well as a lot of hard work and effort put into it. It was really neat and I just love seeing things like this for holiday events. There were secret bookcases, ghosts, spiders, just all kinds of creepy things.. even a spooky cellar to boot! There are three chests you can loot daily, from my understanding. I ended up getting a lovely cloak of falling leaves.

There are tokens and plenty of things to spend them on. A dance game and other fun things of the like. I didn't really do them all yet. I needed a break after all the running I did today! That's what really gets me with LoTRO. Be sure to pack your running shoes or if you have a horse make sure it's ready for a good bit of running! I felt sorry for the many people I saw on foot trying to get the quests done. It must have taken so long!

All in all it was a nice event but as I said, I don't like running as much as I do in LoTRO. I do like to travel .. but not to where it consumes most of the time I am on. I think it's a big reason why I don't play as much. Also, I don't like timers and there were a lot of timed quests. I like to take my time and enjoy the event, not rush around. I do love to spend a lot of time taking in things along the way.

Since I'm on a roll... Another thing was that they were not explained well, the quests. Go pull pranks on some people- What people? Certain people? Any people? I only found three then my twenty minute timer ran out since I had to afk. Later, I had to ask how to use the hobbit dance I learned. No explanation. I'm not picking things apart I just felt a good deal lost as a newbie. So if you're rather new, make sure to be ready to ask questions or spend some time figuring things out! There is nothing wrong with figuring things out but some things require some direction to be enjoyed.

It's well worth popping in and checking out, even if just to see the creepy lil' hobbit hole. Massively has a cool guide for the event you can check out here.

Oh... For your own sanity don't drink too much (like it can be helped). My character sounded like a grumbling old burping man most of the time I was on. Gross!

Cheers! Drink up, burp and grumble well  ;)
-kaozz

Monday, October 18, 2010

To Do List


I have to renew my domain name before tomorrow and I've been lazy with it, I still have not. I suppose part of me was thinking about taking a break from writing. While I still enjoy it, I don't know, I have mixed feelings. I suppose I'll do that at some point tonight.

Some cool stuff this week though. EQ2 is having server merges on November 16th. Not all at once, mind you, but slowly starting from there. I think a lot of players will be happy about this. I've done a lot of the Halloween stuff, most of it already. I'm thinking of messing around on my Fury some too during this event, possibly, and my Swashy.

Seems Vanguard has Halloween going on too. I just have to log in and play up one of my little newbie characters though. I started over on my other account. I don't know what level the events are so it's not all that a big deal. I do want to mess around with it but I can't settle on a class.

I'll be on LoTRO a bit this week. I meant to log in this weekend but time got by me. The Fall Festival starts tomorrow, exciting! I can't wait to partake in this event.

And even as cranky as I am... I regret missing one of my favorite events this year in WoW- Hallow's End.

Oh and my Event Calendar for October is in the works. Check it out

Hope you all have a creeptastic week ;)
-kaozz

Saturday, October 16, 2010

NoTD Adventures! (EQ2)

Did something just grab my foot?




I <3 Zombies








Werewolf? Where?!










Motley Crew.






 Punkin' head.











Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the most epic of them all?

Friday, October 15, 2010

Cataclysm- Just Not Feeling It (WoW)

Hrmm, poke eyes with sporks or play WoW... I think I might go with the eye poking, the less painful option.
So I've finally logged into WoW after the big Pre-Cataclysm patch. I had to re-gem since the stats changed, I had to re-glyph-forge-and talent- as well as the 'learning your class over again' thing- on several of my 80 characters. New spells, new talents, different rotations. Oh, and all of my add-ons are broken! Did we start playing a new game? Oh yeah, they've decided, once again, to just scrap things and rework the game. Thanks Blizzard. Oh.. Right I'm not playing anymore. Whew! I had a flashback for a moment there!

Latley I've been happily playing away in EQ2 for awhile now and some other games here and there since leaving WoW. I had planned to leave and get some space and take a breather heading to Everquest. I had hoped to pop back in when Cataclysm released but lately it just seems as tempting to me as a poking at my eyes with sporks.

Why would I want to log in to a crappy community (you know it's the majority!), log back into a game where everything has changed- Again. It really does not appeal to me, doing all this again. On top of this, everything I do doesn't matter in the next expansion or the one after that. Lord knows how long it will be until the next expansion anyhow. I have no long term achievements, everything will be scrapped again in the future, mechanics, gear, content and so on. Oh I can keep my actual achievements? Very few of them even matter or reward. Why bother.

People are shouting praises for changes even if they are not good. Oh it's not good changes but it's a change. Is that what it's come down to? Being so bored that any type of change is welcomed? The stat changes, again. Class changes, again. When does it stop? I like to pick a class for certain types of play but constantly morph and change that I don't recognize any of them from what they started out as. Heck soon we will all be able to tank heal or dps! I don't like relearning classes or constantly watching for cool downs in order to be on the top. Apparently it's what we want, we applaud it. Correction, others may, I am sick of it.

It's so wonderful, people are logging in again, Cataclysm will change the game. I just feel so nauseous when I hear players say this. Yeah, I'm the Grinch here to steal away your happy moments. Five levels and recycled content. Sure it looks great and all shiny and new but really I'm sick enough of the recycled old content. So we lose old places to make them into something new. I don't like this. I didn't like Onyxia being changed, and once again she will be outdated or be vamped up again to be a top level dungeon. Either it's reused content again or they changed a classic instance for a few shits and giggles.

I am at the point to even venture into saying, as of now, I don't think I will ever play WoW again - If it keeps going in this direction. Everything is a race, I like to play to relax and have a nice time. Not compete against my group mates, or my raid members. The game condones a bad community when you couple this with the LFD system. It's everyman for himself, there is no more teamwork. Even on raids it's fussing and spamming meters. It's sickening.

I've said all these points before and I guess I am beating a dead horse but lately I've been so disgusted with the game it just makes me never want to log back in. I still have my account sitting there... just in case. But unless the direction of the game is changed, I don't have the urge to play anymore. I want to be intrigued and charmed by the game again. I want to enjoy it but I can't. I miss it, I miss the game sure, I miss the memories and people really, not what it is today.



-The Grinch a.k.a. kaozz

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Tricks and Treats....

It was a dark and stormy night in Freeport...
I love me some Halloween events! Everquest 2 has a fantastic event, Nights of The Dead, which went live today. There are crafting recipes for the holiday, a couple of instances, trick or treating and many other fun things. It's something different, fun and Halloween, yes I love Halloween! More on the event and my travels after I've had more of a chance to delve in!

I do plan on adding more to my Event Calendar, October makes a full circle from when I started so I'll be adding some cool events to it later this week. This month should open up a world of fun with all the events... Oh I get giddy at the thought!

I've played WoW since release and sometimes I miss playing lately, I sure do miss my friends. However, with this new patch I'm glad I'm not playing. I'm tired of stats being added and removed, talent trees being changed around over and over, class mechanics being scrapped and reworked (sometimes it can be good- not on a constant basis). I think that those things burn people out. WoW is a great game, I just wish developers would stop trying to tweak a game of it's age and keep people happy with consistencies- Content on a quicker schedule, class stability and PvE changes to suit PvP need to be toned down (separate them). All I can say is I'm rather glad I'm not having to deal with the changes again, at this time.

I've gotten invites for closed beta for a couple of neat games- Iris and Bloodline Champions (PvP for the latter one, not sure how into that I'll be though). I hope to take a peek at them if I have time this weekend or next week since they look pretty fun. Vindictus has gone into open beta, it looks good. I want to check this out too. So many games, so little time...*Scrambles around to make some time*

I also hope to join some friends in LoTRO this weekend. It's been a bit since I logged in and I feel sort of flaky for not playing it more. EQ2 just has me in such a grip and I am loving that feeling. Speaking of LoTRO I sure hope they have some fun Halloween goodness soon. Creepy fun in LoTRO sounds real good! Next month I want to spend more time in LoTRO and Vanguard.

See you around, Boils and Ghouls!

-kaozz

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Getting Ready For Velious! (EQ2)


Yesterday I got a lot done in EQ2. I fiddled around with my outdoor housing for a bit, didn't want it to look too naked! Then I moved on to do my deity pet quest, Bertoxxulous, which seemed fitting for a Necromancer. I completed a few quest chains I wanted to finish up for awhile, hit (Ding!) level 56 and then moved on to the Velious Prelude event.

I'm not going to spoil the prelude event, I thoroughly enjoyed it and even saw some old races from the original game make an appearance. I was even shocked to see an NPC appearing as an Everquest Erudite (which looked way better IMO) and a race from the original Velious. As an old EQ player I appreciate the lore and the charm of seeing 'old' places. While they are still 'alive and well' in the other game it creates a bridge from new to old.

The quest chain wasn't hard at all and the rewards were nice. It had a bit of travel and was all soloable so I was very happy and thankful I could participate even though I'm not at the level cap. Lodizal even showed an appearance at some point. It's Velious!

So, while I did miss out on the first day of (EQ) HoT, I have plenty of time in the future to play around with it! I did see WoW had an update too and at times I miss it but I don't miss having my class remolded. I feel for the Druids who lost ToL (Tree form) and loved it and the Locks who 'lost' pets who they had for years, some of us grow attached! However, I'm really happy gaming again and that's all that matters in the end.


-kaozz

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Lots of Goodies! (EQ, EQ2)

Today has been an exciting day for Everquest and Everquest 2.
Everquest 2
Today EQ2 had GU58 go live and there were some really neat additions to the game like the outdoor areas added to certain housing that was lacking in that area. Appearance slots for mounts and much more neat stuff.

Also, going live in two days is NoTD, you can see more on GU58 and the special events lined up for the rest of the year here. I'm pretty excited about the changes and additions. I had a lot of fun decorating my new 'patio' in Neriak.

Last but not least- The Destiny of Velious Prelude Event has gone live. It took a little bit of hunting around but I found more information on where to go... at Zam! A nice plushy reward and a cool title. I like!



 -------------------------------------------------



Everquest
On the other hand Everquest gets it's 17th expansion today! Long awaited housing is released which is so exciting! I did not pre-order and I am sort of feeling left out. I hope to pop in and check out the new expansion very soon though! For more details check here.

There is a really cool mount for your /claim (When you buy the expansion you get the live mount, CE gets both dead and Live though), the live mount is pictured below. My husband tells me that he had 999 to claim. I have so many characters needing mounts lately! Yay Everquest!


-kaozz

Monday, October 11, 2010

Quite Content (EQ2, EQ)


I've hopped around with many games in the last few months. I suppose to begin with I went to try to play something else to play with my husband. Currently I'm playing alone and I'm happy. I miss him playing with me and I still have a station pass so I can play what he is playing if I want. I like us to play games together but I want to enjoy what I am playing. I'm not enjoying what he plays but that's ok.

I am really happy in Everquest 2 with my Necromancer. Things might change at high end but for now it's been even more enjoyable than playing my Inquisitor. The game has enough fluff (constantly updated!!) and events to keep me happy.

I hit 53 over the weekend and I have around 41 AA points. I got my new master pet for 52 and it rocks. He kicks ass and takes names. Quests are flowing easily and it's going much smoother than it was with my Swashy. I really am having a blast with this class, it's by far the most fun I've had with any! I've always been a Necro at heart and the class functions so well for the leveling experience.

Along with the XP flowing in, I'm doing very well making money off the broker. It's flowing in at a decent rate and I have enough now where if I really need something I can get it. I'm saving for master spells. I suppose it helps that I'm not spending every last copper on housing items heh. My house is pretty packed at the moment and with the upcoming events (NoTD, EQ2 Anniversary, Frostfell and the many monthly events) I will have too much in my house as it is. And oh tomorrow the update goes live where we get outdoor additions to our houses... I can't wait!!!

While I'm playing EQ2 it is nice to see Dire enjoying EQ. On occasion I still log in but not as much as I was. I will after the transfers to FV open up, I think. He made it to 85 just in time for HoT to hit. He has pre-ordered but I decided to wait awhile on the expansion. This weekend he decided to power level a Wizard. With the double xp and his Shadowknight  the Wizard hit level 70 with 70 AA points in about 7hrs play time. Pretty nice, easier than ever eh? Well, if you have the means to do so it's pretty doable. I'd say an 85 SK with a boatload of AA is a pretty good means! Hrmm, maybe I should get something power leveled soon!

Hope you are happily gaming as we are, have a great week peeps!
-kaozz

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Saturday, October 9, 2010

I'm Not Who I Say I Am?

Silence little customer... I will squash you like a bug!
Yesterday... Oh not a good day for Everquest. It all started when I decided to poke into Norrath with my Mage and I was a bit lazy, instead of finding my handy dandy notebook with the password I decided to reset it and have it sent to my email. Turns out it never showed up, but it considered it reset. So basically I locked myself out of it totally, you can only do this once every 24 hours. That's what I get for being lazy.

Customer service was usually craptastic yesterday.  Here I am the SOE cheerleader, always stating how they have fantastic service and they grief me over not having enough information on who I am. Since the automated system locked me out I now have to recall the account over the phone and nope it didn't go to the spam box.

I try to offer additional information which isn't good enough but really it's on any of my four... err five current SOE accounts. I'm a loyal customer and I'm treated like a generic moron. Finally after getting a supervisor on the phone and bickering with him, I am not going to take no, he checks, I assume to get me off his back and get off the phone. Lo and behold the information I asked him to check in the first place confirms it is me! It really makes me sad this is how bad things are with account security and really it's not that secure! What the heck is the security question for if it doesn't count?

I've had poor service in the past with other companies but I didn't like hearing that I'm not who I say I am even when I answer my security questions correctly. You want my information correctly yet you call me the wrong name and fuss with me that it is my name? I was severely disappointed with being treated like this and yes I was quite upset but by no means mean to them.

I greatly appreciate that he helped me in the end but, as my son looked over and said to me, why couldn't they have checked like you asked in the first place? It could have saved me getting upset, him having to fuss with me and just all around a lot of time. Sure there is protocol but if a customer has additional information, why not check it out instead of trying to get them off the phone as soon as possible.

I ended up logging my Mage in and playing her some but I was so disgusted by the whole deal of customer service I didn't really enjoy it. I was so close to closing all of my accounts yesterday over this, had they not helped me. If I wasn't so into EQ2 I would have, I seriously would have.

Customer service is the face of the company, at least that was out motto when I was a guide for SOE/Everquest. How about giving customers a chance, they are the ones that keep the business going. I'm not saying don't take precautions but when you have a loyal customer paying money for many accounts how about treat them like they matter, how about giving them the benefit and trying to listen to them? Honestly every customer matters in my eyes.

I know this isn't how this company is as a whole so I stick with them, I've had some fantastic support in the past it's just that once.. or twice... It's been to the point where I really felt like I did not matter at all. That one time, it could push that customer away, that could be the one side of the company they see.

So while I ended up getting what I wanted, I was helped, I was so disgusted I decided not to renew my second Everquest account.

-kaozz.. Or am I?

Friday, October 8, 2010

House Of Thule- Beta Impressions

 
So, the NDA has been lifted for HoT and I wanted to post up a few thoughts. I suppose lets start with the housing. Plenty of pictures. The insides are rather small but they are nice. I enjoy the housing aspect but the fact that every neighborhood looks exactly the same was a surprise to me. There are no trees and there were none you could add on your plot, I hope this will be something added in the future. The neighborhoods look a bit naked still.

I'm a bit disappointed that you cannot sell from your house like you can in EQ2. All of the housing items could be bought from the vendors there and the items as well as the houses were very cheap. I don't know if they will go higher when it goes live but I sort of doubt it. They were around 5-10k plat. Not expensive really, which was nice. There are multiple ways to pay the rent and you actually buy the plot of land you plop your house onto, each person can buy two plots. I didn't expect a broker system though, since we got extended bag space but it's still something I think this game really needs. As a player it's something I really want.

The houses were charming though and I plan on having my own and decorating it nicely. I was going to pre-order but I am still debating if I will wait on it a bit or not. With the station pass I'm playing more than just EQ lately. Anyhow here's a peek at the housing and a glimpse at some furniture!







The furniture was very EQ-ish. I have taken some pictures so you can see what I mean. I am very glad housing was added in but I had hoped for just a bit use for the houses. I suppose in time things will be added. Yay for housing! You access the housing through the guild hall, there is a new hallway added, you can't miss it!


While I did not have a chance to group I did solo a few things on different characters in the new expansion.. or in some cases I attempted. There were several mobs who had summoning removed in the entry zone but still many others summon. I did not have a chance to try out many classes like the Mage, who would have done better soloing. I am sure some would have been better than others, I just didn't have time time to try them all and sort of got off on a bad foot with a few characters, getting my hiney handed to me. These mobs hit hard much like UF mobs. Even the entrance zones are much easier with a group.

Will this expansion change the direction of the last expansion? I think we're headed on a course straight from 1999 ;) Just kidding, but seriously this expansion still has a hardcore feeling. I think many casuals will not be too excited about some aspects. This is Everquest, we're still scared to die and mobs still hit like freight trains! I will say that the zones were lovely but I spent more time in the housing area trying things out and reporting bugs or sending feedback there. Don't expect this to be a laid back casual expansion!


I think I had hoped for things to be less severe in this expansion but this is Everquest. I appreciate the chance to try things ahead of time at reporting bugs as well as handing in my feedback. It was something I was very excited to be part of. These are not in-depth musings on the expansion as I only had a chance to scrape the surface and not really delve into the expansion. I was a bit wary to do so and the severity of the mobs sort of had an impact on how much I play the game lately. However with friends this seems like it could be a lot of fun, with the right class you could do much more so than I am making it seem. After all, I ran around mostly on a Rogue! So take my complaints with a grain of salt and check it out for yourself.

It's awesome we get housing and new content. I am big on content added on a constant basis and SOE has been very good about this over the years. A new expansion is always something I look forward to! If I wasn't in beta I'd be absolutely dying to see housing and furniture so I want to share. Here's a few more pics to tide you over until release, enjoy!








See you in Norrath!
-kaozz

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