Mystic Worlds

Too busying having fun to blog until....$20 for 6 more spaces in my bag

That's about all I was going to post.  Between work and taking another workshop, my free time has been spent in Allods.  I'm Alysianah playing an Arisen Summoner on Nezeb server.  Damn, is this game crowded.  But it's all good.  That should make it very easy to get into groups for instances and world boss fights.  I'd rather have too many players than too few.

Booooooooooooo-hissssssssssssssss to all the blogger playing League.  I'd hoped to play with you all at some point.  Now I'll only see you facing down my vampiric bats from a distance.  My bag is full so I've been waiting for the cash shop to open to buy one then I saw this insanity on Massively.  The players on the forums are none too happy either.  $20 US to add 6 spaces into my bag.  Are these people out of their fucking minds!?!  Yes, I can use that word here.  Whatever they are smoking I need some of it quick.

I enjoyed the PVE I experienced.  I LOVE my class.  I'm tickled pink with the steampunk motif.  I want to support this game by using the cash shop as it makes sense.  BUT you will not RAPE me with ludicrous prices. Someone is stupider than a box of rocks setting these sort of prices.  There's a little thing called an economic crisis happening around the world.  Tune into some news.

I'd pay $20 for an additional 40 slot bag + 2 respec reset-thingies and a damn mount (game doesn't have mounts) but you get my drift.  I might pay $20 for a solo enabled Astral ship to use for travel, exploration and PVE.  HOWEVER,  I WILL NOT GIVE YOU 20-BUCKS FOR 6 ADDITIONAL SPACES IN A BAG, MORONS!!!!

I spent $70 dollars in Runes of Magic for my crafting workshop - dream thing I've wanted since the very first MMO.   But that was a 2-story house with XP, talent and crafting bonuses, AND all decked out.  Plus my guild mates used to come chill there, and chat while crafting.  $20 for 6 additional bag spaces.  Get real!  I expect Darren who didn't want to pay $10 for a permanent mount to have a coronary when he reads that one, if he's at all interested in Allods.  He probably isn't now.

EDIT: They have posted a news item that the prices in the Cash Shop are not a mistake or conversion issue.  And not to worry, they will be adding more items soon.  Are these people for real??  Wow, just wow, is about all I can say.

EQ2 could be my future, Allods is a keeper, ROM back on the menu and STO on hold.

In another 18 months EQ2 might be home

News is in, EQ2 is adding Battlegrounds.  At this rate, in another year or so, EQ2 will probably have most of what I want for my main-stay MMO.  I'm not being sarcastic either. If the game continues adding in the things I enjoy, the fact that I don't like the questing system will become increasingly over shadowed.  I can't run back to a subscription at this point because the PVP is for max level characters only.  Boo!  Besides which, they need to get through the PVP issues nerfing PVE skills, class balancing, crowd control whining and twink drama that have plagued WOW BGs since forever.  Yeah, I'll skip the initial onslaught of teeth gnashing and QQ.  Grats EQ2!

I canceled my STO pre-order

As much as I enjoy being there with the opening day masses, another week of the BETA left me feeling more uneasy about the game's future. In the past couple of years, I've bought too many games that I was sincerely excited about but didn't last long after the 30 days that came with the box, to go with the lower percentage of lasting past the 30 days, for a game that I'm only marginally enthused over. 

The 180 on the skill cap mechanic was the tipping point for two reasons.  First - class skill tree design in a game with infinite skill points is VERY different from a game DESIGNED FOR FINITE SKILL POINTS.  From what I can tell, the decision has changed without an overhaul and/or thorough review AND TESTING of impact.  You won't know how gimped the situation is until nearer to max level.  Second - Skill, attribute and item descriptions are so poor, it's hard to know if you're even making the right choices for your class, role and spec.  Poor documentation is tolerable when you have an infinite supply of skill points to spend but unacceptable when you don't.

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.