Monday, February 21

Bored of beta shots yet?

Scarlet Gorge


Warm ups for rifting


Somewhere up there be a dungeon


Just before a spider pwned us


Water Rift


Death Rift


Life Rift


My what a big gun you have...


Moonshade Highlands, this place has environmental changes every ten minutes it seems, it's bright, then it's cloudy, then it's foggy. This is a brighter moment.


Abandoned tents in Scarwood Reach


Sums up how Stonefield felt to me


George got a little burned, poor lad.


Crafting district at Meridian, I spent a lot of time there.


The happy family: Vailare, George and John

38 comments:

  1. Gah text is a bit small, soz about that.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lovely pictures Geek!

    I remember that Dungeon approach in Scarlet Groge.
    Kettle fell of the scaffolding at top level, died. Rezzed at a spot where she'd first had to go down all the way before climbing back up again.

    Of course she tried speeding up her descent and died again...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Very lovely pictures indeed, Geek! I will never get bored with looking at gems like this.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The link to the new client download can be found here

    ReplyDelete
  5. I should mention it's only the patcher, I presume they are still flagging accounts, the accounts section on the site is currently down.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yeah, just the patcher. Too bad. I had hoped to let it download overnight. But the FAQ already said the same info should be available on the Trion account page, which doesn't show anything yet. Still a nice find, Geek! At least I have the patcher patched.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Download is working now :) the server list has been posted too, Argent is the RP server.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ooh, and after picking Europe for my playzone, the announcement in the patcher uses GMT times!

    Must be nicer for you people on that island as well :-)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Well, I got my client downloaded and installed.
    Had some problems with error 1034 which as far as I can tell occurs when you've got a firewall which only accepts connections initiated from your PC (like mine).
    I'm guessing the Trion server sends some kind of control request to your PC when a DL starts, which my PC doesn't allow as it's not recognized as part of a connection initiated from my PC, and when this times out the Server breaks up my download because it thinks my PC doesn't respond.
    Why do I think it's Trion's fault nad not my hard-/software? Because it's a common error to make while setting up managing multiple download connetcions. And frankly because I only have this problem with Trion at the moment.

    Cleint lets me log in and launch but then tells me I'm not authorized to play. Not surprising really. A shame that I forgot to store my settings files from Beta, so I'll have to tweak graphics and sound all over again. Not quite as much a pain as the tweaking of my UI's which are stored shard-side (not just server-side which is a pain already, but *shard*side) so you can't import them on toons on different servers.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hmmm. Let's use this thread for a bit of fixed group chatter as well. I'll start by adding my suggestions which are only that of course:

    - Mains & Alts:
    Since Ph138dre is the most likely limiting factor timewise I believe it's best if Geek and I both roll a Main outside the group and an alt for the group. Phè rolls a Main for the group (and can alt as well of course).
    - Group configuration:
    DPS: Geek as mage Chloroform (did I get that correct?)
    HEAL: Lani as Cleric (Naomi/Kettle)
    TANK: Phè as warrior (Rogue makes a semi-decent tank btw, well all classes do)
    I'm open for different configurations by the way.
    - Faction: Still open.
    Pro Vanguard:
    I'm kinda in favour of grouping on Vanguard as I can resurrect Kettle the cleric then :-)
    It'd also get Geeky Vanguard side and provide some variety for the both of us.
    Since both Geek and myself will have our Mains on Defiant side it might be practical for Phèdre to roll an Alt there, if only for communications sake as well as variety.
    Pro Defiant:
    An argument for rolling the group on Defiant side is that we'd be able to benefit from Vailare and Tuanne's steaming ahead in terms of itemization. Not that we're any of us true min/maxers but the bigger bags do help :-)

    - When to join up?
    Obviously a lot of the early content is designed to be solo, and while we can join up incidentally I suspect soloing will be the norm for the first ten levels or so. So what's the point to join up? My suggestion is to do so when it's time to hit the first Group Dungeon. Iron Tombs on Defiant side or the Fairy Plane Vanguard side.

    Ok, now it's your turn to come up with suggestions and telling me what important things I missed/stepped over.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ran home for lunch to see if I am patched and ready to go as well. And I am! The new client has a really nice intro movie that I had not seen before.

    As for sides I really don't mind. I will make a warrior on both just in case and post the names here so we can find each other. I have not decided on names yet :)

    Teaming might not make too much sense early on, but our group will definitely not shine in being server firsts. Your company means more to me than reaching new areas, or maximizing xp. Thus my suggestion would be to team up when we feel like it.

    Crafting and harvesting. Should we do something clever there so that we will be self sufficient. I haven't played around with it enough to have much of an opinion other than that I love crafting and will definitely try to make 'stuff'.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I'll give you some helpful hints about crafting, DO NOT rush to level it up, take your time and make sure to do the daily work orders, you are going to need those artisan tokens (rewards for work orders) for the better recipes. Leveling up your crafting will change the work orders and make previous ones inaccessible. Crafting isn't linked to character level but you have to deliver your goods to various quartermasters to get your rewards, these will be in areas above your level if you go too far too quickly.

    One of the first things I'll be doing is running to Meridian/Sanctum to start on the work orders and I'll be hording my tokens to spend on later level items. It won't matter too much about missing out on work orders for the first few levels but you really need to take advantage of them from about lvl 20. You'll be able to survive well on drops and crafted items from others via the AH until you decide to spend and get those nice recipes. Gaining faction will also get you better recipes from the various quartermasters if you go all out to gain their favour.

    Recipes are said to also drop from mobs in the dungeons, it was only introduced in the final beta but no reports of any dropping, I'm guessing it will be the lvl 50 dungeon runs that will drop them, remember that all dungeons can be accessed as level 50 versions once you get there.

    We'll see how much of a grind I can cope with when it comes to crafting, I did spend a hell of a lot of time making items only to runebreak them for rune mats, I maxed runebreaking out in the last beta and had some nice recipes (+12
    spell critial hit and +10 focus for two handed was my last blue recipe, very nice)

    I will be rolling two mages, one for Defiant and one for Vanguard (yeah we know it's really Guardian), one will be my last build - Necro/Warlock/Chloromancer and the other will be Chloromancer/?/?, the former is my pet tank/dps with a couple of heals build and the latter is more about support and damage. I do want to try at least one other class out, rogue sounds appealing..

    Defiant is the side I know the most about and I really enjoyed playing through it, I'm not that bothered about seeing the Vanguard side, we can access their dungeons anyway no problem. In a way it would be good to roll all our toons on one side simply for the ease of communication, shame that Vanguard and Defiant can't communicate. I'll go with whatever you two are happy doing as playing together will be worth it, we'll just have to organise more outside of the game if we split across factions and it will make random grouping harder.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Mike said
    havent got a clue what to roll into as always start with ranger, like loremaster in lotro so dont really know. name all as before.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Just don't forget we are rolling on an RP server, don't want a reccurence of AoC! Though I'm sure gangreen has RP value :)

    Honestly Mike the soul system is so flexible compared to nearly every game out there you'll find something you'll like in all classes, go take a look at the zam soul builder.

    And welcome to Yammob!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hey hey, welcome to Yammob.

    The soul system really is as versatile, if not more so as GW's professions and builds.

    One thing I thought to myself was that the Rift ROgue class is the closest I've come to a Ranger "as it should be".
    I.e. all the versatility of the GW ranger *AND* you can switch to melee weapons so you're not shoving your bow in a melee opponent's face but a blade :-)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Just getting back to Phè's crafting question.
    Harvesting is a mix between EQ-2/Vanguard and Age of Conan. You don't get attacked like in the latter, but the node locations are semi fixed. (same for collectible locations by the way)
    A node can be any of a set range of resources. In Freemarch any node could be anything, further zones had mining nodes in rocky area's and Foraging ones in area's with more flora. Butchering requires beasties.
    The final formn of harvesting is part of the runecrafting crafting. You demolish items for a chance at their parts. Harvesting is a one man, one node affair. Can't assist for a higher yield like in VG.

    I don't know by heart all the crafter class names (they're really skills, not classes) but you got Armorsmith / Outfitter / Weaponsmith / Alchemist / Runecrafter and there's some interdependency.

    You can pick up to three skills and have to make do with those. With Tuanne I enjoyed having all the harvesting classes and would plop down at every node as well as for every collectible.
    One smart thing we could try to do is start a guild and have our harvesters dump excess materials there for our crafters who can reciprocate with bags and other goodies.
    We can also try to match crafting "classes" but I suspect I won't go there myself. My experiences with tanning my butchered hides are such that I'd rather not do 'real' crafting in this game. It's about as exciting as AoC crafting, only without the horrible interface.

    Creating a guild requires a 5 man group if I recall correctly. Might be a full group of 6 though.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Nine hours to head start, I want to roll my main as Defiant to start with. Goal for tonight is just to enjoy, find as many collectibles as possible and get to Meridian and do my first work order, even if that means running there at level 5 :)

    Nice build Lani :)

    Oh as Lani knows there are cairns around the place as well as hidden treasures and puzzles, these provide the possibility of a good reward appropriate to your level, to my knowledge you can only use them once so I would resist opening them until later levels.

    ReplyDelete
  18. LOL got up early this morning to start 6.00am what a fool ,it starts tonignt? ,Do want to be a ranger but atm i dont mind rolling out something else to suit the group or will 2 rangers be ok?

    ReplyDelete
  19. Hopefully I will go Rogue, Bard, ranger, marksman. Cant wait hope to speak to u all tonight

    ReplyDelete
  20. I'll be rolling a Defiant cleric Lani on Argent as soon as I can get in (to reserve the name).
    Others:
    Tuanne the Defiant Rogue.
    Kettle the Guardian Cleric.
    Naomi the Defiant Cleric (in case Lani is taken immediately)
    Phedre want me to "reserve" your name for you if I can? :-)

    ReplyDelete
  21. On the cairns, afaik the rewards are zone related.
    You do get to use them only once per character yes. After that you get worn rocks or rags.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Thanks for the offer to reserve my name, but I intend to be there at 6 :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. I,ll be rolling a Defiant Rogue, Gangreen and Mage called Corruptus I hope, don't know about Guardian yet, doult if I will have enough time to do too many :(

    ReplyDelete
  24. Hmmm. "Gangreen" might be frowned upon on the RP server we'll be rolling at. Then again, it has a Malazan / Black Company ring to it, but not too many people are familiar with that style of names.

    Okies Phè, you get to pick your name :-)

    ReplyDelete
  25. how do u link a build from soul tree to here?
    Will try the name and see if no one got any objections?

    ReplyDelete
  26. At the top right of the tree calculator appear two links in blue when you got a build
    LOck this build (dunno what that does) and Link this build. You need the second

    ReplyDelete
  27. In as Vailare, Defiant side on Argent :)

    ReplyDelete
  28. Phedre made it through the Guardian noob zone, and is now standing under bridge.

    Sallie is still in the Defiant noob zone, but it is time to eat. Hopefully tomorrow morning I can get her out in the big bad world too.

    Both of them are riftblade/voidseeker. I'll see which one to play more :)

    ReplyDelete
  29. It was great to see Vailare and Tuanne online in the morning before work. Since everybody (myself included) is very indecisive on whether our team should be Guardian on Defiant I will stick Sallie on the Defiant side for the coming days. It would be a shame if we let the entire weekend slide without playing together!

    Now we just have to wait and see what Mike's Defiant ranger is called and we can start closing those damn rifts permanently! Or at least for a few minutes :-)

    ReplyDelete
  30. Just an FYI: /friend Sallie will add me to your friends list. You can see your friends list by pressing 'O', I believe.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Mike's ranger's called Gangreen

    ReplyDelete
  32. Ok, something else: Guild?

    I checked and I think I can confirm Geek's proposition that we don't need 5 people in a group to form a Guild. Someone (let's say Geek as he has that dry Brittish authority thing going for him) buys the thingy that you need to form a Guild. He then needs to invite 5 characters to the Guild (not the group if I'm correct) before the Guild is formed.

    If this is so, Geek can invite all of us tonight and I'll just have to switch between Tuanne and Lani to fill out the ranks.

    So...
    Name suggestions?

    Stever Erikson themed:
    - Bridgeburners
    - Bonehunters
    - Crimson Guard

    A twist of Rift to that:
    - Riftburners
    - Riftrunners
    - Bone Collectors

    As to which faction. Since everyone but Phè has active characters on Defiant side only so fat I'll go out on a limb and say that this side will be our defacto facto :-)

    P.s. Tuanne just bought herself a real mount. ANyone for a bowl of Tortoise soup?

    ReplyDelete
  33. I would love to be a bridgeburner! Riftburner and riftrunner not so much. Crimson Guard would be more suitable if we switch to the guardians.

    ReplyDelete
  34. In my dry British way I'll log in a minute and form the Bridgeburners then :) I've already visited Meridian and set my soul recall so it's easy enough to do and I should be able to pick up another work order while I'm at it :)

    ReplyDelete
  35. Hoppy, Harbinger of Regulos (and Vailare runnign around in a panic in the background)

    ReplyDelete
  36. There's a good introduction to crafting here

    ReplyDelete
  37. Salvaging : It used to be you wouldn't salvage anything of worth until later levels but they've added recipes for what where useless salvage items, these recipes provide temporary buff items (such as mount speed)and are available from regular trainers after you get about 60 in your profession.

    ReplyDelete