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I'm Namwen.9075!
OK all, I've raised enough money to create the guild. It's called Cheerful Ghost and the tag is [CG].
Just as a reminder, if you bought the collectors edition, you get some items that let you increase guild influence. You certainly don't *have* to spend those on the Cheerful Ghost guild, but it will help us create the guild stash and treasure halls, and all the other awesome stuff we can build to give us more storage, magic find, luck, combat skill increases, etc.
The guild stuff seems pretty deep. Go figure, it's in the title, right? But this seems much more useful than guilds in other games.
Joined the Guild, thanks Travis. I'll apply my Guild exp boosts to it.
If anyone wants to add me my account is "jdodson.5831"
Looks like I'm Taion.4056. If there's any way to send me an invite to the guild feel free to do so. I will probably be on later tonight around 8 or 9 pm PDT.
Yep, I already invited you before even updating the post. Assuming you didn't change your name since last year.
Logged in for a little while last night. I'm now a level 7 warrior, woo! I gotta say that starting armor I got as part of the digital version looks pretty damn awesome. I'm going to be very sad when I eventually have to retire it. It looks like there's a way to change the appearance of your gear but it costs some kind of special currency.
I forgot about the random real world events that happen. Those are a lot more fun to use for leveling up than the usual fetch quests. :)
Something cool I noticed is that my level scaled to whatever area I was in. After hitting level 7 I back tracked to the farm area outside the town to make sure I didn't miss any quests, and my level was automatically adjusted to a lower level. That's awesome! Too many MMO's make it a pain in the ass to try and play with friends if you're different levels. This game seems like they have that figured out.
That's one of my favorite things. Even in Final Fantasy XI, where you had level sync, it was a pain to use it because you wouldn't skill up properly. In GW2 it's easy peasy to knock your level down and play with whomever you want.
I remember when Level sync came out and it was awesome for any jobs that had already hit the cap of 75 (if that dates when I quit the game, heh heh) and didn't need to skill up anything. You could earn merit points while helping new players and friends level their jobs! But it definitely was not great. Not only would you not skill up your weapons but if your equipped gear didn't match your capped level it got nerfed BAD. Still, at least FFXI tried. :)
Anyone think they'll be on GW2 tonight? I'd love to meet up with some other peeps.
Oh and I used my guild influence boost thingy for our guild. So, you know, YOU'RE WELCOME. Gimmie a guild vault now. :P
I'll be on tonight. Like 9pm or will you be on earlier?
The problem is the three hour difference here. You guys sign on right as I'm leaving. We always have weekends!
Just to add-- I love that this game rewards exploration. I find myself just wandering around cities to see everything and complete the map.
Yeah, this time difference thing just isn't working out. We're really gonna need you to move to move to the west coast. That'd be great...
http://memecrunch.com/meme/2U9U5/that-d-be-great/image.jpg?w=526&c=1
The only other MMO i've ever played I can really compare this to is Lord of the Rings Online and the very small bit of WoW i've played. I finally made it to a bigger town and learned two professions Tailoring and Cooking. Not really sure what cooking gives you but I have started collecting some supplies to craft a nice pair of shoes.
I don't see the comparison to WoW. I was bored with WoW after a couple of hours, but this has had me hooked from the beginning. I was somewhat impressed with LotR Online but never enough to stick with it.
I love the impromptu parties. Earlier today I ran through a few areas with a group of two other people and myself, and there was no official party ever formed, we just happened to be running the same stuff. It's incredibly verstatile.
I was just mentioning the only other MMOs I've played. I never really went deep with WOW starter either.
I've only teamed up with people during random encounters. A few times people's buffed me, but due to the extra stuff I got when Instarted I've been OP since the start.
Played a bit more tonight and I am now a level 14 Necromancer and I just sunk a few skill points into pets. So far the game blends a nice balance of not too hard yet challenging enough. With that, there are(at this point) a ton of things to do. Unlock skill points, discover Vistas, explore areas, unlock new waypoints and complete the story line.
The Storyline took me to this huge hub town inside a Cube I don't quite remember the name of. I can gate there easily enough and to other areas. I imagine you all can too and we might be able to group up that way? I am in Metrica Providence because that's where my race is out of. Where are you all from?
That cube town is Rata Sum, the home city for the Asura. That's where your "home" instance is that you can tinker with. Metrica Province is the starter area for the Asura, you'll barely go there after a bit. My main character is an Asura Elementalist, I've got him up to level 53.
I also have a Human Ranger, that's the one I'm playing with Katie. We're level 27 I think.
Here's the thing. There's a Trading Post in the game where you can buy and sell stuff with other players. I haven't had the need to do that except once when I accidentally salvaged my main kickass weapon. For a free-to-play game, the incentive to purchase items is pretty low.
The content is staggering. I love that you get experience for every little thing you do in this game. It encourages you to play how you want to play. I haven't even touched crafting, for example, but that's a good way to churn through a few levels.
Oh BTW, the guild bank is up. The patch a few days ago screwed up a ton of stuff, including build progress, so it stalled for a few days. 50 slots of sharable space so far. It will take quite some time to build up enough rep to upgrade it.
Nice. If you want to ditch any Chef materials feel free. I am building up stock so I can max level. I am going to make so many balls of dough.
The game seems to be very Trading Company focused. At least if you want to craft you do. I am rising in the ranks of Tailoring and I needed to buy a ton of the gear to level up for it. It's not so bad as you can buy items through the trading company but if you wanted to farm mats its way more difficult than in other MMOs. At least certain mats for Tailor like the base mats you need to build everything with. For instance I tried to farm Jute Scraps from areas where the Wiki said you could farm them and I found 2 in a few hours. You need 126 to level up Novice Tailoring. You can buy them through the Trading Company but right now they are a silver and a few copper!
Yeah I've sold a lot of jute scraps :)
I don't know how neither Jon nor I had mentioned the amazing score yet. Jeremy Soule is one of the best game composers practicing right now.
I deposited some cooking supplies for you. :D
Thanks, that helps. The hardest thing I am trying to find is peppercorn, that stuff sells for 5 silver a piece!
Anyways, I just unlocked everything in Metrica Providence and I am on my way to the next area Brisbane Wildlands. You can go east to the Caledon Forest but it's the same level as Metrica and I am a higher level than that. Unless there is some compelling reason why I should go there beyond just unlocking everything, which is pretty darn fun.
I am now a level 20 Necromancer and the game is getting pretty enjoyable. Curious what levels y'all are, what areas and what you are focusing on?
I'm 58 or 59 on my Elementalist, and you can't really focus on one area at that point because you don't level with the content the way you do in earlier areas, so I'm jumping around a few of the 50's areas.
And yeah, Caledon Forest is the starter area outside the Sylvari's home city. Caledon and Metrica both spill into Brisbane for level 15 or 20. Maybe 15-25?
Dungeons unlock at level 30 I think, but so far I haven't touched them. I did start crafting a bit though. Do you get anything useful doing novice cooking? As a jeweler and artificer you don't get anything useful at all until later on. I'll probably do cooking on my ranger, it seems like it would fit.
I haven't started the grind process for cooking yet because I don't have all the supplies to max level it yet. I know that's odd but then i'd have to figure out what I unlocked and keep track and that seems like a waste.
Tailoring doesn't seem as useful as it seemed BUT I did get a few upgrades from it. I imagine at the absolute max level you can get some cool stuff from it but so far, not much more than you can find by fighting stuff.
I have a question for you! In Guild Wars 2, are you battling against other guilds? Is that optional? I remember when I played Ragnorak Online with local friends, we had our own guild and we did fight other guilds at times. I think that was at least once a week.
I'm not even sure you *can* battle other guilds. I mean I guess you could get a PvP group together within your guild, but I haven't come across it.
I haven't seen anything about that yet. If it's possible we'd have to be a higher guild level.
That's cool. The name of the game seems to make my question irrelevant, but I thought I'd still ask. This also leads me to what I'm seriously considering posting in the forums. =)
Is anyone else who's playing this at or near level 40, about to start their chosen order's questline, and chose the Vigil?
Katie and I did this together, I chose the Vigil, and she chose the Priory. I did the start of her order's questline with her and it has bugged mine out so that now I'm stuck with the Priory. I already did the Priory on my other character and would prefer not to do it again!
From what I've read, if I join someone who's in the Vigil for their first couple of quests it will get mine back on track.
I'm nowhere near that level, I'm still romping around at level 14. :P
I played for a bit last night, but I spent most of that time tweaking the controls. I'm not sure why, but the controls for this game bug me. They're standard MMO controls, but this game feels like it wants to be played more like an Action RPG than a standard MMO, and the default controls are terrible for that. Still, this is just a minor complaint and I am still really enjoying the game.
Speaking of which, anyone think they'll be on tonight? I would love to hop and and play with some peeps.
Depends on what you mean by "tonight." My tonight and you west coasters' nights seem to be very different :)
Fair enough. :P
It'll be after 8pm PDT. Probably closer to 8:30 or 9.
I'd love to join you all but I am very sick.
Hopefully catch you all again sometime. :sleep:
Feel better Jon!
Drugs help.
AreaNet name: Scrypt.5270
Let's get it ooon....~
How large is the download? I'll make sure to friend everyone as soon as it's installed.
It's pretty big. 30ish gigs? I can't remember exactly. It's no GTA V but it's big.
75% off! $15 for the Collector's Edition! Whoa!!! Anyway, I'm GregoPeck.6304 and I'm downloading now.
Nice! I'm Taion.4056 on there. I'll try and log on later tonight and see if you guys are on. :D
I agree with Jon, Travis, we need to move to the West Coast, we don't belong here. Jake's already trying to get me to move to California. So, Jon, find us some housing! Hahaha.
That's cool Tim, it's going to take some time to download, so it might be a day or two until I'm there. I'm hoping it will be easy to find you and the others and join the guild. I'm sure at least one of you can add us easily and make that process easier for us. I'm looking forward to playing because of how many of us are going to be there (even if we're not all there at the same time).
I added you both. It'll show up as me "following" you until you also add me. See you inside!
Added all of you except for Tim, it said you didn't exist.
"...it said you didn't exist."
Well, I didn't see that one coming. To be honest, though, "Tim" always seemed a little too good to be true.
Are you guys running GW2 through the Steam interface? If not, are you using something else for in-game chat, or just sticking with text chat?
I didn't even think about it on Steam. I just went from the website and got it from there, so it has it's own client. I only used chat once to say "welcome" to someone, so I guess it was just text chat.
Guild Wars 2 isn't available through Steam, but you can add it to your Steam library as a non-Steam game, and utilize the Steam overly while you're playing. I do this with all of my games, mostly just to keep them organized in one place.
When I play GW2 I try and run it through Steam for the overlay.
Cool, I knew you could add non-Steam games to it, so I added GW2. =)
I hadn't bothered, just use the in-game /whisper
WBS, you said hello and then immediately signed off apparently. lol
Anyway, hi!
It was not immediately. I waited an appropriately long time before going and watching Daredevil instead, lol.
Daredevil is so GOOD! I'm really hoping for an Age of Ultron cameo of some sort, even if it's just a mention from one of the Avengers about "that lawyer in Hell's Kitchen."
I have three characters up to level 10 - Guardian, Ranger, and Thief - and I can't decide which one to continue leveling as a primary. Is there a class in particular that would better benefit our group? I would be glad to start another class if we are already full up on the three I've mentioned.
That's awesome, scrypt! I'm juggling games at the moment. I'm trying to finish Diablo III: Reaper of Souls Campaign Mode with my Wizard (currently in Act V). GTAV (I pre-ordered) is going to be available tonight at 7PM (EST). Anyway, back to GW2, I created a Guardian, I think I'm just under or around level 10 and I'm currently at a story point. I have to deliver medical supplies to the bar tender. I'm still wondering when and how to join the guild.
Scrypt, why not all three? :)
I don't think you really need to balance a party the way you do in some games, so really it's just whatever you like.
I'm not sure what level you first unlock the guild stuff, but I've sent you both an invite. You can chat to anyone online with /guild
I'm still very much a n00b in this game, but so far there does not seem to be a usual tank/healer/DPS party dynamic in GW2. So I think you should be able to pick any class you want and be fine. :)
I'm level 12. I'm also noting that for the very first time (that I've noticed), this game puts my PC to work. When I play, I notice that the internal fans are running much more than usual, it's usually quite quiet. I played this morning and noticed it, so I checked my Alienware Thermal Controller and the fans were indeed running faster than usual, although not at full strength. My internal PC temp was 37 degrees Celsius, which is about 98 degrees Fahrenheit. Still, that seems much cooler than my old PC use to run. Right now (after playing Diablo 3) the temperature is 33 degress Celcius my fans are running minimally, the hard drive is the fastest one running and that's only at 33%. Where as in GW2, my hard drive fan was running just above 50%. My PCI fan is at 18% now, this morning with GW2, it was closer to 50%.
As for the guild, I assumed that once you got passed a certain point in your character's story, the game would tell you about guilds. I wish I had more inventory space as I'm often filling it up. I seem to have equipped all the bags it will let me. I've sold some things on the market, but need to go collect the coins from that. Also, with the "junk" stuff, I see that collecting pieces works towards an achievement, but do we need to keep them in order to complete that? I'm also wondering if I should destroy some of the items I got that I can't use on my character like Primeval armor.
You'll get bigger bags later. Don't forget that you have a bank you can store stuff in.
You don't need to keep the junk for the achievement, just sell them to a vendor.
Thanks for the invite, Travis. I used the guild influence item I had from buying the collector's edition. I also got another similar item (for a smaller amount of influence) that I also used. So, I believe I added 4,300 to our guild influence. I also used my bank for storage, thanks for the tip.
Jon, I sent you some food crafting materials, berries and butter, I believe. I would have had more for you, but I ended up selling them previously since I ran out of inventory space and didn't realize I could use my bank to store items.
Hmmm... That kind of sucks that there isn't an emphasis on class dynamics. I enjoy playing support/healer or DPS roles. I'm sure it all works out. I just notice that combat in certain situations, even early on, can be spontaneously overwhelming and chaotic, and as a result, I've died more than I expected. Playing more and becoming familiar with the rhythm of things will help to fix that, I hope.
I died a few times as well. There was an area I was supposed to go to and I thought it was through a bandit lair and they ended up killing me a few times. I finally looked at the map and realized I could go around it and up a hill. I have a healing ability now that I can use. I also once mistakenly took on a larger boar. I usually choose warrior classes and I almost did for this character, but a guardian looked similar and there were a couple of reasons why I went with it instead. My name, "Gregory," supposedly means "guardian" and also, the description mentioned a "fierce loyalty to allies," so I thought it fit.
Thanks Greg, that will help quite a bit!
I think there are some intentionally overwhelming areas to start with, to get you into the swing of things. Even when you're leveled higher than the enemies, they can sometimes swarm you. Bandit hideouts are notorious for this!
As a Necromancer I don't get swarmed much as I focus on pets and can summon 4 right now. If enemies get close I always back off and have my minions take them on as I pick them off from the edges. It's a fun class but doesn't do much damage with attacks.
That sounds like my Witch Doctor on Diablo 3, Jon. I have 3 or 4 Zombie Dogs and a Gargantuan Zombie. I got so used to having them that I felt kind of lonely without them when I played next as a Wizard.
Anyway, if you're still working on Cooking, then I'll be glad to send you any related materials I find. I'm not sure about crafting yet nor what I may end up getting into. I've already mined some ore because I found some picks and an ore deposit. I can also harvest things, I think. I have a few tools, actually.
Crafting, if you follow a guide, is pretty easy and cheap to level up so you can start actually making money with it. Apparently the only one you can really make money from is cooking, so good choice on that Jon!
Yeah, it looks like cooking is one of the more interesting because food gives you status effects that last for a time. Seems pretty useful to cook up some stuff for your team that could really help you out.
I am also a Tailor and that's pretty good too BUT not quite as useful as cooking as the gear you find replaces what you make pretty quickly.
I've been playing more in the mornings before my son goes to school. Right now I'm in Divinity's Reach and exploring the city since my marker keeps changing to either an unexplored vista or some other local place. That's also a good way to get some EXP.
One thing I'm not liking, is the platforming. Seriously, it sucks. I like exploring in massive worlds just as much as the next wood-elf-plant-creature thief, but if you're going to put platforming in the game, especially as a means of completing certain tasks, then, by all means, polish it up a bit. It's a minor complaint, since it hasn't really happened too often, yet.
It's a nice big beautiful world, though, and for the cost of entry, it's a satisfying experience. However, it does make me want to go back to WoW. I won't do that (although, if I could afford it, I might), but it makes me want to.
WoW is the best MMO of all time right(Everquest)? At least it's the reigning champ so yeah, makes sense it's might be better for that. I like the classes and abilities better in WoW. Plus I have more attachment to Warcraft than the stuff in GW2.
What I played of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn was really impressive, and might be a contender for my time, but again with the subscription... The fact that I paid $15 for an MMO of this caliber, and am not required to pay anything else, is pretty damn cool.
Scrypt, you mean having to jump from one place or platform to another? I ran into that in Divinity's Reach trying to reach some vistas. There were a couple or a few of them that I didn't figure out on my own and instead referred to a YouTube video.
I've never played WoW, but I know I could play for free up to level 20. I've played FFXI, but not XIV: A Real Reborn. I wish FFXI would go Free To Play so I can actually use the expansions I have (I won Wings of the Goddess from the wiki). I was tempted to play XIV: ARR, one of my friends plays it, but I haven't yet. I can afford to pay the subscription, but I knew that there would be a month or two I was sure I wasn't going to be playing it. That is June and maybe July as Terraria is expected to be updated to 1.3 in June.
I haven't played GW2 very much. It's ok, but definitely a steal at $15 for the Collector's Edition (the sale we participated in). One thing I wish for in the game is being able to automatically target an enemy. Sometimes I seem to have trouble selecting one to perform an attack on it. That may be an aspect of the game I don't know about and my targeting skills (IRL, "In Real Life") may get better with a bit more practice.
In contrast to FFXI, I like the easier co-op play, how every fight or battle can be joined by other players who also can get EXP and loot. That is, without having to form a party and also without others stealing your loot, the latter an issue I had with Ragnarok Online.
I agree the platforming is a little sub-par. The controls in general I feel could use some tweaking.
I love that anyone can participate in events on the fly. It makes it a lot more fun than repeating "Kill 10 rats" style quests over and over again, even if the basic mechanics are the same. :)
You definitely get a lot more experience from doing the events, which, as you say, Tim, is a refreshing change from the norm. At some points, though, I've noticed that it just leads to waypoint spamming. By that, I mean, someone from the chat will call out an event near a waypoint, everyone teleports to that waypoint, rushes the event, then waits for the next event call-out in the chat. Rinse, repeat. It got to the point that I was bouncing all over the map in a matter of minutes, chasing down events. Even though it costs 8 copper, or whatever the fee is for teleporting, that's not significant when it comes to amassing experience. However, it felt like I was cheating the game somehow. You would think they would have implemented some sort of "teleport sickness" to prevent frequent map hopping.
@GregoPeck, you can target the closest enemy by hitting the Tab key. This is how I usually initiate a fight. I thought I remember seeing something in the settings menu that allowed for automatic target on attack, or something to that effect. I'll have to check it out when I'm back online.
I can't imagine ever preferring WoW to anything, but it's obviously popular for a reason. Every now and then I'll play a few hours of WoW to see what all the fuss is about and never care anything about my character or the gameplay. It just feels like a major chore, and having played a ton of Final Fantasy XI, if I think something feels like more of a chore than that game, I must *really* mean it, lol
As for the platforming, holding in right-click allows you to free-look, then it just controls like a third person shooter. It only took about the amount of time that it takes to finish up the vistas in the home area (Divinity's Reach, The Grove, Rata Sum, etc) and the level 1-15 zone to really get the hang of it. I still get frustrated with the more advanced jumping puzzles but they're meant to be tricky.
As for waypoint spamming (you probably saw me doing some of that earlier in Caledon) you only ever really see that happening when that area's events are one of the daily achievements. "Caledon Forest Event Completer" was one of today's, so you saw a ton, but if you went to Queensdale you would have barely seen any of it unless one of the world bosses was about to spawn. Since everyone is trying to get those events for the daily it can be tricky to get to any before they're already over, so waypoint spamming in the chat is a helpful way for everyone to get a chance at the events.
Autotargeting: I just hit 1, and it targets the closest enemy. I must have that setting ticked. You can then tab through them or just double click them to switch.
Thanks for the tips, Travis, and Scrypt. I haven't looked at the control configuration and I don't recall the game telling me about Tab. I'll give those things a try. I know 1 is the first skill/ability, which is my primary attack. I just got used to clicking or holding down the left mouse to attack an enemy.
I noticed the daily achievements listed, but I haven't tried to accomplish them. I've been in Queensdale this whole time pretty much and what you said, Travis, makes sense because I don't think I've seen any teleport spamming. I also don't pay much attention to the chat.
WoW was my first MMO experience, so it holds a special place for me. It might not be the be-all, end-all of that genre, but it does a much better job of engaging the player than GW2, and I find it more aesthetically pleasing. The environments in GW2 have a tendency to look chaotic and the levels poorly designed, whereas WoW is almost meticulous in both regards. Lore is a big part of it, too. Blizzard has a ton of it with Warcraft. Guild Wars will get there, I'm sure.
And the platforming: it's not that I can't or don't know how to do it (I've completely cleared the Caledon Forest), I just feel like the mechanics make it so the platforming seems tacked on and unpolished. The difficulty of the platform puzzle isn't because it's "tricky" per se, rather because the mechanics are not designed for it. Playing tennis with fish instead of rackets might also be tricky, but it's probably not as fun. Not without some form of drug, at least ;).
Ah yeah, I see what you mean about the platforming mechanics, but I feel like I might be the only person who doesn't have any issues with them or the controls in general. It seems like it should be a mess but it just kinda makes sense to me, somehow. Lol.
Oh and the reason I mentioned holding in right click as you are platforming is that I didn't realize that for a long time. After starting to hold in right click the platforming mechanics just feel like a basic platformer to me.
Like I said, it's a minor complaint. Thankfully (for me), the platforming stuff isn't a big part of the game.
I've been critiquing the negatives, so I'll mention some of the things I love about this game. The event system is really good. I'm not aware of too many other games that do this, with the exception of Destiny, and I'm now feeling that Bungie totally got the idea from Guild Wars 2, which would make me even more sad about Destiny. Seeing everyone come in on an event and act as an instant PUG (pick up group), allowing you develop a strategy based on the moment, adding buffs to your allies, using crowd control effects... it's a lot of fun!
I'm loving the Thief class, especially with weapon swapping from sword and dagger to bow and arrow. There are still some things that the game should be explaining better (Traits, for one, and when they become relevant, before purchasing more than a handful from your trainer...), but overall I feel it working out for me. Allowing color customization of armor is really awesome, something that I wish were available in every game that uses armor.
The fact that there are no mounts in this game kinda bummed me out at first, but I've grown used to the teleport system. Having both wouldn't make sense. I'm hoping there are better ways of acquiring pets/toys? besides paying cash money for them. One of the things I loved about WoW was the luck of farming for a pet. I love random epic drops!
Oh don't purchase traits from the trainer until late game. You can find them in the world by completing certain events or visiting certain places, so you'll be wasting skill points buying traits early on.
And (I think) most mini's can be found in black lion chests if nowhere else. I know I've gotten a few at random, not sure where.
Speaking of Black Lion Chests, where does one find keys to open? I looked on the black market, or whatever, and couldn't find any there.
You get keys as rewards for various things, story quests (which start at level 10 I think), map completion, etc.
You can also buy them on the gem store but screw that.
Ahh. I've been ignoring my story quest. Should probably get on that!
The story quest is one of my favorite parts of the game actually. The first 30 levels are race specific, and the questions you answer during character creation shape the story. Then you pick your order, and 40 and 50 are about your order and which lesser race you choose to help. Then level 60 shit goes down and you start working toward the culmination of things that I won't mention in case of spoilers, but it's pretty awesome. The level 80 story quests are my favorite, culminating in a dungeon.
Speaking of Black Lion chest keys -- Some people have perfected the quickest way to level 10 so they can do the story quest and get black lion chest keys. New character -> race to level 10 -> quickest path through level 10 story quests -> black lion chest key GET -> delete character -> repeat.
There were a few things I learned in my game play this morning that I thought I'd share. I found out that the Golem Banker is only available for two weeks of game play and afterwards is safe to destroy. That helped me save some inventory space. I also found out that you can click on options in the inventory screen and use "compact" to move everything together starting from the top. This helped me empty one of my leather bags. I was then able to drag a larger leather bag to one of the tabs on the left of a leather bag that I emptied. This helped increase my inventory space a bit.
I made it to a new area in the game, after Queensdale. I may be getting used to the controls. My problem has been that I often click on enemies to fight them, which isn't always effective when other players are fighting those enemies, too. Today I tried simply pressing the 1 key instead of clicking when other characters were near. I think I've tried the Tab key, but haven't really spent much time playing with that.
One of the reasons why I'm glad I reached a new area was because Trading Post merchants and other merchants were nearby. This made it easy for me to collect the money I received from all of the stuff I've sold so far. It also helped me sell my junk items.
I've been giving Jon my cooking materials since he said he's working on that type of crafting. I haven't started crafting yet and I'm thinking of selling the crafting materials I've been obtaining. If any of you want some crafting materials let me know what kind you want and I will gladly send them to you.
"I've been giving Jon my cooking materials since he said he's working on that type of crafting."
Thanks for that Greg. I haven't been playing much of GW2 lately due to being busy so I mostly have time for Hearthstone.
This officially ended today, but I just expanded it for a couple of days for closing comments about the game.
As I'm sure you can tell, I love this game :)
Currently I have a level 80 elementalist and ranger, a level 33 guardian, a level 29 mesmer, and a level 11 engineer. When I decided to start crafting everything I made more characters (that I will definitely play, they aren't just crafting alts) so I could get all the professions. I've gotten all 8 crafting professions to master (level 400), and two to 500. Six of them can go to 500, all but jeweler and chef-- basically the ones you can make ascended gear with. Most of the experience on my mesmer and engineer come from crafting-- on a fresh character, mastering two crafts gets you 25 levels of experience. The trip from 400-500 gets you another three.
Lately I've really enjoyed the world boss train. Every few minutes a new major boss event spawns in the world, and you get killer loot and experience if you need that. Tequatl the Sunless is the best. It actually requires strategy and isn't just cheaply hard.
So yeah, I love this game. I definitely got my $15 worth. What do you all think?
I haven't played as much as you have. I can't remember, at the moment, what level my character is. I was playing in the mornings before Vinny went to school, but I think it's been a while since I last played. I think I like it. It's an ok game. There are things about it I like and many things that I haven't explored yet, like crafting. I think I'd play it more, but I've been doing some serious Diablo III gaming lately. That will end soon though, at least by time Terraria updates!
I'm thinking we can continue to comment on this event even after it's "over." I'd certainly like to continue talking about it as I play more. So, I definitely want and need a place for that.
Comment #92 Wow! Anyway, I just thought I'd suggest extending this event until the end of the month. I've finished my Diablo goal, which was to get through campaign mode with each class and each gender. So, I need something to fill in the time until Terraria 1.3. So, I might start playing GW2 more soon.
I haven't been able to play for the past month or so, but what I did play, I really enjoyed. The last thing I was doing before I stopped was trying to just explore everywhere, unlocking as many teleport points as possible. The environments are beautiful! My favorite thing about Guild Wars 2, so far, has to be the public event system (they do it so much better than Destiny), and the fact that you can play without a subscription. I've gotten well over $15 worth of fun out of this game, and I'm looking forward to playing more, whenever I get to see my computer again :).
Yeah sure, I'll extend it if people are interested :)
Scrypt, when do you get back to your PC again anyway?
I should be back "home" by July 16th. I'm trying to plan a little trip into New York before I leave, but I don't know if that will happen. I guess I'm prolonging my exodus in hopes that it will ;).
Sorry, Jon, but you've got plenty of in-game mail from me. The good news is that I've begun to sell a bunch of my stuff, like crafting materials I can't use. So, hopefully I can manage my inventory better. I don't know anything about crafting, but I still gather ingredients. I may have to figure that out. I'm constantly seeing things in the world to harvest like plants, trees, or rocks to mine.
A few notes: I found out how to repair gear. Those merchants are kind of hard to find sometimes. I don't often use waypoints, I tend to travel on foot mostly. I usually use them when I die and need to revive some where. Some times the game is really calm and peaceful. I like that other players can join together and battle enemies, helping each other, without having to form a party.
Sometimes this game reminds me of Oblivion, Final Fantasy X, and FFXIII. One voice actor sounds like the guy who played Ject in FFX, but I don't see his name in the GW2 credits. A female centaur also sounded like a female in Oblivion.
You can stash crafting ingredients in your material storage, you don't have to keep them in your bank. Just click the gear at the top of your inventory and click "deposit materials."
You can't do that from your bank though, you have to have the materials in your main inventory.
To FURTHER clarify, you can right click any material, wherever you have it, and choose to deposit that particular material. In order to deposit all that you have, you have to have them in your inventory.
Ah yeah, I keep forgetting about that bank. I'm not sure how to access it either.
I found out how to access it: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Account_vault
How did you get to level 20 with the basic bags you get and without using your bank or material storage? Your inventory must be a mess! lol
"Sorry, Jon, but you've got plenty of in-game mail from me."
Thanks, just picked it up today!
It was a mess, but I've sold, salvaged, and sent Jon things.
Yeah depositing those materials will help :)
You're welcome, Jon. Now that I have my inventory management under control for the moment, I'll probably send you less frequent messages. I'll save what I find and hold on to it for a time so that I don't send you as many messages. So they might come in less frequency, but might contain more. =) The game said you hadn't been on in a few weeks, so I thought I'd send you that previous warning.
I'm still getting used to combat and using my skills.
WHATEVER YOU DO GREG DON'T STOP SENDING ME FREE SHIT!
Once you get to level 30 or 40 and can handle more world bosses than the few you can get in the starter areas you can start churning gold fast. It gets even better when you're getting level 80 gear from them. Katie and I got about 5 gold each for maybe 45 minutes of playing tonight. At that point, you can buy all the materials you want!
So you could get all the money you need to level up Tailoring, for instance, in about 4 days. If you want to go this route. It's the cheapest way to level it but doesn't give much return.
http://gw2crafts.net/tailor.html
I sent you some more! Haha One of the things seems to be special, it's a dye.
I found a banker, as I journey on foot between my current quest places. I used the skins I had stored and stored more of the original equipment that I can't seem to salvage (yet?) or sell. There are a couple of other random boosts and things in there now.
I like that you can quickly and easily sell items using the Trading Post. Sure, you have to find a Black Lion Trading Post merchant to collect your earnings, but I still often sell items quickly using the TP. I haven't bought any items from them, though. I have bought some harvesting materials and need to buy more. That's one way I keep coming up with good to send to Jon.
I figured that other guild member was Katie! Anyway, I haven't been paying attention to currency. I haven't really used it very much yet and I'm still earning by selling with the TP. I am level 30 now, I'm currently working on a character story quest.
Finding a TP or bank is easy. Each are available by fast-traveling back to the closest city, and the teleport costs are negligible. There's a waypoint to teleport to close to the bank/TP in every city, and Lion's Arch has quite a few waypoints next to the various banks/TPs spread about the city.
Alternatively, even if you aren't interested in PvP, if you click the PvP icon in the top left row of icons (it's the one with two swords I think) and go to the PvP lobby, after a brief training intro (on your first time only, of course) you are put into the lobby. There's a merchant, Trading Post, and bank very close to where you enter.
You can then exit the PvP lobby and get back to right where you were in normal mode. That's better than just using waypoints in many ways since it puts you back *exactly* where you were.
There's also a handy gate to Lion's Arch straight from the PvP lobby, so that's a free teleport to Lion's Arch basically, with one more loading screen.
And if you're worried that people can fight you in the lobby-- they can't. You have to go through other menus or other locations for actual combat.
Off the topic of currency and trading for a sec-- not sure how much everyone keeps up with news on GW2 but in the next content update (soon) Lion's Arch is getting rebuilt! You may have noticed that it's kinda destroyed. The first season of the living story (before our time in the game) destroyed the city, leaving it in rubble in many places. You may have *also* noticed that with a patch about three weeks ago, there's a lot of new construction going on. They're finally fixing it! In the next content patch everything will be fixed, and many areas will be significantly changed and some are being added.
Alright, I'll get this discussion started. I've played through the game probably 4 or 5 times before, but it's been awhile. I decided to start over after I realized I picked a couple feats on my character I didn't want because I had forgotten what everything was, lol. Now on my second character, I just wrapped up everything on Taris and landed on Dantooine.
I've decided to go as a Scout and I'm focusing on dual wielding melee (later I'll use a double-bladed light saber) weapons. As far as skills go, I'm just trying to keep Persuasion and Awareness maxed, and putting any extra points into Computer or Demolition. One thing I like about the Scout class is you get the Implant feats for free, and I find the implants are pretty useful. :)
I'm not sure what characters I'm going to use in my part. I usually use Bastilla and either Carth or HK-47 because he's hilarious. I want to use different characters this time around though. Any recommendations from anyone?
On a side note, this is my first time playing this on PC as I own it on Xbox also. I was surprised that this game doesn't have any kind of controller support what-so-ever. The keyboard/mouse controls are fine, but I really was hoping to use my Xbox 360 controller. I was also annoyed to find there was a pretty bad bug in the game that made the main character immobile, which required me to switch to my second character in order to move around. This one I Googled and it looks like it is a problem with one of the graphics settings. Once I turned ON v-sync the issue seems to have gone away.
Oh, and I also had forgotten how whiney Carth is in the beggining of the game. Seriously dude, I get it, you have trust issues, but please shut up about them. :P
If anyone has trouble getting this older game going on newer hardware:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=362478411
OK so I installed this and started playing it. A few thoughts.
The UI doesn't really hold up well and seems a bit clunky. I don't think this is simply because it's an older game, I think the PC menus are designed poorly. Does it look or operate better on XBox?
I am playing it on my Mac and it's a bit laggy. It's not terrible, but i'd expect a pretty butter smooth experience from such an old game on really new hardware.
That said, I have enjoyed the game so far and understand why people herald it as the best Star Wars game. It seems like BioWare were real fans of the series and did what they could to make it authentic. One thing that I noticed was that in the game there are "Sith Troopers" and "Sith Warriors." This makes sense and if EP IV-VI is your guide that would be how i'd have done it.
Oh and WBS i'd go a bit easy on Carth, his planet was firebombed into submission by the Sith and takes some personal responsibility for it. All in all, his regret seems understandable.
That said, I do have some questions and am not sure how to proceed because I am not sure what kind of RPG this is.
Should I be buying armor and weapon upgrades or stick to what drops?
OK so I just installed the PC version and transferred over my Mac save. Apparently I can't run everything on the highest setting on a high resolution on the Mac, the game suffers. Still strange for such an old game.
A few other things I've noted in this game.
Only Jedi use Lightsabers but everyone and everyone uses swords. Find this amusing.
Yeah I noticed it's not quite "butter smooth" on my modern PC also. The UI is a bit clunky, and it's almost the exact same menu as the Xbox version. Actually I think I had an easier time playing on Xbox, which is another reason I wish there was controller support. Still, it's a very minor difference and it wasn't hard to transition to keyboard and mouse.
After playing on the PC I've noticed things are much better.
The controls don't feel right at all with a keyboard and mouse. It's disconcerting. I've never played a game that controls like it, and I can't seem to get my muscle memory to adapt.
I use WASD to move around and click on things to make it work. It's kind of like Neverwinter Nights and I don't mind it but you can't jump or anything, which is strange.
Games from this era of BioWare were all turn based RPGs. It looks like NWN, Jade Empire and KOTOR play similarly to this.
Oh and if you are wondering why the score is so great, it's because it was written by Jeremy Soule.
Jon: Sorry I didn't see your question about armor/weapons. Ummm, money is kinda hard to come by in this game, and if you explore around on Taris you'll probably find plenty of armor and weapons to get you by for now. Eventually you'll want to buy better gear for your team though. Also keep an eye out for gear that can be upgraded.
Honestly. I've played this game through more than 20 times. And i cant remember buying anything. sometimes id buy stimpacks. or other consumables. i think there are a few good items you can buy. but they will be quickly replaced with other stuff you find.
also i flipped this game on my xbox just to remember. and crap. still great. UI is fine on xbox. only played on pc once but dont remember an issue. also yes this game is basically a starwars version of Dungeons and Dragons. It directly ports the famous D20 system. even right down to the attributes and feats system.
still a great game. still a 10/10.
also epic stroyline. nothing has made me feel more BA than this ending.
I'll post more as a i get more into it.
Oh WBS- i've always gotten a few chuckles playing with t3-m4 and it kind of makes me feel like luke skywalker at times, bickering with artoo. canderous was always my favorite though i think. hearing his stories about the mandolorian war is so awesome (plus he becomes mandalore which is BA). i also like jolee as he is the quigon jinn of this game.
The game tone is really becoming something I enjoy. So far the story has been good and the play control I really don't mind. I still think the menus are a bit strange, but nothing to complain about.
I am exploring around Undercity and it's been quite a bit of fun. I haven't purchased any items and you do seem to get enough stuff from drops and such, that said, I don't have a full set of armor yet.
Canderous is cool as a character, but I don't think I've used him in any of my times through the game. Maybe I'll include him this time! Currently I'm heavily leaning towards Juhani and maybe T3 or Mission. Jolee is awesome too, but I've used him before. :D
I don't remember where all the best gear comes from, but I do remember there are some shops on Dantooine with some nice stuff, but I think it is really expensive for you when you first get there, lol. Still, if you only use gear you find you should be pretty well equipped.
Tax return came through earlier than expected. Installing now. It's been a while since I've played so I'm gonna have trouble distinguishing between this and Kotor 2 until I get it installed and started.
I'm currently planning on Going scout for dual wield so I can use two sabers. I prefer 2 over the double blade as I can add different effects to each. HK-47 and Jolee were my go to party members. That may change this time, and I'm trying to approach this play through like I did the first time I played. Very little planned, adapt as I go. Next play through will be more about stat management and planning.
I haven't allocated any stats yet. At what level do you start doing that?
I misspoke. I meant feat allocation, and that is done differently by class. Stats auto upgrade with your class level. This might help: http://strategywiki.org/wiki/Star_Wars:_Knights_of_the_Old_Republic/Classes
Not to be confused with Attributes, like STR or DEX, which you do pick when you first make your character. You also gain one attribute point to distribute every few levels. :)
So I just remembered one of my favorite parts of this game. Near the beginning, there's a quest to get to the lower city of the first planet by either getting a sith armor set or by getting authorization papers. I just walked up to the guard, put my disguise on in front of him, and headed down. Not the brightest crayon, are you sith guard?
Look man, that Sith Trooper has a very simple job description: If they have the uniform or the proper papers, let 'em through. The Sith are not an organization known for treating their employees very well. He probably doesn't get paid enough to care. You got the uniform? Yeah, sure, go on through.
Fair enough.
So I wrapped up the Dantooine quest line last night and I'm able to travel to different planets now. First thing I noticed was a new space station orbiting Yavin that was not in my Xbox version! Looks like it's just a shop to sell high end equipment, which is cool. I looked the station up on-line and apparently you can get it for the Xbox version if you have an Xbox live account, which I never did. :P
Also, speaking of this new shop with all this expensive gear... I forgot how poor you are in this game if you want to go light side. Seriously, every light side option is like "no no, I don't need a reward!" or "Here poor person, take this money... plus an extra 200!" My Jedi is turning out more morally gray than I planned just because I want some damn money once in awhile.
I didn't get to play much over the weekend, but I did jump on for a little bit last night and wrapped up Tattooine. I'm definitely becoming a more morally gray Jedi as I go. I still save hostages and (usually) pick the nice dialogue options, but there have been several times I've had the option of negotiating my way out of a fight, and decided it was a lot easier and more fun to just stab them in the face. Surprisingly this doesn't always earn me dark side points. :P
I'm curious how everyone else is progressing. Are you going light or dark? Do you have a preference on which order to do the planets?
I'm doing quests on Dantooine at the moment. Butbag McButts (yes that is my character name) has gone from a scout to a guardian. I'm going light side as usual, mostly because the light side powers get so cheap. Force heal for days!
Hey weird names fit the Star Wars universe. I mean there's a guy named Elan Sleazebaggano in the freakin' canon.
I know your team is probably limited at the moment since you're still on Dantooine, but who are you using for your other two characters? I've decided to keep Juhani, but I've rotated out the third member a couple times now.
Juhani hasn't joined my party yet. On Dantooine, I've had Canderous and Bastila, but I'm going to put Mission in soon for her security abilities in the ruin. I think there's stuff there that security will help.
I just got the Wookee and Blue woman person and just got past the Rancor. So far I dig the game but it's hard balancing working on the site and publishing Rubicon and playing the game. I've really enjoyed the game so far, the turn based mechanics are fun and I don't find it as hard as I thought it would be.
That said, my Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm game I started before I began KoTOR is calling me back and that's a ton of fun.
One thing that's nice about Kotor is you can save anywhere (assuming you remember to save often, lol). So it's actually pretty easy to pick up and play in short intervals. The quest journal isn't the best, but it's usually enough to jog your memory on what you were doing.
As far as my own progress goes, after Tatooine I decided to head to Kashyyyk. I wrapped up Kashyyyk pretty quick, but I think I that's partly because I accidentally skipped a few side quests in the process. Oops.
Jon: It's funny you mentioned Star Craft 2. I just ordered a pair of copies for me and the wife. :)
Wings of Liberty is pretty darn cool. The single player is well done and the multiplayer is great too. Did you just get Wings or Heart of the Swarm?
We just got the base game (wings).
I just entered the Sand People Enclave. 15 hours in. Still trying to decide where to head to next once I'm done with Tatooine.
A couple of thoughts on the different versions of this game. I bought the iPad version for kicks when it was on sale a while back. I'm sure it's no surprise that the controls are wonky and uncomfortable. Only played a couple of hours before I switched to the Xbox version. Xbox has always been my preferred version due to the use of a gamepad and being able to chill on the couch. But since I don't have an original Xbox anymore I had to play on 360 and the emulation is pretty buggy. Major frame rate issues especially during battles. After about 6 hours I had to call it quits and go with PC. I noticed some lag on PC but after turning the grass off in the graphics settings the frame rate is smooth.
First off, welcome to the discussion Dannytron! Thanks for the input on the different versions, you win the "I tried 'em all" award for this game club session.
Right now I'm torn between which version I like better: Xbox or PC. If the PC version had native controller support it'd be a no brainer. Also I haven't experimented with Mods for the PC version so that could be a tipping point as well.
I picked Kashyyyk as my next planet because I knew there was a recruitable character there, so I picked it for purely practical reasons.
On a side note, the month is about to wrap up but it looks like a lot of people (myself included) still have a ways to go to finish up the game. I'm thinking I'm going to extend the event out another couple of weeks so everyone has more time to play through and discuss the game. Does that sound good to everyone?
I think extending the event is a good way to do. I am going to head back after I finish up Heart of the Swarm and would like to continue talking about it.
I'm not playing it, but I have played it about halfway through and am enjoying hearing your experiences so yes, please extend the event for my entertainment. You are my dancing monkeys.
Things have been busy at Castle Slim lately, so I haven't gotten to play much lately. I pretty much just landed on Manaan and started the questline to get into the sith camp. How's everyone else progressing?
After finally getting the game working on my system, I put in a solid 5 hours without leaving Taris. But then I died during the invasion of the Black Vulkar base. It was the last fight, I think, in the garage, for the swoop bike flux-capacitor-thingy. I was momentarily depressed, because I forgot where my last save would take me (I think it was back in the sewers somewhere). So thankful for autosaves these days!
One thing that I really appreciate with this game, is the overall linearity of the quest directives. Contrasting that, I've been playing through Dragon Age Inquisition, off and on since January, and the story/stories there are so dense and plentiful, that it's difficult at times to keep it all together. It's one of the reasons I love the Dragon Age series, but KotOR lets you play within those story elements one chunk at a time. You can chose what planet you want to go to, but once you're there, your focus is specific to that area, which can be refreshing. I don't know if that makes sense. I guess, I (and I'm sure others are like this) get overwhelmed, sometimes, at the openness of some games. Where there is so much in the game that could be done, I'll spend hours with friends in GTA 4, trying to launch a car into space by means of a glitched piece of playground equipment.
I am impressed with how the gameplay and story have held up over time. It helps to imagine the graphics are on par with the Clone War animated series. Playing with keyboard and mouse is weird, but felt more and more natural after a few hours. My character is female, as they tend to be. Meryl Silverburgh, because it's the first name that came to mind. I am trying to play stealthily, though, so that gravity isn't entirely lost :).
I know "linear" is kind of a bad word in gaming, but it's not always a bad thing. I agree with you that it's nice to have each planet kind of have it's own quest line with a beginning and an end. That was one thing that was kind of hard for me when playing something like Oblivion. I kept getting so side tracked running side quests that I never really advanced the main story, lol.
You said you're playing a stealth character, does that mean you went Scoundrel? I remember from a previous play through that later on your Sneak attack skill can help you lay down some huge damage numbers once you learn some force abilities that let you stun enemies, but that making it through Taris was pretty tough. How has your play-through been so far?
I picked the Scout class, but have been building toward a more stealthier character. I haven't been very subtle in my movements, yet. Mostly run in hacking and slashing (preferring blades over blasters), with the occasional grenade (sooo stealthy!). I'm also trying to build my Persuade skill. I seem to remember that helping a lot when I first played the game.
What does everyone think of the camera controls, being locked to horizontal pan only? Do you find it beneficial at all to the combat, or general gameplay, sequences?
Scout is what I picked too. I love the free implant feats you pick up, as some of the implants you get later in the game are really good. The camera controls are weird, but I've never felt like it hindered me in any way.
There's not a lot of reasons to use stealth on Taris unless you feel like avoiding combat, but that means you'll be missing out on a lot of XP. Persuade opens up a lot of dialogue options though, so the earlier you build that up the better.
Awh man. I forgot how much I love the ending. Some of the mist epic dialogue of all time between you and malek. Still gives me that tingle. Haha It reminded me that this game is what made me love writing stories and putting story and character first in my game preferences.
I know what you mean, Rettisawesome. I just finished it a couple of days ago. The ending gets me every time I play this game. Did you go light or dark?
haha. this time i just went straight light side. i've played through so many times that i flipped a coin... i even did a female so i could romance carth. thinking about blasting through kotor 2 now. despite how many times i've plyed that one. there are still a few different bits that i've missed.
also. this has reminded me how bummed i am that they scrapped kotor 3 to devote resources to the old republic.... and the storylines that they were hinting at were awesome! they get back to the story of the main character in kotor1 (kotor2 focuses on a different character the Jedi Exile) and i think was supposed to feature more of the other characters coming back. carth. canderous as mandalore. man. I was excited. probably one of the only games i would purchase on release day. i dont think there are any other games that mean more to me in terms of my development as a gamer and nerd. i always loved star wars. but this was my first taste of the EU. although i suppose i plaid outcast and jedi academy before this.but still.
lol "plaid" obviously meant played.
Dang, I'm lagging behind everyone now! I wrapped up Manaan so I only have Korriban left as far as the main planets go. I hate Manaan, so I kinda took a little time off before tackling it. Now that it's out of the way I am looking forward to wrapping up the game. :D I think I've settled on the team of Jolee and Juhani. I usually don't pick three Jedi characters, but we're kicking so much butt right now. :P Jolee loads up our team with buffs and Juhani and I just slaughter everything with Master Force Speed and Flurry.
We're a bit lacking in skills though. My character (I went scout > jedi sentinel) is the only one who is specializing in anything really. I took a modest bonus to Int, so I get 3 skill points each level up. I originally was leveling Awareness, Persuasion and Computer skill, but I ended up switching Computer Skill for Demolition so I could recover mines when I turn around and sell.
I'm currently half way through the Leviathan, so, you know, I'm about to get the MIND BLOWING PLOT TWIST.
I didn't make much progress in the game last night. I mostly fiddled with this program I downloaded (Xpadder) to map keyboard and mouse input to a controller. It actually worked really well! I still need to tweak the settings to get everything working.
Xpadder is great for games where it works. Oblivion was released for Xbox 360 and PS3, yet the PC version has no gamepad support, and Xpadder doesn't work well at all for it. It's maddening. I mean yes, I prefer the keyboard and mouse, but sometimes you just want to lean back and play.
Well our first official games club is about to wrap up. While I'm not sure I'll finish the game by the 14th, it seems like everyone else is probably done with the game so I'm going to let the event officially conclude, unless there are any objections. :)
What did everyone think of the Games Club? Is this something you'd like to see more of?
I liked it. Although I didn't participate much. Gave me a reason to play a great game again. And talk about it.
What game were you thinking of next if you do again?
I'm not sure. Any suggestions?
I plan on playing through Kotor 2 on my own after I finish up this one, but I don't know if I want to make the next Game Club game another RPG. One game I was considering was The Last of Of Us. I kind of want something that's multi-platform and has been out for awhile so that as many people as possible can play along.
Last of us is good. I just finished that one a few weeks ago for the first time. Was pretty bummed at first about the linear storyline. But I realized I finished the whole game before I thought about it once. So kind of a moot point.
I'd have to think of some non RPG ideas.
I could definitely do Last Of Us. I started it but only got a short way through it before getting distracted by something else.
Not sure what i'd recommend for a next game. I have been pretty busy working on the site and as such haven't had a ton of time for any serious gaming beyond a handful of Issac.
That said, reading and taking part in this game club has been fun. I'll lurk for the next one, whichever you do.
KoTOR is a really great game, I can see why it's on so many peoples best of lists.
I'm in the same boat as @rettisawesome. I love this idea, even though I didn't participate much.
Last of Us would be cool. Never finished that one, either. Other games I'd vote for:
Dishonored
Legend of Grimmrock
Warhammer 40K: Space Marine
Myst
Beyond Good & Evil
Mirror's Edge
Papers, Please
Remember Me
Ico
Or something along those lines ;)
It would be cool if we could play something that's new to everyone. Maybe come up with a short list to last us a few months/cycles? Can we do a poll on the site?
I thought of beyond good and evil as well. Such a great game.
Here's some I've thought of.
Shadow of the colossus
Freelancer
Gothic
Half life 2
Hitman blood money
Mark of the ninja
Mass effect
Mount and blade warband
Nexus the Jupiter incidebt
Morrowind (probably my first pick. But trying not to be lame)
The wolf among us
Company of heroes
Warhammer 40k dawn of war
Any metal gear solid
A huge unhelpful list. But all games are great. And a joy to play when you have others to talk about it with. Also a variety of genre.
I can answer any questions about any of them if someone needs.
Dawn of war 2 is what I meant.
Sounds like Last of Us would be a good pick, based on everyone's comments. I also like the idea of Half-life 2, since that's one I own but haven't played yet. :P
Papers, Please could be a great conversation piece.
I think I know why Morrowind is your first pick, Rett. :P That would be pretty convienent for you, I don't blame you for recommending that, lol. P.S. Did you want to post about your play-through on CG? I bet the community would find that interesting too. Morrowind might be a little too big for something like this. I briefly considered Skyrim. It's not a requirement that everyone (or even anyone) complete the game we're playing for the games club, but it would be nice if it's at lest possible to finish in a month or two, lol.
I've heard a lot of great things about Beyond Good and Evil, I'd be open to that. It's on GOG.com for $10, so that's not bad. I'd be open to that.
I know Jon has posted polls on here before. I'll ask him about setting up something. In the mean time keep posting suggestions!
lol yeah tim. well this whole thing i got in the works with morrowind has just really rekindled my passion for that game. and i've been playing it a ton recently to get into the right headspace. it really is the best in the elder scrolls series. and i love talking to people who are just sort of tapping into its wealth of gameplay for the first time. or at least coming to understand its depth for the first time. i love skyrim. and have logged more hours in oblivion than any other game. but morrowind.... man! so great. and wiith the trove of mods out for it now. the gameplay never ends.
and yeah i think i will probably make some posts here about our play throughs and all that stuff when the time comes. things are still coming downt he pipes. im trying to convice my buddy lee to make an account over here too. but he doesnt even have a facebook. so its like herding cats.
i think hl2 would be a great choice. there is a reason that it is one of the best games from the previous decade. and does not take long to complete.
but idk.
Half-life 2? Speaking if games I totally want to replay. I had a friend that went through it recently and he said it was just as strong now as it was.
I"m casting my vote for HL2. It isn't new to me, not by a long shot. I've probably played it 5 times, most recently last year, maybe? But I'd love to replay it.
So far the rising titles seem to be:
Last of Us
Half-Life 2
Beyond Good & Evil
I'd love to go back and play Mass Effect again. Such a great game. Shadow of the Colossus is one of those that I never finished, but desperately need to.
Any of these work for me. What if we narrow the list to 3-5 games, poll it, and see who comes out victorious?
Or if we're all in agreement on those three, just draw lots for which goes first and we have the year planned out! :)
Five. Those five.
I started Mass Effect but didn't get very far. That might be a good pick later on down the line, for this next game I'm leaning towards not picking another RPG just to add some variety. If the games club becomes a regular thing, there will be plenty of RPG's we'll go through just because, as a genre, I feel like RPG's are kind of perfect for an event like this.
I've been wanting to play Shadow of the Colossus for awhile now. I'd be ok putting that on the poll.
Sotc would be my vote first then. Got the ps3 redux so sweet. Probably in my top 5. So perfect. Beaten it no joke 20 times. Cuz I heard about this secret garden that you need to beat and repeat several times to get your grip meter big enough to climb there.... Still haven't .
But I would love to see the little things people discover. Maybe compare time trials stuff etc. Would be fun
Sweet. So, let's go with these four:
Last of Us
Shadow of the Colossus
Half-Life 2
Beyond Good & Evil
If we want to only pick the next game, head to this link and vote! http://goo.gl/qO87UO
If we want to rank these and set the next 4 games for the year, I'll volunteer to sort. Private message me here on the site with your list ranking the above games from 1-4, 1 being your first pick, etc. I can tally and sort, and post results below.
Or, I suppose you could just post your picks in order here in the comments, if we want to be all open about it ;)
Voted
Last of Us and Half-Life 2 are neck and neck. Are @vdogmr25 and @dannytron still with us?
Dannytron is around here somewhere. I'll text him and tell him to come vote.
I'm thinking we should also make a post on the main page and see if anyone else wants to vote for the next game too.
I vote for Half-LIfe 2. It's been a while since I last played.
Give me a second, I'll post on the main page.
About to start! Huzzah!
Yep, in the twitch chat now.
That was awesome! Looking forward to unlocking that ramming ship. Thanks for setting this up.
No problem! I'll get everyone the link for watching it again if people missed it.
Here is the video of Stream Friends playing Starship Rubicon:
http://www.twitch.tv/streamfriends/v/3617686
It's a really fun playthrough, that said to the end they found some bugs we are tossing on the next patchlist.
Time to spend some Birthday Steam Money! I have no idea what I'll want, I'll wait to see what's on sale :)
I've been playing through Costume Quest recently and loving it. If the sequel goes on sale I'll probably pick it up. :)
No, I can't think of any. Although, the Terraria Halloween stuff should be available right now, shouldn't it? Yet I've played it with WBS and Travis, some what recently. I still haven't completed the Pumpkin Moon event. We were able to do it on the server because, I think, Travis added in the necessary materials, although we didn't defeat it. I have all of the CG worlds saved and therefore, I could loot the necessary materials any time. Now I'm getting tempted to try it out again. Haha.
I'm still playing Bejeweled 3, getting all the badges. Luckily, I've gotten the hardest ones. I have most of them already. I've also been working on completing the Smash Bros. (3DS) challenges, but I had to take a day off after my thumbs were sore after getting the Home Run Derby challenge completed with Ganondorf.
The Halloween stuff should be available in Terraria now.
If the server is still running we could do a Pumpkin Moon event. I'll rope in Travis to see if it is.
The server is still running, I just tested it. =) It's probably been a long time since any of us played, although I can really only speak for myself and assume for every one else.
My daughter has been talking about last year's PRGE all year long. It was a lot of fun and we hope to make it again this year!
I hope you can too. This year should be the biggest yet!
Ok I am at the PIGSquad booth. Look for the Starship Rubicon sign.
Thanks for joining my first event, Jon! It made me feel so good to create it! =)
That said, I just found out about some scheduled maintenance. The news from Blizzard is as follows:
"We will be performing maintenance beginning on Tuesday, March 24, at 3:00 AM PDT and we expect it to be complete at approximately 11:00 AM PDT. During this time the game and many web services will be unavailable. Thank you for your patience."
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/16716772081
Diablo III goes into maintenance mode every Tuesday morning. It's their weekly downtime. It's annoying but necessary, I suppose!
I'm so glad Blizzard created the in-game birthday event for Reaper of Souls, it gave me a reason to play the game again. I was waiting for the new patch to be released, but I decided not to sit out until then. I'm glad for that because I had gotten in to a phase I hated where I didn't know what I wanted to play. I did briefly play Terraria on the PS3 with my son since I bought it so that he and his friend could play together. I also played a bit more of the mobile version on my Kindle Fire.
I'm not sure when the patch will be released. I'm also not sure how far I'll get with this week's in-game birthday event. I think my Demon Hunter is now about level 40 and I'm still in Act II. It is my guess that I will finish the game before the in-game event is over and will, therefore, create another new character and play through it again. My only problem is that I don't know what to name the other characters I know I'm going to create, although I have some ideas.
One thing I'd like us to do here is discuss the game (I guess that's a given). I thought about some things I'm interested in knowing about how you play the game. Do you have a favorite class? Also, if you have a Demon Hunter, do you dual-wield bows? I haven't played all the classes yet, so I think it's too early for me to pick a favorite. I did spend a lot of time with my Barbarian, so that's probably my favorite so far, however I think they're all pretty good. I am not dual-wielding with my Demon Hunter. I have a really awesome bow (or crossbow) equipped with a good quiver.
Another thing I'm interested in knowing is how you decide which skills to equip. While I am leveling, I tend to switch to whatever is new. So, if I unlock a new rune for one skill, that's what I switch to. It gives me some variety and helps me learn and experience all of them. At first, with my Barbarian, I did not use any of the special skills (that are set 1-4). I did, finally, start using them and found them to be helpful. However, as I'm playing with my Demon Hunter I've gone back to not using them. Although I mentioned that I switch to new skills (or runes) unlocked by leveling, I have decided to keep the Companion skill with my Demon Hunter. I like it because it's more like a passive skill that I don't have to activate.
Also, I've noticed that from time to time, I like to increase the difficulty level. I always start out on "Normal," but after a while of not really taking any damage, I decide to increase it. This is good because that helps me get more gold and EXP. Do you do the same or stick with a level?
Anyway, feel free to fill me in on your thoughts and game play. Do you play similarly or differently?
So it's hard to say what my favorite class is because I typically play a class until I burn out on it. It's not a good strategy and I might consider stopping before I get sick on it. But if I had to say, to date, my favorite class is the Crusader. I also quite enjoy the Barbarian but haven't made it too far with one.
I equip skills based on what I want to accomplish and for my Crusader it's dealing damage. Some people have some really unique builds and I consider mine pretty average. I don't have much epic gear and don't hit very hard so I tend to pick stills which help me take things down. After that I pick skills that can get me out of a tough spot or run away, like steed charge.
I usually play at Torment 1. It's pretty hard but the loot is good and it's not boringly easy.
Thanks for the input, Jon! So, you purposefully choose certain skills instead of randomly choosing what you just got by leveling up as I seem to do? Or do you try to learn the skills, play with them all for a bit and then choose? Also, do you use your 1-4 skills often? I still haven't used those skills with my Demon Hunter yet and I'm still choosing whatever is new when I level up. Recently, I selected one of those secondary skills (right-click) I got from leveling up and noticed how great it was at clearing out groups of enemies. I don't know what the name of it is though. I think how I've been playing (when it comes to new characters) is just me learning, even if I don't experiment with everything at first.
Also, I wonder how you and others manage gems. I tend to pretty much stick a really good ruby wherever I can, which almost always increases my strength. I'm also curious as to what followers you and others choose. I pretty much tend to stick with the Templar, although during a time of running through the game with my Barbarian, I decided to switch followers to add a little "spice" to the game.
I was also thinking of seeing the differences between character genders. I think that might be an interesting part of the game to explore. As of now, I've been choosing male characters, but I think it might be interesting to try some females.
Do you start a character on Torment 1 or do you gradually increase the difficulty and get there? I do the gradual increase because, I agree with you, it can get boringly easy and the loot (along with gold and EXP) is good.
Strength is only really relevant on Strength-based characters. With Monks and Demon Hunters for example, dexterity increases your damage, not strength. So it all depends on what character you're playing.
With difficulty level, once you hit level 80 Torment 1 is pretty taxing. I play on the one below that, I can't remember which. But on the grind to 80 I frequently switch between that and Torment 1.
Thanks for the tip, Travis. I haven't been paying attention to my Demon Hunter's dexterity and I now see that I should have. I have been applying Marquise Rubies to whatever items have gem slots. Most often this gives me +62 strength since that applies when put on something other than a helm or weapon. So, I'll have to get back in the game with my Demon Hunter and change those out to emeralds, which give + dexterity when applied to something other than a helm or weapon.
Master is the level below Torment 1, which is what I'm currently playing on. My Demon Hunter is now above level 60 and I just beat Diablo. During that battle, I finally tried out my 1-4 skills. Although I don't recall what the first two do, the latter two seemed pretty helpful. One of the latter two seems to freeze enemies, while the other of the latter two did some kind of attack, which was awesome.
"During that battle, I finally tried out my 1-4 skills."
I'm not entirely sure what this means. You were only using autoattack on your way up to level 60? If so, WOW. I didn't know you could get that far only using the basic attack.
Yeah, I only used my primary and secondary attacks until then. I started out on Normal difficulty and gradually increased it to Master, where it is now. I still use those two skills mostly, but when I fight the harder monsters (blue, yellows, and bosses), I use my other (3 and 4) skills. 1 makes me invisible or something and I never use it. 2 is my companion, which is passive and automatic, so it doesn't need to be activated.
I am getting poor again. I had over 11 million gold, but I finally decided to upgrade my emeralds and rubies. I put the highest emerald in a slot on something for my Demon Hunter. Oh and my DH is now level 70 and my Paragon level is almost to 70 as well. It was only maybe 63 before.
Damn, that's impressive with only using a very small subset of skills.
Thanks! I finished RoS. My Demon Hunter was level 70, Paragon level 71. I some how managed not to get killed by Malthael. I didn't increase the difficulty above Master because I knew he'd be difficult. So, I created a new character, a Monk, and I named him "Adama." =) My Monk is so awesome he found a Black Mushroom in the Cathedral. When I tried to get that item months ago, it took a few attempts at the Cathedral to find it. Oh and I changed the difficulty to Hard sooner than usual. Normal difficulty should really be called Easy and Hard should be called Normal. Haha.
Travis, you once told me about your favorite class. I think you mentioned the Monk or Wizard, am I correct?
The Monk is pretty cool, I was sure I wouldn't be disappointed. Some of his skills are really good like the one where he heals himself and allies. I also like the "bell" one, it seems pretty powerful.
One of the things I didn't like about my play through with the Demon Hunter was that a few Treasure Goblins got away. I really enjoyed his Companion skill. I also equipped two rings, which were pieces of a green set. Since I had two of the set, a skeleton archer summoned when I attacked. That and my Companion skill were very helpful as they created extra allies for me, which would often become enemy targets, saving me from taking damage. I enjoyed that freezing skill of his, as I also enjoy the Monk's skill that freezes enemies when he attacks. I also enjoyed the Demon Hunter's Vengeance skill.
I am now playing my Monk a bit differently than when I had started other new characters. While I am still selecting new skills as they unlock by leveling, I'm using my 1-4 skills more often, which is quite helpful. His 1 skill is a healing one, so I've been keeping that one.
It's probably Monk, yeah. I like all the classes though, they're all really well done.
I like that the Monk also has a "companion" skill. It's a spirit, but it's pretty much the same thing.