Betrayal, in more than one way..... (MMO)

Exile..

The first thing I had planned to talk about was my EQ2 Betrayal from Brig to Swash... However I'm feeling kind of betrayed by Blizzard today. I always felt WoW was the one game I could play with out having to worry about micro-transactions. I like them, don't get me wrong. I love the cash shop in EQ2 and FR.

When a game doesn't offer ways to get cool things for cash, they are mostly all in game, able to go farm. As if they need the money! I know I'll end up buying some in the future, I really don't have a problem with it honestly. I just thought WoW was one of those games that didn't need the cash shop. I know a some people were upset when they were added to both Everquest games. Do cash shops showing up in your games bother you? Do you welcome them? Ok, I don't really feel betrayed more surprised that they added these in. I like this idea more than buying packs of cards in hopes of getting a pet.. one I never get. You can find the Blizzard pet store Here.

Speaking of...FR...Free Reams no longer free? What?! Now that is Betrayal! After all the game is called Free Realms. What do we call it now? Tipa has some to say on the topic that I agree with. There are also some good changes, but I suppose those will be for members only though. Housing, more pets, armor and clothing dyes and Housing! You can read more about whats going on in Free Realms changes here. While I really love Free Realms, I think doing this is really like handing candy to children then taking it back. I'm a member so really it doesn't affect me (much), but it does change my thoughts on the game. Sometimes I liked to log in between playing sprees and do this or that, now I need to keep renewing to be able to do so.

The official FR site states: Beginning with our next update, new characters created after November 1st, 2009 on free accounts will be able to play all jobs up to level 5 for free. To reach level 5 and above, all jobs will be Members Only. Adventurer and Card Duelist jobs are unchanged and will be available to everyone though level 20. All characters will also be able to advance through all of the Pet Trainer trophies and earn the exclusive pet. I suppose they do let you play two classes for free, so in a way it's still kind of free, just more limited than ever. What do you think about companies changing policies like this?

Also Massively has a good story about a worm that targets MMO players. You can find that here or on the Microsoft page. Might want to check those out. Those pesky Gold Sellers are not so harmless as some may have thought! They get you any which way these days don't they?

Well back to what I was saying about EQ2. I ended up betraying from Neriak to Qeynos. The beginning was easy. I thought "This is going to be cake", until I got to the faction grind. Really it's not all that hard. On a level 20 Brigand it was tougher than I would have liked. If it had been my Shadowknight it would have been twice as easy and quick. However, I'd never betray her to a Paladin.

I've actually played Everquest 2 on and off over a period of about three years. I played then quit, came back and bought a new account for new claim items and a bulk package of expansions, seemed like a better idea. That was about maybe two years ago. I've always had a thing about playing Dark Elves, I like them the best. I always play them even in Everquest. So I've never had a chance to be in Qeynos all that much, besides running from the Guild Hall to the gate, or on an alt I made years ago. I think it's such a really cool town, a nice change from Neriak. I just felt I wanted another outlook on the game, another path. So after doing the quest The Captain's Ring 12 times, I was sick of Freeport, sick of the Brigand and glad to be switching.

I could have done easier quests that awarded less faction, I wanted to get as much as I could. I had to go from -50,000 faction to +10,000 to be amiable. This quest boosted me up 5,000 faction each run. I had to sneak in Freeport, kill some mobs in an instance to get the captain's ring. Sounds easy right? It should have been. If I had a friend to help it could of been faster, I don't have any really so I ended up getting four levels in there soloing. I didn't feel like asking my new guild to come there either.

All the mobs were white cons. I died a couple of times. The Brigand is not good at all taking on more than one mob, at this level. Sometimes I'd get in some big hits, sometimes not. I had a lot of double pulls and in some cases triple pulls. Oh it was painful at times. I got beat to a pulp and had to regen back up to take on the next round. I ended up doing some reading in between pulls. The Brigand abilities are on such long cool downs it really started to bother me when I was trying to get this done quickly. I think the Swashie will suit me more. I sure hope so after all that work. I finished and logged out after turning in my quest in Qeynos. I have to go pick up trash now to become a citizen. Should be easy enough from what I read. Gladly I will pick up trash, just no more multiple mobs!

I think it will be worth it just to have a Dark Elf Swashbuckler. I get to have another view of the game I've never had. I've always wondered about the betrayal quest, heard horror stories, I wanted to know just how hard it was. Plus I got a free trip to the  Exile city of Haven. Haven is like a cave, nothing really interesting and no housing. At one point I thought "Wow, screw this I'll just make a Swashbuckler", then I thought of all my house items sitting in exile forever. So I got it together and finished it. I hope it doesn't cause a burn out feeling soon from all that faction grinding.. I think it will be worth it though when I finally get my new home in Qeynos situated and I get playing as a Swashie.

Have you ever bitten off more than you though you could chew in a game? Did you finish it or give up? I want to know! Feel free to comment. Tell me about one of those horrible grinds you just had to do!

Safe adventures to all!
-kaozz