Mystic Worlds

Patching... Re-installing... Hoping for a weekend drive by.

I’ve been catching up on my favorite MMO blogs the past few days. It’s all making me very nostalgic.  I have a large amount of wonderful gaming memories linked to MMOs.  I know EQ2 is pretty sweet this time of year.  For my money, that game does holidays the best.  I’ve probably been dropped from my guild not that I did much with them.  I was so wrapped up in my furniture and custom home decorating shop.  Dare I install it on my current gaming PC???  

I haven’t even checked out the new Rift content.  But-but-but there they have trick-of-treat candy needed for crafting certain items that can only be harvested this time of year.  I could farm some if time allows over the weekend…  But-but the new Rift Chronicles are fun I’ve heard…  Maybe I can sqeeze in a weekend drive by.

Patching Rift…
Re-installing EQ2X…

 

EQ2 Extended: Feasting Tables

Lets Eat!
This is a time of year when many Americans begin planning three of the biggest food consumption holidays of the year.  I've personally been on Epicurious for the past two weeks preparing for Thanksgiving. And all too quickly, Christmas will be here, necessitating the preparation of another tasty family feast.

Feasts Feasting Tables
As I started redesigning my EQ2 Extended furniture showroom, I decided to create two "Feasting Tables". It's a timely inclusion for the season and satisifies a request I'd received a few weeks ago to provide an estimate for creating one.  At the time, I'd never considered it and had nothing to display for options. Worse, I had no idea what was possible from a crafting perspective.  

My search revealed that recipes for craftable food and tableware was very thin.  The vast majority of items in this category are provided as quest rewards and holiday events, which means I can't mass produce them to sell. Daunted but not defeated, I decided to press on using what I could make or creatively devise.

The Darker Side
Halloween decorating being the exception, I've avoided crafting the more sinister looking carpentry items.  I don't even make one for the bonus crafting XP since my levels come quickly just by producing customer orders.

I know sinister themed items appeal to a portion of the players, especially in a game with "evil" races living in sinister style zones but it doesn't appeal to me.  That being the case, I don't feel as though I possess any knack for styling those types of displays but decided to include a mild one for display.

Quick Update

I'm on the road

I started a new job last week which I'm very pleased about.  Now that I'm gone, it's probably okay to say that I had been working for Motorola Mobile Devices for the past 10 years.  I'm completely out of the telecommunications industry and very happy about it. I've joined my former Executive Director and two other members of our former team. The first day was pretty darn funny.  Same boss and core team mates altogether at different company, in different state but it immediately felt like home. Everyone I've met so far is very excited for us to be with them and I'm equally enthused about taking on new challenges and opportunities.

I will still be classified as a full-time telecommuter but I'll need to travel more than I've had to in recent years.  I'm fine with travel. I don't have any small children at home.  I also find hotels a nice opportunity to focus on personal projects without the fear of being interrupted or more aptly, being too easily distracted.  I want to use that time to get more engaged with writing fiction again.

New Customers and Friends

Add-ons Seriously Needed

I could really use some in-game tools or add-ons to help manage the furniture shop I’m running in EQ2 Extended.  An in-game calculator, notepad and permanent wallet history, ala EVE Online accessories would be very nice in deed.  I use the player made notebooks to keep track of inventory, customers and orders but it’s a hack attempt at best.  I was using a spreadsheet but I didn’t like alt-tabbing out of the game.  It breaks the RP feel of what I’m doing.  Not that I’m some big RP person but I like how connected this character feels to the world of Norrath – like she lives in that world.  As a result, I don't want the jarring exercise of popping in and out of game using programs.

Besides having something like the WOW add-on, Auctioneer for seeing the range of prices for an item, a permanent list of your sales crate information would be very useful.  Right now what we have is a scrolling log of past sales where things fall off the list as new items are sold.  The information provided such as the item sold, cost and purchaser is very valuable.  First off, it helps me to understand my optimal price points so I can adjust accordingly.  I rarely price items based on what everyone else is doing even though I often check our of curiosity.  I prefer go by the tier, whether or not there was a rare component and the uniqueness of the item.  If I went by what I see many others doing, I’d be selling for less than the fuel costs, which I simply do not understand.

EQ2X: Busy Bandit

It’s been extremely busy for me in game the past couple of weeks.  This is a good thing since I’m running a furniture shop in EQ2 Extended.  I’m still trying to strike the right balance between making and setting up new showroom displays when I learn more recipes, managing custom orders, executing house design projects, farming components and leveling my main.  *Whew*  At times it’s very daunting and I question my ability to sustain this endeavor.  I also have other projects mapped out that will require a significant amount of effort.

Everyone Needs Personal Space

One such project is my “House within a House” which is almost finished.  Here’s a sneak peak - an aerial view of the exterior. I will blog the whole crazy idea soon.  In a nutshell, because my Erollisi Manor is really a showroom for Alysiaa’s Friendly Furnishings, I didn’t feel like she had a home of her own.  I considered having an alt purchase one for her but she actually needs to be on the premises so much that it didn’t feel like a good solution. When the patios were added, I decided to build a small private residence behind the store for her instead. I’m extremely happy with the results.  It feels like "her", whereas the shop is decorated and styled for the masses. Once I finish landscaping the exterior, it will be job complete!

EQ2 Extended DIY Decorating: Issue #2

Mystic Worlds EQ2 Decorating DIY: Issue #2 is hot off the PDF press and awaiting your perusal.  If you love kitchens like I love kitchens, don't miss 3 low-effort yet-high impact custom upgrades any player is capable of mastering.

Fully-body Costumes Arrive for Halloween

I'm not an in-game holiday sort of person.  I loathe quests that have me running across the globe for frivolous items.  I rarely find themed holidays in games appealing.  I was all set to bypass Halloween in EQ2 Extended like I do in every other game, except that I received a wall of in-game mail from customers and guild members.  They all wanted to make sure I knew about the special furniture recipes that can only be obtained now. I rushed to the vendors to buy them and scanned through everything else that was for sale which was the beginning of my down fall.

I started clicking on items and noticed full-body costumes.  Not masks, no sir - fully body.  Say what?  As a result, I spent the first couple of hours running around acting like a fool.  First I walked, ran and jumped on very surface I could find. That's right Square Enix  (Final Fantasy series), us foreigners like to jump.  Get over yourselves!! After I'd had enough prancing around, I decorated my shop with candles, pumpkins and Jack-o-Lanterns. *Woot!*

I plan on doing some of the quests that drop unique house items and farm mobs that drop the components for crafting the special event furniture. I think they will be huge sellers after the event is over.  There are nice sofas in different shades, tables and the obligatory spooky items which I'll skip. I would have done a few yesterday but customers never sleep and since I'd been out of the game for a few days, people found me really fast!  *Smile*

WOW does a good job at dressing up Azeroth for holidays but I rarely bothered other than watching the fireworks on the 4th.  EQ2 grabbed me right away because of the quality of the costume. I mean damn, they look good.  And now that I'm officially a crafting whore, adding new furniture and recipes gets me at log-in.  *Smile*

Garden Memories - Making Magical Spaces

When I was a junior in High School, I wrote my first serious attempt at a fantasy short story.  It was titled, Garden Memories and was a fictionalized account of an adventure I’d had playing in a nearby park with friends.  It was The Little Rascals meets The Secret Garden.  My English teacher and then writing mentor, Helen, convinced me to submit it for the literature journal and a national contest.   It was accepted into the journal and awarded 3rd place in the contest.  I’ve been writing more or less ever since that event.

I’ve always been in love with and fascinated by the short lived beauty of flowers.  They live vivid but brief lives.  And because of that beauty, they are snatched from nature to be placed in vases and gazed upon by adoring eyes, who have now hastened the flower’s demise.  I find that tragically ironic.

I surround myself with flowers - fresh cut, potted, pictures and paintings.  Here’s one of my favorite paintings.  I’d willing walk into this picture and stay forever.  I’ve also dabbled in digital photography where flowers were a favorite subject.  Having said all that, it should come as no surprise that I got around to building a garden in EQ2 Ex.  The player housing and in depth crafting system make it too easy to experiment with recreating your every imagination.

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.  

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.