Nerd Time Update

The past few weeks have been rather busy between work and the always fun projects around the house. The little bit of time I’ve had has been split between Diablo 3, Mass Effect 2, and Guild Wars the first.

Diablo 3

I’ve had a ton of fun so far. I got several characters to Act 2 and finally finished Normal difficulty on my Barbarian. Supposed to play Nightmare with a friend but scheduling has been hard to do so far. So much fun to leap in to the middle of a pile of enemies and just cleave them all to death.

Originally I was saving gear for other characters so most of them were in blues which felt fairly powerful. Then I discovered how cheap some of the yellow Rares are on the Auction House. I think I spent something like 12k on my Barbarian and suddenly he was covered in yellows and his Damage went from 53.4 to 118.2 at level 20. Needless to say, I started mowing through the game at that point. Almost felt like cheating… but it was SO much fun.

Mass Effect 2

Yes, I said 2… not 3. Recently there was a “sale” on Bioware points or whatever they call them. It wasn’t an official sale, but several people mentioned that if you bought points it would allow you to buy the highest point bundle for the price of the 2nd highest bundle. Seeing how these NEVER go on sale for PC, this was the best time to stock up on stupid points. I’m a big fan of the Mass Effect series and had recently picked up ME3 on sale (of course).

I decided that I wanted to grab all of the ME2 DLC and play through the story so I could prepare myself for ME3. I’m kind of hoping that I can time my play through of ME3 so that they’ll have the “new” ending DLC out by then. I’ve avoided spoilers or reading a whole lot of anything ME3 related, but I know there’s some outcry over the abrupt ending. Beats me, but I guess I’ll find out soon.

I really haven’t spent a ton of time with this game really. I’ll play a little bit here and there to get a chunk of DLC out of the way, but then I won’t play again for a few days.

Dungeons and Dragons

Yeah… I’m that guy. I’m part of a static group along with some really fun guys. I just haven’t managed to show up in several weeks and my character is lacking a level or two. 0 play time in this game and I need to set aside Guild Wars a bit just to catch up.

Guild Wars (the first, not the new shiny 2)

I am actually killing myself with this game. I actually enjoy my Diablo 3/Mass Effect playtime more than Guild Wars by far. However, I really want to get 30/50 in my Hall of Monuments. I also recently found out that they are planning on putting a system in so that the items given from your Hall of Monuments will be transmuted for free! Maybe I missed that before but I think it is an awesome thing for them to do for their fans.

Currently I’m at 13/50 but I’m getting there. I have finished all of the campaigns as well as Eye of the North. I’ve managed to save a fair bit of money, and I plan on trying to farm most of the things I need myself. Should be interesting to see if I can finish 30/50 prior to the release of Guild Wars 2. I know that they aren’t planning on limiting people from getting further HoM unlocks after GW2 comes out… but I think I’ll be a little too busy with GW2 to go back and care.

Current Nerd Time

So periodically I will post what I’m playing just to either give you ideas of something you should try.. or to embarrass myself with my gaming ADHD…

Star Trek Online

• Max-level well geared Science Liberated Borg Captain

• Newly Max-Level Tactical Vulcan Captain
• Max-Level Orion Slave Girl Eye Candy Klingon Engineering Captain

• Dabbling in Foundry to create missions and playing other people Foundry missions mostly… and fiddling with my DOFF’s!

Lord of the Ring Online

• Level 58 Captain – Poor guy… I haven’t felt the Lotro bug in a month or so… he’ll be max level one of these days… maybe

Skyrim

• Level 31 Battle War Mage (throwing lighting and hitting people with a 2 handed axe) – I really need to get back before I forget where I’m at in the storyline and need to restart (wouldn’t be the first time I did that in a game either)

Dungeons & Dragons Online

• Level 4 Dwarf Tanky guy – A few of us have a Tuesday Night group that attempts to get together with various levels of success.  Haven’t played much other than on Tuesday nights though so lots to learn.

Guild Wars

• Max Level Dervish – Currently 6/30 in HoM.  Just about finished with Nightfall, which is sadly the first campaign I’ll have finished in Guild Wars.  8 characters who have all been abandoned or left here and there over the years.  Trying for 30/50 prior to GW2 launch.

Red Dead Redemption on Xbox

• Did first few missions and then saved and started shooting everyone I could find.  Keep meaning to really sit down and play it but never have the time.

Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions on PS3

• Maybe 50% done.  Was fun but other things are more fun at the moment.  Hopefully I get back to it while the plot is still vaguely in my head.  Otherwise I’ll either have to restart <sigh> or just put it on the pile of games that never get finished (and that pile is rather embarrassing already)

Guild Wars 2 Beta Weekend Event Impressions

Everyone else is taking time to post their thought so might as well do what all the cool kids are doing!

I didn’t get as much time to play the Guild Wars 2 Beta as I would have liked.  What I did get to play was a ton of fun.  The classes that I dabbled with all seemed to be very different and I know it will be difficult for me to choose just one (and an alt or 4).    So ultimately with the little time I had to play this weekend, am I still happy that I pre-ordered?

Things I’m excited about:

• I really see this as a game that will suck me in and the completionist in me will go nuts.
• Graphics are really fantastic on my desktop but if lowered to their lowest settings will be playable on my laptop.  This is a must for a game right now to really draw me in so I can play on the couch from time to time and get credit in the “hanging with wife” account while still gaming!
• Charr look cool and I love the running on all fours animation.  Sick of playing standard humans or pointy eared humans (Elves and/or Vulcans)
• Loved the way that quests are somewhat hidden.  No quest log, just bring up your map and look for something to do.
• With an exception or two the Cash Shop appears to be all cosmetics that I could care less about really, so cheaper for me!
• Buy the box and no subscription!  Can’t stress enough how much I enjoy not having to pay a subscription every month.

Things that concern me

• When the early zone’s populations inevitably thin out will the Events be as much fun or even doable solo?
• One of the big things that the Devs talked about was having skills that played off each other.  Maybe it was just the crazy hectic nature of 40 players all jammed into one location but I wasn’t able to easily recognize any combinations.
• Slightly worried about content.  I haven’t heard how often a new expansion pack will come out.  If they stick to the original Guild Wars method of a new campaign every year or so that would be enough.  Not a huge worry but I am curious to see if there’s info I’ve missed.
• Mystic Lock Boxes.  Gah…. does every Free or Semi-Free game have to have these now.  I’m still a little cranky about the lock boxes in Star Trek Online so maybe I’ll get over this as well.  Will partly depend on what is in the loot table for the boxes I guess.

Verdict

If anything, the Beta Weekend has gotten me even more excited for Guild Wars 2 to launch.  I have since started back up with the original Guild Wars to try to get 30/50 in my Hall of Monuments.  Some of the rewards just look so cool I can’t resist!