What to Say?
I'm so very glad the election season is nearly over. I can say with a high degree of certainty that I've seen more printed material (in mail and dropped at my door) and people coming by to encourage voting. I voted early a couple weeks ago, and I'd just as soon not have to deal with the onslaught anymore.
Exalted
Slow progress since last post. The group came up with a reasonable plan for their approach to Xian's manse and some distraction to aid in gaining entry and getting back to the portal to Gem.
Probably too much planning, though. Players almost always overplan things only for find the situation rapidly falling outside the parameters of the plan and have to improvise. As playing covert op types in GURPS taught: "It's all fun and games until somebody fails a Stealth roll."
World of Warcraft: Nearing of the Lich King
As the zombie plague reached fever pitch, the Scourge Invasion began (again - as there was a Scourge Invasion in, I believe, 2006 that shared similar events, albeit not the zombification as far as I know). Flying Scourge fortresses, the necropoli (technically necropoleis or necropoles), appeared in a number of zones. Valiant heroes defeated them , albeit temporarily, by disabling multiple summoning circles on the ground surrounded by undead. Also, a vampiric elf boss made an appearance in Karazhan.
The plague itself was wrapped up early last week, though the other events continue for the time being and there are hints that there is more to come. I had though I'd wait through this past weekend to remark on new things too, but nothing has started yet. Overall, it's been memorable, though I wish the zombie plague had wound down a day or two earlier.
Pros of the Event:
- Having someone thank me for curing them of the plague.
- Finding a measure of tranquility sitting on a boat in the Stormwind canals, watching zombies pour out of the Stockades.
- Downing Tenris Mirkblood on our second attempt. This was particularly fun because really no one in the 10-man raid knew for certain how to do it. There were also a couple "oh shit" moments as I shifted to trying to heal when our healers started going down and throwing myself headlong at him after both healers and our tank dropped.
- Standing outside the mage tower in Stormwind on one of the final days of the plague to cure, heal, and blast along with more than a dozen others in battling back a horde of zombies in the tower. I was not grouped, this was not organized, but it actually had the feel of doing good alongside others.
- Getting off a ship to find Menethil Harbor seemingly overrun by zombies and being able to ride through as a pack ran around the other way. Very atmospheric moment.
- Getting epic glove upgrades for my priest with solo effort.
- Being among the first on the server to participate in repelling a necropolis. I managed to do this in a group of guildmates, with my paladin, with absolutely no competition at the summoning circle. We destroyed many undead, including multiple rare-spawns, gathered up a few epic armor pieces and enough necrotic runes to buy more. Serious, this was an awesome experience for me.
Cons of the Event:
- Every other time I went to a circle/crystal to kill undead and gather runes. Competition built and it became a ridiculous chore trying to get in a few kills and hoping for rune drops while a dozen or two other players were doing the same thing.
- Taking the portal from Shattrath to Stormwind and getting instantly zombie-mobbed and transformed after going a week or so plague-free.
- "Are the Shattrath quest givers still dead? ... Yep."
- Monotony of aiding in rune farming by others, after monotony of farming the Headless Horseman over and over.
Fallout 3
I was worried about the timing of getting this, but I needn't have done so. After WoWing a lot the previous couple weeks, it's been something of a nice break to be able to sit back and play a game without the pressure of running around for others.
I didn't play Fallout or Fallout 2 much. I missed the first one entirely, if I recall, and picked up the second one late when the dated graphics couple draw me in and the difficulty starting off made me give up early. So, I can't speak as a fan of the series or anything. I am a fan of Bethesda's work with the Elder Scrolls games.
So with Fallout 3, I've had some technical issues, but managed to work around most of them. There's still an occasional crash and I've seen a few clipping issues here and there as well as getting stuck twice myself. The dull color palette is a bit of a drawback, though it's fitting for a wasteland. The third person view is all but worthless, but first person works fine. Even so, it's impressive in scope, detail, and appearance.
I appear to have pushed myself to the last quest or two in the main plotline without fully realizing it. Now, I look at the world map and see so much unexplored and wonder if I should turn away from the crisis at hand to poke around or if I should just see things through to the end and start up another character to explore more widely.
Exalted
Slow progress since last post. The group came up with a reasonable plan for their approach to Xian's manse and some distraction to aid in gaining entry and getting back to the portal to Gem.
Probably too much planning, though. Players almost always overplan things only for find the situation rapidly falling outside the parameters of the plan and have to improvise. As playing covert op types in GURPS taught: "It's all fun and games until somebody fails a Stealth roll."
World of Warcraft: Nearing of the Lich King
As the zombie plague reached fever pitch, the Scourge Invasion began (again - as there was a Scourge Invasion in, I believe, 2006 that shared similar events, albeit not the zombification as far as I know). Flying Scourge fortresses, the necropoli (technically necropoleis or necropoles), appeared in a number of zones. Valiant heroes defeated them , albeit temporarily, by disabling multiple summoning circles on the ground surrounded by undead. Also, a vampiric elf boss made an appearance in Karazhan.
The plague itself was wrapped up early last week, though the other events continue for the time being and there are hints that there is more to come. I had though I'd wait through this past weekend to remark on new things too, but nothing has started yet. Overall, it's been memorable, though I wish the zombie plague had wound down a day or two earlier.
Pros of the Event:
- Having someone thank me for curing them of the plague.
- Finding a measure of tranquility sitting on a boat in the Stormwind canals, watching zombies pour out of the Stockades.
- Downing Tenris Mirkblood on our second attempt. This was particularly fun because really no one in the 10-man raid knew for certain how to do it. There were also a couple "oh shit" moments as I shifted to trying to heal when our healers started going down and throwing myself headlong at him after both healers and our tank dropped.
- Standing outside the mage tower in Stormwind on one of the final days of the plague to cure, heal, and blast along with more than a dozen others in battling back a horde of zombies in the tower. I was not grouped, this was not organized, but it actually had the feel of doing good alongside others.
- Getting off a ship to find Menethil Harbor seemingly overrun by zombies and being able to ride through as a pack ran around the other way. Very atmospheric moment.
- Getting epic glove upgrades for my priest with solo effort.
- Being among the first on the server to participate in repelling a necropolis. I managed to do this in a group of guildmates, with my paladin, with absolutely no competition at the summoning circle. We destroyed many undead, including multiple rare-spawns, gathered up a few epic armor pieces and enough necrotic runes to buy more. Serious, this was an awesome experience for me.
Cons of the Event:
- Every other time I went to a circle/crystal to kill undead and gather runes. Competition built and it became a ridiculous chore trying to get in a few kills and hoping for rune drops while a dozen or two other players were doing the same thing.
- Taking the portal from Shattrath to Stormwind and getting instantly zombie-mobbed and transformed after going a week or so plague-free.
- "Are the Shattrath quest givers still dead? ... Yep."
- Monotony of aiding in rune farming by others, after monotony of farming the Headless Horseman over and over.
Fallout 3
I was worried about the timing of getting this, but I needn't have done so. After WoWing a lot the previous couple weeks, it's been something of a nice break to be able to sit back and play a game without the pressure of running around for others.
I didn't play Fallout or Fallout 2 much. I missed the first one entirely, if I recall, and picked up the second one late when the dated graphics couple draw me in and the difficulty starting off made me give up early. So, I can't speak as a fan of the series or anything. I am a fan of Bethesda's work with the Elder Scrolls games.
So with Fallout 3, I've had some technical issues, but managed to work around most of them. There's still an occasional crash and I've seen a few clipping issues here and there as well as getting stuck twice myself. The dull color palette is a bit of a drawback, though it's fitting for a wasteland. The third person view is all but worthless, but first person works fine. Even so, it's impressive in scope, detail, and appearance.
I appear to have pushed myself to the last quest or two in the main plotline without fully realizing it. Now, I look at the world map and see so much unexplored and wonder if I should turn away from the crisis at hand to poke around or if I should just see things through to the end and start up another character to explore more widely.
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