Tag: EVE

In the Mean Time..

It’s been quite some time since I’ve written about games other than EQ2 on this site – but that doesn’t mean I’m not playing them. I had been making most of those ‘other’ types of posts over at NomadicGamer since the site needed a few posts and because they fit within the topic a lot better. Hopefully my readers here don’t mind that everything is not EQ2 related this week.

What I’m up to in games

EVE Online: My main account is (at the time of writing this) exactly 5 days, 8 hours, 3 minutes, 1 second away from flying a hulk. WOW. I’m incredibly excited. I’ve dreamed about flying a hulk since I first started playing EVE and now that I’m almost there it is a very surreal feeling. The down side to this is that I’ve failed 6 hulk blueprint inventions. Using this site to figure out the math pretty much explained how hulks have the lowest success rate. I’m hoping to keep plugging away at it and maybe invent one just before I can fly it but I’m not holding my breath. In the mean time I’ve been running missions for CreoDron so that I can work with a L3 agent, I’m .15 standing away which is pretty nice. My second account is having a blast flying her new Dominix, it’s a battlecruiser and I just managed to fit some 350mm compressed coil guns onto it. Yum. Now I’m working towards all of the drone goodies as my ship is mostly a tank while drones do all of the damage work. Yesterday Kasul helped me fit a new imicus that I bought for scouting (probing). I’ve never been all that good at probing, but I’m not going to get any better if I don’t try it more often. I’d like to scan down sites for the hulk to mine. I need 26 hours of training in order to fit the cloaking device, but aside from that it’s the first ship that I’ve actually completely fit, and properly. My 2nd account has four ships that I use. The Dominix (battlecruiser) for my missions, the Vexor (cruiser) for missions that don’t allow battlecruisers (I hate those missions, just saying), the Imicus for scouting, and the Iteron V for hauling. I like the set up so far, and I’m having a lot of fun with it. I really enjoy the Dominix a great deal too, great ship.

World of Warcraft: I’ve been playing this game off and on since release and it’s always amusing to me to hear everyone talk about it. My highest level character just reached level 64 yesterday (woot), my priest. Everyone talks about having multiple level 80 characters, and how easy it is to get there but for me it seems like the slowest thing in the world. I’m having a lot of fun with it, working my way through the Burning Crusade and little bits into Wrath of the Lich King. Neither expansion is something I’m all that familiar with and it’s all brand new. Of course much like I do in every game I play, I’ve been crafting as much as I can. My tailor (the priest) just reached a skill level of 350 yesterday, and chose a specialization in mooncloth. Once I reach level 65 I can obtain the Grand Master rank, and continue on. Even though some people argue that crafting in WoW is simple, I really enjoy it. It’s nice to have the objectives of the crafting mini game change compared to what I’m used to. The actual ACT of crafting is not the mini game in WoW. Obtaining materials and recipes is the mini game, and even then only because I make it so. It doesn’t make it any less interesting to me, and I’m really enjoying myself. I have five characters, the 64 priest (tailor / enchanter), 58 DK (used mostly for farming, mining / herbalism), 43 hunter (farming, skinning / mining), 40 shaman (jewelcrafting / inscription), and a level 8 druid (alchemy / herbalism). I’m excited about inching my way to level 80 because I’ve always wanted to be ‘end game’ even though it was constantly out of my grasp. No guarantee that I’ll make it this time around either, but I’m hopeful.

EQ2: I still log in, check the broker, search for new books, and craft. Decorating is a little slower, but I still have a lot of fun with it. I think I’m just waiting for Halas to come out so I can see if it affects my game at all, and see if I get excited about it again. Breaks are not bad things, and I’m enjoying my time away from EQ2 right now. There’s a reason I term myself a nomadic gamer after all!

There are other games on my radar like Age of Conan (I picked up the game for $7 from EBGames), Dark Ages of Camelot ($10 with all expansions from – you guessed it, EBGames), Fallen Earth, Champions Online, Wizard101, LotRO, and DDO. I also still have my subscription to Darkfall, though I haven’t been playing it lately and I own Guild Wars which I keep meaning to play again and just never seem to get around to it.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself. I hope everyone has a magnificant weekend!

WTB Some Time

I love my job, I really do. Being able to write about something I enjoy as well as something I’m passionate about is a great gift that I try to make sure I’m aware of constantly. On my web site, I write for me and I love talking about my adventures, thoughts, friends and anything else that happens to cross my mind. The only time any of this is difficult is when it all seems to happen at once. These days there are so many games out there, that I simply don’t have enough time to play everything I want. It’s a shame, because I’d really love to.

EQ2 is my ‘steady’ game even though I’m barely playing it these days (it’s due to being crunch week and no other reason) it’s the comfort game that I know inside and out, and I like that comfort factor. However. It’s not the only game I want to play and certainly not the only game I am playing.

I’ve been having an incredible urge to continue playing EQ, which I have waded in and out of for quite some time now. Problem is I don’t enjoy playing EQ alone (where as in EQ2 I have no problem wandering around on my own) and it’s difficult for me to make friends (especially when I waver to and from games). I have my 81 necromancer that I’m considering leveling a little, she’s fairly close to level 82. I’ve always wanted to hit “end game” in everquest, and with the expansion NOT raising the level cap in November, it may very well be a possibility.

Vanguard is another one of those “if I only had more time” games. I seem to be in a rut with my blood mage, and I’m slowly running out of areas where I can just dip in for an hour or two before calling it quits and feel as though I have gotten anything acomplished.

Last month I won a free copy of Age of Conan, I think I found the time to play once during the month that came with the game, and then it sat neglected. For some reason it just does not appeal to me as much as I wish it had. It may be because I’m not really a melee person, and it felt uncomfortable. Either way, it’s one of those “I wish I had more time” games – along with many others.

Lord of the rings online – I really enjoy this game, a lot. It’s familiar, it’s beautiful. I want to continue playing but for now my account lays dormant because once again the greedy time monster has taken all of my time away, and I just don’t have any to spare or to warent spending a monthly subscription for it.

So what AM I playing? Well, my current play list includes EverQuest II, Vanguard (barely), Free Realms (barely), World of Warcraft (please don’t shoot me, it’s easy to dive into for an hour and feel like I actually acomplished something), Wizard 101, Aion Beta, and some DDO.  I want to be able to devote more time to EVE, but that learning curve is so far over my head I may as well actually be playing from another planet. I’ve been having fun in Aion, but again – not enough time to play everything I want to play, and to get work done as well as real life things (plus I can’t actually sit at my desk for too long before I start to get sore from health issues).

While I am excited that there are so many games out there (don’t even get me started on console games and finding time to play those too!) there are certainly moments where I wish the selection were smaller. Am I the only one?

Wandering around in EVE Online

I like gaming, obviously. I tend to stick to my ‘usual’ games (EQ/EQ2/VG) but every so often I like to play something new. Well, actually I enjoy playing new games a lot of the time. They don’t typically have something that keeps me in the game, but it’s still fun. I enjoy the ‘first time’ experience, and I love comparing it to adventures I’ve already had. In some small way, it widens my views of games in general (I personally feel) plus, well, it’s just fun.  Playing video games is still relatively ‘new’ to me as I’ve mentioned a few times. 

So as a complete change of pace (and I do mean complete) I decided to try out a 21-day trial of EVE Online. This game is not new, but I’ve never played it before – and it is 100% out of my ‘typical’ realm as far as games go. So why bother trying it at all? Well, honestly. Why not?

I make no secret to the fact that I am not a fan of sci-fi (or Syfy, heh) and I never have been. That doesn’t mean that I’m not open to the idea that perhaps one day my interests will veer down that path, but as of yet it hasn’t happened. I haven’t watched any Star Wars and I can’t name space ships they tend to put me to sleep – and yet I still decided to try EVE and despite all of that I don’t think I started playing with a negative attitude at all, in fact quite the opposite. 

Keep in mind that these are very much my first impressions with EVE, and they’re pretty cryptic. You may think I’m a ‘happy fluffy bunny’ type of female gamer and there for I may already hate the game before I’ve even started – but you’d be wrong. I’ve been known to enjoy a great amount of PvP which a lot of people find surprising, and while it’s true I spend more time in my games of choice decorating and talking with a wonderful community, there are lots of things that keep me playing. 

I patched (and it went smoothly) and logged in, met with a bunch of choices as far as ‘character’ creation goes. I’ve seen a plethora of guides on everything EVE related over the last little while – especially with the relaunch taking place, but I haven’t delved into them too much. I enjoy picking up a game and being able to “go from there” when playing. Once I’ve found a niche, or settled into a game, I may look into guides further to decide what I should play and to figure out if my character is in fact a horrible creation that I should immediately start over. 

Once you’ve created your character (and what a calm soothing voice to go along with character creation I must add) you’re plunked down in the beginner tutorial. 

The tutorial was fairly easy to understand. You go through inventory (cargo) and maneuvering the ship around. It was absolutely beautiful if not only slightly confusing to me because I’ve never given much thought to the inner workings of a space ship. There was a lot of people talking in some channels that I mostly ignored because I had no idea what they were talking about. I got all excited when it came time to learning how to orbit other ships, and then how to attack them. Granted, this was all done in the safety of the tutorial, and I didn’t have too much to worry about because the practise ship wasn’t really hurting me. I spent far more time ogling the skies around me then anything else. You learn how to move things onto your ships, and then before you know it you’re off to a station to pick up your first mission and unload some skills. 

You learn how to cue skills (training and what not), and to arrange the order of them. Having skills work up while you’re out of game is great, and something I’m not used to. I was still trying to let the mass amount of buttons and ‘things’ sink in while following the tutorial. The very first mission I was given had me fly out some place and pick up a package, and then bring it back to the agent who gave me the task to begin with. It got me settled with the beginner commands, docking and warping – which I promptly forgot once I spent a couple of days away from the game. My own fault though, I know how I pick up on things (or don’t). 

Once I’d completed the mission I became a little lost on what to do next. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to head any where, and none of the agents seemed to want to talk to me. That was apparently the end of the tutorial and I thought perhaps I had missed something or skipped over something or was just not looking at something obvious. 

My first exploration into the game wasn’t too bad, and I didn’t hate every second of it like some may have thought I would. Do I think it will grab me enough to want to keep playing? It’s honestly too soon to tell yet. I do plan on trying out the rest of the 21-day trial, and I’ve also decided to pick up Age of Conan from Steam ‘just because’. Another game I’ve never tried before. 

The only down side to having such a HUGE option of games out there, is of course the limited time in which to play (and write) about them all. Just because you may not hear about it here on my web site doesn’t mean I feel negatively about a game either. I simply only have so much time and I still (always) use this blog for my personal adventures. Anyhow, looking forward to more exploration!