Still running around Middle Earth

After a brief gaming hiatus caused by chirping capacitors (never a good thing, ever), I've been back to wandering around Middle Earth, killing things and taking their stuff. It's been quite enjoyable, even if most of the questing is of the "go kill these guys", "go gather this stuff", "collect x trophies" type. (and if you're sick of that and level 30, hit Oatbarton unless you hate hobbits. But really, if you hate hobbits, why lotro?)

I do have a complaint though. So, Nathyrra's almost 40 now, and I've been running around Everdim for well, about 10 levels. I really like the idea of helping reclaim these ancient ruins, and I love the scenery. But things I do not love, really nonobvious routes. I like randomly wandering around, seeing where I will be going next and collecting travel points, but I dislike seeing quests I have and not being able to see a clear way to get there. Here's my most annoying example...

I had quests in Rhunenlad and it took me quite a while to figure out how to get over there from Kingsfell. Looking at the map I saw two routes, going east from Melumen or going through the possible gap at the north edge of the mountains. The go east plan was foiled by a lot of giants (very powerful ones) and I was unsure about the possible gap (hence calling it possible).

You're actually supposed to go through Esteldin (a city roughly about where the second l in kingsfell is). I discovered this completely by accident while wondering where a road in Esteldin went. To Rhunenlad, as it turned out. Now, thinking about it, putting a city in a mountain pass makes sense and given that the quests in question were given to me in Esteldin, yup, probably should have occurred to me before I tried the suicidal giant run.

Thinking more about this (and yes, I've had similar problems before, this is just the most recent and painful), I like the world making sense. I like cities being on top of hills (and it makes it easy to spot them and go, ooh, what's that?) and I like the map style. Just wish the path (and if you look there is a gap path in the mountains) was slightly more obvious. But I still really love....

All those ruins/cities? I've been there, in some cases by the "ooh, what's that?" method. I love seeing stuff in game and getting to go check it out. It's the explorer in me, always wanting to know what's over there...  (these caps all taken from the top of a thing in Evendim that you get to at the end of a questline and I would remind you all that my graphics are on the lowest possible settings)

Computer Problems fixed, for the moment at least, now back to Middle Earth

Well, the computer problems are (hopefully) fixed for the moment. One BIOS update, way too much fiddling with video card drivers, one dismantling to clean out dust, and taking all the video settings in LotRO down to minimum.... plus my trusty (if annoying) cooling pad and I can run around Middle Earth.

I've been having a ridiculous amount of fun, to be honest. Even if I did get stuck at Rivendell (why the game would give me a quest that transports me there when Caithdein is level 23 and can't ride back is beyond me), it's been nice to run around and go "ooh, pretty"

See, I can't leave! HELP ELVES ARE HOLDING ME CAPTIVE! :)

At this point I've run 5 toons through their rested XP (okay, the two level 12 toons didn't take long), but Caithdein, Nathyrra, and Aerthiel have all gone up quite a bit (hanging at 25, 35, and 29 respectively). It's been really nice to be able to switch around and still see new stuff (or in Caithdein's case stuff I haven't done in so long that I don't remember it).

It's looking like the developers are planning to do some interesting things this year, including a housing revamp (be still, my heart) and creating a player's council. I thought there was some mention of redoing deeds/traits as well, but I can't find a source atm for that, so it might be wishful thinking on my part.

They're also released a cloak for Boston, which is a nice touch, and is pretty. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an Anniversary Celebration to get back to (last night and all)

Where I've been (just in case you were wondering)

I've been dealing with a failing gallbladder and a (possibly but I'm really hoping not) failing computer. Gallbladder's all gone, and the surgery was way easier than dealing with it failing. Computer, well, I'm popping it open today (for the first time ever) to clean it and check the thermal paste. Given that it just  powers off randomly, something which it started with Mists, and has now spread to games like Torchlight 2, Neverwinter Nights 2, and even LotRO, (and now with the cooling pad on it as well) I'm hoping for dust bunnies and a happier Taliesin afterwards. Replacing him is not in the cards any time soon.

Gaming-wise, there's been almost none. I haven't logged onto WoW since Dec, and my sub's run out. Oddly enough, I don't miss it. I miss hanging with my awesome guildies, but Mists just didn't grab me. Still might resub at some point to get a baby dragon, but that's about all I want out of it. Who'd have thought that an expansion based around dailies at max level would not appeal to someone who doesn't like dailies? SHOCKER! I consume media in chunks, whether it's watching an entire season of a TV show at once, reading an entire webcomic or blog archive, or questing for several hours at a time. The daily concept doesn't really work so well with that, and I resent feeling like I MUST do something in a game that isn't fun. So yeah, not my thing atm.

I've currently got some Black Isle games installed, but mostly have discovered that a)I don't want to do Irenicus's stupid starting dungeon for the 20th time and b) I really am not good at AD&D. I did log onto lotro last night and play with an alt for about 10 min before shutdown, and had some fun. It looked a bit different than 9 months ago, but I liked what little I saw. Currently my antiquated desktop is (hopefully) pulling down the installer via Pando (which I hate), and I'm hoping it'll handle it enough to let me play. Not expecting graphical miracles or anything, just more than 10 minutes of running around killing wolves and vale pests.

Otherwise, well, there's been a great deal of knitting. I have a couple ideas for WoW-related knitting projects, and I learned I can knit a lace shawl in a week if I focus on it. Since I'm still struggling with major depression, I'm trying to get set up to sell some of my lace (mostly shawls but I'm trying to branch out into hats, armwarmers, scarves, and random other things). Sadly, knitting time and gaming time are difficult to combine.

As for this blog, I shall post when I'm gaming (or have something to say about gaming). I figure you all aren't here for random blatherings, but rather specific, game-based blatherings. I might try a let's play of something. I do have plans to try DDO (again), Conan, Star Trek, and possibly the Old Republic. The Secret World sounds like something I'd love, but given tight funds that might be a while. And there's always my ridiculous steam backlog of games. But right now, I think I shall go see if I can wander around Middle Earth for a bit before girding my loins to take this laptop apart (EEEP!)

State of the Blog

Where the heck has Melfina been, you may ask?

Whelp, I'm sick. Likely gallbladder, though no diagnosis has been made yet. Nausea after eating, stomach pain, and general misery (that's been ongoing and getting worse for months). That plus severe depression = no fun.  Playing WoW makes the nausea worse, so there's been next to no gaming. And I've come to a conclusion about that.... I miss my guildies and hanging out with them. I don't miss WoW.

Not sure what to do about that, really. I do have a ton of games (and more picked up in the gog.com and steam after Christmas sales), and a bf interested in playing games with me.  I don't want to stop blogging, but until I can play games again, there's a dearth of content.

So, once illness is fixed, there will be more blogging. It may be more general gaming, I may even try doing a Let's Play of something. I'm kinda leaning towards the new Baldur's Gate.  Once decisions are made, I will let you guys know, and if there's something you want me to talk about, let me know!
And, of course,

Happy New Year and may '13 be brighter and better than '12!

Yeah, I kinda forgot to mention about hitting 90

You know, I normally reread my last post before making a new one. Shouldn't have skipped that step with the last one. I thought I had made a "yay 90, here's what's I'm doing" post, but I hadn't. So here you go!

Lyl's 90. And I would like to thank the anon comments on the leveling post, they were completely right about my screwing up the priority system. My damage has gone up by about 4k since I took their advice. I still feel low in heroics, but I suspect that's more because I'm in groups with people who out-gear me. I don't really like the "dot all the mobs" flavor of trash damage, but I can live with it. Or at least I can live with SW:P all the things.

Gearing-wise, I hit the AH, picked up pvp blues, and was ready to hit heroics. I've done pretty well gear-wise, and it looks like my sticking point's trinkets. I miss the JCing trinkets from Cat.  I am gearing through heroics, not dailies, for the most part, and taking my time. I even *gasp* managed to get Archaeology to Mists levels.

I'm dealing with quite a bit in RL right now (another health problem has decided to show up), so I'm working on this "no pressure in wow" idea. I miss raiding, I would like to get back to it, but I'm not going to stress out about getting there. It will happen eventually, and in the meantime I can enjoy the scenery.

And here's some for you to enjoy too!

The Dailies Problem

As soon as Lyl hit 90, it felt like a quest explosion. Suddenly there were all these exclamation points  for all these factions and it was overwhelming and confusing (even though I was expecting it). I have managed to figure some things out, like I'm going to be gearing mostly through heroics and I must get exalted with the cloud serpents so I can have baby serpent pets, but it got me thinking on how I might do things slightly differently....

I'd make some factions available earlier. I loved running the walrus dailies while leveling, they're a good chunk of XP plus a nice rep bonus. Having run some of the Tillers dailies, I can see why they're not available till 90, but the Anglers ones could be. Heck, you could make the Tillers "grow this thing" and "go kill weeds" ones available at 86 without causing much in the way of problems.

Since I haven't done much in the way of faction dailies yet (Loremasters, Tillers, Cloud Serpents, Anglers, and um, the central ones (shado-pan?)), I don't have a great sense of them other than "wow, way overwhelming". Lyl got to 90 having done all of Jade Forest and Krasarang Forest, a good chunk of Valley and Kun-Lai Summit, and bits of Dread Wastes, and barely touching Townlong. So I still have a ton of content to go through before touching dailies, scenarios, dungeon-running, pet battling, and alt-leveling and at first blush it feels like too much.

Of course, 6 months down the line Blizz doesn't want us complaining about lack of content. I get that, really, I do. But a ton of dailies, well, that feels like a job or chore. It may not be a REQUIRED thing, but it does feel to me like something I should be doing. Not something I want to do (except for the baby serpent quests and the Anglers), not something I think is fun or enjoyable, but like a chore. I don't play games to do chores, and while it is certainly one way to extend content, it ranks among my most disliked. I never did most of the Argent Tournament or the Firelands stuff because I don't want to do chores in game. I'll occasionally do them, maybe while I'm waiting for a queue or just in the mood, but I hate the expectation of them and the feeling of requirement.

Yeah, not a dailies fan. At all. I'm having more fun running heroics (even though I have no idea WTF most of the time) while wearing a Dragonmaw tabard. Yup, the Cat tabards still work in Mists dungeons, so if you're not exalted with all of them and are running dungeons anyway, might as well take advantage, right?

Anyway, here's a couple of pictures of happier things, since this game does have great bits, right?

Adorable. I want all of them! Yup, my motivation for getting to exalted with the Cloud Serpents is not the mounts, but the pets.

And while Lyl's gotten a bunch of achieves of late, this is one of the ones I'm proudest of. Leveling fishing is still time-consuming (and annoying if I'm not in the right mood), but I really like how it feels much more useful this expansion. Now if I just got XP for it so I could level toons that way....

Still leveling and discouraged about it

Whelp, Lyl hit 89 tonight. I keep hearing how painful 89-90 is, and I just hope it isn't as bad as 88-89.  I seem to have run into a "WOW, it takes FOREVER to kill things" problem. I'm not sure if it's a) because I still have some DS gear (mostly heroic), b) Shadow's dots are a bit underpowered, c) I'm shadowing wrong (my spell priorities are at the end), or d) all the mobs I've been trying to kill are tuned for level 90 damage. Probably some combo thereof.

I have decided I loathe Townlong, mostly because of the Shado-Pan go kill bugs quests. Those screamers are incredibly annoying as shadow, and if I get more than one mob, well, let's just say that I died at least 10 times getting those two quests done. I know I probably will have to go back at some point for a rep grind, but that entire zone's being ignored till 90, for sanity's sake.

I did get to help kill the Sha of Anger. I mostly smited, wondered where the heck my mana went, and avoided bad ground things. It did make me happy to get through the entire fight without dying once, especially since I had no idea what was going on. Good to know my healing skills haven't atrophied, and it's also good to know that I'm probably going to have to have a lot of spirit for healing.

In other stuff, I've gotten both Eiunn and Kesala their farms....

(back view of Eiunn because I love her hair!)

and some of you are wondering who the heck Kesala is. Well, remember this DK? My slightly brain-damaged toon, Llonya?

I wanted to play a melee toon, realized my only horde option was either Eiunn's enhancement spec (fun but I have no earthly idea what I'm doing) or my level 5 monk, and shelled out for a faction change (plus I needed an enchanter and really didn't want to level one). Now my blue space goat with the unpronounceable name is now a blue tauren (she looks really awesome, I just don't have a screencap) and I had a ton of fun doing the unlocking quests in Jade Forest.

The problem I'm having right now isn't the slow XP from 89-90, it's the slow killing. It just feels painful on Lyl. I'm having to recast shadow word: pain and vampiric embrace two to three times a fight (on one regular mob), so my combats are lasting 40-60 secs. That just feels awful, especially since I can switch over to Eiunn or Kesala and stuff dies so much quicker. If any more experienced priests want to offer suggestions, please, feel free.

Atm I'm casting both dots, shielding myself, then Mind Flaying like it's going out of style till a dot falls off or something procs. I throw devouring plague when I have 3 orbs, mind blasting with procs, and using Mindbender whenever possible. Mindbender's really helping with damage, btw, if you haven't tried him yet.

So, that's where I am. The goal is to get Lyl raid-ready by the end of the month (though I may or may not have a raid spot at that time, nor am I expecting my guild to drop someone to hand one to me), and then probably level whoever and play more with pet battles. I may try Kesala as a blood tank for a bit, since I've been having a blast running around as frost. I do need to sit down (probably Thurs) and figure out factions/dailies and where to unlock them. I think I've started Shado-Pan and the bug people in Dread Wastes, plus the Tillers. I know there's one faction that you have to get to revered to unlock a bunch of others, but if that one's in Townlong it'll just wait a while. I'd much rather wrap up the Loremaster achieve in the Wilds (because I'm two quest hubs away and one's already partly done), have fun randomly discovering and killing (or dying to) rares, and leveling fishing.

Oh, and can you see what's wrong in this screencap? Cracks me up every time I see it.