Another birthday rolls around, shopping, and some musings on Adventure Quest Worlds...
So another birthday has rolled around, and I am 29 years old now.
Recently went shopping again. In addition to my usual food shopping, I sunk some money into some light bulbs (since I was running low on them), and some new books. Got two new D&D books (including Primal Power, the book I SHOULD have gotten instead of another copy of Divine Power since I had a fucking brainfart the last time I went over there). Also got Biomega, a new seinen manga about a cyberpunk future where a zombie apocalypse is going down. Also on the "got" list was a new fantasy art book that focused mainly on fine-art style rendering techniques and visual language, as well as the translated novel of BATTLE ROYALE by Koushun Takami, a quite violent work akin to Lord of the Flies that I've mainly heard about in its cinematic and manga form, which are both adaptations of the original novel.
On the gaming front, I have been playing an ongoing game of Adventure Quest Worlds. Etheara, my main character, is up to level 14, she has maxed out her Warrior class (rank 10), is almost maxed out on two more classes (Dragonslayer and Ninja both at rank 8), and is getting there on one more class (Healer, rank 7). She's got three defeated Chaos Lords under her belt (Escherion, Vath and most recently Kitsune), and has her sights set on the latest one (Wolfwing, who should be coming out any update now). She's got rank 3 reputation with Dwarfhold, Yokai Isle and the Lycans, as well as rank 5 with the forces of Good. Given my Gold count right now, I could switch over to Evil and gain rep with them, but I see Etheara as primarily a heroic character, and the way I see it, she hasn't had reason to do a Face Heel Turn yet. I generally like the character in question, and might even go about writing some fanfiction about her in the AQ Worlds universe (though I'm not planning on making her some kind of Mary Sue like some fanfic authors are wont to do with their OCs).
Compared to the other major MMOs that I've played, Adventure Quest Worlds is 2D, relatively simple, and doesn't take itself too seriously. The armor, weapons and other items are basically interchangeable, and aren't limited to levels like some of the other games I've played. I currently have Etheara in some kickass Swordhaven Adept armor, wearing a Blood Cloak and wielding the Blade of the Wicked (which I got off the Black Knight and is just awesome). Since I haven't paid for an upgrade and become a Member, the most I can get are level 8 enhancements, which somewhat limits the damage that I can do, and there are certain quests, weapons, armors, items and areas that are closed off to me. Combat is relatively simple and is for the most part one-on-one. Monsters (with the exception of Balboas on the Mountain Path leading to Dwarfhold, Inquisitors on the Citadel map and some Chaotic Draconians in Vath's lair, along with some others I'm probably forgetting) don't aggro you if you get near them, and you generally don't do advanced stuff like taunts that draw multiple monsters on you like in Shaiya or Runes of Magic, and for the most part, you don't have to worry about builds (though with the coming PTR update to the game, that may very well change -- I will have to wait for the update in question in order to see whatever changes have been made for myself).
About the only gripes I really have with the game (other than the non-member limitations) are that there's not really a "ranged" option other than magic (and as soon as you throw that first fireball, you can consider yourself in melee anyway), and weapons are mainly limited to one mode only unless you cast spells with them (which leads to the above-mentioned problem), even normally ranged weapons such as guns and bows. Not to mention the fact that killing mobs over and over for hours on end just to rank or level up or rack up gold tends to be repetitive to say the very least.
Recently went shopping again. In addition to my usual food shopping, I sunk some money into some light bulbs (since I was running low on them), and some new books. Got two new D&D books (including Primal Power, the book I SHOULD have gotten instead of another copy of Divine Power since I had a fucking brainfart the last time I went over there). Also got Biomega, a new seinen manga about a cyberpunk future where a zombie apocalypse is going down. Also on the "got" list was a new fantasy art book that focused mainly on fine-art style rendering techniques and visual language, as well as the translated novel of BATTLE ROYALE by Koushun Takami, a quite violent work akin to Lord of the Flies that I've mainly heard about in its cinematic and manga form, which are both adaptations of the original novel.
On the gaming front, I have been playing an ongoing game of Adventure Quest Worlds. Etheara, my main character, is up to level 14, she has maxed out her Warrior class (rank 10), is almost maxed out on two more classes (Dragonslayer and Ninja both at rank 8), and is getting there on one more class (Healer, rank 7). She's got three defeated Chaos Lords under her belt (Escherion, Vath and most recently Kitsune), and has her sights set on the latest one (Wolfwing, who should be coming out any update now). She's got rank 3 reputation with Dwarfhold, Yokai Isle and the Lycans, as well as rank 5 with the forces of Good. Given my Gold count right now, I could switch over to Evil and gain rep with them, but I see Etheara as primarily a heroic character, and the way I see it, she hasn't had reason to do a Face Heel Turn yet. I generally like the character in question, and might even go about writing some fanfiction about her in the AQ Worlds universe (though I'm not planning on making her some kind of Mary Sue like some fanfic authors are wont to do with their OCs).
Compared to the other major MMOs that I've played, Adventure Quest Worlds is 2D, relatively simple, and doesn't take itself too seriously. The armor, weapons and other items are basically interchangeable, and aren't limited to levels like some of the other games I've played. I currently have Etheara in some kickass Swordhaven Adept armor, wearing a Blood Cloak and wielding the Blade of the Wicked (which I got off the Black Knight and is just awesome). Since I haven't paid for an upgrade and become a Member, the most I can get are level 8 enhancements, which somewhat limits the damage that I can do, and there are certain quests, weapons, armors, items and areas that are closed off to me. Combat is relatively simple and is for the most part one-on-one. Monsters (with the exception of Balboas on the Mountain Path leading to Dwarfhold, Inquisitors on the Citadel map and some Chaotic Draconians in Vath's lair, along with some others I'm probably forgetting) don't aggro you if you get near them, and you generally don't do advanced stuff like taunts that draw multiple monsters on you like in Shaiya or Runes of Magic, and for the most part, you don't have to worry about builds (though with the coming PTR update to the game, that may very well change -- I will have to wait for the update in question in order to see whatever changes have been made for myself).
About the only gripes I really have with the game (other than the non-member limitations) are that there's not really a "ranged" option other than magic (and as soon as you throw that first fireball, you can consider yourself in melee anyway), and weapons are mainly limited to one mode only unless you cast spells with them (which leads to the above-mentioned problem), even normally ranged weapons such as guns and bows. Not to mention the fact that killing mobs over and over for hours on end just to rank or level up or rack up gold tends to be repetitive to say the very least.