I got word today that a good friend if mine has left Ddo. Maybe forever. Maybe not. I am not sure yet. But I do know that the two people that colored my play style and helped make me who I am in Ddo are both gone. Thanks and ❤ Precious and Crisis.

I am in shock I guess. When I meet them I would have thought that they would be rocking quests with me on the day the servers went down forever.

Crisis left a little after Turbine made the F2P move. He tried to last, but the glancing blow changes got to him. Add in a guildie laughing when he needed some support was the last straw. With out Ddo Crisis got in shape and was able to quit smoking. Last I talked to him, his life was good.

Precious, I am not sure the reason for his leaving but at least all he did was gift Tobril and I ownership of his F2P accounts. Meaning that he didn’t burn his bridges and salt the earth. But I don’t take advantage of my own F2P accounts like I should. How much lov can i give someone’s account?

Keeping up with these two is what gave me motivation to be better then I was. If you go back and play any Ddocast or CtH where I was on, at some point I will start on about being self reliant and effective. These traits came from playing with these two guys.

Anyway I just want to wish these guys all the best. They were good players and truly excellent friends. And if you guys are reading this, samiusgurobo on twitter and/or samius@ ddococktailhour.com.

Guess that goes for any of you that are in need of a Samius.

❤

I am at work post lunch and while I am getting things done my “give a crap” tank is sitting on empty.

How many of you know what I am talking about? That reserve of energy that you use to go the extra mile, be cheery and less of an ass. Yep I am kinda an ass when I am out of care today.

I am not sure why. Today is not any worse (or better) then any other day. But for some reason I just don’t want to. This is a dangerous place to be.

Not only do I end up approving projects I would normally hold back on until I can really explore the request. But in the game world I often find myself killing the training dummy all night. Because “nothing sounds fun”

Not sure how to refill the tank…. Ideas?

❤

Last night I promised the wife that I would help with some cove running.. I am mostly done with the cove but I have been running the same character over and over lately. Where she has been capping alts.

So once we had a mostly guild run going I swapped in to a caster and was given the task of scouting and burning. Running to the first group I walled and turtled up. And noticed I was taking a lot of damage. Look for a repair spell and ding. That was in the first 2 mins of the run.

Once raised I took a little few seconds to look over my setup. Fire wall is 3 repair 9 as it should be but my buffs and whatnot were in the old/old place. Then I remembered the last time I really played this guy was the first time cove was with us.

He went from 18 to cap running the cove and not a lot else… I even lucked sacked in to my torc while waiting for the cove to reopen last year. Since then, I think I might have done a DQ…maybe?

Lesson for the day, get a standard layout going for your alts. And/Or take the time once and a while to play some of your less loved alts.

I will say it was very embarrassing to have so many issues on one of my wiz/rogs. I used to be good at casting things…..

❤

Last night my shroom spores arrived. When I opened the package I was greeted with two little syringes full of what looked like water. That is not what I expected…. Then I looked a little closer and one said something like for microscope use only the other did not. WTF?

Looking around there was a little note saying, Sorry we had to do a swap but they will totally work. And our web site says we can do this. Let us know if there is a problem.

Well bloody hell….

Taking a closer look you can see super then cuts of mushrooms almost totally transparent. So I jumped on line and took a look at their site again and they also sell grow bags that are made to grow via injections.

After buying all the stuff I bought last night for the mushrooms to do it on the cheep I realized buying their grow bags for 30$ would have been cheaper in the short term.

So lets do the shopping list: (2 of everything more or less)

Totes, the ones I found were 11$. They didn’t have a good selection. Or I should say the only ones I found before checking out. As soon as I had payed and was walking out the wife walking next to me says “Would these have worked? They are 6$.”

/facepalm

Post Christmas this year when they are 3$ a tote I am buying a ton of them!

Speaking of the totes I drilled 5-8 small holes in each wall of the tote for some breathing room. Part of the shock price was picking up a new drill as my old one bit the dust a year ago….

Walking around the to pick up some Kleenex. I saw a smaller throw away baking pan. Like for a chicken vs a large turkey, think the idea is to make BBQ in the oven. They were about 2$. Think they will be great. I can put them into the oven for however long at a good hot temperature to sanitize them and the growing medium I got the other day.

The grow medium I am going to try is a small animal litter made from old news paper. It cost about 11$.

The plan is to divide the bedding, soak it with boiling water after I have sanitized the grow pans then put the pans into the oven at super low/off to get some of the water out as well as having a super clean area to work.

Once the beds are back to room temp I will injection the spores and enclose them in a tote. Stick the tote in dark, warm but not hot area and forget for a few weeks. I am hoping that after a few weeks about 6, I will be able to get my first bloom.

So for about 37$ + drill (I am going to lump the drill in here because I could have waited for another project to get a new drill) I am read to go. Tonight get everything going. Wish me luck!

❤

I am not real sure what to talk about today. This weekend was about half spent on trying to power level up Samius to 7 to catch up with Fopo. And I made it. I wanted to hit level 10 -11 so I would be with in striking distance of Tobril. But I didn’t get that far.

I have kept my streak running on elite. And I will tell you seeing some of the xp numbers in some of these quests make me sick.

12k for Proof is in the Poison, 11k for Ire Stone, 2k for Guard Duty? How shitty is the xp in 3 barrel cove? Very Shitty.

I think I will be banking xp starting now. I can hardly get all the quests done at level+2 before having to level up. Once the number of quests per level goes down, I can see a real problem of having to go back to do quests again on say hard, normal. But taking an xp hit on those repeats for being over level.

Not sure how to fix things. Maybe I try to do elites at level +1. Then at least I can do hard and normal with out penalties.

Also got up with the wife’s Arty. It is handy buffer to have around. Even at the low levels. And extra d6 can be the difference between one or two shotting a mob. And she seams to like it a lot.

Cove, wow. Does it feel borked to you? The kobolds don’t path well. Often stopping and turning around for no reason. Sometimes so badly you have to pull up torches to get them to move forward. And the maps seem to be harder to mine. The number of crystals feels about half there.

At least I can make some hats, fill up on my summon clickies and I don’t have to worry about building items. With any upgrade binding the item to character, they feel like a waste. Why would I burn a trinket for any of those items? I know someday I will want one of these cove items on some one, but as I don’t already have a plan. I’m not going to bother.

Well that is my weekend in a nut shell. Maybe tomorrow we can talk about how the shroom farming went as I should get the spores tonight.

❤

Last night I got to level Samius up some. After getting my anger set and my level 2 sword out of the bank I started leveling.

I went back to Korthos and started with the protect the cyrstal quest on elite. I want to try to keep an elite streak going as long as possible/practical. And I often have issues with this quest. One baddie gets by you and that rock is gone. But not this life.

Moved right along. Clearing out Korthos an elite. Once and done. I was level 2 almost right away. Which is nice. I find Korthos to be not very much xp for the time spent and sometimes I even have my son do the early quests so I don’t have to spend the time.

In the harbor I was worried that I might need to find a group. But thankfuly that fear was ungrounded. Information is key I all ways was able to run at first or second even on a melee wizard. It can be a skills test if you are under built. But if your right on it is not an issue.

Durk’s and B. Path was a lot harder with the lighting bolts flying, took 51 from one bolt and almost croaked. But as I have around 80 HP I was able to down a pot and run a round a corner and choke down a tasty ham. 🙂 Like there is a un-tasty part of a pig…

But hitting the boat/20 res shrines made my life a lot easier.

I did elite, normal, hard and done each quest until New ring leader. NRL is one of my favorite quests in the game. I like the option of bypassing parts of the quest if I am willing to give up some xp. I ended up running a few elites then a hard then normal. On normal I played a little looser with the Hps and went into the final fight with about 50 hps raged up. Bam! Bam! Also known as double crit and I was incapped. With about 20 secs left in my rage. Dang….

I ran the normal, and handing the game over to my son to run the hill’s explorer for me. I was a few thousand xp shy of 4 when I turned over the keys.

All in all I think the bravery bonus is a great thing for low level questing. It is a lot different for higher endgame level questing/raids. But very doable if your willing to put the groups together and lead them.

Any way I think at this rate I will be 10 ish by Monday. Think I will aim for 13 and be happy with what ever I end up getting.

Also I haven’t gotten any builds yet so, if you have one send it to me soon if you want me to try it. If not I might end up a 18/2 bard/fighter… That is too close to a “real” build for my liking.

❤

Just saw an ad via Ddocast’s Twitter feed about +3 tomes for sale in the ddo store.

Go a head see red. I will wait…..

I noticed last night that I would get some benefit from a +3 Str tome…. Will I run out and buy one right away? Ummmmm

Maybe. Guess like all things, it will come down to cost. If the price is right why not?

I know lots of players are worried about power creep. And Turbine going back on their word. I don’t think they have yet. But they are walking a fine line, that could go bad at anytime…

But I know people will complain on the forums. And I will be good and not say anything, good or bad on the subject. At not anything you didn’t read or see here.

❤

A shroud, and some quick kills in the battle field capped out Javabot. Finally! If I didn’t finish last night I would be hosed. As it is I might be hosed anyway. By hosed I mean for getting Samius to a cove level by this weekend. In less then an hour after Java was capped Sam was a level one barb.

I didn’t get to do a lot with him, first the wife wanted to cove. And she meant right then! No amount of logic of wait an hour until the channel fills worked, nope right now. So I spent an hour with her getting 100 or so greenies a run.

What is up with the kobolds? More then half the time now they turn around and head back to the start for what appearers to be no reason. I had to pull up torches many times to force koblods down….

Any way, after a bit she loges to watch a show. And I get some Samius time in. I have just started to pull gear out of the banks. And the channel fills. Everyone wants to cove. So fine. I switch back and we get going.

One not great run later and it is late. I epic a few things and log.

Tonight I want get to level 4 on Samius. That shouldn’t be an issue. Depending on how many quests I can run on elite first to keep the Bravery bonus ticking. At 2 my big boy weapon comes online icy burst/holy great sword. Until then dps will suck.

I decided against a TWF barb build. I couldn’t get the stats to work out how I wanted. So tanking dex let me do stats I thought were better.

I don’t have a clear plan. I am making it up as I go along here. If you have a good barb build I could morph into send me the highlights. I had planed on a 12/6/2 barb/rngr/fghr for the TWF. But now…

Anyway, I got a lot of things going on in my personal life atm. Some job hunting and whatnot. So keep me in your thoughts please.

❤

Welcome to the fail train. Let me take you for a little ride. If you look to the left there is a story of a Tod wipe. And to the right a Tod that was saved by the healers and their willingness to drink a few pots.

Oh sorry, hope all the color above didn’t scare you off. I want to mix things up a bit. Add some flare. Shout “Bamm” as I add some unneeded spices and have you all clap for me. Okay to the stories.

Firstly Java is 50K from cap and I would like to get some Xp from Tod as it is like 25K first time on normal and only gets better. I tell Tobril that we are Toding tonight and to get in the mind set of maybe having to lead it. After I solo a few quests and decide to get Samius ready to TR. If I am going to take good advantage of the xp bonus around the corner, I need to get a few levels before it kicks in. And I am handling some inventory issues, when Tobril says Tod up and gives the leader’s name and asks if I want a spot saved. Of course! And swap.

First thing I hear is a lot of talk about who will tank sully? If I was caped I would step up and do it. Yes, as the “healer”. Java hits for solid damage numbers and has lots of hate. But until cap and get my epic gear set I don’t want to try to tank. I have about 100 hp waiting for me at level 20 pushing me well over 600 maybe touching 700 if I push it. And if I don’t have to heal/cast I think I can push 850. 😉

So anyway lots of talk happens. Parts 1 and 2 go fairly smooth except the leader (the other “healer”) dies after part one from getting stuck in the lava. Okay….

Part 3 I am assigned the group, so I can help kill Sully. Things go poorly right away as the tank dies and we play who’s the tank. We finally get things stable, Tobril ends up as the tank. And I know he and I are on the same wave length. I ask the other healer if he has it long enough for me to res/heal every one up and the group agrees that the Sully tank will just kite and every one will stay on Horoth and we will just complete. But you know what, When Sully dropped more then half of the group went after Shim. And as I was healing at the time, the leader/healer had run dry and was having issues landing heals, or so he claimed. And they started dieing. At one point I am massing the group over by Sully while yelling to get on Horoth and Tobril eats it. Guess it is another time the leader’s heals are not going off. A that point we have to games of Who’s the Tank going on and someone says DD time. The sorc and bard are dead. Royal guard mask for the win.

30 to 40 mins later Tobril and I are flagging for the new raids and he sees another Tod up. This time with names he remembers. I take a look and questioned at least 5 names, with two standouts over and above that even. But I want that XP. So we go, he on his FvS me on Java and we go.

Part one, fairly smooth. There is a death or two in part one when people don’t watch their curses.

Part two was a near hit. I was watching party chat fairly close, and our one and only arcane was new to the quest. But he thought he could kite. So Tobril and I decided that he would back up kite. And as things started I saw that there was no area effects on the stairs or near by as the shadows started to come up the stairs. I called out to Tobril who responded as quick as he could but we still had 2-4 shadows on the group. And even massing like crazy I couldn’t keep up with the damage alone. Tobril and the caster and one or two others that took off and handled their own heals lived. After a few passes by Tobril I got a rez and started to rez/heal the group. Once they gave up trying to pull via ranged, one by one they tried to pull agro by stepping out into the train of mobs. Normally with no warning to me and got ran over and died.

I drank 3 pots and used all of my Sp regen items. But some one managed to get agro once we got it. The boss went down in quick order.

Part 3 we had a lot of that one guy dieing over and over. Until I finally yelled to keep him down. I got an agreed and a few other less clean responses from the party. But once we started to leave the 2-3 trouble makers dead the fight went a lot easier. And if you want to know yes, both people I said were trouble were left dead at the end.

There were a few things said after the last trouble maker died extending the fight yet again. But I replied with “All the more rings for me!” And pulled my Encrusted, first run this life. Not quite worth it but close.

I ended up drinking a pot for the end fight and user at least 100 scrolls. So 5is pots all of my Sp regen items the last 2 charges from the med shard turn in for two more pots over 2 runs for 25K xp and one of the rings I wanted for my build. I will take it.

❤

Time for my “The End is Here” post for maybe the week. Maybe not. Time will tell. But I just read an article on networkworld.com via slashdot.org about solar activity going to be acting up for the next few days.

“NASA today said a strong-to-severe geomagnetic storm is in progress following a massive solar flare and coronal mass ejection (CME).   CMEs are a solar phenomenon that can send solar particles into space and affect electronic systems in satellites and on Earth.  Simulations indicate that solar wind plasma has penetrated close to geosynchronous orbit starting at 9am today. Geosynchronous satellites could therefore be directly exposed to solar wind plasma and magnetic fields. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras after nightfall, NASA stated.”

If you read the hole thing it basically says we might have some flareups over the next week do to this storm. It has already thrown some X-flares a 1.4 and a 1.9. X-flares are the biggest baddest kind of solar flare, with the number rating being a lot like the intensify/strength of the flare. If you were to think Rictor scale for earth quake it is 1-10, for flares it is A, B, C, D, M, X and then values for more intensify. The biggest one that I know of was a X28. So in the not earth shattering. But that one didn’t hit us directly.

Thankfully these haven’t either, but these will mess up satellites a bit and cause some cool light shows.

But the storm is heading this way and we could take a hit or two over the next few days. Be ready.

I also want to point out something that happened last week I think… A guy doing totally normal maintenance work in a power relay station caused a minor short and knocked out power for 3 US states and some parts of Mexico. I guess it took a day or so to get the power back up and running for everyone and just 4-5 hours for most people. And if not for “safe” guards that did trip it would have been much worse.

Sure that is not a major emergency except it was 115 and 4pm. So no power for cooking dinner.

Are you ready for a night with out power? I could do a night or two. I have some books and can cook out side. But after that, Ddo shakes will fire up, the cell phone will die and then what?

Have a plan, that is all I am saying.

❤