Mystic Worlds

EQ2 Ex: DIY Custom Counters & How to Guide

As I acquire higher level recipes, decorate more spaces and view what veteran players have created, my enthusiasm for EQ2's player housing and carpentry profession grows.  The long standing Norrathian Home Show which now has an EQ2 Extended version and EQ2 Trading Corner's (EQ2TC) Furniture Showcase, are must visit resources for serious interior space designers. *Smile*  I enjoy peaking at the recipes I'll be getting when I hit the next level.  It helps to start planning new showroom displays for the shop.

Request for Custom Cabinets & Counters
One of the features requested by my newest customer was to have custom cabinetry added in at least one of his rooms.  It was something he'd seen done on EQ2 Live that he wanted incorporated into his new home in Kelethin.  I'd seen examples on the Norrathian Home Show and had an idea about how it was done. His overall design wishes were for the place to stay earthy - he didn't want anything too flashy.  He also wanted some of the color schemes to remain intact, like the master bedroom suite, in order match treasured items he wanted to remain on display.  

EQ2 Ex: Forced to level. Ding 44.5!

I didn't want to go out and level my Illusionist. All I really wanted to do was continue with my carpenter.  Unfortunately, I'd reached a wall where my harvester, previously known as my main, couldn't farm in the areas equal to my crafting needs. I've already stated multiple times that EQ2 style questing doesn't suit my tastes for many reasons, so I won't belabor them here.  Dragging my feet like a petulant child, I hopped on my level 40 Illusionist and headed out.

My Questing Strategy
The plan was to focus on leveling while taking harvesting breaks in between to break up the monotony. I must be a very odd duck if I find harvesting the break in between the questing monotony.  *LOL*  I assure you that's not the case for me in other games.  With dual purposes in mind, I started out questing in Zek because of the wood found there.  My strategy in EQ2 is to pick up quests, start killing and looting stuff, allowing slay and collection quests to be completed passively.

I'll stay in the area killing things I find interesting.  I often stage challenges for myself, like taking on double-A mobs, triple-A mobs and heroic encounters.  Sometimes I win. Other times I run away screaming like a little girl, leaving my pet behind as a sacrificial lamb. Then I change it up by going back to slaughtering things on my kill list.  When I get bored with an area, I delete unfinished quests and move on to the next spot.  That is the most I can do to make myself level in EQ2.  *shrug*

New Store. New Customers. New Project

On Saturday evening I re-opened my "Friendly Furnishings" shop on EQ2 Extended.  Over the past week or so, I've noticed that business has slowed down.  Some of that is to be expected as more players choose the carpentry profession.  However, chat in general has quieted down also.  I'm starting to suspect both slow downs could be related to the football season.  I see many guild members coming and going for game kick-offs. Regardless, I'm still making a nice profit and because I enjoy the crafting so much, it remains my preferred activity in EQ2 Ex.

Harvesting Brick Wall
I have reached a bit of a wall in acquiring components.  My carpenter has outpaced the harvester just enough that it has become a stumbling block.  I can't harvest the resources needed for the last 2.5 recipe books I've acquired.  *Sigh*  I'm loathe to go out and level just 'cuz.  However, I can't offer competitive furniture pricing by purchasing items off the broker either.  As a short term solution I've stocked up heavily on lighting fixtures.  Legendary items especially, have good profit margins - wide enough that the rare can often be purchased and still prove profitable.  I have enough reserve funds now that I can afford to shop for certain rares on the broker and purchase them when the price is right, in advance of actually needing them.

On the Move & Erollisi Manor Part Deux

A couple of levels into the Tier 5 Carpentry, I received recipes to make what is my favorite furniture set thus far, the cedar ensemble. Cedar is a rare T5 wood resource.  In my real life tastes, I have many cedar and mahogany items. I love the rich hue and dark coloring. I like to mix them eclectically with lighter colored modern pieces.  The set is very expensive to make no matter how you cut it. It will either be time spent trying to harvest the rare drop or lots of gold spent on the Broker.  For the first 5 piece set I made, I harvested three pieces and purchased the other two.

Absolutely delighted by the finished product, I wanted to display it front and center in my little shop. Moving other displays around to make room, which included having to completely remove one set from the shop, I realized I'd already outgrown the size of my rooms.  The idea of packing up all my items and moving was loathsome.  I'd just finished the Erollisi Manor project.  The last thing I wanted to do was pack and unpack my own house.  

Job well done and new faces

Erollis Manor House Project Completed
This past weekend I finished the furnishing and decorating the Erollis Manor home I was commissioned to do.  I'm very relieved it's over.  I don't know that I'd take on such a huge job again unless I can contract for it a couple of rooms at a time.  I felt the pressure of completing the project quickly because I'd been paid in advance and the amount (20 Plat) was a bit staggering to a player at my skill level.  After a couple of days, I started to feel "pressured" to work on the house even though the customer was absent and not pushing me.  I know, it was a "me" thing but it did feel like my game time was being robbed on days when I felt more like simply puttering around.  Smaller jobs like this one, I'd jump in again with both feet.  The whole place, starting from scratch and no direction given other than, "have fun", not so much.  *Smile*

At times, I also felt not up to the task.  I'm only a mid tier carpenter with a limited amount of elaborate or unique items.  Many of the faction items, world events and such weren't in place when I started this character 3 years ago.  For that amount of money I wanted him to have the best, but I'm not able to craft the best yet, plus sheer volume of furnishing needed meant that I had to employ diversity.  In the end, I made sure to include the best of what I could craft including, Master Crafted Legendary items as often as possible.  He loved his bar area in the library.  I made a personal promise to myself to upgrade the low tier one I had available with an Ironweed version when I reach that level.  I also purchased a few items off the Broker that I felt were necessary but I was nowhere near to reaching the level to make them such as a reflection pool for the Prayer Room and plants for the Stable and Groom room in the basement.

EQ2 Ex - Furniture Shop Reality Check

My reality check arrived this week.  I can’t play or craft enough to sustain my original vision of a Furniture Shop in EQ2 Extended. My sales crate, which is just the odds-n-ends, lights, rugs and random pieces, empties too quickly.  The furniture sets, which are what I really enjoy, conceiving and selling direct, take a lot of time – harvesting, crafting and then selling in game.  The Shop is “open” less and less, as I try to craft larger amounts of surplus.  Add to this custom pre-orders and decorating a manor house, and it’s too daunting for a single player.  Entertaining or not, I can’t live on EQ2.  *Smile*

I’ve decided to adjust my personal vision, of which only I was ever fully aware of anyway.  Given that I find the direct selling of my furniture packages the most entertaining, I have to be realistic and satisfied with only doing that once a week - tops.  The other days, players are welcome to visit but they’ll be purchasing from the sales crates, into which I’ll begin including more furniture pieces.  Once the provisions and rares I have on sale from my other character run out, her crate will be replaced with another furniture sales crate.  That’s the most I can do to keep my little experiment going at a pace that doesn’t burn me out and extract the fun I’m having with it.

Halloween Cometh

 I didn’t play as much EQ2 Extended over the weekend as I had previously.  For starters, it got busier at work toward the end of the week and I’m working on a new writing project.  I also babysat on Saturday evening which is when I normally play if I’m home.

My first order of business was to complete the rest of a pre-paid custom order.  They weren’t in a hurry but once I have someone’s hard earned gold, I feel compelled to deliver the items as quickly as possible. I had to do some harvesting before I could create what they ordered.  After that, I harvested and crafted items for another room in the Erolli Manor I’m being paid to furnish and decorate. When that was done – whew, I got to spend some me time in the game.  *Smile*

My EVE Online Moment and Lots of Friendly Customers

Whipping out the Spreadsheet
My crafting journey in EQ2 Extended is starting to gain the complexity of selling products in EVE Online. I've had to bust out the spreadsheet to help estimate the costs of items.  From there I can determine the optimum sales price and how low I’m willing to go when including the item in packages.  I now have a few custom pre-paid orders on top of the Erollis Manor home I’ve been commissioned to furnish and decorate.  The manor is 6 large rooms including the basement.  My plate is absolutely full. To gain some perspective on the size for non-EQ2 readers, that tiny little dot at the top of the stairs is me!

 

I spent my playing time on Friday evening creating the furniture I want to incorporate in the manor’s library.  There’s a nice sized room off the Great Room that has a full wall of built in shelving, hence my idea of turning it into a library.  I was only going to work on the side-rooms then log for the evening but my inventory filled up and when I tried to deliver this first wave of furniture, I discovered that being a “Friend” of the household wouldn’t allow me to put anything down. Uh oh!  Managing my little shop, selling half dozen custom furniture packages and needing a huge variety of components, I didn’t have a single slot anywhere to hold anymore items.

Stable them thar Ponies!

Should have moved off Nagafen Sooner
It’s too bad I didn’t salvage my carpenter off of Nagafen when SOE first implemented Character Move services for EQ2.  I hadn’t realized the potential for RP fun probably because it had been very hard to progress trying to harvest components in the initial PVP rule set.  I still have nightmares about traveling between Greater Faydark and Butcherblock, and being caught unawares by nightfall. *shiver*  I eventually abandoned the toon there and rerolled on Antonia Bayle where I started a provisioner instead.  Provisioning was a profession I'd done before and had enjoyed.

Carpentry Profession has Broadened
The carpentry profession has improved since I was last leveling it. They've included the creation of many décor items such as vases, paintings and rugs, in addition to whimsical pieces like a chest of skulls, hanging chains and spiked heads.  I’ll also be able to create various specialty storage items for adornments/jewelry, provisions, scrolls, etc.  A huge fan of The Sims franchise and all things cooking, I can’t wait to build my first kitchen.  I can make gear enhancing items such as adornments  as well, but where’s the fun in that?  *smile*

EQ2 EX - Lots of furniture sales and leveling

It was a restful holiday weekend at our house. No one was up for hosting a huge BBQ so everyone stayed at home and did whatever with their own family.  We, meaning me, since I’m the only one who can cook on the gas grill without burning everything, kept it simple and light – burgers, steaks and grilled veggies. Light cooking detail and no visitors meant plenty of time for relaxing which of course included gaming.

Decent Advancement
The Double XP Weekend in EQ2 Extended helped me to make decent headway on both of my primary characters.  My adventuring main is Alysianana, level 36 Illusionist and 34 Provisioner.  My goal was to get her to level 40 to make harvesting the next tier of components I need easier.  I got close.  She ended the weekend at level 39 adventuring and 35 provisioning.  I could have hit 40 but I got side tracked by harvesting in Zek.  I couldn’t resist all the available wood.

My main crafting character is Alysiaa, the level 30 carpenter.  She’s also an Illusionist so she’ll never see the light of adventuring again.  She’s been stranded on Nagafen for over two years.  Alysianana was the re-roll of her on Antonia Bayle.  She managed to gain almost 5 levels in crafting this weekend.  If I’d realized that I needed oak for 50% of the items at 33 and 34, I would have searched for it while adventuring.  No matter, I’m happy with the progress and she’ll hit 35 in not time.

Grand Opening of my Shop
While I did make decent progress on both characters, the main event for the weekend was opening my little discount furniture shop.  Things went smoothly for the most part.  I’m not very familiar with the EQ2 interface and it has a clunky feeling compared to other games I’ve played.  Some of the settings are in strange places and are not exactly intuitive.  Things like telling what instance you’re in and quickly changing to meet someone on face to face, posed problems the whole time.  Many of my customers were new players, leaving us to play Blind Leading the Blind mini games.