Stargrace

Ah, How things Change

The screen shot on the left is one that I post fairly frequently, usually with a story (like the one that will follow) from my gaming past. It’s of lady vox, while I was helping out Allure on the Najena server finish off the prismatic 1.0 chains. I was level 45, and my character was Qutey, a templar. She’s wearing a robe there because of the saves vs. cold which were important. Since content can be out leveled it’s rare to find people who are doing those ‘old school’ quests any more. The reward from the chain (which includes four epic fights as well as the epic fight with Darathar on the isle of refuge) was legendary, and back then legendary was rare. The level cap was 50, and sub combines were a part of crafting.

Where has the time gone.

Now it’s years later. I’ve made some wonderful friends in game (and out) and I’m thankful for so much. My web site would have started a year after that prismatic run, on both blogger and wordpress and then eventually finding my own host. So much has changed and yet the game is still there with the same basic concepts, and it’s comforting in an odd (and geeky) way.

Yesterday I spent the evening gathering void shards with the duo I tend to hang out with on Kithicor, and working up my dirge who is now 31. It was a lot of fun, and a thanks goes out to Wpus, Ultann, and Hamal for their help. I managed to snag 13 void shards because I had some of the older quests on me, and that gave me enough to make my mystic the shoulders and get her three piece set bonus. I made some goodies for others as well, everyone seems to really be enjoying the new gear.

I’m still looking forward to seeing what the next game update holds for everyone, even though I don’t think I’ll have the time to experience it first hand until after it goes live. Opinions on it so far (impressions from the forums) has been a mixture. Some people are quite excited to see how the changes end up, and others are… lets just call them ‘less excited’ which of course would be an understatement. I’ll wait until the changes go through before I post any solid opinions on them. I’m looking forward to the holiday goodies that are coming, that’s for sure!

Game time will (of course) be taking a little step backwards while I prepare for the trip to San Diego. I’ve got a post scheduled today about that, if you don’t want to read it then by all means please just skip it! I would typically post it on my personal site, but since it’s gaming related, it’ll be posted here.

See you in Norrath San Diego!

Big News Finally Revealed

It’s finally been confirmed. After a week of waiting, braving snow storms, dealing with the passport office, and numerous other things, as well as HUGE support from the people at Sony, I am going to San Diego Tuesday. That’s right, this Tuesday I’ll be leaving behind the negative digits and headed to California, a place I’ve never been to before, and have only had a chance to visit via the weather network.

I am beyond excited. In fact, I’m so stunned and beyond excited that this is the most coherent thought you’ll get from me for the remainder of the day.

I’ve set up a couple of journal type posts that will talk about the entire process I’ve been through this past week and a half (yes, that’s how long I’ve known about this trip) and all of the emotions and feelings involved. It’s been absolutely incredible and the trip hasn’t even begun yet.

Oh, and of course why am I even going to San Diego? Well, you’ll have to wait for the details on that but it’s Beckett MOG related, and you’ll be seeing a fair amount on my site too.

So if you live in the San Diego area, lock your doors and hide away on Tuesday, chances are I’ll be the bug-eyed one wondering where all the snow is at.

I’ll post more information at a later time, for now I’m still stunned that it worked out (fingers crossed).

Shard instances galore

Collecting void shards is my mystics new hobby. Why? Because the gear from TSO (even the T1 gear) is a huge upgrade over the crafted pieces she’s wearing. I managed to save up enough shards before she hit 80 to make myself the hat (I have the recipe books at least!) and then today after a few rounds of instances I had enough to make the pants. I tend to be one of those ‘list’ people who write lists for everything, so of course I wrote down which pieces I have that still need to get upgrades.

Chest, Shoulders, Gloves, Shoes, Earring (one), Ring (two), and bracelets.

Plus my epic. Ok so there’s a lot of work to be done, but hey isn’t that why I play this game anyhow? To further and progress my character alongside of amazing friends and have wonderful encounters in game.

That being said, the TSO instances in the commonlands fell to the group I was in early this morning, and yesterday included a romp through Chelsith. A lot of people don’t especially care for that zone (going off of 70-79 chatter) and I’m not sure why. It could be due to the length it takes to clear it, but I enjoy it quite a bit.

I had my 71 coercer in tow (mostly for power regen while I healed) and she dinged 72. I’m still contemplating working up a bard (dirge) but I haven’t gotten very far with it yet.

I also managed to find a little time to play LoTRO, creating a character on Tipa’s server so I could play with the group she has going there. Hopefully I can find a little more time and catch up to the rest of them! Short post today as I’ve got to get a bunch of things done, but there’s a rumor on the forums that the GU with the fighter changes is tentatively scheduled for the 3rd of February, I’m actually looking forward to it. That should also add the Valentine items to the game, which means – you guessed it – more house item!

Laying Down on the Job

Another run at Fear (no choker for the summoner yet) and another run at Vault (no guard) but my 79 mystic hit level 80! This is a bit of a milestone for me. Not because I don’t already have level 80 characters (I now have 6) but because she’s the only level 80 on my 2nd account. It means that the other characters will get at least a 10% bonus at all times. I realize it’s not THAT big of a deal, but hey every little bit counts. I’m thinking of leveling up my dirge next, I’m not sure yet. I do need to work on the shaman’s gear.

Guild was nice and active yesterday, Hamal (new ranger) managed to get to level 32 (I believe?) with some help of 80’s mentoring, along with Dweezel who has so many alts with different renditions of his name I don’t have the faintest idea who he actually played in group. I want to say paladin but maybe that was the night before.

I also managed to create a few pieces of void shard gear for the mystic, you can start obtaining the basic void shard quests at level 75, level 79 for the daily double quest. Needless to say I had a nice little stash waiting for me. Since I barely did any RoK questing on her she still has a lot to do, but that can come in time. For now it’s just nice to be level 80.

I didn’t get anything done this weekend that I had set out to do, but I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. Of course it means that now that the weekend is over I’ll have to get moving on stuff, but isn’t that what the weekdays are for to begin with?

Since I started playing on Kithicor I’ve noticed how prices can change drastically depending on server population. Antonia Bayle and Najena pricing are significantly lower then Kithicor and Oasis for example. AB and Najena are also far higher populated servers then the other two. On Kithicor things I put for sale (no matter the tier it seems) can sit, some times for a long period. On Najena where the market is constantly active things moved far quicker. This is neither good nor bad, just an observation.

I hope everyone else had an amazing weekend, no matter what game you played. I’m looking to get further into LoTRO, things lately have just been too hectic for me to stick to any more then one MMO. While I find that I work better under pressure, and I’m learning how to manage my time properly, it still leaves very little free time.

So Close to 80

It was bound to happen, I could feel it. How long had it been since last time? Only a few months. Not even. It was like some disease slowly washing over me and I’d pick at it a little bit, and then a little bit more as time went on. No one who reads this site will be surprised, in fact I can hear Tipa shaking her head at me from here. That’s right, I did it.

I betrayed my level 79 defiler over to a mystic.

I had a good reason though! Well, I figured it was a good reason. I looked up the defiler epic quest (keeping in mind this will have been the 7th fabled epic I obtain) and then looked up the mystic fabled epic quest. Yup, that’s what I based my decisions off of. Without getting into too many details, I’m happy with the choice. Plus, who doesn’t like bolster?

This weekend has been one of the most relaxing days in a long time. Everything is out of my hands until Wednesday, and while I don’t know what the result is yet I needed these two days or I was going to go insane. So I’ve gamed, went out for some food, hung out with friends. The weekend has been great. The conjuror and shadowknight from guild and myself decided to trip Crypt of Agony, Vaults (in Jarsath Wastes), and Shard of Fear on Friday night. For laughs, we dragged along my (at the time) 68 coercer, more as a power bot then anything else (that’s her in the robe above). Because the coercer is on my main account with the other level 80’s, and had full vitality, she managed to ding level 70 in those instances, and a good portion into it. I decided she had gone long enough without her sokokar quest completed so those got taken care of.

The defiler mystic managed to snag four more void shards yesterday with relative ease, bringing the total up to 8. Since I’m not even level 80 yet I think that’s great. I’ll have some void gear waiting for me when I finally make it there. A slow process but I don’t mind. 50% away from level 80, and starting yet another epic. It’s going to be great.

Kasul also came to Kithicor to play for a little bit on a ranger alt he created, it was nice to have him meet the guild I’ve been playing with. There’s no way I can afford to move off of Najena especially since the automated transfer service is still down (le sigh) but kithicor has been a nice change of pace. Shadowgeist also moved off of Najena to join a new raid guild and I hope he’s doing fantastic there. I think it’s important for players to keep in mind (in any game, not just EQ2) that YOU pay your subscription fees (in most cases) and that means playing in the method that is best for you. Don’t feel bad if you decide to act on that, in the long run your gaming experiences will be far more fulfilled.

Safe travels!