Sideshow & Syrana

Last week I posted some screenshots from Allods Online.  In the comments, Tami asked the following, which I will answer today:

I’m curious to know how you like the game, past the opening scenes. I don’t know if it was just me being flighty or not, but it seemed really hard for me to connect to the game (adorable hamster people with vicious attack squirrels notwithstanding – mine were Khuu, Bhuu, Rhuu, and Twidget).

Characters

Allods offers some interesting characters to choose from.  There are two factions to choose from: League and Empire.  Each side has 14 different classes you can choose from (which play off of 8 basic classes).  The character creation was kinda fun, but not a whole lot in the way of customization. Plus, I noticed it was easy to change factions and/or classes during the process.

I didn’t see much for descriptions of the races or classes during the character creation. I sort of missed that, especially after World of Warcraft improved their character creation information.  And, honestly, I didn’t want to poke around outside of the game to find out this information. (continue reading…)

We all know that Sideshow and I are avid gamers.  But did you know my parents are gamers too? About a year ago, Sideshow and I piqued their interest enough in WoW to get them playing.  They each have their own account and are still enjoying the game.  Sure, Sideshow and I had told them about WoW throughout our times playing and they’d be interested in knowing our progress.  Now, it’s a bit different having them play as well.  We get to talk with them in game, my mom is a loyal reader of the blog, and phone conversations and visits are full of WoW chatter.  I thought it might be fun for you, my readers, to hear a little more about them.

… except when I asked them to participate, my dad said, “You’ll have to find your parents first…” (continue reading…)

Oh hi there!

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? (continue reading…)

(To the tune of “On The Road Again” by Willie Nelson – which, by the way, is totally outside my normal musical selection)

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. (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…)

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.

Alright, so we’re still in open beta right now, but I still get altitis.  I guess part of it is, I know my characters are going to get wiped so I don’t want to overinvest in them just yet.  Right now, it’s sort of like the trial period where I can putz around before making more permanent selections upon live.

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. (continue reading…)

I admit, I’m a visual person.  Detail, colors, images, etc. are things I pay a lot of attention to.  Now, I’m not saying that stunning graphics make or break a game, but if it’s not visually appealing to me…. it’s going to be a hard sell.  For those interested in checking out these virtual vacation photos, please do so after the cut.   Oh and to check out my two spirit pets.  (Of course I’m playing a Spiritmaster, it’s the closest thing to a Warlock!)

If you want more information on gameplay details, impressions, and the like… please be sure to check out Massive Nerd and SpoonCraft (to go straight to his videos, go here).

What can I say, I like to screenshot loading screens.

(continue reading…)

What is it with me and posting multiple parts lately? Well, with BlizzCon, there’s no way I could write just one post to cover it all.  Ok, so that’s a lie.  There are 2 ways:

1- Use thousands and thousands of words that would take days to read

or

2 – Use one word: Epic.

Since both ways are such extremes, we’ll go for bite-sized pieces.

Ideal vs. Real

Remember how prior to BlizzCon I shared with you my ideal itinerary?  Yeah, so, it was practically impossible to attend all the panels I wanted to.  But you knew that would happen, didn’t you!

Here’s how it really went down: (continue reading…)

Since there was a significant gap between this segment and previous parts of this series, I understand if you need a quick refresher.

Part One – Introduction

Part Two – The (Playable) Races

Alright, back? Ready to have some fun and discussion? Good.  Now let’s take a look at class stereotypes…  (continue reading…)