New Fist de Yuma
I took my own advice today and was hanging around one of the starter towns. I met two people who were talking. I sat and joined the conversion. One player, whose name I lost, is starting a group for total teamwork play. She has a mage that will not get war until 60 and may not get it at all, total support. She said her only need at that point was some cash.
Randy had just given me a load of D notes. I ported to my hall and grabbed 10 of them for her. I'm sure Randy will be happy I found such a good home for the notes.
Some other people stopped and talked. One was a chain member who wanted to talk about my stand. I told him that the people in the chains I had nothing against. It was the chains themselves I feel need to go away. After talking it over with him a while he understood my point and we parted friends.
Another point was brought up about fellows. Where the fellowships are letting people group and have fun by far the most use is for leveling. The coral groups create a fellow and spread the players out. EVL always has fellows running that has nothing to do with teamwork and everything to do with leveling. I expect he they felt I would be against this.
In fact I'm not. While it is not what Turbine intended it is a gain for the game. The power levelers will always be with us. Fellow or not the corals will be camped 24/7. By making a fellow they do gain xp faster but the other side effect is to make it friendlier.
People don't care of someone in the fellow attacks their target. The help is many times welcome. Some of the lower xp gaining spots can now be utilized as the corals will die if their there to kill them or not. The chatter in the fellows can be a lot of fun as well. This may not happen every time but it happens a lot.
So even in a place where the fellowship is being abused there are enough gains to the fun level that it is a good thing. Anything that can increase fun I'm for. Of course it will affect the game, especially when combined with chains. Better fellowship hunts than a combat macro draining Vapors at the Dam.
Spray
We had the Queen quest today, again. While that trip only had one worth while point the beginning had a great adventure.
Two people need to get sprayed. The only place I know that is working is the dam. With my video system I don't much like going there. I was the only person who could take them.
We grabbed one person to do the switch and headed out. Now I have followed people in this twice but never ran it. The fog combines with cold damage and Vapors makes it a place I would rather avoid.
The run there was easy, taking the river route. We had one person get a might confused at the dam but we got him there ok.
I had the switch puller go with me first. We left the two to get sprayed in the safe upper section. I jumped down and was immediately lost. I thought the wall would be in back of me and it was in front. I knew to follow the wall to the left but at that point was not sure if it was left facing the wall or away from it. I was hit by two blasts from the vapors and hit heal. With the hits, damage from the falls and fire blasts I was not keeping ahead. I'm not sure who but one of the others hit me with a heal. As I was at 5 hit points when it hit it saved my ass. We killed the Vapors and moved. In the confusion I'm not sure which way I went but think it is left while facing the wall.
Somehow I found an opening. I was not sure if this was the right one or not. Between the Vapor golem and the Diamond golems I almost died again. Somehow we survived and got the locked doors open. I have 336 lock pick but on these quest I'm failing more than succeeding. I will have to keep adding to that skill I guess.
We blasted the lighting monsters away from the room before the switches and parked Rom there. I headed back, clearing the Diamond golem and two Vapors before moving into the fog. I found the next passage by following the wall.
I stopped in the passage and battled Vapors. I had the two use my green dot to guide them to the passage. They battled the Olthoi while I rebuffed.
Somehow I did not take any wrong turns and got us to the bottom. I needed two tries to get the door open. At one point I was not sure I could run back to the passage to heal. With weaken lock I got the door and they ran to it.
We had Rom open the door and they fought the EV's until one was sprayed. He had to port out as both were bell breakers and were we were running late. The other one almost died before getting sprayed. His buffs started dropping and he was in a robe. I had buffed them all with protects when we got there. His robe had some protection as well. Still I was about out of mana from tossing heals as he shouted in pain with every blow.
The last EV ran to me and he ported out. I told him to port out as soon as he was sprayed so I was happy to see that. I killed the last one and headed back to plateau.
The quest itself was uneventful. Everyone followed direction, which always makes for a fun event. The only problem happened as we were going to the first Queen. We were going to let the switch puller stay on top and not hold the doors. As we passed the pickable door I was asked of we needed to hold it. I said no and we move to the first door.
I said in the fellow to hit the switch. Nothing happened. I asked who the switch puller was. "You said we did not need anyone there." LOL I meant to hold the door, not the switches.
So a minor problem. We waited while one ported out, ran to the hive and found the switches. I'm going to have to go there and see the switches soon. I have never learned where they are. After that everything was simple, if not safe.
The melee meat shield/killer had a melee defense I knew would be hit a lot. He had pre-gsa, which he trusted me to buff for him, so the al was slightly smaller than the big Hollow armor people had been using. He was hitting well until the de-buffs dropped but I got them reapplied. Despite three healers on him I was adding up to 136 point heals myself. At one point we had some lag and I thought he had died.
Overall everyone had a good time. It is so much fun when you find people who can put differences aside and work together on a hard project. Despite several people being much higher level than me, no one debated my leadership. Everyone pulled their weight. The healers did not leave their duty to get in on the finally blasting of the Queen. The back guards defended us, even though that can be seen as a thankless job. A great time to be had by all.
I have gotten a lot of letters on better ways to get the Queen. One is a way to freeze her so an Archer can get the kill. I want to try that one soon. The other is a way to let the Melee safely get the kill but the details have not been sent to me yet. I'm looking forward to getting that information.
Porn Mail
I have had a lot of letters this month on how MS did not sell my e-mail. It seems there is a box that must be unchecked or your address is open to all. I thought I uncheck all that but the letters say it is in a hard to see spot and the label is misleading. I'm not sure but it is believable.
What the porn sites do is scan that to pick up addresses. Of course the label saying I requested it was a lie but no one calls these people on that. "After all it is only about sex and everyone lies about sex, even under oath."
So it is not totally MS's fault. It is misleading and sneaky but not illegal.
Mule to Tommy town
With the help of a vassal I got my trademan to 35. This meant I could have him turn in the Yellow Jewelry and Vapor golem hearts I have saved up. With 15k a pop it will increase my cooking and the other trade skills over time.
The hard part is getting him to the town. With an endurance buff he had 47 hit points. I figured with other buffs he could lumber his way to Tommy town.
He is based in Lin. The best portal I know is the one in Nanto. It is not a very safe run. I buffed him with level VII protects and started the run.
First few things did not attack or did little damage. A wisp jumped me but give up the chase after a few pecks. I was worried about Reedsharks and had a close eye out for them. I was halfway there when I saw two dots off to my right.
I started to edge left but it was to late. Two Ivory Gunnies were on the hunt. Now Gunnies will follow forever. Even with only 4 to 8 points a hit the two of them were knocking me down fast. I had 6 hit points when they finally gave up the chase.
I laid down a while to recover hit points and started towards Nanto again. I might have to take healing as the next skill. Don't really need it for a trademan but for traveling it would be a big help.
I saw two Lugies with the big rocks but I was able to stay out of their range. With no Reedsharks seen I made it to Nanto. I used the LS their for future trips. I figure can use @lifestone and then the items would clear the vit.
Last part only had a Mosswart chasing. I had great fear that I would disconnect while running toward the plains. I was using the slow unstable computer. I kept myself aimed at the hill so it would stop a runaway.
I was lucky and got into the town without problems. I turned in what I had and made around 200k. It will take time but now I can raise my tradesman's skills.
Mana Conversion
This has to be the most frustrating skill there is. To begin with it is hard to raise. Raising your focus and self will add to it but far slower than any other magic skill.
Then there is the uncertainty factor. It will work great then not at all. As it gets higher it works better of course. The problem is we have no idea how high is high enough.
With any other skill you know it has reached the level you need it at. You stop fizzling items spells your done raising that. The monsters stop resisting and your done raising your skills until you start hunting harder monsters.
With Mana Conversion you have no idea. There is a rumored cap to the skill. My current skill is at 292 without the focus stone. How much higher do I need it? People with 330+ praise the hell out of the benefits so I guess I'm not done. It cost around 5 million points right now so 330 is a long way off. I'm not sure if I want to send a billion points on it anyway. (Rainpea prediction.)
What brought this subject to my attention was an event that happened today. I was doing a hunt when I got close to two Nightmare Wisps. Both got stuck on drain mana. I killed one and got piercing vuln on the others. I hit my hot key for spike before glancing at my mana.
With drains and the spells I used I had 1 mana point left. I was reaching for the hot key for mana elixir but was shocked. The spell fired and killed the Wisp! Now getting a level VII spell to fire with 1 mana point has to be something strange. Wish I was always that lucky.
Newsgroup tales
The below bit has what all good humor requires, a lot of truth taken to the extreme.
Once again, Hello...
Hi, my name is Redleg, and I am an ACaholic.
I started slowly, and didnt think I had a problem. I played maybe an hour here and there, not even every day. But things got out of hand... I started playing more and more. My need to level was overriding everything else in my life. I began playing for six and seven hours at a time, sometimes not sleeping, just so I could run the beaches of Eastham.
My social life began to suffer, but I pretended it was OK -- since I still had my allegiance. My girlfriend left me, saying something about how weird it was that I said "Woot!" during sex. The ASPCA took my dog from me, supposedly because I failed to take it for a walk in 3 days... but who can go AFK for that long?
I began to suspect I had a problem after I was fired from my job. At first, it seemed like a blessing, leaving me with more time to play AC. But as the bills mounted up, I began to worry a bit. I needed at least $10.00 a month income... So I began to sell my belongings. First thing to go was the refrigerator. I dont have time to go shopping, and rely almost entirely on pizza delivery. That covered rent and AC for one month. Next on the list was the stove.
Well, a poor diet and general lack of motion began to take its toll on my health. I knew that sunlight was bad for your skin, and this is how I justified my pasty-white skin. But the bedsores on my butt were becoming rather painful. I developed an odd rash, and absolutely HAD to go to the doctor. I used that time to defrag my hard drive.
At the doctors office, I was taken into custody. It seems the doctor reported me to the authorities, because he felt I may have been under the influence of a cult. It wasnt the hollow sunken eyes, long greasy hair, unshaven chin, or the peculiar twitch I have... it was the fact that I kept mumbling about getting back home to prepare for next months upcoming Event. The doctor grew frightened when I said that my vassals were going to own the undead!
So here I am.
I have been free from AC for almost a week now, and let me tell you, friends, it is not easy. Every time I hear a dog growl, I check to see if it has three legs. If I hear a cat meow, I wonder if it has an apple. I saw my first sunset in 2 months yesterday, and thought I needed to upgrade my 3D accelerator. But I am getting better. I dont get as nervous and sweaty when I see a computer... unoccupied... with a... phone... line hooked... up...
Sorry.
I have to stay strong, but I know it is for the best. Thanks for your support, and perhaps tomorrow will be a bit easier.
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Quests should be fun. Mostly they are but there are times when they are more frustrating. The below is an example of frustration.
This is the story of Hieromancer Halls from my point of view instead of Joeys. Less of a happy ending...more of a frustration of the worlds stupidity, but here I go:
I woke up knowing today was the day Joey was going to get his Exarch Plate. It was a long night last night, so I didnt wake up until 1 or 1:30. Go make myself a bagel and prepare for a nice day of Asherons Call. Log on and wait for his message that hes ready. I chat with some vassals for a while then head to ML island to freeze some vapors.
I needed to get some experience in order to raise my max mana after Epsilons post about the importance of a large mana tank. With 6 minutes left on my buffs I get the tell from Joey saying hes fighting one more buff cycle in order to get some more points into war. I figure this is perfect timing, I could finish the buff cycle, sell my loot, recomp and still have time to recruit some people in the sub.
Two people were interested in the quest, one was level 64 and the other was higher level than me I believe. Since I can solo the quest, I figure this would be a walk in the park. We embark on the trek to HH and in idle chat I discover that one of the characters is a staffer with good magic. My friend, Total Chaos, has a similar template that worked out very good, so I figure this guy should kick some butt too.
The trip to HH was safe...we left from Mayoi where Joey was leaving from Teth, so we arrived a few minutes before him. As a side note - all the new emotes make wasting time so much more fun, hehe. When Joey arrives I give a short briefing of how things are to be done.
I told them we will clear out the banderling spawns and the iron golems. The other three will remain in the iron golem room, Ill hit the switches. When I come back to the iron golem room everyone should follow me. No fighting after that, just running. The instructions were short and sweet and I thought everyone understood.
So we buffed. I have been hunting HH this patch off and on, so I didnt need to download the dungeon. I go ahead and start on the banderlings. I figured everyone else can catch up when they have downloaded. This was the start of the mess.
This is when Joeys power went out and I saw him running by us like there was a set of PPGSA next to the Guardian Spirit. Instead of PPGSA next to the Guardian Spirit it was just Joeys corpse. We cleared the spawn of banderlings but stayed around Joeys corpse hoping he had just lagged out, but he didnt return any time soon.
So I told the other 2 wed do the quest and Id stick around and run Joey through the quest whenever he got back on. So we go upstairs and take out the iron golems. I explain to the remaining two again - Stay up here, Ill go hit the switches, when I come running back up here, follow me.
What happened next reminded me of Monty Pythons Search for the Holy Grail. The part when the guards are guarding the prince, and the guards are so confused they follow the king instead of guarding the prince.
Well when I started going down the stairs to hit the switch, the guys followed me down. What was so hard about my instructions? I had no time to correct them, I could only hope they wouldnt lose me. I hit the switch, run to the stone room and stand in the doorway to hold the door.
I start typing at 120 wpm hoping to walk them through the dungeon. They told me where they lost me at....in the iron golem room. So I start typing which way to go, and I think English must have been an eight language to these guys because they just said "come and get us".
Shortly after that message, I got the message of one of my fellows dieing. That was a relief, at least I only had to come back and get one idiot. So I fight my way back. Apparently my dead fellow never even made it back up the stairs to the iron golem room - the room he was supposed to stay in to begin with.
I explained the directions again, using no words larger than a syllable, hoping the remaining fellow would understand. I cleared the iron golem spawn and hit the switches again. The remaining fellow lost me again, but this time I was able to talk him through to the stone room.
Youd think the idiocy would end here, but it doesnt. The fellow that made it to the stone room decided
to grab 3 extra stones to give to the dead fellow. I didnt bother saying anything.
Someone else was doing the quest and hit the stone room door. We were able to go back and retrieve our dead fellows body for him. That was handy. When we get back to the beginning of the dungeon to give the dead fellows death items back, he inquires if Ill take him through again.
Luckily my RL plans were coming close so I had an excuse. The fellow that made it to the stone room proudly beams "But I got three extra stones for you." Instead of the dead fellow laughing at him, he said "Good, I just needed them for a vassal anyhow. Hell be so happy when I give them to him."
For those of you who dont know...kindling stones are NO GIVE!!!!!
After all that mess, I logged off in HH so I could come back and hunt there later. When I got back on, I had to redeem myself to the questing gods. I got to the kindling stone room solo - just to make sure the quest got done smoothly once today.
The questing gods were also happy with me because the focusing stone quest later in the day went smoothly also. Joeys BM and Joeys dads noob both got shiny new focusing potatoes, as did my BM vassal, my OG vassal and our monarchys trade mule. The entertaining part was that the 20th level trade mule got the kill on the overseer almost every time...and the party was about 15 strong with 2 people higher level than me.
Wrath of Styx - Level 65 BM Ichi Ban Tejinashi - Level 52 4-school / UA / Iron Chef Leafcull
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