It was a busy busy productive day for me today in the digital universe of digitalized online gaming. Didnt get everything done that I wanted, but did well enough I suppose. Just as a warning, the following is not DDO related at all. Read at your own risk!
So, last night while I was at work, I realized that Crecla could wear the lvl 19 Heavy Armor. this made me all kinds of extatic due to the fact that she had some that her husband, Firotrud, had made for her earlier the previous day. So, of course, the first thing I did was equip it on her. Thankfully, I have a cosmetic on because the armor really doesnt look very fancy. I dont have the full set of Iron, but the Bronze Armor is still doing well so Im not overly concerned. Of course, it could be simply due to the fact that Im running low level content at the moment.
On that note, I have officially finished every Dwarven and Elven quest in the Erid Luin(or however its spelled) region along with all but one quest in The Shire. The only quest I have yet to complete in The Shire is the final Chicken run. Which is going to be a pain in the bahookey, but will reward me with some more free TPs so Ill get to it eventually. I also completed every slayer and explorer deed that the two regions have to offer. As for her skill deeds the only ones she has to do, at the moment, are the Vexing Blow, Shield Blow, the one that involves evading enemy hits and Controlled Breath skills. Got the other ones all finished up today. Was hoping to have Shield Blow finished too. The count was going up and up and up then stopped. I had 8 more to go to have that one finished and I hit the daily allowed for it man. What a pain, right? Hopefully, Ill run into enough green enemies tomorrow to get it finished up. My darling Guardian isnt to good at evading so that skills gonna take a while. she is, however, a pro at blocking! Which is good!
Between today and yesterday, I managed to earn well over 100 TPs doing deeds. Was just shy of having earned a total of 200 TPs. The nice thing is I have around 350 TPs saved up over on LotRO. For my Christmas presant from my sister, Im going to recieve the Samwise Gamgee pack which gives the Riding Skill to all characters across my acount for forever, an additional inventory bag, and removes the Gold Cap which is a mere 2 Gold for an F2P player. Also, shell be getting me the 20$ point bundle which has 1550 TPs. Getting these will upgrade my account to Premium which will give me an additional character slot and 5 Auction House slots. Both of which will be mighty useful.
Yesterday, for about an hour, spent some time on Crickhollow visiting Krisson and seeing his Player House. Then I got the itch to finish up running around in The Shire and head over to Erid Luin finally. So we parted ways and I did exactly what I wanted!
My problem at the moment is I have no idea where to go after I finish Bree. I know I can head to the Lone Lands, but theres also the Barrow Downs that need doing and Im not quite sure which one of them comes 'next'. So Ill probably figure that out as I go. Hopefully, by that point, Ill have the better Iron Armor and Sword handy to slay all the foul beasties and what have you with ease.
As for how I choose which quests to run and when, Im a bit of a chaotic monkey. I pretty much run through the region and grab every quest Im allowed to grab then complete them in order by level. And if one of the quests begins a slayer deed, Ill finish the deed right then and there. Better to get it done sooner than later, right?
Tomorrow will begin with Archet and the start of the Men Prologue followed by doing the Combe quests then finally the Bree quests themselves. Im hoping I can find the good sword and armor recipes in the Auction House so that I can just get that out of the way quick like, but Im not gonna hold my breath. Did a quest that involved her Woodworking Crafting skill. The problem with this is that she can neither harvest or treat wood. So I had to run to the Auction House to buy some. I needed some Rowan Wood, which is the lowest level wood in the game. It was simply amazing the prices Treaded Rowan Wood was going for. It was pretty much 20+ Silver per peice! But I really needed that wood so I buckled and bought some for roughly 250 Silver. You can bet your butt end though, when I get that third character slot, they are going to be an Explorer Crafter. Yup.
Anyways, that was my two days. Still got two to go then on Sunday Im going to be playing DDO with Mr. Coimc! Were gonna skip the last two Necro 2 quests though. Too scary for us. Yup.
Hope everyone has good days/nights! BYEZ!
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Mizzaarmy
So, to semi continue my last post, I have ALOT of characters on DDO. Some of them play a semi important role in my DDO life. Others play an extremely important role. Then there are the ones I should probably just trash because I just am not going to touch them. Its not that I don't want to play them, its just I don't have the time to focus on every single one. So anyways, here are the ones of importance(No pictures):
Mizanari: My Elven Rogue. My very first character on DDO and, even though shes fallen off to the side, still my favorite. To be honest, it was because of Shinny that, not only did I keep her, I kept playing DDO and found it to be a most enjoyable game! Shes on vacation however until I can get her a Greater Heart of Wood so I can take advantage of the 32 Point fun. Mizanari is also the youngest sibling to Minel.
Minel: My Elven Barbarian. Created out of a joke, but turned out to be a load of fun. From her spawned my Elven Barbarian story and a few alts who make up her siblings. Currently sitting at level 1 on Korthos, shes waiting for me to reach that point in the story so I can get to questing and writing about her.
Lor Morgoth: My Half Orc Druid. Recently made. I decided to trade my Halfling Fighter, Arienimas, in favor of building a Half Orc Druid on Cannith after seeing a female trainer one in House D. Shes built with minimum WIS to be able to cast some spells, but not much more. She also has a 16 STR and CON a 12 DEX and a 12 INT. I made her with the idea of doing mainly melee and being able to have a good Skill point count on level ups. Even though shes only gotten up to level 2, Ive found her to be alot of fun so far.
Ruff'N'Tuff: My Halfling Druid. Max CON decent STR and minimal WIS with a fair DEX. The max CON comes from the fact that for her whole life, shes lived in the wilderness. Shes also my wilderness quests only character. For wilderness', there's no need for uberness or super awesome gear. Also, there's enough XP to be gained to hit level 20 so I'm certainly finding her to be alot of fun. Her companions name is Kitty, by the way.
Camindel: My Elven Ranger. Sibling to Minel. Haven't spent alot of time on him, but I will in the future.
Whacksmack Whampow: My Drow Monk. She is a bundle of awesome and then some. She got XP stoned and has done quite well for herself since. She is so far one of the funnest characters Ive played to date.
Mizzaroo: My Elven Artificer. Did some soloing with her early on in her life. Did her free Lesser Reincarnation. Shes become my 'Weekend Warrior' in that I play her on weekends with Comic. We've had a blast so far. Hes managed to die alot. Shes rescued him alot. Shes died a few times. But overall, I do have a ton of fun with her. Her companions name is Mr. Clankers.
Mirelin: My Elven Wizard. Sibling to Minel. Haven't really played her, but I will in the future.
Selimee: My Elven Sorcerer. Sibling to Minel, twin of Mirelin. Haven't played her much, but Ill get there.
Celeemadil: My Elven Fighter. Twin to Minel. Spent a fair amount of time on her, had a blast. Will certainly be playing her again in the future.
Melifey: My Elven Cleric. Sibling to Minel. Played her an okay amount. As I want to expand upon my Clericing ability, I will certainly play her again as well in the future.
Dorelin: My Elven Bard. Sibling to Minel. He annoys the crap out of her. All he does is sing and dance. Ill play him again in the future.
Serliima: My Elven Paladin. Sibling to Minel. I love Paladins. I think their Auras are awesome. I most certainly will hop onto her again in the future!
Kermitt: My Human Fighter. A different kind of Fighter, Kermitt is focused on being the best ranged fighter in the world. So far, so good. Ill pay him attention again in the future.
Well, thats it for the important peeps I play as on DDO. When I reach that point on LotRO where I'm out of stuffs to do, I'm gonna hop back onto DDO and get some of these characters up up and away! That or whenever I can get the next installment of Minel written!
Yup! That's it! Hope everyone has a blast doing whatever they're doing!
Mizanari: My Elven Rogue. My very first character on DDO and, even though shes fallen off to the side, still my favorite. To be honest, it was because of Shinny that, not only did I keep her, I kept playing DDO and found it to be a most enjoyable game! Shes on vacation however until I can get her a Greater Heart of Wood so I can take advantage of the 32 Point fun. Mizanari is also the youngest sibling to Minel.
Minel: My Elven Barbarian. Created out of a joke, but turned out to be a load of fun. From her spawned my Elven Barbarian story and a few alts who make up her siblings. Currently sitting at level 1 on Korthos, shes waiting for me to reach that point in the story so I can get to questing and writing about her.
Lor Morgoth: My Half Orc Druid. Recently made. I decided to trade my Halfling Fighter, Arienimas, in favor of building a Half Orc Druid on Cannith after seeing a female trainer one in House D. Shes built with minimum WIS to be able to cast some spells, but not much more. She also has a 16 STR and CON a 12 DEX and a 12 INT. I made her with the idea of doing mainly melee and being able to have a good Skill point count on level ups. Even though shes only gotten up to level 2, Ive found her to be alot of fun so far.
Ruff'N'Tuff: My Halfling Druid. Max CON decent STR and minimal WIS with a fair DEX. The max CON comes from the fact that for her whole life, shes lived in the wilderness. Shes also my wilderness quests only character. For wilderness', there's no need for uberness or super awesome gear. Also, there's enough XP to be gained to hit level 20 so I'm certainly finding her to be alot of fun. Her companions name is Kitty, by the way.
Camindel: My Elven Ranger. Sibling to Minel. Haven't spent alot of time on him, but I will in the future.
Whacksmack Whampow: My Drow Monk. She is a bundle of awesome and then some. She got XP stoned and has done quite well for herself since. She is so far one of the funnest characters Ive played to date.
Mizzaroo: My Elven Artificer. Did some soloing with her early on in her life. Did her free Lesser Reincarnation. Shes become my 'Weekend Warrior' in that I play her on weekends with Comic. We've had a blast so far. Hes managed to die alot. Shes rescued him alot. Shes died a few times. But overall, I do have a ton of fun with her. Her companions name is Mr. Clankers.
Mirelin: My Elven Wizard. Sibling to Minel. Haven't really played her, but I will in the future.
Selimee: My Elven Sorcerer. Sibling to Minel, twin of Mirelin. Haven't played her much, but Ill get there.
Celeemadil: My Elven Fighter. Twin to Minel. Spent a fair amount of time on her, had a blast. Will certainly be playing her again in the future.
Melifey: My Elven Cleric. Sibling to Minel. Played her an okay amount. As I want to expand upon my Clericing ability, I will certainly play her again as well in the future.
Dorelin: My Elven Bard. Sibling to Minel. He annoys the crap out of her. All he does is sing and dance. Ill play him again in the future.
Serliima: My Elven Paladin. Sibling to Minel. I love Paladins. I think their Auras are awesome. I most certainly will hop onto her again in the future!
Kermitt: My Human Fighter. A different kind of Fighter, Kermitt is focused on being the best ranged fighter in the world. So far, so good. Ill pay him attention again in the future.
Well, thats it for the important peeps I play as on DDO. When I reach that point on LotRO where I'm out of stuffs to do, I'm gonna hop back onto DDO and get some of these characters up up and away! That or whenever I can get the next installment of Minel written!
Yup! That's it! Hope everyone has a blast doing whatever they're doing!
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Mizzatough
There are LOTS of different ways to build good characters on DDO. There are LOTS of different kinds of fun type builds too. But one thing Ive noticed people argue, fight and complain about most is a characters CON score or how much health/mana a character has.
Now, I love health as much as the next guy, I do. But, I was looking through my army of characters and I realised that a good number of them don't have whats considered the minimum "needed" CON score of 14. The majority of them are sitting at 10. The reason for this was that, as a F2P player when I made them, I only had 28 points to work with. This meant that I had to pick and choose just where I wanted my characters would be strongest and where Id need to sacrifice to make them stronger in those areas. The exceptions were for my Fighters and Barbarians who all have high CON scores. Naturally.
The funny thing, to me, is that characters with such low CON scores aren't supposed to live long. They're supposed to fail right out the airship. But you see, I actually played on a number of them with those low CON scores and did quite well for myself. Sure, I had to heal a bit more often. But I always won the day! Id hit quests on Normal/Hard/Elite and always manage to pull off the victory. Sure, this was always done with the help of a Cleric hireling(back before they got all 'BLAAHHH!! I HATE YOU!!' on me), but hireling or not, I ALWAYS managed to pull out a win.
Now that I have 32 point builds unlocked, do I put more points into CON? Yeah. Sure I do. But it doesn't mean I'm always starting out with a score of 14. There have been a couple characters since where I wanted their strengths to lie elsewhere. A higher DEX or STR or INT even. Whatever fits my fancy for that particular character.
Maybe I succeeded because I'm lucky. Maybe I succeeded because I may actually be better than I think. Maybe I succeeded because I had a hireling who loved to throw heals my way. Maybe I succeeded because at certain points, I actually had some good company to run through quests with me. Who knows! All I know is that I did. And I did it in a fashion that certain elements in DDO would frown upon. Their characters may have more hit points than mine, but I can say that due to my sacrificing points in CON, my characters are stronger in certain other areas they probably allowed theirs to be weak in. And for 28 point builds, their pretty darn strong and stuff man! For true!
So, to finish up this Mizzablog, having a high CON is nice. But having a high CON isn't necessary to win DDO or have fun. If you don't agree, meh.
Until next time: Eat cow fish!
Now, I love health as much as the next guy, I do. But, I was looking through my army of characters and I realised that a good number of them don't have whats considered the minimum "needed" CON score of 14. The majority of them are sitting at 10. The reason for this was that, as a F2P player when I made them, I only had 28 points to work with. This meant that I had to pick and choose just where I wanted my characters would be strongest and where Id need to sacrifice to make them stronger in those areas. The exceptions were for my Fighters and Barbarians who all have high CON scores. Naturally.
The funny thing, to me, is that characters with such low CON scores aren't supposed to live long. They're supposed to fail right out the airship. But you see, I actually played on a number of them with those low CON scores and did quite well for myself. Sure, I had to heal a bit more often. But I always won the day! Id hit quests on Normal/Hard/Elite and always manage to pull off the victory. Sure, this was always done with the help of a Cleric hireling(back before they got all 'BLAAHHH!! I HATE YOU!!' on me), but hireling or not, I ALWAYS managed to pull out a win.
Now that I have 32 point builds unlocked, do I put more points into CON? Yeah. Sure I do. But it doesn't mean I'm always starting out with a score of 14. There have been a couple characters since where I wanted their strengths to lie elsewhere. A higher DEX or STR or INT even. Whatever fits my fancy for that particular character.
Maybe I succeeded because I'm lucky. Maybe I succeeded because I may actually be better than I think. Maybe I succeeded because I had a hireling who loved to throw heals my way. Maybe I succeeded because at certain points, I actually had some good company to run through quests with me. Who knows! All I know is that I did. And I did it in a fashion that certain elements in DDO would frown upon. Their characters may have more hit points than mine, but I can say that due to my sacrificing points in CON, my characters are stronger in certain other areas they probably allowed theirs to be weak in. And for 28 point builds, their pretty darn strong and stuff man! For true!
So, to finish up this Mizzablog, having a high CON is nice. But having a high CON isn't necessary to win DDO or have fun. If you don't agree, meh.
Until next time: Eat cow fish!
Thursday, January 24, 2013
DDO vs. LotRO
So, for the past month, Ive been playing LotRO on weekdays and DDO on weekends. The reason was simple, after my lengthy hiatus from the MMO world last year, I couldn't help but feel slightly detached from DDO. I still love the game and enjoy the company of the friends Ive made on it, but when I came back I didn't really feel the whole solo thing anymore. I wanted to play with my buddies! But, oh woe was me! Mr. Shinny couldn't play during the day or on weekends anymore. But he went and suggested that maybe Mr. Comic could play with me on weekends! And, lucky for me, he could! But I needed to fill a void during the weekends. I needed something new! In the end, I went with LotRO. Now, I had tried playing LotRO in the past. I didn't get past the introduction because I didn't quite understand how the controls worked. This time though, after giving it a real shot, I couldn't help but face palm myself for not getting how simple it all was before.
There are a lot of things about each game that I like. There are also things in each game that aren't there but I wish were there or things that ARE there that I wish weren't there. So, I'm gonna make a pro/con list for DDO and LotRO just for the fun of it!
DDO Pros:
XP can be banked. You can either choose to take the next level or hold onto the XP so you don't get hit with XP penalties in quests.
Character Creation. I love how making a character in DDO makes you think about how you want to build or not build your characters.
Character Prettiness. I love love LOVE how pretty or handsome I can make my characters and how well the end results usually are.
Acid Green. The Acid Green Hair Dye. Awesome. :)
Quest Challenge. The challenge of the quests is really good and keeps me on my tosies when I'm doing a quest Ive never done before.
Wilderness Quests. There are days I hop onto DDO. I want to play, but I don't want to actually run any quests. The solution? Hit the wilderness! Do some slayers/explorers/rares! Its a good quick fix!
Wilderness/quest areas. Beautifully done. Regardless of the crap people talk about the games graphics, Its all beautifully created.
Music. There are places within the game, such as Three Barrel Cove, that I love to visit just so that I can have the particular areas music playing in the background. :)
Enhancements. I enjoy the enhancement system a lot. It enables me to strengthen places where I feel a character of mine is a little weak in and to make even stronger areas he or she is already strong in.
TP. Turbine allows players to earn TP through playing. Anytime a games developers allows something like this, it deserves to be mentioned as a pro.
DDO Cons:
Cosmetics. Every single cosmetic in DDO costs TP. There are a lot of cool and fun looking things for hair and armor, but not one of them costs in game currency. Also, the armor you get, looks the way it looks. You cant change its color or anything. Sure, some armors like the Ringleader one look kinda cool, but outside of that, you're lucky if you find a nice piece of armor that also looks cool.
Music. The number of places with interesting music in DDO can be counted on two or three fingers. Overall, the music is bland and really really dull.
Water. To put it simply, water in DDO sucks. It is the single biggest pain in the ass I have ever encountered in any game. Enemies can move through water with no trouble at all. The player? In order to actually move anywhere with speed, we have to jump. Enemies can attack you underwater. The player? We have to move to a an area that's solid under our characters feet. Additionally, in areas where the water in on a hill, the player is forced back down if they stand still. Again, this doesn't affect the enemies.
Voice overs. They annoy me. I know they're there because its a D&D game and all and people get all starry eyed about the dude who did the voice overing in Deleras Tomb, but I am really really thankful theres an option to turn them off. There are two things that could improve this, 1: The chick who did the voice overing on some of the Korthos quests, she wasn't annoying. She was actually entertaining. They need more people like that to do voicing. 2: When the voice person says, 'You hear a sound...' there's no sound. They NEED to make a sound. Its a video game not some stupid table game. When a video gamer is told that they hear a sound, they want to hear a gorram sound!
Evil Enemies... that serve the light?. It makes absolutely no sense why an enemy, who is obviously related in some way to a devil or another evil evil creature, is able to cast LIGHT spells. The very kind of spell type they are weak to! It boggles my brain.
Mini Map. Now, the map isn't always a problem. But in some quests, it is. You see, some quests, areas on the map overlap each other. So the map changes to show the layer your currently on, right? Nope. The map is purely 2D, single level. Which can make certain quests more challenging or confusing than they need to be.
TP. Even with the ability to earn TP for free, in DDO, its a literal grind to earn any.
Crafting. Crafting in DDO is a pain in the bahookey. Its confusing as hell and the rewards feel more limited than the number of recipes would have me believe.
Hirelings/summoned pets. They are so dumb they make dumb people look not dumb. They attack enemies who are miles away. They don't heal you or themselves when they should. Sometimes, they wont even do what they're commanded. They'll just stand there doing nothing.
Enemy ranged attacks. There's nothing more obnoxious, while playing on a melee character, than getting attacked from a ranged attacker. Except for, maybe, when the arrows push you off a ledge or frak up your jump forcing you to plummet to your death.
Uberness. DDO, while an overall great and fun game, feels like the only way you can succeed in it is if you're an uber elite character with uber elite gear. This creates an atmosphere where the uber elite players try forcing their way onto players who just want some casual fun and even making them might not want to continue playing the game. Not everyone wants to be uber just to complete a quest or have fun.
Pro and Con, I'm sure there are things I missed. It happens!
LotRO Pros:
Music. The music in LotRO is absolutely one of the best game soundtracks I have ever heard. Having bought game soundtracks in the past(Halo 1 &2, Elderscrolls III & IV and The Witcher 1 &2), I have to say, if the entire LotRO soundtrack ever was put together and sold, Id totally buy it. LotRO is one of the few games Ive played where I don't want to turn off the sound.
Ponies. LotRO has ponies. Lots and lots and lots of ponies. Sure, you need either to be a VIP or spend a small (95) amount of TP to get the skill, but... Ponies.
Cosmetics. LotRO has WAY more cosmetics in it than any game I have ever played. The best part is, not all of it costs TP. You decide the hairstyle/color you chose at the start isn't so great anymore? Head on over to a tavern and get it changed for a couple silver! Sure, the stuff that costs TP looks way cool, but you know what? Not all the in game currency cosmetics are dreadful. I actually found 7 so far that I really like! Then there's the dyes. You can dye your armor various colors. This makes the game a TON of fun.
Water. I can move around unhindered in water and my character can fight while swimming. Nuff said.
The big wide world. LotRO is a very big world. It can also be a bit scary. But after a while, its hard not to become engrossed in it. Its a very very beautiful place to explore.
Rooster. Great Alice in chains song, a fun thing to play as. Play as?! Yup. In LotRO, there are some quests you can run where you turn into a Rooster, of all things. This makes the Pros list because, well, its goofy. Its fun. The stuff can actually be a challenge too. But mostly, you know they put it in because they thought it'd be funny.
TP. Earning TP in LotRO is easy. Real easy. Sure, you don't earn it in massive amounts, but the fact is, you can earn it faster in LotRO than you can in DDO.
Character leveling. Leveling your character in LotRO is simple. You level. You go to your Class Trainer. You buy the skills. You're done! Most importantly, you don't have to worry about the whole 'Am I uber enough to play with others?' type of thing. So it makes playing nice.
Voice overs. The voicing in LotRO is simple. But they're unobtrusive and as such, not a bit annoying. I don't even notice them half the time!
Titles. Completing deeds earns your characters titles. There are lots to be earned and five that are awarded for not dying until you hit level 20. My favorite so far is the 'Slug Squisher' title. :)
Crafting. Crafting in LotRO is nice and simple. Sure, unlike in DDO where you can do it all on one character, you need more than one character of your own or a friend or two to help you out with certain crafts, but overall, the rewards are much much bigger, in my opinion.
Starting locations. You start in locations that fit the race you chose on creation. With this also comes the prologue quests being for your particular race as well.
Friend list. If I'm on server 'Blah' and have a buddy on that server, all I have to do is add his or her name to a characters friend list and its added to ALL my characters lists for that server. Even ones that get created afterwards. It makes things easier when it comes down to keeping in touch with peeps.
Player houses. An F2P player can buy a standard house. But a VIP or a player who has bought the currency cap removal, can buy a Deluxe house. In your house, you can hang up trophies, buy chests to hold loots and if it fits your fancy, hold a party! Just like in real life though, you gotta pay the rent! The more expensive the house, the more expensive the rent! Kins can even have houses.
LotRO Cons:
Character Leveling. You level way to fast. At first this didn't bother me but then, I realized there were drawbacks to leveling to fast. The best example of this is the Class Skill Deeds. Each class has certain skills, that when used on an enemy open up a Class Deed that when accomplished, allows you to use the skill better or improve your character in some way(after equipping the improvement). However, if you use the skill on an enemy that's name is in grey(no XP), the usage of the skill doesn't count. Thankfully, there's an item called the...
XP Disabler. Whats this? An item that does some good being put on a 'Con' list? Yeah. The item stops your character from gaining XP making doing Tasks or slayers or what have you easier without having to worry about out leveling content. So whats the big deal? Well, for starters, it costs 495 TP. Yeah. Ouch. That's a huge price tag. But that's not what makes it so bad. What makes it so damn bad is that its 495 TP PER CHARACTER. Meaning people(like me) who have lots of alts that they don't want to level(but level now anyway with the addition of crafting XP), need to spend 495 TP per character they want to use it on. for that price, they should have let every character a person makes on the server it was bought on have one. At least then it would have made sense!
Kins. Call it what you want Kin/Guild/Alliance. We all like to join them in games. Mostly, we all like to make them. Either for ourselves or to see if anyone else is interested in joining us. LotRO makes this both easy and hard. Its the hard part that makes this a solid con over pro. The good? You can start one with in game currency! Really! Its like 15 Silver I think. The bad? You need 8 other people to join and you only have a week to do it. After that week, if you don't meet the quota, it gets erased from the realm for forever. Well, until you make a new one I suppose.
Crafting XP. When I first started playing, you could do crafting and not gain XP. After a certain update though, you now gain a set amount of XP for using crafting skills. Levelling in LotRO was easy enough as it was, now its much much easier. Which isn't always a good thing.
Pro and Con, I'm sure there are things I missed. It happens! I'm only human after all!
Anyways, that's my blog for the day! Hope everyone stays well!
There are a lot of things about each game that I like. There are also things in each game that aren't there but I wish were there or things that ARE there that I wish weren't there. So, I'm gonna make a pro/con list for DDO and LotRO just for the fun of it!
DDO Pros:
XP can be banked. You can either choose to take the next level or hold onto the XP so you don't get hit with XP penalties in quests.
Character Creation. I love how making a character in DDO makes you think about how you want to build or not build your characters.
Character Prettiness. I love love LOVE how pretty or handsome I can make my characters and how well the end results usually are.
Acid Green. The Acid Green Hair Dye. Awesome. :)
Quest Challenge. The challenge of the quests is really good and keeps me on my tosies when I'm doing a quest Ive never done before.
Wilderness Quests. There are days I hop onto DDO. I want to play, but I don't want to actually run any quests. The solution? Hit the wilderness! Do some slayers/explorers/rares! Its a good quick fix!
Wilderness/quest areas. Beautifully done. Regardless of the crap people talk about the games graphics, Its all beautifully created.
Music. There are places within the game, such as Three Barrel Cove, that I love to visit just so that I can have the particular areas music playing in the background. :)
Enhancements. I enjoy the enhancement system a lot. It enables me to strengthen places where I feel a character of mine is a little weak in and to make even stronger areas he or she is already strong in.
TP. Turbine allows players to earn TP through playing. Anytime a games developers allows something like this, it deserves to be mentioned as a pro.
DDO Cons:
Cosmetics. Every single cosmetic in DDO costs TP. There are a lot of cool and fun looking things for hair and armor, but not one of them costs in game currency. Also, the armor you get, looks the way it looks. You cant change its color or anything. Sure, some armors like the Ringleader one look kinda cool, but outside of that, you're lucky if you find a nice piece of armor that also looks cool.
Music. The number of places with interesting music in DDO can be counted on two or three fingers. Overall, the music is bland and really really dull.
Water. To put it simply, water in DDO sucks. It is the single biggest pain in the ass I have ever encountered in any game. Enemies can move through water with no trouble at all. The player? In order to actually move anywhere with speed, we have to jump. Enemies can attack you underwater. The player? We have to move to a an area that's solid under our characters feet. Additionally, in areas where the water in on a hill, the player is forced back down if they stand still. Again, this doesn't affect the enemies.
Voice overs. They annoy me. I know they're there because its a D&D game and all and people get all starry eyed about the dude who did the voice overing in Deleras Tomb, but I am really really thankful theres an option to turn them off. There are two things that could improve this, 1: The chick who did the voice overing on some of the Korthos quests, she wasn't annoying. She was actually entertaining. They need more people like that to do voicing. 2: When the voice person says, 'You hear a sound...' there's no sound. They NEED to make a sound. Its a video game not some stupid table game. When a video gamer is told that they hear a sound, they want to hear a gorram sound!
Evil Enemies... that serve the light?. It makes absolutely no sense why an enemy, who is obviously related in some way to a devil or another evil evil creature, is able to cast LIGHT spells. The very kind of spell type they are weak to! It boggles my brain.
Mini Map. Now, the map isn't always a problem. But in some quests, it is. You see, some quests, areas on the map overlap each other. So the map changes to show the layer your currently on, right? Nope. The map is purely 2D, single level. Which can make certain quests more challenging or confusing than they need to be.
TP. Even with the ability to earn TP for free, in DDO, its a literal grind to earn any.
Crafting. Crafting in DDO is a pain in the bahookey. Its confusing as hell and the rewards feel more limited than the number of recipes would have me believe.
Hirelings/summoned pets. They are so dumb they make dumb people look not dumb. They attack enemies who are miles away. They don't heal you or themselves when they should. Sometimes, they wont even do what they're commanded. They'll just stand there doing nothing.
Enemy ranged attacks. There's nothing more obnoxious, while playing on a melee character, than getting attacked from a ranged attacker. Except for, maybe, when the arrows push you off a ledge or frak up your jump forcing you to plummet to your death.
Uberness. DDO, while an overall great and fun game, feels like the only way you can succeed in it is if you're an uber elite character with uber elite gear. This creates an atmosphere where the uber elite players try forcing their way onto players who just want some casual fun and even making them might not want to continue playing the game. Not everyone wants to be uber just to complete a quest or have fun.
Pro and Con, I'm sure there are things I missed. It happens!
LotRO Pros:
Music. The music in LotRO is absolutely one of the best game soundtracks I have ever heard. Having bought game soundtracks in the past(Halo 1 &2, Elderscrolls III & IV and The Witcher 1 &2), I have to say, if the entire LotRO soundtrack ever was put together and sold, Id totally buy it. LotRO is one of the few games Ive played where I don't want to turn off the sound.
Ponies. LotRO has ponies. Lots and lots and lots of ponies. Sure, you need either to be a VIP or spend a small (95) amount of TP to get the skill, but... Ponies.
Cosmetics. LotRO has WAY more cosmetics in it than any game I have ever played. The best part is, not all of it costs TP. You decide the hairstyle/color you chose at the start isn't so great anymore? Head on over to a tavern and get it changed for a couple silver! Sure, the stuff that costs TP looks way cool, but you know what? Not all the in game currency cosmetics are dreadful. I actually found 7 so far that I really like! Then there's the dyes. You can dye your armor various colors. This makes the game a TON of fun.
Water. I can move around unhindered in water and my character can fight while swimming. Nuff said.
The big wide world. LotRO is a very big world. It can also be a bit scary. But after a while, its hard not to become engrossed in it. Its a very very beautiful place to explore.
Rooster. Great Alice in chains song, a fun thing to play as. Play as?! Yup. In LotRO, there are some quests you can run where you turn into a Rooster, of all things. This makes the Pros list because, well, its goofy. Its fun. The stuff can actually be a challenge too. But mostly, you know they put it in because they thought it'd be funny.
TP. Earning TP in LotRO is easy. Real easy. Sure, you don't earn it in massive amounts, but the fact is, you can earn it faster in LotRO than you can in DDO.
Character leveling. Leveling your character in LotRO is simple. You level. You go to your Class Trainer. You buy the skills. You're done! Most importantly, you don't have to worry about the whole 'Am I uber enough to play with others?' type of thing. So it makes playing nice.
Voice overs. The voicing in LotRO is simple. But they're unobtrusive and as such, not a bit annoying. I don't even notice them half the time!
Titles. Completing deeds earns your characters titles. There are lots to be earned and five that are awarded for not dying until you hit level 20. My favorite so far is the 'Slug Squisher' title. :)
Crafting. Crafting in LotRO is nice and simple. Sure, unlike in DDO where you can do it all on one character, you need more than one character of your own or a friend or two to help you out with certain crafts, but overall, the rewards are much much bigger, in my opinion.
Starting locations. You start in locations that fit the race you chose on creation. With this also comes the prologue quests being for your particular race as well.
Friend list. If I'm on server 'Blah' and have a buddy on that server, all I have to do is add his or her name to a characters friend list and its added to ALL my characters lists for that server. Even ones that get created afterwards. It makes things easier when it comes down to keeping in touch with peeps.
Player houses. An F2P player can buy a standard house. But a VIP or a player who has bought the currency cap removal, can buy a Deluxe house. In your house, you can hang up trophies, buy chests to hold loots and if it fits your fancy, hold a party! Just like in real life though, you gotta pay the rent! The more expensive the house, the more expensive the rent! Kins can even have houses.
LotRO Cons:
Character Leveling. You level way to fast. At first this didn't bother me but then, I realized there were drawbacks to leveling to fast. The best example of this is the Class Skill Deeds. Each class has certain skills, that when used on an enemy open up a Class Deed that when accomplished, allows you to use the skill better or improve your character in some way(after equipping the improvement). However, if you use the skill on an enemy that's name is in grey(no XP), the usage of the skill doesn't count. Thankfully, there's an item called the...
XP Disabler. Whats this? An item that does some good being put on a 'Con' list? Yeah. The item stops your character from gaining XP making doing Tasks or slayers or what have you easier without having to worry about out leveling content. So whats the big deal? Well, for starters, it costs 495 TP. Yeah. Ouch. That's a huge price tag. But that's not what makes it so bad. What makes it so damn bad is that its 495 TP PER CHARACTER. Meaning people(like me) who have lots of alts that they don't want to level(but level now anyway with the addition of crafting XP), need to spend 495 TP per character they want to use it on. for that price, they should have let every character a person makes on the server it was bought on have one. At least then it would have made sense!
Kins. Call it what you want Kin/Guild/Alliance. We all like to join them in games. Mostly, we all like to make them. Either for ourselves or to see if anyone else is interested in joining us. LotRO makes this both easy and hard. Its the hard part that makes this a solid con over pro. The good? You can start one with in game currency! Really! Its like 15 Silver I think. The bad? You need 8 other people to join and you only have a week to do it. After that week, if you don't meet the quota, it gets erased from the realm for forever. Well, until you make a new one I suppose.
Crafting XP. When I first started playing, you could do crafting and not gain XP. After a certain update though, you now gain a set amount of XP for using crafting skills. Levelling in LotRO was easy enough as it was, now its much much easier. Which isn't always a good thing.
Pro and Con, I'm sure there are things I missed. It happens! I'm only human after all!
Anyways, that's my blog for the day! Hope everyone stays well!
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
A Road Through The Dark
"Can't you think about something that doesn't involve food for ONCE in your life?"
"But... I'm just SO hungry! We haven't eaten for at least an hour!"
Crecla sighed in resignation at her husbands insistence to have yet another meal. "I swear, Firotrud, you are quite possibly the most obnoxious Hobbit in the Shire."
"Well, I might be obnoxious," Firotrud said with a hint of a smile, "But at least I let fellow Hobbits stop to eat!"
They continued down the road on their patrol continuing on with their argument when they heard a voice from ahead cry out, "Oi! Who goes there!"
Crecla and Firotrud picked up their pace to see who could possibly be out so late.
"Well, I do believe that is Bounder Boffin!" Firotrud said. "Hello there Boff!"
"Oh. Its just you two." Bounder Boffin said looking more than a little relieved. He went to pick up the satchel he had dropped. "You know, you shouldn't really be going around scaring Hobbits on a night like this!" He paused looking up the road. "Hey! Do you hear that? Someones coming!" The Bounder ran back up to the road to meet whomever it was.
A trio of Hobbits made their way up the road talking amongst each other when they noticed the three Bounders coming their way.
"Well met Bounders!" The Hobbit in the lead said. "And how are things with the three of you tonight?"
"I have to admit, I'm a bit famished!" Firotrud replied.
"That makes two of us!" The hobbit trailing the group said with a laugh.
"May I ask who the three of you are?" Bounder Boffin asked, trying to sound official.
"My name is... Underhill. These are my friends Sam and Pippin."
"Well, then Mr. Underhill, just what brings the three of you out on a night like this?" Bounder Boffin asked.
"What? We cant go for a little stroll?" The Hobbit named Pippin replied with a laugh.
"Hush Pippin! What do you mean 'on a night like this'? Have you seen or..."
Suddenly the air became cool and a piercing cry echoed through the night chilling them all to the bone.
"I think we should go now Mr. Frodo!" the Hobbit named Sam said with a hint of terror and urgency in his voice.
With that the three Hobbits ran off leaving the Bounders to wonder what had happened.
"Well," Firotrud said, "that was most unusual."
"There's someone approaching on a horse!" Crecla exclaimed.
Not too long after the words were out of her mouth did a horse carrying a rider garbed in black appear, heading straight for them. It pulled up by the Hobbits, who were too terrified to move. "Stay, Halflings!" The Black Rider commanded
"Th-th-there are no B-B-Baggins around h-h-here!" Bounder Boffin managed to stammer out.
The Black Rider gave out an angry sound that was a mixture of a hiss and a growl. "Little Fools! You will be dealt with later!" With that, it rode off into the night.
"Gracious me! Did the two of you see that?" Boffin said, visibly shaking.
"Well of course we saw it! Where do you think we were? All the way over in Frogmorton?!" Crecla said rather more angrily than she had meant.
"Maybe we should all get off the road in case it decides to come back." Firotrud suggested.
'Thats a good idea! We can cut through the old farm here!" That said Bounder Boffin ran off in the direction of the farm and began to unlock the door. Running inside, well ahead of Firotrud and Crecla, he stopped in his tracks suddenly and let out a yelp.
"What is it Boff?!" Came the worried cries behind him.
"S-s-s-Spiders!!" Boffin stuttered out. "I really hate spiders. Do the two of you think you can deal with them for me?"
"Oh for the love of..." Crecla sighed, "Alright. Fine. We'll deal with the spiders!"
With that Crecla and Firotrud went ahead, weapons drawn, to deal with the spiders that were in the way.
The spiders taken care of, the three Bounders began to head towards the exit to the farm.
"HELP! HELP!" Came a cry from ahead.
"Oh, what NOW?!" Boffin whined.
"Brigands! There are brigands after us!"
"Mundo Sackville-Baggins! Celandine Brandybuck! What are you two doing here?" Bounder Boffin asked upon recognizing the two Hobbits.
"What does it look like we're doing, you ninny?" Mundo shouted, "We're being chased by Brigands! Why don't you DO something about it, Bounders!"
"Come! We must go from here fast! We should cut through the farm! We can lock them out!" Celandine urgently said.
Boffin began shaking his head, "Oh no! There are spiders and a frightfully terrifying horseman on the road! We barely escaped ourselves!"
There was a crashing sound from the direction Mundo and Celandine had come from. "There they are! Come on! lets go get 'em!" Five men came through the entryway to the farm yard and surrounded the hobbits. "You wont escape from us this time! You're all coming to Archet with us where the rider will decide your fates!" With that, the brigands knocked Boffin and Mundo unconscious.
"What is it you brutes want with Mundo?" Celandine asked.
Your Mr. Baggins is wanted by someone who is lending us great aid in exchange for finding him. The Blackwolds will have unimaginable power now, thanks to your Baggins!" The brigand leader said.
"I do believe we are in a spot of trouble, my dear." Crecla said quietly to her husband.
Their world went black as the brigands knocked them unconscious from behind.
"Easy now, love." Came Firotruds voice as Crecla slowly regained consciousness. "Quite a bump to the ol' noggin you took!"
Crecla groaned. "Just who are you calling old?"
"Why no one of course, my little dumpling!" He replied with a wink and a smile.
"Where are we?" Crecla asked looking around.
"Id say were inside of a prison cell in a Blackwold encampment."
There came a rapping on the cell doors bars. Two ugly men were standing there staring at the Hobbits. "The Blackwolds will have unimaginable power now, thanks to your Baggins!" One of them said.
"So we've heard already. Now, release us you louts!" Firotrud shouted at them.
"You'll regret talking to me like that little man!" The brigand replied.
As he was fumbling with the keys looking for the cells key, a third man came up behind them and killed them each quickly and silently.
After freeing the two bounders from their cell, the man looked at them and said, "Hobbits seem to turn up in the most unlikely places." Bounder Boffin came running up, clearly out of breath and breathing hard. "Bounder Boffin! Are there anymore Hobbits in this place in need of rescue?"
"Just us, Mundo and Celandine!" Boffin said in between breaths.
"Come then!" Said the man, "We must rejoin my friend who is outside trying to rescue your friends!"
With that the three Hobbits and the man ran outside to see the encampment engulfed in flames. It wasn't long before they came upon a gated off area. On the far side was Mundo and Celandine. In the middle was a man holding off the Black Rider.
"Amdir!"
"Strider, my friend!" The man called, "I cannot hold him off much longer!"
"The door is locked!" Strider shouted, "Hold fast, Amdir!"
"Enough!" The Black Rider hissed. He then charged forward, stabbing Amdir in the shoulder. Turning to face the Hobbits, Mundo and Celandine, it asked, "Which is the Baggins promised to me?" He shrieked as a burning timber fell down into his path. "This is not the end, Dunadan!" He shouted to Strider as he rode off out of the encampment.
The door finally unlocked, Strider rushed in to the side of his wounded companion. "Come, Hobbits. Its safe now."
"Poor Amdir!" Celandine said upon seeing the wounded ranger.
"Whatever are we going to do?" Boffin asked no one in particular.
"You two," Strider said motioning towards the other two Bounders, "What are your names?"
"I'm Crecla and this here is my husband, Firotrud."
"Well, you two stay close to me this night... We must get Amdir to safety. It is to Archet we must flee!" He looked at the other three Hobbits, "Bounder Boffin, you should go back to the Shire. Its bounds must be kept safe. Celandine, Mundo, come with me. I worry for Mundo's safety when all the wicked folk west of the Greenway are searching for "Baggins". Alas that my true charge must wait!"
Their instructions given, Bounder Boffin headed back to the Shire while Strider, Amdir and the two Hobbits headed in the direction of Archet.
"But... I'm just SO hungry! We haven't eaten for at least an hour!"
Crecla sighed in resignation at her husbands insistence to have yet another meal. "I swear, Firotrud, you are quite possibly the most obnoxious Hobbit in the Shire."
"Well, I might be obnoxious," Firotrud said with a hint of a smile, "But at least I let fellow Hobbits stop to eat!"
They continued down the road on their patrol continuing on with their argument when they heard a voice from ahead cry out, "Oi! Who goes there!"
Crecla and Firotrud picked up their pace to see who could possibly be out so late.
"Well, I do believe that is Bounder Boffin!" Firotrud said. "Hello there Boff!"
"Oh. Its just you two." Bounder Boffin said looking more than a little relieved. He went to pick up the satchel he had dropped. "You know, you shouldn't really be going around scaring Hobbits on a night like this!" He paused looking up the road. "Hey! Do you hear that? Someones coming!" The Bounder ran back up to the road to meet whomever it was.
A trio of Hobbits made their way up the road talking amongst each other when they noticed the three Bounders coming their way.
"Well met Bounders!" The Hobbit in the lead said. "And how are things with the three of you tonight?"
"I have to admit, I'm a bit famished!" Firotrud replied.
"That makes two of us!" The hobbit trailing the group said with a laugh.
"May I ask who the three of you are?" Bounder Boffin asked, trying to sound official.
"My name is... Underhill. These are my friends Sam and Pippin."
"Well, then Mr. Underhill, just what brings the three of you out on a night like this?" Bounder Boffin asked.
"What? We cant go for a little stroll?" The Hobbit named Pippin replied with a laugh.
"Hush Pippin! What do you mean 'on a night like this'? Have you seen or..."
Suddenly the air became cool and a piercing cry echoed through the night chilling them all to the bone.
"I think we should go now Mr. Frodo!" the Hobbit named Sam said with a hint of terror and urgency in his voice.
With that the three Hobbits ran off leaving the Bounders to wonder what had happened.
"Well," Firotrud said, "that was most unusual."
"There's someone approaching on a horse!" Crecla exclaimed.
Not too long after the words were out of her mouth did a horse carrying a rider garbed in black appear, heading straight for them. It pulled up by the Hobbits, who were too terrified to move. "Stay, Halflings!" The Black Rider commanded
"Th-th-there are no B-B-Baggins around h-h-here!" Bounder Boffin managed to stammer out.
The Black Rider gave out an angry sound that was a mixture of a hiss and a growl. "Little Fools! You will be dealt with later!" With that, it rode off into the night.
"Gracious me! Did the two of you see that?" Boffin said, visibly shaking.
"Well of course we saw it! Where do you think we were? All the way over in Frogmorton?!" Crecla said rather more angrily than she had meant.
"Maybe we should all get off the road in case it decides to come back." Firotrud suggested.
'Thats a good idea! We can cut through the old farm here!" That said Bounder Boffin ran off in the direction of the farm and began to unlock the door. Running inside, well ahead of Firotrud and Crecla, he stopped in his tracks suddenly and let out a yelp.
"What is it Boff?!" Came the worried cries behind him.
"S-s-s-Spiders!!" Boffin stuttered out. "I really hate spiders. Do the two of you think you can deal with them for me?"
"Oh for the love of..." Crecla sighed, "Alright. Fine. We'll deal with the spiders!"
With that Crecla and Firotrud went ahead, weapons drawn, to deal with the spiders that were in the way.
The spiders taken care of, the three Bounders began to head towards the exit to the farm.
"HELP! HELP!" Came a cry from ahead.
"Oh, what NOW?!" Boffin whined.
"Brigands! There are brigands after us!"
"Mundo Sackville-Baggins! Celandine Brandybuck! What are you two doing here?" Bounder Boffin asked upon recognizing the two Hobbits.
"What does it look like we're doing, you ninny?" Mundo shouted, "We're being chased by Brigands! Why don't you DO something about it, Bounders!"
"Come! We must go from here fast! We should cut through the farm! We can lock them out!" Celandine urgently said.
Boffin began shaking his head, "Oh no! There are spiders and a frightfully terrifying horseman on the road! We barely escaped ourselves!"
There was a crashing sound from the direction Mundo and Celandine had come from. "There they are! Come on! lets go get 'em!" Five men came through the entryway to the farm yard and surrounded the hobbits. "You wont escape from us this time! You're all coming to Archet with us where the rider will decide your fates!" With that, the brigands knocked Boffin and Mundo unconscious.
"What is it you brutes want with Mundo?" Celandine asked.
Your Mr. Baggins is wanted by someone who is lending us great aid in exchange for finding him. The Blackwolds will have unimaginable power now, thanks to your Baggins!" The brigand leader said.
"I do believe we are in a spot of trouble, my dear." Crecla said quietly to her husband.
Their world went black as the brigands knocked them unconscious from behind.
"Easy now, love." Came Firotruds voice as Crecla slowly regained consciousness. "Quite a bump to the ol' noggin you took!"
Crecla groaned. "Just who are you calling old?"
"Why no one of course, my little dumpling!" He replied with a wink and a smile.
"Where are we?" Crecla asked looking around.
"Id say were inside of a prison cell in a Blackwold encampment."
There came a rapping on the cell doors bars. Two ugly men were standing there staring at the Hobbits. "The Blackwolds will have unimaginable power now, thanks to your Baggins!" One of them said.
"So we've heard already. Now, release us you louts!" Firotrud shouted at them.
"You'll regret talking to me like that little man!" The brigand replied.
As he was fumbling with the keys looking for the cells key, a third man came up behind them and killed them each quickly and silently.
After freeing the two bounders from their cell, the man looked at them and said, "Hobbits seem to turn up in the most unlikely places." Bounder Boffin came running up, clearly out of breath and breathing hard. "Bounder Boffin! Are there anymore Hobbits in this place in need of rescue?"
"Just us, Mundo and Celandine!" Boffin said in between breaths.
"Come then!" Said the man, "We must rejoin my friend who is outside trying to rescue your friends!"
With that the three Hobbits and the man ran outside to see the encampment engulfed in flames. It wasn't long before they came upon a gated off area. On the far side was Mundo and Celandine. In the middle was a man holding off the Black Rider.
"Amdir!"
"Strider, my friend!" The man called, "I cannot hold him off much longer!"
"The door is locked!" Strider shouted, "Hold fast, Amdir!"
"Enough!" The Black Rider hissed. He then charged forward, stabbing Amdir in the shoulder. Turning to face the Hobbits, Mundo and Celandine, it asked, "Which is the Baggins promised to me?" He shrieked as a burning timber fell down into his path. "This is not the end, Dunadan!" He shouted to Strider as he rode off out of the encampment.
The door finally unlocked, Strider rushed in to the side of his wounded companion. "Come, Hobbits. Its safe now."
"Poor Amdir!" Celandine said upon seeing the wounded ranger.
"Whatever are we going to do?" Boffin asked no one in particular.
"You two," Strider said motioning towards the other two Bounders, "What are your names?"
"I'm Crecla and this here is my husband, Firotrud."
"Well, you two stay close to me this night... We must get Amdir to safety. It is to Archet we must flee!" He looked at the other three Hobbits, "Bounder Boffin, you should go back to the Shire. Its bounds must be kept safe. Celandine, Mundo, come with me. I worry for Mundo's safety when all the wicked folk west of the Greenway are searching for "Baggins". Alas that my true charge must wait!"
Their instructions given, Bounder Boffin headed back to the Shire while Strider, Amdir and the two Hobbits headed in the direction of Archet.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)