Because the internet needs another gaming blog.

A number of guildies needed to kill Harla Dar for their Wurmslayer quests and the raid was scheduled for last night. Davyydeous is still a few steps away from that part of the quest, but given that I have never been in the Temple of Scale I figured I’d tag along.

We quickly mowed through the zone in order to get to the entrance to Harla Dar’s room, stopping only to kill a couple nameds along the way. The first was Irolesk, a level 67 Epic x2 which didn’t stand much of a chance against our full four-group raid. We then ran into Vraksakin, a level 72 Epic x4. I didn’t have time to snag a good screenshot of him because we pulled an add and Davyydeous had to spring into off-tank duty. The whole encounter was rushed because the zone is contested and we noticed another guild following right behind us and we wanted to make sure we got the pull.

That done, we headed into Harla Dar’s instance. Our scouts and mages had a field day as we cleared the mobs on the lower platform. It’s not often that they get told to hit the mobs with everything they’ve got to burn through them as quick as possible, so they definitely took advantage. After a few more kills on the upper platform we engaged Harla Dar himself. Pictured above was the best shot I could get of him; more on that in the next paragraph. Regardless, the fight was fairly straight forward and went very smoothly, almost anticlimactic.

In order to get the best quality screenshots, I like to change my video options to the maximum, extreme quality, then change back to balanced, what I normally play on while grouped. I have a silly Microsoft keyboard where all the function keys have multiple functions, and in order for my F10 key to act like F10 instead of “Spell”, I need to enable an “F Lock” key. That’s no problem really, as I’m now in the habit of enabling that key whenever I turn my PC on. The problem arises when I want to hit Print Screen to take a shot, as Print Screen will only act like “Print Screen” with the “F Lock” key turned off. Here now, is the procedure I use for screenshots:

• Hit Alt-O to bring up the options window and change performance to max
• Click OK on the performance warning window
• Click Accept on the options window
• Hit F10 twice to hide my user interface
• Hit the F Lock key
• Hit Print Screen
• Hit the F Lock key
• Hit F10 to bring back my user interface
• Hit Alt-O to bring up the options window and change performance to balanced
• Click Accept on the options window

Trust me, in the middle of a raid, when I should really be paying attention, this little procedure is a pain. I’ve been meaning to see if I can macro it but just haven’t gotten around to it. Furthermore, my guild doesn’t know I do this blogging thing so I really have to pick and choose my screenshot opportunities. I don’t want to hold up any raids for the sake of taking a picture, so quite often I’ll snap some shots while the mob strategy is being communicated on Ventrillo (I’m paying attention too! ), or I’ll hang back before a mob pull and spam my Print Screen key.

The other problem I have is, being a plate fighter, all my time fighting is spent right up against the mob which doesn’t give a very interesting view, unless you’re some sort of dragon proctologist.

Up until now I have been using Spam Karma 2 in order to control comment spam here at Timesink.  To be honest, I pretty much installed it, activated it, then forgot about it.  I’ve used it on a few other blogs and have been happy with the results, that is to say, I never saw spam comments at all.  I just noticed today however, that it has been eating a number of legitimate comments as well.  Shame on me for not checking the logs more diligently, and by “checking the logs more diligently” I actually mean, “checking the logs at all.”

Anyway, I’ve decided to give Akismet a try as I’ve heard good things.  The reason I never tried it in the past was because it needed a Wordpress.com API key, which required creating an account and blog on Wordpress.com.  I prefer to use my own host so never bothered, but now I see you can create a Wordpress account and specify a user account only, no blog.   So, I’ll give this a try for the next while, and sift through the spam logs and try to find any legit comments.  Sorry to those who may have had their comments eaten, I wasn’t shunning you!

As an aside, wouldn’t it be great to live in a world where you didn’t need things like spam filters, firewalls, and virus scanners?

I love Everquest 2. I’ve easily spent more time with this game than any other I’ve ever played, and while I’m sure that I’ll tire of it some day, I’m fairly certain that day is a long way off. Last night my wife and I got some time to play and I experienced one of those moments where you just sit back in your chair and say to yourself, “man, I love this game.”

Earlier in the day I was playing Ordeth, just twenty-five percent away from dinging level 37, along with my wife’s Warden, Saryan. We joined up with a couple friends, a level 30 Troubador (hey Ramm!), and a level 32 Fury (hey Izzi!) and headed out to Crushbone Keep. None of us had really spent a lot of time in Crushbone, so we were mostly going just to explore and maybe get some experience. The main floor was all grey to us so Saryan and Ordeth mentored down to Ramm and we set forth for the basement. We didn’t have any difficulty wiping out the mobs there, and we even snagged Warden Kurgef in the Warden’s Hall who decided not to drop any significant loot.

My wife and I ended up having to leave, so our exploration ended in the basement and we evac’d back to the front door and camped. Later in the evening we logged back in, and with Ordeth just a few percent away from gaining his new level, the two of us decided to head to the upper floor of Crushbone to knock off enough mobs to ding. It turned out we both had a couple of quests to do so we quickly ran through those as well while they were still green. While in the Hall of Tactics we came across a clickable statue which ended up spawning Murnog the Tactician. Unfortunately he was grey to us as Saryan was now level 38, and we had no idea what the statue would do, otherwise she could have mentored Ordeth to make him green. No matter, we made short work of him and continued on our exploration.

Beyond the Southwest Guard Tower, the mobs were no longer grey to us so we started getting some experience, and coupled with some discovery experience as well, Ordeth finally dinged level 37. We made our way into the Emperor’s Chambers to update one of our quests, and then continued on to the Royal Guardpost in search of named mobs. There weren’t any present in the Guardpost, but we did come upon a set of doors leading to an instanced zone called the D’Vinnian Throne. Curious, we clicked in to check it out.

Being just the two of us, we weren’t too sure how we’d fare in the zone. There was someone inside waiting to speak to us who threw two level 32^^^ at us after we hailed her. No problem, Ordeth quickly used Beguile on one of them and set to work on nuking the other while Saryan kept us both alive. This is when my play experience started to elevate from “this is fun”, to “this is the greatest game ever!” The zone was new to us so we had no idea what to expect, what was ahead of us, or whether we’d be able to handle it with just the two of us. We decided to continue on more out of curiousity than anything else, although the experience we were getting was quite the incentive to forge ahead as well.

We soon ran into some mobs that were closer to our level, which meant some more difficult encounters, although I must say, our dynamic duo still did quite well. I absolutely love playing Ordeth; the Coercer class is so fun, and playing in a duo without a proper tank has really helped me learn the class (or so I think). Having Saryan throwing those heals sure helps as well. The first bit of difficulty we had with the zone was when we came across Ograf the Deft, a level 33^^^ Heroic Named in the Gladiator Training Hall. Our first attempt at him failed mostly because I was trying to get a nice screenshot of him. Shame on me. We were almost successful on our second attempt, but he kept breaking my root and laying the smack down on Ordeth. Finally, the third time was the charm as we brought him down and looted the Wristband of Vindication for Ordeth. We had to laugh at that because it wasn’t five minutes earlier that my wife had inspected my equipment and informed me that I desperately needed a new bracelet because I was still wearing a level two one. Yikes. Anyway, problem solved.

It was now getting pretty late in the evening so we started talking about logging out. I was able to talk my wife into “just one more named” so we headed down the hall toward the Inner Guard where we came across General V’Narr, a level 35^^^ Heroic Named grouped with Lieutenant B’Oreth and Lieutenant D’Bryth, both 35^. This was going to be tough. I used Beguile on a roaming mob which I then sent into the room to attack V’Narr so that we didn’t have to clear the room before fighting him. When the three came into the hall to face us, Ordeth immediately cast his group mez, then using Beguile again, took control of one of the Lieutenants. We quickly burned through the other lieutenant, then focused on V’Narr, who promptly stomped us into the ground. After reviving, we ran back and used the same strategy to pull the mob into our hallway. Ordeth settled into a root and nuke routine while Saryan healed and soon enough, V’Narr lay at our feet.

I so very much wanted to continue; Ordeth is now ninety percent towards level 38, but it was time to call it a night, plus I have a feeling the two of us probably wouldn’t have been too successful with the mobs that lay ahead. I have now completely fallen in love with Crushbone Keep and more specifically the D’Vinnian Throne; duoing it like we did only added to the fun. I’ll be dragging Ramm and Izzi into that zone so we can finish it off some time. Maybe we’ll even try to find a proper tank as well, but what would be the fun in that? Man, I love this game.

Where does the time go? Apparently it’s been ten days since my last post, but it sure doesn’t feel like it. Thankfully, GU35 has gone live and has given me something to talk about. Despite every fiber of my being telling me not to, I decided to create a new character. The primary reason is to experience the new content; sure I could bring one of my other characters to the new zones and check them out, but that just wouldn’t be the same as experiencing all the quests. Secondly, I’ve had it in the back of my head to create a character I could solo with for those times my wife isn’t able to play alongside me. Of course, Elrahir was originally that character until he started catching up in levels to my wife’s solo character, at which point they became forever linked, when I made the decree that “Elrahir shall not pass thee in levels”, and no, I don’t really talk like that, that was just for dramatic effect. Then of course Ordeth was to fulfill my solo character needs, until he too became linked with another of my wife’s characters, and even though I made no decrees of non-levelation (not really a word), I’ve decided to keep Ordeth at more or less the same level as my wife’s Warden.

So there I was, once again whipping up a new character, joining the masses in Darklight Wood. I decided on a Bruiser this time around, as everything I’ve seen tells me they’re great to solo with, which I suppose is important for a character I intend to solo with… imagine that. I briefly toyed with creating a Brigand, or a Warlock, but I’ll leave those for the new expansion when it comes out. Truthfully, at this point I’m not sure how much play time my new Arasai is going to get. I’ve really enjoyed playing Ordeth and would love to see him get to max level some day.

As for the new content itself, I’m incredibly impressed. I love the new starting zone, Darklight Wood, and the quests so far are standard fare for a starting zone, but very well done. My Bruiser is currently level eight, close to dinging nine, and hasn’t ventured outside of Darklight Wood yet, so there’s still a lot of new content for him to experience. I also played around with the new Looking For Group system that was implemented, and again, colour me impressed. This is a fantastic tool for both individuals looking for a group, and for groups looking for individuals. As an individual, I can now flag myself as looking for a group with a short blurb about what I’m looking to do, such as “Kill Everling for Hadden’s Earring”. You can also specify whether you’re willing to mentor or not, and what roll you’re willing to play within a group, be it main tank, main healer, combat support, etc.

Similarly, existing groups can advertise what they’re working on, what level range they’re looking for, and what rolls they need filled. I see nothing but good coming out of this change, and really hope the players use it. I’m going to try and play my new character a bunch this weekend and will relay the experience here, but again, so far, so good. This game just keeps getting better and better in my opinion. It’s unbelievable to think I’ve been playing for over two years now and see no end to it in sight.

Level 44 High Elf Mystic
Level 38 Tailor
Status: Alt, Active

Elrahir was the third character I created, the first being Davyydeous, the second being a Paladin who I leveled to 37 and haven’t played in quite some time (and probably won’t play again), yet I just can’t bring myself to delete. After so much time playing plate-wearing fighters, Elrahir was born out of a desire to experience something different.

This was the first character that I really put some thought into. At the time, all I knew was that I wanted to try something other than a fighter, and was leaning towards a healer. I read up on all the healing classes in the game, both in the forums and in the games manual to see which class appealed to me the most. I immediately ruled out both the Fury and Defiler classes, as my friends (and frequent group mates) already had one of each. Of the remaining classes, I kept coming back to the Mystic.

What really appealed to me about the class was its use of wards to prevent damage from occurring in the first place, as opposed to simply healing the damage that had already been dealt, which the Mystic can also do. That, plus it can wear chain armour, so it can take a hit or too, which was important because I anticipated doing a fair amount of soloing with this character. Given that priest classes generally don’t solo as well as others, the early levels for me were a bit tough. I think I was so used to my plate fighters being able to take a fair amount of punishment, that it took a while for me to get accustomed to my more fragile healer. As I grew more comfortable with Elrahir, and got to know the class a little better, I developed a nice rhythm and was soon soloing fairly well. I found myself playing, and enjoying, Elrahir more each day, and even found the frequent tells asking if I could come heal for a group a refreshing change of pace from my fighters. For once it felt nice to play a class that groups needed.

I eventually leveled Elrahir up enough to start grouping with another of my wife’s alts, a Monk. We began duoing a lot, and have found this to be a very successful tandem. We recently entered the Sinking Sands to begin the Desert of Flames content, and the push to level 47 to begin the carpet quest has kept us focused on these particular characters. I now will only adventure with Elrahir if I’ve got my wife’s monk by his side.

As for his tradeskill, I’ve found Elrahir’s tailoring services to be in high demand, both from my Coercer alt, as well as my wife’s alts, the Monk and Warden. I’ve been leveling the tailoring skill quite steadily, outfitting our characters as I go. It’s been nice doing the tailoring with a purpose in mind, rather than just grinding through the levels. In general I find tailoring to be much less painful than Davyydeous’ Armourer tradeskill, as there seems to be more items to craft, be it leather armour, cloth armour, hex dolls, or bags.

As mentioned previously, my interest in Elrahir has been renewed as of late, which has lead to this character profile post. Also, with my wife and I pushing to get that carpet quest started, I can definitely see Elrahir getting a fair amount of playtime over the next little while. I anticipate his services will be in even more demand as the levels ding past, which will only serve to further increase his playtime. While not quite as fun as my Coercer, I’m still very happy with this character. There’s something very thrilling about being the one depended upon to keep the group alive and kicking. Just don’t blame me if we wipe… that’s the tanks fault.