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[level50gaming]

It's been a bit over a month since FFXIV started up so I figured I should give an update about where I am in the game and my thoughts.

For my adventuring levels, I've gotten Monk to 49 and have worked somewhat on getting my cross-class ability classes.  For crafting I first pushed all of my classes to 15 to get the first tier of cross-class abilities and see which ones felt the most interesting.  I've since gotten Goldsmith to 50 and Leatherworker to 42.  I've tried to keep all three of the gathering classes close to each other and they're currently all between 35 & 37. Going forward my leveling goals are to finish getting all the cross-class abilities for Monk.  I also want to get Leatherworker to 50 and then get Culinarian to 37 for its cross-class ability.  Lastly I'd like to get all of the gathering classes to 50.

I haven't gotten the chance to do end-game content yet.  I should start doing that in the next week though.  From what I've seen though the dungeons are actually fun.  They are challenging and can be frustrating if not explained, but once you get them down they're fun to do.  This, for me, is a huge improvement over past games where dungeons felt like work.

Crafting is wonderful.  The process of making things plays out like combat in a way.  It's interactive and you feel engaged in the process.  The forced dependence on other classes makes all of the classes useful, but also makes players more likely to level multiple classes which fosters competition for pricing.

Gathering is also fairly interactive.  There's a thought process you go through while picking what to gather and how to go about it.  Fishing in particular is relaxing and fun.

The leve system allows more casual players (or player who just don't have as much time to play) the opportunity to do "dailies" on their own schedule which I think is great.  My only problem is that there aren't group leves to foster more group play.  Granted, there are FATEs, but those are just a grind and boring and one of the few things about the game I'm not impressed by.

I feel FFXIV could be the perfect starter MMO for anyone new to this style of game.  The hest system teaches players new group mechanics that are going to be used in the newest level of dungeons they've gained access to.  New dungeons seem to only add one or two new mechanics to the mix.  This allows players to grow as players as their characters grow too.  At the same time, FFXIV seems to be great for the hard-core crowd.  The currently highest tier dungeon hasn't been beaten yet.  When you consider that most MMOs have a problem of people beating end-game content within weeks of release I feel that's a really big deal.  To balance that hard-core end-game they've also announced that as new tiers of dungeons are added to the game the previously existing end-game dungeons will be nerfed.  This means that progression guilds still have that carrot and casual players will still get the chance to see those dungeons and experience them for themselves.  This, to me, seems like a great balance to have.

If you're interested in anything specific or already playing and looking for a guild feel free to contact me here or over at 404guild.com.

[level50gaming]

Wow, lots of not updating here.  Since my last post I've:

Hit level cap in Tera

Quit it once Neverwinter came out

Leveled up two level 60s in Neverwinter

Quit it once I saw how much of a cash-grab it was & how ridiculous the end-game was

Puttered around in The Secret World to kill time

And now I'm about half-way to cap in FFXIV.  I have to say, it's definitely got the old-school MMO feel I've been missing.  It's a slight grind, the combat is fun, and the story is great so far. A couple of friends and I started a Free Company (their version of a guild) and just opened it for recruitment.  If you're on Behemoth and looking for a small, laid-back guild then feel free to hit us up: http://404guild.com/

[level50gaming]

Definitely going to do this closer to the release of WildStar!

30 Days of Character Development!

HEY RPERS, what if I started a meme. It’s a simple meme. You answer one question every day for thirty days, and by the end of it, you hopefully learn even more about your character and become a better roleplayer because of it! 8Dc  Y’all should totes spread this around.  Here’s the list. 

Read More

[level50gaming]

Spent most of the weekend playing the Neverwinter beta.  Overall I thought it was a lot of fun.  My only issues were the lack of a "quit to character select" option and the poor matching for the group finder.  I spent a bit of time playing each class, but most of my time was spent on my Guardian Fighter "Anne Yong" and my Devoted Cleric "Sara Oakheart".  I was able to get both of them into the upper teens and went through dungeons with both.  While I was able to get through the dungeons even  with poor group make-up, it was a bit frustrating.  I did one run as the GF without a healer and on another run with the DC all other members were Control Mages.  To me the problem of getting the group finder working properly is probably the biggest concern about the game.  I don't mind something challenging, but I expect later in the game you're going to need a bit more of a balanced group to get things done.

Anne Yong felt armor that covered your vital organs was sooooo last age.

For some reason nobody ever wanted to help Sara Oakheart find her walking stick.

[level50gaming]

Evoland (PC, Mac)

Recently accepted by Steam Greenlight, Evoland is an RPG with the unique hook that the graphics and gameplay evolve as you play. Beginning with a monochromatic Gameboy Zelda-style adventure, you play through and discover the emergence of JRPG active battle systems, and, eventually, fully 3D dungeons with modern real-time combat. It helps that throughout it all, the art looks to be superb, and the music is already proving to be fantastic.

[level50gaming]

Pouncelot is coming along nicely.  I've gotten him into the upper 40s and the leveling speed is starting to slow down a bit.  I've still been going through all of the dungeons and seem to be doing well

.

I'm definitely looking forward to Neverwinter this weekend though.  I still haven't decided what class I'll play as a main at release.  I am planning to give all of them a try during the beta weekends thought to see which one feels right.

[level50gaming]

Finally starting to settle down after the move.  I'm just now getting back to gaming now that I'm finding more time.  I'm looking more and more into Neverwinter and am really excited about it, but after being burned on SWTOR and GW2 I don't see myself buying one of the big pre-release Founder things.  I'll just play it as a pure F2P game and see how it goes.

In a lot of the articles and videos I've watched Neverwinter keeps being compared to TERA as far as game-play.  And since TERA recently went F2P I decided to give it a try.  I made a Lancer which is a bit unusual for me.  I generally don't play the "tank" classes, but this one seemed interesting.  Leveling is a bit faster than I was expecting.  The quests are fairly one-dimensional so far.  You're pointed where to go and it's a fairly blunt process.  Kill X of Y mobs, then return to the camp, where you get a quest to go to the next camp.

Pouncelot the Lancer has definitely been fun though.  So far I've gone through the first two dungeons without a hassle.  Both times it was also with PUGS, so that's kind of saying something.  The game, overall, seems really forgiving or at least is allowing for a learning curve as you're leveling up.

[level50gaming]

I've mostly finished the move to Minnesota.  I've continued bouncing around from game to game.  I've tried to log into GW2 a couple of times, but I just can't get enthusiastic about it.

I've been spending most of my time on FarCry 3, TripleTown, and Dungeons & Dragons Online.  TripleTown is a city-building puzzle game that has a very addictive pull.

With Dungeons & Dragon Online I'm back on the old server, but with a new character.  I haven't joined a guild yet, but more than likely will.  I'm up to level five as a pure Barbarian and haven't gotten to a point where I've done anything new, but it's fun and doesn't seem as hectic as I remember.  I'm sure that feeling might kick in if I do any raids though.

[level50gaming]

This seems to be a recurring theme with subscription based games lately.  They start off with subs, then within six months go F2P or B2P.  I haven't played TSW since beta, but my feelings at that time were that it should have been F2P from the start.  I think this is a solid move on their part and I'll be grabbing it as soon as the Wintersday event is finished in GW2.

B2P and F2P really seems to be the future of MMOs.  I'm definitely interested in Neverwinter because it looks like it'll have the action combat feel of GW2 and the ability to make your own dungeons.  I think that'll really be a lot of fun for RP groups too.

(via The Secret World | Funcom)

I don’t usually post stuff for non GW2 games, but this is a big announcement for another of my favorite games — The Secret World. They are following (somewhat) in the footsteps of Guild Wars 2, and going Buy to Play. At $30 for access to all the content of the whole MMO, it’s a steal! 

So if you’ve been curious or you just want a change of pace (modern day, horror-theme MMO), here’s something to ask for for Christmas! 

As of right now subscription is optional for The Secret World.

This means that after buying the game you can play all of the heralded story-line and all content available right now without a paying a monthly fee.

With four major updates released, which introduce much new content such as a Raid in New York, Auxiliary Weapons and many new missions, the game is better than ever.

Buy the game before December the 31st and all the content in Issue #5, which will be released shortly, will also be included and you will receive the Initiate Pack, which includes strong starter weapons, a Blood Raven pet and extra social clothing.

So click here to BUY The Secret World for just $30 / €30 / £24.99.

Read on to get more information about these changes to The Secret World, or check out our FAQ on the official forums.

[level50gaming]

Getting ready for a move so my gaming time has been a bit limited the past couple of weeks.  I've been bouncing around free-to-play games mostly because I haven't found anything that's been able to hold my attention long.

Planetside 2 was mostly enjoyable, but the amount of exploiters was just ridiculous and that's not fun.  Free-to-play + client side data = exploiters wet dreams.  Ugh.

Vanguard is an older MMO that follows the original EQ grind style.  It's got some mechanics I haven't seen before (Diplomacy and their version of Crafting) and is good for wasting some time.  The F2P model has all classes and races available until level 20.  At that point you'd either need to become a premium member or purchase the specific class or race you want.  Being a premium member does have other perks, but it's clearly a game you can play completely free to play up until the end-game.

FarCry 3 is a new FPS sandbox game.  I got mildly motion sick playing it, but I also played a LOT longer than I should have (both in length of time and how late I played) so that could have been part of the problem too.  I can see it being a solid timesink for a couple of weeks.

I'll probably also get the Humble Bundle this week in preparation of the holiday period.  I'll be on my own for over a week and without a job until next year, so I'll need to keep entertained somehow.

[level50gaming]

[level50gaming]

Since I'm taking a break from GW2 (due to a lack of interest caused by the addition of the Ascended gear) I've been spending a fair amount of time playing other games on Steam.

My guild from GW2 has set up a weekly Torchlight 2 night.  It's a really fun, fast-paced game.  None of us are particularly good, but it's still really entertaining. We've also been playing Don't Starve.  It's an indie game and not multi-player, but several of us will play and tell each other things that are happening.

I've also been playing gobs of Planetside 2.  Again, I'm not good but it's fun.  I've joined the 666 Devil Dogs outfit (their version of guilds) that's incredibly large but well organized.  On Saturday we had around 280 members online doing coordinated attacks against several targets.  It was an absolute blast and I already see I could get addicted to this level of chaos.

[level50gaming]

Found this post on the reddits: http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/13gj0p/ascended_gear_and_infusions_how_to_make_them_and/ It's a well laid out and detailed post explaining recipes, the new gear, yadda.  The part that concerns me the most is this:

Fractals are seperated into tiers. 1-9 is Tier 1, nothing causes agony, no significant upscaling of mobs, vials of essence can drop. 10-19 is tier 2, bosses cause agony, globs of essence can drop, daily chest can give you a ring. 20-29 is tier 3, more agony causing effects, mobs have additional abilities, Fractal weapons can drop. I don't know of anyone that has made it to tier 4. There is a daily reward completion for each tier. Each tier has a different subset of possible rewards. I recommend at least doing the tier 2 (difficulty 10) daily each day as it has a chance to give you an Ascended ring.

The amount of repetitive grind they've implemented with getting this new gear is, frankly, staggering.  The rift it's creating in the player base was just as I expected.  Folks who are happy with the grind have an attitude that "if you're casual or don't want to grind you don't have to do it".  Which, to an extend is correct.  The problem is if someone wants the BIS gear and wants to focus on WvW they can't without having to grind out PvE content.  Forcing players to do one style of gameplay to be good at another style of gameplay is just dumb.  Especially when you consider how the game was advertised how you could level and play how you wanted.  That's been taken away from people and, imho, it's going to get worse the longer ANet continues down this path.

Edit: Oh, and then there's this gem on the Official Forums: https://forum-en.guildwars2.com/forum/info/news/A-message-from-our-Studio-Design-Director-Chris-Whiteside

Our Studio Design Director Chris Whiteside just posted this:

“I’d like to respond to concerns players have raised about ascended items. Please keep in mind that we’re releasing this as one portion of a massive November update that introduces and improves many aspects of challenge, progression, and rewards. With this and upcoming updates, we view ourselves as introducing large amounts of content with supporting systems and features, akin to an expansion pack, building on Guild Wars 2 through a series of live releases. So it’s important for us to be able to add an expansion pack’s worth of progression and rewards to support that content.

Our goal is not to create a gear treadmill. Our goal is to ensure we have a proper progression for players from exotic up to legendary without a massive jump in reward between the two. We will slowly add the remaining ascended gear items and legendary items in future updates to allow people time to acquire them as we add exciting new content that deserves exciting rewards. We will not be adding a new tier of gear every 3 months that we expect everyone to chase after and then get the next set and so on.

Ascended and infusion rewards will be available in both PvE and WvW over time, and be made available through all sorts of content around the world including existing content. PvP will remain unaffected to ensure our intended PvP balance going forward. We are also working on other reward and progression systems for the game that tie into current and new content and features. As you know we care very much about your support and opinion and are listening intently to what you say. Finally we look forward to hearing your thoughts on the upcoming content, and we will ensure we share our thoughts with you on the experiences we share in the Lost Shores."

Chris Whiteside – Studio Design Director

What's that?  Oh, sure, grind the eff out of this stuff we're making available to you until we get around to having Legendary Armor for you to grind out.  Oh, but we're totally not making a gear treadmill.  It's just a gear set of stairs, because you only have to grind stuff out once!  We're so nice.

[level50gaming]

Miyani, we need to talk...

[level50gaming]

Complete Guide to Fractals of the Mists

Complete Guide to Fractals of the Mists

"Each time you complete a fractal your progress will be saved, along with your current difficulty scale. However, the scale set for your overall group will always be set to that of the team member with the least progress."

Incoming "FOTM LF1M MUST BE DS3+".  *sigh*  I'm really trying to hold out hope but this is not the direction I was expecting from this game.  It's bad enough when you have the occasional person who is trying to form a dungeon group and will only take level 80s, but adding a scaling system is going to divide the community even further, IMHO.

[level50gaming]

Myygua now has her full set of exotic jewelry, armor, and weapons!

[level50gaming]

Am I the only one amused that the new dungeon for GW2 is literally the FotM dungeon?