A Pixel Nomad

My swashbuckler finally made it over the 250 aa mark, it’s the first character I’ve managed to do that with, and only one expansion late. That means I’m finally working on the DoV aa (well, I have been for a while but I’m finally working on the later tiers of it). I picked up a few master spells off of the broker and she’s almost completed her collection. I also managed to craft another piece of Ry’Gorr armor (pants!) so she’s nearing “completion” for me. Next I’ll be focusing on the defiler, who is lacking Ry’Gorr and adornments.

Yesterday was a lot of fun, the weekly shard quest was Tower of Frozen Shadow, so we (guild mates of course) headed out to Shadowed Corridors and made short work of the Librarian. Next we hit Umbral Halls, and finally Haunt. We managed to complete all three of the zones, even though we were one person short and I was boxing my swashbuckler / necromancer together. The necromancer won herself a nice new robe, and I made a Ry’Gorr forearm piece. Drahk managed to pick up a few pieces of fighter gear, since he’s a new level 90 shadowknight pretty much everything was an upgrade. It was nice and incredibly rewarding to take down the final boss (the x2) in Haunt. It’s a difficult fight on the best of terms, and since we were so under staffed I was wondering if it was something we could even complete. The best part was that we all had a great time, which is the most important part to me in any situation. Guild groups are always nice and relaxing and if we wipe 10x to one encounter it’s always a learning experience.

Speaking of, the guild is also inching its way through level 58, which I’m pretty excited about. Another row of bank tabs at level 60 and more amenity (although I haven’t spent the last amenity we earned) are always welcomed.

It seems like each time a patch goes by the harder zones of DoV have been downgraded a little, so it shouldn’t be too long before we find ourselves in there. We have tried a little Kael, but I’d like to attempt the Drundar instances. We’ll just have to see.

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

There have been a few debates rising up lately from SLR (selling loot rights) – some people are for it (naturally) and others are against it. In EQ2 gear becomes bound to you when you do an instance. You’re able to trade that loot with anyone who was in the instance for 48 hours after it was looted. What players do is leave the item in the chest, change the loot options to leader only (thus allowing you to assign the loot to someone) auction the gear in a channel, invite the winner to the group, summon them to the dungeon, and pass them the loot. I’ve never personally had an issue with this method of obtaining loot, if players wish to spend their money on this sort of thing then why not. I think it helps casuals gain items that they may not have otherwise been able to gain, and it helps bolster community. Most of the public discussions on Antonia Bayle happen in the auction channel. I understand that my thoughts on this are not the same thoughts as the entire community though and the idea of “if you didn’t earn it yourself you have no right to it” also runs strong. To the left hand side is an auction that was taking place last night, myself bidding on a ring (which I eventually won). For some odd reason Conterary felt the need to call me a slut simply because I had out bid him (her?) on this item. I’ve never spoken to them before in my life, have no idea who they are or why they felt the need to call me names based on an auction. I don’t even really understand the whole name calling scenario, or why people resort to this method of insult first. To me name calling is a definite no-no, and it’s one of my biggest pet peeves.

What are your thoughts on selling loot? Do you wish the ability to do so were removed? What if all of the no-trade flags were removed so that gear could simply be placed on broker? Let me know in comments!

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

With so many characters at my disposal a great amount of time is spent deciding what I want to do, and who I want to do it on. I bounce between all of my characters on a daily basis, my whims changing on who I want to play (for some pretty silly reasons some times). I have been attempting to focus on two characters while I play the others as I’m bored or restless. So far those two selected are my swashbuckler, and my defiler. I’ve been focusing on getting them both gear, adornments, and aa. Neither of them have hit the 300 mark yet but I’m hoping that it comes to pass (eventually).

Long term I have four characters that I’m some what dedicated towards. That would be the swashbuckler, defiler, coercer, and bruiser. It’s no coincidence that there’s one of each class, either. One day I have high hopes that each of these characters will have 300 aa – but that’s a long time in the future, if ever.

This weekend is incredibly quiet in guild with two of the core members away for various real life functions. I spent this evening out at the National Art Center here in Ottawa, taking in The Lion King broadway musical. It was very well done and I had an amazing time. It was also a huge step forward for me as I suffer from agoraphobia and dislike being in situations that I can’t escape easily from (like balconies in theaters). The set design took my breath away and the story (one we’re no doubt all quite familiar with) was portrayed in such a unique manor.

Back to EQ2 – SOE has disabled the Dragon Ring / Wizard spire event until next week. There were a few bugs with it, number one it was running too quickly and thus progressing too quickly which meant that people who were away for the weekend or unable to participate would miss out on obtaining tokens. In fact as of this morning (and a few hours before) Antonia Bayle was 99% completed. Except the final encounter also did not work, in Eastern Wastes there is an epic x4 that was defeated and yet they remained at 99% completed even afterward. Rumor has it (I have yet to confirm the later portion at least) that the event will change frequency and be once every (3?) few hours instead of every 30 minutes. Thus it will take longer to complete. On that same note, I had heard (but not confirmed personally) that any progress over 50% will be wiped from the slate, and servers will have to work back up to 100% completion again.

While I realize these things happen, I can’t help but wonder what caused the issues. The event was on the test server for a few weeks before running live – the timer issue I can see because apparently it’s as simple as the event running every 30 on the test server and forgetting to switch it when it was moved to the live server. However, the end event not triggering properly is a bit odd. I think that perhaps with Fan Faire looming at the time things were not looked at as carefully as they should have been, it’s a crazy time of year for everyone involved.

I did manage to run the event a few times before it was taken offline. I purchased a replica of the Dragon Rings, as well as some teleporters for my house and a velium shard or two. That was another thing I didn’t quite agree with, every hour a player could earn a shard if they hung around afk in the area and picked up the quest for 25 tokens each time. Hopefully before this goes live again all of the kinks are ironed out.

How is everyone else spending their weekend? Inquiring minds wish to know! Let me know in comments. As always, happy gaming no matter where you find yourself!

It never fails. I’m sitting in the public channels while going about something in game and I hear the usual conversation of “such and such game sucks” and numerous reasons why. One reason that always seems to come up is “the graphics are too much like a cartoon and that must mean it’s for little kids”.  I’ve never really understood this complaint because it’s an art style, and has nothing to do with game play. You’re not expected to like every single art style out there but why the hatred towards those that do? Why is it so difficult for MMO players in specific to understand and respect a difference in opinion. A lot of people are not fond of the style of art found in Aion – but I wonder if they look at the art style and associate it with a type of game, and thus they’ve already judged what sort of game it is before even giving it a shot. The same goes for any other game out there – like World of Warcraft. Players take one look at the graphics, and go ew mentally in their head. Once you’ve come to that decision it’s really hard to open up and give it another chance. By that same token, there are those out there who do not like the look of EQ2 at all. Of course that’s going to affect your game play and decisions about whether or not to play because guess what, no one wants to spend hours looking at something they just find repugnant as a hobby. Well, maybe a few out there do. Most would rather not.

For those asking, yes I’m still playing on the Antonia Bayle server. I have a whole mess of characters if you want to add to friends: Stargrace, Ellithia, Jacquotte, Minxes, Ishbel, Faralithe, Arysh, Sharatan, Trinetta, Kameeko, Petites, Seduisant, and Seduit. I think that’s all of them.

Thanks to the newly acquired 2nd account from the other half, I’ve got my first 90 weaponsmith. He had leveled the character to 81 but hadn’t progressed any further, so last night I decided (as my bruiser was leveling) to do a few writs, and before I knew it I was 90. That means all I’m missing from my ‘collection’ is a sage and an armorer. Of course it also means I need to keep both accounts open if I want to make use of the other crafter, but that’s not too difficult of a choice for me at least (at this point in time). I am not sure if I will want to keep both accounts open once mercenary release, that’s something I’ll just have to wait and see.

My 9th level 90 managed to level up last night, the bruiser. That gives me 180% xp bonus for having max level characters, something I can take advantage of when the next expansion releases since there’s no increase. Leveling is really easy in EQ2 (at least, I find) and this will come in handy when I create a beastlord, as well as working on my aa points. I’m excited about the bruiser, I’ve never really played one to any great extent and they’re a lot of fun. Plus I’ve gotten some nice pretties for her over the last little while, so she’ll have some gear including a raid weapon.

Thursday! Only one more day until the weekend starts. I hope everyone is having a fantastic week thus far, no matter where you find yourself. Happy gaming! I’ll see you in Norrath (and Telon).