Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Good Times (WoW)






One week from today we'll be on our move in date, I'm packing and packing but it still feels like the more I do there is still and endless amount of stuff to do. On top of that I have a couple of computers I need to fix, one is ours, which will wait. So much to do, so little time to write. Today I plan on just staying home, actually posting on this blog, heh. I have also gotten sucked into WoW a few times when I shouldn't be, lol. LETS RUN NAXX! Or something like that....

My brothers are both playing WoW on an often basis, my son is still playing regularly too. Dire is when he can, all is well with my world, lol. Mostly we do a lot of old content. I am waiting for them to catch up, then we can do scenarios, groups and such. I might even go healer with my Druid if I need to. It is always more fun to play with friends and family than random strangers. For now we just have a blast going through those old raid instances, transmog items accumulating and achievements mounting up.  My son and I can do quite a lot together, he a shaman with my warlock, or druid even the hunter would be decent, so I want to see what harder 'old content' we can push through. I'm curious.

Last night my youngest brother, Necro, he and my son were goofing off in Strat gathering enchanting materials to skill up the shaman's profession- and I hear, over vent, '"OMG, OH. MY. GOD!"... It seems the baron's mount dropped for them. In all our years playing, countless runs since release  we have never ever seen that mount drop. There was a lot of excitement, he actually won it, so now I feel like I should help my son get a snazzy rare mount too, he never has gotten any. He was a good sport about it though. I was glad to see it still does exist, ha!

My brother, Heri, started a guild, it will just be a casual thing. I am thinking of joining a character to help level it, I am just not sure who. The guild I am in now, I've been with for a couple of years at least. We'll see how things go. Will be easier when we all get them caught up, maybe get some other like minded members? He might just want to keep it a family guild, I don't even know. Right now I'm paying for Vent, which I didn't know, lol, through my son's Minecraft server. So that is handy to keep in touch even if we're in different guilds.

Not too much new, just doing fun stuff, not really progressing but that's fine with me, I'll get there in time. Once everyone catches up we can do that kind of stuff. As long as I am having fun, that is all that matters. When the servers shut down for good, and all the lights dim, what will really matter? Will it be all that epic gear that was replaced over and over, or those memories of the good time I had? I'm a collector, of pets, gear, weapons, mounts... I'm a packrat, and the memories associated to those things will always last me.

As always, I leave you with... pretty screenshots. Have a great week peeps!

Just hangin out in Goldshire, lol. All the newbs do it. 

Get your AQ mount!
MC- Look at those two, hiding back there. Someone was too low and stayed beside the healer, lol.

MC. My brother Heri and I, didn't get everyone in the but.... I did get my SLIME pet in it- From AQ.


Rag!

Chillin' in Stormwind with Bling!
RaF mount. This is one of the newer ones (mine is the old zebra...blah). Necro flying me around Stormwind. 





Thursday, April 18, 2013

Catching Up



My boy is all grown up and 90, look he's already taller than me, lol. 


*Waves* o/ I suppose if you'd rather play than write, you must be enjoying the game. I'll be moved in two weeks and I should be packing, it is a slow painful process with me, heh. I'm trying to get it ramped up so I don't have tons to do at the very last moment, so that is the reason for the lack of posting, as I mentioned in a previous post, that and I just rather play than write sometimes! I did have a friend ask if I was alright, since I hadn't posted in awhile, which was nice to see someone was missing my posts :)

I have been purely playing WoW in my free time. One of my brothers has come back, he's been thinking about it for some time, his account was hacked about three years ago and I talked him into getting some assistance with it so I could use a SoR to help him get back into things. Blizzard really helped him a lot with it after several conversations, so he is pretty happy now. I suppose he got five free levels in the process with the Scroll of Resurrection. It is nice to see him playing again, but then his computer broke down and ate up a little free time, but he should be back on by the weekend.





My son is also playing again, yay! He hit 90 with his shaman, and I hit 90 with my druid (finally)- yesterday. We did a scenario straight away to get us some blue weapons from the quested one- Arena of Annihilation and he's wanting to gear up and do some LFR stuff so I might just take one of my characters along with him when he does.

As a welcome back to the game I ran my brother through a few old raids to get him the achievements and some transmog gear, he had a blast seeing them again. He raided in AQ when it was current and MC so he had a lot of fond memories. I also took him and my son through the Black Temple which was fun. My brother really likes things like that, much like me, so it was really great for him.





Yesterday my son and I decided to run the Black Temple on our fresh 90's, while what we were there for didn't exactly drop, we did get some cool transmog stuff. He probably carried me through it this time, lol. I did throw out lots of healing, which was cool to be able to do. My druid isn't as tough as my warlock, she runs out of mana a lot faster on AoE and she cannot cast while being flung all over.

I did briefly go feral while leveling, and I truly hated it. And while I'm speaking of leveling, I hold a personal grudge against the person who designed the Dread Wastes, I hated leveling there this time, lol. Hated, hated, hated it! I used to be feral with her but it just didn't mesh with me this time around. Balance isn't perfect either, I hate the lunar and solar eclipse junk. I really think the mechanics are too clunky and annoying, that is probably because I've played the class for so long, since the vanilla days and while it wasn't nearly as strong in many areas as it is now, it didn't feel so..... clunky. I just don't feel the design of the balance spec was a direction it needed. I still like the class, I like the spec better than the others, simply because I want to be ranged dps with her. It is nice to be able to glyph to throw out heals while in my form as well, that was a great addition. Maybe the warlock just spoiled me! I do like the Druid for being able to be balance and have some support in things like scenarios, that is just awesome, so it is hard to decide who to play with others.


My brother and I hanging out in Ironforge, lol.



Other than that, I made a monk. The monk is great! I recommend going brewmaster until 30 or 40, then it gets easier if you want to go windwalker. I really like the class a lot more than I thought I would. I made it to 44 then parked her to wait on Dire to catch up his new little pally alt. She's been waiting a few days now and I'm itching to play her some more. Oh, and my hode main has migrated to the Alliance, since the guys prefer playing alliance. It is weird seeing my scrawny little Blood Elf as a chunky-monkey Human, I'll get used to it I suppose.

It is nice seeing family online, in vanilla we all played together a lot, BC we played together a fair amount, WoTLK we briefly played together. I am the one who stuck with the game, even taking breaks I always return. My other brother will be playing soon too, he is buying a new account and starting over with his girlfriend, I'm looking forward to when everyone is playing again! I have transmog runs already being requested, good times XD


He asked a GM to kill him, after much.. erm... persistence he finally was granted his wish, lol. 


Speaking of transmog, I finally (FINALLY) had my head item drop from the Black Temple- Cowl of Benevolence. I love it. I do need a robe that matches it a little better, I need to look around and see what I can find, I'll check out and scour MogIt (the best transmog addon out there!).

That's it for today, have a great weekend I'm sure I'll be posting a bit more next week because I feel so lazy when I'm not posting! There will be a little bit of silence due to the move but that should be short lived. Safe adventures!



My Druid on her way to the Klaxxie, I love their story, they are pretty bad-ass.

Doing a world boss, thought this was a neat shot while we waited!

A raiding with leashes pet dropped, I let my brother have it, he was very, very happy. I need to go back and get me one too!

Illidan has us frozen in place, lol.

My druid's current transmog, I need the head (mask) item off Illidan but for now this will do, I love the shoulders. 






Saturday, April 6, 2013

A Night In Naxxramas!






One of the recent additions I really enjoy, in WoW, would be the addition to pets within old raid content. While those pets in AQ are evading me (though the shifting sands robe FINALLY dropped- OMG), I have obtained most of the ones which drop in MC. I have really, really wanted a few from Naxxramas, the Stitched Pup in particular. That one makes such a nifty warlock pet. He's so creepy and cool!

I know Dire and I could do the zone but he's switched shifts and hasn't adjusted quite yet, so his playtime has slipped out of the window for the moment. Last night I decided to try it on my own, I didn't have anything else I'd rather do in WoW. Pet collecting and transmogs are my biggest hobby there these days, so why not try to down a few bosses and see how it goes, on the lock. My first try was a few months ago on the hunter, which ended with Patchwerk ripping me a new one.

I ended up clearing the whole zone, I didn't think I'd be able to honestly, I've not tried any of the Wrath raids, so I really was quite happy. The lock is amazing for soloing old content, different specs can help in different situations but I prefer demo for many fights, lots of staying power with the spec. Soulstones, healthstones and life draining abilities help a lot too.

Different pets were needed for certain fights, as with a lot of old content. For those encounters where you can be locked down with cc b/c you do not have threat, like the pet tanking, it basically is like two manning the encounter... Except the stupid pet cannot do anything; like hit the web, or take the spike off of you and so on. So for those encounters it is best to use a non-tanking pet, such as an imp. That is where I pull ahead as a lock, that and the healing. Situational pets help out a lot, pets who don't tank really make a difference on some fights, or those who can tank, it just depends.

I've also been working on a pally alt but it is slow going, I don't always feel like leveling some days. She's decked out in heirlooms, which helps speed things along, but I can only take so much leveling these days. Sometimes it is just more fun to do whatever I want on my main, I guess I've settled down with the lock being my main. I love my hunter, but since Dire prefers the horde, and his DK over there, I've been pretty happy with the choice to level my lock. She's not uberly geared, I'm quite lazy and don't care to raid on a regular basis, in all honesty. It would be fun... but I just can't sit still long enough these days.

I'm still enjoying WoW immensely. There is so much to do, I love my class, love the changes with this expansion. I am looking forward to Neverwinter and REALLY waiting on Dragon's Prophet... I absolutely cannot wait for that to hit open beta. But Neverwinter looks good, and since it releases at the end of the month, I am looking forward to that!

Hope you enjoy the song embedded at the top, one of my favorites to listen to while playing my games. Have a great weekend!


Fungal pet, he's so ugly...awww.

Dead Patchwerk- That kill is for Clo ;)

Bone spider pet.

I love you, stitched pup!

Four Horsemen, I remember doing this fight when it was current, I was always healing on the pally, fun times!
 
The end!


Friday, April 5, 2013

Return To The Sandbox (SL)



I'll take... One of each!



It has been awhile since I logged into Second Life so I thought I'd pop in for a little bit tonight. I have a ton of ideas for things to make for my shop, I just never seem to have enough time to get things going. I'll be moving soon but once I settle in, I hope to spend some time creating again. I miss it.

While I'm away I make a little bit of money from my shop, so it is nice to pop in and do some shopping! I thought I'd look for a car, because it is just so cool to have a car in a game, right?! I found a really awesome Challenger on the marketplace. Almost as nice as the one we have in real life, almost! I even found a new model Camaro as well, the quality of the Challenger was superb though, very nice details.

That is what I always miss about Second Life- If you want it, you can find it, or create it! That is what always keeps me coming back. The ultimate sandbox, IMO. Anyhow, thought I'd share some fun pics!










Thursday, April 4, 2013

RaiderZ- First Look




This week my son and brother have been playing RaiderZ. They really seem to enjoy it and I've been meaning to check it out for awhile now, so I thought what better time to do so. I just wanted to share some first impressions, screenshots, features and thoughts.

This is an action based MMO. I would have to say it is most similar to TERA than any other game I've played, which wreaked havoc on my wrists but RaiderZ seems a bit more forgiving. Not every single mob required me to bounce, roll, dodge all over the screen. Personally I prefer games that do not require so much reaction for normal leveling, I play for relaxation but it is still a nice game. If it wasn't so action based I'd probably play it a heck of alot more, it has many neat features to it.

Combat is interesting, and there are 'talents' letting you specialize in the paths you'd like to play. There are different archetypes;  melee, tank, cleric, mage, but you can mix up what you want to do a bit. My son is a cleric but he plays ranged and I am more the melee type in this game, he kites while I get up close. There are options for how each person wants to play, which is always great. There is also multiclassing, after you spend initial points in your class tree. I'm not too experienced in this, my son has told me a bit about it, which he plans on working on this more as he levels.

This game doesn't feature housing but you do get your own inn room. My brother thought that was really awesome- 'Hey I got my own Inn room!' I thought it was a rather nice touch, you can port back home there every thirty minutes or so. Nifty little feature to add a bit of personality to the game.

Crafting. If you ever crafted gear in the first Guild Wars, RaiderZ works much the same way. You collect the materials and the NPC will craft your items. This is how it works within this game, you craft your items, weapons, as well as mounts. The armor from the get go is nice, as you level it seems to get even nicer looking, you don't have to wait until end game to look interesting, which was a big plus with my brother. He says he's sick of having to wait until end game to acquire cool armor and weapons, no waiting here.We liked the crafting aspect of the game, my son showed me the mats I'd need to collect and most of them I picked up as I was questing. No huge grinds, at least not in the early game.

As I mentioned you craft your mounts as well. This game offers a huge variety of mounts but some require a lot of mats, over time you will learn where to farm the materials you want for a specific mount. There are a few that are fairly easy to craft and every few levels you can upgrade them. I really, really like the mount system in this game. Plus, when you start out, you get a ton of one time use mounts, I think I unloaded 40 so far...

The game is pretty, it runs smoothly as well. It has nice surroundings, the characters are pleasant to look at, even if there is only one race option. The armor and weapons look fantastic. The mounts are some of the coolest I've seen. There were some that had me chasing people to get a closer look.

There were neat little aspects in the game, such as people playing guitars and drums. I do not know much on those items but they looked like a lot of fun. The gameplay within this game is solid, especially if you like action based combat. I would prefer this over any of the others I've tried, it seems to have a bit more depth. The mouse is 'locked' much like most action based or ported games, I didn't seem to notice after a bit.

The game also released an expansion this week! More levels, the starting area was revamped a bit, better rewards to new players starting off. Lots of neat things. If you're looking for something interesting and fun to dabble around with, RaiderZ is pretty cool. I'm a bit of a PWE fan, so I knew it would feel like a quality game, and it does. Tons of questing, no huge grinds, all around a solid game. The game feels more skill based than gear based, which is refreshing.

Just some thoughts on it before I forget my initial reaction to the game! Leaving a slew of screenshots for your viewing pleasure :)


You can pick up weapons in the area, which are quite powerful and last a limited duration. I loved the cannon!

I'm sorry bunny, I just wanted your ears. Rabbits can drop cosmetic ears to wear. Low drop rate though.

One of the mounts within the game, this one was a temporary but you can craft your first one around 12 or so.

Easter decorations.

My Inn room.

Whatever that chick is riding, I want one too. how cool is that... some creepy, crawly bug dude who carries you around?! Also people playing drums back there on the left.

Broom mount, he also has a snake wrapped around his neck, that is awesome!

Dynamic duo :)

Got me some new armor!

He's jamming out! I want a guitar!!

Another very cool mount. 

The first mount on the left is the first mount my son obtained. The second is my freebie mount.







Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Super Adventure Box (Thoughts) GW2

Hit play!!




Yesterday I spent a good bit of time messing around in GW2's Super Adventure Box. It has to be one of the coolest thing I've seen in any MMO in a long, long time. It is truly worth logging into just to run through it at least once, just to experience it. The graphics are adorable, the commercial was hilarious and the music is quite awesome in that charming sort of 8 bit way. (Massively has an article on where you can listen to the music- AWESOME!) You can also download them! My current ringtone is actually GW2 music, you know what it will be now ;)

I love when developers think outside the box, adding fun 'games' within our games. It adds a nice deviation from the norm, something fun to do when you want to get off the beaten path. A reason I also love WoW's pet battles. Just something fun to do, something different.

I have to say I was so impressed with this addition. Even if it is only for a short time, I truly hope it makes another appearance, it has been received very, very well by players. The items, which are mostly skins, are a bit costly in my honest opinion. I don't know if I can do this enough times to get any for my characters, if I really wanted to, I think I could. For me it was just enough to participate and get to see this for myself. I may change my mind and work on it some more later on in the week, not too sure if it is something I really want to invest that much time into.

I did like that there was an infantile mode, baby mode for people like me. Basically pointers where to go, clouds to help you along. Great to see ArenaNet thinking of those who are not as good at puzzles or those, like myself, who have wrist problems. I was very thankful!

Once again, if you haven't checked it out, you really should. It is pure awesome, a true blast from the past. Things like this will always keep me coming back for more with GW2, just to be part of it. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to set my ringtone to that cute little Sunny Glade beat!


Super Adventure Box!

Entrance.

Coin for access. Notice the hearts bar!

Treasure!

I'm doomed!

Starting level.

Having a picnic?

Love the flowers!

My trusty stick, I like to hit things. 

Shopkeeper... I'll smash you table! (If you smash the furniture in the shop you get those baubles you need!) Smash EVERYTHING!

Fun times- outside the box. 




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