Shiny New Stuff!

So much stuff this week! Rift started off with patch 4.1 and now we have more stuff to do now that the Carnival of the Ascended is live. Warcraft just released the 7.2 patch. Bristlebane Day is here in EQ2. And, last but not least, Super Adventure Box is back in GW2. Lots of cool content, a bit much all at once! This always seems to happen, too much shiny stuff at once!




Finally! Flying! Wow's patch leads to flying, after many, many weeks of unlocking faction and doing some other requirements. It seems less harsh than the previous expansion in some ways, and is totally soloable, which I like. By the time we actually get it, I think I read an eleven week campaign (!), it kind of feels like an afterthought. I don't know if I will get around to doing it this time, honestly there are many other things I would rather do in other games than try to keep up with flying so late in the expansion. But I suppose it comes down to personal opinion, it is content to actually keep people playing, a carrot on a stick. I suppose it may appeal to some. I am still debating if I will, maybe it will give Dire and me something to do together.

The new island is more of what we have with the rest of other parts of the expansion. I am not a huge fan of the layout, it looks interesting enough, though not nearly as pretty as the island we had in MoP. There are more world quests, invasions, rare mobs which can drop some nice stuff. The patch also introduced ilvl scaling mobs without any mention. The next day, after it was dialed down a notch with another small patch, I kind of nodded to myself that it made sense. I wasn't having a ton of trouble but things seemed to have a ton of hitpoints. It is a tough call on it. do you add in this type of mechanic to slow people down or not? In the end I have to say I don't appreciate it. When I get gear upgrades I want to feel the power increase. Not a huge fan of this and there are other ways to go about stopping this power creep, such as stop inflating stats so quickly and in such huge amounts!

It feels like a nice bit of content though. There is a lot to do so I cannot complain on the overall expansion. There is something for everyone to do. They even added in pet battle dungeons, very cool! They have done better in many ways, worse in some. But I will have to say I am not unhappy with things in WoW currently, I think the team is doing a decent job and then I think back to Cataclysm and think it is leaps and bounds better!

Super Adventure box is back and some are unhappy that new levels were not added. Personally there are more than enough for me, LOL! I missed it last year so I thought I would jump in this year and play some. I was wondering why I never had gotten some of those cool toys from this event. Then I saw the cost, and the amount of time playing to get them. I have CTS, so while I would love to get enough tokens, I may only be able to get only one item, hopefully. But....I love the zones! The art, the music, it is all just great! While there is infantile mode (haha), and that is what it is pretty much, you don't get nearly the rewards, so it is not really worth the time. Nice to have the easy option, I do appreciate that it is there.

Other than that, I finally started out in the new expansion, HoT. I like it more than I thought I would. I used a boost on a revenant and ran here out there for a few days, I like the class but I am itching to get my necro out there next. The necro has been stuck to SAB though, so I will get her out there soon. Overall I think the expansion is cool. I like all the events, I am making decent gold, there is just so much to do, so much going on and nice rewards for the efforts. I do not like little mushroom people that charge at me... I hate those things. To be honest I am surprised that I like it so much. Gliding is awesome, I just wish it did not have an 'energy' bar. It is quite pretty, hopefully as I move through the areas there may be less of this whole bottomless pit stuff taking up real-estate on the map. I somehow think that may be the theme of this expansion, heh. Oh, and did you see the new SAB glider on the gemstore?! I don't have it but I WANT it!

Bristlebane Day in EQ2 has changed over the years. There are more quests now, it lasts longer, and we have patchwork mobs which drop tokens and a few other goodies. I do wish they would create more of them on the maps. It is annoying to fly all over to the same spawn points. especially for new players competing with someone like me who has a flying mount. But it is quick enough to get them if you do not have any competition. I grabbed about 40 tokens quickly and ran back to town where I got a were-rabbit and duck for my houses, adorable! I also grabbed the new pet this year, a baby bovoch. This pet comes as a spell and while it summons the cute baby it also shrinks the player 90%! I had to grab that, very easy to get with only 20 tokens needed. There are some cool wasp looking mounts for tokens as well! I will have to try to get one, depending on how long the event lasts. LOTS of great stuff to collect! 'Mum' has a great post on EQ2 Traders, awesome as always, check it out here.

In Rift I have been waiting and waiting on the patch. It is here! I have not actually done much, but I did start the new weapon quest line, which looks like it may take some time. Plus, there are many other new additions to dimensions, and that stuff can really be like going down the rabbit hole for me. However, the Carnival/Anniversary event started and I love all the games and the instant adventures! I get so easily distracted. Tons of stuff to collect so many pets, some mounts and nifty items like dimension crafting patterns. I have been looking forward to for quite awhile. There are some new wings on the shop and a few outfits, all are stunning. The expansion is now buyable with credits too! Lots of good changes for those looking for alternative ways to access things. I do really want to see the next patch though, the new zone, really want to see that.

The Rift Producers letter is up on the website now. it is a great read, it really feels like the team is working hard to touch base with us. This is the kind of producer's letter you want to see. I was very happy with it, we know what goals are there, what we may get, what is up in the air. I do think the team needs to throw out some events and 'flip some switches' in the way of carrots when the content gets thin due to a delay, I think that would go a long way with keeping players active and happy while things get polished up. It shows they are trying hard, trying to keep up the pace that we eat through the content, hopefully we see the next patch sooner than later! Happy Anniversary Rift! May you see many, many, many more!!

Dulfy has mentioned a few bits about SWTOR and the next update, which I look forward to. I really need to reign things and and cut down on all this hopping about... But..Fun..Shiny new stuff is so hard to resist!

Alright, enough writing, I have fun stuff to go do!!

The carnival is here!

Oh how I missed the balloon jumping raids!

Vroooom!

A view of the new island in WoW. It is very green and glowy.

Really tiny me with baby Bovoch.

I may have to make my pet feed him, I don't like how he is looking at me.

Excuse me! Down here! Hey!

Day before SAB arrived... 

A lovely view while exploring.

Everyone loves SAB!

Excited!

Hello there cute sun!

So much cute my eyes hurt!!!

Rift needs to do something like this but Trove themed!

Game Over.