Category: Gaming

Crafting Rifts are Fun – But They Still Need Some Work #RiftGame

Yesterday marked the magical day where the weekly crafting quests for lures re-set, and so myself and many others eagerly headed to Shimmersand to spawn crafting rifts and obtain hot crafter loot. On the far west coast of Shimmersand two rifts spawn every few minutes. On my server (I can’t speak for the others but I play on Deepwood) these are the dedicated crafting rifts unless someone triggers a combat one out of spite. It doesn’t matter if you’re guardian or defiant, or what time of day you show up, chances are there are raids here with crafting lures.

I really like the idea that players can spawn crafting raids but there are a few issues with it. Number one, I have two level 14 characters who happen to be 300 crafters. They can’t participate in these crafting rifts because they’re level 50 and the chances of me actually counting towards contribution (let alone getting to the area without a guild rally flag) is pretty much zilch. I’ve saved up my weekly lures in the hopes that one day I may actually level them and make use of these lures.

The next issue is the mass number of people who participate. The rewards are based on your contribution, and when you have 100+ people at one non epic rift things die pretty fast. In fact I’d be confident in saying that they die instantly. This means that a lot of people never get the chance to contribute at all, no one is taking damage so healers are forced into dps specs. If you have no instant attacks at your fingertips you may find yourself moving from rift to rift just hoping that someone neglects a mob for a second or two so that you can get a single hit. For myself personally I spam my instant attacks, it’s all I can do to try to hit something at least once. I’m better at it during some crafting rifts then others. My solution would be for the rift to take into consideration (some how) the amount of players in a given location, and spawn as epic (or major) rifts so that everyone in the area has a chance to participate. Yesterday there were many complaints from members of my raid when they were forced to leave a completed rift empty handed.

I’m finding plaques almost impossible to get, and with the new player crafted items available that rival pretty much any other gear I could possibly obtain even those seem daunting for a casual player. Things are expensive, each piece costing upwards of 100p and unless you’re playing rift on a fairly frequent non-casual basis, I don’t see how anyone can afford more then a piece or two without resorting to ‘other’ means.

I’m glad some focus was given to crafting, but personally, I just feel that it could use a little more tweaking, a bit more work in order to smooth out some bumps.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Telling Stories is Just One More Way to Play The Game #EQ2

It’s no secret that I consider myself to be a well-rounded MMO player, especially when it comes to EQ2. I have 12 level 90 characters and while you may hear me posting on this site about how I skipped content and reached 90 in the shortest amount of time – that’s not all there is to do in game, nor is it even what I spend most of my time doing. After you’ve leveled a handful of characters up the ‘regular’ way, it’s just one more method of playing. Again, that’s not the ONLY way of doing things and there’s no right or wrong way to go about how you spend your free time.

And thus Haidie was created. A guardian from Neriak, and a roleplay character for me to explore Norrath with “the good ol fashioned way”. Unlike my last few characters, this one won’t be power leveled. I won’t be twinking her out in gear that’s impossible to obtain, and she has a lengthy history associated with her being where she is, which I look forward to telling (I haven’t fleshed everything out quite yet). My only channels are roleplay ones, and I intend on taking her along to some of the (many) public events found on Antonia Bayle.

If you haven’t spent any time in the beginning zones, you may be surprised to learn that they’ve added some items to the quests found in Darlight Woods (I assume Gorowyn and Kelethin have experienced the same sorts of changes, but I can not confirm personally) including a lot of house items. Haidie is already the proud owner of an elemental plushie, campfire, tent, and Neriak sign which she has hung in her humble two room apartment. I’m excited about having a character to re-explore Norrath, and even more excited at the prospect of playing her as a roleplay character, it’s been a while since I’ve had one.

Remember, the best part of any MMO is not always the basics of what the developers have given you, but how you choose to make use of the tools they’ve given you.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Productive Gaming Weekends #EQ2

Another Monday here, and a productive gaming weekend under my belt. Well, mostly productive. The warlock is now level 90, although she has barely 100 aa and that’s always annoying to deal with. I’d much rather level lock (as I have with my ranger) and grind aa for a while before leveling. The 35 ranger has 160 aa which is a great amount to have and as I level her to 90 she’ll at least be past the 200 mark. Probably more since I plan on leaving her at 35 until she reaches 200-250 aa first. I don’t remember the /played time on the lock, but it’s not that much, I’d be surprised if it was a full day. Plus there’s all that time I spent AFK and hanging out in hall with her. I can’t afford the 15 plat per kaborite cluster at the moment, so she’ll sit in the background until I can properly gear her up.

I wasn’t in the mood to deal with PUGs yesterday, so the guild decided to do the weekly without looking for any extras. This consisted of Pools, Ascent, and Spire. The group was myself boxing my 2nd account, Ibeogur, Nocturnous (boxing his 2nd account) and Shamah. We cleared the zones with ease, and then after doing the weekly once decided to do it again with alts because I had forgotten to drag my 2nd account along for Pools and Ascent. The end result was a LOT of shards (we also did the first Kael zone, since it was the supposed hot zone) that I can use towards more ry’gorr. I’ve got the complete set on my swashbuckler, and bits and pieces of the set on my warden, defiler, and bruiser. I’m thinking of starting on the set for my coercer, but I’m undecided at the moment. I’m also going to start replacing some of the gear my shadowknight on the second account is sporting. SF raid gear is fantastic, but the stats missing hurt some what.

I’m eagerly waiting for GU61 to be implemented. One of the down sides I find with EQ2 is that there’s too much time between their updates and unique events. It’s one of those things that I really appreciate with Trion and Rift, where there are updates frequently and live events constantly.

Still, it was a good weekend. I’m contemplating getting into some roleplay with a character or two of mine, but I haven’t decided who yet. They all have background stories, and I know of numerous weekly rp locations on Antonia Bayle, it’s just a matter of taking the plunge. We’ll just have to see.

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

 

Expert Dungeons and Daily Raids #RiftGame

There’s no doubt about it, Rift changes at 50. Suddenly there are daily raids, expert dungeons, and other ‘things’ that need doing. This morning I was able to partake in my first daily raid, which took place in Shimmersand. At least I think that’s where it was. It’s a sandy place, although you can’t really tell by this screen shot. I do love the dragon flying over head that would be our eventual target. The raid was smooth and most of the technical bits are things I’ve learned from other MMOs. Don’t stand in anything that spawns under your feet. Dragons should always be flanked. If you see an emote with your name move out of the way, if you see an emote at all, move out of the way. Cures are important (for those classes that can cure) purge is my best friend.

Nothing dropped that I could use, but I was happy enough to earn my tokens (anyone besides me wish the currency tab held a few extra things like, oh I don’t know, dragon tears? Mountaineer plaques?) for the day. Last night also saw me in my first T2 expert dungeon, and queuing a second time brought me back to the same random which made things easier. It also helped that I had healed the regular version of the zone the night before, and what are experts but harder versions of the same zone.

Saving up money has become a small issue, as at this level everything is expensive, especially crafted goods. I’m hoping to figure out a good dungeon heal spec before too long, and then another spec as a raid healer. I don’t imagine I’ll be purchasing the level 50 mount any time soon, although I have been leveling up the event mount that I believe is a mossy turtle or some such creature.

I’d write more but honestly today I feel pretty crummy so I’m going to leave it at that and go curl back up in bed. As always, happy gaming no matter where you find yourself!