Been a while – and I have thought about posting but that’s as far as I got but have done so much! So it is time for a quick Catch-Up.
In the time between December and Now I’ve done quite a bit. After slowly getting away from The Secret World I ventured back into TERA when they went Free to Play and bought my son with me. Started fresh with a level 6 Lancer and fell in love! Lancer has to be the most fun tanking experience of any MMO I have played. Totally dependent on timing and movement and not having to use 30+ hotbar abilities.
I also returned to Everquest 2 for two months just in time for Valentines Day events like I seem to do each year. Got up to top level again and collected more glowies, got my alchemy up to max, ran with the “Always-On-Daily” guildleaders, Eggrolls and Dreamura and did a few instances, but mostly chrono’d each day trying to complete achievements.
Another MMO I tried out for 2 or 3 weeks was Scarlet Blade. There was so much commotion on Massively about the outfits I HAD to try it. While the outfits were indeed a bit overly revealing, the game wasn’t bad. It didn’t hold my attention too long but I didn’t regret trying it. Also, whips! How many MMOs use a bladed whip as a main weapon! I did use them in EQ2 for a bit, then I switched to my rolling pin! (see above picture of the dreaded rolling pin of doom)
I played Diablo 3 for two or three weeks, finished inferno mode and got to paragon 18 I believe and bought a few new pieces of armor and weapons for my Demon Hunter. Changed my spec to a Strafe/Flame Trail build to handle higher monster levels in inferno.
Got into Skyrim again adding to my hours and hours of gameplay. (think I am up to almost 400 hours on one character!) Built 2 houses, did some of the new DLC, and just had fun exploring.
In other single player game news, I grabbed the Mass Effect series and played thru all 3. I liked it a lot. Doesn’t have the replayability that Skyrim has…but I did restart ME2…and gave up and then started from the middle of ME2 and bought the DLC. I just couldn’t go thru all the planet exploration again! Also bought Bioshock Infinite…really liked that.
My son and I made a Minecraft Server for just us and added a bunch of mods that added things like a twilight world and portal/gravity guns. Even though we played it tons over the years, it still has the magic of sucking you back in…starting fresh in a new world. We probably messed around on that for 3 or 4 weeks.
And now…I am back to Rift. Since it went free to play, I had to come and check it out. First day back – I peeked at my reset soul tree and then logged out. I couldn’t remember a thing from back in March 2011. Then a few days later tried again…they added preset builds so I used one of those…killed a few things in Freemarch and then logged out. A week later I pulled my son into Star Wars:TOR and we started characters there. We got to maybe level 12 and with all the Free to play restrictions and the boring mobs that just stand there…and the way mobs agro you the split second you hit any aggressive button on your hotbar…it was just too much. So I said…lets try Rift.
While I thought TERA had an awesome Free to Play transition…didn’t take things away, but their CHANCE to get things you pay real money for is just not my type of thing…RIFT absolutely wins. Nothing taken away at all, great stuff in the cash shop, very generous to existing players. Sony and Bioware really need to learn to control their greed. Since joining Rift as Free to Play, I have tossed them well over $100, I have subscribed for added bonuses, my son subscribed and has bought some things in the cash shop. The prices for things is very reasonable and you get what you want…not a chest with a chance at getting what you want. I have not regretted anything I have purchased because the prices are low.
I am having tons of fun in Rift. Just hit level 60 on Cynders, my cleric I started back in February 2011. I have so many more zones to quest in I could hit 70 if they increased the cap. I’m addicted to finding artifacts/shinies to add to my collections (and selling them). I have maxed out Fishing, Survival, Apothecary, Mining, Butchering, Foraging, and Runecrafting. Bought a dimension (house) and have been decorating it…OMG they are HUGE areas! My son now has 3 level 50+ character in just 3 or 4 weeks! I think he likes it but is still unsure what he wants to be when he grows up. Another great thing they have is Mentoring – You can lower your level to match your friends or the zone, and still get XP, AND you get your actual level rewards for it. So you can go do events in the level 15 zones and get loot that you would have gotten if you were doing stuff your level.
I invite you to come try out Rift! It really is a great game. Click here to give me credit for getting you to try it! 🙂
