Category Archives: Baldur’s Gate

GameNotes August 6, 2019

Ready, Set, Stress Test!

There’s one last stress test for World of Warcraft Classic this Thursday.  They’re asking people to log in if they can during the initial two hour window to see if they can bring down the house, or perhaps, just open their doors.

Excitement about Classic continues to build.  Note I put all the World of Warcraft Classic sites I’ve found so far on the sidebar.

I’ve picked out my three names, I hope they open things up early so I can get in there and grab them.  I thought the date was originally August 12, though I’ve seen people using the 13th, and it is indeed the 12th, a better day for me.

As I suspected they must, Blizzard will release server names “later this week”.  Maybe Friday after the Stress Test Server goes down to maintain momentum?

9h

Character name reservation for WoW Classic opens next week on Monday, August 12 at 3:00 p.m. PDT. Players with an active subscription or game time on their World of Warcraft account will be able to create up to three characters per WoW account and have the name(s) reserved before WoW Classic releases worldwide on Monday, August 26 at 3:00 p.m. PDT.

We will release details regarding realm names and realm types later this week so you can coordinate with your friends on where to begin your adventure. If there are high numbers of players congregating on individual realms during the name reservation/character creation process, we will post warnings about the potential for long queues on those realms, giving you time to choose alternate realms. Also please note: Character creation will be limited to only one faction per realm on PvP realms.

After release, the number of WoW Classic character that can be created per WoW game account will change to the following limits:

  • A maximum of 10 characters per WoW Classic realm.
  • A maximum of 50 characters across all WoW Classic realms in your region.
  • Only one faction per realm on PvP realms.

There is no overlap regarding character limits with World of Warcraft, so if you have 50 characters in Battle for Azeroth you can create 50 more characters in WoW Classic.

WoW Classic’s worldwide release is almost here so it’s time to get started organizing and planning your path to level 60!

 

WOW Character Hopping

I logged in all my World of Warcraft characters this weekend.  So many great characters.  I’ve mostly been working on my BWR characters, gearing them up with World Quests.   I swapped my Paladin for my Druid to work in Nazjatar.  My Druid is backtracking and working from the west coast of dreaded Stormsong to the east getting the rep and quest completion needed for Pathfinder, which I hadn’t worked on because zzzzz, I always hate the grind of it.  She’s the best candidate, with her item level and stealth to bypass stuff she doesn’t need to stop and fight.

On other realms, I have characters working on areas like Outlands and Northrend I’ve always blown past while running dungeons and questing, then hopping to the next area.  There’s quite a bit of the game I haven’t played all the way through.  My lower levels are taking their time and getting all the quests and exploration.  I’m also trying to get all the recipes I may have missed, and hunter pets, and mounts.  The game is pretty rich if you take your time to enjoy all it offers.

 

In other news:

 

Den of Geek interviewed Cameron Tofer on the making of the original Baldur’s Gate, and the enhanced editions of it and other classic titles.

https://www.denofgeek.com/us/games/pc-gaming/282565/baldurs-gate-legacy

 

Without the beard, of course!

 

 

Coming In September, Blacksad: Under The Skin is a noir detective game starring a cat who is all but human.  There’s just the trailer so far, but I really like what I see.

Blacksad: Under the Skin

 

 

The Outer Worlds

I saw of tons of playthroughs and impressions of The Outer Worlds this week.  It continues to look great, though in the IGN video below the NPCs are rather rough looking.   The armor in the game is out of the Golden Age of Science Fiction, and the World itself very much like Bioshock.   Looking forward to this one in October!

https://outerworlds.obsidian.net/

 

Baldur’s Gate @ The Friendly Arms Inn

I found and have been having a lively time at The Friendly Arms Inn.  I had difficulty at first finding the Inn entrance because it was in the dark of night and I didn’t see the stairs leading up.

Once I did, a Mage Assassin insisted I must die.  I was barely able to mount a defense when my character started running in circles, then was dead.
On my second try, (doink) I forgot to equip my bow and went running up to him sword in hand.  It ended badly.
Try three, bow equipped, I sent Imoen in to talk to him.  It is so odd he decided she was the one he needed to kill, though she clearly was not the glorious Atheren.  Imoen died, but I did not, so full save.  

As I was looking to find out how to boot her dead corpse from my party, I saw she could be revived at the handy temple nearby for a hefty 100 gold.  I had 299 so, I thought why not.

Before leaving town, I really need to make sure I am more familiar with party management.  Is there an ideal number of members and class makeup?  I need to make sure I can pause and get everyone in position, spells and weapons ready.  Should I be using my party members like little pack mules to carry things we find?  If they die, do they have enough loot on them to make it worth resurrecting them?

Should I go directly to the next town or backtrack through the area to the south to make sure I get any loot or Xp there before moving on?
Excellent game, lots to think about.  Never fear I save constantly.  Just in case.