Tuesday 24 February 2009

EVE-HO!

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I've been reading up on alot of the other MMORPG's lately, and the one that's grabbed my attention most is EVE Online.
Yes, it's been in the news alot recently, about political assasination, plots to overthrow major corporations, dirty dealings and scandal. But it's apparently all hapenning in EVE too. ;)

Now I don't believe that I'd be dropped right into that whole mess of things from the word go. It obviously takes months, if not years, of practice to become that involved.
But it did open my eyes to the concept of the game. And that appeals to me.

It seems to mirror life in alot of ways, and I could happily see myself as a rogue mercenary cruising through the universe taking out anyone for the right amount of money.
Or as a 'transporter' who moves 'goods' around without asking too many questions.

I know there's a free trial of the game available, and I'm considering downloading it and giving it a go.

I may report back from the far reaches of space in my next post. (or Not)

Long Time No-See

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Well hello there, long time no-see.

It's been a while since I updated my blog. I usually write at work, and I've just been too busy recently.
But since I've got a bit of down-time, here's whats been happening lately;

First off, I got my Drake. It's the red one from Wyrmrest, that costs 1600g.
I had to borrow a little gold to be able while I waited for my AH stuff to sell, so 'Thanks' to Funk for that one.
By the way - I hope you got the cash I mailed you back? Haven't seen you online since.

Secondly, I ran a few old dungeons with some other Munquis. they were both in the Caverns of Time. Black Morass (Opening of the dark portal) and Escape from Durnholde Keep. Both are excellent examples of why some of the old content is much better than the newer stuff.
Sure they are both TBC heroics, but they, and some of the pre-TBC stuff are much better designed and much more fun than the average instance these days.

With some of the old dungeons you felt that you had a quest to accomplish, even if it was destroying the world, or rescuing the leader of the horde, or reaching a pirate ship in the middle of a cave. And the sense of achievement when you complete them is much higher than say Utgarde Keep.
In Utgarde you're basically just grinding through mobs to reach the bosses, with no emotion or feeling, and no real sense of what you're doing it for (other than a drop or an emblem).
Being sent into the Deadmines to put a stop to the threat of the pirates, or into the Stockades to put down an uprising... these things felt more epic than "Ingvar works for Arthas. Go and kill him".
In a way, I think attunements should be brought back in. Yeah it's aggravating if you want someone on your team who isn't attuned, but so what, at least you feel more a part of the storyline. And you've actually earned your place on that raid team.

I'll stop waffling on now... Maybe

Thirdly, I've been grinding money, mainly for my new Drake, and mainly in Sholazar.
Just doing circles of one small corner of that place provides me with enough skins and herbs to keep me going. And I can make hundred's of gold in around an hour. It's also a good area to level my pets up. So my Gorrilla (tank) is now almost 80 too.
It was amazing watching how much better he gets just for the sake of a couple of levels.
When he was the same level as the mobs, he was being hit hard, and I pulled aggro constantly. Now he's only 2 levels higher, he's almost unstoppable and it's much more difficult for me to get hit. Which is perfect for grinding.
With his AoE thunderstomp, it's like having a Pally in my pocket. Send him in, get him to round up all of the mobs in the area, throw him a heal or two, and Volley the shit out of anything near him. When there's 10+ mobs in his range, it takes me at least twice as long to skin them than it does to kill them.
It's a shame that Hunters can't cast 'Thorns', it'd make for a proper mini-pally.

I can't wait until Blizz allows me to switch pets without going to a stable, it'll be so much more useful to have a spare tank in my pocket for the times when something more tactical than a tank-and-spank is called for. Or to switch between my Cat and a Corehound for caster encounters, or maybe a Scorpid for when range is essential.