Aion is too much grind!!!

I really couldn’t think of a title for this post so went with my gut.  My last post was a good deal of time ago so its only fair I give my opinions of whats happened in game and out of game.

 

Aion

 

The shiny newness and PvP game eventually subsided into what was inevitable… the grind.  I am not bad at grinding, sometimes I really enjoy it but the class I picked is just not suited to solo grinding.  I think I stopped at Level 36 whilst waiting for Mrs B to catch up and in the interim I lost interest in the game.  Part of me is sad as it was hyped so high but part of me doesn’t feel much at all since I have found other outlets for my gaming.

 

Everquest 2

 

Well, im back in Norrath again then.  But this time with new purpose.  The game has taken on a huge new lease of life for me since coming back and its for one reason only.  I am now a raider again.

 

Upon returning it seems a lot of people had left or cut down their play time and it meant the Harpers were recruiting the following classes:  Inquisitor, Warden, Defiler, Mystic (all healers I might add)

 

Well my Inquisitor was sat at level 76.  I still remember the conversation with the guild leader months ago (which I screenshotted) which said I had pretty much no chance of making it into a raid as they always have enough healing on.  How things change aye?

 

I decided it was my mission to get myself to 80 and geared so I might have a shot at raiding with harpers.  In the time it was taking me lots of other guilds and raiding clubs started asking for Inquisitors too… my goal was set.

 

It took me 2 days to get to 80, then the pre-requiste gear check came in.  Full T3 and Myth needed.  This was the start of my stumbling block:  a newly dinged 80 char, no decent gear, hardly any AA, but I had the drive.  I started running shard runs and doing the daily solo on all 3 chars religiously every day and soon I was rocking full T1 (in like 2 days.)  I grabbed any and all help for my Epic I could and soon had the Fabled.

I kept my eye out for runs for my Myth and managed to grab a lucky spot on a Tariza run just after I got the epic (Cheers Marcy and all at Mythic Legion!)  This left Leviathan and Nexona for my myth.  In the interim I upgraded my armour to Tier 2 and ran WoE to get a pattern and an upgraded shield.  Harpers then ran a Pick up raid to Leviathan.  Leaving just nexona, well a shout went out for a healer for Nexona and boom I was there.  Two pulls later I had my myth, full T2 and some WoE gear.

 

It was time for my application.  I posted it and left it there, a day later another Inquis posted his app.  More AAs and better gear than me.  However I got the spot as I was told the guild leader was impressed by the speed I had geared up just to raid!

 

So now im a raider for Harpers of Norrath.  Im second choice Inquisitor and I know that, but im now rocking my 4 piece set bonus for Tier 4 and upgraded jewelry, im a healing machine!

 

Mrs B also returned to raiding and took the Warden spot!

 

In other news, Daddy B also started the game and now has a level 60 Wizard.  Im glad he is enjoying it as it really is a good game… guess im no longer the hardcore PvP, RvR nut I used to be… ive grown up.  Im a PvE player now.

 

Dragon Age

 

I bought this and I love it, but have not had as much time to play as I would like now im raiding again.  Ill see if I can get some more time in soon.

 

Personal

 

As for my life its getting better.  Ive gotten a promotion at work for a while which means more money, and we have even done the Christmas shopping already.  I feel more prepared now than ever before and am happy with the financial situation we are in.

Little B has started school and he loves it, and littlest B has started walking so nothing is safe.

 

Final Thoughts

 

Maybe I will give Aion another try once the Exp curve is sorted the hell out.  But for now im totally happy with Everquest 2.

Another Nice Evening.

Aion is continuing to impress me, last night was my first REAL taste of PvP.  Both Mrs B and I got a quest which when you drink a potion you get teleported to Elyos.  Now upon my arrival a little Assassin was standing there, obviously intent on ganking those whom ported through.  I don’t think he was expecting a rank 23 Gladiator and a 20 Cleric coming through, well needless to say he ran and we chased, until we saw the amount of Elyos in the zone so we promptly called home.

 

However the Elyos seemed to be doing their version of the quest so Mrs B and I had some fun taking out the 6 guys who came to Asmodae!  How dare they.  I even managed to get my wings on to give chase before Mrs B nuked him out of the sky… ah well haha.

 

We also joined a group for the last Black Claw quest, it wasn’t bad but at my level the Exp wasn’t stellar, once finished we wiped and Mrs B and I went off to grind out the last bit for our levels.  Me being the noob I was didn’t realise I had a bucket full of skills at level 22 and instead bought them all at 23.. that will teach me.

 

My dad on the other hand got to level 6.  He isn’t rushing things but its good to see some progress there.  He is going to be a Ranger so his play style will change at 10 when he gets his bow.  I hope he can stick with it.  I should give him more credit.  Just because it is his first “Big” MMO does not mean he wont figure things out for himself.  I still aim to go round to his house to help him out a little. Soon…..

Death in Aion, it happens!

Mrs B magically found some extra quests in Altgard last night, and since she couldn’t get any from Morheim, it seemed like the best shot at getting her levelled.  All the quests she found was for the Black Claw area, and thus meant for a group.

 

After getting myself to the same quest steps as her we went off as a duo and attempted the quests.  There is one to pretty much kill each of the mob types in there so we ploughed on.  I lost count of the amount of times we died……

 

Its not that we cant take the mobs in there, far from it we can easily take 1 or 2 at a time.  The problems come when Mrs B proxy aggros two extra mobs since her aggro radius is larger than mine and we get 4 in one go… not good.

 

In the end we finished all the quests except the one to kill the Warlocks, them things hit HARD and with an add thrown in its death time.  Luckily Mrs B was close and so I told her to go grind.

 

Also Daddy B got in game on Telemechus too!  Not only that but he hit level 5!!  I could tell he was struggling though as I invited him to the group and was watching his health bar constantly, I wonder if he knows how to use skills etc and equip gear.  It wasn’t till I went to see him and I gave him some new weapons and armour that I think he was getting better at it.  Ill have to pop round some time to help him out for an evening, the tutorials are all well and good but if he didn’t take the information in then it will be best for me to guide him.

 

Tonight im not sure of the extent of the gaming will be, I have to go to a dinner on Thursday night and part of my duties is to entertain the guests for 10 minutes… now im no comedian or showman so this is going to be interesting.  I am playing with the idea of doing the evolution of dance routine but unsure as to whether I can learn it and pull it off in one day, otherwise it will be a complete wing job.  Another part of me wants to just not go, but that is cowardly really and will drop someone else in the crapper.

 

Who knows.

This weekend I have been mostly playing……

Bit late for this one this week I know but Aion has been commanding my attention recently.

 

First off a bit of news.  My Mum and Dad have gotten into MMOs recently by playing wizard 101.  My dad has always been a bit of a gamer mainly playing RTS or FPS games (yes he is pretty good and loves Halo).  My mum is still happy plodding about helping people now she is Grandmaster, my Dad on the other hand is the same as any other gamer.  Once he hit Grandmaster himself he spent some time gearing up but now he is bored.  

I went over to his house with a list of 15 MMOs (14 of which I have played!) to hopefully guide him onto another game.  So armed with my list we sat down and went through.  Sci-Fi out, which only trimmed two games from the list.  Level progression, so UO and Darkfall were gone.

I chatted to him about some of the games left on the list, namely EQ2, WoW, Vanguard, Conan and Aion.  Vanguard and Conan were removed due to the fact I couldn’t give him a good feeling about what to do at max level.  This left the big ones.  He was considering WoW but when I went round he had changed his mind.  I gave him the pro’s and Cons about it and in the end WoW was off the list.  Although I think it is extremely accessible to a new MMO player I would rather he went into the deep end so to speak.

This left EQ2 and Aion.  Both games I enjoy but right now im not playing EQ2.  The choice was made for Aion.  The main pull for my dad was that he would not be too far behind starting one day after release.

I warned him off about the queues and told him which server and side we are playing and left him to it.

He came round the other night to say he has the game and it was patching and left it at that.

 

Got to love the Aion armoury though, doing a search through what I assumed would be his character name tossed up one result…. On our server…. On our faction!  He had only gone and managed to create an Asmodian!  So far I see no progress at all on the armoury, but I put this down to the proper shocking queues to get on in the evening (our only time to play… you hear this NCSoft…..)  upwards of 2 hours.  We have started to log in at 1700 when I get home so that by the time I have walked the dog, eaten and put the kids to bed we can play!!! (Around 2000)!

This is fucking stupid…. Allow more fucking people to play or add new servers NCSoft.

 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAnyway, levels currently sit at 22 for me and 19 for Mrs B.  We had to grind out the whole level for her as she had run out of quests.  All this grinding is doing wonders for me though and having not touched the quests in Morheim and im 22!  Tonight I will equip my new Stigma skill in place of Dual Wield.  I only equipped this as I had it available, I wasn’t using it.

Now that Mrs B is 19 we can get some quests in Morheim so will most likely spend some time tonight doing those.  I think at 21 we will go to the other place we can fly as rumour has it nobody goes there!

Aion is holding our attention nicely, I am feeling the pull to go PvP but 25 is looming… just gotta wait for Mrs B!

Another Nice Evening in Aion

Last night was a pleasant evening spent in Aion.  Major thing that happened is Mrs B had her gliding lessons and has begun to master it now.  YAY!

 

We aren’t powering forward which is mostly due to Mrs Bs playtime, she plays less than me so I wont do any quests without her which means I just grind instead.

By the end of the night we were level 15 and 13, slow going but im enjoying taking it in.  Im champing at the bit to try out the pvp but it will come in time.

 

I think she really is enjoying Aion, but its hard to get a verdict from her, to be honest if she didn’t enjoy it she wouldn’t play would she?

 

I still haven’t made an alt, I don’t feel the need to, Gladiator is everything I want in a class.  I practiced different rotations and timings yesterday and I will need to actively time some fights to see if what I am doing is faster, it certainly feels it but ill let you know.

 

Node Ninjas are starting to die out a little bit which is a bonus, I think I got my extract vitality skill up to around 50. I will be looking at raising my cooking skill (as that’s the trade I want) when I feel ready but right now im still stuck in the levelling curve.

 

Tonight I may not play much as I have a leaving do to go to, I don’t think ill stay late but ill show my face.

 

Have fun everyone!

Legion Formed

Yesterday both Mrs B and I joined the Legion which we intended to when we chose our sever, Akatsuki was formed which I have been informed means New Dawn in Japanese.

My friend Taso from Warcraft was the one who got me over here, it sounds like the sort of fun PvP guild that I need to be in.

 

Well last night wasn’t a mass of levels, but enough, starting at level 7 I ground to Ascension, became a Gladiator again and ground to 12.  Mrs B on the other hand was late on and so I ground her to 11.  Not too bad.  Grinding definitely is the fastest way to level.  SOLO grinding that is, I haven’t found a mob that we can duo, or even a camp, which is good enough for us both at the same time.

No doubt I will though.

 

I love the Asmodian wings though, the sleek blackness makes them look like crows, very happy with the choice here.  The cloaks are also very cool, draped over one shoulder.

 

I hope that Mrs B can stay focussed with Aion, I personally think she can, and once involved in the PvP she will be quite happy.

Aion Headstart – It Begins

Last night was the first day of the Aion headstart,  I got myself in front of my PC in good time and chatted to some more friends while we waiting till one of them says “im in”

 

Boom I start hitting the login server and get in to the char select quickly, Mrs B on the other hand logs in and her client is in Korean…..  Not good.  All signs point to her running in English.

 

I log off and look at the size of my Aion folder and consider firing it across the network onto her PC, I decide not to.  Instead I delete her language folder and copy mine across, which works!

 

Both of us attempt to log in to be met by the queue, both of us are in the 600’s.

 

We eventually get in game around 9pm.  The queue for me peaked at 906 people, and that is JUST on my server alone!

 

We had some fun though and got to level 7 and 6 I think.  I am hoping that we can get on tonight and reach ascension.  Then we can sit down and enjoy.  I am wondering if more servers will be opened for actual release or if caps will be increased.  If not then these queues are going to get silly!

Aion – A Female Gamers Perspective

I asked Mrs B to write a post on how she is finding Aion but she refused citing her dyslexia and inability to type at any great length,  therefore I will be conducting an interview with her.

See below!

TMG> How long have you been playing online games?

MrsB> For around 6 years. Since we got married and moved in together.

TMG> What was your favourite online game to date?

MrsB> Dark Age of Camelot. Nothings ever been able to top it.

TMG> WHy did you start gaming?

MrsB> Because you made me… you get fed up of me slagging off all games and you made me try it, and I very much enjoyed it.

TMG> So where did you hear about Aion from then?

MrsB> You told me about it, then I saw the wings and thought oooh!

TMG> What about Aion caught your eye?

MrsB> The wings!!! LOL!

TMG> What are your opening thoughts on the character customisation?

MrsB> I thought it was cool, I was able to change everything, I dunno, dont write that in, tut, why you typing that, you’re a dick. I like to customise it to the way I like it and spend ages doing it, and I was able to.

TMG> Any extra options with it you would have preferred to see?

MrsB> Not really, id say it was a pretty solid customisation.

TMG> How does the character customisation compare to other games?

MrsB> Its a lot more detailed, other games you get the basic hair colour and skin colour, but here there is a lot more.

TMG> What do you think about the “newbie experience” perticularly the 1-10 game?

MrsB> I thought it was very enjoyable its a lot better than, for example, Warhammer, its a lot easier to play. The levelling speed (Elyos) was quite quick but not overly quick, but wasnt slow. It felt about right.

TMG> A lot of people are saying that the game is a grindfest, does it feel this way and does that put you off?

MrsB> No the quests are really good, you dont have to grind, sure there are no innovations with quest design but you can only take that so far. DAoC itself was pure grind, im used to it.

TMG> How useful are the tutorial hints at the start of the game?

MrsB> They were good but nothing was much different from any other game. If this was my first MMO then the hints are very good and would guide very well.

TMG> How are the graphics?

MrsB> Very cool.

TMG> Do the graphics sway you to play the game or do they not really matter?

MrsB>  The graphics dont really make the game any better, Warcraft is cartoony but its still popular, they dont really matter to me.

TMG> What is the main draw for you with Aion? What is the thing that will keep you playing?

MrsB> I dont know. I just like the videos, it looked cool. I dont really know anything else.

TMG> How stable has the BETA been for you so far?

MrsB> Pretty good, I had one disconnect and one bit of difficulty logging in but its ok with a restart.

TMG> Will you be playing the game on release?

MrsB> Very likely yes.

TMG> What character will you be playing on release?

MrsB> Asmodian Cleric

TMG> Why?

MrsB> I always play healers! I find them the most enjoyable as im not great at DPSing.

TMG> What do you not like about Aion?

MrsB> Nothing yet!

TMG> Any closing comments to any other females out there about online gaming?

MrsB> Dont slag it off before you try, it can be quite relaxing when you want to chill out, and get away from the kids!

There we are then, Mrs B’s comments on Aion and gaming!

This weekend I have mostly been playing…….. and Aion impressions!

Nothing!

Had a very busy weekend which saw me help a friend move on Saturday and then help out with a Charity walk on Sunday leaving little time for gaming.

The big news on the gaming scene is the (almost)Open Beta for Aion.  Almost is the key word as the only people who seem to actually be able to play are those whom have pre-ordered the game.

I bit the bullet and ordered myself a copy just to try it out.  Mrs B actually made favourable noises towards Aion when I showed her a video so was interested in her thoughts. 

Character customisation is a HUGE thing for her, me im the general random spammer till I see something I like then ill tweak it.  But Aion actually had me doing it myself.  The sheer amount of choices you can make are staggering and I actually felt attached to my online look.

Going into the game I was worried I would be put off by the eastern looking graphics but I reminded myself I played Guild Wars and didnt mind the graphics of that so I went in with an Open mind.

First impressions?  Favourable!  Generic UI, generic go here and kill XX creature but it feels well done, the combat feels visceral, I love being a melee class in this game, I have jsut ascended to be a Gladiator (Which is what ill play in release) and love the combo system, I think Mrs B who is playing a Cleric enjoys it too.

We havent really got all that far as there still are a couple of bugs, mainly with the login server but that aside its a very polished game… which it should be seeing as its A) Korean, and B) Been out for 9 months or so in Korea.

I can see us playing it for some time in the future, which means my Warhammer Online account will close, unless they make keeps destructable and add a third faction I wont be back soon.

My hope is that the Abyss PvP is not too twitchy and that keeps are worth taking and fun to do so, ill see if I can find any detailed reviews on it.

Ill also get Mrs B to write down her first impressions of the game to include for your reading pleasure.