A Pixel Nomad

Nights of the Dead went (a)live (giggles) today slowly in EverQuestII, there was no downtime for it, but as the morning wore on we all gradually saw items  being added to zones. Of course I was excited about all the new crafting bits, and as Kasul went out and killed scary creatures to swipe their treats (and got a lot of discoveries might I add) I stayed in TD and crafted the new bits with them. Above Silhouette is sporting one of the new outfits. 

I almost feel as though I should be swinging from buildings and humming the spider-man theme song. 

Back in Silhouette’s house, some new items have made their way to the decor. A couple of guests who never made it out. I promise it won’t happen to anyone else if they come visit me. Seriously. I mean just because Nostalgia used to be compromised of over 100 guild mates and then they all mysteriously vanished that one dank night doesn’t mean that I.. well, never mind. 

Trick or Treating made a return in both West Freeport and North Qeynos, as did the Halloween houses in each zone. You’ll remember them from previous years. What’s new though aside from the fantastic craftables, is the haunted house in Loping Plains. The zone is scary, and was done VERY well. It was a little difficult for my 80 coercer to solo this zone, I think I’d have a much easier time in a group (since there are heroics in here) or if she were a healer. I died twice, and lets just say that bats are no longer friends of mine in any mmo, lease of all EQ2. 

The new haunted house comes with two choices of rewards, and the cloak pictured above. I didn’t check it out enough to see if it could be transformed into a tapestry like many of the other cloaks these days, but it would be very nice if it could be (ie: The Ethernaught cloak in Sinking Sands, and the Fan Faire cloak from /claim). 

I had a LOT of fun completing the quests, and watching everyone in game dress up. The haunted house had a LOT of lag for me, but it wasn’t that surprising knowing the number of people who were in it and the crowd gathered outside was just as bad. Hopefully everyone has a fantastic time and enjoys themselves. Trust me, the house items alone are worth it. You can take a peek at them over at EQ2traders if you have not yet.

* From 1 to 19, he’s a little bearcub that follows you around. 
* From 20 to 39, he grows up and you can ride him around (a 20% speed mount). 
* From 40 to 59, he gets a saddle, and some more speed (30%). 
* From 60 to 79, he gains armor, and more speed (40%). 
* At 80, he’s fully grown. He has a full set of armor & saddle and is as fast as he’ll ever get (52%). 

Each character on an account will be able to claim the bear. 

 

As it is all working right now people who attended fan faire will get a digital download of the expansion all-in-one pack. 

The dire bears only come as part of the retail box (either pre-ordered or purchased after launch) so they won’t be part of the fan faire distribution.

Last night was a great time in EQ2 – but then again lately every day has been. To start things off, the wireless issues are solved and everything is working flawlessly. It was something I wouldn’t have known to fix, so thank you Woof for explaining it to me. Apparently microsoft has a ‘feature’ that bumps all wireless connections every 10 minutes looking for a new connection. Specifically if you don’t have your wireless broadcasting. Which I didn’t, it was locked and hidden. So now it’s encrypted, has a password and is broadcasting. Played last night for a few hours with no interuptions at all, everything worked just fine. 

I’m still getting used to having my two accounts on two seperate computers. I imagine it will take some time after 7 years of boxing on the same computer. The most difficult part is figuring out which account to put on the laptop. When I’m soloing that tends to be a healer, as I am using them less. However, when I’m in a group the healers tend to be someone I use a great deal more depending on who I’m with and what I’m doing. 

Last night I wanted to try to get some items to transmute as well as some of the special blood iron ore that’s used in DFC crafting. So I asked Kasul if he wanted to tank DFC and I’d play my monk / defiler combo. It was actually a lot of fun, and we both got a lot of goodies to sell and transmute. Most of them ended up in the guild bank for Nostalgia members to use. My fae monk also hit level 49 while we were in there which was nice. The defiler hit 80% into her level, so I’m hoping to reach 73 today with no issues. 

I’ve been contemplating re-activating my EQ1 account and taking a peek around again, and re-joining with Nostalgia The Guild on their Friday night adventures. I stopped a little bit ago when I was focusing more on EQ2 and had other RL things going, but it’s been tugging a bit lately. 

Nights of the Dead should be coming tomorrow and I’m really excited about it. There’s apparently a heroic version of the instance, which should be a lot of fun – not to mention LOTS of crafting goodies. Excited? Yes I am! I donated all of my old Halloween items to the guild hall, so it will be nice to get a few extra for my own homes. I decided to go one character at a time, and “complete” their homes, though my warden and illusionist have had theirs for years now they could use a facelift. 

Just another week of good ‘ol fun EQ2 style!

Computer issues are not resolved yet, but should be soon. On the plus side I’ve become very good at guessing when the connection is about to bump (approx every 10 minutes) and I’ve been playing around it. It’s not enough of a bump to dump me off of EQ2, just enough to cause a minute or so of nothing happening on my screen. Apparently it’s a known issue though. Since it’s happening to both my pc (wireless adapter) and my laptop – but NOT the 2nd pc that’s plugged in with a cable, it was easier to search for. 

I’ve been questing Stargrace and Ellithia (78 illusionist and 72 defiler) around Kylong Plains lately. They make a fairly interesting duo, I typically mentor down and have the illusionist call her pet, then it’s just a matter of root and nuking. The defiler debuffs and casts her heals, sets her pet on the encounter as well. If root breaks it’s not such a big deal since the healer is close at hand – and so far encounters have been blue and below. I’m actually looking forward to playing the monk with the defiler, or perhaps (oh noes!) creating even more alts. We’ll see how it goes. I guess it’s fairly safe to say EQ2 has a fairly good grip on me as of late, and the best part is that I’m happy with that. 

Tipa and I were talking about how EQ2 is “home base” for both of us. We may play other games, and I certainly do wander but when all is said and done we both end up back in EQ2 – and happily so. 

I’m hoping once the computer issues are fixed I can get the defiler the rest of her level. I have a very lofty goal of trying to hit 80 before The Shadow Odyssey releases next month, but that’s 7.5 levels I’d have to gain before release and I think that’s a little much in less then a month. We’ll see how it goes in any case. I also want to level my necromancer, and my monk, and my paladin. Ahh good times. 

Nostalgia gained some new members last week via the guild recruitment tool. Surprised me because our guild rarely ever actually shows up on the list of guilds recruiting. I keep mine turned on “just in case” someone happens to think Nostalgia may be what they’re looking for. More members is never a bad thing!