I survived my first week in New Eden and the experience was not as tough as I feared. Eve Online does have some features not found in other games, but I think I am adapting fairly well. I went ahead and purchased the game and now have a regular account. I thought I would go ahead and put down some more of my impressions of the game after a week. If some of the comments seem curious, they are based on things I’ve read in the Rookie chat channel.
The trial account – No, the trial accounts do not give full access to the game. For instance, you cannot train in industrial ships. A totally reasonable restriction, in my opinion. Why give gold, er, I mean isk, farmers the ability to make a ton of isk to sell for free?
Movement – Unlike most western MMOs, movement is not performed with the WASD keys. Instead, you select an object, like a station, asteroid belt, cargo container or a bookmark if you have set one up already, and move to it.
Tutorials – Take advantage of the tutorials and newbie missions. In addition to giving you a lot of ships (I received a Rifter, a Slasher, 2 Bursts and 2 Wreathes) tutorials will also appear during the missions to give you aid with some of the mechanics. Some of the tutorials gave me skill books, so I didn’t have to purchase all my skills on the broker. Just be careful while doing the tutorials. One of the missions lured me into an ambush, which I didn’t recognize in time. I was warping out when all of a sudden my Slasher was in pieces and I was in a pod. Of course, learning about what happens when your ship explodes may have been part of the learning experience for that mission. I was a little upset with myself, but at least I had …
Insurance – Insurance is not mandatory, but I’m glad I buy it. In addition to the Slasher, I lost the Rifter while attempting to do the epic arc. I always buy the premium insurance for my ships and I haven’t regretted it.
Level 1 missions – The biggest question I had after deciding that I wasn’t ready for the epic arc was where to find level 1 missions. One of the volunteers in the Rookie channel gave instructions on how to use the map to find agents who will talk with you. After some of the things I’ve read in the Rookie channel, I’ve determined that I’ll only listen to a red, blue, or green (i.e. a GM or CCP volunteer) answer.
So far I’ve only done two level 1 missions. I did not know the missions were part of faction warfare. I might be wrong about that, but I was getting faction points for completing the missions. The first one was a FedEx run delivering advanced weapons to a Minmatar base.
The second mission was a bit more difficult. Pirates, probably with the encouragement of the evil Amarr, were encroaching into Minmatar space. I was sent out to deal with the threat. No problem, right? Well, no problem with the ones at the end of the first acceleration gate. The second acceleration gate? Well, I did pick the Minmatar because they practice hit and run tactics. Good thing I had that mindset going in because the pirates were a bit smarter than the mobs I’m used to. For instance, after I destroyed 3 out of 4 pirates in a group, the last one took off looking for help. He got to a group of 4 more pirates before I could kill him. I eventually did kill the fleeing pirate, but with four bogies on my tail chasing me I figured it was a good time to warp out of the area. Clearing that area took a long time and I wound up warping out of the area five times before I was able to destroy the last pirate.
Salvage – I had heard before playing that salvage was a good way to make money. So I made sure that my training included the skills to use a salvager. I don’t know if I can get back to the acceleration gate areas once I’ve killed all of the enemy ships, so I have been bringing the salvager with me on the missions instead of training up for a missile launcher. I don’t know what the items I salvage are used for, but I know they sell for some good isk. Yesterday I sold all the valuable items for 1.7 million isk.
Mining – What would a week in Eve be without mining? I stayed in a nice .9 security zone so I wouldn’t have to worry about any pirates. I trained up enough so I can use a Miner II. Much faster than using the basic Miner I. I have fitted out a Burst and used jet cans once, but normally I have been just using a Wreathe. With one hard point the mining is much slower, but I only mine with the Wreathe when I’m playing EverQuest 2. I have purchased a Probe and trained up my drone skills and I’m looking forward to mining with drones.
Certificates – I found something called certificates that I found fascinating. When I looked at my new Rifter, I found a recommendation to obtain 3 certificates; core competency, armor tanking, and small projectile gunnery. I’m taking the skills recommendations to heart and in addition to the other nice skills I’m working on getting all three certificates. I heard in the Rookie channel that certificates are a waste of time, but I didn’t hear that from the GMs or volunteers, so I’m going to continue aiming for them.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
What I've Been Listening To: August 9-15, 2009
This is a vacation edition of the weekly review. I should say "staycation" as I just stayed at home and started to learn to play Eve Online. I discovered that learning Eve requires a bit of attention so I didn't listen to very many podcasts. But I was still able to find three highlights that I think people may be interested in.
Highlights
Goodbye Matrix Online. SOE finally closed down The Matrix Online August 1st and on Massively Speaking #63 Colin Brennan talked about his experiences in the game. While I never played MxO even though I have SOE's Station Pass, the closing of a game should never go unnoticed and Colin does a good job of pointing out the positives and negatives of the game.
Part 1 of the Scott Hartsman interview on No Prisoners, No Mercy #41. The sisters scored another big interview, this time with the former producer of both EverQuest and EverQuest 2, Scott Hartsman. One of the topics in part 1 of the 2 part interview is Scott's views on emergent and degenerate game play in MMOs. The example Scott uses in the interview, broker speculation, is a hot topic in my guild as we have a player on our server who fits the description.
Leala goes wild over Second Skin. If you want to hear an entertaining rant over Second Skin, the documentary look at MMO gamers, listen to Spouse Aggro #85. Leala usually comes across as the rational member of the Turkey family, but in this episode the roles are reversed.
General Gaming
No Prisoners, No Mercy #41 (Hosts: Sister Julie and Sister Fran) - In addition to the Scott Hartsman interview (see above), the sisters also talked with Total Biscuit from WoW Radio. For those who would like to hear more from Scott Hartsman, he was interviewed on Massively Speaking #13. Length: 88 minutes.
Massively Speaking #63 (Host: Shawn Schuster) - Massively.com bloggers Colin Brennan and Kyle Horner joined the boss to discuss the latest on Champions Online and the closing of The Matrix Online. A nice little discussion about being fanbois started off the podcast. Length: 68 minutes.
Massively Speaking #64 (Host: Shawn Schuster) - Shawn's guests were Spouse Aggro co-hosts Beau and Leala Turkey who discussed the movie Second Skin, the rumored launch date for the new Star Wars MMO and the departure of Jeff Strain and David Reid from NCSoft. Length: 61 minutes.
Spouse Aggro #85 (Hosts: Beau and Leala Turkey) - Leala goes on a rant about Second Skin and Beau tries his hand at being the calm and rational member of the family. Given the nature of the movie and the quality of the rant, I highly recommend this episode. Length: 53 minutes.
Van Hemlock #63 (Hosts: Tim Dale and Jon Shute) - As much as I love this podcast, I couldn't listen to this episode. Literally. The pair attempted to do a podcast from a moving vehicle and I couldn't really hear them while the car was moving. I gave up trying. Length: 67 minutes.
Game Specific Podcasts
EQ2
EQ2's-day broadcast on July 28, 2009 (Hosts: Dellmon and Zanadi) - The pair discussed the Tinkerfest live event and where to go for easy raiding. Dellmon does a bit of roleplay as he tries to play a calm and level-headed podcaster while Zanadi rants about doing the Cloak of the Harvester quests. Length: 77 minutes.
Eve Online
PODDED podcast Season 2, Episode 14 (Hosts: Dillon Arklight and War Childe) - The pair discussed the new copyrighted logo "Dust 514" and interceptor scouting. Storytime with Dillon made another appearance as Dillon discussed a recent battle that resulted in the loss of over 100 capital ships. Length: 96 minutes.
World of Warcraft
The Instance #157 (Hosts: Scott Johnson and Randy Jordan) - The hosts gave a long review of the new 3.2 patch, the pet choices of hunters and the effect of allowing players to have toons in both factions on PvP servers. Length: 113 minutes.
Highlights
Goodbye Matrix Online. SOE finally closed down The Matrix Online August 1st and on Massively Speaking #63 Colin Brennan talked about his experiences in the game. While I never played MxO even though I have SOE's Station Pass, the closing of a game should never go unnoticed and Colin does a good job of pointing out the positives and negatives of the game.
Part 1 of the Scott Hartsman interview on No Prisoners, No Mercy #41. The sisters scored another big interview, this time with the former producer of both EverQuest and EverQuest 2, Scott Hartsman. One of the topics in part 1 of the 2 part interview is Scott's views on emergent and degenerate game play in MMOs. The example Scott uses in the interview, broker speculation, is a hot topic in my guild as we have a player on our server who fits the description.
Leala goes wild over Second Skin. If you want to hear an entertaining rant over Second Skin, the documentary look at MMO gamers, listen to Spouse Aggro #85. Leala usually comes across as the rational member of the Turkey family, but in this episode the roles are reversed.
General Gaming
No Prisoners, No Mercy #41 (Hosts: Sister Julie and Sister Fran) - In addition to the Scott Hartsman interview (see above), the sisters also talked with Total Biscuit from WoW Radio. For those who would like to hear more from Scott Hartsman, he was interviewed on Massively Speaking #13. Length: 88 minutes.
Massively Speaking #63 (Host: Shawn Schuster) - Massively.com bloggers Colin Brennan and Kyle Horner joined the boss to discuss the latest on Champions Online and the closing of The Matrix Online. A nice little discussion about being fanbois started off the podcast. Length: 68 minutes.
Massively Speaking #64 (Host: Shawn Schuster) - Shawn's guests were Spouse Aggro co-hosts Beau and Leala Turkey who discussed the movie Second Skin, the rumored launch date for the new Star Wars MMO and the departure of Jeff Strain and David Reid from NCSoft. Length: 61 minutes.
Spouse Aggro #85 (Hosts: Beau and Leala Turkey) - Leala goes on a rant about Second Skin and Beau tries his hand at being the calm and rational member of the family. Given the nature of the movie and the quality of the rant, I highly recommend this episode. Length: 53 minutes.
Van Hemlock #63 (Hosts: Tim Dale and Jon Shute) - As much as I love this podcast, I couldn't listen to this episode. Literally. The pair attempted to do a podcast from a moving vehicle and I couldn't really hear them while the car was moving. I gave up trying. Length: 67 minutes.
Game Specific Podcasts
EQ2
EQ2's-day broadcast on July 28, 2009 (Hosts: Dellmon and Zanadi) - The pair discussed the Tinkerfest live event and where to go for easy raiding. Dellmon does a bit of roleplay as he tries to play a calm and level-headed podcaster while Zanadi rants about doing the Cloak of the Harvester quests. Length: 77 minutes.
Eve Online
PODDED podcast Season 2, Episode 14 (Hosts: Dillon Arklight and War Childe) - The pair discussed the new copyrighted logo "Dust 514" and interceptor scouting. Storytime with Dillon made another appearance as Dillon discussed a recent battle that resulted in the loss of over 100 capital ships. Length: 96 minutes.
World of Warcraft
The Instance #157 (Hosts: Scott Johnson and Randy Jordan) - The hosts gave a long review of the new 3.2 patch, the pet choices of hunters and the effect of allowing players to have toons in both factions on PvP servers. Length: 113 minutes.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
An Academic Look at EQ2's Economy - Q1 to Q2 2006
Over at Kill Ten Rats Zubon has a post about the first economics paper that has emerged that used the data Sony Online Entertainment made available to the academic community. One of the authors of the paper, Dmitri Williams from the University of Southern California, posted an article about the paper, complete with a link, at Terra Nova.
While the researchers may have come up with some interesting results either proving or disproving certain theories, I found some interesting things of my own. For one thing, the period studied was from January to May 2006. I understand why that period was selected; the researchers wanted to view a new server's economy compared to a mature server's. But one of their hypothesis may have been slightly off:
The major thing I found interesting was the description of the economy from January to May.
Now, please don't think I am disparaging the researchers for not knowing what was happening in the game at the time. Maybe I would if I knew the article (Paarlberg, 1992) the researchers were referencing, but the next paragraph in the paper shows that maybe they figured out SOE did something to the virtual world they were examining.
Now, if I'm right and the numbers don't indicate a mass exodus of players from EQ2 (which is possible), then I wonder what that does to the calculations and conclusions in the paper. Still, an interesting read and I'd urge everyone to go over and read the paper. I didn't link directly to it because the link is to a pdf file so I'll let everyone go to Terra Nova to read it.
While the researchers may have come up with some interesting results either proving or disproving certain theories, I found some interesting things of my own. For one thing, the period studied was from January to May 2006. I understand why that period was selected; the researchers wanted to view a new server's economy compared to a mature server's. But one of their hypothesis may have been slightly off:
"In a sense, a new server launch is a new draw from the population of all possible servers, in Monte Carlo style, but done with thousands of real people flowing into an unreal world. For the analysis here, the Antonia Bayle server had been operating since the launch of EQ2 in February 2004 and so represents the baseline condition. The Nagafen server opened in February 2006 and players were given the opportunity to transfer their characters there to alleviate population pressures elsewhere. Therefore, the test of the research question was whether the new population of Nagafen – presumably made up of no different kinds of people than that of Antonia Bayle – would generate the same GDP and price levels as Antonia Bayle. An affirmative answer to the research question would require the Nagafen GDP and price level to start at zero, but then approach and eventually match Antonia Bayle’s." (emphasis mine)Actually, the Nagafen server was not opened up to alleviate population pressures on other servers. Nagafen was one of the six new player verses player (PvP) servers opened up on February 21, 2006 in conjunction with the release of the Kingdom of Sky expansion. As such, a specific type of player moved from all the other servers onto Nagafen. Most players experienced with MMORPGs would consider the players on a server with a role-play (RP) rules set (Antonia Bayle) to be different from those on a server with a PvP rules set. I'm not sure this affected any of the results, but I found the assumption amusing.
The major thing I found interesting was the description of the economy from January to May.
"Second, the indicators of aggregate production and prices followed directly from the item categories. It was possible to calculate GDP and price levels and track their change through time. These changes suggested that while GDP did not go to zero or completely explode, there were fairly abrupt and unusual changes in this figure across time. The fluctuations were more dramatic than are seen normally in a real economy. In the real world, it is not typical for nominal GDP to rise by more than 50 percent in a month, as happened on Antonia Bayle from February to March. Specifically, the data showed that much of this jump in nominal GDP was caused by a rapid inflation of prices. On this server, in just five months there was a 50 percent increase in the price level: that is, 50 percent inflation. What appeared to be a dramatic increase in the amount of real goods that EQ2 players were producing turned out to be mostly an increase in the prices that these goods were commanding in the marketplace. This is an unusual pattern, if not unheard of (Paarlberg, 1992), but monetary economists do not characterize it as a ‘normal’ economic situation."Remember when I mentioned the Kingdom of Sky expansion earlier? That expansion raised the level cap from 60 to 70. Along with the raise in the level cap came a brand new tier of products that players began crafting and selling to each other in all the product categories the researchers looked at. In short, what the researchers were looking at was a quantum leap in the level of technology combined with the discovery of new raw materials introduced into the world of EverQuest 2 compressed into a single day (February 21). The prices in the individual categories rose as a result.
Now, please don't think I am disparaging the researchers for not knowing what was happening in the game at the time. Maybe I would if I knew the article (Paarlberg, 1992) the researchers were referencing, but the next paragraph in the paper shows that maybe they figured out SOE did something to the virtual world they were examining.
"Taken altogether, this is evidence that virtual economies are not perfect analogs of real economies at the aggregate level. They seem to be less stable. This conclusion is tempered by a number of factors which can be explored in future research. The rapid changes in GDP may not be a function of the fact that the economy is virtual, but because it is being managed in a certain way. Certainly, evidence of rapid changes in the money supply from Figure 5 points out the source of the fluctuations. Thus, the practical application for mapping from virtual to real (or vice versa) might be most useful when comparing the virtual to volatile real-world conditions. After all, the implicit real-world benchmark in this study has been a developed post-industrial economy. Perhaps virtual economies are very precise analog for other kinds of real-world economies, such as frontier, developing or black market economies." (emphasis mine)The last item I found interesting was the look the researchers took at the number of active accounts on Antonia Bayle during the period of the study. The researchers found the population on the Antonia Bayle server rose in February, fell greatly in March, fell a bit more in April and stayed constant in May. But since the server logs don't show the number of active accounts, the researchers had to come up with a way of measuring population.
"It was assumed that an active character either had to earn at least one experience point, or to conduct at least one economic activity. In other words, a character had to have at least one record in the experience log or the economy log in order to be considered ‘active’. Following this logic, the number of unique active characters was counted for each month for each server, providing a population count."The problem for the researchers was the introduction of the expansion. From my experience, I would say that the rise in characters in February was not only a result of players returning to experience the new content but new players being drawn into the game because of a new expansion. The March drop-off in number of characters (avatars) played could be explained by a lot of people not playing alts (alternate characters) while they level up their main characters to the new level cap. The sustained lower numbers of characters played probably indicates that the new content was extensive enough that players were still playing their main characters and not playing their alts.
Now, if I'm right and the numbers don't indicate a mass exodus of players from EQ2 (which is possible), then I wonder what that does to the calculations and conclusions in the paper. Still, an interesting read and I'd urge everyone to go over and read the paper. I didn't link directly to it because the link is to a pdf file so I'll let everyone go to Terra Nova to read it.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
EQ2 Tradeskill Epic: Yonger Gets a Sokokar
I brought the chest full of imbued ore the Teren’s Grasp officials needed for sealing a pact with the mountain giants to Jones. Okay, I dropped it someplace close to him. Maybe that wasn’t polite to do, but I was tired and my leg hurt.
"Hail, Jones," I said.
"Thanks so much for your hard work, this should be perfect for the job," the halfling official said. "I'll let Borbin know we're all ready to arrange the deal. I hope I can get his attention, he's been very distracted since he heard the bad news this afternoon."
"What news was that?" I asked, letting my curiosity get the better of me.
Jones replied, "Lynchpin, one of our sokokar, was captured today by a drolvarg ambush. She's one of our best breeding stock and I imagine the drolvarg are planning to get a high price for her from the Sathirians. Everyone in Teren's Grasp and Dreg's Landing alike absolutely adore her, so the whole outpost is talking about it and making plans to get her back."
"What can be done about it?" I asked.
"We sent out a few more hawks to gather information, and we think they have her chained up inside one of the hollow trees near Karnor's Castle," Jones told me. "They're probably awaiting further orders on where to take her. We probably don't have a lot of time before they move her again, so we're sending out a few adventurers to try and get her free. Actually, I was rather hoping you might be able to make some sturdy chain cutters they could take with them, just in case they're needed. Are you good enough at the forge to wangle up something like that?" he asked.
"I've never tried making that sort of thing before, but I'll certainly give it a try!" I told Jones with a little more enthusiasm than I really felt. I was tired and sore, but I’ve got a soft spot for animals, so I’d do my best.
"I appreciate it, please hurry," the halfling said.
"I will," I reassured him.
So back to the forge I went. The fact that no experienced metal smiths capable of making the bolt cutters worked at the port really made me wonder about how well organized this Teren fella really was. Then I dealt with the merchants again and realized that maybe the problem was that the merchants had chased away all of the crafters. Even after the dickering I did with them, the prices were much higher than I would have normally willingly paid. If Lynchpin didn’t need help, I would have just walked away.
Any crafter would really have to bring their own supplies to Dreg’s Landing with them if they wanted to make any kind of profit off their work. You can be sure I mentioned that to the gang back at the Ironforge Exchange!
So after another aggravating session figuring out how to make something, I returned to Jones. At least the chain cutters were lighter than the chest of ore.
"Hail, Jones," I called.
"Thank you so much for working on those chain cutters for me," the Teren’s Grasp official told me as I handed over the chain cutters.
"You're welcome," I said. "I hope she gets back safely."
"As do I! I'll hand these out straight away, there's a party just about to leave now."
A party about to depart? Looks like I finished just in time. "Let me know how it goes!" I said.
"If they're successful, the party will most likely return to the main Teren's Grasp outpost where they can keep her safe and check her for any injuries," Jones advised. "Next time you're in that area, look for Stewlin Vincent at the sokokar post up there. He'll be able to let you know how it goes!"
"Thanks, I'll ask Stewlin next time I pass through," I told him.
"I hope the news will be good!" Jones exclaimed.
"I'm sure it will be," I assured the halfling.
So I finally got to go fishing. I have to say that the fishing around Dreg’s Landing is pretty good and within a few days I had caught my fill of king prawn. Instead of returning to Qeynos though, I decided to head up to the main Teren’s Grasp outpost. I figured that the bank there had a relationship with my bank in Qeynos and I could arrange to have my goods shipped back to the city while I continued my vacation.
The trip wasn’t too bad, if you don’t mind the cold. I headed up the road out of Dreg’s Landing to the mountains and followed it until it seemed to end. I then headed cross-country, avoiding the yeti I saw in the distance. After a time the road looked safe so I followed it to the outpost, stopping to pay my respects at the druid ring just outside the entrance.
Did I say outpost? A small city is a better description. I entered Teren’s Grasp looking for directions when I spotted a figure next to a post accompanied by a sokokar. As I got closer, he fit the description of Stewlin Vincent that Jones gave me.
"Hail, Stewlin Vincent," I called out.
"Lynchpin is back safe and sound!!!" Stewlin exclaimed.
"She is?” I replied. “Wonderful news, congratulations."
"Thank you so much, Jones told me all the help you've been,” Stewlin told me. “I'd like to thank you with this young sokokar I've been training. He's one of Lynchpin's offspring. Not quite as fast as Lynchpin, but he's got good blood!"
"Thank you very much," I told the sokokar trainer, touched. I really wasn’t expecting that.
"Listen,” Stewlin continued. "I wonder if you have time to take the good news up to our folks up at Kunzar's Edge. I haven't had the time to send a message yet, and I know they'll want to know Lynchpin is safe. Would you mind?" Stewlin asked.
"Sure, if I can get there safely," I replied. I remembered my daughter’s tales of travelling through the Kylong Plains. I’m a woodworker, not a hero. The little scouting trip I took to Karnor’s Castle was as much excitement as I really wanted. "Can I take the sokokar there?"
"The sokokars can only take you to landing points they've already visited," Stewlin explained, "so you won't be able to fly your young sokokar there directly yet, he hasn't traveled that far. However, I can teleport you directly there. Let Hroar know the good news and he'll spread the word. Oh, and there should be a sokokar post nearby that you can use to get back safely."
After making sure my new sokokar knew the landing point in Teren’s Grasp, I told the trainer, "Sure, I'm ready to go."
One second I was in Teren’s Grasp, the next I was on top of a watch tower at Kunzar’s Edge next to a figure in a suit of black plate armor watching a road headed north.
"What do you mean by suddenly appearing here?" the suit of armor growled, the breath visable in the cold. I had found Hroar.
"Sorry to drop in so suddenly," I said hurriedly. "Stewlin Vincent in Teren's Grasp sent me to let you know that Lynchpin has been recovered."
"Oh, working for Teren's Grasp are you?" Hroar asked, his tone changing to something sounding more friendly. "Well, that's different. Thanks for the news, I'll pass on the word. Make yourself at home here, and you'll find the sokokar post on the coast up by the west wall there. And watch your step climbing down the tower, we don't need to be scraping up any more clumsy crafters who think they can fly," he added.
I think Hroar might have done something to make those crafters clumsy. "Er, thanks, I think," I told him and proceeded to make my way carefully down the tower.
I followed Hroar’s directions to the sokokar post, bound my young sokokar to it, and flew off to Dreg’s Landing. The sokokar took a route that led us past Karnor’s Castle and over a sea of drolvargs that I had earlier wove a path through to release a scouting hawk. Looking down at the scene, I thought to myself I’d never do anything that again!
To be continued…
Related posts
EQ2 Tradeskill Epic: Yonger's Vacation
EQ2 Tradeskill Epic: Working for Teren's Grasp
EQ2 Tradeskill Epic: Yonger Gets a Sokokar
EQ2 Tradeskill Epic: New Lands, New Profits
"Hail, Jones," I said.
"Thanks so much for your hard work, this should be perfect for the job," the halfling official said. "I'll let Borbin know we're all ready to arrange the deal. I hope I can get his attention, he's been very distracted since he heard the bad news this afternoon."
"What news was that?" I asked, letting my curiosity get the better of me.
Jones replied, "Lynchpin, one of our sokokar, was captured today by a drolvarg ambush. She's one of our best breeding stock and I imagine the drolvarg are planning to get a high price for her from the Sathirians. Everyone in Teren's Grasp and Dreg's Landing alike absolutely adore her, so the whole outpost is talking about it and making plans to get her back."
"What can be done about it?" I asked.
"We sent out a few more hawks to gather information, and we think they have her chained up inside one of the hollow trees near Karnor's Castle," Jones told me. "They're probably awaiting further orders on where to take her. We probably don't have a lot of time before they move her again, so we're sending out a few adventurers to try and get her free. Actually, I was rather hoping you might be able to make some sturdy chain cutters they could take with them, just in case they're needed. Are you good enough at the forge to wangle up something like that?" he asked.
"I've never tried making that sort of thing before, but I'll certainly give it a try!" I told Jones with a little more enthusiasm than I really felt. I was tired and sore, but I’ve got a soft spot for animals, so I’d do my best.
"I appreciate it, please hurry," the halfling said.
"I will," I reassured him.
So back to the forge I went. The fact that no experienced metal smiths capable of making the bolt cutters worked at the port really made me wonder about how well organized this Teren fella really was. Then I dealt with the merchants again and realized that maybe the problem was that the merchants had chased away all of the crafters. Even after the dickering I did with them, the prices were much higher than I would have normally willingly paid. If Lynchpin didn’t need help, I would have just walked away.
Any crafter would really have to bring their own supplies to Dreg’s Landing with them if they wanted to make any kind of profit off their work. You can be sure I mentioned that to the gang back at the Ironforge Exchange!
So after another aggravating session figuring out how to make something, I returned to Jones. At least the chain cutters were lighter than the chest of ore.
"Hail, Jones," I called.
"Thank you so much for working on those chain cutters for me," the Teren’s Grasp official told me as I handed over the chain cutters.
"You're welcome," I said. "I hope she gets back safely."
"As do I! I'll hand these out straight away, there's a party just about to leave now."
A party about to depart? Looks like I finished just in time. "Let me know how it goes!" I said.
"If they're successful, the party will most likely return to the main Teren's Grasp outpost where they can keep her safe and check her for any injuries," Jones advised. "Next time you're in that area, look for Stewlin Vincent at the sokokar post up there. He'll be able to let you know how it goes!"
"Thanks, I'll ask Stewlin next time I pass through," I told him.
"I hope the news will be good!" Jones exclaimed.
"I'm sure it will be," I assured the halfling.
So I finally got to go fishing. I have to say that the fishing around Dreg’s Landing is pretty good and within a few days I had caught my fill of king prawn. Instead of returning to Qeynos though, I decided to head up to the main Teren’s Grasp outpost. I figured that the bank there had a relationship with my bank in Qeynos and I could arrange to have my goods shipped back to the city while I continued my vacation.
The trip wasn’t too bad, if you don’t mind the cold. I headed up the road out of Dreg’s Landing to the mountains and followed it until it seemed to end. I then headed cross-country, avoiding the yeti I saw in the distance. After a time the road looked safe so I followed it to the outpost, stopping to pay my respects at the druid ring just outside the entrance.
Did I say outpost? A small city is a better description. I entered Teren’s Grasp looking for directions when I spotted a figure next to a post accompanied by a sokokar. As I got closer, he fit the description of Stewlin Vincent that Jones gave me.
"Hail, Stewlin Vincent," I called out.
"Lynchpin is back safe and sound!!!" Stewlin exclaimed.
"She is?” I replied. “Wonderful news, congratulations."
"Thank you so much, Jones told me all the help you've been,” Stewlin told me. “I'd like to thank you with this young sokokar I've been training. He's one of Lynchpin's offspring. Not quite as fast as Lynchpin, but he's got good blood!"
"Thank you very much," I told the sokokar trainer, touched. I really wasn’t expecting that.
"Listen,” Stewlin continued. "I wonder if you have time to take the good news up to our folks up at Kunzar's Edge. I haven't had the time to send a message yet, and I know they'll want to know Lynchpin is safe. Would you mind?" Stewlin asked.
"Sure, if I can get there safely," I replied. I remembered my daughter’s tales of travelling through the Kylong Plains. I’m a woodworker, not a hero. The little scouting trip I took to Karnor’s Castle was as much excitement as I really wanted. "Can I take the sokokar there?"
"The sokokars can only take you to landing points they've already visited," Stewlin explained, "so you won't be able to fly your young sokokar there directly yet, he hasn't traveled that far. However, I can teleport you directly there. Let Hroar know the good news and he'll spread the word. Oh, and there should be a sokokar post nearby that you can use to get back safely."
After making sure my new sokokar knew the landing point in Teren’s Grasp, I told the trainer, "Sure, I'm ready to go."
One second I was in Teren’s Grasp, the next I was on top of a watch tower at Kunzar’s Edge next to a figure in a suit of black plate armor watching a road headed north.
"What do you mean by suddenly appearing here?" the suit of armor growled, the breath visable in the cold. I had found Hroar.
"Sorry to drop in so suddenly," I said hurriedly. "Stewlin Vincent in Teren's Grasp sent me to let you know that Lynchpin has been recovered."
"Oh, working for Teren's Grasp are you?" Hroar asked, his tone changing to something sounding more friendly. "Well, that's different. Thanks for the news, I'll pass on the word. Make yourself at home here, and you'll find the sokokar post on the coast up by the west wall there. And watch your step climbing down the tower, we don't need to be scraping up any more clumsy crafters who think they can fly," he added.
I think Hroar might have done something to make those crafters clumsy. "Er, thanks, I think," I told him and proceeded to make my way carefully down the tower.
I followed Hroar’s directions to the sokokar post, bound my young sokokar to it, and flew off to Dreg’s Landing. The sokokar took a route that led us past Karnor’s Castle and over a sea of drolvargs that I had earlier wove a path through to release a scouting hawk. Looking down at the scene, I thought to myself I’d never do anything that again!
To be continued…
Related posts
EQ2 Tradeskill Epic: Yonger's Vacation
EQ2 Tradeskill Epic: Working for Teren's Grasp
EQ2 Tradeskill Epic: Yonger Gets a Sokokar
EQ2 Tradeskill Epic: New Lands, New Profits
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Taking The Plunge Into Eve Online
Yesterday after getting my carpenter up to level 60 and my main her 194th AA point in EverQuest 2, I returned to the world of New Eden. Here are some more thoughts I have on the game.
First, I love the login screen. I get to see my corp status (I'm in an NPC corporation right now), the location where I left my character, and how much money I have. The page also has a window on the right-hand side that displays news, both of the NPC, corporation, and CCP/maintenance variety. The window also has a link to a new player guide to help give some tips.
One thing I have to tell any new player is do the tutorial missions. I've done the 10 military missions and 5 of the industry missions. So far I have received three ships: a Burst, Rifter, and Slasher. And I would suggest doing the military missions first. The loot you get from the pirates will help equip your ships. I'm gotten lots of mining lasers and some nice guns.
From the tutorial missions, you also get books that allow you to train skills. This method is kind of similar to what I'm used to in EQ2, so the whole skill learning process isn't that foreign. Actually, the system reminds me more of Civilization than of EQ2, but EQ2 is an MMO so that is what I usually compare games to. Either way, it's always nice to see something familiar in a new game.
Speaking of the skills system, I like the fact that you improve your character using a skills system instead of a level system. I've never done that in a game before so the system is fresh and new to me. Right now I'm mixing in the learning skills in with the fun skills (like Minmatar Frigate 3) so when the bonus to my training speed ends I'll have the learning in place to make learning skills go faster.
The one thing with skills that I discovered is something called certificates. I'm going to have to look into this further, but I have the feeling these may be important in getting employment in a corporation. In games like EQ2, people can look at a player's weapons and armor but can't tell if that player skimped on updating his/her combat arts and spells. In Eve, I don't think that is the case.
I'm sure I'll have more to say about Eve in the future. So far I'm having a blast.
First, I love the login screen. I get to see my corp status (I'm in an NPC corporation right now), the location where I left my character, and how much money I have. The page also has a window on the right-hand side that displays news, both of the NPC, corporation, and CCP/maintenance variety. The window also has a link to a new player guide to help give some tips.
One thing I have to tell any new player is do the tutorial missions. I've done the 10 military missions and 5 of the industry missions. So far I have received three ships: a Burst, Rifter, and Slasher. And I would suggest doing the military missions first. The loot you get from the pirates will help equip your ships. I'm gotten lots of mining lasers and some nice guns.
From the tutorial missions, you also get books that allow you to train skills. This method is kind of similar to what I'm used to in EQ2, so the whole skill learning process isn't that foreign. Actually, the system reminds me more of Civilization than of EQ2, but EQ2 is an MMO so that is what I usually compare games to. Either way, it's always nice to see something familiar in a new game.
Speaking of the skills system, I like the fact that you improve your character using a skills system instead of a level system. I've never done that in a game before so the system is fresh and new to me. Right now I'm mixing in the learning skills in with the fun skills (like Minmatar Frigate 3) so when the bonus to my training speed ends I'll have the learning in place to make learning skills go faster.
The one thing with skills that I discovered is something called certificates. I'm going to have to look into this further, but I have the feeling these may be important in getting employment in a corporation. In games like EQ2, people can look at a player's weapons and armor but can't tell if that player skimped on updating his/her combat arts and spells. In Eve, I don't think that is the case.
I'm sure I'll have more to say about Eve in the future. So far I'm having a blast.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
What I've Been Listening To: August 2-8, 2009
Just a quick note about the format for these posts before I tell you all about the podcast goodness I listened to last week. I'm going to add a section called "Highlights" to point out the things I found profound or amusing during the last week. I didn't listen to any new podcasts last week so the full format is yet to come.
Here's what I listened to last week.
Highlights
Part 3 of the Paul Barnett interview on No Prisoners, No Mercy #40. Okay, this one is an obvious choice, but this was my favorite segment of the interview Sister Julie and Sister Fran did with Paul Barnett. Love him or hate him, Paul is a very interesting man and I think it came out more in this segment. If the sisters were hoping to save the best of the interview for last, they succeeded.
Not because they are easy, but because they are hard. On the EQ2's-day show on July 22nd, two days after the 40th anniversary of man first landing on the moon, Dellmon used this quote from John F. Kennedy's famous moon speech to lead into a discussion of the nerfing of Venril Sathir, one of the tougher boss fights in EverQuest 2. While the specifics of the argument pertain to EQ2, I have listened to or read about the same issues in other games, particularly World of Warcraft. The discussion between the raider Dellmon and Zanadi, the non-raiding role-player, gave voice to the points of view of both sides of the argument about making content more accessible to the player base. One of the better discussions on the topic that I've heard and thus something that maybe non-EQ2 players might enjoy listening to.
Fly Reckless and Podded aren't such a bad combination after all. Flying reckless will get you podded in Eve Online, which is a bad thing. The combination of Atraxerxes from Fly Reckless and the Podded Podcast's Dillon Arklight and War Childe for a two hour show was, to use a technical term, a good thing. Besides being a good podcast, the joint venture is making my highlights because it helped finalize some things in my mind about how I wanted to enter Eve when I started playing the free trial yesterday. Influence = highlight.
Camp New Eden? Continuing the Eve theme, I thought the intro to Warp Drive Active #49 pretty funny. The intro was based on the old Alan Sherman Grammy-award winning song "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (A Letter From Camp)". Yes, it's Eve specific, but I've heard similar complaints in any game I've played for any length of time. And do the Gallente really whine that much?
General Gaming
No Prisoners, No Mercy #40 (Hosts: Sister Julie and Sister Fran) - Although nominally a Warhammer Online podcast, the sister's gaming interests rate putting NPNM in the general category. In addition to the Paul Barnett interview, the sister's talked with Keen from Keen and Graev's Gaming Blog about writing and add their two cents to the controversy over the Dante's Inferno booth babe contest at the San Diego Comi-Con. Length: 85 minutes.
Channel Massive #99 (Hosts: Noah, Mark, and Jason) - The Channel Massive podcast is always defined by Blog-O-Steria, although for me the Week In Gaming segment is a can't miss reason for listening to the podcast. This episode's Blog-O-Steria concerned the booth babe contest and gave another look at the controversy. Listening to both No Prisoner, No Mercy #40 & Channel Massive #99 will give both sides of the issue. But does the Dante's Inferno team represent a third side? Length: 110 minutes.
Through The Aftermath #14 (Hosts: Shawn Schuster and Jonathan Morris) - Today is the 44th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, so I thought today would be a good day to review this episode of TTAM, since episode 14 looked at the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Anyone looking for a scholarly look at the events will be disappointed, but I think the look into the events that basically created the post-apocolyptic genre from the eyes of two podcasters immersed in that world was enlightening. Length: 69 minutes.
Game Specific Podcasts
EQ2:
EQ2's-day OGR Broadcast on July 22, 2009 (Hosts: Dellmon and Zanadi) - In addition to the discussion about the nerfing of Venril Sathir (see Highlights section), the hosts continued the "Dwarf on the Moon" theme by talking about the 40th anniversary of man landing on the moon and the monthly moonlight enchantment events. Length: 72 minutes.
Eve Online:
Podded Podcast #13/Fly Reckless #35 (Hosts: Atraxerxes, Dillon Arklight and War Childe) - If you have read the highlights section, you know I liked this podcast. A good discussion of faction warfare, the Eve University move to Minmatar space, dev blogs and the best and worst changes to the game ensued. Also the team made first mention of 6 motherships being destroyed in an action, but didn't have many details. Oh, and of course, stealth bombers. Length: 142 minutes.
Warp Drive Active #49 (Hosts: Urban Mongral and Winterbeak) - Oh my, podcasts only a week apart! Seriously though, in addition to a hilarious opening, Urban and Winterbeak finished the story about the destruction of the 6 motherships that Atraxerxes, Dillon Arklight and War Childe began. The hosts have been accused of not having all the facts, so they have solicited listener content and have been taken up on the subject. Krutoj gives an update on the eastern regions of New Eden while LaVista Vista gave an economics update. Plus fail mail! Length: 113 minutes.
Free Realms:
RealmsCast #3 (Host: Beau Turkey) - In addition to giving a good account of changes in racing in Free Realms (which is also mentioned favorably in Channel Massive #99), Beau scored an interview with SOE's Mark Tuttle, the global brand manager not only for the Free Realms TCG but all of SOE's TCGs. Length: 35 minutes.
World of Warcraft:
The Instance #156 (Hosts: Scott Johnson and Randy Jordan) - The podcast once again shines as Scott and Randy brought in Mean Gene as the talk on the first part of the episode focused on PvP. I also liked the discussion about what to do when a player is going to leave WoW and plays an integral part of his/her guild's leadership. Length: 110 minutes.
Here's what I listened to last week.
Highlights
Part 3 of the Paul Barnett interview on No Prisoners, No Mercy #40. Okay, this one is an obvious choice, but this was my favorite segment of the interview Sister Julie and Sister Fran did with Paul Barnett. Love him or hate him, Paul is a very interesting man and I think it came out more in this segment. If the sisters were hoping to save the best of the interview for last, they succeeded.
Not because they are easy, but because they are hard. On the EQ2's-day show on July 22nd, two days after the 40th anniversary of man first landing on the moon, Dellmon used this quote from John F. Kennedy's famous moon speech to lead into a discussion of the nerfing of Venril Sathir, one of the tougher boss fights in EverQuest 2. While the specifics of the argument pertain to EQ2, I have listened to or read about the same issues in other games, particularly World of Warcraft. The discussion between the raider Dellmon and Zanadi, the non-raiding role-player, gave voice to the points of view of both sides of the argument about making content more accessible to the player base. One of the better discussions on the topic that I've heard and thus something that maybe non-EQ2 players might enjoy listening to.
Fly Reckless and Podded aren't such a bad combination after all. Flying reckless will get you podded in Eve Online, which is a bad thing. The combination of Atraxerxes from Fly Reckless and the Podded Podcast's Dillon Arklight and War Childe for a two hour show was, to use a technical term, a good thing. Besides being a good podcast, the joint venture is making my highlights because it helped finalize some things in my mind about how I wanted to enter Eve when I started playing the free trial yesterday. Influence = highlight.
Camp New Eden? Continuing the Eve theme, I thought the intro to Warp Drive Active #49 pretty funny. The intro was based on the old Alan Sherman Grammy-award winning song "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (A Letter From Camp)". Yes, it's Eve specific, but I've heard similar complaints in any game I've played for any length of time. And do the Gallente really whine that much?
General Gaming
No Prisoners, No Mercy #40 (Hosts: Sister Julie and Sister Fran) - Although nominally a Warhammer Online podcast, the sister's gaming interests rate putting NPNM in the general category. In addition to the Paul Barnett interview, the sister's talked with Keen from Keen and Graev's Gaming Blog about writing and add their two cents to the controversy over the Dante's Inferno booth babe contest at the San Diego Comi-Con. Length: 85 minutes.
Channel Massive #99 (Hosts: Noah, Mark, and Jason) - The Channel Massive podcast is always defined by Blog-O-Steria, although for me the Week In Gaming segment is a can't miss reason for listening to the podcast. This episode's Blog-O-Steria concerned the booth babe contest and gave another look at the controversy. Listening to both No Prisoner, No Mercy #40 & Channel Massive #99 will give both sides of the issue. But does the Dante's Inferno team represent a third side? Length: 110 minutes.
Through The Aftermath #14 (Hosts: Shawn Schuster and Jonathan Morris) - Today is the 44th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, so I thought today would be a good day to review this episode of TTAM, since episode 14 looked at the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Anyone looking for a scholarly look at the events will be disappointed, but I think the look into the events that basically created the post-apocolyptic genre from the eyes of two podcasters immersed in that world was enlightening. Length: 69 minutes.
Game Specific Podcasts
EQ2:
EQ2's-day OGR Broadcast on July 22, 2009 (Hosts: Dellmon and Zanadi) - In addition to the discussion about the nerfing of Venril Sathir (see Highlights section), the hosts continued the "Dwarf on the Moon" theme by talking about the 40th anniversary of man landing on the moon and the monthly moonlight enchantment events. Length: 72 minutes.
Eve Online:
Podded Podcast #13/Fly Reckless #35 (Hosts: Atraxerxes, Dillon Arklight and War Childe) - If you have read the highlights section, you know I liked this podcast. A good discussion of faction warfare, the Eve University move to Minmatar space, dev blogs and the best and worst changes to the game ensued. Also the team made first mention of 6 motherships being destroyed in an action, but didn't have many details. Oh, and of course, stealth bombers. Length: 142 minutes.
Warp Drive Active #49 (Hosts: Urban Mongral and Winterbeak) - Oh my, podcasts only a week apart! Seriously though, in addition to a hilarious opening, Urban and Winterbeak finished the story about the destruction of the 6 motherships that Atraxerxes, Dillon Arklight and War Childe began. The hosts have been accused of not having all the facts, so they have solicited listener content and have been taken up on the subject. Krutoj gives an update on the eastern regions of New Eden while LaVista Vista gave an economics update. Plus fail mail! Length: 113 minutes.
Free Realms:
RealmsCast #3 (Host: Beau Turkey) - In addition to giving a good account of changes in racing in Free Realms (which is also mentioned favorably in Channel Massive #99), Beau scored an interview with SOE's Mark Tuttle, the global brand manager not only for the Free Realms TCG but all of SOE's TCGs. Length: 35 minutes.
World of Warcraft:
The Instance #156 (Hosts: Scott Johnson and Randy Jordan) - The podcast once again shines as Scott and Randy brought in Mean Gene as the talk on the first part of the episode focused on PvP. I also liked the discussion about what to do when a player is going to leave WoW and plays an integral part of his/her guild's leadership. Length: 110 minutes.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Warp Drive Active
After working a grueling 31 out of 34 hours (with 1 hour of sleep) I'm finally on vacation. If you have read the blog, you know that I've always said that I would need to take a week to learn how to play Eve Online. Well, that week has arrived. Early this morning when I woke up from the crash I always go through whenever I work the crazy hours, I remembered to download the game from Steam (which has a 21-day free trial) and then went back to sleep. Just a warning to everyone about the trial account. The trial period begins when you set up the account, not when you first enter the game.
EverQuest 2 is still my main game, so I logged into Eve after filling up my sales crates in Norrath. First thing I noticed is that at the login screen the game shows the players how many people are logged on. When I logged on, 40,996 players were currently in New Eden. After logging in came the usual cinematic, which I thought was very good.
Then came character creation. Oh my god! I loved it. There is some voice work that describes each of the four empires/races along with text. After some last minute intelligence I gathered from Atraxerxes, Dillon Arklight and War Childe on their joint podcast plus information about ship types I gleaned from Eve Wiki, I chose to roll up a Minmatar character. I actually chose to roll up a Minmatar Vherokior mystic. That's right, I'm playing a shaman. I didn't play one in World of Warcraft. I haven't rolled one up in EQ2, and EQ2 actually has a character class called mystic. I picked the space game to play one in. After checking with Google and finding a guide to Minmater clans, I thought the stats wouldn't be bad (Intelligence 8, Charisma 8, Perception 4, Memory 8, Willpower 6) so I gave in to temptation and created one.
My first attempts at moving around were pretty laughable. I stumbled through killing the first pirate, taking a lot of damage I didn't have to because I was learning how to turn on my guns. I said to myself, "Noizy, you're not in Norrath anymore."
So far I've gone through the absolute minimum tutorials and have skills in the skills queue. Right now I've lined up Mining 3, Repair Systems 1, Repair Systems 2, Minmatar Frigate 3, Gunnery 3, and Hull Upgrades 2.
The chat channels did catch my eye. I haven't really paid attention to the chat, but there is a "Rookie Help" channel. And you can easily make the text larger or smaller. Of course, maybe all my MMO experience helps and it wouldn't be so obvious to a brand new MMO player, but I don't think so. And you get numbers for the number of people in each channel. You'd think CCP was proud of how many people they can handle in their game at one time.
A piece of intelligence did come through for me. Because I chose to play a Minmatar, I am currently making the Republic Military School at Ammold V my home base. When I looked at the corp recruiting tab (and why can't EQ2 have something like this for guilds?) I see that Eve University has moved to the Ammold V station. I plan on joining Eve University sometime after finishing the tutorials and starting up a paying account and this makes joining up very convenient.
One other thing of note. Eve is not like EQ2 where the bank is a world bank. If you accept something in a station it is in the item vault for that station. Do not expect to see it when you go to another station. The one fault I see with Eve right now is that I do not have a history of completed missions I can look back on. I think that would come in handy in trying to track down where I may have misplaced something. Also a history might come in handy when trying to help out others with missions. But maybe that is just an EQ2 thing.
I know that these are pretty random thoughts, but I wanted to get something posted on my first day of playing Eve.
EverQuest 2 is still my main game, so I logged into Eve after filling up my sales crates in Norrath. First thing I noticed is that at the login screen the game shows the players how many people are logged on. When I logged on, 40,996 players were currently in New Eden. After logging in came the usual cinematic, which I thought was very good.
Then came character creation. Oh my god! I loved it. There is some voice work that describes each of the four empires/races along with text. After some last minute intelligence I gathered from Atraxerxes, Dillon Arklight and War Childe on their joint podcast plus information about ship types I gleaned from Eve Wiki, I chose to roll up a Minmatar character. I actually chose to roll up a Minmatar Vherokior mystic. That's right, I'm playing a shaman. I didn't play one in World of Warcraft. I haven't rolled one up in EQ2, and EQ2 actually has a character class called mystic. I picked the space game to play one in. After checking with Google and finding a guide to Minmater clans, I thought the stats wouldn't be bad (Intelligence 8, Charisma 8, Perception 4, Memory 8, Willpower 6) so I gave in to temptation and created one.
My first attempts at moving around were pretty laughable. I stumbled through killing the first pirate, taking a lot of damage I didn't have to because I was learning how to turn on my guns. I said to myself, "Noizy, you're not in Norrath anymore."
So far I've gone through the absolute minimum tutorials and have skills in the skills queue. Right now I've lined up Mining 3, Repair Systems 1, Repair Systems 2, Minmatar Frigate 3, Gunnery 3, and Hull Upgrades 2.
The chat channels did catch my eye. I haven't really paid attention to the chat, but there is a "Rookie Help" channel. And you can easily make the text larger or smaller. Of course, maybe all my MMO experience helps and it wouldn't be so obvious to a brand new MMO player, but I don't think so. And you get numbers for the number of people in each channel. You'd think CCP was proud of how many people they can handle in their game at one time.
A piece of intelligence did come through for me. Because I chose to play a Minmatar, I am currently making the Republic Military School at Ammold V my home base. When I looked at the corp recruiting tab (and why can't EQ2 have something like this for guilds?) I see that Eve University has moved to the Ammold V station. I plan on joining Eve University sometime after finishing the tutorials and starting up a paying account and this makes joining up very convenient.
One other thing of note. Eve is not like EQ2 where the bank is a world bank. If you accept something in a station it is in the item vault for that station. Do not expect to see it when you go to another station. The one fault I see with Eve right now is that I do not have a history of completed missions I can look back on. I think that would come in handy in trying to track down where I may have misplaced something. Also a history might come in handy when trying to help out others with missions. But maybe that is just an EQ2 thing.
I know that these are pretty random thoughts, but I wanted to get something posted on my first day of playing Eve.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
EQ2 Tradeskill Epic: Working for Teren’s Grasp
"It was nothing, really,” I bragged. “All in a day's work for a crafter."
My daughter Rosemarie tells me that I get a little full of myself sometimes. I might have gone a little too far this time, because as my thoughts started to turn to fishing and king prawn, Jones brought me back to reality.
"Really, thanks again for the help, I know I couldn't have done it anyway!” the little halfling told me. “I tell you what though, Borbin's been talking with Hailena Hoss, who trains the native essarr hawks. She dropped one of them off this morning, Borbin was planning to ask one of the adventurers to release it near Karnor's Castle to do some surveillance."
"And ...?" I asked.
"Well, the thing is, they're all still busy killing drolvargs, you'd think they're enjoying it or something,” Jones said, then paused like he was steeling himself up to ask another favor. He was. “So I was thinking, you're clearly resourceful and fast moving, I'm sure you could do it just as well. Plus, you're here! Just sneak up close to the castle and release the hawk, it's trained to do the rest."
Fast moving? I know the ranger training I received before the accident helps hide my limp, but not so much that it’s not noticeable. He must be getting desperate. "And where exactly is this castle?" I asked.
"You can just about see it from here,” the little official said, pointing to the north-east. “Head north between the hills and the river till you pass the ruins, then turn east, you should see it from there easily enough."
"Well, I'll give it a try!" I told him, sounding a lot more confident that I felt. Rosemarie did warn me about entering the Dreadlands, and the directions sounded like I’d be coming real close.
Jones handed me the essarr hawk. "It'll be a bit dangerous for you I'm afraid,” Jones began, “but since Borbin has all the adventurers busy collecting more fangs, I don't think we want to wait around for them to get back. I do appreciate your help, and good luck!"
"Thank you," I told the halfling and started off down the path.
I headed north down the path past the ruins almost to the mountains when I looked to the east. Sure enough, I could see a castle on a hill through the trees. But as I walked east getting closer to the river I could see why Jones told me this was dangerous. On the other side were drolvargs lining the banks and I didn’t like what I saw in the water. The only way across looked like a fallen pillar that fell across the river where it feeds into Ryjesium Lake. To get to it required getting close to the ruins, which I could see were occupied by some unfriendly-looking skeletons.
By staying on the riverbank I was able to avoid the skeletons and stopped halfway across the makeshift bridge. Looking back, it was a pretty stupid thing to do because I didn’t know what might happen by, but I used the position to observe the drolvargs as they patrolled around the castle. Fortunately the drolvargs were even dumber than I was being at the moment, as after a couple of minutes I could discern their patrol paths. I snuck through the route I had picked out and released the hawk near the castle. I then snuck back through the drolvarg lines and returned to the docks of Dreg’s Landing.
“Hail, Jones,” I said as I reached his usual duty post.
"Did you release the essarr hawk?" he asked.
"Yes, I did," I replied.
"Oh, great!” the halfling exclaimed. “Well done, I hope it wasn't too dangerous for you. Erm... say ...” Jones continued with one of those pauses I was coming to associate with another request. “I don't suppose you happen to know anything about mountain giant metalsmithing?"
I’m a woodworker, not an armorer or a weaponsmith, but I do work with small amounts of metal in my craft. "Er ... what exactly about it?"
Jones explained, "The mountain giants have been at war with the drolvargs for a long time. Borbin has been trying to negotiate with the giants to help us fighting the drolvargs, and it looks as if he might finally be making some progress. Apparently they use some kind of magically imbued ore to forge special weapons that give their fighters an edge in combat. If we can provide them with enough ore, I think the deal will be sealed."
I was afraid of where this conversation was going. Making friends with the local authorities is good for business. Getting killed isn’t. "And where do I come in?" I asked.
"Well, seeing how you did such a good job with those arrows, I was hoping you could make up some imbued ore for us to trade,” Jones said. “What do you think?"
"I'll give it a try," I told the little official, sounding more confident that I felt. I’m pretty good at that, if I do say so myself. Raising three kids gave me a lot of practice.
"Thanks, you're a lifesaver!” Jones exclaimed, his smile widening. “And don't worry, we'll send some burly axe-wielding type out to actually do the trade, just bring it back here when you're done."
"I'll get right on it," I replied.
My leg was still aching from all the sneaking around I did around Kanor’s Castle, but I figured I’d better make the ore before those axe-wielding types left and Jones figured that I should be the one to deliver the chest. So back to the forge and those price-gouging merchants I went to make a chestfull of imbued ore. I really need to go back and thank Kezlack Cogturner for all the lessons he gave me when I started out my career in Wayfarer's Stockpilers.
When I finished I picked up the chest and headed to drop off this last request to Jones. I had some serious fishing to do!
To be continued…
Related Posts
EQ2 Tradeskill Epic: Yonger's Vacation
EQ2 Tradeskill Epic: Working for Teren's Grasp
EQ2 Tradeskill Epic: Yonger Gets a Sokokar
EQ2 Tradeskill Epic: New Lands, New Profits
My daughter Rosemarie tells me that I get a little full of myself sometimes. I might have gone a little too far this time, because as my thoughts started to turn to fishing and king prawn, Jones brought me back to reality.
"Really, thanks again for the help, I know I couldn't have done it anyway!” the little halfling told me. “I tell you what though, Borbin's been talking with Hailena Hoss, who trains the native essarr hawks. She dropped one of them off this morning, Borbin was planning to ask one of the adventurers to release it near Karnor's Castle to do some surveillance."
"And ...?" I asked.
"Well, the thing is, they're all still busy killing drolvargs, you'd think they're enjoying it or something,” Jones said, then paused like he was steeling himself up to ask another favor. He was. “So I was thinking, you're clearly resourceful and fast moving, I'm sure you could do it just as well. Plus, you're here! Just sneak up close to the castle and release the hawk, it's trained to do the rest."
Fast moving? I know the ranger training I received before the accident helps hide my limp, but not so much that it’s not noticeable. He must be getting desperate. "And where exactly is this castle?" I asked.
"You can just about see it from here,” the little official said, pointing to the north-east. “Head north between the hills and the river till you pass the ruins, then turn east, you should see it from there easily enough."
"Well, I'll give it a try!" I told him, sounding a lot more confident that I felt. Rosemarie did warn me about entering the Dreadlands, and the directions sounded like I’d be coming real close.
Jones handed me the essarr hawk. "It'll be a bit dangerous for you I'm afraid,” Jones began, “but since Borbin has all the adventurers busy collecting more fangs, I don't think we want to wait around for them to get back. I do appreciate your help, and good luck!"
"Thank you," I told the halfling and started off down the path.
I headed north down the path past the ruins almost to the mountains when I looked to the east. Sure enough, I could see a castle on a hill through the trees. But as I walked east getting closer to the river I could see why Jones told me this was dangerous. On the other side were drolvargs lining the banks and I didn’t like what I saw in the water. The only way across looked like a fallen pillar that fell across the river where it feeds into Ryjesium Lake. To get to it required getting close to the ruins, which I could see were occupied by some unfriendly-looking skeletons.
By staying on the riverbank I was able to avoid the skeletons and stopped halfway across the makeshift bridge. Looking back, it was a pretty stupid thing to do because I didn’t know what might happen by, but I used the position to observe the drolvargs as they patrolled around the castle. Fortunately the drolvargs were even dumber than I was being at the moment, as after a couple of minutes I could discern their patrol paths. I snuck through the route I had picked out and released the hawk near the castle. I then snuck back through the drolvarg lines and returned to the docks of Dreg’s Landing.
“Hail, Jones,” I said as I reached his usual duty post.
"Did you release the essarr hawk?" he asked.
"Yes, I did," I replied.
"Oh, great!” the halfling exclaimed. “Well done, I hope it wasn't too dangerous for you. Erm... say ...” Jones continued with one of those pauses I was coming to associate with another request. “I don't suppose you happen to know anything about mountain giant metalsmithing?"
I’m a woodworker, not an armorer or a weaponsmith, but I do work with small amounts of metal in my craft. "Er ... what exactly about it?"
Jones explained, "The mountain giants have been at war with the drolvargs for a long time. Borbin has been trying to negotiate with the giants to help us fighting the drolvargs, and it looks as if he might finally be making some progress. Apparently they use some kind of magically imbued ore to forge special weapons that give their fighters an edge in combat. If we can provide them with enough ore, I think the deal will be sealed."
I was afraid of where this conversation was going. Making friends with the local authorities is good for business. Getting killed isn’t. "And where do I come in?" I asked.
"Well, seeing how you did such a good job with those arrows, I was hoping you could make up some imbued ore for us to trade,” Jones said. “What do you think?"
"I'll give it a try," I told the little official, sounding more confident that I felt. I’m pretty good at that, if I do say so myself. Raising three kids gave me a lot of practice.
"Thanks, you're a lifesaver!” Jones exclaimed, his smile widening. “And don't worry, we'll send some burly axe-wielding type out to actually do the trade, just bring it back here when you're done."
"I'll get right on it," I replied.
My leg was still aching from all the sneaking around I did around Kanor’s Castle, but I figured I’d better make the ore before those axe-wielding types left and Jones figured that I should be the one to deliver the chest. So back to the forge and those price-gouging merchants I went to make a chestfull of imbued ore. I really need to go back and thank Kezlack Cogturner for all the lessons he gave me when I started out my career in Wayfarer's Stockpilers.
When I finished I picked up the chest and headed to drop off this last request to Jones. I had some serious fishing to do!
To be continued…
Related Posts
EQ2 Tradeskill Epic: Yonger's Vacation
EQ2 Tradeskill Epic: Working for Teren's Grasp
EQ2 Tradeskill Epic: Yonger Gets a Sokokar
EQ2 Tradeskill Epic: New Lands, New Profits
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
July In Review
I’m starting on my 6th month of operation of The Nosy Gamer so I think this might be a good time to start looking at what I’m doing that might be popular. With the help of Google Analytics, here are the ten most popular posts for July.
As expected, posts about doing grey shard runs are still popular. The posts gained a boost in popularity when on July 7 Kiara went back on the official forums and announced that not only would the developers not fix the content so players could not do grey shard runs, but that doing the grey shard runs is officially kind of okay and that the devs would do a better job of not putting broken content into EQ2 in the future.
I’m actually happy about the placement of my two World of Warcraft/EverQuest 2 comparison pieces. I think level locking in EverQuest 2 is a good thing and I think that for those players who really want to see all the content at level in World of Warcraft, level locking is a must. As for the silly title about weight, I still like the comparison.
And at the bottom of the list, the last two entries were written in the second half of July. I don’t know if that means my body of work is still not deep or if I’m just keeping up with the trends in EQ2. I have hopes that my transmuting guide will have some staying power as a guild to all those people suffering through the leveling grind.
The one thing that I’m kind of disappointed in is that my podcast reviews are not that popular. I didn’t think they’d make the top 10, but I thought they might be a bit more popular. I’ll try a different format that I think will be better this Sunday.
- EQ2 Research Assistants My Way
- EQ2 Warning: Grey Shard Runs Now Officially An Exploit
- Confessions of a Grey Shard Runner: Implementation
- Level Locking: Being a Real WoW (or EQ2) Tourist
- Are EQ2’s Toons Fat or WoW’s Anorexic?
- EQ2 Research Assistants: The Reality
- Confessions of a Grey Shard Runner: Justification
- Thoughts on Test Notes for EQ2’s GU52
- Order of Rime With A Side of Grind
- EQ2 Transmuting Without Breaking The Bank
As expected, posts about doing grey shard runs are still popular. The posts gained a boost in popularity when on July 7 Kiara went back on the official forums and announced that not only would the developers not fix the content so players could not do grey shard runs, but that doing the grey shard runs is officially kind of okay and that the devs would do a better job of not putting broken content into EQ2 in the future.
I’m actually happy about the placement of my two World of Warcraft/EverQuest 2 comparison pieces. I think level locking in EverQuest 2 is a good thing and I think that for those players who really want to see all the content at level in World of Warcraft, level locking is a must. As for the silly title about weight, I still like the comparison.
And at the bottom of the list, the last two entries were written in the second half of July. I don’t know if that means my body of work is still not deep or if I’m just keeping up with the trends in EQ2. I have hopes that my transmuting guide will have some staying power as a guild to all those people suffering through the leveling grind.
The one thing that I’m kind of disappointed in is that my podcast reviews are not that popular. I didn’t think they’d make the top 10, but I thought they might be a bit more popular. I’ll try a different format that I think will be better this Sunday.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
What I've Been Listening To: July 26 - August 1, 2009
As I was writing this post, I realized I forgot to listen to Through The Aftermath #14 last week. I really wanted to do a review of the podcast this week due to the subject of the podcast; the atomic bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. It was 64 years ago this week that nuclear devastation was unleashed against an enemy for the first (and so far only) time. I've downloaded the podcast and will listen to it as soon as I finish with this entry.
First Time "Listen"
EQIQ #11 (Host: Dave) - Episode 11 is not the first EQIQ episode that I've listened to, but this is the first time I'm listing the podcast on the blog. EQIQ is the companion podcast for EQ2 Guides, which is a very good resource for EverQuest 2 players. EQIQ is one of the few single host podcasts I listen to, and like the others concentrates on providing information. But the podcasts are full of information.
Episode 11 is about the Gods of EverQuest 2. Dave gives a high-level overview of the deities and some important information. As is usual when listening to EQIQ, I learn something. In this podcast I learned where to buy the recipes to make the better crafted altars, which is now important to me as my carpenter is now approaching level 60 and I'm thinking of leveling up a priest and a druid who I would want to follow a god.
If you are an EverQuest 2 player, I highly recommend listening to EQIQ. The release schedule is a little spotty, but since this is an information podcast and not a news podcast, I think that is fine. In fact the only thing I wish Dave would stop doing is apologize for the irregular schedule. With 11 shows posted over at Virgin Worlds, we have a lot of information to listen to and digest. Length: 84 minutes.
Old Friends
Shut Up We're Talking #52 (Hosts: Darren and Karen) - Darren and Karen were joined by Bill from Inner Sanctum of the Ninveh and Andrew from Of Teeth and Claws to discuss the use of external information (aka cheat) sites and travel in MMOs. I think Bill hit the cheating subject out of the park and path the discussion took afterward was very interesting.
The hosts also announced a summertime hiatus as they go on vacations. Length: 64 minutes.
Van Hemlock #62 (Hosts: Tim Dale and Jon Shute) - In addition to the week's news, the hosts
introduce the second Operation Cheapseats format podcast. Tim played Granado Espada, a game based on New World exploration while Jon played Runes of Magic. While Tim gave a rather positive review of his game, Jon had a similar reaction to Runes of Magic to the one I developed once I got my character up to level 15 scout/15 rouge. His reaction was more entertaining than mine. Length: 101 minutes.
The Instance #155 (Hosts: Scott Johnson and Randy Jordan) - Oh my gosh, I loved the intro skit! The discussion about the upcoming World of Warcraft movie was priceless. The discussion ranging from the WoWHead premium service to doctors entering WoW in last ditch attempts to save children from game addiction made this one of the better shows I've listened to in awhile. I also listened to episode #154 last week, but if you only have time to listen to one show, choose this episode. Length: 114 minutes.
Channel Massive #98 (Hosts: Noah, Mark, and Jason) This episode has a Blog-O-Steria based on EverQuest 2. I referred to it once, but basically a World of Warcraft player decided that the problem with EverQuest 2 is that EQ2 is not WoW. Okay, you can listen to the rest of the podcast too; I hope my EQ2 bias doesn't show too badly.
Free To Play Podcast #21.5 (Host: Riknas) - Riknas did a solo podcast covering the F2P news and what he calls "transferal" issues. An interesting listen. For those expecting a F2P game review, you won't hear one on this show (hence the .5). Length: 24 minutes.
Warp Drive Active #48 (Hosts: Urban Mongral and Winterbeak) - Join the two hungover hosts as they stumble through the universe of New Eden with a lot of detours. I enjoyed the banter between Urban and Winterbeak as they discussed everything from movies to Goonswarm declaring they are going to take back their heritage. And of course, fail mails! Length: 96 minutes.
PODDED Podcast Season 2 Episode 12 (Hosts: Dillon Arklight and War Childe) - What is it about Eve podcasters and alcohol? In addition to the normal talk about news and dev blogs, Dillon and War Childe talked about Interdictors and the upcoming changes in faction warfare and the tutorial. As I was listening to the podcast, I was really getting the feeling I need to join the game fast. Although do I wait for the new tutorial or hurry up and take the current one? Length: 69 minutes.
First Time "Listen"
EQIQ #11 (Host: Dave) - Episode 11 is not the first EQIQ episode that I've listened to, but this is the first time I'm listing the podcast on the blog. EQIQ is the companion podcast for EQ2 Guides, which is a very good resource for EverQuest 2 players. EQIQ is one of the few single host podcasts I listen to, and like the others concentrates on providing information. But the podcasts are full of information.
Episode 11 is about the Gods of EverQuest 2. Dave gives a high-level overview of the deities and some important information. As is usual when listening to EQIQ, I learn something. In this podcast I learned where to buy the recipes to make the better crafted altars, which is now important to me as my carpenter is now approaching level 60 and I'm thinking of leveling up a priest and a druid who I would want to follow a god.
If you are an EverQuest 2 player, I highly recommend listening to EQIQ. The release schedule is a little spotty, but since this is an information podcast and not a news podcast, I think that is fine. In fact the only thing I wish Dave would stop doing is apologize for the irregular schedule. With 11 shows posted over at Virgin Worlds, we have a lot of information to listen to and digest. Length: 84 minutes.
Old Friends
Shut Up We're Talking #52 (Hosts: Darren and Karen) - Darren and Karen were joined by Bill from Inner Sanctum of the Ninveh and Andrew from Of Teeth and Claws to discuss the use of external information (aka cheat) sites and travel in MMOs. I think Bill hit the cheating subject out of the park and path the discussion took afterward was very interesting.
The hosts also announced a summertime hiatus as they go on vacations. Length: 64 minutes.
Van Hemlock #62 (Hosts: Tim Dale and Jon Shute) - In addition to the week's news, the hosts
introduce the second Operation Cheapseats format podcast. Tim played Granado Espada, a game based on New World exploration while Jon played Runes of Magic. While Tim gave a rather positive review of his game, Jon had a similar reaction to Runes of Magic to the one I developed once I got my character up to level 15 scout/15 rouge. His reaction was more entertaining than mine. Length: 101 minutes.
The Instance #155 (Hosts: Scott Johnson and Randy Jordan) - Oh my gosh, I loved the intro skit! The discussion about the upcoming World of Warcraft movie was priceless. The discussion ranging from the WoWHead premium service to doctors entering WoW in last ditch attempts to save children from game addiction made this one of the better shows I've listened to in awhile. I also listened to episode #154 last week, but if you only have time to listen to one show, choose this episode. Length: 114 minutes.
Channel Massive #98 (Hosts: Noah, Mark, and Jason) This episode has a Blog-O-Steria based on EverQuest 2. I referred to it once, but basically a World of Warcraft player decided that the problem with EverQuest 2 is that EQ2 is not WoW. Okay, you can listen to the rest of the podcast too; I hope my EQ2 bias doesn't show too badly.
Free To Play Podcast #21.5 (Host: Riknas) - Riknas did a solo podcast covering the F2P news and what he calls "transferal" issues. An interesting listen. For those expecting a F2P game review, you won't hear one on this show (hence the .5). Length: 24 minutes.
Warp Drive Active #48 (Hosts: Urban Mongral and Winterbeak) - Join the two hungover hosts as they stumble through the universe of New Eden with a lot of detours. I enjoyed the banter between Urban and Winterbeak as they discussed everything from movies to Goonswarm declaring they are going to take back their heritage. And of course, fail mails! Length: 96 minutes.
PODDED Podcast Season 2 Episode 12 (Hosts: Dillon Arklight and War Childe) - What is it about Eve podcasters and alcohol? In addition to the normal talk about news and dev blogs, Dillon and War Childe talked about Interdictors and the upcoming changes in faction warfare and the tutorial. As I was listening to the podcast, I was really getting the feeling I need to join the game fast. Although do I wait for the new tutorial or hurry up and take the current one? Length: 69 minutes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)