Mystic Worlds

Guildies Visit Crafting Workshop

My dream of building a crafting workshop for in-game friends was originally dashed after a couple of people were unable to use the stations in my house.  I was rather bumped but still happy that I had achieved my personal goal of being able to craft in my house.

Good news came when I joined the NoLimit guild and members dropped in to say hello.  It turns out that guild members can use crafting stations placed in each others homes.  WOOT.  We’ve tried placing crafting stations in the Guild Castles with no luck of anyone other than the owner being able to use them.  We’re hoping the full release of Castle features will enable this or provide Castle versions that can be shared. 

Until then big crafters in the guild have been using my house as a convenient alternative.  They can easily go from the Guild Castle to my house since the NPCs are right next to each other in Varanas.  People really enjoy the fact that they can do all the combines and production in one location.  No running around to the different stations in the main cities.  It’s really fun to have so many visitors and it’s rewarding to see others enjoy the fruits of my labor. 

Achieving this in ROM is right up there with hitting max rank for the first time, getting that first epic or downing a raid boss.  It's something I've wanted for a very long time and now I've achieved it.  *Wears a wide Cheshire-cat grin*

Runes of Magic: Guide to Player-made Runes

The Essentials

Runes are an essential part of Runes of Magic (ROM).  Go figure. *Wink*  There are several types and they have different purposes.  This post is going to discuss the runes that are used for enhancing your gear.

Runes drop randomly from mobs located throughout Taborea.  If you notice a particular type of rune is dropping from mobs where you’re completing quests, you should note the location and mob if it’s one you might need in the future.  I haven’t seen any rune databases on the internet yet.  I’m sure they’ll eventually start cropping up given the importance.

Base runes can be attached to your armor by right-clicking the rune then left-clicking the item you want to enhance.  Only items with rune slots can be equipped with runes.  Think gems and gem-slots from World of Warcraft or talisman from Warhammer Online.  Placing a rune with a stat that is important to your class into EVERY AVAILABLE SLOT is the minimum every player should do to enhance their performance.  If you’d like to increase the effectiveness and impact of runes on your gear then you can transmute multiple runes into something more powerful.

ROM: New Live Event Arrives

I’m not big into Live Events.  I liked the in scenario ones in Warhammer Online.  I had a good time when the Dark Portal opened in World of Warcraft.  As for the holiday events – the run me here and there types, I can’t be bothered.

When I logged into Runes of Magic this evening the only thing I had in mind was completing a quest or two.  I was minding my business in route to Rumpus Mines to deal with my last two goblin quests when I saw a couple of players fighting a huge frog.  I’d heard that there was a Live Event but hadn’t bothered with the details.

EVE Online: Joining Faction Warfare

While the blog has been flooded with Runes of Magic posts, I’m still subscribed to EVE Online (EO).  I’ve kept my training going but switched gears. I was training to do some basic production in order to get my crafting fix on.  With no other full featured MMO in my diet, I had to get crafting somewhere.

Things have changed a bit since I re-subscribed to EO.  A couple of weeks later I gave Runes of Magic a try and have been there ever since.  It is my Free-2-Play EQ2/WOW/LOTRO fantasy alternative.  It’s enough of what I like with options of opting out of things I don’t like or find entertaining.  Having built my crafting workshop in ROM that's where I’m getting my crafting-fix satisfied these days.

Gamers' Fiction Podcast Show #3

Alert: Original audio file was clipped during upload.  If you downloaded before 10 AM Central the first story is missing.  Please download again.  Sorry for the inconvenience.

We're back with another episode of gaming related fiction for gamers.  I'm flying solo this time.  As a result, the show is shorter in length.

The show features a story that takes a look back at my adventures in Asheron's Call 2 and another dip into the EVE Online Chronicles, that tips a hat to miners.

Hop on over and give the show a listen.

Closer Look at ROM Guild Castles

In addition to the class changes I mentioned last week, the most recent patch in Runes of Magic also introduced Guild Castles (GC).  You can find more details here.  My original plan was to start a very small “come as you are” guild in ROM for friends and acquaintances that are playing casually.  I may still do that in the future.  However, my interest in seeing the GCs and how they work enticed me to accept an invitation to a guild.  Shadowsin, a player I'd met while acting as healer for a group answered a few questioins for me about the GCs.  During the conversation he mentioned that he'd joined a guild and I could come tour their GC.  He said that they were a great group of folks and I should think about joining too.  After chatting a bit more I decided to join the NoLimit guild.  So far they are a very fun bunch.  I spent WAY too much time socializing and actin’ the fool with them this weekend.  So much so, that once again I got very little questing done.

It's F2P not The Salvation Army

While researching information on producing runes in Runes of Magic (ROM), I noticed that the Enchanting NPCs in Varanas are now selling many of the Item Shop gear enhancement components for in-game gold.  On the forums, they’ve posted that Item Shop objects will begin dropping in game too.  I hope they know what they are doing.

While I’m mature enough to understand that many Western gamers aren’t comfortable with micro-transactions in their MMOs, those same players should be mature enough to understand that games aren’t made and maintained for free.  ROM is already free-2-play and the Item Shop is the ONLY method by which it will have a revenue stream.

Runes of Magic: Matalina the Crazy Clown

Bored or up for a solo challenge where hidden treasures await?  If so, head over to Varanas and take a trip into Matalina’s Dungeon.  Matalina is located in the Varanas Central Plaza, not far from the Transporter lady.

To enter the dungeon requires 30 Phirius tokens (Daily Quest tokens).  If you’ve got the cash, talk to Matalina and she’ll do an Alice in Wonderland shrink move on your character and port you inside.  You have 10 minutes to dig up as much treasure as you can find.  The hitch is that the squares are guarded by electromagnetic pulsors that do damage until destroyed and digging up a square might unearth a bomb or spawn a demon instead of a treasure chest.  The mobs and the rewards scale to your level.  The dungeon is recommended for levels 15 and above. 

Runes of Magic: Friends and Visitors

Another weekend went by without me accomplishing much in Runes of Magic (ROM).  The weather here is turning early spring which brings people out of the house.  Family and friends paraded through off and on all weekend.  It was a nice change of pace even though I had other plans in mind like hitting a couple of levels and working on some short stories.  It wasn’t until Sunday evening that an opportunity to play ROM presented itself.  And the writing, well, that never happened at all.

Last week Shawn Schuster and I traded a few emails about ROM.  If you’re not familiar with the name, Shawn is now the Managing Editor for Massively.  I first became aware of Shawn from his GuildCast podcast and have been a fan ever since.  In email we discussed how much fun I was having with ROM after my story about my crafting workshop.  A couple of emails later he decided to re-roll on Artemis where I’m encouraging other casuals to come play, so we can form our own little casual community in Taborea.  When I logged on Sunday evening, I saw Shawn’s character was online and went to meet him in game.

First Patch with Significant Impact to my Classes

This is the first patch where my game play will be visibly impacted by class changes. 

Changes to Defense Conversion

My Defense will be reduced as a result of the new calculation.  I’d been wondering how on earth a cloth class could stand toe-to-toe and melee with no more regard than any other class.  The answer is we shouldn’t be able to do it.  All classes were receiving 2 Defense points per 1 Stamina point.  That’s now changing to a calculation based on your class and as expected Priest gets the lowest factor. This should also fix why I didn't experience improved survivability playing as my Warrior in chain mail versus the the Priest in cloth.  The real difference across the armor types is the DEFENSE attribute, which the Priest/Warrior elite skill Battle Monk Stance, was completely dwarfing regardless of being in cloth.  Not good news for me since I prefer to solo as the P/W combination but it makes more sense so no complaints here.  I should have known that feeling of being OP wasn't going to last forever.  *Smile*

Original

• All Classes 1 Stamina = 2 Defense

New

• Knight: 1 Stamina = 3 Defense
• Mage: 1 Stamina = 1.5 Defense
• Priest: 1 Stamina = 1.5 Defense
• Rogue: 1 Stamina = 1.8 Defense
• Scout: 1 Stamina = 1.8 Defense
• Warrior: 1 Stamina = 2.3 Defense