Atheren’s Adventures The Year In Review 2018

World of Warcraft

The bulk of this year was spent playing World of Warcraft. Right after Blizzcon 2017, I started leveling characters so that they’d be at max level when Battle for Azeroth arrived. I found as I was doing this that I enjoyed the Class quests more than I would have guessed.

I stuck in my toe in some LFR’s, and they weren’t bad at all. I didn’t feel like there was much of a reward for participating in them, which I suppose is the point. You’re supposed to be in a Raid Guild that only let’s you go along if they’re desperate, and they sure aren’t going to let you have any gear drops, because those are for the real raiders. Pretty icky, in my opinion. At least if something is available as LFR you can just leap in there, and experience the content, since many story lines conclude in Raids, apparently. If that’s actually the case, you might want to tweak that so everyone can complete quest story lines start to finish on their own.

Only seven characters were ready when the expansion arrived, and I sent them through each area in kind of a little conga line. It was good, and then it became grindy, particularly in Stormsong Valley (which I’m still not over).

After taking a break in November/December I’ve gone back in with a new plan, an even better plan (Start the Revolution Without Me). I’m going to run characters to 120 one at a time, leading this time around with my Demon Hunter.

I didn’t realize how much I missed bouncing around on my characters on other servers, and creating new characters on new servers. Sometimes I like to drop back to simpler times in the game world. I killed off four characters I never play (still very hard to do). Whoo hoo! I now have six open character slots for creating new characters on realms unknown.

Once again I have to comment on the awful new character models. It would be more palatable if there were barbershop options to change eye size and color, and many more hairstyles and colors available.

Everquest 2

I was really enjoying Everquest 2 earlier this year, and subscribed for a time. Somehow I got caught up in trying to work on crafting for each character, and while it was interesting, it felt onerous after a bit, so I drifted away. I’m certain to return to this game in 2019 as I have some really enjoyable characters there, I like the world, I love the quests.

Blaugust

I participated for the first time. I was really pleased to reach my goal of posting every day, and I liked my content. What started off as a pretty convivial atmosphere among bloggers soon seemed rather clique-y to me. It also seemed to me that there was some unneeded competitiveness and bloggers taking shots at others. No need for that.

On the plus side, I looked at some games in my Steam Library, and really liked them, but need to go back and finish them.

As part of Blaugust, I dipped back into some games I hadn’t played in awhile, Lord of The Rings Online, Wildstar, and Rift and Secret World. I enjoyed my time in all of them, and was sad to see the announcement that Wildstar would close. I will try to make time for the remaining games again in 2019.

Elder Scrolls Online

I started playing this more regularly in September, logging in each day for the Reward. By October, I was playing longer sessions, had truly fallen for the game, and I subscribed. I hope to write about it more, it is so deep and rich.

Star Wars Galaxies (Emu) The other game I’ve played at almost Live Game Levels this year is Star Wars Galaxies, the Pre-Combat Upgrade version. The game remains the most absorbing, live your life in an alternate world experience ever. I’ve always hoped someone would make a game with all of it’s features, but there is still nothing like it.

Return of the The Last Chapter Blog as my Game Blog

It has been a good thing, moving back to my earlier blog. The blog was originally created to share World of Warcraft tips as I was learning them with my guild mates/family. They’re a rowdy bunch, though, and only my spouse always read it. I do like the Pages option at the top for linking to my favorite games and the sites that give guides for playing. That will need quite a bit of work.

I’ve found a bunch of new podcasts to try out, and will work on getting a updated list on the sidebar.

I miss my nice pictures to break up headings on the sidebar, so I’m going to get around that by sticking any picture I want to use on the sidebar in some selected post. Once you do that, it seems to become part of some nice picture archive you can always draw from. Work around solutions ftw.

EQ2: Evercrafting

I’ve assigned crafts to my characters.  I have all the crafts covered as I like to do, except for Armorsmithing and Weaponsmithing.  Those I’ll leave to chance or purchase.  I’d need two more characters.  Nope, not at this time.

Mystic    Carpenter

Bruiser    Tinkerer

Warden    Tailor

Monk       Alchemy

Fury        Provisioner

Ranger    Woodworker

Conjuror   Sage

This has given me some structure as to how I level them.  The Alchemist always goes ahead first to gather and make potions for all.   Next, I have the Tailor out leveling to make bags.  After that, I don’t know the crafts well enough to decide, but I’m sure it will all work out.  For the nonce, I’m stopping all questing and making sure the Harvesting quests are done by all, then the set of crafting tutorial quests.

I like that they have you make an item that each tradeskill makes, so you have a feel not just for the process, but for the materials needed.  Node-Hound-R-US from here on out.  I’m grabbing everything.

It’s interesting you need a different fuel for each recipe type you make, such as Sandpaper, Incense, Coal, Basic Kindling.

There’s a different crafting station for each skill.  I love the animations of some of them while you work, particularly the Woodworking table with it’s moving saws.

The process of crafting is further complicated by things that can go wrong while you work, steam, unusually hard boards, cooling temperatures, Magical Anomalies.  The symbols at the bottom of the craft screen represent these.  When they show up in the box just above, you need to select them quickly from the icons below to counteract the problem.  No eating popcorn while you craft here.

EQ2 Fury

I love my Fury she’s having mana issues all of a sudden at level 17.  This is only in fights against the elites and multiples–3 or more that she runs out.   Her skill bars just all gray out, and you have to run away.

I didn’t even know what was happening at first, since I hadn’t run into it before with this character.

Here’s a guide that looks helpful.   http://revellers.gnomedepot.net/?page_id=48

If I can’t solve her problems, I’ll choose another character to be my main. 

Maybe my Mousey Mystic.

I’m also liking my Ranger.

Isn’t there some old wisdom that you don’t really get a good feel for how your class will play till level 20?  Both the Mystic and Fury are level 17, and I see no weakness in the Mystic, certainly no mana problems.

I do have a number of other classes to move past level 10/11, perhaps one of those would be the new favorite.

It really is valuable to have a range of classes available so you don’t feel stuck with a character who isn’t as powerful as you’d like, you can try something else rather than give up on the game.  Not that I’m anywhere near giving up on this one, but it does happen when you try new games, or just never seem to advance in a game you want to like.

Game Notes

I played a few things yesterday.  Gotta love a Saturday.

Elder Scrolls Online

Elder Scrolls Online is offering 100k in game, of course, for logging in each day in September.  I decided to work on my Warden character this month, mostly because she’s in Vvardenfell and I wanted to continue the Morrowind story.  I spent time reducing her inventory load before sending her out to her open quests.  I picked the one I wanted to do first, then somehow missed a turn to Balmora and ended up trying to backtrack overland.  Note: River Trolls are bad.  Also, you can outrun almost anything in ESO.

Galaxies

So, there’s my Architect ready to make a small factory run of Large Beds for which I needed 5000 units of Wooly Hide.   I know I have some someplace.  However neither my Architect nor my Tailor (the two characters who would use it) had 5k anywhere.  Off goes my Ranger to Rori, where I spent a nice hour or so thinning the Torton population.  I love those big guys.  They’re like huge dinosaur turtles.  They give a ton of Wooly Hide.  They’re my favorites.  I quickly had 142k of the hide, giving my Architect 100k and the Tailor 42k.  Try to run out of that!

Figure A Large Bed

Everquest2

I spent time with my Ranger in an area called The Forest Ruins.  I’ve also been in The Caves another instanced area.  This one seems bucolic at first, but at night (I think, I hope it’s only at night) it is overrun by Pirates that are in a huge group that just run through the place.   They killed my Ranger once, and she outran them once.

I’m not a fan of the “Experience Debt” that comes with Death in EQ2.  With another character, I lost a whole level, plus there was the “debt” to be paid.   You can be very careful, but sometimes you die.

https://www.everquest2.com/news/imported-eq2-enus-1807

Here, ack, I have to make my way inside the ruin itself for a quest.

Then I have something to look for on the “beach” which is swarming with pirates.   Maybe I should level up and come back.  I got the bench I went in for!   Unfortunately you can’t sit on it.

World of Warcraft

Somehow I hadn’t sent my Atherne character to Vol’Dun, so off she went.   This is my fourth or  so time through that area.   With  my other characters,  I didn’t notice the creatures around a treasure chest near the start are all 120s, so I’ve died, doh.   Skip that one for the rest.

Otherwise a quick and easy run.

For pure relaxation, I’m running a Beast Master Hunter through the world and dungeons.  It is really worth revisiting some of those classic dungeons.  Razonfen Downs has changed substantially.  Because I hate them, the added spiders are notable.  Lots of them just spin down from the ceiling.   The boss from the spider room is also hanging around up in the rafters waiting for you to hit the gong.  So gross.

When you’re stunned, you get wrapped in webbing, oh no!  You can wait out the stun or someone can shoot the web off of you.

Instead of a draggy tank, the tank was practically unresponsive, and seemed reluctant to enter into any fight.  It took longer for the nice group to boot him than you’d think.

Monthly Wrapup

It was a good month for games.  I played Battle for Azeroth, and really love this expansion.   It may be the best yet.   All my higher level characters are playing really well.   It’s taking each one long enough to work their way through Freehold in Tiragarde so that I can queue for dungeons.

 I’ve gotten Freehold, Waycrest Manor and Shrine of the Storm with various characters.  Freehold is smoothest, with everyone getting lost in Waycrest Manor, and dying at the Ritualists and  Lord Stormsong in Shrine of the Storm.   Tanks and Healers are a bit cranky.

Everquest 2 was played a bit almost everyday.  In a stressful month, I was thinking of it as “my happy place”.  Now that’s a good thing for a game to be.

I’ve played my newly minted Mystic the most, and she’s at level 17.  She also has 7 gold, which is way more than my level 17 Fury has.   I’m almost thinking you get more looted money and things to sell in the Frostfang Sea area.

My Fury is not getting any money as loot, it’s gross stuff like Canine Saliva.  She’s in the Qeynos/Antonica area.  I just like the little ching ching sound of gold.   Also, it feels as if there is better bank and vendor access in the Frostfang area.  For sure, there are more rugs to be had in Frostfang.   I wonder if they kind of loaded it up when they went Free To Play.

There’s still a little Bruiser Froglock on the Isle of Refuge.  I wonder if I send her to Kelethin if she’s likely to get some new and unusual furniture 🙂

I enjoyed my Steam games and plan to go back in and work on those.  My son recommended the Witcher to me and I have all three of the games.  He’s generally right about what games and classes I’d enjoy playing.

Loved Broken Age.

Curious to see the plot play out in Dear Esther.  

The Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell is pretty funny, in I’m sure an unintended way, as it is so serious in tone.

I logged in to Rift a couple of times, and am set to send my Cleric out adventuring.

It took forever to get ESO to update, but I’m now able to log in and see which character I want to play.

Looking at my GW2 Hunter for a post or two, I think I may back up and try her Personal Story.

 

Screenshot Saturday: This Week in Games

Everquest 2

This fight took place in The Caves.  I’m working the caves with my Fury.  I’m trying to find my way up one more level from where I am, and whammo!   Dead meat on a stick.  Where did he even come from?  Just pops up? Wanders the caves?  I was sooo paranoid when I went back in trying to complete the area.

I read that EQ2 was merging Antonia Bayle with the Stormhold progression server, and you should log in your characters to reserve their name.

While logging everyone in, I noticed I had enough points to create another character!  Yay!  Here’s my level 8 Ratonga Mystic.  So adorable.  She’s in the Frostfang Sea area near New Halas, an area I thought I didn’t like.  It seems better this time around.  I recall there was a nice fur rug to be gained here somewhere in this area.  I don’t have it yet, but did get a little table right off.  Maybe I can loot a bed.   All furnishings will end up in my Qeynos apartment.

World of Warcraft

Freehold, not such a bad hat.

Freehold, the odd Parrot droppings quest

Another reason to be glad the artifact weapons are gone!  The weapon is a coiled snake with a lantern hanging from it.  Nothing like that ever dropped in the Broken Isles.

Freehold: the Ring Of Booty  It’s great to be the one who catches the pig.

Everquest 2 Goals for 2018

I’m currently subscribing, and one goal will be to play enough so that I know if a subscription is valuable for the way I play the game.

For as much as I’ve dabbled in the game over time, I feel like I know almost nothing.   This week I was in Qeynos, wondering why I couldn’t find where some of the quests even were, ones I’ve been looking for for awhile, and I come upon a travel bell sort of thing that is specifically for travel within Qeynos.  

So with no indication at all I ever saw, I’m supposed to think that there is a portal to the areas where many of the beginning quests are.  And there’s no other way to get to them.   I just can’t think of a game where there are these “bottle areas”. 

On the other hand, the game reminds me very much of Action/Adventure RPGs of the type I always loved.  Quests tell stories.  I appreciate that.  There’s much to like that isn’t offered anywhere else.  Great adventures await.

PlayNotes: Everquest 2

Tonight I decided to move my characters up till they were able to leave the island.. This happened sooner than I expected, at level 8 for my High Elf Fury character.

The last quest on the island was one I had trouble with on another character called the Source of Evil.  My problem was finding totems.  I expected them to look like this:

But no, they looked like this:

The Flying Finger Of Fate is a Totem?   Ack.

Easy to do once I figured out what I was looking for.   My efforts were rewarded with the appearance of the Dark Blademaster, an npc who was cool looking and had a series of great moves.

After turning in the quest to Sorcerer Oofala  (who was annoying, and I’m sure I’m not the first to think of him as Goofala)  for some reason I was walking backwards for a bit and couldn’t get it to stop.  Awkward.

Nicknamed  (by me) Grexx the Giggler, this guy sounds like Yoda with his toes in a vice.  I do appreciate all the voices for npcs, it adds flavor to the world.

Off to a cave! Not just any cave though, a cave that has a Dark Doorway, and “Fog emanates from the cracks in this door!”   How is that for setting a scene?

No disappointment here, Vith L’Tar has an Oz-Like floating head aiding her in battle as well as a couple of minions.  Classy, Vith.

That’s the ballgame for this island for this girl, she can stay and whack stuff here, or venture off to Qeynos.  Fortune and glory, Qeynos beckons.  A pretty city.

Somehow it reminds me of Amsterdam.

My first quest here is to find an inn in South Qeynos and look at the rooms.  I actually tried looking at all the rooms, you could just tour them.  I didn’t realize I couldn’t just pick the one I liked.  So I fell for the Three Room Style 2.

First Room Nice Corner Kitchen

Second Room Nice Windows

Third Room

As it turns out, this was not meant for a lowly noobulous such as my Elf.   You need gold, status undreamed of with who knows who, and a level 10 guild.  Do you need to lead one, or just be in one?  Not clear, but it seems this large airy suite is not for me.

Just next door is a two room apartment that any grubby little character would love for their own.  It actually is nice, with plenty of pretty windows, and the  two rooms are huge.  The quest meant me to have this one, though it didn’t require me to buy it or anything.

Two Room Apt  First Room

Two Room Apt Second Room

I’ve had homes in the past, one in the dread City Of Hate and another in New Halas.  They were ok, but I didn’t like them enough to keep them.

Much more reasonably priced, The Baubbleshire is now mine all mine, with 28 days rent paid.

I never noticed it before, but I can make my alts Trustees, and it appears they can share the apartment, drop any cute furniture they find here, and, the scalawags can help pay the rent.  In the past my alts were scattered all over the place, this is the first time I’m sending them all to the same location.

How snuggly!  It holds 200 items which seems generous. I can have up to ten houses, so, if we run out of room here, we can be housing locusts and move on to a larger abode.

It’s 2 am is why I’m being particularly obnoxious.   Sleep well!

PlayNotes Issue 5: Everquest 2

I was having the best time with this game, leveling several characters up in rotation, then ESO Morrowind came out, and I found new interest in World of Warcraft characters, and they fell to misadventure.

Back in tonight to work on my Monk and Conjuror, the last two in the lineup.

Although I like my Monk for her catlike grace and smooth martial arts moves, the fights seemed interminable until she got to level 6.  Then it was better. 

It felt like these spiders had to be killed one leg at a time….so slow….

By the time we got to this guy, it was all legchop, handchop, legchop, eeeeyah!

Since she was now at the desired level, I left her among the Sapwills and Defilers because I just couldn’t find some totems, and the area was pretty thick with these.

The Ratonga Conjuror coming into the same area at level two was briefly nicknamed “One Shot Willie” by me because she had no trouble in any fight.   She has a small Earthen Avatar which may be helping her fight.  He’s small and sort of weird and is always right under the Ratonga’s legs.  Except in the picture below.

Heroic Opportunities keeps popping up in fights, and I’m going to read and absorb this:    https://forums.daybreakgames.com/eq2/index.php?threads/almost-complete-guide-to-heroic-opportunities.296464/

It is apparently some sort of chain thing a party can use.  Wasn’t there something like that in LOTRO?

So far I really like (because they’re tough fighters) the Conjuror, the Fury and the Warden best.  I’m not sure about the Ranger or the Monk.  I’m going to keep playing them in rotation with the others for now.

At the end of the session I went ahead and killed off my boosted level 95 Wizard, though (sniff) she had a house and everything in the City Of Hate.   I wasn’t going to play her anymore, and that opens a slot to try yet another class.

Maybe another Ratonga.  They are so adorable.   But they make me think of this:

Everquest 2: Kung Foo Kitty

Logging in this morning I noticed you can purchase characters right from the character select screen for 1000 DB (Daybreak Cash?).   Somehow I happened to have that exactly!!!!   Plink!

One of the classes I was considering when looking through what is available was the Fighter Class Monk.   Voila!   Kung Foo Kitty is born!  She’s so cute, I love the Kerra race.  You should see her making those martial arts moves.  So adorable.

Now I don’t need to kill off the Evil Wizard (who is all mooshy on the inside).

I now have a Kerra Ranger, A Halfling Warden, a High Elf Fury, A Ratonga Conjuror, a Kerra Monk, and a Ratonga Wizard.

So far I’m liking the fighting abilities of the Warden and Fury best, but we’ll see if that changes as the characters gain levels.

You can go home again, you can start all shiny and new again in any game.