Dabbling

I’ve branched out from my Galaxies obsession a bit this week, yay.  Anytime you hit a wall with a game (macro grinding Tailor zzzzz) you should just pop into another world and all your cares disappear.

World of Warcraft

Last week my Retribution Paladin was just beginning the Highmountain area of the Broken Isles.  I was surprised to find I was reluctant to do this area, and I looked at the rest of the Broken Isles to see if there was another I’d prefer, only to realize I don’t really care for any of the zones.  There was a Post In The Making there, which expanded in my mind to other areas of Azeroth I just can’t stand to go through, and the Post passed into oblivion, as Posts do.

Next up, and the current character in Rotation is my Assassination Rogue, who also happens to be just starting Highmountain.  This led me to consider what it is about Highmountain I dislike.  I think it is just the opening quest sequences in the Thundertotem area.   The rest of Highmountain isn’t bad, but I don’t like the whole beginning part.  The current quest I’m balking at starting, is The Story of Huln.  Hero or no, I just hate this whole sequence.  Die, Huln, die.  Not good. 6 1/2 boxes to go for this character to level.

If I have to drag 9 characters through the Broken Isles, and I’m finding the mental brakes are going on when starting all the areas…it’s going to be rough.  I am glad to be rotating in characters from other areas of the world, to refresh, because ack.

Lord of the Rings Online

I’m playing my now level 50 Loremaster, and she’s getting hints that the quests will soon lead into glorious Moria.  The Company went thataway…follow, follow!

I cringed from playing my Hunter because of her location, and wasn’t quite in the mood for the Lonelands, so I haven’t put them into action in a rotation.

Instead, I created a new Runekeeper and a Warden.   Also, because I have a level 43 Minstrel I have no idea how to play, and dang, how did I ever get her to that level, I created a new Minstrel.  All of my 11 character slots are now full.

My bold plan here is to watch world chat (or whatever its called here) and see who is who, join into discussions of interest, and find my way to a good guild that way.  A clever plan, right?

Elder Scrolls Online

There was a huge patch since I played last–probably Housing.  It took forever to download and then was corrupted somehow.  I tried repair and though all was well, but there is no ambient sound in the game and that is pretty awful, particularly no music.  I’ll have to try Repair once again.

I killed off a character I didn’t like, and thinking to make a new crafting only character, I made a Dark Elf.  I’m trying to do all of the beginner areas, and play different races.  She’s likely not long for this world, and hasn’t even made it out of Cold Harbor.

 That face!  The skin tone colors were all shades of Concrete.  Nasty scary eyes, though I did my best to soften them.

 Great hair from the back, long and flowing, nice!

But in the front, they’ve got her hairline yanked back so she’s all skull and again, scary.   Note the sour expression.   I was going to add a caption.  Tsk.

Dear devs: do you EVER see a woman with long flowing hair doing the skull thing in front? Nooo. You use that long hair to frame your face and hide it in meetings so people can’t see you making faces.  Doh.

She is a Mage, my first attempt at this type.  I didn’t like the three available class templates (?), though I know you can customize them.  I wound up choosing the one that has demon pets.  Though the pet stays out in the world with you for a pretty decent amount of time, the initial cast time to bring it out seems long, and something you want to do before beginning combat.   Thus not so useful as any instant cast spell.

Torment Tides of Numenara

Still in the tutorial.  So impressions:  I need to really slow down and read the text boxes.    They’re telling a story, at a pace I’m not used to.  Fighting my first monster.  Not going well.  Missed the tip on how to get from way over here to way over there to fight the beast.

Grim Fandango

This has been in my Steam Library for awhile.  This older game is drop dead gorgeous, so vibrant!  The dialog trees are incredibly entertaining, and sassy.  I try every dialog option.

Here is another game where you need to slow down, examine everything, interact with everything you can.  If you miss something (and I pretty quickly missed an elevator), you need to backtrack and see what you missed, but it isn’t an annoyance as backtracking can sometimes be.

Secret World

I’ve decided to update the game and work some more on my current character.  I’ve got the itch to play so, why wait?  Forward.  Maybe I can just make a new Templar when the reboot goes live.

Mass Effect Andromeda

I’m a little horrified I haven’t pre-ordered this and it’s coming out Tuesday.  What is wrong with me? Whap!

Myndariel’s Middle Earth Class X Series: The Burglar

Myndariel is starting a post series called  Class X featuring the classes of Lord Of The Rings Online in depth from level 1-20.

She’s creating a new character for a class and playing through those levels, giving an expert look at how the class plays, and what each of the specs available can do.

The Burglar class is the first in the series, and it’s well worth watching for her others as they become available not only to help you choose a class, but to get a good feel for the best way to play.

My own Burglar is level 25, but there’s plenty here I didn’t know. (Note there’s lots more information than I’ve pictured below.)

GameSpace.com A Haven For Video Game Fans

I listened to the MMORPG.com podcast tonight for the first time and they mentioned their new sister  site GameSpace.com which talks about all the sorts of games that don’t fit into the MMORPG umbrella.

The hosts seemed pretty excited to be talking about other game related interests.  They appear to be covering most platforms, which gives them plenty of room for reviews of all sorts.

It looks like you can follow them on all the usual social media.

I’ve added the MMORPG.com Podcast to my Podcast list.

Lord of the Rings Online: Just Let Me Into Moria, Come On!

I’ve been working on my Loremaster sooo close to the Gates of Moria, yet quest after new quest keeps me running between Orc camps and Redhorn Pass. Agh.   I feel like I’m not getting anywhere.

The first time I ever did this area, I liked it quite a bit, but I’m just itching to move forward. I think I’ll have to play a couple of characters in other areas of the game to dial down on the twitchy.

Maybe run a few quests with my Hunter in the Golden Woods (also agh).

My Burglar is in the Lonelands, an area I like.  She’s my official Cook too, so she’s fun.  Rotate her in, check.

I did finally use my Turbine Points to get all of the available Expansion areas.  Which I’ll reach someday.

 

The Secret World Reboot

MassivelyOp has been running a few articles on the upcoming “relaunch” of The Secret World, and it’s all pretty exciting!   I’m not attached to the combat or my character, so even if those are hugely changed, it isn’t going to be a real problem.  I think it’s great Funcom is putting their backing into what is really a unique and compelling game.

http://massivelyop.com/2017/02/27/the-secret-world-is-being-relaunched-in-2017/

http://massivelyop.com/2017/03/03/chaos-theory-speculating-on-the-secret-worlds-relaunch/

http://massivelyop.com/2017/03/06/leaderboard-will-the-secret-worlds-relaunch-entice-you-to-play/

I am definitely going to be playing.  I can’t decide if I should try another of the three “Societies” than my Templar, or, since I really don’t like what the other two stand for, maybe I’ll kill off my current Templar and start from scratch. 

I think I didn’t pay enough attention at the outset to builds and weaponry mixes.  I paid zero attention it seems to crafting, so I have an inventory full of (stuff) I don’t know how to use but think I shouldn’t just toss.

My character kind of bugs me, I just don’t like the way she looks, so a clean slate may be a good idea all around.

Having worked through quite a few storylines for a perennial Secret World noob, in theory I should be able to get back to my current spot relatively quickly.

I’m going to wait to kill my girl off, but she’s almost certainly doomed in favor of a fresh new Templar with better hair.  I wish I could get her to lose the wide legged “just got off a horse” stance too.