A Pixel Nomad

New Projects?

Now that my NaNoWriMo is completed (yes, you read that right) I’m looking for a few more creative outlets to partake in. One of which was written about by Tipa as well as Malfi. ShutterCal is a fantastic little site where you upload one picture a day and over the months you have quite the little memory album. Of course since I just found out about this site I went back and updated for the entire month – pictures that are not necessarily from this month, but they’re things that I’ve done this year. From today onwards I’ll use up to date photographs. No guarantee that I’ll update it every day, but I’ll be trying. You can find my calendar posted here. Along that same line, I’m contemplating setting up a site that would work as a creative outlet, with photography, art, and writing. Then I can leave this site to gaming (and gaming related art of course) and not have to bore people with posts like this one. I’ll more then likely just use blogger or wordpress depending on my mood.

I’ve been having a lot of fun decorating, and as a reminder to myself I really need to get those Moors quests done so I can gain some faction and finally purchase those recipe books that I keep talking about. There’s still a lot to do in EQ2, and I’ve been having fun just picking what I want to do for an evening and then doing it, without worrying about being behind in anything.

Last night I played my bruiser (newly betrayed from monk) in Everfrost. She’s level 52 (now 53) and the heroic blue and green encounters are something she can solo, which I really like. Even better is the fact that the bruiser is on my ‘main’ account, which means she gets 50% bonus experience. I’ve been neglecting my plate tanks, who I mentioned some time ago that I wanted to level to end game, simply because lots of people look for ‘instance tanks’ and not so much raid tanks. I think I could be a good one, if I tried. Motivating myself to leave the crafting instance and get out there and gain some levels is a little more difficult. Guess we’ll just see how it goes!

P.S. Getting ready to make home made peanut butter cups. Feel free to stop by!

Bards, Just Crafting for Fun

We go out, in Norrathian Night,
My guildies say when you gonna do your void shard quests right,
Oh GM’s please we’re not adventuring ones,
We’re bards just crafting for fun.
Oh bards just crafting for fun.

The saw cuts in the middle of the night,
A shadowknight yells something about adventuring right,
The instances will always be number one.
But bards they’re just crafting fun.
Oh Bards just want to craft–

That’s all they really want.
Some crafting.
When the adventuring day is done,
Bards– they’re just crafting for fun.
Oh Bards just crafting for fun.

Ahem, alright now that I got that out of my system. Last night Kasul was having issues getting the new round of crafting quests (there are a bunch of forum posts about these issues on the EQ2players forums, so check them out for more details) so Tipa and I headed off to gear up a dwarven army just the two of us. I decided I would bring Goudia, my 59 alchemist rather then my level 80 crafter because I wanted to actually gain some experience from the encounters. Though now that means Silhouette is behind on tokens and faction. I should be able to get the new solo quest some time today or tomorrow, and get the rest of the faction and finally purchase the two recipe books I’ve been eyeballing.

I managed to get one far seas innovation that rewarded me with a T8 pelt, and the loot at the end was not too bad, at least we each got a piece. Tipa walked away with a new book that none of us has yet to make more void shard pieces, and I got an alchemist piece of set gear. The quest itself was a lot of fun, I enjoy the ones that fill the zone with level 100 epicx4’s and we get to partake in some grand battle. The quest took roughly an hour and a half with just the two of us, but even that was not too bad. I gained two levels (completely out of vitality might I add, and it hurts even with the 50% bonus my account currently has) and Tipa also gained a level on her tailor.

Silhouette is a little behind now in her tokens, but I’ve come to the conclusion that unless you’re in a proper 6 person group, those crafting instances are really boring at level 80. They take a long time to complete (mind you, they’re meant to be done in a group and not solo, get a group and you’re sailing) and you’re not gaining anything during the process, you’re just counting down the minutes for it to be over.

Now, if you’re a lower level crafter (50+) these instances are fantastic, and doing them alone for three hours can reward you with quite a few levels as well as the Far Seas innovations and the loot at the end. My alchemist has moved 10 levels in less then a week, and the tailor is getting up there too. My armorer needs to hit level 50 first before I can do any of the instances on her, I managed to get one level yesterday and she’s sitting at 41. Only 9 more levels to go. It really feels like quite a grind to get those levels too after experiencing the joys of instances, but I’ll struggle through it some how!

I hope to get more adventuring done sooner or later. Some instances and finishing off those Moors quests would be a great example. I’ve been doing some exping on my baby bruiser, more about that later today!

House Items and Crafting Instances

Yesterday for some reason the npc’s in Mara turned their nose up at Tipa, Kasul, and I. So we didn’t get to do our nightly Tradeskill Instance. Tomorrow or the day after I should be able to do the solo quest again and that will give me enough faction to purchase the two recipe books with the tokens I’ve been collecting. Then I can start working towards something else. Even though I couldn’t do the instance with my main (I was unlocked from the instances as well, so I’m not sure what the issue was) I decided earlier in the day to solo one with my tailor. My tailor is on the 2nd account I have, and therefor doesn’t get the experience bonus that those on the main account have (which is a 50% bonus). How noticeable was it? In the time that my alchemist managed to get 6 levels, the tailor got 3.5 levels. Though my alchemist also used a 55% potion, and I did not use one on the tailor. For three hours of work that requires no raw materials, I still find it quite good. I got her to level 56 tailor. So that leaves my current crafters at 80 sage, provisioner, woodworker, carpenter, jeweler, 59 alchemist, 56 tailor, and 40 armorer. The armorer is a few levels shy of being able to do those Moors quests and the instances, so she’ll be next while the other two regain their vitality (why doesn’t the 5 year reward replenish the tradeskill vitality as well as adventure?!). I didn’t get any rares this time around, but I did get a recipe book along with a piece of sage jewelery. I traded the sage piece off to Misako and I’ll have to wait until level 70 to scribe the book. It was still a fun run though.

Earlier in the day I headed to the Moors to work on the chains of quests there. I had already cleared out most of the quests at the landing pad on Arysh, but still had the one remaining that turns you into a warboar. Fun quest! The quests reward a LOT of coin, which is something I like and I dislike. I wish that there were gear rewards, but I understand that RoK gave a LOT of gear rewards and maybe it was just time for something new. There are some absolutely wonderful house rewards, and those I am enjoying a great deal (of course).

One of the rewards was the statue pictured in this post. It lines up flush with the wall, so I’m trying to think of something unique and exciting to do with it. Maybe I’ll just add it to the museum. I saw someone link a miniature air balloon that’s going to look fantastic in my Ethernaught section, and a Lucan D’Lere action figure that will fit right in. The expansion certainly has a lot of amazing house items for players, as well as fantastic gear from Void Shards. You do need quite a bit of Void Shards to purchase your gear but keep in mind that ALL of the gear on the void shard merchants (or at least the lesser and greater gear I have seen, as well as the charm slot items and jewelery) can be made via commission for LESS void shards then you would normally spend if you can find a crafter who has the proper books. It’s nice to see crafters play a little bit more of a roll in EQ2, and something I’m sure other crafters are happy to see.

Next I need to work on my factions, there are recipe books located in the Moors at three faction outlets, and you can make some pretty amazing things from those (which I’ve linked in previous posts). Hopefully I’ll get a chance to earn some more void shards, as well as some Far Seas tokens. Not too far away from that Unicorn mount now!

Wake Up Call

There’s nothing more refreshing then the cold morning air blowing past you, unless it’s combined with rain and snow and it’s bright and early on a Tuesday morning, you’re standing in your jammies with your jacket on, camera strapped to your back and a shivering kitty in her crate.

That was my wake up call this morning and I thought I’d share. You know how every one has a few particular items that they just couldn’t do without (or so I think) if the house were on fire? The things that spring up right away in your mind when you think about losing them? Well, the fire alarms don’t go off too often here, but I treat every time as though it’s an actual fire (which is more then a lot of the building people do) and I take some things with me every single time just in case the one time I don’t treat it like a real one, and it ends up that it is. Does that make sense? Think I got some snow lodged in some place and my thought process is a bit foggy.

Anyhow. Fire alarm goes off, I hunt down the kitty (who hides in any number of places) pack her into her carrier, grab my purse, some shoes, a jacket, and my camera bag. Once the laptop gets a bag (on the list) I’ll probably grab that too. My camera bag has an umbrella in it and a few other goodies tucked into pouches, purse has important things that I’ll need etc etc. It works out well.

Lugging the kitty down the 11 flights of stairs, not so fun.

Picture above is of the fire men getting to the building, we had THREE trucks show up for a malfunctioning pump in the garage apparently (that’s what the supervisor came out and told us. Lets take note of the fact that she stayed in the nice warm building while all of us hung out in the snow). The building is 18 floors, 15 units or so per floor. The second picture to the right is Shadowgeist and Princess (in the crate that would be Princess not Shadow) trying to avoid the rain, snow, and just hanging out waiting to be let back into the building.

Meet Spit

I decided yesterday to get station access. I seem to switch my subscriptions around every month, so I wasn’t surprised when I began feeling the twinge to play Vanguard (not to mention EQ1) again. I wish SoE offered some sort of family plan along with station access. In my house there are three EQ2 accounts, although now it’s two EQ2 accounts and one station access account. It would be nice to see more variety for billing options. Anyhow, Kasul and Gozad were both in game as well. I wasn’t feeling all that social (hey, it happens, I like to talk but don’t always like to group) and so I hung around trying to get used to my keys again. I’ve always enjoyed Vanguard to quite a large degree, but the population coupled with lack of a guild to call home prevents me from making it my ‘main’ game (that and sinking 4+ years into EQ2 now). Anyhow. I noticed I had a new /claim item. Opened it up excitedly, and found resting inside a new camel mount for each of my characters. I named this one Spit, pictured above with my Raki paladin sitting proudly. It’s 30% speed, which is pretty good for a low level mount. My level 41 blood mage is riding the quested mount that gives 70% speed. Of course when you add horse shoes it’s faster, but I’m not complaining. I also got 25 experience potions (in Vanguard potions count for tradeskill, adventure, and diplomacy as well as quest experience. I’d love to see this implemented into EQ2) for a 50% bonus (for an hour) to all spheres.

Nestled deep into the package was also a wand that let me changed my shape into something ‘cool’. Randomly. Always being an avid lover of clickies, I transformed into the wyvern in the screen shot. Giggling, because they’re very tiny, I ran around Khal causing issues for guards. The raki turned into a pile of ooze. Figures.

A LOT has changed and been added to Vanguard since the last time I played, and I played not all that long ago. In fact as I browsed through the patch notes trying to see what had been added since I played last, it was practically enough content to count as an expansion. There have been pages upon pages of fixes for everything in every sphere, there have been quest areas opened up with over 700 items added, new camps, new factions, new raids.

I also got an email about the new harvest quests added to Telon. An explanation on the thanksgiving holiday (more or less). While the forums didn’t speak very highly of the quests, it’s nice to see that the game is still going strong with added content.

The channels were busy as always. Again I always stress to join the /craft channel (on Seradon at least, it may be called something else on the other servers) and /dip. I also highly suggest getting the very simple to install map mod at Sorsha.

Kasul and I explored around the Three Rivers area with our level 11’s before calling it a night. For anyone out there reading who does play Vanguard, if you know of a friendly family type guild on Seradon (active of course) let me know! I’ll more then likely add more Vanguard posts (along with EQ1) over the next little bit, though EQ2 is of course still my main game of choice.