Here And There

What we've been up to lately.... it seems we're heading into Hybornia (AoC). More later this week on that. Just sharing some shots before they start to collect dust and I forget about sharing them.

Holiday Treasures

I've been very slack with posts; incoming a critical hit of a post filled with a lot of thoughts and games. Today I'll be trying to catch up and jot down some thoughts as well as sharing some pictures of what I've been playing.

Off The Beaten Path- 2014

This year (and I suppose half of last year though I didn't realize it), I am wanting to trod a ways off the beaten path. I really want to spend more time with games that offer more things to do other than raiding. Different stuff.  And I do play many like this, I have for quite some time, but I'd like to focus more on those types of games. If you look around there are quite a few out there. I'm also really looking forward to seeing what comes out of the lineup for 2014, such as EverQuest (Next's) Landmark. How things change, if anything changes at all, really.

I find myself more drawn to games which just keep fun in mind. Those that offer more flexibility on things to do. Or perhaps fun is subjective, different activities to choose from, things to do that are different than what we normally do in MMO type games. I've really been burnt out on raiding and five man content being the main goal for my games. Not to say I don't enjoy these types of games, but a change is overdue and a vacation from the same ol' same ol' is nice. Not that I won't log into my old faves this year, but I plan on reaching out further, dip my toes into places across vast oceans, off into the far, far away, different worlds.

For the first half of WoW's MoP expansion, I mostly puttered around with leveling characters to 90, farming, factions, collecting things, trade skills and such. Then my brothers started and I wanted to keep up with them so I started raiding and grouping, the game changed a lot for me. It was still fun, but it was different than the little corner of the world I had kept myself buried in. Then they left, I did find myself with much better gear, which helps hugely on doing old content and daily quests, faction and such, but I also found myself falling back into my old habits, the things I started out doing. Though, doing these I don't get rewarded as well (not even close) but- The timeless isle helps some, which is a nice help especially for alts, so I cannot complain at this point.

The 3DS has been a real nice change for me. I look forward to the upcoming game Disney Magical World, which releases this year on April 11th. I am SO excited about that title. I'm not a huge Disney fan but the game looks amazing. If you're an Animal Crossing fan, this one will surely be of interest. I've watched footage of the Japanese version and I liked what I saw.

But back to MMO gaming. I've been enjoying Onverse immensely. There isn't really combat, per say, but there are goals, housing, fluff, a laid back world to explore. It really is just fun. That's my key goal for 2014, have fun with my games, not feel like I'm grinding for gear in yet another raid, another instance. I'm looking at a few other titles to pick up and putter around with, more on them as I do. I want to explore, build and just relax this year.

I look forward to seeing more MMO games come out with different directions to pursue, hopefully titles like EQN/Landmark will really change things. I also look forward to Trove, which seems sort of like Minecraft in an MMO setting, the idea seems... fun. I plan on supporting games that cater more to these styles of gaming, instead of flinging my money to those that produce the same thing in yet another boring shade grey. We'll see how it goes!

   

EverQuest, EverQuest II, EverQuest Next.... Lots of excitement In Norrath!

Lots and lots of Everquest/ EverQuest 2/ EverQuest Next info is heading our way in an abundance all over the web, thought I'd share some great links. I'm still going through my feed trying to catch up. Oh and BETA sign up is out, I received an email today and already got that done! I really have not gotten through it ALL so I thought I'd link what I could and share the excitement!

Just to sum it all up, EQN has a lot of footage out, info about armor and the world, the music (which is going to be fantastic) and a few other bits. EQ and EQ2 have some expansions heading out, lots of interesting things heading to these games. Sharing some links because I just can't write every fantastic detail about all three games but others have taken time to share a lot of EverQuest goodness around and I wanted to pass it on:

• SOE has some videos from SOE Live for EQN on the twitch channel here. Lots of great footage of EQN! 
• Syp over at Biobreak is delighted about the music, which I listened to, very enchanting. 
• EQ2 Wire has a great list of the EverQuest 2 xpac heading to us. Check it out for all the details from SOE Live. 
• EQ2 Wire also has a great new site called EQN Wire, lots of great info from SOE Live also. 
• EQN Beta sign up here!
• EverQuest Next Official Website- here. Lots of videos and screenshots. 
• EverQuest worlds app, for android and iPhone- here. What is this? Just a way to unlock rewards and spam social media sites, lol. Not sure what the rewards are but I've been messing around with it on my phone a little, mostly sharing and doing a lot of likes and tweets. 
• EverQuest Landmark- Builder tools, more info here. This will also be something related to player studio, very interesting. 
• Massively has a great article covering EQN and a great gallery of pics included. They also have a post covering the key elements in EQ/EQ2 expansions heading to us in the fall, here. 
• Keen and Graev have some impressions of EQN, after hearing the info released, interesting as they are old-timer EQ players like me, read it here. 
• MMO Symposium has an EQN article sharing videos, pictures and opinions here. 
• Bhagpuss shares some opinions on all three games and the future here.
• Stargrace is excited about the latest EverQuest xpac, and honestly, I am too. Check out her post here. 
• SOE Twitch channel here. 

So, that is about it right now as far as links go, those caught my eye. What has me excited? A number of things, just a new Norrath to explore is great. Will it take the place of EQ and EQ2 for me? I doubt it, each is it's own game. I do look forward to hearing more about EQN, I am excited about it- but- I don't want to get all foamy at the mouth just yet! 

Everquest will be adding the new dungeons/instances, LDoN type content, which scales, that is something to get excited about. Also the new race/class combo is exciting, I do wish for a Dark Elf Druid!! Players will be voting on this. Things look great for the game as it heads into it's 20th expansion, wow. I hope to see many more. 

Everquest 2 players are going to be getting a hero type class system. What is that? Characters starting at level 85 starting off with spells, AA, flying mounts, and gear. I don't mind, because I don't have time to play alts these days, so it would be nice to skip over some of the lonely, older content. WoW did something similar with the Scroll of Resurrection, as well as the DK class. I think I like the way SOE is doing this better though. Why? Well because anyone can take advantage of it, not just those who haven't played for a certain amount of time. Nobody gets left out. New expansion goodies, things look good, very exciting. Oh and... A new class! A pet class that heals, with a bow, this sounds AWESOME!

Want more into on it all? Check out those links! 

Edit: Sorry for all the typos! Fixed! Couldn't get a moments peace while writing this!