Everquest 2: Welcome Home

So, that happened earlier this week (Monday to be precise) we returned to Everquest II and have had a blast all week.  The yearly All Access pass is simply to good of a deal to pass up, so we bought two.  Hubby has the week off and so we have been playing AA (Alternate Advancement) catch-up on my wizard and his paladin.  No potions, no bonus, just slider set to 100% AA experience and catching up on language quest lines and involved quest chains.

I can honestly say, that while I despise the AA catch-up grind most of my other characters aren’t in as big a hole and thus it won’t be like this when they hit level 59 and only have 132 AA points (or 123 like hubby).  But then again, characters were active before there was AA and thus it was inevitable there would be catch-up.

One thing that would make AA grind easier, would be the ability to mentor down in the field.  I had to blow several opportunities for AA points yesterday because I couldn’t mentor down while on the Draconic language quest line.  Not the end of the world but it certainly would have been nice to mentor down and gain those points in Stormhold.

Also I hate fighting in the lower levels of Solesk’s Eye, those clear pathways over lava (pictured above) made me nauseated.  Hell, I was always afraid I was going to fall over and off.  But that being said, we earned a lot of AA finishing up quests and getting lost trying to find our way to Nagafen’s Lair. 

There we are hanging out in Sanctum of the Scaleborn.  The zone is beautiful and full of decent AA to be had.  I think we are coming back after we finish Clefts of Rujark, where I might add we managed to duo (with the 10-year SK merc and the Inquisitor merc) Rak’jaller (Epic x2 triple up).  It was fun and intense and satisfying when he went down. 

So, even though I moved houses and overwrote my house layout save by a not-enough coffee mistake, we are having fun in EQ2 once again.  It is like coming home.  There have been some serious improvements made (bag/inventory changes are AWESOME) and overall I don’t think we have any complaints.  Not sure if either of us will be boosting to 85 but that possibility does exist.  I’m sure we will decide next month when Heroic Characters go on sale. 

Maintenance will be done shortly, time to clean the house and find coffee before then. 

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MMO Mobile Apps: Where are they?

The ultimate goal of MMO developers and producers is to make the game so engaging that you are willing to pay out your monthly subscription without a second thought.  And yet, they all fail to fully integrate their game into their customers lives.  Where are the mobile apps that let me manage crafting or research while waiting at the dentist office or on the train?

Truth is, we live in a world where mobile is integrated into almost everything we do on a daily basis.  Players are much more likely to be long term invested in a game that let them check goods for sale, research, crew members, etc. when they can do that from the comfort of the office during a boring meeting or while sitting around the airport waiting for a flight. 

Mobile apps shouldn’t be limited to checking out a players item level or what achievements they’ve earned.  Mobile apps should encompass non-combat, non-quest oriented gameplay, like crating in SWTOR or researching in TESO.  Mobile apps should also be available on all three mobile platforms and not just iOS platforms.  There is no logical reason MMO providers should limit their audience base to iOS.

Maybe, just maybe, game developers are waking up to  the fact that they can only benefit from inclusion of mobile apps into their core game structure.  Right now, I would love to be crafting on my SWTOR characters while catching some early morning sun but …

Never mind Corso is done crafting, here’s hoping I learn that reverse engineering schematic!

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Xbox: Shadow of Mordor

Weapons & Runes

Game just keeps looking more and more interesting to me, wonder if it will be worth it?  Hubby has yet to be truly happy with a  single XboxOne game purchase, same would have been true on the PS4.   Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor releases on 7 October 2014.

Technorati Tags: console gaming,Xbox,XboxOne,PS4,Shadow of Mordor

Gaming & Sexism

Plate bikinis in World of Warcraft are but one example of blatant sexism in the gaming community.  Another would be the hate that is spewed when a female speaks during multiplayer matches on a console game.  There are more examples of sexism in games than I can reasonably relate, however does this blatant sexism require special treatment for the female of the species?

No, quite simply it does not.  I’m a woman and I have the power to decide what gaming companies get the benefit of my money.  Money is the only currency that matters to developers and publishers of games for computers and consoles alike.  So long as the myth persists that men are the overwhelming majority of the gaming population, and it is a myth, then the money will follow the gender.

Women hold the power here, not men.  Don’t like how a game portrays women in the game?  Take your money elsewhere and support a game that treats both sexes equally.  Money talks and where the money trend goes, so will gaming follow.

It isn’t complicated.  All these cries and whines demanding that women get special treatment or that men play nice because there are women present is degrading.  All players, men and women alike, should treat other players as if they were sitting in the same room and were held accountable for their actions by a real living, breathing human when the mouse and controllers are set aside for the day.  Doesn’t matter what sex you are, what your sexual orientation is, or what color your skin is, no player deserves special treatment because of these things. 

Make your dollars spent mean something and then you will see a change in the industry.  Don’t like a community, then leave and find a better community.  Play with like minded people and make the world a better place.  I’m sorry but if you stay and pay to play a game that offends you then you are part of the problem and whining isn’t a solution.

Technorati Tags: sexism,feminism,gaming sexism,gaming,console gaming,video games,MMO

Elder Scrolls Online: First Month of Launch

Elder Scrolls Online released a month ago and while the game is stunningly beautiful, did it live up to my expectations of perfection once I started playing the game on a daily basis?  Complicated question with a short answer, not really.

Don’t misunderstand, I love the game.  I love the depth of character immersion and questing.  I love that I can get lost and uncover quests I would have otherwise missed and that not every NPC is young, fit, and wrinkle free. 

What I’m not loving is the inventory management nightmare and the horribly unbalanced gains in crafting.  It makes no sense that provisioning (cooking) can be leveled to the maximum before a player reaches level fifteen but any other skill you are lucky if you make it to level ten.  Enchanting is the worst of all the skills with the least available raw materials out in the world.  It levels slower than a glacier moves and deconstructing every glyph you craft for a slightly larger miniscule gain is frustrating and irrational.

Inventory management is a mini-game all it’s own.  I don’t mind the high costs associated with increasing bag and bank space.  I would prefer it if I got more space for my gold however.  What truly irritates me to no end is that each and every time I open my bank it is sorted automatically from Z to A and not A to Z.  This one thing makes me grind my teeth every time I open the bank.  I love that there is shared storage, what I don’t love is that there is no individual storage.  Having to create characters just to hold crafting goods, maps, pets, etc. is poor game design.

The director’s letter just released did not give me hope.  There is no mention of housing, not one.  Housing is an integral part of every Elder Scrolls game since Morrowind.  Housing had the potential to solve inventory issues for a lot of players.  Instead, they are working on horse racing?  Really?  Horse racing is a quality of life improvement?  I could care less that other players will now have the ability to kill guards and NPC’s.  All that is going to lead to is an unplayable world where quest givers can be killed by the bored to irritate others.

So now the question becomes, do we renew our subscriptions and give Zenimax and Bethesda the benefit of the doubt?  Or, do we rationally cut our losses now and wait for the bots and gold spam to lessen while the game loses players at an incredible rate?  I’m on the fence.  Part of me desperately wants to play ESO and love it and lose myself in the world but the other part of me is extremely tired of reporting gold farmers, dealing with botters, shuffling inventory, and crafting skills.

I do know that right now, as the game stands it is beautiful, immersive, and frustrating.  I can’t imagine it will be that much better on the consoles either.  Speaking of consoles, not a word of a beta is mentioned in the producer’s letter and not a hint of if they will hit their target release date of June.  My guess is that it will be pushed back.  And honestly, the game is either going to be much better on the console or so frustrating controllers will be flung across rooms globally.

I’ll confess, I haven’t logged into ESO in almost a week.  We have been playing SWTOR and enjoy ourselves.  I will log into ESO this week but probably more out of guilt than a desire to report gold farmers, botters, and to juggle inventory.  I love the beauty and questing but that experience is marred by the negatives for me at the moment.

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