EverQuest, 21 Years Later; And Other Musings

Hope everyone is staying safe out there with all the crazy that is going on as of late. I kind of slowed down on posting over the past couple of months, I just wasn't playing more or less anything seriously, besides ACPC on my android. This month I picked up more with my MMO games. Speaking of, Animal Crossing is coming out on the switch and I've been playing a bit of mobile games on my tablet. I may buy a switch from my brother just to play the new Animal Crossing, it looks amazing.

Anniversaries

There are a few anniversaries at the end of this year, EQ2 and WoW are both 15! The blog here is 10! It feels like time just is flying by and it was only yesterday I started this blog. Hopefully I'm still blogging for years to come, a bit more than I do these days at least.

Happy 20th Birthday EverQuest!!!

Happy Birthday EverQuest! The big 2-0. While I have only played for 19 years, starting in 2000, I knew of it before I started playing. I didn't know much and I wasn't really interested until I saw others actually playing it. Once I did I was hooked. I still play to this day, not consistently, more so playing EQ2 these days as my main game but I still love to log in and play a few times a month.

Eye Candy, March

Some shots from EQ2, Trove and Rift. The Anniversary event is going on in EQ2, as is the Brell festival. Lots of things to do especially on test where the events stretch out. 

New Stuffz

EQ2 released it's 14th expansion this week. It has a bit more bulk and outdoor/overland zones than the past two, so I love this aspect. There are many solo/group and raid zones, plenty to do. I jumped in on release day and gave it a spin.

Anniversaries

I hadn't planned on jumping into EQ2 for the Days of Summer event. The more I thought about it, as the first week started ticking by, the more I felt myself wanting to. I just have to have the Mara Estate deed for the housing reward on the last week. Over the years I have hoped for it to become available and here it is. Thus I figured I better get it or I would be kicking myself for a long time.

Happy 18, EverQuest!

Happy 18, Everquest! Another year and it keeps churning out content, more so than some newer MMOROGs out there. Great to see it still going strong, even if I don't play it so much these days. It is nice knowing it is there when I do feel like it.

Something Old, Something New, Seven Years Later

I think one of my favorite things about this blog, why I still blog, is that I always have things to look back on. Rarely do I go back to read an old post but often I look back at the pictures. Google search for images of games often pops up a lot of my own and it is always nice to think back on those images and then I may go read the post to think back on. Seeing when Dire, my son, my brothers or old friends were in the shots. It never fails to make me smile, sometimes it is sad as well, not playing with them in these games we used to play together all the time. I started this blog back in 2009, around this time of the year. So this will mark seven years for me blogging here. I am not nearly as dedicated as I was in the early years, each year I seem to get worse and worse about a schedule. But it is something special to me, something I am proud to have stuck with. So, thank you for reading, I do it for me, but also to share the games I play, thoughts and pictures with readers. I'm still here, saving massive amounts of screenshots to post, heh. Sometimes I have so many words in my head it is exasperating to try to get them all out. These posts are often just easier and faster for me to make sure to get a post up with.

Bit of A Delay...

A bit of a delay in any type of posting, as I had some icky computer issues. My computer called it quits. First I thought it was the monitor, then the video card, then the ram, I think in the end it was the motherboard. Both motherboard and processor were not all that great to begin with, though the computer should have lasted quite a bit longer. A few months ago we made a huge move and maybe that had something to do with it, who knows.

Goofing Off- EQ2, Rift

Sharing some shots today from EQ2 and Rift. As EQ2 just had a lot of fun events end, but Rift has the five year anniversary going on! Happy birthday Rift! Lots of cool rewards this year and new things to do. Much more fun than popping balloons constantly. If you were there for the first anniversary-- remember the balloon popping raids? I sadly popped a few alone this year, but overall this year is much more fun, especially with the instant adventure! (Pictured above is a house I am decorating in EQ2, house actors propped onto a mount: Dire and my character  posed to sit together gazing into the sunset, even if we don't play it together. Awww...)

Unexpected Surprises

This week I wanted to talk about the STWOR companion changes, my fresh 65 in Rift with the newest area, Plane Touched Wilds, as well as some thoughts on WoW's 11th anniversary.

The Sixth Year Issue!

Happy 6 year anniversary to Champions and.. The Blog! Oh... and to my character there pictured!

Fixing to format my machine, so I figured I better get a post out and save some screenshots on the blog here before doing so. Been sidetracked a bit lately, getting a replacement phone twice within the span of a month, always keeps me busy trying to get everything just so. It can take me days and days, lol. And my grandmother, who's 92, was briefly in ICU, but she's better now. Now I just need to get this machine wiped clean, I download so many games it just gets bogged down after awhile.

EverQuest: SIXTEEN YEARS!

Happy Birthday EverQuest! Sixteen years... Simply mind blowing. A wonderful game that broke much ground for us so many years ago. Still going, still producing expansions each year, a growing world even sixteen years later. EverQuest may be aging but it is still a truly unique experience.

Ten Years Later: MC Raider

I managed to hit 100 in WoW last week, just before the 10th anniversary event began. Once there at the cap you still have to reach an item level of 615 (gear wise) to queue for Looking For Raid. Which requires you to do either heroics or PvP for gear. My son helped me so much with this, leaving me just a couple points short, in the process I started the legendary ring quest granting me an epic ring. Yesterday I managed to get there and queue for the anniversary Molten Core raid.

WoW- Prepping For WoD: Linkage

We still have some time before WoD and 6.0 hit, if you play WoW regularly you're probably already in the know on most of the changes and upcoming details. However, if you're like me and haven't been playing as much, you might find that there are changes in the works that you want to prepare for. Today I thought I'd share some links with some information on what is to come, what you can watch out for. 

The Great Name Purge!
First off, if you haven't logged in for ages (you might still not want to if it has been thaaaat long), but you might be concerned with your character's name being lost. If you have not logged in since November 11, 2008, you could lose your name. Or rather, you will. How to save your name? Why you'll need to log in (with each character)! Check out the official post here.

For Great Justice (and Valor)!
Big Bear Butt has a good post on how to spend your valor and justice, what to do with it and what you might want to farm with it before 6.0 goes live. A very handy post, I wasn't really aware of the changes myself. Check it out here.

Heirlooms on Vacation.
With the previous topic sort of tied into this one, it could be something to take into account. You might want to farm that heirloom before the vendor goes on vacation. I did read that heirlooms will be sold for gold but this post confuses me. So, if there is an heirloom you wanted to get but keep putting off, check out this post here.

Whack a Mole 6.0: Healing Changes.
And... healing is getting more 'interesting' (again). I don't think there really is a way to make whack-a-mole more interesting for players who don't find it fun to begin with. I think it is fun to be able to support and help your party as a healer, not worry about mana issues constantly. I cringe when I think about Cataclysm and the healing changes and how I quit healing through this expansion, the only one I did this with. There are some changes headed for healers, check out the article from WoW Insider here. Maybe it isn't so bad?

Free WoW! ...Sort of.
WoW is free to new players until September 26th. Ten more days to.... dig through your email. That's right, only an email promotion for players who play other Blizzard games. Or something like that. It is all confusing and worded weird. WoW Insider had a post on it, which ends up with it seeming a lot less exciting for non blizzard customers once explained by a Blizzard poster. But, you might want to check through the email if you fit this criteria. Or maybe pass it along to a friend, they could have an email sitting there in the spam folder.

10th Anniversary Events... Moar Levels!
And to wrap up this post, Blizzard has an article up which outlines WoW's 10th anniversary. Very exciting and all, but there are some things to take into account. This event will last for about two months, which is very nice considering there is a raid tied to it, a cool new PvP map as well. But you're going to need to get some levels to participate. I am pretty boggled that the company would want to rush players to end game after such a long content drought. In my honest opinion I think this event should have dropped six months before the anniversary and had a grand finale on the day of. Such as: Log in to claim your corgi! Or something... That way people would have had something interesting to do while waiting for the xpac, enough time to play through with alts and so on. Just really enjoy it and not feel rushed. But that's just me. What do I know. You can find all the details here on the official website.

Anniversary's and Freebies- Happy 15th EQ!

Bhagpuss has a good post about spending time in virtual worlds, how we can get sucked into putting a lot of time them with building and such. Real good read, check it out if you haven't already. Lately I feel the same way, I just don't have the time to get sucked in.  I don't look at it as a waste of time, part of the reason I can't be bothered to play EQN landmark like I had wanted to is that I just don't have the time to spend on it, especially if it is going to be wiped (to a point). But, I still make time to play what I feel I can invest in. These days I am working hard on my jewelry business, I enjoy it immensely but it is also very time consuming. I am doing crochet and sculpting polymer jewelry. Today though is a day away from everything (besides cleaning my messy house... still getting around to finishing that).

So, what looks good enough to sink my time into? LoTRO, of course. It is really solid and fun still. However, today is pretty special for EverQuest, with the anniversary, 15 years! Happy Birthday EQ!!! What a milestone, many memories, many wonderful people across the years, and of course my dear husband whom I met in EverQuest, ten years ago, Jimboy. That was his name back then, today I refer to him as Dire.

This is heroes forge armor unlocked after paying* Incase anyone was wondering, you start in green colored armor.

Heroic characters have been added to EverQuest, much like those you will find in EQ2. For a limited time you're able to to claim them free (ahh free... they are 100% free but if you notice in the picture I have far more characters than a silver account will allow, requiring me to subscribe to unlock all eight eight in order to make another), level 85, full gear, 15k plat, a mount and so on... Oh, and a massive amount of AA points. Almost 5000, just under, though there are some of the essential basics spent when you log in so you really feel like you can jump in and go after checking to see what all you have. I am sitting here, writing as I go through all the goods, starting at the activated hotkey abilities, deciding which to hotbar where. It isn't hard though. Some might not like how they are spent already, then again I played in betas in the past and it is really not so great trying to spend all the points when you just want to get going and try things out. So, that part is out of the way, let's roll!

Also something to note, for additional heroic characters they are 35$, which seems, in my opinion, a far better price than what Blizzard or Turbine is charging for boosted characters. What I like about these is the fact that they come with a really solid footing. Decent gear (under raid gear for sure but decent, not the best but you should not need to stop to buy gear, go level and then focus on gear 90+ you don't need to stop to AA, you have a massive amount), mounts, money, really get you a feeling that you are ready to get rolling. You're not at the cap, still a ways to get used to the character. Most of these people that will stick with these characters are people who are invested in EverQuest. This game isn't really going to attract many 'newbs', it may snag some returning players, which is nice and give them a boost to get back into things and feel like they can catch up.

On my main account I went with a necromancer. It is odd that I don't have one on this account, though it is fairly a new account we made for the RaF benefits (which were grandfathered in). I have a couple 100's and another few in the 90's, for a newer account it has a lot to work with. This will be a lot of fun! Tonight we plan on playing the necros together, get a feeling for them again, have some fun and try not to die... I do that a lot these days. I am actually pretty excited, having a decent break from the game, jumping back in with a class I have loved for the last ten years. A great time too, with the anniversary events. Maybe I can even talk my son into playing too, so he can claim his and maybe we'll all play necros, lol. He's sat here with me going over all the perks, turns out he may go with a magician or rather boost his 50 up. You can boost a premade character. Careful though once you click that upgrade button it is final!

On another front, more free stuff, this time from Blizzard. Hearthstone has released and you can claim a free mount from it for WoW- The Hearthsteed. You must win three games, I think this is after you put your deck together because I am not seeing one yet, I need to play though all the beginning fights. Which it is a cool game but not my thing. I should just ask my boy to do it, he's much better at the card games than I am. I played through a bit, it is pretty neat. Would this cause me to play the game? No. For rewards, sure. If it were on the phone I'd play it more so. Something to sit down with and mess about with, but not on the computer because I already have too many other games, and again- it just isn't my scene. But it is a very polished and entertaining game.

Still chugging along to 80 on my necro in GW2, at a slow pace. Enjoying the game but just not having a ton of time to play, which really makes me appreciate having no sub fee. It is fun and easy to get in and out of, feel like I am enjoying myself and getting some things done. That is what makes it great for me. I really need to sit down and play my character to 80 once and for all. I am so close!

That's it for today, tons of screenshots to share, as always ;) Safe adventures!

Real life crafting. A sculpted baby dragon I sold last week. One of my favorites! 

Happy Birthday Vanguard!

Today marks the 7th anniversary for Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. Bittersweet at that, it got this far and now it is close to the end. If you log in now there is a gift, a rainbow whale. Kind of an odd pet, but interesting. There is also a contest for a signed CE of the game, I still have my box sitting on my desk proudly but a signed copy would be awesome. There is also, of course 50% off SC items until the game is over (no comment here), double xp and faction. So, if you want to be there for the last six months, there is a small boost. You can check out the full page for the event and some commentary from developers, as well as the contest information on the official Vanguard site.

There is still some time to check it out, it is worth it if you have never played. The world is beautiful with a vast landscape to explore. I am sure there will be a bit to check out with the anniversary and at least a happy whale pet to ohh and ahh or simply to gawk at. Happy Birthday Vanguard, sad it will be the last.