Monday, June 24, 2013

Monk Love






In my last post I spoke about retiring my lock, however things are looking up for the class in 5.4. The KJC nerf/changes are looking less severe, allowing us to still move and cast certain spells without a movement penalty, while remaining a passive ability. I am glad Blizzard is taking community feedback into consideration with these changes. The class really is in a good place and has a unique feel. In all of my years of playing, this class has never been so much fun, this was also my first class in WoW back in 2004. I don't think I'll be playing her as my main but I'll still putter around with her.

I also spoke about switching over to my hunter to focus on, but... I really am not enjoying it as much these days. I gave it a go, just wasn't feeling it. The class is fun but the pets seem so buggy and not as well designed as lock pets. I mean hunter pets don't even taunt in old raids, which sows there is clearly a different design with the pets from both classes. Maybe I imagine things but the pet doesn't seem to snap aggro like a warlock pet, even as a BM hunter with a tank pet. I constantly have to kite and feign death because the pet still bugs out, getting behind the mob when tanking, running across the screen as if in a dance with it, aggroing everything as far as the eye can see. Still, after so many years, this bug seems worse than ever. I am wondering if it is even worse because of the changes to blinkstrike? So, I have decided to put the hunter on the shelf for now.

Which left me with a few options, suck it up and play my druid as a main. Painfully stick with balance as a dps spec while I gear up resto and enjoy healing in raids and group content. Quit.... That was a strong consideration at one point. Or pick up a lower alt and level another to 90.

For now I am playing on my baby monk which I took a break from when my brothers came back to the game. One brother doesn't play much these days and the other is busy with his own things, which leaves me more bored than I've been in a long time. The only downside is that once I get rolling with an alt I don't want to mess with any other characters, so when Dire asks me to join LFR, I have to refuse so I can get this new character where IT can run LFR, lol.

So, yeah, back to the monk. How to describe the monk? I wonder why the hell I've been wasting my time with my other characters. Kicking myself, repeatedly. I leveled as brewmaster (tank) and windwalker (dps), for a bit, neither really were what I was looking for. Finally, after watching my son (a few months ago) level his monk as mistweaver, I decided to give that a shot. I can quest, do daily quests, heal, all of that in ONE SPEC. I get a bonus from my healing to attack power, how awesome is that?! Why can't all healers just have this type of playstyle? I love the mistweaver!

Someone mentioned to me recently that the class was much harder to heal than a druid, when I mentioned what my main was. I think the class may have a higher learning curve with many things but I find it fits me like a glove. I don't feel it is hard to heal with at all. The only time people really die is if they get stupid. We'll talk about that in a moment. The spec has a great range of healing tools and really is a fun change of pace. Often I find myself at least third on damage. Yeah, I go around beating on things and keeping my group alive. This I do to balance my Mana Tea incase I need it, and also because it is fun. The class reminds me of the disciple from vanguard SoH, a lot. Healing is always my main focus but it is a real refreshing change. Plus, with spinning crane kick, I get to heal and aoe, awesome! Spinning crane kick is a must when you have stupid tanks pulling like they are trying to kill the group.

Which leads me back to my point on dying. It really is hard to let someone die. Tanks like to run off way ahead while I'm looting, or topping off with a Mana Tea, or if I take a sip of coffee, scratch my leg, breathe... Which really can be irritating. LETS PULL THE WHOLE ROOM. I don't mind that much but it makes things really rushed as they run off before the mobs are even dead.  A few times, I've decided to take my time, actually loot mobs, see if the tanks would kill themselves. Indeed they do, some have ran off to bosses and died before the group had gotten there. Then I hear how we're all going to die and it is my fault... Blah, blah. Lol, nah.

You see, you need me far more than I need you. At this level and scaling, I could keep any dps up as a tank, it is just nicer to have mobs not bouncing all over. They come back to life with a new attitude, actually bringing mobs back to me, and even asking me to queue up again. But I can't do this on every run, I'm not here to school tanks on proper manners an courtesy. Most groups I don't even bother, I just blow through it soaking up all the xp I can to push me closer to my goal. I just would like tanks, because it is always, always tank, in these dungeons leveling, to learn try (as they are in heirlooms, they know what they are doing) to work as a group. Oh, how the times have changed.

Yes, I really love the monk class. It suits me so well. I wish I had been playing it a long time ago. The class really starts to shine in the 50's. Until then it might seem a bit lackluster. I have had many compliments on my healing, it really is hard to kill a group when you have a competent monk healing. I cannot wait to have my hand at heroics and raids. While things will be different in those settings, I always like to push the bar to see what I can pull off with my healers.

I've been chugging along, doing far more instances than one would ever want to do, due to how much xp they give, much quicker than questing alone. I'll get to 90 soon enough. I picked her up at 45 and now she is sitting at 66, not too shabby!



I don't think I've ever seen this model until I did this quest. Aspect of Deathwing, kind of creepy! I always knew he had a human form, read one of the books about it, just never seen it in game.


Another quest, with a flying motorcycle and where I got to pick the hottest 'chick' to ride in it. Naturally the choice was a BE male.... ha!


A dragonling from a quest chain, kind of sad storyline, works as a trinket. 


'Brewmaster' Cupcake The Monk!








Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Changes





Greetings! I'm trying to at least post once a week, I'm trying to keep things updated, share thoughts and ideas. Tonight I had the joy of fixing several zones of our sprinkler system, learning my lesson and getting a sunburn during the day, ouch! I wanted to sit down and post though, while things are fresh in my head.

WoW
Still going at it. The druid has been my main but I am really wondering why I 'punish' myself with this class anymore. I love to heal, that is the only reason I play it. Doing daily quests is painful, I look over at people less geared than myself mowing through stuff, it really grates on my nerves. I switch to my horribly geared hunter in blues and greens and run circles around my druid. Balance is clunky and slow, and so not fun. I love many things about the class but it isn't up to par with other classes who can dual spec and still perform decently doing things outside raiding. Ok, I can kill faster than a character in EverQuest, maybe... Seriously though, compared to my other characters it feels so out of sorts. Champion/Rares in MoP? Not fun, not worth the effort I have to put in, or I could just log in one of my other characters and faceroll them with my eyes closed.

Which brings me to my other main, the warlock. She is soon to be retired due to changing the class mid expansion. I'd like to know why you'd completely change a class, the rotation, core mechanics/talents MID EXPANSION? If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I am so tired of constant tweaks and changes to my classes. In 5.4 all three of my 90's will receive several class changes. Again. Are these developers wanting to push people to quit? If I didn't have characters to fall back on, I'd cancel my sub before patch 5.4 hits. I honestly would. I've been considering it, still a possibility, if the changes to classes keep going at this pace, I think I will burn out.

Did you hear? There is a revolutionary change coming out, called virtual realms! It combines realms, you can play with even more people, and cross server zones (CRZ). Do people even wonder why this is being added? Because players are leaving the game. But we have eight million players, kaozz! Maybe in China. I don't know any exact numbers, but I do know they are trying to keep the game looking alive, keeping more players busy before they run out of things to do (this part is quite good really). They are pushing out patches and butchering classes at an alarming rate. However, changing class mechanics every few months isn't going to keep players around. Why not just focus on content for a while, so I can quit relearning my classes?

Check out the official forums or MMO Champion, you'll see lots of information on exactly what is changing. Even my hunter is missing abilities. Everytime I log in, after a few months off from a class, I wonder what the hell I am doing. Where did this ability go, why isn't this one working, oh yeah, that's what I read about. Luckily, I am one of those players who reads about the changes, but what about those who don't?

For now I am probably going to work on the druid when Dire is around, but solo I will be building up my hunter, working on her factions and gear. At this point is the class that seems to stay remotely the same. Unless they decide to make BM unviable again.

I hate to sound all doom and gloom, I do still enjoy playing. Very much so, I really love all there is for me to do within the game, how accessible things are in today's WoW. It is still a great game -but- too much change in a game where rotations are down to a science and every little thing can make a huge difference in how a class plays, I do start to feel a mental fatigue with the game.

Rift
Free to play, wheee! I managed to pop in and check out the changes. Things look good, I'm subbed until December or January so it wasn't like I couldn't log in before. I had a lot of neat rewards waiting on me and monies to spend from being a subscriber. The cash shop looks decent, prices look good. I've considered playing more. The only thing that gets me is the horrible grind after 50, but at the same time I miss things like having so many souls for my class. It surely wasn't the price that was keeping me from playing, it was the grind! Having the ability to change them up and mix and match if I want, that is tempting though. I also miss housing.

All in all the game looks good still and it seems like the conversion will be a positive thing. Going free to play might bring in some new blood or some who might play a bit more. My thoughts? It is still the same game I left, paid for, speed up XP for 50+ and I might actually stick with it again.

SL
I'm starting with a new 3D program and getting used to it, feeling a bit drained from it, so taking a few days off of designing. A good friend of mine has been working on an awesome script for some of my creations, which will be nice, very excited about that. They will make my items more unique.

I still mainly keep to myself and a few longtime friends, while building and working. It is relaxing, most of the time. Though last week I about ripped out all of my hair working with some scripts for my items. When it gets like that I tend to take some time to recuperate, lol. Below are some of my latest projects. That's it for today, safe adventures!



A ninetails I was working on but I am going to create one with a  more textured feel and animated parts, lots of work ahead of me. 

A beret, color changes. 

Assassin Creed style (mesh) head item and shoulders, female version. 

Male version. 







Friday, June 14, 2013

Virtual Workshop




Before and After: Item ingame and in progress while building the model. 




Today I thought I'd share some of my new creations. I've been trying to perfect my shapes and get more polish out of my creations, some days are better than others. I'm having fun, creating some things that I would actually, and do, wear! That's part of the fun, enjoying what you create :)

I put up an open 'workshop' on my land. Do I really need a virtual workshop you're probably asking, Yes and no. But- With one I don't have as much of a problem setting things down and accidentally picking up the grass instead, lol. I can also have a less messy looking place as I set things beside each other to swap out parts from one creation to another or get a clean shot of it to work. All in all the places looks less messy and building is a tad easier, I'm not texturing the trees by accident!

Right now I am working on an extensive project. It is one Twig keeps asking me to create, the idea is from another video game. She has been asking and asking for one, so we'll see if I can pull it off. If all goes well I will post it, it will take me a day or two I think, if I can even get it out of my head into 3D form. I hope so because she obviously thinks I am better than I really am, lol. It is just bigger than anything else I've worked on and thus it will take more time, being a more complicated item with a special pose I'll need to focus on.

Just a short post showing some pics of some of the things I've been working on. Hope everyone has a great weekend. I have another post about Rift and WoW I want to write, just need to sit down and focus on it!


Another shot of this chair I created, I finally got an animation put into it. 

A summer floaty!

A white top hat with goggles, I love hats!!

GOGGLES! I love these and wear them everywhere, I might spruce them up next week with some attachments. 

Fresh mesh uploaded, goggles and hat. 

My lovely model, easier than trying to build on my own head!

The finished result.

Some wings.

Shimmery wings with a pack attached. 

Mah workshop! I even made a cute cork board with cool pics and schematics. The perfect touch!

Hatter hat, in black.

I love this hat in pink!!



Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Crafting (SL)


Just hanging out with some friends, relaxing in a pond I created on my land.



I've been back in Second Life more lately. I have been toying with my new land, mostly building though. I really, really enjoy it. It is truly crafting in a gaming setting, to the ultimate. I made this, I mean I really made this! It is a very cool thing indeed, if you're into creating items.

You can create items within the game, using uploaded or textures bought from other residents. You can manipulate shapes and link them, it is a great way to start and get a feel for building, then moving onto sculpties (sculpted image maps which take shape within a prim). You can also upload your own mesh models created within a 3D modeling program. I've been messing with mesh again and creating things with it here and there. Sometimes I need a specific shape and this is helpful to be able to create it. I'm by no means an expert but it is quite fun.



I suppose the thing about Second Life is that you do whatever you want all the time, no pressure, no rush, it is so laid back compared to the other games I play. Be anything you want, look any way you want, without even having to switch characters. The only beef I have is the inventory system which is basically stored within files, it is clunky and messy. With almost 60k items and growing, it is getting to the point where I really need to clean house. I am avoiding this like the plague, lol. The inevitable day will come.

I'm pretty much a recluse these days. Staying on my lovely piece of land, creating. However, I want to get out and explore some new sims soon. The wonderful part about exploring is that there is so much to see, so many new sims all the time to check out, as well as many old favorites to visit again.

Dire doesn't play, he doesn't understand my draw to the game and creating, he says he isn't creative thus he just can't understand it. I will admit the game does have a rather odd reputation, but if you know why you are there playing, who is to question that? I play for me, if you don't like how I choose to spend my time, I'm sorry. You just keep to yourself or like minded players. There is something for everyone. Not everyone who plays is some perverted deviant! You know you thought it! You don't have to be creative to enjoy the game, you can enjoy the variety of things created by others, role play, make friends, shop, race, endless things. However you just have to find your niche.

It has a strong pull to my creative side. I do it in my free time, I enjoy it when I feel like it, no pressure, I learn new things in the process. I still have a lot to learn, one day perhaps my creations will take on more polish than they possess now.

Today I thought I'd share some of my creations. Below are a few I've been busy working on. Enjoy!



Jet Pack with male hover animation.

Jet Pack with female animation.

Jet pack with....FIRE!

Pack up close, the green and red have a moving 'particle' effect scripted, which was fun to add.

A mesh baby dragon, not too crazy about this one.

One of my houses I built, a room inside. This was fun to decorate. 

An Asian home I built, I need a big house with room to stand on the roof to built... But I tire of my own creations. 

Inside of house, the roof is see through from inside to create a lighter feel

A mesh chair and hat I created. Two of the first mesh items I've worked on for a long time.

A mesh steampunk top hat and goggles I created. 

Goggles I created, they change color when you touch this item. A menu pops up, fun and kind of nifty.






Monday, June 10, 2013

Visions



Dire and I in LFR. Don't we look sharp.



One transmog item I've wanted in WoW would be the Cursed Vision of  Sargeras, with my Druid. We try to do Black Temple weekly, my brothers and I, sometimes a friend will join, so it is always fun to go with others. My lock doesn't need anything there anymore but I've been taking the Druid whenever someone mentions going, this week I happily went with hopes it would drop. I've ran this place more times than I want to think about, never seen it once.  My brother had called me up to see if I wanted to go, of course I want to go, so I was pretty damn happy when it finally dropped for us over the weekend! Next to go will be my DK, who is now alliance.

I've had a hard time trying to find a transmog I like for the Druid but I'm working on it, waiting on a few items still but I have something I like more so than what I've worn in the past. There is a lot of really great leather transmog stuff out there, but my bank and transmog space is full so I really have to consider on what is worth banking and what I don't really need. MORE STORAGE PLEASE!!!



Dire and I have been wanting some of those cute Direhorn Runt pets, they are adorable. We've been out there a few times, on the isle, with raids and seen many drop but never won them. So last night I asked him if he wanted to try to farm a couple. After an hour or two we both managed to get two cute little baby dinos. We also had a Primal Egg drop! What is a primal egg? WowHead to the rescue! We were not quite sure honestly, turns out it is an egg that has a 100% chance to hatch into a raptor mount- after three days. Which I won, so I am excited about that. I have 90 mounts, I've been working on gathering 100 for the mount achievement, a blue dragonhawk. I really want this! Slowly but surely I am making my way towards it.

Other than collecting cute and pretty transmog stuff, we've been working on heroic scenarios, which some can be pretty tough. Heroics and of course LFR My Druid has pulled forward on the gear this week, I've just not felt like playing both through the same content and often Dire asks that I take my druid to help heal with something or a faster queue.

We've been doing LFR which has been rather, hrmm, exasperating at times. Sometimes it goes smooth, sometimes it is a trainwreck. Most the time I enjoy these but the last one really sent me into a meltdown, raging on why I bother to log in and waste my evening by doing stupid things like running through deadly fog and so on. It isn't the players fault though. Even I repeatedly run through the bad stuff because I can't see it, or see where not to run. I really hate some of the mechanics on these fights, it is hard to get a team of random strangers through them without many tries and a hefty repair bill. But at the end of the day I mostly enjoy LFR, it actually gives me a shot at raiding.

My days of scheduled raiding are long over and I appreciate the fact that I can still raid when I can. I really like that, it changes my view and chances to see content, when it comes to raiding. I raided from my old EverQuest days and even the early days of WoW, in MC, spending hours after hour in an raid. I even remember a 12+ hour planes raid in EverQuest. I just won't sit there for that long anymore. LFR doesn't make me, I really appreciate the work put into this system. Sure, I miss raiding with friends, my arse doesn't miss being glued to the chair though. Queue with me! Dire enjoys it, he loves getting upgrades, we all do.



Sometimes though, I question the whole direction of WoW. I love the game, but once I dig deeper I hate how it feels more like a number game, a spreadsheet, a min-max competition, it breaks my immersion. People who'd rather take the highest numbers than work together with friends who don't play as well. To me it is the little things, playing with friends and family, even making new friends, but I feel like a minority. It isn't that I'm not any good, I push myself, I exceed the requirements, I do quite well. I just don't like the whole attitude that seems to possess most players these days. Is it so hard to be kind to other people? The whole attitude of: "Well they don't count, they just suck." Maybe they do, but for heaven's sake it's just a freaking game. While I don't have anyone bother me, it stings to see others treated as if they don't matter. It bites.

I am having fun but that's what I want to keep it- Fun. When everything is said and done, when we look back will we remember all the top damage someone did, how good they were at which fight, or will we be fondly remembering friends?  I'm just a girl torn in the middle, head half in the clouds, feet half on the ground :) I kicked ass and took names all the way and I still have so many people I will always remember, many I will always miss.


Our little runts!

Carrying around a friend in the Black Temple. She's so tiny and cute!


Firelands extrusion. 


Sometimes LFR can be fun. Dire looks like he is having fun, lol. 









Thursday, June 6, 2013

Gearing and Designing: A Nice Balance






Mainly...
These days WoW is still carrying me pretty steady as far as interest goes. With my newfound love for LFR (looking for raid system), there is just so much more to go after. I don't know why I was so hesitant to use it in the past. I suppose I heard so many horror stories, but really I haven't had any trouble at all. Currently I am gearing up two characters, heck I didn't even think I'd be that worried about one, much less two! I enjoy healing on the druid and dps as the lock. So for now I swap them both out. It is taking me a little longer to gear up but I love both roles on each class.

Swapping the characters out has it's advantages- If I want to do something while I am off on my own, I use the lock, then I save the druid to play with Dire. It helps hasten the queue time for him as well, since he does not get to play as much lately. I have been doing the weekly quest for the valor and the armor, some of it I can use still. I am still needing many items on both characters but I broke over 480 with them both, this week. Very happy about that! I even managed to get the super snazzy staff from Lei Shi on both characters yesterday. I've had some good luck with loot raining in on me this week, lets hope it holds out! Dire has had some real dry runs, we're trying to get his gear caught up. I want to do some heroic scenarios soon. 

My healing is, as it always is, on the ball. As my gear gets better I start topping the meters, but I don't go for that. I don't waste mana just to see the meters rise but it is nice not to be at the bottom, though I haven't really had that issue, nor the issue of running out of mana. I do try to conserve as much as I can. I've been healing so long it is like second nature, I even find myself watching the health of the raid when I dps, old habits die hard!

The lock is going strong. As with the healing getting stronger in that department, my dps is getting better with this one as well. It really blows to be 17th on the meter when you start out and once you begin making your way up it feels like you're finally doing something. Last night I was 3rd so that made me feel better. It isn't all about the meters but I do like to gauge how I am doing. I don't spam them or flaunt anything, I just want to know exactly how I am doing, what I can improve and so on. 

I have to say that I didn't see myself being so into the endgame as I am now but I enjoy it a lot. It has been fun watching my characters grow and gearing them out. It is exciting and brings back a lot of memories. Even LFD hasn't been bad. Nobody bothers me, pretty nice groups most the time. 

Bit by the housing bug...
I miss having housing in my main MMO. I really do. So I've been contemplating some land in Second Life, shopping around. I finally found a lovely sim with some great land and snapped it up. I've been decorating and puttering around with it here and there, this morning I finished it up and think it turned out quite nicely. 

Other than that I miss being able to create and modify things. I suppose my creative side is drawn to the game, because that is all I do when I am on; decorate and build. I enjoy it, a nice outlet. I built a house, but by the time I finish the things I create, I am tired of looking at them, lol. I will probably finish up the last touches and sell it in the market. 

I've seen a few friends on and that is always great! It is nice to stay in touch and catch up, something I always enjoy. Chit-chatting while I build, not so rushed like some of my other games, more of a relaxed environment. 

Getting to it...
I downloaded Dragon's Prophet a few nights ago, but I had a migraine that made me physically ill so that was put off to the side. I still need to play it. I briefly tried the closed beta but I didn't really get a good feel for the game. The forums are really negative, I have been peeking in on them when I can. But, I don't want to judge things before I get to play it. So that is on my agenda this week/weekend to get my feet wet, see how I like it. Sadly... I hear that housing is endgame. Meh!

Also, as Bhagpuss mentioned on his blog, I see that City of Steam is up to the Elves. Now I want to make a new character and play it. I really enjoy that game, it is a lot of fun, good ol' hack and slash. I've been pretty slack with this game and Neverwinter. So many games, so little time.

What's keeping you busy and why? Are you looking forward to anything? Let me know in the comments! I have been keeping my eye on Wildstar, it looks good, it has housing!! I keep getting stress test invites but usually something happens and I miss them. Ah well, hopefully it will be out soon enough! I'm just trying to keep things fun, for now gearing up with some design on the side keeps me pretty happy, a nice balance.

Safe Adventures!


My buddy, Rakhar, came to visit me while I was plopping things down on my land and terraforming. 

A table... which I decided I didn't like afterall. Lots of decisions and changes ;) That is the fun part!

My treehouse, it even has a tire swing, so cute!

A sweet little table in my gazebo. 

A view of my dock. I like this dock because it has a lot of fun things built into it, like swimming and fishing!

Shopping, or something... lol.

A project I was working on.

My house and a little pond I made, it even has coy swimming around in it, as well as inner tubes to float on!




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