Howdy everyone!
So numerous happenings this weekend! This game is simply amazing, everything that you can change, experience, etc... In this as well this game completely is annoying for someone who has adult ADHD... for there is nothing worse. Whats worse is that you have a few friends who are waiting on you to continue leveling regardless of what you choose.
To really get a feel for the game overall you need to try everything, for me that is fine, for friends waiting it can be a bit annoying. So this weekend I pushed and gritted my teeth to get Tremereis to level 20... the conj class can seem amazing but for someone who does not like to wait the 10mins while the pet catches up than decides to attack... or chooses not to attack at first... its not fun. All the pew pew pew in the world will not save you if your pet decides to not move, does not catch up in time or you pull aggro.
So what does one do? Try other classes... now I had intended to restart with my Shadow Knight, while in my heart she is as fun as I remember, I have come to find out that that all the back treking to get her back up to speed just isn't worth it - especially at 43. The other intention that I had was to start up my defiler alt only level 1. But when I came back Starlin had chosen a Mystic. Our other friend had started a templar... so figured I had to take a tank class. Now in all my MMO history, I have always chosen what to do for the group rather than what I have enjoyed - this has lead me to leave numerous MMO's. I am not leaving this one, and I can get to 20 with the AA slider after 10 at either 50 or 100% within a few hours of game play. So catching up is not my issue, its the fact that its another waiting period for my friends.
Than to top it all of yesterday my wife was enjoying the character generation as well, so this slowed me up. At around 1am I than witnessed my bad sector drives fail. So another showstopper.
On top of all this as well, I am quitting smoking as well. The battle has been going well! Yet the battle as each hour passes is a bit hard. We are talking about an individual (myself) that for 15 years has smoked 1-3 packs a day. So its a battle I am and feel I am winning but still a rough one.
More later...
Monday, March 15, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Mystic fun
As Trimoon posted below regarding his conjurer - I'm really starting to like my Mystic.
She's level 23 or 24 now with 35 AAs. I'm approaching the game as a number of forum posts (and guildie suggestions) of using the AA slider a lot.
Basically the thinking is that starting at level 10, you should be gaining roughly 3 AAs per level. So by the time you're level 20, or so, you should have 30, level 21, you should have 33...etc. Once you get to level 30 (or so) you start to 'slow down' on the AA's - gaining 2 per level...It's hardly an exact science but in reality it's making my life SO much easier.
I've had to purchase 2 things from the broker - a level 12 master-crafted weapon - and now a level 22 master-crafted weapon. That's it. The amount of 'uberness' that you get from having a large number of AAs makes leveling almost too easy. It also makes completing quests trivial.
I bring this point up due to the fact that I took a look at my other alts - and, if I'm lucky, the highest one (inquisitor at level 58 or so) has something like 40 AAs. I'm going to have to do a LOT of playing in the lower-end zones to get her up to the 120 (or so) that she needs. And, while going through old zones is fine and dandy, I'd like to, ya know, SEE a zone completed in this decade... It would also be nice to run some instances with my guildies - and, for some crazy reason, they like to run things created in this decade as well... :)
So all of this talk has me working on my Mystic, Pookette. I'm taking down 4-5 heroic ^'s and even ^^'s without too much of a headache. The self-buffs, the shields and, of course, the self-healing - just makes it that much easier to go through content. And I know it will only be beneficial WHEN I make it to level 90 (not if, when).
She's level 23 or 24 now with 35 AAs. I'm approaching the game as a number of forum posts (and guildie suggestions) of using the AA slider a lot.
Basically the thinking is that starting at level 10, you should be gaining roughly 3 AAs per level. So by the time you're level 20, or so, you should have 30, level 21, you should have 33...etc. Once you get to level 30 (or so) you start to 'slow down' on the AA's - gaining 2 per level...It's hardly an exact science but in reality it's making my life SO much easier.
I've had to purchase 2 things from the broker - a level 12 master-crafted weapon - and now a level 22 master-crafted weapon. That's it. The amount of 'uberness' that you get from having a large number of AAs makes leveling almost too easy. It also makes completing quests trivial.
I bring this point up due to the fact that I took a look at my other alts - and, if I'm lucky, the highest one (inquisitor at level 58 or so) has something like 40 AAs. I'm going to have to do a LOT of playing in the lower-end zones to get her up to the 120 (or so) that she needs. And, while going through old zones is fine and dandy, I'd like to, ya know, SEE a zone completed in this decade... It would also be nice to run some instances with my guildies - and, for some crazy reason, they like to run things created in this decade as well... :)
So all of this talk has me working on my Mystic, Pookette. I'm taking down 4-5 heroic ^'s and even ^^'s without too much of a headache. The self-buffs, the shields and, of course, the self-healing - just makes it that much easier to go through content. And I know it will only be beneficial WHEN I make it to level 90 (not if, when).
Amazingly Massive
So, finally getting settled with my conj in EQ2. An amazing class and very versatile and able to handle almost everything thrown at it, even at the lower levels. I am at 10 mobs I am able to handle, still trying to push the limit :)
Now that being said, I have been watching guild chat and the other various channels in game. There is alot that I have no idea what it is, or how to come about doing various tasks. In all... this game is very established and a game that can leave a new player drowning or gasping to breathe from the sheer weight of the amount of content and inter-connectivity found within this game. So in essence, this game is amazingly massive!
Yet this can also be an issue. As Star has stated with WoW there is tons of reference sites and various sites to utilize to help guide someone who has never been through the game. Myself, I have achieved the rip-old age of 43... established for a player 2-3 years ago. Now this season of an adventurer is only half way. Yet an adventurer that was 43 1.5 years ago, is now not all that well... and has missed out on much content. I would argue that a character from 1.5 to 2 years ago heading up to level 60 should just be restarted... but that is just me.
There are so many aspects to this game, that it can be easy to miss various stages of the game for adventuring and progression sake. Solo zones, duo zones, trio zones, raids, quests, armor quests, heritage quests, heroic quests, quests galore and they are all connected to an MMO that is barely viewed in the MMO Market. Amazingly Massive! It is great to be apart of such an established and mature game, finally I am home, finally I feel excited about gaming again, finally.
Now with all the information out there... I am thinking of starting a project for general and my class specific needs. Rather than going to 3-4 different sites, and having to click on various pages to come up with the specific information that one needs having everything on a spreadsheet a step-by-step process so to speak. Lets see how this project progresses to see if it is even worth it!
Now that being said, I have been watching guild chat and the other various channels in game. There is alot that I have no idea what it is, or how to come about doing various tasks. In all... this game is very established and a game that can leave a new player drowning or gasping to breathe from the sheer weight of the amount of content and inter-connectivity found within this game. So in essence, this game is amazingly massive!
Yet this can also be an issue. As Star has stated with WoW there is tons of reference sites and various sites to utilize to help guide someone who has never been through the game. Myself, I have achieved the rip-old age of 43... established for a player 2-3 years ago. Now this season of an adventurer is only half way. Yet an adventurer that was 43 1.5 years ago, is now not all that well... and has missed out on much content. I would argue that a character from 1.5 to 2 years ago heading up to level 60 should just be restarted... but that is just me.
There are so many aspects to this game, that it can be easy to miss various stages of the game for adventuring and progression sake. Solo zones, duo zones, trio zones, raids, quests, armor quests, heritage quests, heroic quests, quests galore and they are all connected to an MMO that is barely viewed in the MMO Market. Amazingly Massive! It is great to be apart of such an established and mature game, finally I am home, finally I feel excited about gaming again, finally.
Now with all the information out there... I am thinking of starting a project for general and my class specific needs. Rather than going to 3-4 different sites, and having to click on various pages to come up with the specific information that one needs having everything on a spreadsheet a step-by-step process so to speak. Lets see how this project progresses to see if it is even worth it!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
So I have issues...
Many people know this... but creating and playing alts, is a serious addiction of mine. One to the point that I can barely enjoy a game, instead of just picking a class and playing.
So last night I went on to fully play my dirge and start gaining some ground level wise. My first mistake, I logged onto Ukast Ill'tank, my Shadow Knight. After transferring her from Oasis to AB, I needed to check out my house place some items in her bags and basically get her settled... than I looked at the AA's... ugh. I want to play her and will again at some point, but I just do not have the drive to search, tinker and toy with another set of AA's along the way at this point. That and she is 43 and my level 12 Conj has just about half of the AA's that Ukast has...
So after toying with Ukast and getting her settled in her new "home", I went to log onto the Darkvoice - my Dirge. Than I thought about a warlock and made a quick character and wasn't overly impressed by the warlocks "pew, pew, pew". Went over to my paladin ran around in circles, than finally started over to my Conj (see what I am saying about choosing?).
Finally last night decided to just continue on with the Conj, great class so far, but like every other class in this game starts off a tad bit slow. With my friends both a mystic and a Templar... while we have a pseudo tank with my pet, and dps from me, things might take forever to die... but he we never will with two healers!
See everyone in the land of ever crack...
So last night I went on to fully play my dirge and start gaining some ground level wise. My first mistake, I logged onto Ukast Ill'tank, my Shadow Knight. After transferring her from Oasis to AB, I needed to check out my house place some items in her bags and basically get her settled... than I looked at the AA's... ugh. I want to play her and will again at some point, but I just do not have the drive to search, tinker and toy with another set of AA's along the way at this point. That and she is 43 and my level 12 Conj has just about half of the AA's that Ukast has...
So after toying with Ukast and getting her settled in her new "home", I went to log onto the Darkvoice - my Dirge. Than I thought about a warlock and made a quick character and wasn't overly impressed by the warlocks "pew, pew, pew". Went over to my paladin ran around in circles, than finally started over to my Conj (see what I am saying about choosing?).
Finally last night decided to just continue on with the Conj, great class so far, but like every other class in this game starts off a tad bit slow. With my friends both a mystic and a Templar... while we have a pseudo tank with my pet, and dps from me, things might take forever to die... but he we never will with two healers!
See everyone in the land of ever crack...
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Alt-Itis
So AB is up. I'm quite happy about that. Server seems stable and everything in as it should be.
Throughout the years, my friends and I have returned again (hence, the blog name) to EQ2 (and other games). And each time that we have returned, more often than not it coincided with an expansion coming out.
Expansions sometimes mean new races or start zones or new race/class combinations, etc... I'm not sure if you see where I'm going with this - but I have 5 'main' toons.
59 Inquisitor, 53 Wizard, 25 Illusionist, 22 Mystic (my newest creation) and a 20 Shadowknight.
EVERY ONE of these characters have had their AA's reset. Makes sense due to the numerous changes in the game - but to research on the forums AA builds for 5 classes + try to remember how to play these guys effectively... that's rough!
I know my 22 Mystic the best since I started her with the Sentinel's fate expansion (latest re-subscription) and I don't want to out-level my friends. Yes, I can mentor down, but still, it's not the same.
That leaves me with looking at my 4 other toons and trying to figure, at least initially, what to play first then how to AA-spec, look through my gear, my bank, my storage compartments, etc... Then try and complete the quests (or delete and start from scratch) that are in my journal...
The problem is, there's no quick or good solution to this 'problem'. Outside of not having any alts, you're going to get comfy with something (a toon) by using it over and over again and while absence might make the heart grow fonder, it makes the brain forget. And I have far more important things to forget... :)
Star
Throughout the years, my friends and I have returned again (hence, the blog name) to EQ2 (and other games). And each time that we have returned, more often than not it coincided with an expansion coming out.
Expansions sometimes mean new races or start zones or new race/class combinations, etc... I'm not sure if you see where I'm going with this - but I have 5 'main' toons.
59 Inquisitor, 53 Wizard, 25 Illusionist, 22 Mystic (my newest creation) and a 20 Shadowknight.
EVERY ONE of these characters have had their AA's reset. Makes sense due to the numerous changes in the game - but to research on the forums AA builds for 5 classes + try to remember how to play these guys effectively... that's rough!
I know my 22 Mystic the best since I started her with the Sentinel's fate expansion (latest re-subscription) and I don't want to out-level my friends. Yes, I can mentor down, but still, it's not the same.
That leaves me with looking at my 4 other toons and trying to figure, at least initially, what to play first then how to AA-spec, look through my gear, my bank, my storage compartments, etc... Then try and complete the quests (or delete and start from scratch) that are in my journal...
The problem is, there's no quick or good solution to this 'problem'. Outside of not having any alts, you're going to get comfy with something (a toon) by using it over and over again and while absence might make the heart grow fonder, it makes the brain forget. And I have far more important things to forget... :)
Star
Monday, March 8, 2010
I'm SO ready to play!
I get home after a meeting-filled day to relax a bit and kill something...
I guess one of the problems in picking the busiest server to play EQ2 on is that you'll probably have more downtime than the 'average' server. Antonia Bayle is down...2nd day of 'issues' in a row.
I get it - I'm in IT and occasionally server hiccups happen. And, overall, SoE (and especially Kiara who is keeping the masses updated) is doing a decent job of keeping people informed. But being on the end-user side of things (for a change) it SUCKS! :)
I guess one of the problems in picking the busiest server to play EQ2 on is that you'll probably have more downtime than the 'average' server. Antonia Bayle is down...2nd day of 'issues' in a row.
I get it - I'm in IT and occasionally server hiccups happen. And, overall, SoE (and especially Kiara who is keeping the masses updated) is doing a decent job of keeping people informed. But being on the end-user side of things (for a change) it SUCKS! :)
The Dirge
So, here is yet another story of my many "alt-tastic" adventures in Everquest 2.
So here I am last night looking to get in game and just unwind from a very exhausting weekend and last few weeks. I had just one thought after my son was down for the night... to game. So I close out the 25 applications I had open, grab some much needed caffeine and sit in my extremely comfy chair and start up EQ2.
The game loads into the launcher, I check my friends list to see who is around, and launch the game - the launcher does its magic and I arrive at the character selection screen. To my surprise I find that all of my characters are gone!!!! I immediately contact SoE support and the issue was resolved promptly - much better and more mature than wow support though the whole ticket process can be a bit confusing but that is another matter.
While waiting for SoE and my other characters to return from their breif vacation, I decided to roll something that I have been back and forth with. A dirge - now I know that some of you might find this class the flavor of the month, yet I have been secretly a closet case dirge fan for nearly 5 years, and have yet to dive into the class at all.
So I whip through the creation process, choosing a Dark elf (nothing like jumping off a 2000ft in game mountain and just casually floating down :) ) male to start a theme with his sister the Shadow Knight and named him Darkvoice. Waiting for the loading process to complete, I decided to run out for *GASP* a smoke - yes I know I need to quit and I am working on it... too bad the programs to quit are so expensive.
Once I come back in my little devilish dirge has arrived in Timerous Deep and is now ready to be controlled. I set off to grab the first quest directly behind me - yes behind me, not the first Sarnak you lay eyes on, with the quest you go back to that first Sarnak and immediately gain a level with that turn in. So now here I am, about to go kill some two legged bird men or women, not sure which /shrug.
I realize that I have no idea what my new evil creation can do. So I look down at my action bars and see that I have your standard auto attack... quickly dump that button off the grid :), A ranged/bow auto attack, a any position quick strike, stealth and a stealth attack. Hm mm... now being me I decide to just charge right in... now my little friend did quite well, but that being said lost about 1/4 of his life as well. So time to rethink... all the while I'm saying FINALLY a challenge for a class! I choose the bow from a distance, the birdbrain closes in, I do my quick strike and 99% health left... OHHH Happy day, we need some tactics here! While those are on cool down I pop stealth just as I kill one, and move up behind and kill the second fluttering mess with one hit! Amazing!
Now I know the dirge will become a bit more difficult, but I wonder does it really, I see the masses maturely say the Dirge sucks... but is great for groups, while more hardcore fans state its all with the timing and accurate pulls. From level 2 I can see this and cant wait to get back on my Dirge as he is now level 12, WOOOHHHH First MC set coming up as well.
Stay tuned for more adventures and pics of my dirge and his sister the shadow knight!
The dreaded UI
Ahh the good old days, when the UI was just the standard user interface that a game provided to you and you as the gamer had to deal with it...
Those days are long gone, thanks due to in large part by Blizzard and World of Warcraft, the modding community's for MMORPG's has skyrocketed. Now when starting any new game this is the very first thing on my list to make mine. Also one of the things I dread the most when starting any new MMO. Why, with any UI I could spend hours, days or weeks before I am finally happy with what I have - after all if I am going to spending hours in front of a game, might as enjoy the setup that I have, right?!
That being said, the one thing that I have noticed and wished there was for Everquest 2, was a much more active add-on community. Right now as it stands the is basically one suite that is worth using as the rest of them are dead in the water, either not maintained by the user or the user no longer plays EQ2. This is dishearting for a mod freak such as myself and wish there was more of a community for the UI for Everquest 2. Now I am not sure if this is due to the coding being harder for EQ2 or numerous players just utilize the very few packages that are available and see no point in supporting anything new that may arise.
Currently I am using the following suite: http://www.eq2interface.com/downloads/info4961-DrumsUIFullInterface.html
Great suite and many thanks to the author - Drumstix42 for this amazing work of art for our viewing and gaming pleasures. Sleek yet very simplistic.
A Screen Shot of my latest invention is above. Hope you all enjoy, and lets here it for the EQ2 Authors, keep on making these amazing add-ons and I will keep using them!
New Adventures with old friends...
Hi everyone, Trimoon here! Starlin invited me to join this little project and to post comments and experiences on coming back to Everquest 2 with Starlin and the grand new adventures that we will sure to be having in this massive game.
A bit about myself, Trimoon has been my "handle" if you will through nearly all my pen and paper, MUD, Online gaming, MMORPG experiences to date. Over time I have wandered into the likes of UO, EQ, EQ:OA, EQ2, WoW, EvE, CoX, Champions Online, STO, Warhammer, Age of Conan... the list goes on and on and beta'd nearly all of them.
I meet Starlin Nearly 6 years ago when starting my first adventures in Everquest 2 on the AB server under a guild named Angels of Light. I had started this guild with a few like minded people and our leader Boglwe. At that time there was so much going on in EQ2 so many flaws and bugs like that which plague nearly every MMO launch and with the issues of running a guild and never playing the game I became disinterested in EQ2 rather quickly, with a friend of Starlin's playing WoW, I was invited to come check the game out after beta and give it a whirl... I remained there for nearly 5 years and had the pleasure of gaming with some of the most incredible people to whom I am still friends with to this day - yet the ugly pleasure of playing with some of the most horrible excuses of human life I have ever known as well...
I have formed guilds, ran them, been apart of them for going on 12+ years and one of the best aspects of this is the people that you meet and make life long friendships with along the way.
With now now being 31, married, my wife giving birth to my amazing son 7 months ago it has been a turbulent ride to say the least, real life will always come first and with my son being born I retired from gaming for a bit. Coming back to the gaming scene everyone I was gaming with was still in WoW, so I reinstalled the folders, activated my subscription and logged in. Some great strides have been done to WoW - yet at the same time there is no thought process to the game any longer. The more time I spent away from it, the only thing that I had missed was the people I played with and nothing else.
One day a few weeks ago I received my SOE newsletter and behold yet another new expansion to the everquest 2 realm. I decided to get the expansion and take a peek. What I saw was an entirely new game... not completely mindless yet not so overbearing that a husband and father could not play. A huge world with so many new adventures to be had and breath-taking scenery to be discovered!!!
I contacted starlin and said why dont we try the new expansion and give EQ2 another spin... within seconds I got a response email back saying, already ordered and re-installing now...
Since we have been back we have traversed an old guilds halls to find that no one has truly been on in that guild for 3months plus, and the server feeling a bit ghostly. So we set out on a new adventure to see how our old server AB was doing - come to find out it is the most populated and character rich server in the game (wasn't this way in the beginning). We quickly made new characters and began our new adventures on AB. Finding a new home with an amazing group of like minded players - The Black hawks and now the adventure continues...
NOW... I have a massive case of not being able to focus on one character - ever. This drives starlin quite insane! I need to try every combination out there till I get a feel for what I like, currently I have chosen the Dirge and the Shadow knight as my main two characters. Amazing game play and the dirge is truly challenging with multiple mobs on top of him! I have been fighting with the conj class but not due to any issues with the class, just due to the fact that I hate waiting, and need to be right on in there during combat.
Well I guess that is it for now, further adventures of Trimoon - Ukast and Darkvoice will continue as I finally progress out of the starter zones... for which I am sure that starlin is finally doing a happy dance too as I have finally made up my mind!! HA HA!
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