It's been a busy month(Dec) but I've at least made some progress. I think I've said this previously but it is nice having a variety of games that scratch that 'itch' or meet that desire I desire in gaming at anytime. Though adjusting to the movement styles of each game is somewhat jarring, it isn't such a hard task that it deters me from playing.
I figured I wanted to get ranked in PVP Guild Wars 2 so I have been spending a lot of time on that just to breach the PvP rank 20 barrier to start playing ranked. I'm not sure how much the expansions pull from the PVP experience but I'll figure that out when I get to it. I have so many hero points to spend but I am pretty pleased with where my 'build' is currently (Grenades and debuffs) and do not want to add more unnecessary abilities to my hotbar.
Every match begins with a 'free-play' session where players from each team can fight before the match begins but I avoid doing that because it gives the enemy team an early sense of who is an easy target (usually me) based on how easily they get defeated.
I somehow got lost in the zones and lost track of where I am supposed to be level-wise so I've been trying to find the trail to the level 50-60 zones but have been queuing for PVP matches along the way and actually earning level up tomes thus setting me on a further trail to reach a level appropriate zone.
The good news is I did make it to rank 20 during my travels.
My first ranked match was the enemy team dunking on us and trash talking the entire time so I know its ranked despite the similar match settings compared to normal quickplay pvp.
Much fun ahead!
In EvE Online I found a more favorable market relatively close to the system with plenty of sites to scan for and a lot of nodes to crack open. It was going well! Until I made the mistake of venturing to a site that I wasn't familiar with.
Green is good!
Position the drones correctly!
Travel between each node is the hard part once I am there.
Despite warping 20KM away, which I thought was safe, I was quickly targeted, jammed from warping, and shot down.
Uh-oh!
Blehhhhhargh
I would've been alright with that because it was my mistake but then the NPCs straight up pod killed me thrusting me back to whereever my clone spawn was. Not too far from the original spot but still quite a trek. I don't even know if the insurance I had on the ship covers the entire loadout.
Errors of my own doing but nothing too bad. It certainly woke me up
For an alternative to scanning I currently have a goal of eventually buying a Tristan frigate ship, outfitting it with scavenging gear and Rocket launchers / hybrid turrets and running high sec combat sites for another method to make ISK if Data / Relic sites don't pop off after scanning a few systems. Might be cool and something I am able to do within the alpha access. I also have experience with this from an earlier attempt at EvE Online back in 2012ish.
So maybe this deconstruction of my scanning ship is a sign I should try ratting and scavenging.
I haven't played LOTRO so much due to the Guild Wars 2 PvP focus and real life events (good) occurring. I would like to have some time to play the story though. It'll be fun getting into the roleplaying aspect of the lore-master in search of the nameless ones that inhabit the depths of middle-earth.
Killing NPCs is a must in any MMO
But first I have to get to that point in the game by leveling. The fearless difficulty is making me very cautious engaging more than one NPC and I am even avoiding some named NPCs.
Brave Barnar(pet) gave me time to escape
Thankfully I have a pet to sacrifice take the aggro from me if things get a bit too intense. It's weird playing an MMORPG without feeling 'rushed' to get to the end but I am actually enjoying the brief moments of monotony. I listen to podcasts/audio and just tap away at the keys. Server lag is a thing but considering it is almost a 20 year old game it holds up quite well.
I'm trying to see how far I can go without being defeated because I am earning some nifty titles. When (or If!) I do get defeated then that is one less thing I have to worry about but until that moment I am going to keep surviving!
It's been fun but life keeps cutting into my playtime as it does and especially during the holidays. I thought the last week of the year would allow me to have free time with no 'expectations' weighing on me but last minute guests seemed to always pop up. No problem though! 2026 for me is about being self-sufficient and creating more for myself and others if they wish to participate.
I'll continue sharing my journey and try to reach my goals for each of these MMOs!
Thank you for reading.
Happy New Year!
