Everquest 2 – First update

It has taken me long enough but I have just now sat down to make my first update. I am now eight hours into my new character, a Half Elf Warden named Joridel, who is half way through level 13, and have just received my first achievement point. Of course being a druid type priest class I sunk my first point into shape shifting and spent a good chunk of time running around as a tiger, very fun!

Starting out in the new Kelethin area has been an interesting change of pace after leveling so many characters in that tired and boring starter island. I like the mushroom people that you run into shortly after beginning your adventure, and wonder if they are new or if I just never got to them when I originally played. After creating my new character I spent some time fiddling with the options and now have the settings optimal for this computer. It looks nice and runs fairly well, but needless to say I can’t wait until my new rig arrives so I can push the game to the max.
I have set up both appearances (Original and Soga models) for my character but I’m not really sure which I prefer. I’ll throw up some screen shots of what each look like.


One addition to the game that I was not expecting to run into in Faydark was the ability to climb. I know this was introduced in the first expansion, Desert of Flames, but I never had a character high level enough to make it out to that content and experience it. So imagine my surprise after being frustrated for 15 minutes trying to figure out how to get to a quest NPC up on a part of a tree, and I suddenly start climbing up the tree when I got to close! Now I have taken advantage of every climbable source I can find, and I have to say I have also fallen to my death many many times. Maybe I should have rolled a Fae. (…Nahh..)

That’s it for the first update, more to come soon. Maybe I will even take Jerrek out of retirement!

Junk and Stuff

Check out the video I just posted, HILARIOUS Ventrillo Harassment videos. That is just one of many, check out the guys YouTube account for all of his work. I wasted a few hours last night watching all of his stuff, some more than once.

I played my Condemned level of the day, and the game still scares the shit out of me. I am having a great time with it, and while I want to play more, I think one level a day is all I can take haha.

I’m in the process of catching up on my podcasts, they have started to back up since I haven’t had my usual listening times lately (On the way to class, driving, while playing an MMO). The last one has started to change, due to Everquest 2 (which I will make a post about soon) but I’m having to pause it occasionally, because I really enjoy the voice overs during quests and such. Very nice touch to the game.

Veronica Mars just gets better every episode, I am now half way through the third disk of season two, and am doing my best to savor each and every minute of the show. I found out I can watch all of the episodes online for free, and that may just be the direction I go if I find myself not being able to wait until October for the release of season three. I am truly disappointed that the show was canceled, and I really hope it isn’t due to the third season not living up to the first two.

That’s all for right now, I’m off to track down some dinner and then play some more EQ2, with a post all about that coming soon.

Ventrilo Harassment – Duke Nukem Forever

Check it out!

Like Clockwork

So of course I go the distance between posts, leaving my loyal fans (HA!) out in the cold as to what I have been doing. My summer semester is over (A-, and B!) and I am at home bumming around the new house, doing yard work and such. I was pretty darn sick during the last two weeks of the five week course though, and this resulted in me dropping off the face of the earth, including playing WoW. Yes I’ve yet again left the game, and I feel really bad because my guild is great, and I hate leaving them. I have just lost the motivation to play, and my two week absence did NOT help that at all. I managed to get Jerrek to level 59 and out into the outlands. I thought that maybe that would inspire me to play some more, but the drab Hellfire Peninsula just didn’t do it for me. Both Jerrek and Joridel (my 60 undead warrior) are sitting out there in the event that I return, and they have over 1k gold sitting on them. If I was smart I’d sell the account to someone who was looking to get back into the game, but just wanted to start the Burning Crusade content right away. Alas I am not.

If I quit Wow, then what have I been playing lately, you ask? Well I am finally giving my 360 some love, playing some Condemned that I managed to track down at the shitty little circuit city in town. I wont lie either, the game scares the bejesus out of me. I am aware that it isn’t a very long game, so I am only playing it in chunks, one level a day, but I am enjoying it immensely. I was overjoyed when I heard a sequel to the game is being made. In addition to Condemned, the 360 has been seeing some more action in the DVD department. A few weeks ago I picked up seasons one and two of Veronica Mars for $40, and just started watching them when I got home from school. I blew through the first season and am working on the second right now, trying to pace myself so I don’t finish it all at once. Needless to say I am hooked, and I absolutely love the character development of the show. I actually care about what happens and who does what, and after the episodes end, all I want to do is watch the next one. Season three (the final season /cry) will not be released until the end of October.

In other news, I am going stir crazy not seeing the girlfriend. Having to be in a long distance relationship is rough, especially after seeing the person every day for nearly a year. I will be seeing her next weekend hopefully, so I am really looking forward to that. Should have some special deliveries coming soon, a new motherboard the the girlfriend’s broken computer, and my very own brand new computer! I’ll throw up some pics and specs for it once it’s actually here, but that wont arrive until sometime in the beginning of July.

While I have lost my urge to play WoW, I am not out of the MMO loop all together. I had actually been thinking about Everquest 2 again for the past month, but really couldn’t do anything about it while at school, due to the fact I only had my laptop with me. Now that I am back at home with my PC, and fueled further by the thought of a newer even beefier rig coming soon, I went out and bought the newest expansion, Echoes of Faydwer. I just started it up today, and I’ll be posting a full review/update style post soon with my impressions of the new area, with my new half elf warden character. My Iksar monk is still there, sitting peacefully at level 25. To my great joy he is even on the server that I want to play on so I am sure once I get back into the rhythm of the game again I will give him another shot.

That’s all for now I think, I am about to go play my daily level of Condemned (and hopefully not mess my pants in the process.)

Almost there

One more level and I can head into the Outlands, yes that is correct folks, I made 57 last night, and instead of just logging off and picking it up later I kept on trucking. I ended up finishing Linken’s quest, and got his cool looking sword and Boomerang, but it also (with some other quests) netted me enough exp to be about a third of the way through the level. As one of the pictures show, I had to escort a night elf chick out of a dungeon, the problem was I had to escort her naked ass back DOWN the dungeon that I had previously cleared in order to get her equipment, so we could then make our way out of the place. *sigh* of course there were tons of respawns, and at the end I had to fight an elite I was not prepared for, but we won anyways. Escort quests are just a pain, move to slow when you want to speed up, and to fast when you want to slow down!

The aerial shot was just one I thought looked cool in game, flying past the giant wooden treants in Felwood. The screenshot doesn’t look as nice as it did in motion, sadly. Oh well, another update coming soon, once I make it through the dark portal (should be today!)

Hold on now

So it’s been a few days since I have posted last, but not much has changed. Still playing WoW when I can, Jerrek is level 56 now, pretty much out of rest exp. Didn’t play at all yesterday though so I might have some there. Heading home for the weekend, seeing the girlfriend for the first time in over a month, due to her being in Florida with family. Really excited about that, it’s hard to go so long without seeing someone, after basically living with them every day for a year.

Going to throw up some Screenies for you, to show off my (crappy) new equipment, and a cool looking cat I wish I could tame. Did a quest in Felwood where I had to mutate this kitten, which turned it into this giant green with orange stripes tiger that I was dieing to have as a pet. No such luck. I did get a nice Screenshot though, for the memories! My old guild Rotten Luck took me back under their wing, so it’s nice to have people to talk to. All of my old friends are gone now though, or atleast they haven’t been on any familiar characters since I’ve been back.

Yep.

So I did resubscribe to WoW last night, and immediately wondered to myself what I should be doing now. I had to drag out my old Horde leveling guide and look up where I should be. So once I figured out what quests needed to be done I headed off to the Searing Gorge and immediately hit level 53. I guess with a full amount of rest that was bound to happen quickly. I really want to get out of this area, but mostly just want to rush to 60 so I can actually ENJOY the Burning Crusade content that I have yet had a chacne to experience. I also got around to contacting my old guild and hopefully I’ll be getting back in.

It looks like ass on my laptop, but it’s better than nothing, and it runs fairly smoothly as long as I don’t have a whole lot going on in the background. I should have plently of time to play it on my desktop at home this weekend and enjoy it in all of it’s glory.

My Guild Wars trial is not yet over (probably tonight or tomorrow) and while I do enjoy the game, and want to play it, I don’t think it’s very smart to buy it right now when I just resubscribed to WoW.. I feel bad too because I was really starting to enjoy it, but I don’t want to stretch myself thin with two big time sinking games.

While I am on the topic of what games I have been playing I should mention my 360, which has gotten no attention lately. I feel guilty, especially when I have my new TV, so I’ve been playing Uno the last couple of days. Great game, especially with the cammera, but the people on there. Oy.

Ah well, back to Astronomy I guess..

Week two.

So here I am, the beginning of week two of five. Easy day today I think, only the one class; Math. Luckily for me I did my homework last night, that is due tomorrow. I still have some work to do for my Astronomy class tomorrow night, but that can wait.

I still have some time left on my Guild Wars trial that I need to burn off today. As certain as I was after that ‘mission’ in game I am starting to have second thoughts about getting it. Not because it isn’t a fun game, but because that WoW itch is really kicking in, and I reinstalled the game and patched it all up on both my laptop and desktop. All that is left is to resubscribe and I’d be back in, working on my Hunter..

Theoretically I could have both games, due to the fact that GW does not have a monthly fee, but I don’t know if I want to stretch my time in between them so thin. I still have Diablo 2 which I haven’t even touched lately. Added to the fact I really need to be concentrating on school most of all.

After class I am going to decide what to do, I’ll eat lunch, play some Guild Wars, and then head out ot the store. I’ll either come back with a copy of GW, a WoW time card, or both! (Plus other minor things I actually need to go buy, which is the reason for the trip in the first place).

So that does it.

I am hooked on Guild Wars. I have been tinkering around with the trial Gamerman98 gave me, but until now never really felt like I was being drawn into the game. I made a Necro and fooled around with him a bit, thought I’d check out Factions and made a Ritualist. While neither of these classes really fit my playing style, it gave me an idea of how the game works.

What won me over though was the very first ‘mission’ type quest that I went on. I wasn’t expecting this, it actually had a feeling that “THIS is what I have been wanting to do” the other minor quests and running around whatnot just didn’t do it, but this mission did. It felt like what I’d experience in an dungeon/instance in another MMO, but it also had those nice cut scene touches.
Needless to say I plan on picking up my copy of Guild Wars tomorrow, and hopefully find the class I want to play.

In the picture below you can see a screen of the following situation: One of the Funniest parts happened after killing that last boss, he had spawned an undead pet, that proceeded to keep whacking my Teacher guy in the back as he talked to that little boy, and my summoned Spirit kept shooting the undead pet. So here I am trying not to laugh my ass off and pay attention to the cutscene while this Epic battle is taking place!

I’m kind of in a bind because I also started getting that urge to play WoW again. The plus side is once I pick up GW, I wont have to pay a subscription fee, and I can drop in and out whenever I’d like. I still have to decide if I want to go back to WoW, and if it is worth paying for having to play on my laptop for the next four weeks.

$20 Credit

That’s what I received for Crackdown today at the Gamestop close to Campus. Honestly while that is not much, and it’s only a third of the price I paid, it IS more than I had expected to receive for the game. Especially with the way that company does it’s business. So I can’t complain, I have $20 in credit and one less game that I more than likely would have never played again.

Now what to do with the credit… Hmmmm..