Various Ramblings

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, so here’s what’s going on for those who are interested or just morbidly curious.


WoW – closed down my account again. Most of my friends have moved on and it’s pretty much the same as I remember: meh. It’s a great game, but it’s one I’ve played already (at least as much as I care to). That will probably be my last foray into the World of Warcraft. Even with upcoming expansions, I can’t imagine wanting back in.


EQ2 – I dabbled in EQ2 a bit for the past month. It’s a neat game. Nicely done graphics, for the most part. I liked the animations. Once I had triggered a “heroic opportunity” (a special chain attack) the light-show was impressive. The seizure warnings on the box and in the game are apt. I dabbled in crafting and it seems they have some interesting ideas there.

As has been noted elsewhere, figuring out what things mean is a real challenge in the game. In the beginner island, there are many NPCs that will explain most of the abilities. However, it’s sorta like being handed a massive manual and being expected to read it cover-to-cover before it’s taken away for good. If you have problems outside beginner island, I’m not sure what players are supposed to do. Overall, EQ2 is a very well-done game but it has some gaping holes in it. I haven’t played it in a while and will let my free month expire.


LotRO – My Hobbit Burglar is now 45. I’m still enjoying LotRO. I’m happy that I didn’t race to the end and actually restarted my character when I realized I wasn’t as happy playing my other two (hunter and guardian). It seems like many of the people having problems enjoying LotRO are the power-gamer types that force themselves to pick a character and get to the end. Getting to the max level in LotRO is tough and if you’re not happy with your character at 30, the next 20 levels will be brutal.

Last night was mostly grinding. There are books in LotRO where, after your character is 39, you can begin collecting pages to get a couple of class-specific epic traits. I got all three of my books (one from a drop, one a kinshipmate gave me, and the last I bought on the auction house for a cheap 100 silver). Pages drop from different mobs. So you farm the mobs to get your pages. I didn’t mind grinding too much. I can burgle the humanoid mobs before killing them so I get some nice loot that way. The area I’m in is also somewhat challenging. Sometimes I’ll need to take out two or three baddies at a time. Or take down one and vanish before a patrol passes too close. I have three of the four pages I need from the Hillmen before moving on. I’ve also managed to get some nice items for kinshipmates and a lot of coin for the stuff I sold.

In other LotRO news: the kinship I’m in made me an officer. Obviously, they’re not readers here or the last thing they’d give me is power. :) Mu wu ha ha ha! Er … *cough* Since a lot of what I enjoy doing is coming up with unique ways to enjoy the game world, they made me the Events Coordinator. It’s been neat thus far. I made an event where we cleared out the orc fortress in the Weathered Hills just for yucks. People seemed to have a lot of fun with that even though my idea for an epic battle on the bridge leading into the fort didn’t pan out – the bloody orcs all reset before I could get them to group up on the bridge. It’s like herding cats attached to bungie cords: even if you get them where you want them, sooner or later *zoiiiing* back into the living room they go. At least my girlfriend wasn’t there to yell at me this time. Er … something. *shiftyeyes* (And for those reading with a sense of growing horror, no I don’t do that to cats.) So we took the orcs out in a rather silly, one-at-a-time manner.

Orc Captian: “We’re under attack!”

Underling: “Should we form a front at the bridge, the narrowest part of the entrance, to force the intruders away?”

Orc Captain: “Fool! That’s the first thing they’d expect! We need to keep milling about as if nothing is at all amiss! We’ll lure them in with our complacency! They’ll get cocky with their belief that they are in control. And then.…”

Underling: “We attack in a surprise move to push them from the fort?”

Orc Captain: “Umm … maybe. Ok, I haven’t worked that part out yet, but just stroll around until I do.”

My server has some server-wide events coming up soon as well. It’s been challenging coming up with an event (a race, in particular) and then figuring out all the rules and regs that need to go along with it. It would be nice to be able to assume that people of average intelligence and good hearts were playing, however one has to assume the worst. That or some jackass will map to the finish line and declare victory because “LOL U NVR SAID I CUDN;T, LAWL!!11” So most of what I have been working on is a rule set which should make it abundantly clear even to the extremely dense what it means to be in a race. Now that it’s all worked out, it should be a good time.