Wednesday, May 25, 2005
EQ2: Thoughts and Ruminations
Thinking about the current design of classes in EQ2. When you start, you have no class (or role) from level 1-2. At level 3, you're forced to pick one of the 4 main archtypes (fighter, mage, priest, scout). Then, at level 10 you pick your sub-class (3 for each archtype), and finally, at level 20, you pick your final type (usually a choice of only 1 based on your alignment, some sub-classes have 2 possibles).
The problem I see with this is that the pace of the game in the first dozen levels is so fast that it's difficult to make a meaningful choice so early. On the other hand, it makes rolling up alternate characters to experiment much quicker.
If I was going to re-design it (wishful thinking):
Levels 1-9 - no archtypes at all. Leave the heroic opportunity system off the table until level 10+. Give everyone the ability to do a little bit of everything, but nothing class-definining. So, everyone could heal a bit, nuke a bit, and do a bit of melee damage. Nothing like experimentation to decide which role you prefer.
Level 10 - Now you pick an archtype (fighter, priest, mage, scout).
Level 20 - This would be the first sub-class level. (Similar to the existing levels 10-19.)
Level 30 - Pick your final class specialization.
My thought is that by forcing everyone to pick an archtype at level 3, a sub-class at 10, and final class selection at 20, they compressed too much choice into too narrow of a range. Expanding of the decision over an additional 10 levels would have given them a few benefits:
- Players are better informed when it comes time to choose.
- Easier class balance due to more levels at the lower end where you can introduce new spells.Labels: 2005, EverQuest, EverQuest2
posted by Wuphon's at 9:37 AM (0 comments)
Thursday, January 06, 2005
EQ2: Sorish's Big Bend Store
This is my little ratonga shopkeeper that I use to sell from my inn room in Big Bend. This is the one-room starter inn that you can get for free and only pay 5sp/week in upkeep.
Labels: 2005, EverQuest, EverQuest2
posted by Wuphon's at 11:40 AM (0 comments)
Sunday, May 25, 2003
Bye Bye EQ
So, I finally canceled my EverQuest account. Primarily due to the developer's continued focus on "dumbing down" the game so that it appeals to the lowest common denominator. There's not much left to the game other then race to level 65 and get the uberest of the uber gear so you can brag about it. A large number of the simple, every day challenges have been removed. The latest example:
Casters get a spell book that has the capacity to hold roughly 400 spells (50 pages with 8 spells on a page). Not that any of the classes get that many, but a level 65 enchanter has around 280ish if they never delete their low level spells. Keeping your spell book organized so that you can find a spell quickly (about half your spells end up at the back of the book anyway) is one of the challenges of the game. Nothing rocket-science about it, but everyone has their own methods of organizing the spell book. A good, smart caster can sit (ctrl-S), open their book to the proper page (/book 8 or ctrl-B followed by the left-arrow or right-arrow to flip pages), memorize the spell and quickly stand back up. A badly played caster who hasn't organized their spell book takes a lot longer. Again, nothing difficult about it - but it gives you positive feedback every time that you're able to quickly swap spells due to the foresight of organizing your spell book. Now the developers have decided that this isn't dirt-simple enough and have added a pop-up menu that appears when you have an empty spell gem (you can only memorize 8 spells at the same time, which limits what you can have at the ready). This pop-up menu is a fully categorized menu tree of all of the spells that you have memorized. Pick the spell and your toon will stop, sit down, open their book, memorize the spell and stand back up. And everyone goes "Cool! Neat! Wow!" over the menu. While those of us with the big picture view see this and wonder WTH the developers are thinking - was having to organize your own spell book that difficult for the masses? I can hear some whiners complaining now that it's "too difficult" to keep their spell book organized, or to find a spell quickly in a pinch... well, the whiners won yet another round and EQ is a much less challenging game as a result. Now you can be lazy (not learn your spell book, or figure out how to swap spells efficiently) and yet still be as effective as someone who was willing to step up to the challenge and get the reward of efficiency.
Well, for me, lack of a challenge equals a boring game. Everyone says that this one little change isn't that big of a deal, and they're right, until you stack changes like this on top of all of the other "dumbing down" changes - then suddenly, the game looks a lot less complex, challenging, and rewarding then it used to be. (PoP book ports, lack of faction issues in the latest 2 expansions, the ability for 2/3 of the classes to easily solo to 50+, destruction of the community feeling by the developers...)Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 7:38 PM
Thursday, April 17, 2003
EQ - Innoruuk
Screenshots from our last PoH raid where we killed the boss of the zone.
Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 3:31 PM
Saturday, March 15, 2003
EQ - Crash to Desktop
I'm still crashing to desktop in EQ. I could be sitting there doing nothing (all alone in the corner of a zone), or in the middle of a battle, or typing a message and suddenly I'm at the desktop screen. It's rather annoying, especially if I'm trying to solo (risky) or end up as the main tank in a group. I can go for 3 hours without a LD, or I'll crash every 3 minutes. Dropping the CPU temp to 45C hasn't helped at all, so now I've installed WinXP since my Asus motherboard isn't HCL'd for Windows 2000.Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 11:04 AM
Tuesday, March 11, 2003
EQ - After a Bit of a Hiatus
So, while I wait for patch #2 from Maxis for SimCity 4 and patch #1 for MOO3 from QuickSilver, I'm back to playing EverQuest again. (Hey, the accounts are still paid up for another 12 months, may as well get in and muck with the toons.)
One of the things I'm doing this time to avoid burnout is that I've completely stripped Corish (my 54 cleric) of all gear so that I'm not asked to play him. Plus, selling off his gear (or redistributing it to my other toons) will allow me to finally upgrade Sorish's (my troll SK) gear. Sorish's upgrades are something like 20k plat for armor, plus however much it takes to purchase the cultural armor pieces (could be another 20-30k).
On an enjoyable note, Sorish dinged 49 on Saturday and is already 50 (dinged last night). Since getting to level 50 was my end-of-this-week goal... I guess I'll have to try for 51 by Friday.Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 10:41 AM
Friday, January 31, 2003
EQ Expansion Fatigue
Expansion fatigue is the idea that too many expansions, in too short of a time frame leaves your customers without the time required to become comfortable with the changes in their virtual world that occur with each expansion.
As a result, the average customer begins to feel overwhelmed by the rapidly increasing quantity of content (that is expanding faster then they can chew through it) -- which can leave one feeling a bit daunted, or feeling like you're running on a treadmill, getting nowhere but further behind. After all, if you can't chew through the content that you already have and become comfortable with it - why buy the next expansion or the one after that? It also makes the average customer begin to feel that there is weight behind the rumors that the company producing the title only cares about revenues, not whether the customers are enjoying the game.
I forget all of the key dates in EQ's history, but the cycle has sped up (used to be one expansion per year, which gave the population plenty of time to experience it, grow comfortable with it, etc., even if they only played a few hours per week). However, this last expansion, LoY comes out only 4-5 months after PoP, which was only 9 months after SoL. The average EQ player was just getting into places like the Grey, Scarlet Desert, and Umbral Plains (the last zones before you hit the top level zones in SoL) about 9 months after SoL came out.
Sure, the uber guilds and folks that play 80+ hours per week were well and done with places like Vex Thal, Ssra Temple, Sanctus Seru - but the rest of us were still trying to keep our heads above water with the massive shifts in game content when SoL was released and later when the Bazaar feature finally went live. Then comes PoP, which is geared towards the folks 55+, again with broad ramifications for the rest of the environment (insta-portals, all old-world spells being purchasable, multiple tiers of new zones, new equipment that put old equipment to shame, new AA skills to be figured out, new levels (61-65) and new spells for the 61+ crowd. Plus the raid window and the dozens of other small changes made during last fall.
That's a lot of new information and changes within a short amount of time (the past 6 months). Then, before you can catch your breath and get comfortable with the lay of the new world - they release yet another expansion only 4 months after PoP went live (LoY). Again, with even more new features (LFG window, larger bank space, spells, AA abilities, zones, equipment, froglok playable race)... when most folks are still struggling to come to grips with the changes of the past 6 months.
Ever heard the phrase "learn to pace yourself"? How about "stop the world, I want to get off"? Hmmm, I choose to get off here thank-you-very-much and currently have no plans to purchase LoY (actually, I haven't even logged in to play since early-December).Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 12:19 PM
Friday, December 13, 2002
EQ - Allakhazam's and Friday the 13th
Here's today's news item from Allakhazam's Magical Realm
Happy Friday the 13th. They say this is a bad luck day, but personally I've never had anything go qeonr. Important, Qfnapeik nen aononf memm so you must soodo wohoh in addition to npweio wqoeij imperative that asw erer goweisa! The site wonslkn ooiweooe and of course paapg wvvw htotho eori w qrwr gosi spofpsodifi ac[pfd[. So don't forget to gjoiee vaseer fgoijer srrrijoiwer. Really osidfuoiow oeoe is very important. Fwwes, ttwoie gaonower and never aseoine woin sgweer or asonwe will wrosot ansnd crash soiid drive vnwooe qq foaor very bad for you.Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 9:53 PM
EQ - The Lost Dungeons of Norrath?
Sometimes fortune smiles your way and you find a link like this on the message boards:
Thank you for your request. Here are the latest results from the TARR web server.
This page was generated by the TARR system on 12/13/2002 15:02:20 ET
Serial Number: 76470262
Registration Number: (NOT AVAILABLE)
Mark (words only): EVERQUEST: THE LOST DUNGEONS OF NORRATH
Current Status: Newly filed application, not yet assigned to an examining attorney.
Date of Status: 2002-12-03
Filing Date: 2002-11-29
The TARR server is part of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, which lets you retrieve information about applications and registrations. Information from the FAQ indicates that there is a search service called TESS. Searching on "EVERQUEST" revealed the following trademarks:
76470262 EVERQUEST: THE LOST DUNGEONS OF NORRATH
76448427 EVERQUEST ATLAS: THE MAPS OF MYRIST
76382821 EVERQUEST: THE PLANES OF POWER
75879771 2562334 EVERQUEST: THE RUINS OF KUNARK
75666053 2520693 EVERQUEST
75666108 2507594 EVERQUEST
75133750 2137911 EVERQUEST
74133454 1700975 EVERQUEST
Which is interesting, because the Velious Expansion doesn't appear here (some of the last 4 entries are for stuff like figurines and key-chains, or logos).
Ah, here's the link to Scars of Velious 76096340Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 3:29 PM
Thursday, December 05, 2002
EQ - bunch of epic kills
Clan Silvermoon has been racking up the epic kills lately, clearing a bunch of 2-9 day spawns, sometimes within 40 minutes of their being spotted by scouts.
This is our first kill of Vessel Drozlin, one of the enchanter epic mobs. Ysolte spotted him up and available, but even with taking a bit over 20 minutes to get enough friends together to do the kill, we still managed to take him out within an hour.
Second kill of Vessel Drozlin, this time for Magdalen. This kill went even faster (40-45 minutes) because we could see other guild's scouts checking on the spawn, and even some advance guard from some other guilds started showing up in Field of Bone as we were preparing to run into Cabilis.
Granted, this isn't a uber kill, but it's a tough fight for a short-handed level 40s group. (That and we thought Tiggra might like to see her kittin dishing out some damage.)
Not an epic picture, but a fun post-kill snapshot of the mighty panda bear, Giang Yin, that Tiggra and Corish duo'd.
Well, took us two spawns to finally get the ol' frog in the Swamp of No Hope - but Tinben now has his frog kill finished. (First time we attempted Ulump Pujluk we got beat to the spawn by another guild.)
Castle Mistmoore raid for the mid-level players (and alternates of higher level players).Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 1:10 PM
Wednesday, December 04, 2002
EQ - Twink Away? or Is it Okay to eBay?
InkTank Forums :: View topic - My(not so)supersales? - Basically, the author of Angst Technology has managed to "step in it" (e.g. stir up a sensitive subject), not really knowing any better at the time when he posted his original "Twink Away" news item on his home page. It's turning into a very lively debate about intellectual property, EQ's EULA, and whether the selling/auctioning of items in EQ is really that gray of an area or not. I think what's setting everyone off is that monkly-business was just bought and paid for by the owner of the web-site that AT is opining (shilling? no just overly-enthusiastic I think) about. However, the author is being *very* open-minded about this sudden negative attention that he's receiving - so it's turning into an interesting debate and I think he's got a lot of class for that.
My bets are on SOE taking some action - I think the auction site in question has raised it's profile too far. The gauntlet has been thrown in SOE's face, and either they do something about it now, or basically condone it by doing nothing. You see, there's an interesting aspect to Intellectual Property law - you have to defend your IP when it is mis-used or risk losing control over it (it shifts into the common domain). Up until now I think they were willing to look the other way because it was kept on the fringes - polite society didn't talk about it. But between monkley-business, /gu, and now Angst Tech... (maybe other places), it's raised about 10 notches in publicity which means SOE has to take notice of it.Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 9:22 PM (0 comments)
Sunday, December 01, 2002
Old unsolved EverQuest quests
I'm in heaven... found a message board dedicated to the riddles of EQ:
Old unsolved Quests in Everquest
http://pub8.ezboard.com/boldunsolvedquestsineverquestLabels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 8:20 PM
Friday, November 22, 2002
EQ - Alignments
So was thinking about the different ways that I play my different toons... as there are some distinct differences between how an evil troll shadowknight is played versus how a goodie-two-shoes high elf cleric is played.
Corish - High Elf Cleric - Ordelry Good - He believes in law and order, honoring agreements (such as not killing dragons on Claws of Veeshan faction which Corish has obtained ally faction with), helping others, only killing things that need killing, etc.
Sorish - Troll Shadowknight - Chaotic Evil - Sorish is the bad boy, a very very bad troll. If he can kill it, he will, unless it is an ally of darkness. His goal is to bring fear to the land and to be maximum KoS (kill-on-sight) in every good city in the lands of Norrath and Luclin. Although somewhat loyal to factions, his only true loyalty is with other players who follow the path of darkness. His favorite hunting grounds are cities, where he can lurk, hidden or invisible in the shadows, ready to spring on an isolated target when they let their defenses down. Wherever Sorish goes, there is sure to be a train of corpses from horizon to horizon. I've definitely carved out a distinct personality for him as my guildmates know to follow the trail of corpses to find where Sorish has wandered off to.
Narkel - Halfling Druid - Chaotic Good - Narkel is a prankster. Following the rules is for others if it means he won't have fun.
Xorish - Iksar Monk - Orderly Neutral - Although hated in all of Norrath, he has chosen to enlighten the ignoranant masses of their ways and seeks to be allied with all but the chaotic factions in Norrath.Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 1:40 PM (0 comments)
Sunday, October 20, 2002
EverQuest - Pain and suffering tries to strike YOU, but misses!
I've been attacked by this non-existent mob thrice - not exactly sure why the message shows up, but prevalent theory is that it's related to being DoT'd while at low health. All three instances it looks like the DoT is what killed me.
[Fri Nov 02 21:19:13 2001] Thistle Underbrush tries to hit YOU, but misses!
[Fri Nov 02 21:19:16 2001] Thistle Underbrush hits YOU for 52 points of damage.
[Fri Nov 02 21:19:18 2001] Thistle Underbrush begins to cast a spell.
[Fri Nov 02 21:19:20 2001] Your feet become entwined. You have taken 35 points of damage.
[Fri Nov 02 21:19:22 2001] Thistle Underbrush begins to cast a spell.
[Fri Nov 02 21:19:24 2001] Your feet become entwined. You have taken 35 points of damage.
[Fri Nov 02 21:19:25 2001] You begin casting Gate.
[Fri Nov 02 21:19:26 2001] Thistle Underbrush begins to cast a spell.
[Fri Nov 02 21:19:28 2001] You feel the pain of a thousand stings.
[Fri Nov 02 21:19:30 2001] Thistle Underbrush begins to cast a spell.
[Fri Nov 02 21:19:30 2001] LOADING, PLEASE WAIT...
[Fri Nov 02 21:20:02 2001] You have entered Greater Faydark.
[Fri Nov 02 21:20:41 2001] You have been knocked unconscious!
[Fri Nov 02 21:20:45 2001] Pain and suffering tries to strike YOU, but misses!
[Fri Nov 02 21:20:45 2001] You died.
[Fri Nov 02 21:20:47 2001] Returning to home point, please wait...
[Fri Nov 02 21:20:47 2001] LOADING, PLEASE WAIT...
-- that one I died to the dot that he had cast on me (I was still rooted after I gated, and wasn't quick enough with bind wound)
[Sat Nov 17 19:37:59 2001] A gnoll soothsayer tries to hit YOU, but misses!
[Sat Nov 17 19:37:59 2001] a gnoll soothsayer begins to cast a spell.
[Sat Nov 17 19:38:00 2001] A gnoll soothsayer crushes YOU for 24 points of damage.
[Sat Nov 17 19:38:01 2001] a guard says 'Time to die a gnoll soothsayer'
[Sat Nov 17 19:38:02 2001] You stagger as spirits of frost slam against you. You have taken 76 points of damage.
[Sat Nov 17 19:38:02 2001] Your target is too far away, get closer!
[Sat Nov 17 19:38:02 2001] A guard slashes a gnoll soothsayer for 74 points of damage.
[Sat Nov 17 19:38:02 2001] a gnoll soothsayer has been slain by a guard!
[Sat Nov 17 19:38:05 2001] A gnoll soothsayer tries to hit YOU, but misses!
[Sat Nov 17 19:38:05 2001] a guard says 'Time to die a gnoll soothsayer'
[Sat Nov 17 19:38:06 2001] A guard slashes a gnoll soothsayer for 88 points of damage.
[Sat Nov 17 19:38:06 2001] A guard slashes a gnoll soothsayer for 88 points of damage.
[Sat Nov 17 19:38:08 2001] A gnoll soothsayer tries to hit YOU, but misses!
[Sat Nov 17 19:38:08 2001] A guard slashes a gnoll soothsayer for 81 points of damage.
[Sat Nov 17 19:38:10 2001] A guard kicks a gnoll soothsayer for 24 points of damage.
[Sat Nov 17 19:38:10 2001] Charcon tells the group, 'No!'
[Sat Nov 17 19:38:11 2001] A gnoll soothsayer hits YOU for 22 points of damage.
[Sat Nov 17 19:38:11 2001] You have been knocked unconscious!
[Sat Nov 17 19:38:11 2001] Pain and suffering tries to strike YOU, but misses!
[Sat Nov 17 19:38:11 2001] You died.
[Sat Nov 17 19:38:11 2001] A guard slashes a gnoll soothsayer for 34 points of damage.
[Sat Nov 17 19:38:11 2001] A guard slashes a gnoll soothsayer for 88 points of damage.
[Sat Nov 17 19:38:11 2001] Pain and suffering tries to strike YOU, but misses!
[Sat Nov 17 19:38:11 2001] You died.
[Sat Nov 17 19:38:13 2001] Returning to home point, please wait...
[Sat Nov 17 19:38:13 2001] You disband your party.
[Sat Nov 17 19:38:13 2001] LOADING, PLEASE WAIT...
-- first trip to Highpass Hold too, with Charcon as a guide! (this was a prevalent pattern if you read back through my late 2001 EQ posts)
[Sun Sep 29 14:08:23 2002] You begin casting Gate.
[Sun Sep 29 14:08:23 2002] An assassin protector punches YOU for 81 points of damage.
[Sun Sep 29 14:08:23 2002] General Jared Blaystich slashes YOU for 246 points of damage.
[Sun Sep 29 14:08:23 2002] General Jared Blaystich tries to slash YOU, but misses!
[Sun Sep 29 14:08:23 2002] General Jared Blaystich tries to slash YOU, but misses!
[Sun Sep 29 14:08:23 2002] General Jared Blaystich tries to kick YOU, but misses!
[Sun Sep 29 14:08:23 2002] General Jared Blaystich tries to kick YOU, but misses!
[Sun Sep 29 14:08:23 2002] A scound punches YOU for 48 points of damage.
[Sun Sep 29 14:08:23 2002] A scound punches YOU for 30 points of damage.
[Sun Sep 29 14:08:24 2002] A scound punches YOU for 94 points of damage.
[Sun Sep 29 14:08:24 2002] A scound kicks YOU for 26 points of damage.
[Sun Sep 29 14:08:24 2002] Lineol Teropalig tries to punch YOU, but misses!
[Sun Sep 29 14:08:24 2002] Lineol Teropalig tries to punch YOU, but misses!
[Sun Sep 29 14:08:24 2002] Lineol Teropalig tries to punch YOU, but misses!
[Sun Sep 29 14:08:24 2002] Lineol Teropalig tries to punch YOU, but misses!
[Sun Sep 29 14:08:24 2002] Corish's death pact has been benevolently fulfilled!
[Sun Sep 29 14:08:24 2002] The aura fades.
[Sun Sep 29 14:08:24 2002] Master Nochtar punches YOU for 346 points of damage.
[Sun Sep 29 14:08:25 2002] An assassin protector punches YOU for 165 points of damage.
[Sun Sep 29 14:08:25 2002] You have been knocked unconscious!
[Sun Sep 29 14:08:25 2002] Pain and suffering tries to strike YOU, but misses!
[Sun Sep 29 14:08:25 2002] Pain and suffering tries to strike YOU, but misses!
[Sun Sep 29 14:08:25 2002] You died.
[Sun Sep 29 14:08:25 2002] A scound tries to punch YOU, but misses!
[Sun Sep 29 14:08:25 2002] A scound tries to punch YOU, but misses!
[Sun Sep 29 14:08:25 2002] Pain and suffering tries to strike YOU, but misses!
[Sun Sep 29 14:08:25 2002] Pain and suffering tries to strike YOU, but misses!
[Sun Sep 29 14:08:25 2002] You died.
[Sun Sep 29 14:08:27 2002] Returning to home point, please wait...
[Sun Sep 29 14:08:27 2002] LOADING, PLEASE WAIT...
-- I didn't realize I was dotted, but with multiple mobs pounding on me, it was a pretty sure thing.Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 4:58 PM
Monday, October 14, 2002
EQ - CSM takes out Naggy
Clan Silvermoon - Naggy Raid - Oct 13 2002 - Giant clearing group making their way to the fire giant area.
Clan Silvermoon - Naggy Raid - Oct 13 2002 - Everyone is lined up and ready to storm Lord Nagafen's lair.
Clan Silvermoon - Naggy Raid - Oct 13 2002 - Everyone is lined up and ready to storm Lord Nagafen's lair.
Clan Silvermoon - Naggy Raid - Oct 13 2002 - Lord Nagafen's corpse and the aftermath (yes, he's really dead, otherwise folks wouldn't be sitting around).Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 12:16 AM
Wednesday, October 09, 2002
Nerf-bat of the year award goes to...
Basically, they've started swinging the bat with abandon in the past 2 months; and pretty much ticking off large portions of the customer base in the process.
everquest casters realm - Massive EQ changes coming
October 8, 2002
MASSIVE EVERQUEST CHANGES COMING
A massive change to EverQuest is coming soon in order to correct faults that 'have been allowed to grow out of control'.
Here's the summary:
Manaburn is being changed to only allow one manaburn to be cast on an NPC per minute (pending tuning). Wizards with Manaburn will have their AA refunded if they wish to purchase different skills.
Complete Heal is being reduced to a 7500 hitpoint heal.
Rods of Mystical Transvergence (Mod Rod 2) will no longer be droppable but made into a targettable summon. They will give 320 mana for 450 hitpoints and only be usable once per minute.
Monks will have their effective AC lowered in order to make them more realistic as a light armored offensive class and to restore more tanking prestige to plate and chain classes.Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 8:27 PM
Friday, October 04, 2002
EverQuest - calcuating a raid force's damage output
(from another post on EQCleric that I made in regards to someone looking to parse their log files to calculate damage-per-second numbers)
I don't parse our damage output (yet)... but we make use of the modal damage calculations to figure out weapon choices:
Modal Damage Primary Hand: (2*DMG + Damage Bonus)/Delay
Modal Damage Secondary Hand: [(2*DMG)/Delay]* [(Level + Dual Wield Skill)/400]
{Note that [(Level + Dual Wield Skill)/400] is believed to be the success for Dual Wield skill checks.}
Note, that while you can't compare damage done by different classes (since special attacks are not taken into account, or skill levels, or double-attack, or bash damage)... it is a good way to quick calculate if some of your guild members should possibly look at upgrading their weapons. Modal damage numbers are mainly to be used to calculate best weapon combinations for dual-wielding classes.
Some sample numbers:
Level 52 Shadowknight modals:
2.172 Darkmetal Falchion 1HS 27/29 - PoH (rare no-drop off a knight of inny, Pal/SK)
1.621 Jeldorin 1HS 19/29 - Chardok (rare drop in graveyard camp off named, Pal only)
1.955 Skull Maul 1HB 17/22 - Cazic-Thule (rare drop, Pal/SK)
1.955 Goo Covered Knight Blade 17/22 1HS - Cazic-Thule (uncommon, Pal/Sk) - 15k
1.880 Sword of Blessings 19/25 1HS - Velk's Village (rare, Pal only)
1.781 Rod of Faith 24/32 1HB - Howling Stones (east wing, Pal only)
1.864 Engraved Di'zok Deathbringer 16/22 1HB - Chardok (graveyard camp, Pal/Sk/Cler, no-drop)
1.400 Wurmslayer 25/40 1HS - FV quest Rng/Pal/Sk/War
1.519 Sword of the Morning 16/27 1HS - 7.5k
2.000 Carved Dragonbone Shard 25/30 2HP - 8k
2.171 Etched Velium War Lance 30/35 2HP - 2k-3k
2.278 Tae Ew War Maul 33/36 2HB - 3k-5k
2.083 Tantor's Tusk 50/60 2HP - 8k
2.278 Savage Stone Axe 33/36 2HS - 4k-5k
We're trying to get all of our melee that are 50+ to be using weapons that have modals of 2.0+ (figuring that it's at least better then them using weapons with modals of 1.5). Like I said, it's not a end-all-be-all number, but just a quick rule-of-thumb.Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 4:04 AM
Thursday, October 03, 2002
EverQuest - my rez policy
(from a post on EQCleric that I made)
Hmm, I'm also pretty much the only active cleric most evenings in my guild as well (54 cleric). Although there are a few other non-regulars, or alts of people that play some evenings that are clerics. I used to run all over the place and rez anyone... which didn't get me anywhere, and I got bugged out the wazoo for rezzes. Now, I'm a bit more enlightened.
1) If I'm just puttering around town, or doing trade skills AND you've died in an easily accessible place; I'll load up the druid bot and come rez you pretty quickly. (How fast I come to your aid depends on how much of a team-player you are within the guild too. Is just a personal quirk of mine.)
2) If I'm grouped, the answer is no -- unless you've only got 30 minutes left on the corpse timer and you've been trying for 2 hours to bribe a cleric there. (I never want to see a guildiee go without a rez, but I want to encourage them to not depend on guild clerics for rezzes.)
3) If I'm soloing, the answer is no -- unless you can't find an in-zone rez within an hour. At which point I will gladly come rez you.
4) If it's a challenge of a corpse recovery (entire party died in LGuk dead-side for instance - that's a fun CR for a cleric) where I can manage the CR better then a party of nekkid guildmates. Mistmoore castle was also a fun place to drag bodies out of (DA/DB and gate are the key skills once that invis drops). Sometimes it's fun to play hero (although I may drag along my druid bot, or a fellow guildiee to help). The key to #4 is that I get to have FUN while doing the CR (which is why I play EQ).
I think that's a pretty much middle-of-the-road way of doing things... I don't get abused, nor do I ignore the needs of guildmates.Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 7:01 AM
Monday, September 30, 2002
EverQuest - can't please all the people all the time
But I'm pretty darn sure, you can manage to tick someone off at least some of the time.
There are definitely some night when I wish I wasn't a guild officer; where I could just login, put LFG on, get some phat lewt and experience, and log back off. Instead, you end up drawn into "so-and-so called me a funny name" or "why didn't you wait 90 minutes until I logged in so we could make an all guild group". Okay, so maybe I'm rebelling against responsibility -- but then, hmm, why do I owe these people anything? Running this guild sometimes is like herding cats, or pushing on a rope, or trying to deal with people who expect more then this guild can reasonably provide.
Hmm, yes I'm burned out a bit. No I don't play as much as I used to, or for as long. OTOH, when I do play, it's usually a good play session because I refuse to sit AFK for 3 hours hoping enough guildies logon to make a guild group. (Instead, I logon, check the guild roster, alliance guild roster, then start looking for people to form a group.)Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 2:32 PM
Thursday, September 26, 2002
EverQuest - some images during server patch
Bebi Dollface working out on her defense skills in The Dreadlands (Sep 2002).
A very, very young Corish in his full suit of leather armor (level 13 or so).
Corish - traveling through Iceclad at level 32 (shortly after being tagged as a moonie).
Corish at level 53 - with a few pieces of purple PoH armor left.
Sorish - after proposed changes to the troll models in PoP.
Neriak - if you look closely at the picture on the wall, you'll see that it's the same in-joke as a picture in North Freeport. I'm still keeping my eyes open trying to find the same picture in other cities.Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 7:39 AM
Sunday, September 22, 2002
EverQuest - some more screenshots
EverQuest - some more screenshots
Just some more screenshots that I finally pulled out of my EQ directory and organized (warning: all of the linked images are around 350k and are 1600x1200 resolution -- OTOH, they do make some nice background screen shots).
Running along the path in Hollowshade Moor with some guildmates.
Twilgiht Sea - this is the castle that you portal to from Fungus Grove.
Twilight Sea - the entrance to Katta (a city on the far side of Luclin).
Twilight Sea - one of the many islands that are sprinkled through the zone.Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 8:09 AM
Tuesday, August 27, 2002
EQ - People who complain that losing exp when you die is too harsh
Death is part of the game, avoiding death is part of the challenge of the game (regardless how much it sucks to die to the uber LD monster). Sometimes you can avoid death through better tactics, skill, equipment -- other times, you're gonna get on the bad side of the random number generator.
No risk = no reward (or sense of accomplishment)
No risk = no dependency on others or needing to team up to reduce risk
No risk turns EQ into a boring, lonely, may-as-well-be-a-single-player game.
If you're so stuck on making EQ a race to 60, then you're going to have problems with any sort of death penalty and perhaps those other games are a better fit for you. Forget about leveling to 60, you'll get there when you get there, learn to enjoy the trip. If you can't manage that, then you'd better have someone PL you to 60 and get it over with.Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 1:01 PM (0 comments)
Friday, May 24, 2002
EverQuest - Where to hunt today
Hmmm, I'm up to level 52 with Corish and plan on staying there (once I get most of the way through the level, I'm going almost 100% into AAExp points so that I can still go on Vox/Naggy raids). This raises the problem of where to hunt...
Antonica
Permafrost Keep
Lower Guk
Nagafen's Lair
Faydwer
Mistmoore Castle
Kedge Keep
Odus
The Hole
Kunark
Burning Woods
City of Mist
Karnor's Castle
Chardok
Skyfire Mountains
Howling Stones
Old Sebilis
Velious
Skyshine
Wakening Land
Kael Drakkel
Velk's Lab
Cobalt Scar
Luclin
Tenebrous Mountains
The Grey
Fungus Grove
Acrylia Caverns
Maiden's Eye
Greig's End
Granted, some of those spots are more loot zones then experience zones.Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 9:28 AM
Monday, May 20, 2002
EverQuest - favorite screenshots
Just digging through my archives... some of the zones in EQ are very nicely done.A pretty cool shot of the East Freeport docks back before Shadows of Luclin came out. (SoL redid the graphics, and even made changes to textures in the old world zones.) Shows how well done some of the old world zones were (Freeport zones are part of the original EQ). I used to spend a lot of time pre-SoL waiting on the boat between Antonica and Faydwer unless I wanted to beg or buy a port from a druid or wizard.
Ah, life in the Oasis of Marr. It seemed so much bigger and scarier when I was just a wee mage around level 10 or 12 (Charcon got me killed here on our first visit). One of the ever present dangers is the multiple spectres that live on an island in the middle of the lake. Well, upper-level people like to hunt them for experience, but often fail, resulting in them running loose through the rest of the zone. Needless to say, everytime I heard "SPECS TO DOCK" I headed for my safe little sitting spot out in the water with the caimans and crocidiles.
Now this is a really old screen shot of the windmills in Steamfont Mountains, back when I first started playing EQ. Steamfont is one of the great little zones to solo in during your early teens, and is even better if you bring along some friends. Soon I will have to go back there and see what changes they have made to the zone recently (the gnomes now have some new classes they can play along with new quests).
City of Mist in Kunark is a small dungeon with two distince levels. The regular dungeon/castle down below, and some really high platforms and walkways above (so high that you'll take 10k in falling damage if you fall off). Did I ever tell you how long it took me to get used to Kelethin? Well, this is about 10x worse, and one of the nastier mobs up there likes to cast Gravity Flux (all but one of us were lucky enough to land back on the platform).
This was my first dragon raid, deep down in the depths of Old Sebilis (a zone you need a key to get into). This bad boy is named Trakanon, and casts a poison based area-of-effect (AoE) spell that does 1500 points of damage each wave, plus leaves you with a nasty poison DoT that does some additional damage each tick. I had poor poison resist scores and died pretty fast (I think he killed me on the 3rd AoE).
Well, I have more to post later.Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 1:17 PM
EverQuest - Exploring my window layouts
Figured it was a good time to go back and look at the various layouts I've tried for all of my on-screen windows and buttons, because over time, it's evolved to meet different needs of my playing style.
This is probably one of the earliest screenshots (Dec 2001) and it shows what I think is the default window layout for the 1024x768 resolution settings (although I may have moved things around a little bit). I don't have a whole lot to say about this except that important information is scattered to the four corners of the screen.
Next up is a screenshot of me playing Corish in my early teens. Again, still playing using the 1024x768 resolution setting, but you'll notice that I've moved the windows that were in the upper right corner down to the lower right side. During this time I think I was trying to keep the upper half of the screen clear of windows so that I would be able to see stuff better.
I finally got smarter in my late 20s, early 30s playing Corish, realizing that I needed to collect all the really important windows into one place (in this case the lower left corner). You'll also notice that I moved up to a 1280x1024 display resolution so that I had more room for my windows on the screen. I like this window layout because I can watch the chat as well as watching the health bars without tracking my eye over the entire screen.
This is the latest set of windows that I run with, and you'll notice the new "hitsmode" windows are also shown here. I've broken the "others hits" (such as mobs hitting others, or other players hitting mobs) out to the upper right corner (this is because that is secondary information and not critical information). Directly above my chat window is where my hits (me hitting the mob) and the mob hitting me appears (me getting hit is in red and also shows the mob's name).Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 10:18 AM
EverQuest - Getting that first dragon kill
I was wrapping up a night of exp hunting in Karnor's Castle on Wednesday night this week (trying very hard to get to level 52), when I got word via friends that Gathering of Banners (GoB) was going to try to take out Lord Nagafen again. (Apparently they had wiped on the previous night.) This was around 10pm mind you, and I figured since they had done it the previous night we could get in and out in 3 hours (yeah right!), so I agreed to go.As a result of all the last-minute additions and recruits (initially I was one of two clerics, and neither of us had done a dragon before), it was probably midnight or later before the GoB raid force got it's act together enough to even enter into SolB. Along the way to the first staging point (where we would fight the fire giants to get to Naggy's lair), people got lost, people went link dead, or just didn't listen to directions. But we managed to fight our way past the FGs (including one of the named FGs) and get down to the buff spot to start buffing around 2am (ick).
It took us about 45 minutes to buff, camp out to a server chatroom, then log back in and re-group for the kill (some of the buffs only last 20-30 minutes, so once you log back in you're working with a time-constraint.) The Naggy fight itself was over in 10 minutes... The MA ran out into the lair to pull Nagafen, I dropped my first Complete Heal on the MA, got summoned and meleed to death. By the time I logged back in and made it back over to the fight spot, I had enough time to drop a single heal before Naggy died. I logged once people were rezzed and didn't even stick around for the loot rolls (it was just way too late at that point).
Oh well, maybe next time I'll remember to pop DA after that first CHeal (MA was dropping like a rock during the pull, it was CHeal him or watch him die). Thinking again about how all that went down, I should've tried to chain-cast Remedy for a few more seconds before droping the Complete Heal. But due to lag (he was running back towards me) it looked like he went from 100% to 40% in the blink of an eye, instinct took over and I started casting CHeal.
In retrospect, if he had actually be dropping that fast, there's no way a CHeal started at 40 or 50% should've saved him. Meaning I probably had time to chain-cast remedy and let him build up some more aggro. Idealy I'd have dropped CelHeal on him and let it tick once or twice before CHealing, but with the bard songs and the huge pile of resists I really wasn't sure there would be room for it in the buffs window (CelHeal takes up a buff slot, and we were all pretty well maxed out on our buffs). Thankfully, it looks like the other 2 clerics were able to cover for my mistake and keep the MA standing after I went down.Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 9:15 AM
Thursday, May 16, 2002
EverQuest - One night in Karnor's Castle
8:30pm - login, get into a group, work our way back to "hand" room and begin killing
9:20pm - Venril Sathir kills our puller, apparently VS is out wandering the castle instead of staying in his room
10:00pm - puller has been pulling continously despite my being at 20 mana or less after rezzing the puller, bad pull, MA gets killed, hand room pops, hallway adds into the fray, everyone gates or runs to zone line where they find out that VS is camping the zone line
10:20pm - making our way back to the "hand" room
10:30pm - VS pops on top of us again on the way to hand room, I use up Divine Aura, jump in the moat and swim to the zone line
11:00pm - we zone back in, making our way back to the "hand" room again
11:35pm - hand room pops, multiple adds from the hallway, group has to run to the zone line again
11:45pm - group calls it a night
And somehow, during all of that I made 2 or 3 blues of experience and only lost 2 people all night.Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 8:48 AM
Tuesday, May 14, 2002
Ode to EQ
(no clue where this is from, and too lazy to search for a source)
It was scary whacking rats and bats
and I had fun chasing spiders and and a black bear
It was cool to see my first full-maned cats
It was thrilling to die, as then I did not care.
Oh my, ORC II looking for more
A WISP A WISP! Whoops, can't hide behind this door.
My Lord, what was that?
Death from above, Death from afar?
Too big for a leathery bat....
And too early in time to be a car...
A Griffon a Griffon, with yellow eyes of hate....
I scurry, I flee, but alas I ran too late....
Can anyone help me find my corpse, I died I know not where
Now I have things chasing me, I am weaponless and bare...
Then I saw my first giant, out there hunting in the sticks...
But as I was distracted, along came an Elf named GIX...
I was dead faster than I could ever have thought...
but now that that was a lesson I wish I had been taught.
I became we, in a team of two...
then we added more, as there was much to do....
the four became 5, then 5 took on six....
In a short time, I was the one killing Gix.
Money started to build, and armor I would buy
bank accounts filling, silk swatches stacking high....
The power in me grew - and solo...
with a hacking babs, and a mighty bellow....
The Mammoths feel, and giants soon died too
I was killing things, in huts and out of an Igloo....
I travelled far, and wide, underwater and up a mountainside...
The Dings were rapid, they were fun and fierce...
Hell, I even had time to work on a skill called Pierce...
I would wake up, stretch my arms and legs...
Kill a ghoul, and seafury, and in town hide from the begs...
Then things started to slow - and come to a crawl....
I started needing teammates, that would populate a mall
Buff Circles, Zone keys, and corpse runs galore...
Little did I know for me what was in store....
In the days of old, I would find a team and explore,
now it took 2 hours before we were even allowed to open a door.
I wanted to team with Fred, and gave him a tell from the ramp.
Sorry my friend, I am in the middle of a 12 hour camp....
I did a who all guild and who all friends in zone...
They were all on 50 member raids, and I was in town all alone
Then I get a tell, a happy shout from a friend I missed!
Guess what she shouts, I just moved to #123 on the RAGEFIRE LIST!Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 3:14 PM (0 comments)
Wednesday, May 08, 2002
EverQuest - Ding! 50!
Finally, Corish dinged into level 50 last night, which is good because the guild is starting to break into the upper-end game and I'd hate to get left behind. (Our allied guilds are already mostly past 50, with a few level 60 players.)Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 7:38 AM
Wednesday, April 24, 2002
EverQuest - History of Norrath
Not sure if this is official, or just a compilation of random tidbits from all over...
Codex of War - History of Norrath
Anyway, it looks pretty complete.Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 10:02 AM
Monday, April 01, 2002
EverQuest - my first PoH raid
Since this was my first PoH raid, I figured I'd post some notes for those of you who are getting ready to go to the planes for the first time. As Billit said to me before port-up, "planes are.... different :)".
Setup
Setup for the raid was done by Shadora (LoV). We were told to meet in South Ro at 4pm CET, which we all thought was 10am EST, but with the time change overnight in Europe (oops!) we should have been there at 9am EST. So just be safe and camp at your meeting point the day before and login an alt early to check and see what is going on. Nothing unusual for a raid startup, sit down, be quiet, turn anon off and LFG on. Still, even with the late comers, the break-in group ported up around 9:40am. I was one of the last groups to port up around 10:15am.
Break-In
Breaking into PoH can take an hour, or it can take multiple hours. Our break-in was apparently about par for the course. We made use of the safe spot (SS) in the southwest corner (actually along the base of the wall, a bit north of the SW corner as there is an 'imp trap' on the floor in the SW corner). Basically you'll port up invisible (someone attempts to invis the wizard while he's casting I think), and then run the slanted outer wall (halfway up, but no farther or you'll aggro the 2nd floor mobs) until you get to the SS. If you get aggro on the break-in run, stand and die (but get a loc!), as long as they can get a cleric and monk/rogue to the SS camped things will go smoothly. Once you reach the SS you camp to the chat room (unless you can FD at the SS, or are told otherwise).
My group's break-in run went okay (we lost 2 of the 6). While running across the south wall, I suspected that I had picked up some aggro from someone fighting an ire ghast (I suspected they could see through invis), so when I reached the SW corner I relogged to clear aggro before finishing my run to the SS. (I figured either I'd die in the SW corner, close enough to the SS for easy CR but far enough not to train the camp, or manage to relog and clear any aggro.) Once at the SS I camped to chat for about 40 minutes (others were told to log back in sooner).
First Floor - Safe Spot camp
The time was now a bit after 11am (so about 2 hrs in) and Shadora needed time to reorganize the groups (late-comers, port-up groups got jumbled, 10-12 people still being rezzed from the break-in). This is a tricky time in the camp since nothing is quite worked out yet, people are buffing, setting up assist keys, so someone training the camp would be a disaster. A good time for delagation by the raid leader (maybe a chat channel soley for raid group leaders) so that two or three core groups get formed and up and running within a few minutes. We were killing mobs by 11:30am, but the killing didn't start in earnest until almost noon. It took the pullers and raid crew about 90 minutes to clear enough of the first floor for us to move to the Maestro area (NW corner).
First Floor - Maestro camp
Around 1:30pm we moved to what I guess is called the "Maestro" camp. It's in the huge building in the NW corner. Amazingly this camp move went well (anytime you try to move 30-35 people from point A to point B, you expect Murphy's Law to take effect). Things went well here in the 2nd camp spot. People were continuing to be very good at following Worce's calls to assist and not attacking before Worce said to. There were more adds here, and we lost an enchanter or two on occasion during pulls (one pull there were a bunch of mobs and a few clerics were chain-healing Goadiel). It took us about 2 hours to clear most of the rest of the first floor of hate, at which point we were ready to move up to the second floor.
Oh and if you get GFluxed on the first floor? Immediately camp, especially if you take a Harm Touch from somewhere. Same goes for if you heal someone who got 2nd floor aggro (or thinks they did). And those in a group with a bard all will need to relog.
Second Floor - first camp
This is where it got scarier as we were starting to encroach in Innoruuk's domain (and the bad boy was up according to trackers). Primary rule for the first room is "don't touch the walls" (I'm not sure if you could aggro Innoruuk from the first area, but he's close). We fought a little up here, but then ran back downstairs to fight Hand of the Maestro, a mob that respawns as "a very unpleasant hand" when you kill it (a very nasty mean mob). Aggro on the respawn was not solid and it took out quite a few people (all of our enchanters, Castille). It took us 2 minutes to kill that "very unpleasant hand" (apt name!).
Once the hand was down we moved back upstairs to continue pulling while we waited for reinforcements (LoV) to take on Innoruuk (a level 63 mob that quads for 370-480, summons, has some sort of AoE, and an AoE GFlux). LoV started arriving around 4:30pm and we finished buffing up around 5:45pm (there were some deaths, lots of buffing to do, and late arrivals to sort into groups).
Second Floor - Innoruuk
Now it gets fun, we managed to run all the way around the zone walls of the second floor to the NE corner. This meant we had to run almost around the entire zone (if you look at a map you'll see why), then clear out the NE corner of any mobs in the houses. A few people got left behind in the previous camp (oops!), so someone had to run back and get them. There were close to 60 of us in zone at that point (35 from the original open raid force, plus 25 reinforcements from LoV). I was told my job on this fight was to avoid aggro (lowest cleric on the totem pole out of 8 or 9 clerics).
At 6:18pm, Innorukk shouts "You seek to challenge me in my realm, do you? Feel the embrace of an elder god, and know the true meaning of hate!" three times (I think Shadora might have been the sacrificial lamb along with two others). Sure enough, here the bad boy comes pounding around the corner looking for something to rampage on (eep!). Poor Billit got aggro fast (he was the first cleric on Inny's menu!). Castille and I got GFluxed onto the roof of the nearby Chapel (good because it reduced the falling damage we'd have taken, bad because that meant all of us had aggro'd other mobs). We got at least 4-5 adds from that first GFlux event (I'm not sure if the bards were still singing their MR song, or if it would've even helped) and those 4-5 adds meant that people started dropping like flies. I had an Agent of Innoruuk chewing on me until I burned my Divine Barrier to lose the aggro and try to focus on the Inny fight. While I was divined, I got to see everyone else get GFluxed again while I stayed on the ground (that was a sight to see!).
At 3 minutes in, the "clerics camp" call went out which was my cue to head high up on the wall and camp. It was a close thing as I stumbled over one of the "imp traps" (if you see a bell tower looking thingy, don't walk under it!). Fortunately my Divine Aura spell went off without a hitch and gave me enough breathing room to get away from them and camp. At this point it was just Sumamdar and myself of the clerics that were still in PoH. While I was camping, someone managed to heal me for two shots of 524, so maybe Sumamdar was close by (or maybe Fuerf transfered health?).
4 minutes, total wipe-out, Fuerf (necro) managed to FD at the base of the wall and provide us with scouting reports of Inny's location and whether it was going to be safe to log back in (for those who had camped in time).
Corpse Recovery
CR started pretty quick, but unfortunately it had been too long since we had cleared the first floor, so re-pop was due soon there, and there were too many wandering mobs near our camp-out spot on 2nd floor to risk trying the rez and regroup tactic. It took about 20 minutes for them decide how to get the bodies out, then about 40 minutes before the first group ported up to start summoning corpses. I was in a difficult spot now, being as I had managed to camp successfully (note to self, always take time to memorize Gate when camping!) on the second floor of hate, and they weren't gonna come back up to the 2nd floor! So now what do I do? So I sat tight for 70 minutes, talking to Fuerf, watching raid chat, trying to see if they were going to make another attempt or do CR and call it a day.
Finally I got the all clear from Fuerf who was still FD'd on 2nd floor (ugh!) near the camp out spots. We decided that it was worth the risk to try to login and gate out, since if I got out I wouldn't need a CR or port-up, and if I failed there would still be time to summon my corpse. Nothing like seeing "You have entered Plane of Hate." when you know nobody else is going to be near you (but I think Protanis knows the feeling)! Of course, it was a great relieve to see "You begin casting Gate." followed by "LOADING, PLEASE WAIT..." and "You have entered The Bazaar."!
Comments
- Corpse Recovery for a 60 person wipe-out only took an hour, in my book, that's pretty darn good.
- We should've cleared the area around Inny's pull spot, or fought inside the building to reduce damage from GFlux.
- It was a fun raid, and all the CSM'ers won something!
--------------
Corish 46 Cleric
Vorish 27 Magician
Sorish 17 Troll Shadow KnightLabels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 12:10 PM
Wednesday, March 20, 2002
Orc pawn’s search for enlightenment
Pawn: OMG, I’m about to die! I hope I can make it to the guards!
*An Orc Centurian has slain a blue paladin. Your faction with blue paladins has gotten worse.
Pawn: Mr. Centurian, how many players have you killed?
An Orc Centurian: Uh, can’t count that high.
Pawn: And Mr. Centurian, how many times have you been killed by players?
An Orc Centurian: Uh, number much higher. Get headache.
Pawn: Don’t you ever get tired being killed over and over?
An Orc Centurian: *shrug* It’s funner when I gots my rusty sword.
An Orc Oracle: Young Pawn, perhaps you need enlightenment?
Pawn: I light the fires every morning, that burn in front…
An Orc Oracle: no no no, you need to seek enlightenment. Go into the world, seek out new people and new civilizations, boldly go where no orc Pawn has gone before!
Pawn: Ok, as long as I don’t get any Tribbles, err. get into trouble.
….
Pawn: Mr. Wizard?
Wizard: Whatz up kid?
Pawn: I seek enlightenment.
Wizard: You want enlightenment? Wohoo! I’ll show you enlightenment! See that bunch of pokey skeletons down there, wearing them red shirts?
Pawn: Yes?
A Wizard begins to cast a spell
Pawn: They’re exploding. It’s kind of sad really.
Wizard: Yeah, but by golly look at all that light! I enlightend them up in no time flat!
Pawn: That’s not what I meant.
Wizard: You’re right young lad. When night comes, I’ll do gravify flux first, and if I can get ‘em high enough, I’ll enlighten the whole half of the zone!
*Pawn sighs
…
Pawn: Mr. Enchanter?
Enchanter: Yes lad?
Pawn: I’m seeking the secret to enlightenment.
Enchanter: Of course. I’m an enchanter – I’m a master of enlightenment. First, you kill a lot of skeletons. Mr. Wizard can help you with that part. Then you hand in all the bones to the guard over there.
Pawn: How does that lead to enlightenment?
Enchanter: Don’t interrupt me please! Then you can use spells to make them like you more, but you’ve got to do the bones first. It’s amazing how 2000 bones to a single guard can turn you from a villain to a hero for the whole city.
Pawn: I think you mean alignment.
Enchanter: What’s what you said, alignment.
Pawn: I don’t think you can help me.
Enchanter: Hey, lets’s got to Freeport so you can see me turn into a piece of dung!
…
Pawn: Mr. Rogue?
Rogue: Who’se asking?
Pawn: Me
Rogue: Me who? Tell me who sent you and you’d better answer fast.
Pawn: An orc orace?
Rogue: Ok, as long it’s not the guards… They’re getting wise. What can I do for you young urchin.
Pawn: I’m a Pawn, not an urchin, and I’m seeking enlightenment.
Rogue: I’m a master of enlightenment
Pawn: Oh, please tell me how do I become enlightened!
Rogue: Well, you don’t become enlightened; others do. You sneak up behind someone, and enlighten them of their possessions. It’s real simple like.
*Pawns sighs
Rogue: Yeah, and when you get good at here’s what you do. You go to Rathe Mountains, and tell them druids that you want to practice your, um, skills. Then while them nature lovers have them all snared and running, you enlighten the giants. I got lots of plat that way.
Pawn: I don’t think you can help me.
Rogue: Suite our self young newt.
*Rogue hides into the shadows
…
Pawn: Mr. Bard?
Bard: Hey, can you hand me that drum over there? We need levitating.
Pawn: Here you go Mr. Bard. Can you help me?
Bard: Sure thing kid… First, on the count of 3, run to the base of the statue. 1… 1 2… 2 3… 3 go!
Bard: Ok, what did you want?
Pawn: I’m seeking enlightenment
Bard: Well, you’re in luck. I’m about to do a new great feat in enlightenment, stay with me and you can be a witness to the latest and greatest feat of enlightenment! And run up her staff like this; be careful; don’t fall.
Pawn: Where are we going anyhow?
Bard: To the top of the Statue of Firiona Vie of course! There’s where you’ll see the best enlightenment demonstration on the face of Norrath!
Pawn: Wow, it’s high here on her shoulders.
Bard: Ok, this is high enough. Now, let me put on my latest gnome tinkering device, Xoxxala’s In-Line boots.
Pawn: I meant enlightenment, not “In-Line”ment.
Bard: Whatever. Here I go!
Bard: Ladies and Gentlement, boys and girls, and orc Pawns too. I’m going to do a death-defying trick, of skating down FV’s shoulders, using her voluminous chest as a ramp to send me hurling out high above the FV outpost, and hopefully clearing the docks and landing safely in the water far over there! Give me a drum roll please!
(silence)
Bard: Pawn, please tap on the statue real fast like.
*Pawn taps on the statue real fast like
Pawn: The he goes… Ack!…. Ewwwwe Oh! Ugh! He didn’t clear the land. I guess he didn’t realize that the high elf statue used the old model, not the Luclin model.
….
Pawn: Mr. Sleeper?
Warder: Shhh… Don’t wake the sleeper.
Pawn: But I’m seeking enlightenment, and he is the most powerful creature in all of Norrath.
Warder: That he is, but he needs his sleep or he gets real cranky in a big way. You’re looking for enlightenment lad?
Pawn: I am sir. I’ve asked all kinds of people, and they haven’t been able to help.
Warder: Well, that sounds like you’re asking players. Here, let me tell you about the world. There are two kinds of people in this world… players, and monsters.
Pawn: That is very profound Mr. Warder, but I’m tired of dying over and over.
Warder: Well, when player dies, he fusses and cusses, whines and moans. Then he goes back to his corpse, summons all kinds of help from clerics or necros, and spends a great deal of time and energy, just so he can keep his stuff. Have you ever seen an orc crying over his lost rusty sword?
Pawn: No sir.
Warder: Us, we’re monsters. We die, and we come back. Over and over. If we loose a rusty or sword, or primal weapon, it’s no biggie. We’ll spawn with another one.
Pawn: You’re saying don’t worry about dying?
Warder: Of course not young Pawn! Look forward to it! Because, here’s the big secret. Sometimes, when you spawn again, you’ll spawn as a whole new and more powerful creature! Think of yourself as a caterpillar that will someday spawn as a butterfly.
Pawn: Thank you Mr. Warder! That makes me feel much better. I feel truly enlightened now.
Warder: Glad I could help. An oh Pawn before you go…
Pawn: Yes Mr. Warder?
Warder: When you die, try to say something like ruining their lands or something. It makes them feel better.
Pawn: Will do! Thank you again Mr. Warder.
(found somewhere, on one of the many EQ boards)Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 11:10 AM
Monday, February 11, 2002
EverQuest - building that reputation, one death at a time
Corish (my cleric) finally made it out of level 35 purgatory (level 35 takes 2-3 times the normal amount of experience points to get through compared to the previous level) into fast moving level 36 (the exp bar seems to fly after suffering through level 35). On the downside, there is a "double-dutch" experience penalty in level 36. I'm not sure if you lose twice as much experience as normal (say, compared to how much you lose in level 37), but when you die in level 36 you lose a yellow and a half of experience (in level 35 I only lost 2-3 blues on a death). So it seems 2-4 times worse when you die in level 36.
Anyway... after a boring evening of grouping in The Overthere zone, I was a in a group with 3 other guildmates (ranger, druid, cleric) along with a so-so rogue and a so-so shaman. Basically, the pulls weren't going well (our ranger was having difficulty keeping pulls coming, maintaining aggro, and keeping her mana levels up with no time to meditate, the rogue gained aggro too much resulting in heals needed, and I'm not sure what the shaman was up to). Took us a few pulls to get a system of rooting into place (I did stun-root duty, while the other cleric did heals), having the ranger step on the mobs toes while the rogue backstabbed. Again, not important to the story, except that it made us decide to join a guildmate who was organizing a dungeon crawl in the next zone.
So the 4 of us guildmates set off running across the middle of The Overthere, which, as long as Spirit of Wolf is up and you avoid wandering mobs is pretty safe. Except that I was encumbered and had forgotten to get a STR buff refreshed so I wouldn't be slower than the others, so I'm constantly running behind. We had to stop and fight a single blue mob that aggro'd on us (no big deal, just danger of adds from other wandering mobs), mob killed we start running again. Unfortunately, just as we get started running again, I see the following on my chat window:
Dragoon TVem says 'Come and feel the blade of the Dark Bargainers.'
Dragoon TVem says 'It's High Elves like you who have ruined your own lands. You'll not ruin mine.'
(winces, since I'm the only high elf in the immediate vicinity this level 50 mob is obviously going to hurt, um, me. The time is now 22:02:06, time for our group's appointment with a painful death sequence.)
22:02:06 Dragoon TVem says 'Come and feel the blade of the Dark Bargainers. '
22:02:06 Dragoon TVem says 'It's High Elves like you who have ruined your own lands. You'll not ruin mine!'
22:02:07 Amberlyn tells the group, 'dragopoikn'
22:02:11 You tell your party, 'GOON!'
22:02:12 Amberlyn tells the group, 'dragopoon'
22:02:15 Dragoon TVem slashes YOU for 127 points of damage.
22:02:15 Dragoon TVem slashes YOU for 71 points of damage.
22:02:17 Velm tells the group, 'DRAGOON'
22:02:19 Amberlyn tells the group, 'RUN'
22:02:20 Dragoon TVem slashes YOU for 137 points of damage.
22:02:20 Amberlyn tells the group, 'ahhh'
22:02:22 Velm tells the group, 'RUN TO ZONE'
22:02:24 You are stunned!
22:02:24 Dragoon TVem slashes YOU for 40 points of damage.
22:02:26 You tell your party, 'RUN'
22:02:26 Dragoon TVem slashes YOU for 61 points of damage.
22:02:26 Dragoon TVem slashes YOU for 86 points of damage.
22:02:27 You can't cast spells while stunned!
22:02:27 You are unstunned.
22:02:28 Amberlyn is too far away, cancelling auto-follow.
22:02:28 You are no longer auto-following Amberlyn.
22:02:28 Wydgit tells the group, 'where is zone??'
22:02:28 You begin casting Divine Barrier.
22:02:28 Dragoon TVem slashes YOU for 55 points of damage.
22:02:30 Your spell is interrupted.
22:02:31 Dragoon TVem slashes YOU for 76 points of damage.
22:02:32 You begin casting Divine Barrier.
22:02:32 Your spell is interrupted.
22:02:32 You are stunned!
22:02:32 Dragoon TVem bashes YOU for 47 points of damage.
22:02:33 Dragoon TVem slashes YOU for 106 points of damage.
22:02:33 Dragoon TVem slashes YOU for 81 points of damage.
22:02:34 You can't cast spells while stunned!
22:02:34 You can't cast spells while stunned!
22:02:34 You are unstunned.
22:02:35 Dragoon TVem slashes YOU for 117 points of damage.
22:02:35 You begin casting Divine Barrier.
22:02:37 Dragoon TVem slashes YOU for 40 points of damage.
22:02:37 Amberlyn tells the group, 'follow'
22:02:37 You regain your concentration and continue your casting.
22:02:37 You are surrounded by a divine barrier.
22:02:42 You have become better at Defense! (135)
22:02:43 Wydgit tells the group, 'get loc cor :( '
22:02:44 Velm tells the group, 'hurry amber'
22:02:45 You tell your party, 'I'll lead it somewhere else'
22:02:52 Your Location is 1156.62, 2574.71, -47.22
22:02:52 You think you are heading West.
22:02:57 The barrier fades.
22:02:59 Velm tells the group, 'sorry corish ('
22:02:59 Your Location is 1282.09, 2780.88, -46.19
22:03:00 You think you are heading North.
22:03:02 Dragoon TVem slashes YOU for 55 points of damage.
22:03:04 Your Location is 1461.20, 2732.31, -46.08
22:03:04 Dragoon TVem slashes YOU for 137 points of damage.
22:03:04 Dragoon TVem slashes YOU for 112 points of damage.
22:03:04 You think you are heading NorthEast.
22:03:07 Your Location is 1548.89, 2720.31, -46.92
22:03:07 You think you are heading North.
22:03:07 Dragoon TVem slashes YOU for 137 points of damage.
22:03:07 Dragoon TVem slashes YOU for 50 points of damage.
22:03:08 Your Location is 1609.54, 2739.07, -48.06
22:03:10 Dragoon TVem says 'Hardly a worthy adversary. A member of the Indigo Brotherhood deserves a much better opponent. '
22:03:10 Dragoon TVem slashes YOU for 122 points of damage.
22:03:10 You have been slain by Dragoon TVem!
22:03:12 Returning to home point, please wait...
22:03:12 LOADING, PLEASE WAIT...
22:04:19 You have entered The Overthere.
22:04:20 You are out of food and drink.
22:04:32 Beginning to memorize Divine Barrier...
22:04:33 You have finished memorizing Divine Barrier.
22:04:35 Beginning to memorize Divine Aura...
22:04:36 You have finished memorizing Divine Aura.
22:04:46 Amberlyn has gone Linkdead.
22:04:46 Amberlyn has left the group.
22:05:06 Beginning to memorize Stun...
22:05:07 You have finished memorizing Stun.
22:05:07 You are out of food and drink.
22:05:08 Beginning to memorize Root...
22:05:09 You have finished memorizing Root.
22:05:11 Beginning to memorize Superior Healing...
22:05:13 You have finished memorizing Superior Healing.
22:05:14 Beginning to memorize Greater Healing...
22:05:15 You have finished memorizing Greater Healing.
22:05:15 Wydgit tells the group, 'amber is LD '
22:05:16 Beginning to memorize Celestial Remedy...
22:05:17 You have finished memorizing Celestial Remedy.
22:05:20 Beginning to memorize Guard...
22:05:21 You have finished memorizing Guard.
22:05:23 You begin casting Guard.
22:05:26 Doby tells the guild, 'LOL why are you guys in SF?'
22:05:26 You feel the favor of the gods upon you.
22:05:34 Velm tells the group, 'guys i gotta go'
22:05:38 You forget Guard.
22:05:42 Beginning to memorize Armor of Protection...
22:05:43 You have finished memorizing Armor of Protection.
22:05:46 You tell your party, 'Night Velm.'
22:05:48 Velm tells the group, 'maybe we can go to dalnir another time'
22:05:48 You begin casting Armor of Protection.
22:05:52 You feel protected.
22:05:54 You are out of food and drink.
22:05:55 You forget Armor of Protection.
22:05:58 Velm tells the group, 'take care'
22:05:58 Beginning to memorize Valor...
22:05:58 Wydgit tells the guild, 'hiding from goon the cor lead away give him a purple heart '
22:05:59 You have finished memorizing Valor.
22:06:02 You begin casting Valor.
22:06:05 You feel valorous.
22:06:10 You tell your party, 'you both make it out?'
22:06:19 Velm tells the group, 'i did'
22:06:23 Wydgit tells the group, 'yes we made it '
22:06:25 You tell your party, 'good =).'
22:06:31 Velm tells the group, 'and amber she went LD'
22:06:40 You are out of food and drink.
22:06:41 Velm tells the group, 'see ya cor and wyd'
22:06:50 Velm has left the group.
22:06:52 Wydgit tells the guild, 'dang L50s in here '
22:07:03 You tell your party, 'I'm at the bind point at the outpost.'
22:07:14 Doby tells the guild, 'its an upper levels zone'
22:07:14 Wydgit tells the group, 'did you get loc?'
22:07:16 You tell your party, 'my body is at pos 1600 pos 2700.'
22:07:26 You tell your party, 'should be on the road if I did it right.'
22:07:27 You are out of food and drink.
22:07:39 You forget Valor.
22:07:43 Amberlyn tells the guild, 'corish sorry i didnt see that draggooon'
22:07:44 Wydgit tells the group, 'ok gonna disband meet at ledge amber is here '
22:07:44 Beginning to memorize Abundant Drink...
22:07:45 You have finished memorizing Abundant Drink.
22:07:53 You begin casting Abundant Drink.
22:07:57 You are no longer encumbered.
22:08:05 You forget Abundant Drink.
22:08:07 Beginning to memorize Abundant Drink...
22:08:08 You have finished memorizing Abundant Drink.
22:08:09 You forget Abundant Drink.
22:08:10 Beginning to memorize Abundant Food...
22:08:12 You have finished memorizing Abundant Food.
22:08:13 You are out of food.
22:08:20 Your spell fizzles!
22:08:21 You begin casting Abundant Food.
22:08:32 You forget Abundant Food.
22:08:33 Beginning to memorize Hammer of Striking...
22:08:34 You have finished memorizing Hammer of Striking.
22:08:41 It begins to rain.
22:08:48 You begin casting Hammer of Striking.
22:08:54 A magical hammer appears in your hand.
22:08:58 You forget Hammer of Striking.
22:08:59 Amberlyn tells the guild, 'corish coming to get u '
22:09:09 Wydgit tells the group, 'meet at ledge?'
22:09:14 Beginning to memorize Inspire Fear...
22:09:15 You have finished memorizing Inspire Fear.
22:09:25 You tell your party, 'Skyfire is closer, but I have no SoW.'
22:09:36 Wydgit tells the group, 'we will wait here '
22:09:47 Wydgit tells the group, 'are you following wall?'
22:09:48 It is 3 AM on Wednesday, the 25th day of October, of the year 3221.
22:09:48 Earth Time: Sun Feb 10 22:09:48 2002
22:09:58 You tell your party, 'haven't moved yet.'
22:10:10 Wydgit tells the group, 'tracking you '
22:10:37 Wydgit tells the group, 'hope no goons '
22:11:05 Your Location is 3410.54, 1928.85, -60.54
22:11:06 You think you are heading East.
22:11:13 You no longer have a target.
22:11:19 Amberlyn tells the guild, 'corish where are u '
22:11:21 Wydgit tells the group, 'coming to you in camo '
22:11:25 You say to your guild, 'at the bind point.'
22:11:29 Wydgit tells the guild, 'im tracking him '
22:11:34 You say to your guild, 'Wyd is coming to SoW me.'
22:11:43 You say to your guild, 'you make it Amber?'
22:12:06 Amberlyn tells the guild, 'i am trying to find u '
22:12:15 Amberlyn tells the guild, 'lets get u a exp rez'
22:12:19 You say to your guild, 'I'm right where you go into the water to swim around the wall.'
22:12:29 Amberlyn tells the guild, 'ok'
22:12:41 Wydgit tells the guild, 'almost there '
22:12:55 You say to your guild, 'glad you both made it ).'
22:12:56 Wydgit snaps to attention and salutes Corish crisply.
22:13:01 Wydgit begins to cast a spell.
22:13:05 You feel the spirit of wolf enter you.
22:13:06 Amberlyn shouts, 'is there anyone ine zone able to REZ exp'
22:13:11 You tell your party, 'give me see invis if you can.'
22:13:27 Wydgit tells the group, 'i wiil '
22:13:30 Wydgit begins to cast a spell.
22:13:32 Your eyes tingle.
22:13:37 You say to your guild, 'good news, I'm still level 36!'
22:13:39 Wydgit begins to cast a spell.
22:13:40 Amberlyn tells the guild, 'im upset u died'
22:13:49 Wydgit begins to cast a spell.
22:13:50 You say to your guild, 'bah, better one death than 4!'
22:13:54 You vanish.
22:13:55 Doby tells the guild, 'gratz, 36 is one CRAPPY level'
22:14:00 Wydgit begins to cast a spell.
22:14:03 Your feet leave the ground.
22:14:10 Wydgit begins to cast a spell.
22:14:17 Wydgit begins to cast a spell.
22:14:21 Wydgit floats into the air.
22:14:25 Wydgit tells the group, 'do you know way to corpse?'
22:14:29 Wydgit begins to cast a spell.
22:14:33 You tell your party, 'rdy? gonna drag corpse to SW corner.'
22:14:34 Wydgit fades away.
22:14:35 Your Location is 3405.63, 1910.39, -55.33
22:14:35 You think you are heading SouthEast.
22:14:51 Wydgit tells the group, 'behind you '
22:14:54 Wydgit tells the group, 'just '
22:15:13 Your Location is 1888.67, 2253.19, -47.17
22:15:13 You think you are heading SouthWest.
22:15:16 Your Location is 1814.52, 2341.31, -46.10
22:15:16 You think you are heading SouthWest.
22:15:32 Summoning Corish's corpse...
22:15:35 You tell your party, 'lead'
22:15:36 Wydgit tells the group, 'tracking you incase i get lost '
22:15:48 You tell your party, 'lead me.'
22:15:56 You will now auto-follow Wydgit.
22:15:58 Summoning Corish's corpse...
22:16:09 Amberlyn tells the guild, 'corish come around wqall'
22:16:38 Summoning Corish's corpse...
22:16:38 Wydgit tells the guild, 'we are camoed and headed SW towards ledge '
22:16:38 Summoning Corish's corpse...
22:16:58 Wydgit tells the guild, 'at skyfire'
22:16:58 Summoning Corish's corpse...
22:17:12 Wydgit tells the guild, 'going to ledge '
22:17:12 Summoning Corish's corpse...
22:18:02 You feel yourself starting to appear.
22:18:08 You appear.
22:18:09 Summoning Corish's corpse...
22:18:13 You are no longer auto-following Wydgit.
22:18:16 You tell your party, 'invis wore off'
22:18:23 You will now auto-follow Wydgit.
22:18:24 Summoning Corish's corpse...
22:18:24 Wydgit begins to cast a spell.
22:18:30 You vanish.
22:18:33 Summoning Corish's corpse...
22:19:17 Summoning Corish's corpse...
22:19:21 Your Location is -3492.99, 1508.63, 322.60
22:19:21 You think you are heading NorthWest.
22:19:22 Your Location is -3486.94, 1511.78, 315.34
22:19:22 You are no longer auto-following Wydgit.
22:19:24 Wydgit tells the guild, 'we are at ledge '
22:19:29 Amberlyn tells you, 'where are u back in the ruins ?'
22:19:40 You told Amberlyn, 'at the FM zone gorge.'
22:19:40 Your Location is -3482.18, 1513.90, 308.01
22:19:41 You think you are heading SouthEast.
22:19:41 Summoning Corish's corpse...
22:19:52 Your Location is -3735.61, 1197.32, 530.58
22:19:52 You think you are heading North.
22:19:56 Amberlyn tells you, 'how come my track shows u in the waLl be the sea this stinks '
22:19:57 You appear.
22:20:21 You told Amberlyn, 'sorry couldn't answer, was hitting my corpse key during the run.'
22:20:36 Amberlyn tells you, 'see if we can get u a rez'
22:21:05 You are encumbered!
22:21:30 You told Amberlyn, 'eh, if we do we do, if we don't we don't ).'
22:21:36 You forget Inspire Fear.
22:21:39 Beginning to memorize Symbol of Pinzarn...
22:21:41 You have finished memorizing Symbol of Pinzarn.
22:21:43 You begin casting Symbol of Pinzarn.
22:21:48 A mystic symbol flashes before your eyes.
22:21:53 You forget Symbol of Pinzarn.
22:21:54 Beginning to memorize Valor...
22:21:56 You have finished memorizing Valor.
22:21:58 Amberlyn tells you, 'i am near docks'
22:22:04 You told Amberlyn, 'I was encumbered and was easy pickings anyway.'
22:22:14 You told Amberlyn, 'I'm sitting up in the FM gorge.'
22:22:17 Amberlyn tells you, 'why encumbered'
22:22:41 You told Amberlyn, 'weight (I run close to my weight allowance already, and never banked last night).'
22:24:52 You told Amberlyn, 'well, that was fun! (hehe, I'm a sick twisted soul)'
22:24:52 Wydgit shouts, 'LF exp rez plz '
22:26:24 You tell your party, 'heh, I knew I was a goner being encumbered )'
22:28:17 Wydgit tells the group, 'drag corps down man '
22:28:22 You told Amberlyn, 'I really hope you don't feel bad about it.'
22:28:40 Amberlyn tells you, 'as long as u are ok'
22:28:49 You told Amberlyn, 'aye, I'm peachy!'
22:29:14 Amberlyn tells the group, 'ok where is he'
22:29:23 Wydgit tells the group, 'stop '
22:29:38 You say, 'hehe, just putting it with the rest of the trash, er bodies.'
22:29:52 Zentekie says, 'be back with cleric'
22:29:59 Zentekie says, '96% okay?'
22:30:05 You say, 'hehe, yes maam.'
22:30:10 Wydgit says, 'lol for sure '
22:30:31 You tell your party, 'so where do you 3 run to?'
22:30:40 Wydgit tells the group, 'skyfire '
22:30:56 Destinny says, 'Hail, Corish's corpse'
22:30:58 Wydgit begins to cast a spell.
22:30:59 You tell your party, 'ah, I sorta headed that way, but was just trying to lead it in circles for a bit.'
22:31:00 Destinny says, 'ready?'
22:31:09 You say, 'ready my lady.'
22:31:20 You no longer feel blessed.
22:31:20 Your protection fades.
22:31:20 Your valor fades.
22:31:20 The spirit of wolf leaves you.
22:31:20 Your eyes stop tingling.
22:31:20 The mystic symbol fades.
22:31:20 You regain some experience from resurrection.
22:31:20 You are being resurrected...
22:31:44 You bow before Destinny.
22:31:51 You say, 'what do I owe you?'
22:32:02 Destinny says, 'anything you like'
22:32:28 Destinny says, 'thanks'
22:32:33 You say, 'thank you ).'
22:32:38 Destinny says, 'you guys have a spot open?'
22:32:55 You say, 'not sure where we're going now, were heading to Dalnir's.'
22:33:05 Destinny says, 'eck kay nm)'
22:33:18 You say, 'an unfortunate meeting with a goon, side tracked us.'
22:33:28 Destinny says, 'ack'
22:33:37 Destinny says, 'yea i hate them too('
22:33:41 You say, 'hehe, but DB kept me going long enough for them to get away ).'
22:33:55 Destinny says, 'hehe'
22:34:01 You say, 'couldn't get DA off ('
22:34:11 Destinny says, 'aw('
22:34:25 You forget Valor.
22:35:17 You tell your party, 'could I get a SoW and a STR then?'
22:35:24 Wydgit tells the group, 'yes :) '
22:35:32 You tell your party, 'gonna med up top.'
22:35:41 Wydgit tells the group, 'how bout camos too '
22:36:06 You tell your party, 'sure, hate medding on the freeway.'
22:36:51 Amberlyn tells the group, 'lets go meet caz'
22:36:54 You tell your party, 'aye, straight up the spire.'
22:36:56 Wydgit tells the group, 'parri '
22:37:09 You tell your party, '20m'
22:37:31 Amberlyn tells the group, 'lets go meet caz'
22:37:42 You tell your party, '30m k.'
The good news? The other 3 members lived (cheers). Was a bit of fun after a boring evening. No, I didn't really WANT to be the hero, but since I was the slowest it was simpler to attempt to keep the goon busy for as long as possible (and as far away from my group as possible). If I could've gotten the DA off, I might have made it closer to the Skyfire zone (or at least lasted another 18 seconds). Moot point since the other 3 managed to get away safely anyway.Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 12:12 PM
Monday, February 04, 2002
EverQuest - Death follows hot on my heels
(story starts in the present, flashback to the past, then continues on to the end)
Panting heavily, I begin my climb up the side of the mountain, trying to reach the safety of the lands beyond the mountain pass.
(trees are thick here, hopefully offering me some cover, so many enemies dodged on my run across the valley, but I'm moving slower now that I'm near death, have I lost them? I can no longer hear the dying cries of my party. with my cleric's intuition, I have felt my party's threads of life slip from my grasp as each has fallen victim to the giants)
(flashback)
(we had been sneaking in and out of the giant fort all morning, pulling those dreadfully stupid young scragglies out for the slaughter)
(but the giants had gotten wise to our tactics and enlisted two elders to sit in waiting for our next foray into their fort)
(our next pull brought 2 of the young ones in addition to the two elders and the fight quickly became chaotic as the giants turned the tables, dividing the party)
(all fought bravely, but the odds were against us, the call to run by the melees)
(running, encumbered, not moving as fast as I should've since my magical speed had worn off, dropping the heavy bag of copper, dropping the huge sword that I had looted)
(flash forward to present)
(the end draws near, last minute decisions need to be made, cast my 2nd invuln? cast a heal on myself? or run?)
(stopping to catch my breath and heal my wounds, the giants catch up, death under the branches)Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 11:00 AM
Sunday, February 03, 2002
EverQuest - The right way to get advice
Last night, while working on my swimming skill in Felwithe's swimming pool (a.k.a. the lake on the backside of town), I got a tell from a level 14 cleric. Now, usually at this point, I cringe, because I'm expecting to read that little purple text and see a request for money or items. This time I was pleasantly surprised, because they wanted to know how many level 14 cleric spells there were, and how many of the 14 I used (a young cleric trying to prioritize his purchases).
Well, the questions soon turned fairly far reaching, discussing healing aggro, armor class, whether clerics can solo, where to level up, do we get any DoTs, what is a symbol buff, etc. The comment was made at one point, "wow, I didn't realize this class was so complex" (and I got to extoll the rush of handling a 4 giant pull from the Frontier Mountain fort with no deaths).
It was a fun conversation, hopefully it helps add another well played cleric to our server.Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 7:28 AM
Saturday, February 02, 2002
EverQuest - Waves goodbye to Avatars of the Ancients
Sigh, well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. AotA is disintegrating, and I'm afraid that I have to add into the chaos by choosing this time to move on as well. Simply put, our first officer left the guild at the start of the week, taking 4 or 6 other members with her. Which has forced me to examine my ties to the guild as well, since many of the people that left this week were those that I had originally joined the guild to be a part of. So after many days of considering the future, I decided that my heart really wasn't in staying with AotA with those people no longer a part of the guild. (And it was also making EQ not as fun to play.)
So I'm off to seek fame and fortune for a while as a guildless cleric (with a very full friend's list).Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 7:18 PM
Wednesday, January 30, 2002
EverQuest - gah! can I track 3 more conversations at once! please?
Heh, the title pretty much says it all. Basically, when I logged in last night I had to pay attention to the group's battle, down-time chat in the group, while simultaneously handling 3 other conversations in direct tells. Oh, and don't forget keeping an eye on the guildchat and attempting to also read the /ooc and /shout channel. In fact, once I did /random 100 when the other group near us was rolling because I thought I had missed the call to roll on some item drop (sighs, Solarflare didn't make too much fun of me for that). Then there was the random tells asking me to join a group, or "can you experience rez?" tells (I was the only cleric in Frontier Mountains last night).
So if you ever wonder why I'm taking a bit of time to get back to a tell, or asking "um, what were we talking about?", it's probably because I'm trying to juggle too many indepth conversations.Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 12:19 PM
Tuesday, January 29, 2002
EverQuest - Experience Losses
Half the fun of EQ some days is reading and posting to the message boards (over my lunch hour, honest!). (Having died close to 10 times in the past week, averaging about 1 death per level lately, this topic hits home.)
Why huge exp losses @ death? - this has been a very enjoyable thread. Some people just won't accept the fact that it takes hundreds of hours to play to level 60, instead whining that they can't seem to get ahead only playing 2 hours a week. Basically, these people need to go play something a little more solo-oriented. The other question I have, is if setbacks like lost experience bother you so much, why are you putting yourself on a time-table? Enjoy the journey, not the destination. I've always said, you may not be able to control your circumstances, but you are in full control of your reaction to those circumstances.Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 9:36 AM
EverQuest - How To Disable the Keyboard Windows Key
Just a quick note for those people who hit that nasty "windows" key while playing EverQuest (of course, crashing you out to the desktop at a most inconvenient time). Microsoft has a article on how to disable this key. All the usual caveats apply of course.
Now, if I could just convince EQ not to let me Alt-Tab out on Windows 2000....Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 9:30 AM
EverQuest - Life of a cleric
Hooray, finally made it to level 31 (I'm out of the double-experience level.) Hopefully, I'm now quit of High Keep for good (was growing mushrooms on top of my head from being down in the basement for so long). On the plus side, I've finally caught up to a large group of my guildmates so I can start adventuring with them.
Even better is that I have a bunch of new friends from Clan Silvermoon (waves at Ravina, Nomynnya, Shalissa), and a bunch of others on my friends list that I'd love to have in our guild.Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 2:06 AM
Saturday, January 26, 2002
EverQuest - Bad night in the Warrior Room
Ugh, 6 hours of play and only 1 yellow to show for it (it takes 5 yellow bubbles to complete a level). I can tell that level 30 is one of those "heck" levels (the experience required to complete this level is double that of level 29). Well, that, and I died 3 times (so I should've gotten 2 yellows tonight, maybe more). Just couldn't seem to do anything right tonight, we had 9 deaths in those 6 hours, I just couldn't keep the other players alive (lost 3 of them during the same fight). So, I'm a little dissapointed in my cleric skills tonight (as I'm sure the other players were as well).
Guess it was payback time since I managed not to die at all from levels 25 to 29 (and hadn't lost but one or two people this entire week while I was the group's cleric). Some nights, you just can't get the group balanced enough to get ahead of the spawns in the Warrior Room, and take the spawns in the Raider Room. (All of our nasty events were due to the Warrior Room re-popping while we were fighting the Raider Room mobs.)
Oh well, learn from your mistakes and all that, gives me more time to maximize my melee and specialization skills.Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 1:32 AM
Tuesday, January 22, 2002
EverQuest - tales from the warrior room
Gee, I wonder what's been going on in the rest of the world of Norrath? I've been holed up down in the warrior room group in High Keep for so long I think I'm starting to grow mushrooms on my head. I did some serious leveling up this past weekend, starting at just shy of level 24 up in the guard room group on Saturday morning, and dinging into level 28 during last night's warrior room session (actually I dinged twice last night).
It was good to move down into the warrior room on Sunday. Life in the guard room group had been getting too easy (with the increase in my mana pool from both leveling up and getting additional wisdom stat gear, a larger heal spell at level 24, and better tactics). I was growing very bored with the level of mobs that the guard room was pulling (mostly dark blues with the occasional black or yellow con). On the other hand, it was good experience for everyone since we had no deaths.
As a level 26 cleric, the warrior room is a scary place, unless you keep the spawn broken you risk having a goblin warrior pop into an already bad fight (plus we were pulling raiders which are even higher level). Goblin warriors are level 30-33, and the raiders are 31-34, both hit for up to 68 damage (I have "other hits" filtered off, but know from personal experience what they hit for). Still on Sunday evening we had a very powerful and capable group that was able to handle up to 3 raiders all at once without any deaths (I used all my mana and a 4th would've been certain death for at least a few of the party).
Monday evening was tougher. Initially it was easy because we had a level 34 warrior as our main tank (who was excellent at maintaining aggro and took very little damage), but once we moved down to a 26 warrior and a 29 paladin as our main tanks things got a lot dicier. On the plus side, we had 2 druids who had gotten their Greater Healing spells (270 heal for 150 mana), but that means 2 healers who aren't as adept at avoiding aggro and who aren't wearing heavy armor (the druid class in EQ is limited to leather, while clerics are allowed to wear full plate). I stuck to my tried and true methods of low aggro healing (using the Bravery buff as a heal, and using Celestial Remedy, both low-aggro), until things got desperate and I couldn't stop the bleeding on the main tank with low-aggro heals. Finally during one pull, I had to use Divine Aura to grant myself 18 seconds of invulnerability to give them a chance to taunt a mob off of me. That time it worked, but leaves me without my ace-in-the-hole for 15 minutes until that spell refreshes.
Sure enough, a few minutes later we get a bad pull. This fight started at 22:16 with a seer, visionary, and raider all at the same time. I probably started the fight with about 80% of my mana pool (which is okay). Dropped a Celestial Remedy on the main tank quick, then got back to medding (or tried to). Unfortunately, I ended up at the top off the seer's hate list and it came over to visit me. Nothing like a level 29-31 mob beating on you while you're trying to get a spell off. About 30 seconds in I asked one of the group to root the thing so I could get away from it (my root spell wouldn't stick). Instead they threw a 270hp heal on me, and I'm still getting beaten on. I manage to channel a 2nd Celestial Remedy onto the main tank shortly after being healed (while still being beated on). Unfortunately I have to follow that up with a Greater Healing on the main tank who's taking a lot of damage fast. 90 seconds into my beating I managed to get a Greater Healing off on the backup healer.
Now, after 2 GHeal's, I'm really at the top of the mob's hate list and with only 10% mana left there's not a lot of healing I can do unless I can get to meditate some mana back. I managed to drop a bravery on myself with my last shred of mana, waiting anxiously for that Divine Aura icon to refresh. Unfortunately, this can only delay the inevitable after being beat on for 2 minutes (because I'm now down below 30% health and the mob has enraged on me). At the 20% health mark, I told the group "bye all", and got ready to make my CR, the seer then proceeded to hit me for maximum damage 3 times in a row (64 dmg each time) which ended it for me after 2 minutes 15 seconds.
At least I died with my boots on (meaning I had no mana left to use) and that was damage that the main tank didn't take. Plus after you appear back at your bind point you'll have full mana, so I promptly memorized my main heal spell, ran back downstairs and dropped fast heals on everyone who was down around 40% health.
Sigh, DA was only about 5 minutes away from refreshing (18 seconds would've made all the difference that fight). Still, it was a fun fight and mine was the only death we had that night (thanks to the 2 secondary healers).Labels: EverQuest
posted by Wuphon's at 10:25 AM
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