Tag: VG

What’s Your Favourite Type of Crafting?

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I love crafting. It doesn’t matter what game I play, chances are I’m going to get involved. That doesn’t  mean I like every type of crafting though. One of my least favourite crafting methods is the one you find in World of Warcraft, where you click one button to combine, and wait around until everything in your inventory is used up. It feels very hands free, and it’s meant to be that way. The ‘hard’ part involves collecting the resources, usually through combat (if you’re going to collect it yourself) and adventuring.

My absolutely favourite way to craft, was in Vanguard. Crafting was its own sphere, and did not rely on adventuring at all. You could do work orders where you were given the supplies you needed and only had to purchase the vendor sold components, and this was the ideal way to level, saving your hard earned harvests for actual useful items. It was difficult, complicated, and you would take pride in your creations. Through the use of powders and dusts you could customize every piece a bunch of different ways, and of course you could make pieces more rare than others. One of the best things about this system for me personally was that it wasn’t timed, like it is in EQ2. In EQ2 I feel like I have to constantly sit at the craft bench and not step away to answer the phone or go get the door, because my craft will fail. It’s a timed mechanic, and while I enjoy the process of crafting, I dislike being so tied to the desk as I craft. Sometimes I need to step away.

Crafting in WildStar is complex, but I feel it leans too much on the side of RNG rather than skill. I don’t like having to compete with RNG, because I typically (always) lose. ArcheAge crafting matches that of World of Warcraft, where it’s just a finger click to combine items in your inventory, so long as you have the materials available. There is a bit of RNG as you have a chance to “auto upgrade” an item as you craft it, but the system isn’t complex by any means.

So what are your favourite methods of crafting? Would you prefer to buy from crafters and not create your own items? Players who choose to harvest and sell those goods to crafters can make a nice amount of money in a balanced game, spending the money they earn from selling craft components back on crafters for their finished goods. Of course if you’re like me you have to DO ALL THE THINGS and so you’re both a crafter and an adventurer.

December 9, 2014 December 27, 2019 By stargrace In 6 Comments

What Are We Playing? #MMORPG

ScreenShot_00361I would really like to request a do-over for this week (and even last weekend). Instead of dwelling on all of the negativity that is currently all over my gaming streams lately, I’m going to just do a brief post on what I’m playing these days.

FFXIV – Usually in the morning and daytime hours, I’ve been trying to level up a White Mage. My little falafel is great entertainment. I really like the animation the characters do when they jump. I suppose it’s a bit silly of me, but I can not help but squee as I run around. You can find me on Diabolos as Blesse Reveur.

Wurm Online – I recently purchased a new deed on the Pristine server, and have been working on trying to find iron somewhere on my deed. No luck yet but as with everything in Wurm, I am patient. I also started a house, and have a little garden going. I’m hoping that as soon as I find iron things can start moving forward, I can’t wait to show off some before and after pictures. I also still own a deed on Exodus, I’ve been creating a farm there to tend, and I found a chicken which I named Henry (get it, hen? chicken?) who has been eating most of my grain (hence the farm).

The Sims 3 – My legacy family relocated to Isla Paradiso, and I’m having a lot of fun with the change of location. Ginger is now a teenager, and even got a part time job as a receptionist at a spa. Bob is still alive, it appears that my sims live well beyond what I had banked on.

Guild Wars 2 – I’ve taken a break from it this week because I needed something lower key, more relaxing. Rushing all over to do Clockwork Chaos was causing me some stress in game. I DID manage to work my armorer to 400 skill, it was one of three crafts that I did not have at 400 yet. The two remaining are weaponsmith and leatherworker. Those are next on my list. I also logged in for the one year anniversary reward. I instantly leveled up an alt to 20 and thought it was a nice gesture.

Vanguard – Yep, still playing Vanguard and still one of my favorite games. I’ve been taking things slow and working on diplomacy, which is very relaxing. Also one of my favorite things about Vanguard (and probably one of the least explored by the general population). I’ve also been crafting, now that my mineralogist is 55 it’s time to level up the next class. I’m not sure which one yet, I’ve got one of everything (of course I do). Suggestions?

So those are the games I’m playing, more often than not. I’ve taken a little break from Civilization V, but am still enjoying the game quite a bit. I just don’t have enough hours in a day!

What game do you find yourself playing these days? Let me know in comments!

August 28, 2013 December 27, 2019 By stargrace In 3 Comments

Keeping Up With The Gamers #MMORPG

If you’re one of those gamers who likes to taste a little bit of every game, this has probably been an expensive year for you. Whether you’re only interested in MMOs or if that extends to single player, it doesn’t much matter. There’s a lot of games out there and the costs can add up.

Right now I’m reading everyone’s excited squeals for Neverwinter, the ‘early’ release starts today – for people who decided to buy the $200 package. Needless to say, I simply can’t afford to spend that much on a game that I may or may not enjoy well into the future. At this moment I have been contemplating the $60 package, but I’m still not sure if it’s a game that I truly enjoy more than anything else I already have on my plate (that comes at a lower cost). So what is on my plate?

I did get my $60 out of Guild Wars 2, and even though I’m not actively playing that right this second I know it’s not going anywhere. I’ve dedicated more than $60 worth of hours to the game, and I’ve had a lot of fun. It will still be there when my interest leans that way again.

Wurm Online is $50 a year (until the price goes up in May). You rarely ever get MMOs for that price, and I’ve certainly got a lot of played time on my characters. I think my main is over 100 days played now. Plus you can play Wurm with in-game currency, which I do for my 2nd account. I just purchased a year of game time, wanting to get that settled before the price goes from $5 EU a month to $8 EU.

My EQ account is compensated, as are all of my SOE accounts. This makes them an easy go-to choice for many genres. I’m having a lot of fun in EQ, and I still dip into EQ2 and Vanguard. Me and SOE (the company, not the people) may have had some rocky times, but they’re a solid game choice for me and have been for many, many years.

Rift is active for 30 days. I haven’t poked in yet and I’m not really sure why. I just haven’t felt the urge, even after claiming the latest expansion and a handful of other goodies.

There are loads of other games on my desktop that I could technically pick up and play at any time, and haven’t felt an inkling to do so yet. There’s Wizard 101, Pirate 101, The Secret World, Star Trek Online (I have a life time subscription to that one), and of course EVE which I still have some unused PLEX for. These are just the MMO games. There’s a whole steam library of single player games that I haven’t beaten yet, and a few that have no ‘end’ like The Sims 3.

With such a selection it’s hard for me to justify spending even more money on a game that I know didn’t exactly call to me in the beta – but – so hard to resist because pretty much all of my friends are going to be playing it. I never want to be the one left out of all the fun. So for those who ARE going to be playing today – I look forward to living vicariously through your adventures!

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

April 25, 2013 December 27, 2019 By stargrace In 4 Comments

2012: Game Year in Review (The Year of the Wurm) #WurmOnline

January: I fell in love with Wurm Online, and my readers dropped to the lowest I’ve ever seen them. Turns out that even though I adore playing this game, very few people like to read about it. Not a big deal, since I write for myself, but it was still an eye opener.

February: My nomadic gamer senses kicked in, and I played some Vanguard along with Wurm Online and Eve. SOE was going through their first phase of ProSiebenSat.1 talks, and it was messy. I took part in the awesome Kyklops killing on Deliverance, which just reinforced how much I love Wurm Online.

March: Guess what! Still playing (and posting about) Wurm Online! A little Vanguard in there too and some Rift when they had a free weekend going on (but it couldn’t pry me away from Wurm).

April: Completely Wurm filled – along with the awesome DAW (Developer Appreciation Week) hosted by Scarybooster. I contemplated trying out the epic servers, but never did.

May: Celebration opens in Wurm Online, and I drift to Diablo 3 and World of Warcraft. Both games much neglected shortly after.

June: Back to my nomadic self. I spend some time doing dungeons in Vanguard (Greystone), play some EQ2 and get an award for the housing hall of fame, and I even manage to start playing some Guild Wars in preparation for GW2. There’s even a little Glitch in there, along with (of course) Wurm.

July: Sims 3 eats up a chunk of the month, along with EVE, and World of Warcraft where I’m counting down to Pandaria. Guild Wars 2 beta is in full swing and I’m slowly becoming addicted.

August: An odd month for me. I dip my toes into The Secret World and enjoy the game quite a bit but find it too dark for my tastes. Most of the month is spent in GW2, GW1, Vanguard, and World of Warcraft. Me? Play too many games? No such thing.

September: The nostalgia bug bites me and I head back to EQ1 to see if the planes of power gods are up. I start a new character, and am still playing GW2 but the novelty is starting to wear off because I’m max level and don’t like to dungeon grind.

October: I pop into GW2 for the Halloween event, and was disappointed. I play a few hours of EQ2 during the weekend, and I join a guild in EQ1 (that doesn’t last long). SOE Live also takes place and there’s all sorts of news and announcements going on.

November: It’s NaNoWriMo month and my posts show. I get a little Sims 3 time in, get completely bored of WoW, try some EQ2, and then re-discover Wurm after leaving in the summer.

December: I barely write. There’s only 8 whole posts which is my lowest month since I started the site in 2006. A lot of stuff not gaming related went on, most of it not fit for this blog. So. Here’s to 2013, and a better year.

January 1, 2013 December 27, 2019 By stargrace In 2 Comments

The Month of Gaming Stuff #EQ2 #EQ #VGD #TS3 #Riftgame

Not only is NaNoWriMo going on this month (which I have been failing at, horribly), I’ve opened registration for this years Gamers Secret Santa, Rift released Storm Legion, Sims 3 released Seasons, EQ2 released Chains of Eternity, EQ1 is releasing Rain of Fear, Vanguard is releasing City of Brass, Planetside 2 is releasing, and that doesn’t even begin to touch on the other console games that came out this month like Halo 4.

What a month to be a gamer, hmm?

November 14, 2012 December 27, 2019 By stargrace In , 2 Comments

Pandas, Guild Wars 2, and Vanguard

Even though WurmOnline has taken most of my attention these days, I do still have an interest in a few other games coming out this year, and I do still get excited about announcements.

Vanguard: Finally, the Free to Play announcement that we’ve all been waiting for. We haven’t gotten many details yet other than it will happen (maybe) this summer. Personally, I’m excited. I’ve been a long time player of Vanguard and I’m constantly going on about how much I love the game. I realize that there are always going to be people against a F2P model, but honestly at this point in time, some players are better than the no players the game is currently working with. I have high hopes that this will help revitalize the game a bit. The only down side is that it will be happening when a lot of other games are coming out, and that may cause issues.

World of Warcraft: It has to be said, I still play. I still enjoy the game even though I did not really enjoy cataclysm. I don’t raid and I find that there’s a lack of things for me to do, but I did sign up for a year (Diablo 3 for the other half) and I enjoy poking around when I want a game to play that requires very little thinking. I should be getting into the beta for the panda expansion, and I’m also really looking forward to the new race. Jokes aside.

Guild Wars 2: This title has been on my radar for ages now. I’m not in the beta, but I wish I were. I enjoy Guild Wars, I enjoy not having to worry about a subscription, and I don’t really care if there’s a market or how it works. I have been staying away from most of the news updates about this game, although I have indulged and watched the trailers. I’m eager to jump in and play, and it doesn’t matter how good or bad the game is, I’ll judge for myself whether or not I enjoy it.

There are a few other games coming out this year that are pretty exciting. What are you most looking forward to if anything at all? Perhaps there’s a console game that tickles your fancy? Let me know in comments! Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself.

March 18, 2012 December 27, 2019 By stargrace In 4 Comments

2,000th Post

Where does the time go – I started this blog back in 2006 and have been posting fairly frequently ever since. I’ve met some wonderful people and some not so wonderful people. I’ve shared my experiences with numerous games over that period and I’ve had fun writing ‘my way’ which is typically drama free (and results in less comments but is true to my nature). Back in 2006 EQ2 was my game of choice, and while my desire to play it has faded over time I always look at it with fond memories. These days I bounce between a handful of games, at the moment the list includes EQ1, Vanguard, League of Legends, World of Warcraft, Rift, and The Lord of the Rings Online, Sims 3, and whatever else happens to strike my fancy.

On the game ‘news’ front this week is pretty exciting. There were test patch notes released for 4.3 (World of Warcraft) and today 1.5 is going live in Rift which is bringing about all sorts of goodies. We’re counting down to the Sims 3 Pets release, and SW:TOR was also given a release date. I’m excited about Skyrim, which is supposed to release November 11th if all goes well. There’s a handful of other notable games releasing over the next few months that I’m sure have people pretty excited. It’s a great time to be a gamer (and a writer of said games).

I just want to thank everyone who continues to read this site, and any newcomers. While I write for myself (and always will) it’s incredibly heartwarming to know there are others out there reading about my adventures and sharing in my virtual travels. As always, happy gaming no matter where you find yourself. Hugs!

September 28, 2011 December 27, 2019 By stargrace In 10 Comments

Why so Much Emphasis?

After reading a number of early morning blog posts left over in my RSS reader from yesterday, I found myself wondering: Why do gamers put so much emphasis in what we and others are playing. Especially others. Why do we even care? Every day I read a post from one or more authors that includes some sort of semi derogatory remark condoning a group of players simply because of how they choose to spend their time. Or, to be more precise, where they choose to spend their time.

There are those who have made up their minds that everyone who plays a free to play game must be a certain ‘class’ of gamer. How dare they actually enjoy ‘the grind’ that comes with a lot of these games. Don’t they know that in the long run they’ll pay more for their “free” game then some people will pay for their monthly subscription?! Then there are the WoW gamers. Don’t even get me started on these people. I have heard everything from how close minded they are to how stupid they must be, simply because of where they choose to spend their time. It’s as though we as gamers have moved into certain categories and stereotypes not based on who we are, but because of where we play.You ask a fellow blogger their game of choice and suddenly your opinion of them shifts slightly.

So I ask again – why does this aspect of a person even matter. Why are we so keen to judge someone based on a persons decision to spend their free time where they wish. I have even heard people go so far as to say they do not like a particular person because they play certain games that they are not fond of. Really? Are we so shallow that we are now making character judgements based on video games?

I simply don’t understand it.

In my opinion it doesn’t matter where you play, so long as you have fun. In fact voicing my opinion about any other ‘type’ of gamer is a moot point because when it comes to how others are spending their time – my opinion doesn’t matter! It’s their time, their money, and what I think of the matter is completely irrelevant. I refuse to classify a person based on whether they’re playing EQ2, EQ, VG, LotRo, WoW, WAR, DDO, Darkfall, Wizard101, Runes of Magic, EVE, Alganon, Fallen Earth, Lineage II, Allods, Champions, STO, Free Realms, Aion, FFXIV, SWG, Guild Wars, AoC, or any other game.

Go play, and enjoy. Don’t like it? Move on and find something you DO enjoy. It’s a game. They’re supposed to be fun. There are SO many games out there and despite what others would say about them all cloning one another there are always unique factors to each and every game – you may be surprised at what you end up playing and enjoying. I implore gamers to make their own decisions about what they like and don’t like, and refuse to be classified into a category of gamer simply because of where they spend their time.

October 9, 2010 December 27, 2019 By stargrace In 4 Comments

So Many Games, So Little Time

A full blog post just isn’t working out for me today, so I’ll keep it short (for once). I didn’t get to play EQ2 at all yesterday due to work, meetings, and other things popping up (brother came down for the day) but I picked up the daily double to do at another time since you can keep them for a number of days. Started a few new games, can’t talk about one yet but I will as soon as I can. Princess (the cat) woke me up at 5:45 instead of 5:30 today, so that’s nice. She’s resorted to chewing apart the same book instead of 20 different ones, another bonus!

Next weekend is the Medieval Festival and work deadlines, so needless to say my posts will be sporadic and disjointed at best over the course of the following seven days. Once that weekend is over things should be able to settle back down to normal, and I won’t appear so harried and frantic. We’ll see!

Happy gaming where ever you play, and have yourselves a fantastic weekend.

June 6, 2009 December 27, 2019 By stargrace In 5 Comments

Alice the Camel in Telon

I decided to peek into Telon today, it’s been a little while. Not because I don’t adore the game, I always have (even at launch with a billion bugs) but I just don’t have enough hours in a day to do everything I’d like to do. I’m fairly certain that everyone suffers from this. 

Anyhow, the first thing I always do is log in and gate to my house to make sure it’s still standing (hey, I worked HARD on that T5 house!) and add a little more coin to the upkeep. I’ve owned the house since March of 2008, and was pleased to see it still standing. My Christmas tree is still set up in it in fact. One of these days I’ll actually level my carpenter up and be able to add more furniture to the place. 

My characters in Vanguard are all on the Seradon server:

  • Faydai – 44 Half Elf Bloodmage, 47 Artificer (Mineralogy) 
  • Arysh – 18 Kojani Human Warrior, 17 Blacksmith (Weaponsmith)
  • Minxes – 15 Thestran Human Bard, 14 Artificer (Carpenter)
  • Ysandria – 19 High Elf Psionicist, 5 Outfitter (Tailor)
  • Ishbel – 23 Dark Elf Disciple, 23 Outfitter (Leatherworker)
  • Qutey – 14 Raki Paladin, 10 Blacksmith (Armorer) 
  • Petites – 4 Halfling Cleric

As I logged them each in to check sales I noticed something that must have slipped by me in the notes. Vanguard has appearance slots now! Woohoo. Not that I’ve actually used them (yet) but some of my characters (Ysandria in particular) are wearing some massively disgusting gear. I’m looking forward to finding something pretty (which is some times a challenge) to wear over top of her ‘battle’ gear. 

I also noticed that I had a new item I could claim that I’d never seen before. In this item are gem slots, I assume for some sort of attunement. Something else I’d never heard of before. Since my highest character is (at this moment) only level 44, I decided not to claim it yet. I can’t wear it until 50 anyhow. I don’t have the faintest idea how the gem slots work or where I obtain them from but I’m looking forward to figuring it all out. That’s one of the best parts of Vanguard to me, trying to figure it all out and put it together. I don’t have to know everything about the game in order to play it. Eventually I’ll figure it out.

The game was quite busy this morning when I logged in, at 8am EST there was a pick up raid for Jagund looking for 3 more before they’d be full. Players were talking in channels (as always) and even the craft channel was showing signs of life. All things I love to see, especially at 8am on a Friday. 

There have been other changes in game and content released for players, more polishing going on of course. I found it amazing that within the city of Aghram which typically lags me to no end and I barely manage 5fps, I was hitting 50fps even around corners. My house was giving me 180fps, a number I’d never even seen in game before. 

I decided to take things easy and before jumping right back on my bloodmage, took a peek at my second favorite character, which is my psionicist. Looking through her quest journal (and gear) I realized she had never done any of the URT missions (United Races of Thestra), which reward some pretty nice gear at lower levels. I took her to Renton Keep and called for her trusty camel, and set off to spend the morning working on those. It didn’t take very long to get back into my pattern, and since the quests are now green, it took barely any time to complete them. 

I may level up my level 4 cleric who is still on the Isle of Dawn, I really love that starter area. It’s so beautiful and the quest rewards (and gear) are quite astounding. I’ve never really been into the cleric in Vanguard because when I first started playing they were (quite literally) everywhere, so maybe I’ll free up a character slot and create something new. Ah, yes, alt fever, it never quite goes away!

It’s one of those great lazy Fridays that I enjoy even more then the actual weekend, and it’s RAINING out (see that, rain, not snow!) for the first time in a very long time. Sure, tomorrow it’s supposed to be -4F again (-20C) but hey, I’ll take what I can get. 

I hope everyone has a fantastic Friday, and I’ll see you in Norrath Telon, or where ever I happen to wander these days.

February 27, 2009 December 27, 2019 By stargrace In 2 Comments
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