LoTRo: Apple Festival

Just a FYI.  I apparently picked a RP server Landroval which is a new experience for me.  A guild (The Common Folk?) announced Sunday they are holding an Apple Festival in game at 3:30 PM EST.  I can’t remember the location the festival was going to be held and I don’t know how it fun it will be.  But, I believe these kind of things are the more the merrier and I just thought I’d spread the word.

LoTRO: The Timing Is Right

For the first time in quite some time, my weekend had quite of MMO happening.  My month of Everquest was up and my wife and I decided not to resub.  Don’t get me wrong we had a blast but, maybe a taste of the game is all we need to satisfy our EQ craving.  I don’t think we did too bad.  Levels 1 – 30 in a month of a little more than casual play isn’t too shabby I don’t think.

I left Vanguard as well.  I am slightly disappointed I didn’t ride it out for a bit longer to get my Shaman up a few more levels to finally get his pet. I can list my reasons but, I’m pretty sure I’d just be making excuses.  For some reason, I just couldn’t get into the game.  Pretty sure, me not getting into the game, was all my fault.

Great, now I don’t have an MMO to play.  I mean, I don’t have to play MMO’s but I like to have one locked and loaded just in case I need to one.  What to do, what to do.

It’s weird how my brain works sometimes and how I associate things.  So, via numberous blogs and Massively, I see DDO is going F2P.  I know some players are complaining about it but, it today’s tough economic time, I think it’s a “except change or loose the game” kind of situation. And a change like this, good or bad, is getting DDO mentioned everywhere (for a change).  Even my grandmother called and asked me about it (she’s very hip for her age).

With that, I started humming a tune of “Turbine smart, mart, mart-mart-mart” and hit up their website.  I checked out DDO and signed up for their F2P beta.  I then wandered over to LoTRo’s  website.  I’ve said it before, from what I’ve played (which has been limited to the trial) I really enjoyed the game.  I’ve never just been in the right circumstances to play it.  Either I’m happy with the MMO I’m playing, or I’ve been broke or something.  But, I see on the website that I can pick up Mines of Moria for $10 and pay $10 a month.  Hey that’s pretty sweet.  And, I’m not playing any MMO.  Time see’s pretty good.

I must say, that I am a bit concerned with higher levels.  When I hear multiple, old school Everquest players tell me the game gets way too grindy,it makes a bead of sweat instantly appear on my brow (ooooooo magic).  But let’s be honest here.  As fickle as I have been on my MMO’s lately, do we really think I’ll last that long?  I guess we will see.

Free Realms: I’m That Not Cool

I typically do not write these kind of posts but, for some reason I feel the need to explain my stance on Free Realms.  I know all the cool kids are loving them some Free Realms but, it’s just not my cup of tea.  Why you may ask?

First off, it’s the flavors.  Miner, Card Duelist, Pet Trainer, Brawler, Demolition Derby Driver, Kart Driver, Postman, Chef and Ninja.  That’s a lot of flavors and I can be any of them!  But, I don’t care about any of them.  Really not one bit.

I think it has to do with the ingredients.  Two part Second Life to One part Pop Cap Games.  Look at me playing Bejeweled to level up mining…YEAAAAAAAA!  NintenDogs, come here Scout!!!!!  He’s a good boy, yes he is!  If I was into these kind of time sinks, I’d be playing those kind of time sinks.  Not a time sink that pretends to be a different kind of time sink but, has a variety of the same kind of time sinks.

The game just doesn’t taste good to me for some reason.  I know it’s suppose to.  I like the idea of the tea.  A light weight, browser based tea, that allows me to be all the flavors sounds great.  I truely believe that this way of thinking is much closer to my MMO of the future.  I love that aroma! But, at the end Free Realms leaves me with a bad after taste.

Gaming Galore

Yesterday was a power day of gaming for me. I was pretty pleased on how much I was able to fit in, in my short amount of time.

Vanguard:
Now that I’m off Noob Island and on the mainland I feel fairly overwhelmed.  The area is huge and my character feels small.  I knocked out a hand full of quests and somehow found myself at the beginning of a dungeon’esque kind of place.  I went for it but, was called away at the most inopportune time.  Death was inevitable.

Raise Your Hand If You're Sure!

Free Realms:
I’m gonna have to be honest here.  I’ve decided I’m just not that into Free Realms no matter how much I try.  I did try it again yesterday.  I ran around, won quite a few games of chess and did get sucked into a the mining mini-game for a while.
Everquest:
I did get to play with my wife some Everquest last night.  I was fairly excited because I was ready to hit 30 and get my next pet.  I was kind of sick of Marus Saru and wanted to try another place to hunt for a while.  That began this hour long journey of running to different zones trying to remember the best place to go.  We tried Great Divide, Eastern Wastes, the Beach of Gunthak, Stonebrunt Mountains, and Grimbling Hills just to name a few and couldn’t find a good place in any of them. 

The Norrath Was Full Tonight

There were a hand full of zones that the mobs must have left with the players.  In Hollowshade Moor, my wife and I split up and counted 5 mobs in the whole zone.  YIKES!!  Of course, knowing Everquest we could have been in there at the wrong time of day.

Eventually, we found ourselves back in Marus Saru and I did get to ding 30.  The disappointment of the day was my new pet being >27.  This means that when I get my next one at 39, odds are he will con grey to many of the mobs I hope to be fighting.  Disappointing, disappointing, disappointing.

VG: Noob Days Are Gone

It’s all a matter of setting a goal and attaining that goal.  That is what I did last night.  I logged in, and got a Temple group…did I say group, I meant Trio.  A trio of healers at that.  2 Shaman and a Disciple. 

I scouted the area yesterday and a trio of healers had me a bit worried to say the least.  It was a happy surprise to find we pretty much steam rolled in a very quick fashion will little or no problems.

The Temple it self was a nice area.  Full of mobs and quests.  We ran across people doing diplomacy quests in there.  I found the middle of a dungeon to be an odd place to do diplomacy at but, for some reason I have a feeling that it offered a really good story line to it.

What Big Eyes You Have!

That concluded my adventuring quests.  I know that diplomacy and crafting is suppose to be some of the highlights of Vanguard, I have decided to skip those aspects of the game, as I know my time is limited.

When leaving the starter area, I was given all 3 continents as a option where to go.  I figured as a Vulmane, Thestra would be as good of place as any and one of the guys from my group agreed to go there as well and show me the ropes.

Per his advice, the first thing we’d want to do is get some mounts.  After 2 griffon rentals (griffons are awesome) and 15 minutes, we finally made it there.  15s to get a starter mount is pretty sweet.  But, considering the distance we had to travel, I am thinking a mount is a must in the game.

He also got me over to what he said was a good place for the level.  It was nice to find a guide ini the game.  I made sure I added him on my friends list and he had me join a brotherhood just to see what it would do.

I Shall Call Him Mini-Me

I had to look it up this morning…

The Brotherhood System
Brotherhoods are a method for you and your friends to gain experience for each other, even when some of you are offline.

Features

·         All experience you earn is split amongst the members of the fellowship, even members who are offline.

·         When you are in debt or have lost experience, your experience will be devoted to repaying your debt/loss before you resume contributing to the brotherhood.

·         Brotherhoods are completely independent from groups; you can be a member of both at the same time.
Limitations

Brotherhoods can have a maximum of six members.
You must be within five levels of every member of the brotherhood in order to join.
You must be within a few meters distance to invite a player to your brotherhood.
If you leave your brotherhood or are removed, you may not join another one for four hours of online played time.
Members who are offline do not receive their experience until they log on. (Be careful when using the system to level up rarely-played characters, as their skills will fall behind, thus they will be very weak for their levels!)

That actually sounds pretty sweet.  Now to find the housing and level up to get my pet.