We bought it and used it for a bit.

Now it sits in the basement, unused.  Why? Well, the environment is not conducive.

I get the treadmill effect with some games.  At this point, I’d say Aion was my treadmill MMO.  Once my workout buddy stopped playing, it was hard to keep my interest.  Then there’s the grind.  Sure, I’ve said time and time again that putting seemingly mundane and repetitious tasks into game form and I love ‘em.

But the environment wasn’t quite right.

So Aion, much like my treadmill, sat unused for a lengthy period of time.  All the while I kept telling myself I should get back in there.

But I didn’t.  My account expired a few weeks ago.

I didn’t quit because I disliked it or because of World of Warcraft (which I haven’t logged into for a few weeks either).

Much like my treadmill – I enjoyed it when the environment was conducive.

I could start using either one again at anytime.

Image courtesy of Robbert van der Steeg @ Flickr

You ever notice how weird time is? The amount of time in a day is the same… every day.  But some days time seems to drag and other days it flies by.

I definitely find this crazy “fast flying” time to be the case when I take vacation days.  Especially those vacation days where you don’t actually leave the house.

I had some time off over this last week, and I had all these plans of things to do during that time.

All these things I wanted to tackle could be boiled down to 3 main categories:

1. Spend time with Sideshow
2. Play games
3. Write blog posts and maybe get a bit ahead of myself!

…I can tell you 2 outta 3 ain’t bad.

Of course I got to spend time with Sideshow.  Besides it being our birthday, we like to … well, play games together.

And I’ve been trying to mix it up a bit.

Yes, I know.   My Facebook gaming has gone beyond research at this point.

I was not very good at disciplining myself to writing time.  Not a huge thing, but man, is it easy to lose track of time when you get into a gaming groove.

For example, I picked up Harvest Moon: Animal Parade over the weekend for the Wii.  I love Harvest Moon and have played about 3 other of its titles on the Gamecube.  Well, that game can really suck you in as you get into your farming and ranching routine; picking mushrooms, herbs, and berries; talking to the townsfolk; wooing a townie; and working on the game objectives to save the town and restore nature’s balance.

I love it.

Then we also picked up Wii Fit Plus.  Sideshow had already purchased Wii Fit and the board several months ago (after my nagging about wanting it).  He’d been using Fit, but I still had yet to step onto that board.  We picked up Plus because it has some neat and helpful additions to it.

Well, I finally got on there and am making it a goal to get on it daily, even if it’s only 15-20 minutes a day.

So here I am, being pulled towards newly purchased games that demand my love and affection.  (Gawd how I love that new game smell!) But all my other games cannot be out done.

See, I had this plan to go wild with completing dailies, maybe finally pug it up with Syrana, work on my baby priest, and tackle some more Loremaster.

I spent, at the most, a couple hours on WoW during my extended weekend….so… yeah.

Then I remember… oohh, I need to putz around with Aion…

I planned on it…

I only have a couple more days before my subscription runs out…

…

I still haven’t logged in.  I haven’t logged in for a couple months now.  I talked about re-evaluating my subscription, but I haven’t even logged in to do it.  I think that’s more telling than anything else right now, don’t you think?

What? Oh yes, I know there’s been nothing new ’round here for a few days.

You see, sometimes I get a bit distracted…especially by new games.  But not just by any ol’ new game – good new games.  Unlike Sideshow, I don’t really suffer from game ADD.  Instead, I tend to get hyperfocused on one thing at a time.  That’s why my playtime may seem to be monopolized by one particular game for a stretch of time then shift to another.  After the newness wears off, I tend to fall back into a more “normal” multi-game rotation of sorts.

Unfortunately, this hyperfocus can derail other projects I have going.  For example, this past week I’ve fallen (farther) behind (than usual) on reading other blogs as well as posting.  But hey, we all need mini-breaks here and there, am I right?

At any rate, I thought I’d give a bit of an update as to what’s going on in my virtual world(s).  I don’t usually write update type of posts, but what the hell… when have I ever followed the rules before?

WoW

THE Syrana

Syrana is still level 80.  Amazing, I know.

Alynedarra

Alynedarra is still there as well.  Not many of my alts have seen much love lately.  Syrana is diligently working on Loremaster and the Seeker.  Kalimdor quests are what I’m focusing on right now, and that’s going pretty well.  I still have around 140ish more quests before I move on to the Eastern Kingdoms.

Sure, I still need to finish off Outland and Northrend, but I figure those areas will be less affected by the impending Cataclysm.  And trust me, I don’t want any sort of earth shattering destruction to stand between me and those achievements.

Warhammer

…

Oh wait, I haven’t played that since the 2nd month after it went live.

Moving on then…

Aion

Yet Another Syrana

Syrana the spiritmaster is at level 20, right there with Sideshow the gladiator.

Pick me! Pick me!

Nataliah, my templar, is still a baby at level 10.  I honestly haven’t played a lot recently because of the Loremaster focus.  But, we’ve popped on here and there to do some questing, gathering, and crafting.

Of course I logged on to check out my veteran rewards though!

I think Nataliah will be getting some extra love very soon, because Sideshow is going to be distracted by a plethora of console games.  I don’t want Syrana to get too far ahead of him, so I’ll be a good wife…for now.

Sims 3

Syrana: One badass Sim

Honestly, I haven’t played my sims in a few months.  I almost couldn’t believe how long it’s been!  I’m trying to get the Sims Saturday Legacy posts caught up to where I am in game.  I still have a-ways to go before that happens.  Of course, this is due to that hyperfocus I mentioned earlier.  When Sims 3 came out, I played it A LOT before slowing it down and deciding to chronicle the stories.

Dragon Age: Origins

Elissa...she doesn't look like the others.

This is where my focus has been for the past week.  Excellent game.  Excellent story.  And… well, this is going to have it’s own post soon enough so I’ll just stop there.

What about you? Are you feeling the weight of multi-game madness right now? Anything you are looking forward to coming out (or just came out)?

Sideshow is currently at 80 and has been there for many months now. In all honesty, he’s probably as far as he needs to be. He has a few Naxx pieces, some PvP pieces, etc. I have no interest in getting him fully top-tier geared. That’s not how I play. I drop in to enjoy my free time with whatever I feel like doing at the time. I usually do a few dailies, hit up a few battlegrounds, and maybe run some stuff with guildies. I may start PuGing more when the dungeon changes come out in 3.3. It’s not the act of raiding that I don’t enjoy.

I enjoy raiding with friends, but the act of scheduling a weekly time to play a game never sits well with me. I game when I have free time. Everything else usually trumps that. When I start to schedule time to play, then I start to lose interest. It’s not an active thing I’m doing. My brain just starts to lose interest in it. I’ve accepted the fact that I probably won’t raid much, so it doesn’t bother me. Though, it also probably goes along with my gaming-style in general.

The plus side to that is that I now (after almost 4 years of playing WoW) have more than one max-level character. My 2nd character created back in 2006 has finally hit max-level. I was always a few months behind with him. He’s my dwarf hunter, Gertbee, who started on Eitrigg and who is now on Gilneas in <I Blame Syrana>. Brigywn would be so proud!

Other than that, I’ve been meddling in other games. My play-style is best described as a “short-attention span” style. Don’t confuse that with ADD. I really get into my games, but I can burnout quickly and jump to another one. I do this a lot and usually come back to games later on. I rarely beat games on my first run. Due to this, I’ve got back into GTA IV, but that is also due to the new episodic release, The Ballad of Gay Tony. I’m also playing Borderlands (PC), Brutal Legend (360), and Aion (PC).

I dread the next few months, though. I have to deal with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Assassin’s Creed 2, Bioshock 2, Mass Effect 2 (I see a pattern here), and now I like what I’m seeing with Dragon Age: Origins (and I love BioWare.) Not to mention wanting to try Torchlight.

I can haz monies? I also blame Syrana.

What kinds of goodies shall we see? Titles, cube expansion, exclusive emotes, rez stones, experience amulets, and better wings.

Best part? You can redeem them for any/all of your characters as long as your account has been active long enough for each veteran reward package.  Very cool for altoholics.

I’m An Aion Veteran!

I’m pretty excited about this – especially for the cube expansion.  Anyone who knows me and my inventory issues (in WoW and Aion) will know this is a good thing for me.  It really doesn’t matter what I do… I’m a virtual hoarder.

What I like about the veteran rewards listed for the next 6 months is that none of them make or break the game, in my opinion.  Titles give some stat boosts, but still nothing crazily overpowering.  Same with the wings, they are for level 40+, add a little extra flight time, mana, and health.  The emotes are just fun vanity items and the rez stones are convenience.

The amulets, oh yes please.  I have not experienced much of a grind yet, but plenty of people have voiced concerns about experience grinding.  Well, the amulets help boost experience gains, which can help through those rough stretches.  Also, they are nice for altaholics to ease the 2nd, 3rd, 15th journey to level cap.

I know the announcement mentioned weapons in the list of examples, but I didn’t see any in the list so far.  And I’m ok with that.  If weapons and/or armor are going to be veteran rewards, I just hope they aren’t super overpowered.  I like what is listed so far because they are mainly vanity items or items to help boost experience rather than any large shift in the balance of power.

I’m also glad to see that in making the decision to have veteran rewards, they are introducing them right away.  Waiting too long before implementing a system like this can result in a huge QQ outcry.  But as it stands right now, we’re pretty much all veterans.

WoW Veteran Rewards?

For a game that has been around for 5 years, in which I’ve played for 3, it’s sort of bittersweet that there aren’t veteran rewards.  On the one hand, I’m glad that I’m not missing out on rewards because I joined the game a couple years late.  On the other hand, it’d be nice to receive a little something as a “thank you for playing with us for years!”

Some might say there are veteran rewards in WoW right now in the flavor of purchasable cold weather flying tomes for alts and heirloom gear.  However, those rewards are more tied to having a high level character rather than how long you’ve had an active account.

Pick A Reward, Any Reward

If WoW was to introduce veteran rewards at this time, I think it’d be hard to implement it in a fair and balanced way… would you reward based on months or years at this point?  What could they offer in the way of vanity that wouldn’t create a ripple in the playerbase? Pets? Titles? Achievements – Feats of Strength, maybe? Mounts? More bank space?

Regardless of the game you play, what kinds of rewards would you like to see?

Anna has a wealth of RP information: Notes for the New RPer, Character Independence,

Alexan has a great Aion guide for identifying a mob’s difficulty which is very useful.

Fish discusses how being a part of a guild is much like being in a relationship.

Plectical over at Rawrcast talks about completing the Loremaster achievement.

Saresa gives advice on unique ways to improve your healing.

Darraxus has a great (and amusing) list of things NOT to do if you get your significant other to play WoW with you.

Not Cadistra’s most recent comic, but I love a great Monty Python parody.

Krizzlybear posted about the worst fail pug ever about a month ago, but I still find it immensely hilarious – even after reading it 5 times.

I’m a noob again

Just can’t wait to figure it all out again

The game I love is adventurin’ with my friends

And I can’t wait to figure it all out again.

I’m a noob again

Questin’ in places that I’ve never been

Rollin’ things that I might never roll again

And I can’t wait to figure it all out again.

That’s right.  I, Syrana, controller of demons and dark magic artistry, am a noob again.

Well, more appropriately, a newbie… since I’m not completely clueless about how MMORPGs work.

I don’t think it’s a bad thing though, honestly.  I kind of like it.  It’s sort of refreshing… and a lot of the pressure is off.  I mean, I’m not some uber leet Afflication Warlock in WoW.  But, I know the game and my class/spec quite well.  If there is something I don’t know, there are TONS of resources to find what I’m looking for.

Then along comes Aion.  It’s pretty, it’s tempting, it’s shiny and new.  It’s an MMORPG.  The basic interface and controls are pretty easy to figure out if you’ve played WoW or any other MMO really.

But there’s so much about it that I don’t know yet.

So much I haven’t experienced.

So much to learn.

As I’ve mentioned before, I created an Asmodian Spiritmaster, which is sortof the equivalent of a WoW Warlock.  They are both spellcasters and pet classes.  Spiritmaster is the only pet class in Aion.  They are spirits rather than demons, but they are still there to help you do the dirty work.  Warlocks play with dark magic, while Spiritmasters seem to be more elemental in their spells (at least up and through level 17, I have yet to find a delightfully evil spell).

They are both have the potential to be powerful when wielded by a semi-competent player.

I’m still working on that in Aion, in all honesty.  Well, let me rephrase that a bit… I can kill things and have figured out a rotation that works for me…

But I have new spells and rotations to learn.  Chain skills have been fun, but is different than what I’m used to.  And the stats… they are different from WoW.

So, I’m learning new lore, new zones, new quests, new spells, new stats … basically a new playstyle.

It’s kind of fun being a “noob” at launch, for once I will be able to say “I played during vanilla Aion.”  (Granted, I did technically play during vanilla WoW, but only the last few months of it.)

One of the things that I’m really loving is that I pretty much HAVE to figure this out on my own.  Sure, I have friends that are playing too, as well as Sideshow, but the resources for Aion are limited compared to the vast sea of WoW resources that are out there.

And I kinda like it.  It reminds me how epic questing felt for me in WoW before I knew about addons such as Lightheaded or QuestHelper.  (Personally, I never used QuestHelper, but know plenty of others that do.)

But you know what REALLY makes me look like a noob? When I swap between the two games.

I fumble for my spells.

I hit the wrong shortcut keys which disorients me with all kinds of crazy windows popping up that I wasn’t expecting.

B is for Bags in WoW you nitwit! It’s I for Inventory in Aion! Crap, why is my spellbook popping up when I hit P in WoW – I’m trying to look at my character.  Oh right, because P is for Profile in Aion… you need C here. /facepalm

No really, I do like being a noob again!

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.

I also have an Elyos on Siel by the name of Xarra.

This time, I played around more with the character creation than I did in beta, since I get to keep these characters!  Actually, Sideshow created Syrana for me when he helped out during pre-select to get my name saved.  I must say, he did a damn fine job of creating her the way I would have.

Note the sliders available.  There are also a lot of preset heads and such than you can look through.  There is also plenty of room for playing with height and colors (for hair, eyes, skin, and lips).  Also, see those 3 buttons underneath Xarra? Yeah, you can see how she looks with no gear (pictured), starter gear, and high end gear.

Yup! If you are concerned that your character may look stupid when they get epic’d out, you can make sure they will fill it out nicely before you are stuck with them.  Although, there is a plastic surgeon in the capital city who’d be happy to take your kinah (currency) to adjust your looks.

You can also select between a few different voices (tough, sexy, young were the ones I remember when making Xarra).

Ascending and Cinematics

One of the things I LOVED about Wrath of the Lich King was the Wrathgate questline, particularly the cinematic that accompanied it.  I don’t know, I found that to be really cool and enjoyable.  Aion’s quests have different little cutscenes here and there.  The ones I enjoy the most (thus far, anyway) are related to my ascension to daevahood.

First of all, the cinematics look great.  Second of all, they aren’t all just generic, the ascension ones show MY character in whatever gear she is wearing at the time.  And yes, I managed to screenshot bits of the cinematics!

Now that Syrana has ascended and is specializing as a spirit master, do you think the power is going to her head?

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.

Of course, this started to raise some concerns for people… how quickly servers were filling up and so forth… and so many people trying to get on at the start of pre-selection to save their name.

That was the first hurdle.  Sideshow and I were successful in reserving our names on our server of choice, Lumiel, for our main Asmodian characters.  We also reserved our names on another server as Asmodians.

Then came Sunday (9/20/09).  That afternoon is when the headstart began for those who pre-ordered.  The game was scheduled to go live on Tuesday (9/22/09).  Unfortunately, we (like many others) didn’t get to play very much during the headstart allotted time.

Why?

Queues.

Yes, the queues were frustrating.  No, I didn’t freak out.  As frustrating as they were, I understood the reasoning behind them.  I was playing at Warhammer Online’s launch.  That wasn’t pretty – too many servers, major imbalances, lag, crashing, bleh.

Now, although I wasn’t around for the launch of WoW, but I can imagine it wasn’t the smoothest.  Even now, almost 5 years later, there are times when queues happen and other issues.  Look at how bombarded the servers get after the release of a content patch… or better yet, an expansion… the flood of players trying to get online, too many people after the same mobs, etc.

Aionic Thoughts has a great post about the queues.

Also, if you still contemplating whether or not to check out the game, here are a couple posts to check out:

5 Reasons to Play Aion at Massively

15 Things to Know Going into Aion by Samodean

But yay! Tuesday we picked up our official copies of the game! I got the collector’s edition.  Sideshow ended up upgrading to the collector’s edition online for only $10 for the in-game bonuses (whereas mine cost $20 more)… but I got more cool loot in my box!

In-game loot:

• Black Cloud Wings (40 seconds additional flight time)
• Black Cloud Earring (gives HP and MP boost)
• Character title (Settler of Aion) with stat boost
• Color dye to tint gear
• 2 additional character emotes (boogie and hiphop dances)

Out of game loot:

• Hand-painted figurine of Aiva, a winged Asmodian Daeva
• Official Aion soundtrack CD
• 2 dual-sided posters

So, yeah, I’m a happy camper overall.  Now, I just need a bit more time to play.  Hopefully the queue times will shorten up soon!

And selection dates are coming up fast!

So, primarily I’ve been playing an Asmodian Spiritmaster.  This is similar to the WoW Warlock, so, y’know, pretty fitting for me.  Can I compare Asmodians to Horde? Meh, not really, no… at least not at this point.  Maybe somewhere down the road I can take a look at lore/war/oppression/whathaveyou parallels or something.

Now, the Asmodians are considered to be the dark, shadowy faction while the Elyos are bright and shiny.

….

I had to make one just to see it.  But I decided I needed to roll something different, so I went warrior.  The first random face that I got was this:

I’m sorry.  I cannot smash faces with a HEART ON MAH CHEEK.

So, I went with something a little less sweet, yet could easily lure a baddie in to get his face smashed.

I really like all this customization.  However, it could very well be my downfall…. I may end up spending waaay too much time creating characters than actually playing them.  >.<  True story, that’s what happened with my City of Heroes/Villians trial.  And how I wish I had screenshotted them… /hindsight

Another thing I really like is how your character reacts within the world and to the world.  It started raining in the starting zone, and she was quick to pull out a leaf umbrella.  I didn’t even know we had one.  Also, characters will emote based on things you say in chat, which can be entertaining.  So, it is not restricted to JUST emote commands.  But it’s great when you are typing something to your party and your character points off into the distance and such.

I also like that when I say “haha” my character giggles and demurely covers her face with a fan.  It’s cute.

But then she bashes in your face for even thinking such a thing.