Random Game News

Well, there’s lots of news going on out there – to start things off, the newest Wizard 101 world is going live today! What a great Canada Day gift to players. I’m excited about this world for a few reasons, number one you can level up through it just as you would level up a character, so for those who have completed it all – it’s time for alts, and time to run quests for house items. It will also impliment a crafting system, bazaar, and the new 18+ chat system, and a few other goodies. Speaking of goodies, be sure to check out Tipa’s site for some wallpaper goodies! I love how fast things come out of test for players.

Of course there is also the discussion about the Chronicles of Spellborn becomming free to play – I dipped into this game only VERY briefly, and didn’t enjoy it. I’m not sure why. I don’t even think I made it past the tutorial, but maybe I just know my comfort zones, and tend to stay within.

I am looking forward to the next Aion beta weekend, from July 2nd to the 4th. I have no idea if I’ll actually manage to drag myself to the PC to play, but we’ll see. It would be nice.

I spent some time on the new EQ server yesterday, Mayong. For those who have been living under a rock, this new server is a 50/51 server – you log in and create, and achieve level 50 instantly, as well as 51 aa to your name. You also start out with all of your spells (and I do mean all) as well as some gear and backpacks (there are more packpacks waiting for your in the bank if you’re looking for them). You don’t start with any money, so you’ll want to farm some especially if you plan on using a mercenary.

The server was absolutely packed last night, I had problems moving around. It was fantastic. There were four general channels, and people were advertising for groups and guilds all over the place. PoK was packed, it was easy to tell who had been a long time player and who had returned for the free 30 days and didn’t know about the guild lobby yet.

There were of course raids also going on, and I saw a few system messages about encounters that were being taken down. I didn’t stay for too long but I did create myself a beastlord, enchanter, cleric, and bard. Whether I will actually stick with one of those or head back to Drinal I am unsure.

In EQ2 (the brief time I played) I collected some more red shiny and decided to do a little crafting and put items for sale which was nice. Not going to be purchasing anything super expensive over the next little while, but hey it’s better then nothing.

I hope everyone has a fantastic day today, it’s the first of July and thus Canada Day! Get out there and enjoy it for me.

A Little Bit of Everything

Another day of ‘not much going on in game’ since I was so busy doing other things on Friday but today should be a good day of gaming. I’ve been meaning to play a little more Sims 3, but haven’t managed to find the time (yet). Soon! I did dip into Wizard 101 for a fair amount yesterday, my Life / Storm wizard hit level 20 and did some awesome battles. I’ve also encountered a few dungeons now – that I can’t beat what so ever. It was still fun! I redeemed my facebook code and earned 1,000 gold which makes me able to afford the smaller house in Wizard City, but I’m thinking of saving up for a home of a different world. I haven’t quite decided yet. My Myth / Death wizard also managed to snag a few levels and is sitting just shy of level 10. I’ve been completing the Wizard City quests with her and she’s obtained some really awesome house items that the higher level wizard missed out on since they came after I’d completed the quests.

In EQ2 I plan on getting a few crafting levels (carpenter hopefully), doing a few instances (the boys should be around I believe, which will be great) and maybe I can finally get that transmuting up to 350+ which will let me begin to transmute T8 gear. Then it’s time for adornments!

What is everyone else up to this weekend? Any good games on the list? Once things have calmed down a little more I should have a little time in LotRO (I have a free month incoming) since that tapered down some. The game is great, but it just feels (to me) exactly like every other fantasy MMO out there, and I’m already playing three of those (EQ, EQ2, VG). I still love the look and love my character, but without an infinite amount of time to be able to play everything I want to play, something has to take a back seat.

Other then that, quiet weekend. Happy gaming and I’ll see you in Norrath!

So Many Games, So Little Time

A full blog post just isn’t working out for me today, so I’ll keep it short (for once). I didn’t get to play EQ2 at all yesterday due to work, meetings, and other things popping up (brother came down for the day) but I picked up the daily double to do at another time since you can keep them for a number of days. Started a few new games, can’t talk about one yet but I will as soon as I can. Princess (the cat) woke me up at 5:45 instead of 5:30 today, so that’s nice. She’s resorted to chewing apart the same book instead of 20 different ones, another bonus!

Next weekend is the Medieval Festival and work deadlines, so needless to say my posts will be sporadic and disjointed at best over the course of the following seven days. Once that weekend is over things should be able to settle back down to normal, and I won’t appear so harried and frantic. We’ll see!

Happy gaming where ever you play, and have yourselves a fantastic weekend.

Information Overload

Alright, first of all WOW what a week and it’s only Wednesday. I’m feeling 95% better and after having health issues for over a month this is a HUGE deal. It’s fantastic, I’ve been so excited and energetic. Now I just have to keep it up. I’ve been following E3 updates on twitter as well as G4 Tech Tv live, and while personally I’m not a console gamer at all (even though I do own a wii, PS3 and DSi) I am excited about a few things. Kingdom Hearts, Golden sun, a new mario (or two, even though I personally did not like mario galaxy) and who didn’t think the video of The Last Guardian just looked fantastic. Then there’s Natal, and all of the other motion sensor toys coming out, and the new PSP Go. While twitter was filled with some very bitter comments, I tried to keep a positive outlook (as is my way) and remind myself that these are games.

Tipa reminded me that The Dares would be performing in Free Realms across all servers, live from E3 last night, so I quickly made my way into game and ported to her on server 4. It was PACKED. It was the first time I ever experienced lag in Free Realms and we met up with some other bloggers / twitter users which was absolutely fantastic. We danced the night away, and I even picked up one of the concert tshirts for $1 because come on now, you just have to. On the down side while twitter said they played a full set at E3 they only played one song in game, and it was cut short each time, though they did repeat it twice if you stuck around. Still, having friends there made it a massive amount of fun and it was only too easy to see how popular Free Realms had become.

I did spend some time in EQ2 but I didn’t play. I loaded it up on my laptop and hung around in the guild hall chattering to Wpus, Ultann, and Kasul while they went and did all the hard work (mostly crafting and writs) for the evening. On the PC I continued to play Sims 3, I know how embarrassing. Giving up my MMO of choice for an evening to play something as fun silly as Sims. I tried to get to sleep early, the guild is VERY close to level 40 and three more amenity which is just amazing. Ultann has been belting out the writs like they’re being removed from game in the next update (they are not, that was a joke folks).

Thanks to one very kind Kasul I am now holding a copy of Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura which is an RPG that came out in 2001, that follows the Steampunk genre. I had never even heard of it before but when I entered in NeoSteam on GamerDNA this was one of the games they suggested I may enjoy, and it just so happened that Kasul had a copy of it kicking around. Not being an avid gamer myself until these last few years, I’d never even heard of it before. He also sent a copy of Morrowind: The Elder Scrolls III which I’ve never played (despite the game sharing my last name of ‘Morrow’) so I’m looking forward to getting both of those installed on my PC. Sure these game may have seen better years, but I still play EQ happily and that game is 10 years old, so why not.

One last note before I head off to get the morning chores done – have you taken a look at these amazing tinker-themed housing items from EQ2? Holy WOW. I love the selection and any little gnome boy or girl is going to just fall in love with the set. Especially the wall dividers how amazing do those look?! The team has lined up some fantastic goodies for GU52 and I’m really looking forward to it all. I hope everyone has a fantastic Wednesday, in a week and a half the Medieval Festival will be taking place and barring any horrible weather I’ll be there taking pictures again this year – I’m SO excited.

Happy Gaming!

Feel the Love (again)

So much has gone on over the last few days, I figured I’d jumble it all into this one post. To start, I know I’ve been quiet on the Twitter front (and in general) lately, but real life has been slightly difficult, and will probably continue to be so for the next few weeks. Nothing much I can do about that. As I’ve watched all the wonderful and amazing blogs and fan sites for various games crop up over the past three years I’m wondering if I want to keep up with my own. While I do make it a fairly good habit to write every day (and I just crossed the 1200 post mark not too long ago) there doesn’t seem to be much desire for ‘hey I love the games I play’ posts as opposed to everything else. Now, I know these moods of mine come and go (in regards to writing) and it’s spring (almost summer) so I’m feeling the itch of change, I’m sure this mood too will pass and I will indeed continue writing. I need some new avenue to venture down.

In other news, by now most people have heard that Alan “Brenlo” Crosby is moving over to a new position on the EQ2 team. It’s not so different then his current position, and Greeblen will be taking over his job. Congratulations to both of them for the promotions. I had a blast interviewing Brenlo (as well as other members of the Community Team) in San Diego when I was down earlier this year, and I’m sure he’ll do a fantastic job. That being said, Bruce Ferguson (who I also interviewed) will be moving to a new project. Wonder what it could be.

If you enjoy playing EverQuest, or (like me) play off and on remember that this weekend is a bonus experience weekend from Friday May 22nd until the morning of Tuesday May 26th! I will be in game on Drinal, probably working on that hand augment quest. I intend on dragging Wpus and Ultann with me because both of their characters are just inches away from level 85 which is the current cap. We’ll see how that goes.

Vanguard had some pretty big changes happen this week, including a level cap increase to 55, new zones, new quests and all sorts of other goodies. I do still play my bloodmage on Seradon (as well as other characters) but just never seem to find the proper time in between everything else. I’m going to try to find some time to explore the new content, as my bloodmage is pretty close to the old level cap of 50. We’ll see how that goes. I also saw that you can now do spell crafting which would be pretty nice.

In EverQuestII we’re all eagerly awaiting GU52, and there’s a preview out for one of the new Kurn’s Tower zones. I’m not sure if it sounds exciting or just frustrating. If you remember The Crucible (which it makes reference to) there’s puzzles to be solved and books to be burned that require more then my little trio (most of the time). We’ll just have to wait and see.

Game wise for myself personally I spent some time yesterday helping Hamal level, and he inched his way to level 66! We did the Crucible (mentored down to his level) flawlessly, and also managed to do Scion of Ice, and Necrotic Asylum (which happened to be the daily double). He got a few upgrades, and we got a few more discoveries. We also headed to Obelisk of Ahkzul and my mystic gathered together enough shards to get her T2 breastplate which means I only need shards for two more pieces, her hat and shoulders (for tier 2 that is). I played the paladin earlier on in the day and inched her to level 73, and the dirge later in the day who is closing in on 76. I spent far too much money buying adept3 skills for her but they were really needed. Getting resisted on practically everything (I took her to Obelisk, where the mobs were orange) is not fun.

Tomorrow is the start of an early weekend, and I may (hopefully) be feeling well enough to travel to Upper Canada Village to take those pictures I have been talking about forever now. We’ll see how it goes (fingers crossed). I hope everyone has an amazing Thursday, no matter where you spend your time.