No more No_NeeD...

Still a record for me, 6-7 weeks.

But basically it's splitting up for reasons I'm not 100% clear about. But basically, the titular leader Lig declared war on one of our allies, and our real leader, Unlimted, wasn't happy about it, so he left. And probably most people left to follow him, including me.

Honestly, I think it's overreacting a bit. But then, I didn't really like the clan the leader declared war on. At the same time though, you can't really go around attacking allies

Chipped a +3DR Striform...

Woohoo! Had 11 chips, so I decided "Why not try to chip my Striform?"

So on the 8th chip (w/ EBs), I hit the jackpot. +3DR, +10 Def, +4 Evasion.

Now my Grace (or Musk) has as high as DR as my Fighter (56). I guess the next step is getting some Elite Plate...

Colony Wars...

I missed it this week due to odd circumstances. The power went out in my living room, so I thought the breaker must be bad. But none of them were tripped. So I tried flipping a bunch, including the one that had my computer running in it. So that went off and reset, and when I tried to reboot it, it wouldn't. It would boot, but not make it to windows.

However, eventually I discovered that taking out my USB memory stick would let it boot. Which doesn't make much sense, because I leave it in there all the time, usually (it's how I back up my novels that I'm working on)

Anyway, I was pleased to learn we did pretty well in CW. Took 2 Colonies, apparently, but couldn't hold them against the combined forces of Neph and Mael.
Oh well.

OTOH, I later learned that part of the help our clan had was McGeezers new clan. As I really hate that guy (and he's a big part of the reason I quit playing for a month or so) that really turned my stomach.

I've never been too fond of being allies with Fatal either, I dislike their leader, but many of the members are decent enough, so I was largely willing to let bygones be bygones. But McGeezers is just too much.

So, I dunno what I'm going to do. Quit the clan is one option. Just not take part in CW any more is another. Taking a break from the game and buying Mines of Moria is yet another, though I can't really afford that until another month or so, given how much I've spent lately. Almost got Runes of Magic downloaded, so maybe that's an option. (Sadly, the room I leave my laptop in is the one without power, I think I need to change breakers. But I was going to have it patch tonight and try playing it tomorrow. Oh well).

A Raiding we will go...

i

Last night was strange. It started off normal enough, but then one of the members wanted to try to get Grennmah. So off to the Skele Dungeon to a place I had never been before, Barrow de la Muerta.

Did that twice, but no item dropping, much to his disappointment.

Then one of our members who can only be described as mercurial, decided he wanted to do Vergo (which we had never done before). So we all tramped off there, not before checking up on Diablo first (where we actually won the FC).

Alas, Vergo wasn't up (and on the other channel, was being killed by Maelstrom), so we raced off to do Hellbreaker, another one we hadn't done before (but running to kill the Angler first. Where amusingly my Calyce did enough damage to draw aggro). On the way there we killed the Golden Bat only to find out Hellbreaker wouldn't be up for another 5 hours (and Mael was camping him, too).

I dunno if we could even have done Vergo or Hellbreaker, there were only 5-6 of us.

Sword of the New World and Burn out...

Sword is a fun game. But it's also a fairly frustrating one. The grind from Vet to Expert is huge, probably even impossible to do actively without AFKing several hours a day. The amount of cash shop gouging is pretty bad, especially when it comes to the enchanting system. Lack of end game content, only a couple raids most clans can do and those you have to fight over.

And of course, one of the worst things, I think, part of the cash shop gouging, is the timed CS items. Rather than based on how much you are in game, they are based on real time. So people play far too much in order to get their money's worth.

All in all its a recipe for burn out.

It's bad enough when it happens to you, but it really sucks when it happens with your friends in the game. You never know if you'll see them again.

It's weird. In a lot of times you don't even know their real names. But you've spend a lot of time chatting with them. So I guess they are your friends. Not in the help get rid of a body sense, but still more than just someone you nod your head to.

Another Clan Wars...

Dang, this was much easier when I was in a clan that had Citadel fight for us.

We declared on Neph, like usual. But then Maelstrom declared on us. So we had to fight Neph and Maelstrom. Which is pretty silly, as we really aren't a match for Neph alone. But they seem to be afraid of us for some reason.

We attacked Old Port of Coimbra. This was tough for some of our lower level guys, but every bit helps.

Did okay, but eventually we got overwhelmed by Nephs Experts (I think they have as many as we have vets, or close to it). I managed to take out a couple before getting killed, which is a nice feeling.

Then we regrouped and attacked Maelstrom at Tejeda Verde (top picture). This was more successful, we actually got the colony to about half before Mael stormed us, including former elements from my first backstabbing clan. (Boo!)

We do okay in colony wars, but our trouble is we never have any help from the other clans. We had a little from Fatal, one guy, Dragonmajere (who was 77th), but none from the other clans, really. (Telos apparently wared with Mael for a while).

We're going to have to be closer allies if we want to beat the Neph-Mael alliance.

Premiums are up on G1...

Who can resist 8000 gold and 6 mystery boxes for $24.95? Not me!

It never fails to amaze me how fast you can blow through gold in this game, though.

1 Premium Treasure Chest (had to try it) - 2150 gold
1 Wheel of Destiny Pack - 1495 gold
1 Merc Warrant - 1495 gold
20 Enchant boost and 20 UAs - 950 gold

Got 1900 left. On the plus side, I got another Calypso and am busy powerleveling her. Had trouble with her fight, though, it's kinda tricky. Calypso and her opponents are all 5 levels higher than you. So I created a trio of 1st level guys and it actually worked.

Colony Wars fun and Citadel finally opens Caebolen

All in one screenshot. Bottom shows our failed assault on Deserted Quay, and you can see who killed the Giant Keeper in the announcement field.

Top two show us getting ready for our assault on Deserted Cliff. This didn't go any better, sadly, though at least we damaged the colony. But then Neph's experts warp in and we're toast.

Calyce was fairly effective in CW, though not an unstoppable killing machine. The trick is getting burst shot off while the whole family is within range, then following it up right away with sub-machine shot while they are still on the ground.

Sounds easy, but the way people run around and all the lag, it's kinda hard. I managed it once, taking out 2 families , but that was pure luck.

Also, once you first burst shot, you're out of luck in terms of combat for a good minute until it recharges. Plus, the damange might not be enough to take out Experts.

So now what?

I've vetted Calyce and maxed out her Sagitta stance. It really does kick ass for the most part, especially her 2nd AoE skill. I haven't used her in PvP yet, but for PvE, it's great for dragging mobs, since there is almost no casting time. Just about a second, then she jumps in the air and clobbers every one.

But now what do I do in the game?

Expert? Well, at the same pace which got me Calyce vetted in 2 1/2 weeks, I'd have her experted in about 3-4 months. Maybe. (She's 2% now). Ugh, no thank you.

I really like the gameplay in this game, but there's just not a whole lot to do once you hit vet. The long grind to expert is just too much for me, I need goals that can be acheived within a month or so.

Raids? There arne't many and those get fought over. And I rarely make it to them when they tell me. Same with PY.

Maybe it's time to start playing LOTRO again...

Woohoo, finally vetted Calyce...

I say finally, but it's 2 1/2 weeks, which is by far a record for me. I can't actually believe there are Expert Calyces running around, but I guess it's technically possible legally. I'm worn out just getting her to Vet so quickly, though.


So far though, I'm pretty impressed. Her non-vet crossbow stance sucked, to put it mildly, but Sagitta, her vet one, is pretty nice. I guess it's pretty much comparable to a shotgun, it does splash damage and is pretty fast.

But the skills are what sets it apart. To go along with her normal built in buff, there's another one. Both of which can give you an extra AR if you have a ring for it to make it level 11.

Then there are 2 AoE attacks. One for only 5 enemies, so mostly for PvP, but the other for 15! Then a skill that immobilizes an opponent, and finally, one that makes her invisible.

Have only gotten the first AoE attack and seems easily interupted. Also the glow on the 92e crossbow isn't very impressive, just like little purple, blue and white sparkles glued to it.

Got it halfway....

We tried that thing involving the Geraldo outside the Queen's Gate. We got it about to halfway, but that's about it, every time it did, it would regen a lot, then spaz out and kill most of us.

Sigh. Have I said I hate Verizon?

Because I do. I really do.

It's not just their incredibly crappy internet service. But trying to get support for their crappy service. If you go to their website, almost all the info they offer in terms of FAQs and such is for phones.

And if you call them, they are clueless as well.

I just want to know why my internet is constantly disconnecting (every 15 minutes or so). Is it my modem crapping out? Or is there something wrong with the service in my area?

Is it too much to ask? Apparently.