One lousy bracelet.

For a while there, I couldn't NOT fall over multi-spell creature/life jewelry.

Now all I need is a lightning/piercing bracelet, and I'm screwzored. I've tried bots, mobs, hell even the Candeth Keep jewelry seller. No luck. LOL. Ah well.

I do have a lightning/piercing necklace, but I want to wear that Nuhmidira thing.

Pfft. It'll happen.

You know what sucks?

Being an "un-person" to people you thought were RL friends.

That's all. Not very funny, but so very true.

Well THAT karma kicked in quick!

Wow.

So, I'm bummed about the lugians, and decide to go try out a new bludgeoning bow on some bugs. It's working well (which is nice), but within minutes of showing up, an Olthoi Mutilator drops platemail tassets.

Hmm. I need tassets.

Wait. These have minor bow (my crappy ones have Major Bow, but still).

Hmm, maybe if I just dye them black to match my armor.

Wait. These are natural black in color.

Loot god tells you, "Just this once, gimp."

So, after I tink them up with Marble (yes, some marble) and steel, they are seriously resistant to bludgeoning (I love modifiying percentages on armor rather than far-more-expensive steel the whole way, particularly when fighting hollow mobs).

I'm sure I'll find some covenant tassets eventually, but for the time being, this was a good development.

Sheesh.

Withereds were rough on me tonight. I guess I needed some reminding that I seriously suck!

Must have died 3 times there tonight. What's funny is that even alone in the bunker, I can make 15 million/hour. That can't be anything to sneeze at, but still I seriously took my lumps. I was going to stick around until 104th level, but got too pissed at myself for being tired and making stupid mistakes.

The culprit's definitely my AL 134 chain tassets. But they're Major Bow, and nearly every other piece of armor either has a major on it. Guess those deaths are the side-effect. :-(

Bah.

I'll hit 104 before Sunday's done. I'll probably hit the lifestone a few more times, too.

I can't help it . . .

. . . but I'll get banned if I post in on VN.

Lokkie mentioned that he'd gone "to the dark side," prompting Asper to worry that Lokkie "switched teams."

We don't need Lokkie to switch teams. Straight Lokkie apparently got more ass than a toilet seat. Granted, so does Gay Lokkie, but it's not taking away from prospective asses "our team" is interested in. :p

There. I feel better now. :P

P.S. Yes, technically Gay Lokkie gets more ass Straight Lokkie, but that's (IMHO) from a literal sense. :D

"Streaky" hits with withereds

Is it just me, or do lots of people (well, archers) go through streaks where they hit about X times in a row, and then MISS almost the same number of times?

Weird.

Even though I didn't say a word . . .

. . . that was just beautiful to watch. *sniff*

Actually LOL'd during it. :-D

Amendment to the withereds

So it turns out that my mage friend (356 base war) is actually able to hit these withered drudges and tumeroks pretty well. Not as well on the bandies.

When we BOTH went on the offensive, and "ping-ponged" the drudges, we did much better. I'd shoot one a few times, he'd turn and run to me (taking more hits). She'd zap him, so he'd turn away from me (letting me shoot him in the back), and run to her.

Lather, rinse, Level. :-D

Not too bad. Like 8 million an hour, with lots of looting, which is insanely good for her (she's a very solitary and infrequent player), and not bad for me (hey, I'm modest, I don't always need it hay-uge in XP terms).

Not bad!

For the record . . .

. . . I'm not sayin' a word. :-D

*crickets*

@e shines his halo . . . :-)


@e repeats to himself, "A promise is a promise." Hi Thistle! :-D

Interesting experiment tonight

So I took my mage friend out to the withered area (no, not to leech, you XP whores), and had her set up behind me off from the lugians. Near some Drudges, Tumeroks, and Banderlings, in fact.

The idea was for her to cast extinguish spells on me (as well as heal), while I fought the usually-avoided spellcasting mobs.

Seems like a decent enough idea, especially since she's such a solitary player that she wouldn't ordinarily get to go out there.

Not so good results, although we lagged out and lost the connection.

Here's the thing -- those extinguish spells take a LOT of mana. Like 280 without Mana Conversion. She figured it was costing about 200 per spell. So we had to let them debuff me to a huge degree before pulling the trigger on casting the spell. Oh, and since she's not killing, the XP is basically halved (although I'm just not enough of a whore to care).

Humph. Another good idea down the drain. :-(

Oh, so THERE'S the portal . . .

I've gone to the withered lugian beaches a couple of times now. The first time I joined a fellow, and then hit the bunker, figuring that I could pitch into the fellow that way, only to find out that the (nearly) hour I killed there did not share XP with the fellow.

Pwned.

The next time, I learned my lesson, was (without asking) put into a line for a beach fellow (no biggie, but bemusing), and eventually joined in. I was there for quite some time, and did fine for XP. But I wondered -- where the heck is the entrance to the withered lugian dungeon?

I just went there again last night, and dove into the bunker (white dots everywhere, no sense in waiting - I can make 11/hr alone, so that's worth the lack of drama). Eventually, I kind of wound around staircases here and there, and finally found the portal.

Hrm.

>>>Death says, "I *triple* dog dare you!<<<

Humph.

Dive in. It started out as a small fellow (4 of us), but was set to open recruiting, and in no time flat we were almost full. Chunglee even showed up, and couldn't have been nicer, although we were all out of sight of each other. It was interesting reading the chat log, as people discussed their templates.

I just tried to stay alive.

Recently, I decided to triple-spec my defenses, and so now have spec'd melee and missle D. Missle is like at 351 buffed, and I definitely noticed a drop in damage from the lugian rocks.

Except to my thighs. Oh, my thighs.

I have major bow chain tassets. Major Bow r teh good.

Base AL of 167 is not. :-( They're work 9. They've BEEN tinked with steel at least once, but I think tinked racially and perhaps two other tinks.

>>>Withered Lugian Prefect smashes your upper leg for 60 points of bludgeoning damage!<<<

Ow.

And no matter what last night, it seemed like EVERY lugian that spawned suddenly noticed that my high-base AL armor was all fine, except for the tassets.

They are dyed black, but you'd think they were colored in red and white circles (think Target).

>>>Withered Lugian Prefect tells you, "Dude, reroll."

Double Ow.

Sigh.

Wow -- I've got a stalker!

Edit: Updated and cleaned up for readability. :-D

My hotmail flagged it as "junk" mail since he's not in my "contacts" list, but I just noticed -- Gibbon_Raver on the TD boards sent me a personal e-mail attacking me, and generally going nuts. He's still smarting over being exposed as a coward and an eBlowhard, and I've definitely gotten into his combed-over head. (Seriously, I've seen guys wearing end pillows on their heads that were more realistic).

Anyway, this is about a flame fest we had last week, when he publicly speculated that I must have been in cahoots with Asper_TD on some auction (and managed to plan it out 46 hours in advance). I think I know what stung him. I challenged him to let a Mod log into my VN account, and see if I had indeed hatched this l33t plan. If he was right, I'd accept a permaban. If he was wrong, I wanted him to take the challenge. He backed out, and got seriously flamed by all parties in the thread. The fact was, he shot his mouth off, acted tough, and got called on it. Then he ran. Of course, I pointed that out. Repeatedly. :-D

So now he's taken it to commercial e-mail? Laff.

This guy's pathetic, but I have to say, he's genuinely sad. His RL pic is disgusting, he's like Triumph the Insult dog said in that infamous "Star Wars" video, he "looks like some kind of uber-geek, built from the parts of lesser nerds." He's a 50something lamer, fat and balding (I'm so not convinced by the rug). Now with his panties in a wad because he was made to look like a fool (from multiple people) on the intardnet.

I wonder if Yahoo encourages people to use their accounts to send harrassing e-mail?

Update: I just checked -- I guess I made the mistake of responding to his e-mail, pointing out to him that it was flagged as junk, so I was sorry for the delay. But I then told him where he could stick his continued pathetic self. So now I've got MORE e-mail from him, as well as multiple PMs on the Vault. Joy.

LOL, and he's saying *I'm* the one with RL issues. ;-)

What's this all mean --- I got myself a stalker! (Um, a stalker who's admitted that he once picked up a transvestite off of a highway, rofl).

Edit/Update:
He was reported to Yahoo for sending repeated harrasing e-mails, and was pointed out to VN for the repeated PMs. So what's this guy do now?

Posts on my Clan boards. :-P

Yup, but he's COMPLETELY well-adjusted. *eyeroll*

I'm not sure what he's trying to prove, because honestly, if we ever met up, I'd gladly beat the living shit out of him. He's either pathetic enough to have no self-awareness, or is just a VERY old tard. At least he's old enough that this can't be a mid-life crisis -- based on actuarial tables, he doesn't have that much longer left to live anyway. :-D

Gotta love tweaks to a major suit

The full life/creature outfit is done, but I just won an auction for some noble gaunts, and have the quickness gem all ready for them.

That means I have majors or moderates in:

Coord
Bow
Focus
Quickness
Endurance
Willpower (well, this is a minor, lol)

I'm missing some kind of Invuln cantrip, but they are WAY out of my price range. Opal gauntlets won't fly (too low in AL, and I've got my major quickness noble gaunts).

But still -- woot! :D

The whole CapFan thing.

I think people have missed something about his "return post," but to post it on the VN boards would constitute running afoul of their TOS. :-( (Since it involves personal attacks).

Here goes:

I wish CapFan all the best, but rooted (in two different places) in his post is this implication: If you disagree with him, or are ticked over how he left, well then you're just an "addict" like him.

I wasn't in his monarchy, so I could not care LESS that he quit, although I always sympathized with the people he screwed in combatting his addiction.

What I am able to do is see that people's feelings were hurt because he disrupted their in-game experience. I sympathize with their feelings, and regret they had to log in to see that things were turned upside down.

Does it mean they have an addiction because they were ticked over having their game's experience harmed? Nope. That means that someone's still weak enough to think that this game, which holds such a grip on him, holds it on everyone else.

CapFan was weak, as all addicts are. Fine. 'Grats to him on recognizing it, and doing something about it. But he shouldn't assume people who disagree with him must also be "addicted."

I realize that at one place in his post he wrote that people who experienced "genuine anger" must have an addiction, but I'm not many (if any?) here posted that they did. Where on this thread have people "spewed hate" at him?

At best, people vented frustration that someone who made such an exit so as to affect others' in-game experience, citing an "addiction," would then turn to a similiar stimulus. That's not hate, that's not anger. That's pointing out inconsistencies.

I wish for nothing for the best for CapFan, but suggesting that people who don't think like him must also be addicted like him is just protecting his weakness onto others.

Just imagine this: Suppose a Turbine employee was an alcoholic, and then quits drinking. One day, he has the shakes, and flips a switch, wiping out 20% of the servers. People are pissed. He says, "Hey! They're just pixels! I have a RL issue that I'm dealing with, and RL > AC. If you don't think so too, then you're an addict!"

Don't get it. Whatever.

Good luck, dude. But stop playing WoW. You're just heading down another road, using another kind of drug. But it's still a form of addiction.

Sorry for the hate. Guess this is the only place left to spew it (besides, I suppose, the Lair). :-(

What a way to come back!

For once, a few good things happened tonight, with no downsides.

1. Logged back in Saturday night, after feeling bad for two (count em!) weeks.
1a. Yes, I realize the initial pain wasn't enough to keep me out of AC, but I really wanted Sing Caul recall. :-|

2. Was immediately given Noble Longbow by my fantastico patron (I really dig her, and it's hysterical that we just kind of joined up so casually).

3. Got some really nice DIs tinkered up courtesy of some cheap gold I bought.

4. SOLOED (seriously) the 80+ hive to the Matron, killed her ugly ass, and then threw the raiment on the ground (bah, another endurance one).

So, basically, I'm due for a huge death spiral/blowup right about the next time I log in. ;-) :-P

But, it's still really nice to be back. :-)

On the mend.

I haven't been able to log into AC for some time now because of a RL injury. It's kind of significant, but on the other hand, I don't think it's that serious as long as I rest it (basically a nerve pinch). I'm trying to get better, and am even trying to avoid getting on the computer otherwise (avoiding VN boards most of the time, surfing, etc.).

I'm on the mend, and when I'm back, I'll be up to my old tricks (namely, getting killed. A lot.).

This eb-AC thing . . .

. . . does NOT impress me in the slightest. Actually, the fact that someone went to the trouble to create it impresses me plenty. But I won't be bidding on items on the site, and will continue to sell whatever I have either on my bot or on the boards.

*shrug*

The good, bad, and ugly of the weekend

. . . isn't much, because I didn't log into AC. :-O

Easter weekend, NCAAs, people in town to visit, and just getting over this pinched nerve all = Tai cooling his heels at his villa. :-(

Humph.

Dragons?!

Under normal circumstances, I soil my armor so often that I stenciled "Depends Undergarment" across the back of my girth. Hell, my buff cycle includes scotch guarding the inside of my armor to keep it from rusting, since I wet myself out of fear so much.

But, this "caulcano" thing is a whole different story -- no one said ANYTHING about dragons.

=====================


Let me back up:

So an alliancemate is showing me the withered tumerok area. We kill about 10-15 of these things, and another guy shows up, also in the alliance. Cool. As we do this, we're also on a thing called "Ventrilo" (just a voicechat program) and I hear people talking about "body recovery" and "Caul." In fact, I also notice people talking about it in @a. Well, heck -- I just learned Caul recall last week! I bet I should go!

The 3rd person in our fellow demurrs from the recovery mission as being too dangerous, but he's like level 110 or something. So, logically, I bailed as well, right? No. Because I am an idiot.

You say to your Monarch, "Need some help?"
Death tells you, "rofl, should I just give you 15% vitae now and save us the time?"

Turns out my clanmates were up for me coming along. There were 6 of them (all "126" (in truth more like 150ish)), and me, furiously water-sealing my armor.

But, I mean, how bad can this be? I've got a nice set of bows, some hog on them, and I'm buffed. On the voicechat, people are giggling about the "dragons."

I consider myself a student of AC. There AREN'T any dragons in AC. They're just trying to scare me. So we take off running.

WTF? "Monstrous Mite?" "Soiled Doll?" Uh oh.
Death says, "So many ways, so little time . . . "
You wince.
You scan the horizon.
You say to your fellowship, "Hey look -- giant flying lizards breathing fire."
You think, "Better use my cold rending bow."
You chill Biaka for 35 points of cold damage!
You chill Biaka for 37 points of cold damage!
Critical hit! You chill Biaka for 69 points of cold damage!
You say to your fellowship, "Best attack is cold? You sure?"
War Kaos says to your fellowship, "Yup"
You think, "uh-oh."
Biaka tells you, "ur too lame to kill, plz just stand over here and do the "winded" emote, want a screenshot for mah partron."
Biaka tells you, "I'm going to azz nail this gimp over here ehehehehe"
Biaka tells you, "mt"

Holy F-ing crap. Not just flying lizards who do fire damage and cast spells. Flying lizards with 'tudes. What kind of flying lizards breathe fire, cast spells, and talk smack?

DRAGONS!

@e pees himself.

Not good.

I found out that "Caulcano" part of Caul is apparently a pretty tough place, and is nuts. It sure was tonight. I counted 8+ deaths from the various folks in my fellowship. I didn't die, but that was only because my monarch, Kaos, was busting his tail to cast Adja's Gift on me over and over and over and (well, you get the idea). Also, it helped that I wasn't doing any damage to the dragons until they were imp'd, vuln'd, and tied to a chair with tape across their eyes like some kind of Abu Ghraib-looking dragon. THEN I could kick butt.

We found a ledge and held down a position to go get the various bodies (we lost more people trying to recover just the first ones, and there was another fellow out there with many of the same problems). Eventually, we worked together (I had to @tell their fellow leader to tell him that the reason we were all so quiet was that we were in voicechat) and got our fellows' bodies back.

At one point, when there was just utter chaos (no pun to my boss, Kaos), with people literally dying left and right, I decided it was time for decisive action, in the best way I know how: I ran like hell.

Specifically, I ran straight for this large, tower-looking building covered in mobs. I figured, "What the heck -- people need time to get their bodies, I'll lead them on a chase. At this point, my radar turns orange, and I run headlong towards the tower, but (with a buffed run of 450ish) none of them touch me.

In fact, I made it IN the tower.

You think, "Now what."
Death tells you, "Stand still."
You tell Death, "Quiet you! Oh look, stairs!"

So I run UP this tower, and realize that there are all the mobs, BELOW me. They can't get to me.

Tai Fung blows raspberries at the hellions and biakas.
Hellion tells you, "Ur so dead beyotch"
Void Knight tells you, "I just bought you in the shower for a carton of cigarettes."

I am NOT getting down from there.

Now, while I'm up there, and notice this big, boxy looking thing -- and I ignore it. Turns out that I discovered later that there is some sort of "free" chest on Caul that gives uber loot, assuming you can get through the mobs to open it. Oops. That's ok, because I'm not going back here until I can load my bow with stinger missles.

Uh-oh. Mobs are beaming in on TOP of the tower. Time to bail and meet everyone at the drop-off point (again). But, rather than recall, what do I do? Run DOWN the tower. THROUGH the mobs. OVER more hills.

But don't die.

Death tells you, "WTF?"

I had to recall eventually, because I got separated from the fellow, and then made a SOLO run to find a different way to the last person's body. Instead, I got pursued by some SERIOUSLY bizarre looking mobs -- "Soiled Doll" just sounds foul, and those marionettes scare the crapola outta me.

But in the end, the fellow had made about 14million for me alone, and I'd killed all of 3 creatures. Three. But no deaths.

So, what did I learn?

1. There be dragons out there. And I'll be over HERE, thankyouverramuch.
2. Sometimes, even a gimp can serve a purpose (even if it's drawing their fire).
3. I love healing. Mostly from me, but in a pinch, from a patient monarch.
4. See #1.

You'll have to excuse me, I need to lock the doors to my villa.

Dragons. Sheesh. If I wanted to die THAT way, I'd buy Everquest. :-(

You are now level 100!

Woot! Never thought I'd ever see it. First logged in (as Ken Po) on 31 December 1999, and didn't restart as Tai until early 2001. I doubt I'll hit 126 by the time of the expansion, but it's nice to at least hit triple digits.

Time for me to go to the Tusker Lacuna and screw up all that phat XP/hour thing. ;-)

Actually, I wouldn't go there -- too d00dish with XP whores. On the other hand, I *would* like to try the withereds, now that I have a decent array of weapons for them. :-)

The times, they are a-changin.

Edit: I might well go to Lacuna if enough of my clanmates are there. I know that they'd start up a new fellowship if the "leader" felt like the XP wasn't up to max. Hell, if I wasn't "allowed" in, I'd STILL stay, because I have every right to be in that dungeon, as any other one. Time to let the punks who think they own dungeons see what it's like when someone's actions screw up THEIR in-game experience.

Woo hoo!

Finally won an auction and got a nice lightning rending bow out of it. Gawd knows with my luck I haven't been able to LAND an imbue, so this is just as well.

But I'm now completely out of MMD notes. As in, none. Ouch.

The good, bad, and ugly of the weekend

Hrm.

Let's do 2 good/bad/uglys for this weekend:

Bow-related:
The good.

So I've finally completed my set of 335-req. rending bows. I have all 7 now, and was able to buy a slash rending bow at a steal of a price. Of course, the bow of the fallen I had was cool, but tended to be a little haphazard in damage variance. Now I can at least expect some decent damage on mobs with me alone, as they are going to be hit with rending attacks, no matter what they are vulnerable against.

The bad.

EACH one of the bows is at LEAST work 6 (3 are work 7, and I just got rid of a work 8). I have their damages all at +6, with some 7s, and possibly 1 +8. It's a tradeoff I have to do to be able to afford bows. I won't use a +5 bow at all, no matter what the work is, though. It's too easy to buy damages above that.

The ugly.

My tinkerer just CANNOT land an imbue to save her ass. I know the whole thing about 33% chances not "remembering" that they've failed a lot, but this is just silly. I don't know why I even keep trying with her, other than the expectation that she's due.


Weekend related.

The good:
1. The weekend has ended with me having all 7 damage types in 335 rending bows. That's good.

2.Got my Singularity Caul recall scroll, courtesy of the Kaos clan's quest on Saturday. That's good, too. The quest took longer than I'd expected, but it was fun to do. I felt pretty useless against the baddies, but what else is new there?

The bad:
Basically blew WAY too much time in the "super-secret-place-for-salvage" that my Patron told me about, collecting bubkiss for salvage. Refused bags of jet and red garnet from an alliance mate because I don't feel like I can accept something so valueable when I'm giving so little in return. Basically could have hit 100th level with even an hour in the Matron hive, but kept looking for salvage. Feh.

The ugly:
Tried using Tank for the first time in the "S-S-P-F-S", and discovered that Tank won't fletch new arrows for me. Other people report the same problem on the Tank website. *shrug* Serves me right for using tank. I was not UCMing, as I was right there at the keyboard, but just looking for a way to cut the monotony. So much for that. In fact, I nearly died because I was too busy letting Tank think for me.

So THAT's how those bots have all that jet . . .

. . . it's all on Rampagers. Thus, the Tusker Holding is camped to hell.

So, I went back to the Holding (what the hell was I thinking?). I noticed that Zabatar was in there (he's squelched, so who cares), but I was recruited pretty quickly, and was happy to join. I started moving through the tunnels, but someone said the "V corner" was open.

V corner? Heh, it's a good thing I have Dark Marcsun's "map" o' the holding, with the places labeled.

Oh --- THAT's the "V corner." Humph. Ok, fine. So, there I am, and I'm watching the fellow's XP move up and down in the 10-11 million/hr hour range. No big deal. Then, I see it: red garnet, jet, red garnet, jet.

Wow.

Uh-oh, buffs running out. Better hit BD7/Def7 on my bow.

Now then. Here's the thing: My BD7 spell isn't something I cast a lot (I have to be buffed pretty heavily to cast it). Just next to it is another spell: Mt. Lethe Recall.

Yup.

>>>You have been teleported.<<<

Oops.

So, I left the fellow, and recalled back to Aphus. But where to go?

THIS is why I have an awesome patron. Gave me a great tip on where to hunt (no, you can't know where it is). Didn't get a lot of salvage (and only half the XP), but I know that if I was there a long time, I would have.

Why didn't I?

I forgot to check how many arrowshafts I brought with me. No more bundles.

Pwned.

335 bow!

But I'm still only 98th level. :-(

Hit 335 base bow courtesy of the pincer runs last night. Woot! Had to use my Lautaloi as a weapon because I'd muled away all my 290 bows and picked up my array of 335s (but with a 334 base bow using them was a problem). It did just fine against all the baddies (I'm sure once I tinker my blud bow with hog it will blow me (and them) away).

Time to start shunting XP elsewhere for now. 360 bow can wait until after the expansion.

The good, the bad, and the ugly of the weekend

The good: Kaos led the weekly Bobo trip, and it was flawless. My first one, and I got the Aphus recall spell. Woot! Also, my patron gave me a fanastic "bow of the fallen," (which I'd planned on buying in the MP anyway), so that covers my "slash" attack bow (although it's not a rend, it is a CB bow).

The bad: At Gaerlan, didn't realize that a co-vassal had imperiled and vuln'ed Gaerlan (well, I did, but I forgot). So there I am using my slash rending bow in its swan song, and . . .

The ugly: Wasn't ready for Gaerlan to take such an interest in me, and he wailed for like 3-4 straight critical hits. I didn't drink an elixir in time, and died. Managed to get back to get my iasparalian et al. at least. Ended up feeling like crap over that. I thought I was doing so well with him, and it managed to cast a pall over my view of how the quest went. :-(

Huge gamble just now

I spent WAY WAY WAY too fricking much paying one of the al'Thor's bots for salvaged jet (bought 3 flipping bags over time, and 1 bag of red garnet).

Jet attempt -- fail.
Jet attempt -- fail.
Red Garn attempt -- lands (but it's not the best bow ever, just my luck).
Jet attempt -- lands (after scraping together my last bit o' wealth to pay for the bow and the imbue salvage).

So now, I have 335 bows in:

Piercing rend
Fire rend
Blud rend
Acid rend
Light rend
Cold rend

I won't be buying/making a CS/AR bow, as I'm finding rending bows too effective. If I'm with a mage, Imperil will do just fine. I'm left with some 290 bows to (I suppose) but on a bot for sale, but I'd almost rather keep them, as I can't bear to part with them just yet.

I spent pretty much all my wealth tonight. The remaining MMDs I have are committed to about 15 bags of hog (which won't be enough to spread over 6 bows). I need some luck in hunting, and need to pull some majors.

I'm such a screwed up person. Here I've worked hard to put together an array of 335 rending bows to replace my 290 ones, and now I'm ticked that none of the are +8 damage. Some are 6s and some are 7s. No 8s. So I'm still dissatisfied. :-(

Can't wait to hit 100 . . .

. . . so I can go to the Withered Lugian dungeon and NOT join a fellow. :D (I might well join if I'm in the mood, actually)

On the VN boards, Zarnon wrote:

>>>I mainly hunt solo because I dont like to deal with crap like "we >>>are 10% off of max in this fellow,
>>>step it up!!" or you have to make buttloads of exp in a very short time" spammed every few
>>>minutes or after every kill.

Yup. Sums it up perfectly. XP wh0r3s are pathetic.

Agnari/Panda's point is that (I think) these dungeons were created to allow people to powerlevel. So if you go in there and DON'T facilitate powerleveling, you're a griefer.

What's funny is this -- Turbine SPECIFICALLY stated that the Withereds were created with sans-life-magic characters in mind, so they wouldn't need to imperil. Who's in the Withered Lugian dungeon? Does Agnari/Panda have Life Magic trained/spec'd?

So who's the real griefer?

335 base bow looms.

Woot!

I miscalculated. I should hit 335 base bow sometime during 98th level. That's all I'll want for now, and will be enough to let me upgrade/change out some of my 290 bows.

Then I'll be seriously in the market for Hog. :D

I suppose it's getting to the point that I'll have to look at completing my template and triple spec'ing melee D (done), missle and magic (don't laugh). This is a pretty useful template, particularly with a full life/creature suit (salted with some majors, thank you verramuch).

http://vnboards.ign.com/AC_Archers_Stop/b5147/78825634

First Gaerlan quest

That was tons o' fun. Not sure why some folks might get bored of it. Who wouldn't want an Iasparailun (sp.) every week? Bots in the MP pay 50 plats for it, or just go get the free XP. :)

It was nice to do that quest as the only archer, and having some use (for once). Kinda cool to kill the door. Gaerlan of course pwned me a few times on some serious fire hits (next time I'll flame bane, didn't know to do that). It felt nice once I knew that he could do that kinda damage to be ready for it, and use my healing kits to get my health back up.

>>>War Kaos casts Adja's Gift and restores 0 points of your health.<<<

Ha. Pwned. Too fast for ye, old man. :D

Mental note: Tusker Holding = tard petris dish

That's the last time I go there for anything other than a tusk run.

Tard o' the night: "Worker Bee," who has some kind of "Agnari/Panda" syndrome about assigning places in a dungeon.

Seriously, the XP isn't even that GOOD in there, and is almost BETTER at times when you're solo. Why be in a fellowship there if people are going to be such douchbags?

About 120 million . . .

. . . to having a base 335 bow skill. I suspect that will put me somewhere under 100th level, but it will be enough. I likely won't use any different bows from that point on for a LONG time, as I'll be shunting XP into places other than bow after that.

I'm kind of a one-trick pony with my spec bow/melee 1 school o'magic template, but it does allow me to have fun. :)

Glad I still have lockpick.

So I'm in a good mood, having just recently beaten the Callous Heart quest (solo!), and am out by Ayan killing time, thinking of something to do.

I spotted a runed chest, so I killed the bandies (and profane) guarding it.

What happened next is only again Exhibit #697 of why I'm such a gimp.

I pick the lock (thank you Oswald's whatever), and then proudly double click on it.

Nothing happens (important note: I'm on my crappy laptop (not the good one)).

I stand there, and then hit the "R" (use) key.

The Runed Chest's top opens and shuts like one of those old McDonald's styrofoam burger containers.
Yup -- that was lag. The chest was open, and I didn't see it.

So, I examine it, and the chest is listed as "unlocked." Great! Let's open it one more time.

You have solved this quest too recently!
You may solve this quest again in 23h 58m 45s.

Tai Fung says, " . . . "
You cry.

I'm quite the glutton . . .

. . . for health that is.

So about 14 months ago, I did the "save or damn" Numidiria-Indira-Bananna-Fanna-Whatever" quest.

I really did struggle over what to do, since at the time, there was geniune debate over whether she was a "good" or "bad" person. I mean, she DID help us get housing, didn't she?

Anyway. At the time, I was convinced by the idea to damn her over the +30 health necklace, so I ran the dungeon with a small group, and "damned" her. We portal back to the guy, and get our reward gems. At that point, everyone is like, "Woo hoo, off we go -- let's all just meet at the hub in 10 minutes!"

10 minutes pass, and I'm there. Everyone's buffed, and all of a sudden, they're gone. I mean, they just all said, "ready," and then blinked out of existence.

You stare.
You look around.
XXXXXX says to your fellowship, "Where's Tai?"
You say to your fellowship, "Did I miss someone opening a portal?"
XXXXXX says to your fellowship, "hehe just use the portal gem an itll teleprot you here"
You say to your fellowship, "Um, the guy just gave me a "reward gem. I'm clicking on it, but nothing's happening."
XXXXXX says to your fellowship, "Didn't you give him the gems back for the portal gems?"
You say to your fellowship, " . . . "
XXXXXX says to your fellowship, "rofl"
XXXXXX says to your fellowship, "omg"
XXXXXX says to your fellowship, "Have a nice run back to Stonehold ;P"
You cry.

So, FOURTEEN months later (give or take another few months on top of that), I notice that there's a Stonehold portal in the new Umbral Hub. Bam, 5 minutes later, I'm in front of the guy, and now with 3 new shiny portal gems. Woot.

I run to Maggie's real quick, and get the rundown on the layout of the dungeon. Hmm. level 385 "bound coral golems" all over the place.

@e looks at his bludgeon rending yag.
Death tells you, "Plz plz plz plz come try it"
Death tells you, "Mistell"

Oh, what the heck. What's the worst that could happen?

A quick trip to Lanfear in the MP to get buffed up, and I bane for bludgeon attacks (no really! I remembered!).

You have been teleported.
This oughta be fun.

At this point, the story may disappoint: It was NUTS in there, and there are STILL numerous undecayed bodies all over the place, from the first room you portal in (the high grounds, at least) to right by the chest (3 by the chest, in fact).

Bound Coral Golem says, "Dogpile on the gimp!"
I see my health REALLY dropping, but I am running like hell from the minute I hit the ground (it beams you in about 20 feet off the ground). I'm ignoring every one of the golems, who are (really) trying to pin me against a wall. They're really not even connecting with me, since I'm at buffed melee of 420 something, and have my bow with well over +20something defender on it. I then find the chest.

At this point, the game does it's old fun trick -- it moves the camera SO close to me that *I* am the only thing on screen. So, as my health is now halfway down (I'm standing still by the chest at this point), I see this message in the upper left-hand corner of my screen, while I'm furiously clicking on the key and then the "chest," which I can see through my transparent body:

Cannot use silvery key with Tai Fung
Cannot use silvery key with Tai Fung
Cannot use silvery key with Tai Fung
Cannot use silvery key with Tai Fung

Bound Coral Golem hums theme from HBO's "Oz."
Bound Coral Golem says, "You're minezor now beyotch!"

The trade health elixir restores 70 points of your health.
You evaded Bound Coral Golem!
You evaded Bound Coral Golem!
The trade health elixir restores 70 points of your health.

--Whew.

Bound Coral Golem bashes your head for 45 points of bludgeoning damage!
Bound Coral Golem bashes your upper arm for 61 points of bludgeoning damage!

--Um . . .

The trade health elixir restores 70 points of your health.

At this point, I just said, "Screw it," and turned my back on the pack o' golems (haw), and unlocked the chest. I grabbed a jewel, and then clicked on a trusty Aphus Lassel portal gem.

With more than half my health still going.

Death says, "Whaaaaa?"

Haw. Pwned.

Buffed health now 290 @ 95th level. :-) :-P

Sometimes, this game isn't just fun, it's damned fun (get it???????).

I think it's funny, btw . . .

. . . that the whole drama over Agnari/Panda's attitude of "join our fellow and produce, or you're a poacher and should leave" in powerlevelling dungeons hit days after MY post on my first Tusker Holding d00d, which was on essentially the same topic.

I'm on the cutting edge of something around here, besides being able to NOT level. :-P

My first attempt at withereds . . .

I found myself online this morning, after the servers were restarted (post-dentist appointment), and was watching some folks discuss the Withered Dungeon, and their location.

Apparently, it's near Candeth Keep. Hmm. *I'm* LS'd at Candeth.
But . . . it's 100+ to enter. Yack.
BUT . . . there are mobs outside along a beach area.

An alliance-mate gave the coords, and I recalled quickly. I ran there, and positioned myself. I saw Bandies, Drudges, and Tummies (withered) outside the dungeon entrance. Humph. Ok. Let's pick a bandie.

IMPORTANT POINT: I have a lightning rending weapon, but it suxors. It's +130%, with all its tinks going to brass.

So I used cold.

Bandering (whatever) evaded your attack.
Bandering (whatever) evaded your attack.
Bandering (whatever) evaded your attack.
Bandering (whatever) evaded your attack.
Bandering (whatever) evaded your attack.

Humph.

Notice that he didn't run TO me, though.

So, I picked a drudge (and yes, used cold).

After about 5 Gems of Stillness to debuff those frigging Ataxia and Astyrrian's Gift spells, I kill him.

Woo hoo!

Then I decide to try to use fire against another drudge. And did like double damage.

Oops.

Anyway, I'm beating down this one, but just was VERY sloppy this time (basically watching TV back and forth with the screen).

Oops. Hiya Candeth, miss me?

Off to get the body. I loot, kill a platinum golem (goodbye 5% vitae), and log.

I can see how that area might be fun. Might go back soon.

Oh, and I'd know how many XPs I got, if I had infinity on. I was wondering why it didn't show that. Then I realized. Instead of starting bandit sight and infinity, I'd started AC Trade.

I r teh gimpy. :-(

And just like that . . .

. . . 95th level. Amazing what a little time in game will do for you. Now if I could just play during the day on Saturdays, I could actually (shocker!) quest!

My first "Tusker Holding d00d!"

So I ran through some Tusker dungeons last night to collect tusks (mostly for the AL gems, but I'll never turn my nose up at a Rampager tusk either). I didn't finish, so I logged off on Marae Lassel. When I logged on, I hit the Holding for my last tusk.

I saw a few people in the Holding, but ran past them all to get to the Tusk room, which was empty of people. So, I cleared it, grabbed a tusk, and looked around.

Hmm. Less than 100 arrows. Might as well sit here for a bit and kill stuff. The XP per hour was horrible (might have been better if I'd been in whatever fellow was running, but who knows?).

So this guy, "Zabatar" comes into the tusk room and says, "Your not joining the fello?" I told him, "I was here for a tusk." He says "Ya right," as I am typing out, "But I figured I'd stay here and see what the XP was like." At this point (I think) he's taken off down a hallway.

Hrm. *shrug*

I kill another cycle in the tusk room, and by the time the third hits, I am in one of the side tunnels, looting some salvage. Zabatar shows up again, and says, "Nice to block the door."

Huh? What door? In fact, I actually SAID that: "What door?"

He then says, "Like you don't know I'm running a cycle here." And runs off.

Um. What cycle?

I have "auto accept fellow requests" set to on, and never decline when invited.

So seriously -- what's the ettiquite in the Holding?

I'm happy to join fellowships, but if you're not planning on being there long, is it required?

Or is it easier to just grab a tusk every three weeks and not stay there, since there's better XP elsewhere? ;) :p

Wouldn't it be funny . . .

. . . if people were unable to get the pre-order rewards if they'd ever been banned (for some indeterminate time) for UCMing? Or somehow had otherwise ended up in the old "hall of shame?"

I don't wish that on anyone, except just to see the huge drama and wails that would happen if that were announced. :D

OMG, what a night.

So last night, for the first time in 5+ years, I joined a new alliance. The last one was practically nonexistant. This one appears very active, mature, and easygoing. I joined "The Order of Kaos."

http://www.theorderofkaos.com

I chose them for the reasons alluded to in my earlier blogs, although it wasn't easy.

Random points:

1. Within minutes (seconds?) of swearing, I was killed. In fact, I was so distracted by the allegiance chat (in my prior alliance, you never saw it go by, since not enough people were ever online), that I died - count em -- FOUR times. I haven't died that many times, in such a short span, in possibly years. I mean, I had two bodies on top of each other at one point.

2. I have to get used to a lot: There's the "@f" chat, because in fellows I normally keep quiet and pay attention to what I'm doing. There's the "@a" chat, there's "@p" to talk to Lorna II, my new Patron, and there's "@c" which apparently lets me talk to Lorna as well as my "co-vassals."

3. In many ways, I probably enjoyed my time "unsworn" most of all, but I realize that (a) without an alliance, I really won't be able to do many quests, and (b) I am naturally averse to change, so all these unfamiliar names and people I don't know will no doubt become more familiar soon. I'm sure I'll be comfortable.

4. Last night was also the first night I brought out my "New & Improved Creature/Life Suit" (tm), which features full Creature buffs (sans willpower, but who cares for a tank archer), and full Life (um, except I had no pants on, and still have to get some Bludgeon VI protects).

5. I thought with this suit it would be pretty interesting. It was, insofar as I just SUCKED in the 80+ hive. But when I'm at full buffs from a bot, I kick butt. What gives? I don't know if I was distracted by the chat or what, but it was a train wreck. It's possible that when I'm there, I normally wear my raiment, and fully buff it -- but the mutilators would go right through that, presumably, yes?

Sigh. Weird times ahead, but I know I'm so averse to change that ANY alliance I joined would feel bad, with the exception of the RL one I was part of for those 5 years, but now they don't want me. I'm sure I'll be right up and running soon in this one.

Time will tell!

Woo hoo! Life & Creature suit (pretty much) complete!

I just need a set of bludgeon protection pants (pfft, easy), and then have room for about two more creature spells (missle defense self, or regen self) on either:

Covenant BP or
Covenant Pauldrons


But other than that, I'm done!

Time to spec Missle and Magic D. :D

Narrowing down choices now

But I still have to think this out -- I'm not sure if Kitra and her 4 other mules will join up, and I just don't know what Virgil will do. But this has to be for and about me. I'm enough of an "un-person" after the last debacle. So sad when RL invades my time on Dereth.

I posted a "hidey-ho" to Kaos's website. Not where I've looked previously, but I think that Chunglee's clan, while apparenly great, has too many personalities that will rub me the wrong way, causing me to (essentially) continue to be a solo player. AS1 is a very tough decision, but I'm getting some outside pressure on that, so I need to back off. What really did it in Kaos vs. AS1, however, was the fact that Kaos's website is more up-to-date, and appears to have more quests regularly run. I have no doubt that both alliances are good ones, though.

Juzam's website won't come up for me, so that's out.

Dselestial seems VERY fun, but their clan appears to be a bit too small -- I did that for 5 years, and it was rough going.

I'm actually interested in Baelfire's potential clan of old-school roleplayers as well, but that's more of a theory of a clan than an actual one right now.

Seriously now . . .

. . . why Mystic wasn't banned for flamebaiting the DT boards is beyond me.

She goes over to DT and blatantly flames them. They go nuts and retaliate.

Is she banned for cross-server flaming? Nope.

It's obvious why she wasn't banned. Of course, we can't talk about the modding on the VN boards.

She exhibited no class just now (which we aren't allowed to point out either).

Whoa. 93rd level.

This 80+ hive thing is leaps and bounds beyond the 60+ hive in terms of XP production when you're in a fellow (about double, from what I can tell).

I'm closer to wanting to swear into an alliance. I saw that some people in Chunglee's crowd had an Aerlinthe quest run recently, and I woulda killed to go along if I'd had the time -- I really want that recall spell (along with the BoBo recall).

What I need to do now is contact an old vassal (who is now a monarch by protest) and take him up on his offer -- he said he'd follow me to whatever alliance I went to, and it looks like he has a total of 72 followers (only a few active, however). If the HOV was still active, I would have already gone there.

So where to choose? Chunglee is a pretty dominant choice, since there are so many of his folks on the boards, and I like what most of them have to say (barring Kiaya, who I guess I'll just have to learn to ignore). On the other hand, AS1's alliance has been around since the days of Djcjr, and there are people who swear by it (no pun intended).

Hmm.

Maybe it's a little premature . . .

. . . but I just blew through 90th level -- just gotta go on a pincer run tonight, and I'm over the top.

These levels were actually quite hard -- I got one of the new acid bows, landed an acid rend on it, and went to go fight some bronze statues in Ayan, just to test it out.

2 deaths later . . .

Sigh.

I r teh gimpy. :-(

Did you notice this about the VN boards?

--Lokkie's banned (I wish he wasn't, but this is a fact regardless)

--Mystic/Cardon are on vacation

--Kiaya's away (surgery)


Haven't the boards been . . . different . . . as of late?

4 posters gone. But the level of activity is HUGELY different. Better or worse, I'll reserve my thoughts.

Wait. It's a blog. D'oh.

@e kinda likes it without so much trolling and general cuteness all over the boards.

But I still dig Lokkie, and wish he were back. :-(

W - T - F

So where the hell is Lokkie? I mean, I figured out he was banned (just click his profile) as far back as last week, but this is just silly. How long is he going to be gone? We have blatant TOS violations, and all that happens is a [MODEDIT].

Double U.

Tee.

Eff.

Some days, you shouldn't even log on . . .

. . . and today's one of them.

Here's what happens when you hunt shallows devourers wearing only your dapper suit:

AmmoWiz: Warning! You only have 1 deadly armor piercing arrow left
@e checks his pack
@e doesn't see ANY arrows
@e hopes the wisp here won't chain cast on him
CURSED WISP Fs YOU IN THE A!

Death says, "Eeeeew."

Sigh.

@e gets envious

Holy crap -- I had no idea the BoBo rewards were so good -- I'd LOVE a bow tattoo! I bought a melee D tattoo and like it; it is helping to finish up my life/creature suit (well, more like a creature-only one). If I ever do this quest, it will be hard to decide if I want the recall spell or the bow tattoo more.

And one of these days, I'll do old-school Aerlinthe. ;-)

Just like that.

So much for the Peanut/CapFan monarchy.

CapFan made a post on his Monarchy boards. Here it is in its entirety:

=====
Today is a landmark day for me. It’s a day of liberation.

Some are capable of drinking socially with others without any ill effects. Others become alcoholics. Some even deny they have a problem as things fall apart around them.

Today I poured out the bottles. I’ve broken them all.

AC has become an addiction for me. Its influence over my life has been growing steadily for some time. Still managing to be a successful father, husband and employee, I’ve recognized the problem, but ignored it continuous erosion on my life.

Over the two week holiday, while I had quiet time to discuss things with my wife and son, I’ve decided to quit playing Asheron’s call. In dealing with any Addiction, you can not “ease” your way out, or make believe that you can still “drink socially”.

Therefore, today I have deleted all characters on all accounts. I did so with the shaking hands of someone in desperate need of recovery.
=====

Serious points on all this:

1. This guy seriously "manned up" and otherwise stepped up to the plate. You're a husband, dad, and worker first above any of this AC silliness. Him recognizing that is a huge issue, and a good one. He's taking this on as an addiction, and treating it just like it should be treated. I suspect he's overreacting just a bit, however. It seems like he just realized that he's on the ROAD to addiction, but isn't there yet. He clearly didn't like the path he was on, and correctly got off it.

2. The trouble is that because he doesn't appear to have reached a crisis point, he's just plain slammed on the brakes of the bus while people are still up and milling about. This wasn't an emergency, at least from what he's written. There would have been adequate time to consult with Peanut and/or trusted monarchy officers, and pick at least a temporary Monarch. Now the mansion is gone (and presumably all the items in it).

3. If I girl I was dating told me to quit AC over her, I'd dump her, or otherwise come to a compromise. AC is a hobby -- I don't smoke, barely drink, and don't gamble. I work out, train to fight, and otherwise watch reality tv for fun. AC is just a nice little diversion. If someone told me that I couldn't be permitted this little peccadillo, there'd be problems. That is DIFFERENT from being asked to cut down, particularly if I was presented with reasons that my hobby was interfering with RL obligations.

The bottom line is that this guy took a strong, hardline on this, and I respect him for that. But in this case, what he did seriously affected others, and could have been handled with a touch more finesse. It would have added to his allure (insofar as his classiness is concerned), but it's not enough of a bad move to tarnish an otherwise fine person who enhanced the AC community.

Happy New Year!

I didn't log in much over the New Year's weekend -- I actually had a social life! Woot!

Anyway, enjoy the new year, and may your plats never burn (hey, imagine what that'll do to the economy!).