Now Playing

To start off today I just wanted to share a few tidbits of info. A good bit late but I have been so excited about, the old Massively staff is now writing at: Massively OP . So great to see their work continue, which was so welcomed! When I'm not writing here I do try to share some good reads through Google +, which then sends it off to spam Facebook and Twitter. You can also see the feed on the website here, on the right side of the page, if you're reading it that way. Check it out if you use any of those or if you pop in and I haven't been active, there's most likely something interesting to look at over on the widget. I end up sharing a lot of interesting blogs, articles and news that I find.


Anyhow, today I'd like to share some thoughts on what I am now playing, what I am enjoying, why, and what I am not so much enjoying, or rather, don't really feel like playing.

In Allods, things have slowed down, or rather come to a full stop. I suppose for me it was just a slow trek down a path I have journeyed so many times in my days of playing MMORPG games. The story was interesting, but everything just felt so slow paced. Combat slowed down a lot, though not anything like EverQuest. It just started to feel very much the same. You absolutely had to do every quest to continue on to the next area. It isn't bad, I think I have just been spoiled by games that offer more to exploration and choices. And sometimes I like to be able to skip a quest or come back to it later, not really have to do it, as if I must eat all my veggies to grow up to be a big strong adventurer, lol.

Dire on the other hand had a blast at leveling. He hit the previous cap to 60 just days after the new xpac/update released, which left him with five more levels to advance. Those last five leveles he finished up at lightning speed. The XP increase from 60-65 is nothing like anything else in the game. It is unsettling how unbalanced the gap in leveling is. By the time I crawled through a bubble or two into level 48... Dire had already managed to cap to 65. I think that there needs to be a push to get lower and new players to catch up to the top, not push the gap even further. There is not much information on the game in some areas, sometimes I have to translate information from Russian, which gets to be tedious.

We managed to find a guild. They are active and friendly. It is nice to see people chatting, even if I don't know them that well, they are very helpful. Dire probably talks to them more than I do, he loves having a guild to ask questions I'm not sure about. The server population has spiked a tad, players coming back for new content. I wouldn't say it was a huge crowd, but we definitely noticed more players about. I don't know how long it will last, the surge, how long the content will keep them. I do wish the game longevity, it is a solid game even if it isn't catering to me right now!


There is also a new race with this update. A more human looking, prettier version of cat people than you see in most games; Think Worgen (WoW), but with pretty human faces. I enjoyed the new starting area. There was even voice acting in English! I liked the story, and really had a good time. But thinking how I would need to go through all of the same content after leaving this tutorial turned me off a bit. I think that's it for us with Allods. We could always go back, but I just think it is not exactly what we needed to play something together, as we rarely were able to with any type of gap in levels, shame really.

Trove just got a couple of updates. A few nice little additions like being able to join friends on your list, port directly to them. It is a handy addition to the game. A few little quality of life changes are always welcomed. I finally hit 20 with a class. I dabble too much on too many classes, many are close but not quite there. Just in time for the Rift mount reward for hitting 20 in trove. Which is sweet! It is a really cool mount.

Of course I had to log in there and claim it. I thought about playing Rift but for now I just don't need to dabble with anything else. Ugh. I am very much into Trove, love this little game. Right now I am on a small hiatus as I am having a bit of hand wrist pain which is easing up, but until I feel better it seems it is made worse with all the jumping required in Trove, so taking some time off. Plus, I feel so clunky when I have to play with my wrist wrapped up and I need to move around so much. Action games are hard on me in particular.

I also poked about with WoW. I have been messing around with my Mage in the new expansion, which hasn't been bad. I just want her to be 100 already, lol. I suppose that won't change if I don't get around to leveling. The game is always so easy to get back into. I got the selfie camera, and the upgrade, just checking the garrison here and there, I was glad to get them fairly quickly.

I haven't been in the mood to play a melee in WoW. So my main, the DK, has just been sitting there pretty much. In the end, I don't know if I really am up for sitting there again at 100 not interested in much of the end game content. I suppose the biggest things are these: No new 100 zone yet. I don't really feel like leveling up another character currently, even if it is easy as pie. No flying is meh and feels broken in some ways. Not huge reasons but they sort of dampen my urge to play once I get in the mindset.


TESO went live with Tamriel Unlimited a day early. I was extremely happy. I thought about checking out the game again over the past few months but I wanted to wait for the conversion as it seemed to have a nice update along with it. I am playing my first character again, the Sorcerer. The class is easy for me, heh. I have pets run around and use two attacks. Not all that much running around and moving out of bad stuff, there is, but it isn't so bad where it causes me to fatigue from it.

The world is so gorgeous. It is just nice to soak in all the pretty scenery and boy do I love to explore! The new justice system is out, currently we can sneak around and steal, pickpocket and run from guards. I love it all. I don't know how much fun it will be when they player bounty system will be added in. I am not much for PvP and I wonder how that will work and if there will be a lot of lowbie ganking... Something to consider. I'm living it up while I can, heh.

I am sitting at level 28 and having a blast. The story is great. I just am concerned about high end. Will this be something I am interested in? I'm not even trying to get Dire to play, it isn't the best game to play with another person honestly. I don't know if it will offer much for me once I get to the point where I'll need to group. If there isn't much solo or duo content I suppose it will be off to something else. I would like to at least get into a few veteran ranks to see the other continents and explore through the whole game. That itself should be worth playing in itself, for now I am loving my time in this world. The whole B2P deal is awesome.

I've also been messing about in EverQuest 2. I do feel hesitant with the changes from SOE to Daybreak Games. I don't like the new support, or lack of support for players. I haven't had to ask for any help but I am concerned that it won't be there... if and when... the time comes that I need some assistance. The new expansion is very pretty. I am now 96 with my channeler. The story is a bit linear. There is nowhere near the amount of quests that the previous expansions offered, another concern. I am not up for forced grouping so I suppose I'll slowly mentor my way through older zones which I missed on this character. Which isn't a huge deal, but not ideal when a new expansion comes out.

I am having fun though and the Chronoportals event is now live. This is a tribute to classic EverQuest, which carries over to the newer EverQuest world. I hope to find the time to play through this event. Zam has a great walk through here.

And I can't wait until the last wipe goes about in Landmark next month! I'll be playing around there more! The only wipe for open beta will be a claim wipe, not a huge deal. Exciting to hear. I'd like to feel like I can keep my progress.


Leaving a ton of shots, enjoy!


TESO

Allods Online

EverQuest 2

Trove

WoW