Back to Basics

*Note* Ed is away on holiday for a few days, so you are stuck with my ramblings and no funny or insulting comments made at my expense. I am sure he will rectify this on his return.

It’s been quite strange over the last few weeks. I have had the interest to play EQ2, but when I log in I find myself effectively ‘kicking my heels’ for something to do. It has got that bad that recently I have pretty much only logged on to raid. I know that I still have a huge amount left to do, especially on Adurj, like gaining more alternative advancement points. I mean I need those bad. Real bad. It’s getting a little embarrassing that the folks who 4 weeks ago were asking me if I have Battle Cry, and my reply was that I was nearly there, just a few more AA to go. Well the other night whilst raiding, unfortunately I had to give the same answer because I haven’t done anything at all on Adurj apart from raid. Then there are the collections I still need to get ready for the expansion, the harvesting skills I need to progress and my shard stash needs replenishing, and I still need more T4.

So with so much left to do how come I log on with Adurj, or indeed any of my kitted 80’s and find myself just killing time? I know my old crew no longer play, they haven’t for some time. So there is not the constant grouping I used to experience when Konador, Daltieri, Kael, Aurale, Ema and I used to get together way back when. Because of this and the fact I rarely get any tells anymore from most of the people I used to group with regularly due to their quitting or moving elsewhere for the time being. Yes I could go out and just do pick up groups, there is no problem with that at all and I usually end up having quite a bit of fun. So what is it? Why can I not gain any enthusiasm for chasing down my goals on Adurj and actually doing something constructive with him? Well, I think I may have found part of the answer.

I’m bored with the end game. I think it’s as simple as that. There is some raid content I haven’t experienced in TSO and also Trak in RoK and a few instances that I haven’t really visited regularly, such as PoF, Guk3. But I don’t really have any inclination to. It’s an important distinction though. I am bored stupid with end game stuff. But the game doesn’t bore me. It still has so much fun left to offer and actually quite a lot of content I have never ever experienced.

So, I made a decision. Why not spend some time indulging in the content that I still find fun and distinctly under explored in my previous races from 1 to 50/60/70/80 depending on the expansion at the time. So that’s what I am doing. I have of course run level 1 to top tier quite a few times with 6 level 80s and a whole hoard of toons from 55 to 80. The difference is with the majority of these, is that they have been power levelled. Not in a hardcore way, but each of those toons have been boxed at some point with another toon of higher level to help squish mobs and achieve a fairly rapid ascension. So this time I have decided to do it a little differently. Here are my ‘rules’ that I will employ with the playing of my new toon;

• No boxing or outside help including funding from any of my other toons

• Help can be given by crafting items for my new toon using alts, as long as my toon harvested the materials

• I will group as often as I can and not solo to 80

• I will make a real effort to experience level relevant game content that I have not experienced before, or rarely experienced (for example I have never visited half of the small quest related instances in Antonica, have never fully completed the peacock or prismatic timelines, or the claymore for that matter)

• I will roleplay as much as I can and as much as the group allows to heighten the immersive nature of the game

• I will when required level lock to ensure my alternative achievement stays in touch with my level progression and I don’t suffer the annoying trying to catch up at later levels

• I will not set myself goals for levelling like I usually do. It happens when it happens

• I will not use quest helpers unless I have been stuck on a quest for more than 2 days.

I am sure there will be a few more as I get further into playing my new toon, but as it stands that’s it so far. So that’s what I’m going to do. In fact I have started. Last night I created Blacke. A Half Elven Ranger based out of Kelethin. I chose Kelethin as I have dabbled in starting toons there, but never actually stuck with any of them past about level 5. As such I haven’t got involved in hardly any of those quest lines. Blacke is currently only level 8 even though I spent a fair amount of time on him. The reason? Well I have been taking my time, enjoying the game and the content as much as I can. I explored the Shroom caves for the first time last night and really had some fun sneaking around and getting lost. I have pretty much finished the quest lines available in the nursery area of G Fay, so tonight I think it’s time to finish the last few in the caves then to venture out in to the big wide world of Greater Fay.

It may all sound a bit lame to tough cookie top end players, but I’m having fun and am quite excited about all of the content I’m going to experience and new friends I will make along the way. It’s good to get back to your roots.

Be well.

Carbon dating..

This is a little off topic for my normal blogs. I recently became aware of a new type of vehicle being developed and produced and being a bit of a car / bike nut and for other obvious reasons [eh? wha..? - Ed] I decided to let you folks know about it. Some of you guys already will have seen this in the news a while ago.

One question many many law enforcement officers ask themselves "Why does every other service have a dedicated specialised vehicle...apart from us?"..

Well no longer, check out this baby! A purpose built Police Patrol Vehicle.

What a machine! The guys at Carbon Motors (mostly ex-law enforcement) have got together to design and build this amazing beast. And  it's about time. Too long cops around the world have had to manage with sub standard vehicles (apart from some of our SWAT stuff) and now the tide has turned.

This baby can withstand a collision from the rear of 75mph. It is designed to leap kerbs, has chemical and radiation sensors, a special 'holding cell', head up display, stealth mode...and so so much more.

All the very best to you guys at Carbon Motors. I sincerely wish you the best with the sale of your vehicle and congratulations for making our law enforcement officers safer and better equiped to protect and serve.

Be well.

[Stoopids Adurj forgot to give you the link to Carbon Motors webby..here it is! www.carbonmotors.com/ - Ed]

Mantra

Passing time, is easy.  I'm for living life.

The Rule Breakers Handbook.

I had a trip down memory lane the other day. I was helping set some timers in PotAO with my buddy raiders when I received a very strange /tell. All it said was “Fansy was a Pansy”. I found out who it was from. Turned out to be an old friend I used to play EQ1 (and EQ2) with who noticed I was playing a bard and thought the comment would be funny, seeing as we both followed Fansys antics back in the day. I wonder how many of you reading this recognise the name? I’m hoping quite a few of you who used to play EQ1.

It got me to hunting down Fansy material again, which can be found here. For those who don’t know who Fansy is, or should I say ‘was’, well, I am not sure how to describe him. Some, ok a lot of people who do remember Fansy, especially those who played on the Sullon Zek server will remember him as a tyrant trouble maker. Must have been darn annoying having ole Fansy around. For those who didn’t play on Sullon Zeks ‘no rules’ server, like myself, Fansy was a bit of a hero. Ok, not a hero in the common sense of the word, or mebbe any sense of the word. But he certainly was a lot of fun. Check out that link above and see for yourself. Reading it you may get an insight in to what a childish mind I have. [You? Never! – Ed]

The thing about Fansy and many of the antics to be found at NotAddicted.com is that I am sure quite a few will find them immensely annoying and perhaps a little puerile. I am not one of those who get all worked up about stuff like that. If I get ‘ganked’ or hassled I just move along or move toon. I’m not going to waste my energy fighting something like that because for one, it can be pretty darn funny and two because the person at the other end is a person too and they feel they are having fun. It’s nice to have fun. For example, remember the Noms on AB server? Sooooo many got all riled up over that. Some really took offence and thought the connotation was sexual. I think it was just a bit of fun. It’s not so tough to ignore stuff like that. I don’t mean /ignore, I mean use your adult brain and just ignore it. But as usual, too many complaints meant it was good bye Nom Nom Nom. A shame. Whoever the noms were, I wish you well.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not an advocate of ruining other peoples game time. But I do appreciate some off the wall comedy and I kinda admire those who grab life by the balls and just say “F*** it!” [steady there sunshine! And I never knew you were a trouble maker– Ed] There are much deeper psychological reasons why people oppose such fun from taking place, some of the reasons are actually quite justified, but I cannot get away from the fact that so often in life we see thousands of sheep doing the 9-5 and plodding on day to day. I think Ferris said it best “Life moves pretty fast and if you don’t stop and take a look around once in a while, you might just miss it”, or something like that.

Try doing something off the wall today. Start a conversation with a stranger, be the new Fansy, hide your bosses desk, put food colouring in your works water supply, walk with a limp, finish every sentence with ‘Yo Diggety’, whenever walking away from a conversation moonwalk backwards into the distance. My personal choice today was to refer to my boss [Your boss? You’re supposed to be super high up and responsible yeself man *cries* - Ed], yes even to his face as the ‘Governor Boss Man Hoss Man’ and finished off with a slap on the shoulder and “Yo Slidin playah?”.

It went something like this...“Consider it done Governor Boss Man Hoss Man *shoulder slap* Yo Slidin playah? *added finger wiggle as I walk away*”.

Went down a storm I can tell you. Yes. My boss now thinks I am an idiot. Nothing he didn't know already.

Be well.

If an 8 year old can understand this..

Raiding. Hardcore raiding. It’s a strange creature. If you want top end gear you pretty much have to participate in it. And raids at that level require a degree of various different talents. You need to be a lot more than just a little competent in playing your toon. You need to have the ability to listen and digest the information given to you. You have to be able to focus. You need to be able to play without any other distractions.

Now, there are other things you have to be able to do, one of which is being able to take criticism and advice. You will get nowhere if you throw your teddy out the cot when someone makes a suggestion to you or happens to tell you that you are doing something wrong. The key with this one is using this particular skill alongside the listening skill. If you have done something wrong, then once you have listened how to do it right, that should be it. The same problem should not arise again. Unless of course the information supplied to you is incorrect.

This is where your raid leaders skills come in. If they are particularly unskilled in certain areas, they can still get the job done, but with what I consider less flair and less support from the raid force. You see, a raid will respond to a raid leader like they do to any leader. And leadership takes skill and talent. Yes a raid leader requires all the skill of a raid attendee, but also some more on top. Key of which in my eyes are communication skills.

The level of these communication skills is tempered by other factors. Is the person who normally has good communication skills someone who stresses out over tough situations? If so, they will do fine as a raid leader as long as everything is going to plan. Wipe a few times and you’ll see the type of person emerge that I am talking about. Those that lose it, or become agitated then transfer that emotion to others because of their lack of skills at people management. That’s when as a raid leader you begin to lose your audience. If your audience was a unit in the military, then yes you may well get the same responses when shouting them down as you would when explaining something politely and with manners. But for the most part raids are not made up from all military personnel and there is no better way of losing your raids attention, focus, interest and willingness to achieve.

You see, I have mentioned this before. Behaviour breeds behaviour. If you start getting wound up, stressed, irritated then these emotions will inevitably transfer to your raid force. I have been on the receiving end of this type of leadership. Both in game and in real life. I’m not one who throws my teddy out the cot or whines and complains. I try to take it on the chin and actually digest what I have been told when I am doing something wrong. Then try to put it right. But if I am on the receiving end of ‘attitude’, my response becomes one of indifference. I still try my hardest and alter what I was doing wrong, but I end up having a completely different outlook on what I am doing. I end up losing interest and passion for what I am doing. I simply start to not care about the result.

It’s a strange thing. I have been in a paramilitary organisation and there I had no problem whatsoever being hollered at, told I am useless, to pull my finger out, I’m the king of fail. Thing is in that situation, probably because the stakes are a lot higher (pretty much life and death every time) I buckle down, determined to do it right, focus with intensity, anything to get the required end result. But with a game it’s different. No one will die [do you not know the meaning of ‘wipe’?!? – Ed], no one will suffer a life changing injury or mental stress if it goes wrong. All that is lost is some time from your life. Yes, that may be annoying but we all waste time every day doing something or other. I sit and watch TV adverts when I could be making a cup of tea, or doing my taxes. Wasted time, we all have it.

So the stakes are a lot lower and that means to me that when someone who treats the raid as the be all and end all and transfers their angst on to you, I become all “OK, I’ll do it right, but I ain’t really bothered anymore”. Not to the Vicky Pollard extent. Like I said, my teddys do not come out the cot and I do not sit on my chair staring at the screen raving “Bovvered? Am ah bovvered? Look at mah face, bovvered?”. But I certainly become less interested in the outcome and usually start thinking about what else I could be doing.

Seems a shame just because an individual cannot mind their manners or deal with stress. The bigger shame is that in being like that you are losing out on the one thing that online gaming can give you that can be of real use in the real world. People skills. The ability to mix with others to come out of your shell and to communicate.  Effectively.

When I used to lead raids, I like to think that all of my raiders were happy chappies, who enjoyed my style of leadership. And the thing is, we were successful. Very. With the force we had we achieved a hell of a lot. And I never lost my cuddlies out of my sleeping arrangements. Not once. Maybe if any who read this that used to raid with me can confirm or deny this? I'd like to know how it was for you guys. Leave a comment by clicking on the 'Jibberjabbers' section below ;)

The world takes different strokes for different folks and it would be a crying shame if we were all alike. But there is a reason why being polite and having manners is so important in society. That’s because aside from the pleasantness and relaxing atmosphere it creates, it actually really works.

Something my 8 year old has cottoned on to already. I know when she’s being polite she usually wants something. Even if it’s only a nice polite conversation back. But in the main it’s usually a sweetie or chocolate. But she’s 8. And she understands it.

Be well.

[Disclaimer: Adurj would probably like to point out in the interest of not being conducive to creating further stress in his readers who may believe this post is about them, then they’ll get all arsey and react in an emotional way..that this post is definitely not about a specific person or situation. Yes he raided last night. No he didn’t mention to me if this post relates to that raid. I suspect it doesn’t though as he told me he had a lot of fun. But I do know he is a boring twat and thinks a fair amount about morals and manners etc. So it was probably just something on his mind. Probably. – Ed]

Let it Snow

Looks like we made it back from the UK just in time! All over the UK it seems there are huge problems with the amount of snow falling. Now it seems like it’s been 2 days of pretty much nonstop snow and freezing temperatures. All forms of travel arrangements are flying out the window with trains, buses, flights all being cancelled to some degree. I was reading some news on the subject and in the comment section was a post from a fella in Alaska, telling my country folk to “enjoy the light dusting” [the cheeky beggar! – Ed].

A similar question seems to be asked a fair amount and kind of in line with that comment, “Why does Britain come to a standstill when there is more than a day or two of snow?” Seems like a silly question to me. It’s because we aren’t prepared for it! /doh. In my mind there is only so much preparation to make for such circumstances, when it takes up usually only a few days a year. If you were responsible for governmental funds, could you justify spending a huge amount on something that in all probability and something that is historically proven not likely to happen? That’s why the UK is so unprepared. Because money is the main factor and convincing your boss to buy an extra 1 million quids worth of rock salt ‘just in case’, probably won’t wash very well.

So, to Alaskakiddo, you live where it snows for 99% of your year, that’s why your government is prepared. We don’t, so we are not. Simplez.

As much as I’m glad we managed to make it back to Spain in time before the bad weather stopped us, I really do miss the UK in the snow. As you can see from the few snaps here, it really is a fantastically beautiful place when dusted [clever. Like it. I see what you did there – Ed] and I am so so glad we got a chance to experience the snow when we visited at Christmas, albeit a lot less of the stuff. It was especially great that the kids could enjoy it. As you can imagine, living virtually on the beach on the Mediterranean, we don’t get much snow.

Cotswolds

Near Castle Ring, Staffordshire.

Hawkshead, Lake District

Game wise, I have only spent one evening online properly this week. Mainly due to the problem mentioned in my previous post of wifey having quit playing. Which means my play time is down by default. The time I did spend online was mainly on EQ2 and I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary or new. What I did do was help Irja and his dirgey out a little bit in The Cove of Decay last night when Octogoron needed his tentacles trimming some. That was a quick 10 minute job, so spent the rest of the time on Voltaan, messing around and cleaning out his bags with a bit of tinkering thrown in. Oh, the other night I did manage to get online for a quick 30 mins to help out clearing the trash from ToMC and YiS ready for tonights raid fun. I’m looking forward to tonights raid. Not really for the content or loot, as it is stuff I have done before and gained most of the drops I need. But because I love hanging round with a bunch of people and achieving stuff. Especially when amongst friends. It’s great fun. Kinda a social thing for me. So anyhow, raiding tonight then I think I should prepare a battle plan for the weekend to try and boost my AA a bit.

Other than that I have been spending a bit of time on ‘Midnight Club Los Angeles’ on my PS3 which I must say is great fun. I know the game is a little dated now, but I love the old Midnight Club series of games. That and Need for Speed are probably two of my fave driving genre games. I have probably only accumulated about 5 or 6 hours on the game so far, but I already have 4 cars and one motorbike and a burgeoning reputation in career mode. It's turning out to be a real nice time filler game.

Right-o. Time for some lunch. Good luck to all my relatives and friends in the UK. I hope the weather doesn't cause you folks too many problems and I'm thinking of you guys.

Be well.

The 2010 Connection

The holiday season craziness is now at an end. Well for my family anyhow. We had an amazing holiday period, especially with our trip back to the UK and seeing my family. No one does Christmas like your mother ;) Tonight is ‘Three Kings’ in Spain, the day that they celebrate Christmas so I am expecting to be kept awake until the early hours by rowdy Spaniards. It’s kind of a nice festival, they have with a huge parade in all the towns/villages/cities where the Three Kings throw presents and sweets to all the children lining the parade route. I might take the kids out to see it and join in, but that depends on the weather because we have been having some pretty hefty electrical storms here recently.

Talking of the electrical storms, I can’t believe living in a supposedly modern western country that nearly every time we have an electrical storm we can pretty much guarantee losing our power to the house. Not normally a problem I guess if you are prepared for it, unless you have kids or play an online MMO! I’ve lost count on how many groups this week since I have been back that I have dropped out of half way through due to power cuts. A right royal pain. The worse thing is that you just know everyone will think you have /quit when you don’t come back. I just hope our power companies performance hasn’t affected my reputation this week [You have a reputation? Is it the one I am thinking of?- Ed].

Since we got back from the UK I haven’t really done too much online really. For a few reasons really. Firstly because every time I seem to get my teeth in to something in game I lose power to the house. OK, so that hasn’t happened every time, but enough times to really get on my nerves. Secondly because Emarald my wife has cut down her playing time by like 95%, so by default that means my play time has been cut down also. It’s strange to think that when Ema was a full time player [she was on it a damn sight more than you!- Ed] that she did not mind me spending time in game. But now she has all but quit the game, there is a strange sadness in her voice when she asks me to watch TV with her or a film and I reply that I am going online. Not that she would ever tell me I can’t, she’s not like that. But Ema is a master at coercion :) So I usually end up watching TV and hanging with her. No bad thing at all seeing as she’s my best mate and we have such a great laugh together, but I still miss coming online as much. I’m hoping that the new expansion will bring Ema back online. Thirdly, I feel like I am just treading water until the expansion comes out. The extra wait from the normal November release date has been tough I think on quite a few people. I have certainly noticed a change in population in my in game circles and the general consensus is that they are waiting for the expansion.

Don’t get me wrong, I still have a huge amount to do in game before the expansion is released, but I am not so sure I will get all of my goals achieved. I am still looking at a long way to go with AA, now standing at 165 points on Adurj. I am pretty sure that will not magically turn in to 200 AA any time soon. I am not unduly concerned though. I have played EQ2 since release and for every single expansion I have been ‘behind’ on what I wanted to achieve before release date. In fact only with the TSO release was I already at max level when the date came around. So taking that in to account I’m actually much better prepared than I was for all the other expansions [always looking on the bright side huh? Still failing though eh? – Ed].

I’m still reading McMafia by the way. About ¾ way through now. It’s taking me a while because I seemed to have picked up the last three books in Salvatore’s Drizzt Do’Urden series and got distracted. I do so love Salvatore’s work on Drizzt. Not always the most amazing prose in the world but the characterisation of the people in his stories is amazing and it is what draws me in. I simply must know what has happened to all my favourites! (Bruenor has to be my number one. I’ve had a soft spot for dwarvern warriors ever since my D&D days). So anyhow, that’s why I have fallen behind on Glenny’s McMafia. It’s actually still a great read [just not as good as your little fantasy world huh?- Ed] and is a real eye opener to anyone who hasn’t had much involvement in the world of organised crime. It is worth reading just to open your eyes up to what some of our fellow human beings go through and have to suffer at the hand of others. It’s also a good read just to prove to the reader that not all Hollywood films are too far from the mark. It really is a glamorous and deadly dangerous world and much more a part of your everyday life than you might think. Let me clarify that with a bit of insider info for you. I know this as part of my work and nothing to do with the book, but did you know that organised crime (collectively) is estimated to be the third biggest industry by turnover after agriculture and oil, with an annual turnover in the region of $3.5 trillion? It’s estimated that if you include interest from savings (yes criminals save too) that the number could be upwards of $8.5 trillion. Digest those numbers for a while then tell me your life has no way touched the world of organised crime. Ever downloaded a pirated song or film? I think you know what I’m getting at.

Even the criminals we see as being independent, such as Madoff who we can see as a career criminal but one that perhaps didn’t operate as part of a group but on his own with maybe some help from his family members/friends. But if there was no outside influence on the profits Madoff was making, I really can’t see how the government cannot track his money. They can track your mobile phone calls. But not Madoffs billions. I’m not talking conspiracy here, but you can bet your bottom dollar that his money is sitting somewhere completely safe. And by safe I mean somewhere in Israel. All supposition of course with no proof whatsoever. BUT, remember, our governments can take a photo of you sitting on the bench reading the newspaper and effectively read over your shoulder...from space. But they can’t track Madoffs billions. Organised crime is a big part of our everyday lives, even though most do not realise it. Reading Glennys ‘McMafia’ is worth a read just to set your mind straight on that.

Well, I have waffled on enough in my first blog of 2010. I guess I’ll catch you soon. Happy New Year to you and yours. I hope 2010 brings you all that you desire. As long as it’s legal :P

Be well,