Stargrace

Bring On The Harvesting #WoW #MMORPG

A conversation last night with Dusty Monk from Of Course I’ll Play It spurred on the following post, so thank you Dusty! This is what he had to say:

“The thing is, grinding gets a really bad rap in our genre, but it’s only partially deserved. Spending time running around gathering things, for whatever reason, can easily be construed as a grind – whether you’re doing it for resources, or faction rep, or just for quests. And the thing is, if it’s the only think you’re doing, and then it becomes a grind.

But too many players would have you get rid of all the repetitive tasks in an MMO, to make it as exciting and thrill-filled for every possible playing moment as possible. And I think too many fail to realize that quite often that very low key turn-your-brain-off and relax kind of play is extraordinarily important to a huge variety of players. Even the most hard core, long term players.

I’ve been singing the praises of keeping a little bit of grind mixed in with your content for a long time – so it’s nice when I come across other players that recognize you don’t always want to throw out cut out that “low involvement” playing, and that it’s not always a bad thing. ”

I have a ritual in the evenings when I want some calmer form of gaming. I log in and spend an hour or so flying around from node to node, harvesting. I find harvesting a very relaxing act and a viable method of ‘playing’ a game, especially in WoW where you earn experience for it (unless you’re skinning). I don’t have to deal with other players on a personal level (of course there are always others flying around harvesting too, but interactions are minimal) and I rarely have to deal with large encounters of mobs. The entire experience is quite therapeutic, giving me time to step away if I need it and leaving me to my thoughts.

These quiet moments in video games are important if you’re in it for the long haul. It’s great to go out and scream your frustrations at the top of your lungs, but there always comes a time where you’re looking for a quieter method of ‘escape’. Plus who doesn’t like all the money you can make from harvesting!

My shaman reached level 81 last night, this will be the third time I’ve worked my way through the cataclysm content and I’m loving every minute of it. I still haven’t ‘completed’ everything in cataclysm, and since I switched over from horde to alliance it’s almost like new as far as quests go. The paladin is almost 70, having finally inched her way out of Burning Crusade which I dislike to the very core of my being. I typically try to dungeon grind my way through 60-68 because I dislike BC zones that much. I’m looking forward to questing with her through the lich expansion although with so many characters and so much to do in game I’m certainly in no rush.

I’ve also been playing loads of Glitch, which I mentioned in a previous post here on MmoQuests, working my skills up so that I can milk butterflies and squeeze chickens remotely. Ah, the possibilities.

As always, happy gaming no matter where you find yourself! I really want to stress that point, too. There’s a lot of conflict going around lately from people who hate one or more games and hence the people playing those games. Honestly, it doesn’t matter what you’re playing in your free time. It’s your choice. You shouldn’t feel bad if you spend it playing facebook games or WoW or EQ2 or AoC or any other title out there. It doesn’t mark who you are as a person, it’s just a pastime, and we all spend them differently. I’ve been concerned these past few days because it seems like more and more people are getting hurt because of the video games they play (emotionally hurt I mean). Tolerance is an easy thing to preach, but we have to remember that it’s not supposed to be about tolerance when it’s convenient for you. It’s supposed to be tolerance over all.

It’s the PewPew Lrn2ply Sort of Life #WoW

I’ve spent the last week or so getting involved in the PvP (via warfronts) aspect of WoW and I have to say if you’re looking for a way to develop a thicker skin in your gaming, PvP is the way to do it. You’d never know that it’s the opposing team you’re supposed to be fighting if you listen to any of the comments in the battleground channel. The only time people are not screaming about how much the whole team sucks is when you’re winning – which for me, especially lately, has been rare. I own a few pieces of season 10 pvp gear now, and while I’m certainly not the best and I have lots to learn I can also hold my own in a lot of situations. I’m a few honor short of earning my 7.2k for the season which is something unheard of for me. I’ve set a goal of 1k honor a day, but I’m sure it’s quite easy for people to earn far more then that if they so choose. Why anyone would want to subject themselves to that mental abuse for longer then required I have no idea.

I converted my honor to justice last night and purchased some PvE gear because I dislike being one of “those” people who boost their ilevel via pvp gear. I queued for a few dungeons starting with heroics and ending with one of the newer dungeons but neither of them ended up well, and the groups ended up leaving frustrated and upset. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s just easier if I heal in heroics (since I queue with a tank) instead of leaving it up to a PUG. Of course that doesn’t guarantee a smooth run, dps still has to do above a certain number in order to succeed, and stay out of crap that spawns on the ground (WHY do people never do this?!) and move out of the way during particular events. I always talk about how easy I find these type of encounters, and I don’t understand why others find it so hard. Despite those types of issues I rarely if ever vote someone out of a group – I vote out for poor attitudes but not for poor game play. If someone is swearing and being rude and obnoxious it’s much easier for me to leave a group rather then if they’re simply bad. After all it’s supposed to be a game, and games are supposed to be fun. Like online bingo.

Why am I playing a game that seems to have such a bad reputation for community? Despite all of this and the lack of ‘family’ I’ve found in the game, I’m still having fun. I still find a lot to do in game and lots to keep me busy. Or maybe I’m just a sucker for punishment. Either way.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

“Getting” Glitch

Glitch is a browser based side scrolling game released by Tiny Spec, and there’s a lot of my fellow gamers playing it these days – but even more surprising to me is the number of times I’ve heard “I just don’t get it” repeated over the course of the weekend. To help with this confusion, I decided to post my thoughts and opinions on this gem of a game. To start things off, Glitch is a sandbox game, much like EVE. It has real-time skill training, so that you can train while in game and out. Most of the ‘fun’ of the game is what you decide to make it. Sure, there are some little mini quests you can do to pass the time away, but if that’s all you’re doing you’ll quickly find yourself bored. If you’re an explorer who enjoys a more non-combat related line of gaming, this may be a game you’ll want to check out.

I spent the first few days in game simply exploring around. I teamed up with a friend (yes, you can group) and we explored together, I unlocked a stalker badge for being on auto follow through zones while I took care of some RL things. Auto follow works better in glitch then I’ve seen in any other game I’ve ever played. It works across zones and you even mimic jumping. I bought a house – one note, if you’re looking for how to get your papers, go to http://wherecanigetpapers.com. I haven’t planted anything yet, I haven’t had time but I imagine I’ll get to it eventually.

I’ve been working down the animal related line. This morning I hogtied my first pig and then released him in a different zone. I used a random chicken to incubate an egg that hatched into a piglet which I’ve named and carry around in my bags. I plan on releasing him into my house once I’m able to confirm that he won’t leave. I think I need a few more skills for that. Trees can drop actual paper that players can write notes on, so I’ve been working on my inking skills so that I can leave random stories and poems through zones I visit for other players to read. I found one such person doing this over the weekend, dropping food and other components on the ground for new players to pick up.

I can name the wildlife that I come across which I think is awesome although it also lends itself to some pretty vulgar comments by others. The same can be said for the message board that each person can find on the main floor of their apartment buildings. I saw ‘love’ notices posted in mine. It’s not a game for children, in other words.
So how do you ‘get’ Glitch? You make the fun up yourself. Use the tools they provide to you and run out in the world doing whatever it is you want to do. You can find me playing as stargrace, milking butterflies (I don’t need to use lotion any more!) squeezing chickens, and nibbling pigs. Ah, that’s the life. Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Becoming Less and Less Social #WoW #MMORPG

Even though I’ve played World of Warcraft since release, I’ve never ever found myself within a ‘community’ on any of the servers I’ve played on (a small handful of them now) and it looks like with the latest patch, I won’t ever have to. Blizzard is introducing their first raid finder which will work much the same as the dungeon finder, although (to start) it’s only for a very specific raid. Notice that I said ‘to start’. I’m going to predict that given some time this will extend to other raids, and I bet it will be quite popular. In World of Warcraft I can level from 1-85 without ever speaking to another player – while doing group content the entire time (via the LFDungeon tool). I can be teamed up with hundreds of strangers from multiple servers, and never learn a thing about them (although that doesn’t prevent players from going on about their drug habits or spouting out rude comments to trade chat). One of the main reasons I ever play a game is for the social aspect which is why I typically ‘quit’ WoW after a month or two – because there’s simply no social aspect.

Is this what people these days want in their MMOs? I can’t help but wonder. With Rift adding their LFDungeon tool and then solo / duo dungeons, and EQ2 following close behind adding their LFDungeon tool, the days of having to actually go out and speak with others on your server in order to find a group are slowly dwindling.

Then again when I look at public channels I wonder if these are the sort of people I even want to get to know to begin with. How do you go about finding the gems that must reside in your game of choice?

Initial Thoughts on 1.5 #RiftGame

It was an 875 MB patch that a lot of people were looking forward to, and although my Rift account currently sits cancelled I still have 8 days to play around with the new goodies. I didn’t get a lot of time in game but I did see enough to form up some opinions. First of all, I really wish it asked for confirmation before sending achievements to twitter. As it was I spammed my 1-3-6 month veteran rewards upon login unknowingly. Not that I mind sharing my achievements but there’s a certain unspoken rule that says thou shalt not spam.

One of the biggest changes in 1.5 was the addition of planar attunement which is basically aa – something else for players to do 50+. I was looking forward to this but then became sorely disappointed for a number of reasons. The first one being that it’s an enormous grind. I mean, if you thought EQ1 was a grind this puts it to shame. You need an incredible amount of experience in order to finish off accumulating the aa required, and not only that but they provide a very insignificant boost to the ability that you’ll be working on. I saw +1 to wisdom and thought to myself, wow. That’s it?

It’s not all doom and gloom. The new chronicles (1-2 person dungeons) are fantastic. I really enjoyed the entry level one that required me to attend a personal party in Meridian. The rewards were not upgrades for me personally but I did earn some plaques and was able to sell the loot I’d obtained. I really enjoyed the stories a lot, and from a lore perspective I think these dungeons will be quite popular.

I didn’t try the new master dungeon, and I doubt I will get the opportunity to since you need to complete it without the LFG tool and very few of my friends are playing these days.

I do enjoy the new crafting changes, although I wish I could convert my artisan marks to plaques. I am happy they changed plaques from craft specific to one general type so that if you wish to change your craft you’re not stuck with useless plaques. It was a smart move.

Those are my initial thoughts for now – what did the rest of you think of this update? Let me know in comments! As always, happy gaming no matter where you find yourself!