Friday, March 31, 2006

EQII Translates Jack Handy: 3












- If they ever come up with a swashbuckling school, I think one of the courses should be Laughing, Then Jumping Off Something.

-- I guess I kinda lost control, because in the middle of the gameplay I ran up and lit the evil Earth villain on fire. No, I didn't. Just kidding. I just said that to help illustrate one of the human emotions, which is freaking out. Another emotion is greed, as when you kill someone for money, or something like that. Another emotion is generosity, as when you pay someone double what he paid for his stupid Summoner pet.

--- Before you grief someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you grief them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

---- During the lost age, probably one of the biggest mistakes was not putting on your armor because you were "just going down to the corner."

hope you enjoyed the latest rounds of me screwing up Jack handy.

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Little advice












MMO's can sometimes be daunting, well maybe not if your in WOW but most MMO's are complex. Even more so when you throw people in, it becomes an entity in an of itself. People make or break a game and a lot of the times it's why we come back. I played EQ1 in my last throws just to holler at old friends and sometimes think back to those days as the best damn time ever in an MMO. Anyhow, here are a few EQ2 tips to remember both in PVP and in PVE.

First and most important know your class and controls. Know exactly what you bring to a group and then some. Stretch the limits of your class and figure out if there is more then the overview is showing you. Example* rogues can tank in EQ2 if they have the right gear and know how to use their ability's, you may have some in your group doubt you. If your good at what you do and you prove it they will be impressed.

Upgrade often, there is nothing worse then if your in a group with a wizard that has all his old spells maxed but hasn't invested in the new spells. Like wise a Warrior that has cloth for his main gear. This one is a given but even more so in a PVP environment; I always say it's better to live with no money in the bank vs being a dead Platinumaire. Ensure you have the best spells and gear your money can buy. It will usually reap better group rewards and playablity.

In PVP know your grounds, familiarize yourself with the area by knowing what rocks you can dive behind or what river bed may have a nice hold over until you can plan a good re-counter if your in need of wining a losing battle. Don't try and take on a full group of enemies with only a few in your group you will more then likely lose. Most strengths are in numbers.

Know your enemy, knowing what strengths and weaknesses your foe's have. It's the best knowledge in the game. Fighters have Mitigation and avoidance/block, Priests have a lot of heals the help offset damage (of course), Scouts have track so they usually land the first hits and have good DPS, Mages of course have a lot of direct damage and utility. Theses are only the basics but all info helps.

Grouping is your friend, you can get far more done and have more leeway when you have partners backing your play.

Realize karma exists, whatever you do in game or to those around you will always have some impact. It may not ever really be direct impact but if you go around killing newb's for fun at some point in your gaming career you will be effected. If you decide to steal camped names in front of groups it never goes to good in the end. It probably wont be an eye for an eye but payback is usually a bitch in one form or another.

In whatever you do have fun, if your not having fun you might want to think about doing something else.

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Personal Responsibility











In the growing market of video games and Government control I'm starting to see a disturbing trend. I read the news and see judges rule that it's ok for a man to hit a woman so long as you think she was being racist.(They were on two separate cars) There was a case not to long ago about some children that fell from a roof onto some scaffolding in a "No trespass" condemned and locked down sight; now the parents are suing the owner of the property. Don't forget about the famous McDonald's hot coffee suite either. It seems we are a sue happy culture, we want something for nothing and will hurt who ever to get it. It's as everyone forgot about personal responsibility in the last 20 years.

I've seen trouble in the video game market lately but, I've not heard of any real law suits. Sadly, where we are going as a video game culture seems to be a negative one from a society standpoint. Grand theft auto was on the chopping block by legal hacks over it's violent content. It's self governed censorship of the playable age group "A" has been ignored by parents and yet there were Huge complaints. Lest we forget the Chinese kid who died from a heart attack playing an MMO 24/7 or the Teen that shot himself over in game issues on EQ1. Is it the video games fault or better yet those that made the video game? These kids neglected self responsibility and created issues bad enough that they both died. All I say is " Where were the parents?" The Chinese government placed time limits on MMO's due to the death of people playing these game over extensive periods of time.(So they say) What I fear is our government stepping in as the parent here too, last I checked the people in D.C. didn't give me birth. Yet, it seems a lot of new laws are coming into place that seem to be what I call "we are your parent law's". What next, do I have to call the White house to see if I can stay up past my bed time?

If you caught Boston Legal last night there was a similar case where a young kid had a Heart attack and died while playing "Hell Born" for 2 days strait. During the course of the court debate there were many negative references made by the defense that just seemed rather naive. One statment pissed me off, they equated drugs to video games and the opposing side made a great statement in kind. "I know people on crystal meth that would gladly give up their addiction to play a video game." The best thing about that is I do too and it just hit home. It's not enough we seem to want to criminalize everything here in America lately we are starting to compare harmless activity's to other things that demoralize our nation as a whole.

Drugs are nothing like a video game. Though it seems when all you do is play with big money and drive around with big toys who has time to go down to crack row and buy Oblivian?

Lets live in a what if here~ Lets say the politicians like Hiliary Clinton gets her way and they can all out ban video games (or constrict them) then what? It's not enough that our country has a hard enough time having things to do for the younger gen but they seem to want to ban most forms of entertainment... So everything is illegal for a teen to do then it will be a wonder if our society doesn't start to de-generate. Kids are resourceful, they will find drugs, and/or they will go to the local store to by a can of spray paint (graffiti), and/or they will go get a girl knocked up, or they will just go to the local "VUID shop" Videogames Under illegal Duplication. What then? Do we start to overflow our jails with this harmless clutter? God forbid they are an illegal alien playing video games that will be like prison for life.

My point is people need to learn Personal responsibility.

Monday, March 27, 2006

Nagafen and our war













Well it was a great weekend, we had our first war between Aggro and Brownies and it was great. It had to been the single most fun night I've had on EQ2 ever. There was a great turnout and a few from United alliance came to take pictures and join in on the fun. Even with a few glitches in the battle area it was an overall great event. It was funny to see those that didn't join in on Teamspeak make a few mistakes but it was funny nonetheless.











Case in point here.. Kronkar wasn't on Team Speak ~ he though the battle began and ran in to solo the raid of Brownies.. Needless to say he didn't get to far, great picture though.











Here is a picture of the middle weights duke'n it out, all the 20's to 29's battled to the death lucky we actually won that battle. Brownies won the first 2 battles and a solo battle of me vs Fohox as seen in the top photo, Leko also won over on Aggro. However in the other event's I won Rot in a rouge duel and we were able to take em on the 20's battle and the final war. All I can say is Awesome job everyone.

If you would like to see more you can go here and here it musta been weird for those coming up on us to see two warring factions just hanging out together. It was surreal to me so I know it was fishy to them.

Friday, March 24, 2006

LU 21: nice update and thanks for all the fish












Here we are standing at the drinking age of our Live Updates. There have been many in the past that were innovative and game changing. There have been some that made us pissed and for some even quit our characters; these are what were they thinking. Then there are some like these that are middle of the road nice update and thanks for all the fish.

The Good:
- Ranged auto-attack now does more damage!
- Completing quests that are level 60 to 70 now provides greater XP.
- Heroic and Epic named encounters now have a better chance to drop Master spells and rare tradeskill components.
- Additional power has been discovered and unlocked within the Scepter of Rahotep.
- Rogue: Pick Pocket now has greater variances in the coin reward, had its reuse timer reduced to 30 seconds, has an increased chance of success, will not attempt to cast on a target that has already been pick pocketed, and the taunt effect now scales with level.
- Shaman: The Spirit Wolf pet's attack speed has increased.
- Carnage PvP-flagged players will no longer have an immunity timer after zoning.
- Bows and projectile weapons should now do similar damage to melee weapons during auto-attack, making ranged auto-attack just as viable an alternative as melee auto-attack.

The Neat/Neutral:
- City PvP has been renamed to Carnage PvP to better describe its nature.
- Group lotto now shows you the rolls you make vs. the rolls your group mates make when distributing loot
- The red, blue, green, and white shards needed for "An Eye For Power" have been made into harvestable objects that allow 6 harvests. Additionally, the respawn time on these shards has been reduced, and the likelihood of Master Webclaw and Bloodrage spawning has been slightly increased.
- A new zone connection has been added between the Down Below and the Caves.

The Bad:
- You can now mentor only in instances on PvP servers.
- Kite shields at all levels now provide the same chance to block as tower shields (12%).

The Funny:
- Necklace of the Cascade no longer gives +1 to stamina. To compensate for this horrendous nerf, we have increased its power bonus.

I could go over each and every change in LU21 but these were the ones that I think grabbed out at me the most. The only ones I'll go over is well... you guessed it The Bad.

Mentoring: It's the best idea for an MMO since Chuck Norris. I love it, even without and XP deflation for helping this would be a great tool. Sadly, on PVP its stuck to instancing and at least still apart of the game. I'm not a huge fan of instancing though I like to group with my guildies. We still ran into troulbes trying to grp both in BSV (excavation site) and the Valley of the Magi. There was big troubles because the instancing for mid 20's to 30's is hardly existent and weak at best. The zones that do exist are hard to have fun in since they are just little cubbys in a nice world (I like the paranoid feeling I get in PVP). We tried the instancing in the zones previously mentioned and found that 4 is to many for Magi so we moved to BSV and found that everything in there was solo and way to easy to be a lot of fun. Once we were done we tried to figure out a new plan and it was just to difficult.

I understand why they took it out, mentoring down is a huge advantage in PVP and I've mentioned a few fixes. I believe this would work, Go back to Old school mentoring. Let me only use the spells I was designed to use at the lower levels and when I choose to mentor let me be stuck in mentored state for 30 minutes after I decided to unmentor even if I log off. Easier said then done I know but anything is better then not having it in the game.

Kite shields: I know not everything is realistic, seriously this is a fantasy world but this one kinda just miffs me. Why is a Kite shield as likely to block as a tower? It's not a huge deal and I wont go on a hunger strike about it. Wasn't it enough that they made some Kite Shields look like tower shields? As a former Guardian I don't think I should have to compete with a Paly or SK to get better mitigation or defense. They have other things to help off set them anyhow from heals to wards and other spells. What I don't understand is why I feel as if Guardians have been at the shit end of the stick since LU 13. I know SOE wants a balanced game but out of all the classes I've played since LU 13 Guardian is the only one that seems to not fit it's class title. I still think they should rename them Hitpointdiansnodps.

I'm not calling for a nerf, I rarely if ever do and I'm not calling for Guardian uberism. All I know is that when I play my Guard it feels as if I'm 1/2 the fighter as everyone else. Yes I know pre LU13 there was only a few other fighter that could keep up with me in tanking and they had to have serious gear. Though it just seem like they pushed every fighter beyond Guardians leaving them as support for extra HP and their small DPS. I'm unsure, I'm gonna play my Guardian again for the next few weeks and report back.

Now, I know I picked on the bad but it's what I do best. If you notice overall there is more good and neat stuff on my list. I did like the patch and hope there are still many more to come.

Thursday, March 23, 2006

EQII Translates Jack Handy: 2












- If you saw two gnolls named Hambone and Flippy Darkpaw, which one would you think liked Freeportians the most? I'd say Flippy, wouldn't you? You'd be wrong, though. It's Hambone.

-- Whether they find life there or not, I think Luclin should be called an enemy planet.

--- Sometimes I think I'd be better off dead. No, wait, not me, you. Damn Qeynosian.

----I think one way the Guards could have more money to thief, would be to hold a murder weapons sale. Many people could really use used 2+ uber sword of pwning.


As always I like to fool around with what's funny and make it unfunny. Enjoy

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Finding the solution

Since my fiasco with my 5200Ultra a friend of mine gave me his 6200 PNY Geforce. I have been able to get it up and operating but trying to find a way to get the best performance out of it is like finding a needle in a haystack on the WWW of info.

I'm trying to use rivatuner or coolbits to Overclock and unlock the pipelines (if possible on this 6200) to get the best performance out of EQ2. Sadly that seems to of done little if nothing at all. I've noticed nothing in performance to the naked eye from my 5200ultra to the 6200 I have now. I know I could run programs to check FPS or 3D marks but this has no effect on how the real world exisists therefore Naked eye is all that matters. This is kinda bothersome but I suppose what I read a while back when Moorguard said that EQ2 is more Processor intensive was correct.

I figure to myself it's time to push my AMD 2600 to something of the range of a 2800, if I'm lucky. Though unlike my older AMD's it seems to be sort of impossible to find any real tangible or easy solutions. My bios does some overclocking but none of it's stable enough to boot up to window's much less play EQ2.

If anyone has any neat websights or some good info for the Geforce 6200, as in a good way to O/C other then just software please by all means share the link/info. As well as how to unlock and push the AMD 2600XP (not 64). I would write more info on my comptuer but it's not near me at the present. Until then keep up the good fight of being uber in Norath.

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

WTG EQII













I have in the past done nothing but harp about EQII, mainly because it wasn't fun or had some improvements that just needed to be made. I like to come up with suggestions and make things better for me, really because I'm selfish. Not selfish in the ways of, I think everyone else don't count but mainly because I want EQII to be a challenge.

Since the expantion and PVP I've noticed the challenge get much more well.... Challenging. I think it's because PVP is more heart pumping and thought provoking. A place where you need to have strategy that changes with every fight. Nothing seems to be the same even when you fight the same classes, some are just better at their class or luck was on their side. Sadly I think I will have troubles in PVP for a while because my video card fan went out and with lack of funds it will be hard to compete until I upgrade. I ended up rigging an old processor fan to the heat sink but I just noticed that instead of freezing the computer it just lags me out. Yeah Tradeskill and PVE fun for me until I gets me some cash. However, that's not the point of my post today.

I would like to say since my fan went out I finally went around and checked out my other characters achievement abilities. This part is worth every penny of the expantion and as far back as I remember I've always wanted to actually control my pets. Now I can, I love every bit of it and every 3 minutes I can take control over my pet for 30 seconds. Not only that I can do emotes and speak as my pet this just adds to the flavor. Yes now here comes the improvements or suggestions that I always have. First and foremost 30seconds is a blink, there should of been a AAXP that adds to the time I could be my pet. Maybe there is and I just overlooked it but as far as I can tell there really isn't. Second the Combat abilities and spells need different Icon looks for all three of my pets their Icons maybe shaded green or red but they are all fist icons. It's confusing enough and I really have no clue as to what button I'm hitting.

I find at this point it no more a bonus then if I just sat back and let the computer control him. Button mashing really is only so much fun so it would help if they were separated by some sort of icon difference. An added bonus would be that when I control my pet he has 1 or 2 different abilities he wouldn't normally be able to use unless under my command. Like a stun for the scout pet, it's nice he gets a lot of abilities that do neat damage but it would be cool if I could act like a scout for that brief period or time, or a root on my wizard pet so I can sit back and be crazy nuking, and for the Tank some sort of group buff like haste or defensive stuff. Hey I can dream can't I? I know it's a neat enough ability and in some ways the single most best AAXP in the game.

Take my Brigand's Root Achievement for example, it is stealing coin from humanoid mobs. Now from a RP standpoint this rocks, and in a lot of fights that I'm not somehow MT, I can steel extra copper. Notice I said copper, even from some level 25 Epic X3 mobs only dropped 21 copper. Most I've taken was 81 copper form a 27 solo mob but this ability has a huge drawl back. If you get caught by a mob that can kick your ass like a level 60 solo mob, your dead in one hit. It will cost more in repairs then what you could steal in the first place. I know it's probably going to go up by % of cash in the silver later and maybe late in the game by Gold but I'm unsure. I think this ability should have a higher probability to thief cash from the opposing team on PVP servers as well. I've yet to steal from a single character in the game and I've hit the ability well over 40 times on Qeynosians. These are people that shortly after I kill them drop cash loots so I know they have it on them. Seriously though these little things in the game still matter very little. I love the AAXP and hope to build my character to spec the way I want him and still have fun.











On my last note of the day is I'm now a destroyer, 135 Kills and 35 deaths with 2 HQ's under my belt. I also made 30 Brigand and we made Guild level 5 just so the BT187 troop can finally know who's owning them.. muhahaha.

Friday, March 17, 2006

Issues of the real

Some things in the real world just aren't better. We judge with out knowing a person whether it is about their appearance, race or sex preference. Sometimes we do it with out knowing our subconscious is a powerful thing. We could be act out because we were raised to think a certain way or a bad experience with a certain type or person and even our religious practice's. These things are what weaken us as human kind and it shows; even today. Iraq is having a civil war over their belief's but I'll stop there becuase that's a huge debate. Milosivich, Hitler and countless other Tyrants slaughter many a thousand Humans just because they believed so patiently that they were right. All for what? What purpose has it ever served that the white hoods or skin heads hated our black brethren? It has and will never do the world any good to hate, hate only breads what I call true Evil and it starts the beginning of the clash of wills. You kill my friend or brother I'll kill yours, then I'll attach a stigma to it so it's ok. "God said it was so therefore I get to suicide bomb you" It makes us feel better when we can use a crutch like that. Not to say God is a crutch but the fact that people use Him or some other form so that they can do what they want with out dealing with their conscience. I believe God is love; no form of hate would be accepted by him not even if I believe God dislikes what a (person,race, sect) is doing. I have a hard time believing He would condone any act of evil.

Alright, I'm kinda getting off. I just wanted to express what I feel doesn't really play to much a part in our MMO world. When you ask for a healer to join your group have you ever once heard of the Race, Creed, Religion, sect inquisition? No, You want a good healer, you might want a healer that you've grouped before but your only care is that they are a good healer. PVP excluded, you want one that you can actually group with. However, I have a strong feeling that if we were able to group with Qeynosians (on Nagafen) we would. It happened on RZ and TZ, people started blurring the lines of faction war when they started grouping and guilding others from different lands.

In all reality we as a MMO society don't care if someone is a Troll and the other is a Elf. I know there are those that Roleplay, I can't really get a grasp on that because I just don't RP at all. I've ran into a group where the Iksar I was with really didn't like woodelfs but he still stayed in our group and he was still cordial in tells (I was the woodelf). He would spout off things like "Only a weak grooop... would rely on a Ssstupid woood elf" but that was just him in character, and he would mainly only say things to be funny.

What I love about being on MMO's is that I don't feel like I wont get a group because I'm a Red head white male. I'm sure there are those that don't like the Asian's because some feel all of them are only botter/farmers but that will never be an accurate assessment. We might have those that feel a bit of strain if a person in our group speaks very little english but even still. I've not heard of a group kicking someone out because they were Asian, Australian, hell even French-Canadian. Look, it might happen all I'm saying is it seem it's less prevalent in the virtual worlds. So little in fact I've never actually seen it.

Trust me I know I'm not really covering this whole subject in detail but I do know for sure somethings happen. I know that female toons get hit on and tend to get things handed to them, I know that there was (is?) a Gay guild in WOW that was not allowed to strut their stuff. To be truthfully honest some things should be left at the door when entering a MMO. I don't care about how old you are, or your sexual preference, what color your skin is or what religion you practice. Like many I only care that you can keep hate if your MT, Heal if your the MH, and DPS and not take hate if your the DPS although, I truly only care if your fun to group with. These are the only true rules that matter in the MMO's I play. In the real world I still don't care about any of those things as long as you live and let live, if I have a dislike for someone it's the person and not their label.

I just feel that I wouldn't trade up the Uber loot fights, contested raids vs other guild, or the occational who took what, when out of guild bank and, why vs. Gassing a million Irish on St. Patty's day just because we like potatoes. There are a lot of things I think MMO's can improve on play wise but certain things just shouldn't exist. Thus far, even though these game's are global they seem to have alot less discrimination then the real global community all that thanks to gamer mentality. (Take that to the bank Hiliray Clinton)

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Double Ding Damage and PVP troubles












Well last night was nice in all it's glory. There was some Double ding damage and I loved every minute of it. While there was some more exploiter troubles it was still fun to see me and the guild ding off Player kills.

That right the pic above is of my 100th kill and it dinged me 28, the reason I waited so long on leveling came to pass once this monk decided to go toe to toe with a Pirate. Now not to say monks are easy to take down because, well lets be honest if you can't hit the monk they will eventually win. Sadly this monk wasn't very dogei and had it coming, when you penetrate my city I'll make sure your sent home in a bag.

The action that happened has sort of died down around the sprawl on most nights; not last night. There were 3 Goodies and I guess they thought it would be fun to come in and cause a ruckus to our little ones. There was 2 monks and a unknown Scout that ran quickly, one of the first monks decided to zone. He was in bear form regening it up but decided to run back to CL quickly. Kyoki quickly decided she was gonna pick a fight with me of all people. I wasn't gonna fight them because I don't like wasting my time at PVP when I'm next to a zone. I know they are just going to run though, she didn't run right away(I was there to make sure she did). I got her down in the red while the newbs helped out but sadly she decided to run. Not to much later the Bear form monk decided he would come back and jump me while he was still an Illegal target. He was beat down till he zoned, and Kyoki decided to come back and fool around with danger. Soon after I knocked her away from the zone, stunned her a few times and ended up as luck would have it a dead Monk. I have to give thanks to Kyoki because I did get a level up and my 100th kill from her so... Thanks, lol. Shortly after the Bear form monk came in fooled with me I daggered him and got em to about 60% and a Nuker ran up "BOOM!" Dead monk.

During this time there were two others I was fighting and it out right. One was 30 and other was even to me at 28. Well the first one was another monk I was taking down pretty good and as soon as reinforcements arrived he de-popped. Not a de-pop as in invise and run or evac, just strait up exploited gone *POOF*. I know at this point I wasn't lagging either because all my close range CA were going off w/o any lag time (it's been picky lately). No more then 5 min later a 28 wizard was in terrorizing greens, I ran up on him and hit him with my big whammies. His HP didn't go anywhere so I looked to see if he was grped or any healer was around. There wasn't even an NPC to be seen. I continue to take him down.. rather try to hit him and nothing was doing. He ran up a little bit and evaced, I was unable to stun or interrupt him so I looked at my combat, figuring I was just missing on him a lot. Sure enough I was hitting him like anyone else, 300 here 200 there a few 8's and 9's but my CA's were hitting him just fine his HP's just were not budging. I even seen where I interrupted his evac but if that is so then how did he get it off (recast didn't register)? These exploiters piss me off to no end and I hope that this starts to wade to the side lines or I'm gonna get really pissed. I don't use exploits to get the upper hand, I try to be as honorable a kill as I am a Killer and God moder's don't need to be on EQ2. That's why they have Halo and Quake, you need an upper hand then go to those games because as far as I'm concerned you have no place in Norath.

Another well known problem is mentoring, now I seen they sorta "fixed" it by making you zone or camp but seriously is this just the quick fix? I hope so because in all reality that's not gonna fix jack. Takes 10 seconds out of my life to mentor and do a /camp (name here) to be back in the game. I also notice most of my fights are near a damn zone anyhow (not by choice) so if a level 40 mentors down and starts killing me and wins I rez and by the time I get back he will more then likely be 40 again. Also as some may have seen there are some that are having a high level kill a guard get city pvp and have a low level gain city pvp. They will run in groups having low levels start the fight get the other person in city pvp and the high level will wail them quicker then you can say Wuuah?

City pvp is in essence a great Idea it throws a nice dynamic into it but there should be a line drawn somewhere. As in once you get outside the city a certain range city pvp is gone or make the eq1 reference of doing over 50% of the damage in PVP to get the kill. Like wise for NPC's that help kill you, some will tag you then you run after them if your unwise you'll run into NPC troubles and the NPC's will do all the Pker's work for him.. and they still get the kill. Or make it dishonorable for city pvp kills if your outside of the city and outside of the normal range of killing as in they get negative points with the ability to lose their titles. This is by no means a logistical or keen tactic it's just another form of God mode which gives little to no form of retaliation.

Yeah, I am~ in a way in favor of pvp at all levels a level 70 killing a level 20 but in all seriousness there needs to be a fix if the city pvp stays the way it is; with aknowlegement there is no xp, status or loot loss. Not everyone likes full range pvp and I personally think it was a huge problem on Sullen zek. Though when I chose that server I knew of it's lack of rules so we excepted whatever forms of PKing that came with it. Sadly the way EQ2 pvp is set up death is a lot more of a loss if you ask me. Xp, coin drops more frequently, and Items to boot not to mention status loss. Why? all because the higher level assisted the lower level kill. Oh well I can deal with this but not so much the exploiters, personally I wished they would open up a separate websight on SOE of those they ban and for what exploit. That would deter some idiots from even attempting to become God on a rather fun PVP server. Ok, anyhow it's still great and I love how it's shaping up even with a few bad apples, hope to see you on Nagafen soon.

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

EQ2 translates Jack Handy













-"If you ever fall off the Griff Tower, just go real limp, because maybe you'll look like you died and people will try to PK you because, hey, free PK." (Then kick their arse)

--If a newb asks where rain comes from, I think a cute thing to tell him is "Lucan is crying." And if he asks why Lucan is crying, another cute thing to tell him is "Probably because of something you did."

---We used to laugh at Hwal Rucksif when he'd head off and go fishing. But we wouldn't be laughing that evening when he'd come back with some whore he picked up in Qeynos.

LOL! Sorry I'm just fooling around and had nothing better to write today so I hope you get a slight kick out of these.

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Building up forces











We are amassing on PVP and both us and our Sister guild are gearing up for a great war. I hope to see this come to fruitation but as of now it's only all on paper(so to speak). We are trying to go over the rules of war and conduct both on Aggrome and EQ2-Daily forums.

I've tried to put in my inputs and direct it as well as I can so this can go off with as much dignity and honor as you can have on a PVP server. I am in hopes that this doesn't turn into a pissing contest as we are all adults and thus far it seems to me to be playful banter.

I know we need to first have a way to talk before the battle begins because well it would probly be annoying if one side just started before anyone on the other side was ready. I'm also looking into having a way to make a trophy for the winning side. The fact that I'm gonna be crafting housing items should be easy for me to fix something up once I gain a few more tradeskill levels.

The whole logistics have been kinda difficult but some rules have been somewhat agreed apon. I like how we would all bring an adept of our level only it's for the Good's and they would bring adepts that are evil (or a decent item of the level you currently attain). This wouldn't go well with the trophy holder he/she would need to be the only holder of that item. The chances of it dropping just lowered if you have more then one item. Also no one should bring cash because your at a higher % to drop any said loot on you if your cash free. The only difficulty we are truly finding hard to over come is outside forces. You can never plan a battle knowing no one from yours or their side is gonna come help out. I don't want my side (other then my guild) to help out in a guild war, nor would I want their side to help turn the tables. That wouldn't be a fair assessment of who actually won the battle. We've discussed a few possibilities but nothing is a sure shot, there was mention of having the battle in one of the instance house's. Now this would be great if it were guild owned and there was one on each side. One in FP and the other in Qeynos while if they were in FP we could have home court advantage and in Qeynos they could set up the house to their advantage. This would also open up an area where a altar could be made for said trophy to the winners. It could be displayed until the next battle would occur and you could keep or lose it depending on if your side won.

There are many other rules that need to be pointed out and probly fleshed out but I bet more of these rules will be made obvious as more battles ensue well into the future.

If your looking to join in on the war send Myself (Falik) or anyone in Aggroculture a tell and we'd be more then happy to have you or you can sign up on Aggrome and give us a feel.. As I'm sure Brownie troop would enjoy the help in the war against us.

Monday, March 13, 2006

EQ2 Tradeskilling













Ok, I would first like to start off by saying Tradeskilling is something I only do If... I can't always be paying attention and want to burn time talking to guildies. It can be fun when you have that slight posiblity of ruining a Pristine (rare) item but mainly it's still just button mashing.

I went back to Tradeskilling for two reasons. One on PVP server it's about the only time you'll get to slow down and have some peace. Two I really wanted to see if I could get in the simi ground floor and make some cash. I've gotten to make a pretty penny but I wont tell my secret and no I'm not exploting anything I just got a good racket going on in FP at this time. I don't use other programs and this overview is strickly doing everything by the book, I don't condone using 3rd party stuff anyhow (not even a map UI).

I started off trying to well get my career going as a Carpenter but I need to make it past the first 9 levels. Easy enough I've done this part 5 er 6 times before so it shant take me to long right? Wrong, SOE defeted it's purpose in tradeskilling from the start. It took me over 1 hour to figure out how to get from lvl 1 to lvl 2 and I'm not a newb to EQ2 so there is a huge flaw there. How would you get a newb to start Tradeskilling if it's not easy to start to begin with? Now I know some of you are thinking, "well your Hardcore and it's not difficult just hidden". Hidden as in you have to rightclick and hail the raw's merchant to even get level 2. Now of all the times I clicked on her to look at what books she selling and it start off at level 2. No where in there was my initial hail(left mouse button) recongnized so I went over to the other NPC that gives Tradeskill quests and gives me my first book and 20% exp still not level 2. I run to West FP and get my Craftsman quest done for when and if I were to hit 10. Nope no xp or level 2, after I run around and go back to where I started the 4th time I figured it out. Tradeskilling(TS) isnt rocket science but it shouldnt be this coded to start out for the first time.

I relize there is a Tradeskill tutorial on the Island but, in no way was I directed there or know what it is about. I know it's not in Malvoicus *sp tower and that was a better way to learn about TSing then the way it is now, after the island. Now after all that I get down to tradeskilling, here is where I figure I'll notice the new and exciting changes to tradeskilling. After watching my wife craft top tier stuff I figure I'm in for a nasty time. It seems to take her 1 day of harvesting (real time) for 1 level but that's a differnt post all together.

I did notice some changes some I like but most well I'm indiffernt to becuase they are still the same. One you still only get progress buffs till level 10, this is a big deal since in the past I tended to mess up on 1 to 20 items even in my 40's. The first big change I like is the fact that as a Carpenter I could make a shield or a wand no extra table jumping. To me the table jumping and going to the vendor every 5 minutes added to the pain and suffering. They also fixed that last vendor bit, you can buy stacks of 100 which makes it alot nicer. Sadly, I began to level and relized the more I tradeskilled the more I wanted to jump myself from the top rafter of the Freeport Tradeskill house, that didn't help but it works wonders on Safefall skill. As far as my trade it's still old fastioned and I heard that's all about to change. Old fastioned you ask? well it works the same way as it always has. Go here make 3 wikets and go here make 12 potions to make the 3 wikets to go here and make a whozit to make a sproket to get a widget. Now in real world terms this all sounds good on paper. However, any good carpenter can tell you they can make a wooden box purly out of glue wood and a saw... ok sorry for getting off here, I know SOE is fixing this and I can say in the long run this will hopfully be good. Though here in lyes the double edge sword. That means there will be more making end products which means lower price and low demand. It's a hard element to juggel for SOE and they are trying. A Great thing for me because I like my bag space. So it will make me happier to level faster with out doing the old sell, delete, bank juggle just to make my shiny sword of -Uber +1.

I then tried my hand at making some jewler spells for us scouts and found that to be much more to my liking. Yes we harvest tons of extra stuff to make these spells but I found out that I didn't have to table hop and this was really to my liking. (though I think it just makes it easier for botters) The only thing I found out to be difficult was trying to counter the Negative durablity since these were only 1 thru 10 spells but I'm not a jewler so it's ok.

My only real question is I though they were trying to make this fun? Yes the game is fun and PVP is great I love the expantion and EQ2 is going in a awesome direction. Have you noticed any Vanguard posts? No, because EQ2 has gotten to be a real treat. Sadly as far as tradeskills go and as far as always making the end item it still doesnt up the FUN factor. It lessens the tedious factor which is the next best thing. Untill next time, enjoy making your Uber Phat armor of +cool.

Friday, March 10, 2006

Slayer and Rewards












I had a nice little post about tradeskills but as that happens once in a while it ate my post when I was saving. So I'm collecting my thoughts for a better post on it next week. First I'd like to say I'm a Slayer now though there is a bit of confusion on my part.

Earlier this week I was at 24 kills 24 deaths and 41 kill streak. Now I'm at 24 kills 24 deaths and 49 kill streak. I know for a fact I've killed 5 more since then that were my kills alone and have no clue as to how I made slayer if it don't count my kills. I know the web sights was update because it says I'm a slayer and upped my kill streak. Yet, am not sure why it's not updating my kills. If anyone knows what's going on please post a comment.










If any Qeynoisan sees this guy please PK him and do it hard because well... for one he doesn't return my tells and for 2, what on earth would possess you to take our guild name as your personal name? If you Pk him and post the pic up on EQ2-daily sight with your in game name. I'll give you 1gp from my goodie just sitting there in Qeynos.

Thursday, March 09, 2006

Deathbringer
















Every now and again I come across a neat item like in the pic above. These are usually items with great names but not worth actually using for any class. Well the Deathbringer would be a 2h that I would always use to put a hurt on Qeynosians no matter what stats were on it. I'm still on the look out for cool PK weapon and so far this would be my number 1 choice by name only. That's right queeny I'm coming after you with a Deathbringer and not a one of your Loyal will stop me.

Anomaly













Now that's what I like to call wood!

Some times you see something that just shouldn't be there.. Well I do... and when I do I just have to take pictures of it. Enjoy.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Words of PVP Wisdom













I ran across some old Jack Handy quotes and I chose a few that fit the PVP style. These are universal truths that are just to funny not to post.

First an oldy but goodie, there is a time when you may here your friend wine or bitch about being Player killed. He's crying and yes it is ok to laugh at him and you get brownie(no pun intended) points for doing a ROFL in Guild chat, Shout and in tell.

1. It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man.

Ahh! now I know it wont last long but it felt so good to be able to know we got the first kill to start off our War between Aggroculture and Brownietroop. Now I'm not one for Rubin it in but I'm sure Cyan and Rot are scheming up a plan to take us all down hey that's the price we pay. Long live Lushian**

2. I guess we were all guilty, in a way. We all Nuked him, we all skinned him, and we all got a complimentary bumper sticker that said, "I helped skin A Brownie."

We all do it that's in our blood if we are losing or can't win a fight we'll run. Most will fight near zone lines just because they may lose their upper hand and it's easier to run away. I won't lie I'll run if I feel it's a unfair fight or advantage.. In most cases. A kill is a Kill and not die'n means you your KVD is still looking good so you still win.

3. If you define cowardice as running away at the first sign of danger, screaming and tripping and begging for mercy, then yes, Mr. Brave Man, I guess I'm a coward.

Monday, March 06, 2006

Hunting the good Hunt











First I would like to say Good job at keeping defense Qeynos. It's very difficult to penetrate the Peat Bog and make it into the newb areas if your around high teens low 20's. I find it a little unfair that it's our only point of entry but hey it's a challenge and I love challenges.

I finally made Hunter, granted I didn't go out and Hunt until this weekend but it was still a nice accomplishment for myself. I find it more intimidating that I have my name with Hunter Prefacing it. Maybe it's because when I see others with Hunter, Slayer, Destroyer of the opposite team it is very intimidating. I normally don't have an under title either but I know that when the other team sees it, it gets their heart racing muahhaah.

The adventure of traveling over to Qeynos was a fun one filled with a full days worth of doing lucans bidding. A few of us decided it's time to give a little medicine back to Qeynosians and boy did they ever feel the pain. I was originally going to go do what they did and kill greens but since I more or less role play my brigand I wanted a challenge. Even though as a pirate class I would just as well back stab a friend as I would any of the opposing team, I find more bounty in downing yellows and oranges. That's just what we did, we took down 15 yellows and 2 oranges and a few were teamed up. I was a 25 brigand mentored to 20 we had a 20 wizard 19 necro 19 Trob and 16 Assassin and for a while a 20 Defiler.

This team kicked arse and there was only a few times we had to run. The best Pk fight was with one orange and yellow both Mages. They were camping the spawn point of us Freeportians and took our good buddy Aggro out. Well, I'm not having that it's one thing to kill a team mate it's quite another to camp the spawn point and think your gonna get away with it. Once we got away and got our barrings we dbl backed ran into the two that were still camping the spawn point. As a team we took them down and we took em down hard, my hearts racing just thinking about how sweet that victory was. Ahh! good times

So yes all in all it was a verily good weekend on Nagafen server and discovered it's easier to be the Hunter then the Defender. Oh Bandito here is a pic. of the Qeynosian that stole your name I figured you would like my little gift. Let that be a lesson to all Qeynosian's that make the slightest ill mistake in EQ2 that is to include taking a name from a fellow player. Oh and one more thing... BT187, we got the first kill on you muahaha.

Friday, March 03, 2006

PVP suggestions









Yes it's that time again and you knew it was coming.. Well maybe not but either way I've got a few that I would like to throw out there.

Bounty quests: My friend and I were talking about SWG bounties and thought it would be great that if they had bountys here in the PVP world of EQ2. The way it would work is there would be an NPC somewhere in each of the cites that you could go to and get a quest kind of like writs. He would give you a name of the opposite team from say the top 100 killers from the SOE boards. If your Evil it would be the top 100 goods and visa versa if your Good. You would gain status and XP once you have completed the bounty and returned to the NPC in the city.

Shylor from EQ2-daily also has another bounty Idea that I enjoy, either way a bounty system would rock. I would would give bonus props to SOE if they can counter the bounty if you are the one hunted.

Zone killing: There have been many times and maybe it's just because it's the nature of the beast I've seen people Zone line killing. By that I mean people will come in a zone of the opposite team and they have the 30 second immunity which is nice in concept but I've noticed that the first person to do damage usually wins (in ruffly even fights). I think under the 30 second rule you can't fight either until it drops. Either way I'll deal with it but my biggest hardship is those that are even one on one fights. Maybe it's because Qeynosians have small Kajingers but they almost always run unless they are 5 levels higher then me.

The biggest thing that seems to happen is Qeynosians will zone in and start to PK and when I or someone counters their PKing they zone.. I'm sorry but I believe they should make it so that if you start or begin a PVP fight you will be unable to zone until one wins. This overall mechanic is a bitch for those that only want to fight with the upperhand and if they lose it they cut and run. I don't care if I'm gonna lose I'll jump your ass for being anywhere near FP and if I start to lose oh well. I usally wont zone unless I get jumped by a totally unfair fight (usually 3+ on me). That's when I'll pull the ole run sneak and hide or zone if I must. Though I still back my not being able to zone until the PVP fight is over or a limit of 3 minutes after the fight was over by default of running or escaping. I know the whole immunity thing drops if your on someone's hate list but when you can just click a door and chose Commonland 1 through 5 it's easy to get away. (this might be more fleshed out after levels start to spread out)

Level range: First I like to say I don't mind being Pked much with in range even the 8 levels but I believe the loot and XP loss with faction shouldn't be lost at 8 levels out. I think the level range should be 4 to 5 levels for loot rewards and keep the fighting window at 8 then carried forward as it is in each zone out from the City. Overall I enjoy this and think it's working ok in a lot of areas of PVP it just seem there are a lot of One shot killing me at the 8 level out mark. There was a point where I was only 500 hp max and got one shot killed for 900 points and lost money item and XP... for what reason does he gets anything from me? He had a supreme upperhand and didn't deserve my Blackend iron cluster.

Brigand: I took this class because first and foremost it was the most under used class in EQ2. I also have studied up on it and realized I need to be close encounter to do any damage at all. I will take all his strengths and weakness and will say that I love this class.

There are some fights one on one from a brigand stand point are a benifit, I'm a caster kill for sure and I can win if the other side chooses to man up. I fought a Paly to a Swash and Ranger (he fought melee) and just kicked ass, I was hurting but I've won. These are the One on One only. My trouble isn't from holding my own or being able to fight it's for those that run away and kite. Which is a valid way to PVP and by no means am I sayn they should nerf.

I've learned now that if a Conj or a Ranger runs ~don't chase them~. I have no range except one dagger ability that has a massive recast time and I except that. What I don't except is when I get right up to someone running away my CA continue to say I'm to far away. Unless I sprint and get in front of them running backwards I can't use my CA's. Hell even with I'm right behind them I can't even Backstab them. What kinda messed up junk is that? If I'm in touching distance running behind them I should be able to use my CA's (especially Backstabs). Seriously they are running away I'm arms reach away and cant back stab? When a Nuker or a Ranger can cast on me but I can't on them even when I'm up their arse I call foul. This is my chief fix and I'm sure it's not just on brigands either. Either that or give me 2 other range dagger abilities for PVP because this is driving me crazy if someone runs from a brigand they are gonna get away.

I know these are winded suggestions and will probly never be read but I hope someone from SOE sees this and does some fixing around it. I have to admit though I'm really loving the Brigand class.

Thursday, March 02, 2006

I'm on TV









Today I would like to brag. I don't do it often but these opportunity's don't come around for people like me often.. I'm on TV again and as the few times I've been on before it makes me excited.

"Monk," the prime time series, will open its new season on USA network 3 Mar 06 at 2200. The opening episode called "Monk and the Astronaut" was filmed almost in its entirety here at Edwards and features the F-22A and many Edwards airmen. USA network is also slated to air this program on 4 Mar at 0100 and 1800, on 5 Mar at 1200 and on 11 Mar at 1000. Please consult the local cable or satellite directory in your specific viewing area for more details.

Yes! I'm on this show and boy was those few days of filming fun, it's also a bonus that I got paid for doing what I love. I'm the Red head in Camo and if your watching for me you wont miss. Yes I'm just an extra but hey I'm still in the show. I was in many takes and quite a few different shots so unless they took out the hanger and flightline scenes you will see me. Either way it matters not I'm just happy to have been apart of the whole experience.

I've been on TV a few times before once in Germany on a TV commercial which no one would ever see here and another time I've been on Price is right. Yes I won some cash but over all was boo'd for not making the wheel go around.. OI! that was a heavier wheel then it looks. I was on the Salute to the Air Force. I had some other pictures to prove it but at this moment I can't find them. If I find them later I'll edit this post but the link should suffice. I was the lucky one to do the 25,000$ punch game but only won 1k... ahh that was a great day.

I ended up making it to the showcase showdown by default against a Cpt from LA Airbase. Sadly, I ended up going about 200$ over I also ended up losing this beautiful ride here but hey such is my life.














I did walk away with excitement and about 2000$ worth of junk. Well anyhow watch Monk and enjoy yourself.

Edit** Found what I was looking for Here and Here and of corse the red head is me.

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

KOS Overview












I've been covering ground in EQ2 lately and since the introduction of PVP and KOS it's been hard not to. I cancelled my FFXI account for now because well EQ2 actually has my blood running and that makes me feel alive, which is what I need when playing an MMO. Kingdom of sky on the other hand has been a little on the un-original side, both on the exploration and on the surrounding zones (not including instance or dungeons). Though the AAXP really looks to be promising so yeah EQ2 has me holding on for more great adventures ahead.

Things I like: I loved Plane of Air in EQlive, it would literally take you two days of your characters life to get to the 7th isle. Not sure what I like about that I'm a masochist I suppose but I liked the fact you had to earn your right to get up there. However, I like the fact that all I have to do is get to the Cloud port of each island and your off. I enjoy the look over the sides of each isle as well and when the sun is about to go down there is a great wonder and amazement. It also made me want to jump off and that just what I did, I know now if you fall you die and reappear at the top. My curiosity is more from what busted up island below would I actually land on and well I just like falling. It was fun to jump off POA because you would land in the waters of Freeport and that was just way to fun. These are just small things I enjoy about the 30$ I spend on this expantion thus far. The quests I've done so far are short and to the point they gave quick money rewards and for me that works. I really like the way some of the mobs look from the owl-humanoids (not sure of their racial name) Aviaks maybe, however they don't really look like it. The dragonish men even the Droag's look cool all the new NPC's are a very nice touch. The collections I've seen seem far more worth it then what came out of DOF and that's a major plus. Since the last collection I really wanted to complete for the item was the Necklace of flowing orbs. As far as the over all grafix they are still great, I think the chains off the island are a awesome touch (just like POA) and the two dungeons my wife got to sneak too so far have looked outstanding. I also like the fact I've not seen any level 70's in the first week which means they made leveling difficult even with the recent Dbl XP on PVE servers. I really can't wait till I'm 60+ on Nagafen server so I can enjoy this expantion thoroughly.

Things I dislike: It's seems as if the whole concept of the floating islands in the clouds got lost somewhere. I know I'm not gonna like every island just like I don't like every zone in the Underworld. The same reason I like Zek more then I like Lavastorm, it's a matter of preference. I just feel as if most the islands in the sky were just cut and paste in the expantion. Tenebrous tangle looks like Feerrott only with new landscape and Mobs. It even has the same jungle sound effects with the annoying chirps. I'm not sure the amount of work the devs put into the expantion as a whole though I'm sure it was a lot. I think the first thing you see in any expantion should take you back and should make you want to go for more. Though I love Feerrott it's a wonderful and difficult zone it shouldn't be reused in the expantion. Same goes for the other 2 areas, one looks like a cut and paste of Sinking Sands and the other Lavastorm with blue tint instead of red. My suggestion is if you want to use something already out there look to EQ1 and reuse the ideas of the old world. It'd be great to see Kunark, Velious, Faydark area used in EQ2 just more upgraded of course.

I am a huge explorer in games and I want to explore what makes me curious but just the initial look on these zone makes me want to stay in the normal zones until I know where the good places are to go. That is not good, I don't care if I'm the first to a area or not but I do want an expantion that makes me think about what's around the hills, mountains, and clefts this just didn't do that. They even went so far as to reuse the ever so popular Golem we've all grown so accustomed to. You may first see them in ROV then Runnyeye and then again in CT and then Lavastorm and now you see them again in KOS to me that was a big no no. (if you cant turn on any bells and whistles they all look the same) Oh did I forget it is a mid level Conj pet as well, not to mention a Group illustion of Conj. The Golem NPC should never be duplicated in EQ2 anywhere ever again.










A few things in the expantion are great like the AAXP. I like this far more then the way it was set up in EQ1, the interface anyhow. I love the fact my Mystic now has a Wolf spirit pet it's not over powering but in those times I can't think about Debuff and Damage I still have my pet in doing some damage and with more AAXP choices he will be doing Debuffs as well. That's a positive for this class as I'm sure there are a ton to list but so far Mystic AAXP is the only one I gave considerable look over. I did glance over Brigands and I love how there is an Ability named after Blackguard good stuff. The AAXP is the real reason I purchased this expantion, Silly I know 30 bucks just for some extra abilities. Though for me this expantion along with PVP has me playing EQ2 and loving it. Now if I can figure out when and where I'm getting this AAXP from, sometimes it's as if I'm getting AAXP for doing nothing but it's minor in the scheme of things. Overall the Dev's did an awesome job the put tons of quests, contents and excitement in there to last for quite a while in the future. Even though KOS is not all sugar it's still beautifully done and worth every cent.

Now if they would just name a AAXP or spell after Quylein the Expantion it would ROCK.. lol

Edit** EQ2 forums has someone boasting about being level 70 already. Some Research Done by KindredHeart as well.