Gaming – Page 318 – A Pixel Nomad

Lets Play

My gaming these days has been restricted to wandering through the lands of World of Warcraft, completing achievements and leveling characters to 100. Last week I managed to ding 100 on my hunter, and then I decided to swap over to my alliance characters for a bit and did the same on my shaman. That brings my total characters at 100 to only 4 so far, but I’m hoping to get a few more up there too.

There has been a lot of talk this week about WildStar headed to steam, and whether or not it will be enough change to have an impact on the game and the number of people playing. I know there was also some controversy about the Madame Fay’s Fortunes changes in the recent past, but honestly I enjoy these casino-like games of chance. In Madame Fay’s Fortunes you use your currency to select three cards and flip them over to see what rewards you’ve obtained. You have to use fortune coin that is only available from the in-game store, and you can purchase it in singles or bundles. The discussion surrounding lockboxes certainly isn’t a new one in MMORPGs, it has been around for years now, and no matter your personal feeling on the matter, these games are popular. They remind of us casino games like those found at netbet.co.uk, and they’re a relaxing way to spend some downtime in between the typical MMORPG fare.

In EQ2 I’ve spent a fair amount of Daybreak cash (or whatever the term is these days) on mercenary lockboxes in order to try to get the ‘rare’ ones (they are randomly found in mercenary crates) and then sold the extras off in order to level up the guild. I’m glad that these lockboxes have a secondary use, since having a whole bunch of lower quality mercenary is not something I’m keen on collecting. I just also wish that there was a way to trade them between your own characters, or that mercenary were account wide rather than bound to the character who claims them. It makes keeping track of who has what a bit annoying.

In any case, real life has been incredibly difficult as of late, and that’s why more often than not you’ll find me playing WoW. It’s a game I can pop into no matter how much time I have left in my day and feel as though I’ve accomplished a few things even if it’s just garrison chores. Having these types of games available has meant a great deal to me over the years, and I’m thankful that as a gamer we have such a fantastic selection to delve into.

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

Legacy Family? Still Going Strong!

It has been a little while since I posted about my Sims 4 legacy family, but they’re still around and I still play them. When I last left off, there was Jessica with her daughter Emily, and Alfonzo had passed on and turned into a ghost. He was buried in the family crypt in the back yard, and comes over frequently – as a ghost, of course. Making use of the bathroom and even helping himself to cooked meals in the fridge. Somehow he manages to keep up his relationship with his daughter even from beyond the grave.

Emily is about to have a birthday and will soon see herself as an adult. She has a boyfriend, Tristan, who will hopefully be continuing the family line with her. Jessica is about to become an elder, and spends most of her day writing books with titles like “Farty Arts: It’s all about the gas”. I’ve managed to upgrade the house quite a bit. If you remember, Jessica started with almost no coin, and was living in a sleeping bag and a house without windows (or a door). Now they have a modest mansion with three bathrooms and five bedrooms. Not bad for this mother daughter team.

I’ve never made it to 10 generations before in any of my legacy Sims games, but I’d really like to. The problem is it takes so much time to go through a single sims life. I know I could shorten it so they don’t live as long and they age faster, but I’d like to keep as many of the default settings as possible.

Emily hasn’t joined a club yet, but her mother joined the Avante Guard club. She went to a few meetings and enjoyed the chatter very much. I’m thinking Emily may just start up her own club, and what their activity will be, I have yet to decide. Have you created any clubs yet? What are some of your favourites? Let me know in comments!

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

Exploring my Steam Library: Aviary Attorney

This was another game that sat in my steam library without being played over Christmas break, and let me tell you, Aviary Attorney is a fantastic little gem. You go around listening to suspects and collecting evidence to prove your case in court. Then you stand in front of the jury and try to convince them by cross-examining the witness and bringing your evidence into play. Of course there are a number of twists and turns along the way and a whole lot of puns to tie it all together.

What stands out most about this game for me personally is the artwork. I just could not get enough.

If you cross-examine a witness and the jury thinks you’re trying to stall or you’re not asking the right questions, you’ll lose favor with them which will hurt your case. I managed to win my first one – but not without a lot of eye opening moments along the way.

Today in my Steam Library: Stonehearth

I got this game for Christmas but am only now finding the time to be able to play. It’s an adorable strategy game that plays like Dwarf Fortress. You start with some minions, assign them jobs, and attempt to survive in a fantasy setting. You can play in normal mode where your village will be attacked or you can play in peaceful sandbox mode where you won’t have to worry about invasions but you still have to worry about basic survival.

Unfortunately the tutorial lasts for only about 5 steps, but the game is pretty intuitive if you just press all the buttons and fumble your way around. I started out by assigning one villager as a farmer, another as a carpenter and a third as a soldier. Then I had them gather basic materials like wood and stone, while the farmer started a carrot farm, soon followed by corn. The carpenter crafted items that were required by the housing, such as tables and chairs for the dinning hall. The soldier went on patrol but seemed fascinated with only the farm area of their town and before long two zombies ran in and killed 3 out of my 7 citizens. A tutorial for combat would be nice, it was the only portion I had issues figuring out.

It is an early access game, so you should keep that in mind as you play through but I really had a great time watching the adorable little minions do their thing. There are some issues with creating your own buildings, but I never ran into them personally. My minions leveled up a few times and I was happily building away when along came another invasion, this time three zombies. I decided to stop playing right there and switch to peaceful mode until I could figure out the combat portion of the game.

All in all, a nice relaxing way to spend an evening.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Questing in Dromund Kaas

Well, I certainly didn’t hold out long. After reaching level 10 as a non-subscriber I decided to subscribe for a month. This eased my mind when it came to all of the restrictions that F2P players get stuck with, and it allowed me much more enjoyment while playing. I re-created my Sith Inquisitor as a Twi’lek which was what I wanted to create from the start. I picked Artifice as my craft with archaeology and treasure hunting to supplement it. After that, it was back to questing in Dromund Kaas. I enjoyed being out of the desert of Korriban, the landscape of barren wastelands has never really appealed to me. One thing I noticed is that my UI had turned off tracking for all quests that were not main story quests. I turned this back on so I didn’t miss anything, and that’s how I found myself level 25 in the level 15 area. None of that matters since the game levels you down to an appropriate rank and I’ve always been a fan of games that had this mechanic.

I’m playing my character as an egotistical daredevil who knows that she’s great at what she does. It’s an odd experience for me, but I’m loving the story options so far.

Next up? Balmorra!