Mystic Worlds

It’s all about the Spec

With the new BC Talents, revamped Honor System and Arenas all hitting town on a server near you next week, most class forums are all about the re-spec.   Character specs in the World of Warcraft can make or break your character.  The spec needs to match your play-style, where you are in your leveling progression and the type of content you’re focused on.  You can get by with a gimped spec early on in the game, especially if you group a lot.  However, once you hit the end-game five man dungeons, or poke your head inside the raid dungeons, you’d better be set to perform.  If you can’t there will be questions.  People will check your gear and ask you about your spec.  You'll get more advice than you want and some people have very firm beliefs about class specs.  So it's best to know what you're doing, why you did it and be able to defend it.  If you can't, you'll be marked as a nub.

If you’re new to the spec game be sure to check the class forums and ask veteran players in your guild.  I've found that most specs are created to address these categories of game play:

• Leveling – Experienced players tend to choose a spec that facilitates quick leveling.  This is usually not the same spec that they want to have in the end-game.
• PVE – If you tend to group a lot and do instances in the upper levels, you’ll want a spec that allows your character to play its standard role in group content.
• Raid – Once you hit 60, soon 70, people who are going to disappear into the raiding instances, will usually pick the dominant/cookie-cutter build for that class.  Depending on your guild restrictions about raiding characters, some opt for hybrid builds but it’s not that common.
• PVP – Twinks, regardless of level and end-game PVPers, will want to spec to the build that provides the most survivability plus defense or offense, depending on their class.  Damage classes don’t seem to have as much controversy surrounding their specs.  And not to be dismissive, but tanks are tanks.  I find that most drama revolves around the healing classes when it comes to PVP.  Some want to do damage in PVP and only healing occasionally – Shadow Priests as an example.  While others want healing to still be their primary role but they want some offensive skills from whatever trees they have available.  Most of the conflict in spec’g comes from Raiders who also do a considerable amount of PVP.  It’s hard to serve two masters.  Just ask priests in guilds where spec'g holy is required, regardless of what the priest might want to do when they're not raiding.

Regardless of which I decide to play in TBC, I will be spec’g for PVP.  According to the billing, we’re supposed to be able to level inside the instances in TBC instead of doing world mob grinding when you’re sick of quests.  So surviving PVP – both in world and the BGs would be my primary concern.  This means that I shouldn’t need to drop back to a leveling spec while progressing through the new content.

I’m heavily into solo play and that’s how all of my toons were leveled.  However, I’m not as enamored of WOW as I once was, so grinding 10 levels won’t be on the menu.  If I can’t have fun in the instances or BGs, it will be auvoir.  But I digress, back to specs.  Do I go for the pain of dealing with the deficiencies in the priest class or go for the solid game-play of the warlock?  I’m more inclined to play my priest because I hadn’t quite gotten enough of her, as much as I was just sick of the content. 

If I go with my priest then she will stick with the heavy Disc build – even more so, because there is a 41 point talent worth having now.  I’m looking forward to Reflective Shield and Pain Suppression.  I can’t wait to pop them on the sneaky little rogues and druids.  Yeah, suck down some damage while you’re pounding on my bubble, I’m mitigating your damage and getting off a cast or two.  I’ve been in many fights that were SO close.  If I’d been able to land any other damage while trying to run once we were both low on health, they would have been dead.  Well now they will either stop hitting while I’m bubbled to avoid reflective damage or it might just be enough to knock ‘em dead.  And then there’s Shadow Word:Death.  That’s going to be a good one.

So what class are you taking to 70 first and what spec will you be sporting? Since I'm on hiatus, I won't be partaking of the patch next week.  By the time I load up, the kinks will be worked out and whatever mods can be repaired will be live and ready to rock.

Gamers Want What?

Sometimes it takes a while for humans to figure out the obvious.  Looks like this might be one of those duh moments we've all been caught up in...

I really enjoyed this post over at Darniaq entitled, “Gamers Want Games”.  In my own search to understand what draws me to virtual worlds and why I like one and not another, I’ve read some stuff by Richard Bartle and his work describing the gamer archetypes.  What struck me about this article are the observations and opinions about why WOW worked and grabbed the masses, as well his descriptions of people who want virtual lifestyles versus gamers.  This rung very true to me and I believe he’s hit the nail on the head.

I’m not a gamer, as much as I am someone wanting to experience alternative lifestyles in virtual worlds.  I’m fascinated by fantasy and magic, and the only way for me to experience what it might be like to be a wizard, sorcerer or mystical healer, is through a the virtual worlds of games – more specifically, online role-playing games.  Therefore, it makes sense that some aspects of these games aren’t going to be appealing to me when the focus more on just “playing the game” – kill this, kill that and bring it here.  Whereas I enjoy all the crafting – good and bad, leveling my character to build up their persona and establishing an identify for myself within the game.

When I can’t do that or when the “I” becomes lost in a mass of others – faceless 40-man raids, it all ceases to be fun for me.  It was never about the loot.  It was always about the journey, and the loot that was important, was merely what I needed to get to the end – max level, max profession, best skills, etc.  This clearly explains among other things, how I got my priest to level 60, signed off and haven’t logged into WOW since then.  It was the end for me.  There was no where else to go with this character.  I’d always known she wouldn’t raid based on my previous experiences with that aspect of the game.  It makes perfect sense who loves to raid, why they enjoy it and how they can stomach so much of it.

Even now, while playing EQ2, I see people leveling faster than me.  Sometimes I catch myself wondering if I’m doing something wrong when I start to get left behind.  Then I remember that when I arrive at the end – last level available, I’ll arrive whole.  All my skills will be max and my professions fully completed.  I will have adventured, explored and taken in the full breadth of the journey.  And I’ll have pictures, stories and blog posts that chronicle my character’s evolution.  Not because I’m better.  Not because they’re not.  Because I’m in it to live an alternate experience in a virtual world, not just play a game.

Now I can understand and appreciate that gamers want games.  I acknowledge that my interest is more in a virtual world.  I hope that more games can continue to bridge the gap.  EQ2 does a nice job at it.  WOW does well in many ways.  For myself, I'm hoping that Vanguard does it even better.

Myst Ressurection

For all you Myst fans out there, it looks like the title is going to make it online.  I've only scanned this article but will take time later to read the whole thing.  I really loved Myst II and Myst III but I don't think that I would enjoy Myst now as much as I did before I'd every played a fantasy MMORPG.  Online or not, it's not going to be like WOW or EQ2 or what I'm really waiting to try, Vanguard.

Still I'm glad that it's making its way onto the Internet for it's fans.  Back in my heyday of playing and loving Myst, I actually read the two novels penned by Rand Miller and David Wingrove - The Book of D'Ni and The Book of Ti'ana.  They won't win any literary awards, but I thought the were both very good.  Sci/fantasy is a bit hard to find at times and this was a nice break from sword and sorcery, futurist space novels and all things trekkie.

Magic Moments One and Two

On every MMORPG that I’ve played, I’ve had that magic moment.  You know what I mean – the one that lasts with you, and will always make you smile when you think of it and that particular game.  In AC2, it was the first time that I stepped through the portal on a dark snowy night and saw Linvak Tukal.  A very poignant melody was playing as the city’s background music.  Below me, players were running back and forth on the crossroads below – most in shining armor with lights beneath their feet.  And I said, whoa, I want to be one of them.  The second was when our guild helped my son get his first soul bound weapon.  When I myself became a hero of Dereth, which was my third magic moment.

In WOW it was completing the Warlock Epic Mount quest.  That was one hell of a fight.  It took me three weeks and four different attempts to get a winning team together to help me take down the onslaught of mobs they send at you for what is the coolest looking mount in the game.  But before that was winning my first piece of epic armor in Molten Core.  Third place is a toss up between the first time we down Rag and the first time we downed Raz.

EQ2 has delivered two magic moments in the same day.  I wonder if they’ll stack up over time, and remain the ones I’d list as the best.  I’m always an avid crafter in any game.  I just love doing it.  I find it very relaxing and consider it part of my character building and in-game persona, so I appreciated a good crafting system.  I think EQ2 has one of the best I’ve witnessed thus far.  I knew going in that carpentry isn’t a big money maker.  It’s one of the things that no one has to have to be successful in the game.  It’s fluff – the afterthought stuff that you’ll spend coin on if and when you can afford it.  I selected it because I just wanted to do it, and would have to make money in other ways to compensate for the selection.

Collecting the comps is time-consuming and I get weighed down easily which means making many trips back and forth.  I don’t have a lot of storage either so I can only stock pile materials for a short period of time before I have to stop and use them.  I try to keep my professions close to my level so that harvesting doesn’t require me going out of my way to back track through lowbie areas.  I’m level 18 and my artisan skills are 17.   Today I stocked piled some wood by making the long and dangerous trek out to Antonica.  It’s easy-peasy once I get there.  It’s just the getting there that can be hard if too many Freeporters are around.  I guess they sleep in on Sunday.  I got there and back unscathed.  My inventory was overflowing so I decided to make some items right away but I didn’t have much time because I had real life things to do.  I had the materials on me to make some Maple Bookcases so that’s what I made.  I ran a price check on the broker but didn’t find any available.  I decided to sell list them at the same price as the Maple tables even though those hadn’t sold.  I quickly slapped 50s on as the price tag and logged.

Later in the day I came back and found that two of the bookcases had sold.  I was happy to get the 1G and promptly banked it.  I go off to level for a bit – a couple of hours go by and now it’s time for me to log.  Just as I’m about to choose Camp, I get a message from someone I don’t know, asking if I had a minute.  I said, “Sure, what’s up?”  They ask me if I can make them 5 more bookcases and how much I’d charge.  I told her that they were 50s each and that she could buy the ones I had listed on the broker.  To my surprise, she informed me that she’d already purchased those but wanted five more. Duh!  That’s how she got my name.  It was late and I needed to log.  But I knew for a fact that I had all the materials right in my vault so I agreed.  When she told me that she’d meet me there with 1.5g each I rushed to do her bidding with a smile. This is magic moment number one. 

I was so happy and excited to be sent a message about making furniture.  I raced off to my room and got my supplies while she made her way to GF.  As luck would have it, 3 out of the 5 bookcases I made were pristine.  I still don’t know how to make that happen every time.  She waits while I complete her order and when I trade her the items, she gives me 10g!  And this is magic moment number two. LOL  10g for a lowbie skill item.  10g for a skill that I didn’t think I’d ever make any real money on until the upper tiered items.  10g, when earlier that day I was lamenting about how I would ever buy a horse.  10g, when having a horse would help me out run twinked FP gankers that ride us down while they are on mounts and carpets.  I was beside myself.  I thanked her very enthusiastically, bowed and danced. She smiled, wished me luck and was on her way.

I wanted to ask why she was willing to pay that much.  I’ve looked at the prices and those items aren’t selling for more than 30 to 55 silver on a good day.  I wonder if any of the new crafting skills let you take an item already created and add to it or turn it into something else?  I didn’t want to be nosey but I’m still very curious.  Then again, 10g was probably nothing to her, when she was able to get what she wanted immediately.  Wow – all was right in my EQ2 world and I felt very pleased about having chosen a profession that I wanted to do because I thought it would be fun, even knowing that I wouldn’t make a big profit and would have to fund my adventures in other ways.

Playing the Illusionist Class – Part I

What is an Illusionist?
The Illusionist class is a DPS caster class that also provides crowd control.  This is a class of Mage who utilizes magic to confuse, restrain and degrade the strength of their opponents, while inflicting arcane damage upon them.  They also possess some utility spells that can be used to enhance the abilities of their allies.  They are cloth-wears and as such, are vulnerable if attacked in melee range.  The magic bestowed upon them allows them to summon a replica image of themselves that can be controlled in battle to do damage upon their foes.

I settled on the Illusionist after sampling a few different classes.  My decision was based on my preference for casters, tendency to solo and comfort with playing more of a support role in groups and raids.  EQ2’s implementation of this class is classic crowd control but with a few really fun twists which I’ll touch on later.  From what I’ve read this is a solid class for solo, PVP and will be welcomed into most groups.

Having made my final decision for my first character I wanted to know more about the class so I could make intelligent decisions about spending my achievement points and other stat bonus attributes along the way.  I was surprised to find getting a solid chunk of data on this class difficult.  Personally, I think the Sony site has a shocking lack of information about the game, especially classes.  They have very active forums but that’s not the medium for gathering the technical details of game-play.  To fill in the gaps I’ve had to use many different sources and hope that they are reasonably current.  I could tell that many were not, even discounting the EOF expansion.

EQ2 currently supports (4) primary classes:
• Fighter
• Scout
• Mage
• Priest

Each of these is then categorized into sub-classes.  For the Mages the sub classes are:
• Sorcerer – Strongest caster DPS class using arcane forces
• Enchanter – Crowd control, utility, buff/debuff and caster DPS
• Summoner – Caster DPS with pets

Each of the sub-classes are divided yet again based on your faction alignment (Good vs. Evil).  In the case of the Enchanter, you’d be Illusionist for the good guys or a Coercer for the evil guys.  So the path to Illusionist is Mage > Enchanter > Illusionist.  That’s a lot to swallow and figure out as a new player to EQ2.  I believe there are also some restrictions based on race– only certain races can be certain classes.  As I was set on being a Fae, I didn’t delve into any of that and merely selected a Primary class shown to be available for a Fae and went down the trees from there.

Being a WOW player, the next thing I wanted to know were the racial abilities for the Fae, beginning stats and stats to focus on.  Getting that information was even more difficult.  I find it very curious that the Sony site hasn’t even updated its content to include Faes in the races page.  Hmm, that’s the kind of stuff you get ready in the background and launch with the expansion.  In comparison, Blizzard already has the racial abilities, talents and spells up for BC and it’s only in Beta.  Not much of an excuse for Sony not to have updated their content yet.  I’m looking for information to help understand how to play my class in a game.  I wasn’t expecting a research assignment.

In the end, I never did find out what the starting racial are for the Fae.  What most people were posting about was the Free-fall racial, which I already knew about.  Eventually, I read enough posts saying your starting racial stats don’t matter after level 20, so I abandoned my quest to find out.  From previous play I know that INT, WIS, STA are important to casters.  However, I’m not sure how if at all, AGI comes into play.  And then I read something about a CHA stat that I’d never heard of, which implies Charm.  And am still not sure if that’s in the game or if that was old content.  In WOW, stats mean everything.  And I do mean e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g.  You can completely gimp your character by amassing the wrong stats on your armor and weapons.  In the case of EQ2, I’m not sure what the meaning is for such a lack of direct information on this topic.  Are the stats important, but not game-breaking?  Or are they so easily attained that changing them is insignificant and cheaply done?  Don’t know – but I’d like to find out because I’m already making choices on gear based on stats.

The basics are easy to assume.  As a mage, INT would be important.  As a solo player I want to have buffed STA.  After that I’m not sure what I need to be effective.  What does WIS affect?  Is there the concept of critical strikes augmented by AGI?  These are nagging questions that I need to find the answers to very soon.  For now I can focus on the basics.  I know that when I see something that adds to my ability to resist certain things or reduce someone’s chance to resist my school of magic to take that into consideration.  At this point, I feel confident enough to make simple decisions – the kind you’re making in the low levels, and am happy with this class.

Next post will focus on types of spells, strategy and what makes an Illusionist tick, followed by how this class compares to other casting classes I’ve played in other games

New Coke Anyone?

I was surfing the WOW forums the other night when I read a post saying that The Burning Crusade Talents and Spells were going to be released in December.  That same evening I read a post on a blog discussing the fact that the Honor System changes were coming in a patch in December.  I don’t know about you, but I’m getting that new Coke feeling.

The new talents and spells have always been billed as The Burning Crusade Talents and Spells.  Why on earth would they release them before the expansion?  The honor system changes coming out before-hand, was something I’d read several times before, so I wasn’t shocked.  I think it’s a mistake to start trickling out the changes.  I am among those completely bored with WOW, as evident by my decision to leave until TBC.  But I still don’t think this is a good solution.  I’m starting to wonder if the men on high are concerned about players who’ve decided there’s not much point in continuing to grind the existing dungeons for loot or chase PVP ranks that are going to be swept out from under them, and are trying to throw a few bones to keep the masses interested.  They designed this new reset button and then delayed it, derailing the motivation of some players to continue with the old content.  Hmm, this just seems like a strange and risky decision to me.  Some classes are not happy about these changes.  What if the “preview” confirms their suspicions and it causes them to decide to hold off on even buying the expansion at all?  There will be other games to choose from come early 2007.

I was personally not happy with came out for Priests and am not dying to play my Warlock, which didn’t leave me a whole lot to be excited about.  I mean – Warlocks have been uber for a long time.  I already know how that rolls.  My growing lack of apathy about the game caused me to cancel the three Collector’s Editions that I’d ordered, and purchase just two of the regular expansions.  Between us, my son and I worked out which toons should be where and we’ve gone down to just two accounts, in a household that once had a four – then three – now two.

At present, I’m off to other things and even less sure that I will resurrect any toon myself.  Now comes the news that the talents might be released early.  They could be playing with fire.  Personally, if I read a revolt on the Priest forums over these talents, I can tell you for sure, that our two orders will be come one.  The longer I stay logged off the game, the easier it becomes to just say, “Eh, I’m over it.”

In a past life I was a copywriter at the public relations company that handled Coke and I remember well the fiasco of the New Coke.  Blizzard made a decision to hold off on TBC knowing that many players were bored with the existing content, and expected the expansion to be released this November.  Bad call or not, they should stick by the date.  We’ve already seen so many videos, reviews and screenshots of TBC there aren’t that many surprises left.  If they start dribbling out these features, they will dilute the excitement and impact of this long awaited release.

Leaving WOW Until TBC

For the first time, I’m seriously considering canceling my WOW accounts.  I’ve taken breaks from the game before but never considered stopping my subscriptions.  I’m pretty sure I’ll come back to play the expansion.  Just don’t see the need to pay for my two accounts until then when I’m not playing anymore at all.  At the very least, I should go ahead and consolidate my two accounts down to one.  The only reason I hadn’t before is that my son was playing my Warlock sometimes as a diversion so I kept my priest on a separate account.  However, now that I’m not playing at all, it wouldn’t be an issue.

An even bigger shock is that he’s gotten bored with WOW too.  And he’s a huge fanboi of the game.  He’s gotten tired of all the guild restrictions on alts on raids and he’s tired of raiding on just the Paladin.  The guild in which he plays my warlock is now having trouble with raid attendance and people wonder why they should bother with BC right around the corner, so they are now trying to strong arm people into raiding.  Don’t people get that you can’t turn a game into a second job?

He messed around with NWN2 for a few days but playing solo is gone for him after MMOs.  He teased me about my Fae on EQ2 but guess who’s playing EQ2 now on a trail account.  He’s not a Fae but he is leveling a toon.  If he’s still playing when the trial expires I’ll need to subscribe for him. Paying for two Sony accounts is a big reason for not wanting to also pay for three Blizzard accounts.

My biggest concern about WOW is that what lies at level 70, will be more of the same options as level 60.  I’m sure that getting to 70 will be fun.  Blizzard really designed that part of the game exceptionally well, and the new changes look to make it even better.  It’s just the life after 70 that holds no appeal for me. Why start a race that I don’t want to finish?  Competitive PVP might be fun – or it might not.  Crafting professions are more of the same old grind.  Reputation is just another grind.  Experiencing the new raiding content is fun in the beginning but then becomes – just a grind.  There is no character building, role play or ability to create a persona that is meaningful and adds value to other people in the game.  I say it really lacks immersiveness.  You’re reduced to being a killing machine, and that is the beginning and ending of what you are in WOW.  Personally, I want something more.

Trees, Trees Everywhere and Not a Fallen Node to Spare

I don’t how I can be living deep within the forests of Greater Faydark and can’t find fallen tree nodes from which I can harvest wood.  I mean I live in the forest, surround by trees but the availability of nodes is almost nil.  I don’t know what they were thinking.  Natural Herb nodes are available, Stone Clusters and Ore, why the heck aren’t there any trees??

I looked for almost an hour and only gathered 2 Adler branches, which are the core component for beginner carpentry.  I don’t know how they missed the shocking lack of wood in the area.  On the opposite end of the spectrum is the stone.  I can’t move more than a few feet before I trip over the stone clusters. Forest = trees.  Forest <> stone.  From what I understand the new professions need loam, which I believe comes from the stone.  I guess that explains why those nodes are all over the place but that’s no excuse for missing the lack of WOOD IN A FOREST!

Day Two in Faydwer

I was a bit surprised when I opened the DVD box for EQ2 EOF not to find a manual – not so much quickie guide or cheat sheet for commonly used commands.  “Hmm,” I thought myself but in my haste to install the game, I pushed the concern aside.  Well, it’s coming back to haunt me already and I’m going to have to find the manual from my original box set.  I’m a slash command user, as I hate having to use the mouse for frequently executed commands like speaking in different chat channels, opening the various interface windows, etc.

Leveling is going along smoothly enough.  I was in another spontaneous and short group.  It’s nice to see the players have enough sense and courtesy to invite people to a group when we’re all standing around waiting for the same named-mob to spawn.  It really cuts down on the potential for drama.  I hit a couple of quests where you had to find some really obscure locations last night.  After wandering in circles for 30 minutes I hesitantly asked in chat for help.  Unlike what I would have encountered in WOW, people actually answered me.  A few were even nice enough to send details via /tell.  How curiously refreshing not to be flamed with all sorts of variations of noob abuse for asking a question. /e Applaud  When I still couldn’t find the spot, and I wasn’t the only one, a nice Paladin floated over and led the way.

Pleasant surprise number two is that I’m already in a guild!  The person who came to rescue the three of us who couldn’t find the Memorial Stone, later on invited me to her guild.  I haven’t had a chance to check out their website but I can tell they’re fairly large.  People were leveling all over the place, a fact that I commented on in chat.  Someone replied that they were a very big guild and that was common.  A bit later, veteran players signed on and asked the newer players if they needed any help in completing quests.  From what I’ve seen so far, they appear to be a nice group of players.

Unpleasant surprises also surfaced.  The largest of which is that I’m finding the camera angle annoying on the Fae.  Because we’re so small and close to the ground, I have to adjust the camera angle when I’m flying, and then readjust when I land.  Silly Sony.  When you move/fly they tilt your body, which faces you toward the ground.  Exactly how am I supposed to see where I’m going?  You can’t, so you tilt the camera upward at an extreme angle.  When you land you’re looking at the sky – Doh, so now you adjust it back down.  This is VERY annoying!  I can’t imagine having the time to make these kinds of adjustments when I’m out in the “real” world with players who want to splat a Fae.  And yes, there are players who’ve announced open war on the Fae Fairies. LOL

Last minor annoyance is that they changed where and from whom you get your crafting skills and there aren’t any quests that lead on your way.  In previous versions, all crafting took place in instanced locations which included a merchant that sold both components and crafting books.  New players were initiated into the process via quests in the starter area.  Now crafting opens in the shared world in various locations – cooking in a restaurant, Scribing and Alchemy in the Research Library, etc.  Books or recipes come from trainers.  If you’re new to the game you know nothing about crafting or how it works, or even where to get started, and there are no longer quests to guide you.  I only happened to notice that the crafting tables where in these different areas because I recognized what the stations looked like.  However, I couldn’t find the books.  I spoke with every NPC near the stations and nothing.  I asked players in the area and they didn’t know either – not even the veterans knew where to go.  Eventually, I just searched the forums and found out what to do.  There was a thread already complaining about the changes without directions or quests to explain what to do.

My overall experience in night two as a Fae was very positive.  I like the class, my toon is cute, I purchased my house and am in a guild.  That’s plenty for a new player.  I am however considering changing races.  The flying and slow-fall thing is great but adjusting the camera every couple of minutes, is not.

To give you some perspective on how small Fae are, her is me looking at an herb on the ground.  It looks like the size of a small tree to me, when it's an herb - something the size of tall grass!  I want to go to Queynos to see how that is going to look to me before I level much further.  If I'm going to feel like the fly on the wall, I might have to go roll a High Elf Illusionist instead.

Easy to Spot a Raider

You know how I can tell when a blogger has started raiding?  They stop posting.  *Sigh*  Yeah, I'm talking about some of you that are on my list of favorite blogs.  We're not stupid.  We're not blind.  Our hearts aren't made of stone.  We notice when you choose raiding over posting, thereby neglecting our need to live vicariously through you via your blog.  We are human and we have feelings.  If you stab us will we not bleed?  If you gouge our eyes out with a hot poker will we not scream?

Do not forsake us and our wanton curiosity because you're off in yer fancy-pants raids.  We, your readers, are your true friends.  We will love with or without, E-P-I-C-S.