Sproing!

I was going to write “ding” but for one thing, people announcing that every 5 seconds in games kind of gets on my tits, and for another thing, it’s only a crafting max level so I’m not sure it really counts. (No, I’m not so curmudgeonly that I hate people who announce their levels, not at all. But Ding 1! — Ding 2! — Ding 3! — and so on just seems a little narcissistic to me, especially when it’s from people who then also get really pissy if the entire universe doesn’t shout instant and sincere congratulations. I love congratulating people; I just don’t like it when it’s forced down my throat. Anyway, moving on…)

Fairuza, my EQ2 Fury/Provisioner hit 80 a few days ago. It was oddly anticlimactic — I wasn’t expecting it, being busy throwing out crafting writs here and there whenever I could manage a few minutes online, and I hadn’t really been tracking my progress. It meant I wasn’t prepared to take the spiffy “hey! lookit my sparklies!” screenie most people seem to manage when they max-level a char in something; at least I remembered to record the moment for posterity, even if it’s not well-framed and a little over-exposed. Posterity, or until I next change my hard drive and forget to port my pictures.

I hit 60 (crafting) when that was the max, then 70 when that became the max in EQ2, so it’s not actually the first time. Given my crafting-hoishness, it’ll probably be more noteworthy if I ever hit adventuring max level. Don’t hold your breath.

That said, Fairuza has also gone from 38 to 43 (adventuring) in the last couple of days, which I’m rather proud of since that’s the highest combat level I’ve ever managed in EQ2. I’m sort of an accidental tourist as far as levelling in MMOs goes: when I level, it’s usually because I need to do so in order to be able to harvest or craft or do something else not really combat-related (like clear critters from harvester drop-sites in SWG). And as in most MMOs, raw materials often end up costing more in EQ2 than the finished product — all hail the grindy nature of craft levelling — so buying what I need for the rest of the Army of Craftness (who range from 40 to 61) isn’t really an option. I don’t mind spending money in games, but I do mind being ripped off for raw materials, or indeed anything else. Besides, I’m strange and I actively enjoy harvesting — I just need to be able to do it a little more safely in some of the higher-level zones.

Back in 2006, my swashbuckler was going to be my primary adventuring/harvesting char, but after a glorious run into the 30s, she seemed to become harder and harder to play — or rather, squishier and squishier, and picking up where I left off was tough. I’m sure a lot of that is having forgotten how to play her, and I should probably upgrade her gear, spells, achievement stuffs and whatnot… but playing the Fury again was like getting into old, comfy clothes (gear and spells or no gear and spells), so Fairuza is currently my “main” in all the traditional senses of the word, since she’s the highest-level all round.

As some of you may remember, I was going to fess up about alts and resubbing the old account when I’d solemnly sworn that I wouldn’t. I should have known myself a little better; in any game where a single character can’t explore most of the offered crafting (or to a lesser extent adventuring content), I will end up with alts, just so I can try everything out. I like to make stuff, and the more chars to make stuff the better.

Right now the new account has three characters on it, one of whom is probably destined for the delete bin sooner or later. The other two, however, I’ve been playing with the spousal unit. The first is a Warden (mirror of the Fury only more defensive), paired with hubby’s ranger, both of whom are now 30; I don’t enjoy the warden nearly as much as the fury, sadly, but I’ll carry on with her for now. The other char is a Troubador that’s paired with hubby’s new Illusionist. Thanks to this last weekend’s xp-extravaganza in some of the old-world zones and to the refer-a-friend xp’o’rama — which, with rest xp, added up to something like 400+% xp per kill — they went from 1 to 20 in just a few short hours. The troub is fun, as I expected, since I already have a dirge on the old account. I’d mentor down on some of the existing characters, but that extra xp bonus from the friend-referred accounts is just too tempting right now. That’ll go away in a few weeks anyway; I believe it only lasts 90 days, so sooner or later we’ll be back to plain old normal xp and then I’ll be happier mixing and matching with the old account. Until then, god knows I need all the adventuring xp bonuses I can get!

I’m glad I don’t know how to 2-box and probably couldn’t do it on a single machine — certainly not this 3+ year-old rig — because otherwise I’m sure I’d be pretty tempted. As I’ve said elsewhere, 2-boxing doesn’t particularly bother me, and it enables the ever-more common couple or friends-duo to tackle stuff that’s normally reserved for bigger groups; it’s 4 or 5 or 6-boxing that really irks me, because usually the only reason it’s done is to exploit, farm gold, or otherwise do stuff I tend to feel runs counter to the spirit of MMOs. (Yeah, we all have different opinions of that “spirit” — whatever floats your boat. Me, I’ll continue to be irked by conga-lines of 5 chars slavishly following the one in the lead.) I still don’t get how anyone can successfully run two active chars at the same time when I have enough trouble hitting all the right buttons for just one — or does the second char just follow along? That’s always puzzled me.

Knowing me and the spousal unit, we’ll be mulling over more alts sooner or later, and as usual I’m totally torn on what to pick. I’m going to try not to remake classes I already have, but that still leaves a ton of choices and when everything is equally tasty it usually takes me forever to make up my mind. Maybe I’ll just jab a pen at the char creation screen and see where it lands…

As I said a few weeks back, the Halasian Empire guild is a wonderful home for anyone on Lucan DLere looking for a casual, grown up, supportive but not smothering atmosphere. It’s not a very big guild, so if you need to see 26 people online every time you log on, it’s probably not for you — but I know many of you out there with similar play- and social-styles to mine, so if you’re on LDL or planning to try out EQ2, give us a shout!