It’s a pretty exciting time to be a gamer. There are a whole lot of games and expansions all releasing around the same time. I don’t keep as up to date as I should on the non-mmo gaming front, so my list is probably a bit more sparse then some others out there. What am I looking forward to? Well, there’s the EQ expansion, Veil of Alaris that releases in November. I’m really excited about this expansion, it’s just beautiful. EQ2 is also putting out their ‘expansion’ (I use the term loosely) Age of Discovery. I’m a lot less excited about this update then I am about the EQ expansion. There’s not a lot of actual content coming with it, although with mercenary and a new class I will say that casual players should be pretty happy. I’m holding off on any other comments until I can actually get my feet into it because until then it’s just speculation. I’d be much happier if this was coming as a free update rather then a paid expansion. World of Warcraft has their 4.3 patch coming out (supposedly) some time in November, which I am also pretty excited about. I’m looking forward to new dungeons, new gear sets, and I’m really looking forward to appearance gear for once. I’m even looking forward to the raid finder tool, which I think will be fantastic for casual players who don’t have the time to devote to finding a raid guild – or those of us who are in tiny little 3-people guilds who haven’t been able to raid yet.

I did decide to sign up for a year of WoW in order to get Diablo 3 for free, along with the mount that will be released in 4.3. The game has enough casual aspects to it that I find it quite relaxing along with my adventuring in EVE Online. SWTOR release date is just around the corner, but not being a fan of sci-fi I haven’t pr-ordered and I’m not really sure if I’ll play. I know my other half will be picking up the game and I’ll probably just live vicariously through him and his adventures. Until the peer pressure becomes too great, of course.

Skyrim is one of those non-mmo games that are certainly on my radar, and I do plan on picking up once it releases. The game just looks beautiful and it’s been a while since I’ve played a single player. I don’t really think the sims 3 counts. Speaking of, I’ve been having loads of fun with their latest ‘pets’ expansion that released this month. It’s a great game when I’m not in the mood for anything multi-player.

So what are you most excited about? Perhaps nothing coming out tickles your fancy at all? Let me know in comments below!

Yesterday was the release of The Sims 3 Pets expansion, highly anticipated by all lovers of Sims and pets. I bought the digital version from EA, and downloaded it without any hassle at all via their Origin program. I even received two codes, one for a free “stuff” pack and another for some skins. For registering the game on the Sims 3 web site I also received some IAMS pet kits and some space-like pet beds. It was a good deal all around.

Believe it or not my biggest excitement didn’t come from any of the pet related things initially, but from the fact that EA had FINALLY fixed the photography bug. This broke with their latest ‘stuff’ addition, and rendered the skill useless. Photography plays quite a large role in the Sims, so having it back was important to me. Once I had gotten over that little excitement I decided it was time to adopt a new pet for my home.

Players have multiple methods of obtaining pets, which I really appreciate. You can adopt one from a shelter or find out if anyone in your neighbourhood has one up for adoption. The three basics are cats, dogs, and horses. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes and even ages. You can adopt an older dog with their traits already defined, or a young puppy. You can keep their given name, or choose to name them yourself. Each pet comes with a memory book of their life, and their first ‘memory’ is of being adopted by you, their wonderful owner. There’s a huge selection of interactions available for Sims to take advantage of and not only can you interact with the pet, but because technically they are a member of your family (much like a child would be) you (the player) can control the pet and decide what they are going to do. There are some really amusing options for both the pet and the owner. Your pet will also start to adapt to your actions, for example if you praise them for grooming themselves they may adopt the neatness trait. Right now my dog has the lazy trait, go figure. It means when I take him for a walk (such as in the screen shot above) he runs out of energy really quickly.

A bunch of new lots also came with this expansion, dog parks and places to ride your horse. Of course players also get all of the typical animal goodies, scratching posts, food dishes, and litter boxes as well as some fancier items. So far I’m having a lot of fun playing this expansion, I think it’s quite well done and really appeals to a large audience. I’m not sure if you can take your pet abroad yet, but if you can I think that will be a lot of fun. I don’t use any mods at all in the game and I haven’t come across any glitches since yesterday, but the forums had a few complaints such as spiral staircases not working. Hopefully EA is a bit quicker about updating their bug squash list now that the expansion is live, but I wouldn’t really hold my breath.

As always, happy gaming no matter where you find yourself!

Where does the time go – I started this blog back in 2006 and have been posting fairly frequently ever since. I’ve met some wonderful people and some not so wonderful people. I’ve shared my experiences with numerous games over that period and I’ve had fun writing ‘my way’ which is typically drama free (and results in less comments but is true to my nature). Back in 2006 EQ2 was my game of choice, and while my desire to play it has faded over time I always look at it with fond memories. These days I bounce between a handful of games, at the moment the list includes EQ1, Vanguard, League of Legends, World of Warcraft, Rift, and The Lord of the Rings Online, Sims 3, and whatever else happens to strike my fancy.

On the game ‘news’ front this week is pretty exciting. There were test patch notes released for 4.3 (World of Warcraft) and today 1.5 is going live in Rift which is bringing about all sorts of goodies. We’re counting down to the Sims 3 Pets release, and SW:TOR was also given a release date. I’m excited about Skyrim, which is supposed to release November 11th if all goes well. There’s a handful of other notable games releasing over the next few months that I’m sure have people pretty excited. It’s a great time to be a gamer (and a writer of said games).

I just want to thank everyone who continues to read this site, and any newcomers. While I write for myself (and always will) it’s incredibly heartwarming to know there are others out there reading about my adventures and sharing in my virtual travels. As always, happy gaming no matter where you find yourself. Hugs!

In an odd (for me) decision last night, I had no inclination to log into any MMO and so I decided to play my much neglected Sims 3 game. I own all of the expansions (the latest being Generations) and it’s a game I enjoy despite what personal opinions people may hold about it. Pictured above: my little Sim adventures to Paris, where she uncovers an ancient tomb and is sent to recover some treasures that belong to one Lucas. The tomb was fun, there were many hidden treasures and little nooks and crannies. It was a lot more involved then my previous adventures in Egypt and China, I wondered if there were some patches that caused this or if the adventure had always been ‘better’ then the other two locations. It was my first time adventuring to this location, and I’m looking forward to going back. The hidden treasure I had to recover was a baseball which I gladly returned. Maybe next time Lucas won’t leave his treasures buried under some ancient grounds. Weirdo.

I had almost a one gig patch waiting for me when I started up the game, and I noticed a lot of changes especially in the lifetime category, those little awards you can purchase for points that your Sim accumulates over time (and for completing life time objectives). There were a lot that seemed to boarder cheating in game like fast travel and clones. Those are nice options to have in the game without having to rely on mods, but not choices that I personally will take in my game play. The relaxed atmosphere of this game is something I’ve always come to appreciate (plus the creativity that comes with designing your own home of course). My sim is registered as a self-employed photographer and her life time wish is to own a magnificent gallery with pictures from all over the world. I have made little to no progress on this yet but I’m sure I’ll get there eventually. I had to sell her laptop just to be able to afford the trip to Paris to begin with.

It’s a long weekend here in Canada (and the US) and I hope everyone has a fantastic time. As always, happy gaming! No matter where you find yourself.

Since all of SOE has been shut down (going on day two) I’ve been spending some time in single player games, mostly the Sims. One of the sims expansions introduced professions, which are different then jobs in the way that they’re preformed. They include you controlling your sim for the work day, and I’ve been playing with one in particular, architecture. Basically families within your town will hire you to remodel their homes, either with a brand new addition or reworking a room. The homeowners give you a budget and a list of requirements (ie: they want a writing room and it must have 2 chairs 1 tv 1 desk 1 computer) and then it’s up to you to work that beautifully into their home. They take things into consideration at the end when they ‘judge’ you, like how much time you spent decorating it, whether the walls and floors were completed, whether or not the items placed are easily accessible.  If you do a good job you take a picture for your portfolio, and this helps you ‘level up’ in your given field. It’s not as easy as it sounds, either. I’ve remodeled three homes so far and two of them said I did a terrible job. Woops.

It’s not the easiest way to make money, but I’m having a lot of fun breaking away from the ‘typical’ sims job, which requires me to fast forward through countless hours of nothingness while my sim does her own thing. There are other professions as well, such as stylist, firefighter, and investigator. Each one has tasks and events your character will have to partake in to get paid.

Looking back over the years at the progression of the Sims franchise I’ve really been impressed with how far they’ve come. Sims 3 is some of their best work (imo) and I also enjoy browsing the store for new items to purchase for the game. I earned 2,000 free sims points by purchasing various expansions over the years and they’ve had so many sales that I’ve yet to actually spend any money in their market aside from picking up the expansions which I would have done anyhow for simply being a fan of these games. It’s easy to spend hours lost in little worlds that I create, and when my online games are unavailable, it’s a comfort to know that these single player games are not going anywhere.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!