To those who observe daylight saving:

When: November 1

Clock: Turn back 1 hour

Hope this helps, I am one who tends to forget to remember the very day that I could have slept in LoL.

Well I got my Windows 7 Ultimate signature edition from Microsoft and now that its all installed here I sit waiting for DDO to finish downloading then I can install and help save Stormreach.

Well I hope to see you all soon and to help fight against the evil that lurks in the dark corners, until then I will be watching my progress bars.

Back when DDO first came out I remember that when you died you suffered an XP loss as a penalty and if you died more then three times in a quest on Elite then it wasn’t worth playing anymore because you would be so fat in the negative that you would have to run other it or other quests on normal over and over again till you were back on the positive side of the XP bar and The rest shrines and resurrection shrines were only one use.

Back then you would have new modules and there would be those that would have ti run it and die over and over just to learn the quest and then build there XP back up, this took away allot of the players I think. Later (forget what module it was, maybe 6) Turbine decided to let that negative XP build back up on its own till you were out of it and this occurred when you weren’t playing your character and that he/she was in a tavern when you logged out. This I thought was the way it should have been and it made me want to play other builds but I had five characters at the time so I just went to play a different toon.

Now there is no XP penalty at all and your res shrines you can use over and over, the rest shrines can be used ever 15 minutes (except on elite where they can be used only once) and when you recall out of a quest after finishing it you get full health and spell points.

I still can’t understand why some players get upset that they have died and leave or just log out and leaving behind <PlayerName has disconnected> message. Granted that the drop outs have vastly decreased since the “before time” but it is defiantly not like it was.

I really like that there is no negative XP penalty anymore, but can’t get over how some players get upset about the repair cost, lol.

I wanted to know what you all thought made a player a Vet, is it that someone reached level cap or that they have been playing this game since release date?

Just thought I would ask to see what other MMO games you all play or have played in the past and what you liked or didn’t like about them.

My MMO List

• Dungeons & Dragons
• World of Warcraft
• Lord of The Rings Online
• Tabula Rasa

Dungeons & Dragons Online was the first MMO I ever played and I got to say I really enjoyed it because of how it was done and the people I have meet in Stormreach. Yep, people like you who are reading this blog make the social aspect of the game the best part of it.

World of WarCraft was the next MMO I got into because a few friends from work were playing it and the game sold for $20. I liked how massive and big it was as well as the overwhelming amount of solo quests since the majority of people are jerks. Although I did get a chance to meet a girl and became friends in real life and to answer any curiosity, no we didn’t become a couple as she lived in the US and I live in Canada and things were way to complicated to be more then friends.

Lord of The Rings Online I got into the beta for this game and picked up the collectors edition when it was released and enjoyed it. After playing it for a little over a year hearing how some of the sound effects were just like it was in DDO I started remembering how much I missed DDO and the friends I made there so I decided that I would stop playing and won’t be going back to it either. Its an awesome MMO but I like DDO much better.

Tabula Rasa This one I was in the beta for as well and wanted to continue playing it because I really liked the Sci-Fi aspect of it and how the game world was active as well. However the lack of being able to purchase game time cards stopped me from playing. Living in Canada (and in a major city at that) there was no time cards to get for this game as there was for the other MMO’s I was playing. After a year they started to have the PlayNC game time cards and I picked one up and started playing Tabula Rasa again. If it wasn’t for the fact they discontinued the game I would still be playing it along with DDO.

Well thats it for the MMO games I play and what I thought of them, how about you all?

I Am A: True Neutral Human Ranger (6th Level)

Ability Scores:

Strength-12

Dexterity-14

Constitution-13

Intelligence-11

Wisdom-13

Charisma-12

Alignment:
True Neutral A true neutral character does what seems to be a good idea. He doesn’t feel strongly one way or the other when it comes to good vs. evil or law vs. chaos. Most true neutral characters exhibit a lack of conviction or bias rather than a commitment to neutrality. Such a character thinks of good as better than evil after all, he would rather have good neighbors and rulers than evil ones. Still, he’s not personally committed to upholding good in any abstract or universal way. Some true neutral characters, on the other hand, commit themselves philosophically to neutrality. They see good, evil, law, and chaos as prejudices and dangerous extremes. They advocate the middle way of neutrality as the best, most balanced road in the long run. True neutral is the best alignment you can be because it means you act naturally, without prejudice or compulsion. However, true neutral can be a dangerous alignment because it represents apathy, indifference, and a lack of conviction.

Race:
Humans are the most adaptable of the common races. Short generations and a penchant for migration and conquest have made them physically diverse as well. Humans are often unorthodox in their dress, sporting unusual hairstyles, fanciful clothes, tattoos, and the like.

Class:
Rangers are skilled stalkers and hunters who make their home in the woods. Their martial skill is nearly the equal of the fighter, but they lack the latter’s dedication to the craft of fighting. Instead, the ranger focuses his skills and training on a specific enemy a type of creature he bears a vengeful grudge against and hunts above all others. Rangers often accept the role of protector, aiding those who live in or travel through the woods. His skills allow him to move quietly and stick to the shadows, especially in natural settings, and he also has special knowledge of certain types of creatures. Finally, an experienced ranger has such a tie to nature that he can actually draw on natural power to cast divine spells, much as a druid does, and like a druid he is often accompanied by animal companions. A ranger’s Wisdom score should be high, as this determines the maximum spell level that he can cast.

Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?

Eventually Malestrome, Rhogar and Skurg make their way to Winterhaven’s only tavern and sit down for some ale and food. The city residents who frequent the place give the new comers a few curious glances. There is one patron who keeps to herself and sits in a corner out of the way from others and ignores the three.

Not being the shy type, Skurg goes up to the patrons and asks them about whats interesting things are going on in the town. They are soon informed about a missing husband who went off to work one day at an excavation sight but hasn’t returned in three days and his wife is very worried since there has been reports of Kobolds and Goblins in the area. They are also told that a local scholar should be sought out for any advice or information on the history of the surrounding land.

The three soon head off south from town to the excavation sight to find the lady’s missing husband. After about a two hour hike they hear some clamoring up ahead and decide to spy out the area where the noise is coming from. They find that there is a Gnome a couple Drakes and some human slaves working the dig site and overseeing them all is a spectral image of someone. Malestrom notices the robs of this image and digs deep in his memory of of religious orders and ceremonial attire. He believes that the robes belong to the death cult of Orcus.

Unfortunately while he was trying to remember what those robes signified they were spotted and soon found the small drakes were running at them while the gnome commanded the human slaves to attack. Once the fight began the image vanished and blood soon started to cover the ground. Rhogar took some hits and received a bad wound but wasn’t out of the fight. Malestrom with his powers of teleport found himself all over the battle field striking at their enemies while Skurg let our battle cries and swung his mighty axe cleaving a drake in half and striking another with such a fearsome force it cause his body to explode showering him in blood and fleshy parts. The humans and the gnome were so intimidated by this they tried to flee but instead ran right to Rhogar who dispatched them in there fear and confusion.

Skurg now elated with such a fight holds his axe up in the are screaming a victory cry for all to hear. Maletrom and Rhogar decide to search the area and see some movement under a blanket. After investigating it they find someone tied up. They release this person who thanks them for his help and tells them he came here a few days ago because he believed there was something that was of importance and could pawn it off to the right person but was caught by a gnome and some a few others. HE was torchered into letting them know that there is supposed to be something burred here but he knows not what it is. The party tells him that his wife is waiting for his safe return back home, he thanks them and bestows an amulet on the half orc barbarian and runs back home.

Once in a while I will check out fellow players around and see what they have written in there game Bio. Sometimes I do see that this was used and read the characters background or tale as to how the character came to be. However there are times when players use this to display there stats or write some nonsense.

If your not aware of where it is just go to your Character panel (hit “C” in game) and click the Bio tab on the right. You can use this to tell the background of your character or their life’s story. Its always interesting to see what people come up with.

Just a funny story on this, back when I was first playing I found that tab and wrote a little story for my character and when in a quest with a party I would see in party chat that someone would need a Bio break. I thought “whatever, someone had a cool idea and wants to add it to there characters Bio”. Well after seeing “Bio break, brb” a few more times I was getting irritated that someone would be working on there characters bio during a quest and nearly said something nasty about it, but I asked first what they meant by Bio break and was told it mean going for a bathroom break. Doh!

If your a DM and your looking for ways to get your players a little more involved then die rolling or you want to do something a little different then a skill check on something, here is an idea that will help add to your players D&D Pen & Paper game experience.

One of your players wants to get a magic item and you want them to earn it rather then kill a mob and open a chest and find it laying there all nice and neat.

Go to a local toy store or one of those places that sells unique puzzles (or you can order it online) and look for something like this.

Now make sure its not all together and in it’s respective pieces. Make up a quest where your players have to defeat an brute or elite boss that is one level higher then them (or if its for one player only then a decent number of minions will do) and there reward is one piece of that ring. Where that piece will be located is up to you, lodged in the body, in a pouch or on the finger of monster.

Arcana check 15 = You feel a slight magic power emanating from it.

Arcana check 20 = The slight magic power this item has isn’t sufficient for anything on its own…there must be a missing piece still.

If your party or player isn’t skilled in Arcana, they may want to seek out a sage or scholar in the nearest town for information on what it may be.

Once they have found all three pieces leave it up to the player themselves to put it together and when he succeeds there in game character gets a magic ring.

This will make the item far more appreciative by the player and they will feel that they really earned it in game as well as out of game and for you the DM you will have brought a new element into the gaming experience that your players wouldn’t have had otherwise.

I got to say that for all the times I play it always with making a Party or joining a group. There are always differences of personalities and opinions in any group but I am always pleased to see it when that is put aside and everyone sticks together to finish the quest even after a few party wipes.

Today I had such a party. We did the quest “Where There’s smoke…”  in the Cerulean Hills and we had three wipes. I was very impressed that everyone was sticking together and I went and bought 90 CLW potions and gave then away to those who stayed in the instance and kept it open so we could heal up. I had to leave and heal up 3 time but its all good, I got some XP and the favor I was after.

If you are one of the party members who was there and reading this post I would like to say thanks again for your help and sticking it out till we all got credit and for it. I would run with you again anytime.