National Blog Posting Month Ye Last Post

Today wraps up NaBloPoMo, yay, we say. I ‘ve covered most of the topics I wanted to write about.

I was going to end the posts of the month with an ode to Galaxies, but I’ve decided to integrate my thoughts about it into other topics.

It remains the gold standard for mmo’s for everyone in our household. We all have such vivid memories of events and of people we met there.

I honestly can’t think if anyone I’ve “met” in another game who left any impression on me at all.

Still, I love to play, love to play cooperatively and somewhat competitively with other people, it is interesting to see what gamers think of other games.

Travel safely, and remember, the loot is mine!

Pounding the Pavement

Ho ho Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat…

Time to try to find just the right gift for that son of mine.  I’ve looked for both consoles, happy enough to take one or the other although the hard drive failures and other problems with the Xbox are daunting.

I was thinking how annoying it is that the console makers don’t just make enough of the consoles by launch day to meet demand.  They certainly know what the sales figures would be.  Just crank those puppies out.  In droves.  Why, why do they release so few.

Aha, I thought, all of the early purchasers are beta testers.  Crank up the must have-iness, get poor fools to buy them en masse and see if the dang things work.  Once the bugs are worked out, release normal numbers.

Brilliant.

Player Housing Rift

I thought I’d do a semi-series on player housing in games.  We’ll start with Rift.  I honestly don’t know much about it and I’ve been trying to find guides that answer some of my questions, and while there are some Rift Specific  home guides, many are curiously not kept up or use official videos (that is what the ones I looked at were).

So here’s what I know:

Rift has Dimensions.

This gives you an instanced space with an outdoor area and a small hut.

You get a starter pack from the Dimension engineer in Argent Glade with a boulder, a torch, an urn, a table, a shrub, a tile and two boards.

The bag is mixed because you have an indoor and outdoor area called Sanguine Shores.

I’ve seen someone else has named theirs more personally but I haven’t taken the time to see how it is done.

I’m also not sure how much of the outdoor area is useable and how much is scenery.

You can purchase home items from Dimensions vendors.

I got a tree from a fishing reward crate, and I looted one from an NPC.

I got a lovely blue rug from an NPC.

You’re able to drop objects wherever you like, there are no hooks or predefined spots which can take the object.

You can move them up and down (including into the ground), you can turn them and rotate them.  I find the big primary color arrows and circles that come up to indicate directions to be a bit crude and jarring but I’m grateful to have the ability to put things where I want them big time.

It looks as if I can have 50 objects in my Dimension, I’ll have to find someplace that tells me the scoop if I can buy more storage with real or in game moola.

Once I got the rug (I love paintings and rugs in games!) I moved all of the things my cleric had gotten so far into her hut and it is cozy city.

I’ll add information and tips here as I get them.

Rift Dimensions Sites:

Better Homes and Dimensions

Now this person called The Stylish Radish has got real style.  Don’t you love the site name and their name?  Sooo cute.  He/She also writes with interest about Landmark for EQ Next.

Rift Decorators

Not updated since March of 2013 but it has pictures of furnishings, landscape items and building block items plus the various homes you can get.  My hovel is apparently the “starter”.

An Embarrassment of Riches

I’ve been having a great time playing my three dungeon challenge games.

I also still have my World of Warcraft characters to adventure with. I hadn’t realized until the recent 9th anniversary that I’ve been playing since their 5th anniversary. After wandering in other worlds it is nice and feels like home ( though you can’t have a home in Wow until the cozily named Garrisons come out.)

With those four I’m not getting any time with Everquest 2 or Lord of the Rings Online, both of which I also really enjoy.

Every now and then I think I should give Star Trek Online and SWOTOR another try, as well as Dark Age of Camelot.

I recently bought a few things from GOG and marvel at what they have and there are a few more things I really want.

While reorganizing my “office” I came across Dragon Age 2 and Mass Effect 3. And Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim. I should be playing those to brush up for Elder Scrolls Online sometime this next spring.

See? Winter is good, time to play, but there is never time enough.

Rift: Burlap Robe

I finally got enough skill and burlap to make a Burlap Robe.  I had to check my character sheet to see if I’d lost my pants someplace but noooo, the
“leggings” are it.  I knew you were dying to see how the burlap clothing looked.

Dyed with handy Cyan Dye of course.  If you’re looking for Coastal Glory (the plant needed for Cyan Dye and healing potions) there is some in the landscape, but you can much more reliably get it from the Boglings in the Sunken Marsh.  Plant/Foraging is available from the Boglings after they’ve been looted, you forage plants from their tiny green bodies.   The treants in Treant Woods also can be harvested for plants, including Coastal Glory though the Boglings are more reliable.

The wolves and Vespids all around that area have decent enough drops of Rotten Canines which you also need for the dye.  Both also have hide, odd for an insect.

I’ve guiltily noticed that you can harvest from Boglings and wolves and Vespids killed by others.  Just mouse over them to see if a resource is available.  Treasure city.

Winter is Coming, Time to Play!

If you’re not a winter sports person and you live someplace freakishly COLD with MONTHS OF DEEP SNOW, you should be a gamer.   Unless you play a game area or level set in an icy, snowy area, all you need to do to escape winter is to turn on your pc and enter worlds of endless summer.

I recall the test period of Forochel from Lord of the Rings Online.  A cold bitter area with extra effects from the cold built in.  It was in the deep of winter and I really could not bring myself to play it much, and I never liked the area.

Remember Snow Barrel Blast?   Talk about slip sliding away!

For me, in the years I’ve been playing, the best place to go in a game to be immersed in eternal summer was Corellia in Star Wars Galaxies.  Amber waves of grain (or grass!), occasional rain, but always summer, and the music there that played as you entered Corellia was beautiful, peaceful, uplifting for the frozen soul.

Gone Fishing (Rift…)

Tsk, was trying for minnows for Pea soup, yummy.   Close enough!

I keep trying to complete quests in my quest log and keep getting more and more.  There is probably a limit and I must be closing in.

Some of the Rift creatures are really nasty, such as a giant spider followed by a bunch of smaller pseudo spiders.

Found the bank and auction house.  Not an auction house fan.

My cleric in her Dimension.  The Tall Willow tree is new.  A reward in a fishing box!

More Rift Mania

Writing this on my iPod WordPress app so who knows how it will look.

I won’t say I like Rift better than Neverwinter, they’re very different but I really love them both.

It is a sign of my intention to spend time in this world that I’m not only crafting but I created a second character to try another class and dang make some potions for my Pyromancer.

I’m making sure they methodically do every quest and as much as I can stand I kill everything I pass by looking for that next bit of burlap.

I like alts for many reasons, one being that the characters play experiences through an area are very different.

My new girl is a Cleric and I often find that healers are made to be weak characters who must be in a group to actually fight effectively. She is really excellent. I must mention she started out with some nice looking armor and every new piece is even better.

She has had one of those random guild invites and I notice when she’s up a lot of general chat guilds happen to be looking for any level any age (I’ve never seen that anywhere before) but especially healers. I’d be happy to join a good guild but I don’t feel I know the class very well yet. I’ve been practicing tossing out heals and buffs during Rifts so I’ll see how she does.

I found my way to my personal “dimension” and set down my meager furniture. Interesting to give you your own little instanced hut. You can move objects up and down and rotate them. I haven ‘t seen that capability in awhile. There are Rift dimension decorating sites, which is also pretty cool. There are some really nice furnishings available. Must feather my nest. I notice my foraging skills will allow me to make boards and planks.

Possibility city. In before the lock, happy burlap hunting!

Cyan Dye!

Updated Connected Realms List

Here is the updated connected realms list.  It looks as if they have taken some of the “delayed” realms off the list.  They also seem to be speeding up the process.   I would think they’d do it as quickly as possible in any case, but it is also an ongoing concern for players who have a lot of exciting things to look forward to in the Draenor expansion.   I’ve been working on characters on other realms already myself and I no longer have a care about CRZ or connections because it actually is civilized out there folks.  Mostly.

 

Completed Connections

• Aegwynn, Daggerspine, Gurubashi, and Hakkar
• Aggramar and Fizzcrank
• Anub’arak, Chromaggus, Garithos, and Smolderthorn
• Auchindoun and Laughing Skull
• Balnazzar, Gorgonash, and Warsong
• Black Dragonflight, Gul’dan, and Skullcrusher
• Blackwing Lair, Dethecus, Detheroc, Lethon, and Haomarush
• Blood Furnace and Mannaroth
• Bloodscalp, Boulderfist, Dunemaul, Maiev, and Stonemaul
• Burning Blade, Lightning’s Blade, and Onyxia
• Chromaggus and Garithos
• Dalvengyr and  Dark Iron
• Dentarg and Whisperwind
• Draenor and Echo Isles
• Drak’Tharon, Firetree, Malorne, and Rivendare
• Nesingwary and Vek’nilash
• Scilla and Ursin
• Tortheldrin and Frostmane

​We will be connecting the realms listed below on Monday, November 25 during a scheduled maintenance beginning at 6 a.m. PST through approximately 11:00 a.m. PST. Once maintenance is finished, these realm connections will be complete.

• Azshara and Azgalor
• Arygos and Llane
• Cairne and Perenolde
• Nathrezim and Anub’arak/Chromaggus/Garithos/Smolderthorn
• Winterhoof and Kilrogg
• Zangarmarsh and Hellscream

We will be connecting the realms listed below on Monday, December 2 during a scheduled maintenance beginning at 6 a.m. PST through approximately 11:00 a.m. PST. Once maintenance is finished, these realm connections will be complete.

• Coilfang and Dark Iron
• Fenris and Dragonblight
• Icecrown and Malygos
• Spirestone and Drak’Tharon/Firetree/Malorne/Rivendare
• Ysondre and Magtheridon

​Future Connections

We do not have a date for the following realm connections, but will update this blog post when we do.

Next ​​Batch

• Andorhal and Ursin
• Crushridge and Anub’arak/Chromaggus/Garithos/Nathrezim/Smolderthorn
• Darrowmere and Windrunner
• Quel’dorei and Sen’jin
• Velen and Eonar

​Plans for these connections may change at any time, but we’ll provide additional updates on specific dates for future connections here as we can. Please note that as a part of the connection process realm times may change to match each other.

For more information on Connected Realms, please read the preview blog post here.

The Rampant Coyote Returning Home to Everquest

Is it possible to feel nostalgic or even homesick for an imaginary place? I dunno. Ask the Star Wars fanboys.   And girls!  That’s right you can be homesick for a place you called home for years.  Really home, with people bustling about leading alternate lives of adventure.   While those of us who loved it can never go back and revisit Galaxies and our cities and shops and homes,  The Rampant Coyote recently went back to his world of dreams; Everquest’s Norrath.

He calls his three part series called Ghost Town of Norrath

Ghost Town of Norrath part 1

Ghost Town of Norrath Part 2

Ghost Town of Norrath Part Three: Design Thoughts