Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Monkeying Around

Dire and I, just a couple of 'dookers' hangin' out. 


Lately I've only had time to really play one game, so I've mostly focused on WoW. There is always a lot to do. Different things, different days, which keeps things fun and fresh. I do want to progress in GW2 but I think that will be a slow process for now. I'm not feeling the game is going in exactly the direction I want for a main game but it is fine for something on the side.

In WoW Dire and I do scenarios when we're not too tired, or we run some old content. Scenarios are fantastic for us! He doesn't have much time to play some days so we get instant queues and we've actually gotten some decent gear from them, I got lucky and had some epic legs drop out of the cache. These instances are not too long, some are better than others, not tons of trash to clear through just objectives really. I don't miss the whole trinity thing in these, he does go tank spec which helps out a lot, I throw out candy (health stones) which can help too. I was considering switching my druid to the horde to throw heals when the 'heroic' versions come out, still not sure if I want to or not.

Other than that I've been taming pets, I spent a few hours looking for the giraffe pet in the barrens and got lucky to see it spawn! I think I spent three or four hours searching it, all together. Which is not bad considering how many people are chasing it with CRZ. At times like this I do not care for CRZ, zones become too crowded sometimes and it cam make finding certain pets a nightmare.




I did manage to pop into Free Realms recently. I wanted to check on my monthly rewards and see if anything was new. The website is quite terrible with information regarding events. They really need to keep on the ball. But I'm glad I did log in, I got to participate in the St. Patty's day event getting some sweet swag. I got a neat particle effect clover for my main hand item (adventure clothing), a very nifty shirt with a moving rainbow on it, a leprechaun outfit and a pot of gold to put in one of my houses.

Free realms is a game I always love to go back to. It has had some neat updates, I've not had a chance to mess around much with the new area but I like what I've seen. I also like the farms there, they are similar to those in WoW. I guess you could say WoW copied Free Realms with that idea, lol. Pretty much the same thing. Free Realms is a nice game to get away from everything. There really isn't much competition, just silly things, fun things, do whatever you want, skip it if you don't like it. I do wish it had a little more depth in some areas but there is a lot more than meets the eye with FR. Many collection quests, new content, instances, mini games, all around a lot to do.

That's it for me today, have a great week!


Back to the Black Temple.

Drop my shoulders, you weird, ugly... thing. She did too, finally!

Making a mushroom ring. 

Another transmog outfit and my cute little mountain panda pet. 

Mah giraffe pet. Too dark, I know. I need a new monitor me thinks :(

Farming cloth in Shadow Fang Keep. Love the windows, wish we had housing!

Scarlet Monastery, farming more cloth for tailoring. 

Final Boss, Tempest Keep- Eye. He can be quite annoying sometimes. Dire and I farm him once a week, meh!

It is so nice sometimes to go visit classic zones, even if they have changed too much. I miss the old days, they had something special. Or maybe we ran them so many times they are imprinted in our brains forever. I can see it now, in my eighties, I won't be able to remember my name but I will be able to tell you every detail about SM, DM, and all those classic instances, lol. 



Monday, March 18, 2013

Weekend Recap (WoW, GW2)




The past couple of weeks have been a bit busier than normal but I'm still playing WoW. Not as much as I was previously, but I'm checking in and getting a few things done. Daily quests have suffered but I'm not going to fret over it.

Dire and I have been doing some scenarios when he has the time. I love these for many reasons. The first is that the queue is practically instant, another is that there are more of us than them. So nobody gives us any crap, nobody really says anything honestly, not even replying to a hello or a question. It is quite creepy now that I think on it. I really wish they'd just go and create two player scenarios, that would be perfect for us.

We're still running old raid content for mounts and transmog stuff. Dire wants the phoenix mount so we've been doing that as we can. If it drops I'll pass it to him, he's always wanted that one mount, it is pretty flashy but I have a lot more mounts (than him) and probably wouldn't use it like he would.

WoW has a lot of depth, a lot of stuff to do. It keeps me coming back, it is nice to have options on what to do, plenty for Dire and I to work on together, so that's always a plus.

While I'm thinking on it, did anyone hear about the revert to 'finding' flight paths with the last patch? Characters now do not automatically unlock flight paths. Does that bother anyone else? Not because I'm so lazy, which I am really, but my beef is reverting it. I'm no longer playing alts, I cannot stomach it these days but I think that would be another reason not to roll a fresh alt to me. I don't like the fact of adding something then removing it and not even putting it in the patch notes. Sly...!

Since I don't have a lot of time some days, I've been poking around in GW2. I know, I sometimes knock ANet but I can't deny it is a good game. It has a lot of great points. I cannot get over how smooth leveling is.  Working with people out in the world, it just never gets old. In WoW I sometimes dread competition on mobs for daily quests or tagging a node. I've said it before and I'll say it again, it is nice to be happy to see more people around questing as you all work together for the most part. Not like anyone is chatting it up in other games, so who cares if we're silent here too? If ANet got anything right, the cooperative aspect of this game is what draws me back in. That and the casual focus on things. I can pop in do some stuff and pop out, but still really feel like I did some stuff, sometimes I get the daily, sometimes I don't. Right now it isn't a huge deal.

What have I been playing? I started a few alts to try out some classes I have not tried yet. The thief is great, but not sure I want to play it up now. I've also been puttering around on some older chars. I got a couple of levels on my ranger. I'll probably stick with the guardian, as it is really fun and very strong. I found a new love for the great swords... SPIN, SPIN, SPIN... Everything is dead!

I decided to work on HoM a bit, a bit of hair pulling there. Sometimes I try a little, but it is hard work and takes time, which is fine but it is really hard on a fresh character. Just unlocking HoM was a lot of work, as I had to start a fresh character as well. I now have five points, lol, don't laugh. Not a big number, but I was so excited to unlock the shoulders and gloves for the heritage sets! Five is better than none, proud to even have that. Huzzah!

When I first got my tapestry for HoM, in Guild Wars, I ran in excitedly, all in haste. Having no clue what I was doing, not even thinking I should look it up... I put the tapestry in the wrong spot. So I had to either run more missions, which I was doing but it was taking a lot of time and it was a lot of work. A lot of work to do in one game just for cosmetic things in another! So this has been on hold for several months. Recently, after some research, I found that you can actually buy HoM tapestries from other players. The problem was, will anyone sell to me? I don't have much money, a little bit, but I do have plenty of mini pets. I found a kind soul to trade me and I got a few points there. HoM is no joke, it is a lot of work. I also gained a title, which was  a sweet bonus.

So, that's what I've been up to. Playing dress up with those gorgeous Sylvari. Beating things with great swords. Just having fun, causally, in my own time. Guild Wars 2 is good for that. I might as well try for a max level. Which I will get in time, I just don't know how soon that will be, lol. Hopefully it won't take me too long, then I can sit back and farm for ectos or something... Whatever you guys do at max level ;)

Have a great week! Pics, pics, and more pics- because- I have a twitch in my SS finger!


The solo 'treasure' scenario. Pretty cool, gets a thumbs up from me. New transmog, woo!

Black Temple.

Just because Illidan Stormrage is the coolest boss ever.

My champion and I ;)

Love the art style and concept art that GW2 features and is based off.

Human male in heritage plate. 

I love this race... they just need some new dance moves.

Loved this loading screen.

<3 great="" sword="" td="" that="">

My sneaky, little thief. 



Thursday, March 14, 2013

My Baby

Lack of posting will be due to our new 'baby'. I call her "The Mean Machine". Pics below ;) Plus, I'm packing this month and next, will be moving into a LOVELY house, next door to my mother, lol. Busy days but I'll still be posting. I wonder if the Mr. will mind if I hang my Kaozz dog tag in the rearview mirror, heh. Right now I need to go to think up an excuse to go drive... I think we might need some more milk, um, the cats drank it all somehow, yeah, that's what happened to it.  Lol, have a great weekend, peeps!








Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Eye Candy

GW2- Always has some glorious views.

Fun with illusion stuff.

Oh, lootz!

Swimming in Rift, my balloon keeps me afloat.. lol

Chasing pinatas! Got a few new pets from them, yay!

Flying to the new daily quests in WoW.

Just hanging out.



Sunday, March 10, 2013

The Grind (WoW, Rift)




WoW
The latest patch in WoW brought a whole new set of daily quests with the Isle of The Thunder King. To me this feels like Isle of Quel' Danas all over again, not a bad thing, just lots of competition and lots of mobs all over. I do wish the isle was friendlier to just helping tag mobs, like open events. Maybe GW2 and Rift have spoiled me on these types of play. I find it hard to forget about that type of cooperative game play once you try it. I had to wait quite a bit on respawns for some mobs, but I only really did these on the first day, which was really hopping.

A highlight, for me, upon entering, was hearing Gideon Emery voice Lor'themar Theron (my favorite voice actor), so that was a real treat! There is also another area around, where you can farm mounts and a battle/vanity pet, hunter pets and such. I have not made it there yet but I plan on heading there to check it out, later on today. From what I read, the pet is 999 bones collected and the mount is 9999. I have no idea how hard these are to gain. Add in rare mob hunting and there is a nice bit to look forward to getting done.

All in all it seems cool, still a bit of a grind for more gear, locked behind faction, locked behind more points. If I am going to grind out a faction, why do I have to do more grinding for rewards. I don't know, maybe it is just me but it just seems kind of blah when you combine it all. I'm a completely different gamer than I was years ago I suppose. But I am glad to see new content, there is so much to do at 90.




Rift
I've been logging into Rift on much more of a regular basis. The Carnival event is here, which I have been very excited about. It has changed a lot from last year and all I can say is... Grind. Even if the grind is alleviated with another phase of the event (I read there will only be two phases, I keep seeing people hope to see more but that doesn't seen the case), making people grind with mind numbing content isn't good at any point. Plus, Trion hasn't given any feedback or comments to the pages and pages of complaints on the forums, not looking good.

Mind numbing? The easiest way to get tickets for currency (there are three currencies for this event, yes, THREE), is the balloon popping game, joining a raid group there and hitting your space bar for extended periods, over and over. Pop 30 balloons for one ticket, rinse and repeat  I did it for about two hours, I don't think I can do it again. It is very hard for me to sit there doing that. There are other games but none seem to be fun and the balloon popping is the fastest way for tickets. I really wanted a couple of items with them so I had to grind them out, I still want a float (giant parade float for housing) but I don't know if I can do those games for 500 tickets. The items are very, very overpriced.

You won't be able to get everything with this event. But I don't want everything, I just want some of it. I also don't want my space bar to break while I go insane from boredom at the same time. So, I'm sort of stumped as why Trion would do this. Then again Storm Legion was such a grind, in my eyes, it really soured me in the end. I hope this is not the direction Rift is heading into, a big huge grind for anything and everything.

There are still other things to do, a few. The parade has been cancelled this year... Which I am sad to hear, I missed it last year. But you can still hunt pinatas and do rifts for beads, there is even a herbing and skinning quest for them as well and you can just log into the phone app for them as well. Plus, there are some really neat housing items, a huge stage, some banners and horses (from the race games), which I made into a sweet carousel. If you'd like to see it, I'm on Faeblight, it is listed as Starlight Carousel. The carousel is at the top of the dimension, up the stairs in the back, way, way up top! Character's name is Belladahna. The dimension is far from finished but the carousel is pretty much set up. It was a lot of fun to create!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I guess at the end of the day I don't mind a grind if it is varied and fun to some extent. Like grinding rifts isn't bad but hitting my space bar to grind tickets does feel... well, bad; Like mentally ill type of bad, or lab rat type of bad. And grinding faction isn't that bad in WoW, daily quests net good money, but I don't feel like grinding instances on top of it though. I don't have to have it all, just give me a little something for my effort.


Edit: Poking around I saw that someone (Michael Hansen Game Designer - Live Content) did make a comment about the event- here. Lol... People might just take that advice.





Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Dings and Pinatas (WoW, Rift)



I love this transmog set, it is Felheart (T1), with a chest item from the last boss in the Magisters Terrace.


Last week I hit 90 with my Warlock, which was a nice feeling-to have a 90 on both factions. I will probably play my Druid up next, but not for awhile. Mostly I've been doing things with Dire as he hit 90 with his DK as well. We've been blowing through old raids and content for achievements and transmog items, which has been a lot of fun. I think the worst was figuring out Lady Vash, she was annoying when we tried her at 89 but last night we knocked her out quite easily, that and we knew what we were doing this time around.

Some other things would be daily quests, going after Sha raids. I wish there was more of this [open world]  content out there in WoW. It really appeals to me, I suppose it is exactly what appeals to me in games like Rift and GW2. The Isle of the Thunder King seems like it will be more open with things like this, so I look forward to checking it out when the patch hits.

Also, a lot of raids reset today, yay. Another chance at a few transmog items again this week. Reset day is always something I wait for impatiently. I wish older raids had a shorter reset time.

We've been doing a few odd things like scenarios  Some people are friendly, others are not. For the most part I've met a lot of friendly people on this run to 90 on the Horde. I joined a newly formed guild, which was only around level two and now it's made it to level fourteen this week. Lots of nice people and they always ask me to join in on things, which is great. I'm still not sure on the raiding guild my friend asked me to join  due to some real life things.




Besides WoW, I have been popping into Rift. The Carnival of The Ascended is here. At first I ran around looking for the games and such and then I noticed that it is only in the first phase. This year there will only be two phases (I think there were six last year), the next starting on March 7th. Right now you can run around beating on pinatas. These grant around 30 or so glass beads that are currency for the event. That's mostly what I've been doing. I've been mentoring down for them in lower zones because the ones in SL have a massive amount of hitpoints and don't seem to award anything better. The pinatas (and the mobile app scratch off cards) can also award fun cosmetic items and pets.

I've also been gathering beads through the mobile app. I love that thing, I love scratch and win cards for events especially! So that can net me a nice amount of beads when I'm not playing, and some fun cosmetic stuff if I'm lucky. I wish more games had neat stuff like that, little incentives.

Other than that I've been quite lazy but it isn't a big deal. I've been decorating my house and considering buying a bigger dimension for more of an item count. I can already see myself using this item count up pretty quickly. There are not any plans to move it up anytime soon* because it will be something permanent and I know server stability is first priority, the team wants to be sure that something like this wouldn't impact game performance in a harsh way. However, I do hope they do consider it!

That's it for today, hope everyone is having a great week! Safe adventures!




My guild and I messing around in Kara- Opera event. 

Flaming on the hog. I love how destruction spec lights you up!

Chess!

Dire and I queued up for our first scenario together. 

Inside the scenario, it was pretty fun, our dps was horrible, lol. The other member wasn't friendly at all but at least he killed stuff quickly. We got new blue weapons from this one, yay. 

Working on gathering skills out in Durotar. Just seemed like a nice sunny picture to snap. 

Pinata in Rift, before I beat it up. 

Another pinata! They don't do anything but make squeaky balloon sounds, they sound kinda cool. love going after these for beads!


Search

Blogroll

Blog Archive