Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Rawr: Rift some more

RAWR!
So, I am still playing Rift and I guess I came back when a ton of other people did, over 100k people, so that is fun. The new content so far is nice, only one update that was messed up and took several days of up down server issues to fix, plus, the day it launched, over 14 hours straight of the game dead. But thankfully, this is a very rare thing according to everyone who has played it forever, and is the longest ever in the game's history of issues with any update.
They did keep the gamers informed with info and updates from GMs during everything, every couple hours to once an hour, so that was cool. They did try to compensate patrons who lost potions, and the game is up and going again, with new content and redone content. Very pleased so far still with my return to Rift. PvP is so fun in Rift. And the new squirrel mounts and mini companions are so cute, it is no wonder there are so many girls playing the game. In my guild alone the ratio is 60% female, 40% male. (don't worry guys, there are still kickass choices for you too), but mostly, I am just glad to have something to play with my girlfriend that we both are enjoying and doesn't feel like a giant pressure cooker of chores.
Still a happy gamer!
RAWR :)

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

RIFT: redo

Soooo, after watching my Rawr: Rift youtube vid again, I realized that everything in it was what I didn't like about Guild Wars 2 currently. Guild Wars 2 was just a GIANT grind, and was just the same thing everyday, was something I had had high hopes for, and had helped found, and it just got monotonous and boring and frustrating and I didn't have time for all the chores, the scenery wasn't captivating anymore, and I was sad.

So, I re downloaded Rift, and I must say it is MUCH better. Someone at Trion got their head screwed on right, because Rift is less a grind, and more an adventure now. You get quests from exploring and from killing creatures, rather than only from people with quests to give. The rifts themselves are funner, more spaced out, constantly there are world invasions going on and the rifts have funner rewards, and some of them are totally unique in form and monsters to anything else in the world. Rift has now got MUCH more in the content area, way more land to explore, and NOT ALL OF IT is stuff from the real earth anymore. YAY! Rift still has actually fun pvp, which GW2 did not, and it is about to come out with yet another patch with more content, perm, new areas to explore and all. I like this MUCH MUCH better than GW2 putting out temp distracting content bi weekly. Trion is taking a few months to make something to ADD to the game, and let you explore it, grow in it, get excited and 'finish' it and feel accomplished, before adding more, so that it is mostly polished, and is perm, and a thrill to have. Anet needs to learn from this and drop the 2 weeks random distractions from the actual game bit and do like Trion and ADD to the world they made in the first place. Rift is no longer boring, and the only thing I see that I had issues hugely with before that still remains would be the rep grind for factions. The rest is sooooo much better.

Rift store is nice, and with no fluctuations in value of things like gems, as in Anet, Rift has a set price for everything, and it shows, when you look at the store, that you could buy such and such mount for this much in game money, or this much rl money. No exchange. No change to value of the item. Very nice. Rift rewards you for loyalty and spending with actually useful rewards, like dimensions (houses) and mounts and so on. I am very pleased with the f2p system they have going.

They are adding more content soon, and I am soooo excited.

Rift has welcomed me back with an array of pleasant surprises and I am glad to return.

RAWR! :)

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Rawr! Guild Wars 2 why?

RAWR!

So... I have basically quit GW2 because of the patch that launched ascended weaps. I was already getting wore out from the constant bi-weekly grind of 'new content' (which is actually a ton of tiny temp contents designed to distract you from the fact that only 3 perm things have been added to the game since it has launched, over a year ago, and 1 of which is why I quit)

They perm changed everything in the game related to gain for the player. You can no longer control your own gain with a couple hours work a day, but now you would have to grind for years for the same thing you could have had before.

Example. They killed karma. A Jug of karma used to be able to be used with buffs, such as from guild, from boosts, from food, so on, to 95% more gain, just like any consumable. This means a jug of karma was worth almost 8k karma (7.8ish). They removed that the patch before, and said they would increase how much karma you get from consumable karma items. It was 6k before, now it is 6.2... Even besides that, now, after this patch they launched, you no longer get a jug from dailies, or dungeons. Dailies you get a drop. A drop is 600ish karma. That is a loss of karma, daily, always, from everything already, and on top of that, dailies and dungeons are cut by 1/11. That is more than 90% LESS than you ever got before.

My legendary I was working on just got murdered. So much for obsid shards....

It gets better.

They killed Magic Find. I had a full, ascended included, set of mf gear, besides my other set which I had for dungeons and dps. They announced that mf would come off of gear and that everyone would get handed 20% and salvage for the rest, and could get up to 300% account wide. Sounds great, right?

I salvaged 6 toons worth, with full bags of loot, with 18 slot bags, and got 7% karma. 27% karma after all that work in exchange for my almost 300% I had before on my gear. On top of that, I also did the math, and it would take literally MILLIONS of salvages to actually hit 300% at the rate at which you gain it. ON TOP OF THAT, the fact that I already had a full, ascended included, set for deeps means that I would have to salvage my mf set, since I didn't need a second dps set, yet, I CANNOT salvage my ascended, nor can I mystic toilet them. 3 months worth of laurels are now worth 4 silver each. There is NO other value or point to them. Cannot even give them to another toon or anything. Cannot even try for an ecto and hope I get 20s out of it.

Anet already reduced drops 22%, killed cof farming, and destroyed me ever believing I could get the bi-weekly acheivies by catering them to 5% of the gaming populace, instead of wanting to cater to the Majority of their players. They completely murdered loot, and in exchange for what? Some account bound crafting mats that I will never use? More that I cannot gain anything from?

These were NEEDLESSLY drastic changes. The math is HUGE.

Everything has become, and is continuing to become that you cannot gain anything by playing the game. So I left. The only things I miss are the account wide banking, access to the trading post from anywhere, and how cute my asura is. Besides that, just the people I met in the guild I was in. The game offered me nothing else in the long run after all, because I am a collector, a completionist, an explorer. They took away my ability to collect, denied me any way to complete, and didn't give me anything more to explore.

I am NOT the only person who was displeased, or even posted such on the forums. The changes are perm. Why, GW2? Why?

I am playing elsewhere now. I will waste no further time or money on you.

Rawr!

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Gw2 Wallet

RAWR!
Ok, I love the new Wallet in Gw2. It is super easy to access, for one thing, and super emptied out my bank too. I am pretty content with the perma finishers and the new 'better loot' rewards for champions now, but I LOVE my Wallet. I love that it holds all types of currency in stacks of MORE than 250!

So... when are they going to increase the stack size in collections for crafting materials and all?
And still. I will never stop saying it until they do it... WHERE IS MY SUMMON MINI FROM BANK COLLECTION BUTTON?! :D 

But yeah, the death of cofp1 is sad, but the Wallet is totally worth it, to me.

Rawr! :)

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Gaming, Books, and Fantasy in general

Rawr! Soooo, my gf went to talk to a 'professional' about some things in her life, and the therapist sent back an e mail concerned about none of the things she went for, but about the fact that my gf lives in a fantasy world. This 'professional' disregarded everything that was supposed to be talked about, and FOCUSED on the fact that she plays games, with me, online, and most of our friends, THOUGH NOT ALL, are online, and somehow, that this is why any of the other things, that I will not mention here, happened, even though the other things have NOTHING to do with gaming.

Firstly, gaming is a release, and a stress relief, a fun place to hang out with friends, just like a club or a park. It is a place to let out aggression, a place to laugh with others over silly crap, and a place to collect like crazy and appease constant OCD, yet colorful and engaging enough to keep the ADD happy too. Gaming is an activity my gf and I do TOGETHER that we both enjoy, and builds our relationship up.

For instance, yesterday, we were in GW2 in a dungeon, pioneering it, having never done it, and no one in our group having ever done it either, and she and I teamed up and were co-leaders of the party. I would notice traps, and she figured out how to kill the last boss. The other people mostly just died a lot :D. The point, is, though, that she and I used problem solving skills TOGETHER to get thru a hard dungeon. Whenever something hard in rl happens, she and I do the same thing, work thru it together in the same manner.

Secondly, the therapist seemed worried that if my gf lost her fantasy world, that she would have nothing else. This is soooo stupid, because for one thing, MY GF IS IN CONTROL OF HER OWN ACCESS TO FANTASY. My gf chooses to game, to read fantasy novels, to draw fantasy, to watch anime (more stuff we enjoy doing together). No one is taking fantasy away, because she gets full access to it anytime she chooses. But even besides that, there is this lovely thing called IMAGINATION. Even if all internet died and all consoles exploded and all books burned and all forms of fantasy were blown off the face of the planet, it lives on inside our heads....

Thirdly, fantasy inspires and encourages creativity. My gf is an AMAZING artist, and her talent is enhanced by her love of fantasy. I write books, and just published my first book to Kindle, What a Wild Spirit Brings, and my gf is my biggest fan (she calls herself my 'fangirl' :D) and I wouldn't change that for the world. My fantasy world from inside my head inspires her, and her fantasy art from inside her head inspires me. This is a GOOD thing.

Finally, gaming as a kid and then growing up to game is not anymore childish than a kid playing with hot wheels when a kid and then growing up to like sports cars. Or a kid playing sports and growing up to be a sports fanatic. Or a girl playing Barbies and growing up to love fashion. The examples are endless. Adults are ALLOWED to like things they always liked, and it is GOOD for them to be happy. If it made you smile as a kid, why wouldn't you want a life full of smiles as an adult? Is 'healthy' really to be serious and stressed and overworked and depressed all the time? That is stupid.

I am grieved that when my gf went to talk about things from her past that emotionally hurt her, that the only thing the 'professional' could focus on was that my gf loved fantasy. It makes me wonder at the stupidity of professionals, but even more, worry about their cookie cutter therapies and how many people are probably affected by them. If there are any people out there who have been, and cut back on fantasy because "it isn't healthy and will ruin your life" plz plz don't listen to that crap. Fantasy enhances your life, and is a coping mechanism, a learning tool, and a safe place. So, whether you are a gamer or a fantasy book lover or any other fantastic fanciful lover, be glad for it in your life, and don't let other people tell you what to do, or try to warp and twist your thinking. RAWR!

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Rawr: More GW2

Rawr! I am excited about most of the changes announced by Anet for GW2, but I have been thinking about it a lot, and am rather disappointed about a couple things.

Firstly, the continuation of temp content. I was not able to play the game for 6 months. I can NEVER get back any of the achievement points, the mini pets, the gear/skins for gear or content experience of all the temp content from nov til may. So I understand the pain of anyone coming back to the game who didn' t play since launch, the pain of anyone who refuses to play the game because they already missed out on so much, that playing now would be pointless for them, since everyone else walks around with stuff they can never get. Temp content is a terrible idea, unless you make it annual, which a couple things they said they will, but overall, it is fruitless, because, YES, you should be putting new content in small pieces into the game every 2 weeks, but NO you should not be taking it back out again later. The game is not getting any bigger. The game is still almost the same size as when the game launched. Anet is just trying to distract and entertain people with something of little substance, and wasting their own money and man hours to do so. Some content in the future will be perm, but most, still temp. This is a STUPID idea.

Secondly, STILL NOT A MINI BUTTON!!!!! Why oh why do they want to sell minis, but make them so hard to use? Plz Anet Plz Plz Plz make a "summon random mini" button, where it pulls the mini from your bank, either a random one, or else one that you highlight. You can even sell the button for gems, just MAKE IT.

Thirdly, they still are leaving the gem store a mom and pop shop instead of a super mall. It is very counterproductive for them, since they are making less money by offering less to buy, and it is very constricting for the player, having less options. If I only want to buy one thing from the gem store, I would rather just farm in game for the gold. If there are several awesome things I want in the store, then I would rather not spend the time, and just spend the money to save the hours I know it would take to farm that much gold. They are self defeating with the limits of how small the store is. It needs more stuff, and more cool stuff.

Fourthly, Why announce removing mf and not saying what you are going to do to counter this on gear. Everyone who spent laurels on ascended and infusions, and all the gold on runes, sigils, and explorer's pearl gear just had a heart attack. Almost everyone has a mf set. Don't say "hey, we are going to take away something that up until now has been one of the foundations of loot gain" without saying "don't panic, we are going to do this instead". Just saying.

Fifthly, the dungeon thing, if you are going to FORCE us to play the other dungeons that make us wanna cry bloody tears, then plz FIX them to where they don't do that when you do the nerf to cof.

And finally, Anet.... I still turn into a solid robot when I blink, rocketing over the ground. I still end up in walls when I dodge. I still get stuck in pvp and cannot move and no one can do anything to move me either. I still sometimes when I emote, especially dance, only have half my body do it, and the other not. The Trading Post still has a zillion 'error posting your item' messages and will pop up empty to where you have to reboot whole game. There are SOOOO many stupid basic glitches that have been here since pre launch. The game is STILL unpolished, and it has been 11 months.....  Plz fix. Rawr! :)

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

RAWR!: Guildies :D

RAWR! So... I luv guildies. I am pretty sure I am not alone in this, but guildies are awesome. Not merely because you do group activities in game together like dungeons or pvp, and not because they call out world bosses to each other, or do world completion together, or even because they throw yet more low lvl food in the bank for no one to use :D
They are awesome, because we do things like, sitting around on TeamSpeak talking about nothing, or run around naked in Lion's Arch dancing around guildless people to recruit. It is hilarious to do the lottery and have the fall of Thor suspense music as someone pulls out tickets on Twitch live, only to find out some noob no one knows won the pot. We laugh at mass suicides and we tease each other constantly.
Guildies are awesome because they laugh with you and are there for MORE than just the game. There isn't anything to really RAWR about guildies. I just felt like saying I appreciate mine :D
Soooo if you are on Sanctum of Rall in GW2 and want a good guild, check out Dionysianrights.net and maybe you too, could join in the laughter :D.
Rawr :)