Mystic Worlds

Let the Epic Shenanigans and Cross-linking Begin!

Yes, I solo MMOs and damn proud of it!  Yet I felt compelled to join the growing list of bloggers banding together to form guilds in Warhammer Online.  Hands-down this is going to be the funniest ride ever.  Good game or bad, having this mixed bag of misfits bumping around each other in the same brown bag is going to be epic.  How could it be anything other than mass drama in game, on the forums and sprawling across the blogs?  Passionate, vocal, active and opinionated – yes, there will be lots to write home about.  I’m getting more excited about the company I’ll be keeping than the damn game!

I read all if not most of the people already on board.  And since I read them, I clearly like their style and what they have to say.  How could I not have fun slashing throats and melting faces along side of them?  Can you just imagine all these chatter boxes together on Vent?  I’ll have to be the person to introduce drinks and grouping on Friday.  Yeah, that always loosens people up a bit.  I’m also looking forward to other female gamers being around.   Sure I know they’re out there and have played with some.  But when you solo as much as I do to level, you don’t get to chat with many of ‘em.

So what does joining this guild mean for a die-hard solo player like me?  If WAR works they way people say, not much at all.  I think it’s going to be like AC2.  I can easily join groups when peeps are around because of the Public Quests and RVR.  It sounds like PUGs will feel more like WOW’s Alterac Valley than a traditional x number-man grouping.  I did AV lots when I cared about WOW.  Hell I lived in that place and absolutely LOVED LOVED LOVED the original “lasted for hours” battle mechanic.  If grouping feels like that I’m in.

The guilds being formed aren’t just for bloggers so feel free to drop by the forums and join up if you’re interested in some gaming enthusiast madness.  /Random has a mini list of those already on board if you're curious about the company you'd be keeping.

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.

Not Your Typical MW Post

I work in a hell-hole PERIOD.  It doesn’t matter that some people are nice.  It’s irrelevant that I have a small group of friends there that will remains friends long after I’ve left.  The fact that I have an enormous amount of respect and appreciation for my boss doesn’t negate the reality that I hate this place.  We are a fallen dynasty living in glass chambers which will soon be as diminished and faded as Lucent or IBM Computers.  I don’t care about the power many here crave or the perceived accolades or face time with big honchos.  I’m here because I’m a sell-out.  Two decades ago I opted for a life style that wasn’t easily dismantled once you have a family depending on you.  They’ve had a nice life and I’m happy to have helped provide it.  In a couple of years the last college student will have graduated – not counting her desire to go immediately into graduate school.  That means in the next 2 to 3 years, I’ll be free of why I’ve stayed in Corporate America long after I lost the stomach for it.  I believe I’m going to re-invent my life one more time before I retire, hopefully very early, from the daily grind that is devouring copious amounts of my soul.

Soloing in MMOs Ain't Broken

I want to solo what’s it to you?  I’m paying the box price.  I’m paying the monthly subscription.  I’m playing by the rules so you really shouldn’t care how I to choose to level my character.  Leveling opportunity for solo and group should be equal.  I don’t mind that there is content I won’t see.  If I cared, I’d group.  Yet since I don’t, it should be pretty damn clear that I, like many other players, enjoy soloing in MMORPGs.  If you're curious why, you can read this old post of mine or this more recent one.  I know that the gear in most games is better in group content.  I realize that most, if not all, of the highly scripted events are in group content.  It’s not like I’m stupid.  You don’t think I know this?  The fact that I still opt to solo should illustrate it's an important enough play-style for me, that I CHOOSE to forego some of the rewards of grouping.