Holding off on ESO – For Now

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A lot of my friends have been diving into Elder Scrolls Online (screenshot above is Pete’s character, he blogs over at Dragonchasers). Normally, I would dive in too, and each time I see a post or a tweet or a mention on google plus I’m tempted – but I know I just don’t have the time. I especially don’t have the time to justify a $15/m subscription. That doesn’t mean I’m immune to the fun that everyone else is having. I (of course) want to be a part of it. I love that new game smell.

Sometimes being a grownup sucks.

The expression on the character above is priceless. I would love to play ESO just for the crafting and exploring.

New Deeds, New Excitement

deedLast week I decided that Bitgum was too far away from my main deed to maintain both. Especially since Bitgum deed upkeep was over 6 silver a month but I only visited the place 2x a month give or take. I made the decision to close Bitgum down and disband it. I packed everything I owned into a wagon, loaded it into a corbita, and decided to set down a second deed on the Pristine server, not too far away from some alliance members, and on the mainland.

The new place is called Carrara, and it’s filled with marble. Above is a map of the current mine system. The bright pink are areas that I have yet to mine, the grey represents marble nodes, the black iron. There are also a few silver and zinc nodes thrown in. As you can tell by the map, there is a lot of marble uncovered (18 so far). Ore is regional, but it still seems like quite a bit to me. A fair amount of iron makes the place the perfect mining operations, and the land had already been worked quite a bit as a deed must have decayed there at one time or another. There was some enchanted grass, 5 forges, a few ovens (I bashed those since I don’t need them), and a handful of coffins for storage. I built a brand new smithy as well as a wooden cottage, and began a guard tower. The deed rests right on the edge of the desert which is typically teaming with creatures but at the moment it’s pretty quiet due to a bug. While it does rest on the edge of the desert, the deed itself is covered with lush trees, and is up against a mountain with a pretty nice view. There were plenty of lamps already placed, so the location is already well lit without me having to do any extra work. All in all I’m quite pleased with the spot, even though I have my priests over at my main deed still. Since there’s not much to do at that main deed I enjoy having a second project.

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Lets Not Think For a Bit

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I didn’t quite make it to level 60 before Reaper of Souls released, but I am at level 52 with my witchdoctor, which is better than the 46 I was last night. I know, I should be 60 already, I should have multiple levels capped, and I should have stayed up last night waiting for the release. Ah well.

Diablo was never a game that really appealed to me at the start. Mouse click movements hurt after time, and I just didn’t “get it” at all. Things have changed, and now I enjoy it a huge amount. Sometimes I just don’t want to have to think. I want to play through a story, feel like a big damn hero, and earn awesome loot. I don’t always have hours to do this. Sometimes I might have 20 minutes, other times longer. Diablo is probably one of the best games I own for getting me into a game quickly, running around for 15-20 minutes, and feeling like I’ve actually done something. As my time becomes more and more valuable, this feature appeals to me more and more. I know, I’ve ranted about it at one time or another on here.

Are you playing Diablo 3? Looking forward to the expansion? What about the game appeals to you? Let me know in comments! As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself.

Cutest Little Chua Ever

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This past weekend marked the first beta since WildStar has opened preorders of the game, and I was lucky enough to get a bit of time to play. I’ve got a passion for smaller races, so it was no surprise that I created a little Chua to explore the Dominion side with. Chua are genderless, which I find pretty interesting as far as a lore standpoint goes, and come on who wouldn’t be in love with those eyes. Don’t let the endearing face fool you though, my medic is full of crazy ideas and has a wild side (like an animal).

There was an audio glitch that prevented me from playing with sounds on (if you started in the Dominion area I bet you know which one it was) but aside from that I had a great time and I love double jump. I know, what a small mechanic to make such a big deal about, but I really enjoyed bouncing around.

I don’t normally play betas very long because once I’m interested in a game I invest in it and wait for release (chaulk it up to not wanting to spoil things for myself when it goes live) and WildStar is no different. I played, but not a huge amount, wanting to keep things fresh and not burn out.

The details are fantastic.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Keeping a Vynora Priest Busy

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Priests are great to have around. They cast useful spells, and take care of the deed (typically). Since they can’t improve items but they CAN create items still (they can’t attach items that have multiple steps) it’s a delicate balance of finding out what to work on. What is my Vynora priest working on?

  • Woodcutting
  • Farming
  • Casting spells for Channeling
  • Animal husbandry
  • Hot food cooking

I’m looking to raise my soul depth for better casts, and one of the best ways to do that is through hot food cooking. I don’t currently have a lot of veggies stored up, so I’m thinking about making a WTB post and ordering a few thousand. Vynora is a big fan of woodcutting, and animal husbandry and farming also help raise soul depth (nature skills). Plus these are things that are relatively easy for a priest to work on.

I’m also going to work on making yoyos which means creating shafts and string. A boring task, but again something a priest can do with relative ease. Channeling lets you succeed at casting your spells, and the higher you can raise it, the better. So far I’ve caused a few items to explode, and I’d like to get to the point where I’m not constantly failing. Right now I’m at 32 or so. 40 would be a great level. My casting method so far goes like this:

  • 1-15: Bless
  • 15-40: Opulence
  • 40+: vessel

It’s a really easy way of leveling channeling, although now that I’m at 32 opulence is starting to give less in the way of skillups. I’ve been saving up my gems, and that should help nudge me a bit further, once I get there.

The Fo priest works a bit different as far as leveling goes, but I’m also working on the same basics (minus woodcutting) to raise soul depth. Her channeling is already almost 50, so there’s not too much to work on there at least. One is more than enough.

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!