Gaming – Page 335 – A Pixel Nomad

A Not-Much-Gaming Week

Unlike most weeks I have, this one has been lacking the usual passion I exude for video games. I work night shift (midnight to 8am) and once that’s done I do my daily chores and by the time THAT is done it’s noon and I only have a bit of time before I’m headed back to bed so I can get up again for work. A typical work week for anyone, right? Needless to say, I just haven’t had the energy to play much of anything. I have been taking care of my farms and crops in Wurm Online, as well as logging into WoW to do some garrison work, but aside from that my evenings have been filled with books and soft blankets (my preferred method of relaxing). After creating my character in Dragon Age and playing through the opening scenes, I haven’t managed to go back to it yet. I’m hoping when I have more time over the weekend I’ll find my gaming vim again and play more.

My priest is still 97, her garrison is going well. My warlock is 92 and I’m hoping to level up the rest of my alts to 92 and unlock their garrisons over the weekend. In Wurm my deed is practically done which leaves me with plenty of time to work on my skills, though I’m not sure which one I want to work on next, it will probably be weapons. I also have my Vynora and Fo priest subscribed at the moment, and while I’m sure I’ll keep up with the Vynora, I’m not sure I need a Fo. I’m still playing WildStar, too but this week I haven’t had much time to do anything more than open boom boxes. I still have so many more to open!

Then there’s my adventures in Minecraft, which have been on hold the past two weeks due to lack of time. I severely need more time in the day to play! Hopefully I’ll have some more exciting posts to make here before too long.

Who needs Hair

I didn’t get a whole lot of time to check out the latest Dragon Age yesterday, most of my gaming time being taken up by character creation (of course), but I did play for an hour or so, and the first thing that stood out was “wow, this game is absolutely beautiful”, quickly followed by “wow, my character’s hair is horrible.” – in fact all the female hair choices were particularly horrible (in my opinion).

Pictured above – Blesse. She’s the dwarven archer I created. While I own and have played a few hours of both the previous Dragon Age games, I have not completed either of them. I was unsure of whether or not I wanted to complete them first before moving forward with this one, but in the end I decided I would be fine going on what I already knew. I don’t want to post any of the story or many screenshots because I know a lot of people dislike spoilers, but I will say that the first hour was pretty gripping. There’s a bit of lag when I take a screenshot so in half of them my dwarf looks like she’s got a mouthful of something unpleasant or her eyes are closed, but overall the story is captivating and that’s the more important part.

I picked up the game for PC since I wasn’t sure I wanted to play with a controller. These types of RPG games typically don’t appeal to me on console, I’d rather have mouse access to things like inventory and skills. I doubt I’ll get very far in multiplayer as that is something that has never really appealed to me, but it’s nice to know the option is there if I want it.

Did you pick up the game? What system did you get it for? What are you most looking forward to? Let me know in comments below! As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself.

Warlords, Dragons, and Sackboys, Oh my!

Like a lot of my friends lately, I have found myself (most often than not) logging into World of Warcraft since Warlords went live. While I typically enjoy new expansion releases, this one in particular has pulled me in with their combination of cinematics, quests, and of course garrisons. Each day I log in to complete any garrison missions that I have left running over night, and pick up all of my work orders. On my main my garrison buildings include:

T2 grand hall
T2 mine
T2 trading post
T1 fishing hut
T1 tailoring emporium
T1 enchanter’s study
T1 stables

I haven’t been in as much a rush to unlock things because I’ve been leveling up, but I do tend to get distracted by the shinies. I’ve picked up quite a few battle pets, worked on archeology (which is where one of my latest pets came from) and of course have been having a blast just wandering through each zone. One of the things that really appeals to me is just how much stuff is out there randomly in the world. Besides the bonus quests you can wander into, I love that there are clickies scattered about randomly. I never know what I’m going to stumble into, and I love that.

Of course it wouldn’t be enough just to have Warlords launch, two other games that are going to be taking my time include the latest Dragon Age, and of course – Little Big Planet 3. I can’t wait to start playing that on my PS4.

I’ve said it before and I’m sure I’ll say it again, it’s great to be a gamer.

Garrisons and all their Goodies

Alright. I know there are going to be a lot of WoW posts from various sites over the next little while, so for those who are not interested in WoW, I apologize. It is one of the (many) games I tend to play, so you’ll have to handle a few posts here and there! Warlords released, and while there have been issues (server issues, bug issues, etc) for me personally things have been relatively smooth – minus the server issues which were of course expected and I don’t mind them.

When I first heard about garrisons I got all excited thinking these were player housing. They’re not. They’re instances where you get to plop down buildings and sure you get to choose what buildings you plop down, and yes they are incredibly useful – but this is not player housing as I have come to know it. There’s no decorating, no creativity. You’re not naming any of your followers, or doing anything to the zone aside from choosing what building is going where. That being said, it IS highly addictive.

If you’re familiar with the Rift minion system then you already know what to expect from followers in garrisons. You earn NPC through PvE quests and through garrison quests (there are other ways but these are the beginning methods) and they’ll randomly take on a quality. The beginning NPC will start at level 90, you get to level them to 100 through garrison quests. You’ll spend a lot of time at the Mission Specialist in the garrison, choosing which follower is going on which mission for the best odds. Unlike Rift where you’re not given a percentage of success right there on the mission, WoW takes all the guess work out of the equation for you.

You send your little ~~minions~~ followers out, and they come back after a pre-determined length of time. Some times they come back with experience, garrison resources (used for upgrades), a fancy item for you, some gold, etc. You get the picture. They level up, and you work on your garrison. You start with an Inn, Barracks, and if you have a crafting specialty chances are you’ll run into a quest that will reward you with plans for your craft (in my case this was engineering). You’ll play some more and wonder how the heck you get to earn more buildings, and how to upgrade the current ones you have.

Thankfully there are loads of guides on this part of the game. One in particular that I have been using is on Icy-Veins, and it explains that in order to upgrade your town hall to T2 you’ll need to complete the quest Bigger is Better. In order to get that quest, you need to complete a majority of the quests in Twilight Glade (Alliance at least). You’ll also need 200 resources and some gold, so keep that in mind. I’m not quite at the point where I’m ready to upgrade to T2 yet, but I’m slowly getting there and I’m quite excited about it. My warlock just reached level 92, and I’m enjoying the ride more than I’m trying to rush.

I have to admit, it’s also very nice to see so many of my friends playing – I know it probably won’t last, but I’m still very happy.

6th Annual Gamers Secret Santa

It’s that time of year again! Time for the 6th annual gamers secret santa! Have no idea what that is? Well. I’ve been running it for a while now. There was one I ran last year in 2013, the 2012 one, 2011, 2010, and 2009. It has grown each year, and while it’s not the largest celebration out there, it is one I really take a lot of pleasure from. Geeky gifts are sent out all over the world, and if you would like to participate or are interested in what it is all about please read further!

What it is: Those who want to participate are more than welcome to. You can be a gamer, blogger, a member of the game industry, whatever. As long as games are some how a part of your life. I will take names / addresses, and assign everyone a ‘secret’ person to buy a small less than $20 gift for, as well as give them the address required. Send out your gift and wait for one to head your way, and that’s it. Ok, let me explain it a bit better.

What is “Secret Santa?” here’s the definition!

How:

1. Send your full name and mailing address to me at stargrace@mmoquests.com, make sure it comes from a valid email address. If you happen to run a fansite or a blog, please mention which blog you write for (if you want, you don’t have to). It doesn’t matter who you are or how involved in the gaming community you are, anyone can participate. If you’re worried that I have not gotten your email, please contact me on twitter: @stargrace. I will email you back, so make sure to check your trash folders.

2. On December 2nd I will email you back with someone else’ address.

3. The price limit is $20, don’t spend any more than that. Be creative, make something, have it be unique to your culture or your life, if you need suggestions then please don’t hesitate to let me know. Try to keep in mind that we’re all gamers, no matter where we come from.

4. Keep your person a secret! Don’t tell anyone who else you have. If you DO happen to run a fansite or blog, then when you receive your gift write about it and let everyone know.

5. If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to let me know below in comments, or email me.

ALTERNATE METHOD:

If you live in a location where mail is not very practical and you’re worried about it getting lost, I WILL offer a digital gift exchange method for those who request it. If you choose to participate this way here is what I need from you:

Send your full name and the following: The email associated with your steam account, your steam handle, your raptr handle, the email you would like any digital gift sent to.

More Details: I understand that you may not be comfortable with me or one other person having your mailing address, so if you’re not please don’t feel pressured to participate. The idea is to share with one another and realize what a fantastic community we have, not make you feel on edge that you’re going to potentially run into issues.

If you’d like to participate but simply can not afford to no matter what, send me an email and let me know, I will do my best to help you out. I want anyone who’s interested to be able to participate in this event. I think sometimes we forget that these people we all talk to online are not just random pixels, but are actual people on the other end of those computers.

Please keep in mind that only myself, and ONE other person will have your address. It won’t become a mailing list or anything like that. If you’re only comfortable with me having it and no one else then let me know, and I’ll have your gift sent to me and then I’ll send it out to you. Anything to make sure people are comfortable and still able to participate.

YOU HAVE UNTIL DECEMBER 1st TO EMAIL ME YOUR ADDRESS – please take your time to think about whether or not this is something you really want to do. If it is, get me your address by December 2nd so that I can give people some time to get their shopping done. If it’s a little late (the gift, not the address) that’s alright.

If you don’t celebrate Christmas but still want to participate that’s alright too! This isn’t a religious thing. There are some amazing gamers I have met from all over the world, and I think that we have a lot to share with one another.

I think that’s about it. If you can think of something I’ve missed then please let me know and I’ll do my best to answer it. I just wanted to share some of the Christmas joy that’s going to be flying around before too long and figured this would be a fantastic idea for people to experience it with one another.