so i used the plan detialed int he post below. i stopped after my second death. the first was on the run from nanto to lin. i managed to recover everything on that one. the second was on the run from al-jalima to zaikhal.
after buying a bunch of supplies, and dumping a lot of the stuff she was carrying onto kat, we set off with a couple of level 5 buffs to help her move faster, we set about dropping stuff off at the various craftsmen.
i am pleased to note that some of the appretices (the ones that ask for more advanced concotions) award 10,000 xp and tradenotes worth 15k.
i decided after the death on the way to lin that i should get her buffed for real. so after a trip to the marketplace we finished the run to lin. that went as well as could be expected. outside of aljalima i just happened to run into an iron golem kingpin. i yeilded to the temptation and took him on, since i just happened to be carrying and acid dagger was was buffed, she beat the kingpin after a pretty lengthy battle. she doesn't have healing, and had about 5 minutes left on her buffs when she died within earshot of zaikhal.
it was getting late, and most of what i dropped was gear from the kingpin and a platemail top that i am not too worried about losing.
there are two flaws in the plan thus far:
1) there are two legs of the trip that far that require you to run thru the wild. the runs are pretty short, but for a mule at 180% burden, with no defenses to speak of even when she is fully buffed, that is pretty dangerous.
2) the run would go a lot faster if it wasn't necessary to research and make everything as you went. i had to drop mule some hotsauce for tinka to make the flaming kimchi for one turn in. crafting the stuff as you go helps to reduce some of the boredom of watching tinka run in slow motion, but finding out you need hotsauce when your standing in front of the crafter will definitely slow you down.
it will go smoother once i get a supply of the materials need, and i would imagine being buffed from beginning to end will help it all take less time.
so the frist run has been a flop for the most part. i will finish it up so i have all the gear for the next run.
Friday, October 22, 2004
Thursday, October 21, 2004
tinka's odessy
so tinka has her little manwhore, katusa, pushing XP her way. this is nice, but kat is in a transitional period at the moment, having just hit 20th, and is in the middle of making the move from the explorer issue gear into level 4 jewelry and olhtoi gear. after that he will be ready to continue pushing. thanks to katusa's efforts, tink has made 30th level and now has enough credits to spec lockpick. this means that she will be specialized in every tradeskill available: alchemy, cooking, flethcing, and lockpick. she has all the tinker skills as well.
taking tinka anywere is a total pain thanks to her complete lack of combat abilities of *any* kind, and since she is my only mule, she is always *seriously* overburdened. i figured that since kat is down right now while i move jewelry and stuff his way, i would have him hold some stuff for his patron while she (and her buddy hwa who will actually kill the monsters) ran thru the skill spec dungeon.
i figured that as long as she is buffed and unburdened, she could also hit some of the new tradesman quests and pickup some XP in her various skills. there are tons of the apprentices and a few of the journeymen. thanks to tinka's leet treade skills she has no item magic, so she will be running the whole way :-)
after using maggies and acmaps to plan my very circular route, the goal is to hit a few apprentices and one journeyman, without the use of item magic or portal gems.
at the end we will have visited 5 apprentices and one journeyman for each of the trade skills, for a total of 75,000xp for each skill, and to earn tradenotes equal to 135,000py.
it starts in rithwic where tinka is lifestoned:
Rithwic Apprentice Fletcher (Frost Arrowheads) - 10.4N, 58.2E
Lytelthorpe portal 9.5N,59.9E
Lytelthorpe Apprentice Cook (Bowl of Chicken Noodle) - 0.7N, 51.2E
Holtburg portal 1.7N,49.9E
Holtburg Apprentice Alchemist (Frost Infusion) - 42.1N, 33.8E
40.8N x 34.0E Rithwic
shoushi portal (it's right next to the drop)
Shoushi Apprentice Alchemist (Acid Infusion) - 33.3S, 72.8E
Yanshi portal 35.0S,74.4E
Yanshi Apprentice Fletcher (Bundle of Acid Arrowheads) -10.4S, 46.4E
yaraq portal 12.1S,46.3E
Al-Arqas portal 22.8S,0.7W
Al-Arqas Apprentice Cook (Bowl of Mushroom Noodle) - 31.1S, 13.9E
Samsur portal 32.6S,14.4E
Samur Apprentice Fletcher (Bundle of Lightning Arrowheads) - 2.9S, 19.6E
take the mannekin foundty portal to nanto
Nanto Apprentice Cook (Bowl of Fish Noodle) - 52.5S, 82.0E
run SE to lin
Lin Apprentice Alchemist (Concentrated Frost Oil) - 54.4S, 73.5E
Khayyaban portal 54.9S,73.1E
Khayyaban Apprentice Fletcher (Bundle of Greater Acid Arrowheads) - 47.1S, 24.7E
back to lin portal 47.7S x 25.0W
tou-tou portal 54.0S,73.9E
Tou Tou Apprentice Cook (Flaming Kimchi) - 28.0S, 95.5E
uziz portal 28.2S,95.6E
Uziz Apprentice Cook (Spiced Apple Pie) - 25.7S, 28.3E
back to tou-tou again, 24.9S,28.3E
arwic portal 27.9S,95.8E
Arwic Apprentice Alchemist (Concentrated Lightning Oil) - 33.4N, 56.8E
al jalima portal 33.6N,57.1E
Zaikhal Apprentice Alchemist (Concentrated Bloodseeker Oil) - 13.9N, 0.1E
Danby's Outpost portal 16.7 N, 1.6 W
Danby's Outpost (fletcher) (23.4N, 28.8W) - Hollow Arrowshaft
allegaince recall to arwic
Mountain Shortcut at 34.9N 56.0E
banit road 42,4N, 60.5E
Bandit Castle (cook) (66.5N, 50.0E) - Fried Cinnamon Dough
allegaince recall to arwic and run to subway
qalabar portal
Qalaba'r (achemist) (74.3S, 19.3E) - Lead Lodestone
allegaince recall to arwic and run to subway
eastham portal
Eastham Apprentice Fletcher (Bundle Greater Frost Arrowheads) - 17.3N, 63.2E
looks easy, huh? we'll have to see.
taking tinka anywere is a total pain thanks to her complete lack of combat abilities of *any* kind, and since she is my only mule, she is always *seriously* overburdened. i figured that since kat is down right now while i move jewelry and stuff his way, i would have him hold some stuff for his patron while she (and her buddy hwa who will actually kill the monsters) ran thru the skill spec dungeon.
i figured that as long as she is buffed and unburdened, she could also hit some of the new tradesman quests and pickup some XP in her various skills. there are tons of the apprentices and a few of the journeymen. thanks to tinka's leet treade skills she has no item magic, so she will be running the whole way :-)
after using maggies and acmaps to plan my very circular route, the goal is to hit a few apprentices and one journeyman, without the use of item magic or portal gems.
at the end we will have visited 5 apprentices and one journeyman for each of the trade skills, for a total of 75,000xp for each skill, and to earn tradenotes equal to 135,000py.
it starts in rithwic where tinka is lifestoned:
Rithwic Apprentice Fletcher (Frost Arrowheads) - 10.4N, 58.2E
Lytelthorpe portal 9.5N,59.9E
Lytelthorpe Apprentice Cook (Bowl of Chicken Noodle) - 0.7N, 51.2E
Holtburg portal 1.7N,49.9E
Holtburg Apprentice Alchemist (Frost Infusion) - 42.1N, 33.8E
40.8N x 34.0E Rithwic
shoushi portal (it's right next to the drop)
Shoushi Apprentice Alchemist (Acid Infusion) - 33.3S, 72.8E
Yanshi portal 35.0S,74.4E
Yanshi Apprentice Fletcher (Bundle of Acid Arrowheads) -10.4S, 46.4E
yaraq portal 12.1S,46.3E
Al-Arqas portal 22.8S,0.7W
Al-Arqas Apprentice Cook (Bowl of Mushroom Noodle) - 31.1S, 13.9E
Samsur portal 32.6S,14.4E
Samur Apprentice Fletcher (Bundle of Lightning Arrowheads) - 2.9S, 19.6E
take the mannekin foundty portal to nanto
Nanto Apprentice Cook (Bowl of Fish Noodle) - 52.5S, 82.0E
run SE to lin
Lin Apprentice Alchemist (Concentrated Frost Oil) - 54.4S, 73.5E
Khayyaban portal 54.9S,73.1E
Khayyaban Apprentice Fletcher (Bundle of Greater Acid Arrowheads) - 47.1S, 24.7E
back to lin portal 47.7S x 25.0W
tou-tou portal 54.0S,73.9E
Tou Tou Apprentice Cook (Flaming Kimchi) - 28.0S, 95.5E
uziz portal 28.2S,95.6E
Uziz Apprentice Cook (Spiced Apple Pie) - 25.7S, 28.3E
back to tou-tou again, 24.9S,28.3E
arwic portal 27.9S,95.8E
Arwic Apprentice Alchemist (Concentrated Lightning Oil) - 33.4N, 56.8E
al jalima portal 33.6N,57.1E
Zaikhal Apprentice Alchemist (Concentrated Bloodseeker Oil) - 13.9N, 0.1E
Danby's Outpost portal 16.7 N, 1.6 W
Danby's Outpost (fletcher) (23.4N, 28.8W) - Hollow Arrowshaft
allegaince recall to arwic
Mountain Shortcut at 34.9N 56.0E
banit road 42,4N, 60.5E
Bandit Castle (cook) (66.5N, 50.0E) - Fried Cinnamon Dough
allegaince recall to arwic and run to subway
qalabar portal
Qalaba'r (achemist) (74.3S, 19.3E) - Lead Lodestone
allegaince recall to arwic and run to subway
eastham portal
Eastham Apprentice Fletcher (Bundle Greater Frost Arrowheads) - 17.3N, 63.2E
looks easy, huh? we'll have to see.
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
the drama down below
under this post are two posts full of PK related drama. i have a simple solution to all of it.
ok, first off, i hate message boards in general, or at least boards with more than a hundred members. they are breeding grounds for trolls and flamers and other wastrels. in my internet youth i wasted time on usenet, but now i know better. i hang out on a couple of small community message boards and that is about the extent of it.
here is my little flame, which no one can reply to (i guess if you want you can email me):
why PK and PKL should be a bannable offense
PK and PK lite should be bannable offenses. the logic behind this is pretty simple if you take two givens: 1) if you violate the code of conduct you should be banned. and 2) the basic intent of the code of conduct is to stop people from being a jerk.
people who PK and PKL are jerks, being a jerk is essentially a COC violation, so PK'ers should be banned.
i know what you're saying, "chris, not everyone who PK's is a jerk."
my response to that is also simple: fooey
the people who PK/PKL that you think are not jerks simply have not been caught being jerks. this is because the only motivation to PK is to be a jerk. you can candy coat this by saying "it's more challenging" or "it's more fun" or "it's the only real challenge in the game" which is a a very polite way to say "i am a jerk".
if you go PK, or roll a character on a PK server, you are looking to fight other players, kill them, then either take their stuff and/or talk trash to them, which is being a jerk. if you fail and are killed you will pout about it, then get all your friends together and go looking for the person that wronged you and start some retarded little PK war, which is also being a jerk. if PK and PKL were bannable offenses, then the population of jerks will be decimated in a matter of days.
if you type /PKL, BAM! you're banned, if you log in to darktide, BOOM! Bannage. double click the altar bhalz and BING! you're outta here! that's right, leave that stuff in the game as bait for jerks. boost the PK abilities of all the PK weapons, add new quests for uber PK items that require you to be PK or PKL to complete them. the jerk population on all servers would be thinned in a matter of hours. leave PK in the game, hell work hard to improve it, and then punish people for doing it.
imagine a trip to the marketplace, or the lifestone in AB with no jerks talking about n00bs, whining about lag, or crying about being ganked. imagine message boards with no one trying to sell the gear they ganked from someone who thinks it is rightfully theirs. imagine everyday whining and drama reduced tenfold. imagine being a mage and not being begged for buffs by jerks who just want to duel. (hey jerks, if both of you have level 7 buffs, then fighting without them should be the same... why not fight without them?) imagine not having to stand in line for a buff bot for 30 minutes just so you can recover your corpse. the thought almost brings tears to my eyes.
ok, first off, i hate message boards in general, or at least boards with more than a hundred members. they are breeding grounds for trolls and flamers and other wastrels. in my internet youth i wasted time on usenet, but now i know better. i hang out on a couple of small community message boards and that is about the extent of it.
here is my little flame, which no one can reply to (i guess if you want you can email me):
why PK and PKL should be a bannable offense
PK and PK lite should be bannable offenses. the logic behind this is pretty simple if you take two givens: 1) if you violate the code of conduct you should be banned. and 2) the basic intent of the code of conduct is to stop people from being a jerk.
people who PK and PKL are jerks, being a jerk is essentially a COC violation, so PK'ers should be banned.
i know what you're saying, "chris, not everyone who PK's is a jerk."
my response to that is also simple: fooey
the people who PK/PKL that you think are not jerks simply have not been caught being jerks. this is because the only motivation to PK is to be a jerk. you can candy coat this by saying "it's more challenging" or "it's more fun" or "it's the only real challenge in the game" which is a a very polite way to say "i am a jerk".
if you go PK, or roll a character on a PK server, you are looking to fight other players, kill them, then either take their stuff and/or talk trash to them, which is being a jerk. if you fail and are killed you will pout about it, then get all your friends together and go looking for the person that wronged you and start some retarded little PK war, which is also being a jerk. if PK and PKL were bannable offenses, then the population of jerks will be decimated in a matter of days.
if you type /PKL, BAM! you're banned, if you log in to darktide, BOOM! Bannage. double click the altar bhalz and BING! you're outta here! that's right, leave that stuff in the game as bait for jerks. boost the PK abilities of all the PK weapons, add new quests for uber PK items that require you to be PK or PKL to complete them. the jerk population on all servers would be thinned in a matter of hours. leave PK in the game, hell work hard to improve it, and then punish people for doing it.
imagine a trip to the marketplace, or the lifestone in AB with no jerks talking about n00bs, whining about lag, or crying about being ganked. imagine message boards with no one trying to sell the gear they ganked from someone who thinks it is rightfully theirs. imagine everyday whining and drama reduced tenfold. imagine being a mage and not being begged for buffs by jerks who just want to duel. (hey jerks, if both of you have level 7 buffs, then fighting without them should be the same... why not fight without them?) imagine not having to stand in line for a buff bot for 30 minutes just so you can recover your corpse. the thought almost brings tears to my eyes.
PK drama
Asheron's Call Forums - BM 5 and PK
wow, ain't no drama like PK drama. like i have always said: pk should be a bannable offense.
wow, ain't no drama like PK drama. like i have always said: pk should be a bannable offense.
soloing janus
janus hope is my martyr mage. she is a real challenge to play since she is a "pure" mage (meaning she uses magic to kill) with no war magic.
she is next on my list to get to 50th. at 50th she will be able to spec magic defense. this would put her at being spec'd creature magic, life magic, mana conversion, and magic defense. i am not sure that is even possible, tho i figure that if a character can spec creature, life, and war (known as the CLaW mage) then a creature, life, and manaC mage can spec magicD as well (a template i like to call the G-CLaM). she also has lore, which i thought about specializing, and that may come in time :-)
the problem with her is that she is tricked out to be a support mage. she is everyone's best friend when group hunting or questing, but hunting her solo is difficult. she has to choose her enemies carefully. so far, her hunting ground has been the gredaline consulate. i am getting pretty tired of this place, since it was naihanchi's old hunting ground, and i would imagine will be kablammus's as well. i decided to try hunting her out in the open near qalabar since there are lots of undead there, which mages do well with.
well, she did ok against the level 60 stuff, but not so well against the 70+ stuff. part of the problem is her, part of the problem is me. i haven't played her in a while, i have been focusing on my melees and my hybrids, so my chain casting skills are not quite leet enough to play her with real effectiveness, and i have lost touch with some of the issues she faces when soloing.
her problem is that magic yield is not enough to knock the higher level monsters down to her level. she can't really afford for her hecatombs to be resisted, since her main attack hurts her as well as the monster. the yield problem i have solved by adding bafflement and feeblemind to the debuff lineup. this helps to knock their magic resistance down more than yeild alone, though getting all 3 landed on a stubborn monster can be particularly time consuming. she has the skill to cast level 6 buffs, but i am short of cash and scrolls to outfit her. once she is on 6's, her all around skills will go up, lessening the chance of enemies resisting her.
also, she has to get close to stuff in order to drain it, and she takes a long time to kill creatures, which means she ends up standing in the spawn, constantly fighting. she is fighting undead and shadows, who drain a lot. it's sad to say, but getting drained hurts her. it's sad because she uses all of her fluids to kill stuff, so when the enemy steals them with drains, it diminishes her effectiveness. ironically, she relies on drains to kill you would think that she would know how to resist them, and yet she doesn't.
that is where my problem comes in. her tactics in the open man she ends up tanking a few monsters on their spawn. not exactly helathy if you can't kill quickly enough to top off before the next spawn. she needs to go into every fight with her fluids maxed, and start the fight from a safe distance. i am not patient enough to top off between fights (a by product of playing melees) even when i do have time. i have also stopped carrying potions and stuff on her, stamina, health, and mana, a sort of "emergency reserve" for when the fluids get low and draining isn't possible. with the addition of potions to her arsenal should lessen the death from blowing all 3 tanks (health, stamina and mana).
so, with changes in strategy and loadout, and the much needed addition of patience and better buffs, janus's slow road to 50th will hopefully be a bit smoother.
she is next on my list to get to 50th. at 50th she will be able to spec magic defense. this would put her at being spec'd creature magic, life magic, mana conversion, and magic defense. i am not sure that is even possible, tho i figure that if a character can spec creature, life, and war (known as the CLaW mage) then a creature, life, and manaC mage can spec magicD as well (a template i like to call the G-CLaM). she also has lore, which i thought about specializing, and that may come in time :-)
the problem with her is that she is tricked out to be a support mage. she is everyone's best friend when group hunting or questing, but hunting her solo is difficult. she has to choose her enemies carefully. so far, her hunting ground has been the gredaline consulate. i am getting pretty tired of this place, since it was naihanchi's old hunting ground, and i would imagine will be kablammus's as well. i decided to try hunting her out in the open near qalabar since there are lots of undead there, which mages do well with.
well, she did ok against the level 60 stuff, but not so well against the 70+ stuff. part of the problem is her, part of the problem is me. i haven't played her in a while, i have been focusing on my melees and my hybrids, so my chain casting skills are not quite leet enough to play her with real effectiveness, and i have lost touch with some of the issues she faces when soloing.
her problem is that magic yield is not enough to knock the higher level monsters down to her level. she can't really afford for her hecatombs to be resisted, since her main attack hurts her as well as the monster. the yield problem i have solved by adding bafflement and feeblemind to the debuff lineup. this helps to knock their magic resistance down more than yeild alone, though getting all 3 landed on a stubborn monster can be particularly time consuming. she has the skill to cast level 6 buffs, but i am short of cash and scrolls to outfit her. once she is on 6's, her all around skills will go up, lessening the chance of enemies resisting her.
also, she has to get close to stuff in order to drain it, and she takes a long time to kill creatures, which means she ends up standing in the spawn, constantly fighting. she is fighting undead and shadows, who drain a lot. it's sad to say, but getting drained hurts her. it's sad because she uses all of her fluids to kill stuff, so when the enemy steals them with drains, it diminishes her effectiveness. ironically, she relies on drains to kill you would think that she would know how to resist them, and yet she doesn't.
that is where my problem comes in. her tactics in the open man she ends up tanking a few monsters on their spawn. not exactly helathy if you can't kill quickly enough to top off before the next spawn. she needs to go into every fight with her fluids maxed, and start the fight from a safe distance. i am not patient enough to top off between fights (a by product of playing melees) even when i do have time. i have also stopped carrying potions and stuff on her, stamina, health, and mana, a sort of "emergency reserve" for when the fluids get low and draining isn't possible. with the addition of potions to her arsenal should lessen the death from blowing all 3 tanks (health, stamina and mana).
so, with changes in strategy and loadout, and the much needed addition of patience and better buffs, janus's slow road to 50th will hopefully be a bit smoother.
Friday, October 15, 2004
teh grind
getting a toon to 40th level is fairly easy. it's time consuming, but it's not overly labourious. the leap from 40th to 50th is an absolute grind.
pyung ahn was my first real success with a melee toon. he began life as a 2 schooled UA with lore spec'd, and in time he became a 3 schooled tank. he is a real hoss, able to hunt in places my hybrids and mages far to tread. he was my orginal bug hunter, and in many ways is the real partiarch of the group, rather than naihanchi. everyone has benefitted from the loot he has extracted from piles of dead bugs.
while he is a foromidable UA, thanks to his recent mastery of level 5 buffs, he suffers from the same shortcomings that all UA's suffer: poor damage. i am one credit shy of training mace, and once i unspec UA, he will become a macer. he will get the almighty last credit on his 50th birthday, something like 12 million XP from now. at that point i am hoping to get him to 300 base in meleeD and mace. he just made 275 in each, so i am not sure if that will be enough.
my problem is that while i have the hunting grounds for 1-40 all worked out, i am not sure where to hunt pyung now. i could power level him at the phntos menace, but that is a real drag. i could keep pushng at OHN for another few million, he is able to make it to the second phase now, but i would rather solo someplace a little more appropriate to his level, only i don't really know where that place is.
once he hits 50th, and i can imbue a mace for him, pyung will set up shop in one of the bug dungeons on the plateau or perhaps a matron hive of some kind. at that point he'll move from the original bug basher, to the ultimate bug basher.
UPDATE: i yielded to the temptation and hit the phyntos menace for the final level. i feel dirty and ashamed, but he made 50th and will very soon be a macer :-)
pyung ahn was my first real success with a melee toon. he began life as a 2 schooled UA with lore spec'd, and in time he became a 3 schooled tank. he is a real hoss, able to hunt in places my hybrids and mages far to tread. he was my orginal bug hunter, and in many ways is the real partiarch of the group, rather than naihanchi. everyone has benefitted from the loot he has extracted from piles of dead bugs.
while he is a foromidable UA, thanks to his recent mastery of level 5 buffs, he suffers from the same shortcomings that all UA's suffer: poor damage. i am one credit shy of training mace, and once i unspec UA, he will become a macer. he will get the almighty last credit on his 50th birthday, something like 12 million XP from now. at that point i am hoping to get him to 300 base in meleeD and mace. he just made 275 in each, so i am not sure if that will be enough.
my problem is that while i have the hunting grounds for 1-40 all worked out, i am not sure where to hunt pyung now. i could power level him at the phntos menace, but that is a real drag. i could keep pushng at OHN for another few million, he is able to make it to the second phase now, but i would rather solo someplace a little more appropriate to his level, only i don't really know where that place is.
once he hits 50th, and i can imbue a mace for him, pyung will set up shop in one of the bug dungeons on the plateau or perhaps a matron hive of some kind. at that point he'll move from the original bug basher, to the ultimate bug basher.
UPDATE: i yielded to the temptation and hit the phyntos menace for the final level. i feel dirty and ashamed, but he made 50th and will very soon be a macer :-)
Tuesday, October 05, 2004
the letter to fist de yuma
i know you won't believe it, but i didn't intend for fist to publish my letter. (it's in the october 5th section). but he did cuz he's a helluva guy.
so anyway, he published my letter about not digging fellows with random strangers cuz i'm a big jerk, and yes i was kidding :-)
so if you are reading this after visiting fists site, i hope you enjoy reading about my misadvntures and don't get whiplash from my inability to stay on any one subject. most of this site really is tongue in cheek. the lack of spell checking and capitalization, copious use of leetspeek, and of course my off the cuff remarks about everything should be evidence that i don't take myself that seriously. i don't really hate anyone, nor do i think that pk-lite should be a bannable offense since there are one or two people who PK-lite who aren't insecure 14 year old wankers :-)
so anyway, he published my letter about not digging fellows with random strangers cuz i'm a big jerk, and yes i was kidding :-)
so if you are reading this after visiting fists site, i hope you enjoy reading about my misadvntures and don't get whiplash from my inability to stay on any one subject. most of this site really is tongue in cheek. the lack of spell checking and capitalization, copious use of leetspeek, and of course my off the cuff remarks about everything should be evidence that i don't take myself that seriously. i don't really hate anyone, nor do i think that pk-lite should be a bannable offense since there are one or two people who PK-lite who aren't insecure 14 year old wankers :-)
Monday, October 04, 2004
where do they come up with this stuff?
so i read on warcry about the revsion of the october letter to the players. they will be adding a skill and changing the way salvaging works, which is really cool.
they mentioned this balancing they did to counteract the games that people play to exploit the reward. i never would have thought to use the cooking skill to exploit a reward. who thinks this stuff up?
i am really all for balancing the game. i have had my gaming life seriously impacted by the things that turbine has had to do in order to counteract the shinannegans of macroers and the like and i have been hurt a few times. not being able to sell crafted items has hurt my cash flow, especially now that olthoi don't drop the same kinds of loot they used to drop.
i have a bunch of mages (two 3schoolers, three life hybrids, and three pure mages) that will all need level 6 spells very soon, and i am having issues getting the cash to buy them. see, i use buffs a lot, but they are all *MY* buffs. i actually cast my own buffs, level 3's or 4's or whatever the toon is able to cast, so life for my guys is pretty expensive between spells and comps. i am fine with this, i just need to find a good place to hunt for loot. as much as i hate the place, it's looking like the phyntos menace is a good place to hunt for it, at least until i can hunt a toon in a matron hive or the dires.
i also don't take many gifts from others. i have a couple of tinked items, tho not many, and i most of them have been tinked by my mule, tinka. i have powerleveled her a bit, it's true, and now i have a guy pushing XP her way, but i have never put her in an XP chain, nor have i combat macroed her. for a while, i did use her to robochef healing potions which i sold, and for all the effort i guess i ended up with two MMD notes for the trouble. i am not sure it was worth it, but the cash did get all my mages and hybrids at the time into level 5 spells. now there are quests and stuff to help level trade characters and make a little money, and katusa will also help level her, i think she is viable again as a character. this is an example of a good balance to taking something way.
all this is leading to why i don't like macroers or other cheaters: turbine has taken great strides to eliminate them, and sometimes those eliminations have hurt me. i have complained a bit about it, but in general i have lived with the changes. there is always talk of banning third party apps, and i think that that is where i may draw the line. i use magic alot because i don't have much luck with finding really nice items. the bulk of my charactes are mages because spells are easy to get and the only way to get ready access to a complete set of buffs, is to cast them on yourself. this is tedious, unless you use an app like nerfus buffus to do the buffing for you. i have put up with nerfus and decal breaking with each patch, and i will have to admit that for the last few months, life has been good.
if, in it's desperation to stop macroers and other cheaters, turbine does ban 3rd party apps like decal, then people like me who use those apps to take some of the tedium out of playing may be left out. i have to hunt in dungeons because the lands out in the open are full of very high level monsters. the hi level monsters are there cuz the everage toon is like 200th level, unlike me. so to get anywhere i just run like hell and hope i don't get killed. then i tie to the portal of the dungeon you are looking for and recall there until i outgrow the dungeon. this is how all my dudes hunt thanks to the outrageous level to the content in the outlands, which i am sure is in response to all the macroed toons running around complaining that there isn't any content that challenges them.
this is why i don't understand cheating... if you are going to cheat and max out, why bother playing? i know why they do it, becuse they want to be the biggest and the best. that's fine, be the best, but then why would you want the game to be remade to challenge you? if you maxed out in the shortest possible time, then move on, don't hang around an skew the balance for us real players. honestly, where do they come up with this stuff?
they mentioned this balancing they did to counteract the games that people play to exploit the reward. i never would have thought to use the cooking skill to exploit a reward. who thinks this stuff up?
i am really all for balancing the game. i have had my gaming life seriously impacted by the things that turbine has had to do in order to counteract the shinannegans of macroers and the like and i have been hurt a few times. not being able to sell crafted items has hurt my cash flow, especially now that olthoi don't drop the same kinds of loot they used to drop.
i have a bunch of mages (two 3schoolers, three life hybrids, and three pure mages) that will all need level 6 spells very soon, and i am having issues getting the cash to buy them. see, i use buffs a lot, but they are all *MY* buffs. i actually cast my own buffs, level 3's or 4's or whatever the toon is able to cast, so life for my guys is pretty expensive between spells and comps. i am fine with this, i just need to find a good place to hunt for loot. as much as i hate the place, it's looking like the phyntos menace is a good place to hunt for it, at least until i can hunt a toon in a matron hive or the dires.
i also don't take many gifts from others. i have a couple of tinked items, tho not many, and i most of them have been tinked by my mule, tinka. i have powerleveled her a bit, it's true, and now i have a guy pushing XP her way, but i have never put her in an XP chain, nor have i combat macroed her. for a while, i did use her to robochef healing potions which i sold, and for all the effort i guess i ended up with two MMD notes for the trouble. i am not sure it was worth it, but the cash did get all my mages and hybrids at the time into level 5 spells. now there are quests and stuff to help level trade characters and make a little money, and katusa will also help level her, i think she is viable again as a character. this is an example of a good balance to taking something way.
all this is leading to why i don't like macroers or other cheaters: turbine has taken great strides to eliminate them, and sometimes those eliminations have hurt me. i have complained a bit about it, but in general i have lived with the changes. there is always talk of banning third party apps, and i think that that is where i may draw the line. i use magic alot because i don't have much luck with finding really nice items. the bulk of my charactes are mages because spells are easy to get and the only way to get ready access to a complete set of buffs, is to cast them on yourself. this is tedious, unless you use an app like nerfus buffus to do the buffing for you. i have put up with nerfus and decal breaking with each patch, and i will have to admit that for the last few months, life has been good.
if, in it's desperation to stop macroers and other cheaters, turbine does ban 3rd party apps like decal, then people like me who use those apps to take some of the tedium out of playing may be left out. i have to hunt in dungeons because the lands out in the open are full of very high level monsters. the hi level monsters are there cuz the everage toon is like 200th level, unlike me. so to get anywhere i just run like hell and hope i don't get killed. then i tie to the portal of the dungeon you are looking for and recall there until i outgrow the dungeon. this is how all my dudes hunt thanks to the outrageous level to the content in the outlands, which i am sure is in response to all the macroed toons running around complaining that there isn't any content that challenges them.
this is why i don't understand cheating... if you are going to cheat and max out, why bother playing? i know why they do it, becuse they want to be the biggest and the best. that's fine, be the best, but then why would you want the game to be remade to challenge you? if you maxed out in the shortest possible time, then move on, don't hang around an skew the balance for us real players. honestly, where do they come up with this stuff?
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