Monday, April 21, 2014

Upgrade Time!



Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend. I didn't get to play much TESO over the weekend, I had some issues with my computer and Dire had the weekend off so it was busy, in a good way. My computer was starting to give me enough problems to finally format, which seem to have halted for now, and my son thinks it was overheating. So a good cleaning and monitoring the temp seems to have helped. He's now inherited it as his, which it is still a decent machine, the only thing it really needs is an upgraded processor. But I've had it for a few years, I remember writing on this blog when I got it. So it isn't tooo old, as this blog will be about five years, this year. I didn't get it right when I started, heh.

Dire took pity on me and picked me up a new one. I have been wanting one for quite awhile! Last summer I was starting to realize I really wanted to upgrade before long. For the time being I beefed up the video card without having to replace the power supply, I threw in an GeForce GTX 550. I didn't want to put a ton of money in it but it is already much cheaper now I saw when I went to get the new card for the new computer. Good thing is it is still nice for my son to use it. I picked it up especially to be able to play FFXIV, which it did the job well enough to tide me over, it has done especially well with TESO. For the new machine I put in the GTX 770 TI, which the 660 still competes with it, or is comparable in many ways, but I just wanted this one more so. In the end it has some massive fans on it, didn't think it would fit inside but it did. It runs great, my games look so good, not a huge deal greater than 550, but combined with a new processor (well new everything), I get much better, stable FPS with the graphics cranked all the way up. I think that's the biggest thing I notice, a huge boost in FPS and no more hitching on games in populated areas.



So yeah, TESO looks amazing, runs amazing, and so does GW2. Those are the only games I've yet to play over the weekend. Yes, GW2 was one of the first to be installed. It is so easy to fall back into that game, poke around and play. Dire decided to play again. He's forgotten everything, which I couldn't believe. It was like teaching him about a new game. What I really appreciated about us playing GW2 was the fact that I didn't have to make a new character to be able to play with him. I decided to log the ranger on (necro might have been overkill with all those pets I haul around, lol) and group with him. Instantly scaled down to his level when I pop over to the zone, we quest and have fun, how much better can it get? What he's already done I can do later, I can just help him with hearts and we catch many events. The ranger can throw out some heals which helps too. I was very happy with this set up, I can take my favorite characters and still play with him even if I am not anywhere near his level. Well done, Guild Wars 2, well done. THAT is the biggest reason I wanted him to play this over other titles. We almost went back to LoTRO but he just is working too much lately to justify a sub.



I had a great time and I still play the game alone as well, it is a title I always seem to get sucked back into and it looks gorgeous. Plenty to do, plenty of puttering around to do, events and so on. For now it is a good place for us to be. He's starting over as a guardian, which suits him. I sent him one of every weapon to skill them up and see what he liked the most, I just knew he'd be using a 2h sword, lol.

Mostly TESO is getting the attention (little GW2 snuck in here and there, can't help it!), I play as much as I am able with my brother, Heri. Our bud, Rak, has played with us some with his alt but he is nearing end game with his main, sitting at 47 when I logged out (!! I'm only level 10 and 17). I love the faction switch but it hasn't been all roses.



TESO isn't easy on bad choices, especially in early game. I got so fed up I asked Rak to let me port to him at the city where you can respec. I had thought I wanted to do full plate and swords but that didn't work out as planned, and I had a very hard time because of it. The gold was hefty, but I had the amount. Getting there was a royal pain at level 8. I wasn't going to reroll either. So his help greatly improved my play. Being able to switch my points out and change bad decisions made things all the better for me. I think the developers should consider adding shrines to the starting cities, it would save a lot of frustration and give more freedom to these flexible characters we are creating, but might want to give a test run with before we decide a final path. The wrong choices can make the game really hard, which can lead to a lot of deaths, wasted gold on repair, rerolls, and eventually burn out. It is a slower leveling game so I can see burnout after getting too many choices wrong.

That is my biggest beef, besides no mentoring and too much phasing, which makes the game hard to play with friends. That's why I'm playing GW2 with Dire, honestly. If it had those it'd be pretty near perfect. Let's hope for the future! Besides that it is a good game, I'm still having fun. I had a fantastic time on my first character on the other faction (Daggerfall). I made better choices, and I think the quests seemed to flow a bit better, but I love this (Ebonheart) side. I am having an easier time this week. I want to heal some and using cloth is helping with mana issues, I decided to use staves, I just prefer range, which has helped also. No regrets on switching factions! Just regrets at what I thought I wanted to do and spreading things too thin!

That's it for today, I need to get some stuff done and then some levels before times gets away from me! Safe adventures!










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2 comments:

  1. I love upgrading my computer, I used to be sort of addicted to doing it. I've calmed down a lot and have been content with the same rig for almost the past two years. But it always seemed like every few months I was buying something new for my computer.

    It's funny you mention the phasing, I don't hate it, I think it's neat, but you bring up a great point about playing with friends. I feel the phasing makes ESO much more than any other MMO feel like a single-player experience.

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  2. I'd like to upgrade it more, hehe! So much money has to go elsewhere these days, meh.

    I don't mind phasing if I am alone but it kills playing with a friend. You basically are forced to do something else or finish it alone :( WoW has too much phasing, always was very annoying there. Got in the way of playing with friends and family. The phasing is neat but there needs to be a way to stick together while in a group, so you don't disrupt cooperative play, IMO.

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