Monday, March 25, 2013

Elementalist O. M. G.

I have several different professions. Yeah, I actually started on elementalist, but then I got drawn in by warrior and thief. But recently I've been thinking maybe I'm just not playing the elementalist the best way I can. I've been using a staff because it offers the most DPS, but it's kinda slow to roll out. I imagine it's great in a group where you have some time and there's probably a heavy armor warrior up front. But hey, this video really opened my eyes. Check this out!

Monday, March 18, 2013

Where HAVE I Been? In Guild Wars, yo!

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So I finally left WoW when I realized two things. First, I was really bored with it. You know you're bored with it when you just can't face leveling another toon. Second, I got into the beta for Guild Wars 2 and I really liked the new mechanics.

That was late November. I haven't looked back. At first it was PC only and I still played 'cause it's that good. Now the Mac version is running and though marked beta it's almost bug free.  Only bug I've hit is rare and intermittent mouse control thing, probably because I don't play full screen.

So here's why I love Guild Wars. Yeah, that's right, no subscription fee. Instead there is a RMT optional Auction House, but... get this, the stuff you can buy (with your gold or RMT) is not going to make a significant difference in the power or playability of your toon. That's right; it's SKILL baby, not who has the most coin or the most time to grind for coin. It's mostly cool shit (like dye for your gear) or P2P mats for professions. Second, great lore. It actually has story arcs and holds to them. Third, no grind. Fourth, no locked in roles. Every toon can heal, kite, tank. Fourth, public zergs (à la Rift). Fifth, dynamic questing; quests pop up as you wander in range of the activity. Sixth, oh hell, just watch the video.

I might add, crafting doesn't suck. In fact, there's recipe creation. Very cool recipe creation.

The game up and down levels you as you move through regions. So, if you want to play with a lower level toon in a level 30 zone, the game downscales your DPS to match the region so you play as an equal (and get credit for XP etc.)

I now have a thief, ranger, elementalist, mesmer, engineer, warrior, necromancer... so far.
(By the way, the dungeons are hard and hella fun.)

PS In the video the guy is talking about beta. There is no queue for World vs World. That's fine now. Yes, you have to mail stuff to another player; no trade window, but... you don't have to visit a mailbox to get your mail. It opens anywhere, and it's instant, so no big.

Here's my current toons. Every one is fun to play.