I've moved!

I'm still moving over older entries. But, with my track record for unpacking... It'll be a while. So I've gone ahead and started rambling again...

www.randomramblings.com

Works out well doesn't it?

technology is smarter than i...

and as such i am currently under construction.

i have to jump through hoops to change things and that lovely darling ariven is making a lovely new look for me.

so (as if they weren't already) updates are going to be sporadic til i can figure out why my blog hates me.

I have no acceptable excuse...

I maintain that the holidays have been hectic, however, still no excuse.

Things are a little slow right now so it's time for some catch up. Unfortunately I can't remember like 90% of what I wanted to mention... So I'll start rambling and hope I catch everything.

EQ2: Back to my pet subject with regards to this or any other game. Community. In this case guild dynamics.

Believe it or not, finding a good functional guild is a very important part of game longevity. Soloing my way through EQ2 would have had me packed up and leaving on a jet plane long ago. And I was on the verge just lately. I don't have a ton of time to play, and I'm a genius and made a cleric. Whilst, as an Inquisitor, I can solo quite effectively in most cases, it's still slow as ass.

And when one has a deadline to reach a certain level? Slow as ass soloing just doesn't cut it.

As much as I love my guild, it has it's faults. One of which is a propensity towards cliquishness. We have a lot of people who have more play time than others and spend a lot of time grouping and getting to the level cap before some of us with considerably less play time could hope to. Rather than help the rest of the guild, they go off together on their own and fill in their empty spots with folk from outside the guild.

I had some rather heated words for the GL about it... and unfortunately that's what it took for me to actually get invited on a guild group. * sigh * But things really didn't seem to matter to the GL until this person ran into the problem. Naturally a GL who can't get a guild group tends to get cranky.

The subsequent events led to my taking a week off from the game and doing other stuff. I couldn't really bring myself to log in I was so torqued off. Same GL who had just been complaining about cliquishness decided that they couldn't take two people of the same class to an instance cause that wasn't the optimal set up to win at the instance.

Which is completely counterproductive to building a cohesive guild. You can't have it both ways. I'm not exactly shy (shut up the lot of you) so I made my thoughts on the subject known. I'm still not really sure I feel like logging in at all... But I've got 15% to go until I get to level 75... So I'm sure I'll be in soloing a bit... Yeah it's back to that.

Book reviews: I can't remember what I've read lately... so once I've sifted through the stack of read vs need to read I'll fill this in.

Movie reviews: I went to a movie!!! In an actual movie theatre! How totally awesome is that! No, this doesn't really happen on a regular basis for several reasons, but mostly time... That and popcorn gets stuck between my teeth and I hate that... Blame my OCD.

I went to go see Sweeny Todd on Sunday. Now, I knew vaguely what the story was about, but I've never seen it before. It's just always been there on my to be seen list of Sondheim. So there I was with my soda and junior mints (after having driven home from the movie theatre 15 mins before the movie started because I thought I'd left my debit card at home and needed it to pick up my preordered tickets only to find that it was in fact in my purse the whole time).

I loved it. It was dark and kinda gothy. Helena Bonham Carter, who is not my favourite actress ever, was frankly amazing. She was lovely and voluptuous and goth and dark. Her comic timing was perfect and I was incredibly impressed. Johnny Depp, on whom I've had a crush since 21 Jump Street, was also just amazing. The fact that he'd never sung before just made his performance that much more impressive for me. I've read some reviews that say it fell flat... But I thought they did an incredible job with it.

It's so getting added to my dvd collection.

Christmas Dinner at my Mom's house: Didn't suck this year. Anyone who knows me well knows the sheer unadulterated suckitude of my family. My mom specifically. Like seriously, Margaret Cho's mom has NOTHING on my mom... My mom is a great gaping black-hole of suck. So naturally her house on any major holiday could literally destroy the world as we know it cause the gravitational pull of the suck would draw the sun into the earth and incinerate us all.

I hate my mom's house on any normal day... but holidays are worse.

There's a good 30 to 40 screaming Koreans. 90% of whom speak little to no English. So they're screaming at each other in Korean. Which is a major hairball language. And it sounds angry. Kinda like German. Both very angry sounding languages. Most of what is screamed in this loud angry hairball language is cracks at me for being fat and how I need to lose weight and what a disappointment I am to my poor mother. After mom gets done yelling at me though, most of the rest of the family is fairly nice.

So. There I am, all snug in my bed christmas morning, looking forward to a long day of doing nothing and playing EQ2... and my mom calls. Fortunately I didn't actually talk to her when she called cause I was still asleep. So I got a voicemail and I called back. Unfortunately, it was too early for me to have thought of a good reason that I couldn't go to her place later. DAMNIT.

I wasn't really looking forward to 10 screaming and poorly behaved monster children... So I did what any sane woman would do... I took guitar hero with me. I figured it would mesmerize the little brats and I'd be able to eat in peace and make a break for it at a reasonable hour.

I got to my mom's a little early (I have punctuality issues... blame the OCD). No screaming rug rats. No population of a small Korean village. I don't think there were more than 10 people there altogether.

SCORE!!!! I didn't even have to help cook this year... So I got to hang in the TV room and watch James Bond with my step-dad (who delivered a playful smack upon being told that I couldn't come up with a good excuse not to come by) and some other random family members.

Even better than no small screaming kids? My step-sister and two of my younger girl cousins were there. We played guitar hero. It was hysterical on every level. Ages: me=30, step sister=23, older girl cousin=20, younger girl cousin=17 (christmas baby! she was stuffed into a stocking at the hospital when they brought her out). Now, I've been playing gh pretty hard to try and not suck at it, so I'm pretty good. My step sister was just as bad as I was the first few times I played. My older cousin's boyfriend has the game so she didn't suck. My younger cousin smoked us all and had never picked up the damn game before.

There she was, kicked back on the couch and sleepy and she still kicked our asses. Her older sister was all kinds of into it and jumping around and screaming and doing the rock and roll finger thingie. I giggled.

Oh, but it gets better!! They're catholic, right? So their priest came by. HE tried to play. Little old Korean priest guy... hitting like every fourth or fifth note and making kung fu movie noises... He was awful and totally failed the songs he tried, but it was hilarious. My sister and I were both in tears and almost passed out cause we couldn't breathe we were laughing so hard.

So, cheers to the first ever holiday at my mom's that didn't suck. I'm fairly convinced that I have a terminal illness or that the end of the world is coming cause my mom was actually nice to me, too. For once instead of telling me how fat I was she told me I looked pretty... So maybe she's the one with the inoperable brain tumour... I've heard they change your personality...

New Year's Eve: Is actually gonna be spent out of the house this year. I know, right? I normally stay home and just chill out, but this year, the best friend and her boyfriend and I are all going out. No, we're not partying or anything. Just a really nice dinner. Which is good cause omg I looked at myself in the mirror after my shower last night and about puked. That has GOT to go. My happy butt is gonna be glued to the eliptical machine starting Jan 1st and isn't leaving til I can look at myself in the mirror without wanting to give myself home liposuction.

New Year's Resolutions: The aforementioned being able to look at myself nekkid in the mirror without having horror movie reactions. And I'm finally going to make the time to write a novel like I've always wanted to do. I can make excuses til judgement day, but the reality is... There is no excuse for me to not do this.

To one and all: Have a happy and safe New Year. May things be better for you in the coming year and may you accomplish at least half of what you set for yourself (since I know I usually don't make it to a full quarter of what I set ;) ).

just call me mrs. fields!

So, all caught up in the spirit of giving and generally feeling domestic and nestish, I hied myself to my kitchen and cooked up about six batches of snickerdoodles.

Best. Cookie. Ever. Bar none.

Which also leads me to the notion that now that I've finally got some time, I'll be sending some cookies to SOE in general appreciation.

Along with a note that says they can have the antidote just as soon as I get my purple flamed nightmare * nod *

KIDDING!!!!

I've actually been thinking a lot about the recent events in our little community of Dark Elves and all the rest of you...

I'm reminded again of just how important it is to have open and truthful communication between the company and the playerbase. We'll forgive a whole lot of stuff as long as we're told the truth.

It seems so easy. Unfortunately sometimes it isn't easy to keep up completely truthful communication and transparency. Sometimes there's information that just doesn't need to be conveyed. We don't actually need to know the step by step of server updating or build loading or any of the rest of that. But there are times when that's the answer to the question: Why?

I think it's a fine line to walk. A balancing act of ginormous proportions with a bunch of torches and pitchforks at the bottom of the pit.

It's also interesting to see how individuals handle it on both sides.

There are still hiccups here and there, but I think we've got a good bunch of community managers for EQ2 and they do a pretty good job of keeping open and truthful communication with the community.

It's Mon.... oh wait. Tuesday!!!

My days are currently messed up. It's kind of sad that I've gotten to a point in my life where if I miss a day of work, I don't know what day I'm on.

Couple of points of interest, prefaced with the standard disclaimer. The following are my personal views and have nothing to do with any of my employers either past, present, or future.

There was a giant bruhaha last week about a guild being moved from Test to a live server.

First point. People are * sigh *. They sit there and bitch and moan about how evil SOE is and how they don't care two cents for their customers and only want to squeeze as much money as possible out of them. When SOE turns around and does something nice, contests, giveaways, whatever, these same people turn around and bitch about whatever nice thing they've tried to do. Nothing is ever good enough, nor right, nor caring enough about their customers.

Second point. Yeah, it was done the wrong way. It was a nice gesture, implemented incorrectly.

But come on... When faced with an example of SOE trying to do something nice and make a gesture, what did all these ravening fans of the little guy do? They frothed at the mouth and DEMANDED that it be undone. Which it was. Rather than being happy for fellow players, they cried, whined, screamed, and generally pitched fits. They slung mud at anyone they could. They even accused Grimwell of instigating the whole mess because they said he had a character in the guild that was transferred. It was a ridiculous and childish display. Wholly unworthy of the community I've been with and loved for so long.

I'm heartily ashamed of this. Mistakes aside, it was a kind gesture. I applaud the sentiment behind it. And to Grimwell specifically, I give huge kudos for handling the whole mess with grace.

Second point of interest.

During this whole mess, Scott Hartsman announced his resignation from SOE. He'll be moving on to other projects. I wish him nothing but the best. I'll be sad that he won't be involved with EQ2 anymore. He and the dev team have made huge strides over the years together.

This news was leaked weeks ago. There have been rampant rumours and general nonsense. Some total crap about why he was leaving. The whole mess was handled with so little respect for Scott that I was appalled. I understand that people think they have a right to know every little aspect of someone's life if they are even remotely public, but come on people. If someone had splashed details about your job all over the internet, I'd imagine you'd all be more than a little torqued off.

Once again, handled with considerable grace.

These are both stellar examples of the people who work on EQ2. They've brought passion and dedication to our game and made it better by leaps and bounds. They've taken the venom and disrespect flung at them from the community and moved on and kept making the game the best they could.

I'm disappointed in the community right now. I've come to expect so much more. I can only hope this is one of those rare flukes caused by the full moon and that I'll soon have my mature, kind, and helpful EQ2 family back.

Oh... and I wish Bruce Ferguson good luck.

zzzzzzzz

There is snooziness in the air. I wish I could say it was because of the weather, but it isn't. Because the weather blows right now. It's all icky and muggy and humid and wretched. It's so sad. It's supposed to be all cool and crisp and junk this time of the year. I feel so cheated.

I listen to the radio online everyday at work. Right now the morning show is doing this thing called Drive-by Dating. They pick some random guy and stand him out on a street corner. Women drive by and call into the station and try to convince the radio people that they should be picked.

It seems so desperate on every level.

Which funnily enough (yes it's a word cause I said so) makes me think about people online. Cuppy had an entry in her blog the other day (this means you should go click on her name and look at the entry) about some dude from Rhode Island making stupid comments about online games and predators and freaks and junk.

Some general nonsense about how MMO's are more dangerous than stuff like Myspace and Facebook (both of which I vehemently boycott). Why? Because you're forced to be anon and make up a character. Riiiiiiight. Cause ya know. Myspace and Facebook force you to be honest. Wow... just wow.

I can't even believe the ridiculousness of it all. If someone is going to lie, they're gonna lie no matter what. People are gonna use anything at their disposal to try and get a date or whatever they can. It just doesn't matter. So it seems kind of silly to say that people in MMO's are worse than people on any dating or "social" site.

Maybe I'm biased.

It's just like attributing bad behaviour to playing video games. There's discussion going on right now because this whacko couple in texas (yeah yeah trust me I know) met online whilst playing WoW. Does that mean that WoW turns people into killers? * gasp * OH TEH NOES!!! Give me a break.

Stupid anti gaming people yapping about stuff they know nothing about just to get their time in the limelight.

potpourri

Not the kind that you put in a bowl to make your house smell nice (glade gel oil candles are way better for that omg), or the kind that I drink in a cup at Starbucks (according to Radar). Just the general jumble of junk that floats through my consciousness...

Which considering that I'm tired as hell this morning should prove rather entertaining.

EQ2 - I'm a scant 7% away from level 72. Which is really good for me without a regular group like I used to have. Running around and doing quests and soloing has gotten me rather far. And I have had help here and there which breaks up the monotony a good deal.

One of the lovely people I truly enjoy is in my guild now. Shipwreck. He isn't really mean and hateful nor cold-hearted... although there is a LOT more mocking of me going on... However it's making me giggle and ya know... Shippie. Can't really beat that.

There's going to be another write up of my adventures in RoK... Cause seriously... someone needs to smack quest writers for some of that nastiness.

Life in general - Changing dryer sheets goes right up to the top of my "do not" list. Jeez. I have very fair skin (thank you dad and the lovely celtic genes) and it happens to be very sensitive as well. So when I changed dryer sheets to the downy ones that smell all yummy and lavanderish and stuff? Yeah. Hi, rash. Big, angry, red, itchy rashness. Everywhere. * twitch *

So I rewashed all my clothes and went back to the old dryer sheets. One major downfall to being girlie and liking stuff that smells good. Stupid dryer sheets. Stupid mountain of laundry that wants folding and putting away. Stupid writers strike with no Heroes and lots of time to fold and put away laundry.

I have a purple phone. That's right. PURPLE PHONE. Ask Promise to sing the purple phone song. It's highly entertaining.

I also have yet another (cause you people really need another reason to laugh at me) confession to make.

I'm a literary snob. Always have been. And the number one no no book on my list has always been a romance novel. Any romance novel. I've always snubbed them and turned up my nose. This isn't to say that one or two haven't slipped through under the guise of another genre... I mean, hello, have any of you read the Earth's Children series by Jean M. Aeul? Totally romance novels on the DL.

That having been said, I actually went out and deliberately picked up a romance novel. From the grocery store.

Embarassing confession = I actually really enjoyed it. So I'm having to revise my opinion it seems. They aren't all Roland's throbbing manflesh and Jessica's heaving bosoms. Nor are they all mad passionate joinings every few pages. The one I read was fairly well done and managed to... somewhat, tastefully work in the sex and actually have it fit where it was stuck in the story. As opposed to the stories that just sorta shove it in there because it's been a whole chapter and no one has been brought to the screaming edge of pleasure.

* sigh * I'm such a girl :(

Oh, and I suck at guitar hero. There is simply no measure of my suckitude. My hand eye coordination blows. I can hit all the little coloured tabs in time with the buttons (and no, you don't have to be able to see colours to know which ones to hit) no problem. Oh, you want me to flip this little bar thingie to REGISTER that I'm pushing the right buttons at the right time WHILE still pushing the buttons....

ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FREAKING MIND???? * sob * The pressure is unbelievable. They boo at you if you miss notes. THEY BOO!!! Talk about stress. Holy crap.

That having been said... I managed to rock me some Pat Benetar at around 85% on my second try. And yes, I did in fact choose the cute little asian chick in the school girl outfit as my avatar. She's in purple and has pigtails. What's not to love? Pat and I have a date later tonight...

Oh and yes, I play on easy. It'll probably be a very cold day in hell if I ever manage to play the game on anything other than easy. So shut it, right now.

woohoo!

So I finally got around to claiming my little badger dude for the RoK preorder.

Cutest thing EVER omg. He's adorable. He has a little flat kung fu hat. I just wanna give him chopsticks and a bowl of rice.

Best part? HE GIVES YOU SHINIES!!!! True, you don't get to harvest them... so there's a certain amount of gratification gone. BUT OMG HE GIVES YOU SHINIES.

I won't even cop to how much I spent on badger food. But it's been worth it. I've gotten shinies I needed and couldn't get. I've gotten rare shinies. Rarer shinies.

I'm in shinie freaking heaven. I may never leave my room again.

On a side note, my CS issue has been resolved. And whilst it turns out that nothing can be done about my problem, at some point during the back and forth they started acting like people and actually taking a minute to respond like a normal person to my statements and not automatons.

I hate that it took me being flat out rude to get there... but I'm happy that they did get there.

* tucks away her little hope for SOE's CS for safe keeping *

On a side note... I've applied for a job to get me out of the grind of number crunching (which actually isn't all that bad, I like my job just not the oppressive atmosphere). So let's all cross our fingers and toes and eyes and whatever else can be crossed without causing damage :)

Customer what?

I am a fangurl. Not a fangirl... an actual honest to goodness fangurl. I know this. I admit it freely. I make sure that everyone knows that my opinion is severely biased.

That being said, however, I can point out when SOE drops the ball. There are things I find disappointing in game here and there. I wasn't particularly thrilled with the Arasai... I thought they could have made them something other than carbon copies of Fae. I'm not entirely overjoyed at the heavy emphasis on questing in RoK. It isn't that I don't like to quest, but I'd prefer to have other options of advancement that are just as viable, and currently there aren't. I'm not loving the lag issues.

None of these things are really deal breakers for me, though. They're annoyances but I can deal with them, because all of the amazing things they've done with the game are offsetting these problems for me. I can wait it out til they get things fine tuned.

My problem isn't with the game.

My problem is with customer service. I try to give CS the benefit of the doubt. I really do. It's a hard, thankless job. You deal with so many people a day that it's ridiculous and when you go home you want NO ONE to even look at you let alone talk to you.

I get it.

I can even see how it applies to email if I squint and hop on one foot and sorta tilt my head to the left. Really. I try hard to sympathize with how crappy a job it is to be a CS rep for any company let alone a company like SOE that supports several different games. Also, let's face it. Gamers aren't always the easiest of people with whom to get along. We just aren't. We're picky, we're demanding, we have major OCD issues, and we want things a certain way. Most of us are also smart enough that we can't really be placated with nice words and soothing tones of voice. We want results. And by gods we want them NOW.

All the same...

My current dealings with CS at SOE are leaving a less than pleasant feeling in the air. As a matter of fact there is a distinct aroma of brimstone and some rather noticeable puffs of smoke around my apartment. I'm irate. Not even mildly annoyed. Flat out irritated in bad ways. At this point I am no longer inclined to be understanding. I am, however, going to use my nice words.

The issue is my displayed account age when I type /played in game. It's a small and rather insignificant thing. It really only affects my vet rewards. However, since I've been playing this game since beta... It matters to me.

I sent my original ticket in... about a month ago now. I politely explained the issue, suggested that perhaps it had something to do with me hopping servers at some point, and asked what could be done to correct the problem.

I got the "we've received the petition email" and then... nothing. I think to myself, no big, my problem isn't major and they have people with actual problems that are severely affecting their game play.

I pulled my ticket back up to check it out and see if they'd done anything at all with it, as I haven't had the follow up email that tells me they've looked at it or responded or anything at all... It's marked solved. I beg your pardon, but my problem is not solved. A few deep breaths and I go ahead and read the responses. In game support can't deal with your problem, okay makes sense. CS dude says there is nothing I can do without first confirming your identity. Well alright... And there's a list. A long frelling list at that. They want the last four digits of the original credit card I used to activate the account, the account registration key off the dvd's, my station name, my real name, my email address, and the answer to my security question.

None of this is really all that bad... Except that they went in and closed the ticket without ever having followed up. There's this tin can response and boom closed and done.

I don't think so.

So now I'm a little irked. I start a new ticket referencing the old one. I restate my problem, add in the fact that I now have a further problem with the way that things were handled. I don't appreciate being blown off, even if my problem isn't a major deal, without the least bit of acknowledgement that you'd looked at my ticket. That's just rude.

I provide the requested information with two exceptions. The original credit card and the security question. I explained that I couldn't give them the original credit card number used to activate the account because I wasn't still using that card for the account and I couldn't remember which of my cards I had used to start it up or if I still even HAD said card. So that was out of the question. The security question... Well, great. I'd be happy to answer it. What is the question? I don't remember what I chose as the security question. I didn't write it down. It's there if I need to change something. Are you honestly suggesting that I go tracking this down to give you the answer when you can pull it up and ask me the question? Please. Get real. Ask me the question and I'll answer it. But since you can't be bothered to at least notify me that you've seen my ticket and answered me, requiring further information I won't run around doing your job for you.

This time I got a response within a day. Imagine that.

Unfortunately, the response was less than encouraging and really did nothing to help the downward spiral my opinion of CS was taking.

I got the same response about in game support not being able to help. Again, understandable and no issue. The problem was the response from the CS person.

Thanks for contacting us and just so you know, your bank has to keep your credit card information for 5-7 years, so ask them for it. Also, we need your registration key. Let us know if you need any more help.

....

Yeah. Fortunately, my first response to this was lost to the world of automatically generated emails to which one cannot respond. Oh, but would you look at that? Go back to my ticket and not only is it open, but so is the one before it. Interesting. I can add a comment.

I added a comment. Given my state of mind at the time, I was as polite as I could manage to be. I didn't swear. I didn't yell. But I did point out that there was clearly a lack of reading at all or a lack of comprehension of what was being read.

I let the CSR know that if he had read my petition which was quoted below for his convenience he would see that I couldn't give him the credit card information he wanted because I didn't know which card I had used and I wouldn't be giving him four years worth of credit card information in the hopes that one of them was correct and that the original hadn't been long since cancelled.

I also pointed out that in the petition below, which was once again quoted for his reading pleasure, I had given said registration key from the dvd case of my original collector's edition version of EQ2.

I further went on to explain, again, what my issue was since we obviously had either not read that or fully comprehended what the problem was. Which is quite simply that my account was activated on Nov 11, 2004 and my first character, who is my main and is still played and has never been rerolled EVER, was created on this date. However, her /played shows her creation date as June somethingorother, 2006. Which is a dramatically different date. This is what I want corrected.

I do admit to a rather high level of snarkiness at this point. I know this because I then went on to request that my petition be thoroughly read before responding to it again, and that if comprehension was an issue, rather than deal with the patronizing tone used with teenagers who don't know what they're doing that I be given the contact information of someone who could read and comprehend my request and with whom I could converse accordingly.

* twitch *

At this point I do feel a bit bad for breaking out the claws. But for crying out loud. If it's right in front of you and the information is there, why on earth would you ask for it again? And to tell me that my bank has to hold the card information is absolutely ludicrous if the reason I can't provide it is that I don't know which card I used or if I even still HAVE that card.

I think my biggest problem with all of this is the way it's being handled. I don't mind so much that they aren't really firing on all cylinders when responding. I understand they deal with a lot of issues in a day and sort of run on autopilot a lot of the time. I also understand that there are procedures.

However I do have a problem with my original ticket being marked solved when I was never notified that someone had responded to it. If you're going to do an email based customer service deal... Send freaking emails to people to let them know you're dealing with them and not ignoring them. I'm not going to sit around and refresh my ticket every 10 minutes while I wait for you to do your job.

Likewise, take an extra two minutes to slowly read through and pay attention to what was said. Please. I know you have a lot on your plate, but it's called CUSTOMER service. And the last time I checked, I am in fact, a customer. As such, I expect service.

It hasn't been delivered. The original issue was never addressed nor has the issue of their shoddy and sloppy handling of the original ticket been addressed as of now.

Customer service is a major sticking point for members of the EQ2 community and I'm sure other SOE games. I've defended them all along by saying that they have a hard job and a lot of people with whom they have to deal. I still say this. It is a hard job. Here's the thing though. And you really can't avoid this, as it's the bottom line. Customer service is very often the ONLY contact some customers have with the company. Not everyone is a giant geek who mortgages their soul to go to Fan Faire and meet developers and producers in person.

Only. Contact. With. The. Customer.

And you're failing miserably. Customer service, not just at SOE but anywhere, has a vital job. In a lot of cases experiences with customer service can make or break whether or not a company keeps someone's business. No one can afford to have sloppy customer service.

'Tis the season...

To level like crazy.

Oh wait... sorry. The holiday season is always hectic and full of pressure.

Usually my escape is diving into EQ2 and trying to get away from all the crap the holidays bring. Buying presents, visiting family, blah blah blah.

Unfortunately, this year the level cap raised. So now I have... * counts * Five characters to get to level 80 in one form or another. That's three crafters and two healers. For some of them the trip is relatively short. For others... * shudder * We just don't talk about them.

It certainly isn't that I don't love the game and the excitement of leveling and getting new gear and new spells and all that. But there is pressure involved.

Because I'm in a raiding guild. Granted, we're not exactly uber or anything, but we want to do certain things. This requires leveling up to the cap in a rather short period of time. It also involves upgrading spells and gear etc. in that same period of time.

This is an expensive proposition on several levels. First, the time factor. Second, plat.

Time is an issue. I have two jobs. And believe it or not, even with being sick for a few weeks and slacking off ridiculously during that period, it still takes up a lot of time. I still need to find a way to work in time for other stuff too. * frantically tries to activate her mutant power of time control *

Finances are an issue too. I'm not rich. Either in real life or in game. Winning either lottery would be helpful here. Real life lottery solves my time issues and that in turn would solve the problem of not having money in game cause I'd have SO much more time to do stuff that makes money... * buys a ticket for the lottery and tries to activate her mutant power of whatever would make her win *

So there is no rest for the wicked here. I'm actually not really that upset about it or anything. I love the new expansion. I love that I've got 10 more levels to get and work through. I don't love that I have a time limit... but that was my choice and I'll live with it.

In the meantime I'm loving the new expansion for the most part. I'm fond of the quests, but I would love to be able to get experience effectively by grinding again... just a little bit. There are nights when I just don't want to think as hard as I have to in order to do quests. I just want to mentally phase out and heal through a two hour run of mob slaughter.

That small annoyance aside, I think they've done an excellent job thus far.

And I still love my little guild. So yay me.

I'm going to go back to trying to activate my mutant abilities now. I wonder if juggling a zillion things at once and trying to cram everything I need to do into a 19 hour day qualifies as a mutant power...

why i need to win the damn lottery...

Because work keeps getting in the way of this. Alright, it gets in the way of a lot of other stuff too, but it's seriously putting a cramp in the time that I have to blather at the four poor sods who read this junk.

Thus, I have decided that this weekend I'll be winning the lottery so that I don't have to work anymore and will have time to post every. single. day. Yeah, I know, you're all so thrilled that you've gone numb and that's why there's no applause. It's okay. I love you too.

After being out of touch for a bit as I was and then the mad crush of trying to figure out how to catch back up with junk, I got back into game for real and was kind of at a loss.

What to do and do I really want to keep playing?

It didn't really hurt me to not do much in game for a week or so. I read like four books, watched the entire first season of Heroes, and some other junk. I felt all productive (and yes I have to review books. I know. Shush). It was kind of nice.

Well, I was reminded why I keep playing. Besides, of course, for the fun factor.

The people. I can't ever stress enough how important the people and community are for the longevity of a game. I've been bored to tears a number of times and on the verge of taking an extended haiatus and managed to keep going because of the people.

I think I know some of the funniest people in game. Personal bias all the way, of course.

My guild is awesome too. We joke and laugh and everyone has a sense of humour. Or most everyone does. The people who don't usually don't last that long.

The other night, one of our templars decided she was going to move her alt into a lower level guild to play with some friends.

One of the officers went to boot her out of the guild cause it's fun and it would be amusing to have on the guild events. Except that she was either too quick on the draw or he was too slow... Because she ended up out and he ended up kicking a necro. A necro with a LOT of guild status. A necro who was in fact online at the time and in vent.

From what people said his comments in vent were priceless and I'm actually really sorry I wasn't there for it. As it was, I was crying so hard I could barely see the screen. It was seriously priceless.

We got him reguilded and all, and I THINK he's forgiven our officer for accidently kicking him. Maybe. We'll find out at the next raid.

We're social creatures, we humans. It's an incredibly effective tool for game companies to use to their advantage. You can have the most incredible game on the face of the planet and no community and it will fail. You can have a mediocre game and have a fantastic community of people and it will thrive.

Happily, EQ2 is both an amazing game and has a fantastic community.

I know that I wouldn't still be here if it weren't for the people I've met. SOE does a great job of trying to promote that feeling of family you develop in these kinds of games. Sure, there are people who complain and don't like it... but there are people like that everywhere. Nothing pleases them. They sure are fun to mess with though ;)

What does this have to do with the lottery? Well, DUH. I'd have more time to play. Sheesh. Try to follow along...

weeeeeeee!!

Thanksgiving!

There's some story about pilgrims and a thanksgiving feast to commemorate them making friends with the Indians (whom they later royally screwed) and having enough food to survive the winter blah blah blah.

It's a holiday to get together with friends (or if you happen to have a family who isn't bat shit insane, with them) and eat. Socialize a bit and watch lots of tv as well, but mostly to eat.

Now don't get me wrong. I love food (as can be seen just looking at my ass). I love to eat. But the best part for me is actually the cooking. Yeah don't ask me why, I just love to cook.

This year I've made enough food for about 10 people and there are going to be two of us, a few cats, and my best friend's boyfriend whenever he gets back from his parents' place.

I was gifted with a groovy idea about mixing my stuffing and mashed potatoes this year. It looks and smells divine and I'm pretty sure I'll be doing this every year for the rest of my life now. I mean seriously... what's bad about it?

Then there's pie. I love pie. I was going to make three kinds this year... But I ended up deciding it might be a bit excessive. See? I have self control. So there!!

Mostly the reason that Thanksgiving is one of my favourite holidays is that it's sort of the trigger for fall and winter. This is my time of year. Everything cools off, the air gets crisp. Everything is a little cheerier.

So for those of us chowing down today, enjoy! For everyone who doesn't have this silly made up holiday with no real basis in anything? Have a happy Thursday and remember the weekend is damned close.

back in the saddle again!

I had my very first ever trip to the ER. Then I got to spend a week doing my very best impression of a teenager (read: sleeping 16 hours a day). Not the best week of my life.

However, it did afford me an interesting little tidbit to mull over.

Today's update was going to be all about community and its importance to gaming in general and MMOs in particular. But that can wait til tomorrow.

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around this blurb I saw on 60 minutes when I was sitting in the ER and trying not to cry from pain that was actually worse than being in labour. Yeah. That bad. I was immediately reminded of why I am not in a rush to have more kids.

The 60 mins blurb sort of reinforced that notion.

There were a couple of guys going on about how kids today (godsdamnit that makes me feel old to say it that way * sob *) aren't expected to be adults until after at least 26 years of age. There's a whole generation of kids out there who are living at home until their 30's. Or later.

All pain was momentarily forgotten as I tried to grasp that concept.

They went on to talk about how they don't need to focus on finding a career. It's acceptable to shop around now. Four jobs in a year on your resume is no big deal now... Colour me surprised. I can't get anyone to LOOK at my resume unless I've been somewhere for a year.

Add to that the fact that if I could have gotten out of the house and on my own at 16, I'd have been that cute little dust cloud that the Roadrunner leaves in the cartoons.

I understand that economically it's a good move and all... but I still can't imagine staying at home so long.

Do you have a curfew? Do you have to tell your parents where you're going and when you'll be back? How do you DATE? You can't very well bring a date home and hang out and stuff, can you? How does that work anyway? Hey baby, my parents are out tonight, wanna come over and watch a movie? That isn't even getting into the logistics of having a sex life. * shudder *

Perhaps it's a difference in rearing techniques on the part of the parents. The way I was raised, there as no way that I would have been able to remain at home a second longer than absolutely necessary. One, I was raised to be independent and get out and do for myself. Two, they were distinctively NOT of the nurturing variety.

At any rate, my best friend and I were sitting there with sick kids, kids with puss-filled elbows, and creepy guys who we couldn't tell what was wrong with them, kinda looking at the tv and each other...

And promptly forgot it all when a girl walked in with a t-shirt that said: I'm not a model, I just look like one... And well yeah. She really didn't.

Still sick... * sigh *

But that's okay!!!

Because it's November. It's national write a novel month or some such nonsense. Basically it's a challenge to write a full 50k words in 30 days. Sound crazy? It surely is. And I'm already 6 days behind.

Chances are I won't even attempt it simply for the lack of time to devote. I mean hello!! there's EQ2 expansion launching in exactly 7 days. I don't know how anyone could expect me to miss that for some silly novel.

However, the event does conjure up the desire to finally get off my fat ass and write. So I've made a solemn vow to actually make the effort to do some "real" writing and not just the randomness I torment you fine folk with or the stuff with which I torture the Zam folks.

I know... non gaming related writing... Almost seems like blasphemy doesn't it?

Speaking of which... The writer's unions are on strike. They think they should get paid a bit more and get a bigger cut of dvd residuals as well as get kickback for the internet sales and all that. And I agree. They get shafted. Hard. Yeah they make good money... I'd be thrilled. However when you look at what other people get for what the WRITERS produce... Yeah it's complete and utter bullshit.

The problem is... If the writers are on strike? That means that Heroes is in danger. Since this is literally the only TV show that I watch and I have to go on NBC.com in order to do so... Yeah. I'm distressed. They need to clear this up in a big fat hurry.

To the corporations... Stop being greedy bastards and frelling pony up the damn money. I want my freaking Heroes.

(Sidebar: I'm listening to the radio and evidently there's a little girl with 4 arms and legs and stuff... some sort of conjoined twin thing. Spiderbaby. * nod * Spiderbaby Spiderbaby does whatever a spider can...)

At any rate. I'm a firm believer in paying people what they're worth. And in this case, the corporations need to start paying their writers. Period. Because without the writers, the TV networks are boned. They're going to be losing FAR more money than they'll be paying out if they give the raise they should. This boggles my mind. It's just so easy.

Everyone cross your fingers. Heroes is on the line here.

oh the amazing slackishness of me

In my defense, the last couple of weeks have been rather hectic for me. What with worrying about extra crispy grandmothers who turned up in Las freaking Vegas (and without me!!! wtf???), a busy couple of weeks at BOTH jobs, and lingering sniffles and general sick in bedness... yeah. There has been little to no writing. There has been lots of soup though!

Today is one of my favourite days of the year. Halloween. But I think I like Coyote's definition better, so on the off chance someone reads this who doesn't already read Coyote (yeah... that'll happen) go scamper over and check it out. He gives good giggle.

I've decided that there just isn't enough time in the day to do all the stuff I want to or need to do. I need more hours. I need to be able to play twice as long so I can fit in all the stuff I need to do and then have time to write on top of it. I need to be able to find a way to squeeze in another few jobs (*nods to radar and his in living colour jokes*). But most of all? I still need time to sleep.

I've decided that sleep is a GOOD thing. I don't do it nearly as much as I should. I think my love of sleep is compounded by a love of my big comfy bed. It's a lovely and wonderful bed. And oh so very comfy. I need to spend more time bonding with it.

Thus, I have decided that the time has come to achieve a state of independent wealth wherein I can do whatever I want whenever and spend more time bonding with my bed.

So I'll be winning the lottery this weekend. No one else buy a ticket. And to the lottery people? I'll be emailing you the numbers you're to choose on Friday. kkthx.

sometimes it's better not to worry...

But when you have family in the midst of wildfires, you can't help it.

Of course, then you hear from them three days later and find out they were kicking back and having fun in Las Vegas... yeah. I was so relieved that she was safe that I decided not to strangle her.

More and more people that I know in the area are checking in and are all okay. As awful as this has been so many have been lucky. My heart goes out to those who are still in danger and who have lost things in the fires.

i got your jam right here!

So. I had my very first jam making experience this weekend.

As it's something I've always wished I knew how to do, this is quite a milestone for me.

The one thing that really struck me (other than how totally cute the friends who were doing it are) is that it really isn't that hard.

There's always been this thing in my mind that making jam was some sort of mystical and difficult thing that would require me to dance naked at midnight, backwards, on one foot, whilst chanting monty python quotes in order to accomplish it.

Yeah. So not. What does this mean? Yeah. I'm making some jam.

Of course, this also reminds me just how lacking my domestic skills still are. There's so much stuff that I want to know how to do that I've yet to learn. I'm getting there though. Slowly but surely. I've finally mastered the whole bread making thing. Which is highly groovy. I'm still trying to learn how to make soap.

Most of my projects are slow going, mostly because I just don't have the time to squeeze everything in. Which is yet another reason I need to win the lottery.

Thank you, my lovely friends, for teaching me to make jam!

(insert witty title here)

Yeah... I got nothing.

Well for a title anyway.

Mostly just a lot of thoughts floating about in my head. So I'm just going to sift out the game related stuff, cause the rest of it is none of anyone's damned business.

Gods and Heroes

While I called the death of this game from the second I read the first interview with Steig (incidentally, Steig was reached after much debate over the correct spelling... We've all seen it both ways and can never decide which is correct. So if it is misspelt, send your hate mail to radarx@tentonhammer.com kkthx.), I'm still sorry to see it crash and burn.

There are a lot of factors that contributed to its demise that I'm sure I have no clue about one way or the other. The main one that I see from a player's standpoint, though, is that it tried too hard. They took Roman culture and mythology and made unnecessary changes to something that didn't need it. They also tried to incorporate what seems like all the most successful aspects of major games on the market. And in the end... It was just too much fantasy in a glutted market. When someone like me, who has eaten up mythology since 3rd grade, throws up their hands in disgust, you're doing something wrong. Period.

Gallenite, who's terribly smart and awfully cute too, posted about the development side of game making and all that's involved. Go read.

My guild

Are a bunch of loons. I love them dearly :) They're curing my burnout most handily.

Crafting

Must. Get. To. 70... * twitch *

Warhammer

Arugh. Just... Arguh. I wanna play this game. I give them massive props for having the brass to take down the beta servers and say "Hey, you gave us good feedback... we're fine tuning and reopening the beta later." That's awesome. DAoC should have been bigger than it was. It was a well made game. So hopefully they'll do good stuff with WAR.

Tabula Rasa

Not sure... still debating. I like the idea and the feel... but there's a learning curve that sorta turned me off at first. Hopefully they refine that a bit.

Winning the lottery

I need to. That is all.

* does the happy snoopy dance of I told you so *

I absolutely, without a doubt, love to be right.

It doesn't happen often. In fact, all too often I make really ridiculous mistakes.

But just this once, I bask in the glory of rightitude. Yes, it's a word.


** for the people who don't know what this is about :)

Gods and Heroes has been cancelled. I said a year ago that this game was never going to make release. * flex * Yes, my ESPN is strong!

Hello, I love you. Won't you tell me your name?

I often joke that I have a "Freaks and Creeps Apply Here" tattoo on my forehead. Whilst this is obviously not true, as my forehead isn't large enough for that, it is an on going sensation.

Being female in an MMO is... interesting, for lack of a better term.

One need not even really be female to experience this. Which is an entirely separate discussion.

Just being perceived as female often garners attention. You'll get random pressies just for being a chick and showing up in the newbie zone. Can you say, eww?

What's worse is when you're minding your own business and making some potions and poisons and such (what kind of an idiot messes with a woman who can make poison, btw???). Sitting there crafting away, carefully measuring out components for that oh so dangerous hemotoxin...

freaky_guy_01 tells you: nice underwear!
....
I beg your pardon?
freaky_guy_01 tells you: do you often craft in your underwear?
* twitch * The plate gets in the way * goes back to crafting, mildly amused *
freaky_guy_01 tells you: a bunch of stuff that can't be repeated, not even here.
* gags * You're creepy. Go away.
freaky_guy_01 tells you: even worse things that make me want to go bathe in acid..
/ignore freaky_guy_01!!11!one11eleventyzomg!

guh. guh guh guh and a big heaping side helping of GUH.

Now, I know that this is an extreme case. I know that this doesn't really happen to all that many women. But good gods it seems to happen to me a lot.

Obviously my own fault for having a Dark Elf (superior race, hottest chicks in game, etc etc).

But it kind of makes you wonder about people who just randomly strike up that sort of conversation, if that's what you wanna call it, with a pixilated version of a totally fictitious race and assuming that just because these pixels are female means that the consciousness behind them is also female.

If I'd been thinking clearly at the time I'd have busted out with: Dude, I'm a guy. That would likely have been the end of it. But I'm just not that quick and I was so thrown by the whole episode that my mind was reeling.

I get flirted with a lot online, it's just sorta what you deal with being a chick gamer. Random and kinda sad PM's on forums from people you don't know, tells, mail, whatever. Somehow they always find you because you're Eleanor. Two points for the reference.

I honestly don't think people know just how creepy this really can be. And then I think to myself, good GODS why do they do it in the first place?

When someone figures it all out, lemme know! I'll just be in the bathroom trying to scrub this invisible tattoo off my forehead.