Category: Gaming

The New Dangers of Freeport

I never thought it would happen. Yet it did. Yesterday will be marked in history for the effect it had not only on Freeport, but also on Qeynos. In fact all of Norrath shall feel the repercussions of this incident. As I stood there, gazing at the fallen citadel, my heart sank. What of those wounded? With familes. Homes that once lay along the cobbled streets peaceful were now smashed, stone and rubble everywhere.

I wish that were the worst of it, but it was not.

I soon learned that Tayil N’velex betrayed my treasured leader, Lucan D’Lere. He is currently missing, trapped in the void. Deathkneell has crashed. Tayil D’Velex was ordered to steal the soulfire – and decided to claim it for herself, the wench.

What’s even stranger is that Murarr Sharr was apparently possessed by the void, as my informants told me later in the day. He was under the control of a man in the Bayle family which doesn’t surprise me in the least. That entire family is a little crazy. As such, the Claymore has also been stolen. For what purpose, we are unsure of yet.

The Queen herself, Antonia Bayle, decreed that Qeynos should help (yes, that’s right, you read it correctly) free my lord Lucan D’Lere. I practically cracked up laughing once I had heard that. I can just imagine the looks on those poor Qenosian faces when they heard.

That is none of my concern. While Freeport is without a leader, gangs of Juggernaughts have started showing up. Then there are the Dreadnaughts, who were sent to help protect and have decided to act as self appointed loot distributors. The Thexians also recognize no one but themselves as the rightful rulers of Freeport, and have added to the ruckus on the streets. I am not sure how long this disorder can last. While I am all for the occasional bar brawl and seeking havoc in the streets of Qeynos, having it come to my own doorstep in an area that is typically patrolled quite strongly by the Freeport Militia is not something I am keen on. What to do next, I am unsure. I overheard patrons of the Raven Mythic last night taking in those who had been wounded by the disaster, and healing them. At least that one location is safe from the disorder that is out in Norrath. As for the rest? Well. We shall just have to see.

Yesterday Will of the Tyrant kicked off, and wow. It was incredible. East freeport shows a crashed citadel, which you can see in person from West freeport. You can even see it missing, when you’re outside in Commonlands. The destruction was amazing. A job well done. There are new quests, on both the Qeynos and Freeport side involving this event, with two new titles, and two new relics for your home. You can complete the quests on each side, but be VERY careful doing the opposing side, as the guards are epic, and they do con to a level 80 character.

I’m so excited about Frostfell going live today. This certainly is a fantastic time to be playing EQ2. Have to head out for now but I’ll certainly have more to say on the matter later.

A Little Aion Combat

I’ve been playing Aion for work writing leveling guides (I pay for my own account and don’t get anything press related associated with it, let me just state that here and now), and while it’s not exactly my game of choice, I’ve played worse. The stories are true, it is a grind. It’s a lot of grind. Thankfully, I’ve got a friend playing with me and let me tell you, that makes ALL the difference in the world. I’m actually enjoying myself and having a good time. I can appreciate the graphics because they are absolutely astounding, and I notice the little quirks a lot more because I’m not paying attention to the grind. That’s really key for me, NOT paying attention to the grind.

I love the combat, love the classes, the outfits are exceptionally detailed and you can customize them with dye. Crafting is another grind, harvesting is a grind, but I don’t mind those things. I don’t actually mind the basic grind, either. Maybe I’m used to it from my EQ camping days.

In any case, here’s a small video I took while working my way through level 20. The next guide for Asmodians will be out in Beckett MOG #23, and should be in stores mid-January. In the mean time I’m working on 20-30. If you happen to be playing feel free to drop Ellithia a tell!

Shadowrest – What is it good for (Video)

If you played EQ in 2004 you may remember this zone, it’s where 7 day old corpses went once they expired from the world of Norrath until their owners claimed them. Now in 2009 (almost 2010!) there’s no real use for the zone, since there is a corpse summoner in the guild lobby (for a small fee of course) as well as veteran rewards that will call your corpse, and of course the ever handy necromancer who can summon (with a reagent). I’m sure there are other methods too that I just haven’t given thought to tonight.

My friend Ninga wanted me to see how he personally made use of Shadowrest when it first became available, and this video is that tour. Enjoy!

I still Enjoy going Back – Do You?

I wanted a way to relax last night, in preparation for a huge winter storm that’s hitting us today and so I decided to play EQ for a while. You know that feeling you get, where you’re restless with the characters you have and want to play someone new? Well that’s what I had. I decided to start over with a new beastlord, and was working my way through the tutorial. The early access to Underfoot began yesterday, and channels were active with everyone LFG and searching for people to gather with. It was nice to see.

I started thinking about all those posts people make about how you can never go back to your first MMO and capture the same feeling you had the first time around. I think that’s incorrect. I think it really depends on the person, and their play style.

I think perhaps we as writers and bloggers are more jaded then your average player who is just gaming and not telling the world about it. I know a good number of people who don’t write what so ever, game hop moderately, and still return to their first love (in this case, a game) without issue, and happily continue playing it, pondering all the while why they left to begin with. I love to see this.

With so much competition out there between video games, we expect more and more from what we’re playing. Understandable I suppose, but I like to think that I still can just simply enjoy a game for it’s very basic offerings. I don’t need to pick a game apart and find each of its flaws before deciding if I enjoy it or not.

Anyhow, the little beastlord made her way through the tutorial without too much issue. It wasn’t that long ago that I was doing them, so it was still fresh in my mind. I also had the pleasure of running through Plane of Mischief looking for Brisbane earlier in the evening with two friends of mine. He wasn’t up, nor was Innoruuk (disappointing!) and so we decided to go check in on Grieg in Griegs End. He wasn’t up either, sadly. I did take a LOT of video of the adventures though, which I’ll put together later on today and post. Such great memories of that zone.

I play on the Drinal server, so if you happen to be making your way to EQ for any reason be sure to say hello! I did also check out Brell’s Rest in Underfoot, but I was starting to fall asleep, so I called it an early night.

Happy gaming no matter where you find yourself! I’ll see you in Norrath.

An Evening of Fun and Games

I did it. Yesterday thanks to the help of Kanad and Wpus, I managed to reach 200 alternate advancement points on my very first character in EQ2 (Ellithia, the mystic on Antonia Bayle). It was a really great feeling, to know that in February when Sentinel’s Fate comes out I’ll be working on the appropriate aa. When TSO came out I wasn’t even close to the maximum number of aa, so I wasn’t working on those chains until much later. It’s refreshing to be finished (for now).

As my previous post mentioned, that brings into debate who to play next. The one real problem I have with so many level 80 characters, and playing on so many servers. I think I’ve knocked it down to 1 character per server, and then play on whichever server my mood suits. I’m leaning towards the Dirge on Lucan D’Lere (thanks Amnerys for the suggestion), the Troubador on Oasis, and the .. well, undecided on Antonia Bayle. On that server I have the 80 mystic (who I consider completed), 80 templar, 80 illusionist, 80 swashbuckler, 20 shadowknight (quest character), and 1 bruiser. Any suggestions on who I should play? I realize that most people say “play what you like the most” or “play whatever makes you happy” – my problem is that I enjoy all of my characters on pretty much the same level. I love playing them all, if I didn’t I wouldn’t even have the character to begin with.

In lieu of having completed my main goal in game, I decided to log the dirge over on Lucan D’Lere and pick up a new craft for her. She was a provisioner, but my illusionist Seduisant is already one, and I don’t want two. I decided to respec her and took her to West Freeport to speak with the career counselor. I decided to go with a weaponsmith instead, and spent a few hours working my way back up to level 30. I wanted to use up all of that craft vitality before the new 6 year anniversary rewards come into game and I can replenish it.

I also checked in on my Troubador on Oasis, and Paradise Lost happened to be making their way through Miraguls. I’ve only seen the first two named in this zone, being unable to really commit myself to their raid hours, but it was a blast. As luck would have it some troubador bracers dropped and I was able to pick up the pattern (thank you for that, Shadowgeist!) so the little troubador is now sporting her first piece of T4 gear. Pennie (fantastic healer might I add, one of the best out there, after myeslf, of course, teehee) sent me some tells as we calculated how many deaths I had knocked off of my Varsoon run by adding another piece of pretty good gear to the list. I figured one piece only knocks .5 of a death off, three pieces will raise that count by 2-3. We’ll see!

The troubador (and all of my other characters actually) need a LOT of alternate advancement points before Sentinel’s Fate comes out in February, but it gives me something to do, and I’m looking forward to it. Will I manage to get a second character to 200aa? Not sure. It took me so long (in my game hopping ways) to reach 200 on one character. We’ll just have to see!

Happy gaming no matter where you find yourself, see you in Norrath!