Weekend Top Ten: Memorable Videogames, Pt 2

Oh my god it's the awesome conclusion of the awesomest thing ever to grace this blog!
Except for me pining over WAR. That was pretty popular.
Onward!

5. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Ah, everyone's favorite defense attorney. I love the fact that in Nick's world being a defense attorney automatically means you fight for justice, truth and the innocent. I mean, how far of a leap is that from every American tv show today? And the cases all involve murders. And the client is always innocent!

Despite how bizarre the whole setting may be, Nick Wright has kept me up on many a night, eerie light shining through the sheets.

I'm not clear on how I came across the first game but since I did I've been a die-hard-get-all fan of the series. Together with OTO, it obliterated the bottom screen of my NDS and restored my faith in Nintendo, short lived as it was.

The biggest impact it had on me was that it brought back the girl gamer in me, with it's drama and nail-biting fade-outs. Soon after I went through all of them I came across Dragon Age and Mass Effect that kept that drama hungry flame burning.

I've written about this more substantially here so let's move on.

4. Front Mission 3

I can't really recall when I first played Front Mission 3 but I'm guessing it was a while ago as the game came out in the turn of the millennium.  That's some 12 years ago. God, don't you just feel old sometimes?

Getting back on track. I never was one for robots or tanks growing up which isn't surprising because I'm a girl. A moderately peaceful one at that. I was more into... dungeons? I must've picked the game up from one of my acquaintances' rooms be it boyfriend or no. Whatever it was it didn't take long for me to be completely hooked.

The fighting part and strategy of it was appealing and there was a management of the vehicles themselves that I enjoyed. But the most engaging part of it for me had to do with the fake interweb they stuffed in there. It had multiple websites with plenty of pages and passwords, viruses and things to "download".

It really showed that the developers had put a lot of time and effort to put out a game with an immersive world. It may not amount to much by today's standards but the game certainly earned a spot in my heart.  The graphics certainly don't seem to have aged well but back in the day, I played it so much I dreamed about it. Oh, shut up, it's happened to you too.


3. The Sims 

I hate loving The Sims. It's so mainstream. Hipsters look down on me and plebeian girls can relate because they've dabbled.

Long story short, I once played SimCity 3000 A LOT. After that, instead of making the logical leap to SimCity 4, I instead opted for something where I had a more directed approach and were things could mate.

I played the first and all the expansions and helped make EA the beast it is today. And then the second and most of the expansions and the beast got a bit more frightening. And then I borrowed the third and was pushing the beast's tentacles out my window. Along with sports franchises, The Sims must be one of the most successful EA ones. They sure did throw lots of star studded launch parties.

I like to think I have since grown past my mania, even though I still pick them up from time to time for reminiscing purposes. And to continue my plan of spreading the "green skin" gene through an entire neighborhood. Muahaha. Also, I like how some critters go around the world pointing their life away or spend their days riding the refrigerator door like a weird bipedal horse.

2. Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning 

Strictly speaking, not the very first MMORPG I've ever played but certainly the one I've invested the most time, money, sweat, laughter and tears in. It was also the game that got me into blogging. If that is a good or bad thing remains to be voted upon.

I didn't get into it because I wanted to. No, as usual, Mike was angling to have someone to play with so he bought it for me. Obviously it backfired and he not only had to buy me a computer that would actually run the game but he also ended up paying for many of my subscriptions.

Still, we had wonderful times playing it and made what I like to call friends. Together we came to love being on the top of the scenario scoreboards and to hate the likes of Crimson and Red Guard.

But the game had its faults and you can't very well love a dead horse. Well, you can, but it's awkward. We lead it to water but we couldn't make it drink so now here we stand, our pockets picked by all the horseshoes we've invested on. Why oh why didn't you drink, WAR? Why?

Anyways, I guess WAR became the standard of MMOs for me. I have a hard time feeling compelled to play anything with other people if I can't kill them in a fast-paced battle among 300 other players at one point. I guess time will tell. 

1. Final Fantasy Tactics

Easily one of the best games out there and certainly my all-time favorite turn-based strategy RPG. I first finished it on the PS and have since acquired two copies for the PSP.

I've unlocked everything there is to unlock I think, and I've come up with exploits left and right without resorting to Gamefaqs.

The story is quite good, the music is brilliant and the gameplay addictive. I play it once in a while to fill that "equip things" need I get.

Although I adore the first FFT I could never respect the second installment of the series. Dreams and a picture book world just don't hold a candle to the continent at war that the first let me play in. I don't want to play with toddlers having dreams and "putting things to sleep" by stroking foes' heads long enough. Or am I thinking HKO?

The game set the standard for entertainment and replayability value for games since and as such deserves more of an exaltation and a more thorough exploration but I'll leave that for another post. 

 

Aaaaand that's that. I'm sure I forgot about something that should be up there. I'll probably wake up tomorrow screaming the name of some game that should be up here and then curse my addled brain.

[WAR] Ehone: The Pudding Healer

If you're not a fan, replace pudding for any other edible of your preference as long as its squishy. Like a soggy biscuit.

What is this? I don't even...

Over the past few days (read weeks) I've been trying my best to hone my skills and become the best healer I could ever possibly be. A few questions arose during that time. Like, why the hell does my face look like a dog-like thing? More important ones stuck with me: survivability. How much should a healer bet on survivability? Let me tell you my point of view.

I, for one, have a meager 1400 armor on my Zealot and I'm living with it just fine. I never stacked toughness so its more or less negligible. The only survivability related stat I have bet on is wounds. It makes sense to me that, if I have more wounds, not only does it take longer for me to go down but I also have more hp to heal back up. Healing more means more renown so win-win.

The reason why I neglect armor to begin with is that the things that hit me that I cannot avoid are mdps and tanks. Those can either bypass a percentage of my armor or ignore it completely. So why should I bother with it in the first place? A radical approach, maybe, but it has served me well and my play style has adjusted to it just fine. As far as ranged damage goes, I just put some distance in between or, ideally, a tree. More often than not I'll be throwing HoTs running around a tree after a BW. A detaunt and a cleanse don't hurt either.

Of course, there are a few other skills I use for surviving. I can't stress enough how Embrace the Warp can be a real life saver when you sense an assist train closing in. It won't save you for long without a guard but the best part of it is it makes one unsetbackable (although this feature has failed me once or twice lately, which I frown upon. See that? I'm frowning!) so you can keep spamming your DoP or switch to the single target Elixir on yourself until help arrives. Another thing a full Sovereign healer has handy is Absolute Preservation, which makes your party immune to critical hits for 10 seconds. Good for protecting against morale bombing that may include increased critting abilities.

You're doing it wrong.

Winds of Insanity is another skill I recently acquired that I also find intriguing. If you're not familiar, it's the whirlwind that bounces enemies off a Zealot repeatedly and spoils pursuit plans. It's not a life-saver by any stretch of the imagination given that melee range in this game is something that should really be refined but it's... entertaining. Deep breaths, it does not grant CC immunity although if a target is already immune it has no effect. Well it deals a small amount of damage if your harbinger is turned off and fairly good damage when you're out in the world PvE exploring. It's great for firing off in bridges if anyone wants to pass by you. The most interesting thing about it is how a Zealot can disrupt his own Winds of Insanity. The skill supposedly roots you in place as a drawback for knocking people away. It's supposed to be a gamble (that can grant enough time for other healers to get away, if you're feeling altruistic) but if a Zealot casting it disrupts it, it can walk around freely knocking things away at will. You have to admit. It's at least interesting if not the most useful of skills.

Another discovery I made (I know, I should read patch notes more carefully) is that my favorite Morale in the game, Eye of Sheerian, was modified. They kept the animation, which was indubitably the best part, and changed the effect. Instead of being a HoT that ticked for 300, it's now a reverse Tzeentch's Talon. While TT strips 1xxx armor and 5xx resists, EoS now grants your party 1xxx armor and 5xxx resists. I will use it if we're in trouble and I'm still far from morale 3. It's pretty good, if you think about it. It's like a DoKs 1001 Dark Blessings only without the upped block, parry, fantasy bollocks part and its right at Morale 2 instead of 4. A good trade, if you ask me. 

So what tactics fit in this remarkably soft do-or-die play style? Restorative Burst (the extra AP makes DoP spammable), Blessings of Chaos (a career defining tactic for every Zealot as it makes all healing 25% more effective; with so many heal debuffs flying around, you're gonna want this), Discipline (since I'm wearing full Sovereign I can't mix and match to cap willp) and Manipulation. 

Now, Manipulation is purely for the lols of it. It has a 25% chance to deal 25% of a direct heal as damage to my offensive target. I've stolen many a deathblow with it and it is a fairly intriguing tactic. I have never seen it blocked or disrupted or suffer any kind of avoidance. If I critically heal, the damage it deals is, as expected, greater but, in addition to that, Manipulation can crit on its own. So, inadvertently, I can be dealing 700ish damage on a tank every 2.5 seconds on a purely healing build. Just for the lols.

Sample of Manipulation and Windblock while pure healing.

The one other thing I use for damage is Morale 4, Windblock. I have been using this forever now because... well... It's useful in funnels, no matter what side you're on. It deals 1800 damage all around you and places a 50% heal debuff. The animation, on the other hand, might be one of the worst in the game. I heard it called the "papier-mache wings" once and it couldn't be more accurate. Although giving me wings to kill off my opponents seems like a marvelous idea, I have to wonder why Alter Fate (something I have yet to see ANY healer use) has such a cooler animation than Windblock.

Anyways, for my effort I was rewarded with rr 83 and I'm well on my way to 84. Also, I was actively asked for advice on healing which always makes me happy. I must be doing something right. But take everything I say with a fistful of salt. Or don't. That would be nasty and unhealthy.

WAR: I'm Warning You...

I've been mostly quiet these past few days, I know. I have a few things on my mind. Like, slotting in the balls to either start actively job hunting and/or spring cleaning around the house. When it boils down to it, playing WAR is much more apetizing. Hey, look what I did (after three gruesome years of love and hate)!

Speaking of hate. I've been near ragequitting lately because and solely because of scenarios and how it seems that the basic mechanic of them has gone straight to shit. By basic mechanic I mean that, whenever they are killed, players are able to respawn in a safe haven (known to most as the Respawn Point) in waves of 30 seconds. This place is surrounded by Elite Guards who snipe enemies who get too close in order to give players a fair chance at regrouping.

OH REALLY NOW?!

What? Don't listen? Surely, you jest! Surely, this is something out of the norm and that doesn't happen on every other fucking scenario?! Surely they are not all bugged! It's not like they pop for no good reason even when there's only a single person in the Battle for queue!

You might as well just remove the bugged ones out of the rotation for a while because going through these motions just to not get the quitter debuff is pain I didn't sign up for. Still waiting for an explanation.

C'mon Mythic....

Yes, there are new things coming to WAR, yes you're working and developing but... Christ. There are things RIGHT HERE that you can fix and can make us happy and proud!

What's that guard doing? Taking in the scenery from a better vantage point?

Or maybe they're contemplating the possibility of running of and pursuing a life of piracy?

God, this makes me soooo maaaaad! The fact there were exploiters on Order side didn't help either.

It's been two years for fucks sake. These things shouldn't happen. There's no excuse for buggy guards!

No excuse.

I'm tired now.



WAR: People You Meet

I was in an Altdorf today when, look who I find (Off target).

So I smiled at him because I was happy. Because, you know, I found him. I smile to Aeoluw too, if he ever lets me live long enough.

And for the rest of the evening guess who starts harrassing me like a drunk spinster at a wedding. Which is cool and all, except when everybody else starts doing it and what at first seemed like a pleasant evening where I might actually finally ding 78 turned out to consist of me fleeing from a pair of tanks who were making my night miserable. Yes because out of the blue comes this Eanerion fellow proving every SM qqer out there just how wrong they are.



Although Blackguards are pretty sweet too.

I'm never smiling again!

WAR: Guilds

Lots of wasted potential here.



Or maybe I'm wrong?

WAR is a PvP game by definition and, as most of you know, when people contend with other people, it is more efficient to do it in numbers. I mean, that's what wars are all about. If that wasn't the case, heads of state would be going at it in the rink, head to head, mano a mano, for our viewing pleasure. Like lions or moose or bears.

However entertaining this notion might be, mankind soon realised there is strength in numbers and that was that, really. It only makes sense that, in virtual wars people try to stick together to battle it out in numbers towards the win.

In WAR, guilds are the ultimate representation of grouping for a fight. People in a Guild like each other and learn to function effectively as a team. In a game that throws man against man in competition, in even grounds, the team that uses men (and I use the term "man" loosely here) most efficiently, wins. So it would make sense that guilds were more important in this game than what they currently are.

I was bored one day so I started scribbling down some ideas on how to make Guilds in WAR more interesting and relevant.

Standard Bearers - Nowadays standard bearers are nothing more than Renown leeching facilitators. They run a bit faster, they're immune to damage for a short while,  are able to grant the enemy CC immunity and they're able to ressurrect one person once every blue moon. Even those Aqshy things in CoC (is it just me? Really?) do more than that.Why not make standard bearing more interesting and relevant? Bearing a standard in a real fight is just boooooooooooooooooring and they occupy a vital slot in a party instead of someone that could be dealing damage, preventing damage or healing hit points.



Hasty collage on the importance of standard bearers over the ages.

If you're intent on this play-as-monster thing or whatever, change standard bearing to give you useful abilites like a bellow that increases morale by a dramatic amount or one that drains it from the enemy; the bearer could yell out an order to increase damage output in detriment of self preservation or command everyone to turtle up and sacrifice dps. Something, you know? Force a SB to make vital decisions in the midst of battle; to be a leader, an inspiration. Because, as it stands, you only carry a standard out if you're pugging and want to leech a bit more renown. And I'm pretty sure standard bearers are more important in the tabletop than that.

Guild Trophies - I hear rumours that there is something in the game about guild trophies only it's not implemented. That would be nice though, wouldn't it? I'm sure anyone can conjecture about ways of gaining siad trophies (killing certain PvE bosses X times; winning X scenarios with guild only members in a party; gaining X renown in ORvR) but what would they be for? I have no idea what the original plan was, I haven't looked into the subject much, but I'm sure I can improvise something here on the fly. Let's see... maybe certain trophies could grant the guild's standard bearers with afore mentioned abilities. Other trophies could grant guild members access to store bought items like potions and talismans. Or even unlock access to new areas or dungeons where no man dares tread alon. Oh, but that would entail new content wouldn't it? Hmmm...

Bah. Doesn't matter. Again, just territory my mind wandered off to while I was bored and answering phones. I'm sure the developers could think of and... develop something better and more exciting than this. I mean, that's what they're there for, right?

Right?

WAR: Patch Smoothie, IN PICTURES!

As in, how you put things in a blender and they get all smooth simply because they've been obliterated.

Ok, so it wasn't that bad. It wasn't good either.

I logged in on my Zealot a bit late to ask for a premade spot to try out the new sc.

'No room! There's no room!' they all shouted. I reduced myself to my own insignificance and decided to at least log on my characters which had had their careers refunded.

Decided to start with the Squig Herder as he was the one in most dire need of a little boost. I didn't expect the patch to be some life-saving miracle potion but there was potential for him to be at least a bit more impactful with his meager 33 renown ranks. Off I went, cheery as could be, off to the monolith to educate me. As I was riding the short ride to the trainers and my computer starting freezing up (because the new graphics card drivers I installed because of APB seem to not agree with WAR too much), I glanced at my action bars.

That couldn't be right. I was expecting a few abilities to be missing as I currently had no mastery points spent but... that was way too many, right? So I turn left to head to the Career Trainer first. Out of sheer curiosity, I clicked "Career Abilities" first.

Everything from rank 23 to 40 was still there. A million things ran through my mind. Oddly enough, the first thing I thought was "maybe it's my fault. Maybe I just forgot to buy everything for a year and now I'm simply being stupid". But Shoot Trough Ya, I remember using that in the Eternal Citadel the other day. And the rank 1 Morale for AP on the Squig Frenzy event. Oh, WAR. Making me doubt myself so you'll look good.

Then I thought "maybe this is working as intended. Maybe, because of the changes, they decided to reset the normal abilities as well to give you the choice to buy the new tactic or not."

But that's not how things have always worked in previous patches. They refund your Mastery and your Renown training but not the actual Career training. It felt off, somehow. So I did a /who Kill Frenzy to try and find any helpful squigsters online. When I did I asked "hi, so did they reset your career abilities too?" And he replied "yeah, because of the changes."

It wasn't just me. I sighed, relieved and proceeded with a little small talk, ready to laugh back on that turmoil of feelings I'd just gone through. "Well I just found it weird, because I'm used to Mastery and Renown resets but not all three of them." An awkward silence ensued. "Err, wait...," he said at length.

So I resorted to /advice where people made the same mistake of thinking I meant normal Mastery training. After setting the record straight the answer everybody agreed on was "that's weird". 

So I filed an appeal where I very civilly explained what had happened and how I found it "odd". I appended that I was going to make sure the same thing hadn't happened on my Magus and that's what I did.

So it was that I was expeditiously contacted by a CSR when I was on my Magus - which is in the guild - and so provided a short comical interlude for all present. Mostly because when I pressed "r" to reply to the CSR the damn thing didn't work and so I was at a loss on how to answer this yellow-type chat at first.

Yes. They paid me off. Upon returning to my SH I verified it. I was now worth 20g and 30silver. I was....

Lukewarm. That's what I was. I can't say I was dissatisfied. After all, this was not a widespread problem, a patch scourge like the unattackable keeps of '010 or the vanishing Chaos Wastes mailbox of '09 (I'm making up numbers here. I don't know dates). So I guess a quick-fix was in order. I think I understand their policy in this.

I remember when WAR cared enough for me to mention me in their monthly Herald. Now they care enough to pay me off when things go awry. It's not that I think they should've done something different but... Times sure have changed... I feel special now, alright. I get bugs all to myself.

WAR: Forever a Noob



I have decided Badunion is not a man but an entire legion.
It's the only explanation.

When I was a toddler I used to think that if I strained myself when going to the bathroom my heart may come out with the undesirables and I'd die. Although there's a bottom (*snicker*) of truth to this, I eventually learned otherwise. My point being, people evolve and better themselves. There's always room for growth and one may literally learn something new every day.

Take yesterday. Yesterday, after a weekend of leveling Drquinn, Medicine Gobbo in T1, I went back to my main in T4 and, after an embarrassingly bad run through Altdorf, we were convinced - by the last of a short line of Blackguards to inspire me - to give ToVL a go. So I grabbed my Magus and off we went.

Upon finishing the quest to open the door, Chioko, for it was he, gathered us up and whispered:

'I have a secret, you know...'

'Oh really,' we all said. 'Pray tell, oh wise Chico, what is this fabulous secret you hold?'

'Well', he said coyly, 'I know how we can manipulate what mobs we get in the fifth boss fight.'

'Why, Chico! This is wonderful news!' We all nodded approvingly and carried him on our shoulders until we got to the third boss.

'Now,' he said knowingly, 'we need to kill honored dead. You will notice they have different names like "Honored Curate" and "Honored Champion". The 10 honored dead we kill now will be the ones we'll have to fight when we get to the fifth boss.'

'OOOOOH!' was the response we all agreed upon. Because it kind of made sense. In a way. So we killed every single champion and two adepts. They seem to be the easiest ones to deal with. We were really excited about this. We all had our share of bad memories regarding the fifth boss. It is an annoying fight with a lot of randomness and the ability to control what mobs you get makes it a LOT more manageable. But if you knew about this you might have noticed a slight contradiction. Maybe not a contradiction, maybe more of an inconsistency, an untruth. A fail. We'll get to it shortly.



Dextrose killed by Aeo and company.
I've gotten much better since. Honest!



During the third boss I also learned something useful for a healer. It seems that he puts up a curse on people that makes them deal less damage and healers are supposed to cleanse it. I never knew. Honestly. But in this honesty I must also place the blame on Lil. Yes, you read me. He was the first healer I ever ran ToVL with and I never heard of this curse then. I never cleansed it (I don't even know if I can) but we never needed to to down it. Oh well. It doesn't matter. At least now I know. And I still look up to him. I think I always will.

You see, we were so excited with this third boss thing we even wiped once or twice but after we did kill it and breezed through the 4th one (which is still the same boss) we get to the 5th boss (which is still the same boss) and guess what mobs we find? Yes. Three Curates and two Occultists. Exactly the ones we didn't kill. Oh... right... So, I guess he can only use the mobs we didn't bash to a dusty pile. That kind of makes sense. More sense.

Well, now we know and, as they say:





WAR: Impart Thy Wisdom

Even after much time spent in WAR, there are some things I don't know and would like to, mainly:

1. A good PQ to solo farm as a Sacrifice DoK or as a Magus.
• Would be nice if the mobs were human so I can scavenge them as well.
2. Wasn't there a quest for changing your crafting skill without having to regrind it to 200? Did they remove it? If not, where is it?
3. The best recipe for armor pots that last a while (not just 5 mins) and the best way to gather such materials.
4. Best way to make money on the AH. Part of point 1 refers to this as I was thinking of undercutting rank 200 boxes in the AH. But without a reliable source for them, it becomes... troublesome.

If you think you're all that, that you know everything that needs knowing about WAR economy, we want YOU! Queue Uncle Sam's accusing finger!

... please?

WAR: I Killed Onion!

It says a lot about a guy when you're happy to survive and kill him even when you're 11 ranks apart. Nornites know and respect The Union and I get the feeling Azgal will too, in time.

Anyways, I was passing the time with one of my many Archmages and guess what started to try and kill me? None other than the man himself. Of course, he was alone and I over ranked by forever but hey, a girl's gotta take full advantage of the few pleasures in her life. That's right, my aptly named Archmage survived Badunion and eventually killed him (with a bunch of help).

I admire people that even when they roll alts, they roll the same class. There are some people who were just born for a class I guess. I, unfortunately, was born to play an Archmage only I picked the wrong side when I didn't know any better. Don't get me wrong, I love Destro but it's the Archmage's mechanic and playability and even animations that touch something in my core. There is nothing else on Order side that appeals to me. And I loathe Altdorf with a will.

By the way, if I ever had the time/talent/computer to be able to, I'd make a WAR video honoring Marauders everywhere. And this is the song I'd pick.

WAR: On a Mission

I'm not home so no accompanying screenshot today.

We was in an EC sc the other day and this one Ironbreaker, whose name started with a "D" but wasn't "Djolle", made it his mission to disrupt the healers. It was quite a tricky scenario with two mostly evenly matched premades. The whole thing must've lasted five minutes (which is pretty long for an EC, you'll agree). From the moment he saw me the dude made it his mission to nag me. I healed, he nagged. I ran, he nagged. I knocked back, he nagged. I detaunted, hit him, ignored him, turned my back to him, turned my face to him, ran to my party, ran away from my party and through all this he nagged. He wasn't actually making a dent, he was just being annoying.

For whatever reason, around minute three he decided to go harrass the other healer. He ran, he nagged. He detaunted, he nagged. He... you get the picture. He had a mission to do and, by God, he was going to do it.

My question is this: seeing as he didn't actually kill any of us, seeing as he wasn't really in guard range of any of his mates most of the time and seeing as he didn't successfully punt anyone off during those five minutes, could it be said that he was actually being useful? Was his effort a valuable one? Was it all worth it?

Going for the healers seems like a good strategy for a tank, at first glance. But when you're not achieving anything palpable, when your side ends up losing the battle, are your good intentions enough? I'm sure he could've punted a few mdps off the platform if he was kiting them around. Maybe not. I know I'd have tried if I was him. Or maybe I'm wrong here? Maybe you should stick to the role assigned to you?

I can't agree with that. I'd rather adapt my behaviour and role to the reality I'm facing at the time. If he was doing jack, why didn't he at least try to do something else?

WAR: Veteran's Prerogative

I'm a veteran WAR player. You know what that means to me? To the world in general? To Mythic? It means I've had to put up with a lot of crap, a lot of bugs, injustices and bad ideas. And it means that I've paid my way through the better part of two years to do so.

I have wasted millions of renown points thanks to a renown rank cap they removed after I've gotten 5 characters to 40. I wasted dozens of hours going through PvE instances hoping for healing gear that seldom dropped, gear I eventually acquired right in time for them to implement the Harbringer changes that made all Intelligence based gear relevant to a healing Zealot. I have been pulverized by bombers, Slayer trains and every other FotM OP class. I have been overhealed for no good reason other than shorter cast times. I've been outDPSed on account of the bad class implementation bat. I've lain dead on the ground with healers trouncing all over my dead body after I've rezzed them consecutively for minutes. I've been robbed of loot and fights over crashes and graphical bugs. I've been branded a quitter when the game fumbles in loading screens. I have acquired currency that was never enough to use and has now been rendered useless. I've been killed by mobs, enemy players, backlash, guard, falling, shrubbery, walls, pebbles, Something. And, for all of this, I've paid a monthly fee.

I'm not bitter. When I get bitter I stop paying and I stop playing (as I have before). Life's too short to do something only to complain about it. I do, however, feel entitled to certain things. I will exploit the shit out of the game at any chance I get if I can get away with it without any negative repurcussions to me or my guild. I think I deserve it. I think I've endured enough bad decisions and managerial tomfoolery to warrant some shady business. Haven't we all? From being robbed silly in our real life accounts to putting up with game breaking bugs (like when some keeps became unattackable and all you could do was stare at them) we've put up with our share of shit. For a fee.

Quality in a product is not too much for a paying costumer to ask for. I don't feel I've always gotten what I paid for. In fact, I feel that people that have been paying for less time than me have it easier, what with their freshly turned 40s being over rr60. I'm not gonna beg for goodies, though. I've been paying and playing of my own accord. I wasn't forced into it. I do feel under appreciated which is probably why I feel no remorse in taking advantage of my good old mates, the bugs and exploits. I've never used third party out-right cheating tools but I've never had to. The game itself provides almost every tool for the kind of exploitation I feel entitled to. I'm a girl from the 3-manning in balcony keep takes era.

Does that make me a bad person? Does that make me a cheater? Do I care? Should I care? For what it's worth, I seldom do anything shady with my main. What she is, for better or worse, is made of pure skill. But my alts... I've got a whole batallion of them. I can't always play fair. And I don't want to. It takes two to play fair. Right Mythic? After all, after all your msitakes and threats of new ones, I keep coming back. Where's my kiss on the cheek and pat on the head? When is it my turn to sit on your lap and tell you what I want? I've been a good girl all these years. Well, mostly.

Surviving Real Life, Barely

So real life's been a bit shitty lately. This internship is gobbling up most of my time. Even now I'm typing very slowly as to not make much noise and call attention to myself. The work itself is certainly not up my creek: organizing credit applications for people qho can´t afford them. Why someone that makes 600€ a month takes out a 10.000€ loan to pay 3.000€ worth of credit card debt is beyond me. And I'm helping this. And I hate it.

It's the same thing country-wise. So our international debt is paying paid off by some entity that's gonna charge us the same amount plus 6% interest? So, if we couldn't pay our debts before why would we pay them this time? What's the point? Greedy bastards, the lot of them.

Anyways. On to happier topics.

I've got nothing. I've been playing WAR on an almost daily basis. Just had a ToVL run yesterday. Managed to take a relatively green group up to the 7th boss. I rocked some awesome comebacks on near wipes in trash mobs but I was getting a bit bitchy and testy when we got to the 5th one. Seriously, what's with that? What's with the annoying bosses that are just annoying for the sake of being annoying?

I get most bosses. The first one tests your ability to kockdown. Always a handy skill to have. The second tests my individual ability to kite, regardless of lag. The third tests, for a healer, their HoTs effectiveness and for everyone, tests their spatial awareness and reflexes in jumping out of bombs. The 4th boss tests how well you work in a team and how well you can keep an eye and assist your fellow team-mates.

Now the 5th boss tests... your luck in NPC pathing, your luck in the mobs you get, your luck with parrying, your absolute luck with critical heals. Even if you know your place, your rotation, your duty, even if you know the sure-fire route to PvE victory, WAR weaves a bit of its PvP soul into it, adding a scent of unpredictability. I think that's why they keep the dungeon buggy. So it's always different, always novel in a weird non-agreeable way. Like when the 5th boss drops from the world and takes a stroll around the third boss' turf (he is, in fact the 3rd, 4th and 5th boss so I guess he's entitled).

And if by some miracle only one person dies and you make it to the sixth boss you then have to cope with the most horrendously boring PvE encounter ever designed. I wouldn't even mind having to heal thrice as much if it would take a third of the time to down them. Then when we're 20% of one scorpion's health away from winning I get swallowed by the world and I get a bit more testy.

By the time you get to the 7th boss you've seen enough of egyptian themed mobs to poke your eyes out. Getting all the aura colors right and fleeing the running mobs and not bumping into clouds can be a bit overwhelmind, seeing as all you've been doing for the last 10-30 minutes of your life has been banging on scorpions and jumping up and down on pillars.

If by some weird twist of fate you get to the 8th boss (after you've dealt with the bird staircase of doom) be prepared to learn his speech by heart because groups tend to get a bit wipey before getting its working down pat.

Well this turned out a bit like a short guide to ToVL which wasn't my intention at all. I've got so much stuff I want to share and so little time to do it in. Weird that it was ToVL what I ended up blabbing about. I don't particularly enjoy doing it past the third boss and I don't really need to do it anymore, not in my main anyway (which is the only one geared well enough for it).

I wanted to talk about my Little Big Planet adventures or my Tribulations with Phoenix Wright. Maybe finally write up a review of ME, ME2, DA or DA2. Or even talk about that inspiring city siege the other day when we turned things around so astoundingly that we were called 'unfair'.

But I write unscripted as silly as that may seem, and I don't have enough time to purge all my thoughts to keyboard.

Oh well. Here's an unrelated thingy that always cheers me up.

WAR: Rank My Sorc Up!

Wasn't Prodigy great? No? Well, I liked them. Did you know they were named after the Moog Prodigy? No? Well, now you do. You're very welcome.

So I rolled yet another Archmage (can you believe it's my third?) but this time I did it on Norn. Hey, if I can, I will. Maybe one day she'll be high enough to contend with the likes of... Seeno. Grr.

But since I've been healing non-stop on my main and I was afraid to get bored with it (again) I decided to go make the rounds on all my alts. I regeared my Sorceress, wittingly named Pirilampo Mágico (I don't think I purchased a second name yet though), and off I went to try and kill stuff. And by God, I killed lots of stuff. Doombolting willy nilly in scenarios. I find that killing other players is actualy quite enjoyable. Imagine my shock!

Ploiter heal Champion hiding in the spawn point. Classy.
We pulled him out and killed him. 75k renown.

I'm really looking forward to playing her again. In fact, wtf am I doing here?

Supplies!

You know, from that joke where a chinese man jumps out from a crate?

I started an intership today (in fact im due back there in 30 minutes) so my blogging time has been severely cut into. At least until I know if I can or not blog in there.

In related news, I dinged rr75 and had a real nice time healing slices and dices in WAR, most remarkably a few EPIC scraps in Dragonwake and a Chaos Wastes Battle Royale yesterday.

Parsion said it best: "I'm much happier being shit in WAR than I was being shit in Rift."

WAR: Fictitious Roles

One thing I will miss about Rift is the viability of the Role system, where you had different speccs you could equip with the press of a few buttons, virtually anytime and anywhere. My cleric was a perfectly capable tank and DPS if the need arose.

If you compare it with, say, WAR, the different spec trees leave a lot to be desired. I'm not saying there isn't a way for a healer to be a respected DPSer but you need to have spent a very long time studying a good gear set, spec and rotation. Not to mention you better be a high enough renown rank (for the gear and the renown passive skills) and have enough money to be respecing around as needed.

For example, I have a rr30 DoK I love to play in Sacrifice spec. I've heard Sacrifice isn't really viable, that you should pick either pure heal or pure DPS if it's a DoK you rolled but Sacrifice speaks to me. Same thing with my Shaman. He's currently around rr30 as well and, until T4 I always played a pure Da Green spec which was impactful in any battle. But when you reach the major leagues you're expected to be useful, even if against a premade of  >rr90s. How are you supposed to do that? Just last night I heard bitching about a DPS DoK.

Before 1.4 I had respeced them both into pure healers just to get them to rr50 so they'd be able to wear a mix of Conqueror and Invader. Needless to say I didn't get there, mostly because that's not the play style I was looking for in alternative healers. When I want to heal I'll use my main. But I made the effort. Now, with the gear shifting, they're both able to wear at least Conqueror. But now we're up against even higher renowned players and going to battle with a character in its 30s just seems a bit underwhelming.

Nobody seems to want a healer that isn't there mainly to heal in their parties. Groups will ask for tanks and groups will ask for healers. They might even ask for Magi. But they'll rarely ask for a damage dealing healer. For PvP at least. PvE is another story entirely. Which is a shame because exploring other ways of playing our characters would increase the longevity of the game. Or maybe I just suck at DPS healers and am just making excuses for it. :)

I was asked to log in my Shaman once.

Although I did play as a Squig Herder for most of the night I was asked to log in my Shaman at some point (I'm pretty sure that's me at the bottom left corner at 0:35). Why? Well, we were all going to die anyway and we might as well have someone there to insta rez a few gits.

You get a pretty accurate remark about bombing warbands in the last 10 seconds of the video.

WAR: Things I'd Do

I'm bored.

Whenever a faction won a city siege I'd host a special event in their capital city, the scope and size of which would depend on the number of successful instances that faction had had. There would be a big celebration, warriors would be allowed to dance, for once, expressing their joy for finally accomplishing something. Scantily dressed ladies would hand out AP potions to entertained passersby. There would be fireworks and celebratory music, taking advantage of the wonderful sound staff that Mythic obviously has. For five minutes, that is,  then it would be back to bashing as usual.

It just seems to me that when you win a big battle and nothing happens, it kind of defeats the purpose of it happening at all. Sure, we get phat lewt but this is supposed to be beyond loot. It's about winning over the other side. It's about having your ideals proven superior over what the Orders your opponents believe in.

Now I've managed to get some wonderful mental pictures of Chosens grinding Zealots, DoKs and Witch Elves taking their tops off, Blackguards twirling their spears and Orcs playing any kind of appropriate percussion instrument, like the corpse of a Slayer. I mean, is there anyhting in the lore that says warriors can't have fun? Especially Greenskins, I bet dem bitches have tons of fun.

In related news.

Mythic recently asked what we like about crafting.

What is your favorite aspect of the current crafting system?

My views will mostly reflect talisman making as it is what I'm more familair with. I like it that the grinding up to the useful items isn't as tedious as it could be (I will refer you to my battle against burlap). Also, you can make items that are useful for any level, depending solely on the crafting supplies you use (once you're 200 that is). I have pushed my alts up a notch above teh noobs due mostly to the talismans I am able to craft for them. Feels lovely.

What do you consider the most useful item(s) that can be produced in the current crafting system?

Crit talismans, Power talismans, liniments and armor potions. I just listed the only things that derive from crafting that I actually use. And you can limit the liniments to the ones that give power and crit. All others are just junk in mah trunk.



What single aspect do you feel is lacking in the current crafting system?

Diversity. Useful diversity that is. I've got two rows of useless liniments in my bank that I'll never use and nobody will ever buy.

What if you could specialise in different types of talismans or potions? Or if you were able to combine useful effects from some with others. You could even put some kill quests in there to learn or use these specializations. Like, say, you could pretend a key ingredient for that awesome new potion you wanted to make was A Bright Wizard's Scorched Heart or a Slayer's Left Big Toe. You'd have to go and kill a whole bunch of players to make your best stuff.

What type of item(s) or benefit(s) do you feel are lacking in the current crafting system?


Or about Octopus Twohanders?
And we'd call them Takoto!



Jewelry. For goodness sake I can't even begin to think of the hours I've sobbed over the lack of caster jewelry sets. Sure there are plenty of others (Strife&Torment, Ascendant Verses&Deep Oaths, The Lost Vale set, the one you have to kill a billion gnoblars to get; these are all very tankish) What if you could make some jewelry to get you going until you can find a decent jewelry set for your caster, AKA, ToVL.

Oh. A girl can dream...

WAR: Smile, Even Though It's Breaking

By the time I give up on it completely I'll have covered the entirety of the song's lyrics.

It seems that every time I need hope rekindled in the game, there's only one man who's right for the job. But I guess that comes with the job description when you're a guild leader.

Apart from the whole "when the master says JUMP you say how high" commandment, the massive multiplayer bit is the only reason I play MMORPGs at all and I missed the regular KF multitude. I was so disenchanted with Rift that they all eventually ground their way to 50 while I was still in my 20s. So when the rally call came, there I went, if a bit begrudgingly.

I was a chick once.

I was afraid, see. Afraid that I'd get there and things were as they were and I'd feel inadequate. We hadn't seen each other for a while, I didn't know how I'd face the game or how the game would treat me. First of all, thank God for Worn Sovereign. Too bad it came some 5 ranks too late. I was 5% into rr74, on my way to my first Sovereign set piece. Still I ended up spending all my money buying full Worn Sov. It's the first time since Devastator that I've worn a full gear set. I lost some 70 Willpower by not combining it with Warlord or Tyrant but I earned a nice proc (whatever% chance to increase healing power by 100). But I lost a tactic slot (had to equip Discipline) and many Wounds talis to get my Willpower back to over 1050.

So, was the game all I had hoped it would be? No, it wasn't. I've been burnt before, I won't be easily satisfied now. C'mon Mythic, you saw this coming. We're never the same when we come back. We're always more cynical, more ceptical, more defiant.

And yet, I had fun. Get those jaws dropping because I did. I had a wonderful time. From healing under the bridge in Gromril's Crossing and dodging the limp corpse of a Runepriest as it fell from the battle above to impressive keep sieges where my heal-debuffing Morale 4 foiled many a push, I had a good time. I'm not as effective as I once was but I expected that. I've been there. I'll get over it.

I had forgotten how completely frustrating some players (and guilds) can be. I thought 'I did not miss this', after being pummelled into submission by Pohlice Brutality for the fifth time but then I reconsidered. How do you know if you're any good if you don't have good players on the other side to contend against? So I guess I did miss Pohlice and Djolle and Sejanus and all the BWs with two braincells to rub together (no, jk, I don't miss those). I even named my flash drive after Sejanus. True story. Just not that one.

Also, WAR got Marillion in my head.

For various reasons:

• Aylesbury
• The ambiguous name Khalie which I'm not entirely sure how to pronounce.
• Fish
• Fish's hairdresser
• WAR is it too late to say I'm sorry? And WAR could we get it together again?
  I just can't go on pretending that it came to a natural end
  WAR, oh I never thought I'd miss you
  And WAR I thought that we'd always be friends
  We said our love would last forever
  So how did it come to this bitter end?

I couldn't let it end on that note, so suddenly, so abruptly. I'm sure there are still some Mythic people out there that love the game as much as I do so I'll give them another chance to make it worthwhile to give them my money. I will try to not get as invested in the game as before, though. It's been twice now that we've broken up. This "on again, off again" shtick just isn't for me.

WAR: Reminiscing

Oh WAR, how you broke my heart. All the fond memories, and all the wasted potential. I loved you WAR. Deep inside, I still do. I will find myself staring out my window thinking about all the cool times we had together. The strolls on the beach, the picnics on the hills, the wipes in the last boss in ToVL, those Darkpromise boots you didn't want to get for me... We were an item, WAR, we were a thing. But I felt like you didn't care. Like my feelings didn't matter to you. I loved you and you played with me when I should've been the one playing you.

Seriously now, I was looking through my screenshots and all these feelings came rushing back. WAR had this flavour, see. It left a gritty flavor on your tongue, like you'd actueally been riding on the back of a Cold One  in the dirt for hours. There would be dozens of us, defying the laws of real men; dozens of us occupying the same coordinates, keeping our Orcs quiet while we laid an ambush behind a rock or inside a tent. We would be so patient, so generous with our time. And, sure enough, they'd start pouring from the hillside or across the bridge, ripe and ready for us to deploy our forces on their flanks and rear. It's a wonderful feeling, seeing enemy characters you know are controlled by real people run for their lifes or giving in to the inevitability of your supremacy.

Hi Hun! ^_^

But that (PvP) wasn't everything I loved. I even loved the PvE, Maker forgive me. Running dungeons was easy and most times rewarding. I liked kiting the 2nd ToVL boss. I was good at it. And the other bosses were entertaining if not entirely bug-free. It was a good change of pace; we would have this scripted encounters to test builds and tactics for more unscripted ones.

But who am I kidding, PvP was what WAR was all about. The yells and screams of tanks and healers alike succumbing to the unrelenting bombing of a Wizard-centric Warband; the throngs of half dead characters spawning on healers in the back lines of a keep take. These things I haven't seen since. These things, this frenetic pace, this sense of urgency, that whatever it is you can contribute with you better do it quick, I miss. I'm not saying there aren't other games out there that can provide similar feelings and adventures but WAR was it for me. It was my first, my one and only. The game that made me feel like I had something to tell the world. And now it's little more than a painful reminder of happier times.

You learned to respect some names, some groups in the battlefield and you learned to disregard others. You knew who was who not because of trolling or other forms of epeen stroking but through their skill and efficiency. At least that was true for me. I was never into that whole forum thing.

Ah, WAR... If only you'd listened to us. If only you'd done it sooner. I feel like coming back, I really, genuinely do. But the part where I said WAR broke my heart was no joke. It's somewhat disheartening loading up a character you've spent years loving to find it's near to useless. I couldn't play a rr75ish healer against... anything without dying a gruesome death within the first few seconds of an encounter.

I don't know what the future holds for WAR and for me. I just miss it's epicness, the feeling of hundreds of people focusing on one goal, one ideal, one sentence: "Red is dead."