Elder Scrolls Online: PvP & the Rest

PVP

I haven’t had the opportunity to participate in PvP the last couple of betas, however I can honestly say it is incredibly enjoyable.  I don’t have any PvP screenshots to share either but the battle are huge and intense. There are quests to do in Cyrodiil in addition to battling the other factions. 

PvP is a viable alternative to leveling via questing but that is something I will skip.  You can enter PvP at level 10 and begin your quest to become Emperor.

The Rest

The game isn’t perfect, but then again it is still in beta and I expect to discover and report bugs.  I have stumbled across and reported more than a couple and I’m fine with that.  Unlike the so-called “professional” reviewers who gave every impression that the game was all but unplayable.  That being said I have not run across any bug that was game breaking or that has caused me to rethink the purchase of collector editions.

I have a wish list, like most players, but nothing on my wish list is so earth shatteringly important to me that it will prevent me from playing and loving the game.  Sure, I’m love a cosmetic armor slot and armor dyes but I won’t find my game diminished if they aren’t included.

I don’t have problems with the combat either.  I don’t get all of the complaints that the combat is “floaty” or fails to connect to the enemy.  I’ve experienced none of that.  If I push a button, the game always responded in a timely manner as expected. I love being a Dragon Knight wielding a restoration staff while effortlessly killing enemies or my heavy plate wearing, damage over time Nightblade battle mage with duel daggers of doom. 

Classes are more of a starting point then anything else.  Oh the complaints and moans from alleged healers that tried to heal standing back and standing still.  Let’s be clear, that healing style doesn’t work in this game and hallelujah for that.  Healing is mostly area of effect based and in melee ranged.  It is a blast to play to be honest.  Mages are incredibly powerful and again a blast to play.  Bow skills are fun and overpowered.  Healing on my Nightblade is fun  and a breeze.  To be honest, healing isn’t complicated or magicka intensive if you think and understand that standing back and healing is the path to failure.

The game is so immersive and challenging that it has brought out my inner role player that I didn’t know existed.  No I won’t be roleplaying in game, but I will definitely be chronicling my characters adventures and exploits.  I’ve got the blog space reserved already (just not set-up yet) and now I just need the ability to reserve character names to get started.  It’s a journey I can’t wait to begin! 

So, ignore the negative reviewers who don’t know what they are talking about.  Journey to Nirn and discover what Molag Bal has planned and experience Elder Scrolls Online for yourself and decide.

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Star Wars: The Old Republic: Having a Blast

It’s no secret that I’m a sucker for a good story, be it in a book, a game, or a performance, and the one thing Bioware has consistently provided over the years are great and compelling stories.  I’m back playing Star Wars: The Old Republic, SWTOR, (no surprises there at all) and loving the stories once again, even the Consular story line which so irritated me into taking a break earlier in the year.   

When I resubbed about two weeks ago I was in a PvP frame of mind, and still in am honestly.  I had heard so many complaints and horror stories about the PvP in SWTOR that I was reluctant but bit the bullet and jumped right in.  It was a blast!  Seriously why do people bitch and moan like preschoolers that just had their balls taken away?  Maps are fun, wide range of skill levels makes for challenges, and there are decent rewards.  Seriously I don’t fathom why there is so much angst about the state of PvP in SWTOR.  Yes you aren’t going to be at the top of the damage or healing charts if you are in the lower half level wise of your bracket.  But really who cares?  It grants you experience, credits, commendations, and is a break from questing.  The PvP gear doesn’t take a lot of commendations to acquire either. 

I played the WOW version of Huttball (Temple of Kotmogu).  Huttball is superior in EVERY way.  There is no one shotting members of the opposing team, which was consistently my experience in Temple of Kotmogu.  The commentary in Huttball amuses me to no end also.

So, if you haven’t given PvP a go in SWTOR, then jump on in and experience it yourself.  Remember having fun and helping your team be successful is far more important than topping some meaningless chart in a match.

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World of Warcraft: Children’s Week

This year, for some unknown reason tucked away in my subconscious, I’ve decided to finish up all those partial holiday achievements hanging out there.  Thus Penelopa grabbed her orphan Monday afternoon and hit the road.  The tour of Westfall was just fun.  Whoever designed that quest has little kids and clearly they would have loved the cyclone ride!  This morning finally saw the successful conclusion of the School of Hard Knocks achievement with an assault on Tower Point in Alterac Valley.  I don’t mind PvP but I will admit that the Hard Knocks achievement can be quite annoying.  However, Pen did earn enough honor and conquest points to acquire her PvP weapon and equip her first piece of conquest gear. 

Children’s Week run’s through Sunday, so there is still plenty of time to finish off the achievement and gain the title of Matron or Patron.

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World of Warcraft: Class Changes Review Blogs

Blizzard is publishing summarized versions of class changes in a series of blogs for Patch 5.2: Rise of the Thunder King.

The first summary deals with Death Knights, Druids, and Hunters.  A common theme shared among all three classes is to make less compelling talents more attractive to players.  Overall, Death Knights and Hunters were in a good spot for game play and received small changes to talents and abilities.  Druid’s received the most love from developers out of these three classes.  In addition to making some talent changes and improvements, Balance and Feral Druids should see an increase in PvP healing effectiveness.

Update 1: Mage, Paladin, and Priest Review

Frost mages who PvP are likely feeling the nerf bat hard in this patch but have seen a dps improvement for PvE content.  Silences have been toned down some and so truly skilled PvP mages will most likely not see a significant difference in PvP.  arcane mages have seen a decrease from 6 to 4 for the stack of Arcane Charge .  Scorch as a talent suffered from other problems and so it has been entirely removed from the mage talent tree, instead it is a spell learned by fire mages only.  Blazing Speed has been repositioned on the talent tree to the first tier of talents and the new talent Flameglow now resides in the second tier of talents which are focused around defensive abilities.

Holy Paladins are feeling the PvP nerf bat along with Frost Mages.  As a result, Holy Paladins only will now have a cast time for Blinding Light and the PvP gear bonus for Holy Paladins now effects Flash of Light instead of Word of Glory.  Retribution Paladins received a PvP buff by lowering the cool down on Avenging Wrath for Retribution only.  Retribution also received a buff to Flash of Light to allow for increased healing from PvP Power’s conversion.

Priests received the nerf bat in both Discipline and Shadow.  Shadow priests were good in PvE but weak in PvP, so Phantasm and Psyfiend talents were nerfed.  The Glyph of Mind Spike was also changed.  (On a personal note here, I’ve stopped actively playing my beloved Shadow Priest.  Pre-patch it was a challenge to keep her alive if I did something stupid like over pull or tag an elite.  Post-patch she is taking more dirt naps than any self-respecting priest finds acceptable.  Admittedly her gear sucks but I’ve had her dps decline post-patch and my level 85 Monk is putting out dps rivaling that of my level 90.  So for now, the priest is hanging out in the bar like a good dwarf.)

Discipline priests likely feel they’ve been nerf to the ground in PvE because their reliance on Prayer of Healing while Spirit Shell was on cool down for healing raids has changed.  Spirit Shell no longer benefits from mastery.  Power Word: Shield should once again be back in the rotation of Discipline Priests.  The spell has had it mana costs reduced and is now capable of criting.  Divine Aegis has been redesigned as well.  It can no longer be spammed, rather it requires a critical on Prayer of Healing to activate.  When it procs it now produces a bubble instead of doubling the healing of Prayer of Healing.  Mastery has also been reworked for Discipline so that both heals and absorption benefit from the stat.

Update 3: Rogue, Shaman, and Warlock

Rogues received a lot of developer attention for this Patch.  Their PvP performance was subpar and PvE had problems as well.

Rogues are no longer forced to pick between Preparation and Shadowstep.  All Rogues receive Preparation now and Cloak and Dagger is the new talent which replaces Preparation.  Cloak and Dagger causes the Rogue to be teleported to their target when utilizing an opener skill.  Versatility has been deleted from the level 90 talent choice and has been replaced by Marked for Death.  Marked for Death instantly marks the target and generates five combo points on that target.  The cooldown resets when the target dies.  Rogues were suffering from a lack of burst damage in PvP, yes not a typo folks, and thus the developers wanted to provide more burst damage for PvP Rogues.  The new set bonus allows Rogues to store up more energy so that energy is there waiting for when they need to utilize it rather than been energy starved as just the wrong moment.

Shamans were up next and they received buffs and nerfs along the way.  In many ways Shamans and Druids suffered from the same problem: too many talents felt mandatory.  As a result, talents were adjusted to broaden their appeal to more Shaman’s.  Elemental and Enhancement Shamans saw changes to their PvP survivability.  The glyph of Flame Shock felt mandatory for all Shamans and thus the glyph is now a baseline for all Shamans.

Warlocks received the nerf bat in PvP regarding the use of Blood Fear as an offensive ability and as a result Blood Fear as a talent has been deleted.  It has been replaced in the talent tree with Blood Horror which applies a buff to the Warlock and enemies who strike the Warlock in melee range are subsequently fears.  Warlock pets are once again important part of playing the class.  Grimoire of Sacrifice has changed so that the damage bonus from destroying the demon pet is not as high.  The Blood Pact bonus to stamina from having the Imp out as a pet is now included as part of the Dark Intent skill.  Thus there should be a wider variety of choices for Warlocks to utilize demon wise.

Final Update: Warriors and Monks

Arms warriors were too powerful in PvP and thus they received more nerfs than either Fury or Protection Warriors.  Taste for Blood will no longer buff Heroic Strike which will serve to minimize the burst damage from the Taste for Blood.  Glyph of Death from Above damage buff to Heroic Leap has been removed but the overall Glyph remains.  Shockwave and Warbringer stuns have been altered.  Warbringer now shares diminishing returns with non-proc stuns while adding a snare to the skill.  Shockwave now has a longer cooldown if it his a single target, and a shorter cooldown when it hits multiple targets.  Defensive Stance has seen a reduction in the damage mitigation for non-Protection Warriors. Arms Warriors will also notice that their skills now require more rage to utilize.

Monks received their first post Mists of Pandaria launch update.  Windwalker Monks receiving the most changes overall.  Chi Wave, Zen Sphere, and Chi Burst are now free to utilize but now have a cooldown.  Windwalker Monks have new signature ability from Warcraft III, Storm, Earth, and Fire.  Windwalkers have had their Mastery changed as well.  Combo Breaker is no longer the Mastery ability, it is now Bottled Fury.  Bottled Fury increases the damage bonus from Tigereye Brew.  The new ability should help free up global cooldowns while providing some burst damage abilities for Windwalker Monks.  Monks is PvP are a rare sight and as such, the developers paid particular attention to Monks performance in PvP this Patch.  Nimble Brew was added as a talent at level 30 and added the Ring of Peace talent at level 60.  Deadly Reach is no longer around, instead it was folded into the Paralysis ability.  Mistwalker Monks will now have a viable chance to engage in melee healing with increased viability to “fist-weaving” monks.  Prior to the patch, the healing provided via “fist-weaving” was competitive but the damage output was pathetic.  Mistwalker Monks who heal via “fist-weaving” will now notice a buff their damage output make it a truly viable game play choice.

 

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World of Warcraft: Patch 5.2 Rise of the Thunder King

Good Morning and Welcome to Patch Day!  Servers are currently down for maintenance and are expected to be up around 9 AM PST.  It wouldn’t be unheard of for maintenance to be extended however, so while waiting remember to update your add-ons and read the highlights of Patch 5.2 here:

• A new raid is being released, Throne of Thunder
  • LFR gear is ilevel 502 and ilevel 522 on Normal
  • Heroic gear is ilevel 535
  • Thunderforged items are included
    • these items are six levels above regular level for the raid tier
    • low drop rate for these items
  • LFR bags have been fixed, and should no longer be known as Fail bags
  • LFR requires a ilevel 480 to queue
  • Raid schedule can be found here
• Two new world bosses
  • Oondasta
  • Nalak, The Storm Lord
• Isle of Giants is now open for business
  • new quests allowing players to discover new mounts and vanity pets
• PvP Season 13 begins
  • 4 tiers of PvP gear
  • Crafters can learn new recipes via daily transmutes for ilevel 458 PvP armor sets
• Isle of Thunder
  • Gated daily questing content, much like the Isle of Quel’Danas during the Burning Crusade expansion
    • Kirin Tor Offensive and Sunreaver Onslaught are the main factions: both battle one another and the Zandalari
    • Activities on the island are server wide efforts, so pacing on individual servers will be determined based on the server population and balance
  • Island unlocks in stages
  • The War Effort is being extended to the new island, the Isle of Thunder
  • Single player scenario coming, Troves of the Thunder King, if a player has the appropriate key to unlock the scenario
  • Portals to the Isle are located in Townlong Steppes near the Shado-Pan Garrison
• New Factions:
  • Shado-Pan Assault
    • has the best gear of the three factions
    • ilevel 522 Epic gear for valor points
  • Kirin Tor Offensive and Sunreaver Onslaught
    • Alliance and Horde factions respectively
    • Both factions will offer gear that will assist players in the Troves of the Thunder King scenario to maximize a players effectiveness in the the scenario
    • will also offer two dinosaur mounts
      • Reins of the Golden Primal Direhorn and Reins of the Crimson Primal Direhorn
• Changes are coming for Pet Battles
  • Elite Battle Pets are located on Pandaria and are indicated with a yellow paw on your map
• Legendary chain continues, with the reward being a metagem
• There are class specific changes comings, but here are a couple of highlights:
  • Hunters have the opportunity to tame three new spirit beasts and a new family: Direhorns
    • Check out the new models over at Petopia
  • Warlocks will finally have the opportunity to quest for green fire
• Reputation changes coming:
  • Sunsong Ranch will now have Work Order quests allowing reputation boosts for two factions per day
  • Random instances and scenarios will offer a bonus reputation line allowing additional reputation to be earned for the first instance and scenario of the day
• Transmogrification has some changes coming
  • Highlight is that many weapons that were once main-hand restricted are now available as one-handed weapons
• Profession changes:
  • Archaeology: Mantid race is now included
  • Blacksmithing: if you have the Ghost Iron ingots, it is now possible to level from 1-525 solely utilizing Ghost Iron
    • New weapon are also available, resembling weapons from the Burning Crusade
    • New recipes are also learned from discovery by making Lighting Steel Ingots
      • ilevel 458 PvP gear and ilevel 522 epics
      • However, in order to learn these items your SERVER must first unlock the Thunder Forges on the Isle of the Thunder King
  • Tailors and Leatherworkers will also be able to craft ilevel 458 PvP gear and ilevel 522 epic gear via recipes learned via discovery
    • Tailors have a chance when crating Imperial Silk
    • Leatherworks have a chance once they have obtained one of two new world drop patterns (patterns are green so the drop rate shouldn’t be abysmally low)

Blizzard sent the development team out on a blitz of media events and interviews for this patch.  For a full listing, head here and pick the one that interests you the most.

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Lifestyle: I figured out why I had Burnout

So it dawned on me over the weekend why I had burnout on the MMO front and I blame Star Wars: The Old Republic.  Well, SWTOR isn’t solely to blame, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back truth be told.  I got my beloved Consular through the first chapter of the game and went from loving the story line, and therefore my character, to feeling let down and slogging through levels just to gain a level.  Then I just stopped playing all games, I couldn’t stand the mere thought of logging into any game.

Everquest 2 is just daunting, even double experience weekends can’t tempt me to log-in.  I don’t hate my characters, my guild makes me laugh, but those AA points are a roadblock I dread.  Literally they are speed bumps along the path to leveling.  I could have multiple characters to max level by now in Everquest 2 but for the AA roadblock.  I’m not looking for speed or power leveling but I was not enjoying the feeling of constantly running on a treadmill and gaining no ground.

Rift is just frustrating.  I love PvP in Rift but unfortunately rifts get in the way of PvE activities in the game.  For me, it completely detracts from the story in Rift.  It is a fun game, but I should have listened to my initial assessment when we were in the Rift beta (“there isn’t enough of a story line for me” is precisely what I told my husband).

I resubbed to WOW this morning.  I keep swearing it off and resubbing, hey it gives hubby great joy when he teases me whenever this happens.  I plan on playing at my pace and keeping chat off as much as possible.  Yeah I know, it’s a social game but hey to each their own.

So here’s my advice for those of you suffering from gaming burnout – take a couple of weeks off and do something completely unrelated.  I am making a public promise to myself that as soon as someone irritates me in game or I feel obligated to do something, I’m walking away and doing something else.

Technorati Tags: Star Wars: The Old Republic,SWTOR,Everquest 2,EQ2,Rift,WOW,World of Warcraft,free-to-play,f2p,PvP,PvE,burnout,MMO,video games

Defiance: Pre-Orders Now Available

This morning, Trion Worlds released the pre-order options for Defiance after this weekends beta weekend.  There are two option, both of which give guaranteed access to all future beta weekends.  The price points range from $59.99 for digital and $99.99 for physical copy.  Only good news out of the price point announcements is that there is no subscription fee for the game.  There is no option available for console purchase at this time.

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Lord of the Rings Online: Update 9 Against the Shadows Highlights

Lord of the Rings Online patch notes for Update 9: Against the Shadows have been released.  Here are the highlights of those notes, as usual actual patch notes can be found here:

• Yule Festival 2012 is now live
• Iorbar’s Peak, Seat of the Great Goblin, and Webs of the Scuttledells are the three new instances now available
• Moira Revamp Part II is now complete
• Bree and Archet have received graphic updates/upgrades
• Changes have been made to combat all relevant details can be found here
• Open tapping and remote looting is now available throughout Middle Earth
• “For those wishing to disable experience gain, a new pocket item is available in the LOTRO Store that will disable all XP gain while equipped. Other advancement, such as deeds and reputation, are unaffected.”
• Stable master functionality and interface have been changed
• There are class specific changes included in the more detailed patch notes
• The Document of Mount  Ownership and Race Tokens are no longer required for festival mounts, there is now a new currency Golden Festival Token
• PvMP changes have occurred
• Crafting updates

Servers should be back online shortly, so a Merry Yule Festival to all.

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Star Wars: The Old Republic: Game Update 1.6 – Ancient Hypergate -- Updated

Star Wars: The Old Republic is releasing a major PvP patch overnight, Game Update 1.6 Ancient Hypergate.  When game servers come back online 11 December 2012, there will be a new PvP battlefield and six new heroic space missions.

• New battlefield: Ancient Gree Hypergate – 8v8 battlefield
• Level 50 players will find six new heroic space missions, per faction
  • PTS reports are that these missions are extremely difficult even with the best gear possible outfitted on your ship
  • Successful mission completion awards Blackhole Commendations
• Battlemaster PvP gear is will no be longer attainable in game
• New PvP vendors will be added with Elite War Hero gear

When official patch notes are released, this posting will also be updated.

Updates from Patch Notes highlights:

• New Cartel Market Items, include:
• Blockade Runner Cartel Pack for 360 Cartel Coins
• Ship Upgrades to Grade 7 ranging from 350 – 550 Cartel Coins
• Life Day Items (LIMITED time) ranging from 60 –2400 Cartel Coins
• Fireworks in celebration of First Anniversary ranging from 50 – 300 Cartel Coins
• Grade 7 Artifact quality ship enhancements are available from Fleet and Mission Support vendors

 

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World of Warcraft: Patch 5.1 Landfall Note Highlights

Two months post release of the Mists of Pandaria and the first major patch was released this morning.  Here are the highlights of those patch notes, (official notes are released):

• UI for Pet Battles now displays more information for the Journal, Wild Pet Tooltips, and Battle UI
  • Pet limit has been increased to 650 pets
• A new faction, with rewards releases for Alliance and Horde, Operation Shieldwall and Dominance Offensive respectively
• Krasarang Wilds is now the new World PvP zone (reminiscent of the Haala objective in the Burning Crusade expansion)
• Reputation system changes:
  • Grand Commendations are now available to purchase to grant the receiving alt with double faction gain for that faction
• Arena points at or above 2200 have been reset to fix an exploit (thank the cheaters those of you that earned said rating honestly)
• Gear upgrading system via Justice and Valor, or Honor and Conquest, points implemented
• Wathion’s quest line continues to evolve
• Brawler’s Guild is released: remember an invitation to join the guild must be purchased on the Black Market Auction House and you must queue to fight for the Guild since only one member can fight at a time
• New scenarios released
  • Scenarios now contain the ability to vote kick, leaders, backfill for empty spaces, but role are not required
• Lesser Charms of Good Fortune are now currency and are no longer taking up bag space
• Spirit of Harmony can now be purchased for 600 Conquest Points
• There are class and profession changes
• Any and all pre-Mists raids no longer require a raid group and raid bosses have been made more solo friendly (first boss of Blackwing Lair is now solo friendly)
• Warlock class quest for Green Fire is active, seek out the Sealed Tome of the Lost Legion

 

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DC Universe Online: Patch 21

DC Universe Online received Patch 21 today.  Patch notes contain the following goodness:

• Legendary members and owners of the “Hand of Fate” DLC will be able to play the Inner Sanctum PvP map for Arena and Legends
• AUTO LOOT is now in the game – yup not pulling your leg, if you have the inventory space things will now automatically appear in your bags
• Tier 2 through Tier 4 Challenges, Duos, Raids, and Alerts will now only drop appropriate level gear to players that meet the Combat Rating requirement.  Players who do not meet the minimum Combat Rating will earn Marks of Triumph, Marks of War, and cash when appropriate, but will not be eligible to roll on gear.

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Roundup: Expansions, Updates, and Releases

The last week to ten days has been jammed packed with the release of titles from beta, expansions rolling out, and game updates hitting test servers much earlier than expected by player bases.

Rift’s first expansion Storm Legion was released on 13 November 2012 and has generally received positive reviews.  As readers know, we haven’t purchased it or played any of the content so I cannot comment on how it looks or the changes to the game. 

Everquest II: Chains of Eternity also released on 13 November 2012.  The player base is thrilled and a lot of former players have returned revitalized about the game and its content. 

RaidersZ released on 20 November 2012 from Perfect World International.  It is a fantasy based. free=form class system game with the ability to transform monsters.  I haven’t played the game but the screenshots look beautiful, which is on par for the team over at Perfect World.

Star Wars: The Old Republic released Game Update 1.6, Ancient Hypergate, to the Public Test Server on 20 November 2012.  This game update brings with it new PvP Warzones and space combat missions.  SWTOR also released this new gameplay trailer with the successful launch of the conversion to free-to-play:

 

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Sony Online: Round Up

Sony Online Entertainment had a busy week, so excluding Everquest 2, here’s a quick round-up of the news from SOE.

• Wizardry Online entered closed beta this week.  Twitter was alight with a couple of people slipping up on breach the Non-Disclosure Agreement but there were far more people eager to get into the beta.  The hardcore game has been eagerly anticipated.
• Planetside 2 and Twitch.tv have formally announced their partnership which will allow players to stream gameplay with the simple push of a button.
• DC Universe Online thrilled players with the news that Steel and Lex Luther are available for PvP Legends Play.

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Gaming Lifestyle: Who We Are

My darling spouse, yeah he’ll get that, pointed out last week that the blog failed to ever do an “about us” piece and that it needed a “lifestyle” column.  Admittedly he was right, I said it in a public writing dear, and so this morning I’m going to rectify that oversight.

Who are the crazy 40-something's behind Gaming Couples?  We are Valhakar and Stitchersflock (or Val and Stitchers for short), happily married and residing in the warmth of the desert.  Unfortunately we weren’t blessed with children so that joy is missing from our gaming life.  Val works insane hours sometimes but luckily he still has time for gaming and goofing off.  I am the luckiest wife around because I’m blessed to stay home and not have to deal with the corporate grind.  We have a house full of dogs, a cat, and a Severe Macaw that keeps us on our toes constantly.  Ever tried gaming while a parrot is nibbling your earlobes?  Let’s just say it’s made for some interesting pick-up groups over the years!

Valhakar has been playing computer games for almost as long as they have been around.  His MMO adventures began in Ultima Online and carried on until Everquest was released.  He has played almost every AAA release at some point but has definite preferences.  He isn't a huge fan of Guild Wars and at this point WOW makes his skin crawl.  He was eagerly awaiting the release of The Secret World in June 2012, and was incredibly frustrated with Funcom when the game released.  Right now, Val is looking forward to the open beta of MechWarrior Online and has a WOW subscription because his wife does.  He also pops into Rift fairly regularly for PvP battles.

Stitchersflock, aka the blog’s primary author, is relatively new to computer gaming.  Valhakar had a devious plan in mind when they got married way back when and eventually his plan succeeded.  *Hey there’s a blog idea … how did the devious plan work and could it work for you?*  It backfired to some extent though, since I’ve developed a fondness (aka I actually READ quest text before running off to kill ten kobolds lol) for games with story lines.  Guild Wars was my first MMO, even though Val calls it a baby-MMO, and then I moved up to WOW.  Since then I’ve played Everquest II, Lord of the Rings Online, Age of Conan, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Aion, and several of the free to play games out there.  Like Val, I looked forward to the release of The Secret World and my disappoint was far closer to anger than any other emotion.  Currently, I’m being blown away by the Mists of Pandaria expansion in WOW and I still regularly pop-in on Rift and Everquest 2.

Time will tell if this becomes a semi-regular column but it just might.  But for this morning, I need that first cup of coffee and then I am going to go work on my Pandaran Monk! 

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Rift: On Why it Didn’t Crush WOW

A couple of weeks ago I pondered why Rift didn’t crush WOW.  I think I have an answer to my own question finally.  Rift has many, many great qualities I adore in a video game but there are two things that drive me batty when I log on at odd hours. 

The first is feeling like I’m the only person currently logged into the game.  This has happened to me more than once when a bout of insomnia hits.  I log on and even though I’m in one of the capital cities, there have literally been no other players around.  It’s weird. 

The second thing, and I think for me this one is a much larger thorn in my side, is questing constantly interrupted by rifts.  I understand they are vital to the lore and such, but honestly there are times I just want to quest and soak up the lore without being attacked by planar monsters.  Yeah I know, questing isn’t what the cool kids do but thank god I’ve never been one of the cool kids!

Don’t get me wrong, I will continue to play Rift.  I’ve just decided to level my characters exclusively via PvP or instant adventures.  Clairee, pictured above, is just shy of level 39.  I’m enjoying the game very much still, I just wish it didn’t feel so empty sometimes.

 

Technorati Tags: Rift,World of Warcraft,WOW,PVP,Instant Adventure

World of Warcraft: How Has WOW Changed My Life?

Thanks to WOW Insider for leading me to this blog posting and the friendly folks over at Blog Azeroth.  WOW changed my life quite dramatically, I went from a non-gamer to a gamer on my own terms.

The Beginning

We meet, fell in love, and got married rather late in life, late 30’s.  I wasn’t a gamer by any definition.  I played Pac Man way back when but that’s pretty much it.  I, however, married a gamer.  In fact, shortly after we got married (less than a month to be precise), WOW was released.  I didn’t understand what he was doing in the basement for hours on end and I certainly couldn’t understand why those people and a “raid” was more important than me, the new wife.  I slowly gave up trying to understand and gave up trying to pry him away from the computer.

The Middle

Four years later, we’ve moved to Arizona and I’ve retired.  My brilliant hubby decides to buy me a copy of Guild Wars with my new laptop.  I was bored with Oblivion after hundreds of hours spent in Tamriel.  I had no clue what I was doing in Guild Wars and he hated it but I stuck with it for a couple of months.  And then on the sly on night when I couldn’t sleep, I downloaded the trial of WOW.  I created a Gnome Mage and I died A LOT.  Seriously, I sucked horribly.  I remember getting a recipe for Beer Basted Boar Ribs and thought it was super important. 

Didn’t take hubby long to catch on that I had stayed up all night playing WOW.  The next day I had my very own copy, he reactivated his subscription, and Refer-A-Friend active and thus began my adventures in Azeroth with hubby.  I rolled a Night Elf Hunter named Penelopa.  Looking back, I don’t know how we didn’t spend more time corpse running.  I had no clue about threat, shinnies were uber attractive, and I was terrified of PvP and dungeons. 

Today

We both play other games.  WOW is in my rotation frequently.  In fact, I just reactivated my subscription this week.  About a week and a half ago I saw a picture of the new druid travel form and it peaked my interest.  A little poking here, a little dabbling there and wouldn’t you know it I’ve got the WOW bug again.

My game play has improved dramatically since 2008.  I know what I’m comfortable playing and I know when I need a WOW break.  I may not love our server, but it is the server hubby has played on since 2004.  He hasn’t re-subscribed this time and I’m fine with that.  He’s happy when I’m happy and right now, playing WOW makes me happy.  I’m leveling my “baby” toons and looking forward to the release of Patch 5.0.4.

So, WOW changed my life, and hubby’s by extension, when it turned me into a gamer.  I play other MMO’s but WOW was my first true MMO and thus has a special place in the memory bank.

Technorati Tags: World of Warcraft,WOW,Blizzard,Oblivion,Guild Wars 2

Rift: Patch 1.10 Announcement

Rift announced (here and here) this morning the changes that will be forthcoming in the last pre-expansion patch:

• Open world groups/public groups
• Cross Faction Trade
• Looking for Dungeon Tool
• Entering a Dungeon/Raid
• Instant Adventure
• Weddings
• Chat (channels & tells including cross shard)
• Quest sharing
• Guilds
• Mail
• Friends List & Ignore
• Chronicles
• PvP stat normalization
• Group Queuing for Conquest/Warfronts

There will be some restrictions placed on PvP shards when the above changes go live.  The changes are very similar to Everquest2 which in it’s own right, is a highly successful game with a very loyal following.  However, this can also be seen as an attempt to consolidate factions because of low player population numbers.

Technorati Tags: Rift,Trion,Everquet2,Sony Online Entertainment,SOE

MechWarrior Online

One of the very few things I truly loved, and miss, about WOW was the Alterac Valley PvP Battleground.  There is just something about that battleground I always loved once I discovered PvP.  Well, my darling hubby has convinced me to sign up for the MechWarrior Online beta because of the similarities to Alterac Valley.  Open beta begins August 7th, so I’m looking forward to see if he is right and it is truly a good, viable substitute for PvP.

Technorati Tags: MechWarrior Online,WOW,PvP,Alterac Valley

Everquest 2: Qeynos Rises aka Game Update 64

The upcoming game update has hit the test servers and so far reaction is mixed for the remodeled Qeynos.  There aren’t any good pictures from the test server yet on the updated art of Qeynos but reports are that the changes are not as drastic or dramatic as the update to Freeport. 

General update notes can be found here.  There are class and/or archetype changes, PvP changes, battlegrounds, and ability changes. 

Technorati Tags: Everquest 2,EQ2,SOE,Sony Online Entertainment,Game Update 64

Everquest 2: Game Update 64

Live on the PTS 26 June 2012, Game Update 64, which focuses on the revamp of Qeynos and improving PvP.  The quick and dirty breakdown of the overhaul of PvP includes:

• Stat Adjustment: gone are the days of separate gear for PvE and PvP.  PvP stats will now be derived from normal PvE gear.  This allows PvP gear to be of use in PvE and vice versa.  Not to mention, freeing up bag space!
• “We focused on player skill being the biggest deciding factor in PVP combat, not gear.  Gear will still give you an advantage, but it will be a more minor advantage than what we have seen in the past.”
• Open world and battleground PvP will now award the same tokens, which will be used to purchase PvP gear and consumables.
• Old PvP gear is being removed from brokers, old tokens can be used to acquire PvP consumables.
• “New full sets of PVP gear have been added for every tier, starting at level 10.  At 90-92, there are 3 sets of gear at different power levels.”
• Open world PvP combat has also been improved.  Infamy has been overhauled, the longer the enemy stays alive the more they are worth.
• Open world PvP tokens now drop directly from enemies and not from writs.  Writs can be completed for additional rewards.
• Frozen Tundra Battleground map has been removed until it can be updated and polished
• Our other maps have seen a few tweaks:
  • Gears of Klak’Anon – now rewards more points for a kill, and more points for successfully killing the murderball holder.
  • Battlefield of Ganak – The flag carrier now suffers a movement speed debuff.  This debuff has an incoming damage buff which scales up the longer you hold the flag.
  • Smuggler’s Den – The amount of time required to cap
  • all of the towers has been adjusted.  The value of the center tower has been increased.  Ground mounts can now be used!
• Time spent in a battleground match determines the amount of win/loss tokens awarded instead of a flat amount.
• Crowd Control has been changed in PvP, the overall duration has been lowered.
• Individual class changes update are still coming.

Technorati Tags: Everquest2,Sony Online Entertainment,SOE,EQ2,PvP,battlegrounds,open world