So I thought I'd do a new thing and focus on my individual character's stories. The great thing about WoW (and what I thought was missing in SWTOR) is that I have much more freedom to create the background for my character. I'm not going into full blown storytelling mode here, just a little bit of background. This is actually a Transmog project for me, because I want to create outfits for each part of their storyline. There will most likely be 3-4 outfits, depending on their adventures in each expansion. I'm excited to do this project, because transmog is a passion of mine, and this is a good exercise for me to try and be more creative. However, have to admit, farming for these outfits is a pain in the ass.
Marpessa Duskbreaker
Blood Elf Hunter
(all my information is from wowpedia.org. If I have a canon error, I'm sorry and I'll try and correct it.)
Friday, August 31, 2012
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Real Impressions of Guild Wars 2
Well, life is back into the swing of things. I hate to see summer go. Especially recently, with releases galore and things I want to do. But I'm back to being a responsible person, going to class and going to work. (Well, during the summer, I do work a lot, but I've been on a nice week long vacation prior to this Sunday.) But that's boring information. Let's get to the good stuff.
Background Story and Characters
So I did play headstart. You read my woes there. I guess I should actually talk about the game and not the headstart/launch.
So, it's an MMO. And it's "Free to play"... kind of. You don't need a subscription, but you still pay for the game to access it. So its a non sub Pay to Play? It has aspects of Free to play. You can buy diamonds to purchase cosmetic upgrades, more character slots, extra bonuses, keys for lock boxes, etc. But to access the game, do PvE and PvP, WvWvW, all you need to do is pay the 60 bucks for the game.
I'm not really sure what's going on in Tyria (the setting). I've only played the Humans, and a very little bit of the Norn and Asura. I'm assuming it's tied somehow to Guild Wars 1...maybe....who knows...maybe not. I mean its a new game entirely right...Anyways, obviously I didn't care enough to do any sort of research. In fact, it's safe to say I am not really invested in the game's story at all. I do like the idea of the human race being in danger. I guess we're being driven around by centaur. I'm not sure I'm convinced about my own personal storyline, but it's nice to have variety. Basically you can choose if you're from nobility, common folk, or the poor. You also can decide what your biggest regret is (of three, of course), what god or goddess you're from, and how you deal with things (charm your way through them, fight, or show some dignity). These are just for human, by the way, each race has a different thing. The Asura, who are more technological, get to choose their teacher and what kind of school they're in. Norn choose an animal spirit and Char choose a military section (kind of).
Battle System
The game's battle system is a bit different too. Each profession (basically your class) learn skills from weapons. Equip a different weapon and you gain different abilities. This also changes with off-hands/shields as well. You can have dual pistols, or a pistol and a shield and maintain the first 3 abilities from having a pistol, but get 2 different abilities for the shield. You also learn skills by using skill points you gain through leveling. These are tied to your last buttons, since your weapon abilties are keybound to 1-5, and your healing ability is 6. That is one thing that is interesting- your abilities cannot be moved, or changed, and in general, you are stuck with your main abilties (there are plenty of skills to choose from, but at max level, looks like you can only have 3 or 4 total...can't remember). Casting does not require being stagnant. That's right...you can jump and cast/channel! FUN. Your first skill acts as auto-attack and for some professions, it changes different attributes (different debuffs etc) which I thought was pretty ingenious. Professions are well ranged as well, with 3 different casters, 2 ranged, and 3 melee. I've really only tried out Engineer, Elementalist (in beta), Mesmer and Necromancer.
Dynamic "Questing"
So...there is a small questline, that you follow that is the main story. Then there are heart side quests, where you do tasks for people around the area and fill up a bar to feel good about yourself and gain access to some decent rewards. Finally, there are dynamic events. These are random public quests that open up when certain circumstances are met. Usually, and I'm not 100% sure if this is right, it involves there being a certain amount of people in one area. I find that these events start when more people appear in the vicinity. Not all are like this though. You can start them by speaking to NPCs as well. Now these events are fun, especially since the realms are ripe with people. But honestly...dynamic's pushing it. They still feel like quests after a while, especially when you've done the same ones over and over. And I can't stop thinking about rifts...from Rift when I do it. I just hope these things lasts. Right now there are plenty of people, and if that stays the same, then this thing won't be so bad. But if things change, subs drop, or activities change (maybe people focus on dungeons or PvP when they hit cap), I wonder if dynamic events will still be around. See a huge problem I've been finding is that I lack experience to move to next areas. After doing side quests and exploring, I'm still short on the next bubble. I assume these dynamic events are supposed to fill that void. (That or PvP/WvWvW...I heard those things give massive amounts of EXP). But if activity falters, will there be enough? Of course, this will all be interesting to see play out later. (These and other critical points of view can be found on a great article from Massively).
Engineer
Currently I'm leveling an Human Engineer and have finished up the first area, Queensdale, which lands me around level 15. I promised the boyfriend I'd wait for him, although it more benefits me than him. I am having a TERRIBLE time trying to complete the storyline quests and definitely need a partner to soak up the damage.
So besides the weird heart grinds that you do around the world, the actual "quests" you have involve your personal story. You phase into your own instance to do them. Honestly, the human storylines are mediocre as far as interest go (although I do like the human race story in general). They do have a level besides them (suggestion maybe?), although it doesn't really seem to matter because you scale to that level when you go to do it. Every time I go to do them though, even if I outlevel the requirement by quite a bit, I somehow get my ass handed to me. Usually I just get overwhelmed with people, and I've found that some skills do far more damage then other ones. For example. Getting shot in the face does very minimal damage, but getting hit by one slice of a "whirlwind" type move halves my HP. When I'm fighting "elite" mobs (bronze circles around their portrait), I usually eventually just can't survive against them. They damage me a lot more than I damage them, and my healing cooldowns usually run out. I can kite okay, but only for so long and a lot of my enemies have been ranged. My healing abilities are minimal, and I've even switched to the healing technology to double my healing efforts, but that seems to not work.
I thought maybe it was a gear problem, but gear is hard to find, and I've crafted the best that I could wear. I can't rely on my own drops, and I can't rely on others. The Trade Market has been down the entire time, so no use shopping, and I've tried buying from the mass amounts of people in chat, but usually I'm out of luck or just too late. If its a choice of skills, well too bad for me because you can't reset skills. I've switched traits twice, but will probably settle on firearms or grenades or something.
The only way I was able to overcome the fights was to set up a turret, which basically acted as a dummy. It would usually gain the attention of the elite, allowing me to kite and kill the three or more adds that come with it. Then I have to hope the turret survives a decent amount so I can damage the elite, then kite to survive long enough (which has even involved me running to other areas to LOS them) to set up another turret. It's worked, with a bit of trial and error, but I'd rather just wait for my boyfriend, one because I want to play with him, and two because this shouldn't stress me out as much.
I don't know how I feel about the Engineer. I feel like I have a lot less abilities then everyone else. In fact, weapon skills, we only have about 3 sets. A rifle, 2 pistols, or a pistol and a shield. We do make up for that with kits that give us a whole new set of abilities. So far, I have unlocked a Healing Kit, which allows me to drop healing packs for people to pick up; a Grenade Kit, with several different types of grenades; and my favorite, a Flamethrower, which is....a flamethrower. In fact, since I've picked up the Flamethrower, my damage has skyrocketed.
Final "initial" thoughts
In the end, I feel that Guild Wars 2 successfully does its own thing great, while adding its own mix of other features MMOs have used. I enjoy the game, and been slowly moving my way around. It's a gorgeous sight to behold, although I'm more impressed by the artwork on each load screen....it's so...pretty. I'm really thankful for the battle system because it's not another WoW clone type (coughRiftSWTORcough). I have yet to try out PvP or WvWvW which is another one of the big draws of GW2. I'm also still trying to find a nitch I feel comfortable in as far as profession goes. So far, it looks like Engineer, although I'm enjoying Necromancer.
It's been hard finding time for the game though. Lately, I feel like I can't quite juggle this game with WoW...there's lots to do in patch 5.04 and since a few of my old guildmates came back. I like running stuff too. That and school and work are back in full force. WoW will always have that pull...
Background Story and Characters
So I did play headstart. You read my woes there. I guess I should actually talk about the game and not the headstart/launch.
So, it's an MMO. And it's "Free to play"... kind of. You don't need a subscription, but you still pay for the game to access it. So its a non sub Pay to Play? It has aspects of Free to play. You can buy diamonds to purchase cosmetic upgrades, more character slots, extra bonuses, keys for lock boxes, etc. But to access the game, do PvE and PvP, WvWvW, all you need to do is pay the 60 bucks for the game.
I'm not really sure what's going on in Tyria (the setting). I've only played the Humans, and a very little bit of the Norn and Asura. I'm assuming it's tied somehow to Guild Wars 1...maybe....who knows...maybe not. I mean its a new game entirely right...Anyways, obviously I didn't care enough to do any sort of research. In fact, it's safe to say I am not really invested in the game's story at all. I do like the idea of the human race being in danger. I guess we're being driven around by centaur. I'm not sure I'm convinced about my own personal storyline, but it's nice to have variety. Basically you can choose if you're from nobility, common folk, or the poor. You also can decide what your biggest regret is (of three, of course), what god or goddess you're from, and how you deal with things (charm your way through them, fight, or show some dignity). These are just for human, by the way, each race has a different thing. The Asura, who are more technological, get to choose their teacher and what kind of school they're in. Norn choose an animal spirit and Char choose a military section (kind of).
Battle System
The game's battle system is a bit different too. Each profession (basically your class) learn skills from weapons. Equip a different weapon and you gain different abilities. This also changes with off-hands/shields as well. You can have dual pistols, or a pistol and a shield and maintain the first 3 abilities from having a pistol, but get 2 different abilities for the shield. You also learn skills by using skill points you gain through leveling. These are tied to your last buttons, since your weapon abilties are keybound to 1-5, and your healing ability is 6. That is one thing that is interesting- your abilities cannot be moved, or changed, and in general, you are stuck with your main abilties (there are plenty of skills to choose from, but at max level, looks like you can only have 3 or 4 total...can't remember). Casting does not require being stagnant. That's right...you can jump and cast/channel! FUN. Your first skill acts as auto-attack and for some professions, it changes different attributes (different debuffs etc) which I thought was pretty ingenious. Professions are well ranged as well, with 3 different casters, 2 ranged, and 3 melee. I've really only tried out Engineer, Elementalist (in beta), Mesmer and Necromancer.
Dynamic "Questing"
So...there is a small questline, that you follow that is the main story. Then there are heart side quests, where you do tasks for people around the area and fill up a bar to feel good about yourself and gain access to some decent rewards. Finally, there are dynamic events. These are random public quests that open up when certain circumstances are met. Usually, and I'm not 100% sure if this is right, it involves there being a certain amount of people in one area. I find that these events start when more people appear in the vicinity. Not all are like this though. You can start them by speaking to NPCs as well. Now these events are fun, especially since the realms are ripe with people. But honestly...dynamic's pushing it. They still feel like quests after a while, especially when you've done the same ones over and over. And I can't stop thinking about rifts...from Rift when I do it. I just hope these things lasts. Right now there are plenty of people, and if that stays the same, then this thing won't be so bad. But if things change, subs drop, or activities change (maybe people focus on dungeons or PvP when they hit cap), I wonder if dynamic events will still be around. See a huge problem I've been finding is that I lack experience to move to next areas. After doing side quests and exploring, I'm still short on the next bubble. I assume these dynamic events are supposed to fill that void. (That or PvP/WvWvW...I heard those things give massive amounts of EXP). But if activity falters, will there be enough? Of course, this will all be interesting to see play out later. (These and other critical points of view can be found on a great article from Massively).
Engineer
Currently I'm leveling an Human Engineer and have finished up the first area, Queensdale, which lands me around level 15. I promised the boyfriend I'd wait for him, although it more benefits me than him. I am having a TERRIBLE time trying to complete the storyline quests and definitely need a partner to soak up the damage.
So besides the weird heart grinds that you do around the world, the actual "quests" you have involve your personal story. You phase into your own instance to do them. Honestly, the human storylines are mediocre as far as interest go (although I do like the human race story in general). They do have a level besides them (suggestion maybe?), although it doesn't really seem to matter because you scale to that level when you go to do it. Every time I go to do them though, even if I outlevel the requirement by quite a bit, I somehow get my ass handed to me. Usually I just get overwhelmed with people, and I've found that some skills do far more damage then other ones. For example. Getting shot in the face does very minimal damage, but getting hit by one slice of a "whirlwind" type move halves my HP. When I'm fighting "elite" mobs (bronze circles around their portrait), I usually eventually just can't survive against them. They damage me a lot more than I damage them, and my healing cooldowns usually run out. I can kite okay, but only for so long and a lot of my enemies have been ranged. My healing abilities are minimal, and I've even switched to the healing technology to double my healing efforts, but that seems to not work.
I thought maybe it was a gear problem, but gear is hard to find, and I've crafted the best that I could wear. I can't rely on my own drops, and I can't rely on others. The Trade Market has been down the entire time, so no use shopping, and I've tried buying from the mass amounts of people in chat, but usually I'm out of luck or just too late. If its a choice of skills, well too bad for me because you can't reset skills. I've switched traits twice, but will probably settle on firearms or grenades or something.
The only way I was able to overcome the fights was to set up a turret, which basically acted as a dummy. It would usually gain the attention of the elite, allowing me to kite and kill the three or more adds that come with it. Then I have to hope the turret survives a decent amount so I can damage the elite, then kite to survive long enough (which has even involved me running to other areas to LOS them) to set up another turret. It's worked, with a bit of trial and error, but I'd rather just wait for my boyfriend, one because I want to play with him, and two because this shouldn't stress me out as much.
I don't know how I feel about the Engineer. I feel like I have a lot less abilities then everyone else. In fact, weapon skills, we only have about 3 sets. A rifle, 2 pistols, or a pistol and a shield. We do make up for that with kits that give us a whole new set of abilities. So far, I have unlocked a Healing Kit, which allows me to drop healing packs for people to pick up; a Grenade Kit, with several different types of grenades; and my favorite, a Flamethrower, which is....a flamethrower. In fact, since I've picked up the Flamethrower, my damage has skyrocketed.
Final "initial" thoughts
In the end, I feel that Guild Wars 2 successfully does its own thing great, while adding its own mix of other features MMOs have used. I enjoy the game, and been slowly moving my way around. It's a gorgeous sight to behold, although I'm more impressed by the artwork on each load screen....it's so...pretty. I'm really thankful for the battle system because it's not another WoW clone type (coughRiftSWTORcough). I have yet to try out PvP or WvWvW which is another one of the big draws of GW2. I'm also still trying to find a nitch I feel comfortable in as far as profession goes. So far, it looks like Engineer, although I'm enjoying Necromancer.
It's been hard finding time for the game though. Lately, I feel like I can't quite juggle this game with WoW...there's lots to do in patch 5.04 and since a few of my old guildmates came back. I like running stuff too. That and school and work are back in full force. WoW will always have that pull...
Saturday, August 25, 2012
First "Impressions" for Guild Wars 2
First off, quick update. My new blog name and address. Considering I've stepped away from druids (and sometimes WoW) I felt it was time for a new blog name. I wanted something that easily represented what I do and write about (slaying Internet dragons) but also gave a shout out to a media outlet that I love (this being A Game of Thrones/ A Song of Fire and Ice). Thus I came up with:
Fire and Blood (and Internet Dragons)@ islayinternetdragons.blogspot.com
It's longer but I feel it better represents me and my blog. I hope you enjoy. Website layout updates are incoming as well.
Just a quick review of Guild Wars 2 Headstart so far.
Before I start ranting like a crazy person, let me just say that GW2 is impressive. It looks fantastic, combat feels smooth and I enjoy the visual world I have explored so far. That being said, I feel the hype far exceeds the game, but I highly doubt we have another Swtor on our hands.
So I originally wasn't going to purchase the game. Considering that MoP is right around the corner, I was feeling fairly certain that not purchasing the game was the right thing to do. My boyfriend had pre-purchased it and promised me a character slot so I thought I'd get my fix. Then I realized I wanted to play the game with him, and with no subscription, I was feeling okay about the purchase. So I put in my order and was eager to remake my engineer and level with my boyfriend.
Well a lot stood in my way. After ponying up 60 dollars, the registration servers weren't working. So I couldn't even make an account and enter in my game code.
Well an hour later, they started working again, so I eagerly registered and then logged on to pick a server. Not so fast. The server that my bf and his friends were playing on was full and I couldn't join them. So instead, I was looking at a measly choice of one High pop server or European servers. That or I could just sit around waiting for the servers to open up. Wasn't sure when that was going to happen so I sat around checking in and doing WoW stuff. Well an hour later they raised population caps on all servers, so I was able to finally join.
So all happy on GW2 right? Wrong... The name of the toon I wanted to use is locked out for 24 hours. Why you say? Idk... Just the way things work. No messing up here. Want to reroll... Be very very careful. So why don't you pick another name? I would. If it wasn't for the insane amount of names already used on the server. Unless you're using an incredibly obscure name, most names are taken. You're best bet is to do multiple names, like a first and last. But I really just want a singular, fairly normal sounding name.
Alas, 3-4 hours later, I still haven't gotten passed level one. I have to wait until 7 pm for my name to free up and then I can roll my engineer and start my adventure. I wish I had more to tell, but this was my personal experience.
Now I did level my original engineer to level 5 and I have loads of fun to say about that. But that's for another post. I need to sleep away this frustration.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
MoP Cinematic: What's wrong with it?
First off, let's take a looksee
Or 5...in my case.
I've watched it at least 5 times.
Now my initial thought was...awesome. I'm sooo ready for this expansion! Let's do it. I am going to roll a panda monk at the very beginning of the expansion, and do nothing but fight over quest objectives for the next few days. I was exhilarated. Pumped up. Fist pumping even?
Loved the music, thought the CG was smooth, was relieved the panda didn't look like Jack Black, and was in awe at the last shot that featured cherry blossoms floating over a glimpse of Pandaria.
After having "a moment", I finally decided to see what other's had to say.
And a lot of it was either confusion, or discontent.
Many of the complaints can be summed up by Klepsacovic @ Troll Racials
"In the past, the cinematics gave some sense of the enemy to fight. In the original we had the factions and the Burning Legion. Burning Crusade gave us Illidan and introduced the new races, without either stealing the spotlight entirely. Wrath of the Lich King gave us Arthas showing off his power while his father's words echoed in his head, perhaps giving us insight into the madness and evil within. Cataclysm had Deathwing blow up the world.
And now... who is the enemy? The panda?"
He points out pretty much the problem.
But let's be real. Mists of Pandaria is looking to be a far different expansion then WotLK, or Cataclysm for that matter. For one, the biggest difference is that there is no "main evil." Somehow, the Horde and Alliance, their war, and the effect of that war on Pandaria is supposed to be the evil. So what are they supposed to show in the opening cinematic.
Well, Cataclysm showed Deathwing breaking free and blowing up the world. Basically what happened before the Cataclysm. In essence, that is what the MoP cinematic is doing. The Horde and Alliance, while at war with each other, crash land on the island that ends up being Pandaria. I know this. I listened to Metzen announce it at Blizzcon 2011.
So this is what they decided to show.
Two ships fighting. Obviously Horde and Alliance, if you couldn't tell from the flags. They crash land on this island. They then begin to fight, basically trashing some really nice pandaren architecture.
A pandaren monk must've heard them because he decides to intervene.
He then basically starts owning the Horde and the Alliance at once in combat. I found it to be a pretty cool fight scene. But it does basically make us seem pathetically weak.
It also points out my biggest problem with the cinematic.
It basically shows us, Horde and Alliance, teaming up, to fight off a bigger, badder (stronger) foe. Extremely misleading. It's not even that the Pandaren seems like the evil bad guy in the cinematic (which isn't entirely true. He's more like the opposing force). It's the fact that we joined up against him.
A lot of times, people get angry because they take what they see as a grain of salt, instead of looking at the bigger picture. But even when you look at the cinematic alongside the bigger picture, you still can't help but scratch your head.
Now, in the cinematic's defense, it did showcase the new race and the new class, in it's own way. I don't really find a problem with them showcasing the pandaren, and only showing orcs and humans. Honestly, those two basically represent the Horde and Alliance, and we will be seeing to vastly different styles of leadership coming from an orc leader and a human leader.
So what should of Blizzard done?
I was kind of hoping for a Vanilla/Burning Crusade cinematic. Something a bit more montage instead of linear storyline.
With a type of story so vastly different from the last two, it just doesn't seem like the smart idea going a similar route. Both the Arthas/Lich King cinematic, raising Sindragosa, and Cataclysm's Deathwing blows up everything, were able to achieve the whole, "rawr me big bad evil coming to get you." These were great set-ups for an evil we were all planning to ban together to destroy.
But what does the cinematic for MoP offer us? It doesn't prepare us to go to war against the Alliance or Horde. It doesn't have us eager to explore the secrets of Pandaria. It doesn't hint at Garrosh's future, doesn't show the destruction of Theramore. It just shows us that hey, Pandas are cool. Monks are even cooler (and are going to be getting nerfed alllloottttt). Have at it.
PS....I still liked it. <.< September 25!
I've watched it at least 5 times.
Now my initial thought was...awesome. I'm sooo ready for this expansion! Let's do it. I am going to roll a panda monk at the very beginning of the expansion, and do nothing but fight over quest objectives for the next few days. I was exhilarated. Pumped up. Fist pumping even?
Loved the music, thought the CG was smooth, was relieved the panda didn't look like Jack Black, and was in awe at the last shot that featured cherry blossoms floating over a glimpse of Pandaria.
After having "a moment", I finally decided to see what other's had to say.
And a lot of it was either confusion, or discontent.
Many of the complaints can be summed up by Klepsacovic @ Troll Racials
"In the past, the cinematics gave some sense of the enemy to fight. In the original we had the factions and the Burning Legion. Burning Crusade gave us Illidan and introduced the new races, without either stealing the spotlight entirely. Wrath of the Lich King gave us Arthas showing off his power while his father's words echoed in his head, perhaps giving us insight into the madness and evil within. Cataclysm had Deathwing blow up the world.
And now... who is the enemy? The panda?"
He points out pretty much the problem.
But let's be real. Mists of Pandaria is looking to be a far different expansion then WotLK, or Cataclysm for that matter. For one, the biggest difference is that there is no "main evil." Somehow, the Horde and Alliance, their war, and the effect of that war on Pandaria is supposed to be the evil. So what are they supposed to show in the opening cinematic.
Well, Cataclysm showed Deathwing breaking free and blowing up the world. Basically what happened before the Cataclysm. In essence, that is what the MoP cinematic is doing. The Horde and Alliance, while at war with each other, crash land on the island that ends up being Pandaria. I know this. I listened to Metzen announce it at Blizzcon 2011.
So this is what they decided to show.
Two ships fighting. Obviously Horde and Alliance, if you couldn't tell from the flags. They crash land on this island. They then begin to fight, basically trashing some really nice pandaren architecture.
A pandaren monk must've heard them because he decides to intervene.
He then basically starts owning the Horde and the Alliance at once in combat. I found it to be a pretty cool fight scene. But it does basically make us seem pathetically weak.
It also points out my biggest problem with the cinematic.
It basically shows us, Horde and Alliance, teaming up, to fight off a bigger, badder (stronger) foe. Extremely misleading. It's not even that the Pandaren seems like the evil bad guy in the cinematic (which isn't entirely true. He's more like the opposing force). It's the fact that we joined up against him.
A lot of times, people get angry because they take what they see as a grain of salt, instead of looking at the bigger picture. But even when you look at the cinematic alongside the bigger picture, you still can't help but scratch your head.
Now, in the cinematic's defense, it did showcase the new race and the new class, in it's own way. I don't really find a problem with them showcasing the pandaren, and only showing orcs and humans. Honestly, those two basically represent the Horde and Alliance, and we will be seeing to vastly different styles of leadership coming from an orc leader and a human leader.
So what should of Blizzard done?
I was kind of hoping for a Vanilla/Burning Crusade cinematic. Something a bit more montage instead of linear storyline.
With a type of story so vastly different from the last two, it just doesn't seem like the smart idea going a similar route. Both the Arthas/Lich King cinematic, raising Sindragosa, and Cataclysm's Deathwing blows up everything, were able to achieve the whole, "rawr me big bad evil coming to get you." These were great set-ups for an evil we were all planning to ban together to destroy.
But what does the cinematic for MoP offer us? It doesn't prepare us to go to war against the Alliance or Horde. It doesn't have us eager to explore the secrets of Pandaria. It doesn't hint at Garrosh's future, doesn't show the destruction of Theramore. It just shows us that hey, Pandas are cool. Monks are even cooler (and are going to be getting nerfed alllloottttt). Have at it.
PS....I still liked it. <.< September 25!
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
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