Product Review: UnoTelly

Note: It should be noted before I go forward with this post that I was given a review account to test this product out with, and I did not purchase it with my own money.

One of my biggest complaints living here in Canada (in regards to the internet and entertainment) has always been that I can’t access shows in other countries without having to resort to VPN changes or some other work around in order to watch some of my favorite shows. Even shows I pay for on Netflix differ from US to Canada. When I was approached in an email asked if I’d like to test out UnoTelly, I was only too eager.

The web site claimed that UnoDNS was easy to set up on every device you may possibly own, so I started out by installing their ‘UnoHelper’ on my PC, it was quick and painless and I had it up and running without any troubles. I was able to watch Hulu and Netflix.com without any interruptions in my speed, and if it were not for the small icon on my desktop I probably wouldn’t have even known it was running at all. I used it for a few hours without any of the noticeable slow downs that I’ve experienced with other VPN services, especially in prime time.

I did attempt to also get this working on my ipad, but ran into some login issues, so I wasn’t able to test it further. My only concern is that occasionally I would get a message saying my IP address had changed and I should refresh it. Being the non-tech savvy person that I am, I’m guessing this has to do with my ISP and not with UnoTelly. It was a bit distracting but nothing that wasn’t solved by hitting the refresh button. ** edit ** I just have to say again, what great and prompt service I was given during my review. I emailed support, found all my questions answered, and have no more difficulties. Works fantastic!

The product comes at a great price (thee tiers with different pricing depending on what you’re looking for) and they include channels for you to use which I found really helpful. They are right on with the speed, and I experienced no slow downs. Over all, I’m really pleased. The contact emails I’ve received were pleasant and helpful, and prompt which is something I really value in customer support.

It’s a great system, and so far I have no complaints. I’m looking forward to using UnoTelly more in the future, and hopefully it continues to work as well as they’ve suggested. Anyone else out there have any experience with UnoTelly? Let me know in comments, thanks!

Decorating In Glitch (again) #PlayGlitch #Glitch

In October 2011 I was playing a little browser game called ‘Glitch’  – I wrote about it a time or two here on MmoQuests. The creators decided that the game was not as magnificent as they wanted it to be, and so they put it back into beta and changed a whole bunch of stuff with it. That’s the short story, at least. It’s been quite some time now, but my character is still there and today I was looking for something light and easy to play, and Glitch fills that desire quite well.

It took me a few minutes to catch up with some pretty important changes, most noticeably, I no longer owned a house in a neighborhood. It looks like I was refunded the cost, and all of my house items were placed in my inventory, including my pets, so that’s handy. I do miss the way my house used to look, but it’s FAR more customizable now. You place the furniture yourself, design the walls, ceiling, and floor, expand the yard (and the house) and where the neighborhood used to be outside is your own personal street that you can cultivate. There’s even a sign post at one end where you can add the names of your friends so everyone can port easily to their humble abodes.

You can customize each item in the house, some are free, some with a subscription, some with purchased currency. It seems like there are three types of currency now. One is currents, one is .. I’m not sure what it’s called but they’re purple little clouds with i’s in them, inspiration maybe? Then there are also credits, which is the currency you purchase with real money. You can use credits to purchase house furniture and clothing for your little avatar.

There are still quests, still a LOT of crafting, and I had fun just wandering around getting familiar with things once more. If you’d like to add me to your friends list you can check out my profile (I’m Stargrace in game, of course) and while I can’t promise that I’ll be playing a whole lot, it does give me something different to do, quickly, when I’m in the mood for that sort of thing.

I’m working on fox brushing right now. I don’t even know what that is, I just know it’s an animal skill that I don’t have yet. Once that is done, it’s time to move on to crafting furniture! I’m always a sucker for housing.

The subscription costs to Glitch is quite steep for what it offers you (imo), with three levels of subscriptions. Tin is $5 a month, which is a pretty good price, but comes with very little (you can view the plans here). If you’re REALLY a fan of the game I suppose the $14.99/m plan may be something you’d want to look into, but I can’t see myself ever spending that much on a browser game, even with the 400 credits and 50 teleportation tokens it comes with. There’s nothing stopping you from playing for free or even just purchasing some credits to help support the game. Buying a year subscription for $50 (the lowest price range, you save $10) is not bad, and it does grant you access to all subscriber only options and customizations. The problem is when your subscription runs out, so do those options. It’s still a great little game to check out and I highly suggest people give it a try.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

From Yak’s Bend to Grooble’s Gulch #GW #GuildWars

The learning never stops – today I finally figured out that each map icon that is a shield is actually a mission hub, and if you complete it your shield gains a sword icon – if you complete the mission and the bonus, the shield icon has two swords crossed. An easy reference to figure out what I’ve completed and what I’ve not. Unsurprisingly my previous character has many of these shields revealed on the map, but absolutely none completed. The monk / warrior combination is doing far better. There’s only one mission where I didn’t complete the bonus, although I wish I had (it’s a LOT of experience).

I’m now level 10, and the story has taken me into Grooble’s Gulch, where I’m seeking shelter for the Ascalon refugees (being lead by Prince Rurik still). In the mission previous Prince Rurik sort of went crazy running around and it was really difficult for me to keep up with him. Thankfully he seemed to handle himself just fine (while I lay there dead waiting for Ninga to rez me) and we still completed the mission. I’m having a bit of difficulty with the camera angels, it’s really annoying to keep it centered on my character, but the longer I play the more I get used to it.

I’ve also discovered the joys of identifying gear (and weapons). I’ve broken down a few really nice pieces where you’re able to strip the enchantments from them and use those on other pieces. Then you can eventually strip down the weapon itself and use the base components to craft better gear later on. I had gotten salvage items before, but nothing magical or impressive, so you can imagine my squeals of delight as I was able to remove + dmg from a hammer and apply it to the weapon I was currently using.

Now that I’ve reached level 10 I can begin (once more) working on Eye of the North tapestry collections, although I know this will throw the story out of order it’s still my main ‘goal’ and my primary reason for playing through the game right now.

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

Playing Knee-Deep In The Sandbox #WurmOnline

Pictured above, is Falkenstein Castle. I’ve managed to place a few flags (which I’m eventually going to dye, but at the moment I don’t have any access to dye components) and the outer walls are completed. Inside, things are moving along nicely. I’ve got a house started – it’s in an H formation, and is 13 tiles in total. This gives me a very nice 2×3 area for a ‘bedroom’ as well as another 2×3 area for crafting. I don’t need a lot of room as it’s just my Fo priest residing at the castle, so not a lot of crafting is going on.

My animal pens only need a few more tiles of enchanted grass and then those will also be taken care of. I’ve had two foals born, neither came with impressive traits, but it’s a start.

My main goal will be finishing the house, this prevents decay and I’m eager to at least add two beds to the building so that my characters can once more gain sleep bonus. Something I haven’t even seen since I took Arysh to Celebration. Along with the finer details of the deed I’m continuing with construction of a road up – Moumix was kind enough to lend a hand today with some surface mining, and the first three tiles can now be traveled by cart, which is a huge deal. I still have a ways to go, but cutting a road out into the stone is pretty neat.

It’s one of the aspects that appeals to me most about Wurm Online. Sure, it’s great to decorate a house in a video game and I’ve seen some amazing ones done over the years – but to decorate an entire plot of land (within the boundaries of the game of course) and to be able to physically adjust the terrain into a shape that you personally find pleasing, is amazing. To be able to take a mountain and level it (if you so choose) or to create an island in the middle of the ocean and then build a house upon it (or an entire city, if you want) these are things that players crave and are rarely given the opportunity to do.

It come with its own set backs, of course. Not even speaking of hardware limitations, but such sandbox play just leaves griefing right open. For example, there’s a player named ‘Oneangrykid’ who has taken to terrorizing the server of Celebration. He stole two large carts from my neighbours who had them hitched but not locked – if a large cart is on-deed and not locked, players can still ride them away. Keep it in mind and LOCK those carts. My neighbours were online when he took the carts, and they were in fact right close by, but because this player had the ability to take the carts, he did. Players tend to learn very quickly that it is not enough to simply purchase a deed to keep your things secure (even on Freedom servers, which are PvE not PvP) but you must lock every door, and make sure every setting on your deed management page is kept up to date. You have to practically interview your allies since there are deed settings for them, as well. Thankfully, I play with a wonderful group of people, and I’ve only had the barest brushes with griefing in game. I intend on keeping it that way.

Meanwhile, construction on Falkenstein Castle continues. My gold door was delivered, and I installed it. It looks amazing. I have another ‘Mad Lady Arysh’ story to post about that particular event, it should be coming later this week.

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

Ding! Level 50 Artificer #Vanguard #VGD

It took years, and it’s not even the level cap any more, but I finally reached level 50 artificer! The new cap in Vanguard is 55 so this was really just a small milestone and I’m not sure if there’s even anything I can work on or any new quests or gear to help me get to level 55, but I’m still pleased for having made my way there.

On the artificer path this is my mineralogist, I create jewelery, stone weapons and foci, and wooden foci. I also craft house components, most noticeably bricks. The carpentry counter part crafts ships as well as furniture and bows. I have one of each crafter, but it’s been some time since I’ve worked on them to any extent. I am eager to level up my blacksmith next as that character helps provide the rares required to make jewelery, and then my leather worker.

I’ve been having a bit of trouble (as always) trying to figure out how exactly to level my characters to 50-55. Veterans seem to constantly post that the process is ‘easy’ and that leveling is too quick, and that they’re all bored – but I don’t even know what areas I should be in, or what quests I should do, or whether it requires a group 100% of the time or if I can handle things on my own. I suppose I really should dive in a little deeper and find out!

As always if you’d like to find me in game, you can say hello to: Stargrace, Arysh, Faydai, Velours, or Minxes (I also have a baby psionicist  I’d like to level up some time, Ishbel who is level 3 and still on the Isle of Dawn). I’ve also stumbled into a great new(ish) wiki site, the telon project. I’ve volunteered to help out because I find a lot of the Vanguard sites these days are out dated, and it’s important to get information about the game to the public, especially with it going free to play.

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