Adventures in Turbinevill
We are down for two hours so Microsoft can replace 200 people with 8. They say this will unsure we have fewer problems, more like that MS will have fewer. Actually I'm surprised it took this long. Somehow the "Volunteers" for other online things have sued to be paid and somehow the courts agreed with them. To cover themselves Microsoft would have to replace potential problems with something they can legally control.
So I agree the people should be paid. I also think it will be an impossible job with only 8 people. Additionally the way they did it leaves distaste with me. Up to the very end they were assuring the sentinels that they were not being replaced. The logical part of me understands caution. The emotional side of me hates liars.
That aside I waited out the two hours logged on. "Servers Up" a bit short but to the point. I logged my mage. I really wanted to play my mage today, unlike a few days this past week. Mages are hard to play and the 3 to 4 minutes of buffing is not fun.
I buffed up and head into the fight, praying the stop lag we have had this week was not going to get me killed again. The last time I hit that lag I came out in the middle of three Shreths, 2 Drudges and 4 Bandies while running against a tree.
I head up a hill and kill one Bandy. The loot sucked and I was about to target another one when, out of the game and looking at. "Servers Up". I cannot get back in. After a while it times out and I get. "Servers Up."
I log off and get a little work done. Doing some testing I find the FF is down but Thistledown is up. I log my Fist, buff up and head to the Citadel. I got into a few big fights and watch a lot of people die.
I'm in the middle of a big battle and everyone runs. I have three Lugies on me and about a third of my health gone. Time to do the run away thing. "Servers Up" is staring me in the face. Try to log back, time out to "Servers Up".
Of course with the restarts I do have hope. I was alive when the crash came. On MT my mage should be safe as he had just started. I should be back in the water in the middle of a buffing cycle when it reverts. On Thistledown I will be in the middle of a bad spot. I may log into a mob that kills me in portal.
Now I don't know that Microsoft problem is this month but it seem more down that up. I have two players in different servers that are in trouble. I have no idea if they are live or dead or when I can find out. Maybe we should all stop playing for a week and give them time to fix things.
Server really are up
First to come up is MT. Fist de Mage is a "never mind". I log into AB right where I started. I did some hunting and kept trying TH, no go.
Finally early the next morning I logged in TH. First thing I noted was I was at burden and did not have vit. That was the good news. I don't remember being at burden but my strength item might have run out. Next thing I saw where I was. I'm in the weak jumping room near the hall that goes deeper. Lastly the room was full of Lugies and no help.
A mass of orange dots advance on me. I head up the hall at a dead trot (burdened remember) and get hit a few times. I pass the Giga at the corner and I'm hit some more. I see the end of the hall is full and reverse my field and try to run back. Get by the Giga and I'm blocked by a pack of Lugies clogging the hall. There I die.
Talk about a bad death. My BP, my sleeves, my helm and my legging all drop. My prize crossbow completes the disaster. I port back to the Citadel and hope there is some help. At the entrance is a 16lv fighter and a 17lv mage. The mage tossed a few buffs on me but that was about all the help he could do.
I had already checked my patron who I really did not expect to be on that early. No go. Then I got lucky. A 48lv fighter named Sonja Matsudaira showed up. Her along with Ice Fang said they would help. I guess I looked pitiful in my underwear. At least I had my shield. They escorted me to the room. The three of us cleared a whole lot of Lugies from our path.
As long as I kept them in front I was ok. Without any armor I could not let anything get behind me. The Giga was a problem as it attacked me but Sonja and Ice carved it up before it did much damage. We got the body and my vit was clear. I thanked them and ported the Hebain-to.
Jarad rides again
I have said before that Jarad Ryujii is one of the best players in the game. He rides the edge finer than any other player I have met. Of course that means there will be times he needs a bit of help. I was playing my Archer on the new islands. Close to 36lv. I got a tell from Jarad, "Come to Lin", nothing else.
I quickly find a safe place for my Archer and log him. (It was a good thing because later all buffs were dropped on log in.) I logged Fist and ran him to the hall.
Jarad was there. I expected there to be a big group for one of the new quests. Jarad said he had died in a new place and needed help recovering. He showed me the new Focus stone. He believes he was the first on MT to get it.
He made the portal and we jumped in. After a little wandering around we found our way down. I have never seen a line on a monster before. I mean a long straight line of 20 or more players. Very strange. No way I was going to stand in it. I will wait for the quest to die down and then do it.
Jarad was lagging a bit before and now he is running against the wall. The door to the next section is open at this time. If I knew it was so hard to pick it I would not have let it close.
Jarad got back and said there was a message about shutting down soon for a hot fix. Now getting his body back was a must. I wasted a lock pick trying to get the door open. I would have to get very lucky to get it. Even with weaken lock VI it was an 800 lock.
Someone opened up the door but Jarad lagged out again before he could get in. I took the portal to the next section and explored a bit. Jarad got back and said I had to jump into the pit the bridge crossed. I had been using my fire weapon on the undead now.
When I jumped in I was attacked by three Magma golems. Of course my fire weapon was useless. I switched to my cold claw and had to do it a few times to resist the de-buff. If I had seen that I had Fire Vuln V on me all ready I would not have bothered.
I took a bit of damage from the spells but few things can hit me these days. My melee defense buffs out to 354 at full protection and 364 when I face known damage types.
After a few twists and turns we find a pile of bodies. Jarad's was one of them. We recovered that and ported out. We had time before the hot fix but I don't put much trust in that. I tend to quit early and start late on patch day.
Slow week
Between lag and just building my mage it has been slow. Mage is hunting Bandies mostly now. Not as good as hunting vapors but a lot more of them to kill. Fist is relegated to support tasks these days. He is great on quests. There is always need for a strong tank with a quick buffing cycle.
Escorting vassals in the Direlands is good to but I get the feeling Mage would do better except for one thing. Grievver are very thick there now. Only war works well and then you need a high skill. Until my mages war skill get high enough that I can hit one after being de-buffed I'm not doing much solo adventuring in the Direlands with him.
So when I got a call from two vassals I knew I was going to use Fist and not Mage. Quren and Bals Bowman wanted to explore the dires a bit and saw me log on. We met at the entrance to BSD and started east.
My plan was to go to the edge of the plains. Quren and Bals Bowman are upper 30's players. Quren is a mage and of course Bowman is an Archer.
We followed the ridgelines as much as possible. It is more open and generally clear of monsters. It is also easier to follow if you get killed and have to make it back. The swamps between the hills is where the monsters are.
In one swamp Quren was hit by something I missed while Bowman and I were fighting off Grievvers and Drudges. We sent him the coordi and kept the space clear. We travailed over the next hill to a large swamp.
At the edge of the swamp were large groups of monsters. Grievvers, Sclavus', Bones and Drudges in tight packs. Bowman started tossing arrows, Quren spells and I charged into one group. That is what I got for being overconfident. I was at 49 hit points after a few blasts and took to my heals. I was hit once more before I got away and was at 19 hit points. Again my "higher than today's templates" health and speed saved me.
After I broke contact and healed I ran back. I had killed a few in my last attack and the boys had killed a few more. It was a big fight but they all died. Only problem was what I found in the middle of a pile of monster bodies. Bal's Bowman did not make it though the fight.
We sent him the coordi and tried to keep it clear. The spawn as fast so we were not bored. When he got back he had a nice following. Seems like if your in trouble the dominions of the Direlands all know it. He ran and we fought until they lost interest or were dead.
Bowman got his body and we crossed the swamp. I headed up the hill but noted I was alone. Ran back and found Quren and Bowman in a big fight. This time it was Quren's turn to die. So Bal's Bowman and I keep fighting Undead, Grievvers, Sliver Rats and Sclavus' until he got back.
I knew the run though the swamp was going to be leading a horde of monsters but it was not as bad as I thought. We cleared what did follow and Quren got his body.
Up the hill we found a pack of Tuskers and Virindi. Quren fired on the Tuskers while Bowman and I took on the Virindi. I killed one and got a fellow message from Bowman. "Dam chain casting monsters."
Quren and I kept it clear until Bowman could run back. The further from AB we got the harder it was for them to recover. It was getting late now so they decided to head to a dungeon to clear their vit and call it.
Key hunt
With new item spells I need keys. I gave all I had to Pantine when he found a chest. This got a lot of us a full set of level VII war spells. I told him to save the non-war scrolls but have no idea what he has. Last I heard was we had no item spells in the group.
The best way for me to get keys is a Nest. At first no one in the hall had a tie so I thought I would have to run there. Not a hard run so it was no biggie. Then someone said Smoke II had a tie there. Someone logged him in and after a time he was able to summon.
I hunted down about half way and had one key. Someone came up in back of me and helped me with in a fight. Don't really need the help but if I saw some fighting 10 Soldiers I would have thought he might need help. Guy is named Gimli Son of Glom. I hope I got that right.
This was on the ramp to the 5lv. He is a 39lv fighter so this was dangerous territory for him. We headed down the ramp and to the last room. A third fighter showed up so there was no reason to draw. I charged in and set my back against a corner.
The new fighter ran across the room and out the Gimli was fighting at the edge of my pack. I saw a few of them break off and chase him out the room. A few stamina elixirs later I had them clear. A lot of Soldiers had rotted by then so I was doing a "[" search hoping to find a key. "Body of Gimli Son of Glom", I had missed him dying.
I sent him a message asking if he needed any help. At 39lv he I was sure he was not fighting his way down here alone. He said the glare on his computer screen killed him. He had ran for the passage and instead ran up the side. He did need help and would he there as soon as possible.
I ran to the exit portal and rebuffed up at the entrance. Got into a few fights waiting for him. When he got back we started down. He said his strength item was on the body so he was at burden.
I got the idea he was a new player. Some of the things an experience player would do without thinking he did not do. I never saw him run into a cubby. Most of his battles were in the middle of the hall.
If I had time I would have taught him a few things. Seems like a nice guy and not stupid. He did not do what a lot of kids will do. When there was a big fight he would keep well back. By this time another fighter joined us so we had little problem.
A case in point. In the last room he stayed back and fought a few that broke from the main pack while the two of us cleared the room. With two left he did not try to leach a few points. Instead he got his body while we finished off our fights.
I never checked what alliance he is in but I expect him to be an asset in the future.
Another run to AB
After getting Gimli back to the surface I got a call from Jarad. He needed to get to AB. I told him to meet me in Mayoi and ported to the subway.
At the LS I met a girl who was in role playing mode. It is refreshing and a lot of fun to play along that way.
Jarad got there and we buffed up at the south Direland portal. I asked him if he wanted the fast way or the long safer way. He picked safe, smart guy that Jarad.
A few monsters at the south Direland exit were cleared. Jarad must have checked his map because he exclaimed, "You really meant long."
With a bit of lag we both were having some adrenaline. The new spawns in the Direlands made it different. One thing we noted was a complete lack of Fragments. Last time I made this run there were quite a few. No Bone Lords and Knights helped. Lot of Giga, which if we had time would be good for keys.
We had to stop and heal a few times but were never in any real danger. Jarad was de-buffed a lot. I got slow a few times but was having a laugh with Jarad. "Umbris Shadow casts Life ineptitude V on you surpassing Life ineptitude V." We swapped leads several times as we each lagged. It is a real trip to be in slow motion, in the middle of a pack of monsters. The lag never lasted long so we could quickly outrun them.
Fire Stone Quest
It was one of the weekly quests set up by the family. I logged on at AB where I saw Elder and Dragon. Talked a bit. I also got a tell from a fan of the column. I neglected to get his name, sorry. He wanted to meet me and was in Tou-Tou. I told him I would be passing there on the way to Lin and the quest. He was at the portal to Lin.
After meeting and talking I headed off to the Lin hall where the quest was starting. I was going again as support. There were a lot of people waiting for it to get going. There were so many we had to have two fellowships to hold them all.
Someone made a portal to the Crater. Several in my fellowship and me ran to the pathway. We killed the fire creatures for a warm up. The group got together and started going. I did not make the mistake I made last time and run ahead of the group. I hung back and helped anyone who needed it.
It was a good thing because one member was lagging very bad. It was the worst I have seen in a while. He was running in place a lot. With me just ahead of him the monsters left him alone. Being he was one of the lower levels I had a big worry.
We got there and after a quick buff on my weapon jumped in with the group. The Ryujii, Jared's new UA was leading the quest. I ran forward and cleared it of fire monsters, mountain rats and Zeffers. I was at max melee as the only two spells I had to worry about were fire and blade. With slots open I can buff my melee defense to 364 and my unarmed to 373.
I jumped down the first jump to make sure it was clear. A few people missed and I showed them the way back. After a few times doing this our group was having all the jumps with filled people. There is a turn where you can see anyone that falls.
I know it was not funny for the people missing the jumps but every few seconds a body fell passed me. Because they were making the jumps from different spots the fell in different places. Body left, body right, body center. It reminded me of the lines of strings where water drops slide down. I guess you had to be there but the sight had me cracking up for a while.
I worked my way to the top jump and lagged out. I was sure I was ok with that many people there but it was not fun waiting for the computer to note I'm not there and release my player. Took about three minutes before I got back in.
I advanced up and guess made a different turn because I found myself alone with Windblade. He was there with a different group. We advanced to the last jump and killed all the fire monsters and rats. Only the last drop was left and the Infernal.
We waited for our group and sent a message to the fellowship. Of course after lagging out I was not in the fellowship. I sent a message to Jarad and he was surprised I had got that far already. He had missed me when I lagged out and thought I was back more.
Windblade and I decided to clear the bottom. We both jumped down and started on the Zeffers. One of the fire monsters ran into the room and Windblade was running and attempting to heal. I made a hit on each one so they all turned on me. Windblade said he was down to 6 hit points and my actions may have saved him.
After we cleared them we headed out and killed the Infernal. It was funny that the Infernal did not do me much damage but the Zeffer was ripping me up. I made sure later that someone was in charge of killing that pest when the Infernal spawned.
A while later our people started showing up. There was some concern about who should go first. Back when there was a 15 minute period between spawns this was a problem. Now it is just grab it, it will be back shortly. If your debating who is next your wasting time and making it more dangerous for the weaker players.
As it was the strongest players stayed until everyone got a stone. I had one person in charge of killing the Zeffer during the Infernal spawn. Que'zart said him and Rohku Saicha were going to do the quest themselves. Rohku could not do it at the same time as another player because they share a computer.
After the last person got a stone I sent a tell to Que'zart asking if they would like some company. They were more than willing to have me along.
By this time I'm a bit tired and start missing the jumps. Rohku Saicha was missing a lot as well. Finally we all made the jumps that drop you to the start. I made the long jump but both of them missed it. I saw one of the players running in cycles, which meant he was in trouble so I jumped down to help out.
It was a good thing I did because the hallway back was filled with Zeffers. Nasty little things. We had no trouble with the final jump. At the drop I jumped first to keep any last minute adventures away. With level VI protections I was in the best shape to fight them alone. They both quickly joined me and we cleared them.
The three of us rushed the Infernal. They beat on it while I took out the pesty Zeffer, then I turned on the Infernal. Rohku got his stone and we ported out.
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