I’m not huge on sports, aside from hockey which is a given, but I do love the Olympics. This year is the 29th summer Olympics, and I watched (and am still watching) the opening ceremonies right now. Our Canadian athletes made their way across the stadium floor and it’s hard not to burst into cheers from my living room.

We qualified for 25/28 of the events, missing out on Volleyball, Handball, and Basketball. I was sad to hear about the basketball bit, though there are reasons behind it (like our main athlete not wanting to partake this year because he’s been so many times before, and is just so busy).

I loved the beauty of the ceremony. I loved what was done with the ‘footprint’ fireworks leading up to the building, it was great to watch and I got chills. All of the cultural aspects were well done as well.

It’s not the winter Olympics.. but for now it will do. Vancouver in 2010, see you there!

I wasn’t really in a gaming mood tonight - yes, I know, did hell freeze over (would be nice to get out of this heat that’s for sure). I spent the afternoon in EQ1 for the most part. My beastlord reached level 48, and the druid finally hit level 51. Actually she was 2% from 51 and died, but a kind cleric rez’d me for no charge and I wandered off for one more kill to ding 51. Very pleased with that progress. Afterward I headed to MPG (Muramite proving Grounds.. though I probably spelled that wrong) and exp’d some with an old friend of mine.

Anyhow, as I was saying. Tonight I wasn’t exactly in the mood to game, so I settled down for a few hours of DAZ Studio’s, which I’m still learning. There are two important things I need to learn how to do. Well, three I suppose. One would be applying textures. Another would be applying backgrounds, and the third would be lighting which I can’t seem to figure out for my life. Me and computers just simply do not get along. The 300 paged manual that comes with DAZ could probably help if I had any idea where to start. I’ll have to look up some other tutorials for it no doubt.

The screen shot above can be seen in far better quality (and size) here. Just click on the image if it doesn’t bring you to the full view right away. I still have no outfits to render for my characters, but the face shots are coming along nicely. I tried to frame this one after Stargrace in EQ2, who is a wood elf. It didn’t turn out too badly. Thinking of using one of these images I create to make a signature. We’ll see how that goes. I’d really like a dark elf texture, and I do have one but it’s not for V4.2 which means it’s not really going to work for me. I suppose I could colour it by hand in photoshop, but we’ll just have to see. Some times, it’s just nice to take a break.

The harbor of Khal is an amazing sight. Especially when people’s boats are all parked in various places along the docks (as pictured above). Last night I dipped into Vanguard for a short while with Gozad and Growlius. Not on mains this time though - for once we all played lowbies. I was on my 18 psionicist, Growlius his 22 disciple, and Gozad on his 22 necromancer.

We all got the diplomacy necklace we needed to work towards our mount, and headed to Qalia to work on hunter’s league quests. We did not have a tank, but things went fairly smooth anyhow.

Shoulders were first, and it was very little effort despite the more interesting pulls we had from time to time.

Psionicists work slightly different then enchanters in EQ1/EQ2 in that they can only mez one mob at a time (or at least, that’s all I can do right now at level 19) but we can also charm one mob, and AOE stun for 8 seconds. When we mez (I’ve mentioned this before) we actually phase the mob right out of exhistence - and in order for anyone to actually attack the mob again, we have another spell that phases them back in. That’s right, no more breaking mez - at all.

One of my favorite tactics is making sure I cast my duplicate spell (it taunts the mob and replicates it, but basically does 0 dmg) before I unphase it. That way when I do unphase, the mob is already attacking the duplicate of itself, and I have a chance to snare it and nuke it a few times before that breaks / wears off.

Psionicists also have a world wide channel attached to one of their spells, it’s called ‘mind’ and it’s great. When you have the buff on you’re auto joined to it. A handy tool to ask others questions you may have about your class.

After we’d completed the shoulder quest I decided to take a break for a bit - being exceptionally worn out after a fairly exciting day. Thanks to Tipa over at Westkarana, I’m now writing for Beckett Massive Online Gamer - about EverQuestII. A writing opportunity came up and she happened to mention my name. Wow how amazing is that? I have my first interview next week, and yes I’m very nervous. These newsstand magazines are actually printed and sold in multiple places, you may have heard of them before for their sports magazines. My first two articles (as long as everything goes well) should come out for the September issue.

I think I’m still stunned over that one.

Now for something completely different, from me at least. Aside from the mmo’s I play, I’m not really a video game person - unless you count the sims. I used to play Mario games with my mom when I lived at home, and when my dad had his radio station job, but that was long ago. I’m not fond of racing games, or shooting games, or even puzzle games. I dislike complicated games that make me remember 100 processes in order to get something to work.

I’d never played civilization before, any versions of it, but I’d heard good things from a few people, and so when it came out for ps3 last week I decided sure, why not. It cost a total of $5 since there was money on the EBGames card still. Can’t go wrong.

So far, I have to sheepishly admit - I’m loving it. There’s just something completely awesome about creating cities and destroying other people’s towns and building.. well, everything. I suppose it’s my love of all things sims that helps me enjoy this game. I don’t have any friends on my ps3 network, so if you’d like to add me, let me know!

Aside from that - today I got my hair cut. Not such a big deal, right? Well, it was almost to my waist, and now it’s above my shoulders (slightly). Big deal to me! Had to be done though, it was just too warm. It’ll grow back by the winter.

I also played around a lot tonight with DAZ which was a whole lot of fun. I’ve figured out just about everything I’d need it to do so far - except applying textures. I’ll work on that next. I also haven’t quite figured out lighting yet, but I hope to with time. It’s been a learning experience that’s for sure. As long as I keep up with it I figure I’ll buy a kit or two a month from DAZ studio, maybe get some new outfits to render. Eventually I’ll be able to tweek the images in Photoshop. The only downside is the bridge from DAZ to photoshop is a whooping $199 american. That’s right, if I want to be able to save / open my DAZ files in CS2 I need to shell out $200. Ouch. Still working on a way to fix that one.

On the EQ2 front, Kasul is back! Pleasure to have him around again too, he’s been missed. Leaving this a relatively short post tonight, and I’ll write about the EQ2 adventures tomorrow.

Went to the museum today, took lots of pictures. Took lots more crappy pictures which I’m not about to post. That’s the joys of photography, you take hundreds of pictures looking for the right “one” that captures exactly what it is you’re trying to show. Anyhow, the museum was amazing. They’ve added things since I last went. A lot of things. Of course, it’s been 8 years since I’ve been. My graduation (prom) was at this museum way back in 1999. One of their most popular features now, is a replica of some smaller towns across Canada as they progress to ‘city’ status. The image above is an apothecary of sorts. More pictures I took at the museum can be found here.

For a Monday, it was packed. There were a few schools doing the tour bit, as well as some older groups. Someone else’ prom was being set up there also in the huge open space just before the aboriginal display which is why I brought it up to begin with. Still had a great time though, and wandering through history is just one of those things I adore doing.

There was a special Greece display there, and a warriors helm in a glass case. The concept that one day a warrior actually wore that helm for battle or what ever, and now we stare at it in awe, is just mind boggling to me. Who knows what may end up in museums of the future.

I’d never been to one of these medieval festivals before. I know quite a few people who have. I’ve never seen one around the Ottawa area before though. It was pure luck that I even heard about this one. It took place at Upper Canada Village, which is a historic park that depicts life in the 1800’s with walking tours through old houses and schools. It was their first time putting on the festival, and I hope they considered it a success, because I certainly did.

I got there far too early, was my only issue. Shows repeated themselves throughout the day and by the time 5pm rolled around with the banquette not even beginning until 7, I’d seen some shows three times and was tired of sitting on the grass. I wasn’t feeling the greatest at all, so I headed home early, missing that portion of the event. It was still fantastic though.

People came in costume, which I will next year. There was jousting and “Knight Richard” actually got hurt quite badly, being tossed from his horse twice, and stepped on once. Scary stuff.

There were magic trick shows, sword fighting, buskers walking along the fair grounds (there was even one family carting a bin of GIANT pickles around, that they’d sell to you on sticks. They were by far the best food at the event and big sellers). There were belly dancers (who also gave lessons, and contrary to popular belief, belly dancers have BIG bellies, not slim tiny little things. She was very beautiful).

There was also a bird of prey show, with Canadian birds mostly. Red Tailed Hawks, and Great Horned Owls. They took to the skies and flew around the crowd as the falconer explained about each bird. Great show. The royals were also there, King, Queen, and their entourage. They watched the jousting from thrones situated a little ways from the event.

For some reason even Jack Sparrow was there - and let me tell you this gentleman did not only LOOK like the Captain, he sounded like him, almost exactly. He swaggered around the park telling kids they should take extra peanuts from the bowl he carried with him. Very exciting stuff.

I took over 100 pictures while I was there, and it was just simply an amazing time. You can find 40 more of the pictures if you’re interested, here.

Hopefully it runs again next year. They’ll have learned some stuff about what people want to see, what sold well, the grounds themselves and staging could have been set up slightly better. It was difficult to catch all of the acts because unless you memorized the schedule, you had no idea what was going on or where that particular show was going on. The weather stayed relatively nice, and I now closely resemble a lobster - at least in colour. Even though I brought sun screen with me apparently it was not quite strong enough. My face and shoulder where I walked with the camera bag are a brilliant shade of red. Ah well the price we pay for a day of entertainment!

“Katta Castrum was built to house the sickened leader of the Combine Loyalists, Tsaph Katta. It was once above water and connected to several areas housing Norrath’s endangered races, the Shissar, Sphinx, and Kedge. Experiments on the Kedge triggered the wrath of the Ocean Lord, Prexus, who sunk the city into the ocean. While it sunk, the magic of a great artifact was used to protect the city and bring air to it.

Homes were built for the endangered races, but over the years those races began to see the Loyalists as jailors. This is especially true for the Shissar, who broke through to Katta Castrum and began to destroy it. The Loyalists have defended the central part of the city, but fear they may lose it all soon. Not only the Shissar threaten them, but the artifact in their city has begun to weaken, allowing water to seep through their barrier of protection…” - Allakhazam

Yesterday it was time for a good ‘ol EQ1 experience grind. Which meant looking for a group, buffing up, and sitting at a camp for hours on end. Katta Castrum (which I had never been to) was the destination, and the Green House was the camp. In the hours I was there (boxing Ellithia and Kameeko) Ellithia hit level 70 (finally!) and 7aa, and Kameeko hit 69, and also managed to get herself a few aa. We weren’t here for loot (thank goodness, because I think all that dropped was one piece of chain defiant) but the experience was steady, and we managed to do a few quests involving faction (which can later be used to get gear, or so I’m told).

It was nice to go to a zone I’d never even heard of before. Out of all the screen shots available I probably picked the poorest one to actually take, but my mind was elsewhere.

Where exactly? Ah, on the Medieval Festival tomorrow of course! I’m feeling slightly under the weather, and so have decided tonight to do the right thing, go to bed early, relax, make sure I’m all packed up and ready. Tomorrow it’s supposed to rain (60% chance) but I’m hoping for some reason the clouds decide to avoid the festival. I’m most eager about the birds of prey show, and the King’s Banquette with the entertainment to follow. I should get there around 1pm or so, and be staying until midnight. It’s an hour drive there and back - but so worth it!

The only way it could be any more fun is if I were going with a bunch of my friends (who would undoubtedly get into so much trouble it would make me simply shake my head at them). Someone mentioned that I should organize a trip to Disney World for Nostalgians which actually didn’t sound like THAT bad of an idea. It comes in handy that my Mother is a travel agent. Something to ponder in the future. Perhaps not Disney World since I’m not exactly keen on that place, but some where else that’s not TOO extravagant a price.

More rambling once I get back from the festival, though it probably won’t be until Sunday.

I’d love to say I’ve finally settled down with one character, or even two character. Those who know me, know better though. I’ve constantly got alts on the go. I think the only game where I didn’t have a plethora of alts, was Vanguard where I limited myself to three, and EQ1, where I also only had three (a rogue, enchanter, and cleric. Sitting at level 72 last I checked). So it really came as no surprise last night when I brought up making alts to Zokor and Gozad.

Safe Haven’s “official” branch is on the Uther server, which is a PvE server. They have both an alliance guild and a horde guild. So we decided to make alliance characters there, since we already had horde on our PvP server of Ravenholdt. I wanted to be able to give Zokor a break from tanking some times, as I’m sure he can tired of it. Anyone can tired of anything if they play it enough I’m sure. I only know one person who has never had an alt in all the time he’s gamed and that would be my other half who plays a Shadowknight in EQ2, and has since release. A monk in EQ1 before that. A paladin in WoW when he dips in for maybe an hour or two a year. In any case, Zokor jumped at the chance, and thus our Uther characters were formed. A warrior (me), mage (Zokor), and hunter (Gozad). We didn’t play much, managed to get to level 6 before calling it a night. The lands were pretty though, and it was a nice change from playing horde. I miss having bags of a proper size, that’s for sure, and by ‘proper’ I mean.. well, even 8 slot bags would do. I’m pretty sure in every game I’ve ever played, the bag size is never quite enough. Especially not for beginner players. Not for pack rats either. I have items I don’t even know what to do with any more. That’s a whole other story though…

The whole ‘less game more life’ has been going great so far. It’s been very odd going from 17+ hours of gaming to 2-3. I’ve found myself with a whole lot of free time, but with great friends am managing to find plenty to do between writing, reading, artwork, going out. I’m glad I stuck with a ‘casual’ game, and I live vicariously through the Shadowknight on EQ2 as he does his Veeshan’s Peek raids (among others) nightly. With my birthday just around the corner I was going to ask for a new hard drive and video card, but I’m finding myself without a real reason to get them (quite yet, until WAR comes out). My trusty 7600 will do until then. My mom just upgraded her machine, and has been eagerly telling me about how well it runs now *chuckles* gotta love family.

This weekend, between that real life stuff we all have, Unsafe Haven (the Ravenholdt branch) headed to a few instances, and wow did we have fun. Zokor had a paladin quest at level 20 that sent him to a few instances (Ragefire Chasm, Shadowfang Keep, and outside of that instance in Ashenvale that I can’t quite remember the name of right now) and we pinged those off easily enough. We only went far enough to get his update, and then moved on to the next area. By the end of it he had a shiny new polearm. I decided to get rid of my level 20 warlock, since I really wasn’t enjoying her, and started up a troll warrior. Why warrior? Well some times it’s nice to have a break from the general ‘mains’ that we’re all playing, and no doubt the tank would like to do something other then tanking some times. I wanted a little character to do that with.

Surprisingly enough Mayadhros from Vanguard came to say hello in World of Warcraft! It was a pleasant surprise when he joined the guild as his 25 rogue Skeletorn (yes, before you even ask, he is Forsaken). Since Gozad, Zokor, Skeletorn, and myself were all around last night we decided to do a full run of Shadowfang keep, which went off pretty well (aside from one mishap where Gozad’s pet decided to run ramped and train everyone — everyone except me) and everyone walked away with some experience, quest updates, and new gear. We had a lot of blues drop which was nice to see, and everyone got a level or two (even with reduced experience as I was there with my level 33). As people gain more levels that gap between experience will lesson, and I’m looking forward to it. If there’s anyone else out there who wants to join the (very small) group, please feel free! It’s never too late.

I decided to drop enchanting too, I know it’s a wonderful craft and very handy, but I just didn’t want to spend so much of my time disenchanting items in order to get mats. I figured I’d switch over to engineering. Is that a mistake? Should I just tough it out with enchanting? Tailoring is my other craft, though I’m only slightly into silk right now. World of Warcraft crafting is.. well, it’s all auto combines that never fail so long as you have the materials (at least, so far for me it is. Maybe this changes later on, I’m not quite sure). I don’t mind it though, it adds to the whole ‘casual’ thing that I have going on.

I’m sitting at 120gold or so now, and contemplating donating 100 of that towards the first tab of the guild bank. We don’t exactly NEED a guild bank, but it would be nice. Not sure, I’ll have to keep pondering it.

P.S. For more information about my plight with the pigeons, be sure to jump on over to this post here… it’s been interesting to say the least.

A few changes happened over the last little while, some drastic (I suppose) and some not so drastic. First and foremost, I’ve switched games, again. I took a good long look at life (or lack there of) and decided to cut down my play time by a significant amount. Just because I have a house-wife life style doesn’t mean I should be dedicating a larger then normal portion of it to gaming, which was what I was quickly doing. While I am proud that my husband is able to support both of us while I take care of the home (no children to devote my time to remember) there’s still got to be ‘more’ to life. Not that ALL my time was spent gaming, but a good potion. Hopefully my readers are not too judgmental on me in that regard. Anyhow. So less play time (to me) meant that I wanted a game that took significantly less effort. I didn’t want something I could be drawn into for hours on end. Something less complex. Of course what else did that leave me with besides World of Warcraft (hah, I don’t mean for that to sound insulting, I’m aware that’s how it comes out though).

So yes, I’ve taken up residence in Azeroth (for now) as three characters on the Ravenholdt server. I have a 33 priest, 23 hunter, and 16 warlock. A few friends have decided to come play as well, for which I am eternally grateful. Growlius (who I played EQ2 as well as VG with), Zevad (from VG) and Gozad (also from VG) to name a few. If anyone else is interested in coming to play and maybe doing a few instances and what not, PLEASE feel free. I never intended on losing touch with people just because I’ve switched games (again). I’m on the horde side, and the server is a pvp / rp server. Alliance outnumbers (apparently) 3:1, but I’ve played here before and thus far am enjoying myself. I’ve got a far more limited play schedule then I was on before, which I am actually enjoying. You can typically find me in game on weekends (off and on) as well as from 7pm-10pm EST (or so) give or take a few hours here and there.

I admit, I’m one of those people waiting for the release of WAR (though honestly, I know nothing about it) just to see a new game. I’ve been slightly tired with what’s out there- I’ve been playing them for so long how could I not be.

Aside from the game stuff, I’ve started up a new blog, here. If you’re interested in reading more about me as a person and not so much me as a gamer, feel free. I’m not doing this for any particular reason other then my own personal venting mechanism. It’s therapeutic (so I’ve heard) to ramble on about boring things that no one except your family would be interested in. I’m keeping it seperate from this gaming blog because (though I know there are feeds) I’d rather not put people to sleep immediately (a good 10 seconds after reading is fine though). Some of my artwork and photography will also (hopefully) be displayed on there for people to check out. Maybe even some writing if I get brave enough, who knows.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, where ever they gamed.