Mystic Worlds

Runes of Magic Posts Dominate

Clearly, lots of people are still checking out Runes of Magic.  It remains the most widely read content on Mystic Worlds.  By a ratio of 4x, the ROM posts have beat everything else I’ve written here into the dust.  I found it surprising, that even Wizard101 posts, were dwarfed by the fever of reading that is ROM.

Top Mystic Worlds posts:

1. Choosing a Class Combo
2. My Crafting Workshop
3. Guide to Crafting Runes
4. Macros and Modding
5. Battle Monk

I didn’t feel like I’d written that much on the game.  However, the interest is so high that I wish I was still playing and posting about it.  As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t have much gaming time this summer.  More importantly, I’m waiting for the ROM "the Elven Prophecy" expansion, so I can let go of my Battle Monk that was gimped by the release day patch and subsequent class mechanic changes.  Regardless, I like the game and will be back.  I’m not into rolling lots of alts early in a game or re-doing the same content back-to-back.  I’d like to see the two new classes, make a new choice for a main and re-roll.

I searched but didn't quickly find anything that officially announced the two new classes.  However, if this piece of text on the website is to be believed, even though the linked page still shows it's unknown (??), the two new classes are Druid and Warden.  I'm very interested in knowing more about the Druid as I'd likely go Druid/Priest or Druid/Mage depending on the Druid skills, role and mechanics.

Runes of Magic Chat on No Prisioners No Mercy Podcast

A few weeks back when I still had time for gaming, I had a wonderful chat with Sister Julie and Sister Fran, from the No Prisoners No Mercy podcast.  The focus of our chat was the new free-2-play MMORPG, Runes of Magic.  Also included in the podcast is a conversation with Keen, from Keen & Graevs Gaming Blog, about the upcoming content patch in Warhammer Online.

Restless Night Visit to Runes of Magic

Last night – well technically this morning, I played a little Runes of Magic.  It was a little past midnight and my mind was racing so much that I couldn’t sleep.  I got up out of bed and decided to play something.  Logging into Runes of Magic reminded me of why I’ve enjoyed this game.

I haven’t played in a couple of weeks but getting started was a snap.  There are no long travels times zoning across the map to reach questing areas.  Typically, you’re operating out of a nearby character community – player-towns the size of Bree in Lord of the Rings Online or something smaller, around 2x the size of Lakeshire in World of Warcraft.  All of the primary amenities are available from within that town – access to your house, banking, auction house, crafting stations, vendors, mailboxes, etc.  Most everything you need is right there, without you having to travel several zones away from where you’re questing.  You also have quick travel options via the different methods of travel using runes and portals.

ROM: Ding 33 on Magus Gimpus

I hit level 33.5 in Runes of Magic with very little effort.  I spent most of the time standing around in the same few spots slaying mobs.  This is not intentional on the game’s part.  It was me still mucking around with a build for my Magus Gimpus, previously known as Battle Monk.  Using my Priest Talent Point Estimator, I fiddled with full caster build, balanced caster and melee, melee focused and finally, caster focused with minimal melee.  In the end, I went caster focused with minimal melee.  Priests only have TWO direct damage spells.  Rising Tide with a two-minute cast and Chain of Light with a 6-second cool down.

I figured that since I’m stuck with the Warrior side, I might as well make minimal use of Battle Monk Stance for mana-less damage while Bone Chill is ticking, even though its benefits were nerfed, it reduces my healing and hog-ties me to a 2H staff.  I see lots of Priests just bubbling and standing there in between.  I can’t do that after having played this class as multi-mob melee before the recent changes.  You have no idea how sorry I am that I selected Battle Monk for my character.  The Talent Point Reset rune that was given to all players was all well and good.  However, for the depth of changes that showed up in the live release they should have allowed players a ONE TIME opportunity to reset their secondary class.  After reading the Patch Notes, I would have changed mine in a heartbeat.

Stat-less Gear Sets Arrive

Fashion-only gear sets have landed in Runes of Magic.  Not surprisingly the females get to wear revealing crotch gear, except for one set that has a full length robe.  *sigh*  If you haven't been following ROM news closely, you might wonder why anyone would purchase gear without stats.  The answer is the Aggregator, a tool that allows you to combine the looks from one item with the stats from another.

I'm not blown away by the sets they showed in the announcement so I won't be rushing off to purchase the gear or the Aggregator just yet, all of which are micro transactions via the Item Shop.  I'd wait to see what my top level gear models look like before investing cash in forming an outfit at level 30.

Runes of Magic: Please Fix List

While I’m enjoying Runes of Magic, it’s not all sunshine and roses.  There are core game mechanics that must be fixed.  When the summer expansion was announced, I heard many of the same player complaints that I experienced in Warhammer Online – fix what’s already broken before pushing new content.  I’m sure those activities aren’t mutually exclusive.  I’d love to see the new classes sooner than later since I have a belly-up combination now.  I’d rather wait to consider the new classes before starting an alt.  From the perspective of questing content, ROM doesn’t have the same level of replay ability as World of Warcraft, EverQuest II or Warhammer Online.  New classes and content are welcomed along side fixing what's already broken.

Here are the top 10 things I’d like to see fixed ASAP:

1. Class review for Battle Monk
This combination is completely dead in the water since the release changes.  We’re not exaggerating the point that no one would take a Battle Monk in a group unless they are desperate and they wouldn’t take you as BM anyway, they’d tell you to drop the Battle Monk Stance and go heal.  Worse, there is no point in playing one solo either.  I’ve chosen to play mine as Gimpus Magus until something changes or new classes come out.

2. Crafting System Review
The fundamentals and design are fine.  I’d like to see them revisit the amount of materials needed to produce items and the quantity of items you need to produce in order to level.  It’s completely unbalanced with the value of what’s produced.  In addition, some of the recipes and ingredients needed to level are missing from the game.

3. Targeting
Shares the same issue with using the “target closest enemy” command that I saw in Warhammer Online.  I’ve never seen this problem before these two games.  Did coding target commands suddenly become hard or something?  More annoying in ROM is the difficulty in selecting items that are near each other.  Note that I’m not talking about overlapping items, just items near each other.  Good lord, how is such a basic element problematic?  Trying to target items that are in close proximity is annoying as hell.  Sure, I can shift and left-mouse-click but the fact that I have to do that and so often, means it’s fundamentally flawed.  Please fix it.

Runes of Magic: Uh oh, can there be RMT that crosses the line?

In playing Runes of Magic, the newest free-2-play MMO entry, I’ve never felt compelled or coerced into spending cash.  I only count purchasing the mount as a “must purchase” item.  I haven’t needed additional bag space.  The other things I’ve purchased were for convenience, not necessity.

Now here comes the sale of crafting resources in the Item Shop.  I don’t know if it’s permanent but it sounds like it since they are encouraging guilds to use the items to build the castles.  I have VERY mixed feelings on this offering.  The number of resources required to produce a single item is a chief complaint among crafters.  I still harvest but I had stopped producing items.  I’ve been waiting to see if the system was going to be tweaked.  This latest news doesn’t leave much hope.  My first reaction is to suspect that the massive grind in this area is intentional to encourage the purchase of the resources now available in the Item Shop.

I suppose this is no different from the other conveniences offered in the shop, none of which is a necessity.  Somehow, this one feels a bit more blatant to me.  However, that might be because I’m a crafter.

Runes of Magic: Ding 30/30

It took longer than I was expecting but I finally hit level 30/30 in Runes of Magic.  My work schedule delayed advancement followed by overcoming noodling on the unwanted class changes.  You’ll see in a subsequent post that I couldn’t resist taking my planning to a new level before making a final decision.

I’m glad to be 30/30 and have picked up my last Elite skills.  The maximum character level is 50 but not all of the class skills were included in game’s release.  I’ve spoken to a few guild members who are now a little frightened about the upcoming class skills.  They’re afraid of changes or skills being introduced that offset their class’ current roles.  It’s unfortunate that the significant and upsetting class changes hit us in a single blow left a trail of fear in the player base.  The higher the level of the player, the more concerned they are that their class might be toppled in unforeseen ways.

ROM: Priest Talent Point Estimator

Overview

If you need help in planning your Priest build in Runes of Magic, I have a little toy for you.  Post recent class changes and having reached level 30/30, I wanted to finalize my Talent Points.  I’ve been successfully using a moderate DPS with moderate healing build.  However, since the group content is still far and few, I wondered why not go with heavy damage until I hit level 50.  At this point, I have many levels to go and lots of farming to do. 

I still had one free Talent Point reset rune in the bank.  As I tried to determine in my mind how many TPs I could spend on damage and have solo focused healing, I was frustrated.  Today there are no talent calculators available for ROM classes.  This is owed to the very different mechanic the game has employed.  Instead of increasing talents in single point increments, they are increased using varying amounts.  This makes developing talent calculators difficult.  This is unfortunate in a game where changing your build will costs real money beyond the couple of free Respec runes given during the life of a character.

Runes of Magic: $1M Question - What Class Combination?

The most popular question asked in Runes of Magic is about what class combination to choose.  Leveling and outfitting two halves of the same character, is no minor feat.  I’ve done dual spec before but not where they each have their own XP and Talent Point cache.  There is no way to change your selection, not even the secondary class.  If you change your mind, your only option is to re-roll a new character.  For that reason, players want to be careful, none more so, than players for whom this is their first class-based MMO.

The best I can do to offer advice is to discuss how I went about making my own choice combined with what I’ve heard and read from other players.  Ultimately, it does come down to your personal preferences and goals.  To save on the typing I’m not making any distinction by the order I state the combination – Warrior/Knight is the same to me as Knight/Warrior.  I’m not trying to provide that level of advice.  Again, much of this IS SUBJECTIVE so keep the flames to yourself if you disagree.  Differing opinions and recommendations are however, very welcomed as part of the dialogue.

Here are the things I considered before choosing the Priest/Warrior combination.  It was an unusual choice for me and not what I originally planned.