Mystic Worlds

EQ2: Disappointed in Steamfront Mountains

I was EXTREMELY disappointed to see that the Steamfront Moutains zone is basically the same as Butcherblock Mountains, with some Gnome gadgetry sprinkled around.  The look of the zone is almost identical – dry and rocky, with small caves and canyons.  Many of the core mobs are the same– spiders, bears, foxes, etc.  Imagine my disappointments, when the day before I was so excited to finally exit the zones I’d done several times during the course of trying to find the right race, class and EQ2 server rule set.  I didn’t play much after I realized it was going to be more of the same. I used an invisibility illusion to ride through the zone to uncover most of the map and get some exploration XP then logged out.

My Little Pony

I gave in to the inner voices screaming for me to purchase a mount.  I was trying to hold out for the Tier 3 but the ~9 plat wasn’t coming fast enough.  Walking – or rather floating, since I’m Fae, just wasn’t cutting it shuffling back and forth the Faydwer zones.  The idea of spending the money at all bothered me because it takes so long to earn it and I was only a couple of levels away from having several new spells that would also need upgrading.  I gave into the need to stop walking and purchased the Parade Karana Planestrider for 3 plat, 68 gold, 64 silver.  Since I was already dipping into the reservoir, I also upgraded my armour which was becoming woefully out-dated.

I’m anxious to hit level 35 now so I can for the first time exit these zones.  During the course of trying to play EQ2 I’ve made it to high 20s and very low 30s multiple times.  I’m sick of Antonica, Zek Forrest and ButcherBlock Mountains (BBM)!  I read one solo time line that said Steamfront was for level 30+.  Excited to be gone from the present haunts I went there only to be greeted by level 35 and 36 mobs right at the entrance.  I turned tail and ran, while cursing the guide that had gotten my hopes up.  But not to worry, I’m level 33 now with three rather long and tedious quests almost completed by happen-stance.  At 34, me and my little pony will make our way back to SF for some hack-n-slash sessions.

EQ2: Life in Willow Wood

The last time I subscribed to EQ2, I had decided to play it more along the lines of The Sims goes Medieval.  I planned to just putter about slowly and partake of the casual aspects of the game.  One of the first things I did was to move out of Kelethin to Qeynos Harbor.  I was on Nagafen at the time where I’d made some good money furnishing components to players trying to power level tinkering and transmuting.  I found that I liked the change A LOT.  I’d made a bit of the same opportunistic funds on Antonia Bayle as a Summoner, when I abandoned Naggy.  Not nearly as much though because the re-roll didn’t last very long.  I have enough for a T2 mount but I’m trying to hold out for the next one.  Consequently, having a pricey flat in QH wasn’t what I wanted to fund.

EQ2: Economy First - Ease of Use Second

Active forum reader for any game I’m playing, a post in the EQ2 Crafting forums got me to thinking.  As mentioned before, I’m an avid participant in crafting – it’s always my primary mini-game when not leveling.  EQ2 has my favorite system to date.  Yes, it takes time – almost equivalent to character leveling which is why for many players, it is the game.  With anything that takes that much commitment to advance, people aren’t likely to change mid stream.  It wasn’t uncommon in World of Warcraft for players to power level a profession simply to create particular Bind on Pick-up (BOP) items then switch back to their “real” gig.  You don’t hear players doing that in EQ2.

Because crafting in EQ2 takes work, changes to any profession are taken very seriously by players.  The forum post that got me thinking this weekend was one mentioning that Provisioners (create food and drink) need an increase in the number of items created by each combination.   A quick explanation of the process for non EQ2 players is that in addition to harvesting or buying the components needed to craft an item, you have to interactively make the item.  There is no auto-pilot option.  To create a pristine (perfect) item you have to apply profession specific skills to facilitate the production process while also successfully counter-acting random process problems.  If you don’t you run the risk of producing an inferior product which impacts its value or completely failing, losing all of your components, some of which can be expensive.  That said, any changes that impact the market for your hard won produce, is likely to incite passionate comments from players.

So as much as I sometimes wish I could create more items in less time, my current tier of items aren’t making me rich as it is now.  Anything that would dump more of these items into the market is likely to cause a drop in prices.  I’m already in the volume profession where my money is made by creating more of items which cost less than some of the other crafted goods where the components to create a single item are rarer and expensive, resulting in fewer items but those produced cost a lot of coin.  I’m starting to roll an alt character explicitly for crafting the high priced items I desperately need (skill upgrades) but can’t afford to buy.  However, being in the Provision profession as my first love, as cooking is in real life, I’m terrified of changes that might drop the bottom out of the market.

Re-visiting EQ2 – So Far So Good

My son walked by last night while I was crafting and asked, “Why are you playing that lame game?”  Later on, after I’d logged off he asked to try it, played for 15 minutes and said, “Yeah, that’s the same lameness I remember!”  When I first purchased EQ2 it was for me and my son – we both had accounts for a while.  He only lasted a couple of weeks before returning to whatever else we were playing – don’t recall what it was at the time.

EQ2 is a rather sedate game by our standards which is something that has turned us off in the past.  However, I’m doing just fine this time around with the pacing.  I don’t have lots of time to play.  I have zero patience for downtime when I can only play for an hour or so at a time.  I’ve done the flashy-pants MMO, hardcore commitment (raiding and PVP) and I don’t have energy or time for any of that right now.  My work-day feels like a war zone.  It’s not uncommon for me to end the day with a stress headache or migraine.  The pacing of the game suits me perfectly right now.  I like that there are ample mini-game opportunities, even when I have less than an hour to play.

Mini Game Opportunities
Player Housing
The last time I was subscribed I was living in Qeynos Harbor.  The cost was rather significant but I wanted a more central location for the staple of characters I was playing.  I had two Faes and two High Elves.  I really disliked the Fae City for housing.  It was too dark for my tastes and farming the components I need for carpentry and provisioning seemed more plentiful in the Commonlands.  I was on the edge of leaving so I figured I’d see if a change of scenery might help.  It did for a while but eventually I left.  When I came back this time I was down to just the Fae Illusionist on AB still sitting in the pricey room.  I decided the other day to pack it in and move to Willow Wood.  Willow Wood is still in a housing area that is more pleasing to me – human city, cozy and small, which means the bank, mender, housing and auction house/crafting is all conveniently close.  The Mariner’s Bell is just a stone-throw away and it only costs the noob fee of 5 silver per week.  Maintaining player accommodations – selecting, decorating and managing local selling features is a VERY cool mini game.  I think EQ2 has provided a nice mixture of functionality, vanity options and customization to housing that makes it worth your while.

Revving-Up for EQ2

Getting ready to do some leveling in EQ2 reminds of my days back in Asheron’s Call 2, where pen, paper and 3-ring binder by my side was the order of the day.  Leveling solo in AC2 was a reasonable affair but you still had to be prepared.  I spent time looking through the EQ2 forums for a good spec and locations that might be more solo-friendly than not.  To my delight and surprise, there were a few posts about leveling and soloing specs for an Illusionist.

I found the spec conversations a bit confusing at first.  The old time players use a lot of vernacular that newer players aren’t familiar with.  For example, they kept talking about the KOS line of spells or EOF line.  Only someone who’d been playing before those expansions would have any idea which lines came with which expansions.  Then there were the posts about the AGI, INT, WIS, etc lines when the lines in the spec tree aren’t actually named in that fashion.  Added to that many used notations like 5-6-3-4 STR to indicate their specs.  Whew, certainly not as straight forward as spec conversations in World of Warcraft.   After spending time reviewing the AA trees for Enchanter/Illusionist, I figured out that each of the lines buffed or altered a particular stat which is why they are referred to as AGI for instance.  Based on my research, I’m going to focus on AGI + WIS in the Enchanter Tree and Time Compression line in the Illusionist Tree until I get into the 60s.

I found a nice AA Calculator link on the forum and used it to build out this spec.  I only have 12 AA points.  I respec’d from the uneducated choices I’d made the last time around to follow one that's tuned for solo PVE. I had just enough time to find the NPC to get the free 1st time respec and then use my 12 AA before I had to log.  That's absolutely, all I've had time to do in game so far this week.

EQ2: Choosing a Second Profession

Removing leveling from the equation of character progression means that I’m free to only do whatever it is I really enjoy in this game.  For me, that comes down to exploration and crafting.  I’d also like to decorate my two-room apartment into something special.  The leveling will come however and whenever.

Having elected not to quest anymore than I absolutely want to, means that my gear and weapons will fall behind, unless I make a conscious effort to obtain upgrades on my own.  If I don’t create alts do craft my armor and weapons it’s likely to be a very expensive proposition.  And those costs will be on top of purchasing spell upgrades as the profession I selected for this character was provisioner.  I made that choice because I love cooking – both in game and in real life.  I figured if I’m going to spend time crafting, it should be something that I enjoy.  However, as I now consider the possible costs of keeping my character appropriately equipped for soloing, I’m wondering if I must, for the first time ever, roll a crafting only character in a game?

A Return to EverQuest 2

After three straight weeks of EVE Online (EO), I need a bit of a break.  I will continue logging into to do skill training but that’s about it.  My next adventure in EO will be to find a new corporation and decide on a profession.  I keep thinking about Science and Industry but that probably requires more time than I'm willing to commit. I've made good money just from ratting so perhaps I'll just stick to that for money.  Whatever I decide, for the moment I need a break from deep space.  I needs me some magic and fantasy lovin'.

I thought about going back to WOW for a bit to do some more PVP.  My Feral Druid is in three pieces of Season 1 Arena gear but needs a weapon upgrade.  I could work on getting enough gold to purchase the epic flying mount skill so that I can start the quest for the Druid Epic Flight Form.  As it turns out, neither of those were options.  My son, completely tired of his WOW toons and my other ones, hijacked my Druid.  What to do, what to do?

I thought about returning to The Sims 2 and my fantasy themed neighborhood and families.  I’d spent a lot of time decorating the entire area medieval.  I’d subscribed to custom content websites to get everything I needed from furniture, to clothing, to accessories and hairstyles.  Surely, I should make sure I get my money’s worth by playing it again.  But having played MMOs for many years now, I get bored and lonely playing alone.  As I was thinking about how cute my elf family looked in TS2 it occurred to me that if that slow paced fantasy experience was suitable for now, why not just go back to EQ2?  Isn’t that a nice in between?  Quiet slow paced but with other people??

EVE Online Trial: The Conclusion Part 1 of 2

Being new to EVE Online (EO), I assumed that war and PVP were synonymous.   You attack another player or target a group of players, and you’re at “war” with them.  As the final days of my trail would teach me, that is not the case.  Not having had time to research the intricacies of what is or isn’t a “war declaration” in EO.  I can only relate what transpired with the corporation that I was a member of and what they said was going on...

I was living rather high after my narrow escape during the last “all hands” call for PVP reinforcements.  Corporation chat remained lively and entertaining.  I was executing a training plan to get into the Vexor as requested by our combat leaders.  I did a lot of mission running, something that most of the other new players didn’t seem to be interested in doing much of, even though it was netting me some phat loots by salvaging all the rat ships.  In a nutshell, life was pretty damn good.

Disadvantages of the Horizontal Game Play

The problem with EQ2 being a broader, more horizontally wide game than something like WOW, is that sometimes you don’t know where you’re going.  With every expansion pack adding more levels in the modern MMOs, basing your progress on just reaching the leveling cap isn’t very motivating for someone like me.  Sure, I want to get there.  However, when I’m level one starting in a game with a cap of 80, reaching that goal is very far off.