On A Rainy Evening

No sun, no problem.

Star Wars Galaxies

I made a factory run of Walls with my Architect, promptly using them up on Cities and Guild Halls.

That twitch to shoot something brought out my halfway there Pistoleer.  She would also like to be a Bounty Hunter, but I’m missing just a single box to complete Marksman, Rifles 4.  Oh how painful to try to get that last box.  Using an SG-82 rifle which looks like a bent pipe.  zzzzzz

I sent my TK out briefly for some easy peasy Bol hunting on Dantooine, but her second mission had her chased by a Huurton who had been chomping my bols.  There were also two groups of Grauls right nearby.  It was never going to end well.

Lord of The Rings Online

More progress in Lothlorien.  Bizarrely a quest sent me back into Moria to help Bosi.  No one can resist a dwarf.   My Yellow Vision is improving.  Things didn’t look so bad tonight.

Wildstar

I downloaded Wildstar and will be playing my Medic.  It took me a few minutes to get reoriented to the game, but I’m glad to be back, giving it another try.  Such a great looking, dare I say, happy game.

Secret World

It’s official Secret World Day so into the Innsmouth Academy instance I went.   I immediately hit the wrong icon on the door because I was positioned oddly when I selected it.  All downhill from there.   It has been a while since I played and I know I didn’t get the codes right in earlier puzzles right off.  They must have let me re-start somehow.  This door isn’t.  I tried looking up how to re-set door puzzles in a variety of different ways.  Nada. 

Tried going out of the instance and back in.  Out of the game and back in.  Plink!  Somehow I’m getting in there.

LOTRO: Back to Lothlorien

I’ve switched to my former main character who is in Lothlorien.  I think she’s been there for several years.  How could I be discouraged about my Loremaster not getting into Moria when this character has been languishing?

I feel like I’ve done quite a few quests, and I think I’m making progress at last.  I’m getting the hang of the map, which isn’t helpful to a World of Warcraft quester, as it doesn’t point you right where you want to go.  No, you have to peer at the map hopefully looking for vaguely colored blotches of color which in turn lead you to a general area.  The quest text itself, one might argue, gives you dizzying directions such as go west down the road to the first dark rock, sing to the rock and await further instructions.

While looking left and going right, I fell into the river and had to swim a very long way to find a shoreline.

Luckily I found my way to land and then to a bridge to resume my adventures.

I took a moment to meditate upon my impatience and the yellowness of it all.

Finally, I stopped for the evening before taking a quest from Legolas which suspiciously seemed as if it might be an instance, and last who knows how long.

I’ve noticed worldchat is full of groups for Box Runs.  I looked up what they were, and I can see how people looking for gear or loot might find them appealing, but I can’t see myself doing them anytime soon (since I’m eeek-many levels below cap).  What a slug dog. 

Myndariel’s Middle Earth Captain’s Guide

Myndariel has her next guide to a LOTRO class out, covering the Captain class from level 1-20.

http://myndariel.blogspot.com/2017/04/introducing-captain-level-1-20.html

This is welcome for me, since my LOTRO Captain remains at a low level.   Created in the first hour of the first day of the game, her name is Kate after Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Enterprise.  You know you have to get into a game early to get the name Kate.  Now she can move forward, and I won’t scorn the Herald, who I may have named Goofy, because he bugged me.

                                                       Captain Kate and Goofy

I really appreciate these guides, and wish there were more like them.  Often as I’m leveling characters I look for class guides to help me figure out how best to play, but frustratingly, they’re always for max level characters.  I say grr when this happens, because I feel when you’re max level you don’t need a guide like this. 

Into The Rift: Stillmoor

I’ve decided to continue playing Rift with my level 50 Mage as the main character.  Her skills and survivability make her fun to play, plus she has a variety of pets at her disposal.

She’s in the Stillmoor area of Mathosia, which is for levels 45-50.  I had her working in various other areas, so she has not completed the quest lines here, and I’m going to do this area completely then move on.

Whenever I send one character ahead of the others, I like to know the area well.  If I know the dangers and treasures offered, things are simpler for the rest of the characters when they pass through.

One of the things I enjoy about Rift is that each area has a distinct look, character and story line.  Stillmoor has a dark, gothic look, with a storyline involving werewolves.  Not your typical movie monster werewolves, but real people who have tragically been turned into beasts.

At level 50, the upper end of the suggested level for the area, my mage is handling everything that comes her way nicely.  It seems to me I read that after 50 armor becomes much more important to your character.  I’m going to have to up my crafting, questing and maybe raid game (non-existent except in the one (s) which have been converted to Intrepid Adventures). 

You’d Think I Wasn’t Playing Anything….

…Since none of the posts I compose in my head ever make to the virtual space.

  

Galaxies: playing like a fiend.  

Lord of the Rings Online

Once again I thought my Loremaster was on her way into Moria, but no, off to Mirabel, which I remember from the past and its a morass of new quests.

My Hunter is going back into action, so I have new content to play. 

I used my Turbine Points (which I’ve never spent and they were hefty in number) to get all of the existing expansions.  Truly I felt guilty not buying them with real money, as buying expansions is something I’m always willing to do.  I did buy three lifetime subscriptions as soon as they became available, back in the day.   Never in a million years did I expect that the game wouldn’t go on forever as it had begun because it was truly great.

Secret World

With all the exciting news coming out the Secret World space, I filled my two open character slots, and have plenty of adventures ahead.  I personally like what I’ve seen and read about Secret World Legends.  I think it’s spectacular that Funcom is investing in the game, in a version that doesn’t look remarkably altered, but may be more accessible to some.   I understand all too well the fear that the game will be dumbed down, made Steam player and even console friendly.  That the world we know will be ruined and destroyed.

Perhaps because I am such an avid Galaxies fan,  I also see that the base game will still exist, the world as we know it will still exist, even if in “maintenance mode”.   If you hate the new game, the old world is there.   It has been on my mind that if Sony had made Pre-CU servers available even in a maintenance type mode, even if they did it a few months from NGE launch, anything at all, history would be so different, many lives virtual and real world would have taken such a different path.

I think if a game makes drastic changes, offering the classic version is a win win.   It’s there to play, to compare, to allow tweaking of the new perhaps where the old was actually superior.  Nobody gets to say the game was broken and you’re wearing rose colored glasses of memory, because its still right there.

Fallout Shelter

My little Vault is in action once more.  I abandoned the one where I had the max number of characters, because I was having to turn away or turn out into the wasteland little characters to make room.  You should see how awful they feel when you boot them, they have a little suitcase in hand, and their little shoulders slump, and each has some different last words to make you feel even guiltier.

Jade Empire

This old classic is available on the iPad.  Combat isn’t bad, and I mention it because this game is all combat, but it’s unique and a cool story.

Mass Effect 4

They appear to have fixed the facial animations but I still haven’t purchased it.  I think in truth I don’t like working with the Origins store which is a shame, but I’ll get it soon ™.

Rotations Once More

I’m working my way back to where I was about a year ago, giving at least some play time each day to a different game.   The games I’m going to drop in on are:   Rift, Lotro, GW2, Lord of the Rings Online, Secret World, Elder Scrolls Online, World of Warcraft, EQ2, Galaxies.

Those are my favorites, and I should be peeking in.  My games will be updated regularly so there won’t be those long downloads when I want to play, and I won’t forget where my characters were and what they were doing.   I just assign a day of the week to them and try to log in and make a little progress.  I’m a happier gamer when I have variety.