It is amazing how perceptions can change with new events. Going into the PK wars I had held some players with respect and others with disdain. After a weekend I have reversed many of those perceptions.
I have had my war of words with Shiner aka Requiem. I have made an uneasy peace but did not respect him much. Baalzevuv I had great respect for and I admired Iconoclast.
This weekend I had the pleasure of watching Requiem work. It was not so much the way he attacked, which was outstanding, but his actions after the kill. He had chased a player for a long time before getting the kill. He then noted that they were in a remote spot. He stopped and sent the coordinates to the other player so he could recover. He could have then ported out, leaving me to find the battles again. Instead he created a portal so I could follow and observe.
Requiem was a team player. At times he could have gotten kills easily. Instead he helped the other members of his team. He was polite to me, as were most players.
I was playing a reporter mostly during the wars, but will likely change after this weekend. Not so much of the good actions of Team Two, but for the bad, hateful conduct of high level members of Team One, mostly Iconoclast and his followers.
I will be up front on what I am. If my fellow says "Reporter", I'm neutral. If I'm a scout or spy I will have "Spy" or "Scout" in the name.
All in all I had a good time and took a lot of notes on the war. I will try to get the names right but I might get some misspelled or even put wrong names to the events. I will do my best to just leave out the names if I'm not sure.
A little background. A Morningthaw player named Leivantes proposed a PK event. Two teams would form up. Monarchs asked to be placed on one team or the other. There would be no looting. At first some safe zones were set up. But after both teams abused this everywhere became open to PK.
There were more battles that I can report. Players were showing off their talent, killing, dying and having a lot of fun. I saw Jocasta kill and then be killed in return. She messaged me about the fun she was having.
I tried to follow each team and be neutral. I was asked for help by several members of Team Two, which my alliance belongs. I declined and they understood I had to be neutral. It might have seemed like a break in that neutrality when I would supply a Killean member with stones or comps. I did not think so as this was something I would have done if no war was on. But that was only once.
On the Sunday I was the center man in a fellowship. This allowed me to hear what was going on a get a better idea on tactic's and strategy. The fellowship was "Team II, Fist Reporting". Very clear I think.
I found most battles to quickly break down into single events. Where there were two on one the outnumbered generally ported out. Sometimes a player was able to kill two players of his level with good play. Sometimes a player would win in fair fights against higher levels.
I saw Dalic killed by Lee. Dalic is a good player and had Lee on the run for a long time. Then they faced each other and Lee killed him. I found out later that Dalic has the wrong bar up. He tossed a protection spell instead of his attack spell, leaving him open for the kill.
A lot of times a large group would attack a town and win, only to be driven out in turn. I was following a group of Team II members who were attacking Eastham. They ran into a buzz-saw name Donivan and his clan. Donivan brilliantly defeated that attack. He then helped Team II members recover their bodies.
I found it easier to follow the chased than the chasers. One such attacked Donivan's group on his own. After he was chased away he spent a long time buffing and headed back to attack. As he got to town a Team II group led by Logrus joined him. Logrus and his spear was wrecking havoc on Team One all day. At last count he was 80+ kills and 5 deaths.
Logrus made short work of Donivan and his team routed Donivan's clan. They then fled with a report of Iconclast and others headed that way.
I followed one of the few members of Killean in the fight. Others did join later but for a long time Diggity Dastardly was it for Killean. He got a few kills and was killed a few times.
As a neutral observer I saw that both teams would hide in the subway. Both teams also complained about the other team hiding. This problem has been solved as the subway is no longer a safe zone.
After the Eastham attack I followed Logrus a lot. He was fun to watch and as a melee I was proud to see his success. Lot of player don't like Logrus. Mostly because he will camp the BDC Nobles a lot or as least he did. I have never had a problem with him. Sometimes I would waste effort trying to get kills over him. Mostly I don't win.
After almost getting me killed I asked him to warn me if I needed to put armor on. I had on a master robe on for this. Zero armor was not smart when stepping into unknown portals.
After a run though the Direlands we ended up in a desert town. I went blinking red and was disconnected. After getting back I found that Lugrus and most of his group left. A few players were still there. I noted a red dot just off screen and headed over there. Somehow no one else had saw this.
I found a Team One mage buffing, I believe he name was Fiarath. After he buffed up he killed or ran off everyone. He then stated "I will go back to stocking my mule." As if he just cleared his town of trash and now was going on with his business. One outstanding fighting mage.
While in a town that was a battleground for a while I met a player named Foxx. He has not been playing for a while and found himself in the middle of the war. He was not ready for this and wanted to go NPK but he was not strong enough to do it.
I agreed to help him. I have reached the level where Liches are not much trouble. With a few heals from Foxx it was quite easy. After he changed back to white I met Jose Jr. He was trying to go white as well. But it seems that if you have made a kill within the last three hours you cannot. I stayed with him for a while, keeping the Liches busy.
On Sunday I was in the fellowship. Members were Corrine Wolfbane, Lugrus and some 50lv fighters. Most were fighters. They were chasing a group led by Iconoclast and Baalzevuv. It would go back and forth as the teams tried to get superior numbers for a fight.
I was surprised to see them as Iconoclast had started several times he was withdrawing from the war.
Both teams ran to the subway to regroup. In one battle Lugrus was chasing a player who jumped into the GW hall. Lugrus followed and found himself in an ambush. The only thing he could do was log and pray while still in the portal.
I went in to see what was going on. Another white player that had withdrawn from being PK followed me. I was accused of being a spy and treated badly by Iconoclast. This confused me. If I was a spy there was nothing they could to about it. If I was a spy there would be no reason to not state it. I gained or lost nothing either way. It was Lugrus that warned the group not to follow him.
Iconoclast stated he wanted to end the war. It was clearly a ruse, as were the other statements about quitting.
Some of Team Two members felt the ambush's set up by Team One were lame. I disagreed. In war it is what works. Getting better numbers in a place is the way to win. After a few attempts Team Two was getting smart and not running into portals without checking.
Everyone on Team Two was mad at Baalzevuv. The subway was still a safe zone so they could not attack him. They decided to do the next best thing. The surrounded him with all their players. One asked another to drain his health so the sound would make Baalzevuv even more nervous.
Finally it seemed as if Baalzevuv had enough and he ran into the GW portal. The team yelled warnings for no member to follow him, they smelled the trap. I followed and sure enough Iconoclast and his team were waiting. This started the nasty comments in my direction, as if I had caused the ambush to fail.
About this time the players in my fellow were logging for the night, or stating they were going to log. I informed Iconoclast of this. As some had not logged yet I got another bunch of nasty comments. I followed this team for a bit. I had been changing sides to watch all night. But I was getting abuse from Iconoclast for this. This was the first time anyone on Team One had objected my presents.
I found that overall Iconoclast is just a nasty person. Baalzevuv was not saying much of anything during the war. Even when some members were clearly out of control he stood by and watched, not the actions of a leader. I found a lot more leadership on Team Two's side. Only good leader I saw on Team One was
Donivan.
As I knew most of Team Two was logged there was no reason to stay and take abuse. I headed to the Nest.
It seemed that Team Two owned the day and Team One owned the night. I'm not sure who the overall winner is or will be, but most are having too much fun to care.
The one thing I saw missing in this was a goal. What was the point? If I was running it I would have made it a defend the town or kill a person event. Some clear objective to defend or attack. Lets say a town is picked. For 12 hours or so it will be a battleground. The team that holds it longest wins points. There are a lot of things that can be done. We will see how this plays out.
Killean said that he is going PK but last time I saw him he was white. Elder had declined the invite. I was offered an Item VI orb if I would go PK but declined. Fist will never go PK, he is a helper not a killer. Other players I have might go PK in the future. Cliff Bowman is the mostly likely to go PK. He is a lot meaner that Fist.
In the news group it was said I play Cliff Bowman mean as I hate archers and want to discrete them. Strange thing to say. Other than Fist de Yuma (Sr.) and the two mages, all of my players have a bow or crossbow. Yes I have had my troubles with lame bow-users. But that is the person behind the player, not the class. For a long time the lamers all used Bows. Unfortunately it seems melee is getting the lamers now. The new places are a melee leveler dream. Lamers take the path of least resistance.
I have been in e-mail contact with a player in Darktie. He wants me to join him there. As I already have too many players so this might not be possible. But he is a very convincing writer .
Failed trade turns out good.
I was on contact with "The Missing Element" on COD. He had some unarmed V gloves for G race only. About the only player I know who is unarmed and that race is my vassal "The Saint". One of his others "Di Di" met me in the Awric hall. He gives me the gloves and we started to deal. He wanted Shards, which I did not have. I made some offers and we went back and forth.
After a time it became clear that I did not have what he wanted. I returned the gloves and asked him to keep in touch. I was hoping I could find some Shards before he found a G race unarmed fighter. To my surprise he gave me the gloves and refused the four keys I had offered early. There is some chance he will even become a vassal of mine. It seems he was impress with my effort on behalf of a vassal.
Honesty is the best policy.
I was at the Tired Mage Tower after a PK chase. While standing there a player hands me 5000 in pyreal. I chased him down and ask why. It seems he had erred and the money was for someone else. I returned it. He then gave me 2000 for a reward. It saved me from having to cash a D note for comps.
While there a player asked if I remembered recovering his body a while back. I said I had done that often but was sorry, I did not remember him. I hate to lie. He said he remembered well and was thinking of joining me in a few days. I had just lost most of my vassals when Sidhartha left. Now it looks like I will gain a few back. We will see.
The Nest
After making 60 the other day I decided that my next skill would have to be Creature. Not that I need it for myself. But it is the one skill that lets me help others a lot. But that means waiting until 85lv. As it takes 10 million points for 61 this may be six months or a year away. (Note: found out that 85 is close to 700 million. I have 134 million now. At a million a day it is two years off. I will have to work harder.)
To make the points I go to the Nest. Fast fun and a lot of points for the time spent. I go to the third level and try to make it to the forth. So far I get too much loot and have to port before getting to the forth level. I have tried to stop the massive battles. Just not smart to fight 20 at a time when I can draw three or four. But that takes time. Sometimes I have to re-clear my backside before moving forward again.
If there are two fighters it is much better. I can take on more at a time as they switch targets enough to keep my stamina up. My grand vassal Basish fights in the Nest as well. Saturday him and I headed deep. I think I had him worried a lot as he was not use to a massive pack of Soldiers. He had to stop and heal in battle. I would try to beat on the ones attacking him if he did this. This would cause them to switch to me and let him heal up.
Basish is lucky. I'm in one of my key slumps. Killed about 200 Soldiers without a key. He got two while with me. Just as we were going to the forth level he had to leave.
I decided that I need to make a few trips to the Nest each day. This will get me 500k to in million points. This will also mean less time for my other ppl's. Still playing them but not as much.
It is a good change of pace to play Fist de Yuma (Jr.) who can just take one Lugie. Cliff Bowman (MT) can take two and if lucky three at a time. Mages are harder to play but even more of a change of pace. Playing Fist de Yuma (III) is hardest of all as he has less support and is the lowest player I have.
I was glad to see I can tie to the dungeon portals again. But that also means too many players there. Fist (Jr.) was fighting today and kept getting portal storm warnings. But at least today it was not a problem. When there are too many players Lugies last for about three swings, not much xp. Today they lasted long enough to kill me twice.
Mini quests
I hear all the time how high level players get bored. Never happened to me. If you are bored just hang around a place like Awric a bit. Soon someone will need help and you have a mini quest on your hands. Some will be dull as can be, others will be hair raising.
First quest was during the PK wars. I went into a portal following a PK group. There was a low-level player that needed help recovering his body. There was another player that wanted to help. I told the low-level that the other guy would help. I tagged along to watch.
When we got to his body a few weak monsters could be seen on a hill. The helper ran to engage them. What he did not see was the horde of new Druges just in back of them. I had on master robe and no weapon out. I ran to engage them, giving a bit of time to the helper who ran. Nice to have an undropable always equipped weapon ready, my Fists.
The newbe had died again and we were split up. I put on some armor and buffed a weapon up. The two of us then wiped the floor with the Druges. I went back to the portal to help the newbe and the helper kept the space clear. I must have missed the newbe as I got a message that he had recovered.
Next quest was after I ported from the Nest. A player told another one he was going to search for someone with lock pick ability. I offered my help. He was on the staff quest and was going to the Mite maze. I ask him the key question. "Do you know the way." I know that a quest will mostly fail if the route is not known. This one is especially hard.
He said he had a map. I then spent about 15 minutes selling off and getting comps. He ran to the portal without any problem. Seems like there are fewer mites than before. After a few minutes it was clear that his map was not helping much.
We ran across a body and I sent a tell asking if he needed help. We did not get a reply so we headed off again. We spent an hour searching for a ramp without success. We did meet the player who had left the body, and another one we found.
We helped him recover his bodies. He had a friend on line that had completed the quest. He sent directions and we ran around some more. Between having the directions being sent third party and a bit of time passing since the other had done the quest we faired no better. Finally the mage had run out of time and he logged for the night.
When I hit Awric I heard a tell about Shorty' needing a lock picker. It was a locker pickers night. This was a simple quest. We ran a lot and got to a desert castle. I was still in robes and no buffs. Ran into two Iron Golems! I ran and buffed so I could take on the Golems. But it was two late. The guy I was with and two others waiting for a lock picker killed then before I was done buffing. I open the door and that was it.
Hit Awric again and saw a strange message. "Any high level bored and want to go to deadly place." This sparked my interest. I asked Syarzeth where this place was. It was a sad story. He had been gone for two months. Logging in today he was in the new, much harder Direlands.
His body was in the middle of a horde of new improved Banderings. I agreed to help him. He made a portal, with some fizzles (vit) and we headed off. As soon as we hit the ridge he was chased by some Ash's. It seems he cannot do one of the two key things you need to do in the Direlands. He could not fight an Ash, he could not out run an Ash.
If you cannot do one of the two, don't go to the Direlands! I killed three Ash's and some Bandlerings. Bandlering tossed a bunch of de-buff's on me and a shock wave hit me for 129. I was glad I had put on my sprint VI shoes. He recovered and off we ran. Next we hit a little cove. As we ran down the hill two Granite golems and 7 Ash greeted us!
He died quickly. I killed them and waited for him to get back. It seems the route we were taking was wrong. The body was on the other side of the mountains. We headed out again and ran into a bunch of Bone lords and Knights. He got away but we were split. I tried to run back but was chased to a dead end and had to port out.
I hit the LS with every stat I had in the red. I had never seen so many de-buffs. I was about 20 levels lower it seemed. I met Syarzeth at his LS and checked my friends list. Felt I was going to need some help on this one. Jann was on but she was on the new Island questing. Lock was on and in fact right at the LS with us.
We were making plans on the recovery when I decided to ask Syarzeth what he lost. It was some low-level armor. I then decided the best plan was to replace the armor. I'm sure Lock and I could have got the body but keeping Syarzeth alive with his vit would be problematic.
Syarzeth loves his new armor. It does not match really well but he does not look like a mule.
Cleaning out Mules
My mules are a lot lighter these days. I have had to outfit four people in Armor this week. The first was The Saint. He left 4 bodies in the high-ore Ligie place. Next came with a new vassal of Ash. He is another high level from a different server. Ash sent me a note that up to 40 players from that server might be moving to Morningthaw.
I need to find a good mage and pay for some leveling services. I will also need to camp the Nobles for armor. LOL how am I going to outfit 40 players.
Next problem was Reever. Most people don't like Reever. His only problem is he is a kid. He is a Monarch of kids so there is no one to guide him. I do my best.
Anyway his account was hacked and he lost everything he owned except the no drop bow. Me and another player felt sorry for him and got him a new set of armor.
Thanks to the Fans
With all my traveling I met a lot of fans of the column. Mostly I was in a big hurry and could properly thank them for the comments. Your praise means a lot to me. Writing this takes time and the editing is even harder than writing it. (I make too many mistakes.) It is the fans that make it all worth while.
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