44.7 :: Terror in Tera

** I realize my embedded images look like crap.  I'm trying to figure out why as they look fine in the edit screen, but somehow lose their "shape" when I publish.  I hope to have it corrected soon.**

I can't believe it's been over a month since I posted last.  Seems like it was just last week I put the last post up here and somehow 39 days went by without me noticing it.  Granted April is a busy month for me and work hasn't made it any less busier.

-slurp-

Gaming wise I've been playing a little bit of Diablo 3 and Tera Online.  My son and I started up a couple of Season 3 characters in D3 and made it to level 70 in a 2 weekends of play.  Blizzard has really changed the game a lot since I leveled my first character and I must say the experience was a lot of fun.  Of course now that we're level 70, we are going through the painful grind of Paragon levels (800 in total if I want to max out everything), running Adventure mode on various torment difficulty settings and running through rifts.  It's not as much fun as we had while leveling to 70 but it's still a good time trying difficult difficulty ratings to see how well (or badly) we do.

In my free time (what little I have) I've also been delving into the world of Tera Online.  For a game that is free-to-play (f2p) it has really done well for itself.  The character creation is simple but offers a decent variety of choices.  There are 8 classes to choose from with an additional class if you have a character over level 40 on that server.  I've only been playing for a week or so and my highest level character is an Archer class at level 36.  I also decided to try my hand at a Warrior class which I'm pleased to say is quickly catching up to my Archer.

-slurp-

Tera features some stunning graphics and the combat animations are very well done.  The targeting and movement controls are a bit different to get used you, but once you have it down you wonder how you ever managed to play click to target games (i.e. World of Warcraft) before.  Wildstar and Neverwinter have similar no-click targeting combat but Tera seems to outshine them both.

I'm uncertain what the future holds for me in the Tera universe.  So far I like what I see and I look forward to logging in when I have some free time.  Whether that will continue in the weeks to come we'll have to wait and see.

-slurp-

As I mentioned earlier, April is usually a busy month for me.  Since my past post I celebrated a birthday, my oldest son's birthday as well as my sister's birthday.  April also concluded my large project at work; a project that I have been working on for the past 15 months.  As a result of that wrap-up, I spent a lot of time getting things finalized with my development team, individual development tasks properly sized and just plain old fun.

The 15 month project may have wrapped up but my next one has already begun.  This next project isn't nearly as aggressive as the last, but it will still be a challenge to wrap up by the end of 2015.  Overall work is OK.  I have a great team of developers who (for the most part) have their heads down and do their jobs and a great management team backing me up.  In a few short months I will be "celebrating" my 10 year anniversary with this company.  Hard to believe it has been 10 years.

-slurp-

"The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why." -- Mark Twain

May the 4th be with you!

Cheers,

Al

44.6 :: The Beginning of WoW

World of Warcraft has been a part of my gaming arsenal for a very long time (over 10 years now).  I was checking out some of my old stuff over on http://web.archive.org and I stumbled upon a post I made back on November 10, 2014.  It describes my first foray into the World of Warcraft and my initial impression of the game.

Posted November 10, 2014 @ 09:36 MST

So I signed up yesterday for the new WoW Open Beta. For those who don’t know what WoW is, sheesh :) WoW stands for World of Warcraft. Any gamer should remember the Warcraft games and how popular they were. Blizzard has come out with their first Massive Multi-player Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) entitled World of Warcraft.

All I can say is “WOW” :)

I started up a Human Warlock last night on the Beta Server 13. I made it to level 6 while casually playing for about 3-4 hours (not bad). I was able to have enough cash on my to do all my necessary training and advancements. The questing system is simply amazing in this game. If you’re used to other MMOGs and they way they do their questing; WoW will blow your mind :)

I have my little Imp pet (just like in the Single/Multi-player Warcraft games) and him and I set out for some adventure :)

Within the span of that 3-4 hours I was reunited with some old gaming friends from Dark Age of Camelot. I also completed about 11 quests AND I had a tour of the Alliance capital city. In WoW, it is Alliance vs. Horde. Each side has equal races/classes they can choose from, and you fight :) Similar to how the RvR aspect works in DAoC, except it is only 2 sides and they are equal. There are only 2 classes that are special to each side, all the other classes are shared.

The graphical world is stunning, the music and sounds take you in unlike any other game. The emotes are hilarious :) When you type lol, your character bursts out in laughter holding her stomach (yes, my toon is a chick). You can flirt, dance, kiss, hug, cheer, etc, etc, etc.. You even have “vocal” commands. I can do a /cheer which does a simple animation of me cheering, or I can do a /v cheer which makes my character yell out a cheer :) /v silly will make my character tell a random joke (which can be heard). Character make hand gestures and express emotions while they interact with the world. Overall, the game has so many “little things” that make you laugh :)

I was walking around the start village when I came across this oddly familiar looking character walking around. I click on him to be greeted with that familiar nasal sounding “Hello".. I nearly fell out of my chair with laughter. I watched this NPC (non player character) for a few minutes as he walked. He headed to a tree where he proceeded to start chopping wood. I couldn't believe it, it was like being inside the old Warcraft games :) After chopping wood for 30 sec, the Peasant turned around with an arm full of wood and walked back to the village. As I said before, it's the little things ;) This toon had no purpose to the game other than to give us old Warcraft fans something to smile about.

You older players will remember how angry the characters in Warcraft would get if you kept clicking on them. Well, Blizzard has brought that over to WoW as well :) I had guards getting angry at me as I continued to interact with them over and over :) Just for laughs I fired up an Orc player on another server to test this over interaction :) What do you think I was greeted with?? You guessed it… the famous “STOP POKING ME!!!!” :)

I urge you guys to give the game a try. Last I heard they had closed down the open beta sign ups, but if you get a chance to get on and take a look, please do :) If not, you will want to pick this game up and enjoy a free month of play. As with almost every other MMOG, it is a pay to play on a monthly basis.

Blizzard has an excellent track record when it comes to making games. Their attention to detail is unmatched. You can’t go wrong with a game from Blizzard ;)

If I go back and look at all the posts I've made over the years about this game, I find it funny that this one the one that started them all.

Cheers,

Al

44.5 :: Gaming Weekend

Yes I know, almost every weekend is a gaming weekend for me.  This weekend was a little bit different as I finally accomplished a few things in WoW that I have been working on for quite some time.

-slurp-

[wowhead achievement=4603]

If I had played the game properly, this achievement should have been completed YEARS ago.  Unfortunately I never had the opportunity to run this particular raid dungeon when it was current (level 70); now I'm level 100 and it is very easy.  My son and I have been running this dungeon once a week to get the achievements listed.  Yesterday we were finally able to pull off the last one we needed to get the overall achievement and the flying skeleton dragon mount that goes with it.

[wowhead id=51955]

-slurp-

The second major achievement this weekend was the one I received for looting 25,000 gold.

[wowhead achievement=1181]

This may not sound like a lot, but when you consider this achievement only counts looted coin, it is much more difficult to obtain than expected.  The next goal in this line is the 50,000 gold looted achievement which is going to take some time.  After that there is the 100,000 gold and 200,000 gold achievements and then I've completed the entire set.

Other than those major achievements, I reached level 100 on yet another character (Orc Warrior).  This is my fifth level 100 character since the expansion launched and I've started on my sixth (Night Elf Priest).  I must admit, leveling 90 to 100 is a lot faster than 85 to 90 was in Mists of Pandaria.  Even though the quests are exactly the same as the past 5 times I've done them, I still find things along the way that I missed on previous characters; that makes the leveling experience a little more interesting.

-slurp-

Well folks, that's all I have for updates.  Been playing a little bit of Eve Online; had one of my ships destroyed because I wasn't paying attention but other than that Eve has been fairly quiet.

Cheers,

Al

v44.4 :: Day Late & A Dollar Short

What a week this has been.  I had a couple of days off work and then was sick for a couple of days.  I'm having a difficult time shaking this cold/flu that has been lingering for weeks now.  Just when I thought I was starting to feel better, it comes back with a vengeance a couple of days ago.  Fevers, chills, coughing and just feeling horrible all around.  I was able to drag myself into work on Friday, but by the end of the day I was feeling so delirious I'm surprised I made it home safely.

But enough about that; nobody like hearing about someone else being sick.

-slurp-

Since I've had quite a bit of free time this week, I was able to get in a little bit of gaming to help pass the time.  For the most part I was playing Eve since it requires less interaction than WoW.  When I was feeling up to it, I was playing a bit of WoW; mostly just working in my garrison and doing follower missions.  Overall it wasn't a very exciting gaming week for me, but I did catch up on some TV shows and re-watched Game of Thrones in anticipation for Season 5 starting in April.

-slurp-

Anyway folks, just a quick one today.  Hopefully this cold/flu is starting to pass and I'll be back to my regular routine soon.

Cheers,

Al

v44.3 :: Eve Time

I bit the bullet and decided to reactivate my Eve Online account again.

{slurp}

Over the past couple weeks I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos around Eve and how things have changed.  For those of you who have played Eve Online before you are very much aware of the steep learning curve associated with the game.  The game is vast and possibilities are seamlessly endless.

One big complaint I've seen over and over again is how impossible it would be for a new player to ever achieve what a seasoned player has.  Specifically they are referring to training points which you earn as you train in the various skills available.  As your character progresses through the training queue, they acquire training points.  The more "points" you have, the more skilled you are and thus must be better at the game.  Since training points are earned in real-time, it would be impossible for a player who started today to catch up to a player who has been playing for years.  That's not to say they can't be successful in Eve; with the right corporation and friends you could easily find yourself in low-sec space within a couple of weeks of play.

{slurp}

I digress from my point a bit.  I've been doing a bit of research on the side to see how much the game has changed and how they've addressed the biggest complaint from new players.  It seems they are working toward it and new players to Eve will find the game enjoyable.  You may never get to the 50 million skill point level that some of the more seasoned players have, but you still stand a chance to go toe-to-toe with them.  Of course if you're looking to adventure out into low-sec space alone and you happen upon a patrol, don't expect much.  Even a seasoned player would find it difficult to survive that kind of encounter.

The morale of the story here is stay in hi-sec until you've amassed some skills.  I would also suggest heading into low-sec with a cheap ship initially to see what you're up against.  That way when your ship is destroyed you won't feel the loss as greatly as you would with your best.

{slurp}

For those of you who have never played Eve before and are interested in giving it a shot, there is a link to the right of the site where you can sign up for 7 days free.  This link helps me as well since I get rewards for bringing in new players; up-to and including free game time.  Think of it as a way for you to help me with my online gaming addiction :)

Until next time,

Al

v44.2 :: Lok'tar Ogar

Those of you familiar with the game World of Warcraft will recognize the post title today.  For those of you who are not familiar, Lok'tar Ogar is something often heard in the game spoken by the Orcish race.  In the common (English) tongue it simply means "Victory or Death".

-slurp-

I have officially been playing World of Warcraft for 10 years now (on and off of course).  It's amazing when you sit and think about it.  Most people rarely do something for that long whether it be a job, a marriage or even a hobby like gaming.  I recently took a trip down memory lane when I was contacted by an old friend who sent me some screen shots of a game we used to play together (Dark Age of Camelot).  You see, it was this same friend who got me hooked on World of Warcraft and was the person who gave me my first trial key to start my addiction first account.

My friend, who we'll call Fred for now, was one of my best friends when I was living out West.  We went for coffee on a daily basis and he was a huge inspiration and example in my life.  Fred and I also gamed quite a bit together and we always had each other's back.  There were many battles, many victories and of course, many deaths throughout our gaming adventures. Whether it was just standing around town chatting or going toe to toe with the biggest and baddest monsters we could find; we always had fun and always had a good laugh the next day when we chatted about it.

-slurp-

So here I am, 10 years later, still hooked playing the same game I started back in February 2005.  A lot has changed over the years but the game still holds my attention (albeit a lot less these days) and every once in a while I stumble upon something I have never seen before.  I've leveled every class, profession and race to maximum level.  I won't say I've done it all, but I've definitely done my fair share of the content available, and continue to do so.

I've played various other games over the years as well.  Everything from fantasy based games like Lord of the Rings to sci-fi based games like Star Wars.  I liked them all, but none of them came close to Warcraft; all except one which came VERY close - Wildstar.

-slurp-

That's a story for another day :)

v44.1 :: Beta

We often get so wrapped up in the day-to-day that we forget to take time for ourselves.

I've let this site get away from me over the past couple years and that is something I look back on with regret.  I recall when I would post here on a daily basis and infect you with my thoughts and words.  Like everyone, I've had my good and bad days and I've let small things get to me when I should have just shrugged them off.  That said...

I've decided to give this blog another shot.

I don't expect a lot of followers.  I will do my best to ensure I post something at least once a week; whether it is a story about something I've done at work, in a game or whatever I'm thinking.  In the past the words would just come to me and I would sit at my computer for hours just writing; barely thinking about the letters I was typing.  I hope to get back to that again.

If you have suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

Until next time...

- Al