Play Log

I'm really enjoying Guild Wars 2 a lot these days. Last week I finally hit the level cap. It took me so long I still had a birthday buff on my main, which gave a nice boost and I flew through the last few levels. It is interesting being 80. There is plenty to do, I still have many maps to complete. I'm not interested in doing instances really, mostly just more of the same, which is all good. I made my way to the end game zones, The Ruins of Orr, which is a weird place. It looks as if you are in a desert carved into the ocean floor, lacking water. Haunting beauty yet a tad depressing. It is packed with undead and barnacles. I haven't spent too much time there yet, I am sure I will get to know it soon enough.

GW2 is lovely, especially more so with a new computer and a new monitor. It's just a joy to play. I really enjoy the combat and pace of the game. I find myself forgetting that I don't get xp for everything, while playing other MMO games. Sometimes it can be a hard transition. Running feels pretty fast and I don't miss a mount much of the time, which is odd. All in all I am enjoying it more than I ever have.

I'll be working on achievements for now, clearing out maps, making monies, and playing my alts. No rush to do much really, just log in and have fun. That's the best thing about GW2. There isn't a lot of pressure, tons of places to explore, xp for everything you do. You don't stop getting xp at the cap, each 'level' is turned into a skill point. You can max out all your skills (which works like an ability or passive you can swap in and out with others) and/or purchase things with skill points eventually. There is still much to do at the cap, so hitting 80 isn't the end. It doesn't feel a whole lot different, the only thing is that you pretty much have the whole map accessible where you didn't at the lower levels, and of course, gear.

I also got another HoM point through the first Guild Wars, I'd like to get more but I just don't feel like playing through the game on another character. GW is a great game- when you're actually wanting to play it. When you want to play GW2 it can drag on, but at least I gained another point! It is a LOT of work, nothing to scoff at, best for those with established accounts or those that really wish to invest in playing the first. It is time consuming and you really have to be in the mindset for it.

As with a new computer, I always want to see how this or that game looks. I just had to load up Rift. It is spectacular. I often forget what a beautiful game it is. It is gorgeous if you play it with everything turned up, if you don't it can be a bit bland looking. But it is absolutely gorgeous, especially entering rifts, the lighting is just lovely.

Besides Rift looking great, it is a nice change. More of a classic feeling MMO. I can't pinpoint why Rift is sometimes called generic. I understand why, but it really is a neat game far from being generic. Maybe the slower combat? Talent points? I think the soul trees offer a nice flavor and much depth to the game. It offers a lot of standard things you'd expect from an MMO, then it also adds some really interesting things. Jumping puzzles, shinies, housing, and fun crafting (I just love fishing). Things like Instant adventures are awesome, you group up but in a more 'dynamic' setting. I do quite a lot of these, but these days I am trying to quest more and IA less.

I don't much feel like playing my mage these days so I've been playing around with my cleric. My main is two levels from the cap, I should just finish it up. There are some new souls out but none of them really interest me at this time, I doubt I pick it up right now. I'm just playing the cleric mostly as a dps with my healer pet following me. There are some new pet skins, the cleric's are the best looking (IMO). They are gorgeous. Most of the classes get a reskin but the cleric gets some new looking models.

I have also been working on the new Dreamweaver profession. It is interesting, making a lot of house items, I am about to make my first dimension key. There are a lot of new ones with the profession, I can't wait to get a few to try out, I don't know which to pick from. Eventually I'd like to make them all! Like GW2, there is always a lot to do, a lot of choice on what to do when you log in. I like that, keeps me interested.

Dire and Nelf are really having a blast with D3. It is nice to see them playing something together again. Dire hit 70 with his main last week, then Nelf helped him level up his first alt (in like an hour, lol), which he is still learning a lot about the changes with the game, plenty for him to keep busy with. They have asked if I want to play. I do, but I'm not sure if it is a good fit for me. I don't know if I can even keep up with them, lol. With the changes it looks better than ever, more so now it looks like something I could play and enjoy. Nelf plays on my account and has invested a lot of time into it, so I figure eventually I'll just get a new account. Not sure when! I already have FFXIV sitting there, I've not had time to play but I hope to finally hit 20 this week. Why no time? I am very close to 20 and my mount, but I need to do several dungeons and... ugh I didn't feel like it and also I have not had time to sit in a queue and then sit through a dungeon. They take time and so does waiting on the queue. I HAVE to do them in order to progress through the story, to unlock my mount and basically to play through the game as intended. Which I don't like so much. I don't want to group at these levels, why force me? So, we'll see if I can stomach it or not.

That's it for today, enjoy the shots!

My favorite areas in the game are those with the Ascalon setting. I can't get enough of these zones. I love everything about them. I suppose they really remind me of my early days in the first Guild Wars, in pre-searing, Ascalon. Dire and I have a lot of good memories there. 

Traveling around to Orr, a nice sky.

I love any zone that has a forest....

Oink! 

One of my alts, enjoying a costume (and being able to wear it in combat!!).

Under a full moon in the guild hall, with my trusty pets.

Traveling to a new quest area.

Now THAT is a forest!

Death Rift.

Streams (D3)

Real quick post today, wanted to pass this on from Arc, who is a guest poster here sometimes! He's currently holding a few contests on his twitch page. D3 streams, a chance to win the expansion, some other things too. Check out his stream here (also another streamer will be holding a similar one)- http://www.twitch.tv/Texans1231    http://www.twitch.tv/savagecutre

That's about it. I know, I know, really short post... Interesting post inc soon*!!

Daily Grind... This & That

As the week wraps up I'm level 19 in Diablo III. While some are finishing up the game I'm still chugging along. It's a great game but I play it on the side so I'm moving at a much slower pace. Grouped a bit last night but I probably won't play again until the weekend, unless my son asks. On the Diablo subject- Pando's Lighter Side of WoW blog has a really cool post up here. It has to do with rainbows,flowers, and... unicorns, lol. Thought I'd share that interesting post.

If you play Vanguard you might have noticed that the June loyalty reward quest is out but broken. I think it slipped out with the update. It isn't suppose to be out, but hey, we're getting free materials to build a house when it really is out next month! I had hoped for a flying mount but you never know what is in store ahead. Maybe the level 20 quest one will be added before the summer is over. So, I'll be hunting for a plot to buy this weekend. I want to go ahead and get a good one before everyone rushes out to buy some land, lol. My new ship should come in handy for this!

I managed to get into the final TSW beta event, but it isn't telling just when that will be. I'll enjoy checking this game out. Funcom also has anniversary gifts out for premium and free players of AoC. I received an email about it earlier, I might have to log in and check it out. Just don't know if I'll have the time. I do miss that game sometimes.

In other news EverQuest is boosting the AA modifier to around 1000% instead of the current 500%, or so I read on the forums. This won't decay around the current 2,500 AA number but instead around 4,000 AA points. So, it will be easier to catch up on this part of the game. This update is scheduled for next month. Give or take that's the gist I got from this thread.

That's it for today! Safe adventures!

What I like about Diablo III

Frogs! It's raining frogs!

I'm- slowly- working my way through Diablo 3. I can't really say I've made a ton of progress. I just have a lot going on and so I'm only 15 with my Demon Hunter. Slacker, I know. I'm reading about other people who are already capped and I see my friends list full of big numbers. I'll get there, eventually.

So, I really can't tell you much that you don't know, you probably know far more than I. But I can give some thoughts of what I think of D3 this far, maybe I'll luck out and can share some insight with some who don't yet play. I have been reading a lot about it in my feed while family and friends have been telling me things too.

I really love grouping with people in D3. While it is a bit harder than solo mode it is really, really fun to just jump in and do whatever and still get credit. How many games offer this? This offers great incentive for grouping! The only problem I have is that sometimes I forget where I was in the quest log,  I end up hopping around trying to remember where I was. It would be nice if it was marked [boldly, for someone like myself] making it bit easier for players to remember. If I don't log in for a couple of days I'm pretty much going to forget where I was.

...I've already forgotten the last paragraph I just wrote because chrome crashed on me- Thanks to that P.O.S. called Skype. Anyhow, let's see. Ah, yes. The world of Diablo feels alive and connected to me. I like that it is always online. I have plenty of offline games, it really isn't a huge deal to me. If the servers go down for a bit, well I have plenty of other things to do. That's my perspective. Plus, it is so easy to group and connect with friends. Much more streamlined than it once was.

I also don't miss skill points, I like how runes work. I think this path for choosing how your class works is really nice and easier to get into. Re-spec as you like, whenever you like= Awesome.  Re-spec your followers whenever= More awesomeness. Very easy to play around and try different things and not feel locked into choices.

Overall I love how flexible D3 is, you can play casually and still feel like you're moving along. I think it is a really great game to hop into and have fun with. Eventually I'll catch up with the rest of you!

Edit- Ah, I forgot to mention the story and the cinematics, they rock!

Eye Candy

Today's hefty Eye Candy post is mostly of Diablo III, the cinematics are amazing. Simply gorgeous! (forgot to move the pointer...in the excitement) A few Second Life pics too, with some friends :) Enjoy!

Stay awhile and listen.... Diablo III

So, we finally got around to getting into Diablo 3. I have to say it is a pretty solid game. There are a lot of really good things about it. It's easy to jump in with friends and you can complete quest again, those which you've already finished (as many times as you like). Flags in town (when grouped) will port you directly to your friend, very handy. Town portal is now a spell which you can use at your leisure. "Your bags full? Think it's time to sell yet?', "Yeah my bags are full, I think it's a good time to sell. " *cast town portal*....*cast town portal*


The game still has a dark, gritty feel to it. I like the graphics, the style, the characters and the armor. Many people complained about the females, such as the DH but I find they [DH] remind me a bit of Sylvanas  Windrunner from WoW, edgy and dark. The music is true to the Diablo series too. There are new additions to fun things like the fact you can dye your armor, in Act 2. And professions, check out the link I just threw up, they are very interesting and engaging. You can make some really great stuff!

The skill system is very interesting and flexible, especially when you add runes to your skills. What's a rune? You gain these each level and tack them onto an existing ability. There are also racial abilities you start gaining at level ten, I like that.

It feels weird playing Diablo 3 online all the time, sort of. Personally, I like online games, I suppose I like knowing other people are out there, that it is a living, breathing world even when I log off. I'm really enjoying the always online deal. I've been so happy to chit-chat with friends and jump into games with my family. Tonight I might surprise a few friends and jump in and say hi, lol.

My brother is playing, my son, Dire and I. So we've been teaming up and sharing armor and drops. My brother has been making us all gear, I've been giving him a lot of blues to break down to help out. He's really excited about things like that and it has been so long since we've all played a game together I don't mind holding off on a prof to help him. We all played the previous Diablo games together over the years but I was surprised when he sent me a text asking if we were playing, he's over the moon with the game. My son is pretty smitten too. Me? I like it a lot, it is something I can see myself playing for a long time, especially since there is no subscription fee.

What's so great about another Diablo game? Sometimes it is nice to just hack and slash stuff. Sometimes it is nice to team up with a few people and not worry about the holy trinity to get going. It's nice not to worry about meters and just kill things. Diablo has a lot of neat stats like bonuses to gold, xp and magical item drops. There is room for how you want to play and not have someone tell you how you're 'doin' it wrong'. It's simple, fun and easy to get in and out of. It is easy to hook up with friends. I love that. plus you can always grab an NPC, go solo whatever you want. You don't have to play with anyone. Hell, you can even pause the game in single player. I can't recall ever being able to pause an online game. D3 is a different sort of creature, that is for sure.

I've been working on a Demon Hunter. I'm sure I'll play all the other classes but for now I'm working on her as my main. Dire finally got in last night for the first time, he's a Barbarian. The first night his computer took hours to do a scan and needed video driver updates, then the next our ISP had an outage, fun stuff! My Brother is a Barbarian also and my son is currently working on his third or so character but seems smitten with the Sorceress. I have to admit, both of those classes look so appealing, they all do. So, there is a lot of room for replay-ability with all the fun classes, IMO.

We haven't had a ton of problems with downtime but we've not always been playing at peak time. Yesterday evening we got kicked and a few times here and there but it really hasn't been too horrible for us. My brother was in the queue yesterday but he said it was only 27 or so and Dire plays so late at night that it isn't a problem at all.

Some tips before I go. Z zooms in on your screen, good for screenshots. The num pad will activate voice triggers for your character. Right click in the character screen before logging in to design your personal flag, left to look at your character more in-depth (stats, achievements, spin character around and so on). Print screen does take pics, in Win7 they are in the documents folder, took me a few to find them.

Oh, and we got to rescue Dekard Cain. I still haven't had him ask me to 'Stay awhile and listen'. Overall I'm pretty happy with how D3 turned out, a very solid game that is flexible and accessible. That's it for today. Hope everyone is having a blast in D3, feel free to add me if you like- Sablesix#1207.

Getting Back Into Sync

It always happens when I move, getting back into a routine, getting back into my games after playing so little. I've been busy with stuff IRL, haven't been playing as much this week. In the evenings I just want to relax with something low key, I sometimes log in to Second Life lately. It's relaxing and mostly I keep to myself or just hang out with some friends, or play dress up, ha.

In WoW my son managed to hit 85 over the weekend (GRATZ!) with his shaman and we've been doing some instances, which has been fun for him. I've been playing my Hunter with him in those because it's just more enjoyable for me to run instances with her than the druid, for now at least. I have also ran a few with Dire. Lately we've been doing some old content for achievements and transmog gear. Which is always fun. I need to log in more to play with my son though, he wants to get some better gear and it is always more fun to queue with someone.

We've downloaded D3 and I've been waiting on Dire, when he gets off work tonight, to really play. I figure we can get on the same footing and play through together. I might log in after supper to make a few characters and see what I want to play. I still don't know even though I tried it in beta. More thoughts on that tomorrow.

The to do list is growing... So much I want to do, just so little time lately! The NBI seems like a great success, I'm going to have to go through it again and pick up where I left off, also re-visit some of those blogs I poked over at. I just haven't had the time. I have been keeping up with my feed, lots of great posts lately, I really need to sit down and write some comments!  If only I were Wonder Woman =p

That's it for today, more on D3 in my next post!

Weekend Recap

Tera beta, my archer. 

Ugh, 24 hour downtime for all SOE games today. I really dislike that, I mean can't they do it in chunks, so I can at least play one of my SOE games while the other is down? I'm not sure why you'd want to do that, as a company, with one game- much less all of your online games. I sometimes boggle over the choices they make, but I do love my SOE games.

I would p lay something in beta but Diablo 3 and Tera are over today. And if you haven't logged into MoP beta as a newbie panda, consider yourself better off. I can't seem to find a good time to try one out without being bombarded by cute, chubby pandas all over the screen. I mean everywhere, I think one popped out and fell onto my desk, scuffled around then jumped back in ;) I could play the hunter but I want to try out the new race and class first.

Is she doomed to be a lowbie forever, in beta at least? Oh yeah, where are all the other pandas in this pic!? ...

Over there.... that's where.

Speaking of betas, Tera was pretty nice. I'm holding off though. I just can't justify buying a game I'm not quite sold on. It is decent but a bit too fast paced; a bit too much clicking for someone who gets stiff wrists from that much clicking and moving within a game. I have moderate wrist issues. You should have seen me when I got Fable 3, I couldn't move my arm without wincing the next day- from all that clicking. The ranged play, in Tera, is much more laid back than the melee.

I did try a melee class, the Slayer, which I really liked. I got sick of seeing panties in my face so I went with a male and he was very awesome looking with that huge sword strapped across his back. It was a bit more involved with movement in fights but it was fun. I  also liked the archer too, another ranged class, The traps were neat and there was a move much like the WoW hunter's disengage, it throws you back several feet.

I had a great time in beta and would love to play it if the game were F2P. I couldn't play it as a main game, maybe as something on the side. The game is just gorgeous though, I was so impressed with the visuals. They were superb. I might give it another go in the future but for now it is on hold. I do wish Tera a wonderful launch!

Diablo 3 beta I dabbled in but not excessively, just not enough time. I liked the classes a lot, I wish we had a necro and druid though. The witch doctor was decent. I am not sure what I will be playing. I have the WoW annual pass- so I will be getting it. It reminded me of Dungeon Siege 3 kind of. I can't exactly say why. I thought the character models were nice, I was more impressed with the males than the females, overall. The males had more of a 'badass' look to them.

I haven't had a ton of time to play Vanguard much recently, yesterday I did spend some time playing it and had a really great time just soloing in Hilsbury Manor and questing. I worked on my faction to get the panther illusion mask, I was so happy when I finished it. You basically grind miners in order to gain faction with some siren mobs. Once you are at 12,000 rep you can do two quests for them and get the mask. It has really great stats plus an instant click with the panther illusion and gives 20%+ run speed and 5%+ haste. I love it! It is great to use indoors. Plus it looks pretty sleek.

I love when games offer cool quests to work on for great items like this mask. I read there is also a skeleton illusion as well. It is higher up, can't wait to do that. I am now 25. I put the unicorn mount quest on hold as I died a bit traveling around with it, like the time I parachuted into three dot level 37 mobs. I lost about half a level worth of xp goofing around. I'm going to pick it back up around 29 or 30.

Rawr!

I really enjoy Vanguard. Taking detours and exploring, stumbling upon quests and seeing some really great areas. It really draws you in and makes you feel as if you are playing an RPG almost. I received my veteran rewards with the Venerable title, some furniture and a very, very cool wolf (fluff) pet.

I'm sad I can't play it today /sulk. I'm not sure what I'll play. I was downloading Runes of Magic again but it stopped at 2gigs last night.... I have it going again. We'll see how that turns out. I will poke around in WoW most likely. I've been considering sending my Druid to the Alliance because I miss having her there. I'm still not sure. I'll just have to see what I feel like playing. I was thinking about EQ2... But, yeah, SOE game too, lol.

If you play a SOE game today what will you be playing? How long do you estimate we go over? LoL! Have a great week!

TGIF!

I considered taking TOR up for the free days on my account this week but I'm probably locked out of my account again. For some reason I keep getting locked out and my password keeps getting rest and then I have to head to another website and... meh I can't be bothered. There is currently a weekend pass until the 23rd.

I hear the TOR outbreak event is pretty interesting but seems more aimed at higher levels, unless you want to camp corpse explosions. I suppose that is cool in order to get some fun fluff stuff. Sounds like a fun event and I'm glad to see TOR players getting some new stuff to do, even if it is just an event.

I'm considering downloading TERA to try the open beta. They key for trying it-TERABETA. Pretty easy to remember. You can sign up here. I've not been all that excited about this game because I haven't been following it all that much. I am curious to check it out and an open beta weekend might be the perfect chance to check it out. It lasts until the 23rd as well. I wasn't aware of the MMO-FO ad campaign until Syp poked a bit of fun at it recently. They are kind of funny, I suppose TERA is trying to drawn in players from more popular games getting their attention. It does get one's attention, I don't know if it is in a good way, lol.

And speaking of the 23rd... All SOE games will be down for 24 hours. Ugh, we just had a whole day of downtime in Vanguard recently. I do hope this doesn't run into a 36 hour downtime. I don't look forward to this.

EverQuest is handing out gifts to reoccurring subscribers. I don't get why food and drink are added as gifts, unless they were miraculous or hearty meals. The big bags is kinda neat and a cool new skin for mercs- if you're on the three month or higher deal.

I finally got into MoP with my own account. I'm going to copy my hunter over and check things out with her. I haven't really checked it out again since my initial peek either, so there is still much to see. It seems thus far 400,000 Annual Pass invites have been sent out. That's almost half of them?

If you haven't gotten in MoP beta you might want to try D3 since it is in open beta this weekend. I've checked it out a bit last week, seems fun enough. I've gotten some freezes and I'm not sure if it is an issue with my machine or if it is something with the game. It is beta after all. It reminds me a bit of Dungeon Siege 3. The classes are pretty cool, I like the the witch doctor a lot. I haven't played it very much though, just trying out the different classes.

Last up for today- Tired of making play-lists because you can't repeat with YouTube? A while back my son showed me youtuberepeat.com, which is really cool. I've already stuck a song in a link here, check it out. A pretty handy site, all you do is type repeat before the.com.

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

Some Thoughts On Pandas & Things

I can has panda... Err, I mean be a Hua Mein Panda. Finally I maxed out my Hua Mein faction in EQ2. It didn't take as long as I thought it would and I was kind of slack with doing the daily quest everyday. The thing I looked forward to mostly was the item with the panda illusion, plus it is a pretty cool looking appearance item- Katana of the Hua Mein.

Speaking of Pandas, I'm sure most people have heard about the information floating about on what the next WoW expansion will be; Mists of Pandaria. MMO Champion has a good track record with predictions plus if you look at the document shown there you'll notice this isn't the rights for a book, it's listed as computer game software and discs. So, we'll probably be seeing Pandas in the world of Azeroth.

Why Pandaria now? Look at EQ2, for years people have been wanting Beastloards and finally they get what they want, about seven years later. But the point is sometimes if the playerbase wants something for long enough they get it eventually. As a game ages adding things like this adds more incentive for players to keep sticking around. Maybe we'll see housing in a few years, maybe even appearance slots. I suppose we'll really hear the truth when Blizzcon hits until then this is all just speculation, even if they are not a playable race they will probably be a faction. I for one love running around as a panda, it would be cool in WoW too.

I've been trying to stay off the hype train, especially when it comes to TOR. I mean it looks great and all but I really can't get excited about a game that still doesn't have a release date. An estimation based off this or that from the company doesn't cut it with me. Plus, the whole 'Limited digital preorder thing' seemed pretty lame to me. Seriously, limited digital goods? I can see where they are coming from but it just seems like adding more to the hype. I'm not going to get into what everyone else has covered before on what has been shown so far, it all looks really good.While I'm not frothing at the mouth in anticipation- I do look forward to playing it!

And last but not least the big 'Items for money' fiasco with Diablo 3. I think people are really going overboard on this whole thing. It's not the first game company to do this. SOE already has this on certain game servers (EQ2, FR for example) with Live Gamer. I'm not sure where I stand on this right now but I imagine not everyone will wanting to be selling everything they get their hands on and I doubt people will be paying rent with it on a regular basis. It all depends on how hard certain content is, access and how much new stuff is added in on a regular basis. Yet another we'll have to wait and see thing. Kind of a neat idea but sort of immersion breaking at the same time.

That about wraps it up. Feel free to share your thoughts on these topics! Oh and a pic of Gizmo the coolest pug ever... After years and years of wanting him to, he's finally come to live with us (our last puppy went away, long sad story). He's fat and getting older and he smells kinda funny but we love him so very much. If you've followed this blog over the past couple of years you'll remember quite a few posts with him mentioned ;)

<3 Mo sitting under my desk as I write.

-kaozz