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Guilds

Apr17

As most people know by now, we are currently not in a guild. We have, at the time of writing this, received a total of 7 Republic Guild invites and 2 Imperial Guild invites. We have an idea of who we will end up joining, but the reason we’re not in a guild right now is a very simple reason:

We do not want to bring anyone down.

What happened on Thursday, despite the 1.2 awesomeness, really hit us hard and put a very bitter taste in our mouths towards the game. And it’s very hard to try and just shrug it off. And even a simple reminder of it reminds us why we haven’t joined a new guild yet.

However, it’s a catch-22 because right now, a lot of the stuff there is to do kind of needs a guild (seriously) as finding a pick-up group is a pain. The only other thing for us to do is PVP (Which neither of us care for much. Just trying to get our valor up every so often plus the codexes we need for Novare Coast…I think the interruption one is glitched though), dailies (so cruel–but need to start doing them again for the Black Hole Relic plus speeders…and money. I really want the ship stuff .___. Nearly everything can be two-manned except that heroic in a heroic with the Eshkah on Belsavis), and alts (which I have a lot of trouble being in the mood to play).

So it’s like, with so few things to do, it makes it even harder and more depressing about the old guild drama. At the same time, everything we really want to do needs a guild–and I know there won’t be room for us to raid to begin with as we’ll be the new group. We might be able to fill in…but that’s about it. And that’s kind of depressing.

And it’s like, we don’t want to bring people down. Or be unable to help and just taking space because our attitudes are a bit dampened.

and of course, this just makes pets being random drops even more frustrating as well as everywhere they drop also involves needing to be able to get a group together.

And when it comes down to it, I’m just not very good at it. But we don’t want to bother a guild either with stuff unless they would be all for helping and whatever.

Stupid catch-22’s.
Stupid random drops.
Stupid drama.
Stupid ship stuff being 7.5 million credits.

🙁

New Pet Overview + Feelings and thoughts

Apr15

Okay, at this point, most of the pets have been figured out, so I figured I’d just do a quick overview post and then explain my thoughts/feelings after because…well, I write a lot, god. XP

Tauntauns

1. Taunta – Can be bought from the Collector’s Edition Vendor for 200K
2. Taun Fawn – Gotten from a code from PAX East
3. Ram Tauntaun – Gotten for being an active subscriber.
4. Taunling – Dropped by Gargath
5. Taunlet – Head to X:834, Y:759 on Hoth with the Ice Scrabbler Jerky Buff on (gotten from eating the Jerky). It will lure out Taunlet who you need to use the NVSCSS on to capture them.

Orobirds

1. Orokeet – Hatched from Unusual Egg found on Alderaan.
2. Orosquab – Hatched from Mysterious Egg which is dropped from either the second or final boss (or the first and third if not counting minibosses?) on Hard Mode Lost Island.
3. Orochick – Hatched from Wonderous Egg which either drops from Warlord Kephess (the final boss) on Hard Mode Explosive Conflict OR apparently spawns in a nest in the new operation, Explosive Conflict, after defeating Warlord Kephess. Difficulty unknown. NEITHER CONFIRMED. Both have been said, but at this point, there has been no proof.

All Orobirds are hatched on Tatooine through the same method.

Raklings
1. Midnight Rakling – Dropped from the bosses on Hard Mode Lost Island.
2. Crimson Rakling – Gotten from completing the “Tracking the Origin” Quest during the Rakghoul Pandemic Event on Tatooine.
3. Pale Rakling – Bought from Jeelvic in the Dune Sea (X:-896, Y:-925) for 60 DNA Samples which you get from completing quests and/or exploding from Raghoul disease during the Rakghoul Pandemic Event on Tatooine.

So far everything except the Orochick has either been confirmed with screenshots and/or multiple confirmations. However, considering the new operation has Orobirds running around and considering how you get the Mysterious egg, I wouldn’t be surprised if it were true.

Now, since I don’t think anyone cares about my thoughts, I shall just say continue reading if you do~
Continue reading →

The Problem with the Sage/Sorcerer Nerfs

Apr14

I had known about the nerfs for a while, but decided to wait until I had a full chance to test them out in a flash point or operation. The funniest part though? This was done mostly due to PVP complaints which I actually still have no problem gaining force back through. Essentially, if you’re having a bad time, you’ll die so fast, you don’t need to worry about gaining force by through that kind of method. If you’re having a good time, you’ll be able to get your force back quick enough without needing to use anything for it.

So despite being done to lessen the “overpoweredness” of Healers in PVP, I don’t see much of a change. In PVE however, it’s right there. There is nothing more insulting than wiping on a boss because your force gets way too low for you to be able to do anything. To see someone die, unless the idiot was stupid and ran away from you, is really depressing, especially when you can not do anything about it.

We finally got around to doing Kaon Under Siege and Lost Island on Hard Mode today. Having just finished the former and about to start the latter, I’m incredibly paranoid about how it’s going to go. The issue with Noble Sacrifice taking HP (and the “now takes no force” thing is a joke as it barely took any to begin with) is because as a healer, your job is to keep the team alive. If you’re too busy healing yourself to do that, what use are you?

The best way I’ve noticed to get around it is to get an AOE Heal down and then use it as that will usually get most of your health back up, but for fights where you have to move around a lot or worry about being interrupted among other things, that’s not always possible. There’s also the fact that it’s a constant risk of when to use it–you have to essentially predict how it’s going to go and how much damage you may take next. If you wait too long to try and do it, your force may get too low too fast. If you do it too soon though, the enemy may one-shot you the next hit because of that health removal.

However, the other big issue is the fact that there is no way to quicken up Deliverance/Dark Infusion. The heal is anywhere between 2.3-2.5 without being quickened. The problem with this is the main healing class in the game has the slowest heal. Everyone else’s biggest cast on a heal is 2 seconds. And that .3-.5 less actually is a big deal. The amount that Deliverance/Dark Infusion does, while good, is not helpful enough for those extra seconds. That extra time could be the time between someone’s death and someone still being alive.

On a different note, I hope the Set Bonus issue gets fixed soon. I kind of kind ahead of myself and put everything in my Elegant Set before realizing…so umm… yeah… >>

Adventuring vs. Random Drops vs. Buying vs. Gifts/Codes/Quests

Apr13

Now, I’m going to say this as simple as possible: I’m quite unlucky in games when it comes to random drops. I will be the person you will be stuck waiting on for every “gather #” quest because they hate my guts. So, for this reason alone, I’m not fond of trying to farm enemies to try and get a random drop. To me, that is as bad as a grind and more often than not, you can only fight those enemies a certain amount of times a day/week.

So, I really hate that the only way to get the M0GUL-Thrall Droid is to get lucky (as it’s a rare drop) from Karagga’s even though he sends gold bomb droids to blow up in your face like every 5 seconds.

And that apparently the Mysterious Egg is dropped from a boss only on one difficulty and who knows the drop rate.

I really dislike that.

I like exploring. And adventuring. And really prefer any other method than to have to try and farm things to get lucky.

I think the way it was made to find the Unusual Egg was REALLY awesome. I was all for finding the Mysterious and Wonderous eggs the same way. And now? They might not exist like that. I’d like to hope maybe they’re available both ways, but there is no confirmation and BioWare is trying to be as vague as possible–which I don’t blame them for, afterall, you don’t want to just give everything away and ruin the adventure for the players, but just some confirmation so people aren’t all over the world or constantly killing things to let them know that way doesn’t work.

I don’t mind buying pets–in fact, that was how pretty much every single one, with the exception of the M0GUL-Thrall Droid was obtained, so I am glad they were trying to make things more interesting. To this moment, my journey to get my Magenta Lightsaber crystal was my FAVORITE thing thus far. I enjoyed it so much.

Getting them as Gifts and Codes works too. I have mixed feelings on them (as not everyone can get everywhere so thn you’re kind of stuck with Ebay for ridiculous prices), but I still prefer them to random drops.

However, if they were Quest rewards or GUARANTEED that when you killed Karagga or that boss, the droid/egg would be dropped, fine! I’m good with that. Of course, then it’d be too “common”….but is that ever really such a bad thing? There’s so many pets–it’s not like everyone will be using that one in the first place.

But most of all, this forces people who may not like to do operations or flashpoints or things like that (maybe being more of a solo player) into having to do them if they want all the pets while something like Exploration does not.

Mysterious Egg grants Orosquab

Apr13

Considering this is #2, I’m pretty sure Wonderous Egg is in and probably grants Orochick which would cover all 3.

Anyway, apparently Orosquab drops off the final boss of Lost Island–only Hard Mode version of the flashpoint has been confirmed at this time and it’s unknown if it drops every time or not.

It can be hatched just like Orokeet.

So… not really sure what to do. Guess I’ll try and find a group to go on the flash point? But I heard it’s hard and I don’t even know how normal will go so I’m more than a little paranoid. Especially with the new mechanics for sages 🙁 I don’t want to let anyone down.

Progress vs. Gear

Apr5

Now, I’m a very organized person. I like going in order and don’t like skipping ahead (I do not care how hard this quest is–I want every quest in the area done before moving to the next one) and want things done a certain way. That’s just how I am. That doesn’t mean I never cut corners (Space Missions and PVP stuff I obviously put off until the end), but in general, especially with PVE, I liked to do things in order. Planets, quests, flash points…and that includes difficulty levels.

That doesn’t mean it’s been completely followed (For example, I did Kaon Under Siege on Hard Mode before Normal Mode), but that was never my choice to do it. And despite doing False Emperor and Kaon, I still have yet to do Battle of Ilum on either difficulty because I can’t find anyone to go with. And I’d be lying to say it didn’t bug me.

I don’t really care too much about gear. I know it’s important, but when it comes to priority…it’s probably 3rd or 4th on my list. 4th if I count Codex Entries and Lore as a separate thing. But yes, so in order:
1. Completion/Progress
2. Collecting (Codexes included)
3. Gear

I do know better gear will make certain things easier…but only harder versions of raids. The level cap isn’t rising yet. The new quests that are coming in 1.2 are just level 50 dailies. Sure, it still makes things easier, but it shouldn’t be priority at this point.

And that is part of why it bothers me so much that the guild, while thankfully finally doing Karagga (even if they still aren’t listening to me completely), seems to just care about gearing up (and more so than not, the ones who are already geared to some extent. Those in the Green/blue gear? Go have fun.). I do have a good amount of Columni–in fact, all I still need are the offhand and main hand. I do not care too much for the main hand as I like my Pink Crystal, but the offhand would probably be helpful. Regardless, since we have Columni, we should apparently just go for Rakata.

But it bothers me that we’re skipping a normal difficulty mode for that kind of reason. What about learning the fight? What about codexes? What about actual progress? Can you really say you just did everything if you skip normal mode? I don’t think so.

And it could be practice. To get the titles from those, you need to be able to down them on Nightmare mode within 2 hours. While you may be the time to just rush into things on the hardest difficulty, isn’t that kind of rash?

You could learn the fight and then learn the new mechanics. Or you could learn everything new while dying much more. We’ve gotten to the 4th boss on normal. We KNOW what we need to do, but they haven’t tried. Do you really expect me to believe you’re going to want to do it on Hard Mode? Are we even going to get there with such few practices on normal?

Target of Target isn’t needed, despite pleas of saying things. Will it make it easier? Sure. But it is not needed.

And the giant fight against normal (soon to be Story mode) not only takes away from some of the experience and learning, but also from the chances to earn things. Some people DO still need Columni even if Rakata is better. And some people just want the experience or the codexes.

Why should everything constantly be put behind the “priority” of gear? Maybe it’s just me, but I’ll always find that a silly concept–after all, what’s the point of better gear if you’re not trying to complete that story in the first place?

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.

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.

First real entry.

Mar24

Well, I’ve been wanting to write for a while and Guild blogs have been down so this is kind of as good a time as any. Even though I can easily keep track in my head, for some reason, I just like to write things down too.

Currently, our days on SWTOR involve doing PVP dailies (as we try to get to 65 Valor) and then sometimes a few other misc. things. Plus a raid if there is one. I don’t care for PVP, nor does my boyfriend, but I do like collecting things and with the Korrealis speeders discontinuing…we do need to get that out of the way. Of course, I still have two others to get. The Baron, which costs 2 million credits, and the Prince, which is an Imperial PVP speeder. I do not see myself getting that, so my hopes are currently lying with one of our guild mates…otherwise, I’ll have to stalk the market and save up even more money. And getting money has never been easy for me.

While it’s true that dailies do exist… they suck and I hate them XP Too repetitive and just not worth it for me. Unless I could like easily get them done in 10 minutes or something. As it is, I’m still having issues with space dailies. I’m just not very good at them.

But yes, for now, my main focus is to make sure I get the Sorveign and Baron speeders before 1.2 at the very least, plus have 200K on hold for Taunta (from the Collector’s Edition Vendor) among a few other things. I’d have liked to get a white lightsaber crystal for Nadia and maybe a purple one for Zenith, but that’s an extra 2,750,000 and I just can’t afford that and I mean they’ll be back eventually (well, white in a few months and purple somehow? Still kind of iffy on the details there).

Other things I’d like to do before 1.2 hits that probably won’t happen:
1. Get as much lore and map clear-ness as possible.
2. Buy some more Advanced Resolve 22 Augments.
3. Maybe Buy some Enhanced Insight 25 stuff. (Critical+Alacrity stuff)
4. Get full Rakata Gear
5. Finish Eternity Vault on Hard Mode (Just Soa to go) and Nightmare mode (Everything but pylons and Solo fight)
6. Finish Karagga on Normal (Fabricator onward), Hard (everything), and Nightmare modes (everything)
7. Do Battle of Ilum, False Emperor, and Kaon on normal.
8. Do Esseles, Directive 7, and Battle of Ilum on Hard mode.
9. Get Legacy to at least 35–preferably 50.
10. Save up to about 10 million or so for various legacy things. (Specific prices will be up on the “When it comes to Collecting” page.)
11. Get the Gold Pet from Karagga’s <--- Pretty much priority along with getting 65 valor and at least about 2,300,000 credits~ (2 million for Baron, 200K for Taunta, 100K so I'm not super poor and can afford repairs) 12. Finish class story (at least the first part) on Test Server for title (already hit level 10). 13. Finish Hoth Bonus Series (About the only main quest series thing I still have v-v; ) 14. Finish up Space Missions and have all the Ship parts. 15. Completely open up all my Storage Bins I will probably set up pages either later today or sometime this weekend regardless. They will mostly be used for checklists, but I suppose the pet page will be helpful to people regardless. Anyway, there isn't too much to say...but my plans for 1.2 at the moment are currently to log off by the Collector's Edition Vendor to immediately buy Taunta then rush over to Voss to try and find the Voss World Boss due to the Mastercraft Magenta schematic...as I want my upgraded pink lightsaber. Also, a little down as this adorable Tauntaun is being given out at PAX East. I will most likely not be going :/ As 3 day tickets are sold out and I can’t justify the price for the hotel, gas, and tickets if I’m just going one day. It’s also Easter weekend which is a big deal in my family. I just hope I can get one somehow.

Now that most of that is out of the way, I will say that the Sorcerer story is interesting and less creepy than the Sage one can be at times, though, I do still prefer my sage. Sorcerer’s grandfather is pretty cool though (I know he’s like a great great great great great great great great great great great great great grandfather, but I could care less and just saying grandfather is shorter). It’s too bad Lord Zash is going to betray you (too many people say it at this point and I read enough so yeah), but it’s not too surprising I suppose. But she was so nice 🙁 Though, I totally called Syo being the first son in the Sage storyline too (okay, maybe not exactly the first son, but I was suspicious of him being evil).

On the bright side, this totally makes my character a noble and thus, I proclaim them Princesses. Because I can.