Agh, I have SO MUCH STUFF TO TALK ABOUT! I won’t even get a chance to write about EQ2 today :/ Cool outfit, isn’t it? Total trash, aside from the boots which are a marginal upgrade from the Crowns boots I was wearing. The danger of dressing to kill is that it isn’t actually that much use in the actual killing. I was being torn apart by Forum mobs before I realized I did not have my fighting clothes on. OOPS. ...
Runes of Magic has been getting a lot of attention from the blogosphere lately. Though obviously heavily inspired by World of Warcraft, this Taiwan import adds multi-classing and many other little twists to the basic formula. It’s been in beta for months, goes live in March, and today sent me an email saying they had over 450,000 players worldwide. That’s not just beta signups – that’s implying there’s 450,000 people – worldwide – playing Runes of Magic. And that is a very, very good thing. ...
There’s a slim possibility I may have been dismissive of Sparkplay’s Anthro (not Furry) MMO, Earth Eternal, in the past, but – Okay, I just have to get this off my downy-feathered chest, here. Earth Eternal is a Furry MMO. I understand why they are trying to distance themselves from it. The Furry sub-culture has gotten a reputation for kinkiness, but, seriously, there’s a certain percentage of any sub-culture that’s kinky. Go to any sci-fi convention and it won’t be only the Furries who are getting odd looks. ...
The new Legends of Norrath set, Against the Void launched yesterday. I want to get into LoN, I like collectible card games, but I just worry that to do well, I’ll have to sink serious money into cards. That’s what finally got me off Magic: the Gathering – but at least I got to keep my cards when I stopped playing. I have nostalgic fun every time I move somewhere and move them from one box to a new box. ...
According to Massively, Free Realms, SOE’s kid-friendly game, will be out in April for the PC and some time in the fall for the PS3. I would love to be more excited about this game. I looked at it at the Fan Faire and it is beautiful with fantastically whimsical art direction. What I didn’t see was a story. Now, maybe they have a story to pull everything together and make Free Realms less of a 3D MMO-ish minigame portal and more of a destination for adventure that I didn’t see – and for darn sure I’ll be trying out the beta if I get in, because I’m always looking for new ideas in MMO play. ...
City of Heroes is currently running their Valentine event, the one time in the year when heroes and villains can come together and luuuurve each other. Visit Pocket D, the rockin’ night club presided over by the hip DJ Zero, his power vendors Chill and Dram, and somewhat alarmed mission-giver and part time DJ Scratch to find out how you can save the Rogue Isles AND Paragon City from an onslaught of super-powered war bots. There’s also some more information about the secretive Architect project, the future of interactive entertainment within City of Heroes. The Architect company will allow you to set the parameters, NPCs and goals for short missions of your own creation. It doesn’t seem like you’ll be able to actually build your own levels; you’ll select a setting and probably a size, where the NPCs should be and what they say and do, and off you go. Not quite the game creator I was hoping for, but looks like a good time nonetheless. ...
Professor Greyrose of the Ravenwood faculty confirmed that there would be a new world to explore this summer, and that it would raise the level cap beyond level 50. As you adventure through Dragonpsyre, you will be able to complete quests and receive amazing new items. Once you reach level 50, you will not be able to gain more experience. However, you will be able to advance beyond level 50 when we move into the summer semester at Ravenwood. ...
And oh yeah, we finished clearing Veeshan’s Peak and then cleared up to the Maestro in the Shard of Hate! First time the experience is new. Second time, it’s like, can we skip ahead to the part where I get something :) No, it was fun, just not much to write about. Afterward, I bought the Erollisi Day crafting book from the vendor in East Freeport, farmed a dozen or so Orc Love Letters in the War Elephant Breeding Ground and other orcs in the area, and made almost all of the things you could make. All except the ring at the end – ran out of love letters. ...
Malistaire death number one, and counting. Killing Malistaire with the quest to kill him might actually just give you his robe; last night, Thomas got his, while his son’s character got a balance robe (not sure if it was the one Balance wizards would get), and I got an athame off of him. So either you get your robe first time, or the chances are even worse than I thought. This wasn’t my run, though – it was Thomas’. I was just along for the ride as we brought the story that started in Wizard City so long ago to its end. The tragic tale of a Death magic professor who was so torn up by the death of his wife, Sylvia, that he turned five worlds upside down to bring her back to life. ...
The last instance in Dragonspyre is a grind that ends with Malistaire’s defeat at your victorious, albeit blood-soaked, hands. He hands out a robe. One out every seven times, it will be the robe for your school of magic. That same instance contains the bosses who drop the class-specific ring and athame, too – 1/7 of the time. So how many times will you be battling Malistaire and his friends to get everything you want? ...