Sideshow & Syrana

It’s weird.  On the one hand, BlizzCon feels like it was just the other day, but on the other hand, it feels like it was ages ago.

Then, it really hit me that it was over a month ago.

Remember all that great BlizzCon recappin’ I promised?  Yeah…time got away from me and there was just so much BlizzCon related info bombarding us all.

So, here’s a mini-recap – the short and sweet version.  (Or, at least, the shorter version than what it would have been had I been on my game after returning home! It’s still, uh, a bit wordy…)

What to expect after the cut:

• Day 1 summary of things seen and done
• Day 2 summary of things seen and done
• Overall experience summary
• Thoughts on Cataclysm changes
• How I’d do it different next time

What I already posted:

BlizzCon 2009: Step 3 – Profit

BlizzCon 2009 – The Final Day

BlizzCon 2009 – Wrap Up & Review Part 1: The Real Schedule

BlizzCon 2009 – Wrap Up & Review Part 2: The Loot

(continue reading…)

Just a reminder that Sideshow and I will be guests on the Rawrcast show this Satuday at 4pm CST.  We hope to see you there!

(Part 31) For a complete list of this series, please go here.

Aerissa awoke to rays of sunshine streaming in through the window and across her face.  She squinted, her eyes swollen and sore from crying.  After she had gone upstairs, she had taken a long, hot bath.  Twyla had checked on her and offered her own bed to Aerissa for the night since the inn had no vacancy.  Aerissa appreciated the gesture, but felt the bed had been wasted on her.  She barely slept through the night, tossing and turning, her heart aching at the loss of Locke.

Twyla had been quick to have the guards remove Locke’s body before morning so that no one else would bear witness to his true end.  To Twyla, the only thing Aerissa needed to know was that the plague had overtaken his body and ended his life.  She couldn’t allow Aerissa to know the full truth.

Aerissa shivered, although the room was not cold, and sat up on the bed.  She rested against the headboard and drew her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them tightly.  Resting her forehead upon her knees, she cried quietly.  Only a few tears were left to spill down her cheeks.

She thought back to when she first encountered Locke in Eversong Woods and the deep bond they had formed – as huntress and companion.  Aerissa mourned the loss of Locke more than she had mourned the loss of anything else in her life.  A dull ache filled her chest.  Aerissa felt empty and lost without him. (continue reading…)

I originally did this post on my Genealogy site due to a weekly meme that another blogger creates on Saturdays, but I thought it was a good post to get people to think about their answers. I won’t make you go visit my site to read it, since it’s not that exciting unless you’re into family history research, though I’m not stopping you.

1. What is your all-time favorite song? Yep, number 1. It’s hard to choose sometimes. If you made your favorite all-time Top 40 music selections, what would be #1?

2. Tell us about it. Why is it a favorite? Do you have special memories attached to this song?

My favorite song of all-time is a pretty simple choice. It’s something I have thought about in the past. It seems I’m constantly trying to figure out my favorite musicians and songs. Overall, it’s a tough thing to choose, but my Top 1 or 2 are usually pretty well cemented. My taste in music is probably a lot heavier than most of the genealogy community, but even though my favorite band is pretty heavy, the song is not.

(continue reading…)

Woo, queues have significantly reduced over the weekend.  It seems that opening a couple more servers and raising population caps slowly have helped.  Also, the change made to the private stores, where they can’t be afk selling for more than 30 minutes, has helped too.

As I mentioned before, Sideshow and I rolled Asmodian on Lumiel.  It has been a popular server – which makes it busy.  During the headstart, queues for Lumiel were easily 2 hours.  After the live launch, the queues were commonly 1.5hrs.  But Friday night, it was only 20 minutes!  Then on Saturday, there was no queue in the afternoon, and a short one (15ish minutes) in the evening.

See, I think things will be ok.

Character Creation

So, yes, I have an Asmodian on Lumiel by the name of Syrana.

(continue reading…)

Last Saturday (9/19) was Pirate’s Day in game.  Syrana, of course, had to get the achievement associated with it.

Syrana finds the party on the roof of the Booty Bay auction house.

Syrana approaches Cpt. DeMeza to have a drink.

Cpt. DeMeza insists that Syrana dress like a skanky pirate and drink some more.

Syrana models the pirate look after a few mugs.

If you are just joining us or looking for a refresher the entire series can be found here.

Generation 2: Aerissa, Xander, and Caleb

Upon Aerissa’s graduation from high school, Darcy decided to purchase a new car.  Previously, Darcy and Aerissa utilized the town’s taxi service or car pooled with co-workers, but after graduating, Aerissa was putting in a few extra hours at the book store.  Darcy also figured that as the boys grew older, the whole family would need more access to transportation.

Aerissa enjoyed the freedom that young adulthood was providing to her.  She graduated at the top of her class, but wasn’t entirely sure what direction she wanted to take now.  Although she was putting in a few extra hours at the bookstore, she wasn’t working full-time there.  While her brothers were at school and her mother at work, Aerissa took advantage of the quiet and solitude throughout the house so that she could paint and write.

(continue reading…)

While I was on my baby priest (which can I even really call her a disc priest at such a low level?) I got a random whisper asking me about my spec…. enjoy.

…. yes, he believed me when I said I wasn’t a healer.

In case you didn’t get to catch the live Twisted Nether Blogcast show last Friday while Sideshow and yours truly were on there, it is now available for your listening pleasure!  You can access it here or download it on iTunes (look for episode 59!).

Now that you’ve heard us get twisted, look forward to our guest appearance on Rawrcast on October 3rd!

What an eventful past few days it has been.  The buzz surrounding Aion’s launch can be heard far and wide.  Apparently, the Asmodian race is a popular one.  Who knew? I mean, usually more people gravitate toward the shiny happy people, right?

Last Friday (9/18/09) was the day for pre-selection for those that pre-ordered Aion.  It meant you could reserve 2 character slots.  That’s it.  No playing yet, just reserving your name and faction on 1 or 2 servers.  This actually didn’t go over well for everyone.  Sure, it was nice to get to do that… but there was a lot of complaining too.

Some people had to change their server choices or had their names taken.  Then there was the blocking of creating Asmodians on a LOT of servers for a period of time.  This didn’t mean you never could, but you had to wait until more Elyos were created to restore balance.

Balance being the key word.

With a game like Aion that has a lot of focus on PvP, balance is important. (continue reading…)