Before You Know it, 10 Days Have Passed

There’s a saying I’ve heard a few times now since my husband left for depot, and that’s “the days are long but the weeks are short”. I haven’t seen him in 5.5 weeks now, and it’s been 10 days since I wrote here on my blog. The days are incredibly long and very difficult as I attempt to raise our 11 month old son alone, but then I look back and wonder where the time has all gone. I can only hope that I’ll have the strength to keep pushing forward like I have been. Some days are filled with nothing but tears – but they end, and the next day begins and it’s not usually as difficult as the previous one.

People keep telling me it gets easier but I’ll be honest. It doesn’t. Having my partner gone has not gotten easier at all. I cry just as much. I find doing certain things just as difficult. When my little one picks up his Cat In The Hat book and yells for ‘da da’ over and over, it breaks my heart and I cry no matter how many different days he does this. Sometimes it just doesn’t get easier and I truly believe that this is one of those times. That being said, the days DO still pass, time keeps moving forward, and so do I.

I had a bit of spare time today and I was able to log into GW2 – yay! These little moments help keep me sane. I mentioned before that I have two accounts, and I recently acquired PoF on my second (newer) account – a deluxe version of the game, which meant a new outfit and a special area I could get to. My older account has more history (Hall of Monuments, more birthdays) but doesn’t have collectors edition nor does it have any gems. Thing is, I’ve got a lot more “completed” on the old account, but a lot more perks on the newer one. If I stuck with the newer one I wouldn’t be able to catch up exactly (no hall of monuments and no making time pass faster for birthdays) but I could at least catch up in story / world discovery etc.

It was nice to play. I love looking at my characters, working on crafting, exploring the world, and just relaxing. I haven’t actually DONE a lot – I haven’t been working on my dailies and I still don’t know what I should aim towards as far as weapons go (legendary? I have no idea) but I still really enjoy myself in game. There’s still tons to do waiting for me if / when I want to work on it, and again the fact that there’s no subscription to pay for means I never really feel that much pressure. The world is beautiful, the story interesting, and I’m glad I decided to stick with it as my game of choice while life is in this really weird phase.

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

 

HP Train – Choo Choo

I heard a lot of people talking about “HP trains” but I had no idea what they were or why I would want to participate. Turns out that means ‘hero point’ – and you very much do want to take part. There are some that run on the weekends but my time restrictions are all over the place, so when I’m in game and I see one starting up (typically mentioned in map chat) you can bet I’ll be there. Yesterday I was in the first HOT zone when one was starting up. I got 8/11 done – a huge chunk. It didn’t take too long, and because you’re with a massive amount of other players it is much less painful than if you were just wandering around all alone.

You can also join (I believe it’s unofficial) the GW2 Discord Channel, I found it linked from reddit. People advertise in there, and there’s all sorts of information and lore tidbits floating around. I am not usually interested in joining a bunch of strangers on Discord, I prefer to talk to those I know, but I’m glad I made an exception this time around.

Aside from HP trains and discord channels I’ve just been casually clearing maps. Stock piling crafting goods, and running a few instances of living world season 2 (and of course HOT story too). It’s relaxing, and that’s exactly what I have needed.

I know a big patch came out yesterday but honestly I haven’t even read the notes or made heads or tales of the thing, so I don’t know what was involved aside from WvWvW being allowed to use gliders and players rejoicing over that. I believe it was a balancing patch, so maybe condition was toned down a bit? No idea.

In any case, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Beautiful

I love beautiful games and honestly, Guild Wars 2 is a work of art. I spent yesterday just wandering around taking things in, working my story line a bit, and enjoying the moments. I love how beautiful this game looks and can’t wait to see what they do in the next expansion.

Living Stories and Other Hoopla

I mentioned before that I don’t really know what I should work on or where I’m going in Guild Wars 2, and nothing has really changed there. I did end up swapping things around on my guardian though and that has made a world of difference. I decided to drop the longbow because it doesn’t do that much DPS. Instead I picked up a scepter and a torch, and I added condition damage to my gear. I also kept my greatsword off spec because I just love it. Now I’ve still got a ranged / melee spec, but a lot more power behind my attacks, which is good. Great, in fact. It’s a huge difference to how I was playing before. I got a new set of gear, added some runes to it, and made sure I had all my masteries and points spent where I wanted them. Now I only die about 10 times traveling through HoT zones instead of 80 times.

I started working on the living story season 2 – but quickly got distracted by newer content. I swapped over to the HOT story line, and promptly got lost. I hate making my way around that starter zone. There are so many twists and turns and up and down and bouncy mushrooms and drafts (which I haven’t unlocked yet). By the time I make my way to a section of the map I need to be in, I’ve already died and have to start the adventure all over again. Everything is really spread out, especially things I want to reach on the far West side of the map. I know I’ll get there, but it’s frustrating and a trial in patience.

In the meantime, I have no idea what the items I’m collecting are for. Gears, oil, and other random bits of stuff. I think some is used for crafting, but I honestly have no idea. I store everything in my bank and hope to make use of it some time. There’s no real indication of what I should be working towards as far as gear or weapons go.

With all of that being said – I am having fun. I’ve been completing my dailies, adventuring around, exploring maps that I haven’t been to before. I’ve only got 60% of the map unlocked, which is a good chunk but not nearly as much as I’d like. So I take in a few vistas, play a few jumping puzzles, and just have a good time.

I haven’t purchased the entire season two or three yet – but I’m hoping ArenaNet has some big sale planned for the 5th anniversary which is quickly approaching so I’m trying to hold off spending very many of my gems. I did purchase the first step to season 2, but that’s it so far. I know there are bundles on sale in the market, but again I’d really like to see what they have planned for their 5th anniversary.

It feels good to be playing again (and not having to worry about a subscription cost). I may not get a whole lot of time but the hour I get here and there is more than enough to get some stuff done at least.