Author: Stargrace

I remember back 10 years ago when someone asked me what my ‘game of choice’ was I would have answered EverQuest, easily. I barely ever dabbled in another game, and before that I was playing a MUD called Redemption with a bunch of friends from high school. It was rare I ever had more then one game on my plate. Oh how times have changed, and it’s certainly not just for me that things have changed. These days if you ask someone what MMO they play you’re likely to get a handful of answers. Ask them what MMOs they have played in the past, and the list can get longer the Santa’s naughty and nice list. Right now I’m actively playing EverQuest2, Vanguard, The Lord of the Rings Online, and Aion as ‘main’ games (the ones I spend the most time in, not always for pleasure), and then there are a lot of smaller games that I dabble in for whatever reason. With the incredible selection of games that are available these days, HOW do you choose what to play? How do you make room for more? How do you fit console games in there?

Is scheduling involved? Is it just whatever mood you happen to be in? There are plenty of MMORPGs out there to keep me busy forever, but some times I just want to sit back and play Fable 2 on the XBox, even though lately those times are rare.

I love being able to experience a large number of games simply because it reinforces what I like and don’t like about each and every game. I know exactly what sort of gamer I am and what appeals to me. I also love exploring content that’s always fresh, and learning about someone else’ passion. On the down side it is also a very expensive and time consuming hobby, and you have to draw the line some where. How do you decide what to play?

EQ2 was a LOT of fun this weekend. Wpus and I decided to make little alts and play those instead of the plethora of other characters we already have. We ran around Neriak and managed to level to 15, before making our way to the guild hall in South Freeport. Upon entering I saw a new gift that Calreth left there for us – the guild hall trophy of the headless horseman. I wish the trophy had a little blood or gore along with it, but it stands in our main entrance and balances out the other trophies we have. Thank you Calreth for that gift!

Speaking of which, Torrent Knights on the Antonia Bayle server is slowly making its way to level 50. I’ve been thinking of upgrading to a T2 hall, but I’ll need to do some farming first and earn some status. With new characters on the rise this is easier to do, as we both have a lot of Heritage Quests to complete. We’ll be level locking at 20 to gain achievements and alternate advancement for a few months or how ever long our attention stays. I’m looking forward to it. At level 20 there’s a lot of content that can be explored and completed, and it puts us in range for a few dungeons and instances as well. I had adept3 combat arts created last night which should help make things easier.

I hope everyone else had a fantastic weekend, no matter where you found yourself. Happy gaming!

Leveling Velours up in Darklight Woods off of Elementals

I’ve never owned a computer that was able to handle the highest settings on EQ2 before. Ever. I’ve played for five years on moderate settings, and at times (with a video card upgrade) ooh’d and aahh’d over the change – but it wasn’t until this past week that I realized just how *amazing* this game is when you are actually able to play it as it’s meant to be played. The problem is that it takes a great deal of hardware in order to play that way. I’m currently running a quad core i7 2.9ghz with 8 gigs of DDR3 (running as duel channel). I have an ATI 4870 (that I love might I add), and things run absolutely wonderful (graphic wise). I look at the screen and think to myself – woah – is THIS the game I’ve been playing for five years? I’ve never seen half of this stuff before. Like, the ground actually looks WET when it rains out. My dual core served me well for the past five years, but it was time to see what I was missing out on. For games that were already quite pretty in their own rights without having to own an awesome machine (Aion, The Lord of the Rings Online) they are simply astounding. Now I can finally add EQ2 to that list as well. It is a shame that it requires such heavy hardware in order to make the game appear as it should, but I’m really loving it. Below are more screen shots of my adventures this weekend.

Hanging out in East Freeport, just as the rain started to end. I had no idea the ground actually gets WET.

Killing the Brood Mother in Darklight Woods for a quest update on my baby Shadowknight

Playing with the Nights of the Dead illusions with Wpus in Darklight Woods – yes, I’m the one on the right

Being able to see the game like this DOES make a difference. In zones that I always dreaded (Lavastorm, Moors of Ykesha, Neriak) things are running flawlessly and I’m able to enjoy the surroundings of my favorite game just as much as I enjoy the content, the atmosphere, and the players. This was probably my biggest issue with EQ2 and always has been, the fact that I was unable to run it and make it look ‘pretty’.

Now if only I could get the video in the hedge maze to work. Unfortunately that seems to be one of the few things that I can’t get working, no matter what I try. The introduction video to EQ2 also does not run – unless I’m windowed (the maze video doesn’t work no matter what window setting I’m in). I can get the video in Nagena’s Hollow Tower to run just fine, but the maze eludes me. Normally I wouldn’t be upset – but in this one rare case, if the video doesn’t run the quest does not progress, the final boss does not spawn, and you sit there wondering what happened. I ended up loading it on my laptop in order to get it to work. Ah well, ya can’t win them all.

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend, no matter where you found yourself. Happy gaming, and I’ll see you in Norrath (and Wizard City, Telon, Middle Earth, and where ever else I happen to be, Elysea I suppose!)

So, come around here often?

What’s a pretty thing like you doing in a place like this..

Once rigor mortis sets in I can go *all* night!

Do you have any zombie in you? Would you like some?

If I told you that you had a great body, would you hold it against me and let me eat it?

I’ve always said that my friends are what make games absolutely amazing for me. Being able to interact with them and share stories as we adventure long is a concept that just can’t be beat. Sure, I play lots of games without my friends too, but the games I play the most of, are typically played with at least one other person (or more). Those where my friends don’t typically play I will WANT to play more of, but rarely get around to it.

Would you put up with a poorly made game in order to play with your friends who make it more ‘fun’ for you? Have you before? How far would you go in order to share your gaming experiences with someone you know?

Yesterday was an absolutely amazing time in game, both in The Lord of the Rings Online where my Hobbit Minstrel managed to inch her way to level 15, and in EverQuestII where I spent the evening playing with friends who I haven’t played with in quite some time on the Antonia Bayle server. It started out innocently enough, I peeked at the chronomage quest and noticed it was scornfeathers roost. Then I made the suggestion to Ibeogur that we attempt it without a healer, using chronomagic to mentor down.

We tore apart the zone, and picked up our new relic plushie at the end, which was a lot of fun. We also decided to try our hands at the shard of love – as a berzerker and illusionist combination this zone was TOUGH even using chronomagic to lower the zone by a few levels. We didn’t really get anything to note from the zone but I did pick up a very neat looking sword that I intend on passing to some “yet to be created” alt. My final alt at that because my account will be filled once she’s created, hehe.  Before too long Ultann logged in and he has been leveling a baby dirge for his adventures, so I logged over to my templar (named Petites, which is a play on petite and means small in french) and we headed off to Sinking sands to do more leveling. We headed through Hidden Cache, as well as the instance located in the Sinking Sands Graveyard that escapes my mind right now. Vault of Dust? I think that may be the instance in Clefts of Rujark which is where we headed next. We racked up the achievements, and the alternate advancement points, and over all just had an amazing time joking around and playing the game with each other.

Before too long it was time for me to call it a night (so I could watch some glee and do some knitting before bed) but it was still a LOT of fun, and I had almost forgotten what it was like to have that sort of game play. I’m exceptionally blessed, and I make sure I realize it every single day.

Happy gaming, no matter where it finds you!