Cheaters

I'm sure you've ran into them from time to time, these little douche bags from hell seem to be all over Norath lately. As you can tell Cheaters get under my skin and a lot of it has to do with the fact they are to cheap to actually earn anything. I've been known to use the all coveted Konami "up down up down left right BA (select) start". I've even went to buy the first person Duke Nukem walk thru just to find out all the secrets (after I beat the game in a legit manner) and I also owned a Game Genie. Yes, not unlike most humans I do like to make life a little bit easier but I tend to wait and when it was playground brag I would defiantly wait to beat a game before I cheat. However, In a MMO cheating for me has never been an option. Yes, I've had super run speeds in EQ1 that happened when I updated my computer and I know it's happened in EQ2. The above picture was taken by me when my computer went Haywire with speed rushing me around everywhere; the fix was to update my Video driver. I just don't feel the need to cheat.

The first time I ran up on a cheater was this playground bragger his name, Jimmy Boyde. You see I never forget a name of someone who cheats to win. Bayou Billy was a brand new Nintendo game and most like me who just started playing the game found it fascinating. The game incorporated sidescroller action, shooting action, and driving action. It was and still is to me one of the most difficult games to play from start to finish. Well it took me about 2 weeks to learn how to play, the first week I was only allowed to watch and read the manual. The second week I was in the final few boards of the game and didn't know until I won. Well actually my dad won but it was on each others back we got there. I then continued to play until I could beat the game quickly. (I was fairly good at games so my Dad made me lag about a week after he bought games so the rest of the family wasn't left in the dust) I got to the point where I could beat BB in about 2 hours with breaks and about 1 hour if I went strait thru, I was a Bayou master.

OK, onto the story of Jimmy the cheater. I told him of my accomplishments and he bet me he could beat me to the end of the game. The bet was 100$, I was about 11 so it was major money then. He was from a rich family and always had cash he would flash in school all the time to be cool, anyhow. We went to his house where he had an extensive system setup with what I would say was the full Nintendo collection at that time (to include the robot and the power glove). Needless to say he was able to brag a lot mistakenly, he though he was the best player at any game at anytime. Well we were off and running on two different TV's and I was in front for a bit up until the racing boards which if memory servers me well it was 4th and 5th boards. You see I wasn't able to watch him while racing thru the roads because you needed full concentration to dodge everything on the roads. Ok, sorry! Long story short there was a cheat that allows you to skip a few boards and he used them. Antonio a friend watching us said Jimmy was cheating. Arguing later after he beat me that it wasn't said we couldn't cheat. Needless to say no money was exchanged. He then challenged me to races on bike and on foot and to a game of Mike Tyson’s punch-out to win my 100$. I won all those even still he wouldn't part with his cash (did I mention he tried to cheat at everything). Yes, he wouldn't rightfully part with his cash because he felt he won at Bayou Billy and that I owed him. So I kicked his ass on his front yard while being chased away by his dad.

I guess what I'm trying to say here is that while I'm on PVP server here busting my chops gaining in-game money and item by real means. There are cheaters running rampant, it's as if every other person I come up against is a warping, RMT cheating fool. I know both sides do it I've seen my side do it just as much as Q's, it's like an OK practice for all to do it. I usually don't Scream Cheater because after a while it just starts to become irritating and some may perceive it as "crying wolf" also even if you think someone is cheating doesn't always make it true. I just feel a little bit miffed that I have no power's to stop them while not becoming a Megalomaniac. I despise GOD mode in MMO's even if it’s unintended it seems as if it’s trendy to find these exploits and use them I certainly wish the dev’s could fix em all but sadly I know it’s difficult to impossible.

A few days back I ran into not 1 but 4 cheaters in one day and it seems that I am running into more and more each day. One was a de-buff hacker of sorts, he didn't warp but he wasn't snared for any period of time even when my snare landed and stuck on him. On 5 separate fights this same person he would continue to come at me I would double snare him; now on most PC's they would be walking for at least a few seconds. Nope he was running as super speeds and I couldn't catch him even with sprint on. First time I figured I maybe just perceived it wrong but after the other 4 fights I would beat him down he would run I would snare, see it land watch it on my de-buff window and see him out run me. I gave up on him because all he wanted was to see if he could beat me and there was no way by solo means I could take down this cheater. Then I ran into a few warpers in Commonlands. I commence to attack one Q and as soon as he was un-stunned you could see him and his partner skip across the CL as if they were bending space; this I see very often. The last one I found in Fallen Gate which you could tell was deliberately cheating. He was there attacking a named, he jumped the named as soon as he did we came around the corner and attacked him. He was warping around the room until he killed the name then warped away from us through Fallen gate; there was no way to attack him and when we did catch up it kept saying he was to far away.

You see cheaters are the lowest forms of shit on earth if you ask me. It doesn't matter if it's a Video game, sport, or gambling if you cheat someone out wrongfully, you’re a piece of shit. That isn't to say you can't cheat in 1st person games while you masturbate with your PS2 controller just keep it on consoles or 1 player games. It's just shity that cheaters seem to be getting away with a lot on Nagafen and very little crackdown. If there is a crackdown it's not loud enough to make a dent in the economy spiraling out of control or cheaters from warping. Yeah that Economy part, this comes from me inspecting a level 45 Assassin with some very serious gear not just a little bit of Legendary but a lot of Fabled. I figured I would go check out his online players stuff. Sure enough he has only had the account for a few weeks, he's bragged about how Uber he's become in a few weeks as well. Uber as in he has some high friend to help him out w/ major cash? Or did he buy it on RMT sights? Now I know for a person that is a veteran to EQ2 he could probly pull out the level 45 and some decent gear in a few weeks of strait playing and then some. It's just a lot of these very weird situations popping up on PVP servers that just seem far fetched to be truthfull with out cheating.

The only way I and a lot of others would feel much better is if we get to see blood. If someone is caught cheating and is banned from the game his account names of all his alts are to be blasted on a cheater forum and for what reason. This is good for deterrence and also to see that SOE does catch and ban cheater. I know this battle can't be won but even a little victory here and there over cheater assures the player base that Cheater's get caught and lose. It would also be great if they feed them to dragons like [Gm]Dave does and post up pictures. AND WE LAUGHED!

Overworld Action-able NPC

In the past few days when I've had time enough to sit down and enjoy EQ2 I have pondered about NPC's and various actions. It kind of hit me even more when reading about Nerfbats Virtual worlds vs. MMO's. I won't get into the little debate I just brought it up because it made me think about my MMO world. I like emersion and the feeling as if something is going on. Like the feeling the first time you go into Nektulos castle or the ability to actually enjoy DFC with out the lag. Only this feeling is much stronger, a sense of real work is being done. Like the feeling I first experienced in Greater Faydark and finding Kelethin for the first time.

Picture Zek - a nice peaceful yet busy zone depending on what time of the day you go there. Zek is a relatively under used zone unless you're like me and Love to kill Orc's over Halflings or Goblins. I run around Zek completing all the notable quests I can complete to include Access to DFC and 2 Heritage quests (as I'm sure others have) and still have walked away with a feeling that the Orc's there could be farther along then they are. Now picture them actually getting things accomplished in the zone even when no one is around. Like the lumberjacks actually cutting down trees for the builders to build houses or weapons of war (catapults). Now when we the Player come upon these Orc's for the first time they could be very difficult if left unchecked. Such as the Catapult operators are actually lobbing Rocks and we as the PC have the possibility of being damaged if we don't charge up the hill to destroy the Catapult. Also the houses that are left undestroyed could spawn a series of Orc to continually barrage you until the house is destroyed. These Orc's could also be more powerful while the houses are left unchecked. I know these idea's are left for instances but I don't see anything wrong with a repetitive world rebuilding itself if left un-disturbed that can continually rejuvenate. They have very distinguishable traps like falling rocks in Waling caves so I know that it's not impossible to have some things like this implemented. I believe that if the team starts to make the actual over world more interactive and not just leave it to instances it will be more immersive in some cases. I feel that if NPC's are doing more then just sitting around arbitrarily chopping at a tree it would make the world feel more alive. Yes, I know that if some of the over world is to interactive it can be a bore or a camp/KS/grieve frenzy.

Mainly I would like to see more NPC doing things they would actually do in some cases actually do what their name suggests. (Lumberjack - Cutting trees in the game) (Centurions - Actually guarding something other then dead space) Some do seem as if they are doing these actions so don't get me wrong. I would just love to see them actually building up a war machine against us and maybe have a faction of these Orc's so we can side with them and help them to further there plan.

These principles can be applied to many areas in EQ2 and I would love it more then anything if they were used in Everfrost. This zone more then any others seems more like a lifeless and somewhat bleh zone. The Barbarians aimlessly walk up and down the path awaiting adverntures to kill them for writs. I understand the lore of Halas - it was swallowed into the sea- but, you don't think that they would also have a village being built? It could be continuous or a quest to protect the village from being destroyed by nearby PC's or Giants? These little areas could be safe havens for those that wish to help the Barbarian village in continually warding off Giants from destroying their houses. As to deture some PC's from attacking there could be a faction involved (Giants vs Everfrost barbarians). The giants could also have an actual area they are trying to fortify other then just aimlessly sitting on icebergs with the Goblins. These are just ideas from the top of my head but I'm sure ideas like these would make Norath more immersive.

EQ2 has a lot of things that's going for it and I have enjoyed a lot of what I've done in the past and now in the present with PVP. I would just like to spice it up a little bit more here and there by doing nice overhauls to the over worlds. It's wonderful they are redoing a lot of dungeons and the changes thus far that I've seen have been great. Since it's been said creating more zones for low to mid levels would create a grouping problem then I say they create more stuff to do in the existing zones.

Mr. Easter Bunny

Happy late Easter, Ever notice in the game there is something more then it seems? Do you find yourself looking at the graffiti in the world and seeing something more? Well I found this little Easter egg right as I zoned in and ran around the tent in Zek. Don’t believe me go look for yourself it’s there. It’s pretty neat for those of us who know the EQ1 map like the back of our hands. If you can’t see it then look harder, (or Enlarge the top picture)I was quite amazed that I found this hiding out on a tent on of all days Easter. Sorry it took me so long to post this up but better late then never.

To the Victor

We officially had our second war with the sister Guild "Brownie troop 187" and all I have to say is. We won we won nah ner nah ner boo boo, as the BT187 crew would of liked to say… Well, I can’t say it was a total loss it was just a loss in the big wars. They did take both the high level one on one groups and one of the low level group fights (despite that they didn’t have any healer). They did an awesome job at holding their own and overall it was a blast. Wish all you could have been there but sadly we’re members only, J/K. Here are a few screen shots from the war. Wipe here Wipe there, the best part about it was we got Guild level 11 and about 20% more XP into level 12. Thanks BT187, and a Big thanks to all that attended.












woohoo!














Yippy!




On another note my work has blocked all Blogs as I was afraid they would do. I must now write this in word and Email it to myself. The wife would get testy if I was spending every day for a few hours posting my thoughts on whatever daily. So, forgive any double day posts or any late day posts. I’ll try to get at least 3 post a week up if all goes well.

EQII Translates Jack Handy: 4

It's that time agian, my verison's of EQ2 Jack Handy.

- I can picture in my mind Qeynos without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking Qeynos, because they'd never expect it.

-- When I found the skull in Nektulos, the first thing I did was call the Guards. But then I got curious about it. I picked it up, and started wondering who this person was, and why he had busted Bow and a tresure chest nearby.

--- The Freeport man can pick up a grain of sand and envision a whole universe. But the Qeynos man will just lie down on some seaweed and roll around until he's completely draped in it. Then he'll stand up and go, "Hey, I'm vine man."

---- To us, it might look like just a rag. But to the brave, embattled men of the fort, it was more than that. It was a flag of surrender. And after that, it was torn up and used for shoeshine rags, so the Qeynosians would look nice for the surrender.

Enjoy!

Alt experience #2

Yesterday I went over what I felt was the Best AAXP for my Guardian. I wanted to touch on the fact that this in no way means I'm correct and there is no correlations to either being a Raid tank or a XP group tank. The same goes for the Brigand (Rogue) tree of AAXP. I choose what I think is best for the way I play the class. Likewise for anyone else curious as to which line of AAXP they wish to go for. It should be a decision based on what happens day to day in the life of your class and not because someone has this Pwnage idea that the line they choose is the best and only way.

The Rogue tree is the best set of AAXP in the game that I've seen thus far. There are a many possibilities that will make you a great Brigand or (Swashbuckler) but it's all dependent on how you; Yes, once again "play your class". Every one of the end line abilities are worth having but only 2 are obtainable at any one time so, like I said before there is a need to choose wisely.

First, the one all rogues get is a nice little ability, it's Pick Pockets. This ability has the probability to thief coin from humanoid NPC's and can also be used out of combat. There is a chance that you will taunt the NPC either in or out of battle if you get caught. If your like me it's a good thing, because in PVP I'm some how always Main tank (might be because there is a lack in Fighters). Some of you out there might think that scouts don't tank, I have something to tell you. Your wrong about that when it comes to Rogues, we can tank well if equipped correctly and have some decent Combat abilities and corresponding Alternate abilities. This leads me to Mercenary's Stamina line of AAXP and why I chose to do this line first. Swear, it's the very reason this line was the first on my list to have, it's nothing worse then being told to tank or having to back-up tank and not being able to control the battle. I know some people are thinking but, your still not a tank. I can say to you I've compared myself to many other fighters and I have ruffly the same mitigation and usually more avoidance of those around my level. Yes, if the fighter is well equipped and has a decent tower shield they have better block ratio's and can take damage better. This is PVP we are talking about here. So once I finish off the Mercenary line of AAXP I'll have decent defense and hate abilities so that I can tank as well if not better then your average tank.

The second line of abilities I looked over was Pirate's Agility line, it was at first going to be the main structure in which I was going to build my character. Though I later found out that no matter how nice Walk the Plank is I haven't had to many troubles in PC fights getting in backstabs. Sailwind has great possibilities though in PVP usually if my CA are all down and I'm waiting it's usually not to much longer that them or me is dead. Yes there are a few other abilities as a Pirate that I would love to have and could help greatly in PVP but if you haven't noticed I'm going Tank. Though this is still a possibility even in a PVP environment.

Blackguard's Strength and Thief's Intelligence are the main secondary lines I'm looking into and think they both have their ups and downs. The Str line ups my Defense while the Int line makes it so that I'm more roguish when it's needed. The added Feign ability of the Intelligence line is a hard ability not to want to have, though I'm still unsure as to what is the best way to go. If I was in a PVE environment the Intelligence line is probably one of the best you could have. Getting hate is very easy and with Evasiveness ability I could go all out w/ a lot less recourse for hate. Though, in PVP that's not really an option when the other side sees you as KOS; your on the top of their hate list if seen. If your in a fight where your priest or mage is the top vs another PC, Swear/cuss/upbraid (Taunt abilities) are all very nice Combat abilities to help make you top on that list anyhow. The main reason I want Strength line is I can utterly make someone's recast time that much more slower... Something to think about

As far as Fencer's Wisdom to me it's more of a Roleplay line. Some one has to really be into Fencing in order to want this line. As you can see this is my opinion though, the Fencer's line is not with out merit there are some nice abilities. However, I like defense and will skip this line all together.

These are all brief and to the point and should be taken as such. I will continues to choose my AAXP based on what I feel is best for me at the time. If you missed the above link, this has all the info based on the Rogue line I've been writing about.

Suggestion time** If you noticed I accentuated the Archetype names for each of the lines and in doing so hoped to get it across that I really like the names used for each line. Such as it's nice to be a Dragoon/Gladiator/Guardian likewise you could be a Executioner/Berserker and my favorite in name alone is Pirate/Thief/Brigand, although I will most likely be a Mercenary/Blackguard/Brigand. What I would like to see is the ability that once you get the bottom Alternate Ability line finished, a Archetype name system being used.

Here is a few suggestions at making the Archetype naming system work. Let them become Prefix names, displayed as such.
Mercenary
Destroyer Falik Splitshade
Aggroculutre

My other suggestion is to have it used in the search engine for classes. When you do a /Who all Brigand the list could show.

Name level location Class/Archetype
Falik 37 anywhere Brigand / Mercenary
Joesmoe 2 newb Brigand
Uberall 70 nothere Brigand / Pirate / Thief

It doesn't even have to show both Archetypes it could just show the one you wish it to display. Just like where you could select your prefix name that could be the Archetype that shows under the search function. This could server as a purpose tag for those that might be looking for a tank and know Brigand/Mercenarys can do a decent job as well. There are other reasonings with other classes but this is one I know well. Just something for thought, until then I hope everyone enjoys the journey to Pwnage.

Alt experience #1

Recently I've been focused on my AAXP with both my Guardian and my Brigand. I think I've focused more on getting my quests done so that I can get my next AA point then actually gaining another level. There are so many sweet things about this addition with the Kingdom of Sky expantion, it's the main reason I purchased KOS. Don't get me wrong, I love the new armor models and as much as I complained in the past you'd figure I would of bloged it already. There are so many different options for each character to go the way they want to with AAXP and Armor it makes this well worth the money. It's all about preference; I think some are all about the Raid point of view while others maybe about RP or grouping point of view it's nice we all get a choice how our charcter is truely built.

If you noticed your class AAXP you will see some things are so sweet your gonna focus on it and some others are just blah. Though, I've seen just about every AAXP and believe they all have there merits, some more for roleplaying aspect and other's have great functionality. I play two charcters at the moment so today I'll give a overview of my Guaridan(pve) choices and tommrow will be about Brigands(pvp).

Guardians: I've had a misconception about this class since the Combat revamp and up until the past month didn't know what they were about anymore. The Warrior line of AAXP has been the hardest to chose from thus far because I love just about every end line ability.

The hardest part was for me to choose from STA or AGI line which I singled out to be my favorites. The STA line requires a buckler which for me isn't a big deal Mitigation wise because you get great avoidance and other ability's that still keep you in line with being a decent warrior once the line is all filled out. The biggest trouble I had was the fact that there is not a single buckler version other then the SBS that I like. Bucklers also have a fault in the fact that they all look the same when they are player made from tier 4 to top tier (baring tier 7) because truthfully I don't know what that looks like. The only other buckler I like is the one that is clerics only, it's metallic looking and overall has a cool feel to owning. I will have to wait till my vanity is fufilled before I think about going Gladiator. The reason STR wasn't a choice in regards to my Guardian on the first line of AAXP is because I feel Beserkers are the AXE class. That doesn't mean I wont do STR it just that I just feel AGI is better suited for my character.

So if you didn't guess I went AGI line to become a Dragoon. I finally attained the first Dragoon ability "Dragoon Spin" which is a decent AOE, 1 second cast and 1 min recast, the recast is a little bit long for me but I'll deal. The coolest part is one must have a Spear equipped, this has a great defining quality to it and there is some Roleplayablity to it also. Even though I have other AOE's that look like all the spin hit AOE's, I was glad to actually have another ability to give a little more surrounding hate. (damn warlock dps) The only thing missing from the AGI line is the ability to kill Dragons better; we can't have everything I suppose. Yes, I know I'm not really a full flegged Dragoon but I still felt more like a Dragoon the moment I equipt my first pike, even more so the minute I gained the AOE. Now I never owned a Spear for my Guardian so it was kinda cool, I am or rather was a Sword and Board warrior. I really can't wait to make more upgrades to my Dragoon line and for me this is what will set my Guardian apart from others this is a nice touch indeed.

I looked at STR and WIS lines as my secondary focus and will look deeper into those when I become a full fleged Dragoon though the Wisdom line is a real possibility. The intelligence line had nothing of major importance to myself but was still a decent line to have. Have to be careful because we can only have up to 50 points at the moment.

I'll be working on the EQ2daily-wiki Alternate Exp. in the near future so keep an eye out for the Warrior line. Yes it's an empty template for now but I'll populate it soon enough.

More on Brigand AAXP tomorrow*

Brell Rocks

I got my wish. Something I found missing in the game since day one has finally been implemented. Early on in EQ2 devlopment I was excited that what I feelt as a key aspect was gonna be there. I couldn't wait to see what being drunk is like in EQ2, sadly we know it was never implemented until yesterday. Notice the time stamp for this quote, 2003.

Fri Aug 22, 2003 10:53 pm
Moorgard wrote:
Okay, I blame Hannar for this... Some of the team just spotted this thread and ran over to ask me if I'd seen the drunk effect yet. I said no. So they showed it to me. I'm not exactly sure which designers came up with this, but they obviously know their booze. The drunk effect is literally nauseating. Everything gets all blurry and moves in and out of focus. Not like it did in EQ; like it does when you're really, really wasted and the barstool suddenly feels like it's made of jello. Maybe they consulted Anyuzer after his birthday--I dunno. But however they did it, the drunk effect is quite... unsettling. But somehow, I think you guys are gonna like it.

All I have to say is this is the coolest World Event quest I've done. It's short sweet and to the point. I'll give a brief Quest overview so if you don't want any spoilers read no further.

There is two portal's in which you may zone into. One from Antonica outside North Qeynos gate and the other Commonlands outside West Freeport Gates. It's rather weird they choose it to look like a portal but it's a Bar portal nonetheless.

You gain a Quest inside this bar, it's an actual zone you share one both sides of the world. (which makes for great PVP bar fights) Once you get the quest from the Dwarf at the bar you may start around the world venturing for a few things.
Upstairs is a personal bar instance set up where you need to get Jimmy drunk for beer ingredients. This can be a little time consuming and he will attack you if you get him to drunk. After this you get to travel, I went to Thundering steppes where you need to snatch barely in TS village. First you need to distract the owner by Cow tipping Betsy (this didn't seem to want to work for a bit) after run in and yoink it. Now it's time to collect pure water, this is an actual harvest. They are all right under the 4 docks to each of the zones required; Antonica, Commonlands, Thundering Steppes, and Nektulose Forest. Once your done here you can go back to the bar where you give the ingredients to the Dwarf where he in turn tells you to recite a prayer.








You will be ported to an instance that is exactly like the one in which Varsoon resides. Here you will find a few Dwarfs working away and a Ghost that asks you to figure out the trial. This is where you can actully die if you choose unwisely; I did. If you wish to solve it yourself read no further. You pick up the Stein to the right of the Ceramic mug, you will then be ported back to the bar.(highlight) Turn in the quest for a nice all you can drink keg for your house. Cheers mate*

On Nagafen I would suggest getting drunk in the bar and fighting those that come in there, it's a fun way to say Happy Brew Day. All in all I think this is one of the best times doing a Live event; and the reward is exactly what I've wanted.

EQ2 features

EQ2 suggestion time, yes every week er so you know I'll have em. I always love new and different and, I do so love to make things better. Though to be selfish and masochistic I think mine are just better off left here in blogy world most the time.

First off I though of a great idea for the tabbing chat system. Depending on how you use the tabed chat system this may or may not apply to you. It would work like this. Suppose you have 2 tabs one with your Main chat (guild chat, tells and Group chat) the other is just Combat related. Now suppose your watching your battle spam go by like me and don't hear the tell sound of someone talking to you. The Main chat will start to flash, meaning someone sent you a tell, or the guild is speaking maybe even your group. It doesn't just flash on any chat though. You can have a selection in the tab options to only have notification if (tell,group,guild) by your own choice. Say your not in the mood of guild chat blinking your tab, you can make the option to shut off guild chat. This should work with any option on any tab depending on what you wish to see or have activate tab flash. It would be nice when I'm not watching the battle spam; I want to see a Critical in Battle it flashes the Combat tab. Of course this should all be optional and there should be a way to deactivate this feature. I think it would be great for those who find it a pain to switch tabs.

It would be a bonus if there was an another option that automatically switched between tabs depending on what you wish to see. If your in Combat at the Combat tab and the group says something it automatically switches over to Main chat tab. Same goes for Combat if your in Main chat and battle starts your hits could trigger it to go over to Combat tab.

Another PVP feature that would be nice. A option added so that we were able to inspect anybody and see their /PVP_stats. It would pop up another window like inspect and see who their last 10 kills and deaths by name. Their overall total kills, Deaths, and their kill or death streak (that doesn't reset). I don't like the fact no one will ever truly know my best was 52 kills before a death. Better then having to go to Players Online to find out this info anyhow. Though I have to say I'm glad /pvp show us our own stats.

AAXP: It would be nice if a window tab under persona would be dedicated for what you did for the AAXP. Such as the named Mobs you killed for AAXP and all the Points of interest. Quests already have a journal of completed so they don't need it. Though, it would be nice if the quest book had a check mark next to the quest that gave AAXP. I know I would rather see a window then the abbreviated stats you get hovering over the AAXP bar.
Quick note* They should make all non-repeatable quest regardless of their con give AAXP. I know it maybe un-intended but it's not like we can't mentor to get the AAXP anyhow. Maybe they make it so it's at a % less then what it would be if it were a higher con, either way they should all give AAXP like collections do; even green named give AAXP.

If you like the real deal I'm sure you may have already seen it, LU 22 has come. Nothing to complain about here and that is great. I'm glad Mentoring is at least back even though it will probly not be used much we have the option. I'm curious as to the effect of reducing Cuss debuff on Divine will have Oh well I get an upgrade soon. It also looks like you can get drunk in game? Wailing Caves 14 here I come woohoo. Though, the number 1 thing I am looking forward to Dungeon crawling in Permafrost for a reason other then Prismatic. This is an A on my Live update rating scale.

Earth is about change

The past few days I've been debating about how I'll continue this Blog. I've enjoyed my time here because it's used as a way of expressing myself. Even if I had no readers it's the kind of freedom you rarely get. To express oneself without interjecting or rude counters to your very own opinions, it is in a way very relaxing and therapeutic. I have the power to delete bad comments which makes it even better.(though I never had to)I started this blog because I found it as a way to circumvent cheesy forums such as EQII and the traditional SOE forums. Just saying what's on my mind with out to much banter about whether I'm right or wrong. People bring out spread sheet to show me the error of my ways, it's just not something I care to deal with. I'm also in Debt to Aggro me because if it wasn't for reading his blog I wouldn't had started this one to relax with and pass the time. So thanks Aggro.

Reflection of one's accomplishments are through various ways; mine are usually self induced. I have very little need for others around me to praise me or tell me how great I am(though at times it's nice) I don't live on praise. I live for change, change to the world around me either EQ2 or the World outside. Change for the most part keeps me going, I love it, I need it and, unlike most people I hold my arms open to it. I usually use any catalyst for change if I have the means to. Some may live for the world to serve them, as if someone owes them something they have never earned. Though, you may have noticed I like life a little bit more spicy then those who wish it easy. That is why most of my posts about EQ2 are to make it more difficult in one way or another. (but usually better) I think in some ways I've touched a few people through my blog, if it was only to make you think or laugh then I did my job. So for all those out there that have read my posting thanks.

Change in the world and not knowing what tomorrow brings. Most of you know I post during work and for the most part it's the only time I have. I go to school and am Married with a 2 year old running around the house. I also have a full time job.. (when I'm not posting here) This job is the Air Force (Edwards California) and as with anything in the military it will all soon come to an end. No matter what you do or where you go in the military it can change in an instant. I say this because my current position goes away on Monday. This position required me to be on call 24/7 and deploy people to war zones all across the world, it was a very intensive job when things got kicking. The new squadron I'm moving to already has 3 in my position so the likely hood of me staying here for much longer is very unlikely. I'm also expecting orders with in the next few months to be moving hopefully back to Europe. There is very high likely hood I'll be back in my old job fixing up Ejection systems (which is great) but it's very time intensive. I won't have the ability to post here as often or if at all and as much as I love to blog here, when I'm home I wouldn't have the time to articulate a good post. Though the biggest excuse is my Family/God comes first and EQ2 playtime comes second there will be if at all very little time to post here.

I'll be posting until I change positions but if you don't find me posting here I'll still be around. I'll still surf Aggroforums and EQ2-daily, so you'll not get rid of me that easily.

Oh! Grouchy Gnome is Blackguard tada....

EQ2 Carpenter

I have tried many tradeskills in my EQ2 career such as provisioner which was ok but I'm not big on making food and drink. Sage, which was easy to level to 40 but extremely boring; there was little to no effort being done to make spells and not very fun making what I felt was the same item even in essence it's not. Armor, was fun for for a bit but the closer I got to 60 the more I disliked the way it felt. Maybe it was more of a market thing because even with attuned gear it seems like there is some jack who will sell his armor for less then the NPC will pay for it. Which in turn screws us over who are tring to recoup the cash put into the tradeskill itself. Carpenter, well that's what this post is mainly about short sweet and to the point. (maybe not)

I love this tradeskill, not everything you do is grandiose but overall feel is good. I knew as a carpenter I could finally get all the stuff for my room that I've never really done. Except for when I get quest items or the old world NPC bought stuff before it was taken down. I wanted to really become a carpenter because to me it's just easier to make boxes all day long. Everyone always needs them and they sell like hot cakes usually not for much cash but enough at this point. I've been able to barter a lot of boxes for strait gear as well. Food, poisons, armor, even a imbued shield or two all these have been strait trades for my boxes. This was great to me, I love bartering more then money trades. Now I'm sure I could do this for other items I've made when I was an armor or provisioner but, I never tried it's just something new I tried on the PVP system and so far it's worked well. The main reason I love this tradeskill is because it feel that even when I'm making sub-combines I feel like I'm going to make a neat new item. Neat and New to me because I never paid attention to housing stuff, unless on the rare occastion I went to someone's room to purchase an item.

Things I feel that are going to make being a Carpenter better (I hope). As I stated yesterday I am assuming that there will be items placed in for carpenters to make for the new consignment system. I do hope this will happen since we are the house makers but I wont really hold my breath so I'm not to disappointed if it's just NPC purchased crap. Even if they have a few NPC purchased items which is ok for the newb the good items should be made by a Carpenter and the best dropped by Ubermob_01. This may not garner a lot of cash when servers start to settle down and own enough containers but will still be good cash even after the boom. We don't have to hope to god someone's gonna feel like having a Erudin Globe for their room so we make a few and it takes 4 weeks to sell a few we will know someone needs to buy these. To most, Inn rooms are useless but, with the new consignment system it looks as if people will be required to traffic others rooms, this is great. It also means more people will be encouraged to buy nice stuff for their houses to maybe (attract customers) to come back. I

Something I wish for~ This is my A #1 wish for carpenters in the world of EQ2. That any item rare or otherwise placed in the room has a chance to improve the actual charter stats or world. Notice before I said any; what I don't mean is all items, let me get more specific.

Example 1: You purchase an Imbued Maple dresser, say your stats with heat maybe lowered but your cold stats gets a boost. These stats can be identified by inspecting the item and make some of them even lore for the room. If people share the room only the person who owns the room gains stats from the items placed in the room by the room owner only(not the others). If any extra items placed in the room by a second party are just for decoration. I'm not asking that every item have a stat, I would actually ask that only imbued or rare items have stat bonus to them. If they can make it so they don't stack or are lore in some cases this would go over well, so there isn't a problem. Such as someone buying up tons of SV (whatever) to get a massive advantage with more then just gear. Maybe even some stuff in the house can give passive abilities that are even Fabled items for the house. Such as you get a fishbowl for killing some epic mob that you can place in your room that allows you to have enduring breath as a static buff.

Example 2: World change~ this would be a bit more difficult but in some ways it'd be neat if there was a charisma type item placed in your house so NPC sell for less cash and maybe even status points. This don't necessarily mean from every NPC but may a certain faction here for there will get a boost. This one has a few possibilities that I could expand on for days.. (short and sweet remember)

I know this isn't such a new idea and it might have even been brought up a time or two on the EQ2 forums. I don't read them much but I figured after seeing this in Final fantasy online it would be something neat to have in EQ2. Either way I actually like Carpentry and I think I'll stick it out for some time to come. Here's hoping that the Tradeskills update is a good one to us all**

UPDATE: COG ~ N3rfed

Almost forgot N3rfed has CARNIVAL OF GAMERS up on his sight this week. I figured I would throw my hat in the ring this time. Go check some of em out.

The Big News; just not mine

Today I was going to go over how carpenters could fit better into the world of EQ2, and by an assumption I'm making about what Aggro wrote it looks like they will. At least in part, I'll go more indebth about that tomorrow. Now onto....

THE BIG NEWS: Of which I have none, well none from experience but if your looking around today it's a windstorm of this weekends Fanfair. There is tons of stuff to pilfer for us but as with anything it'll take a lot of pilfering just to find something we might want to hear. . Sorry I just don't have any news of my own, I don't want to reprint or reblog so I'll just link a few. I would of loved to have gone to this fan fair but as far as budgeting, I calculated a minimum of 1500$ just to get there thru the weekend. If I had that type of money to go I would of went or hmm.... the upgrades to my computer I could make so EQ2 would have all the bells and whistles.

As always Aggro me and EQ2-Daily always hit home, lucky sons of ...... Were able to go. There are some decent links and info on Aggro and some insightful banter on EQ2-Daily.

One thing is for certain even if the only info that was gathered (which it's not) was about the new consignment system I'd still be stoked. This has some hints of Final fantasy online but it's great none the less, carpenters might have more of a real role in the world. Other then making someone have a in game house that nobody ever really sees. I really hope this works out great for both the adventurer and tradeskillers alike. I was always hoping some of these house boxes I made to the weapon rack I claimed could be used for more then just looking nice in my insta-room. I will go on more about this tomorrow I just want all this to settle in.

Friday Humor: You know the signs

Here we are again another friday and no Aggro around to make us laugh. Well as I sit here and am being forced by Aggro's Elite Ninja Death Squad or "A-ENDS" they say I'm to make you all laugh. I'll do my best to fill in on Friday humor or I guess I'm gonna get shived.

You know you play too much EQ2 when...

You try to pull quest items out of Office papers exclaiming "Ooo shiny!".

You've stopped going to the store; you need skill up's harvesting your yard.

You're confused as to why nothing you post on your home bulletin board seems to sell.

You have constructed a second story loft out of tables.

You go to the local dealership and ask to test out a flying carpet.

You've started regarding political parties in terms of Qeynos and Freeport.

The only way you feel satisfied about doing anything is writing it in your notebook as if it were a quest journal.

You buy new cloths and get all excited about the pending stat boost.

You consider every moment of every day a heroic opportunity.

You try to autoattack your neighbor.

You buy your wife sexy armor and say it was at a cheap price.

You start talking in slashes - /say /ooc /tell.

You try to make a "you know you play to much" list.

You tell your wife you forgot about Valentines day because a Guild Member wanted to farm. How else you gonna pay for that sexy armor?

You glance at the top center of your car's windshield for the compass.

You see a rock on the side of the road and have an uncontrollable urge to harvest it.

Your family asks when dinner is and you reply "Just one more combine!"

You wonder why that spoon isn't stirring the pot itself.

You get your Wife a Real rare imbued Shield for her birthday! She'll forget all about Valentines.

You start collecting everything in real life, in hopes you can turn it all in for something neat.

You ask a very revealing female at a bar what level her guild was to buy that dress.

You jump off of everything hoping you'll finally get another safe fall skillup.

You start to visit every construction site nearby and yell "GM event!"

You roam around the halls of work clicking on any visitor in hopes you get a neat quest.

You ask yourself which has better stats to drink; work coffee or home brewed?

You hear a phone ring and say "Grats!"

You duck and squadle around areas you shouldn't be; believing your invisible.

You go to a dentist appointment and kindly ask the doc; What is your skill level are you maxed?

Your at Sears and ask the sales man if the stove you wish to purchase can do tier 7 foods?

You get home from work on payday and are glad you didn't get player killed.


Well I hope you enjoyed this Friday Humor and even if you get a little chuckle I did my job. Yes, some of these were modified from various places and others were my own. Hope you all have a great weekend.

Making change

Some may say that the proof is in the pudding. I say it's in the effort of putting that delightful desert together. Days like today are no different I usually keep track of what SOE is doing with EQ2 and I have to say in the recent year and change they have done a great job. Many people who initially played EQ2 found it distasteful some in grafix but most were in the execution of gameplay and the general worldy feel. I have to say in the recent months, found that these changes have brought back and introduced the new wave of newbs which is a rather good thing. What's great about MMO's is they constantly change and what's bad about MMO's is they always change. However, we are not here today to talk about that. It's another post on how I think changes could benefit the world of Norath.

First, I hear in the next LU that they are to change damage to effect something you changed out within 30 seconds. I like this change because it tells those who were circumventing the system to deal with the ramifications of /yell /nude macro.. die. It says to them your going to pay the price no matter what. I do feel this is a step in the right direction for death, though I'm hopping for a harsher PVE death system to be focused on. Maybe not harsher in the effects of the (shard run, Corpse run) but there has to be something to make me care about dieing in PVE. PVP death is balanced in a great way and I can't complain because, I really just don't wanna die to the other team. Anyhow, the great side effect is there will be 2 second swapouts which will help my Guardian do a shield bash switch back to duel wield like my old EQ1 days. It will also help various other alts that do in battle swapout functions.

There is also an upcoming change to some of the dungeons. To me anytime a dungeon is changed or tweak it's cause for semi-concern. Yes some of the loot tables in these area's are dated but other then loot tables being placed there is a need to watch out for more botters. The huge problem I noticed in Runnyeye when it was overhauled were high level botter's. I seen them using mentor to KS other valid groups and camping/farming non-stop. They would constantly train other groups if they get to close to their kill and were just down right greedy. I think this will be a good change in the end.

One PVP change I would like to see happen: There have been several times people just spawn rush you or spawn camp. Either way it's not really the spirit of what I call true PVP, yes there should be trickery and debotchery. However, it seem that the higher level we go the worse this position becomes. I don't mind a few people coming back for revenge kill on me I do, so I know a few would come try their hand at it as well. It only becomes a problem when someone just wont quit, No real recourse on them after the first kill. So they continue to come at you until they just get lucky, they get the kill and the XP/loot. There is nothing stopping them from their relentless pursuit of death marching until they win.

How come we aren't forced home after being kill by other players? Not after the first kill mind you, but after a series of deaths by the opposite team. Say like a string of 3 deaths forces you back to Antonica or Commonlands. This would help in areas like Cazic Thule and various other places that have respawn jumpers. If you are adamant about getting a PK on the person that killed you 5 times in a row there should be something that the other player can do (win a series of bouts in a row and force you home). I know if someone comes at me enough times I start to get bad faction because I what, protected myself? This in my mind is unfair when I'm not chasing him down. I understand this function works somewhat on helping the grief campers move along but, in all reality I see the problem more in the respawn zergers.

On another note: I hope those at FanFair 06 have fun. I would also like to say EQ2 Devs are doing a great job. Let hope they keep it up.

Guardians

I have in the past kinda degraded my Guardian and I guess it was in a way w/o cause. I've recently been playing my Guardian and have noticed they are a lot better now then they were in the past. Yeah I'm not taking full Group mobs solo that were blue to me but I can still hold my own in a decent group. Guardians have abilities that I think rival other fighters and they really do still do have some decent tanking power. Some of the AAXP takes a lot to be desired but overall seem to be an ok setup however, I've yet to really find out what I want to know about the STA line.










First thing I've noticed in all the groups I've joined or Fighters I've inspected with in my level range seem to have a lot less HP and lower mitigation. The avoidance was give and take but overall my melee stats seemed to be better by default. I do know that from the previous posts I said they are HP buffers and they are. However, they have a few other things I know they bring to the group. Best thing of all is their out of group AOE taunt, this has helped me control a lot of adds which otherwise would of been a fiasco with the Monk I've played. There are also 2 buffs that give a short duration Mitigation and Stat boost, these usually last during per fight -depending on the length or difficulty in each encounter. I know other fighter have decent buffs and DPS augmentation that are better then Guardians but it seems to me they have the best aggro control.

As for the AAXP I've only really looked at the STR and the STA line but have only focused on the STA line because for me more HP means I live longer. Sadly it looks as if we need a buckler for the actual abilities to be used though I'm not 100% sure on this. Needless to say I'm disappointed with that aspect. I see that the next live update will allow for 2 second change outs but even that might deter me from going STA line. Hell, even my scouts STA line uses the roundshield.










All I can say is that I fell in love with my Guardian once again and when I'm not on PVP I'll be tanking my way to the mobs we all know and love. I just hope that they keep giving the Guardian lines more abilities to actually Guard, I didn't go Fighter(warrior)Guardian to be DPS. Which tends to be the attitude with most people that become plate classes. Be proud to be a Guardian/tank in groups and know your place it's never really behind the mobs.

Bad Fix: Mentoring

Mentoring on PVP lately, if you didn't know has been removed except for in instances. This removal has placed a hold on my fast leveling because I just level faster then most of my friends. It's not a huge problem they disabled it from PVP, quite the contrary. Mentoring was being exploited as with anything on PVP, if they can do it they will. I've noted that some of the biggest troubles with mentoring when it was enabled. There was the stalk a grey Mentor-kill-Unmentor and the Mentor-startfight-disband group; so in essence they had to fight a high level character at his/her peak.

These little troubles cased some undo grieving but I'm not here to whine about that, grieving happens because well it's PVP. First I'm glad they took it out, it helped stop the troubles with mentoring and SOE has somebody looking into it. It's not that big a deal it's not in but it does make it a bit of a pain to group with your Guildies and friends that just don't level fast. They usually have a good fix in there somewhere that's good for both sides right? However, the news of the fix came out here recently and it's not good at all.

1) When initiating mentoring, the mentor must remain stationary for 60 seconds. During this time period, (Mentoring 60...59...58...) will appear next to their name in the same fashion as the camping message. Any movement, spell casting, aggrogro will cancel this process. (Mentoring can be initiated in any zone)
2) While mentoring, the mentor cannot engage any PvP targets or cast any beneficial spells on any members of the group who are hated by another player. However, mentors can be attacked by anyone who could normally attack their group, but are not able to retaliate. Essentially, once you choose to mentor, you remove any option of fighting other players until mentoring has ended.
3) The effects of mentoring will only cancel for the mentor after they zone or camp. In addition, if the mentor finds themselves thrown out of the group, or the mentored target goes LD, they will gain zero experience until they zone or camp to cancel mentoring.

I guess it's not all bad, the first one is good in the fact it doesnallowlow those of us to run behind a lower level player-mentor-kill which was happenia lotlot. The third odoesn'tsnt matter one way or the other for me.don'tont mentor fXP xp anyhow so the Camp or zone thing bothers me very little. The kicker here is in the second note - The mentcan'tont ENGAGE or cast any BENEFICIAL spells during any PVP battles.

Ok So what does that mean exactly, well if you read it within the context given it basically says your a sitting duck. It means that anytime the opposing faction is around you have to unmentor and do a /camp (self name here) that is to say you know what's going on. Sadly, more often then not it means your gonna die if you mentor. Most the battles you would have mentored for would be in XP groups not PVP, so this means you will be the hunted. Being the Hunted, if you don't know has a huge disadvantage already so it basically means mentoring is still out on PVP unless in an instance or have a death wish.

I'm not sure why they just don't leave this out of the PVP servers as it is. don'tont need the mechanic in the game if it wont be utilized and under this ruling it just wont. In a way it's a slap in the face in another they can say well at least it's in. What I say is make it so thoability'stys we aren't suppose to use at lower levels black out. Make it so that when I mentor I'm the level of the mentor on a somewhat even basis. I say fix the calculations of mentoring or just donallowlow it. I would much rather have no mentoring then the proposed fix at this point.