Tag: Writing

[EQII] Guess Who is Joining the EverQuest II Content Creator Program

It was because of this post over at Inventory Full that I even learned about the content creator program to begin with. Now, I haven’t actively played EQII since 2021 but I do have quite a long history with the game.

  • Met my husband in game (we’ve been together for 15 years, married for 9, and have 2 children)
  • Went to San Diego to interview the team for Beckett MOG (back when magazines were a thing) some of those folks are still around!
  • I have more than 500 blog posts about that single game, more than any other game I’ve ever written about – plus various videos kicking around YouTube.

One of the options when you sign up for the program is that you can mark yourself as a returning player, so that’s what I did. They ask you about your current content creation (which I admitted did not currently involve EverQuestII, but did involve other MMORPG and has been done on a fairly steady basis for a large number of years) and all of the basic questions that you would expect. It did take some time to hear back, the program is just rolling out and things are still getting set up.

One question my husband asked me, was WHY I would sign up. Why did this interest me. Aside from my long history with the game, I’ve been looking for a little extra motivation & inspiration when it comes to content creation. I oftentimes talk about how easy it is to lose yourself in parenthood and just be “so and so’s wife, so and so’s mom” without an identity. I’ve always loved sharing games I’m passionate about, and I’ve kept this blog up through all of the trials and tribulations, writing about those games. I wanted a little more motivation to go beyond the blog. I think this will help.

There you have it, the latest person to join the EQII content creator program. I hope to post some great things over time. If you’re looking for me over on socials, here’s my carrd.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Blaugust Day 1: Introduction

No idea what Blaugust is? Go read about it first (TL;DR I post every day for the month of August, and I’ve been doing it as part of a community for years now).

I don’t really post a lot of real life things here on my blog, keeping it to my hobbies (art, gaming, fiber arts like knitting and spinning, cross stitch) but every so often something creeps up and I talk about it. There’s no real explicit reason for this secrecy except that I’ve got young kids, and my husband is a first responder, so privacy is something we very much value. I figured for my first Blaugust post, I’d do a little bit of an introduction for anyone following along.

I’m a mid 40’s mom of two young kids, and like I said my partner is a first responder who tends to work very long hours. In between homeschooling and tending to the kids (who have complex needs) I like to play video games, read, knit, and things along those lines. When I was younger (not even much younger, but let’s say pre-children) I was not a very nice person. I have a temper – and I’d like to think that it is since having kids that I’ve morphed into my final form, who I am pretty happy with, overall.

I love animals (sometimes more than people) and I try to make an effort to let others know I’m thinking of them or that they’re important. I tend to retain weird information about people but rarely let others into my private circle. I have lived all over the world. My father was air force, and we were posted to Germany when I was 7. I have lived (and driven) from one end of Canada to the other. While most people I speak to have lived in only a small handful of provinces, some even living in their home province for their entire life – I love that I’ve moved so much. I have a very well rounded idea of what I like as far as a ‘home’ goes, and what I don’t like. That idea has grown and evolved over the years, especially after we had kids.

Because my partner is a first responder I find it difficult to keep tabs on some people. My hours of availability are sporadic, which carries over into my gaming. I’m not a night owl, and tend to game EU hours despite living in Canada. I do try, but I’m not very good at reaching out. The first responder side of things can be stressful. My partner has seen and dealt with situations that no one should ever be exposed to. He has saved more lives and helped more people than most will ever know. He has given so much of himself over to this job. I am incredibly proud of him, despite not saying it nearly as frequently as I should. Again, privacy issues. The stories I have could fill numerous books.

I feel awkward when I’m talking to people. I overexplain situations and give far too much information (like I’m doing here, in this post). I have maybe two close friends I speak to on a daily basis, and everyone else I’d categorize as acquaintances. I think I am probably not worth the time. Did I mention imposter syndrome? Well, stick that up there too.

As far as gaming goes, I prefer the meta game to the actual game. In World of Warcraft (my main game of choice) that means gold making. I have been playing since it released, in some form or another. I take breaks here and there, but I always return. I love collecting things, and old world content – but I also love the QoL changes that have happened over the years, and thus any form of ‘classic’ is just not for me.

I also love RimWorld, and Wurm Online, my two other most played games. Wurm is very niche, but has a dedicated and passionate player base. I’ve been playing that as long as Warcraft. RimWorld is single player, and I love it whether it’s modded or not. That game just speaks to my soul.

I’m a very prolific reader, preferring most evenings to curl up with a book instead of any games at all. I’ve recently started diving into audiobooks in the morning while I post my auction house stuff in WoW. I don’t think it will ever surpass reading for me, but it’s a neat way to explore books.

I think that’s about it for now, this post is already far longer than I intended it to be (yep, I ramble). I hope everyone enjoys their own participation of Blaugust, no matter how many or how few posts you manage to eek out. Let’s have a great one! As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself.

Mist, Memories, and Mana Potions

I was only trying to queue for the cooking daily.

One click too many and—poof—I was standing in the upper reaches of Hellfire Citadel, wrapped in the vaguely sulfurous scent of The Blood Furnace, wondering why I’d equipped my tea-stirring spoon instead of my proper staff.

“Wait, are you the healer?” asked the draenei paladin at the front, squinting at me as though I might still poof away.

“Er. Yes! That’s me. Auremai. Mistweaver monk, mostly merchant, occasional healer,” I said, bowing. “I dabble.”

The group charged ahead before I could elaborate, which was probably for the best because my last healing run had been before Deathwing redecorated the planet.

I took a deep breath and shifted into mistweaver stance, letting the familiar flow of chi swirl through me. It was like riding a gryphon: you never really forget… but that first jump still makes you question your life choices.

The first pull? A lesson in humility. And combustion.

I targeted the wrong person, cast Life Cocoon on the rogue who hadn’t taken any damage, and managed to roll directly into a Firebomb.

“Gnome down! Gnome down!” the mage laughed, while I extinguished myself with a small squeal and a health potion that tasted like burnt pennies.

But I didn’t give up.

Monks fall, monks rise. And monks—especially gnome monks with a sense of misplaced confidence—improvise.

I planted my Jade Serpent Statue this time (in the right direction!), let Renewing Mist dance through the group like a breeze, and used Vivify so fast my fingers blurred. The tank, bless him, only died once more after that.

“Getting the hang of it, shortstuff,” the rogue grinned after we survived a rather dramatic encounter with a room full of technicians who really needed a union.

“Thanks,” I muttered, cheeks warm, as I ducked behind my cartwheel to dodge another Fel Nova. “Just… channeling the mist. And mild panic.”

By the time we reached Keli’dan the Breaker, I had settled into the rhythm: soothe, roll, heal, repeat. The boss ranted something about destruction, but all I could think about was how very rude it was to yell indoors.

When he finally exploded in a spectacular burst of fel energy (and flair), everyone stood—somehow still alive. Even the mage.

We looted in silence, the good kind, and the paladin finally gave me a thumbs-up. “Not bad for someone who said they ‘dabble.’”

I shrugged, blushing as I tucked a small healing charm into his bag when he wasn’t looking. “Helping people is the easy part. It’s the not panicking that takes training.”

Back in Stormwind, I climbed onto my cart, pulled out my notebook, and jotted down a new idea: Love in the Time of Felfire. Maybe with a paladin and a baker trapped in a fortress together…

Maybe next time I’d heal on purpose. But for now? I had tea, a story brewing, and no scorch marks.

A pretty good day, all told.

Finding Motivation

I think this has been the longest I’ve ever been away from World of Warcraft, and it’s not really because of the game, but it is because of my lack of community within the game. I used to have some very good friends playing, and now none of them play. I have nothing holding me to the game, I’ve got as much gold as I could ever possibly want, and I’m not interested in the gear grind.

The things that keep me playing EVE Online, or Wurm Online, is the players. I don’t necessarily need to DO things in game with others, but I do like the social aspect of it. I’m also awkward, and don’t know how to act around people very well. Having generic goals in these games is simply not enough for me. HOW to go about finding a guild of like-minded people is another issue. It was just so much easier when I had a static bunch to play with, and I miss that dearly.

This rambling post is for nothing other than solidifying my desire to return to World of Warcraft, and the first step to me doing that was to jump right back into the goblin side of things and get my characters selling again. I’m keeping it more simple than in the past, while I do have two separate accounts with auction house characters on each, I’m only posting with one account for the time being. I have no idea how far behind I am, or what I’ve missed. Or where I should be. All of that is a bit overwhelming to think about. I’d like to move my characters to a roleplay server, and find a suitable community before player housing comes out. I used to love attending roleplay events, and I think I’ll have a better chance of finding ‘my people’ that way.

We’ll just have to see. Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Wurm Online – a LOT of Rifts

Wurm Online is one of my absolute favourite games of all time. I’ve been playing it for over 13 years on a fairly steady basis. I’ve never really done the whole skill grinding thing that so many others have done before me, but I do have a total of 5 characters, 4 of those are priests (one for each deity). I’ve been wanting to obtain a bracelet for myself that comes from rifts, this bracelet is charged up with energy so that the next “moi” (moment of inspiration) gives you a guaranteed rare item. Normally if you get an MOI there’s a chance the item you’re working with WON’T be rare. It sucks. It happens to me often.

I’m not even sure about what I want to use this item on yet, because there are so many options. My knarr? My wagon? A tent just to have it sparkle? Unsure. There are also 2 shoulders I want to purchase, dragon shoulder pads, they cost 1,000 rift points each. At the time of writing this, Faralithe, my Libila priest – has 1300 points (give or take). Stargrace is at around 500 points, but they don’t transfer between characters. I used to have a lot more points on Stargrace but I’ve purchased an item here and there.

Anyway. Right now I have Faralithe doing rifts (since they show up on each server I can attend them fairly regularly) and then Stargrace and three other alts are currently parked at a holy site, a mag fissure, on Exodus. This fissure spews archaelogy fragments into your inventory once an hour (so long as you’re premium) and I always try to attend them when I can. I’ve gotten some pretty interesting bits from doing it so far and it’s a lovely way to gear out the alts with good tools.

Anyway. I know I’ve been quiet lately, but I’m still here, still gaming, and occasionally posting. You can find me in Wurm Online as Stargrace, or Faralithe – happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!