October Goals Review

This post is a part of #IntPiPoMo 2016. You can find more information and sign up to participate here.

I cut down on my gaming goals list fairly extensively for October.

Feyd, Ender, and Try helped me get attuned for Kara, too!

WildStar

• Purchase Service Tokens
• Re-rune DPS set
• Buy new unlocked tank gear
• Re-rune tank set
• Keep pimping Lifestyles of Nexus V for folks to sign up!
• Make plans for guild/alliance Shade's Eve Shindig (Never did.)
• Put up the last Yardcore I recorded ages ago

WoW

• Complete the Stormheim storylines
• Unlock Suramar world quests
• Get Archaeology to 100
• Get Fishing to 300
• Get Cooking to 600
• Get First Aid to 400
• Get Blacksmithing to 775
• Get Mining to 750

Other

• Finish Asagiri's route in Men of Yoshiwara: Ohgiya
• Finish one of the routes in Sweet Fuse

Thoughts

Life has been hectic in ways that I didn't even plan for it to be, both emotionally and with work. I still got a decent amount of things finished, all things considered, though.

WildStar stuff that isn't related to the community-at-large, or Wildcast (which I suppose is the community-at-large) have taken a bit of a wayside to everything else. Not that it's a bad thing, but I do feel kind of bad about it. I've been doing a lot of stuff related to WildStar, just most of it outside of the game, which is a weird contrast.

I finally finished out Stormheim, which I think is my least favorite out of all the zones in the Broken Isles. Which stinks, even as a Warrior. I think that might be why it was my least favorite. That you've done all this Warrior stuff, and it doesn't seem to mesh with Stormheim well. I've been trying to work my way through more of Suramar, and have slowly gotten through it (I think I hate it more than Stormheim), so I've unlocked more quests, but I really need to just finish the stupid zone.

I got farther in professions than I thought I would. I'm stuck at 765 Blacksmithing, and all of my patterns are grey. So that stinks. Archaeology feels more grindy than I remember, granted, I never got it very high on Chestnut, so that's something to aim towards on Naught. Fishing is something I've been doing to kill time, plus I really want the Legendary fishing pole! First aid is getting there, slowly. I'm hoping as I get a higher level skill that my bandages will heal for more. I've hit a rut in mining, as well. Both of my Leystone and Felstone nodes are stuck at 1 star, despite lots of farming for the quest items. I really love professions, but WoW has really screwed the pooch with them, this expansion.

As for my otomes, I haven't really gotten much done in either of them with work. I usually play them on my lunch breaks, but October didn't leave me with many of those that weren't thirty minute "hurry up and eat" breaks.

It's Chestnut!

I've been going through a tough time in real life due to some things. It's been affecting everything—my gaming, my blogging, my ability to adult. It's why even though I have all these draft posts I've only barely made it through posting gaming goals, recently.

I finally word vomited about it to some folks because I just couldn't hold it in anymore, and one of those folks made me a pic of my WildStar character just because.

Artwork by Deep Triviality (Patreon Page)

Doesn't it look just like my main?

And she does have green eyes, I just don't have a screenshot of that surprisingly.

I've always been a proponent of the fact that online friends are just as real, if not more so, than those you know locally. And the way folks have offered ears and shoulders and messages and distractions has been overwhelming and has helped to cheer me up and to keep me sane, and reinforce the view that online friends are just as real.

I'm still having a tough time, and there's some things I need to work through, and things I need to do for myself, but having such an amazing support group of folks has helped so much.

Thank you again, Triviality, for the absolutely amazing artwork. I cherish it. I've already decided I'm going to get it printed and framed and put somewhere on the wall near my computer because I love it so very much, and it means so much to me.

October Gaming Goals

You better get your shit together, Nomi!

A quick list to keep me on track for the month, now that my schedule is changing some, and I find myself with (slightly) more free time.

WildStar

• Purchase Service Tokens
• Re-rune DPS set
• Buy new unlocked tank gear
• Re-rune tank set
• Keep pimping Lifestyles of Nexus V for folks to sign up!
• Make plans for guild/alliance Shade's Eve Shindig
• Put up the last Yardcore I recorded ages ago

WoW

• Complete the Stormheim storylines
• Unlock Suramar world quests
• Get Archaeology to 100
• Get Fishing to 300
• Get Cooking to 600
• Get First Aid to 400
• Get Blacksmithing to 775
• Get Mining to 750

Other

• Finish Asagiri's route in Men of Yoshiwara: Ohgiya
• Finish one of the routes in Sweet Fuse

September Goals Review

We got to Cenarius! Also, unattempted photobomb by Ru.

My goals for September, I felt, were pretty manageable.

WildStar

• Purchase Service Tokens
• Re-rune DPS set
• Buy new unlocked tank gear
• Re-rune tank set
• Keep pimping Lifestyles of Nexus V for folks to sign up!
• Make plans for guild/alliance Shade's Eve Shindig
• Finish editing Wildcast Ep 97 by the Thursday after recording
• Put up the last Yardcore I recorded ages ago

WoW

• Complete the class order campaign on my main
• Complete the Stormheim storylines
• Unlock Suramar world quests
• Get Archaeology to 100
• Get Fishing to 200
• Get Cooking to 600
• Get First Aid to 400
• Get Blacksmithing to 775
• Get Mining to 650

Other

• Finish Asagiri's route in Men of Yoshiwara: Ohgiya
• Finish one of the routes in Norn9

Thoughts

I tried, and got close!

Okay, so maybe some of my goals were a bit lofty with everything going on in real life.

I did get Protobucks in WildStar..,. but then I spent them on the Corgi and Fox Hoverboard combo-pack instead of Service Tokens. I mean, how can you pass up a baby Corgi named Leeloo?! Because I didn't get Service Tokens, I didn't re-rune my DPS set, so the new pieces are still sitting in my bag, waiting to be runed.

I didn't even purchase my tank set, let alone re-rune it, which is something I'm going to need to do soon, as we've hit the roster boss with school back in session, and I've been playing OT more to help out in GA.

My goal today is to finish the podcast and get it over to Avid. Woops! And I'll get to Yardcore when I get to Yardcore. I think I'll leave it as a running item until it's done.

I've been trying to catch up in WoW doing various things, but I've mainly been pulled into chain-running Mythics with guildies, so a lot of the goals I had have been sitting by the wayside. I've been trying to level fishing mainly to get the Artifact fishing pole for the water walking and the fish form to get around easier, since I don't (yet) have a water strider.

There's so much I want to do in WoW to catch up to where I need/want to be for raid, and then so much other stuff that I just want to finish, that it's almost a bit overwhelming. I do plan to run at least one Mythic+2 (maybe we'll try the +3?) today, but I'd really like to just work on professions in between the massive amount of chores, and working on Wildcast. And this coming week I'd really just like to go farm achievements in Pandaria for mounts. I might see if Feyd wants to come along for mount collecting, too, since he dragged me through a few places to try to get drops earlier this week.

As for my otomes... I've played a little bit more of Asagiri's route, and I'm enjoying it, but I'm having a hell of a time trying to get into Norn9. I think I just chose a bad combination of protag (there's three to choose from) and the love interest (the one I wanted is not unlocked, because I need to finish the other two associated with the protag first...). So I'm going to buy Sweet Fuse since it's been on my list to buy, it's fairly cheap, and Rissa has been trying to get me to play it since they found out I liked otomes and I have a Vita. Overall, though, not too bad with everything going on irl.

September Gaming Goals

I've kind of fallen off the gaming goals as I had originally intended them for many reasons. So I'm just going to continue them as a to do list for the remainder of the year as a way to keep myself focused on what I'd like to accomplish in the games I'm digging at the moment.

Ready to tackle goals in style!

Quick August Review

WildStar

• Finish the pre-quest for Redmoon Terror (I need that mount before it's gone!!)
• Finish re-runing all the new DPS gear that unlocked with the RMT changes (Tank can wait until September)
• Get the birthday presents for the folks I'm getting them for
• Finish Wildcast (I'll give myself until Wednesday for this one)

WoW

• Level mining on the Naught (hopefully hit 700, but we'll see how far I get...)
• Level cooking on the Naught (again, hopefully 700)
• Level first aid on the Naught (see above)
• Level fishing on the Naught (see above)
• Do a few invasions on the Nut for some gear for her
• Get paladin to 80 (Invasions!)
• Get hunter to 80 (Invasions!)
• Get rogue to 80 (Invasions!)
• Get mage to 40 (Invasions!)
• Get warlock to 40 (Invasions!)
• Run some achievement runs in Wrath and Cataclysm with Chaide (because once Legion hits that'll be total backburner for a long while!)

I did get quite a few levels and profession stuff done on my various WoW toons, but not enough to check off goals. I still feel fairly accomplished, though, especially with WildStar goals.

September Goals

WildStar

• Purchase Service Tokens
• Re-rune DPS set
• Buy new unlocked tank gear
• Re-rune tank set
• Keep pimping Lifestyles of Nexus V for folks to sign up!
• Make plans for guild/alliance Shade's Eve Shindig
• Finish editing Wildcast Ep 97 by the Thursday after recording
• Put up the last Yardcore I recorded ages ago

WoW

• Complete the class order campaign on my main
• Complete the Stormheim storylines
• Unlock Suramar world quests
• Get Archaeology to 100
• Get Fishing to 200
• Get Cooking to 600
• Get First Aid to 400
• Get Blacksmithing to 775
• Get Mining to 650

Other

• Finish Asagiri's route in Men of Yoshiwara: Ohgiya
• Finish one of the routes in Norn9

Wednesday Boredom

Blaugust

This week has been busy, and I am now just getting to a place where I feel able to blog about events that I'd sort of half-ass pre-written about as they happened.

I've discovered through Blaugust, that even when I have the best of intentions and put together thoughts/images in a post as pre-writing, I don't always get back to it in a timely manner if I'm feeling overwhelmed, or that I just need downtime. Which isn't a bad thing to discover about my blogging habits.

Heck, blogging 2-3 times a week isn't a bad goal to keep towards, especially with my busy schedule. It feels manageable, and like it's something I can continue to do. And if I post more, cool! If I barely get two posts in... well, that's cool, too!

When One Doesn't Raid

This week was a weird one. Monday, I don't even remember what I did! I don't think I was able to really settle into playing a game. I think I hopped into both WoW and WildStar for a bit, but I wasn't really feeling either. I do remember hanging out in TeamSpeak with folks and just shooting the breeze.

Tuesday I had a hair appointment which took longer than expected (it's normally two and a half to three hours, but it's DragonCon time here, so she was booked solid and it took me four hours to get my hair colored), so I didn't really sign on for Legion. Which was fine—I expected things to be buggy and laggy and stuff, so I hopped into WildStar for a bit to get my T3 contract done.

Wednesday was raid night in WildStar... but we didn't have enough folks to raid. So instead... well, we had shenanigans. A picture is worth a thousand words...

We eventually ran some dungeon groups, but it was fun sitting in TeamSpeak for over an hour joking around and talking and making a Snarfelynx line on the wall and showing it off to Caydiem. Goes to show that sometimes, you really don't need the game to have content for you and that you can make your own.

August Gaming To Do List

She seems a bit overwhelmed...

Yeah, I know it's Saturday, and August ends on Wednesday. But Legion is out on Tuesday, and there's gaming things I want to try to finish before that happens. I'm not going to pressure myself, but here's the list of things I want to try to get done in (mainly) WoW before Tuesday is here.

WildStar

• Finish the pre-quest for Redmoon Terror (I need that mount before it's gone!!)
• Finish re-runing all the new DPS gear that unlocked with the RMT changes (Tank can wait until September)
• Get the birthday presents for the folks I'm getting them for
• Finish Wildcast (I'll give myself until Wednesday for this one)

WoW

Psyn and Fyn have this awesome spreadsheet they've been using to prep for Legion, and they let me steal it, so I've been using that to help organize what I feel I can accomplish via invasions.

• Level mining on the Naught (hopefully hit 700, but we'll see how far I get...)
• Level cooking on the Naught (again, hopefully 700)
• Level first aid on the Naught (see above)
• Level fishing on the Naught (see above)
• Do a few invasions on the Nut for some gear for her
• Get paladin to 80 (Invasions!)
• Get hunter to 80 (Invasions!)
• Get rogue to 80 (Invasions!)
• Get mage to 40 (Invasions!)
• Get warlock to 40 (Invasions!)
• Run some achievement runs in Wrath and Cataclysm with Chaide (because once Legion hits that'll be total backburner for a long while!)

Stepping into Datascape

On Tuesday, our raid group stepped into Datascape as a whole for the first time.

I sadly wasn't around due to the project at work that's currently going on, but based on our logs, we made some pretty good progress on System Daemons. Plus, it's always fun to see guildie reactions on Twitter during raid.

It's like a bad dream sequence ... all those floating bodies. #wildstar #raiding pic.twitter.com/dX9QwVghix

— SpousalUnit Fitch (@CirindeFitch) August 11, 2016

So, I just have to point out, to those that might not raid in WildStar, this is what the first boss of the second raid looks like.



We stepped in again last night, and I had a lot of fun wiping constantly to the bosses. It's fun getting back into progression, and based on how we've been doing, I don't think it'll be long before we're done with System Daemons and onto some more Challenge Rooms and more bosses.

I know our raid group is "behind the curve" of raiders, but for a group that is more "take it at your own pace" about the whole raiding thing, I think we've done a pretty amazing job as a whole to get where we are, and I couldn't be prouder of the raiding circle. I'm looking forward to smashing more high fiving robots next week!

Linking Steam and WildStar

If you didn't know, WildStar released on Steam today! There's quite a few players who want to link their Steam and WildStar accounts, so I made up a quick how-to guide to do so.

First, a quick list of some benefits for linking the two.

• Hours played from playing on Steam show up, providing an indication of how popular the game is
• You get Steam Trading Cards, Badges, and your Achievements link—EPEEN!
• Easier upload of screenshots to the Steam servers, also showing off the creativity of the community and enticing more people to play
• On the Community page, there's a nifty little counter saying how many people are in-game at the time—a great way to show that yes, people still play this, and yes, there is a population for people to come hang out with

So obviously, you want to link it now, right? RIGHT!

Note: You can click the images to make them larger if needed.

First, if you already have WildStar installed on your computer, you need to uninstall it. Once you've initiated an uninstall, the window below appears. If you want to keep your settings (%appdata%), addons, screenshots, and chat logs leave the options alone. Once you've selected what data you want to remove (if any), click Uninstall.

Double check you've done things correctly, and then click OK. If you misclicked, click Cancel and try again.

The launcher appears and uninstalls the game. When finished, click Close.

Open your Steam application and login. Find WildStar in the store and choose the game to open the page. To add the game to your Library and initiate the download, click Play Game.

A pop-up window appears. Select whether you want to create a desktop shortcut and/or start menu shortcut. Click Next when ready to proceed.

Steam processes some things...

...and starts the download. You can view your download using Manage Downloads.

If you close the pop-up and want to check the download status later, select the Library header, and then select the Downloads option from the drop-down menu.

This opens your Download Manager, where you can check the status of your download. (All said, it didn't even take fifteen minutes, despite estimating four hours.) You can select Play from here if you like.

More often than not, you will instead access WildStar from your Games Library. Select the Library header, and then select Games.

Choose WildStar from your list and click Play. (Your list will not look like mine, because I use categories to sort my games.)

The game boots up. The first time you play you need to accept the User Agreement. It's always a good idea to read through these. You can choose your language from the drop-down box at the top. When finished, click I Accept.

Select the Language and Game Region for your installation. Then click Install.

The game begins installing. This is the part where you link your current account with Steam. Click the box at the top that says Log in with your NCSoft account to link with the currently active Steam account.

A new window appears. Enter your login information, and select whether you want the launcher to remember your email. Click Submit when finished.

Your game is now ready to play! Congratulations, Steam will now spam you with achievements!

Gaming Goals: May

I started these Gaming Goals posts back in June 2015 as a way to try to organize my gaming time around freelance obligations as well as my day-job and general life obligations. You can view the archive of goals and reviews here.

Richard expects me to do well this month.

I meant well in March, and then never made goals because real life got extremely overwhelming. May is kind of in-between overwhelming and lots of free-time at the moment. My weekends are fairly free (minus D&D), but my weeks are really busy. So I'm going to try to take it light on goals--especially because ThaydFest is a thing this month. The Secret World also might slow down some because one of our four-person-team is going to be gone most of May, and then Chaide is going to be gone most of June. But at least that gives me time to catch up on the videos.

Image by Chic-Pixel

The Community Game-Along this month is Metroidvania games. So I had planned at the start of the year to get in some Dust: An Elysian Tale. And I'm still going to try to do so, which might reduce some of my other goals. Too bad every month can't be dating simmonth!

WildStar

• Finish Celestion achievements (on Chestnut)
• Start Galeras achievements (including normal STL and normal Hycrest)
• Upload completed Yardcore 10
• Put on ThaydFest without stressing!

Final Fantasy XIV

• FSH 30
• BTN 22
• MIN 22
• CUL 10

The Secret World

• Finish and upload Let's Play 4
• Start Transylvania

Steam, etc.

• Finish one route in Men of Yoshiwara: Ohgiya
• Play some Dust: An Elysian Tale
• Finish the introduction in Norn9: Var Commons

Gaming Goals Review: March & April

I started this back in June 2015, and have been keeping up with it this past month. I've kept reducing my goals due to real life, and I think I hit a stride heading into December, and have kept it up for the most part. Well, except maybe on the blogging end and the goals posts the past two months!

Comparison Time!

WildStar

• Finish Celestion achievements (on Chestnut)
• Get Bauxyte her key and at least one dungeon towards attunement
• Upload completed Yardcore 10
• Choose which toon will be next to 50

Final Fantasy XIV

• WAR 50 Completed!
• FSH 30
• BTN 30
• MIN 30
• Start working on crafting professions to clean out retainers (max of level 15) Started!

The Secret World

• Finish and upload Let's Play 4 and 5
• Finish Saiid's missions Completed!

Steam, etc.

• Finish Men of Yoshiwara Completed!
• Finish all of Impey's endings (including GCs and video) in Code Realize Completed!
• Start Victor's route in Code Realize Completed!
• Start Amnesia: Memories (suggestions on the card suit to pursue first are welcome!) Changed game.

I ended up completing quite a few goals, though mostly outside of MMOs. Real life was busy again. Actually, it doesn't ever seem to slow down, any. Granted, it should be a tad bit slower this month compared to the past few.

Comparison: February and March

• 1 hour less of WildStar... so comparable hours
• 1 hour less of Final Fantasy--again, comparable
• 1 hour less of The Secret World--I'm sensing a pattern here
• Added 2 hours of Men of Yoshiwara
• Added 23 hours of Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~
• No Blade & Soul (down 2 hours)
• No Black Desert Online (down 3 hours)
• Added 15 hours of Stardew Valley
• 77 total hours in Feburary
• 110 total hours in March
• Overall up 33 hours in March--I blame this on Stardew Valley and Code: Realize

Comparison: March and April

• 9 hours less of WildStar
• Added 2 hours of Final Fantasy
• Added 11 hours of The Secret World
• No Men of Yoshiwara (down 8 hours--completed in March)
• 17 hours less of Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~
• No Stardew Valley (down 15 hours)
• Added 3 hours of Atlas Reactor (beta)
• 110 total hours in March
• 77 total hours in April
• Overall down 33 hours in April--I know this is due to project deadlines at work and IRL events

Overall Thoughts

Chaide and I finished the base-game story!!!

So I didn't get very much done in WildStar. Partially was just real life, and partially was just I've been working on ThaydFest stuff non-stop. I'll probably adjust my goals there knowing that ThaydFest won't be over until end of May.

We finally got our main classes to level 50 in FFXIV, and we've been working past the 2.0 story very slowly. We're currently about halfway through the "A Realm Awoken" patch. We're currently stuck on the "Rock-solid Protection" quest, (1) because of time and (2) we can't figure out if we need normal or... hard mode? I think it's called hard mode. And needing normal makes no sense since it's a level 45 dungeon. So if you have thoughts, let me know. I almost got my gathering professions up, so I might continue those goals. My play time has decreased there overall, so I'm not sure adding a new class to level would be wise. Maybe I'll think about how much story we can feasibly get through this month and use that as a goal instead.

We're almost into Transylvania in The Secret World, but I just haven't had much time outside of work to work on the videos without also cutting into my gaming time, or time spent with Chaide in general.

My other gaming goals were fairly easy, honestly. I was a terrible person and left Men of Yoshiwara: Kikuya minimized during raids and pulled it up whenever I was dead. Honestly, it's what keeps me so jovial during raids, because I hate dying. And Code: Realize was easy, because I play that for an hour every day at work during lunch. Plus, if I carry my Vita with me everywhere, so if I'm waiting in line or something, it's easy enough to pop out and play some. I'm at the point where I'm almost done with Lupin's route, and I'm sad to see the game end! But more thoughts on that another time. I decided that instead of playing Amnesia first, I'm going to be playing the new Men of Yoshiwara that just came out a few weeks ago. I got it day-of because it was on sale, but I was up in the air on which otome to try next, until Sushi told me about how one of the routes is right up my alley (I love the sweet romance/childhood friend routes), so now I have to try it first.

I also picked up Stardew Valley and Atlas Reactor these past two months. Stardew Valley is lots of fun, but it's something that I can only really handle in small doses. I just get bored with it after a few hours, and need to put it down. Plus I stink at the whole relationship building thing, and after a while I start to feel overwhelmed at all the things to do and that I want to do and... yeah.

Atlas Reactor is one that I was lucky enough to get a beta code, and I have lots to write about it, but I've not had much time to get in there and play around with it more to solidify the thoughts and guides I want to write. Overall, I love it because it's more thought- and strategy-based than MOBAs in general. Or at least from my limited MOBA experiences. I've tried HotS and LoL, but neither caught my fancy. I don't like the way it works, and it's super confusing, whereas I caught onto Atlas Reactor really quickly, and it almost feels like a team-based game of chess.

Thank you to the wonderful Ammo for the beautiful ThaydFest banner donation!

The month of May is going to be taken up mainly by ThaydFest, so I don't know that I'll have a lot of goals for May, but June will have countless hours to fill in, because Chaide is going to be teaching in Africa for two and a half weeks straight... so I'll have lots of time to game (and be sad) and put together Let's Plays.

Developer Appreciation: Carbine Studios

We would like to give a shout-out to Carbine Studios for dev appreciation week! #WildStar https://t.co/JVWhzwNwwr pic.twitter.com/ulFY6PsAcB

— MMOGames (@MMOGames) April 28, 2016

I wrote a thing over at MMOGames (link to article in that tweet!), thanking some of the developers at Carbine for all of their hard work and dedication for both WildStar and Blade & Soul. I know I couldn't hit everybody with the thanks, but I sincerely want to thank each and every one of the developers (both past and present) for their hard work and dedication to their games and communities, and never giving up on us or the content.

Thank you, so much, for providing me with a gaming home. It means the world to me, and I'm sure many other players. I hope you all know that despite some of the things we can say about games, the vast majority of our thoughts come from a place of love and just wanting to see our favorite games be better.

So cheers to you, Carbine!

Wildcast Ep. 86: WildStar is Steam-ing Along

Howdy folks! WildStar has a Steam page, which means things are heating up! Even though we had a fog of technical difficulties to cut through, make sure to listen to this episode, or you’ll be sorry you mist it!

For the full show notes and to listen to the podcast, please visit Mog Nation Gaming, or add us to your podcast reader via iTunes!

This week we discuss the Steam release, Arcterra, the new tutorial up on the PTR, some cash shop things, the old and new DevConnects, and more news!

For our community section we take a look at items including Wildweave, ThaydFest4, GamerPhix, RP, and tattoos.

Housing focuses on some new plushies, the WildStar House Tours 50th Episode Celebration, a new monthly contest, and "painting" via housing items!

For our podcast round up, we shout out to /Yell, Aggrochat, and a new guy on the block: SGT Solj.

Cast choice is always fun, as usual! (I also give a shoutout to Geek to Geek cast!)

WildStar's Tutorial Island

Last week, there was a focus test on the WildStar PTR to try out the new player tutorial/experience. For testing both the Exile and Dominion you would be rewarded with a hoverboard before it became available in-game. Which is pretty nice motivation.

Test the new beginning tutorial on the PTR and get the Junkyard Dog hoverboard. Details: https://t.co/zNiCDcY8nX pic.twitter.com/12WH8GsoVK

— WildStar (@WildStar) April 5, 2016

So here's my thoughts and some pictures in a nice little list.

Some are faction-specific, and some are not. I was originally thinking of splitting it up for factions, but it is essentially the same thing on both sides, so it made no sense to try to separate it.

• I love the animation in the opening scenes, and I can't wait to hear the dialogue!

• I had a difficult time interacting with various nodes (for instance, the hoverboard ones), as players are unable to perform the interaction the same time as anybody else. This started to create a queue issue.

• The hoverboard thing is awesome! Love that you're capitalizing on one of the best things about the game, and that you're doing it in the style of the zPrix to help folks become familiar with it early.

• There could be some more information on what telegraphs are, and why you're interrupting them. There have been so many times I've had to explain the MOO (Moment of Opportunity) concept to folks, and why it's so important to interrupt (aside from the "typical" reasons for interrupting). So covering the MOO concept (and how you deal more damage during this period) would also be beneficial.

• There's nothing about double-jump!! Or dodge rolls!! Or path quests!! These are important things! Super important!
• The new boxes that show up for tutorial things are much better at drawing attention instead of blending into everything like they do now.
• The housing plot (at least on Exile side) was super laggy. It took forever for the objectives to become active, even when standing in front of them. This may also have been an interaction issue, but it was extremely difficult to tell.
• It felt much clearer on the Dominion side that we were getting an "ad" from Protostar in the lead-up to the housing compared to Exiles. It almost felt a bit jarring and confusing on Exile side.

• The new load screens are pretty snazzy.
• I didn't feel compelled to step onto the platform to escape the big bot. Maybe if he rained down some lasers with slow-loading telegraphs (so someone doesn't die unless they're trying to) would make me feel a little more urgent to get on the teleporter.

• Speaking of death, we cover nothing of how the gravestones work, and we're not introduced to the Cryptkeeper. Cryptkeeper is important. Obviously so, if we fought to keep him in game with a toggle. Maybe address this toggle?
• I enjoyed all of the lore thrown in, if folks actually decided to read it. Especially the bit that either Artemis or Dorian state about your race and how it relates to the lore.
• Jeff Kurtenaker rocks it out again with his music. I love the new track on Tutorial Island.

• It's interesting that both Exiles and Dominion share the same Tutorial Island. I wonder if this is a step toward the faction wall changing?!

WildStar is Home

If you haven't heard, yet, Carbine released approximately 60-70 folks on Friday with the most PR-worthy of PR jargon posts I've yet to see (though it doesn't surprise me based on who wrote it). I won't get into a rant on the post, as Big Damn Heroes over at Notes from Nexus has a well-written rant that covers some of how I feel.

So instead, I want to cover my feels and thought process without a rant... mostly. But be forewarned, the sailor mouth is coming out a bit!

The Wall of Text

I can tell you that I cried a lot on Friday. Even at work, I had to excuse myself to the bathroom (multiple times) as more and more names came rolling in. Chaide made some joking comment about WildStar yesterday morning (without knowing the news) and I burst into tears, saying through sobs "I don't want the game to die." And I'm sure there are tons of other people who feel that way, too.

I commented at one point...

I can't even imagine how the Developers feel right now. It is definitely at least 10x worse than how I do. https://t.co/p849N5uy5c

— Chestnut (@ggchestnut) March 11, 2016

I've lost my job before. It's not fun—even when you know it's coming (which I suspect at least some had an idea what with a fraction of them already having other projects they've been able to pick up). You can feel like shit. And those that are left can also feel like utter d-bags because they made the cut, but their friends and co-workers didn't. It's hard being on either side of a mass layoff. I hope from the bottom of my heart that all of these amazingly talented folks find the work they deserve, and soon.

I do want to say that those folks naysaying the game, and saying that the game (and by proxy, those folks who go laid off) "deserved it" and "it's been coming", etc., can go fuck themselves, put plain and simply. Saying someone deserved to be laid off, or a project deserved to die is being a dick. And we all know Wheaton's Law, so observe it.

Pappy did confirm that an announcement was coming sometime this week.

@quontom7 @trintonofthesea @kelzamgaming i'll be reaching out to the community next week, with additional info soon after.

— Chad Moore (@Pappylicious) March 12, 2016

I'm hoping it's sooner rather than later (as in, Monday instead of their typical Friday stream). I do have to commend him and Caydiem and DD for being so responsive and available on Friday with concerns, and just being open to the community about how tough a day it was.

Pappy also mentioned:

@DavenportRina @arismash @CRB_Sunshine @CRB_Tyrius We'll be giving you a reason to keep it. Stick with us!

— Chad Moore (@Pappylicious) March 12, 2016

So I'm hoping that's also something that's addressed in this update.

I admit that I might be a bit of a Pappy fan. He's always been chatty with the community since Day 1. He's always been fun, and his dedication to and interest in the game shows. But that could be said for all of the developers over at Carbine.

I'm worried with all the negativity in the community that guild members will start dropping like flies. I do know there are some dedicated few (thank you Raven, Fitch, Sheae, Moxine, Raina, and more for being such amazing people!) who will stick around until WildStar's dying day, but I worry that our numbers will dwindle because there are folks who aren't as dedicated to the game. Which I understand. I play multiple games myself, but WildStar, and its community, are still what I come back to day in and day out. WildStar has become a Home in a way that no other game has for me. It's helped me get back into blogging. It's helped me discover both a game and blog community that I feel super-close to. And I can't, and won't abandon that.

So Black Dagger Society is here to stay. I'm here to stay. We're still throwing ThaydFest, we're still handing out shinies. And we're still here for the community, or whatever is left. So if your guild is jumping ship, know there's a home over on Entity Exiles if you need it.

TL;DR

I can understand not wanting to read the wall of text. So, essentially, it boils down to this.

• I feel depressed that amazing people lost their jobs, and I'm tired of people shitting on them and the game
• Doomsayers can go fuck themselves
• I'm anxious to see when Pappy will make his announcement (hoping Monday for PR reasons), and I hope to hear some good things
• I'm worried about losing guild members who will say, "Sorry, done with the game, now."
• I'm here, and the guild is here until WildStar shuts its doors, hopefully years from now

Gaming Goals: March

I started these Gaming Goals posts back in June 2015 as a way to try to organize my gaming time around freelance obligations as well as my day-job and general life obligations. You can view the backlog of goals and reviews here.

Going to sass my way through March (and Egypt)!

January had a nice balanced list of stuff, but real-life started hitting me harder than expected in February. Life is going to continue to do that through most of March, but I'm going to see if I can't keep many of the same goals and continue towards them.

The Community Game-Along theme this month is Monster Hunter-likes, but it doesn't really sound like a genre I'd be into. Coupled with most of the month being booked-up with things, I don't think I'll be participating this month.

WildStar

• Finish Celestion achievements (on Chestnut)
• Get Bauxyte her key and at least one dungeon towards attunement
• Upload completed Yardcore 10
• Choose which toon will be next to 50

Final Fantasy XIV

• WAR 50
• FSH 30
• BTN 30
• MIN 30
• Start working on crafting professions to clean out retainers (max of level 15)

The Secret World

• Finish and upload Let's Play 4 and 5
• Finish Saiid's missions

Steam, etc.

• Finish Men of Yoshiwara
• Finish all of Impey's endings (including GCs and video) in Code Realize
• Start Victor's route in Code Realize
• Start Amnesia: Memories (suggestions on the card suit to pursue first are welcome!)

Gaming Goals Review: February

I started this back in June 2015, and have been keeping up with it this past month. I've kept reducing my goals due to real life, and I think I hit a stride heading into December, and have kept it up for the most part.

For the sake of comparison

WildStar

• Finish Celestion achievements
• Get Bauxyte to level 40 Completed!
• Cycle through toons to burn rested EXP Completed!
• Upload completed Yardcore 10

Final Fantasy XIV

• WAR 50
• FSH 30
• BOT 30
• MIN 30
• Start working on crafting professions to clean out retainers

The Secret World

• Try to finish out Egypt
• Upload completed Let's Play 3 and 4

Blade & Soul

• Reach level 20
• Run at least one dungeon (preferably with friends)

Steam, etc.

• Finish Men of Yoshiwara
• Pick up Cat Goes Fishing and play some
• Get up to Chapter 5 in Code: Realize Completed!
• Play some more Torchlight

So it's not hard to see based on both the chart and the goals I obtained that real life pretty much kicked my butt this past month. Work has been super busy, and with a friends' wedding coming up in a few weeks, Chaide and I have both been slogged with obligations related to that (especially since Chaide is in the wedding).

For comparison between January and February...

• 29 less hours of WildStar
• 9 less hours of Final Fantasy
• 32 less hours of The Secret World
• 16 less hours of Men of Yoshiwara
• No Paladins (down 14 hours)
• No Animal Jam (down 15 hours)
• No Pirate 101 (down 12 hours)
• Added 10 hours of Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~
• Added 2 hours of Blade & Soul
• Added 3 hours of Black Desert Online
• 189 total hours in January
• 77 total hours in February
• Overall down 112 hours of game-time

I wish the Achievement Granted crap didn't show up on top... I wonder if I hide UI if the Level Up will go away?

I had started on the Celestion achievements, and am only a few short, but got distracted by swapping out to burn some rested EXP on the toons, and I took advantage of the Bonus XP Weekend (and a lot of flasks) to get Bauxyte to 50! I even did Crimson Badlands once, and am half-way to her key. I have some gear it's worth tossing non-set runes into for now, and I'd love to start getting her attuned for some variety.

We ended up hitting 49 in Final Fantasy, and I'm hoping we finally hit 50 in March. We shall see, though. My work from home days haven't been conducive to lunches where I plop in front of my personal computer (instead of the work ones) for an hour with Netflix running, food in hand, and farm-time. So again, hoping to carry over a lot of those goals. Especially the gathering ones, as I'll either need to purchase a new retainer (which was a plan at some point anyway, just not quite... now), or really get started on those crafting professions.

We didn't get out of Egypt in TSW, but we're getting close. I think we only have a few missions left in the first town, and then we can go see Saiid. I'm so excited! From what little I've seen of him (so far) I'm super-duper excited to see more of him. His attitude comes across in spades! As for the Let's Play... I did get the third one up, and the fourth one partially completed. I'm anxiously awaiting some down-time to be able to work more on those videos.

I barely got any Blade & Soul time in, so those will probably carry over as well. I'm none-too-thrilled so far with the game, and my friends are starting to fall off as well. So we'll see if I even get to it. I really would like to try to give it the good old "20 hours/20 levels" trial. 

I'm super close to finishing Men of Yoshiwara, and am hoping to finish it in March so I can move onto Amnesai: Memories for my PC otome. I never picked up Cat Goes Fishing, though I'm still hoping to one day, because it looks adorkable. I didn't get into Torchlight due to time.

I've been playing a bunch of Code Realize for multiple reasons. One, it's what I do at lunch time. When I tried watching stuff on Prime at work, people would constantly interrupt my lunch break, despite having a sign up saying I was at lunch. With my head buried in my Vita, people leave me alone. Also, with everything else that's going on, it's been a nice way to get in fifteen minutes here before an event, or ten minutes there before bedtime. I've been pursuing Impey as the first guy, mainly because I thought I liked him the least, but he's grown on me a lot. Granted, I like Lupin least of all so far, and don't know how I'll feel when I get to him as the "True Game Ending" (he's locked behind the four other guys).