Archive | June 2012

Week Highlights

Despite being away in Florida for work again, I did find some time to pop online while there and try out the game on my laptop. In general, it tends to work a lot better (definitely loads better and I’ve been getting new kinds of lag spikes on my computer which are incredibly annoying), but I definitely need to get used to the controls and bigger screen. As it is, it seems my interface is a bit glitchy on my computer lately as well which is all kinds of annoying.

Moving on, I got to raid with my guild a bit a few days ago. We did Normal EV to get rid of the daily, a complete HM Karagga (But still no Pet drop! At least I finally have all the HM codexes there) and then yesterday a complete run of Normal Explosive Conflict. We (as in the group I am in) may even do HM soon which I’m more than a little nervous about.

EC makes me very nervous. As it is, I almost screwed up the entire raid on the tanks due to:
1. Not realizing they wanted me on the inside of the lightning tank.
2. Not realizing I could run through the actual tank.

Once I realized though (and re-fixed my camera), we did it perfectly fine. But I’m still worried about positioning and stuff with the first boss when it comes to HM after what happened last time.

Also managed to go to Gargath with a random group which was nice… no pet there either but of course now he keeps dropping the Ice Scrabbler Schematic 😐 spite I tell you.

As for the PTS, I’ve done about 5 runs with Group Finder. Have gotten Hammer Station everytime though (using my lower level character as then it doesn’t matter if I get healing or DPS).

PVP also went okay today. Ups and downs but had a really good (and close match) earlier that ended with us winning while we had 2% left in Novare Coast. Was super suspenseful and action packed and just kind of awesome.

I just wish I could get the pets already. With 1.3 so close, I’m feeling more stressed out by the second. On the bright side, I officially have enough for one of the pets when 1.3 comes (and halfway to the other–will need to re-earn 2K normal Warzone commendations essentially). Now if I could just refer a friend who would actually get the game v-v And actually earn a good amount of credits. Out of stims and can’t afford to buy more. Most of my money is going to repairs (Though, usually I won’t have too much more than the Guild Funds I can use. I just sometimes forget to use the Guild Funds), stims, companion gifts, and random oter things. v-v

For now, back to the Test Server.

New Pets and More Nests! + Other 1.3 stuff

Jun6

Mini-pets have been added to the PvP items vendor.
So yes, more mini-pets. I’d be excited, but I haven’t even gotten all the ones in 1.2…and I still need one from 1.1 🙁 So I’m excited and stressing at the same time T__T Time to save up commendations… can I even hold that many? 🙁 (Edit: Thanks to an awesome guild mate of mine, I found out you can have up to 4K Ranked and 2K Normal. And plus, you can trade Normal for Ranked (At 30 for 10) so currently trading Normal for Ranked as Ranked Warzones will probably be a pain. Once I have the 2K, I’ll just need to get the extra 2K normal Warzone ones after I buy the first pet)

The pets are, as follows:
Ganniffarl – ???
Lawgriffarl – Requires Rank 70 Valor. Costs 1,000 Ranked Commendations and 2,000 Warzone Commendations. Gotten from the PVP Items Vendor.
Hagnoffarl – ???
Lobelisk – Requires Rank 70 Valor. Costs 1,000 Ranked Commendations and 2,000 Warzone Commendations. Gotten from the PVP Items Vendor.
Lobelode – ???
Lobelot – ???

And for those who have yet to get an Orokeet/Unusual Egg: “Additional spawn locations for the Orokeet Mini-pet egg have been added to Alderaan. Eggs can now also be found on Balmorra (Imperial) and Taris (Republic).”

So yay for more locations 😀 I know a lot of people really want one and while prices have dropped (25K-50K lately), I know people prefer finding some.

Also, for those who may have considered it a pet, you will be happy to hear: “The Party Instigator and Galactic Party Bomb now function correctly and are available on the appropriate Social vendors.” and “The Rhythm Augmentation Droid now lasts for 5 minutes (up from 30 seconds).”

I’m definitely excited for both as I had only gotten to enjoy my Galactic Party Bomb for a few minutes before what happened. Not to mention hearing music for more than 30 seconds is always nice 😛

Anyway, onto some 1.3 stuff:
1. You can get up to 30% more experience with experience boosters.
2. Companion increasements (What I’d spend on first) can go up 15%
3. Crafting criting can go up 3% (Second.)
4. It costs 25K to add the best Augment Slot…so I’d need like 14… so 350K.
5. Quicker speeder sooner is an extra 250K…considering this is per character, I really don’t care enough to spend that much.

Anyway, all GTN’s are now neutral. However, they are still set so I’d still like to get the Ship one…but it’s not as high a priority so I’d probably get the mailbox first (after the Repair Droid, of course).

…I really need to earn more credits.

Anyway, I just hope ways are found out about the other 4 pets. v-v And I hope there aren’t more than that. I could do without more surprises. Shall have to check out the PTS on my computer when I get home on Friday. While doing PVP on this laptop to gain as many commendations as possible.

I wish the Group finder could find World Boss groups too. As it is, I’ll probably do Karagga and Lost Island I guess…and still hope people for Gargath. But yes, I need to get pets off my list 🙁 To think…going from 4 (and people still don’t know how to get the Wondrous Egg v-v Of course, it’s possible it hasn’t dropped for anything yet too) to 10 sucks T__T At least I’ve already at 70 Valor… (71 I believe)

Finally, new Test Server titles: Strike Team Specialist and Strike Team Commander It will most likely not be sent until 1.3 is out on Live which kind of stinks are you won’t know when you earn it. I will probably use Roseria for Group Finding stuff (maybe get her leveled finally) if only because I’d rather not advance anywhere on Marilea (if she gets copied over) and rather just use Marilea to explore and browse for new pets.

And found out the specifics so, quoting the official website:
Strike Team Specialist – In order to get this title, a player will need to complete four pieces of content (meaning Flashpoints, Hard Mode Flashpoints Tier 1/Tier 2 or Story Mode Operations) using the Group Finder tool in its default search setting on a single day OR eight pieces of content (using the Group Finder’s default setting) within seven days.
Strike Team Commander – In order to get this title, a player will need to complete four pieces of content in a single day AND eight pieces of content within seven days. Again, using the Group Finder tool’s default search setting.

So doing 8 in a day should get both…though, I may do 12 (4 on day and 8 another day) just to make sure. ..or possibly 2 days of 8 for 16 total.

As it is, you only have until the 16th :/ and I do not get home until the 8th v-v; so that’s kind of sucky. Still, close cut-off date. Guess 1.3 really isn’t far off.

SWTOR E3 2012

Jun4

If you missed it, check it out here.

SO EXCITED.

So, quick overview of what they said:
New Space Mission: Space Station Assault–definitely looks like a lot more moving around.
New Operation: Terror from Beyond (At least I’ve finished EC on normal?…but god this looks creepy)
New Companion: HK-51 Assassin Droid (Which has been known for a while)
New Level Cap and Combat Abilities. – I wish they stated what the new level cap will be @-@ Thankfully, it won’t really be grinding with the other new stuff.
New Warzone: Ancient Hypergates
New Planet: Makeb (BRONTO-SHIP)
New Race: Cathar
Harder version of Nightmare/Difficulty modes.

So excited for more story!

~~And this is apparently coming in July?! Dear god x___x~~ oh phew, just the Level 15 thing. Rest will just be sometime this year.

Some interesting tidbits:
While only Cathar and HK-51 were confirmed specifically, they did say races and companions. Same goes with Ancient Hypergates as Warzones also was plural.

Also going to bring up this from Dulfy.

And from the little chat:
1:28 Dr. Ray Muzyka, Co-Founder of BioWare, is now on stage to talk about Star Wars: The Old Republic.
1:28 ”Our goal is to provide a living service that’s always on.”
1:29 The Old Republic will be adding new PvP warzones to the game, along with more challenging group and high-level content, including a new version of Nightmare difficulty mode.
1:30 Group finder, ranked PvP, and character transfers are now available, and level caps have been increased for every class.
1:30 A new planet, Makeb, will introduce new storylines and more. There are also new companion characters and playable species coming soon.
1:31 Looks like one of the new companions is an Assassin Droid! Lots of sneak peeks in this trailer.

Things I’d like to get done before this happens:
1. Get Amidaia to level 50. (Preferably, I’d like to get Aurorra, Cellina, Miisha, and Zoara to level 50 as well, but I won’t have time for that if the date is correct and I don’t think I’ll have the 3 million for Miisha and Zoara anyway)
2. Get all of Amidaia’s companions to 10,000 affection. (Would include others too if I was getting them to level 50, but yeah)
3. Get the pets I still need (M0-GUL Thrall Droid, Midnight Rakling, Taunling, and Wondrous Egg/Orochick).
4. Get the Legacy Ship Unlocks I want T___T
5. Have a good amount of money saved up (and maybe rocket boots too)

I’d love to be more geared as well in preparation for the new Operation, but due to feelings mentioned in the last entry, I don’t know if I’m ready to go for EC some more (and Lost Island and I don’t get along too well either).

Ugh, I’m so excited but now I’m stressing T___T Too much to do!

However, I’ve noticed some people are either annoyed or saying how SWTOR has failed due to the “free to play until level 15” …except it’s been this way for months with the friend trials and free play weekends. And it’s not a bad thing! That lets people try the game and see if they like it. There’s many pay to play games I did not try because I didn’t want to pay to try them. And then when they would finally do a free trial, part of my dislike for the game would be I’d feel too far behind to catch up as I’m a collector. The fact that they are doing this early and giving people a chance to play the first two planets, see their story, and even do their first flashpoint is a great idea and it’s stupid to think that’s “ruining the game”–even if it’s going to be more opened.

Feeling like a failure

Jun3

Last night, I was invited to fill in for a healer during our guild’s Hard Mode run of Explosive Conflict as their healer wasn’t on. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, I failed miserably. I can’t explain why because I don’t know. My heals were as good as their other healer, but it seemed like no matter what I did, it was for nothing.

I don’t know if it was me or maybe one of the other people they brought in, but in the end, when their other healer got on, I was replaced–which I would’ve been fine with if I wasn’t whispered saying how they wanted to replace me because they were sick of wiping…ignoring that most of those wipes weren’t my fault whatsoever. (And some of the few that were were due to new HM mechanics during the fight that they didn’t go over).

Regardless, I suppose I’m second-guessing my healing again. And once again, feeling more than a bit useless with some of the 1.2 changes.

I was dragged on some PVP stuff which went okay–though, I felt like an idiot when I realized I forgot to put my PVP stuff back on… not to mention there’s a lot of cheaters lately which is kind of depressing.

Blah, I just wish I was better 🙁

OROSQUAB GET

Jun1

yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees *parties*

Caught one on the market for 249K. Fairly good deal. Bought immediately. Just Midnight Rakling, M0-GUL Thrall Droid, and Taunling to go! …and of course, the Wondrous Egg too, but still looking for information on that 🙁

And C2-N2 is at 10K affection now! Yay! Now to just concentrate on my Sorcerer. I don’t really care too much about getting her robot up right away (though, I’ll probably do her robot next out of anyone’s once I get everyone’s companions up), but yay for finishing on Marilea!

Random Chat

Jun1

First of all, there is going to be a SWTOR Encylopedia which I am looking forward to as I’d love to see more about the story. It’s too bad it won’t be out until much later in the year.

Besides that, 1.3 will be up on the test server too and you can sign up to have your character copied over to help test it out. I ended up signing up as I’d love to check things out.

Now, onto actual ingame things:
–Amidaia is currently level 41. We have just a little left on Quesh and then will either be heading to Hoth or Alderaan (the bonus series there). We also finally caught up on flash points and will possibly do The Foundry before heading back over to Quesh.
–Operation progress continues on Marilea. We did a more or less perfect run through of Explosive Conflict on Tuesday so we did Eternity Vault and Karagga’s Palace Hard Mode today. We did get through EV, but ended up getting stuck at Karagga for KP due to a few odd happenings. We’ll hopefully try again sometime before Tuesday.
–Amidaia’s Cybertech is over 300 so 2/3 speeders have been made so far. Yay.
–I’m still super poor. Not really getting any closer to saving up for anything.
–Still no luck on drop pets either or news on Wondrous Egg 🙁

But yes, it’s nice to at least be getting some stuff done. Now if I just had 7.5-10.5+ million credits and the last several pets I need, maybe I’d stop stressing so much.