As you might have read in my postings here I am at the moment kind of confused about what I want and don't want. To satisfy my own conflicting opinions I just had to step on Telon's soil again. An added motivation was an email from an old VG friend. He wanted to hear how I was doing, and to give me some lovely stories about continuing drama in-game.
So I installed the game, did the patching, and created a new character to visit the new starting zone called 'Isle of Dawn'. I played a bit with the settings and after a while everything looked smooth and quick, even on the highest settings. I was quite pleased! Then I went to talk to the welcoming NPC and found out that all was not so well at all. I had several second delays on everything I clicked. And so ended my first day.
It turned out they had just added a new patch that had added fishing to the game, and that broke everything. But a new patch was on its way. Since I was not even that excited to play anyway I let it rest for a few days and went back to working hard and playing a bit of COH. Then to my big surprise and joy Lani popped up in COH. Woohoo, COH would no longer be just a timesink, but actually great fun. Lateral Shift would be able to flash her blades again.
(woot! I got to use one of Lani's screenshots)
But thanks to Lani's wonderful work schedule there are still quite a lot of days we are not causing mayhem and destruction together on the Rogue Isles. So when the patch came out, and I did some reading on the official forums on performance issues, I returned to Telon and tweaked the game to perform properly. I got it all to look good pretty sweet and still have the game respond as it should. Woohoo, I killed my first ten rats. And so ended my second day.
I had made the mistake to make my new character the same class as my original character. I guess I really wanted a seen-it-all, done-it-all feeling that day. So next time I logged in I created a new alt already. I believe it is a Kojani human Dreadknight. And this time I wanted to taste the true Vanguard spirit and give my character its true roots by starting in its traditional home in stead of the noob island (pretty neat you actually choose that as start up). And that actually worked really well. I got sucked into the lore of the Evil Empire vs the wise monks, and had a fun time remembering some of the old, and trying some of the new (for me). And so ended my third day.
Probably another week went by before I had a change to return to Telon again. And I realized I should really try out the new starting area I heard so much good about. I managed to think up a decent enough character background that didn't need her to start in her hometown. And so Peapod was born, a tiny unappreciated girl that just tries to survive in a harsh harsh world. After killing those first ten rats again the adventuring story got actually quite fun. The landscapes, the characters, even the global chat, got me quite positive. I still had that 'why-am-I-here?' feeling, but I had secretly quite some fun. I didn't even like logging off at the end of the day. And so ended my fourth day.
A few days later I got back online again and I was eager to see where Peapod's story was going next. The adventuring story took me to fight Hobgoblins in burned villages, and even into a cave called the Earth's Den. They had done a good job making enthralling quests. I was getting really enthousiatic now. So enthousiastic even that I emailed the picture of a peapod to my old VG friend to confuse him, and to say I might be around (although I didn't say that). And so ended my fifth day.
Saturday morning I was back again, and Peapod took up her crafting and diplomacy skills. I am still not sure I really like the diplomacy game. It is very original, and it has great story telling behind it, but I don't know... On the other hand crafting is still a lot of fun. I had kind of forgotten how much fun I had with it. The adventuring quests already had a good story behind it, but the crafting quests are even better. It really sucked you into the struggles of the people of the island, and I really had great fun running around doing the chores. Since I am now already a 10 hour veteran of the game I actually managed to help out other new players and join in on some fun conversations on the island channel. And I chatted a bit with some old (and new) friends that were also online. I even got offered to join their guild, but I am not sure yet. And so ended my sixth day.
Apparently Summertime has started in the States this weekend. I had no idea. But it meant I messed up my weekly Sunday gathering in COV, and we only played for a little bit. Since the evening was still young I jumped at the oppurtunity to go back to the Isle of Dawn. Peapod is becoming a real character to me. Stalking the hobgoblins, convincing envoys, crafting traps and armor, and even harvesting turtles and chasing chickens. I think, for a while at least, I have found a new second home. Now just hoping my 'seen-it-all, what-am-I-doing-here' feeling stays away for a while. And so ended my seventh day. I can rest now.
And I got a lovely screenshot folder thingy! Here is my first new screenie.
Guess I won't be needing to write that "My secret visit to Telon" post tomorrow after all.
ReplyDeleteThe last thing I suspect to happen upon logging on with Kettle
A helmet and a tell from an old friend.