Saturday, August 31, 2013

Postcards From 1017... While you wait!





Admiring my shots as I wait... 



Lighting the lamps.

Sky full of stars.

Scary armor on the left... 

Afternoon delight, when the light is just right.

Taking a moment to enjoy the scenery.

Flashy armor, my little guy looks like a big red blob... lol.

I cannot wait to get higher and get out of these robes, hehe. 

White mage intro. 









FFXIV- A Slow Pace



Ah, those fresh and new days of an MMO launch, you savor them and hope they pass quickly! I am very happy to see that FFXIV is doing well! So well that we're really having issues even getting logged in-- I'm not happy that I can't log in but it is a Saturday morning, here in the US. Not surprised, I don't know what I was thinking-- trying to log on today, heh. Jokes on me, I actually wake up early because someone wouldn't stop tossing and turning >.> And it couldn't have been like a Wednesday or something!

I am very much enjoying the game. I've rerolled just to because I wanted to soak up a different starting area, which isn't a big deal but I wanted to take my time in an area more suited to me. You can't get that first time back so I might as well bask in it somewhere I love! Gridania is my kind of place, I absolutely love it.

This time around is much smoother and I'm actually paying attention to the text, to what is going in my inventory, instead of rushing through things. I find myself enjoying the game a lot more, not feeling like such a scatterbrained newb.

I am also not rushing because I really would like to roll up on a NA server but they have all been closed to new characters when I try. Hopefully things will smooth over soon! I'm still playing alone, even though I do know others playing, I just can't get to them. Not a huge deal at the moment. I see Dire looking over at the screen, I can see the gears turning in his head, I know he is sort of interested in his own little way. He has a buddy at work who plays and is just raving about the game. He keeps telling me to join his server, but alas it is not taking new chars, of course, lol.

I really, really look forward to having all those classes on one character. I tire of alts, switching toons. This will be very refreshing, granted I ever get one class over 20... ha! If I could log in maybe! I get kicked sometimes when I tab out, which is sort of grating on my nerves, I may start to play in window mode, just because I ALWAYS tab out for some reason, then I face palm.

Anyhow, not too much new to report. Thought I'd share a few neat pictures I took. Have a good one and may you all be able to log in... soon!


I can see why you're in the crafter's guild... you must be a little chilly! I seem to not always load clothes on other players, heh. 

Hey there,can I have your goggles?!

Glorious sunset. 

Lots of people around, never a quiet moment in the city.

Just showing off some mid level players. 

Some random dude, interesting armor. Most people I see with the most awesome armor run off before I can take shots, I've seen a few 50's running around. 

Love the scenery in this game. 

A late night stroll. 

The guy on the right is a Scholar. When I grow up I want to be one! They heal and have fairy pets ;)

Relaxing :)






Friday, August 30, 2013

Final Fantasy XIV








Recently a buddy of mine was telling me all about the new Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, which was still in the head start. I really hadn't been very interested but I found myself intrigued, especially the more I read about it around the web. It seemed very enticing, by the time release day hit I found myself picking up the digital download from Amazon. I did not plan on it at all, especially with how horrible I heard the log-in issues were. Ah, well, I'm just going to try it, if I get in, good! If not things will slow down soon, right?

I've had no problems getting in, granted I am on an EU server, not my first choice. But, hey, I can log in! The only queue I've had was maybe 15 people in it, which was less than a minute. So, me, I've not had to wait, but then again I didn't get in on a NA server. I'm getting to play, that is all that matters.

I enjoy the game so much I decided to pick up a new video card just to run it smoothly. I was having some hitching, and I'll be picking up a new processor soon. While I will be getting a new machine before the end of the year, I figure I might as well give this one a boost for when I pass it on to my son. The game is running much, much smoother- thankfully.

I haven't gotten past level eight, taking my time, getting lost... just soaking in the scenery. I am also playing it on the side, so just some general thoughts.

The game is really beautiful. The races offer some great choices, in my opinion, I really like them all. Beautiful hairstyles (my hair blows in the wind, lol), a bit of options on faces, not huge but there is a selection. The armor is fantastic! Some of it, right now at the lower levels, is kind of silly looking but some of it is very impressive on people whom are higher than I am. Last night Dire said my character looked like a scarecrow! But she was still cute. The world is lovely, it is a relaxing setting. The day and night cycles are striking as well.

Mechanics are pretty solid. I like the UI, it is smooth and easy to use. Controls are nice, familiar. It is not fast paced action (THANK YOU), you have to step out of red circles but that is about it for now. The combat feels pretty fluid and fun thus far.

Things I like about the game? Mounts, I have read they can fight along with you as well, *squee*! Multiclassing really seems it will give players a lot to work on and be able to fill many roles, as well as round out how they want to play. Quests seem decent. I like the FATE system, which is very similar to rifts in RIFT. I love events that pop up! Helping others with mobs, everyone gets xp for tagging a mob, or events, always a plus in my eyes. We get housing soon! Cannot wait for that, I've read in the first patch, I hope so. Lots of interesting classes! Really some fun stuff to work on.

What I don't like? I don't find mobs dropping anything. Very odd. I had to buy gear from NPCs, and I cannot figure out which I can and can't wear. Some it needs to be repaired by a weaver but I am not high enough to repair it... I don't quite get it yet. I blew too much money on things I cannot wear. The city I started in is freaking huge, too many levels to zone through. I get lost, lose direction of where I am running to, why I am even running there. I finally got tired of it and ran out of the city to complete quests there. Running back only to find some quests at the exit... So I'll explore those.

Overall the game does have direction but I sometimes feel lost, but it isn't bad. I have been craving something new to play, something with a different setting but more of an old school, familiar feel as well. This has been quite good so far. I really like this game, which is hard as everyone I play with is still busy in WoW, so I don't get to play it as much as I'd like.

I even saw someone on a unicorn mount, I was drooling! I googled it and you can read more about it here. I cannot wait to get one!! I am on the Cerberus (EU) server. Maybe I'll transfer off in the future, don't know yet. All I know is that servers are being worked on, for next week, we'll have to see how it goes and how transfers work. If you happen to pop into my server to play, send me a hello on Sable Six. Anyone else feel like doing a fist pump when you level, just because of the sound? Lol.

P.S.- Scroll lock hides the UI. Had to google that today, lol. 














Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Catching Up!

Necro and I on our stylish mounts. 




Real life can be thanked for the lack of posts recently. By the time I sit down and start to write I just have too much on my mind. Very annoying! But I'm about to kick some crap out of my way and get back to the business of living without unwanted stress. Mainly complications with our 'new' house and the owner/seller being a complete jackass and selling it from under us. If kaozz isn't happy... Nobody is. Someone is quickly finding out how true this is.

Anyhow! Mostly the past week was trying to work on mounts. I have been grinding the archaeology mount for quite awhile, the blue battle tank. Which I finally got!! I about fell out of my chair when I saw it pop up for the next solve. For those of you still trying, keep trying! Dire also helped me acquire the blue panther mount, which is sooo gorgeous. He has a yellow and that one is also quite stunning.

I was pretty close to the 100 mount achievement so I went to Skettis to grind out the Sha'tari Skyguard faction. Which did not take all that long with using the potions to see the undead birds, spawn the mini bosses and thus kill Terokk. Rinse and repeat, turn in dust for the potions and factions. Managed to nab an illusion item for my son while I was out there. I did daily quests once and ground out the rest. Not hard but a hell of a grind, best done at night to avoid other people. This gave me five more mounts. I went out to buy a blond yak, they are so darn cute, from Kun-lai Summit. Which require no faction, same as the expedition yak (which I am far too poor to afford). Which all bumped me to 100 mounts, granting me the achievement and the Blue Dragonhawk.

Dire was close to the achievement, after having a streak of awesomeness over the weekend. He obtained enough shards to pull down and kill the rare thundering serpent in the vale- Alani. He was grinding a LOT for these, he really has perseverance! I need to take some pics, it is gorgeous. He also acquired several faction mounts he was missing and the kite mount for maxing out all his Pandaria factions. He is quite the faction fanatic. I do not have the resolve he has, when it comes to daily quests. I wish I did, but I am horrible with them.

My son is still playing, mostly leveling his monk. I ran him through almost every Outland heroic last night, getting him as close to 70 as I could, today he hit 71. He really wants a monk at end game so I've been trying to help as I can. My brother is also leveling his newly made monk, closing in on 70 as well.

On the side I have been trying to play a little Vanguard but by the time I get around to it, it is already time for bed or something comes up. I did manage to pop in on my little paladin a tiny bit today but I got a bit frustrated that the heal we gained at level two has been moved to level 14 or so...sigh. After a few deaths I just ended up camping. Another day I will find an easier place to level, hoping to get some levels faster for that heal to be available.


That's it today.... Currently downloading another new game I keep reading about, that one with the terrible launch but great gameplay ;) More on that in the next post.



Bug mount!

Flying high on my dragonhawk.

Being silly with my son, who is encased in amber on the ledge, lol. 

Panther mount!

Looking out the window with Heri and Nelf, lol. 



Saturday, August 24, 2013

On The Side




On the side, lately, I've been playing a tiny bit of other stuff, besides WoW. Sometimes I just want a laid back game, which City of Steam is perfect to scratch this itch. Plus, I haven't had a chance to check out the new class or sample any of the new races.

The new channeler class is a lot of fun to play. I switched over to one, I was playing a gunner, but this is just so much more my style. I really like it a lot so far. I picked one of the new races, the fair skin elves, which are called Riven. It was a tough choice because all the races are interesting looking. While the customization isn't huge, I like the simpleness of the characters.

CoS is a game where I can replay levels without really getting bored, something different around each corner. Maps are often reused anyhow, so it isn't a huge deal. I am logging in here and there and it is a game I can always see myself going back to.

I like it so much I did want to support it. While the game's cash shop is a bit steep, you can put down a few bucks and pick up some bag slots and get a bonus claim with some goodies; like keys and a robot pet that picks up loot for you. I loooove that pet!

Great game to kick back and relax on, the unity engine is impressive and is fantastic for this browser game. The game is quaint but very lovely. If you haven't tried it out, this is one I really urge people to try, it is really worth it.




I'm also puttering around with Vanguard SoH on the side. Not as much as I would like to. never enough time! As always I miss it and go back, never getting close to the max level because I have a huge army of alts. This time I am puttering around with my paladin.

Vanguard is always great to go back to feel that 'old school' MMORPG feel. It is nice to go back and my classes don't change, I know why I like them, why I go back to them. They remain true and same. This is refreshing, especially after playing so many games where things are always changing.

As always it is easy to get lost in the scenery, having fun at my own pace on my own adventure. Not really rushing to levels but looking forward to what is ahead. I do hope to see more in store for endgame, hoping to one day get there! I am not planning to raid but some group content may be nice. For now, just adventuring is fine with me. There seems to be much in store, slowly but steadily, for the little game that could. I'm so happy to see Vanguard getting attention.

And... In the main aspect of things I've been playing, finally killed Deathwing, lol. I completely skipped any raiding in the last expansion so it was nice to go back with a group and down him. My son was with us so this was a very cool moment for him.

I'm excited about patch 5.4, the timeless isle sounds interesting. Just a few weeks to go, mainly working on archaeology (trying for the bug mount!!) and pet battles. Which is pretty entertaining and relaxing.

That's it for today, have a great weekend!



Deathwing's back, don't tip him!

The aspects.

Nice group pic here. 

Lovely dragons!

Fun with an illusion.

Archaeology fun, call me the scarab queen!








Wednesday, August 21, 2013

For The Alliance!

For the Alliance! Silvermoon US.


Finally things have settled around the house, for now. Busy and tiring week(s), having a lot fixed in our attic to help with the heating and air, bathrooms needed work, both garage doors getting some work, that is just the tip of the iceberg, busy week but for now I'm happier. I've just been too exhausted to write some days!

My son has made a return to WoW. That makes four family members, whom I can regularly play with, which is really nice. For so long it has mainly been just me and Dire playing WoW. This is probably the longest stretch that I've stuck to WoW (in recent times). We're always going after some fun goals.

Over the weekend a guild member put together a raid to target the Horde faction leaders. I wanted to join in but so many tries in the past were futile. We'd get one or two and then the raid would fall apart. Not this time! We did have a rough start in Orgrimmar but we came back to that last and proudly stood around and killed all the NPC's and ran around with glee, happy of our achievements.

This really was an 'epic' moment for me in WoW. The people were great, no complainers, no fussing, we had a fantastic time and we really stuck to this. I was proud to be a part of it, my family being there was fun too, we all just had a blast. I healed my heart out, it was the most fun I've had in ages, as far as WoW is concerned. There was a common goal we were all going for, the achievement and mount, but it was so much sweeter doing them all in one shot, together. My son was so ecstatic over getting the mount, it was a happy moment as he's never done much like this in WoW. Unfortunately, most of my shots were of us traveling there, and then then end, where we posed for the final shot on our bears. I was just too busy trying to keep everyone alive to take any good shots, I got a couple but nothing great.

I've been going crazy with pet battles, gaining my first level 25! I still need to travel to all the trainers for the quest to challenge them, then I can pick up the daily quests for pet battling. I've acquired some really neat tames, the Unborn Val'kyr being my favorite. I really enjoy pet battles, I just wish the pets would regen slowly over time. Once I level up more pets that shouldn't be such a big deal as I can swap more out on the fly. I have many in the 20's range, just needing a few levels.

Lots of achievement runs, with my son. We picked him up his Twilight Drake, so two new mounts for him. He's playing his shaman main (90) a good bit but also leveling a rogue. I just hope the alt doesn't burn him out. There is so much to do at 90 that he really enjoys. I'd like to see him especially get to try out all the fun new things with patch 5.4, which hits the exact day we have family coming from out of town. It has been confirmed for Sep. 10th. Which reminds me of something funny, my guildie who put the raid together, mentioned that patch 5.4 was cancelled- Since we already downed Garrosh. Ha! That one made me chuckle!

That's it for today, sharing some shots on my way out :)


Playing around in Uldular.

Unborn Val'Kyr (enlarged with a pet biscuit).

All lined up on out Twilight Drakes. 

Preparing for battle, grouping up. 

Do you think they'll see us?

Was the first meet up outside Org.

First attempt, not so pretty. 

Meeting up in TB.

Eating cake on the top of the totem.... Mmmm.

Pribably not get this chance again.

'Screenshotting' my heart out, lol

TB actually went very smoothly.

Onto the UC. 

This part was quite smooth as well. Other than the banshee queen resetting once. 

SMC.

And we're off!

Meeting up for the last boss, trying Garrash again. 

Dire posing for a picture on his snazzy mount. 

We did it, just playing around in Org, killing everything. My little tree doing some healing, lol. 

All lined up!

Lotta bears!

People kept photo bombing... 

Lotta big bear butts ;)

I'm a dino!

Nifty effect which turns you to 'stone' giving your character a black and white look. 









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