Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Fantasy News and Views 6

World of Warcraft     So this past week Blizzard released further details on thier Item Changes. I want to look over that post and the changes presented.
     So the first thing to remember is that reforging is gone. With that gone, what you get on your gear is what you have to deal with. There is no way to customize anything about the gear to optimize it or finesse it to your needs.
     Hit, Expertise, Dodge and Parry are being removed from the game.Hit and Expertise are being baked into the combat system and Armor Value will take the place of Parry and Dodge. Simplifying combat may have taken a step to far here.
     Gear will be broken into two broad catagories, Armor Pieces and Non-Armor Peices.
     Armor Peices are Head, Shoulders, Chest, Legs, Gloves, Belt, Boots and Bracers. Armor Peices will get Primary Stats, Secondary Stats, Stamina, Armor Value and a chance at getting Warforged, Gem Slot and Tertiary Stat.
     Primary Stats will be either Strength, Intelligence and Agility and changes based on Spec. So Hunters always get Agility but Holy Pally will have Int while a Ret Pally will get Strength. The same peice of gear will work for either spec because as you change your spec so changes the the primary stat on the gear. This is a nice change, keeps every peice relavent, if not optimal, no matter what you do.
   Stamina and Armour Value will be on every peice too. Not unexpected as that is how it is now. So no real change here.
    Secondary Stats will be on every peice of gear too. But the Secondary Stat will be randomized from Haste, Crit, Mastery, Readiness, Amplify, and/or Multistrike. The new ones are still under development so may or may not make the cut. This means that you can get a stat on a peice of gear that will not make it useful or desirable, even though it has your primary stat. In the end, it just means that you will get a suboptimal peice of gear. Loot not only get dropped by RNG but it's usefulness will be detirmined by RNG. This is quite possibly the worst decision they have ever made. All of this RNG and loss of reforging means you can't plan out your gear progression at all. And if you get a new peice of gear, if it's not giving you the right secondary stats, even though it's it's a higher iLevel, it's not an upgrade but a downgrade on your abilities. RNG is determining if you will ever get to be good. I hate this.
    There is now a chance to get additional properties. you have 10% chance per property to have it. There are three property types: Warforged, Gem Slot and Tertiary Stat. So on very rare occasions you could have all three of these things. RNG decides this. Again nothing you can plan for.
     Warforging is a straight iLevel increase, which means your Primary and Secondary Stats, Stamina and Armor Valau all increase. Straight forward effect and good in general. And like Warforged now, I am ok with it being hard to get.
     Gem Slots will be color based but have no slot bonus. There will only be one slot per peice of gear. Gems will only have secondary stats. And will be the only way to get extra Armor Value or Spirit onto Armor Peices. This will suck for Healers and Tanks as thier Armor Peices will never be strictly for thier use. All plate wearers will be competing for the same gear. Same goes for Mail, Leather and Cloth. This also means that every Healer and Tank will compete for any gear with a Gem Slot. Especially Plate wearing Tanks and Healers as well as Leather wearing Tank and Healer's. Cloth Healers will have less competition because their are no Cloth Tanks that I know of. And the same goes for Mail Healers. RNG contoller how good a tank or healer you can be again is taking control of the character from the player. Another bad move in my book.
     Tertiary Abilities will be things like Movement Speed, Sturdiness, Life Steal, Avoidance, and Cleave. These abilities will stack. These are nice things to have, but if you are not a person who does multi-target attacks will not want Cleave. So these tertiary abilities may be useless or make you feel like you have to play a certain way because you want to maximize your capabilities you are given by RNG. These tertiary abilities will be randomized as to what you get so planing again is tossed out the window.
     An additional Note about Set Bonus' on tier gear. It will change to fit your Spec. So you will not have to get a tanking set and then a dps set, for example. One set works for both specs. This si a good change as, like Primary Stats, always keeps your gear relavent, if not optimal.
    Non-Armor Peices are Weapons, Rings, Cloaks, Necklaces and Trinkets. These thngs will get all of the same things as the above gear with some notable differences.
    Primary Stats will not change with Spec. Primary Stats will NOT be Strength, Stamina and Intellect. Instead it will be either Attack Power or Spell Power. Most will have Stamina too. Weapons are the exception here in that they will have Primary Stats like Armor Peices. Whether they will change primary stats with Spec has not been said one way or the other. While the Attack/Spell Power will make these peices more 'universal', I don't think that it will make people feel happier about getting the gear. The customization of peices will not be present so the lack of ways to differentiate your character will be reduced. And with RNG still in control, you will never now if you will get anything of value.
   Secondary Stats will get to include Spirit and Armor Value to the above list as to what you will get. Spirit will get your healers fighting over peices, and Armor will get all the tanks fighting over the gear. And since this will be a rare stat to appear it's going to hurt progression raiding to a great deal.
   Additional Properties will be limited to only one of them. So Gem Slots will be highly fought over because it gives the best route for customizations, no matter your role. The least sought out will be the tertiary stats. But again, with RNG deciding if your even going to get this property and which one, you will never be able to plan out your progression gearing with any feeling of accomplishment.
    What all of this boils down to me is that with RNG having an increased say in what loot, and quality of loot, you will never be able to say that skill will be what limits you from being good in PVE. Gearing, controled by RNG, means that only the lucky will get the best gear at a reasonable rate and become top of the charts for progression raiding and gearing. For casual players, it means that you will only get into raiding because you know someone. Since all Hardcore, and Serious raiders look at your gear for determining your worthyness to join the raid, you will be looked down upon because RNG says your bad, regardless of how good you truley are. If they stick with this model of loot creation, I am going to start sucking in Raids, and I only do LFR, because I can't make my character the best that I can be. I can only be the best that RNG wants me to be. And that is not fun.
     So I think that is enough for now. If you have any comments for me on this, or other, subjects then please leave them. I want to hear them. Until next time, Enjoy!    

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Weekly Character Update

     First off I would like to apologize for this long delay on a blog. I have been under the weather lately so was not up to par on my writing skills. Not wanting to put out something bad, I just did nothing and recovered. So now on to my characters.

Airholen the Explorer     I have strictly just ran Scenarios and Dungeons to build up Valor to upgrade my gear. I have one more upgrade to do then I will return to the Timeless Isle to search for the signet to get my last ring. Of course I have to get a Burden before I make the ring. Once I have this upgraded all the way, the next plan will be to finish off the extra quests in my quest log and then maybe go pet collecting with him. Will have to see.

Brewmaster Asmodea     Been running Scenarios, Dungeons and Throne of Thunder Raids to get Valor and gear so that I can get into SoO Raids. Once I max out her gear it will be on to maxing Living Steel so that the Jewelcrafting Mounts can be made. I did finally max out her Herbalism skill. So I will be working on her farm to get it maxed out to get all the Golden Lotus's that I need to get all of the jobs done.

Strayleaf of the Nightfall     She has been dusted off now and working on getting through the Horde story line. She is still in Jade Forest but has reached Level 86 now. Will continue to work on her level and Herbalism skill. Her Inscription skill needs work too but will probably not worked on much initially. Not sure yet. Strayleaf, just for those who don't know, is a Tauren Paladin Protection and Holy spec'ed. Primarily run Protection so working on my tanking skills a lot.

Vice Admiral Zombee     Been working on rep grinds. Got Dyson Sphere up to Tier 2 already. Working towards 3. Romulan is almost at Tier 4. Nukara and Omega are closing the gap on Tier 4. The new Rep system is so much better. I will have to go over it more in Science News and Views.

Blue Adept, The Ghost Whisperer     Just so that you know, Blue Adept is a magic wielder superheros from the Champions Online MMO. Blue Adept is Level 20 out of a Max of 60. I have been trying to get him further along so that I can go back and Solo some of the older content more readily. But leveling has been difficult. My style of mage is not very defensive, but does some massive damage through casting times and some healing capabilities. There have been so many changes in the game since I last played him that I had to spend a lot of time just figuring out what those changes meant to me and my play style. It's these changes that has made things a little more difficult for me right now. But he is getting somewhere. I have cleared out a lot of content. Just reaching points where I need another player or few more levels to compete the goal. Champions Online is a modern era game so I will probably start doing a Modern News and Views soon.

     That was all of the Characters I played this past week. Looks busier than it actually was. Airholen and Asmodea only take maybe 1 hour between them and Strayleaf gets the most play there. Blue Adept I played one evening and Zombee got played most nights for about 30 minutes or so. Though not at all over the weekend.

Tune in next time for Fantasy News and Views. Until then, Enjoy!

Friday, November 22, 2013

Science News and Views 5

Star Trek Online     Besides some gamestore deals going on right now, there is nothing new to report. No changes have been announced and the Lobi Event is still ongoing. They have not announced anything new for the game at this time either.

     I wish I was playing more than one SciFi based game at this time but I am not. And so this weeks SciFi news is very light. Hopefully next week there will be more to report. Thank you for your time and Enjoy!

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Fantasy News and Views 5

World of Warcraft
      So Warlords of Draenor news keep rolling out. I am going to touch on a couple bits of news that I saw being discussed on the forums and on twitter.
      Flying has taken quite a bit of space on the forums. The big issue is that there will be no flying till Patch 6.1 comes. Everytime that a new reagions have been opened up, we have always had to wait till we reach max level to get flying. This change forces people to stay on the ground far longer. I think this is a bad idea. Once reaching max level, I want to be able to fly so that I can do end content that I want. I want that freedom. Forcing me to have to ground pound everywhere is just poor designing on thier part. If they want to force people to come at things on the ground there are better design options for it. Amongst those options are putting the encounter under a roof, forceing demounting when you go under that roof, place trash mobs closer to the quest point so that you get mauled by sheer numbers, add cover so that you can't see the target till you get low where the mobs can hit you off the mount. These are just a few ideas, more are possible I am sure.
      Another thing I see being discussed alot is the Trials of the Gladiator. A new PVP ladder that is not replacing the old ladder. But you can only climb up in it at certain times of the day. You also will be getting your gear for practicaly nothing. This is an effort to make the Gladiators to be all about skill and not gear. The time is meant to concetrate players to create quicker queues. All this really means is that pro-type players, or kids not in school, will get to play this consistantly. The rest will be hit or miss at best. And the only reason to do this is to gain titles and mounts. In the end, it's really geared for elitist types more so than the casual player. Not saying that it's a bad thing. Just saying that it won't be as highly used as Arenas are. But I do see the potential to harm Arenas queues during the Gladiator uptimes as more of the hard core PVPers have a go at the gladiator titles. It could hurt PVP a little in this regard but I don't think that it will kill PVP Arenas.

    That's what I have time for right now. Tune in next time for more news and Enjoy!

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Weekly Character Update

Airholen the Explorer     Continued to gather Valor points and upgrade the gear. Still haven't picked up that last signet. I did get the Chelon kill leaving four Rares left to go for the achievement.

Brewmaster Asmodea     Still looking to get more stuff, but did start collecting valor points to upgrade current gear. Also got a purple ax from the first raid in Throne of Thunder. Also looking to get friendly with the Shadow Pan Assault so that I can pick up my BiS trinket. I have discovered that killing things on the Timeless Isle was hard. Haven't tried with new weapon.

Vice Admiral Zombee     Working on reps. Got to Level 1 in the Dyson Sphere rep. Still level 3 in the other three reps. Doing mostly space battles because I like them better than the ground battles.

That's what these guys have been upto this past week. Hopefully I will have more to report next week. Until then, Enjoy!

Monday, November 18, 2013

Literary Challange 4

   So LC3 was supposed to be about taking command. I did three stories so lets go over them.

      So the first story was Laughter Matters. This is a Red Laughter story about her in charge of  a LexCorp Security Team sent in to recover stolen goods from a local gang. More of her nature is present and some of her fighting style is presented. I don't really have a good feel for her command style yet and so I took a minimalist approach.

      Second story was Danic Takes Command. This covers Vice Admiral Danic (Then Lieutenant Commander) taking command of the second ship he was in command. It also covers a little more about how he deals with adversity, but also what the people he had under his command were like. And how he relied on their skills to get things done for him. He has some stereo-typical Vulcan attitudes but you can see that he also doesn't completely conform to your average Vulcan attitudes towards non-Vulcans. I found it very easy to write this one because Danic is a character that I relate to very well.

      The third story was Guild Leadership. It was meant to be a view into how Airholen became the new Guild Leader. What it really became was a window look into the chaotic time that ended up throwing my character into that role. It's more on an imagine process that a real event, just so that I can give a frame of reference for the character.

      So in the end the three stories covered leadership, but not in the same way. Danic's was about how to deal with conflict with in a new command, Airholen's covered having it thrust upon you, and Red Laughter's was more about how to avoid being in charge while being in charge.

      Next weeks Literary Challenge will be about a challenge they had to over come while they were learning their chosen profession. Be it skills at shooting bows, passing a test or just trying to get along with others. Not sure where to go with Red Laughter, Danic will be some personal interaction dealing with emotions in Starfleet Academy, and Airholen will probably do something with learning to tame animals or such. What will you write about? Join in. And I will see you next time, Enjoy!

Saturday, November 16, 2013

LC3 Guild Leadership

                Flynders stomped about his home in Ironforge. His stumpy dwarven legs made the room reverberate with the strength in them. He is one of the most impatient warriors in The DarkSiders guild. And as guildmaster, it was not a good trait. He was stomping about so much that he wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings, a mistake that promptly puts him on his arse as he walked right into a big blue hunter, Airholen.
                “Och! Yer here. And you scaley friend too”, Flynders says as he eyes Gozera, a raptor. “Ya ready for this?”
                “No.” Airholen looks about at the rest of the guild.
                “Too bad, this is yours now.” Flynders turns to the others in the room, “Blah de blah de blah. Long and short, He’s in charge. I am not. So bother him now and leave me alone. Here’s the keys, and enjoy. Bye.” And with that the red headed dwarf practically runs out of the place and onto the main thoroughfare in Ironforge.
                Airholen looks down at the keys to the guild bank vault. He then looked back at the various faces in crowd. All of the races of the Alliance were represented.  And every eye was looking at him. Gozera swishes her tail, sensing the uneasiness in Airholen.
                “So, I don’t know if you know me. But you can approach me at any time for anything you need. I will take some time to figure out what I am going to do with the guild. I am open to suggestions. I don’t have anything else, so thank you.” Airholen looked about the crowd hoping to break room from the apparent frost nova affecting the group.
                After just a few moments, the ice breaks and everyone rushes him to shake his hand, introduce themselves and make their suggestions.

After many hours the last of the people left and Airholen was alone.  He was overwhelmed by the acceptance that he had received and the suggestion that was given. He walked to the gryphon master to catch a ride to Stormwind. He had tailors to meet with because he hated the guild Tabard and wanted to change it.

LC3 Danic Takes Command

                Stardate 89070.02 USS Researcher
                Lieutenant Commander Danic walked into the conference room was the Senior Staff was waiting for him. This was the first time he has taken command off a ship he had never served on before. The Quaser Class Science Vessel was a far cry from the Centaur Class Light Cruiser he just transferred from.  He was able to keep Lieutenant R’shee has his first officer, Lieutenant Nire as his Chief Science Officer and Lieutenant Thon D’vov has his Chief Engineer from the USS Discovery. He didn’t know what other officers would be left from the previous command, if any. It made logical sense that the previous captain would take every officer that he could with him to the next posting, just like he did.
                The four officers stood as he walked into the small side room. So only one remained, he thought to himself.  As he made his way to the head of the table, he took the opportunity to look over the new officer. He seemed to be human. Or one of the few races that have no external differences from humans. His uniform was the standard black and blue of the sciences division. He also had Lieutenant’s pips at his collar.
                “Welcome ladies and gentlemen. Have a seat and let’s get started.” Danic takes his seat.  “First order of business, I need to assign out the positions. R’shee, your my only tactical officer. As such, You will have to head up the Security and Tactical Departments as well as be my First Officer. Thon, as the only engineering officer, you will take command of engineering and operations. As for the science departments, I defer to you two, Nire and, uh, your name please?”
                “Lieutenant Sug Shaaliz, sir!” came his eager response.
                “You two tell me who is suited best for what. I know your credentials, Nire. What about you Lt. Shaaliz.”
                A frown crossed Lt. Shaaliz face. “I have been in command since Captain White’s departure two weeks ago. I was brought up from the medical staff as the highest ranking officer at the time.” He let the air gain some poignancy before continuing. “I had expected to either be confirmed at my post or be made First. “ He swallowed and said no more.
                Ah, emotions again. Danic feigned a sigh, to help relieve the man’s tension.  It didn't work. “Captain, I mean no disrespect. But the crew knows me. And they don’t know you.”
                “That’s enough, Lieutenant. It’s Tradition that the new ship’s Captain bring officers from his previous command to make up his new senior staff.  As Captain White took what officers with him that Starfleet allowed, so too did I. “
                “Now, Lieutenant R’shee has been by my side since I took over at my last command. I have come to value her insight into the crew and tactical situations. Lieutenant Nire and Lieutenant Thon D’vov both have been assigned to me as time went by. They came recommended by their previous Captains as deserving of the chance they received under my command. I had requested officers to fill gaps in my staff. You, according to Captain White, need that chance too. But you’re not quite ready for the rigors of his new command. I agreed to take you on as a member of my staff.  To give that chance to prove yourself and to get the experience you need. Do well, and you may captain a ship one day.”
                “So Lieutenant, you have to make a choice. Put aside your pride and learn from us. Or, you can hold onto your opinions and I will find another. Decide now, because I need officers to run this ship efficiently.” Danic steepled his fingers as he leaned back in his seat. He watches the emotions fleet across the betazoids face go from shock to realization, then to comprehension and then finally a decision.
                “As a, uh, Doctor…I think it best that I take charge of the medical department., if Lieutenant Nire doesn’t mind helping me. Assuming you will still have me, Captain. “ Lieutenant Shaaliz looked hopefully at Danic. Obviously worried his earlier transgression killed his chances at command.
                Danic looked at his quiet officers. R’shee smiled in her relaxed position watching it all play out. She had looked over the staff records before we took command. She had ‘advised’ him of this reaction. R’shee just lowered her Andorian antennae in acceptance of Sug.
                Danic looks to Nire. “I have no issue with this. The choice is yours.”  Danic has learned that this bookish Trill always picked her words with care to convey meaning but was said, what was not.  Nire neither said yes or no. She could not find justification to support either answer and therefore took no position at all.
                Danic looked at Thon. As calm as R’shee was, Thon was aggressive. But he did not have the skill to fit as well as her. And it took every bit of the Andorian male’s willpower to keep from interfering in this display of ambition. Thon was great with machines, but terrible with people. Makes him a great engineer but will hold him back from being captain. Thon’s distaste for Sug was clear in his scowl and bearing.
                “Very well, your provisional appointment as Chief Medical Officer will begin as of now. If you don’t work out, I will promote another more suitable candidate. Now, on to further business, Thon, I need you to access the ship and its stores. I want that report in 6 hours. Nire show Shaaliz what I expect for a report on the medical departments. And R’shee, draw up some schedules to test the battle readiness of the crew and this ship. We will reconvene in 6 hours here, any questions?”
                “No? Then you all know what to do, dismissed.”
He watched the relieved Sug head out the door followed closely by Nire. Thon stomped after them. R’shee lingered till the door closed and then turned to Danic.
                “I think he will toe the line.  Did you know that he is a Betazoid?”
                “No.”
                “Then you must bury your emotions real deep. I watched him and he had no hint of how you felt about him. Either that, or he is very unskilled.”
                “R’shee, I am a Vulcan. Of course my emotions are buried deep under logic.It is the Vulcan way, as you put it.”
                R’shee laughed and left.

                

LC3 Laughter Matters

                Red laughter focused her eyes on the warehouse. Her mechanical eyes auto-adjusted the lighting and zoomed to make seeing the details easier.  The team of LexCorp Security waited behind her as she assessed the situation.  Lex has forced her to take the normal with her. She wasn’t a team player, really. She liked doing things alone.
                “Alright, there are a couple of thugs out front. Surround the place and wait for my signal.”
                “What’s the signal?” asked the team lead.
                Red smiled and softly giggled. “I think you will know.” Red then suddenly grabs hold of the building they were hiding behind and climbed the wall without effort. The Security spread out in a military efficiency. She took a running leap at the edge, spread her arms and extended her gliding wings. She glides over top of the thugs and then folded her arms in. She dropped like a rock. She landed in a three point stance on a thug. The purple clad criminal was never going to get back up. Meanwhile the other thug was busy picking himself up from the shockwave.  Red laughed once again and swung her arms around to the guy, two beams of energy later and thug two was down.
                She stands up and saunters over to the door and knocks. And someone tried to stick their head out, but she pulled them the rest of the way out and down on the ground. A security guy stuck a gun to his head and he quit struggling. Smiling, Red walked into the warehouse looks around. The open area was filled with stolen LexCorp goods. The reason they had come was laid out before them.
                Red Laughter motioned for the team to split and encircle the inside space. Meanwhile she walked out into the middle of the space hoping to call out the rest of the gang. It seems that the three were the only ones here as no other opposition appeared.

                “I think we’re good. Call in the trucks.” Red leaps into the air, activates her gliding wings and her rocket booster and flies up to the rafters to watch the rest of the operations. The Teal Lead called in the trucks and the security loaded the stuff. A few looked at her in disgust. She just smiled back as she watches. Once loaded, they left. She climbs to the roof and leaps once more using her rockets and glider mode and flew back to LexCorp to give Lex the good news.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Science News and Views 4

Star Trek Online
     Season 8: The Sphere as arrived. And Man is it different from the usual fare. Lots of changes and a whole new way to play at max level. So lets go over the points one by one.
     Adventure Zone:  There is a space zones that you roam around and try to fight off Voth forces to control key strategic points. Gettting these points means fighting Voth forces, exploring the map and unlocking missions to complete to earn rewards. DO well enough and you unlock an Event that will give greater rewards if you complete it. There is no quest givers, you just go about and do what you want. No queueing up for anything. No grouping up for anything either. It's all about doing what you want and helping the other players that are there too. I have to say that this style of play is very fun, rewarding and probably will be my primary focus after Rep grinding is done.
    Rep System changes: Rep system has a new feature in that you can buy a token to double your alts rep gain. Also the new rep just takes EC. No more buying of X units Y item. Just Marks, Expertise and EC. This so streamlines the process that it's actually worth the effort to keep playing after you set up the rep mission because it completes in an hour so that you can just do it again. SO if you can be on for more than hour you can make great strides i your rep. These changes are good and I hope they get filtered to the existing reps.
     Battlegrounds: The ground version of the Adventure zone. You and two of your BOff's go roaming accross the maps trying to take control and win awards. Once you have taken enough of the maps an event triggers and you have a limited amount of time to complete it to earn the final reward and reset the map. Again it's just cool to roam around and do things your way at your pace with others present. I see a bright future for this style of content for STO in the future.
     New Queued evets: They are still making new PVE STF's missions to run. Again you and 5 others try to complete some mission objectives. You are rewarded on how well you did. Also very run so for.
     Spire Outpost Fleet Holding: Another thing for the Fleets to grind up and make pretty. Again new ships, gear and duty officers. I haven't checked my fleets out yet but the one they show online looks cool.
      Federation Tutorial Revamp: The revamp has you starting out in the acadamy with a 'best friend", much like the Romulan Tovan Khev BOFF. But supposedly this character can be dismissed unlike Tovan Khev.
      All this and new Ships, lock boxes and duty officers. Even some new Duty Officer Missions. All good things and building towards a very good game, I think.

      That's all I have for this segment. Enjoy and Have Fun!
    

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Fantasy News and Views 4

Blizzcon is over and lots of news came out with it. SO I am going to try to cover everything that I can. On to the blog....

World of Warcraft
     New expansion has been announced. Warlords of Draenor. And if you will recall, I said this was the expansion name last week. I also said that Garrosh was going to escape and bring back Fel Orcs to take down the Horde. Man, was I ever close. Garrosh escapes, goes back intime to keep the orcs from being corrupted and becoming Fel Orcs, and then organizing them to take out the Horde. Garrosh's calls his Horde the Iron Horde. So it's Iron Horde versus Horde. This story is still very Horde-centric and disappoints me. But the possibility of Draenai lore is a plus.
      I also have stated that they would heal Outlands and remake Draenor. Well, instead, they are doing the alternate timeline thing and taking use back to a Draenor that will never get destroyed. This avoids the redoing of the Outlands for leveling and gives us a way to expand regions in the future. All in all, I think this was a slick move.
     Once the expansion hits, you will get to make one character per account an instant Level 90. This is to get new players and returning players to catch up to the current expansion and reach towards the new max level. I like this in theory, but will see how it does in practice.
    Max level will be Level 100. I figured that was going to happen. But there will be no new powers as you level and a new talent at level 100. As you level you will get buffs to your abilities though. I think this is a good plan just to combat button bloat.
     All of the old races are getting updated Character Models. This has been sorely need for some time now. Though I don't like the idea that they are going to change all of the game sounds. There have been people that say the gunne sounds are bad. I like them. I transmog my weapon on Airholen to gunnes because I like the sounds and the animations that go with it. But this will be a positive change more than negative.
     No new races and classes. Fine with me. They need to make what they have now balanced well before they add to the mix. And I would rather they make all the classes a hybrid class than just some of them being just Pure DPS.
     Numbers Squish is happening. All Items are getting thier numbers massively reduced. Not only that, but Hit, Expertise, Dodge and Parry are being removed from Stats. And your Armour will automatically switch it's stats to meet your spec needs. I am worried that this maybe oversimpliflying things, but lets wait and see.
      Reforging is gone. Enchanments won't be applicable to all gear. Gems are getting limited to a max of one. Gems are getting buffed, but meta gems are getting removed. And no socket bonus'. This is in reaction to the Numbers Squish, but gold investment to level everything will get reduced severely. And I think that Jewelcrafters and Enchanters are going to get short changed on the money making end of this. I am leery of this change in general, though I don't mind the reforging going away.
      Garrisons, supposedly WOW's answer to player housing. It seems to me to be inline with how Star Trek Online does Duty Officers and Ships. Garrisons will have buildings that you will build and level up and that give you things. You also will get henchment that you can send of to compltete quest, carry out mission or do work in the garrison. Basically, you will be in charge of a fortress and the command the personel with in it. Which also means you have to do things to recruit them as well as occasionally have to go out and rescue them too. I think that this has the potential of being the coolest thing ever.
     Raiding gets a revamp. There will be LFR with Flex mechanics, Normal with Flex mechanics, Heroic with Flex Mechanics and Mythic (20 man only). They are renameing things. SO basically we get LFR, Normal (Old FLex), Heroic (Old Normal) and Mythic (Old Heroic). I think the changes are good and in the long run will make design the Raids easier. And allows Guilds of any size to build raid teams and not leave people behind. Mythic will be the only level that will have some people grumbling because all those 25 man teams will have to reduce to 20 man. This going to cause some Hard Core teams split or develope bad blood amongst it teams members as they get left out. It will be interesting to see how the Hard Core teams deal with this.

     Well, this blog is very long. But a lot of things happened at Blizzcon. And I didn't cover it all. I will save the rest for futrther posts because I want to learn more before I really comment on it. Enjoy and Have Fun!
      

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Weekly Charater Update

Airholen the Explorer
     Got one of my signets so far and picked up one more Rare kill. Four more to go. Airholen has picked up more gear that he shuffled off to various people. Otherwise, continuing to get timeless coins and Emporer Rep to get the mount. Not much else.

Asmodea
     Running around the Timeless Isle trying to deck the character completely in Timeless gear. Not doing anything else right now.

VAdm Zombee
     Still working on all the reps with him only. Have completed getting the gear from the special mission and now picking up the gear set for Jem'Hadar and Breen BOF's.

Grell, Danic and Sisteric
     All of these characters have completed all of the missions to get the Obelisk Carrier and the Special Weapon. Otherwise they are funneling everything into Zombee in preperation of the Rep changes in Season 8.

     This is all I did this week. Tune in tomorrow to hear my reaction to everything that went on at Blizzcon as related to WOW and Heartstone. Until then, Have Fun!

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Literary Challange 3

  Hi all, I hope that Blizzcon was fun for you who went. From what I saw online it looked like fun. So on to the post.

     LC 2 was about the characters favorite place to get away from it all.  I will be going over the three submitted stories. The first one was submitted two weeks ago so you will need to backtrack to it if you haven't read it or don't remember it.

    First up is Danic's Haven. VAdm Danic gets found by his first officer in his preferred meditation spot. Vulcan's have to meditate every so often to maintain their composure. And Danic finds a place and does what he can to keep it a secret. But Duty Calls and his First Officer has to get him. This story allowed me to introduce Derip, the first Officer, and the kind of personality he has. So even though the story is about Danic's hiding spot, it's really about Derip as a person. Hopefully the read is good and Derip is liked for who he is.

     Next was Hall of Laughter. This covers Red Laughter's hideout. But it goes more into what motivates her and why this place is such a retreat for her. Nothing new to note except maybe a few tidbits on her life before the "change". It was easier for me to write this story than the last one for her was.

     And last but not least is Quiet Time. Airholen is still on the farm relaxing. This is very short because I had covered this mostly in the first story. Nothing really new to add.

   So I hope you guys enjoyed those stories. Next Week's challenge is about Leadership. This will be to right about the character in a leadership role. For STO it should be about when they took command of a ship. Airholen will get a Guild Leader story, since he is a guild leader. And Red Laughter will probably get something to do with leading some of Lex's Minions on a mission. Not quite sure yet for her. But Leadership will show alot about a person character and personality. And how well they deal with stress. Hopefully this will show more insight into each of the characters personality and thought processes. And I hope you all will enjoy them.

   Until Tuesday, have fun!

Saturday, November 9, 2013

LC 2 Quiet Time

                Airholen walked out onto the porch of Sunsong Ranch. Breathing in the country air and stretching. This was the place for him to relax. Sitting down on the bottom step, he watched the animals go about their business. The chickens darted about, scratching at the dirt. The pigs wallow in the pond. The cat is stalking the chickens. The dog is barking at the yak that’s calmly chewing its cud.
                Pantera quietly strolled over to Airholen and lay down. Airholen absently strokes his soft fur as he takes in the scenery. Farmer Yoon had gifted this farm to him in repayment for the help to get him on the Tiller Council in Halfhill. Farmer Yoon also helped him with getting the farm up and growing vegetables. Airholen then uses those veggies to make various soups and dishes that he has learned from the Ironpaw family.

                “This is the life, Pantera. Enjoy, for we go to take on Garrosh soon. And there will not be time to rest during that campaign.” Airholen scratches his head one more time and leans back and looks up at the sky.

LC 2 Hall of Laughter

                Red Laughter danced along the dark corridor towards her secret retreat. The sound was hollow and metallic. She laughed at the sound. It reminded her of the day she woke up on the alien ship. The day that those little mechanical bugs remade her body into the cybernetic being she now is. The day she was reborn as Red Laughter. She laughed that day because crying seemed so pointless then. And now she can’t cry at all.
                At the end of the corridor is an unassuming door. The grey steel door opens into a large chamber. As she enters the chamber, lights start to glow at various intervals around the room. They light up an oval room that contains a bed, a refrigerator, and a lot of monitors hooked to several news feeds and internet websites. With a flick of her fingers the channels change and websites flicker.  There was one area in the room, an area of many tables, bookcases and displays. All of them containing some sort of mementos of past capers and operations.
                Red laughter skipped about her room. She loved being here in the low light. Since her transformation, she has not felt comfortable in the bright light of the sun where everyone can see her. See what she has become. She would rather stay to the shadows, in place out of people sight. Here in the dark she doesn’t have to face the fear and disgust that showed in faces of the normal that saw her.  She can be comfortable in her own skin. Or at least what was left of it. She can relax and be herself. She didn’t have to hold back and hide her new self. She was free here in the dark. Free to be herself.
                Those damned aliens took so much from her that she couldn’t be who she once was. She had to be someone new. She even had to change her name because it didn’t fit her anymore. She took the name Red Laughter because Lex kept telling her to stop laughing. It annoyed him. But he wanted aliens, all aliens, gone. Aliens did this to her, so she was inclined to agree with him. But the aliens leaving will not change who she has become, who she is now, and who she will have to be for the rest of her life. And here in the dark she can be herself with fear and loathing. She can laugh and relax without recrimination.

                Red Laughter calls her new home The Hall of Laughter. But she is the only one laughing in it. Alone. 

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Science News and Views 3

Star Trek Online:              So Season 8: The Sphere is being released on November 12th. The changes that will be present are good changes I think. There will be new Space and Ground adventure areas, New Rep, New changes to rep and a new fleet building. All of these things are cool. But the most important thing to me is the Rep changes.
                Rep will get a coin that you can buy at max tier in the rep. Then you give this coin to your Alts and it permanently doubles all rep grains for that alt. Also the new Rep doesn’t require you to purchase all these various pieces to add to the mission to gain the Rep points. In fact, the new rep only requires marks and EC to get it. And certain missions will get a certain token to do the high end mission. This is a great idea and hopefully they will apply it to all of the reps.


                Again, STO is the only Science Fiction game I played, so nothing else to add. Have fun and catch you later.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Fantasy News and Views 3

Warcraft:             Blizzcon is this weekend. Announcement is expected on what the next the next expansion will. Speculations are running amok as earlier this week is was discovered that “The Warlords of Draenor” was trademarked in US, UK, New Zealand and the EU. Draenor is the homeworld of the Orcs and the first world the Draenai settled after they ran from The Burning Legion, according to lore.  When the Legion caught up with them, the orcs were bent to the legions will and the Draenai finally tried to leave. The Blood Elves sabotaged their ship and the Draenai crashed on Azeroth. The Blood Legion also caused the planet Draenor to break up and become what we know as the Outlands. Basically, The Outlands is what‘s left of Draenor, the Orc homeworld.
                From this knowledge, and the fact that the Horde is run by Warlords and Warchiefs, the new trademark seems to imply that the next expansion will be about the Outlands and the Orcs. Possibly even Garrosh Hellscream escaping from his Pandaren punishment and finds and organizes the last of the Fel Orc tribes to retake the Horde.  Speculation aside, it is clear that this next expansion will be Horde-centric story line again based on the title alone, at least to me at this time.
                To this I feel sadden. The Horde receives so much attention from the expansions that I feel that Blizzard only has the Alliance in it so that the Horde has a reason to unify.  The Alliance keeps loosing battles and land to the Horde and even when they have a chance to regain that stolen property, the leadership chooses not to. In fact, more Alliance locations have suffered devastation by the Horde than the reverse.  If this is supposed to be two groups that can’t wipe the other out, then the Alliance needs to start taking back lost territory and win a few battles. They also need to have their story take the forefront just as often as the Hordes. If they could alternate the expansions between Horde, Alliance and outside threat, I bet that they could get more of a feel of a living world and make more people happy.

Hearthstone:     Blizzard has said that no new invites to Closed Beta will occur till after Blizzcon. Hopefully, the panels at Blizzcon will give us some Idea of a release date for this game. I enjoy it immensely and my two girls like watching me play. I want to set them up with their own account to play the game, but I won’t do that till it’s at least in open Beta.


                That is all of the fantasy based news I have for now. Hopefully this has been informative and helpful in some way. Until tomorrow, have fun!

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Weekly Character Update

Airholen The Explorer
      So over the past two weeks he has picked up the last of tier peices that he needs to get the four peice bonus. He has also finally killed the High Preist of Ordos and completed all of the LFR runs for SoO. He also picked up all of the BIS gear from the Raids and combined burdens with timeless tokens on all the other peices except the rings. I need to pick up both rings and two burdens to upgrade them. I now have only 5 more Rares to kill on Timeless Isle to get that acheivement. I also have gotten the Honored level with Shaohao and bought the trinket that teleports you back to the Isle. Airholen will continue to rep grind, try to kill the missing Rares, and collect coins to buy burdens for the day I finally get the signet tokens to get my rings.

VAdm Zombee
     I have completed the featured mission to get the new Obelisk Carrier. Working towards getting all of the Reps to 5 by Nov 12 but I don't think I will get there in time.

VAdm Danic
     They have opened up past featured runs so that you can pick of the special gear from those missions. I have picked up both the Breen and Reman BOFF as well as the Shard and the Ophidian Cane. Zombee got all of these when it was current. But the rest of my guys didn't get that option. Danic has also gotten the Obelisk Carrier. They are also awarding Lobi Crystals for running certain missions. I plan to continue doing this with all characters, but Danic has done the most with this.

VAdm Grell
     Grell has finally picked up the Breen BOFF, already had the Reman officer. He has also picked up the Obelisk Carrier. I will need to go back and rerun the featuered mission to pick up the other peice of unique gear so that they can be fully decked out.

     I haven't done anything else, but Sisteric is due to run the feature to get the Carrier and Asmodea needs to start getting more time since Airholen is nearly finished. Until next time, have fun and enjoy!

Monday, November 4, 2013

A Week of Pain and Fun

     So this past week has been 'Hell on Wheels' for me. I have been so busy that stopping to think was not on the agenda. I plan om catching up this week and proceeding forward from there.
     And it also means that I will have the rest of the stories done and posted this saturday. I don't want to say to much more or my regular posts will have nothing in them. So, for all those people who have patiently been waiting for me to to get back to this. I am back and will start the regular features tomorrow.
   Until then, have fun!