Mystery box take, Day 2....

Not as good as last time.
1 Le Blanc
5 Ottite Perfumes
100 Triumph Fillers
80 Soul Crystals
20 AM Boosts
20 UAs
1 AA Pass
1 Vet Scroll
5 100 chips
10 92 chips
5 Ring Boxes
10 Vet Polish
And an an Iron Chef Panfilo

Here come the Mystery Boxes....

The first wave of them, 5 for being logged in on Xmas eve.

Of course, many people made alt accounts and logged them in to get more. I showed some restraint, only making 2 extra (plus my regular alt). One guy apparently made 40. Honestly, I maybe have made more if I had more email accounts. But I only have 3.

Anyway, so I got 20 mystery boxes today.

2 Le Blancs
3 AA Passes
2 Types of Wings (30 day)
40 UAs
40 AM Boosts
40 Soul Crystals
40 Triumph Fillers
10 Ottite Perfumes
10 Ring Boxes
And an Iron Chef Panfilo

Not a bad haul, all in all. Though of course, Iron Chef was the UPC I wanted the least. Emilia the Sage is the one I want the most. Next is Soho the Wind. Then Battlesmith Idge, then Captain Adelina, then Iron Chef Panfilo

Happenings on Orpesia...

The most fun was an epic battle during the holiday event. After I guess about half the people left, AM Ruffo spawned some more of those Elnugod things, 7 in fact. Took at least 20 minutes to kill them all. But lots of fun.

(Actually got something from this event - a 92 chip and a 80 bracelet)

In Colony Wars news, we saw a reemergence of Neph, taking several of colonies back from Telos and Core (and someone else).

And in my own personal news, my scout reached 40%. Took a month of afking (mostly) in Via. Whee! And Verizon still sucks.

Merry Christmas (events)

Well, no patch, but K2 at least tried to do something...

First off, they gave out a free christmas hat and a free rudolph hat.

Secondly, they had sort of a treasure hunt game. An AM would give clues and you'd go to the next location. The first place was the clock in Rebo, then under the statue in FJ, the third was the beach, and that was as far as I got. Something about where treasure is hidden and evils lay unbidden. I thought first Fire Island (since they have the treasure hunt there). But no. Then the treasure quest in the quay. And apparently not that, as I was still wandering around when the contest was over.

Thirdly, there was a boss event (I guess). Said that Jack Frost and the snowmen were under the control of Novia, and to go outside Auch, Ch 2.

So I went. And there was a crowd. A huge crowd. More people than I think I've seen ever at an event. The lag was immense. Didn't help that at least 4 people brought Vikis and summoned those giant robots. Why do people do that? I don't know.

Anyway, I really had no idea what was happening for most of it, I stayed out by the edge of the crowd and occasionally killed stuff. What, I really didn't know, since I couldn't really see it. But the only drops I got were 9 Cabosse 99% (from the Valentines's event, I think). Never actually saw a proper boss, just mobs, really.

State of the Game...

This seems to be a period of great turmoil, not just for me, but the game as a whole.

On the official front, it's now only a few days from Christmas and not only do we not have a holiday patch, there's no signs of us ever getting Claire and the rest of 2.9.
We may or may not get some events, like mystery boxes, but Neume could be talking out of his ass (which he does a lot). What's the deal behind the lack of further patches? Is K2 late on payments to IMC? Or some sort of disgruntlement between the two? Or does IMC just suck?


On Bristia, there is a raging scandal brewing, regarding the duping of items. I don't know how it works, but apparently people there have tons of +8 Serpent gear. Apparently some people were banned by K2, but apparently then later reinstated, complete with duped stuff. So the honest folk there are up in arms.

On Illier, apparently 1 of the 4 people playing there has also been using the dupe trick, only with fesos.

On Orpesia, there doesn't seem to be a major problem with duping, except for a mysterious seller of cash shop stuff (most notably of Mysterious Powder). All the excitement has been player done, with a serious shakeup in the power structure.

Citadel, the former top clan, appears to be no more, with only 1 member remaining (its leader). In colony wars, the new big clans appear to be Aegis (the people who split off from Citadel) and Elysium (who had been a fairly hard core raiding clan, but just entered CW two weeks ago). Telos has a couple colonies, so does Unaio BR. Maelstrom is still hanging on to a few, but Neph is down to one.

What does the future hold for Orpesia? While several long time players who had been getting bored with the game have apparently decided to stay thanks to recent events, the former statis quo getting shaken up might not have good long term effects. Citadel, for all its dominance, was a fairly benevolent overlord, not hogging stuff too much (not like the horror stories I've heard from Bristia). Will that be true for the new ones? And where will the ex-Citadel people that didn't join Aegis go?

The worst thing about leaving a clan...

At least to me, is the realization that all those people who had spend hours talking with really aren't your friends, just acquaintances, sort of, and not really even that.

Some of them still talk to you when you run into them, but most don't seem to.

Well, no more Core for me...

Lasted only 2 weeks. Seemed longer than that.

Most the guys in it were really nice and I'll miss them. But at the same time, the clan was just too hard core for me, I guess. Half the people (or so it seemed) turning Expert and now doing stuff I just couldn't do, like Secret Temple (from what I've read). And really Vergo even, I basically invited myself along for that and got clobbered.

And since becoming Core (and everyone went expert), seemed like doing the stuff that I could do less. Like Diablo. In No_NeeD, we'd try to do it a couple times a day. In two weeks of Core, we tried it I think 3 times, only winning FC once. And never the Angler, which we'd do sporadically.

Not that I blame them. Screwing around with Diablo can take 20 minutes or more (like 5-10 minutes just putting the talt in, then firecracking, etc) and the rewards are pretty minor comparatively - maybe a 96 or 84elite drop, a couple chips. Not much compared to Vergo or I guess what drops in Secret Temple.

But at the same time, I was pretty much back at the starting point, where all I did in the game was run around Rio Albi killing the Komodo for 92 chips. Compared to that, whatever dropped from Diablo was pretty decent, and my main (only?) source of 100 chips. So I liked doing it.

I guess I should find a clan that does Diablo regularly. But the only clans that used to show up there were Mael and sometimes Neph.

Vergo!

2nd one for the clan (3rd including No_NeeD days), but first for me. I had no idea what the heck I was doing, mostly just ran around ressing people as much as the lag would permit.

Thankfully I didn't get anything good (would have felt guilty if I had), a mega talt and the key to the chest. Which opened up produced a couple of 84e and some junk. (Got an 84e Bracelet)

Core (clan) is born...

I don't really like the name (I wanted Sky), but it got the most votes. So the clan has (hopefully) been reborn as "Core". We almost immediately did the 51 and 52 quests.

Hopefully we can get most, if not all of the old members. The leader of No_NeeD has apparently quit to join Maelstrom, so there's not much point in people staying. OTOH, the new clan seems to be more focused than the rather loose No_NeeD, and I think that might cause some members to quit, not join, or get kicked out due to inactivity. Me possibly for the latter as well, as the rules seem kinda strict.

Veteran number 10 is.....Claude

Sort of an accidental vet, really. I used him along with the first Calyce, then him again with my second (who is 96th). But I didn't want to leave him at 100, even though I'd probably rarely use him (even got him a pole arm).

30% Whee!

My highest vet just hit 30%.

Going back through screenshots, I put together an XP chart for how she's progressed:

Jan 3rd - 1st
Feb 3 - 44th
March 9th - 72nd (2 days later I finally got Catherine and left Torsche)
April 7th - 85th
May 3rd - 94th
June 1st - Vet 1.3%
July 5th - Vet 9.5%
August 26th - Vet 11.5%
Sept 16th - Vet 15.2%
Oct 16th - Vet 20.4%
Nov 4th - Vet 24.7%
December 1st - Vet 30%

So basically I get 5% vet per month for her. Best is 8%, worst is 2% in 6 weeks (when I took a break from the game, mostly)

At that rate, she will hit expert in 14 months, or March 2010

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.

Scenes from the Halloween Event

Done two, haven't gotten anything

First time in, I lagged for 30 seconds, then got killed by something. The lag was so bad I couldn't see anything. So eventually I logged out.

Second time, I waited a bit, then entered. Less lag, I guess because it was 5 am and less players. A bunch of Thoros wandering around. These were killed by the mob of players

Then I think some Fallen Knights (guys on big horses). Again, killed.

Then a big raid boss appeared. This lasted awhile, then it got killed. Lots of drops, but I didn't get any.

Then a little while later, a giant treasure chest appeared. Killed it, only one person got something (chips?)

Then the AM appeared, and we had some more Thoros. I actually got a drop from one of those. I think leather boots. Whee!

I guess better than nothing, but compared to events in other games, pretty lame, IMHO.

What's the deal with guys harassing women?

Seriously, I don't get it. Two examples from tonight.

First off, my own clan, there was this 16 year old kid. For some reason, pretty much every time she came on, this guy would harass her. Talking about her chest, really stupid attempts to flirt with her, then tonight he starts blathering about her "time of the month" and PMS and stuff. So she gets pissed and quits the clan. Not that I blame her. I'm surprised she lasted that long. I was pretty close to quitting the clan myself (and still am, actually. Most the people are really nice, but there are always some in a clan that irk you. Maybe I'm just not a clan person...)

Secondly, with Catharsis falling apart again, out of the ashes has arisen a couple of clans, including the all-female Femme-Fatales. And yet pretty much every time they shout a recruiting message, they get subjected to some sort of harassment or snarky comment (like in the SS above). The wit later PMed me, saying there are no women on the internet (after I pointed out by his logic, the Brazilian clan was faking it as well).

Yet, we have clans full of Brazilians (as mentioned), Spanish speakers, even for a while, one full of Russians. I don't remember any of them being bothered like that, except when the Russians would use Cyrillic letters. And that was just making fun of the fact that no one else could even see the letters (since no ones but Russians have that font installed) and it just showed up as squares.

Seriously, just because someone in the game is a woman, doesn't mean you have to flirt/hit on her; make comments about her anatomy, or really, treat her any different than a guy, really. And same goes if they (or any other group) want to form a clan. Personally, it makes more sense than the one by country, because to me at least, one of the cool things about the internet is meeting (and playing games with ) people from all over the world.

I have no idea why people do that. I swear, the internet didn't used to be like that. Maybe it's kids are just getting more and more socially awkward, they don't meet girls/women in real life, so online they act like total asses towards them. Maybe it's the rampant sexism in the political campaign and media, first against Hillary, then against Palin. Maybe it's anime, which in my small experience, has creepy views towards women.

Calyce better be worth it...

15 million vis to buy 50 MP (which took me like 2 1/2 weeks of farming to make)

14 million vis to buy a Mysterious Steel Piece

30 mysterious powders to make the ottite for her crossbow (bought from cash shop).

100,000 fesos to by the vet stance manual (since the quest to get it is buggy)

??? how many 92 chips and enchant boosts to get decent stats - actually, I got lucky and on my first try, got 30% attack, 27% speed, which is good enough for me (better than any of my other 92es)

300 gold on FA passes to level her up to vet (soon I hope, she's 86 now)

Calcye in Deserted Quay...

I spent half an hour wandering around Deserted Quay before finding the right spot (eventually was given a clue by clan member Basque).

Except, you probably shouldn't do her quest yet, it's bugged, and on Orpesia, will prevent you from entering Los Toldos until its resolved

Colony Wars

I missed the first 30 minutes of it, feeding my cats. I was impressed to find my clanmates had taken a colony.

Sadly, it didn't last, but still pretty cool.

Then we tried to take another colony, but got wiped out. I think we gave about as good as we got, though, as the picture shows

Hades Covenant is no more!

Apparently my first clan disbanded yesterday. I dunno why, though I would speculate it might have something to do with the leader's impending marriage.

Part of me is sad, since it was my first clan and the leader put some effort into it, part of me also thinks it's probably a good thing for a lot of the members. (For the same reasons I left).

Got my pet...

Looks pissed off, actually, and can't say that I blame him, me having killed his mother and siblings and all that.

Kinda slow at picking up stuff. On the plus side, came with a 24% charge, so can use him a little (since I'm lacking fesos to buy food).

Thoughts on the patch (so far)....

Calyce is pretty cool. Only got her up to 49, but the Escrima stance isn't nearly as bad as I feared (in fact, I think I'm going to try a Lisa after I'm done with Calyce).

The pet quest is pretty evil, killing cute little furry animals.

The tweaked UI skin took a little getting used to, but seems to be a lot better.

The whole fesos thing has prices in an uproar. As well as the massively upgraded Bellem's boxes, which now drop mission lobbies, keys to instances, dyes, jewels (including high quality gems) as well as the occasional talt.

I'm not sure the fesos thing is going to make the game more friendly to non-uber people, since they are apparently available in PY, which means experts are going to crawl all over it (that was the case when my clan tried it, I got stomped, then lagged out). And people are going to be hunting all the mini-bosses to get jewels for the socket machine

The new patch is live, kinda.

Got Calyce (pictured above). Little trickier than I expected, the fight apparently scales to your highest character, and I had my scout (20% vet) and two 60 level guys. I ended up fighting a bunch of 107 level pirates.

Unfortunately, through a combo of server problems (they've been up and down) and ISP problems (Verizon still sucks) I haven't been able to play much. AFKed Calyce up to 27, but haven't actively played her much. She doesn't get her Xbow skill until level 60, either.

Citadel Owns Orpesia...

Literally! They took over the whole map in this week's CW. Pretty fun, actually, my new clan tried to take over Deserted Quay, but were kept at bay by one or two Citadel members

Calyce is finally coming (next week)

We should be getting an update next week, including Pets, Fesos, some other crap, but most importantly, Calyce!

I've had 50 mp set aside for her for months, and finally I shall have her. It's almost here.

Of course, it's from Neume, so take it with a huge grain of salt.

Ok, next topic. On patch day (a week from today) players will be able to add sockets to their items by talking with Claire (she won''t be available as a UPC just yet). Players will also be able to obtain jewels and socket them into their newly socketed items (Claire does this too).

After you do that players can head to the Pet Master in Gigante Beach and get their first pet: Poppet. He likes to pick up things for you... BUT you gotta remember to feed him. The pet food for him can be found on the Feso Exchange.

Feso will also be immeadiately available on the Bazaar. Just purchase an Earthstone and take it to the Feso Exchange. Players can also get Feso Stones by completing Andre''s UFC and killing monsters in the Forgotten and Ancient Areas. We will have additional ways to get these as well (e.g. AM Events, Community Events, F2P Promotions and Raid drosps).

The Feso Exchange will be live on Wednesday. This will change a few things on the Bazaar. From now on, most temporary items (excluding Premium Back costumes) will ONLY be available on the Feso Exchange. Consumables and Permanent items (as well as packages) will be what the Bazaar focuses on. What this means is that most of the powerful Cash Shop items will be available to all players through the Feso Exchange.

Wednesday will bring a host of other minor changes I have already posted about in my other thread. There is more I haven''t talked about yet and we will have more patches on the way before we get into Echoes of an Empire (anticpate an Update 5, 6, 7 and possibly 8).

Got a new clan and the Swamp Angler...

I joined No_NeeD. Which I still think is a silly name, but seemed to be the best fit. Lots of members, including some fairly active ones. The guy that recruited me, Unlimted is nice (guess he doesn't need a second i).

And in the first hour of my being a member, we killed the Swamp Angler not once, not twice, but thrice.

So I've done that and most of the Bahamar quest line. I'm now stuck again near the end, I need 100 quartz, and I only have 16. There's no more on the market and I can't seem to find any as a drop.

Verizon Internet sucks...

Ugh. No, I can't you hear you now, because your crappy internet service isn't working very well. If I'm lucky I can get on it for 1-2 minutes.

The One/Ceres kill the Hill Giant

http://forum.swordofthenewworld.com/index.php?showtopic=28028

The guardian to the new maps of Xibola (however it's spelled in game).

Congrats to them (and the server).

But yikes, just looking at the pics, makes me realize just how futile this game can be. After 4 months of playing, my best vet is 20% to Expert. Some of the screenshots had people who were 40% to the next level (Master).

It's not just the cash shop (AA passes and all that), but people who can AFK can get 1-3% to Expert to in 24 hours. If you actively play for 4 hours, you'll be lucky to get .25%

Vetted my Karjalain

She's really a fun character to play, but I worry about her post-vet, since she can only wear regular leather armor, not fighter nor scout, so she doesn't get a evasion bonus from those armors.

Searching for a clan, part three...

This is a tricky task because there aren't a whole lot of clans in the game, and also because my list of enemies is larger than my list of friends.

I posted an ad and got a few offers.

Catharsis - I would have, except they let McGeezers in, who I don't like

Telos - the last time I got into a broading argument with McGeezers, the leader of the clan sent me a snarky message. I think it was her - some variation of Misiercorde

No_NeeD - maybe, I almost joined them once, but I'm allergic to funky capitalization.

Into the Forgotten Zone!

Well, forgotten area. I had never been there before. But they had another contest/promo this week, buy 3 Ancient Area passes or 5 Forgotten Area passes and get 2 100 chips, plus some sort of lottery for extra crap.

Used one already. I was hoping to get enough strange stuff to get Viki finally, but only got 1 clock in about an hour in the zone Which is better than the 2 in all the time I've spent in the regular mansion, but still leaves me 17 short.

Spent some time leveling up my Baek Ho in Tetra. Got 3 harpoons there, useful for vindictive stones. Was hoping to get some Porto Bello uniques, but in about 3 hours there I didn't get any.