Archive | March 2012

Code Pets are here to Stay

On one hand, it’s exciting. On the otherhand, it’s frustrating. You can’t go to everything (unless you’re rich or have a super good job/work for something press-related to be able to go to everything) and I love pets T___T

There are apparently other codes–though, only Taun Fawn is being given out at PAX East. You apparently get one by going up to the booth and asking. Even if I did decide to take a road trip, it’s Easter Weekend so it’s just not going to work out.

Apparently, on twitter there were many mentions of codes and hints to possibly other pets, so…

He did also say, however, if you did miss going, there’d be other chances to get one in the future.

…but I really don’t know if I’d be okay missing out in the first place. 🙁

The Orobird Mystery

Mar28

So, thanks to Nyjin on the forums, we have found the Orobird (Or well, one of them at least). It is, indeed, in Alderaan. At the bridge in the Serene Meadow in Alsakan Lowlands. Coordinates are: X: 140, Y: 1810, Z: 209.

Walk next to the lower part of the bridge and position yourself right on top of the straight horizontal log. Jump down onto it and then run across it. Then, jump down to the nest below it. The Orobird Egg appears a little before the egg that is always in the nest.

It IS on a cooldown that lasts 8 hours. (Edit: May have changed to 4 hours on the Live server)

I received an Unusual Egg. ~~It’s possible that the egg is random (you can see what kind it is when you hover over it).~~ This location will always grant the Unusual Egg.

There is still at least 1, most likely 2 (As there’s also the “Wonderous” and “Mysterious” eggs according to databases) so let’s up they are found soon!

(Edit: Hatching Guide here!)

Let’s Talk About Pets

Mar27

Now, when I have free time (or even when I don’t because multitasking rocks), I periodically look through the SWTOR forums for any news on pets. They are my number 1 priority in the game (and part of why I make such a big deal about Karagga’s lately).

Unfortunately, I have had no luck finding much information and when I made a topic to work together…it was deleted 🙁 On top of that, I could find no info on the Orobirds–just people talking about the Tauntauns (which I love as well, but all pets deserve love!). I did, however, recently stumble upon this topic which not only talks about Tauntauns, but the Orobirds a little too.

And if that wasn’t enough, recently mentioned were 3 different kinds of Rakling pets: Crimson, Pale, and Midnight. The question now is “Are they currently available?” or if they are just data in the game for something that is not available yet?

Regardless, I’ll be adding them to the pet list shortly.

There’s also 4 current Orobird eggs known: Unusual, Mysterious, Wonderous, and Orobird. Nobody has actually found the eggs ingame as far as I know, but I won’t actually separate/specify the Orobirds on the list until I have specific info on each. Afterall, just because 4 eggs were found in the data doesn’t mean they are all available, so for now the general Orobird (with separate ones as we learn information like I did for the Tauntauns) will do.

But yes, if the NYSCCS (A new item sold at the vendor you get the grapple hook from on Alderaan starting from 1.2 onward) isn’t used in some way for at least the Tauntauns, I’d be very surprised.

And with that…

Mar27

The final page is up. I know not everything listed is currently available–some who knows when they will come out and others for 1.2, but I wanted to list them regardless. At the very least, it does help. For example, I would need roughly 4,200,000 Credits in order to get all the speeders currently in the game before the price goes up. That’s probably not going to happen though…however, I am trying really hard to get the Baron which is 2 million of that price which leaves only roughly 2,200,000 Credits left.

If I added the final bank slot, that’s 400K more. And of course, I definitely want 200K for Taunta and maybe an extra 100K for repairs and things like that.

And of course, if I did add on the white crystal and purple crystal, which is an extra 2,750,000 Credits… yeah.

So, total is:
4,200,000 (Speeders)
400,000 (Bank)
300,000 (Taunta + Safety amount)
+2,750,000 (Crystals)
———–
7,650,000

Yep. Honestly, if I could, I’d love to have 10 million just on the side and ready–get all that out of the way and then be able to fully focus on 1.2. Supposedly you’d need about 11 million to unlock everything Legacy-wise, but I don’t care too much about getting all the races unlocked. I probably will just unlock the Imperial Zabrak and the Twi’lek to unlock more colors.

So, if we added in the currently listed Legacy prices (ignoring that I really need to get to Legacy 35, if anything)…
3,000,000 (Races)
250,000 (Legacy Alignment Attack)
250,000 (Mailbox)
1,000,000 (Repair Droid)
500,000 (Both Training Dummies)
5,000,000 (Neutral Trade Network)
300,000 (3 Fleet Pass levels)
300,000 (3 Quick Travel Levels)
+ 5,000,000 (Speed Boost)
———–
15,600,000

Yep… That’s more than 11 million so I know those prices are outdated (or heck, maybe the 11 million is. For crying out loud, all may be outdated before 1.2 comes).

So, for max safety, I’d probably want to have 16 million by 1.2. If we could the Math from before… 20 million before 1.2 to get stuff out of the way and be ready for that. …unfortunately, there’s no way that is going to happen.

Priority-wise, I really want all the ship stuff the most which is a total of 7 million. After that, probably the Fleet Pass, Quick Travel, and Speed Boost stuff as I’m not too ready for more alts yet (besides my Sorcerer) and that’s what the races would be for.

But yes, a girl can dream, I suppose.

Quitters

Mar26

If there is one thing I hate…it’s when people quit and/or give up. I hate when we go through raids or flash points or something and decide it’s “too hard” and just stop. There’s time left. Frustration isn’t an excuse. Deal with it and try your best and let’s make it happen until you need to sleep or have something else you need to do.

But it especially happens in PVP. If someone thinks something is a lost cause and they leave, that’s stupid and pathetic and cowardly. And if they don’t leave, sometimes they’ll just sit and watch.

We had a wonderful person come in and pretty much say “so, it’s been losses all day, no point in trying”. And it’s like, really? It’s not the first time I had to deal with them being a complete butt head (the first time, they pretty much said since I had no gear, I shouldn’t PVP 😀 …which really makes no sense when you think about it).

We got left first. If people came and held off middle some more rather than giving up, we could’ve won.

And even when they got it? At that point, more people gave up saying how it was a lost cause and just sat over by left. I killed several people while being attacked and just healing myself. There was no reason we couldn’t have had people come and gotten middle back or even right if people tried.

But people just left and some just didn’t care despite the fact that there were a few of us trying.

So, great job guys. I get to have my eyes tear up with frustration because you people are too stupid to try–with something we probably could’ve won, no less. You gave up when there was still plenty of time to recover.

And no, I don’t care if you got 5 medals the next match–you got it by forgetting what the point was. Ironically, it might be called PVP, but the Warzones do have objectives and I think people forget to focus on them.

And I’m so sick of people like them.

What ever happened to trying? Losing happens. At least you tried your best rather than just sitting there and being stupid. Hope I never run into any of you again.

THANK YOU! + Codex Needed list done!

Mar26

So, first, I’d like to say a big Thank you to a lot of people. Just for encouraging me in my crazy journeys and even offering to help out means so much to me. I’m not great at PVP–in fact, I’m probably a bit of a hindrance if anything, but I do try my best. And I think gaining about 50 valor in like 2 weeks says something. So, when I got a bunch of good lucks and encouragement about being close (I’m 56 now–a little more than half way to 57!) and even was told by someone else if I didn’t get it, they had one for me and that’s just so awesome. It really made me feel special. And it’s funny too, as a lot of people thought I was crazy to be doing PVP for a speeder and that there was “no way” I’d get enough in time. They just don’t know how determined I can be! I just hope the thing with Heishi works out too and he manages to get a few extra Prince’s a well, because as hard as I try, I don’t think I’d be able to get my Sorcerer to 65 valor for PVP on the Imperial side (let alone get her to 50 so she’d actually be somewhat useful :P)

And even earlier that day, Cylk let me know that if I do hit 65, he will lend me the rest of the money I need for the Baron if I help his alt do the dailies T~T He knew I’d help regardless, but he wanted me to stress less and alsfk;lsfkasf;lasfl;fa everyone is so nice. <3 So, I'm doing my best! Even if I have people to help, that doesn't mean I still shouldn't try my hardest too 🙂 And yes, the codex needed list is done! Most of what I need is glitched (as far as I know anyway), but hopefully I can at least get everything left on it that isn't. I'd have loved to before 1.2, but I don't see that happening 😛 At the very least, maybe I can get all the non-operation and non-flashpoint stuff (though, I'd love to get the Flash point stuff done too). And of course, space missions 🙁 But yes, I plan to at least do the Hoth Bonus series this week, regardless.

So, while working on the codex list today…

Mar25

…We stumbled upon a way to get the final location we needed in Nar Shadda–the Upper Industrial Sector. Essentially, you have to go through an Imperial area and stand by their taxi guy in their Industrial Sector to get it. There is a level 50 Champion Robot that blocks an elevator to start your way there, but it IS possible to take down. We did with me healing, my boyfriend DPSing, and then having Nadia and Scourge out. It wasn’t easy, but it’s entirely possible.

The other two (one on each end of the area you need to get to), well, the one exiting out the other side can be avoided…the other, however, you will aggro. Best thing to do is get your companions out and then run through to the other side so it loses interest after killing your companions. Then, just run back in past the robot you can get around without aggroing.

We’re sorry if we scared some of the imperial players there! But yes, we were just codex hunting ^^;

But yes, the codex page should be done by today. I can’t guarantee the final page though–if only because I’ll have to do a lot of back and forth on prices and lists and as it is, all speeder prices will be increasing once 1.2 hits 🙁 But yes, I’ll try and get it up ASAP! As for what it will include… various things that can be bought, stuff that can’t be bought, mods, enhancements, augments, speeders, and pretty much various other collectible things and info on items I really want to get.

The Test Server

Mar25

If there’s one thing about the Test Server, it’s that despite all the people from all over the world on various servers, everyone is very nice. A lot of people are trying to figure things out and work together with others and it’s a nice feeling. The general chat on the Republic side of Corellian Run is usually quite nice…the Imperial side…not so much (though, I do know some very awesome people who’s main characters are Sith), so I was a bit worried about the Test Server, but it is quite nice.

Today, after finishing PVP dailies and hitting Valor level 55 (and working on my space missions! Just 4 to go), I decided to hop on and see if anyone had found out any information about the Tauntauns and Orobirds yet. I had set up the Pet Guide-Checklist page as it is, so I figured it’d be good timing too. Most people just told me the usual “Well, there’s Taunta in the Collector’s Edition vendor” which I already knew, but appreciated that people replied. So, I decided to take a deep breath, shrug off my shyness, and send some messages to people on Hoth (Where the Tauntauns are rumored) and Alderaan (where the Orobirds are rumored). To my surprise, each person I whispered responded. And even gave some info which helped and made me form some ideas myself.

I do hope to get my ship soon–and maybe even finish the first part of my story (so I’d unlock both titles) if anything on the Test Server, but I don’t know if I’ll have time. But yes, once my ship is gotten, I’ll probably do a bit of exploring.

It’s too bad we can’t make a topic on the forum to discuss the vanity pets that are upcoming. I tried to only to have the topic removed… so I’m guessing they just don’t want it discussed right now.

Anyway, I’ll hopefully have the other two pages up tomorrow 🙂 But for now, I should get some sleep so I can wake up early!

PVP & Getting things done

Mar24

I usually try to PVP in the late morning/early afternoon as I find them most doable then. There aren’t as many of the hardcore PVPers on and I’m just…not a PVP person. I have a hard time with PVP for many reasons–not only because it makes me nervous so I tend to mess up a bit when it comes to actually killing people, but earning medals for a healer is pretty hard. They have made it easier–I’d be lying if I didn’t say that. However, that doesn’t mean it’s completely easy either.

To explain, Bill is fighting some guy and has medium-ish health. You heal him up and he’s either full or close to and then you switch over to maybe, Anna who’s health is kind of dwindling. Bill then finishes the guy off and despite you essentially keeping him alive as he fought, you do not get credit. (I won’t even go into kill-stealing.)

While I don’t care much for my kill count, getting medals (Gotten for various achievements during PVP) isn’t that easy, especially for a healer. Quick list thanks to Old Republic.net

Demolisher – 2.5k Damage Single hit
Annihilator – 5K damage from a single attack
Combatant – 75k Damage Dealt
Destroyer – 300k Damage Dealt
Commando – 10 Kills
Soldier – 25 Kills
Quick Draw – 1 Killing Blow
Assassin – 1 Solo Kill
Shield – 5k Defense
Protector – 50k Defense
Guardian – 2k Defense in 1 Life
Paladin – 10k Defense in 1 Life
Defender – 1k Defender Points
Warden – 3k Defender Points
Healer – 75k Healed
Savior – 300k Healed
Medic – 2.5k Single Heal
Trauma Surgeon – 5k Single Heal

Now, it shouldn’t be impossible to see why it’s not super super easy. Thankfully, there are heal medals too. The main thing is healers are always targetted. I often read people essentially cursing out the healers. I have had 5-6 guys on me at once trying to kill me. And if there’s one thing you’ll notice, especially on a PVE server–a lot of the same names. So, eventually, they’ll see you and they know you’re a healer.

The other issue you’ll come across is those beautiful 5K+ heals you were doing? Not existing. You do have to lower your willpower with your PVP stuff and get expertise for your heals to be more effective. I actually can’t always guarantee I’ll hit 5K which sucks, despite usually hitting it with every Deliverance. And that is where the middle part comes in too–if you are currently trying to slowly get some PVP gear, you will notice that a lot (not all–who knows, maybe some of the Champion gear will be better than what you have) of your old damage/healing output will lessen while you get geared. It’s frustrating as you go in and it’s already dropped and then you feel useless.

It’s hard to have confidence to heal if you know people are doing better than you and your heals barely do anything. It’s almost just a waste of force because they’re not going to live from it. And when you’re heal spec, your DPS isn’t exactly award-worthy either. Similarly, as mentioned, people will start to remember your name and mark you on sight and then you will be killed repeatedly before you can do much of anything. Not so easy getting a medal count when dead.

But, through seeing many names constantly, you’ll know who are the most helpful team mates, who to watch out for, who’s probably an alt of someone else… etc. However, it isn’t completely impossible. I have managed to get 8 medals before in a very crazy turret/Civil War match. That doesn’t mean it’s always easy–I do struggle sometimes justto get 4. You need at least 4 to fully max out. Also, each MVP vote gives you an extra 200 valor as well. Part of my main issue is I think strategy over killing and healing. Due to how the gear lessens it right now with the few articles I have, I tend to focus more on what I can do to help our team win over the silly kill count and rankings…unfortunately, the game doesn’t properly calculate objectives so I’m often low on the list and often do not get acknowledged.

You may even run into Republic vs Republic games (which make me feel even more awkward killing people as I may be against someone I was teamed with in the past–nobody else has this problem though 😐 ).

Despite PVP’s frustrations, you do get a good amount of money from them. And valor is pretty easy to get until about the 50’s where it starts to make you need much much more. I’m currently at 54 Valor. There were points before where I could level after 1-2 matches–or at least once or twice by the time I finished PVP dailies. Now? That isn’t guaranteed. Which of course means we need to work harder and is also why medals are so important–they contribute a lot to that valor count.

At the moment, I need about 10,000 valor to hit valor level 55. I don’t even want to think of how much I’ll need for the next 10 levels. And of course, they are going much slower which means we do need to pick up the pace.

But yes, I’m definitely determined (and I don’t know what else would get me through PVP honestly), but I have been asked a lot why I am working so hard to get so many things done before 1.2…and it’s pretty simple. I do not like adding to my “To-do List”, especially when it’s something big that deserves it’s own. I like clearing it out and then preparing for that next list. Not having an even crazier list. It’s very stressful and it sucks because then you’re saving for so much at once and it’s like “what do I do first” and it is just insane. It really is.

Anyway, while I wait for my boyfriend to get up so we can start, it is time for space dailies…and dear god, am I terrible at them. 🙁

A Hardcore girl in a not so hardcore world

Mar24

Now, before I start, I will say I love my guild. Pretty much everyone is really nice and I’ve made some awesome friends and I enjoy playing with them! This is really nothing against them and is just more about me, if anything.

I’m a very determined person. I’ve stayed up all night before working on things and leveling. I do not like quitting before something is done (so, more often than not, if we don’t finish an operation, I get more than a bit upset–but it’s not anyone’s fault. People DO have to sleep. I really only get annoyed if people are just giving up.) and I’m more than a bit stubborn when it comes down to it.

I like getting things done ASAP. And then when they are done, I like preparing in advance for the next thing. I’m not a procrastinator and in fact the more something is put off, the more I stress and the more it bothers me.

Some people do say like “why didn’t you join a hardcore raiding guild then?” and it’s actually a very easy question to answer.

1. I’ve actually never raided before. I’m very picky with MMOs and most that I stuck with (so many I tried and did not care for) did not have this kind of big endgame thing–or if they did, people just did Pick-up groups. Guilds were essentially just a big thing for friends.

2. While I may be a bit overly determined and can do some hardcore leveling and training and flashpoints and etc., my life is very unpredictable. I have made plans months in advance before only to suddenly have to cancel them about a week to a few days before due to something I suddenly have to do or a crazy family incident or just various other things. I can’t control what happens with my family and when it comes to an actual hard-leveling-raiding-whatever guild, that wouldn’t be acceptable.

So, after a long time of consideration and seeing various guilds, we stumbled across Serenity (Chaos is their Imperial side version) while looking for people to do the Athiss flashpoint. I was dancing on top of the machine to use up some time and noticed the guild name “Serenity”. We then started debating on why it was called that–he was saying because of a Science Fiction Show–and I was saying it probably wasn’t. In the end, I ended up asking the person we noticed who also ended up being the GM and the rest was pretty much history.

And honestly? While I may get upset that we haven’t finished operations and things, I really enjoy everyone’s company and it’s so much fun when we do get to go and I wouldn’t trade that. Not to mention, it’s a group of people who understand when life suddenly decides lemons are too normal and decides to throw a grapefruit your way instead. So, I definitely wouldn’t trade it away at all.

So, thank you Allidel for letting us join 🙂 It really means a lot and I hope 1.2 is amazing and everyone stays because I’ll miss you guys so much otherwise (even if I can continue bothering you all in Ventrilo) 😛

(And yay for trying Soa Hard Mode again tonight!)

It seems I was mistaken. How depressing.