R is for Raids

Well this weekend is a landmark weekend for the guild. Our Guild commenced to raid our first all Guild raid mobs. Yes the Raid mobs we took down are weak to a sense of Vox and any other Epic X 4 raid mobs. However, it was something I've been looking forward to since we decided to start our own Guild.

We took down 5 EpicX2 mobs this weekend and we took them all down on the first try. We Took down Vind in the Condemned Catacombs to start off this raiding weekend. It went off with out one hitch. We had one grp all mentored or at 34 to 38. Was a very fun venture to defeat him while he was a challenge.

Our first EpicX2 mob we Raided was Anguis in Antonica we had 2 groups of 8 people total. Level Ranges from 24 to 33. We took him and his little babies down with very little troubles at all. He dropped a nice Fabled ring that had a nice little regen on it. This was a nice little test to see how our guild will do when it matures in level range.

After We took down Anguis we decided to take down 2 Windstalker Rumblers in both Antoinca 1 and 2. These both went down really fast and was of little challenge since we took down Anguis. Some mentored even lower to make him green for loots which were kind of worthless on the second kill.

When we were done we waited till night time and ran over to spawn the Scarkrow king. We got 3 others from outside the guild that needed the quest to take him down. We were all between lvl's 24 to 34. He dropped a nice 8 wisdom leather hat. This was a very fun kill this time around because he was even to me at lvl 27.(killed him at 40 Grey) I was unsure if we were going to be able to take him but we destroyed him in nothing flat..

Needless to say since they fixed the Epic's to be more on par with us they were challenging and not impossible also Very Very fun. Now my next targeted mobs are the level 35 Epic X2 in Thundering Steppes. Our guild is looking up and so am I, hopfully we continue to grow and kick the teeth in on ole Venekor... To all a good day and have a wonderful EQ2 Evening.

LU 16 The Good the Bad the Ugly

Well Today test update 16 is up and atem. Not sure if it's bug free but non the less it's patched to test. All I can say this is the best update that I love to hate, somewhat. This one is between an A and B on my Patch rating scale.

Soga Models - I was and still am curious as to how these turned out. I'm actually quite stoked to get on and check these out. There will be some that are nice and some that I will dislike but hey either way it is a very nice addition. Now I might actually remake my human monk Zelicks, because the humans can't look as bad as they do now.

Heritage quests - I've said it before... um yeah I said it yesterday " An accomplishment by one should only be shared by another through the same amount of work" I understand that some area's people feel like they are camping. Though, is it really camping if your doing other quests and actually out playing and adventuring? Seriously! I've done 20 Heritages and I've only had one camp where I wanted to break my keyboard from all the waiting.. It was the Weavmaster, maybe it was more sitting and waiting for shit to happen because there is nothing around vs losing the camp by going out to XP and coming back. This is to include the Screaming mace quest which is known for long camps on the Torturer. Maybe I'm just lucky on the random rare named pops for Heritages. I suppose it could be worse and they could just make all Heritage named just Spawn when you get there... But that just adds to the already lacking immersion in area's. I will just have to see how these turned out with my alts to give true feedback.

NPC members of city factions will now accept all levels of status loot rather than certain levels. I really enjoy this on a few different levels. It helps out the newbs first starting out doing status loots and now I don't have to go figure out myself which NPC takes which loots. This is a big Help because I will never remember which one buys what tier.

The spirit horse and flying carpet mounts have had their prices changed to be more reasonable. This is one that makes me think hmmm! Very nice but at the same time now these will be even less rare and once again it takes away more then it gives. And what about bringing us camel mounts hmmm?

All halberds have been changed from Great Spears to Great Axes. All I can say is I'm glade they noticed the little stuff.

Dual wield weapons will now do slightly more damage. Very nice indeed I would like to think getting hit by two weapons would hurt more then by just one but hey that's just me.

The Spirit of the Elephant line now has an appropriate particle effect. Because all of us Mystics really care what it looked like after we died and recast this buff that never fades right? Wrong! I think there are other fixes to the Mystic that would of benefited us much more like being able to cast a friendly spell on the vendor to sell us the Spirit mounts for much much less plat... O wait never mind, Bah! I can't say anything for the life of me the Mystic class rocks.

Your recipe book can again be sorted. I could of really used recently, I accidentally purchased 3 different Tradeskill scrolls. If I could of sorted it would of saved me about 10gold. Glad they fixed it though.

The rate at which you gain vitality as well as maximum vitality have been increased for higher level players. Everyone should know by now I want a button to turn off Vitality. It's crap I don't like it and it's just another modifier everyone worries about. So now it's even easier to get to level 60 woohoo! Do we really need to have double XP? Just get rid of the damn modifier and either A. Give it to us as the XP we usually get at double or B. Drop it.. I don't think it's used for what they intended anyhow. The people that don't get to play often get a boost? Yeah like I said everyone uses it for their own advantage by swapping between Tradeskill's and alts to keep their Double XP up.

You can now enter the arenas in Qeynos and Freeport to participate in Arena Champions! The best change in this whole patch. I love it and think it will benefit the Arena idea a lot, I may actually use it now. Not that I didn't like the one in DOF but I just don't want to go all the way there for a stupid Arena battle. Besides it's nice to have ours cites more versatile.. Now for the Roman remake of the Battle of Antioch! I sure hope this makes the Arena's more used and I do believe it will. Best of the Best here we come.
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Now hopfully there is a nice Guild level 40 change that will be worth the time and effort. Aggro has a few comments about it today as well. He's pretty good about digging up Gold if there is Gold to be found so I wonder.. Have they placed a Invisible carrot there that we have yet to see?
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On a completely different note this weeks Show 8 for the EQ2-Daily is up and it's another good one... O guys it's said Quylein like Kwhy-Len not kwin-lean but I love yah for the plug either way. If you mess it up one more time though I will have to get on the show and say it out loud LOL!

The Day is done

Sorry for the missed post yesterday sadly I've been busy doing physics and Linear Algebra Finals; I just now finished them. Here's hoping for A's from both classes. So now I can Go Surf... The web that is.

Anyhow, on an EQ2 note. I didn't do any harvesting since they upped the % rate on rare's until yesterday and Jezz... Sony, gotta hand it to them I thought they were blowing smoke up my pipe because all of my friends to include my wife were having troubles harvesting rare.

I got 8 rares in a 3 hour sitting and it wasn't all harvesting. I earned 2 ebons 1 ruby 1 rueithim(sp) 3 luminous and an Oak. That's not to include when my Wife joined my and got 2 luminous and 1 rare root( cant remember name at the moment). Now to me that's not child's play for only 3 hours of harvesting... All I can say is I'm going back till I get a stack of Ebon, this is almost as bad as a dupe!! lol Thanks SOE really I love it.

On a more negative tone, I don't really like to call them rare's now. If we all can scroung up rare's by the tons are they really rare anymore? The prices of Ebon alone dropped from 2pp to 70gp in a few weeks since the change and that is not good for business. I've said it before and yes this is on a smaller term. If your going to trivialize what people have done before hand you will start to gain marginalized resentment for wasting our time in the past. An accomplishment by one should only be shared by another through the same amount of work.. (In most cases.. Recent tradeskill change excluded)

To all, have a great day and enjoy EQ2 is still a wonderful game... Nothings perfect right?

Depths of the Dungeon

No not that Dungeon the real Dungeon; one where all your all sweat and tears from watching the Blue and green lines all day will make you go blind.. I'm talking about the Tradeskill dungeon.

I have stayed away from it for Oh so long, and boy was I glad to actually be able to get out and smell the Jumjum. Here recently though I've decided to go back.. Yes I'm a gluten for pain however, it wasn't so painful this time. Instead of pulling out all your teeth, toe nails and scratching out your eye sockets you get to do it with Morphine this time around.

SOE, try as they might are busting their hard assess to get this Tradeskill thing right. Though if you ask me it's beyond true repair. Without doing a Tradeskill update along the same lines as the Combat update it's stuck. First they doubled the XP and that was ok, not quite fair for those that slaved before them, none the less a valiant try on SOE part to do something. Now they halved the XP bar so you go through levels much faster. More fair to those that went before; my level 41 was 42 Armorer in 1 second after a combine. I didn't even XP through 41... Well maybe 10%, so it was quite nice.. I decided to keep going and actually made 44 in about 2 hours of just messing around, which was quite nice. So I will say what they are doing is in the right direction.

SOE is now asking us how can we make Tradeskilling more interesting and fun. They have a little link set up on their sight and you can place your thoughts. I would normally do so but I've had little Gaul to go their at this time. I'm so Lazy I don't even want to find the link, but if your crazy you can look through their forum fest of fun. All I can say is to make it fun is place the Tradeskill instances in much better places. Like Windstalker Village put a vendor there and all the tables and let us go at it in an outside area that's more visually active then that tomb of a place. I know they have an island in Permafrost, which is ok but put a vendor there as well. Be innovative and add cross quests in these area's so you have to move if you want to participate.

I would go into more detail but I've got a Physics and Math final to do. Ok you twisted my arm.. go here to give your own Imput to SOE, about Tradeskilling.

Halloween fun

Well with LU 15 that hit live the other day people have been in a frenzy going to the (not so) Haunted house and Trick-or-Treating. I have to say that after all the years playing in Norath that I didn't expect and wasn't sure what the Team at SOE was up to. I have to say that they did a Great job on all of it.

The Haunted House is a very fun puzzle somewhat remenisant of the old myst style games. Although, I was hoping for a more Resident Evil jump out and Slap me in the Face scare it was still sweet. Maybe next time they could put in some scary music and scare me like the 5 Ghosts did in StormHold when I picked up my Ghoulbane... That was scary because I wasn't sure what to expect. Now that I did Qeynos I'm gonna run over and try to do Freeport to see if they are different.

Trick-or-Treat was ok, I really liked the whole idea behind Trick-or-Treating though It would of been nice to give us more time to run through the whole city.... I do love running around the city with purpose. So far my best score was 82 and I got my Axe in the head which is the mask I truely wanted, I think it looks the best on my Froglok. Try it out if you haven't yet it's surprisingly fun.

The Best fun yet was to be had in Antonica with Ponchy and his Pumpkin Pie request
(MMMMMmmmmm nothing better then a warm Pumpking Pie on a HOT Alabama night). It all starts in Windstalker village and if you know me I want more life there.. For now there is tons of life in the village running around figuring out what has happened to the Farms. This is a very fun quest even at level 47 it was a Blast.. Now if they could figure out how to make the King Epic27X2 scalable. I tried to green him out by mentoring and getting 2 grps together but sadly he was still Grey. I was hoping to see him drop a master as well as the great quest reward you receive after your all done.

Here are a few forums that are livin-live-lavita-halloweena. EQdaily and EQsummoners and my favorite Forums to hang Aggrome

Ok now for my fun Link fest for Halloween.

I found a great place that gives reviews for horror flicks and has a few steps on how to make some cool scary Cakes.. Check it out it's a neat sight

The History of Halloween is quite interesting... Who really knows where all this came about truely. GO IRISH!

Today would be in vain if there weren't some Halloween jokes Enjoy.

Peace out

Ability's

Here recently I've been pondering a way to make things more involved between the classes and have came to the conclusion that FF9 did a good job in some areas.

There was a few ability's that you could cast from the Dark mage (Vivi) to the Fighter(Steiner) that would do big damage and was a very cool effect. I know EQ2 has somewhat that concept on a lower level(damage by posions, damage shields) but, don't you think it would be cool if it was an actual effect.

Somewhat on the lines of Heroic opp's. The Wizard/Warlock casts a support ability, say its Flamelick on the Fighter now the Fighter has an ability open. This only works when the wizard/warlock uses this Flamelick so then the Fighter can then initiate the Combat Ability Sword of Flamelick and it casts a great amount of damage.. It can have a long recast time and be very viable in specific situations. Such as if you are fighting an Ice mob they cast a Fire type and Fire mob and Ice type. This would be a great line of spells and can have very specific moves and particle effects.

This leads me into what I have to say about Particle effect frenzies that seem to happen even when I solo as a Shaman. There is just way to much, from the HO pop that blind me, to my heals and nukes that kind of blur the mob to much. I have tried everything in the options to shut off these effects and that is to include shutting off spells totally and nothing really works. The clerics get their reactive heals which are the most annoying effect in the whole game. Please SOE let me shut off these effects singly. It blinds you in first person and is a very annoying sound and effect overall. As my Guardian I hate to have clerics heal me because of this fact. Save the big guns for something special, not for spells that are used a lot.

I got another good Idea for the Necro/Conj line. Let them summon an effect for the Fighter/Scouts to use. They can summon a Shard like Fire or Ice that the fighter/scout can imbue to there weapon as a 30 second proc that has a high proc and a high % rate. The Necro can summon a poison and disease shard and it can do the same thing. I also like the idea that the summoners can focus a force in their fists like a ice dagger or a poison dagger that can give them high damage ratio for melee for a small amount of time and a long recast time.

I would hope that some day these type of things intermingle, I have a hard time thinking they might. It seems that every one is on a MMO solo frenzy and would bitch they have a useless spell..

On the road to life

So where are you going first? Sorry don't have anything of interest's and probly wont for a few more blog days becuase of my Physic's final. Until then wish me luck.. Peace

This Mounts for you

Recently I purchased the DOF expantion and every time I go there it's very enjoyable. Mainly the fact I can do a quest for a flying rug... Because we all want one, don't we? Even if it's not the 60PP 30Guild level and tons of points, it's a rug right? This had me thinking of what some others brought up about Wow Mounts, which I thoroughly enjoy Except don't make them racial.

Here is my wish list.

Camels: Let me get one, they are cool, different, and very fun to drove around. They don't drink much and are faster than horse's in some cases. I wanted to own my own Camel since my first trip to Kuwait and I got to caravan on one... He became like my friend, and he was my life line.

Horses: Great job on all of them, variant with armor, speed, and look... I wish they would have an option to shut the visual off when people are ass holes and wont dismount in tight spots. Still over all Great job.

Carpets: The most coveted item for mounts and pretty cool looking. Not cluttery, Status item Carpet are very fast and is Equal to the Spirit Mount, 60% If I'm not mistaken. I love the fact that I can get a Blue carpet after a quest and am quite happy that it's not super fast like the Status one. I would say they should make a quest available for those that own the carpet to unlock a special power to actually fly them up and down some.. Not An explotive advantage but say 10' off the ground up and down.. Could be done like your swimming, using the Home and End buttons.

Dragon: Also should be implemented are the Dragon like mounts they had in EQlive during the LOY expantion. They were reptilian and cool looking. I'm a Frogloc and it would be a much better feeling when I finally get me a mount that It would be a Reptile.

Griffions: Let them be mountable on the ground with minimal fluttering flying. These would be sweet mounts and could be very valuable in LavaStorm.. Probly wont happen because of SOE's Antifloat in EQ2 laws... Bastage!

Anyhow, What do you all think should there be more choices?

The'name'game

Disclaimer: All that names I place here are Real, They were left unchanged because I don't care to protect someone's dumb name from being fixed by Soe. These are identifable names from the Faydark server of EQ II..

Recently since the LU 13 we have been able to add a ' to our Surname such as D'Vinn. If you are like me your happily disgusted. On one hand it's great to have that freedom; on the other it's irritating because of the abuse.

SOE can find Bot'rs and discover people duping in a heartbeat yet with the same rules they can't seem to stop the Jimask Alotquestions. It use to be in EQlive you had to call on a GM to make a last name with ' now I see why. It's bad enough we see peoples names like Furyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy and Ieatglue. Now I have to put up with Idiots like Goodthebad The'indiffernt. I'm going to start making a running tabulation of these idiots and write the names down so I can report them all at once. So the GM can do a Clean sweep and maybe people will get the idea that Invisable See'through is not a name they should be using.

I seen the naming policy rules and I read them 5 years ago when Verant owned EQ. I read them again a few days ago just to make sure I'm not smoking crack. Sure enough your not suppose to make reference to sexual organs.. Yet there is a Krush Yaballz on my server and his name has yet to be changed even after a petition.

Yall getting my point here? I mean I am not gonna like everyname out there I don't like Tingy or Bonzu and a few others I've seen through my Online career. Yet the names I speak of aren't names I dislike these names are downright stupid and against the rules. Come'on! we aren't playing on Counter strike I don't want to start seeing names Lewtpwner Yo'Momma. What next? We will be able to pick our own Title name. He will choose Kickass Lewtpwner Yo'Momma in the bed. See where I'm getting at with this?

I know they did change someone's name on my server and as far as I know he cancelled his account.. It went from Microwave Oven to Toaster Oven. Which is funny but, by all rights they need to be doing this to every body in violation to the stupid rule... Leegolys, Gannndolf, Jebususs God, Satnlovr, and anyther name that follows a pattern is the Stupid rule.

On a final note I would like to mention that if SOE would actually have GM's assinged to servers and becoming part of that server playerbase it would up a lot of attitudes in areas such as these.

As seen on Plaguelands

My blog is worth More then Smeds lap dances with the hot Dark Elf in the back broom closet.
How much is your blog worth?

PvP you and EQ2

It looks as if there is a Poll up and a few of my cohorts and friends have been bringing up the topic.. Well actually I've been bringing up the topic of having an open PVP server since I heard about EQ2. Then I hear there was no PvP on EQ2 I was not jolted only disappointed because there will be /duels right? Wrong! Well I soon got over my disappointment because during some Phases of EQ2's development they spoke about PvP so I had hope that it will be in the game.

Then announcement of LU13 promised /duel which to me is the second best thing about the patch, next to the Combat Upgrade. I was excited and to me it was something I've been yearning for.. I for one love PVP and think if done correctly can have a great impact on the MMO world we live in. It's were you find out who the kids are and who really has honor. Though you have to not mind being paranoid and very watchful over everything in your day to day life in Norath or anywhere for that matter.

A little back ground on my PvP If I may .. I started out on the Tholuxe Palles server and on my second character I made him PVP. He was a pally and kicked anyone's ass that was a Red name on the Tholuxe server sadly, there was not enough that did PVP. So I moved over the day Sullen Zek opened for business. Maybe you have heard of this server... It's famous for the Bard.

That's right there were no actual rules on this server and one that was actually changed and made a law of game dynamics was because of Fantsy. Quite funny but sometimes a bit of a Pain, and being a Good on SZ was hard because we were out numbered big time. I did play a good pally there, Never once did I start a battle for no reason. I protected the weak from the strong and evil. I only PVP when I had to defend myself or someone in need. When I was jumped I won over 50% of the time to me there is nothing better then real AI. It was a great time in my MMO life I enjoyed almost every bit of it, I loved the fact that it wasn't all about XP, Quest, and Raid.

Now onto my actual answer to the SOE poll it's longer then a quick pro-quo. EQ2's PVE is esablished and throwing PVP in, other then duel, without a choice would be a bad game move. SOE might want to add the Priest of Discord like they had in EQlive; make it a choice for person that wants to do PVP anywhere and anytime.
They should defenatly add specialized servers for PvP like Good vs Evil.. A server that don't let you betray.. Set one up by racial factions like they had in EQlive Shorties vs Humanoid vs Elves. There are so many different ways to make PvP but if I had my choice. Do it like they did in Sullen Zek: When you hit level 9 and your PVP eligible from anyone on the opposite team at any of their levels.

My answer is Hell yeah! bring on the PvP, but when I want to PvE let me have that choice.

40? Your old go to Cazic Thule

Well I've been searching around for a zone that fits my level and that I enjoy. Much like I enjoyed Oakmyst Forest to Antonica, and ROV to Zek. I've had a hard time finding a place post 40 to enjoy as much as the zones before. My post here said it all, there has been no life in these zone so I've had a hard time logging on till.... I really got into Feerrott and some recent heritages.

During the completion of my Flowing black silk sash we went to the back toward the Temple of Cazic Thule. Ahh! I so loved CT in my old EQlive days that is until they made it a high level zone. While we were there waiting on the monk to spawn we were out killing Terrors for this supposed Agony to spawn. Well he did and he did a lot for two days, we got a few of my guildies and friends the Screaming Mace heritage starter. Ahh! I so loved the Screaming mace until I had to give it up for something better; oh I so miss thy proc of yalp. So um ok where was I? Oh yes.

I've had trouble getting into any new quests or lore so I went with Heritages because they are a fun way to pass the time. We decided to do the Screaming mace quest after I was done with the FBSS. I've heard the SM was hard and there will be a lot of camping, so far it's been fun. During the heritage I found my diamond in the rough zone, that is till I get rich and move over to the Deserts of Ro. All I can say is one word... The lost Temple of Cazic Thule ok 6 words. I love this place the whole zone it's great, it's mazy, topsy turvy, and it has fun lizard killing quests.

There is so much to do in CT I think I can be in there forever. I love the fact it's not instanced and has contested spawns. I love that one day I am gonna down Venektor. All I can say is that this zone has what it takes to be a winner. Now if they would fix some of the over zones post 40. Though in Feerrott's defense it's a well designed zone, it scary and has the possibly to have a lot going on. Then again isn't this a post 35 zone really?

So If your having troubles like I was trying to figure a path out post 40 this is what I suggest. Get a good group go to CT and get involved in the quests and lore it's a pretty neat place.

MMO's: Work or Adventure?

Have you ever noticed the Hive style structure they use in MMO's?

Have you felt that sometimes you have to uncover something so deep it better be good?

Have you ever had to camp more then 4 hours for any boss mob for loot or quest?

Then you work in a cubicle office with the structure of human levels you just don't know it.

You see the other day I noticed that every where I go at work their are pay grades and ranks and I imagine that it's not to different from any other job. The highest paid most under worked person is usually the one that is never there when you need them. Somehow always camped by someone their before you and they reside 4 buildings down up 4 flights of stairs down 3 halls thru 7 doors 15 secretaries 45 underlings and 75 people standing around. They are sometimes hiding under their desk so they don't have to be KSed by those who showed up. More often then not they just wont spawn because they are off in a "meeting".

So next time you sit there and camp or are trying to find that rare Boss, remember it's a job not an adventure.

The Tomb of Gold

So there we were in the Tomb of night......

I love this place, not sure why but this Adventure pack(AP) was one of the best zones to adventure in at level 30 when your not chasing the heritages. There is so much that seems mysterious about this zone.. Not sure why but even at 42 I really enjoy killing the Vamp's and Gob's.. Though its not a solo zone it is a good duo zone since the recent change.

I did die in there at 42 a named Gob. I'll tell you this Goblin had a weird hate list and don't think he played by the rules; on purpose? I don't think so but, it sure was fun. My 44 Swashy friend and I had to take him down while the mob would switch between me and him as a target and he didn't play nice even as 34 heroic ^^^
We weren't ready for him and his fish friend the first time but, he went down the second time.

Have I mentioned that this is a money zone? It is an untapped resource of Gold even though it don't drop items like Splitpaw AP. Here is one zone that has a slew of good loots that drop sparingly but, the items sell for a lot.. However, that is still not why it's a money zone... Are you ready? Because this is such and under-used zone the collection quest items sell for mad cash.

There are as of now 4 collections in Tombs of night that I know of.. There is a bone, jewel, mushroom, and Hellhound collection and each item especially the jewel and hellhound sell quick. On Faydark some sell for 10 to 30 Gold each... I went in and out of the zone 15 times to collect question marks and sold a few Plat worth in one sitting on Merchant. That is not the only reason why I like this zone.

I believe the quests through this zone given the level range it's for drops really good gear. I know the plate gear in Tomb's of night is great for Cleric's. I also find it rather fun to do the step quests that start in Nektulos their is a series of 9 quests I believe, and at one point you can get a Vampire illusion item. Which is by far the Coolest illusion in the game.

So you still don't believe me? To far out in Nektulos? Force yourself and a few friends out there up the river in the waterfall and see for yourself, it's worth the 4$ and your time.

Beware though this zone takes time as well as all the quests, they don't just throw everything at you there.. Maybe it's why people don't like it as well but ,I assure you the items in there are usually worth far more then any other 30's zone.

Oh yeah and for the simularitys between the office and EQ2? Ok I swear tommorw will be the day.

Beating a Dead horse

hmmm..? That actually seems like fun right now. I got one physics question to go and it's racking my brain.

Ok everyone that reads this should know by now that I'm all for class specific loot, and Recently I heard about Race specific loot's. Call me crazy but that would be sweet ass sweet. I really like how SOE is coming through on all these things they keep announcing so, if what Aggro wrote was true. I will rejoice and be glad, we will start to know hey that's a Shaman and look over there that's a Guardian. There is nothing worse in a game like this then looking like everyone else your level.

Now onto a very hard and touchy issue but related in the sense of classes. I have been playing my Shaman a lot lately and I love him. I feel like a shaman, people want me for slows,wards, heals and that makes me not feel like a Cleric or a druid. There are reason why I love my Mystic more lately then the other classes I've played, Mainly my Guardian.

Guardian's in some ways are getting the shit end of the stick and it's really not so fun anymore to be one. I've heard it all from the fighters here, there, and first hand it seems to me they made Monk's the tank class to be. Granted when my wife is a tank/monk it helps because she has lower hp's so I can get her Full up on little mana, and wards usually don't get used up so that's an extra heal.

Now I pick Guardians as an example because that is what fighter I play, I choose this path because I'm about defense. That is what I want, I want to be the best defense in the game period. I know that there should be a balance and it's a very hard dance for SOE to master.
However, when I seen the listings and watched my wife's DPS sometimes out damage a Swashy it's saddens me they are Equal to better at tanking to a Guardian and very close to low scout DPS. Yeah Moorguard pointed out that Guardians have HP buffs and better group defense buff's but Uh! Last I remebered I was a fighter not a caster. It's nice to have a few extra HP's and defense but, to me it don't really matter if the rest of the group has better HP's and defense... If they are getting hit something is wrong... Am I right? Anyhow, I want them to look at this new change and start to balance it better More HP's and defense should be innate to the Guardian class not just spells.

Now to break it down as far as I can; not knowing all the math(there will be no math) and only how the game actually plays out.
There are a few different fighter classes and they are by definition envisioned to be certain things not just by my own words but from some of there first words.
If they are not by definition to be any different then one another then why not just call em all fighters and drop sub classes.

The Breakdown in my own words

Guardian - From what I gathered before the launch and how he was envisioned (sorry for any Bias) Seemed to be the best defensive class in the game.. His better defense would only help him garner the tanking ability's to take on the hardest mobs in the game. Uses Vanguard

Bezerker - Second best tanks should should have good DPS output over Guardian however, should also bolster Close to a Guardian on tanking ability's though not as good. Uses Vanguard

Monk- The ability to dodge and hit invarialbly well over other fighters but their DPS should be second to the Bruiser.

Bruiser - Should be Better at the DPS then the Monk but their Dodging ability's should be lesser then that of a monk though their dodge should Still be better then the other fighters.

Pally - Already pretty good though I think they shouldn't be able to have the best armor like Guardian and Bezerkers. They should have better healing ability's thought not to good to be the group healer. Should still be better at AC mitigation then the Monk and Bruiser.

Shadowknight - Pretty much the same as a Pally, should have better AC then a pally and DPS less then the Monk/Bruiser. Should be able to tank under a Bezerker.

So the lowdown on this in tanking ability's, when it comes to group XP and most occations all fighters should be as good as the other tank. Though I believe each fighter should have their area's to shine. IE fighting a Major Boss mob like Nagafen should be done with a Guardian as a tank and it would help way above the rest. Though, the other's should still have the ability to, it shouldn't be equal.

The way I've notice it play out lately from my Guardian to my Wife's Monk is that DPS plays a bigger role in keeping hate. So she rarely losses it to anyone other then the Occational over zealous wizard. She never gets hit, yeah if she does it hurts some not to bad overall though. As a guardian I lose it all the time.. Master 1 single taunt, Adept grp taunt, Adept low grade Taunt.. Bash.. I use them all every time they pop.. I still lose aggro, I do my other CA which are all mainly Adept or at least App4's so I use the DPS given to a Guardian. However, this is the least of my problems. I get hit... A lot it hurt and burns up the power of the healer all the while the healer is building up hate and then I lose aggro. I'll trigger Rescue if I can but that only helps on singles and if it's up. I like the challenge but it shouldn't be this hard to play a class. As it stands I don't and will not play may Guardian.. Here's hope'n to balancing!!

Sorry, I know I promised the similarities to the office and EQ2 it will have to wait.

To Create the world

Well lately as I have been gaining levels I am watching the world around me change. From going to Lavastorm to Everfrost and beyond. Now don't get me wrong here but, the one thing that is bothersome is these places are supposed to be on outreached Islands. It doesn't feel that way, to me if feels like it's next door. The NPC's are lacking and seem to have no reason to be there.

You see these pioneers just walking back and forth with nothing to do. There is no sense of not killing them because they have a lack of faction and since there is no recourse why not? I see these as only there for Writs and XP mobs not much to engross yourself with at the start. It seems to me after the 1st and 2nd tiers the game starts to go downhill story wise.

I've tried to get into these new places and I've wondered to myself various things. Such as Is there still Halas out here? How much has Permafrost changed? What sense is the faction on the angle women in PF and not the barbarians that wonder aimlessly? Then I reflect, these were the final touches on a game that had to get out there to compete so they finished up aimlessly thereselves. I can commend them for a decent job up till now in these upper tiers. I have no real since of mystery out here, call me crazy but these two zones seem like trash high end zones...

I am really throwing it out here but, I believe that is why they did the Return to Nektulos castle and the Gully's heroic zones and a few others. I think they should put effort into making these Old world rebuilt zones more interesting. When it's from a Lore stand point it's weak however, I will say I haven't explored everything; and I am speaking for those just hitting 40 and beyond there's not much at face value.

Here's an example: The minute you get to TS from Antonica there is the dwarf that calls for you to help and the NPC that gives out various go here quests for the colored light. These guys are here and make you feel your needed in the place... Voices were great but, once you get past the Island, Qeynos/FP, and a little bit beyond Voices start to go away. I like that part of EQ2 and when voices are lacking at these zones it tells me once more these were throw away zones.

I know I haven't hit the new expantion and this is from a novice 42 Mystic, yet I feel they can make it better here. I know the Sony staff has put out quite a few good update. They show they listen to there player base and change things that seem to be for the greater good. These are all good things, I just hope they go back and look at the story line and immersion when it comes to going to Feerrott, Lavastorm, and Everfrost. (like the Island of refugee where the weapons guy wants to know what Class you will be, and to go help kill, and stave off the goblins; now that was immersion) Notice they did that without instancing.

Tomorrow, I would like to bring up the similarity between an Office and Everquest. There are a few odd things I've noticed.

Testing Out

I apologize but I will be unable to think of anything witty to write about when it comes to EQ2 for this week. I am doing a major physics test and it's take home... That means it's taking 8 hours to do one problem. Yeah! gotta love it.

On one hand I got 42 finished up 5 heritages this weekend and was at a loss for what to do by Sunday afternoon.. I was able to concur DFC with our raid force in about 2 hours.. Which was quicker then I figured it would take. Man, DFC is fun when you are with people that know what they are doing.

Oh and my Swashy buddy got the Guilds first Real Fable and found it on our server.. Can't remember the name but when I remember I will update the post. All I know is it was like 35-90 damage at 1.2 seconds duel wield weapon with a proc and a few good Stats.. Now he gets even more hate.

Have a wonderfull EQ week be back as soon as possible.. Hopefully soon