- Even in the face of the WoW craziness, I would be remiss if I did not give Everquest 2 Extended its due. There is a lot more to the game than I ever give it credit for. And SOE has been working hard to pull out some of the deliberate obfuscation. So with some extra time on my hands, I headed back to EQ2X to get reacquainted with my inquisitor.
- Did you know there is crafting in this game? Okay, that is a deliberately stupid question, but I have a point. Each time I've tried to play EQ2 (and I have tried several times over the years) I have always run into some boundary that I could not surmount, only to have better luck the next time I signed up. Whether it has been a professional breakthrough or SOE polishing the game, I cannot say. But the big stumbling block I finally overcame this time was to play the tradeskill game.
- Oh, I've tried it before, but it has always been a pain in the ass for me. All of the various harvesting skills, all myriad professional options, and the stacks of mostly useless gear you craft to level. It never clicked for me before. But this time for some reason, I dove into leveling my tradeskill alongside my adventuring profession.
- I have a theory about why it worked for me this time: the quests. Right from the start in New Halas, I was given quests to gather resources and take up crafting. They gave me a goal and I went for it like a rat after the cheese. And then there were the crafting questlines in New Halas itself as well as those in Butcherblock Mountains that actually tell a story, only you solve the problems with a workbench and some tools instead of swords and spells. Someone put a lot of effort into giving people who love to craft a reason to go out into the world other than resource gathering. And I am hooked. I've even fallen into the trap of completing the daily tasks and work orders for bonus experience and faction.
- In fact, I was so hooked on crafting that my tradeskill level has outstripped my adventure level. And although I loved the look of my New Halas armor, I put it all in the bank so that I could show off my crafted steel armor set. I find myself in the position have having to catch up with my adventuring so that I can gather more resources to feed the tradeskill machine.
- Crafting in most games is something I do so that I can have an advantage of some sort. In EQ2, I'm doing it because it is fun. You win this round, EQ2.
© 2010 Marty Runyon. All rights reserved.
- Since Stargrace is expecting a bunch of WoW Shattering posts, I thought I should oblige her. Here are a few thoughts about logging back into World of Warcraft. For the first time!
- Plight of the Low Level Mage - Although many people logged onto the their level eighty mains for their tour of New Azeroth, that is not what I wanted from the new patch. I wanted to see the world as Blizzard designed it: for a low level character. So my first step was to roll up a new human mage. I made her human in honor of my first character. I made her a mage to see how my main would play if I rolled her today. And I made her female because I'm a weird dude. It turns out the first level mages are cool. You start out with Fireball on your skill bar and get Arcane Missiles and Fire Blast soon after. You actually feel like a mage very quickly. The only time I used my wand or staff was when I wanted to mix it up a little. So cool!
- Northshire Reborn! - Northshire was always a little goofy. It was this weirdly idyllic setting that just happened to have some kobold and bandit troubles. You ran around pastoral field skinning wolves, bashing kobolds, and driving the Defias out of a vineyard. No more! Northshire is a war zone when you show up. The Blackrock Orcs have invaded and you have to help the army drive them out. That mean killing wargs and orc spies, healing the wounded with the power of the Holy Light (and that's for every class), as well as putting out fires and killing the orcs' leader. There is something to be said for turning up the tension so fast. It fits the tenor of the humans much better. I'm looking forward to seeing the changes in the other starter zones now.
- A Little Help From My Friends - While I was playing last night, my brother logged in to say Hi. He got back in the game recently and he was interested in how the world was changing. And we'd been talking about starting a static group to level new characters, so we wanted to do a little planning. Needless to say there was a lot of "You need to check this out" and "You should really try this" going on. And while that was all going on, I sent a random tell to GeeCee to find out if she really did play on that server. Amazingly enough, she didn't put me on ignore and we chatted about everything we saw most of the night. She was also kind enough to get my brother and I invited to her guild. It has been a long while since I played in a guild, so this will be quite the change. There was one other person I asked to play, but my wife said she had other priorities. I'll get her some day.
- Stormwind, OMG - Speaking of changes, Stormwind looks amazing. It still feels like Stormwind, but it's almost like there was this great city that was always hiding behind the old one. It really feels like this city is more open and natural. The open area behind the city, along with the wedding gazebo and the cemetary are amazing additions to the flavor. I know the park had been destroyed, but I only wandered in there by accident one time. I bearly remembered it was there. The city was so overwhelming that I forgot to continue questing and I fished with my new character up to 75. Yes, I understand that I am strange, but I can't help myself. It was just so fun to fish and watch everyone walk by.
- New Daily Quests? Of Course There Are - When I woke up this morning, I just had to log in again and to look around some more. This time, it was with very first character, the paladin. If I was returning to the Alliance, it wouldn't be fair not to get her into the action. Funny enough, I logged in standing right outside the Stockades portal. Right outside was a blue exclamation point I didn't remember seeing the night before. And sure enough, there is a daily cooking quest available. But instead of just gold and a token, the quest also rewarded two skill points. What a great idea! I also found the daily fishing quest which gave one skill point. Bravo to Blizzard for that update.
- Blizzard Makes Breadcrumbs - Just before I logged of I made my way over to the front entrance of Stormwind where I discovered the The Hero's Call Board. Evidently, this board will provide a breadcrumb quest that will tell you which zone you are expected in and why you are going. It's a simple and elegent solution. I've always been annoyed with most MMOs that expect you to intuit where you are expected to go next. Sure, you could explore your way through the game, but that isn't for everyone. So Blizzard has added its own Golden Path, several even since different capitols have different zone progressions, and I think it is a great idea.
- Enough from me. What do you think about the Shattering?
- Have a great holiday, everyone, in game or out.
© 2010 Marty Runyon. All rights reserved.
- Today is the day the world goes boom. Azeroth, at least. I loaded the update and watched the new cinematic before I left for work. The movie was beautiful, of course, probably their best yet. I left me ready to log in and forget work if only the servers had been up. You know what I'll be up to tonight.
- Speaking of the cinematic, this quote from Tom Chilton (found at MMO Champion) is very interesting.
The final "event" is the in-game cinematic. And that's really what the transition is for players.... That's suppose to be what happened while you were asleep. Conceptually, this is what just happened while you weren't controlling your character.
I'm sure this was the intent with Wrath of the Lich King, though it didn't succeed nearly as well. But the idea that the cinematic could be used to move the story forward is excellent. Single player games have been doing it for years, but doing it in WoW is a great idea.
- Of course, there is more than WoW news today. Poker Night At The Inventory was finally released yesterday. Yes, I've been waiting and checking every day to see if a Texas Hold-Em computer game that preordered for $4.50 was out. Somewhere between the premise for the game and the participation of two Idle Thumbs alums, I've been eagerly looking forward to this for a while. Only, I'm really bad at poker. Really bad. Bad enough that I haven't won a full game yet. So bad in fact that I called my brother on the phone, he bought the game, downloaded it, and won a game before I could. Nine times I've tried. That's $90,000 in the hole. I hope I'm getting better, but mostly I'm just happy to see Tycho ask Max about his pockets.
- Double Fine announced their new game, a puzzle adventure game called Stacker. I enjoyed the heck out of Costume Quest (and I'm looking forward to the DLC) so I'm interested to see how this new game turns out.
- Also, it looks like I'll be playing Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood at some point. I was going to happily write it off as just another cash-in franchise game or, even worse, that multiplayer game I wouldn't care about. But all the rave reviews and Giant Bomb's Quick Look convinced me otherwise. A full continuation of AC2's story with improved and added gameplay? So, I'll never play the multiplayer, but the game still sounds like it's worth it. Maybe I should put that on my Christmas list.
- One of the most fascinating gamebook series is returning this Christmas. Fabled Lands, by Dave Morris and Jamie Thompson, has been out of print for years. Through the wonders of eBay, I was able to pick up the full series that was originally released between 1995 and 1996. But picking up the series now involves a little luck and a lot of money. At least, it did.
- Fabled Lands is not your typical gamebook series. Instead of telling a branching path narrative like the Fighting Fantasy or Lone Wolf, Fabled Lands presents the reader with a world to explore and sets you out to find fame and fortune on your own. In a way, it feels like playing a Bethesda CRPG or an MMO. You wander the world, find quests, and perform heroic deeds. Through the clever use of check boxes and keywords, the book reacts to the actions you have taken. So, for instance, if you assassinate the king, you are given a keyword that allows you to accept the reward for that quest as well as prevents you from finding the king if you return to his stronghold. This style had a effect on my own gamebook with its hub-and-spoke design. (You'll see pretty soon.)
- Each of the six books in the series details a different land in the world. There are hooks between each book that allow you to travel between them, so your character carries over from story to story assuming you survive. If you are not inquisitive, it is easy to tour the world and not see much action. But if you are bold, there is something to do almost everywhere. You just have to look.
- The authors usually suggest starting with book three, Over the Blood-Dark Sea, since you start with a third level character and have access to all of the other books quickly. On the other hand, I prefer to start with the first, The War-Torn Kingdom. That book has more of a classic setting and feels a little more forgiving than some of the others. Plus, I like the idea of starting small and building from there.
- One of the most exciting things about the books returning to print is that, depending on sales, there is a chance they may be able to finish the series. There were a total of twelve books planned, with some keywords and hooks in place to travel between them, but only six were produced. I'm looking forward to seeing the new editions, as well as the new supplemental books. And I'm dreaming of traveling to distant lands that have only been hinted at so far.
© 2010 Marty Runyon. All rights reserved.
- In Unexplored Worlds, magic is not some scientific principle that is easily codified and manipulated. Magic is weird. Magic is mysterious. Magic is more dream than reality, more nightmare than enlightenment. But people will seek power wherever they can and they must face the consequences of their decisions.
- This table shows how a magician is affected by the forces they seek to control. The wizard's player must keep a tally of the total spell level cast by the character over the course of his or her career. As the total reaches the milestones below, the magician is effected in various ways. These effects do not expire as new effects are accrued. If they game system you use does not use spell levels, tally whatever resource is used for that system and scale the milestones accordingly.
- 100 - The magician's skin becomes magically charged, heightening all tactile sensations. In addition, when touching a person or object the magician will be able to feel any enchantments laid upon them, though he or she will not be able to identify the magic other than through normal means.
- 300 - The magician's body becomes extremely sensitive to temperature, pressure, and the like. As such, he or she will feel uncomfortable in any clothing other than loose fitting garments like a robe.
- 500 - The magician begins to exude an odor that is reminiscent of the spells he or she has recently cast. Fire spells will cause a smell of brimstone, light and lightning spells the smell of ozone, and so forth. The odors are strongest just after casting any magic, but tapers off to just a hint within one day.
- 800 - The magician's eyes will glow slightly in low light conditions. This does not grant the magician any sight-based abilities. However if the magician stares at someone from the darkness, the person will feel vaguely uneasy as if something malicious was watching them out of the corner of their eye.
- 1300 - The magician's hair bleaches white over the course of a fortnight. No natural dyes will hold in the bleached hair, though magical disguises will still function.
- 2000 - People will now feel uncomfortable around the magician and seek to avoid them. With a little effort, the magician can take advantage of this aversion when dominating or interrogating another person.
- 3000 - The magician begins to feel an otherworldly presence observing them at all times. There is no way to divine or communicate with this presence, but it is always felt.
- 4500 - The magician will now see the world as though a kaleidoscope of all possibility states. People will be viewed in idealized, deformed, and decayed states. Buildings will be seen as newly build, well worn, and long abandoned. Plants will appear as saplings, fully flowered, and withered all at once. The magician can still function with this vision of the world, but it can be disorienting to a unfocused or unstable mind.
- 7000 - The otherworldly presence that the magician previously felt will now begin whispering to the magician in an unintelligible tongue. The only time the whispers stop is when the wizard is within a stone structure, such as a castle or a tower, on in an underground dungeon complex.
- 10000 - At this point in the magician's life, he or she has been exposed to so much magic that he or she experiences the raw winds of chaos as a physical presence in their lives. The magician can see the swirls, eddies, and currents of magic as it flows around him or her. Normally the magician is driven mad by the experience. However if the magician has a particularly strong mind, he or she can make a study of the chaos to read the historical record of magics as they have been practiced wherever the magician looks.
- Unexplored Worlds is my attempt to design an RPG campaign in the open. Since I have not rolled a d20 in anger in many years, this is my way to keep playing without actually playing. All posts are written to be system-agnostic, so please use whatever keeps your interest in your own games. Just let me know how it goes!
© 2010 Marty Runyon. All rights reserved.
